HOMILY for June 30, 2019: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

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13^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

St. Mark Parish

June 30, 2019

My Faith Life As a Journey

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato 

A Journey

For many years, I have used the word “journey” to express how I have been experiencing my life.

I am not sure exactly when I came up with the descriptive word, but I am certain it probably came from Saint Luke’s Gospel. In today’s passage, Luke uses the word “journey” four times.

The Gospel writer is apparently really trying to make a point. He sees Jesus’ entire ministry as a journey, and what’s more a journey to Jerusalem.

For Jesus, this was both a geographical and a spiritual journey. It is also symbolic of a spiritual journey that I believe you and I are on. 

And each day is another step in this journey – with Jesus, and back to God. It is a journey with new opportunities and new challenges always coming up.  

Experiencing my life as a journey also helps me to see myself as being on the way and not yet there, in other words, as being human and imperfect and in need of growth.

It helps me realize my resources and companions I meet along the way. 

So, the image of a journey is very powerful one for me.

Virtues for the Journey

Now, in today’s Gospel passage, we see some of the traits that Jesus holds up to us for this image to come alive in our experience. 

These traits emerge in Jesus’ response to some people who want to follow him on hisjourney. It is important to understand correctly what Jesus means here with each of his responses. 

1. Go Beyond Comfort Zone

One person in the Gospel says, “I will follow you wherever you go,”and Jesus responds, “Foxes and birds have places to stay, but I do not.”

What he’s saying is that sometimes following him won’t be very comfortable. Sometimes we will have to push ourselves and move out of our comfort zone.  

For example, maybe we’ll have to swallow hard, eat our pride, admit we made a mistake and ask for forgiveness. Sometimes, if we are going to journey with Jesus, we’ll have to go out of our comfort zone.

2. Do Good Now

Someone else in the Gospel says that he’ll follow Jesus, but wants first to go and bury his father. Jesus seems very blunt and cold and says, “Let the dead bury their dead.”

Scripture scholars tell us that from the original wording here, this man’s father was not yet dead and nor even dying. The man was just saying that he’d follow Jesus, but not just now, sometime later on in his life.  

Jesus’ point is, for example, that if we feel drawn to write a note expressing our appreciation and love to our parents or children or spouse or close friend, do it now and don’t put it off. 

If we are going to journey with Jesus, do right now the good things that we feel drawn to do.

 

3. Look Ahead

Then someone else says that he’ll follow Jesus, but he first wants to say good-bye to his family. While that would seems reasonable, Jesus says that it’s not a good idea to look back when you’re plowing a field. 

The idea is that if you are preparing rows for planting corn, the rows won’t be straight, if you’re looking behind yourself. Jesus’ point is to look ahead and live in the present and not in the past.

Don’t wistfully yearn for the “good old days” and don’t be bogged down in past hurts, mistakes, and failures. 

If we are going to journey with Jesus, just look ahead and make the most of today’s opportunities.

  

Conclusion

So, 

(1)   Sometimes we’ll have to go beyond our comfort zone

(2)  Do good nowand not put it off until later

(3)  Look ahead and don’t get stuck on what’s behind you, and 

(4)  Be respectful no matter what.

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They are some of the traits for living life as a journey with Jesus and eventually returning to the Father! 

Daily HOMILY for June 21, 2019: Friday 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle C

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Friday of the 11^th Week in Ordinary Time

Retreat and Spiritual Center at Bon Secours

June 21, 2019

PERISHABLE THINGS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø Today Jesus offers us nuggets of practical wisdom 

Ø He is trying to motivate us to live wisely and avoid a shallow and foolish lifestyle

Ø He knows that we can easily get caught up in nice, comfortable material things

Ø So, he cautions that moths can eat holes in our finest clothing

Ø Metals are subject to corrosion and rust

Ø Anything we own can be lost – in a fire, in a theft or fraud, or in an economic downturn

IMPERISHABLE THINGS ++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø But, Jesus adds, there are somethings that are not vulnerable to being lost in these ways

Ø And those things are the things of the spirit:

o   Like our relationship with God that comes from faith and prayer

o   Satisfaction that comes from giving of ourselves for the well-being of others

o   The inner peace that comes from living out of the way of love taught by Jesus

Ø No thing and no one can take these spiritual treasures away from us. They R lasting and will last

Ø In fact, so lasting are they that we will take them with us when it is our time to go home to God

MOVING FROM PERISHABLE TO IMPERISHABLE ++++

Ø To move from imperishable  rather than perishable things, Jesus tells us about the use of our eyes 

Ø What we look atis usually where we look for the things we will eventually treasure

o   So, instead of looking at some lewd Internet site, look at a site with a spiritual reflection for the day

o   Instead of looking at all kinds of clothes or gadgets that we really don’t need, spend time looking at a book and reading about how to communicate better or how to deal with anger

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

Ø As Jesus says, “If your eye is sound, your whole body — your whole self — will be filled with light.”

Ø And — by the way — that very light will be part of the lasting treasure “Where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.”

Ø Great advice from the Lord on how to live wisely!

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HOMILY for June 9, 2019: Feast of Pentecost, Cycle C

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Feast of Pentecost, Cycle C

Terranova Hermitage

June 9, 2019           

A New Way to Understand Evangelization

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato 

 

Evangelization

When I was a child, my mother would often take me into NYC with her whiles she was shopping for fabrics and I remember seeing street preachers.

These preachers were trying to convert people to Jesus. They would shout and threaten damnation if people didn’t listen.

That is my earliest recollection of what is called evangelization. We hear this word used often today even by Pope Francis.  

The word comes directly from the Latin word that means Gospel or good news. So, evangelization means that we bring the Gospel or good news to the world around us. I must admit that hearing the yelling of the street preachers didn’t sound like good news at all!

Naming Grace

Recently I came across an insightful way to understand evangelization now in the twenty-first century.

One of our Catholic theologians says that evangelization is first of all about naming grace – naming grace. It is not really about bringing God to people, as though God were not already there.

Instead, when we evangelize, we do not so much make God present, but we name or identify or point out how God is already present. As I have come to understand it, this means that our human experiences can speak to us of God.

So, the calling to evangelize first requires us to be interpreters of everyday human experience. We are to help each other to see life as touched by God.

We do this by looking at life with the eyes of faith. Evangelization involves looking more deeply into the ordinary to see the Extraordinary—spelled with a capital E.

It is looking at the human and everyday and seeing the divine right there.  I think this insight is excellent and is at least the first step of evangelization in this century and culture. 

 

Examples of Naming Grace

So, for example, a child is born. And we stand in awe of this new life from God.

Or we forgive someone, even though we feel that we ourselves gain nothing from this. And we know that the power to do this has in some mysterious way come from God.

Or we sacrifice for another person, for a daughter to go off to college or for a person in need whom we never even meet. And we are aware of a spirit within us that moves us to do this.

Or we’re are taken by a magnificent sunset. And we wonder about the something, or Someone – spelled with a capital S – that is behind all of this.

Or finally, we find ourselves really loving someone. And we sense that there is a mystery to this that transcends any human explanation for it.   

Evangelization: The Way of Jesus

So, we need to name the grace of God in ways like this.

That, I believe, must be the first step of evangelization in this century and culture. We point out and identify God’s presence, already in our midst.  

And that presence, my friends, is the Holy Spirit. It is who the Holy Spirit is and what the Holy Spirit is about.

And then, with this naming done, we can proceed to the next step. We can proceed to lifting up the wonderful way that Jesus shows us and invite others to consider that way.

In sum, we name the grace and then we invite someone else to make that a conscious experience for themselves. 

And, in both steps, we are positive. We are not like the street preachers I remember as a child, as sincere as they were.  

We are not condemning or labeling someone as in mortal sin. We are not threatening others with damnation and manipulating them with fear.

Instead, we simply name grace and name the way of Jesus. And in so doing, we are living his way, the way of love and respect for others, no matter what.

Conclusion

This, I believe, is the way to celebrate and grow the presence of the Holy Spirit.

This is one way for us to understand and celebrate Pentecost today. 

HOMILY for June 2, 2019: Ascension Sunday, Cycle C

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Ascension Sunday, ABC

Church of the Nativity

June 2, 2019

Next Steps in Your Mission

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

Mission Statements

I believe it’s no accident that I was asked to celebrate Mass this weekend and no accident for the day to be the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. 

It’s no accident that the Gospel has Jesus ascending to the Father after a life of ministry on earth and leaving the disciples with a mission.

I’ll leave you hanging for a moment on why it’s no accident and I promise to return to tell you why.

Let me begin with the word “mission.” A mission is a statement that points a direction, marshals resources, and in the end gives meaning to an effort.

President John Kennedy issued such a mission to congress on May 25, 1961 to get us to the moon by the end of the decade and in doing that he set a direction and financial and technological resources were gathered. 

At the time there was no such policy nor did any agency exist to realize the mission. 

And then — 8 years and 2 months later — on the night of July 20, 1969 Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the surface of the moon. That single act of walking on the lunar surface united us as a people and made us proud to be Americans. 

For a brief time in our history there was no North or South, no Republicans or Democrats, no Black or White, no Christians, Muslims or Jews . We were all Americans and we were proud as a nation!

Next month, July 20, will be the 50^thanniversary of the mission accomplished.

Jesus’ Offer of a Mission

Today Jesus gives us a similar mission in his leaving earth to ascend to the Father. A similar mission that points a direction, marshals resources, and promises us meaning, unity, and pride. 

Let’s look at the scene for a moment. 

The Acts of the Apostles proclaims that, “While they were looking intently at the sky … two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, ‘People of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going up to heaven.’”

Yes, this same Jesus you walked with, ate with (Hands) is taken from your sight BUT will return “in the same way as you have seen him going” “The same way,” is the same power that comes next week in the Holy Spirit at Pentecost

And in the second reading from Ephesians, Paul tells us how we know this to be true when he prays that, “The eyes of your heart be enlightened that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call.”

Finally the Gospel gives us the mission: you are my witnesses to (1) my being raised from the dead, witnesses(2) for the forgiveness of sins

Further, the disciples are advised to,“Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high”, that is, until they’ve received the Spirit that will empower them to complete the mission that begins Jerusalem.

It is only after giving them the mission and the resources does Jesus then raise his hands, bless them, and is taken up into heaven.

Leaving those he loved, yes. But leaving them with the mission and the power to be his presence to the “world.”

They do Jesus homage and then they return to Jerusalem with great joy and were “continually in the temple praising God.” 

Today, we too have heard the mission. Today, we too are in the temple praising God. 

Nicholas’ Acceptance 

As I promised, I return to why celebrating Eucharist today, the Ascension, and the missioning of the disciples, is no accident for me.

Two years ago the Sunday Gospel for the Ascension was from St. Matthew where Jesus missions them to minister in Jerusalem, to all of Judea, and to the ends of the earth.

I had just joined the parish and was wondering what my “next step” would be. The Ascension Gospel moved me to (1) Ministry here at Nativity — “Jerusalem” for the disciples — (2) Charitable efforts  in Baltimore City — “throughout Judea” for the disciples —and (3) To become part of our ministry team to Kenya — “to the ends of the earth” for the disciples. 

See the trajectory here? Moved to mission by Jesus’ words (1) “To Jerusalem,” (2) “Throughout Judea” and (3) “To the ends of the earth.” It’s not so much about how I responded, but it’s about the PROCESS of how Jesus’ Ascension Missions, Motivates, and Moves us.

Your Next Step

So in your hearing this missioning Gospel, what’s your next step? You can’t just keep looking up to the sky and bemoaning Jesus’ leaving.

Where do you stand regarding a mission that will give your life meaning, unite you with others, to make disciples of all?

That’s the question we’re all left with, but only you can answer for yourself.