This weekend, each of us has to make a decision, although we have already made it. Here is the issue.
Do you believe that God came among us and then left us after the Ascension?
Or, do you believe that God came among us and never left us?
This is basically the primary issue between Catholics and Protestants.
Our scriptures tell us that the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said to her,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
I have been reflecting upon my conversion to becoming a Roman Catholic. Why did I convert? I was 17-18 years old.
Once I became a Catholic, I began to try convince others to be Catholic too. I was a pest. I read a lot. I used arguments to attempt to recruit more people to the Church by force of words and ideas.
I have never really seen any person enter or convert the Catholic Church for arguments. I was not successful.
Look around in nature. Look at everything you have ever seen in nature and know to be true.
In nature, among all living creatures, on land and in the sea, the strongest devour the weakest. The weakest, most vulnerable become the victims of the stronger. We also call it “bullying”.
Have you ever been around chickens, for example. In a flock of chickens, the stronger chickens will always choose a runt. They will harass the runt, attack it and kill it. This abusive behavior is repeated at all levels of life, all animals, even among humans. Human history is full of similar examples. Just look at the violence in Mexico and in the Middle East, or the abuse of children or of women.
Do you believe in God?
If you do, that puts you more or less in the same company with Satan and his demons, all Protestants, Muslims, Jews and many others. All of them believe in God; some as much as Satan does. The Devil absolutely believes in God.
St. John the Apostle and Evangelist tells us,
The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 Jn 2:3-4)
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Everyone of us, you and me, have powerful memories of events that have shaped us. We can never forget them. For me, I can remember events associated with my conversion to becoming Catholic. I can remember events associated with my best friend, and my marriage to my wife and the births of our children. I can remember events associated with my formation and ordination as a priest. These memories are so strong, that I could never return to the way things were before. Memories can set us on a new course of life.
If I ever got off course with my marriage or my Catholic faith or my friendships, my memories would tell me, “How can you forget so easily? Get back on track.” These memories are alive in me.
In the Jewish tradition, a new day begins at the end of the previous day, or at sundown. The Catholic Church has always followed this ancient Jewish tradition. This is why we celebrate Sunday Masses also on Saturday evenings. It may be Saturday in the civil calendar of the United States. However, in the Universal Church, at the end of one day, the next day begins. For the sake of convention the Church uses 4pm as the beginning of a new liturgical day.
This is important to keep in mind, because the Last Supper was held on the same day as Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus gave us his Body and Blood at the Last Supper, after sundown, and was crucified the same day. The two events are forever linked together, Eucharist and Crucifixion. He gave us his Body and then gave himself over to be crucified. The first Mass was celebrated therefore, on the same day as his crucifixion.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
When you were baptized, you were baptized according to Jesus’ instructions, with water and the Holy Spirit. Jesus even gave us the words of Baptism,
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, ….
The priest or deacon anointed your head with the Oil of Chrism, symbolizing the Holy Spirit, after baptizing with water. [Read more…]
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
Christian faith demands witness. Our faith is not passive. It begins with faithfulness and obedience to the Sacramental life of the Church.
The world is not favorable to the Christian witness. We are fully aware that the world doesn’t hate us, exactly, but hates Jesus first. If you think the world hates you, know for certain that it hated Jesus first. It has always been this way, beginning with early persecution of the Church.
The deacon Philip was one of the first seven deacons of the Jerusalem Church. Saul, our St. Paul, was one of the earliest persecutors of the new Church founded by Jesus Christ. That persecution had profound consequences.
Easter is too big. We cannot understand Easter in one Sunday. That is why the Church, over the past 2,000 years has taught us to take seven weeks to “unpack” Easter. You will see each Sunday how each week’s scriptures will take us deeper and deeper into the Easter mystery.
This Sunday is known throughout the Catholic world as “Divine Mercy Sunday”. We heard from that ancient Psalm, written centuries before the birth of Jesus,
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Some of the Pharisees … said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?”
Jesus said to them,
“If you were blind, you would have no sin;
but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.”
What Jesus is telling them, and us, is that spiritual blindness is a personal choice. The Pharisees were witnesses to the miracle of restoration of the sight of the man born blind. They investigated it thoroughly. However, because there was so much at stake, they chose to ignore the facts in front of them. They chose to remain blind. They insisted that they were the ones who could see the truth, but they ignored the truth right in front of them. They claimed knowledge of Sacred Scriptures and they claimed positions of authority, authorized in Sacred Scripture. But, if they acknowledged Jesus as the promised Messiah, then they would lose their authority and their power. Their authority was more important to them than the truth of God right in front of them. That is why Jesus told them,
“If you were blind, you would have no sin;
but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.”
In my lifetime the science of DNA, the genetic material in each of us has exploded. Today we can tell where a person’s ancestors originated. My family convinced me to join one of the services that investigates DNA. The results of my DNA study are eye-opening. I had no idea I have so much Neanderthal in me. One of the things DNA tells us is that everyone comes from somewhere else. And the racial mixes are surprising. Science tells us that there are very few races that exist today in the same geography where that race originally began their presence on planet earth. Everyone is an immigrant or the sons and daughters of immigrants. And there are very few pure races. Almost all of us have ancestors from several ethnic sources and geographies.
Abram began being a friend of God by becoming an immigrant.
The LORD said to Abram:
“Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk
and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.
….
Abram went as the LORD directed him.
That was a world-changing event.
Ash Wednesday 2017
This coming Wednesday is “Ash Wednesday” and the beginning of Lent.
We should understand Lent as a time to grow closer to God, and grow in humility. One way to think of Lent is to see it as a great mountain we must climb from where we are today in our journey to the Day of the Lord’s Resurrection, or Easter. We cannot achieve the Resurrection and salvation of our souls by ourselves. We must rely on God and listen to his Word.
On Ash Wednesday, we will hear the words,
“Repent, and believe in the Gospel”
or,
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”
We cannot grow toward Easter and our resurrection without a profound humility, recognizing who we really are. We came from dust, and we will return to dust.
In that first reading from Sirach, a book of the Wisdom of God, we hear,
“If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live….”
…., and,
Before man are life and death, good and evil,
whichever he chooses shall be given him.”
What a God we have! Whatever we choose shall be given to us. If we choose death, the actions of death, the culture of death, that is what we will be given. If we choose life, the actions of life, the culture of life, that is what we will be given.
“If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live….”
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
Blessed are the meek,
Blessed are the merciful,
Blessed are the clean of heart,
Blessed are the peacemakers,
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness…
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you…
I will admit to not understanding the beatitudes until relatively recently. I think one of my errors was to think I was hearing about eight different people in the eight Beatitudes.