Wednesday, November 19, 2014

How the symbols of the Evangelists help me pray at Mass: Daily Mass Homily--Wednesday, November 19th, 2014 (School Mass)


(Listen to this homily here).

            I would like to do some show and tell this morning.  Those readings were kind of long, weren’t they?  They were a bit confusing as well...
Someone tell me what this is…A chalice.  Yep.  Do you know whose chalice this is?  Jesus’.  I suppose, but this is my chalice!  First is the chalice which my parents gave me as an ordination gift.  On the bottom they had a lovely prayer inscribed, “Ben, you will always be in our prayers even when we are with God in heaven.”  They also put my favorite Scripture verses on it.  I’m going to spin this around and see what you notice [symbols for the four evangelists].  Some of you also saw this, so see if you can remember.
Does anyone know what this is [holding a pall]?  This is what stops flies from getting into the chalice during Mass!  It is called a pall.  And what is on it [the four symbols]?
Finally, what are on my chasuble?  See these four patches?  Are these Boy Scout patches?  [Again, they are the four symbols].
What are these symbols?  They are for the Gospel writers.  Wow, good memory!  Good work.  We heard about these images in the first reading—a man, lion, ox and eagle.  Matthew is represented by the man, Mark by the lion, Luke by the ox and John by the eagle.  Now I don’t want to get into the reasons behind why these symbols are matched with each animal, but to make a simple point.
God has given us the Bible to help us in life.  He shows us we need to love God, love our neighbor, help those in need and lead others to Jesus.  I use these symbols to remind myself how important the Bible is and what we are all about.
We have a hand—do you have something to conclude?  Why are they matched with each animal?  Well I think I used up my homily time, so that’s a good question we can talk about later in class.
May we all remember how important the Bible is for us to grow in our love of God and neighbor and as we seek to serve and help make disciples.

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