6/1/2014 – The Ascension of the Lord – Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11, Ephesians 1:17-23

      It seems so long ago that back on April 20 we celebrated Easter Sunday and the beginning of the Easter season.  For we know, that in our Catholic faith, the Easter season lasts 50 days, all the way to Pentecost, which will be next weekend.  With Pentecost Sunday, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, and then the Solemnity of St Peter and St Paul being celebrated on the next four Sundays, perhaps our celebration of the Ascension of the Lord today gets lost in the shuffle. 

        Our reading from the very beginning of the Acts of the Apostles shows the disciples gazing up into the heavens, shocked and amazed as they see Jesus ascending.  When two messengers appear on the scene, they ask the disciples: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?”  So what is the Ascension all about?  We can start be stating what it isn’t about: The Ascension is not defined in a literal sense of Jesus floating up into space on his way to “heaven”.

      Perhaps we could say that the Ascension can be best understood in the way that it is a part of the Paschal Mystery, which is comprised of:

(1) Jesus’ suffering and death,

(2) his resurrection,

(3) his ascension,

(4) and his sending of the Holy Spirit.

Those 4 parts of the Paschal Mystery, as a whole, comprise one reality. In the resurrection, we understand that Jesus still lives – that he lives as our Savior and our Redeemer.  In the Ascension, we better understand Christ’s relationship with the Father – that the living Christ has entered into GLORY, and that he shared that GLORY with the Father. 

     In our 2^nd reading, Paul sees the Ascension in these terms: of God the Father raising Christ from the dead, of seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every other principality, authority, power, and dominion, above every name that is named, in this age and in the ages to come. Pope Francis sees the Ascension creating a new reality of Christ with us.  He says: Christ is with God the Father, where he always intercedes for us. He is no longer in a definite place in the world as he was before the Ascension. He is now in the lordship of God, present in all space and time, next to each of us.  Wow – I am always impressed by the words and images that Pope Francis uses. 

      I was once in the heart of the rain forest in Ecuador as a missionary, driving in a truck to pick up an order of wood for the carpentry workshop that I managed.  We came across a pile of bamboo and small logs in the road, so the driver and I got out to move them out of the way.  When I got back into the cab of the truck, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye on my bare arm, and our of my exhaustion from being in the heat of the middle of the afternoon, I hastily brushed it off my arm without paying much attention.  The driver looked at the floorboard of the truck cab, and in great haste, frantically, smashed what I had just brushed off my arm – a huge scorpion.  I was both terrified and relieved.  I said a prayer of thanks to the Holy Spirit, to all the saints in the heavens, to the Blessed Virgin Mary – to whomever was watching over me and protected me that day.  However, we should not be aware of God’s presence in just those times when we need him most.  Christ is there with us always.  That is the message we hear in the prayer of St Patrick, with which I will close my homily with today:

THE PRAYER OF ST PATRICK - 

Christ be beside me,

Christ be before me,

Christ be behind me,

King of my heart.

Christ be within me,

Christ be below me,

Christ be above me,

never to part.

Christ on my right hand,

Christ on my left hand,

Christ all around me,

shield in the strife.

Christ in my sleeping,

Christ in my sitting,

Christ in my rising,

light of my life.

Christ be in all hearts thinking about me;

Christ be on all tongues telling of me;

Christ be the vision in eyes that see me;

in ears that hear me, Christ ever be.

6/1/2014 – La Ascension – Hechos 11:1-11, Mateo 28:16-20

Hoy, celebramos la Ascensión de Nuestro Señor a los cielos.  En el inicio del libro de los Hechos de los Apóstoles, Lucas nos presenta una narración corta de la Ascensión de Jesús a los cielos.  San Lucas afirma que Jesucristo Resucitado dio a los Apóstoles “numerosas pruebas de que estaba vivo”, y “durante cuarenta días les habló sobre el Reino de Dios.”  Los Hechos de los Apóstoles nos dicen que en su última aparición, Jesucristo “se fue elevando a la vista de los apóstoles, hasta que una nube lo ocultó a sus ojos”.  En este momento, dos Ángeles - dos hombres vestidos en blanco - hablaron a los apóstoles, preguntando porque ellos están mirando al cielo.  En estas palabras, la intención de los dos ángeles es que los apóstoles necesitan tener ánimo, que ellos necesitan iniciar el trabajo de la Iglesia aquí en la tierra.  En verdad, podemos decir que la ascensión de Jesucristo es el nacimiento del tiempo de la Iglesia - como un pueblo de la nueva alianza y como una nueva humanidad.

     Como el pueblo de Dios en la tierra que vive en la realidad de la ascensión de Cristo, tenemos el mandato que Jesús dio a los apóstoles al fin del Evangelio de San Mateo, para “hacer discípulos entre todos los pueblos”.   El mensaje del Evangelio es un eco del mensaje de los ángeles en los Hechos de los Apóstoles - para hacer algo sobre nuestra fe, para hacer acciones en el mundo.  A nosotros, sus discípulos, Jesús nos envía a hacer otros discípulos.  Podemos darnos cuenta que hay una universalidad del envío de Jesús a hacer discípulos entre todos los pueblos.  Este universalismo del mandato misionero de la Iglesia supera cualquiera limitación que había en del Antiguo Testamento al Pueblo de Israel.  Nuestra misión es tan extensa como el mundo entero y tan duradera como toda la historia del mundo.

     Cristo nos dice: “Yo estaré con ustedes todos los días, hasta el fin del mundo” .  Es una promesa de estar siempre con nosotros, sus discípulos.  En la Ascensión, cuando Jesús resucitado esta exaltado a la derecha del Padre, cuando El sube al cielo y parece que se aleja de nosotros, necesitamos darnos cuenta que precisamente  en este momento Cristo está más cerca de nosotros.  En la Ascensión,  él es más que nunca Dios con nosotros.

28 May 2014 – Wednesday of 6th week of Easter – John 16:12-15

       We hear Jesus tell us about how he is sending us the Holy Spirit – called the Spirit of truth – to lead us and guide us to all truth.  We hear the word “truth” being bantered about all the time all around us, don’t we?  We hear some say: “I want the truth to come out” or “I am hear to speak the truth.”  Sometimes what we think is the truth can be our own perspective or how we see things, even though we don’t want to admit it.

        When I was look at the readings for the day, I came across the name of a Frenchman who died in this date back in 1950 – his name is Marc Sangnier.  In 1894, Sangnier founded a movement called “Le Sillon”.  That French title would be translated as “The Path” or “The Furrow” in English.  Le Sillon was a religious and political movement that aimed to bring Catholicism into dialogue with the reality of the world around it, to provide a religious alternative to Marxism and the anti-clerical labor movement that were drawing a lot of the youth and young adults away from Catholicism in France and in the rest of Europe.  Sangnier was inspired by the groundbreaking social justice encyclical Rerum Novarum that Pope Leo XIII in 1891, which called for the Catholic Church to address the major social issues going on in the world.  In fact, Sangnier’s movement, which became very popular, seemed to have the approval of many bishops and even Pope Pius X.  However, some traditionalists in the Church began to see the movement as too Republican and too modernist, criticizing the movement for what it saw as an emphasis on the opinions and the ideas of ordinary Christian lay people rather than the Church Magisterium and hierarchical authority.  A papal letter condemned the organization in 1910, after which the movement dissolved itself. Sangnier retreated to the sidelines. Although he still promoted the cause of democracy and social justice, his voice never regained the prominence it once had.  It is interesting – this is a person and a movement that I had never heard of before. However, our history of faith is full of many men and women who responded to God’s call and who tried their best to serve where God is calling them.  Many of the saints and theologians who influenced the development of the faith were condemned or judged harshly in the own day.  It is only through the lens of history that we can see the positive influence that they had. How is God sending us out in the world?  How is the Holy Spirit working in our lives?

5/29/2014 – Thursday of 6th week of Easter – Acts of the Apostles 18:1-8

      Today, we hear about Paul going to Corinth, about all the challenges he faced in trying to bring God’s Word to the world. A. Paul intended to become a great scholar of the Jewish law – he initially was a persecutor of the followers of Jesus before his dramatic conversion.  Yet, it is amazing to see where Paul was called as a follower of Christ himself, the different hardships and adversity that he faced in trying to bring Good News of Jesus to others.  We are going to have the ordination of 3 men to the priesthood for our diocese this upcoming Saturday in Jackson. One, Rusty Vincent, grew up here in the diocese as a member of St Jude parish in Pearl in Rankin County.  The other 2 are from other countries – Binh Nguyen is from Vietnam, while José de Jesús Sánchez is from Mexico.  It is interesting how God calls different people in different way, and in some unexpected ways as well.   I remember when we were asking parishioners to give reflections at the masses during Lent.  Some of them were very reluctant, as it is not something that the average Catholic lay person is accustomed to doing.  Yet, when they got beyond their fears and gave their reflections, they all said that it was a good experience for them, one that help them on their journey of faith.  As God calls us to go beyond our comfort zones sometimes, let us have the courage to respond in faith and in joy.

5/30/2014 – St Joan of Arc – Friday of 6th week of Easter –Acts 18:9-18

      Paul receives this message as he settled into his calling to minister to the people of Corinth: “Do not be afraid.  Go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you.  No one will attack you and harm you.”  It goes on to say that Paul spent 1 ½ years ministering to the people there and founding the church in that community. Indeed, God can speak to us in different ways, as he did with the saint we celebrate today, one of those saints whose incredible story has captured the imagination of many people. 

     Joan of Arc was born to a poor peasant family in southern France.   She died on this day way back in 1431 at the age of 19.   Her journey was influenced by the voices of angels and saints whom she heard speaking to her.  Joan of Arc is remembered for her faith in the Lord, a faith that directed her to lead the troops from France to victory over the English.  Through her courage in leading the French troops, Joan was able to say: "I place trust in God, my creator, in all things; I love Him with all my heart.”  We all know that Joan of Arc met a very tragic end: she was burned at the stack as a heretic, the victim of the political circumstance of this period.  Nonetheless, the courage in which she lived out her faith inspired generations of the faithful.  Although she died way back in the early 15^th century, a century before the Protestant Reformation, and although she was not canonized until the year 1920, she remained a saint in the eyes of Christians for centuries until this official recognition by the Church occurred.  One of my favorite novels, Black Robe by Brian Moore, shows a Jesuit priest modeled after Jean de Brebeuf praying at the site where Joan of Arc was burned at the stack before he leaves to travel to his mission work in 17^th century Canada.  Joan of Arc’s example of faith still speaks to us throughout the centuries, from a place and time so different from our own.  She was able to take risks of faith based upon the enduring word of God that allowed her to rise above those transitory things of our world.  May we also have the strength and courage to stand by the word of God, to have it inspire us and guide us.

5/27/2014 – St Augustine of Canterbury – Tuesday of 6th week of Easter – John 16:5-11

      As we get ready to celebrate the solemnities of the Ascension and Pentecost in the next couple of weeks, we hear about the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate that Jesus is sending us, in today’s Gospel.  As Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit to be with us, he also sends us out to be Evangelizers of his Word.  We have heard about this a lot in the “new evangelization” that Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have commissioned us to do.  Back in the late 6^th century, Pope Gregory the Great felt the call to bring the Gospel to the Anglo Saxons of Great Britain who had not yet been converted to the faith. He sent a man named Augustine to head a group of 40 monks to evangelize the Anglo Saxons.  What an usual group to choose for such a task!  Augustine heard about the ferocity of the Anglo Saxons, wanting to turn back and abandon the mission.  Gregory would not allow them to turn back.  Augustine met great success in establishing 3 different mission dioceses and founding the cathedral seat in Canterbury, where his remains where buried upon his death 7 years after arriving in England.  God might have a specific task for us in evangelizing our little corner of the world.  We probably have a lot of opportunities each day if we just look around us.  The thought and reality of being witnesses of God’s Word may frighten us at times, just as the reality of his missionary endeavors scared Augustine of Canterbury.  But the Holy Spirit will lead us and guide.   We are called to trust.

5/26/20014 – Monday of 6th week of Easter – Acts 16:11-15

     Today's reading from the Acts of the Apostles speaks about a journey that the disciples made in order to follow Jesus' command to spread his Good New to all the world.  On this journey, they encounter a wonderful woman, Lydia, whose heart is opened to God.  Not only did Lydia & her family accept baptism into the Lord, but she invites Paul into her home in an act of true hospitality. 

       I think we can all think of people like Lydia that we meet on our own journeys.  As a missionary in Ecuador, I would travel every week to the small jungle villages that our mission site served.  Loving and generous members of the Catholic faith would invite me into their homes, offering to share a meal with me and allowing me to accompany them on their journey of faith.  Many of these families faced great hardship in their lives as the struggled to make a living in the vast rainforest, but the love of God was so evident by their graciousness & their hospitality.

       As we think about the way people open their hearts to the Lord in today’s Gospel, we honor the men and women who have served in the military and who have protected our country.  Memorial Day is more than the end of the school year and the beginning of the summer vacation time for families.  We honor these men and women today, and give thanks for their selflessness and sacrifice.

5/24/2014 – sexto Domingo de Pascua – Juan 14,15-21

      Hoy, como escuchamos el Evangelio de Juan en la mitad de nuestro camino en el tiempo de Pascua, no podemos olvidar que el Espíritu Santo está presente en la vida de aquella persona que sigue a Cristo resucitado.  Fue Cristo, nuestro Señor, que nos presentó el Espíritu Santo, nuestro digno defensor.

        Hoy, Jesús nos dice: "Si me aman, obedecerán mis mandamientos."  Amar de verdad, en la forma de Dios, es obedecer su voluntad en nuestra vida.   Pero ¿Cómo puede una persona obedecer a quien desconoce?  Hay personas que "piensan" que creen en Dios.  Hay otras personas que dicen "Si, tengo fe".  Otras personas dicen que "creen en Dios más que nadie..."  Pero, no es suficiente creer que se tiene fe.  Necesitamos vivir la fe en la profundidad del corazón y en nuestra vida diaria.  Vemos con frecuencia como personas que dicen tener fe viven en una realidad muy inmadura, una realidad muy floja en la superficie.  Jesucristo nos promete un Defensor – el Espíritu Santo - para que la experiencia de fe en nuestra vida se acerque más y más a Dios.

      El Espíritu de la verdad está siempre con nosotros.  Si somos ciegos, la luz del Espíritu brilla constantemente para darnos la vista en la mitad de las tinieblas del mundo.  Si somos sordos, el Espíritu continúa hablándonos insistentemente.  Si oramos, el Espíritu ora con nosotros; pero, si no oramos, el Espíritu esta también para darnos inspiración y animo.  En nuestra maldad y en nuestra bondad, el Espíritu está con nosotros.  En nuestro dolor y en nuestra alegría, el Espíritu está ahí.  En nuestro morir y en nuestro vivir, El Espíritu está con nosotros.  Tú estás siempre, Espíritu Santo, con nosotros en nuestro camino.

       El Espíritu de la verdad que Jesús nos promete nos defiende.  El Espíritu Santo nos defiende de nosotros mismos, de nuestros temores, de nuestros demonios, de las sombras de nuestro corazones. El Espíritu de la Verdad nos defiende del mundo que no quiere conocer ni ver a Dios.  El Espíritu nos defiende de las ideologías y de las filosofías que intentan ocultar la propia realidad y la dignidad humana.  Nos defiende de nuestra división interior, de nuestros pensamientos y sentimientos y razonamientos que son contra nuestra fe.

        No podemos olvidar - Jesús no nos abandona.  En verdad, Jesús sabe nuestras miserias y nuestros sufrimientos.   Jesús nos da el Espíritu Santo, nuestro Consejero.  El Espíritu está siempre a nuestro lado.  Es su misión, no para tomar decisiones por nosotros, sino para ser nuestra fortaleza, nuestra luz, nuestro guía, nuestro amigo.  El Espíritu Santo, nuestro Consejero, nuestro defensor, actúa siempre en nuestra vida y nos enseña que el amor de Dios no es como nuestro amor humano.   Es un amor y una presencia muy diferente. 

5/25/2014 – Sunday of the 6th week of Easter – John 14:15-21

       Journeying with Jesus during the Easter season is a call for us to gain greater understanding of the risen Christ in our lives.  Each year we celebrate the weeks of the Easter season, and each year we are called to mediate and reflect upon this reality.  Part of the reality of the risen Christ is celebrated next week in the Solemnity of Christ’s Ascension, then, the week after that, we celebrate Pentecost and the presence of the Holy Spirit with us.  Today, in our Gospel, Jesus tries to ready us for the reality of the Ascension by telling us about the Holy Spirit that he is sending us as an Advocate.   We might think of the Holy Spirit as an Advocate in the legal sense, as one who would advocate for us before a court of law.  The Holy Spirit can be seen as functioning relationally as an Advocate with us as well, as one who brings help, consolation, comfort, and encouragement.

      All that is fine, but how to we live the reality of the risen Christ in our lives?  How do we live out the reality of the Holy Spirit?  I guess those are the big questions each of us needs to ask, and there is not just one answer that applies.  Recently, I was reading a post in one of the forums where some of the pilgrims going on the Camino of St James in Spain post comments and questions.  One of the pilgrims posted that he had a bad day on the pilgrimage trail and had lost the spirit of the Camino.  He was dismayed to learn that he had to pay admission to visit an historic Cathedral, that his friend was denied entrance to the mass by the usher when she arrived 10 minutes late, and  disgruntled when there was a sign in the restaurant bathroom that he visited saying – “Please pilgrims – only take the toilet paper that you are going to use right now – don’t take the entire roll with you!”  There were a lot of comments other pilgrims made to that post, as you can imagine.  Many of them were trying to give this pilgrim encouragement through the difficult day he was having, to show him the spirit of the Camino is love, encouragement, and grace, and that there were probably very good reasons behind the decisions of those rules and regulations that affected him that day.  One pilgrim responded with a quote that is a common saying on the Camino: " El peregrino no exige , agradece."  “A pilgrim does not demand – he gives thanks.”  Perhaps the Spirit of the Risen Christ is calling us to give thanks and to be grateful for the blessings we have, for the opportunity we have this day to serve the Lord and to serve our brothers and sisters, for the graces that the Lord gives us to learn from our challenges, sufferings, and inconveniences.  Last week, I received a card from a family I knew from my days at St Richard, a very hard working and humble family.  Their card included a check to help us with our recovery efforts from the tornado.  Also included was an additional check from the daughter of the family, a high school student.  She sold cookies that she made at her school in order to help us.  Opening that card brought tears to my eyes – I received it in the midst of a really difficult day.  On the inside of the card was this message: “Praying that God lets you know beyond any doubt that he is holding you close to his heart.  That’s the best place to be!”  I saw in the encouraging comments written on the pilgrimage website and in the letter I received from my friends in Jackson a spirit of the risen Lord that is alive and comforting.

      We all need to foster a community of the Holy Spirit here.   It is easy for us to grumble and make excuses and to not take ownership about certain things, isn’t it?  It is easy to complain about things in the world and in our lives and in our parish, to think things should be done differently and could certainly be better?   But what are we doing to help out?  What are we doing to bring the spirit of the risen Christ into the world?   Pope Francis, in his Apostolic Exhortation THE GOSPEL OF JOY, asserts that wherever the need for the light and the life of the Risen Christ is greatest, that is where we want to be, both as individuals and as a community of faith.  Pope Francis says that living out our identity of Evangelizers of the Gospel and of bearers of the light of the risen Christ, we will not stay all clean and perfect on the sidelines, but will take on the “smell of the sheep,” embracing human life and touching the suffering flesh of Christ that we see in others.  Although we contemplate the presence of the risen Christ with us in the Easter season in a special way, we also are called to have a sense of Easter joy every day of our journey.  We are to be people of the Spirit  -  we are to be a community of the Spirit.  How do we answer that call?