Funeral HOMILY for Justin Shank: December 14, 2017

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Funeral Mass for Justin Shank

Our Lady of Grace

December 14, 2017

Shifting Sands or Solid Bedrock?

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

Warts and All!

One thing we share is a deep desire to be loved as we are, warts and all. This is the love and affirmation we get from Jesus!

And if I were to compare my “list of warts” with yours, we’d be surprised to find how common our struggles and failings really are.

This common ground, and the unconditional love Jesus has for each of us, is the bedrock for our being able to hope and this unconditional love of Jesus for us is the foundation for our trust in God.

Yet, even with this solid bedrock, many of our days are spent in upset over our faults and failures, things we did wrong or things we failed to do. At such times, it’s as if the ground we’re standing on is as unstable as sand.

So, while the love of Jesus for us is solid bedrock, on the surface we may nevertheless feel things as constantly shifting and unstable.

The good news is that no matter how insecure I feel in the moment, no matter what my turmoil, the bedrock that is Jesus’ love for me is also there, deep down beneath me.

And it is in Jesus, our bedrock, that we place of trust and our hope to get through the surface turmoil.

As someone who knew Justin since he was 16, that he knew first-hand both the shifting sand beneath his feet AND the deeper bedrock that was solid and secure.

Sacred Scripture on Shifting Sands and Bedrock

The Book of Wisdom affirms both this sense of shifting sand and the solid sub-strata of faith in God.

We heard: “The souls of the just are in the hand of God (gesture “bedrock”), and no torment (gesture “turmoil”) shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction, but they are in peace (gesture “bedrock”).

Chastised a little (gesture turmoil), they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.”

The second reading speaks to our turmoil and our bad decisions: “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Why then do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you look down on your brother?”

In the Gospel beatitudes, Jesus addresses our longing to live grounded in him (gesture “bedrock”) and how that hunger and thirst will one day be satisfied. And to that he adds that those who show mercy, will be shown mercy and peacemakers will be called children of God.

Justin’s Bedrock

In Justin, who was so easy to love, you could see beneath the turmoil; you could see his oneness with God.

Nature was one of Justin’s links to the bedrock. He savored sunsets and full moons, a daffodil blooming or a snow-covered landscape, and he never tired of sending I-phone photos to share them. There were photos of deer, foxes, rabbits, groundhogs and hummingbirds. 

His vegetable garden was his pride and joy, producing a bounty of tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini and basil.

His photos and veggies he loved to share with family and co-workers.

His communion with others was a second link to the bedrock. How he loved just sitting on the porch with Barbara and sharing his joys and sadness, his dreams and his struggles. He was also always available to listen, if you wanted to talk, offering a safe and secure place to express yourself.

He was a great fan of professional football and he and Andy would have lots of feelings expressed as Justin cheered on the Ravens and Andy, countered with his admiration of the Steelers.

A final link to the bedrock was Justin’s great sense of serving others. He cherished being Katrina’s big brother and would drive out in the middle of the night, if she was stranded and needed a way home.

He loved to help Andy and Barbara with the annual raking of leaves, prepping the flower beds with mulch, and handling all the tasks Andy hated to do like cleaning the China in the China closets, decorating the Christmas tree, painting, and washing/waxing Barbara’s car.

(1) His love and affection, (2) his eagerness to please others, (3) his willingness to always help when needed, wrapped up in his great smile touched the lives of us all.

Conclusion

Shifting sand or solid rock — we have stood on both and so too did Justin.

With hope and trust in Jesus’ unconditional love of us, and with (1) nature, (2) communion with others, and (3) service, Justin’s trust and love of God have brought him home to the Lord.

So, yes, there is cause for celebration, on the part of us who loved him.

HOMILY for December 10, 2017: 2nd Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

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2^nd Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

December 10, 2017

Mepkin Abbey

 

Choose Your Savior: John or Jesus?

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

John: Not a Disciple

Have you ever wondered why John the Baptist never became a disciple of Jesus?

No question, John respected Jesus. In today’s Gospel he humbly states that he sees him as one mightier than he and isn’t even worthy to stoop down and untie Jesus’ sandal straps.

Even with this perception and esteem for Jesus, there is no evidence that John ever becomes a disciple. 

So, the question I’d like to raise is; “Why doesn’t John become a follower of Jesus? What’s the difference between the two of them?”

Why? Kingdom

The answer seems to lie in how John and Jesus each viewed the Kingdom of God.

In one respect, both of them preached the same message. “The Kingdom of God is here in our midst.”

However, it was their respective idea of the Kingdom that was very different.  John and Jesus both agreed that God would make his presence felt in the near future.

The idea of God becoming personally and immediately involved in the world was a common expectation of the time, but that is where the agreement between John and Jesus seems to end.

John and Kingdom

John the Baptist held a very traditional understanding of God’s Kingdom.

He believed that God would come to his people primarily as a judge, one who would separate the good from the bad – like the wheat from the chaff.

Furthermore, God would reward the good and punish the bad.  God would include the good and exclude the bad from his Kingdom. 

In the end, God would defeat all of the enemies of his people on earth and the Kingdom would be triumphal and mighty.

Jesus and Kingdom

Now Jesus’ understanding of the Kingdom of God was very different.

In fact, Jesus himself was the Kingdom, so it is in him as a person that we see the difference. 

No question, he would address evil and darkness. No question there would be an accounting for our personal behavior. 

What’s very different, however, is Jesus’ way of accomplishing this and the Kingdom is very different from John’s expectation.

For starters, Jesus comes to save, not to condemn.  He comes to invite, not to force by fear.

Jesus tends to understand where others are coming from, and he does not judge.  He relates with others and does not distance them.

In fact, Jesus singles out and even has meals with those whose behavior or thinking is seen as sinful or wrong.  In short, he includes all and excludes no one. No one!

So Jesus’ approach, his way of being the Kingdom of God, is very different from John’s expectation.  It’s little wonder that John does not become a disciple!

 

Whom Do We Choose to Follow?

So, what am I to do with all of this?

Both John’s and Jesus’ approaches are present in Christianity today.  And this probably accounts for much of the division and tension both between and within Christian churches today.

I suggest that whatever our vocation, job, or life situation is, we are all to embrace the Kingdom in basically the same way and as it is proclaimed by Jesus and not John. 

This would mean, for example, that we are to draw to the monastery or church adults who are not formally practicing faith or those whom we see as going in the wrong direction.

We are to engage them in respectful conversation about life and faith and not by coercing them with guilt, shame, or diminishing them as persons.

We are to view a life of faith not just as fulfilling obligations and agreeing to doctrines, but more as a matter of relationship, community, empathy, charity and social justice.

We are to reach out and not leave a stone unturned for reconciliation with family, friends, or members of the community, opportunities to forgive or be forgiven. 

We are to avoid getting stuck in having to be right and making the other person wrong, leaving it for them to come to us.

We are to include and never stop including anyone seen as outside family, friendships, and even our Church.  We don’t exclude under any circumstances if, for no other reason than that it does no good for others or for ourselves.

Conclusion

John the Baptist urges repentance and conversion as a condition for communion with God.  Jesus, to the contrary,  practices communion as a prelude to a deep experience of God and God’s love.

All of this is something of the Kingdom of God as we seen in Jesus. 

And before celebrating his birth, embracing this Kingdom of Jesus and being his follower would sum up our Advent.