As Jesus gazes across the centuries, how do you respond to the question: "Who do you say that I am?"

 

Twenty First Sunday in OT  A  2023

 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus asked his disciples two questions:  The first was an informational discussion question: “Who did people say that I am?”  It was a warmup question.

The Lord’s second question was the real gut question Jesus was asking.  It was a heart question, a faith question: “Who do you that I am?”

 Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus said to him:  “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah…And so, I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.”  In Peter’s answer, he was saying that his relationship with Jesus was the commitment that defined his life.

St. Peter is a paradoxical leader of the Church in that he exhibits both strength and weakness in his faith journey.  In next Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is saying to Peter: “Get behind me, Satan!  You are an obstacle to me.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

And yet, Peter was chosen to be the first pope not by accident, but rather by divine design.  His very failure became his credential to be the foremost preacher of God’s limitless mercy.

Can you resonate with that powerful statement?  Where in your life are you most aware of your need for the merciful love of Jesus?  What weakness, failure, or sinfulness puts you most in touch with your need for God’s healing grace? St Paul proclaims that we have this treasure in earthen vessels.  God lives within us surrounded by the humanness of who we are.  Yet, God chooses to witness to his merciful love in the lives of others.

I know for myself when I am in touch with my own sinfulness, when I too quick to judgment on others, when I carry the weight of the world on my own shoulders, I am most challenged to trust in the limitless mercy of Jesus.

 

 

 

 

Going back to Peter, people would see in the face of Peter the look of one who knows the giving and forgiving God.  Peter would speak from his own experience: “Do not be afraid.”  God’s love has pursued Peter in his sin and found him and gave him a new life.  Peter was a sinner saved by the love of Jesus.   The Good News Peter would fearlessly proclaim is God’s love will pursue you in your sin and find you and give you new life. 

There is nothing you can do that is going to stop God from loving you.

We Catholics boldly speak of the primacy of the pope.  What of the primacy of our first Pope?  Peter has primacy because he is first in failure, first in suffering, first in his need for God’s mercy to serve the Church.  Somehow Jesus understands that Peter can only preach God’s reconciling love if he first experiences it himself.  It is because Peter will fail so completely and weep so bitterly over his denial of Jesus that, when he is finally reconciled with Jesus at the Sea of Tiberius, he will truly understand God’s message of mercy.

This realization in the life of Peter leads us to ask ourselves:  what are our credentials to proclaim the limitless mercy of God?  Perhaps it is our own failures and weaknesses that have been forgiven by God’s grace that leads us to share God’s merciful love with one another.

Pope Francis began his time as pope by acknowledging that he was a sinner and that God had first “mercied” him before choosing him.  He was chosen to be pope because he was well acquainted with the mercy and forgiveness of God.

In the penitential rite at the beginning of the celebration of the Eucharist, we acknowledge and celebrate our need for God’s merciful forgiveness.  Before receiving Communion, we say, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof; but say only the word and my soul shall be healed.”  The Eucharist is not a reward for the perfect.  The Eucharist is God’s gift of love to us who are not worthy, who are sinners, but are grateful for the merciful love of Jesus that is shared with us.

 

 

 

In the Gospel, Jesus said to Peter: “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”  The first and the most important power that was given to Peter and his successors was the forgiveness of sins.

As you pray over this beautiful Gospel, may we discern that certain keys have been entrusted to each of us.   What keys has the Lord entrusted to you?    With the keys that have been given to us, we are to open the way to Jesus for others instead of locking those doors.  We should welcome more people that we turn away and serve more people than we refuse.  Jesus comes to give us Good News that we are to share with others.

As we look to receive the Eucharist in our liturgy, may the grace of Communion encourage us in those moments when we recognize and tend to the presence of Jesus in the poor.  The grace of Communion will enable us to speak out against injustice and translate our words into actions.  The grace of Communion will be there on those days when we give of ourselves to help, to listen, to serve, and to befriend.  Grace will inspire us to quiet ourselves, to pray and to allow the presence of God a place in our lives.  Grace will move us to put others and their need ahead of our own.

May the struggles of our life lead us to trust in Jesus as the source of our inner strength.    Deep within is the person God our Father dreams we can be.  May all of us commit ourselves to do what the Lord asks of us in the building of the Church.  We are to be merciful for God has shown us mercy.

As Jesus gazes across the centuries to today, how might you respond to the question: “Who do you say that I am?”

 

Have a Blessed Day.

"Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid."

 

Nineteenth Sunday in  OT  A  2023

 

“Take courage.  It is I.  Do not be afraid.”   These hope-filled words were spoken by Jesus to his frightened disciples as they were being blown around by the storminess on the Sea of Galilee.  As we engage today’s Gospel of the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, we are in the midst of an angry sea, in a boat that seems fragile, and there are howling winds and enormous waves that threaten to capsize the disciples.

Today’s Scripture readings invite us to reflect over the ways we encounter the Lord in our lives – the ways we become in touch with God’s presence.  There is much to be learned from the first disciples on the Sea of Galilee.

At some point in time, the storminess on the Sea of Galilee may describe anyone’s life – one’s parish or school; one’s business or neighborhood or family; one’s personal life as our employer tells us that our job is downsized or outsourced, or our doctor explains our test results.   This storminess has been the life of the community of the Church many times since Jesus walked on water, and it is what today’s Gospel account is all about.   When we focus on the power of the winds and the depths of the waves and how wet and how cold we are, then we panic and grasp and clutch and…sink.  When we give our life over to Jesus, when we trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, we save our life.

This message is straightforward and easy to understand but so hard to live out when we are gripped by our fears.    The grace we seek from today’s Scriptures is to cultivate faith in Jesus that is greater than our fears.  Faith over fear. The words of Jesus that are spoken to us again and again are: “It is I; do not be afraid.”  We aren’t being asked to walk on water, but to act like we believe that God’s love for us is more powerful than chaos, evil and apathy. 

The storminess on the Sea of Galilee describes very well the quality of life of high school girls who live in the poverty of the country of Tanzania in Africa.  I would like to describe to you the missionary outreach our parish provides for St. Mary’s School, a Catholic high school for girls in Mazinde Ju in Tanzania. This school is a beacon of hope for high school girls that gives them a life-changing experience to get out of the web of poverty that diminishes their quality of life.

On three occasions dating back more than ten years ago, parishioners from St Joseph’s have gone on pilgrimage to St Mary’s School in Tanzania.  I have the privilege of going with a group of parishioners in 2018.  This has been a life changing experience for me as well as all from St Joe’s who have had the opportunity to be a part of this Christ-like school that provides a spiritual and academic opportunity for high school girls who otherwise would be without educational opportunities.

Over these last several years, St Joseph’s has been a major benefactor to this school – contributing as much as $50,000 in a given year.  There are several of us, myself included, who contribute $1,000 per year to provide scholarships for deserving students.

My mantra is you never regret being generous to people in need.

What is so inspiring to me in my visit to Tanzania, is that St. Mary’s School is so much more than a quality classroom experience.  This is a residential school that is for me is an experience of Church in which everyone has their fixed on the Lord.  The spiritual leader of this community is a priest from the Diocese of Rochester, Fr Damien Milliken, a Benedictine priest who has served his priestly ministry for over 50 years in Africa.  This wonderful community of faith has an abundance of consecrated women, the religious sisters of Usumbara, who are teachers for these high school students.  All in this school community live out the Gospel values of love and service and friendship with one another.

I regard it as a privilege for us as a parish community to be benefactors of this Christlike school community of faith.  I invite your generosity in the second collection.

 

As a priest of 55 blessed years, I have the opportunity to celebrate Mass in many sacred places including at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome when St John Paul II ordained my nephew Jason a priest.  That was a wow experience for me.

But I tell you, my most mystical celebration of the Eucharist was in the school chapel of St Mary’s at 6:00 am on an ordinary school day.  Looking out from the altar, I was in the presence of 1,000 high school girls in full Catholic school uniform singing the opening hymn with angelic and enthusiastic voices accompanied only by one high school girl in the choir loft striking a well-worm drum.  The joy in their hearts was unmistakable.

What I would emphasize is that this wasn’t a special feast for Our Lady, this liturgy happens each and every school day at 6:00 am in the morning with the same kind energy and prayerfulness.

The holiness of this liturgy remains with me five years later.

What is so amazing is to be aware of how the graduates of St Mary’s have gone to leadership positions in the legal area, in the medical area and in business and government.  These graduates hold leadership positions improving the quality of life in Tanzania.

 

My prayer is that you will shower these deserving high school girls with the same love, generosity, and prayer as you would your own daughters.  As we are mindful that these young women are God’s beloved daughters, we are called to share from our giftedness in our generosity for these high schoolers.

We have it right in our ministry here at St Joseph’s Church when both St Joseph’s School and St Mary’s School in Mazindu Ju, in Tanzania are recipients of our prayer and our generosity.

 

May God bless you with the gift of generosity.

 

 

"This is my beloved Son. Listen to HIm,"

 

TRANSFIGURATION  2023

 

 

Today the Gospel presents the Transfiguration.  Jesus “took with him Peter and James and John his brother and led them up a high mountain apart” (Mt 17:1). The mountain in the Bible represents a place close to God and an intimate encounter with Him, a place of prayer where one stands in the presence of the Lord. There up on the mount, Jesus is revealed to the three disciples as transfigured, luminescent, and most beautiful. And then Moses and Elijah appear and converse with Him. His face is so resplendent and his robes so white that Peter, awe-struck, wishes to stay there, as if to stop time. Suddenly from on high the voice of the Father resounds proclaiming Jesus to be his most beloved Son, saying “listen to him” (v. 5). This word is important! Our Father said this to these Apostles and says it to us as well: “listen to Jesus, because he is my beloved Son.”

The ‘brightness’ which characterizes this extraordinary event symbolizes its purpose: to enlighten the minds and hearts of the disciples so that they may clearly understand who their Teacher is. It is a flash of light which suddenly opens onto the mystery of Jesus and illuminates his whole person and his whole story.

 

By now decisively headed toward Jerusalem, where he will be sentenced to death by crucifixion, Jesus wanted to prepare his own for this scandal — the scandal of the Cross — this scandal which is too intense for their faith and, at the same time, to foretell his Resurrection by manifesting himself as the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus was preparing them for that sad and very painful moment.

 

 

Going back to the Gospel account, Jesus appeared to Peter, James and John in his risen glory. They then heard a voice from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

 

What does it mean to be beloved of the Father for Jesus? You might think Jesus would have a permanent mountaintop experience? Not so! The transfiguration was a preparation for his final entry into Jerusalem where he was to suffer and to die on the cross…. Still, he certainly was the Father’s beloved.

 

You would think that as the beloved of the Father life would be a bit more extravagant for Jesus. The best of everything -- a vacation in the high rent district of the Sea of Galilee, or an unlimited checking account or something.

 

Yet, his transfiguration was not far removed from the cost of discipleship. This Jesus who was the beloved of the Father would empty himself, suffer and die on the cross.

 

In fact, Jesus was already revealing himself as a Messiah different from their expectations, from how they imagined the Messiah, how the Messiah would be: not a powerful and glorious king, but a humble and unarmed servant; not a lord of great wealth, a sign of blessing, but a poor man with nowhere to rest his head; not a patriarch with many descendants, but a celibate man without home or nest.  And the most bewildering sign of this scandalous overturning is the cross. But it is through the Cross that Jesus will reach the glorious Resurrection, which will be definitive, not like this Transfiguration which lasted a moment, an instant.

Transfigured on Mount Tabor, Jesus wanted to show his disciples his glory, not for them to circumvent the Cross, but to show where the Cross leads. Those who die with Jesus, shall rise again with Jesus. The Cross is the door to Resurrection. Whoever struggles alongside him will triumph with him.

 

Jesus was God’s beloved Son. God’s plan for his beloved Son included the scandal of the cross – his suffering and death. In Baptism, we too are God’s beloved. But like Jesus, this does not mean we get a free pass from suffering and the cross. God’s love is unending but like Jesus God’s love for us includes the scandal of the cross.

For us to trust in God’s love for us in the crosses of life, we need transfiguration moments that sustains our faith in our journey that leads to the cross as our entrance way to sharing in the risen life of Jesus. Our transfiguration moments occur in times of prayer. Our prayer can come in many forms. This past week, I experienced a prayerful transfiguration moment in experiencing the beauty of sunset over Lake Ontario. Another moment was spending time with my sister during a game of golf.

These blessed transfiguration moments sustain my trust that Jesus is with me in all experiences of life.

 

From the event of the Transfiguration, I would like to take two significant elements that can be summed up in two words: ascent and descent. We all need to go apart, to ascend the mountain in a space of silence, to find ourselves and better perceive the voice of the Lord. This we do in prayer.

 

But we cannot stay there! Encounter with God in prayer inspires us anew to “descend the mountain” and return to the plain where we meet many brothers and sisters weighed down by fatigue, sickness, injustice, ignorance, poverty both material and spiritual. To these brothers and sisters in difficulty, we are called to bear the fruit of that experience with God, by sharing the grace we have received.

 

And this is curious. When we hear the Word of Jesus, when we listen to the Word of Jesus and carry it in our heart, this Word grows. Do you know how it grows? By giving it to the other! The Word of Christ grows in us when we proclaim it, when we give it to others! And this is what Christian life is. It is a mission for the whole Church, for all the baptized, for us all: listen to Jesus and offer him to others. Do not forget: this week listen to Jesus!

 

As we ponder the meaning of the Transfiguration Gospel, know that we are God’s beloved. May we listen to how the Lord speaks to us in our prayer. May we recognize many prayerful experiences throughout the day. May we know that we then are missioned to come down the mountain and to share the love of Jesus with one and all.

 

Have a Blessed day.