2nd Sunday of OT Year A Homily

Ember Days are an ancient tradition of the Church. They were three days set aside (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday) at the start of each of the four seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter) for fasting and prayer. This practice would give one the opportunity to look to the field in order to give thanks for all that God had given them. On the Saturdays ordinations would take place for these were the spiritual first fruits gathered to be given to God.

Today we observe “Called by Name Sunday” where we are given an invitation to look at our own community as being such sacred soil. A farmer would set out to his field to look for the first signs of the ripening crop and so too the Lord walks among us looking for those first fruits who have been called by name to serve Him as a priest or in a religious community.

The scriptures give us many who have been called by name. These include the likes of Abraham, Moses, Samuel, and Mary. In each of these cases an individuals life has been redirected towards a supernatural end. This is also true for those who are called by name to be a priest or enter a religious community.

We must pray and offer sacrifice for vocations. If we do not have priests we would not have the Eucharist. It must be our fervent prayer that we as a community identify those first fruits among us and to support them with our prayers and sacrifices. For this reason you have been asked to fill out the form allowing us as a community to name those first fruits who may be among us.

Such a harvest cannot take place in a desert. It requires the soil of a supportive community which includes one’s own family. In our parish’s resent survey for diocesan strategic planning it was found that only 3% of this parish has encouraged someone to a priest and 4% has encouraged someone to enter a religious community.

I was blessed to have parishioners in my life including my own pastor to invite me to be a priest. This was something already in the back of my mind due to my desire to pursue truth, but I still needed the encouragement of others. Through such a call I was willing to respond and was willing to enter seminary right out of high school. I became the first fruit of Notre Dame Parish in Greenville that was collected and offered to the Lord.

Saint John the Baptist invites, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Such an invitation brings us into communion with Him. Through such a relationship we come know to know Him, but also go wherever He calls. As the Prophet Isaiah stated in our 1st reading, “You are my servant.” No matter the fear that gives rise let us be willing to abandon our nets and follow Him.

Please leave your card with pencil in the collection, leave it at the vocation table at the gathering area, or bring it next weekend to Mass to leave in the offertory. As we are told in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Baptism of the Lord Year A Homily

Today we observe the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The Lord’s baptism is important because it foreshadows what will come for us through our own baptism as well as the effects which have been brought about through the Cross and Resurrection. This celebration assists us in looking ahead to what these life giving water mean for us.

By stepping into the river Jesus sanctifies the water that He touches. He descends into the place of repentance in order that sinners may come to rise to new life. Through His descent we acknowledge that Christ enters into death itself in order that we may come to be liberated from its grasp over us.

At His baptism the heavens came to open. Through such an action a proclamation is being made concerning what the cross will accomplish. It was sin which closed the door between Heaven and earth, but it is Christ who dies in order that this barrier may be lifted. Upon the cross His side would be pierced and blood and water symbolic of of the Eucharist and baptism would flow from this wound.

As the voice stated at His baptism, “You are my beloved Son.” These words are true of Christ because He is God the Son. The same words must also be made true within us, for each of us, are called to order our life towards Him. Our call is not to sin, failure, or death, but belonging through our relationship with Christ.

All of this must challenge us to live as a people who have truly been set free from such bonds. If we have died to sin and risen with Christ, then we cannot live as though sin and death still have rule over us. Our words and choices must reflect that freedom that we have received through our baptism. Through baptism we are called upon to reject that which enslaves in order to live with true Christian dignity.

Some falsely act as if baptism is an action which only affects the past. We must remember that through baptism we are given an indelible mark which never goes away even with death. Despite only being baptized once those graces of this sacrament continue to be found at work within our life to this day and beyond.

Baptism is not a superstitious action where one is able to live as they wish because they have been baptized. Rather, we are called to an authentic life of faith that is integrated into who we are as a Christian. As Saint Paul remarks, “Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?”

Let us continue to renew that which was begun within us at our baptism. Each of us must strive for such renewal in order that our life may be lived for Christ. It is He who entered into the Jordan and conquered the grave and thus it is He who continues to lead us from these waters, through the cross, and into eternal life.

Epiphany Year A Homily

Jerusalem was not at the height of it’s strength. They were a people who had known exile, darkness, and disappointment. The temple had been destroyed and now their future was left uncertain. Nevertheless, they were told by the prophet Isaiah, “Your light has come” It is this great light which shines in the midst of the darkness bringing hope to whatever it touches.

This Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord is the declaration of this hope fulfilled. The light which was foretold by Isaiah was not just an idea, but a person. This light takes on a face, a name, and a human heart. This light is Jesus Christ and He has been revealed not only to a nation, but to the whole world.

Isaiah says, “Darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples.” We live in world which continues to know of such darkness. There is division, violence, and fear that continues to enter into our human condition. We have been touched by grief, loneliness, and sin. To such darkness we must come to believe that the “light has come.”

Isaiah goes onto say that “nations shall walk by your light.” The light of Christ has not entered into this world in order that it may remain hidden. Like the star that guided the magi by its light towards Christ must we continue to lead others towards Him. We can only complete such a task if we are found willing to encounter the Lord and to depart changed by Him.

The Magi came to notice this light. They trusted in it and thus they journeyed towards it. They persevered whenever the road before them became rough. Finally, they were able to encounter Christ and from this encounter they were left forever changed. Through this encounter they did not return the same way and so too they did not return to their ways of old.

This morning we are blessed to have those with us who will soon make a Profession of Faith. In doing so they will proclaim their faith in Christ and His Church and they will come to be confirmed and make their first communion. They have set their sight upon Christ who is the great light and now their life will always be transformed by Him.

Let all of us “rise up in splendor” for our “light has come.” Let us not attempt to put such a light “under a bushel basket,” but “set on a lamp stand, where it gives light to all in the house.” We must allow Christ to illuminate our life in all that we do. We who have encountered Him have been forever changed by such an interaction and so let us never turn back.

Mary, Mother of God Homily

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.

Our celebration points towards the importance of the Incarnation. Through the Incarnation Christ came in order to take on our human flesh and to make His dwelling place among us. To state that Mary is the mother of God is to state that her Son is God the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. It is He who came in order that we may be redeemed. 

Through the events of His Nativity much had unfolded in the life of Mary. Shepherds have come in order to adore, angels have spoken, and a child now lies before her who is dependent while being eternally divine. It would be easy to rush past this moment and to attempt to explain it away. Rather, we are told that Mary, “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

As Saint John Paul II would state of her, “Mary’s faith was a faith that pondered. She advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, faithfully pondering the mystery of Christ.” Through such action she is showing us that holiness begins with attention. Without having our attention upon Christ and pondering Him we set out to be centered upon other pursuits.

In the Church we have the great gift which is the Most Holy Eucharist. Through such a gift Christ is present among us as we have the opportunity to receive Him humbly, bodily, and hopefully with the desire to continue to ponder Him in our heart. What we receive is to be kept, reflected upon, and lived in our daily life.

Nevertheless, despite such an opportunity we place so much in the way of Jesus. It is easy to strive to be the first out the door following communion and thus in our rush we fail to ponder that great gift that we have received into our life. The invitation to “go in peace” is not to return to the world alone, but with Christ who we must live and make manifest.

As Saint Bernard of Clairvaux would state, “Mary kept silence, but her heart spoke; she pondered the mystery not with words, but with love.” Likewise, we must ponder the gift that we have received and dare to put such things into action through our own outpouring of love. The Lord’s Nativity is not just an event of the past, but continues to animate us here in the present.

This celebration of Mary as Mother of God is teaching us to open our hearts more fully to God’s presence. Let us be so mindful and not overlook the presence of God in the midst of our daily life. May Christ, whom she bore into the world, be born anew in our hearts today as well as throughout the year to come.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.