HOMILY for March 31, 2019: 4th Sunday in Lent, Cycle C

PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to listen

or click here if there is no triangle

4^th Sunday of Lent, Cycle C

Terranova Hermitage

March 31, 2019

Sandals: Symbols of Freedom or Slavery

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato 

 

Sandals

Most of us have or have had a pair of sandals.

I’ve got a pair of Rockports and I am thinking that they are about ten years-old now. Well, if we wear sandals, it’s mostly just in warmer weather.

But back in Jesus’ day, sandals were all folks had. There were no shoes and they either wore sandals or they went barefoot.

Furthermore, in Jesus’ day sandals had a symbolic meaning. If you wore sandals, it meant that you were a free person.

If you had no sandals and went barefoot, that signified that you were a slave. Now this point about sandals is helpful in understanding today’s Gospel and the three persons in this story.

The Younger Son

First, there is the younger son.

This younger son is something like a children who talk back to their parents or like teenagers who rebel against everything their parents tell them to do.  

Or like adults who don’t make time for their parents, especially when they are aging and in need. My bet is that in some way or at some point in our lives, we have all been something like the younger son in this parable. 

Now, the significant thing in the story is that the younger son comes home barefoot.  He left with sandals and he returns barefoot.

Notice that he plans to say to his father, “I am not worthy to be called your son, so just treat me as one of your slaves.”  That is his understanding of his relationship with his father and both his bare feet and his words declare him a slave and not a son.

He realizes that he has lost that close, father-son relationship. He is without sandals, barefoot, both physically and spiritually.

 

The Older Son

Then, there is the older son.

I think we can also identify with him. This older son is something like us when we too resent any good fortune that comes to others.

There’s this expression today: “Zero-Sum Game.” That expression means that one person’s gain must mean the other person’s loss.

Well, this older son in the story seems to have fallen into this trap when it comes to the love of his father. He seems to think that the attention the father gives to the younger son must be a lessening of the father’s love for him.

So, this older son doesn’t address his father with “Father” or “Dad” and he resentfully refers to his younger brother as “your son.” On top of that, he talks about his work on the family farm simply as service and as obeying him all these years. 

So, this older son, physically, is wearing sandals, but spiritually, he is really barefoot, without sandals. He also sees himself as more of a slave than as a son who would be working out of love for his father. 

 

The Father

Finally, there is the father.

Initially, the father must have been deeply hurt when his younger son asked for his share of the inheritance ahead of time. He knew that this amounted to his sons’ saying that his father was as good as dead to him. 

But still, the father respects this son request and gives him the freedom to choose. Then, when this son returns, he runs out to greet him and what does he do? 

He embraces him, puts a pair of sandals on his feet and a ring on his finger. He wants him to know that he’s not a slave, but a son – welcomed back fully into the family.

In the same way, the father takes the initiative to go out and talk with the older son. He doesn’t debate that son’s hostile feelings nor does he put him down.

He just says, “Okay, but come on in and celebrate together as a family.”He is giving this son spiritual sandals and letting him know that he is his son and wants him.

Conclusion

So, in this unforgettable story, Jesus wants us to know that God is like this father.

God has put sandals on our feet. God welcomes us back after we have wandered off or been very self-absorbed. 

God continues to treat us with love and respect. Why?

So that we can choose to grow to become like the father in the story, like God himself in whose image we are created. Our sandals can remind us of this free and wonderful opportunity God gives us.

Daily HOMILY for March 26, 2019: Tuesday in the 3rd Week in Lent

PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to listen

or click here if there is no triangle

Tuesday 3^rd Week Lent

Holy Family Parish

March 26, 2019

AN EXERCISE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  I came across an exercise that I found in dealing w/ angry, resentful & hostile feelings

Ø  You write down on a piece of paper the wrong, offense or hurt you’re holding against another 

Ø  Then roll the paper into a ball & put it into the palm of your hand. Then make a fist

Ø  Clench your fist as tight as you can 

Ø  Don’t let up the pressure; keep it tight

Ø  And see how long you can hold onto this piece of paper in that way

Ø  In fact, carry it w/ U like that throughout day

EFFECTS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  PAIN:As U could imagine, after a while, your fingers ache & your hand will get stiff & may even numb

Ø  ATTENTION: Very soon, all of your attention goes on maintaining this

Ø  We will be distracted from other things we are doing

Ø  MOVEMENT: Additionally, we will be unable to reach out to shake someone’s hand or to touch something

APPLICATION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Well, this is a good image for showing what often happens in our lives

Ø  It’s what we allow R hearts & spirits 2 experience when we let resentment fester, or allow anger or hostility to get the best of us

Ø  It (1) Consumes us w/ pain, (2) Holds our attention captive and (3) Can incapacitate us 

Ø  Forgiveness, the topic of this Gospel, isn’t easy, but it is nevertheless very heart of Js’ message

Ø  It’s the foundation of the bridges we are to build and not destroy

Ø  It is the equipment for taking down walls and not building them

CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  In conclusion, all of this is true not only on an interpersonal level…

Ø  But among nations and people of different cultures

Ø  It seems especially relevant for us at this time for a number of reasons

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Daily HOMILY for March 25, 2019: The Annunciation

PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to listen

or click here if there is no triangle

The Annunciation

Holy Family Parish

March 25, 2019

BEINGS NOT DOINGS +++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  It is fair to say that our culture is a doing culture

Ø  We have become human doings over human beings

Ø  We’re made to think we always have to be doing something and if we are not, we are wasting time

GOD’S DONG ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  This mindset can also affect our spiritual life

Ø  It can make inroads on our faith and how we view our relationship with God

Ø  We can easily slide into the mindset that our salvation is all our doing

Ø  This approach often leads to make little or no time just to be, to be with God

Ø  It leaves little time for silence and stillness

Ø  The result is that we can miss the truth that our salvation is first and foremost God’s doing

BENEDICT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Pope Emeritus Benedict reflected on the Annunciation to Mary in these words

Ø  “The mystery of the Annunciation to Mary is not only a mystery of silence; it is also, and even more, a mystery of grace

Ø  We must ask ourselves: What is the real reason why Christ decided to be born of a Virgin?

Ø  Salvation comes not from human beings and their own powers, but solely from God and his gracious action

Ø  God intervenes where there is a human vacuum; God starts at the point at which, from the human point of view, nothing can be done

Ø  The salvation of the world is exclusively God’s doing and therefore occurs in the midst of human weakness and powerlessness

Ø  From the viewpoint of the Bible, the Virgin birth is in the last analysis a sign that what occurs is a pure act of grace on God’s part”

CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Benedict makes a good point of how our salvation is purely a gift from God

Ø  God’s doing not ours

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

HOMILY for March 24, 2019: 3rd Sunday in Lent, Cycle C

PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to listen

or click here if there is no triangle

3^rd Sunday of Lent, Cycle C

Holy Family Parish, Newark, Delaware

March 24, 2019

Does God Punish Us?

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato 

Does God Punish? 

Over the years, I have heard some Christian groups condemning various kinds of people outside their denomination. They have labelled certain other groups or kinds of people as sinners or as unsaved.

And in their opinion, because these other folks are so bad, God has punished them and allowed really bad things to happen to them. In fact, the bad things or punishments serve as proof that God condemns them.

So, some folks may have fallen on very hard times financially or may have contracted a serious sickness or may have died, and some Christian groups would say that this is God punishing them for their sins, punishing them for being evil, sinful people.

God Does Not Punish

Well, in today’s Gospel, Jesus debunks this way of thinking. Let’s take a look at what’s happening.

Some folks mention a recent event to Jesus. Apparently, some people up in Galilee were put to death by the Roman Governor, Pilate.

They were thrown into a fire that they themselves had been using for their religious sacrifices to God. Jesus quickly realizes that the people around him are talking about this because they think that these Galileans who were killed must have done something wrong.

They must have been really bad sinners so it must have been God punishing them. But Jesus says: “No way!”

“They weren’t any more sinful than any of you. You can’t say this and think that way.”

Jesus himself then raises another example. A building had recently collapsed and some people were killed.

And again, Jesus insists that these people weren’t any more sinful that anyone else. This was not God punishing them for being bad or sinful persons.

Not Punished for Sin 

What is clear is that Jesus is teaching us something here about our image or understanding of God.

The point is that God is not a punisher. Yes, sometimes bad things happen to us.

But bad things don’t just happen to bad people. They happen to good people too.

They just happen. God is not a punisher.

If we look at the thrust of the Gospels, Jesus’ predominant theme is that God loves us – unconditionally and forever. And a loving God does not, ever, turn his back on us and punish us.

God is not playing a reward/punishment game with us. God just loves us and keeps loving us when we foul up and do wrong, and keeps trying to draw us into his way of love.

It’s a bit like me standing here in the sanctuary facing the tabernacle. I am facing Jesus in the Eucharist.

I can turn around and turn my back on Jesus and the tabernacle. But Jesus is still there, still looking at me and offering himself to me and drawing and loving me. 

Punished by Sin 

Several noteworthy, current Catholic theologians put it this way.

We are not punished forour sins; we are punished by our sins. Let me trepeat that: We are not punished forour sins; we are punished by our sins.

This is really a key point and perhaps can be a real shift in our understanding. So, yes, you and I can and do sin, but it is really our sins that punish us.

For example, if I choose to continue holding a grudge against someone, the bitterness and vengeance in my heart really eats away at me and distorts and disfigures me as a person. That behavior hurts or punishes me.

Or if I overeat or overdrink, the result is that at worst, I may develop coronary problems or liver disease, and at least not feel well. My behavior hurts or punishes me. 

The point then is that we not punished forour sins by an all-loving God. To the contrary, we are punished byour sins – to the sadness and disappointment of our loving God.

Repentance

At the conclusion of today’s passage, Jesus gives us the image or parable of the fig tree.

Scripture scholars tell us that Jesus is not saying that he is going to cut us down as someone might cut down a tree that is bearing little or no fruit. Instead, by his example Jesus is trying to shake us up a bit. 

It’s as if he’s grabbing us by the scruff of the neck and shaking us, saying: “Wake up, Nicholas! Turn back to the Father; come back to Jesus!”

“Name the sin in your life and repent of it, because if you don’t that very sin will continue to punish you and it might well end up punishing you for all eternity.”

“Just turn around and look at your loving God! And respond to that love and you’ll be fine.”

Daily HOMILY for March 23, 2019: Saturday in the 2nd Week in Lent

PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to listen

or click here if there is no triangle

Saturday 2^nd Lent

Jesus House

March 23, 2019

THE PRODIGAL SON +++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  We are familiar with today’s Gospel as the parable of the “Prodigal Son,” whose behavior takes up much of the story

Ø  Demanding his inheritance early is tantamount to wishing his father’s death

Ø  If we read the parables in the verses preceding this Gospel – the lost sheep for whose sake the 99 are left, and the lost coin worth searching for despite there being 9 others – we can predict the joyous outcome

Ø  But the last words of this story focus at length on the stingy, jealous elder son and the generous and forgiving father

Ø  This suggests that, without ignoring the younger son, we should pay attention to the elder son and the father too

Ø  There is no story without them

ELDER SON AND FATHER TOO +++++++++++++++++

Ø  What about that elder son who refuses to join the party?

Ø  He has gone largely unnoticed, taken for granted, the quiet worker who never rocks the boat

Ø  The squeaky wheel gets the grease, they say

Ø  We are left stupefied at the love and self-emptying of the father who is completely unmindful of the dishonor that the younger son had paid to him

Ø  At the same time, this understanding father cannot understand his older son!

WHO ARE WE? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  With which of these three do we identify?

Ø  The wayward son now crawling back?

Ø  The elder son always faithful, but feeling unappreciated?

Ø  Or the father who is called to turn himself inside out in compassion?

Ø  In turn and at the same time, we understand every character in this family 

HOMILY for February 3, 2019: 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to listen

or click here if there is no triangle

4^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Terranova Hermitage

February 3, 2019

The Creedal Gap

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato 

 

The Big Gap 

This past week, I read an article that really got my attention.

The author points out that in the Creed that we recite together here at Mass, we profess our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. At one point, we say this: “By the Holy Spirit [he] was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”

And then immediately: “For our sake he suffered under Pontius Pilate.” So, we jump from the birth to the death of Jesus.

There is no mention of anything in-between. The article that I was reading calls this the Big Gap.

The author asks: is there nothing here in which we also need to profess our faith? There is no mention in our Creed of Jesus’ teaching on love, service, forgiveness, caring for the least among us, and on it goes. 

The point is: don’t we also have to profess our faith in what Jesus teaches us to do – in how we are to live? I think this is an excellent point. 

A Vision Statement

I wonder if we might call the Creed our vision statement.

It is the vision of who God is and what God has done for us. Many groups and organizations have a vision statement about who they are.

But they also have a mission statement about what they are to do. So, for us, our mission statement is what Jesus calls us to do and how we are to live on this earth.

Our mission statement is the Scripture and especially the gospel. I believe we also need to profess our faith in this.

 

A Mission Statement  

Let’s take a look at our first reading today to get just one idea of our mission or what’s in our mission statement.

God speaks to the prophet Jeremiah. God says: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you.”

They are beautiful, personal, almost tender words. And they have some real messages for our mission.

For starters, we are to see not just Jeremiah, but each baby in the womb as already known by God, as special and sacred. This means that we are to respect and value the life of the unborn.

And beyond that, God says to Jeremiah that he has already dedicated him for something. From even before birth, God has a role or mission in mind for him and for us.

This means that the life of each child and teen and young adult and middle-aged adult and senior adult and elderly adult is also special and sacred. God has dedicated each of us for something for our entire lives and we need to respect and value others with this in mind.

Lately, I have been thinking about the expression “whole life” – spelled W-H-O-L-E. I wonder if this term is better at expressing the mission God gives us – our mission statement. 

My thought is that the whole life of the whole of humanity is special and sacred. So, the way we speak to and encourage, the way we guide and provide for those in our personal lives is very important.

Our support for programs that encourage expectant mothers and couples to bring their child to term is important. Our approach to affordable health care for everyone, to today’s refugees and asylum seekers and immigrants, and to all minorities is important.

All of these things and others are part of a whole life morality. Our mission is to treat all persons at all stages of life as special and sacred.

Conclusion

Now, this may be just one area of our mission and mission statement, but it is vital and very central.  

So, here is what I suggest. In just a minute, we will pray our Creed together.

I am suggesting that today, we pause at the Big Gap – to use the expression in the article that I read. So, right after we profess our faith in Jesus’ birth, let’s stop for a moment. 

And let’s silently also profess our faith in the Scripture as our mission statement and in the mission God has given each of us. Let’s make sure that we are also professing our faith in what God calls us to do on this earth. 

HOMILY for January 6, 2019: Feast of the Epiphany, Cycle C

PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to listen

or click here if there is no triangle

Feast of the Epiphany, Cycle C

Terranova Hermitage

January 6, 2019     

Birth and Death — A Single Mystery

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato 

T. S. Eliot

When I was in my college years – back in the early 1960s – one of the authors we read was T. S. Eliot.

Eliot was an English poet and dramatist. He died in 1965.  

T. S. Eliot wrote a poem entitled The Journey of the Magi.Obviously, it focuses on the three Magi or wise men whom we hear about in today’s Gospel.  

And, of course, they are portrayed right here in our nativity scene. I want to read just a few lines from this poem – The Journey of the Magi. 

The poem is written as the reflection of one of these three Magi. It is one of the Magi speaking.

It may be a bit challenging at first, but just hang in there with me. We will quickly see what he is getting at.  

The Journey of the Magi

Here are the verses from the poem – The Journey of the Magi.  

“…were we led all that way for

Birth or Death? 

There was a Birth, certainly,

We had evidence and no doubt. 

I had seen birth and death

But had thought they were different; 

this Birth was

Hard and bitter agony for us, like death, our death.”

Let me read these few verses just once more. And notice: this Magi is not speaking of Jesus’ death, but of a death or dying that weexperience.

 “…were we led all that way for

Birth or Death? 

There was a Birth, certainly,

We had evidence and no doubt. 

I had seen birth and death

But had thought they were different; 

this Birth was

Hard and bitter agony for us, like death, our death.”

Birth and Death for the Magi

This wise man or Magi, speaking for all three of them, is saying something very insightful.

They see the newborn Jesus, the Christ Child. They see the “Birth,” as this Magi puts it.

But they realize that they are also seeing a “Death.” It is the “Birth” of Jesus, but it is their own “Death” that they see.

And, it is not their physical death, but rather a spiritual dying. The idea is that seeing the Christ Child, seeing this “Birth” forces them to die to certain things in themselves.

This experience forces them to change, to go home different persons. Maybe that is the real significance of the statement at the end of the Gospel that they went home by another way.

So, the author T. S. Eliot is saying that our seeing and celebrating this “Birth” will probably also involve a “Death” for us. It should involve some spiritual dying to self.  

Birth and Death for Us

For example, as we look at the Christ Child, maybe this “Birth” also means:

A “Death” to any indifference to human life, whether it is the life of the unborn or the life of children who do not have enough food or adequate health care;

Or perhaps a “Death” to some failure to be caring for an elderly parent who is feeling very lonely, or for a young adult who feels lost. 

And, as we look at the Christ Child in relation to these three Magi who come from a different country and a different religious and cultural background, perhaps this “Birth” also means:

A “Death” to being closed to persons who are different from us and our way of living or thinking; 

Or perhaps a “Death” to stereotyping migrants and refuges and those who journey to our country seeking survival or a decent life.

  

Conclusion

I have to say that this is a very different way for me to look at today’s Feast of the Epiphany.

It is very different for me to look at the experience of the Magi as seeing both “Birth” and “Death,” but, it rings true for me. 

How could we see the birth of the Christ Child and not be changed? 

How could we see this birth and not also go through some kind of spiritual dying to self?