Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
June 6, 2010
“Give Them Something to Eat Yourselves”
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
“Aren’t They All Our Children”
This past week, I recalled a newspaper article that I read about fifteen years ago.
A reporter was in Sarajevo covering the Balkan War. He reported on his experience of seeing a little girl get shot by a sniper.
Immediately another man and the reporter ran to the little girl. Together they got this six-year-old into the reporter’s car and started racing to the hospital.
The reporter was driving and in the back seat the other man cradled the child in his arms. He pleaded, “Hurry, my child is still alive.”
A moment later, he said again, “Hurry, my friend, my child is still breathing.” After a few more minutes, he said again, “Hurry, my child is still warm.”
Finally, he moaned, “Hurry, Oh dear God, my child is getting cold.” When they finally arrived at the hospital, the little girl was pronounced dead.
The unknown man turned to the reporter and said, “This is terrible. Now I must go and tell her father that his daughter is dead.”
The reporter was stunned and said to the grieving man, “But I thought she was your child.” The man responded, “No, but aren’t they all our children?”
The Body of Christ
What a touching, poignant story!
It helps us to appreciate what today’s liturgy is all about. There are two essential aspects to this celebration that honors of the Body and Blood of Christ.
On the one hand, we are celebrating the sacramental Body of Christ. Our faith assures us that this is special, unique, sacred food.
We believe that Jesus is really present here and that we receive him in this bread and wine. We believe that Jesus nourishes and strengthens us for the journey of life with this sacramental food.
On the other hand, we are also celebrating the living Body of Christ. In a way, the idea is simple.
We who eat the sacramental Body are to become the living, visible Body of Christ in our families, our community and our world. Since Christ is our food, we are challenged to be the real presence of Christ especially to those who are hungry and undernourished in our world.
And we need to see one another – indeed all persons – as part of this living Body of Christ.
That man in Sarajevo understood this so clearly when he cared for that little girl as his own child and said, “Aren’t they all our children?” Yes, they are!
The Word of God
Today’s Scripture readings beautifully express both of these dimensions of the Body of Christ.
Saint Paul recalls what Jesus gave us at the Last Supper. Jesus takes bread and says, “This is my body,” and then he takes wine and says, “This is my blood.”
Jesus gives us his sacramental Body and Blood in the bread and wine. Then, in today’s Gospel story, we hear of the feeding of the five thousand.
Notice the words that Luke uses to describe this miracle. “Jesus took the bread…blessed it…broke it…and gave it...”
The exact same words used at the Last Supper! The Gospel writer carefully uses these same words to help us realize the connection between the sacramental body and the living body of Christ.
He wants us to realize that Jesus’ sacramental body must lead us to be his living Body.
We live in a world where 13,600 people will die of hunger today every day and where over a billion of the world’s people – about one of every six people in the world – are undernourished.
We need to heed Jesus’ response when the disciples ask him to send the hungry people away: “Give them something to eat yourselves.” We need to be his living Body.
Conclusion
And so, both dimensions of the Body of Christ are essential.
Without the sacramental Body of Christ, we will lack the motivation, energy, and purpose to continue being the living Body of Christ.
And without our becoming the living Body of Christ for one another, our sharing in the sacramental Body can become merely self-centered.
That is the full message of today’s celebration. That is the two-fold invitation of this feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.
“Give them something to eat yourselves,” Jesus tells us.
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for May 30, 2010: An Educational Mission That Has Grown Out of Ordination
This and That:
An Educational Mission That Has Grown Out of Ordination
“Though priests are called to preach a message that is not their own, they are also called to identify with that message, allowing themselves to be profoundly transformed in it.” This was a reflection made by Benedict XVI at a recent general audience in St. Peter’s Square. As the Year for Priests draws to a close – closing celebrations are scheduled for June 9-11th – the Pope said he would dedicate a series of reflections to priestly ministry.
In that address he took up the first of the three offices the priest receives (teaching, sanctifying and governing), reflecting on the importance of the priest in the midst of what he refers to as an educational emergency. “We live amid great confusion about the fundamental choices of our life,” the Holy Father observed, saying there are “so many contrasting philosophies, which arise and disappear, creating confusion about the fundamental decisions.” However, as promised in the Gospel, the Lord has compassion on his “sheep without a shepherd,” the Holy Father said. “The Lord, moved by compassion, interpreted the Word of God, he himself is the Word of God, and thus he gave guidance. This is the function ... of the priest: to render present, in the confusion and disorientation of our times, the light of the Word of God, the light that is Christ himself in this our world.”
This means, Benedict XVI explained, that the priest “does not teach his own ideas, a philosophy that he himself has invented, has found and that pleases him; ... but, in the confusion of all the philosophies, the priest teaches in the name of Christ present, he proposes the truth that is Christ himself, his word, his way of living and of going forward.”
Of course, the Pope clarified, that this does not mean the priest is “neutral” in relation to this Word, “almost like a spokesman who reads a text which, perhaps, he does not appropriate.” Instead, like Jesus with the Father, the “priest who proclaims the Word of Christ, the faith of the Church and not his own ideas, must also say: I do not live from myself and for myself, but I live with Christ and from Christ and because of this all that Christ has said to us becomes my word, even if it is not mine.”
It is clear that the teaching the priest is called to give must be internalized and lived as an intense personal spiritual journey, so that the priest first enters into a profound interior communion with Christ himself. I have come to realize that anything I teach by way of doctrine or Catholic moral practice must first be grounded in the relationship I have with Jesus. Without a daily regular practice of prayer and presence to the Lord, no such relationship is possible. On the other hand, with it, one gains a sense of compassion and understanding to act as Jesus would act and with the same respect he had for the Law.
In beginning a new ministry in July, I will be doing many of the same things I have done the past 15 years among the people of Our Lady of Grace, namely celebrating Mass, preaching, and teaching. What I will not be doing anymore is administration, attending meetings, or fundraising. So in offering Contemplative Retreats for the Laity, conducting Parish Missions, and presenting Days of Recollection, my ministry will take a decided fuller emphasis on teaching and preaching. The support and the power to do this will come from a more regularly lived contemplative lifestyle with early rising and time for extended daily prayer, reflection, physical labor, and the preparation of food. As I see it, it will have a monastic flavor. The daily lifestyle of union with the Lord will then flow over into the preaching and teaching any given week. Weekends that I will not be presenting will be spent assisting parishes that need a celebrant and preacher for Masses.
Who among us would not like to slow life’s pace down a bit? Who among us would not want more time for inner silence and reflection? Who among us would not want a closer union with God? In this sense the priest/teacher is called to be a countercultural voice in today’s society, opting for each of these values and not only opting for them, but helping provide them in a concrete way for those wanting to do something about bringing them about. Only such a lifestyle of prayer and union can bring about an authentic and profound renewal for our people grounded in Christ as the Living One and experience of a God who operates in our life and for the life of the world and gives us his very presence as a way to live.
The priest is always a teacher, but he gives his lesson with the humble and happy certainty of one who has found Christ and in his encounter with the Lord, he has been gripped and transformed. Because of this he can do nothing less than proclaim and assist others in experiencing it.
Our people are asking us to assist them in renewing our encounter with Christ who alone can give us the inner joy and peace we crave. It is my desire to serve the Lord by helping others experience the loving embrace of God the Father, the healing forgiveness of Jesus, and the abiding, sustaining presence of the Holy Spirit.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
An Educational Mission That Has Grown Out of Ordination
“Though priests are called to preach a message that is not their own, they are also called to identify with that message, allowing themselves to be profoundly transformed in it.” This was a reflection made by Benedict XVI at a recent general audience in St. Peter’s Square. As the Year for Priests draws to a close – closing celebrations are scheduled for June 9-11th – the Pope said he would dedicate a series of reflections to priestly ministry.
In that address he took up the first of the three offices the priest receives (teaching, sanctifying and governing), reflecting on the importance of the priest in the midst of what he refers to as an educational emergency. “We live amid great confusion about the fundamental choices of our life,” the Holy Father observed, saying there are “so many contrasting philosophies, which arise and disappear, creating confusion about the fundamental decisions.” However, as promised in the Gospel, the Lord has compassion on his “sheep without a shepherd,” the Holy Father said. “The Lord, moved by compassion, interpreted the Word of God, he himself is the Word of God, and thus he gave guidance. This is the function ... of the priest: to render present, in the confusion and disorientation of our times, the light of the Word of God, the light that is Christ himself in this our world.”
This means, Benedict XVI explained, that the priest “does not teach his own ideas, a philosophy that he himself has invented, has found and that pleases him; ... but, in the confusion of all the philosophies, the priest teaches in the name of Christ present, he proposes the truth that is Christ himself, his word, his way of living and of going forward.”
Of course, the Pope clarified, that this does not mean the priest is “neutral” in relation to this Word, “almost like a spokesman who reads a text which, perhaps, he does not appropriate.” Instead, like Jesus with the Father, the “priest who proclaims the Word of Christ, the faith of the Church and not his own ideas, must also say: I do not live from myself and for myself, but I live with Christ and from Christ and because of this all that Christ has said to us becomes my word, even if it is not mine.”
It is clear that the teaching the priest is called to give must be internalized and lived as an intense personal spiritual journey, so that the priest first enters into a profound interior communion with Christ himself. I have come to realize that anything I teach by way of doctrine or Catholic moral practice must first be grounded in the relationship I have with Jesus. Without a daily regular practice of prayer and presence to the Lord, no such relationship is possible. On the other hand, with it, one gains a sense of compassion and understanding to act as Jesus would act and with the same respect he had for the Law.
In beginning a new ministry in July, I will be doing many of the same things I have done the past 15 years among the people of Our Lady of Grace, namely celebrating Mass, preaching, and teaching. What I will not be doing anymore is administration, attending meetings, or fundraising. So in offering Contemplative Retreats for the Laity, conducting Parish Missions, and presenting Days of Recollection, my ministry will take a decided fuller emphasis on teaching and preaching. The support and the power to do this will come from a more regularly lived contemplative lifestyle with early rising and time for extended daily prayer, reflection, physical labor, and the preparation of food. As I see it, it will have a monastic flavor. The daily lifestyle of union with the Lord will then flow over into the preaching and teaching any given week. Weekends that I will not be presenting will be spent assisting parishes that need a celebrant and preacher for Masses.
Who among us would not like to slow life’s pace down a bit? Who among us would not want more time for inner silence and reflection? Who among us would not want a closer union with God? In this sense the priest/teacher is called to be a countercultural voice in today’s society, opting for each of these values and not only opting for them, but helping provide them in a concrete way for those wanting to do something about bringing them about. Only such a lifestyle of prayer and union can bring about an authentic and profound renewal for our people grounded in Christ as the Living One and experience of a God who operates in our life and for the life of the world and gives us his very presence as a way to live.
The priest is always a teacher, but he gives his lesson with the humble and happy certainty of one who has found Christ and in his encounter with the Lord, he has been gripped and transformed. Because of this he can do nothing less than proclaim and assist others in experiencing it.
Our people are asking us to assist them in renewing our encounter with Christ who alone can give us the inner joy and peace we crave. It is my desire to serve the Lord by helping others experience the loving embrace of God the Father, the healing forgiveness of Jesus, and the abiding, sustaining presence of the Holy Spirit.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
Weekly HOMILY for May 30, 2010: From Human Experience to Divine Persons
Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
May 30, 2010
From Human Experience to Divine Persons
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
In the Image of God
We believe that we are made in the image of God. The Book of Genesis says that God made us “in his image and likeness.”
Given that, there must be reflections of God in us and in our experience.
Today, we honor God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – the Holy Trinity.
This evening/morning, I do not want to start with the doctrine of the Trinity and attempt to explain it.
Instead, I suggest that we start with ourselves and our own human experience. Our experience of ourselves as persons must in some way reflect God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I say that because this body of mine, if made in God’s image – and this is a God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – than that 3-fold reality must also be part of this (point to self) reality.
Let us reflect for a bit and see where this leads us.
The Father
First, let us be aware of our desire to foster life.
Be aware of our desire to be a mother or father and to bring a child into this world. Or be aware of our desire to pass on life by teaching or by spiritual guidance or by emotional support.
Be aware of the sheer pleasure in bringing life forth from the earth by growing tomato plants or by seeing Gerber daisies flower in our gardens. Be aware of our pleasure in feeding and grooming and tending our dog or cat and those soul-full eyes.
Be aware of our satisfaction in repairing the clothes’ washer. Or be aware of humanity’s satisfaction in exploring the universe or discovering new ways of healing through adult stem cells.
Be aware of all of this within us human beings. These are all reflections of God, the consummate creator, God whom we call the Father.
The Son
And now, be aware of our thirst to restore.
Be aware of our thirst to restore our marriage to the feeling of love it once had. Or be aware of our thirst to patch up a friendship that has grown distant.
Be aware of our undeniable need to forgive and our restlessness when we do not forgive. Or be aware of our lack of peace when we have not asked for forgiveness, even though we know we are responsible for wrongdoing.
Be aware of the crosses we have to bear and the strength that comes from beyond us to bear them. Or be aware of our seeking for meaning and purpose and the way to live our lives fully.
Be aware of all of this within ourselves as human beings. These are all witnesses of God, our Savior, God the Son.
The Holy Spirit
And last, let us get in touch with our passion for certain things.
Be aware of our passionate love for spouse or children or parents or close friends. Or be aware of our passionate care for all victims of violence and war.
Be aware of our ardent faith in God or our strong commitment to the environment or our undying care for human life. Or be aware of whatever it is that we will skip a meal for or even die for.
Be aware of our excitement at a new insight, perhaps the simple insight that God is love and that I am unconditionally loved by God. Or be aware of our growth over the years in wisdom and understanding, in patience and compassion.
Be aware of all of this within ourselves as human beings. These are all expressions of God, the Spirit operating from within, God the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
I believe these human experiences reflect God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are in harmony with Jesus revealing to us the Father, calling himself the Son, and sending us his Holy Spirit.
It was these sorts of experiences that led to articulating, as a Church at the Council of Nicea, a statement about our belief in the Trinity.
This, of course, came to be known as The Nicene Creed that we recite each Sunday here at Mass.
Let us be aware that when we recite this Creed together that it is something that comes out of our very experience of our imaging God.
Our Lady of Grace
May 30, 2010
From Human Experience to Divine Persons
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
In the Image of God
We believe that we are made in the image of God. The Book of Genesis says that God made us “in his image and likeness.”
Given that, there must be reflections of God in us and in our experience.
Today, we honor God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – the Holy Trinity.
This evening/morning, I do not want to start with the doctrine of the Trinity and attempt to explain it.
Instead, I suggest that we start with ourselves and our own human experience. Our experience of ourselves as persons must in some way reflect God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I say that because this body of mine, if made in God’s image – and this is a God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – than that 3-fold reality must also be part of this (point to self) reality.
Let us reflect for a bit and see where this leads us.
The Father
First, let us be aware of our desire to foster life.
Be aware of our desire to be a mother or father and to bring a child into this world. Or be aware of our desire to pass on life by teaching or by spiritual guidance or by emotional support.
Be aware of the sheer pleasure in bringing life forth from the earth by growing tomato plants or by seeing Gerber daisies flower in our gardens. Be aware of our pleasure in feeding and grooming and tending our dog or cat and those soul-full eyes.
Be aware of our satisfaction in repairing the clothes’ washer. Or be aware of humanity’s satisfaction in exploring the universe or discovering new ways of healing through adult stem cells.
Be aware of all of this within us human beings. These are all reflections of God, the consummate creator, God whom we call the Father.
The Son
And now, be aware of our thirst to restore.
Be aware of our thirst to restore our marriage to the feeling of love it once had. Or be aware of our thirst to patch up a friendship that has grown distant.
Be aware of our undeniable need to forgive and our restlessness when we do not forgive. Or be aware of our lack of peace when we have not asked for forgiveness, even though we know we are responsible for wrongdoing.
Be aware of the crosses we have to bear and the strength that comes from beyond us to bear them. Or be aware of our seeking for meaning and purpose and the way to live our lives fully.
Be aware of all of this within ourselves as human beings. These are all witnesses of God, our Savior, God the Son.
The Holy Spirit
And last, let us get in touch with our passion for certain things.
Be aware of our passionate love for spouse or children or parents or close friends. Or be aware of our passionate care for all victims of violence and war.
Be aware of our ardent faith in God or our strong commitment to the environment or our undying care for human life. Or be aware of whatever it is that we will skip a meal for or even die for.
Be aware of our excitement at a new insight, perhaps the simple insight that God is love and that I am unconditionally loved by God. Or be aware of our growth over the years in wisdom and understanding, in patience and compassion.
Be aware of all of this within ourselves as human beings. These are all expressions of God, the Spirit operating from within, God the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
I believe these human experiences reflect God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are in harmony with Jesus revealing to us the Father, calling himself the Son, and sending us his Holy Spirit.
It was these sorts of experiences that led to articulating, as a Church at the Council of Nicea, a statement about our belief in the Trinity.
This, of course, came to be known as The Nicene Creed that we recite each Sunday here at Mass.
Let us be aware that when we recite this Creed together that it is something that comes out of our very experience of our imaging God.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for May 23, 2010: Pentecost = Jesus is Everybody's
This and That:
Pentecost = Jesus is Everybody’s
Today we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, traditionally called “the birthday of the Church.” During the 50 days of Easter, we have celebrated Jesus’ triumph over death and his gift of eternal life to each of us. Pentecost reminds us that our mission is to spread this good news to anyone and everyone. Following is a reflection by Father Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest who is the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation is Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Accepting Our Acceptance
God has chosen us. That is simple and clear. But for us to accept that we are chosen or beloved is actually quite difficult, just as it was for Israel. It demands major freedom from self. (Only the "nobodies" seem to be ready for chosenness. Meanwhile God has to lead most of us on long 40-year journeys before we get to that place.)
God chooses each of us—not to "raise us up a notch," but to lead us through necessary and transformative journeys so we can allow ourselves to be beloved, and to relish a mutual relationship. At Pentecost the Spirit is poured out on "all humankind" regardless of status.
The election of the Jews, God's "chosen people," eventually becomes a message for the whole world, and not something to keep them superior, satisfied or apart. It will take the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jonah, Jesus himself, the rest of the Book of Acts and the fierce ministry of Paul to resolve God's universality. Because the implications of "one God who created all things" gradually became clear, they soon called this new religion "catholic." Our attempts to limit this election have often made us more ethnic than catholic. Not only does God end up looking very small and scarce, but we do too.
We are ready for the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit only after 50 days of enjoying the wisdom of the risen Christ. It takes a while to move from Jesus as mine to Jesus as everybody's. Originally only Paul was strong enough to get the point, and his ministry to the gentiles (which is most of us!) was a scandal to James and Peter. He had to argue with Peter about this, and God had to give Peter a vision to prove it to him.
Choosing, Changing
When God makes a choice, it is definitive and irrevocable. The biblical God does not love us if we change, but so that we can change. God has not stopped choosing Israel any more than God stops choosing us because we do not respond (see Romans 11). As our Catholic tradition and recent popes have affirmed, the Jews are still the chosen people.
God’s love, it seems, is never determined by the worthiness of the one loved, which is almost impossible for us to comprehend—because that is the only way we know how to love. The biblical God seems to be both extremely patient and extremely humble. This is good news, for where would any of us be if God's choice depended upon our response?
Resting, Rejoicing
As humans, we cannot recognize, much less affirm, another person's inherent, God-given goodness until we have rested in that lovely place ourselves. God is inviting us first of all to rest and rejoice in what it means to be God's beloved son or daughter. When we have learned to live and abide in that chosenness, only then can we communicate that same beloved status to anybody else or any situation at any level of depth, joy or freedom. If we have been there, we can proclaim a true and new alternative to the drudgery and darkness of this world. This is healthy and happy religion, and it is offered to us.
Happy Birthday to us – and to all who believe because of us!
Sister Mary Therese
Pentecost = Jesus is Everybody’s
Today we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, traditionally called “the birthday of the Church.” During the 50 days of Easter, we have celebrated Jesus’ triumph over death and his gift of eternal life to each of us. Pentecost reminds us that our mission is to spread this good news to anyone and everyone. Following is a reflection by Father Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest who is the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation is Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Accepting Our Acceptance
God has chosen us. That is simple and clear. But for us to accept that we are chosen or beloved is actually quite difficult, just as it was for Israel. It demands major freedom from self. (Only the "nobodies" seem to be ready for chosenness. Meanwhile God has to lead most of us on long 40-year journeys before we get to that place.)
God chooses each of us—not to "raise us up a notch," but to lead us through necessary and transformative journeys so we can allow ourselves to be beloved, and to relish a mutual relationship. At Pentecost the Spirit is poured out on "all humankind" regardless of status.
The election of the Jews, God's "chosen people," eventually becomes a message for the whole world, and not something to keep them superior, satisfied or apart. It will take the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jonah, Jesus himself, the rest of the Book of Acts and the fierce ministry of Paul to resolve God's universality. Because the implications of "one God who created all things" gradually became clear, they soon called this new religion "catholic." Our attempts to limit this election have often made us more ethnic than catholic. Not only does God end up looking very small and scarce, but we do too.
We are ready for the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit only after 50 days of enjoying the wisdom of the risen Christ. It takes a while to move from Jesus as mine to Jesus as everybody's. Originally only Paul was strong enough to get the point, and his ministry to the gentiles (which is most of us!) was a scandal to James and Peter. He had to argue with Peter about this, and God had to give Peter a vision to prove it to him.
Choosing, Changing
When God makes a choice, it is definitive and irrevocable. The biblical God does not love us if we change, but so that we can change. God has not stopped choosing Israel any more than God stops choosing us because we do not respond (see Romans 11). As our Catholic tradition and recent popes have affirmed, the Jews are still the chosen people.
God’s love, it seems, is never determined by the worthiness of the one loved, which is almost impossible for us to comprehend—because that is the only way we know how to love. The biblical God seems to be both extremely patient and extremely humble. This is good news, for where would any of us be if God's choice depended upon our response?
Resting, Rejoicing
As humans, we cannot recognize, much less affirm, another person's inherent, God-given goodness until we have rested in that lovely place ourselves. God is inviting us first of all to rest and rejoice in what it means to be God's beloved son or daughter. When we have learned to live and abide in that chosenness, only then can we communicate that same beloved status to anybody else or any situation at any level of depth, joy or freedom. If we have been there, we can proclaim a true and new alternative to the drudgery and darkness of this world. This is healthy and happy religion, and it is offered to us.
Happy Birthday to us – and to all who believe because of us!
Sister Mary Therese
Weekly HOMILY for May 23, 2010: Images of the Spirit's Presence
Feast of Pentecost, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
May 23, 2010
Images of the Spirit’s Presence
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Spirit: Brick and Mortar
This church and a number of our other parish buildings are made of brick.
We call them brick buildings even though they are really brick and mortar. The mortar is soft and wet when it is applied, but then when it dries, it hardens and is far less visible than the brick.
The mortar ties the bricks to the foundation and holds all the bricks together. It transforms a pile of bricks into this church building.
Now the Holy Spirit whom we celebrate today is something like this strong but not very visible mortar. The Spirit binds us to God the Father and Jesus the Son.
In this way, the Spirit is our strength and security against the many insecurities of life. This is why each one of us seeks some security, some firm grounding that we can rely on and build our lives on.
When we look for this security or feel secure, it is really the Holy Spirit present within us. And when we feel insecure, it is again the Spirit moving us to seek our security in the Father and the Son.
The Spirit: Quilt and Thread
Today I also think of the image of a quilt.
A quilt can begin with many scraps of cloth. It can be made of material with different patterns and colors and textures.
But thread is a key component. Thread is barely visible to the eye, but it holds the pieces of cloth together and makes them into a quilt.
Once again, the Holy Spirit is something like this barely visible thread. The Spirit knits or binds us to one another.
Saint Paul today compares us to the parts of a human body, and says that we are all made one body through our baptism. This is why deep down, we all want to feel accepted and be part of the group and have friendships.
It is the Spirit present within us and moving us to that. And when we feel unwanted or alienated or cut off from others, it is again the Spirit at work moving us to seek the oneness for which we are all made.
The Spirit: Flute and Breath
A third and final image I think of today is a flute.
A flute is basically a metal tube. A few holes are drilled into it at strategic points.
And that’s all it is until a musician breathes into it. The breath or air makes music and the metal tube becomes a musical instrument called a flute.
Once again, the Holy Spirit is something like this breath or air that flows through the metal tube. The Spirit empowers us to do good and continue the work of Jesus.
In today’s gospel, Jesus sends us forth to love, to be persons of love. This is why we feel so fulfilled when we do good things for others.
It is the Spirit present flowing through us and empowering us to be loving. And when we feel restless or when our conscience bothers us for not doing what is right and good, it is again the Spirit at work moving us to do the good that Jesus calls us to do.
Conclusion
I hope these three images help us on this feast of Pentecost.
1) The unnoticed mortar that ties the bricks of our church to the foundation and holds all of them together is something like the Holy Spirit – binding us firmly to God the Father and to Jesus the Son.
2) The barely visible thread that holds together pieces of cloth to make them into a quilt is also something like the Holy Spirit – binding us to one another and making us one.
3) And the invisible breath that flows through a flute and makes beautiful music is also something like the Holy Spirit – moving us to be loving persons and to do good for one another.
This is the Holy Spirit, God within us whom we celebrate on this feast of Pentecost.
Our Lady of Grace
May 23, 2010
Images of the Spirit’s Presence
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Spirit: Brick and Mortar
This church and a number of our other parish buildings are made of brick.
We call them brick buildings even though they are really brick and mortar. The mortar is soft and wet when it is applied, but then when it dries, it hardens and is far less visible than the brick.
The mortar ties the bricks to the foundation and holds all the bricks together. It transforms a pile of bricks into this church building.
Now the Holy Spirit whom we celebrate today is something like this strong but not very visible mortar. The Spirit binds us to God the Father and Jesus the Son.
In this way, the Spirit is our strength and security against the many insecurities of life. This is why each one of us seeks some security, some firm grounding that we can rely on and build our lives on.
When we look for this security or feel secure, it is really the Holy Spirit present within us. And when we feel insecure, it is again the Spirit moving us to seek our security in the Father and the Son.
The Spirit: Quilt and Thread
Today I also think of the image of a quilt.
A quilt can begin with many scraps of cloth. It can be made of material with different patterns and colors and textures.
But thread is a key component. Thread is barely visible to the eye, but it holds the pieces of cloth together and makes them into a quilt.
Once again, the Holy Spirit is something like this barely visible thread. The Spirit knits or binds us to one another.
Saint Paul today compares us to the parts of a human body, and says that we are all made one body through our baptism. This is why deep down, we all want to feel accepted and be part of the group and have friendships.
It is the Spirit present within us and moving us to that. And when we feel unwanted or alienated or cut off from others, it is again the Spirit at work moving us to seek the oneness for which we are all made.
The Spirit: Flute and Breath
A third and final image I think of today is a flute.
A flute is basically a metal tube. A few holes are drilled into it at strategic points.
And that’s all it is until a musician breathes into it. The breath or air makes music and the metal tube becomes a musical instrument called a flute.
Once again, the Holy Spirit is something like this breath or air that flows through the metal tube. The Spirit empowers us to do good and continue the work of Jesus.
In today’s gospel, Jesus sends us forth to love, to be persons of love. This is why we feel so fulfilled when we do good things for others.
It is the Spirit present flowing through us and empowering us to be loving. And when we feel restless or when our conscience bothers us for not doing what is right and good, it is again the Spirit at work moving us to do the good that Jesus calls us to do.
Conclusion
I hope these three images help us on this feast of Pentecost.
1) The unnoticed mortar that ties the bricks of our church to the foundation and holds all of them together is something like the Holy Spirit – binding us firmly to God the Father and to Jesus the Son.
2) The barely visible thread that holds together pieces of cloth to make them into a quilt is also something like the Holy Spirit – binding us to one another and making us one.
3) And the invisible breath that flows through a flute and makes beautiful music is also something like the Holy Spirit – moving us to be loving persons and to do good for one another.
This is the Holy Spirit, God within us whom we celebrate on this feast of Pentecost.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for May 16, 2010: What I Will Be Doing Beginning July 1, 2010
This and That:
What I Will Be Doing Beginning July 1st
It was after three months of prayer and discernment with a Spiritual Director at the Trappist Monastery of Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina that I began to have a clearer understanding of where God was calling me in ministry as a priest. After 13 years as the Secretary of Education and 21 years as pastor of two parishes, there was a new need I saw emerging in our Catholic People, namely, the desire for a contemplative presence during prayer. It was with that new goal that I began 18 months of study at the Shalem Institute for Spirituality in Washington, DC. Those studies will come to an end this June.
As a result of the process of discernment and preparation I will be offering Contemplative Retreats to the laity, directing Parish Missions, and running Days of Recollection for parish staffs and other interested groups. On free weekends I hope to help out in different parishes by preaching and celebrating weekend liturgies. Over the past two years, in preparation for the new ministries, I have had several opportunities to offer retreats, missions and days of recollection, as well as contemplative prayer group sessions to see if they were a good “fit” for me. I must say I have found them very life-giving and am excited about doing them full-time.
Some have asked where I would be living after Our Lady of Grace, beginning July 1, 2010. In 1988 I built a small rancher in the Susquehanna Valley just 20 miles north of Bel Air in Pennsylvania. Just this year I was able to add an office/den to the small home where I can do all my preparation, copying and printing. While I will officially be a resident of Pennsylvania, I will maintain a Maryland address.
The contact information is:
Father Nicholas Amato
P.O. Box 40
Whiteford, Maryland 21160
FatherNicholasAmato@gmail.com
Once I see how my weekly schedule shakes out, I am also thinking of offering prison inmates an opportunity to learn contemplative prayer. I have often thought of facing the Lord one day and my asking him, “Lord, when did I see you hungry, ill, naked, or in prison…?” and realized there was an area in my caring for others over the years that needed some attention. It also seems like a great opportunity to give them something transformative in the many hours they have while incarcerated.
In the retreats, missions, and days of recollection I have already given, at the conclusion of our time together the question has often arisen among participants, “How can we do this again?” As a result, what I have begun generating are several avenues for individuals to learn more about what I’m offering in this area, should they want to avail themselves of the opportunities:
➢ An email list of names that every six months will receive the retreats, missions and days of recollection I will be offering. More about getting on this list in a moment.
➢ A blog (frnickamato.blogspot.com entitled “WordsWorthNoting”) that is updated weekly with homilies and other presentations. It has all homilies and “This and That” columns since July 2006
➢ By June 30th there will be available a fully developed Facebook page regarding these ministries
➢ Also by June 30th the ministries will be on Twitter for daily up-to-date photos and summaries of what is going on in the areas of retreats, missions and days of recollection
➢ If all of this sounds like garble or is overload, simply google FatherNicholasAmato and that will get you to my blog.
That, in a nutshell, is probably more than you needed to know about what the future holds for me. The next month and a half will certainly be a bittersweet experience for me as I begin to share our farewells. I do hope there will be times to do that face-to-face. Our Lady of Grace will always be my #1 home and because one day I would hope to rest in peace somewhere on the property, it will also be my final home before heaven.
If you would like to be added to the 6-month emailing list for retreats, missions, and days of recollection, simply let me know by sending an email to me at: FatherNicolasAmato@gmail.com.
See you at Mass soon.
Love,
Father Nicholas
What I Will Be Doing Beginning July 1st
It was after three months of prayer and discernment with a Spiritual Director at the Trappist Monastery of Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina that I began to have a clearer understanding of where God was calling me in ministry as a priest. After 13 years as the Secretary of Education and 21 years as pastor of two parishes, there was a new need I saw emerging in our Catholic People, namely, the desire for a contemplative presence during prayer. It was with that new goal that I began 18 months of study at the Shalem Institute for Spirituality in Washington, DC. Those studies will come to an end this June.
As a result of the process of discernment and preparation I will be offering Contemplative Retreats to the laity, directing Parish Missions, and running Days of Recollection for parish staffs and other interested groups. On free weekends I hope to help out in different parishes by preaching and celebrating weekend liturgies. Over the past two years, in preparation for the new ministries, I have had several opportunities to offer retreats, missions and days of recollection, as well as contemplative prayer group sessions to see if they were a good “fit” for me. I must say I have found them very life-giving and am excited about doing them full-time.
Some have asked where I would be living after Our Lady of Grace, beginning July 1, 2010. In 1988 I built a small rancher in the Susquehanna Valley just 20 miles north of Bel Air in Pennsylvania. Just this year I was able to add an office/den to the small home where I can do all my preparation, copying and printing. While I will officially be a resident of Pennsylvania, I will maintain a Maryland address.
The contact information is:
Father Nicholas Amato
P.O. Box 40
Whiteford, Maryland 21160
FatherNicholasAmato@gmail.com
Once I see how my weekly schedule shakes out, I am also thinking of offering prison inmates an opportunity to learn contemplative prayer. I have often thought of facing the Lord one day and my asking him, “Lord, when did I see you hungry, ill, naked, or in prison…?” and realized there was an area in my caring for others over the years that needed some attention. It also seems like a great opportunity to give them something transformative in the many hours they have while incarcerated.
In the retreats, missions, and days of recollection I have already given, at the conclusion of our time together the question has often arisen among participants, “How can we do this again?” As a result, what I have begun generating are several avenues for individuals to learn more about what I’m offering in this area, should they want to avail themselves of the opportunities:
➢ An email list of names that every six months will receive the retreats, missions and days of recollection I will be offering. More about getting on this list in a moment.
➢ A blog (frnickamato.blogspot.com entitled “WordsWorthNoting”) that is updated weekly with homilies and other presentations. It has all homilies and “This and That” columns since July 2006
➢ By June 30th there will be available a fully developed Facebook page regarding these ministries
➢ Also by June 30th the ministries will be on Twitter for daily up-to-date photos and summaries of what is going on in the areas of retreats, missions and days of recollection
➢ If all of this sounds like garble or is overload, simply google FatherNicholasAmato and that will get you to my blog.
That, in a nutshell, is probably more than you needed to know about what the future holds for me. The next month and a half will certainly be a bittersweet experience for me as I begin to share our farewells. I do hope there will be times to do that face-to-face. Our Lady of Grace will always be my #1 home and because one day I would hope to rest in peace somewhere on the property, it will also be my final home before heaven.
If you would like to be added to the 6-month emailing list for retreats, missions, and days of recollection, simply let me know by sending an email to me at: FatherNicolasAmato@gmail.com.
See you at Mass soon.
Love,
Father Nicholas
Weekly HOMILY for May 16, 2010: Understanding the Ascension of Jesus
The Ascension of the Lord, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
May 16, 2010
Understanding the Ascension of Jesus
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Life with Morrie
Most of us have heard of the book “Tuesdays with Morrie” or perhaps we have seen the movie that was based on the book.
It is a story about a Detroit sportswriter named Mitch Albom and a university professor, Doctor Morrie Schwartz.
Morrie had been Mitch Albom’s teacher, faculty advisor, and mentor at Brandeis University just outside of Boston. He helped Mitch realize his potential as a writer.
In 1994, Doctor Morrie Schwartz was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Doctors told him that he had a year to live and he decided to do just that – to live his last year to the fullest.
Morrie Schwartz appeared on ABC’s Nightline program and talked about what he was learning about life.
Mitch Albom just happened to see the program and decided to visit Morrie Schwartz at his home in Massachusetts.
It was the first of fourteen weekly Tuesday visits that became the content of Mitch’s book, Tuesdays with Morrie. In these visits, Morrie and Mitch reflected on life, suffering, family, marriage, aging, and death.
Most important, all of this was from Doctor Schwartz’s perspective as a man facing his own death. The book – Tuesdays with Morrie – chronicles what Mitch heard in these visits.
Morrie Schwartz’s reflection brought a whole new perspective to Mitch. Mitch’s life had been overwhelmed with work and he was desperate to find love and meaning in it.
In the last class, Doctor Schwartz summed up everything they had discussed the prior 13 weeks. He said this.
“As long as we love each other, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without really going away. All the love you created is still there.
“You live on – in the hearts of everyone you have touched or nurtured while you were there. Death ends a life, not a relationship.”
Life with Jesus
That experience with Morrie Schwartz and his final words are similar to what we see and hear in Jesus today.
Jesus has taught great lessons to the Apostles. He has taught them, above all else, to become loving persons – to love God as God has loved us, and to love one another as we love ourselves.
Jesus now returns to the Father. This is what we hear in both our first reading and the Gospel.
And yet, Jesus is still with us. In fact, he has prepared the Apostles for this and told them it would happen.
He has told them he will leave them and return to the Father, but then, he will continue to be with them – and us – through his Holy Spirit.
Jesus will no longer be bound by the limitations of a physical body. Now he is still with us through his Hoy Spirit.
So, as Morrie Schwartz says, “Death ends a life, not a relationship.” We would say: “Death ends a form of life, a way of living simply in a physical state.”
Conclusion
From today’s celebration of the Ascension we learn that Jesus will live on with the Father and he will even live on with us through his Holy Spirit within us.
And now we, God’s sons and daughters, live with Jesus present within us.
Living with Jesus’ presence means living in love and out of a center of love. This is how life with Jesus continues and how we are his witnesses on this earth.
Our Lady of Grace
May 16, 2010
Understanding the Ascension of Jesus
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Life with Morrie
Most of us have heard of the book “Tuesdays with Morrie” or perhaps we have seen the movie that was based on the book.
It is a story about a Detroit sportswriter named Mitch Albom and a university professor, Doctor Morrie Schwartz.
Morrie had been Mitch Albom’s teacher, faculty advisor, and mentor at Brandeis University just outside of Boston. He helped Mitch realize his potential as a writer.
In 1994, Doctor Morrie Schwartz was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Doctors told him that he had a year to live and he decided to do just that – to live his last year to the fullest.
Morrie Schwartz appeared on ABC’s Nightline program and talked about what he was learning about life.
Mitch Albom just happened to see the program and decided to visit Morrie Schwartz at his home in Massachusetts.
It was the first of fourteen weekly Tuesday visits that became the content of Mitch’s book, Tuesdays with Morrie. In these visits, Morrie and Mitch reflected on life, suffering, family, marriage, aging, and death.
Most important, all of this was from Doctor Schwartz’s perspective as a man facing his own death. The book – Tuesdays with Morrie – chronicles what Mitch heard in these visits.
Morrie Schwartz’s reflection brought a whole new perspective to Mitch. Mitch’s life had been overwhelmed with work and he was desperate to find love and meaning in it.
In the last class, Doctor Schwartz summed up everything they had discussed the prior 13 weeks. He said this.
“As long as we love each other, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without really going away. All the love you created is still there.
“You live on – in the hearts of everyone you have touched or nurtured while you were there. Death ends a life, not a relationship.”
Life with Jesus
That experience with Morrie Schwartz and his final words are similar to what we see and hear in Jesus today.
Jesus has taught great lessons to the Apostles. He has taught them, above all else, to become loving persons – to love God as God has loved us, and to love one another as we love ourselves.
Jesus now returns to the Father. This is what we hear in both our first reading and the Gospel.
And yet, Jesus is still with us. In fact, he has prepared the Apostles for this and told them it would happen.
He has told them he will leave them and return to the Father, but then, he will continue to be with them – and us – through his Holy Spirit.
Jesus will no longer be bound by the limitations of a physical body. Now he is still with us through his Hoy Spirit.
So, as Morrie Schwartz says, “Death ends a life, not a relationship.” We would say: “Death ends a form of life, a way of living simply in a physical state.”
Conclusion
From today’s celebration of the Ascension we learn that Jesus will live on with the Father and he will even live on with us through his Holy Spirit within us.
And now we, God’s sons and daughters, live with Jesus present within us.
Living with Jesus’ presence means living in love and out of a center of love. This is how life with Jesus continues and how we are his witnesses on this earth.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for May 9, 2010: Religion and Politics
This and That:
Religion and Politics
The “God question” is part of everyone’s life, and the public life. We simply can’t avoid it. Does God exist or not? If we REALLY believe God exists, that belief will inevitably color our personal and public behavior: our actions, our choices, our decisions.
What we believe about God shapes what we believe about men and women. And what we believe about men and women shapes how we act -- socially, politically, and economically. Jesus tells us in John 15 that if we stay united with the vine, we will bear much fruit; apart from Jesus the vine, we wither and die. Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson wrote as early as 1995, that for all of our American development in medicine, science and technology, we, as Americans, are neither whole nor happy. Technology has made U.S. workers more competitive. It has also deepened worker stress by overloading employees with information. It has lead to longer workdays and heavier demands for productivity. We now spend up to $ 44 billion dollars each year treating depression. Too, our consumer economy turns appetites into needs. Nobody makes us pile up credit card debt but millions of Americans do exactly that. Further, over the past couple decades, our civic vocabulary has coarsened. An overfed understanding of our personal rights and individual freedom has squeezed out responsibility and decorum we owe each other. We’ve moved off and away from the vine of our lives.
The Catholic mission in the world comes from the nature of God Himself. Catholics believe in one God. But He is a God in three Persons, sharing one nature. This belief is central to Catholic life. For Catholics, God is a living community of love -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- and in creating us, God intends us to take part in that community of mutual giving. All of Catholic life comes down to sharing in the exchange of love within the heart of the Trinity and then offering that love to others in our relationships.
The word “love” unpacks into a lot of other words: truth, repentance, forgiveness, mercy, charity, courage, justice. These are action words because in accepting Jesus Christ, the gospel says we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free (Jn. 8:32) -- not comfortable; not respected; but FREE in the real sense of the word: able to see and DO what’s right. This freedom is meant to be used in the service of others. Actively witnessing to, and advancing what we (Catholics) believe to be true about key moral issues in public life is not coercion. It’s honesty. It’s also a duty -- of faith, and of citizenship.
The church engages the world in two ways: through the life of each individual believer and through the common action of believers working together. Every Catholic life, and every choice in every life, MATTERS! Baptism does not simply wash away sin. It also incorporates the baptized person into a new life; and part of that new life is a mandate to act; to be God’s agent in the world. Everybody shares the basic mission: bringing Jesus Christ to the world, and the world to Jesus Christ. We can’t uncouple what we “do,” from what we claim to “believe.” How we act works backwards on our convictions, making them stronger, or smothering them under a snowfall of alibis.
May God’s grace enable us to love the truth (Jesus Christ) strong, well, and with much love.
Love and Prayers,
Dr. Jack Buchner
Director of Religious Education
Religion and Politics
The “God question” is part of everyone’s life, and the public life. We simply can’t avoid it. Does God exist or not? If we REALLY believe God exists, that belief will inevitably color our personal and public behavior: our actions, our choices, our decisions.
What we believe about God shapes what we believe about men and women. And what we believe about men and women shapes how we act -- socially, politically, and economically. Jesus tells us in John 15 that if we stay united with the vine, we will bear much fruit; apart from Jesus the vine, we wither and die. Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson wrote as early as 1995, that for all of our American development in medicine, science and technology, we, as Americans, are neither whole nor happy. Technology has made U.S. workers more competitive. It has also deepened worker stress by overloading employees with information. It has lead to longer workdays and heavier demands for productivity. We now spend up to $ 44 billion dollars each year treating depression. Too, our consumer economy turns appetites into needs. Nobody makes us pile up credit card debt but millions of Americans do exactly that. Further, over the past couple decades, our civic vocabulary has coarsened. An overfed understanding of our personal rights and individual freedom has squeezed out responsibility and decorum we owe each other. We’ve moved off and away from the vine of our lives.
The Catholic mission in the world comes from the nature of God Himself. Catholics believe in one God. But He is a God in three Persons, sharing one nature. This belief is central to Catholic life. For Catholics, God is a living community of love -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- and in creating us, God intends us to take part in that community of mutual giving. All of Catholic life comes down to sharing in the exchange of love within the heart of the Trinity and then offering that love to others in our relationships.
The word “love” unpacks into a lot of other words: truth, repentance, forgiveness, mercy, charity, courage, justice. These are action words because in accepting Jesus Christ, the gospel says we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free (Jn. 8:32) -- not comfortable; not respected; but FREE in the real sense of the word: able to see and DO what’s right. This freedom is meant to be used in the service of others. Actively witnessing to, and advancing what we (Catholics) believe to be true about key moral issues in public life is not coercion. It’s honesty. It’s also a duty -- of faith, and of citizenship.
The church engages the world in two ways: through the life of each individual believer and through the common action of believers working together. Every Catholic life, and every choice in every life, MATTERS! Baptism does not simply wash away sin. It also incorporates the baptized person into a new life; and part of that new life is a mandate to act; to be God’s agent in the world. Everybody shares the basic mission: bringing Jesus Christ to the world, and the world to Jesus Christ. We can’t uncouple what we “do,” from what we claim to “believe.” How we act works backwards on our convictions, making them stronger, or smothering them under a snowfall of alibis.
May God’s grace enable us to love the truth (Jesus Christ) strong, well, and with much love.
Love and Prayers,
Dr. Jack Buchner
Director of Religious Education
Weekly HOMILY for May 9, 2010: Peace Versur Peaceful Coexistence: What's the Difference?
6th Sunday of Easter, Cycle C / Mother’s Day
Our Lady of Grace
May 9, 2010
Peace Versus Peaceful Coexistence: What’s the Difference?
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Making Peace
Two boys in your second grade are fighting. It’s gotten ugly and they are really slugging it out
Your homeroom teacher breaks up the fight by physically separating the two of you.
They stand there with angry looks on their faces as the teacher makes them shake hands.
Is that peace?
Two girls are calling each other names. Bad names
The Lacrosse coach quiets them down
As things begin to settle, the coach tells them both to apologize. Through glaring eyes and tight lips, they do
Is that peace?
Well, it looks like peace from the outside, but is it peace in their hearts?
I don’t think so for there remains a level of strong feelings within both the boys and the girls, strong feelings of anger, resentment.
You know it’s going to last a long, long time
You see, the peaceful efforts of the teacher and the coach were not enough to move hearts
Moving Hearts
In today’s Gospel Jesus is talking about peace, when he says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”
So how is Jesus’ peace different from the peace that the well-intentioned teacher and coach were trying to give?
For the answer to that we need to hear the opening lines of the Gospel again: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love them.”
Listen to what follows: “And we will come to them and make our dwelling with them.”
A very different kind of peace indeed! It’s not peace imposed from without. It’s not a peace that begins by demanding that we shake hands or apologize
No, it’s a peace that comes from God himself and is planted within the person having the conflict.
And it has been planted in there by hearing the Word of God and letting that Word take root in our hearts.
It’s really an indwelling power and energy.
Energy Boosters
Let’s talk about energy boosters, things we eat or drink that offer us a special boost.
Take this for example. It’s called 01 Prime Pre-Game Fuel by Gatoraid. It contains (read from label) “A concentrated blend of carbohydrates, B vitamins and electrolytes, delivering energy and helping to sustain your bodies ability to burn additional carbohydrates when taken 15 minutes before competition. 01 Prime helps your preparation pay off.”
My point is that the liquid promises to make an interior difference that will make winning possible.
Now I’d like to suggest that we have two other “energy boosters,” boosters that will give us real power to achieve peace and to achieve it from within our hearts. The first is this (show host) and the second is this (show Chalice.)
And if we read the label from Sacred Scripture about the host, we read from Jesus’ own lips “This is my body broken so your sins will be forgiven.”
And from the label of Sacred Scripture, about the chalice we read, “This is my blood poured out for love of you.”
And his promise? That, he and the Father “will come to you and make our dwelling with you.”
Responding to Energy Booster of Word and Eucharist
That is why when the Minister of Communion says, “The Body of Christ” We say? “Amen!” and eat this energy booster.
And when the Minister says, “The Blood of Christ” We say? “Amen.” Exactly! And drink this energy booster.
Conclusion
Boys and girls, you have prepared all year to receive Jesus the Lord. You have come this morning/afternoon to accept his offer to make a difference in your life.
We know that real peace cannot be imposed on us by a teacher or coach, a parent or a priest. It must come from within us.
It will take a real energy booster. It will take the life of Jesus coursing through our minds and hearts.
And it gets in by feeding on Jesus’ Flesh and Blood.
That’s the energy booster we have in this glorious Sacrament.
Our Lady of Grace
May 9, 2010
Peace Versus Peaceful Coexistence: What’s the Difference?
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Making Peace
Two boys in your second grade are fighting. It’s gotten ugly and they are really slugging it out
Your homeroom teacher breaks up the fight by physically separating the two of you.
They stand there with angry looks on their faces as the teacher makes them shake hands.
Is that peace?
Two girls are calling each other names. Bad names
The Lacrosse coach quiets them down
As things begin to settle, the coach tells them both to apologize. Through glaring eyes and tight lips, they do
Is that peace?
Well, it looks like peace from the outside, but is it peace in their hearts?
I don’t think so for there remains a level of strong feelings within both the boys and the girls, strong feelings of anger, resentment.
You know it’s going to last a long, long time
You see, the peaceful efforts of the teacher and the coach were not enough to move hearts
Moving Hearts
In today’s Gospel Jesus is talking about peace, when he says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”
So how is Jesus’ peace different from the peace that the well-intentioned teacher and coach were trying to give?
For the answer to that we need to hear the opening lines of the Gospel again: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love them.”
Listen to what follows: “And we will come to them and make our dwelling with them.”
A very different kind of peace indeed! It’s not peace imposed from without. It’s not a peace that begins by demanding that we shake hands or apologize
No, it’s a peace that comes from God himself and is planted within the person having the conflict.
And it has been planted in there by hearing the Word of God and letting that Word take root in our hearts.
It’s really an indwelling power and energy.
Energy Boosters
Let’s talk about energy boosters, things we eat or drink that offer us a special boost.
Take this for example. It’s called 01 Prime Pre-Game Fuel by Gatoraid. It contains (read from label) “A concentrated blend of carbohydrates, B vitamins and electrolytes, delivering energy and helping to sustain your bodies ability to burn additional carbohydrates when taken 15 minutes before competition. 01 Prime helps your preparation pay off.”
My point is that the liquid promises to make an interior difference that will make winning possible.
Now I’d like to suggest that we have two other “energy boosters,” boosters that will give us real power to achieve peace and to achieve it from within our hearts. The first is this (show host) and the second is this (show Chalice.)
And if we read the label from Sacred Scripture about the host, we read from Jesus’ own lips “This is my body broken so your sins will be forgiven.”
And from the label of Sacred Scripture, about the chalice we read, “This is my blood poured out for love of you.”
And his promise? That, he and the Father “will come to you and make our dwelling with you.”
Responding to Energy Booster of Word and Eucharist
That is why when the Minister of Communion says, “The Body of Christ” We say? “Amen!” and eat this energy booster.
And when the Minister says, “The Blood of Christ” We say? “Amen.” Exactly! And drink this energy booster.
Conclusion
Boys and girls, you have prepared all year to receive Jesus the Lord. You have come this morning/afternoon to accept his offer to make a difference in your life.
We know that real peace cannot be imposed on us by a teacher or coach, a parent or a priest. It must come from within us.
It will take a real energy booster. It will take the life of Jesus coursing through our minds and hearts.
And it gets in by feeding on Jesus’ Flesh and Blood.
That’s the energy booster we have in this glorious Sacrament.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for May 2, 2010: A Shifting in Responsibilities Beginning July 1, 2010
This and That:
A Shifting in Responsibilities Beginning July 1, 2010
Last fall we were pleased to welcome Dr. Jack Buchner and Rick Gonzales to our Pastoral Team. Jack began as our Director of Religious Education and Rick as our Facilities Person. As a way of not increasing staff yet reshuffling responsibilities, we were trying to take some of the burden of responsibilities off of Elaine Hagner as Parish Administrator and Sr. Mary Therese as Pastoral Associate. That goal has generally been achieved.
Fiscal Year 2011 will see my own leaving Our Lady of Grace and the appointment of a new Pastor, effective July 1, 2010. The new Fiscal Year will see all our present staff remaining as well as a further “shifting of responsibilities” without an “overall staff increase.” Rick will continue to assume some of Elaine’s responsibilities and Jack, Sister’s. In addition to these shifts, Jack will become full-time, leaving Sister Mary Therese more able to pursue other ministries she has been considering. Sister will be present all day Fridays and continue to oversee Liturgy at the weekend Masses. Another full day will be spent given her need to be present on campus for programs and pastoral administration. It is Sister’s desire to begin full-time in her new ministries in July 2011. By that time, the new Pastor will have been here a full year and Elaine Hagner will have assumed Sister’s responsibilities in Pastoral Administration and Jack Buchner will have assumed her programmatic responsibilities.
To sum up then, July 1, 2010 Jack becomes full-time Pastoral Associate for Faith Formation and Sister Mary Therese moves to half-time as Pastoral Associate for Pastoral Administration. July 1, 2011 Sister leaves Our Lady of Grace after 15 years of wonderful service to our Parish Family. The responsibilities for Rick, Elaine, Jack, and Sister for July 1, 2010 are summarized in what follows.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
Staffing Patterns for FY 2011
Rick Gonzales
➢ Maintenance
➢ Quarterly Water Analysis
➢ Annual Water Treatment
➢ Food Services
➢ AOB Risk Management Inspections
➢ Yearly Fire Inspections
➢ Oversee All Construction
➢ 24 hour/365 Day Contact for Monitoring System
Elaine Hagner
➢ HVAC Programming
➢ Prepare and Oversee Parish Budget
➢ Monthly Ministry Budgets
➢ Sign OLGS Payroll
➢ Sign Parish Payroll and Accounts Payable Checks
➢ Approve Check Requests
➢ Maintain and Execute Monthly EFT Transactions
➢ Oversee and Train Collection Teams
➢ Oversee Weekly Posting of Collections
➢ Generate Annual Tax Information for Parishioners
➢ Oversee Archbishop’s Annual Appeal (AAA)
➢ Oversee Preparation and Mailings of AAA Materials
➢ Staffing of Pastor
➢ Oversee Mass Head Count
➢ On-Site Contact for Outreach
➢ Oversee Martha and Mary Ministry
➢ Oversee Environment Committee
➢ Parish Purchases
➢ Attends Development and Facilities Cte Mtgs.
➢ STAND Coordinator for the Parish
➢ Assigns Meeting Locations
Jack Buchner
➢ Religious Education
➢ Confirmation Preparation
➢ Reconciliation Preparation
➢ Eucharist Preparation
➢ Catechist Formation
➢ RCIA
➢ Evangelization Committee and Programs
➢ Adult Faith Formation: Catholic Update, This and That, and Lenten Family Fridays
➢ Funeral – Assistance
Sister Mary Therese
➢ Liturgy: Committee, AA & WC, Clergy Sched, Mass supervision, School Liturgies
➢ Pastoral Care of the Sick: Visits and Training of Pastoral Care Ministers
➢ Funerals – Assistance
➢ Welcome Orientations
➢ Website – Oversight
➢ Lenten Family Fridays – Coordination & Presentation
➢ Pastoral Team Agendas
➢ Volunteer Appreciation Weekend
A Shifting in Responsibilities Beginning July 1, 2010
Last fall we were pleased to welcome Dr. Jack Buchner and Rick Gonzales to our Pastoral Team. Jack began as our Director of Religious Education and Rick as our Facilities Person. As a way of not increasing staff yet reshuffling responsibilities, we were trying to take some of the burden of responsibilities off of Elaine Hagner as Parish Administrator and Sr. Mary Therese as Pastoral Associate. That goal has generally been achieved.
Fiscal Year 2011 will see my own leaving Our Lady of Grace and the appointment of a new Pastor, effective July 1, 2010. The new Fiscal Year will see all our present staff remaining as well as a further “shifting of responsibilities” without an “overall staff increase.” Rick will continue to assume some of Elaine’s responsibilities and Jack, Sister’s. In addition to these shifts, Jack will become full-time, leaving Sister Mary Therese more able to pursue other ministries she has been considering. Sister will be present all day Fridays and continue to oversee Liturgy at the weekend Masses. Another full day will be spent given her need to be present on campus for programs and pastoral administration. It is Sister’s desire to begin full-time in her new ministries in July 2011. By that time, the new Pastor will have been here a full year and Elaine Hagner will have assumed Sister’s responsibilities in Pastoral Administration and Jack Buchner will have assumed her programmatic responsibilities.
To sum up then, July 1, 2010 Jack becomes full-time Pastoral Associate for Faith Formation and Sister Mary Therese moves to half-time as Pastoral Associate for Pastoral Administration. July 1, 2011 Sister leaves Our Lady of Grace after 15 years of wonderful service to our Parish Family. The responsibilities for Rick, Elaine, Jack, and Sister for July 1, 2010 are summarized in what follows.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
Staffing Patterns for FY 2011
Rick Gonzales
➢ Maintenance
➢ Quarterly Water Analysis
➢ Annual Water Treatment
➢ Food Services
➢ AOB Risk Management Inspections
➢ Yearly Fire Inspections
➢ Oversee All Construction
➢ 24 hour/365 Day Contact for Monitoring System
Elaine Hagner
➢ HVAC Programming
➢ Prepare and Oversee Parish Budget
➢ Monthly Ministry Budgets
➢ Sign OLGS Payroll
➢ Sign Parish Payroll and Accounts Payable Checks
➢ Approve Check Requests
➢ Maintain and Execute Monthly EFT Transactions
➢ Oversee and Train Collection Teams
➢ Oversee Weekly Posting of Collections
➢ Generate Annual Tax Information for Parishioners
➢ Oversee Archbishop’s Annual Appeal (AAA)
➢ Oversee Preparation and Mailings of AAA Materials
➢ Staffing of Pastor
➢ Oversee Mass Head Count
➢ On-Site Contact for Outreach
➢ Oversee Martha and Mary Ministry
➢ Oversee Environment Committee
➢ Parish Purchases
➢ Attends Development and Facilities Cte Mtgs.
➢ STAND Coordinator for the Parish
➢ Assigns Meeting Locations
Jack Buchner
➢ Religious Education
➢ Confirmation Preparation
➢ Reconciliation Preparation
➢ Eucharist Preparation
➢ Catechist Formation
➢ RCIA
➢ Evangelization Committee and Programs
➢ Adult Faith Formation: Catholic Update, This and That, and Lenten Family Fridays
➢ Funeral – Assistance
Sister Mary Therese
➢ Liturgy: Committee, AA & WC, Clergy Sched, Mass supervision, School Liturgies
➢ Pastoral Care of the Sick: Visits and Training of Pastoral Care Ministers
➢ Funerals – Assistance
➢ Welcome Orientations
➢ Website – Oversight
➢ Lenten Family Fridays – Coordination & Presentation
➢ Pastoral Team Agendas
➢ Volunteer Appreciation Weekend
Weekly HOMILY for May 2, 2010: 3 Steps in Loving As We Have Been Loved
5th Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
May 2, 2010
3 Steps in Loving As We Have Been Loved
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Heifer Project
This past Christmas, I received three very special gifts from three different friends.
The first gift was a sheep. No, it didn’t come by UPS or FedEx. The second was a flock of baby chicks and again, the pen didn’t show up on my doorstep. The third was a goat and no, I didn’t find it on my front lawn munching grass.
What each of these folks did was to donate the sheep, chicks and goat to a very poor family in Uganda. They gave the animals in my name and did this as part of what is called the Heifer Project.
The Heifer Project is a not-for-profit organization aimed at helping very poor families in Third World countries and in rural America. The plan is to give a specific animal or animals to a specific family.
The animal might be a water buffalo, a hive of honeybees, a sheep, a goat, a heifer, a flock of geese or ducks, a trio of rabbits, and on it goes. The family is taught how to care for the animal and then the animal becomes a source of income for that family.
For example, the family might sell the eggs from the chickens or the wool from the sheep.
In some Third World countries, this money enables the parents to send their children to school, since they do not have free public education as we do.
“By Your Love For One Another…”
The Heifer Project helps to break open Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel.
Jesus says, “Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for one another. This is how people will know you as my disciples: by your love for one another.”
The Heifer Project is a very clear example of living out Jesus’ words.
I see three traits, or maybe we would call them steps, that are part of our loving others as Jesus has loved us.
Step 1: Looking Beyond Myself
First, we need to look beyond ourselves.
I need to look beyond just what I need or what I want or what is in my best interest. We need to look at the needs and wellbeing of others.
This is exactly what God does for us when he sends his Son to the earth for our salvation. It is what Jesus does for us in the Eucharist in giving himself to us.
This is what we also are to do, in something like the Heifer project, and definitely with those who are part of our everyday lives, like our parents or spouse or children or best friend.
Looking beyond ourselves to the needs of others is Step 1 in loving as Jesus has loved.
Step 2: Feeling Compassion
Then, Step 2 is to allow the needs of others to touch our hearts.
This means that we feel compassion for others. It means that we feel concern and care and want to ease the burden of others.
Jesus repeatedly feels compassion – for the hungry, the sick, the grieving, and the rejected. He shows his compassion for us in the Eucharist – by actually remaining with us in this way.
And again, we are to feel compassion for those struggling just to survive in Third World countries or for the co-worker who has just lost her spouse or the neighbor who’s lost his job.
Allowing the needs of others to touch our hearts is Step 2 in loving as Jesus has loved.
Step 3: Committing Something
Finally, Step 3 is to do something – that is, to commit something of ourselves to assist others.
We might donate some of our money or give some of our time. The point is that we actually do something positive and concrete here-and-now.
Jesus repeatedly does this – making time to listen or changing his plans to go and heal someone.
At the Last supper he literally gives us himself in the form of bread and wine to nourish and strengthen us.
We can do this by giving a sheep to a Third World family or by baking a casserole for Our Daily Bread. Committing something of ourselves to assist others is Step 3 in loving as Jesus has loved.
Conclusion
We end as we began. Jesus says, “such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for one another.”
(1) Looking beyond ourselves to the needs of others
(2) Allowing their needs to touch our hearts, and
(3) Committing something of ourselves to help…
this is loving as Jesus has loved.
And as Jesus says, “This is how people will know you are my disciples: by your love for one another.”
What do our actions or lack of them tell others about our belief in the Lord?
Our Lady of Grace
May 2, 2010
3 Steps in Loving As We Have Been Loved
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Heifer Project
This past Christmas, I received three very special gifts from three different friends.
The first gift was a sheep. No, it didn’t come by UPS or FedEx. The second was a flock of baby chicks and again, the pen didn’t show up on my doorstep. The third was a goat and no, I didn’t find it on my front lawn munching grass.
What each of these folks did was to donate the sheep, chicks and goat to a very poor family in Uganda. They gave the animals in my name and did this as part of what is called the Heifer Project.
The Heifer Project is a not-for-profit organization aimed at helping very poor families in Third World countries and in rural America. The plan is to give a specific animal or animals to a specific family.
The animal might be a water buffalo, a hive of honeybees, a sheep, a goat, a heifer, a flock of geese or ducks, a trio of rabbits, and on it goes. The family is taught how to care for the animal and then the animal becomes a source of income for that family.
For example, the family might sell the eggs from the chickens or the wool from the sheep.
In some Third World countries, this money enables the parents to send their children to school, since they do not have free public education as we do.
“By Your Love For One Another…”
The Heifer Project helps to break open Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel.
Jesus says, “Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for one another. This is how people will know you as my disciples: by your love for one another.”
The Heifer Project is a very clear example of living out Jesus’ words.
I see three traits, or maybe we would call them steps, that are part of our loving others as Jesus has loved us.
Step 1: Looking Beyond Myself
First, we need to look beyond ourselves.
I need to look beyond just what I need or what I want or what is in my best interest. We need to look at the needs and wellbeing of others.
This is exactly what God does for us when he sends his Son to the earth for our salvation. It is what Jesus does for us in the Eucharist in giving himself to us.
This is what we also are to do, in something like the Heifer project, and definitely with those who are part of our everyday lives, like our parents or spouse or children or best friend.
Looking beyond ourselves to the needs of others is Step 1 in loving as Jesus has loved.
Step 2: Feeling Compassion
Then, Step 2 is to allow the needs of others to touch our hearts.
This means that we feel compassion for others. It means that we feel concern and care and want to ease the burden of others.
Jesus repeatedly feels compassion – for the hungry, the sick, the grieving, and the rejected. He shows his compassion for us in the Eucharist – by actually remaining with us in this way.
And again, we are to feel compassion for those struggling just to survive in Third World countries or for the co-worker who has just lost her spouse or the neighbor who’s lost his job.
Allowing the needs of others to touch our hearts is Step 2 in loving as Jesus has loved.
Step 3: Committing Something
Finally, Step 3 is to do something – that is, to commit something of ourselves to assist others.
We might donate some of our money or give some of our time. The point is that we actually do something positive and concrete here-and-now.
Jesus repeatedly does this – making time to listen or changing his plans to go and heal someone.
At the Last supper he literally gives us himself in the form of bread and wine to nourish and strengthen us.
We can do this by giving a sheep to a Third World family or by baking a casserole for Our Daily Bread. Committing something of ourselves to assist others is Step 3 in loving as Jesus has loved.
Conclusion
We end as we began. Jesus says, “such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for one another.”
(1) Looking beyond ourselves to the needs of others
(2) Allowing their needs to touch our hearts, and
(3) Committing something of ourselves to help…
this is loving as Jesus has loved.
And as Jesus says, “This is how people will know you are my disciples: by your love for one another.”
What do our actions or lack of them tell others about our belief in the Lord?
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for April 25, 2010: A Seven-Week Anniversary Party.doc
A Seven-Week Anniversary Party!
As we gathered in church for the Easter Vigil, there was an energy of anticipation, as we prepared to baptize one adult and to receive eight others into full communion with the Catholic Church. Many of the folks who came to celebrate the Vigil had been received into the church in previous years and for them, it was an anniversary.
The reality is that for all of us who are baptized, Easter is an anniversary of our initiation into the church and this celebration goes on for seven weeks.
It is no coincidence that we celebrate all of the Sacraments of Initiation during the Easter Season – Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. The first Christians celebrated these sacraments as one continuous ritual at the Easter Vigil, and the other members of the Christian community were very excited about the new members, because it renewed their own faith. Now, for adults who are initiated into the church, these sacraments are celebrated all together in one liturgy, as they were in the early church. For children, the initiation is gradual, with Baptism usually celebrated as infants, Eucharist celebrated around second grade and Confirmation celebrated in their teen years.
Every Sunday during the Easter Season, we renew our baptismal promises and we are sprinkled with baptismal water. Most of us do not remember being baptized as infants, yet we have this wonderful opportunity each year to renew the commitment that was made for us by our parents and godparents. As we respond “I do” to the questions, “Do you believe in God the Father…in Jesus Christ…in the Holy Spirit and the Church?”, we are invited to reflect upon how our faith has become our own during the course of our lives. We have internalized the reality of belonging to Christ as children of God and members of the Church.
If we are present at the celebration of Confirmation, we are invited to reflect upon our own Confirmation, in which we were commissioned to live the mission of Christ in our own lives, by the power of his Spirit. As Baptism draws us into belonging to the Church, Confirmation sends us out to live as followers of Jesus Christ in all of our relationships and actions. We might reflect upon how the Holy Spirit guides our decisions, actions and interactions on a daily basis. We need to call upon the power of the Spirit to enliven all that we do.
If we are present at the celebration of First Eucharist, we are invited to reflect upon this tremendous gift, through which Jesus gives himself to us, to sustain us in living as his followers. It’s not enough to look at the young children receiving Communion and admire their innocence. We are called to look at how we have grown in our relationship with Christ through receiving the Eucharist during all the years since our own First Communion.
So if you find yourself at a liturgy where a Baptism, Confirmation or First Eucharist is being celebrated, let it be an opportunity to deepen and rejoice in your own relationship with the Lord Jesus and his church. And every Sunday during the Easter Season, say “I do” to the Baptismal promises with conviction and welcome the sprinkling with holy water as a renewal of your Baptism. It’s our way of saying “happy anniversary” to each other as members of the Body of Christ!
Blessings,
Sister Mary Therese
As we gathered in church for the Easter Vigil, there was an energy of anticipation, as we prepared to baptize one adult and to receive eight others into full communion with the Catholic Church. Many of the folks who came to celebrate the Vigil had been received into the church in previous years and for them, it was an anniversary.
The reality is that for all of us who are baptized, Easter is an anniversary of our initiation into the church and this celebration goes on for seven weeks.
It is no coincidence that we celebrate all of the Sacraments of Initiation during the Easter Season – Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. The first Christians celebrated these sacraments as one continuous ritual at the Easter Vigil, and the other members of the Christian community were very excited about the new members, because it renewed their own faith. Now, for adults who are initiated into the church, these sacraments are celebrated all together in one liturgy, as they were in the early church. For children, the initiation is gradual, with Baptism usually celebrated as infants, Eucharist celebrated around second grade and Confirmation celebrated in their teen years.
Every Sunday during the Easter Season, we renew our baptismal promises and we are sprinkled with baptismal water. Most of us do not remember being baptized as infants, yet we have this wonderful opportunity each year to renew the commitment that was made for us by our parents and godparents. As we respond “I do” to the questions, “Do you believe in God the Father…in Jesus Christ…in the Holy Spirit and the Church?”, we are invited to reflect upon how our faith has become our own during the course of our lives. We have internalized the reality of belonging to Christ as children of God and members of the Church.
If we are present at the celebration of Confirmation, we are invited to reflect upon our own Confirmation, in which we were commissioned to live the mission of Christ in our own lives, by the power of his Spirit. As Baptism draws us into belonging to the Church, Confirmation sends us out to live as followers of Jesus Christ in all of our relationships and actions. We might reflect upon how the Holy Spirit guides our decisions, actions and interactions on a daily basis. We need to call upon the power of the Spirit to enliven all that we do.
If we are present at the celebration of First Eucharist, we are invited to reflect upon this tremendous gift, through which Jesus gives himself to us, to sustain us in living as his followers. It’s not enough to look at the young children receiving Communion and admire their innocence. We are called to look at how we have grown in our relationship with Christ through receiving the Eucharist during all the years since our own First Communion.
So if you find yourself at a liturgy where a Baptism, Confirmation or First Eucharist is being celebrated, let it be an opportunity to deepen and rejoice in your own relationship with the Lord Jesus and his church. And every Sunday during the Easter Season, say “I do” to the Baptismal promises with conviction and welcome the sprinkling with holy water as a renewal of your Baptism. It’s our way of saying “happy anniversary” to each other as members of the Body of Christ!
Blessings,
Sister Mary Therese
Weekly HOMILY for April 25, 2010: Deacon Preaching Weekend
Deacon Chris Ballard preached at Father Nicholas' Masses this weekend.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for April 18, 2010: Who's Saved, Who's Not?
This and That:
Salvation: Who’s Saved, Who’s Not?
To Be One in Christ
It’s like the pain of an aching tooth that won’t go away. Try as you might to explain it, the question continues to arise: “Father, do you have to be Catholic to be saved?” Of course there are other religious denominations that share the same Scriptures with us yet claim that Catholics cannot be saved. Where does one turn to get their bearing on this important question? The Second Vatican Council might be a noteworthy source.
Let us look at “The Apostolic Constitution on the Church” (Gaudium et Spes, Chapter II, Para. 13-17), the most important document produced at Vatican II. The Council Fathers state that all men and women of the world are called to be one in Christ in the unity of his Spirit and to live in peace. In different ways, to it belong or are related the following: The Catholic Faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all in the human family, called by God’s grace to salvation.
Just listen to the Council Fathers spell out to whom salvation is offered. You may be in store for some surprises.
The Catholic Faithful
First, salvation is offered to the Catholic Faithful. For Catholics, the Church is necessary for salvation. The one Christ is the mediator and for Catholics he is present to us in his body, which is the Church. Jesus explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism for salvation, so anyone knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God cannot be saved, if they refused to enter it or to remain in it. Conversely, Catholics who in good conscience leave the Church to find Christ in another Christian group can be saved. My dear mother who never graduated high school, upon learning that someone we know had left that Catholic Church, used to say, “Better he be a good Baptist than a poor Catholic.” Nor is salvation an automatic guarantee for those who are in the Church. They must persevere in charity in order to be saved.
Other Christians
Next, the Church is joined to other Christians who do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not remained in unity under the successor of St. Peter. The Council declares: “These Christians are indeed in some real way joined to us in the Holy Spirit; but his gifts and graces, his sanctifying power is also active in them…” The Spirit stirs up actions in all Christians to be peaceably united in one flock with one Shepherd.
Those Who Have Not Received the Gospel
Finally, even those who have not received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways. First, are people to whom the covenants and promises were made and from which Christ was born, namely the Jews and Muslims. The Council states: “the plan of salvation also includes… Moslems: these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God…”
Nor is God remote from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, since the Savior wills all men and women to be saved. (Tim 2:3) Those who do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, may also achieve eternal salvation. It seems no one is left out when the Council declares: “Nor shall divine providence deny the assistance necessary for salvation to those who…have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and who … strive to lead a good life.”
Conclusion
The net that Jesus casts seems broader and more inclusive than our comfort might allow.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
Salvation: Who’s Saved, Who’s Not?
To Be One in Christ
It’s like the pain of an aching tooth that won’t go away. Try as you might to explain it, the question continues to arise: “Father, do you have to be Catholic to be saved?” Of course there are other religious denominations that share the same Scriptures with us yet claim that Catholics cannot be saved. Where does one turn to get their bearing on this important question? The Second Vatican Council might be a noteworthy source.
Let us look at “The Apostolic Constitution on the Church” (Gaudium et Spes, Chapter II, Para. 13-17), the most important document produced at Vatican II. The Council Fathers state that all men and women of the world are called to be one in Christ in the unity of his Spirit and to live in peace. In different ways, to it belong or are related the following: The Catholic Faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all in the human family, called by God’s grace to salvation.
Just listen to the Council Fathers spell out to whom salvation is offered. You may be in store for some surprises.
The Catholic Faithful
First, salvation is offered to the Catholic Faithful. For Catholics, the Church is necessary for salvation. The one Christ is the mediator and for Catholics he is present to us in his body, which is the Church. Jesus explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism for salvation, so anyone knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God cannot be saved, if they refused to enter it or to remain in it. Conversely, Catholics who in good conscience leave the Church to find Christ in another Christian group can be saved. My dear mother who never graduated high school, upon learning that someone we know had left that Catholic Church, used to say, “Better he be a good Baptist than a poor Catholic.” Nor is salvation an automatic guarantee for those who are in the Church. They must persevere in charity in order to be saved.
Other Christians
Next, the Church is joined to other Christians who do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not remained in unity under the successor of St. Peter. The Council declares: “These Christians are indeed in some real way joined to us in the Holy Spirit; but his gifts and graces, his sanctifying power is also active in them…” The Spirit stirs up actions in all Christians to be peaceably united in one flock with one Shepherd.
Those Who Have Not Received the Gospel
Finally, even those who have not received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways. First, are people to whom the covenants and promises were made and from which Christ was born, namely the Jews and Muslims. The Council states: “the plan of salvation also includes… Moslems: these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God…”
Nor is God remote from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, since the Savior wills all men and women to be saved. (Tim 2:3) Those who do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, may also achieve eternal salvation. It seems no one is left out when the Council declares: “Nor shall divine providence deny the assistance necessary for salvation to those who…have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and who … strive to lead a good life.”
Conclusion
The net that Jesus casts seems broader and more inclusive than our comfort might allow.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
Weekly HOMILY for April 18, 2010: Father Nicholas on "Easter Break"
Father Nicholas was away this weekend on "Easter Break."
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for April 11, 2010: Eucharist -- Our Easter Sacrament
This and That
Eucharist: Our Easter Sacrament
The word “Eucharist” means literally “thanksgiving.” Our parish First Com-munions will take place in a few weeks, so I thought I’d share some ideas about the Eucharist, and the Eucharistic life; a life which leads us not just to first communion parties, but to Mission.
A Eucharistic life is one lived in gratitude. The two disciples in the “Road to Emmaus” story (Lk. 24:13-35), shows us that gratitude is not an obvious attitude toward life. Gratitude needs to be discovered and to be lived with great inner attentiveness. Our losses, our experiences of rejection, and our many moments of disillusionment keep pulling us into anger, bitterness, and resentment. When we simply let the facts “speak,” there will always be enough facts to convince us that life, in the end, leads to nothing and that every attempt to beat that fate is only a sign of profound naïveté.
Jesus gives us the Eucharist to enable us to choose gratitude. It is a choice we, ourselves, have to make. Nobody can make it for us. But the Eucharist prompts us to cry out to God for mercy, to listen to the words of Jesus, to invite Him into our home, to enter into communion with Him, and to proclaim good news to the world; it opens the possibility of gradually letting go of our many resentments and choosing to be grateful. The Mass keeps inviting us to that attitude. In our daily lives we have countless opportunities to be grateful instead of resentful. So often we say: “Life isn’t fair. I have no choice but to be angry and to let my anger show.” However, there is always that “still, small voice” that asks us to have a completely new look at our lives, a look not from below, where we count our losses, but from above, where God offers us His glory.
Eucharist – thanksgiving – in the end, comes from above. It is to be received. Often. Weekly. It is freely offered, and asks to be freely received. This is where the choice is! We can let the stranger in the Road to Emmaus story continue his journey and so remain a stranger to us. But we can also invite Him into our inner lives, let Him touch every part of our being and then transform our resentments into gratitude. We don’t have to do this. In fact, most people don’t. But as often as we make that choice, everything, even the most trivial things, become new. Our little lives become great – part of the mysterious work of God’s salvation. Once that happens, nothing is accidental, casual, or futile any more. Even the most insignificant event speaks the language of faith, hope, and, above all, love. That is the Eucharistic life, the life in which everything becomes a way of saying “Thank You” to Him who joined us on the road of life.
Love and Prayers,
Jack
Eucharist: Our Easter Sacrament
The word “Eucharist” means literally “thanksgiving.” Our parish First Com-munions will take place in a few weeks, so I thought I’d share some ideas about the Eucharist, and the Eucharistic life; a life which leads us not just to first communion parties, but to Mission.
A Eucharistic life is one lived in gratitude. The two disciples in the “Road to Emmaus” story (Lk. 24:13-35), shows us that gratitude is not an obvious attitude toward life. Gratitude needs to be discovered and to be lived with great inner attentiveness. Our losses, our experiences of rejection, and our many moments of disillusionment keep pulling us into anger, bitterness, and resentment. When we simply let the facts “speak,” there will always be enough facts to convince us that life, in the end, leads to nothing and that every attempt to beat that fate is only a sign of profound naïveté.
Jesus gives us the Eucharist to enable us to choose gratitude. It is a choice we, ourselves, have to make. Nobody can make it for us. But the Eucharist prompts us to cry out to God for mercy, to listen to the words of Jesus, to invite Him into our home, to enter into communion with Him, and to proclaim good news to the world; it opens the possibility of gradually letting go of our many resentments and choosing to be grateful. The Mass keeps inviting us to that attitude. In our daily lives we have countless opportunities to be grateful instead of resentful. So often we say: “Life isn’t fair. I have no choice but to be angry and to let my anger show.” However, there is always that “still, small voice” that asks us to have a completely new look at our lives, a look not from below, where we count our losses, but from above, where God offers us His glory.
Eucharist – thanksgiving – in the end, comes from above. It is to be received. Often. Weekly. It is freely offered, and asks to be freely received. This is where the choice is! We can let the stranger in the Road to Emmaus story continue his journey and so remain a stranger to us. But we can also invite Him into our inner lives, let Him touch every part of our being and then transform our resentments into gratitude. We don’t have to do this. In fact, most people don’t. But as often as we make that choice, everything, even the most trivial things, become new. Our little lives become great – part of the mysterious work of God’s salvation. Once that happens, nothing is accidental, casual, or futile any more. Even the most insignificant event speaks the language of faith, hope, and, above all, love. That is the Eucharistic life, the life in which everything becomes a way of saying “Thank You” to Him who joined us on the road of life.
Love and Prayers,
Jack
Weekly HOMILY for April 11, 2010: Rediscovering Faith Today
2nd Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
April 11, 2010
Rediscovering Faith Today
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Seventh Seal
The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman
It’s about the journey of a medieval knight across a plague-ridden landscape, and a monumental game of chess between himself and the personification of Death, who has come to take his life
The conversation between the knight and death goes like this:
Knight:
Why does God hide himself?
Why doesn’t he reveal himself?
Why doesn’t God stretch out
his hand and touch us?
Why doesn’t he, at least,
say something to us?
Death:
But God doesn’t do this, does he?
He doesn’t reach out.
He doesn’t speak.
He just remains silent.
Knight:
Tha’t right!
He doesn’t do a thing.
He doesn’t touch us;
he doesn’t speak to us.
Sometimes I wonder
if he’s really out there.
Death:
Well, maybe he’s not there.
Maybe no one’s out there.
Maybe we’re here all alone.
Did you ever think about that?
All of us can relate to that conversation. There are times when we seem to be all alone in the world, times when we wonder if God is really out there. We long for some sign, some touch, some word to reassure us that he’s really there for us
Our Faith “Muscle”
Today I’d like to ask, “Is there any way we can become surer of what we believe? Is there anything we can do to make our faith in the God ‘out there’ stronger?”
I would suggest that there is and what we can do is very practical
We all know that if we don’t use a muscle, it begins to weaken. In fact, it becomes so weak that it will begin to atrophy or die
Something like that can happen to our faith. It too can atrophy or die from lack of use. Yes, unexercised for a while, one day you wake up and find your faith is gone. It can be quite disconcerting to say the least
Thomas’ Faith “Muscle”
You might say that’s what has happened to Thomas’ faith as we see in today’s Gospel
Note two important points about our story: Thomas (1) Was not present with the other disciples when Jesus first appeared and (2) He was not willing to accept their own testimony that Jesus had risen from the dead
These are two serious omissions on his part and they have a direct impact on the quality of his faith. Similarly, when we omit them, they also have an impact on the quality of our faith as well
It is reassuring to see that Jesus does not condemn him, but he does correct Thomas when he says, “Thomas, have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed”
In short, blessed are those who (1) Stay close to their faith community and (2) Believe on the testimony of other believers
Our Physical Muscles
This connection should not surprise us. After all, if we’re going to try to tone up our abs or biceps, if we’re resolved to loose weight, If we’re trying to improve our golf game, think for a moment of what two things would guarantee your success?
What would be essential is (1) Hanging with others who espouse the same values – that is, being part of a select community like an athletic club or having a trainer or buddy with you in the effort – and (2) Listening to and trusting the word of those who have been successful – that is, putting our faith in others’ testimony
In the end, the resulting strength and vigor that we receive is not even our doing. What we’ve done is open ourselves up to the laws of biology and nature and cleared the way for God to give the increase, naturally.
But note, It’s our being open to living in community, being open to trust their testimony, and then to risk, take the plunge, if you will
In the area of faith development an environment of community, testimony and taking the plunge to believe opens the floodgates of grace to transformation.
Conclusion
Today on this feast of empowerment I ask you, “What shape is your faith in?”
What do you need to do to make it a living vibrant faith? (Pause)
Here’s the community of faith (point to assembly), here’s (point to ambo) the testimony of witnesses
All that’s lacking is for you and me to trust and take the plunge and believe that Jesus is here for me, on this day, in this moment
It will make all the difference in the world!
Our Lady of Grace
April 11, 2010
Rediscovering Faith Today
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Seventh Seal
The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman
It’s about the journey of a medieval knight across a plague-ridden landscape, and a monumental game of chess between himself and the personification of Death, who has come to take his life
The conversation between the knight and death goes like this:
Knight:
Why does God hide himself?
Why doesn’t he reveal himself?
Why doesn’t God stretch out
his hand and touch us?
Why doesn’t he, at least,
say something to us?
Death:
But God doesn’t do this, does he?
He doesn’t reach out.
He doesn’t speak.
He just remains silent.
Knight:
Tha’t right!
He doesn’t do a thing.
He doesn’t touch us;
he doesn’t speak to us.
Sometimes I wonder
if he’s really out there.
Death:
Well, maybe he’s not there.
Maybe no one’s out there.
Maybe we’re here all alone.
Did you ever think about that?
All of us can relate to that conversation. There are times when we seem to be all alone in the world, times when we wonder if God is really out there. We long for some sign, some touch, some word to reassure us that he’s really there for us
Our Faith “Muscle”
Today I’d like to ask, “Is there any way we can become surer of what we believe? Is there anything we can do to make our faith in the God ‘out there’ stronger?”
I would suggest that there is and what we can do is very practical
We all know that if we don’t use a muscle, it begins to weaken. In fact, it becomes so weak that it will begin to atrophy or die
Something like that can happen to our faith. It too can atrophy or die from lack of use. Yes, unexercised for a while, one day you wake up and find your faith is gone. It can be quite disconcerting to say the least
Thomas’ Faith “Muscle”
You might say that’s what has happened to Thomas’ faith as we see in today’s Gospel
Note two important points about our story: Thomas (1) Was not present with the other disciples when Jesus first appeared and (2) He was not willing to accept their own testimony that Jesus had risen from the dead
These are two serious omissions on his part and they have a direct impact on the quality of his faith. Similarly, when we omit them, they also have an impact on the quality of our faith as well
It is reassuring to see that Jesus does not condemn him, but he does correct Thomas when he says, “Thomas, have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed”
In short, blessed are those who (1) Stay close to their faith community and (2) Believe on the testimony of other believers
Our Physical Muscles
This connection should not surprise us. After all, if we’re going to try to tone up our abs or biceps, if we’re resolved to loose weight, If we’re trying to improve our golf game, think for a moment of what two things would guarantee your success?
What would be essential is (1) Hanging with others who espouse the same values – that is, being part of a select community like an athletic club or having a trainer or buddy with you in the effort – and (2) Listening to and trusting the word of those who have been successful – that is, putting our faith in others’ testimony
In the end, the resulting strength and vigor that we receive is not even our doing. What we’ve done is open ourselves up to the laws of biology and nature and cleared the way for God to give the increase, naturally.
But note, It’s our being open to living in community, being open to trust their testimony, and then to risk, take the plunge, if you will
In the area of faith development an environment of community, testimony and taking the plunge to believe opens the floodgates of grace to transformation.
Conclusion
Today on this feast of empowerment I ask you, “What shape is your faith in?”
What do you need to do to make it a living vibrant faith? (Pause)
Here’s the community of faith (point to assembly), here’s (point to ambo) the testimony of witnesses
All that’s lacking is for you and me to trust and take the plunge and believe that Jesus is here for me, on this day, in this moment
It will make all the difference in the world!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for April 4, 2010: Easter Sunday -- What's all this fuss about Resurrection!
This and That:
What’s all this fuss about Resurrection!
Resurrection
What is resurrection – not as some distant belief, but as a here-and-now experience for us? Because we fail to experience it, it tends to remain to some degree beyond our understanding. It is for this reason the Church helps us shed a little light on it by expressing this very mysterious event in the language of symbols. And just as a poem, painting, or piece of music helps us know experientially the author’s suffering, pain, or ecstasy, so also three symbols of Easter can speak to our hearts and touch our souls in a very personal way.
The Symbol of Light
Take the powerful symbol of light from which life seems to spring. Through light chaos can be transformed into ordered calm. Think of Jesus’ Resurrection as an eruption of light. With the Resurrection, the Lord’s Day enters the nights of our human history. This light alone, the Light of Christ, is the true light. He is pure light, God himself who causes a new creation to be born in the midst of the old, thus transforming chaos into creation in the one who believes. Is that not the calm our faith can bring us?
On this glorious feast of light, we pray to the Lord that the fragile flame of the candle he has lit within us, the delicate light of his word and his love, amidst the confusions of these times, will not be extinguished in us, but will become ever stronger and brighter, so we might be, with him, people of the day, bright pinpoints of light for others.
The Symbol of Water
On this feast of the renewal of Baptismal Promises we are all sprinkled with Baptismal water. True, Christ descended into the Sea, into the waters of death. True that Israel did also into the water of the Red Sea. And both Christ and Israel came out of the waters of death to new life. Thus having risen from death himself, Christ now gives us that same possibility of rising to new life. What this means is that Baptism is not just a washing or cleansing, but a new birth out of real death. With Christ we can symbolically descend into the sea of our own daily deaths and rise again as new creation. The symbol of water is life giving in still another way. We encounter and experience water in the form of the fresh spring that gives life or the great river from which life comes forth. Thus in Baptism, the Lord makes us not only persons of light to others, but also sources from which living water gushes forth. Just think of your relationship to your children, grandchildren, friends and neighbors. We all know people who leave us somehow refreshed and renewed; people who are like a fountain of fresh spring water on a hot summer’s day.
Let us pray that the Lord, who has given us the grace of Baptism, give us the gift of being sources of pure, fresh water, bubbling up from the fountain of his truth and his love within us.
The Symbol of the Alleluia
A third great symbol of Easter is the singing of the new song “Alleluia”! What happens when a person is touched by the light of the Resurrection and thus comes into contact with Life itself? What happens when one rises out of a watery death to a new lease on life? He or she cannot merely speak about it. Mere speech is no longer adequate to express the reality. No, they and we have to sing and shout and let it all out! And so we as the Church sing the song of thanksgiving of the Saved. And while all around us may be sinking – just read the headlines – we are rising in that same water. While all around us may see dark and dread, we are following the Light, Jesus himself.
Let us pray that our song of hope and celebration – our personal and communal Alleluia – continue to reecho into the future at each Sunday Eucharist where we come to sing of the light and water that is the cause of our joy.
So what’s all the fuss about resurrection? It’s the “fuss” of knowing what it means to know the Lord Jesus and to experience his victory in the present. Now that’s something to sing about! Happy Easter!
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
What’s all this fuss about Resurrection!
Resurrection
What is resurrection – not as some distant belief, but as a here-and-now experience for us? Because we fail to experience it, it tends to remain to some degree beyond our understanding. It is for this reason the Church helps us shed a little light on it by expressing this very mysterious event in the language of symbols. And just as a poem, painting, or piece of music helps us know experientially the author’s suffering, pain, or ecstasy, so also three symbols of Easter can speak to our hearts and touch our souls in a very personal way.
The Symbol of Light
Take the powerful symbol of light from which life seems to spring. Through light chaos can be transformed into ordered calm. Think of Jesus’ Resurrection as an eruption of light. With the Resurrection, the Lord’s Day enters the nights of our human history. This light alone, the Light of Christ, is the true light. He is pure light, God himself who causes a new creation to be born in the midst of the old, thus transforming chaos into creation in the one who believes. Is that not the calm our faith can bring us?
On this glorious feast of light, we pray to the Lord that the fragile flame of the candle he has lit within us, the delicate light of his word and his love, amidst the confusions of these times, will not be extinguished in us, but will become ever stronger and brighter, so we might be, with him, people of the day, bright pinpoints of light for others.
The Symbol of Water
On this feast of the renewal of Baptismal Promises we are all sprinkled with Baptismal water. True, Christ descended into the Sea, into the waters of death. True that Israel did also into the water of the Red Sea. And both Christ and Israel came out of the waters of death to new life. Thus having risen from death himself, Christ now gives us that same possibility of rising to new life. What this means is that Baptism is not just a washing or cleansing, but a new birth out of real death. With Christ we can symbolically descend into the sea of our own daily deaths and rise again as new creation. The symbol of water is life giving in still another way. We encounter and experience water in the form of the fresh spring that gives life or the great river from which life comes forth. Thus in Baptism, the Lord makes us not only persons of light to others, but also sources from which living water gushes forth. Just think of your relationship to your children, grandchildren, friends and neighbors. We all know people who leave us somehow refreshed and renewed; people who are like a fountain of fresh spring water on a hot summer’s day.
Let us pray that the Lord, who has given us the grace of Baptism, give us the gift of being sources of pure, fresh water, bubbling up from the fountain of his truth and his love within us.
The Symbol of the Alleluia
A third great symbol of Easter is the singing of the new song “Alleluia”! What happens when a person is touched by the light of the Resurrection and thus comes into contact with Life itself? What happens when one rises out of a watery death to a new lease on life? He or she cannot merely speak about it. Mere speech is no longer adequate to express the reality. No, they and we have to sing and shout and let it all out! And so we as the Church sing the song of thanksgiving of the Saved. And while all around us may be sinking – just read the headlines – we are rising in that same water. While all around us may see dark and dread, we are following the Light, Jesus himself.
Let us pray that our song of hope and celebration – our personal and communal Alleluia – continue to reecho into the future at each Sunday Eucharist where we come to sing of the light and water that is the cause of our joy.
So what’s all the fuss about resurrection? It’s the “fuss” of knowing what it means to know the Lord Jesus and to experience his victory in the present. Now that’s something to sing about! Happy Easter!
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
Weekly HOMILY for April 4, 2010: Easter Sunday -- Finding the Living among the Living
Easter Sunday, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
April 4, 2010
Finding the Living among the Living
By (Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
An Easter Friendship
Just three months ago – it was December 31st to be exact – the New York Times carried a story about two children, Orel and Marya.
Orel and Marya are both eight years old. They have been next-door neighbors for nearly a year.
Orel and Marya talk, watch television, and share their favorite foods and treats. They have become best friends.
Orel can be kind of wild and impulsive at times; Marya is smart, upbeat, and strong-willed. But, they take each other as they are.
They are both patients at Jerusalem’s Alyn Hospital. They are recovering from devastating wounds suffered in the violence of their homeland.
Orel suffered severe brain damage during a Hamas rocket attack in the Gaza. Marya’s spinal cord was severed a missile from an Israeli jet fighter mistakenly hit the car she was riding in.
What makes their friendship so special is that Orel is an Israeli Jew and Marya is a Palestinian Muslim.
These two 8-year olds do not understand the centuries of war and division between their two peoples.
Their parents and friends forgot to tell them that they are supposed to be enemies. Orel and Marya are simply dear friends.
And against all odds, their families – both from very different backgrounds and cultures and religions – also become friends. And again, against all odds, the friendship between Orel and Marya has also inspired the hospital staff, volunteers, and other patients of Jerusalem’s Alyn Hospital.
Don’t Seek the Living among the Dead
I share this story at this Easter Vigil (on this Easter morning) because it can actually guide us to faith in the Resurrection.
Let’s take a look at our Easter Gospel.
In the passage, the two men at Jesus’ tomb ask the women: “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here; he has been raised up.”
What a simple, yet profound truth this is! The idea is that it is important for us not to look for the risen Christ or for Resurrection in a place of death, that is in places or in people that have no life.
So we will not find the risen Christ in the death-like actions of hostility, vengeance, bitterness, or destruction. We will note find him in the death-like actions of selfishness, insensitivity, and apathy.
Theses are all forms of death and we simply ought not look for the risen Christ there. It’s that profound, yet that simple.
Seek the Living among the Living
On the other hands, we need to look for the risen Christ among the Orels and Maryas of our world.
We need to look at:
• Where love has endured in spite of hurt
• Where friendship has emerged in spite of prejudice
• We need to look at where compassion has won out over self-absorption
• Where good deeds are done in spite of evils that have been inflicted
• Where joy is present in spite of pain
• At the smile on the face of one who has suffered great loss
• We need to look at where flowers bloom after the death of fall and winter
• Where new life emerges in spite of, or even from, past failures and disappointments
• And, as I experienced on Good Friday taking time to say farewell to Archbishop Borders who is now in hospice and to see the joy and hope in his eyes
• And to see it in the loving care of those caring for him who are finding him such a consolation in their own life challenges
Conclusion
The insight is that the Resurrection happens in moments like these.
We can find the risen Christ in those who are truly living or in nature or animals. We can find faith in the Resurrection, if only we look and note it.
This is the heart of the Easter message and in our finding it among the living in our lives, we find our faith in the Living One renewed.
A blessed Easter to you and your loved one!
Our Lady of Grace
April 4, 2010
Finding the Living among the Living
By (Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
An Easter Friendship
Just three months ago – it was December 31st to be exact – the New York Times carried a story about two children, Orel and Marya.
Orel and Marya are both eight years old. They have been next-door neighbors for nearly a year.
Orel and Marya talk, watch television, and share their favorite foods and treats. They have become best friends.
Orel can be kind of wild and impulsive at times; Marya is smart, upbeat, and strong-willed. But, they take each other as they are.
They are both patients at Jerusalem’s Alyn Hospital. They are recovering from devastating wounds suffered in the violence of their homeland.
Orel suffered severe brain damage during a Hamas rocket attack in the Gaza. Marya’s spinal cord was severed a missile from an Israeli jet fighter mistakenly hit the car she was riding in.
What makes their friendship so special is that Orel is an Israeli Jew and Marya is a Palestinian Muslim.
These two 8-year olds do not understand the centuries of war and division between their two peoples.
Their parents and friends forgot to tell them that they are supposed to be enemies. Orel and Marya are simply dear friends.
And against all odds, their families – both from very different backgrounds and cultures and religions – also become friends. And again, against all odds, the friendship between Orel and Marya has also inspired the hospital staff, volunteers, and other patients of Jerusalem’s Alyn Hospital.
Don’t Seek the Living among the Dead
I share this story at this Easter Vigil (on this Easter morning) because it can actually guide us to faith in the Resurrection.
Let’s take a look at our Easter Gospel.
In the passage, the two men at Jesus’ tomb ask the women: “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here; he has been raised up.”
What a simple, yet profound truth this is! The idea is that it is important for us not to look for the risen Christ or for Resurrection in a place of death, that is in places or in people that have no life.
So we will not find the risen Christ in the death-like actions of hostility, vengeance, bitterness, or destruction. We will note find him in the death-like actions of selfishness, insensitivity, and apathy.
Theses are all forms of death and we simply ought not look for the risen Christ there. It’s that profound, yet that simple.
Seek the Living among the Living
On the other hands, we need to look for the risen Christ among the Orels and Maryas of our world.
We need to look at:
• Where love has endured in spite of hurt
• Where friendship has emerged in spite of prejudice
• We need to look at where compassion has won out over self-absorption
• Where good deeds are done in spite of evils that have been inflicted
• Where joy is present in spite of pain
• At the smile on the face of one who has suffered great loss
• We need to look at where flowers bloom after the death of fall and winter
• Where new life emerges in spite of, or even from, past failures and disappointments
• And, as I experienced on Good Friday taking time to say farewell to Archbishop Borders who is now in hospice and to see the joy and hope in his eyes
• And to see it in the loving care of those caring for him who are finding him such a consolation in their own life challenges
Conclusion
The insight is that the Resurrection happens in moments like these.
We can find the risen Christ in those who are truly living or in nature or animals. We can find faith in the Resurrection, if only we look and note it.
This is the heart of the Easter message and in our finding it among the living in our lives, we find our faith in the Living One renewed.
A blessed Easter to you and your loved one!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Weekly HOMILY for April 1, 2010 Holy Thursday: John and No Last Supper Account!
Mass of the Lord’s Supper
Our Lady of Grace
April 1, 2010
John and No Last Supper Account!
By Nicholas P. Amato
John Versus the Synoptics
To understand the revelation that Jesus teaches us at this Mass of the Lord’s Supper, we must note the differences between the Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke
Curiously, there is no Last Supper account in John and each of the other three do have an account of Passover Meal with Jesus before his Passion and Death.
And doesn’t it seem strange to call the Mass on Holy Thursday, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and then not include an account of the Last Supper?
We actually did hear an account of the Last Supper, but it comes in the Second Reading from 1 Corinthians, where we hear, “On the night he was handed over, took bread, and Jesus took wine.’
The question still remains, why this Gospel of John with no Last Supper account tonight?
Jesus’ Passover
First, let’s look at Jesus’ Passover.
The Gospel begins by telling us that Jesus realizes that “the hour had come for him to pass from this world to the Father,” and further, that Jesus is “fully aware that he had come from God and was going to God.”
In other words, it is the hour of Jesus’ passing over, or Jesus’ Passover.
You will remember that early in John’s Gospel Jesus is presented as “the Lamb of God,” that is, the new Passover lamb whose blood gives life.
In this section of the Gospel, John again emphasizes this theme by describing Jesus’ last meal with his disciples, not as the Passover meal as in the Synoptics, but as occurring “before the feast of Passover.”
Mystery solved: Jesus dies at the time the Passover lambs are being slain in preparation for the Passover.
So the point is that we’re looking at Jesus’ passing over not the Passover Supper!
Deeper Understanding
A second point regarding this Gospel on this evening has to do with a deeper understanding of washing.
Jesus’ dialogue with Peter about the necessity of Peter being washed in order to have a share in Jesus’ heritage is obviously about more than foot washing.
John presents Jesus in a dialogue in which Jesus’ words should be understood allegorically, that is they should be interpreted as revealing a hidden meaning.
When we hear Peter say, “You will never wash my feet” Peter’s thinking feet. But in Jesus’ answer, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me” Jesus is thinking Baptism. See the hidden meaning?
Peter then wants to have not only his feet washed, but his hands and head as well. Jesus continues to talk about Baptism when he says that the one who has bathed is “entirely cleansed” and has no need of further washing.
What I Do, Do
Finally, we have something called the Mandatum, Latin for “The Sending.”
By introducing the foot-washing scene, John makes it clear that the hour of Jesus’ passing over has precipitated the foot washing, and that the foot washing, at the allegorical or hidden meaning level, is connected to Baptism.
And as we heard, Jesus tells his disciples that his actions are to serve as an example for them.
Yes, the disciples must do for others what Jesus has done for them.
What has he done?
(1) He’s acted as a lowly servant by washing their feet; we must do the same with coworker and the poor
(2) He’s laid down his life for them as the Passover Lamb; we must do the same dying to our bad habits
(3) He has washed them clean in Baptism so they may go where he is going; we must help others in their faith.
Conclusion
With these lessons of Jesus’ Passover, the Washing as our Baptism, and the Sending, let us now act by washing each other’s feet and feeding on the Pascal Lamb as we too pass over from death to new life.
Our Lady of Grace
April 1, 2010
John and No Last Supper Account!
By Nicholas P. Amato
John Versus the Synoptics
To understand the revelation that Jesus teaches us at this Mass of the Lord’s Supper, we must note the differences between the Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke
Curiously, there is no Last Supper account in John and each of the other three do have an account of Passover Meal with Jesus before his Passion and Death.
And doesn’t it seem strange to call the Mass on Holy Thursday, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and then not include an account of the Last Supper?
We actually did hear an account of the Last Supper, but it comes in the Second Reading from 1 Corinthians, where we hear, “On the night he was handed over, took bread, and Jesus took wine.’
The question still remains, why this Gospel of John with no Last Supper account tonight?
Jesus’ Passover
First, let’s look at Jesus’ Passover.
The Gospel begins by telling us that Jesus realizes that “the hour had come for him to pass from this world to the Father,” and further, that Jesus is “fully aware that he had come from God and was going to God.”
In other words, it is the hour of Jesus’ passing over, or Jesus’ Passover.
You will remember that early in John’s Gospel Jesus is presented as “the Lamb of God,” that is, the new Passover lamb whose blood gives life.
In this section of the Gospel, John again emphasizes this theme by describing Jesus’ last meal with his disciples, not as the Passover meal as in the Synoptics, but as occurring “before the feast of Passover.”
Mystery solved: Jesus dies at the time the Passover lambs are being slain in preparation for the Passover.
So the point is that we’re looking at Jesus’ passing over not the Passover Supper!
Deeper Understanding
A second point regarding this Gospel on this evening has to do with a deeper understanding of washing.
Jesus’ dialogue with Peter about the necessity of Peter being washed in order to have a share in Jesus’ heritage is obviously about more than foot washing.
John presents Jesus in a dialogue in which Jesus’ words should be understood allegorically, that is they should be interpreted as revealing a hidden meaning.
When we hear Peter say, “You will never wash my feet” Peter’s thinking feet. But in Jesus’ answer, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me” Jesus is thinking Baptism. See the hidden meaning?
Peter then wants to have not only his feet washed, but his hands and head as well. Jesus continues to talk about Baptism when he says that the one who has bathed is “entirely cleansed” and has no need of further washing.
What I Do, Do
Finally, we have something called the Mandatum, Latin for “The Sending.”
By introducing the foot-washing scene, John makes it clear that the hour of Jesus’ passing over has precipitated the foot washing, and that the foot washing, at the allegorical or hidden meaning level, is connected to Baptism.
And as we heard, Jesus tells his disciples that his actions are to serve as an example for them.
Yes, the disciples must do for others what Jesus has done for them.
What has he done?
(1) He’s acted as a lowly servant by washing their feet; we must do the same with coworker and the poor
(2) He’s laid down his life for them as the Passover Lamb; we must do the same dying to our bad habits
(3) He has washed them clean in Baptism so they may go where he is going; we must help others in their faith.
Conclusion
With these lessons of Jesus’ Passover, the Washing as our Baptism, and the Sending, let us now act by washing each other’s feet and feeding on the Pascal Lamb as we too pass over from death to new life.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for March 28, 2010: Discipleship
This and That:
Discipleship
Often, in order to teach, Jesus conducted Himself in a very similar way to what the people saw in their Rabbis’. For example, He called disciples. So did other Rabbis. But He did it a bit differently. The difference is enormous. For example, a typical Rabbi waited for someone to come and ask, “May I follow you?” The Rabbi examined him to see if he had the knowledge of scripture, and the passion, and the interest, and the commitment. All of those things are important. Jesus went out and found people who, apparently, didn’t even think they were qualified to be a great Rabbi. And He said, “Come follow me.”
Imagine the feeling of a Peter, who’s fishing, thinking, “I could never be a disciple.” And, Jesus comes along, and says, “Come, follow me.”
In Galilee, how were disciples called? Well, young men went to school; they studied scripture; they reached the age of discipleship (usually late teens), and they would find a Rabbi, and ask if they could follow him. This inquiry meant that this young man was going to try with every ounce of energy he has, to try and walk with God, exactly the way this Rabbi models God for him. As already noted, Jesus went out, and instead of waiting for young men to come to Him, He went out and did the choosing. He did this because He wanted the chosen person to know that “if you are my disciple, it is I who chose YOU!” Then, the Rabbi would take his disciples for a period of time. These disciples would live with him every, single, day to hear his teaching of the general audience of the area (so that they could learn to teach), but, especially to watch how he followed God’s teaching; how he obeyed God; how he lived faithfully to God’s teachings, so that they could model themselves after this person.
In Jesus’ culture, children went to school from about age 5-12. It was usually connected with the synagogue. The main focus in the school, taught by one of the teachers of the law, was the text of scripture. There was a real attempt to memorize part of the scripture. If one had demonstrated unusual gifts, and commitment to learning, one was encouraged to take your first Passover, before age 20. So, we know that Jesus went to first Passover at age 12. This implies that by age 12 already, He is an outstanding student of scripture. But, it’s at the next level, somewhere 12-15, most young men would begin to learn the family trade. But the few with unusual talent would try to find a great Rabbi with whom to connect. So, they would learn to follow the Rabbi, and become Rabbis’ themselves. We know that at age 30, Jesus becomes a teacher. At that point, He begins to call His disciples.
So, with Jesus, we note a similarity with the other Rabbis of His time. That is, when you become like a Rabbi, to the Rabbi’s satisfaction, then, rather than give you a diploma, what the Rabbi would do would be to say: “you go, and make disciples.” So, Jesus walks with his disciples for three years, and at the end of three years, He gathers them together and walks the (Mt. 28) all the way back to Galilee, from Jerusalem, and says to them: now, right here where you learned discipleship, YOU go, and make disciples. Show people how to follow your example, as you have followed the example of Jesus. And this is the jump point for us. Jesus thought they were ready, and filled them with his Spirit. From there, we pick up on the amazing things that happened when they went. These common men that Jesus chose went out and changed the world.
Guess what? Jesus has chosen us! But, once we’re in the game, we are God’s olympians. Saint Paul uses this very analogy. There are many runners in the race, but only one wins the prize. So run, as if to win. Our run tells people why we live; who we live for; who, and what we treasure in life. So RUN! RUN!
Love and Prayers,
Jack
Dr. Jack Buchner
Director, Religious Education
Discipleship
Often, in order to teach, Jesus conducted Himself in a very similar way to what the people saw in their Rabbis’. For example, He called disciples. So did other Rabbis. But He did it a bit differently. The difference is enormous. For example, a typical Rabbi waited for someone to come and ask, “May I follow you?” The Rabbi examined him to see if he had the knowledge of scripture, and the passion, and the interest, and the commitment. All of those things are important. Jesus went out and found people who, apparently, didn’t even think they were qualified to be a great Rabbi. And He said, “Come follow me.”
Imagine the feeling of a Peter, who’s fishing, thinking, “I could never be a disciple.” And, Jesus comes along, and says, “Come, follow me.”
In Galilee, how were disciples called? Well, young men went to school; they studied scripture; they reached the age of discipleship (usually late teens), and they would find a Rabbi, and ask if they could follow him. This inquiry meant that this young man was going to try with every ounce of energy he has, to try and walk with God, exactly the way this Rabbi models God for him. As already noted, Jesus went out, and instead of waiting for young men to come to Him, He went out and did the choosing. He did this because He wanted the chosen person to know that “if you are my disciple, it is I who chose YOU!” Then, the Rabbi would take his disciples for a period of time. These disciples would live with him every, single, day to hear his teaching of the general audience of the area (so that they could learn to teach), but, especially to watch how he followed God’s teaching; how he obeyed God; how he lived faithfully to God’s teachings, so that they could model themselves after this person.
In Jesus’ culture, children went to school from about age 5-12. It was usually connected with the synagogue. The main focus in the school, taught by one of the teachers of the law, was the text of scripture. There was a real attempt to memorize part of the scripture. If one had demonstrated unusual gifts, and commitment to learning, one was encouraged to take your first Passover, before age 20. So, we know that Jesus went to first Passover at age 12. This implies that by age 12 already, He is an outstanding student of scripture. But, it’s at the next level, somewhere 12-15, most young men would begin to learn the family trade. But the few with unusual talent would try to find a great Rabbi with whom to connect. So, they would learn to follow the Rabbi, and become Rabbis’ themselves. We know that at age 30, Jesus becomes a teacher. At that point, He begins to call His disciples.
So, with Jesus, we note a similarity with the other Rabbis of His time. That is, when you become like a Rabbi, to the Rabbi’s satisfaction, then, rather than give you a diploma, what the Rabbi would do would be to say: “you go, and make disciples.” So, Jesus walks with his disciples for three years, and at the end of three years, He gathers them together and walks the (Mt. 28) all the way back to Galilee, from Jerusalem, and says to them: now, right here where you learned discipleship, YOU go, and make disciples. Show people how to follow your example, as you have followed the example of Jesus. And this is the jump point for us. Jesus thought they were ready, and filled them with his Spirit. From there, we pick up on the amazing things that happened when they went. These common men that Jesus chose went out and changed the world.
Guess what? Jesus has chosen us! But, once we’re in the game, we are God’s olympians. Saint Paul uses this very analogy. There are many runners in the race, but only one wins the prize. So run, as if to win. Our run tells people why we live; who we live for; who, and what we treasure in life. So RUN! RUN!
Love and Prayers,
Jack
Dr. Jack Buchner
Director, Religious Education
Weekly HOMILY for March 28, 2010: Removing Our Cloaks
Passion (Palm) Sunday
Cycle C
March 28, 2010
Our Lady of Grace
Cloaks
In Jesus’ day, people wore cloaks as their outer garment.
It probably looked something like the chasuble – this vestment – that the priest wears at Mass. This morning, we heard the story from the Gospel of Luke about Jesus entering Jerusalem.
Luke says that people take off their cloaks and spread them on the road where Jesus is going to pass. The cloak was the most expensive article of clothing and most people owned only one of them.
In the course of time, a cloak would be mended and mended again, but never thrown away. For the poorest of the poor, the cloak was also their shelter and home, something like a large cardboard box is for a homeless person today.
Removing Our Cloaks
Placing their cloaks on the road that Jesus is traveling is a symbolic act.
Luke is conveying that these people are removing something that they are used to wearing and may want to hold on to. They are in effect giving themselves fully to Jesus and his way.
I am thinking that this action calls us to look at ourselves today. The question is: What cloaks do we need to remove?
How do we need to place ourselves along Jesus’ path today? And how might the story of Jesus’ Passion that we just heard call us to do this?
For example, do we need to remove the cloak of impatience with our children or with traffic? Do we need to put on the way of Jesus’ patience with humanity, such as his patience with Peter and the other disciples today?
Do we need to remove the cloak of pride, of having to be seen as right or as knowing everything? Do we need to put on the way of Jesus’ humility, emptying himself of his status as God’s Son and becoming fully human, even to the point of suffering and dying?
And do we need to remove the cloak of vengeance, of getting back at others who have wronged us? Do we need to put on the way of Jesus’ forgiveness, even in the face of the most ultimate injustice?
And do we need to remove the cloak of busyness with everything but God? Do we need to put on the way of Jesus’ prayerfulness in the garden and on the cross and make time for Mass each Sunday and some personal prayer each day, prayer that will us the strength to put on Jesus’ way in all circumstances?
How to Do This
This Tuesday, we will have a good opportunity for removing cloaks and putting on the way of Jesus.
We will have Reconciliation Services at Our Lady of Grace. This sacrament is a powerful way of identifying the cloaks we need to remove and of putting on the way of Jesus.
It is a powerful way to prepare for Easter because it awakens the life and presence of God within us. I hope that you would consider this Sacrament of Reconciliation on Tuesday or sometime during this Holy Week.
Cycle C
March 28, 2010
Our Lady of Grace
Cloaks
In Jesus’ day, people wore cloaks as their outer garment.
It probably looked something like the chasuble – this vestment – that the priest wears at Mass. This morning, we heard the story from the Gospel of Luke about Jesus entering Jerusalem.
Luke says that people take off their cloaks and spread them on the road where Jesus is going to pass. The cloak was the most expensive article of clothing and most people owned only one of them.
In the course of time, a cloak would be mended and mended again, but never thrown away. For the poorest of the poor, the cloak was also their shelter and home, something like a large cardboard box is for a homeless person today.
Removing Our Cloaks
Placing their cloaks on the road that Jesus is traveling is a symbolic act.
Luke is conveying that these people are removing something that they are used to wearing and may want to hold on to. They are in effect giving themselves fully to Jesus and his way.
I am thinking that this action calls us to look at ourselves today. The question is: What cloaks do we need to remove?
How do we need to place ourselves along Jesus’ path today? And how might the story of Jesus’ Passion that we just heard call us to do this?
For example, do we need to remove the cloak of impatience with our children or with traffic? Do we need to put on the way of Jesus’ patience with humanity, such as his patience with Peter and the other disciples today?
Do we need to remove the cloak of pride, of having to be seen as right or as knowing everything? Do we need to put on the way of Jesus’ humility, emptying himself of his status as God’s Son and becoming fully human, even to the point of suffering and dying?
And do we need to remove the cloak of vengeance, of getting back at others who have wronged us? Do we need to put on the way of Jesus’ forgiveness, even in the face of the most ultimate injustice?
And do we need to remove the cloak of busyness with everything but God? Do we need to put on the way of Jesus’ prayerfulness in the garden and on the cross and make time for Mass each Sunday and some personal prayer each day, prayer that will us the strength to put on Jesus’ way in all circumstances?
How to Do This
This Tuesday, we will have a good opportunity for removing cloaks and putting on the way of Jesus.
We will have Reconciliation Services at Our Lady of Grace. This sacrament is a powerful way of identifying the cloaks we need to remove and of putting on the way of Jesus.
It is a powerful way to prepare for Easter because it awakens the life and presence of God within us. I hope that you would consider this Sacrament of Reconciliation on Tuesday or sometime during this Holy Week.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for March 21, 2010: Jesus' Inclusion of Women As Disciples
This and That:
Choosing the Better Part
Jesus’ Inclusion of Women As Disciples
Our Lenten Family Friday series this year is featuring the Gospel of Luke, which shows us that Jesus’ call is universal. Luke gives a special place to women in his Gospel account. Luke’s vision of Jesus’ interaction with women is part of his theology of the universality of salvation.
In the Infancy Narrative, Luke introduces us to a number of women who are in relationship with God and who are called to play an important role in the Incarnation:
➢ Mary – a young woman whose faith makes her “highly favored” by God and chosen to be the mother of our Savior
➢ Elizabeth – an old woman who has also been favored by God and who “recognizes” the presence of the Lord in Mary
➢ Anna – a woman who spends her days in the temple and who recognizes the Messiah in the child brought by Mary and Joseph to be presented to God
As Luke describes the ministry of Jesus, he writes about a number of women who are
disciples of Jesus:
➢ Woman who washes Jesus’ feet (Luke 7: 31 – 50) demonstrates relationship with him – sorrow, gratitude, hospitality
➢ Mary and Martha (Luke 10: 38 – 42) demonstrate that women are called to be disciples
➢ Women are mentioned as following Jesus, along with the Twelve, and providing for them out of their resources (Luke 8: 1 – 3)
➢ Women at the crucifixion
o Women of Jerusalem on the way of the cross (Luke 23: 27 – 31)
o At the cross – women who had followed him from Galilee (Luke 23: 49)
➢ Women are first witnesses to the resurrection – announce the good news to the Eleven (Luke 24: 1 – 12)
➢ Women are among the disciples gathered in the upper room at the time of Pentecost (Acts 1: 14)
CHOOSING THE BETTER PART
The example of Mary and Martha is seen as the primary example of Jesus endorsing a woman as a disciple. Martha is distressed because Mary is not helping her with “women’s work.” Mary has taken the position of a disciple, sitting at the master’s feet and listening to his teaching. As he answers Martha’s distress, Jesus says that Mary “has chosen the better part.”
WOMEN DISCIPLES IN THE
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
We have in our tradition great women saints along with great men saints. There are three women saints who have also been declared Doctors of the Church: Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Catherine of Sienna and Saint Therese of Lisieux. This title is given to a saint from whose writings the whole Church has derived great advantage and to whom “eminent learning” and “great sanctity” have been attributed by a proclamation of a pope.
WOMEN AS DISCIPLES TODAY
Since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s, many leadership and ministry roles in the church have opened up to women. Currently, we find women in the ministries of: Theology Professor, Canon Lawyer, Pastoral Life Director, Pastoral Associate, Director of Religious Education, Catechist, Pastoral Care Minister, Spiritual Director, Diocesan Chancellor, Parish Corporator, Advocate in Marriage Tribunal, director of a hospital or social service agency, member of Curial Office at the Vatican.
Whether we are women or men, we can all look at how we may limit our ability to be a disciple of Jesus by saying to ourselves, “I can’t do that (ministry, volunteer work) because I am _______.” If we find ourselves thinking along this line, we need to reflect on Luke’s story of Martha and Mary and hear Jesus say, “choose the better part.”
Blessings,
Sister Mary Therese
Choosing the Better Part
Jesus’ Inclusion of Women As Disciples
Our Lenten Family Friday series this year is featuring the Gospel of Luke, which shows us that Jesus’ call is universal. Luke gives a special place to women in his Gospel account. Luke’s vision of Jesus’ interaction with women is part of his theology of the universality of salvation.
In the Infancy Narrative, Luke introduces us to a number of women who are in relationship with God and who are called to play an important role in the Incarnation:
➢ Mary – a young woman whose faith makes her “highly favored” by God and chosen to be the mother of our Savior
➢ Elizabeth – an old woman who has also been favored by God and who “recognizes” the presence of the Lord in Mary
➢ Anna – a woman who spends her days in the temple and who recognizes the Messiah in the child brought by Mary and Joseph to be presented to God
As Luke describes the ministry of Jesus, he writes about a number of women who are
disciples of Jesus:
➢ Woman who washes Jesus’ feet (Luke 7: 31 – 50) demonstrates relationship with him – sorrow, gratitude, hospitality
➢ Mary and Martha (Luke 10: 38 – 42) demonstrate that women are called to be disciples
➢ Women are mentioned as following Jesus, along with the Twelve, and providing for them out of their resources (Luke 8: 1 – 3)
➢ Women at the crucifixion
o Women of Jerusalem on the way of the cross (Luke 23: 27 – 31)
o At the cross – women who had followed him from Galilee (Luke 23: 49)
➢ Women are first witnesses to the resurrection – announce the good news to the Eleven (Luke 24: 1 – 12)
➢ Women are among the disciples gathered in the upper room at the time of Pentecost (Acts 1: 14)
CHOOSING THE BETTER PART
The example of Mary and Martha is seen as the primary example of Jesus endorsing a woman as a disciple. Martha is distressed because Mary is not helping her with “women’s work.” Mary has taken the position of a disciple, sitting at the master’s feet and listening to his teaching. As he answers Martha’s distress, Jesus says that Mary “has chosen the better part.”
WOMEN DISCIPLES IN THE
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
We have in our tradition great women saints along with great men saints. There are three women saints who have also been declared Doctors of the Church: Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Catherine of Sienna and Saint Therese of Lisieux. This title is given to a saint from whose writings the whole Church has derived great advantage and to whom “eminent learning” and “great sanctity” have been attributed by a proclamation of a pope.
WOMEN AS DISCIPLES TODAY
Since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s, many leadership and ministry roles in the church have opened up to women. Currently, we find women in the ministries of: Theology Professor, Canon Lawyer, Pastoral Life Director, Pastoral Associate, Director of Religious Education, Catechist, Pastoral Care Minister, Spiritual Director, Diocesan Chancellor, Parish Corporator, Advocate in Marriage Tribunal, director of a hospital or social service agency, member of Curial Office at the Vatican.
Whether we are women or men, we can all look at how we may limit our ability to be a disciple of Jesus by saying to ourselves, “I can’t do that (ministry, volunteer work) because I am _______.” If we find ourselves thinking along this line, we need to reflect on Luke’s story of Martha and Mary and hear Jesus say, “choose the better part.”
Blessings,
Sister Mary Therese
Weekly HOMILY for March 21, 2010: Fasten Your Seatbelts!
5th Sunday of Lent
Cycle C
March 20-21, 2010
Our Lady of Grace
Fasten Your Seat Belts
Sometimes at meetings, I use the expression “Fasten your seat belts.”
I say this when I think the air may get a bit turbulent. In other words, my use of this expression means that there will be some challenging, maybe uncomfortable things to talk about.
This morning, I am inclined to say: “Fasten your seat belts.” Today’s gospel story strikes me as packed with lessons.
And naturally, as I often like to do, I see three lessons packed into this story. So, “Fasten your seat belts.”
Sexual and Social Morality
First, the story centers on a woman who is accused of adultery.
This leads me to recall our Catholic teaching on sexuality. Our Church teaches that sexuality is a gift from God and is sacred.
The Church’s understanding is that sexuality expresses something within us, perhaps we would say something deep, something even at the core of who we are. Sexual expression is powerful because it affects who we are and who others are.
And so, our teaching is that sexual expression is to be reserved to the committed relationship of marriage. It is in marriage that our human sexuality finds its true and authentic and fullest meaning.
At the same time, our Catholic morality is not limited to sexual morality. Especially in the last forty years or so, we are also clear that there is a social morality.
There is a Catholic social teaching that guides us in our relationship with society. For example, this social teaching emphasizes the priority of the poor who lack the basics for human life.
It emphasizes our acting for the common good of all, even when that may not be best for my own interests. Our Catholic social teaching, like our sexual morality, is to form our conscience and guide us in what we do.
Men and Women
The second lesson I see in this story also concerns the woman.
Some people, actually they are religious leaders, bring this woman to Jesus because she was caught in adultery. But they do not bring her partner, the man.
In the culture of that day, women were treated as inferior, as not equal to men, and only women were severely punished for this sin. So, the woman was blamed for this and the man got off the hook.
This leads me to think about our Church. Our Church allows only men to be ordained to the priesthood.
Our teaching is that this is not an issue of equality or inequality, but rather a revelation of Jesus. Our teaching is that Jesus ordered priesthood in this way and we need to adhere to that.
At the same time, ministry in the Church flourishes only when both men and women are engaged in it. Right in this parish, women are engaged in all ministries – education, liturgy, administration, outreach, and on it goes.
They are gifted and essential ministers and leaders in our Church and our parish. We need to be in forefront of respect for the dignity and rights of women within our Church and in our society in general.
Exclude and Include
The third and last lesson I see here concerns the religious leaders.
They want Jesus’ approval to stone her to death. This is the most radical way of rejecting, putting down, and excluding her.
The only problem – Jesus will not go along with it. Instead, Jesus invites those who are sinless to throw the first stones.
In this way, he confronts them with the truth that we are all human and sinful. So to these religious leaders, Jesus in effect says: “Get off it!”
He accepts and includes this woman just as he does with others – like having dinner with tax collectors, or like including Judas who betrayed him and Peter who denied him at the Last Supper – the first First Communion Mass. There’s a sharp point here for us.
It is not ours to reject, to put down, to exclude others who are sinful. When we as individuals or as today’s religious leaders do that, we are not following Jesus’ way. (I’m sure you’re aware you might get some “feedback” on this statement.)
Instead of all that, we are to follow Jesus’ way of accepting and including and then respectfully, gently, inviting others to grow and embrace his way more fully. This is not the way of feel-good self-righteousness, but it is the way of being right with God.
Conclusion
So, I see some challenging lessons here today and that’s why at least I felt it was a good idea to “Fasten our seat belts.”
Cycle C
March 20-21, 2010
Our Lady of Grace
Fasten Your Seat Belts
Sometimes at meetings, I use the expression “Fasten your seat belts.”
I say this when I think the air may get a bit turbulent. In other words, my use of this expression means that there will be some challenging, maybe uncomfortable things to talk about.
This morning, I am inclined to say: “Fasten your seat belts.” Today’s gospel story strikes me as packed with lessons.
And naturally, as I often like to do, I see three lessons packed into this story. So, “Fasten your seat belts.”
Sexual and Social Morality
First, the story centers on a woman who is accused of adultery.
This leads me to recall our Catholic teaching on sexuality. Our Church teaches that sexuality is a gift from God and is sacred.
The Church’s understanding is that sexuality expresses something within us, perhaps we would say something deep, something even at the core of who we are. Sexual expression is powerful because it affects who we are and who others are.
And so, our teaching is that sexual expression is to be reserved to the committed relationship of marriage. It is in marriage that our human sexuality finds its true and authentic and fullest meaning.
At the same time, our Catholic morality is not limited to sexual morality. Especially in the last forty years or so, we are also clear that there is a social morality.
There is a Catholic social teaching that guides us in our relationship with society. For example, this social teaching emphasizes the priority of the poor who lack the basics for human life.
It emphasizes our acting for the common good of all, even when that may not be best for my own interests. Our Catholic social teaching, like our sexual morality, is to form our conscience and guide us in what we do.
Men and Women
The second lesson I see in this story also concerns the woman.
Some people, actually they are religious leaders, bring this woman to Jesus because she was caught in adultery. But they do not bring her partner, the man.
In the culture of that day, women were treated as inferior, as not equal to men, and only women were severely punished for this sin. So, the woman was blamed for this and the man got off the hook.
This leads me to think about our Church. Our Church allows only men to be ordained to the priesthood.
Our teaching is that this is not an issue of equality or inequality, but rather a revelation of Jesus. Our teaching is that Jesus ordered priesthood in this way and we need to adhere to that.
At the same time, ministry in the Church flourishes only when both men and women are engaged in it. Right in this parish, women are engaged in all ministries – education, liturgy, administration, outreach, and on it goes.
They are gifted and essential ministers and leaders in our Church and our parish. We need to be in forefront of respect for the dignity and rights of women within our Church and in our society in general.
Exclude and Include
The third and last lesson I see here concerns the religious leaders.
They want Jesus’ approval to stone her to death. This is the most radical way of rejecting, putting down, and excluding her.
The only problem – Jesus will not go along with it. Instead, Jesus invites those who are sinless to throw the first stones.
In this way, he confronts them with the truth that we are all human and sinful. So to these religious leaders, Jesus in effect says: “Get off it!”
He accepts and includes this woman just as he does with others – like having dinner with tax collectors, or like including Judas who betrayed him and Peter who denied him at the Last Supper – the first First Communion Mass. There’s a sharp point here for us.
It is not ours to reject, to put down, to exclude others who are sinful. When we as individuals or as today’s religious leaders do that, we are not following Jesus’ way. (I’m sure you’re aware you might get some “feedback” on this statement.)
Instead of all that, we are to follow Jesus’ way of accepting and including and then respectfully, gently, inviting others to grow and embrace his way more fully. This is not the way of feel-good self-righteousness, but it is the way of being right with God.
Conclusion
So, I see some challenging lessons here today and that’s why at least I felt it was a good idea to “Fasten our seat belts.”
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Weekly THIS AND THAT for March 14, 2010: Prayer As a Lifeline
This and That:
Prayer As a Lifeline
“Where Were You God, When I Needed You?”
We all are familiar with the story of the man alone in his home and threatened by an impending hurricane and flood. His neighbor Sam comes by and warns him to evacuate. The man states that he’ll put his trust in the Lord. The rains and the wind come and the water rises quickly – one foot, two feet, and it’s now flooding the living room. A rescue team in a rowboat passes by living room winder and warns him that the worst of the hurricane is still to come. Again, the man proclaims, “I’m going to put my trust in the Lord!” “Have it your way,” they respond and quickly row away. The water level continues to rise and the man is driven to the second floor to keep dry, and then to the attic, and eventually he finds himself on the roof! A helicopter comes and circles the house, “We’ll throw you a rope ladder!” “Never mind,” he shouts back over the noise of the rotating blades. But even now it is too late and the man goes under.
At the pearly gates he asks God, “Where were you, Lord? I placed all my trust in you and you let me drown.” “Where was I?” God proclaims, “I came to you in your neighbor Sam, the rescue team in the rowboat, and the guys in the helicopter! Where was I? The question is where were you!”
Prayer is about communication: God’s presence to us and our experience of God’s presence. If that is how we choose to define prayer, then we may, as the man in our story, be missing both – the presence of God in our lives and our experience of him. “Where are we?” is the right question. This past Friday, Session 4 of our Lenten Family Fridays, was about how to plug into an experience of God and how to see God in everything we do.
Why Is Luke Important for Us?
Over the course of our six-weeks, we are considering the Gospel of St. Luke and how he, in his own way, helps us communicate and experience God as Luke knows him. Luke was a non-Palestinian writing to a non-Palestinian audience that was largely made up of Gentile Christians, like us. The prologue of the Gospel makes it clear that Luke is not part of the first generation of Christian Disciples, but is himself dependent upon the traditions he received from those who were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, again, like us. No gospel writer is more concerned with the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus and the Christian disciple, with the importance of prayer, or Jesus’ concern for women. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus sets the example – all contemporary issues of our own day.
Luke shows us the centrality that prayer was for Jesus. Jesus worships with others in the synagogue at Nazareth and yet he withdraws for prayer at critical moments in his life. The Disciples turn to prayer and praise after Easter as a way of life. Jesus warns the Disciples in the Garden that they would have to pray in order to be spared testing and is a daily reminder of the last petition of the Lord’s Prayer. Yes, prayer is central to Jesus’ life and ministry; it also needs to be for ours and Luke is the right person to help us understand Jesus in this regard.
Prayer in the Gospel of Luke
When we pray, what happened at Jesus’ baptism happens to us, heaven opens and tells us who we are and what our task is. Together with Jesus we belong to the same life source, the same family. When Christians were asked, “Why do you live that way?” they replied that they had been inspired by the Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus. When asked, “How did you contact that Spirit?” their answer was “in prayer.” Luke became convinced that prayer was also the key to understanding Jesus and empathizing with his life and his mission. For Luke, Jesus is a person of prayer. Prayer guides his life. It is while at prayer that he makes his decisions. He prays at his baptism, when tempted in the desert, when choosing the twelve, at his Transfiguration, in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest, and on the cross. Asking for the Holy Spirit, inviting that kind of contact with God, means playing with fire. In prayer we, like Jesus, come to know who we are, come in contact with ourselves and realize what is asked of us. This is what happened to Jesus when he prayed: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me: yet not my will but yours be done” (22:42) When we pray, “Give us each day our daily bread,” do we ever think about the missions and millions of starving people in our world? If we restrict that “us” to only ourselves, do we not escape the consequence of that prayer?
Parables on Prayer
In his four parables on prayer Jesus teaches us not so much what to pray for, but how to pray.
➢ 1st In the Friend at Midnight, a request for something to eat for an unexpected guest suggests that we should approach God as our friend no matter what the inconvenience (12:4)
➢ 2nd The Unjust Judge is a parable (18:1-8) about a widow who asks an unjust judge to do her justice. He refuses to help her, but the widow does not give up, and the judge gives in quickly. It teaches us that with our requests of God we should be just as persistent and persevering.
➢ 3rd Asking As of a Parent is a parable in which Jesus compares the one whom we address in prayer to a parent who is good to his children, giving them what they ask for (11:9-13)
➢ 4th The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (18:9-14) has two individuals going up to the temple to pray. The moral is “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke is clearly the Gospel of Prayer. He shows Jesus at prayer at all the great moments of his life. That should be testimony enough for how prayer must be part of our daily lives as well.
A Paradigm for Daily Prayer
1 Minute
➢ Stretch
➢ Relax
➢ Breathe deeply
4 minutes
➢ Spiritual Passage
➢ Psalm or
➢ Hymn
10 minutes
➢ Awareness rather than Thinking
➢ Maintain Awareness using breathing and phrase
5 minutes
➢ Writing
➢ Sharing insights with others
Over time the writing (journal entry becomes a record of your transformation.)
The following little paradigm for 20 minutes of daily prayer was shared and demonstrated.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
Prayer As a Lifeline
“Where Were You God, When I Needed You?”
We all are familiar with the story of the man alone in his home and threatened by an impending hurricane and flood. His neighbor Sam comes by and warns him to evacuate. The man states that he’ll put his trust in the Lord. The rains and the wind come and the water rises quickly – one foot, two feet, and it’s now flooding the living room. A rescue team in a rowboat passes by living room winder and warns him that the worst of the hurricane is still to come. Again, the man proclaims, “I’m going to put my trust in the Lord!” “Have it your way,” they respond and quickly row away. The water level continues to rise and the man is driven to the second floor to keep dry, and then to the attic, and eventually he finds himself on the roof! A helicopter comes and circles the house, “We’ll throw you a rope ladder!” “Never mind,” he shouts back over the noise of the rotating blades. But even now it is too late and the man goes under.
At the pearly gates he asks God, “Where were you, Lord? I placed all my trust in you and you let me drown.” “Where was I?” God proclaims, “I came to you in your neighbor Sam, the rescue team in the rowboat, and the guys in the helicopter! Where was I? The question is where were you!”
Prayer is about communication: God’s presence to us and our experience of God’s presence. If that is how we choose to define prayer, then we may, as the man in our story, be missing both – the presence of God in our lives and our experience of him. “Where are we?” is the right question. This past Friday, Session 4 of our Lenten Family Fridays, was about how to plug into an experience of God and how to see God in everything we do.
Why Is Luke Important for Us?
Over the course of our six-weeks, we are considering the Gospel of St. Luke and how he, in his own way, helps us communicate and experience God as Luke knows him. Luke was a non-Palestinian writing to a non-Palestinian audience that was largely made up of Gentile Christians, like us. The prologue of the Gospel makes it clear that Luke is not part of the first generation of Christian Disciples, but is himself dependent upon the traditions he received from those who were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, again, like us. No gospel writer is more concerned with the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus and the Christian disciple, with the importance of prayer, or Jesus’ concern for women. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus sets the example – all contemporary issues of our own day.
Luke shows us the centrality that prayer was for Jesus. Jesus worships with others in the synagogue at Nazareth and yet he withdraws for prayer at critical moments in his life. The Disciples turn to prayer and praise after Easter as a way of life. Jesus warns the Disciples in the Garden that they would have to pray in order to be spared testing and is a daily reminder of the last petition of the Lord’s Prayer. Yes, prayer is central to Jesus’ life and ministry; it also needs to be for ours and Luke is the right person to help us understand Jesus in this regard.
Prayer in the Gospel of Luke
When we pray, what happened at Jesus’ baptism happens to us, heaven opens and tells us who we are and what our task is. Together with Jesus we belong to the same life source, the same family. When Christians were asked, “Why do you live that way?” they replied that they had been inspired by the Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus. When asked, “How did you contact that Spirit?” their answer was “in prayer.” Luke became convinced that prayer was also the key to understanding Jesus and empathizing with his life and his mission. For Luke, Jesus is a person of prayer. Prayer guides his life. It is while at prayer that he makes his decisions. He prays at his baptism, when tempted in the desert, when choosing the twelve, at his Transfiguration, in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest, and on the cross. Asking for the Holy Spirit, inviting that kind of contact with God, means playing with fire. In prayer we, like Jesus, come to know who we are, come in contact with ourselves and realize what is asked of us. This is what happened to Jesus when he prayed: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me: yet not my will but yours be done” (22:42) When we pray, “Give us each day our daily bread,” do we ever think about the missions and millions of starving people in our world? If we restrict that “us” to only ourselves, do we not escape the consequence of that prayer?
Parables on Prayer
In his four parables on prayer Jesus teaches us not so much what to pray for, but how to pray.
➢ 1st In the Friend at Midnight, a request for something to eat for an unexpected guest suggests that we should approach God as our friend no matter what the inconvenience (12:4)
➢ 2nd The Unjust Judge is a parable (18:1-8) about a widow who asks an unjust judge to do her justice. He refuses to help her, but the widow does not give up, and the judge gives in quickly. It teaches us that with our requests of God we should be just as persistent and persevering.
➢ 3rd Asking As of a Parent is a parable in which Jesus compares the one whom we address in prayer to a parent who is good to his children, giving them what they ask for (11:9-13)
➢ 4th The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (18:9-14) has two individuals going up to the temple to pray. The moral is “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke is clearly the Gospel of Prayer. He shows Jesus at prayer at all the great moments of his life. That should be testimony enough for how prayer must be part of our daily lives as well.
A Paradigm for Daily Prayer
1 Minute
➢ Stretch
➢ Relax
➢ Breathe deeply
4 minutes
➢ Spiritual Passage
➢ Psalm or
➢ Hymn
10 minutes
➢ Awareness rather than Thinking
➢ Maintain Awareness using breathing and phrase
5 minutes
➢ Writing
➢ Sharing insights with others
Over time the writing (journal entry becomes a record of your transformation.)
The following little paradigm for 20 minutes of daily prayer was shared and demonstrated.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
Weekly HOMILY for March 14: Colors of the Prodigal
4th Sunday of Lent, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
March 14, 2010
The Colors of the Prodigal Son
By Nicholas P. Amato
The Parable of the Prodigal Son
Today’s Gospel is one of the most beloved stories in all of Scripture. (1st slide of women looking at painting)
It is Jesus’ parable of the self-absorbed teenager who demands his inheritance from his loving father, squanders every cent on the good life, and is reduced to tendig pigs when the money runs out.
Once he realizes how foolish he has been, he is welcomed home by his thankful dad, no questions asked.
Many have imagined their own versions of the story, but perhaps the most insightful has been one artist’s interpretation on canvas.
Rembrandt’s Father, Son, and Older Brother
In 1669, the Dutch master Rembrandt pained “The Return of the Prodigal Son.”
It was one of his last works and Rembrandt’s painting portrays the father welcoming home his son.
The details of the painting are very revealing and touch our very souls.
First, there is the father. (2nd picture, of close-up of the father, son and man in black hat) Rembrandt portrays the old man as the very picture of serenity. His face reflects tranquility and peace.
He also appears to be blind; he sees his son, whose head he tenderly holds, not with his eyes but with his heart.
Many have also noted the father’s hands: his left hand, the hand that pulls his son toward him, has the strength and power of a father.
And notice the right hand; it is caressing his son’s back, and has the softness and tenderness of a mother.
In Rembrandt’s portrayal, the old father mirrors the compassion of God, who loves us in the depth of our hearts, who is both mother and father to every one of us prodigals.
The figure of the prodigal, who collapses before his father, is emaciated and exhausted.
His head is shaved; he is dirty and scarred; he wears only a dirty, ragged tunic and one torn sandal on his right foot.
All defiance has been stropped away. The son is a picture of humility. His realization? That he has wasted his life enable him to make the long, hard trek home to his father’s welcoming embrace.
Finally, there is the older brother (3rd photo of five characters in shadowy colors) in the shadows of the painting. He is angry and bitter. Notice, he looks at the scene with scorn and distrust.
He knows that his younger brother’s return is going to be a hard readjustment for all of them.
His bitterness and anger confines him to the darkness, outside of the light and color of his father’s joy and his brother’s gratitude.
Application
Rembrandt’s beautiful painting (4th photo, a brighter scene of the previous slide) invites all of us to see ourselves in each of the characters.
To see ourselves in the father’s joy at having his boy back.
To see ourselves in the Prodigal’s facing responsibility for the hurt he has caused.
To see ourselves in the older brother’s understandable, but divisive resentment and distrust.
The work of forgiveness demands facing our culpability, our blame for having hurt others.
At its center (5th photo, a more golden hue added to the previous slide) forgiveness requires that we be willing to put aside our own hurts and resentments for the ultimate goal of being reunited with those from whom we are separated.
It calls for the balancing within my very heart a willingness to forgive and an openness to be converted by God’s grace, both of which lead to true reconciliation.
Conclusion
May Rembrandt’s colors of forgiveness and gratitude illuminate our relationship and all the struggles we all experience in being family and friends to one another.
6th photo, of the two women before the painting) Is it more than a painting on a wall in a museum? Or is it more a mirror of the forgiveness I can experience in my own life?
Our Lady of Grace
March 14, 2010
The Colors of the Prodigal Son
By Nicholas P. Amato
The Parable of the Prodigal Son
Today’s Gospel is one of the most beloved stories in all of Scripture. (1st slide of women looking at painting)
It is Jesus’ parable of the self-absorbed teenager who demands his inheritance from his loving father, squanders every cent on the good life, and is reduced to tendig pigs when the money runs out.
Once he realizes how foolish he has been, he is welcomed home by his thankful dad, no questions asked.
Many have imagined their own versions of the story, but perhaps the most insightful has been one artist’s interpretation on canvas.
Rembrandt’s Father, Son, and Older Brother
In 1669, the Dutch master Rembrandt pained “The Return of the Prodigal Son.”
It was one of his last works and Rembrandt’s painting portrays the father welcoming home his son.
The details of the painting are very revealing and touch our very souls.
First, there is the father. (2nd picture, of close-up of the father, son and man in black hat) Rembrandt portrays the old man as the very picture of serenity. His face reflects tranquility and peace.
He also appears to be blind; he sees his son, whose head he tenderly holds, not with his eyes but with his heart.
Many have also noted the father’s hands: his left hand, the hand that pulls his son toward him, has the strength and power of a father.
And notice the right hand; it is caressing his son’s back, and has the softness and tenderness of a mother.
In Rembrandt’s portrayal, the old father mirrors the compassion of God, who loves us in the depth of our hearts, who is both mother and father to every one of us prodigals.
The figure of the prodigal, who collapses before his father, is emaciated and exhausted.
His head is shaved; he is dirty and scarred; he wears only a dirty, ragged tunic and one torn sandal on his right foot.
All defiance has been stropped away. The son is a picture of humility. His realization? That he has wasted his life enable him to make the long, hard trek home to his father’s welcoming embrace.
Finally, there is the older brother (3rd photo of five characters in shadowy colors) in the shadows of the painting. He is angry and bitter. Notice, he looks at the scene with scorn and distrust.
He knows that his younger brother’s return is going to be a hard readjustment for all of them.
His bitterness and anger confines him to the darkness, outside of the light and color of his father’s joy and his brother’s gratitude.
Application
Rembrandt’s beautiful painting (4th photo, a brighter scene of the previous slide) invites all of us to see ourselves in each of the characters.
To see ourselves in the father’s joy at having his boy back.
To see ourselves in the Prodigal’s facing responsibility for the hurt he has caused.
To see ourselves in the older brother’s understandable, but divisive resentment and distrust.
The work of forgiveness demands facing our culpability, our blame for having hurt others.
At its center (5th photo, a more golden hue added to the previous slide) forgiveness requires that we be willing to put aside our own hurts and resentments for the ultimate goal of being reunited with those from whom we are separated.
It calls for the balancing within my very heart a willingness to forgive and an openness to be converted by God’s grace, both of which lead to true reconciliation.
Conclusion
May Rembrandt’s colors of forgiveness and gratitude illuminate our relationship and all the struggles we all experience in being family and friends to one another.
6th photo, of the two women before the painting) Is it more than a painting on a wall in a museum? Or is it more a mirror of the forgiveness I can experience in my own life?
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