No need to be afraid of the dark: Daily Mass Homily--Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

           Who here is scared of the dark?  [Most kids raise their hands].  Adults, how about you?  [Some raise their hands].  I lost my fear of the dark years ago, but last fall I had one night where I got spooked.

            It all started with a BANG!  It was the middle of the night and there was a noise so loud I woke up thinking someone might be breaking in.  I texted Fr. Rich: “Did you hear that?”  As he was sleeping, there was no answer.  Then the next morning he asked me, “Fr. Ben, was it the boogie-man?”  Turns out it was just the boiler.

            The following Sunday I heard a similar noise that woke me up again.  This time it kept repeating itself and I was creeped out again.  At that moment, Fr. Rich called me!  I asked him, “Are you scared of the boogie-man?”  He replied, “I’m locked in my room…get me out!”  You know what I did?  I walked to the door in bare feet, summoned my inner Chuck Norris and kicked it down [as I demonstrate this in real life].

            Sometimes the darkness can be scary.  But do you know what the first words are in the Bible?  Do you know what God first commands?  “Let there be light.”

John uses light and darkness beautifully to contrast good and evil, belief and unbelief.  When we walk in the truth of our faith, we walk in the light and have nothing to fear.  No matter what darkness is in our lives or souls—suffering, death, cancer, depression—Jesus will light our path.

You parents help children (and even some adults) sleep well at night by putting a Scooby-Doo night-light in their room.  Or when the boogie-man rears his ugly head, you turn the light on and check under their bed.  When times are tough, put in the night-light of prayer and confidence in Jesus.  Turn the lights on and be reminded that God is with you always.

In this Easter season we celebrate Jesus—the light of the world—and through his suffering, death and resurrection, we no longer need to be scared of the dark.

My Baptism anniversary!: Daily Mass Homily--Tuesday, April 29th, 2014

           Today is a very important day in my life because on April 29^th, 1984 I was baptized.  While I recently celebrated my thirtieth birthday, I am now thirty in our Christian faith!  (I’m getting old).  To my parents’ credit, we celebrated our Baptismal anniversary every year and lit our candle.

            Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born anew…” and this is precisely what Baptism is for.  Here are a few fun facts about Baptism.

            This first sacrament is so important that in emergencies anyone can baptize.  This even includes non-Christians so long as they pour water three times and say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

            We know of no other ordinary way for salvation than through Baptism.  (Having said this, in extraordinary circumstances we always trust God’s grace to save).  Baptism is a requirement for salvation.  While obviously critical to our faith, receiving communion isn’t always a condition for salvation (for example, a baptized child who has not received Eucharist yet).

            An easy way to remember the effects of Baptism in the soul is a simple definition my seminary professor used to say: sin out, God in, in the Church.  Baptism takes away all sin—original and actual.  God enters the soul in a completely new way and one becomes part of the family of our faith.

            Finally, we are baptized into the three munera of Christ (there’s a good cocktail party word for you).  These munera—duties or functions—of Christ include his role as priest, prophet and king.  We are baptized into his priesthood and are commissioned to sanctify the world.  So too are we called to be prophets to share God’s Word in the world.  And as Christ, the King of kings, came not to be served but to serve, we are called to be humble servants in the world.

            I thank God for the gift of Baptism in my life and for the priest—Fr. Jude—who brought me into the Church.  I’m also grateful for the honor it is to baptize little babies and adults as a priest.

            Remember your baptism today.  You are in a special relationship with God and the Church and are commissioned to be Christ’s priest, prophet and king to help build up His kingdom.

Preach the Word with boldness: Daily Mass Homily--Monday, April 28th, 2014

            We have two vivid images of the Holy Spirit in the readings today.  Jesus tells Nicodemus that, “The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  This is particularly fitting on this blustery Duluth day.  While it is far from beautiful consider just how powerful the wind is.  This is what Jesus compares the Holy Spirit with.

            The Holy Spirit also manifests His power in the book of Acts: “As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”

            In both contexts the Spirit is connected with the sacraments, especially Baptism.  It was through the graces received through being “born of water and Spirit” that allowed the disciples to speak with boldness about the Word of God.

            This begs the question—do you boldly proclaim God’s Word?  You have been baptized and confirmed and have the strength to do so!  Remember that being bold doesn’t mean being annoying or standing on a street corner shouting at people.  What it does mean is that you have the courage to share your experience of Jesus with others.  It means you will always be ready to witness to your Catholic faith.

            In the glorious Easter season, preach God’s Word with boldness and always remember the graces of the sacraments and the power of the Holy Spirit are with you.

2nd Sunday of Easter: Divine Mercy Sunday

            It’s been said that Jesus’ other name—God’s other name—is mercy.

“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.’”  St. Peter writes basically the same in his first letter: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”

Mercy is one of those Christian words we use or hear frequently.  But what, exactly, is mercy?  According to the Mirriam-Webster dictionary, mercy is “…compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power.”  We might tweak this secular definition and simplify it in the process.  Mercy is simply love trumping justice.  Mercy is what we celebrate on the second Sunday of Easter—Divine Mercy Sunday—and is the basic foundation of our faith.

I hope you know you can always receive God’s mercy.  You can never be away from God too long to come back.  Nothing you can do cannot be forgiven.  God doesn’t sit upstairs thinking, “Get it right and get back to me!” or, “I can’t wait to condemn you!” or, “I told you not to do that!” 

Remember the great parable of God’s mercy: the Prodigal Son.  This rebellious son asked for his father’s inheritance, moved away and wasted all of this money in debauchery before having a conversion, returning home and saying sorry to his dad.  Where was the father during this time?  He was waiting on the road for his son to come home.  He wanted to take his son back into his arms and lavish his love upon him.

One of the greatest joys of being a priest is the humbling role of representing God’s mercy.  When I’m in the Confession and hear, “Bless me, father, for I have sinned.  I haven’t been to Confession in decades and I have no idea what I am doing,” my heart leaps with joy.  What an honor to be there for you to absolve sins!

Please receive God’s mercy, primarily in Confession.  After I greet you after Mass I will head to the confessional.  I’ll even wait for my donut Sunday to begin!  (That’s how much I will sacrifice for you!)  If it has been a while, please come and soak in God’s forgiveness and love.

Also, as we receive God’s mercy we must show mercy to others: “…forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  Are you a person who shows mercy?  Do you let love trump justice with your spouse, children, coworkers, those who annoy you, those on the opposite side of the political platform or even enemies?

As we conclude the glorious octave of Easter, remember what our faith is all about: mercy.

Feast of Mark trumped (but I'll still preach about him): Friday of the Octave of Easter

            Most years, April 25^th is the celebration of the feast of St. Mark.  This is a rare instance in which Mark’s day is replaced by the Octave of Easter, though I don’t think he minds.  While we will not be celebrating St. Mark’s feast today I would still like to focus on his Gospel account. 

            Mark’s story has been called a passion narrative with an introduction.  It is the shortest of the four Gospels and its tone suggests, “Let’s get to the point!”  The words and phrases he uses encourage the focus on the main event—Jesus’ crucifixion.

            For instance, the word for immediately is used all the time (and more often than Matthew, Luke and John combined).  “Immediately Jesus…after the healing, immediately they…he immediately…”  This suggests to the reader a hurried pace as Mark focuses on the climax of his Gospel.

            Mark also employs on the road/way several times, again more frequently than the other Gospels.  In so doing he uses a literary device to show how Jesus is always on the way to his Father’s will on Calvary.

            Finally, there is a struggle throughout his Gospel between Jesus’ divinity and the crowds’ desire to make him a king.  Jesus frequently orders that no one tell about a work he did to avoid becoming an earthly king.  Scholars have labeled this the Marcan secret.  This, too, comes to a head when the Roman centurion declared, “Truly, this man was the son of God!” after Jesus’ death.

              Mark’s account is well worth the read and it could be completed in one sitting.  Its tone, vocabulary and structure all point to Jesus’ crucifixion and what we celebrate in the Easter Octave is Jesus’ triumph over sin and death which led him to the cross.

Old Testament points to Christ: Thursday of the Octave of Easter

            It is worth remembering that when Jesus “…opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” he was teaching about the Old Testament.  The New Testament hadn’t even been written yet.  Jesus explains, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled…Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

            The Old Testament can get a bad rap.  For instance, those without faith often say something as follows: “How can God destroy a community?  I cannot follow such a God.”  Some groups of Christians often ignore the Old, focusing exclusively on the New.  Admittedly, there are difficult passages in the Old Testament that make even faithful Catholics ask questions which must be approached with wise interpretation.

            Yet St. Augustine maintains, “The New Testament is hidden in the Old and the Old is fulfilled in the New.”  Jesus came, not to abolish the Old, but to fulfill it.  He shows that a proper reading of the Law, prophets and Psalms points directly to himself.

The first part of the Bible does this consistently.  In the third chapter of Genesis, God promises that a son of Adam and Eve would crush the serpent.  The Passover Lamb—on which we focused on Holy Thursday—provided salvation for the Israelites.  Manna from above fed them.  King David led the people to peace and prosperity.  Over and over again we see signs of the coming Messiah.

I encourage you to get to know the Old Testament of the Bible, both at Mass and in your daily prayer.  If you know the Old well the New Testament will be all the more powerful and life giving.

Walk to Emmaus and walking of a beggar: Wednesday of the Octave of Easter

            I love the rich readings during the Easter Octave.

            In the story of the walk to Emmaus, we can observe the Mass in primitive form.  Jesus first explained the Scriptures to Cleopas and his companion, and when they sat at table Jesus, “…took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.  With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.”  While Jesus may have physically vanished, he could still be seen with the eyes of faith in his gift of the Eucharist.

            On Monday some of you shared that this Gospel account used to be read on Easter Monday.  Apparently this was known as “Emmaus Day” and it was tradition to take a walk with Jesus.  Well today I won’t be walking seven miles but running three in the Reif Run with our students.  I hope to see some of you on the course!

            The first reading reminds me of a common question I have discussed with students, Nathan and Jess in Campus Ministry and friends.  The situation is when a homeless person asks for money as you pass them on the street—what should you do?

            Some would say, “Oh, he’ll just spend it on booze—why give him anything?” and simply pass by.  Assuming prudence dictates a safe situation, I would think it is okay to give a buck or so.  After all, your choice is to help an individual in need.  He needs to make a choice to use the gift wisely, but that is out of your control.

            You may be like me—I rarely carry cash when I am out and about.  Or you may decide it is not prudent to give a stranger money at that time.  Yet you can give them something.  Here we see the wisdom of Peter’s response to the beggar who was asking for money: “But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, ‘Look at us.’  He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.  Peter said, ‘I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.’”

            Peter and John looked intently at this beggar.  In fact, they didn’t see a beggar at all but a brother of Christ.  They didn’t give him money, but through Christ they gave him physical healing.  Now I dare you to try this out in your next encounter with someone living in poverty.  But even greater than physical healing, this man received love as a person.  We can give such love even if a gift of money or healing doesn’t happen through a smile, wave, “Hello,” or simply human acknowledgement.

            On day four of Easter we recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread at Mass.  And through this recognition may we strive to serve God and neighbor—especially the poor—well.