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Month: March 2013

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Christian Witness, Homilies

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Resurrection

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Christ is risen!
Huh?

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them. They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised.”

Scripture goes on to tell us:

Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others… but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them.

The disciples we incredulous at news of Jesus being risen, and much of the world is incredulous to this day.

If we look at Jesus with human reasoning alone we can make a very strong case that all of this is too incredible to believe.

We do not have the benefit of being among the women who entered the empty tomb, who had the advantage of an explanation from dazzling angels. We do not have the benefit of being in the company of Peter and John as they ran to find an empty tomb. We do not have the privilege of walking along the road to Emmaus with Jesus and having Him reveal Himself in the breaking of the bread. Yet we have the eyes of faith.

Here we are, looking at an empty tomb and hearing the words of the resurrection proclaimed and sung. Here we are, having rushed to church this morning to see the empty tomb. Here we are, to share in the breaking of the bread, and to recognize the reality of the Lord among us.

We aren’t incredulous. We are here, this morning for two important reasons. The first is that we have received the gift of faith. The second is that we continue live, see, and respond because of that faith.

We value the gift of faith – faith in a God that loves us enough that He would sacrifice His Son’s life so that we might have eternal life. Faith that this Christ was more than a prophet, more than a wise man, more than good teacher, but God Himself that came among us, died for us, and because of His obedience to the Father was raised again – showing us our glorious destiny.

Many cannot believe it. If they hear, ‘Christ is risen!’ they respond, ‘Huh?’ They remain incredulous. Today is nonsensical to them.

For us, a people living in faith, the ancient greeting of Easter, the greeting we proclaim to each other is Christ is risen! to which we all reply, Indeed He is risen!

Christian Witness, Homilies, ,

Reflection for Palm Sunday

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Who is that?
It is the Messiah! Hosanna!

And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes.”

Scripture tells us that Jesus reacted emotionally to the things He witnessed: When He saw the poor, the hungry, the ill, and people sinning. Scripture says repeatedly that “…He had compassion on them.”

There are only two references, however, to Jesus crying, once at the grave of His friend Lazarus along with Mary & Martha. Jesus wept with them. He wept for them. He entered into their grief with compassion and He identified with their sorrow and despair.

This was the 2nd time, as He looked at the city of Jerusalem. He saw the faces, the mass of humanity crowding there and realized the emptiness of their lives. They had not heard the message of peace. They did not understand the purpose of His coming. The people had eyes, but they didn’t see. They had ears, but they didn’t hear. They missed the whole point of the message that God had given to them.

Certainly they waved palm branches, because that is exactly what their great-grandparents had done when the Maccabees overthrew the Syrian oppressors and reestablished worship in the temple. By waving palm branches they were showing that they expected Jesus to be another warlord, another general of the armies one who would lead them to overthrow the Romans. They were saying that they were ready to pick up their swords and shields. They were ready to go to war if He would lead them!

That wasn’t Jesus way. His was the way of love, not of war. The nation of Israel had completely misunderstood Jesus’ mission. He wept over them because these were His chosen people but they did not recognize or understand His as He walked in their midst. They saw His healing as sinister, His words as a challenge to their authority.

Both Matthew & Luke tell us that earlier Jesus had looked down upon the city crying out, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem… How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!”

Today, like Jerusalem, we find ourselves in the presence of Jesus. If Jesus sees us as worried about ourselves, our lives and our fixes to every problem, He would have to cry. If Jesus sees people who recognize Him for who He is – The Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, He would rejoice.

What’s all the commotion – here we are, waving branches, because we recognize You Jesus, our Lord and God. Hosanna in the highest!!!

Christian Witness, Homilies,

Reflection for Passion Sunday

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Should we hide?
No, go out and…

“Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” The Jews then said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.

An excerpt from the traditional Gospel for the beginning of Passiontide is above. The Jews confronted Jesus, saying He was evil. Jesus boldly proclaimed the reality of who He is, God. He called Himself “I AM,” the name of God given to Moses from the burning bush. Because of this the Jews sought to stone Jesus, to kill Him on the spot.

Jesus knew that this was not the end He was to endure. The time was not right. Now hunted, Jesus was forced into hiding to avoid a premature execution. The shrouds covering His images in the Sanctuary symbolize the fact that Jesus was forced out of the public eye. This is a very solemn and important Sunday in our Lenten journey. The covering of sacred images is somber; we feel the tension build as we move toward of the Lord’s passion and death.

As we walk through our daily lives we face tensions, decisions, contemplating whether the time is right to proclaim Jesus. We have to consider, in our current, so called post-Christian age, whether we can boldly proclaim that Jesus is “I AM,” that He is God.

We know too that proclaiming is not enough because so many are distanced from the concept or idea of what God really is. Jesus is God, YES! But, what does that mean for those who are hearing of it for the first time?

Simply put, God is all knowing, all-powerful, all just, and most important to us, all loving. He came to us with one purpose – reconciliation. In His death He reconciled us to Himself. We have a new and wonderful relationship with God – and all are welcome to join in that relationship. That’s the message we need to send in our words and actions.

Might we get “stoned” if we declare these words? Perhaps. Some people won’t like it, or may wish to impose their view of what God is – an unjust and mean judge, a magic genie, a wish granter, a nice guy who lets us decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. It is not that easy. Never is. A relationship with God takes more work, as we must strive to meet God’s expectations: that we love Him and each other.

The statues are veiled. Our faith cannot be. The message of God and His love is ready for the telling. No “stoning” should stop us because love and His promises are ours – far more powerful than any opposition.

Christian Witness, Homilies, PNCC

Reflection for the Institution of the PNCC

Freedom

Who are you?
God’s children.

“Then the righteous man will stand with great confidence in the presence of those who have afflicted him, and those who make light of his labors. When they see him, they will be shaken with dreadful fear, and they will be amazed at his unexpected salvation. They will speak to one another in repentance, and in anguish of spirit they will groan, and say, ‘This is the man whom we once held in derision and made a byword of reproach — we fools!’”

In the coming week we will enter the Passiontide. We will recall our Lord riding triumphantly into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We will walk with Him from the upper room to the garden, to His arrest, imprisonment, trial, torture, execution, and death. He is that Man that was afflicted, whose labors were mocked and thought of as folly by His accusers.

Our Holy Church has walked with Jesus in His suffering. We have such closeness to all He experienced because we too have been mocked and accused. Our organizers, men and women, were beaten, imprisoned, spit at, and mocked. Many today still recall being called names as they went to church. The brothers and sisters of our Church in Poland were prevented from organizing and driven out of towns. During the Second World War they were placed in concentration camps and were martyred for their faith. The communists martyred Bishop Padewski for his witness to Christ.

Through it all, and into these days, often called the post-Christian era, we continue to stand in confidence, the confidence we have because of our faith in Him who assures our salvation.

We hold to the hope we have in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We know that as we have walked with Him in His suffering so too will we stand with Him in His glory.

Today we celebrate the institution of our Holy Church. 116 years ago we chose to live in Jesus, in His righteousness and freedom. We rejected the attitude of the mockers, the powers, the lords of the world and worldly power; the controllers and masters who used fear against the people rather than teaching His truth.

Those who seek Him will find Him here. The persecutors, the fear mongers, and those who claim “sole ownership” of God cannot hurt them or us. Those who, in anger, stand against God cannot affect them or us. We have His confidence.

The world looks at us now, and they ask, “Who are you?” We reply with joy, “The children of God.” We rejoice and know that we will never be accounted fools for we live in Him.

Christian Witness, Homilies, , ,

Reflection for the Third Sunday of Lent

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Cut it off!
Give it a bit.

“‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”

We have all felt like the orchard owner. We try at things and put a lot of effort into them. It seems some are an uphill battle; we don’t seem to be getting anywhere for our effort. We’d like to cut that failure out of our lives and start over; put it behind us.

This experience can happen on lots of levels. Perhaps it is that plant that just won’t flourish on our windowsill, perhaps it is bigger things: our job, friendships, education, or our marriage.

Today’s first lesson is about perseverance. Jesus tells us the story of the orchard owner who has invested a lot to get this tree to grow, and it has failed him every year. He’s ready to cut it off, cut it down, get that failure out of his life, start over, or just put it behind him. The gardener tells the orchard owner and us that we need to give it more time.

Imagine that you’ve had a couple tough years in a marriage, or at work. You’re ready for that divorce or to quit. Then this parable comes to mind and you relent, you give it another year. A year later you look back and…

Hopefully you look back at your marriage and find that it has settled down, flourished, and produced fruit – love, a deeper relationship, and respect. You look back at your job and find good productivity, a promotion and success.

Our Lenten message is that that we cannot just leave the fix to itself for a year. The gardener didn’t just tell the orchard owner and us to give it more time. He understood that the owner needed to “cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it.” In other words, time alone is not enough – we have to put the work in.

That marriage, job, education, friendship, plant on the windowsill all need work and commitment to flourish. Our investment in our faith in Jesus, our love for Him and His Church take commitment and work. Our sinfulness doesn’t end by itself. Things don’t fix themselves.

Thankfully, we don’t work at any of this alone. The gardener by our side is Jesus. He offers us those graces of forgiveness, fellowship in faith, communion with Him and each other. He cultivates and fertilizes our work with His grace that heals perfectly. The next time we’re ready to cut it off, don’t. Turn instead to Him and get to work.

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