Good Friday: 2015

Good Friday: 2015

On Good Friday we should ask the question: why should we carry our crosses? First, cross-bearing is a condition for Christian discipleship. Jesus said: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me”(Matthew 16:24).  Second, it is by carrying our crosses that we make reparation for our sins and for the sins of others related to us. That is why St. Paul said that he was suffering in his body what is “lacking” in Christ’s suffering. Third, it is by carrying our crosses that we become imitators of Christ in his suffering for us. St. Paul explains it thus: “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2: 19-20).

Joke: You might remember comedian Yakov Smirnoff.  When he first came to the United States from Russia he was not prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores.  He says, "On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk--you just add water, and you get milk.  Then I saw powdered orange juice--you just add water, and you get orange juice.  And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, ‘What a country!’" 

Smirnoff is joking, but we make these assumptions about Christian Transformation. We go to church as if we are going to the grocery store: Powdered Christian.  Just add water and disciples are born not made.  Unfortunately, there is no such powder, and disciples of Jesus Christ are not instantly born.  We must understand what it means to be a disciple. Does this mean denying ourselves?  YES.  Does this mean that just saying that you follow Jesus is enough?  NO, it is not. We read in Matthew’s gospel, “Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16: 24)

Practical Applications: 1) We should carry our crosses with the right motives: This means that we should not carry our crosses cursing our fate as does the donkey carrying its load. Nor should we protest as do the bulls or horses pulling their carts. Our motive should not be reward by God as the hired workers labor for their wages. We should carry our crosses like a loving wife who nurses her paralyzed husband or sick child, with sacrificial love and dedicated commitment. The carrying of our crosses becomes easier when we compare our light crosses with the heavy crosses of terminally-ill   patients or patients in emergency wards. We need to draw strength and inspiration from Jesus Who walks ahead of us carrying his heavier cross while supporting us in carrying our crosses.

Good Friday - 2012

Good Friday : You might remember comedian Yakov Smirnoff.  When he first came to the United States from Russia he was not prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores.  He says, "On my first shopping trip with my American friend , I saw powdered milk. What is it , I asked. My friend explained, “You just add water, and you get milk.” I was amazed. Then I saw powdered orange juice--you just add water, and you get orange juice!  And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, you add water and get a ready made baby!! “What a country!"  So many Christian denominations claim that they can make powdered Christians. They preach: “Accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, surrender your life to him and confess your sins to him. You are saved.“ Once saved, you are always saved.  Just add water and disciples are born not made.  Unfortunately, there is no such powder, and disciples of Jesus Christ are not instantly born.  We must understand what it really means to be a Christian disciple from the mouth of Jesus. He proclaimed in Mathew 16: 24, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16: 24).It means that a truly practicing Christian must be a self denying and cross carrying Christian who obeys the teachings of Jesus. That is why we ask the question on Good Friday: what is the real message of the cross?

Message of the cross: The poet gets the message of the love of God from the cross. The business man views the cross as a ransom, a redemption price. The lawyers and judges prefer to remember the message of the cross as an expression of the justice of God for the wages of man's sin. The converted Jews prefer to compare the cross to the sacrifices of the Old Testament. For the martyrs and saints the cross of Christ gives meaning to our pains and suffering. 

Anecdote:  One day, a man went to visit a church; He got there early, parked his car and got out. Another car pulled up near the driver got out and said, “I always park there! You took my place!"   The visitor went inside for Sunday school, found an empty seat and sat down A young lady from the church approached him and stated, "That’s my seat! You took my place!" The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing. After Sunday school, the visitor went into the sanctuary and sat down. Another member walked up to him and said, “That’s where I always sit! You took my place!" The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still He said nothing. Later as the congregation was praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood up, and his appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out, "What happened to you?" The visitor replied, as his hat became a crown of thorns, and a tear fell from his eye, "I took your place.”

The message of the cross is nothing but this words “I took your place”

Holy Thursday:[B]: 2015

Holy Thursday: 2015

Introduction: On Holy Thursday we celebrate three anniversaries: 1) the anniversary of the first Holy Mass, 2) the anniversary of the institution of ministerial priesthood in order to perpetuate the Holy Mass, convey God’s forgiveness to repentant sinners and preach the Good News of Salvation, 3) the anniversary of Jesus’ promulgation of His new commandment of love: “Love one another as I have loved you” through feet washing.

Today we remember how Jesus transformed the Jewish Passover into the New Testament Passover.  The Jewish Passover was, in fact, a joint celebration of two ancient thanksgiving celebrations.  The descendants of Abel, who were shepherds, used to lead their sheep from the winter pastures to the summer pastures after the sacrificial offering of a lamb to God.  They called this celebration the “Pass over."  On the other hand, the descendants of Cain, who were farmers, held a harvest festival called the Massoth in which they offered unleavened bread to God as an act of thanksgiving.  The Passover feast of the Israelites (Exodus 12:26-37) was a harmonious combination of these two ancient feasts of thanksgiving, commanded by the Lord God to be celebrated yearly by all Israelites to thank God for the miraculous liberation of their ancestors from Egypt and their exodus from slavery to the Promised Land.

Taking the bread and vine Jesus said “This is my body. This is my blood. Do this in memory of me” Jesus know that tomorrow he will die. The disciples are asked to do this in future “in remembrance of Jesus”. This commissioning is what we call institution of priesthood. To do this for ever to remember him, Jesus replaced his physical body and blood with bread and wine, by saying “this is my body, this is my blood.” We, Catholics hold that the bread and wine the priest consecrated is the real body and blood of Jesus. 

Joke:  There were these two boys who lived with their Grandma. They were about to go to bed but before they slept they prayed. The older son started to pray. He prayed about the day he had and about everything he had done. The younger son then started to pray, he prayed much louder than his elder brother, he prayed for bikes and toys, and when he finished the older brother asked him "Why are you praying so loud? God is not deaf" and the younger son responded and said " Yea but Grandma is"

Practical Applications: 1) Our celebration of the Eucharist requires that we wash one another’s feet, i.e., serve one another, and revere Christ's presence in other persons. In practical terms, that means we are to consider their needs to be as important as our own and to serve their needs, without expecting any reward. 2) Visiting the Blessed Sacrament, first Friday devotion like making confession, communion and participating in adoration are to nourish our spiritual life.  3) Let us start our devotion to Blessed Sacrament with participation in today’s adoration.

Eucharist & Feet Washing:[2012]:Exo12:1-8,11-14;1Cori 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15

Eucharist & Feet Washing:[2012]:Exo12:1-8,11-14;1Cori 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15

Life in Palestine in the time of Jesus was hard. The popular means of transport was your feet. People walked long distances on rough, dusty roads to go from Galilee to Jerusalem, for example. Travellers often arrived their destinations with sore and aching feet. As a sign of hospitality, the host would see to it that his guests were given a warm foot bath and massage as a way of relieving their aches and pains. This was usually done by the house servants or slaves.

This service of bathing and soothing the tired feet was also provided by the rest houses or inns found at strategic locations along the major roads and highways. Travellers worn out along the way could go into these rest houses and have food and foot bath. Their energy thus restored they would then be able to continue and complete their long journey. That is how such rest houses along the way got the name "restaurants" -- they restored strength to tired and exhausted travellers on the way. The disciples would have understand Jesus washing their feet in light of this cultural background. And for us it is a pointer to the meaning of the Eucharist we celebrate.

Understood in light of the washing of feet, the Eucharist is a place of restoration for people on the way. The life of a Christian in the world is a pilgrimage, a long, hard journey. Along the way we get tired and worn out and we are tempted to give up and turn back. But Jesus has provided us with the Eucharist as a place where we can go in to bathe our aching feet and to be refreshed in body and soul for the journey that is still ahead. When we give communion to a sick person we call it viaticum which means "provisions for a journey." The Eucharist is always a viaticum: in the Eucharist we derive strength to continue our upward journey toward God.

In the story we find that Peter was uncomfortable with having Jesus wash his feet. Peter, who was somewhat of an activist, would have preferred to see himself doing the washing, washing the feet of Jesus and even of the other disciples. Sometimes it is harder to remain passive and allow someone else to bathe us than it is to bathe someone else, as every toddler can tell you. But having our feet washed and washing the feet of others are two sides of the coin we call the Christian life.

The first and most essential part is to let the Lord wash us. As Jesus said to Peter, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me (John 13:8). First, the Lord washes us clean so that we belong to the Lord. Only then are we qualified and empowered to wash the feet of our sisters and brothers in the Lord. When this truth dawned on Peter, he overcame his reluctance and cried out, "Lord, not my feet only but my hands and my head also!" (v. 9). For this to happen all that the Lord needs from us is simply for us to be there, to present ourselves to him and to let him wash us.

The other side of the coin, which is equally important, is that after our feet have been washed by the Lord, we must go and wash the feet of others. After Jesus had washed his disciples' feet, he said to them:

Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord -- and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you (John 13:12-15).

Jesus establishes a close link between him washing the disciples' feet and the disciples washing the feet of others. If the Eucharist is the place where the Lord washes our feet, daily life is the place where we ought to wash the feet of others. Eucharist leads to life leads to Eucharist. True Eucharist piety must lead to service of others. Jesus who broke the bread of the Eucharist also washed the feet of his disciples. We must follow his example both at the altar of the Eucharist and at the altar of life.

Holy Thursday:[2012], the Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Nourished and Nourishing

Holy Thursday:[2012], the Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Nourished and Nourishing

This beautiful liturgy presents us with three readings that emphasize the essential elements of our living celebrations of the Last Supper, the Mass. The readings begin with the presentation of the first Passover meal.   The significance for us is deeper than the fact that the Last Supper took place during a Passover celebration.  The significance is that God protects his people from death while they are sharing the meal of the sacrificed lamb. God protects us from death, eternal death, while we are nourished by the Sacrificed Lamb, Jesus Christ.

In the second reading, from 1 Corinthians 11, St. Paul presents some of the customs of the early Church.  He begins with a few minor issues, such as how people are to dress, but then Paul raises a major problem. The Corinthians were allowing divisions to be evidenced among them.  The early celebrations of the Supper of the Lord used to begin with a meal.  But instead of some sort of ancient parish pot luck, the Corinthians were divided at the table.  They only shared their food with those with whom they associated. The rich brought sumptuous food, but only for their rich friends. The poor often went hungry.  These people were not celebrating the Eucharist as Christ intended it to be celebrated when He gave His Body and Blood at the Last Supper. Instead they were using the Eucharist as an opportunity to demonstrate their arrogance.  Perhaps that is why Paul reminds them of what is taking place when they meet for the Breaking of the Bread.  Paul recites the formulas similar to those found in the Synoptic Gospels and prayed in our Masses: This is my body which is given up for you.  This is the new covenant of my blood.  Paul wants the Corinthians to remember What is taking place and Whom they are celebrating.  He tells them that this action proclaims the death of the Lord until He comes.  This is a time for unity in the Christian community.  Division in the community is antithesis to the Eucharist. That’s the reason why our modern celebration of the Eucharist, the Mass, places a sign of peace before the reception of the communion.  In the person we offer peace to we see anyone with whom we need to be reconciled.  The Eucharist must express unity in Christ, the Body of Christ united to its Head.

This leads us to the main reading for today, the Gospel Proclamation. The Eucharist cannot be understood apart from the action depicted in the Gospel, the washing of feet. This is not just a side incident, an introduction to the main point of the dinner.  This is one way of stating what the gift of bread and wine, Body and Blood proclaim: Jesus Christ offers Himself up completely for us, and then calls us to offer ourselves up completely for others.  The washing of feet is a prophetic action, an action demanding our humble acceptance of the Lord and an action mandating that we do to others what is done for us–serve them without limits, with sacrificial love. The reception of the Body and Blood of the Lord is also a prophetic action, an action that demands our humble acceptance of the Lord, and an action that mandates our doing for others what has been done for us.

When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples he performed a prophetic action.  Even a slave could not be made to wash the feet of his or her master.  It was degrading, disgusting.  But not to the Lord.  He would empty Himself in service to His people.  He would give Himself completely to them.  He would give them His Body and Blood.  He would die on the cross for them.  He would demonstrate to them that the Love of God had no limits.  Nothing was too demanding.  Love was all that matters.  The meal of love, the Last Supper, began with a prophetic act demonstrating the love they and we all experience pouring down on us from the cross.

But this action of the Lord demands our humbly accepting Him in our lives.  We need our Savior.  We cannot conquer the evils of the world alone.  We have to let Him save us.  At first, Peter tried to prevent the Lord from humbling Himself.  “Would you wash my feet, Lord?”  “I don’t think so?” we would add in our jargon.  Jesus tells Him and us that if we do not allow Him to give Himself to us, if we are so proud to think that we do not need Him, then He will have no part of us.  This prideful way of life is witnessed in the times that many Catholics and perhaps in the past even some here, have withdrawn from the Eucharist.  The statement that some will say, “I don’t go to Mass but I pray in my own way,” might sound pietistic and nice, but is itself saying, “I don’t need the Eucharist.”  Why?  Why would anyone who has been admitted to communion ever think that he or she does not need communion?  Could it be that we can become so proud that we might think that we do not need to come before God and accept His humbling himself for us. This evening we are reminded that the Meal of Love begins with our humble recognition that we need Christ to empty Himself for us.

But this is far from sufficient.  Jesus would not allow His disciples to turn their focus into themselves.  He would not allow them or us to be satisfied with what He does for us.  Instead we hear, “You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do."  The washing of the feet is a prophetic sign of the gift of the Body and Blood of the Lord at the Last Supper and on the Cross.  We are called to prophesy in the same way.  We are called to do what Jesus did.  We are called to offer our Bodies and our Blood for others.  We are not just called to be nourished.  We are called to nourish others.  An essential element of the Eucharist is found in the mandate: Do unto others, what I have done for you.

Nourished and nourishing.  Both must take place. If we are not nourished by Christ, then our actions for others would be mere acts of humanitarianism. If we do receive communion but do not empty ourselves for others, then our reception of the Eucharist is devoid of the very reason why Christ emptied Himself: Jesus Christ emptied Himself for us so that we can also empty ourselves for others.  Being a Christian is not for the faint of heart, it is for those who have hearts full of love.

In a few moments we will perform the symbolic action of washing the feet of others.  We celebrate the action of Christ in His Gift of Body and Blood.  We process with the Blessed Sacrament throughout the Church and into the Hall where we wait and watch with Him in our recreation of the Garden of Olives.  And the entire time, in all the actions tonight and throughout our lives, we pray for the humility to be nourished by Him and the determination to nourish others.           May we be a Eucharistic People!

Palm Sunday: [2015] :Is 50:4-7; Phil.2:6-11; Mk 14:1-15,47/15:1-39

Palm Sunday: [2015] :Is 50:4-7; Phil.2:6-11; Mk 14:1-15,47/15:1-39

Introduction: This week we walk with Christ into the mystery of saving by suffering. Our Blessed Lord knows suffering. All who suffer now have Him with them. He suffers with us, we suffer with Him.

Exegesis: Today's Proclamation of the Passion was from the Gospel of Mark. This is the Gospel that often presents crowds of people pressing on Jesus to be healed. Jesus heals many people in this Gospel, but he then he directs them, "Tell no one about this? Jesus silences devils who call out from the possessed that they know who He is. Why the secrecy? Why does Mark present what scripture scholars would call, the Messianic Secret? The message behind the secret is that no one can understand the healings or the Messiah until they understand the cross. Jesus accepts the cross in obedience to the Father, opposite of Adam's disobedience. He accepts the cross to defeat the power of hatred and death through sacrificial love. When the centurion looked up and saw the love flowing from the man whose crucifixion he had supervised, he was the first to proclaim, "Truly, this is the Son of God.? It is only from the perspective of the cross, of sacrificial love, that we can understand the wonders of the Lord.

Joke:  A priest was preaching in an unfamiliar church on Palm Sunday. The temporary arrangements were done outside the church. As he stood in the pulpit to begin the service, he tapped the microphone to make sure that it was on. He heard nothing, even though the microphone was working fine. So he leaned closer to the microphone and said to himself; "There is something wrong with this thing." The congregation, being well trained church people immediately responded, "And also with you.”

Practical Applications: 1) Does Jesus weep over my sinful soul as he wept over Jerusalem at the beginning of his Palm Sunday procession? 2) Will Jesus have to cleanse my heart with his whip?  Jesus cannot tolerate the desecration of the temple of his Holy Spirit in me by my addiction to uncharitable, irreverence, unjust and impure thoughts words and deeds; neither does he approve of my calculation of loss and gain in my relationship with God.  4) Am I ready to surrender my life to him sincerely? Or Are we like “hosanna” today and “Crucify him” tomorrow.

Introduction: Palm Sunday

Message: Jesus, humbling himself out of love for us, did not shield his face from buffets and spitting, but offered his life on the cross.  He relied on his Father’s love.

Palm Sunday:[B]:[2012]:Is 50:4-7; Phil.2:6-11; Mk 14:1-15,47/15:1-39

Palm Sunday:[B]:[2012]:Is 50:4-7; Phil.2:6-11; Mk 14:1-15,47/15:1-39

A bishop reports that logos for McDonald's, Shell Oil, and the Olympics are better recognized throughout the world than the cross. The Olympic symbol of five linked rings was recognized by 92% of people asked. McDonald's and Shell Oil logos were recognized by 88%. But the cross was recognized by only 54%. The conclusion is that the Olympics, McDonald's, and Shell Oil are better missionaries than we.

The seventeenth century Dutch genius Rembrandt painted a crucifixion. His Christ is bathed in his signature white colors. At the foot of His cross are the usual suspects. However, off in a corner of the masterpiece is the face of an interloper. It is Rembrandt. He was reminding himself that he too because of his sins was responsible for the painful death of his Savior.

From the Gospels, we know only about the activities of 100 days from the 12,045 days of the life of Jesus. Yet, we know almost everything He did every hour of His last seven days.  He spent the night preceding Palm Sunday at Bethany, an affluent bedroom community outside Jerusalem. He rose early. One hopes He had the farmer's breakfast. He would need it. The last chapter of His earthly life was to be a showstopper. It would end not with a whimper but with a bang. He had the unenviable task of taking his many enemies on alone.

Every detail of the Palm Sunday procession had been worked out by Him weeks before. It was not just a question of kidnapping a donkey and hopping on for the ride. The Master had long ago contacted the donkey's owners and arranged for the animal. The owners were disciples unknown even to the apostles. Even a password had been worked out between the Christ and the secret disciples: "The Master has need of it." When the owners were told the password by the unsuspecting apostles, they released the ass. There is a nice touch here. Jesus promised the owners the ass would be returned to them after the parade. He knew they would need it for work next day. So, even as His murder nears, He was thinking not of Himself but of others.

Joke:  A priest was preaching in an unfamiliar church on Palm Sunday. The temporary arrangements were done outside the church. As he stood in the pulpit to begin the service, he tapped the microphone to make sure that it was on. He heard nothing, even though the microphone was working fine. So he leaned closer to the microphone and said to himself; "There is something wrong with this thing." The congregation, being well trained church people immediately responded, "And also with you.”

The parade begins. This would be the only demonstration where Jesus would positively encourage people to salute Him as King. All other times He would not hear of it. He would flee into the mountains alone at the sight of the first monarchists. The hapless apostles would be left behind to placate the royalists.
This entrance into Jerusalem was an act of superb bravado.  He was coming onto center stage.

We should borrow a brush from Rembrandt. Then dipping it into his lush palette, we should paint our faces into the passion picture. We had much more to do with it than we care to admit.

The cross, the savant (a learned person) tells us, reveals people's hatred for God and God's love for people. Also he says that believing Christ died is history and believing He died for me is salvation.  Finally it reminds us, the savant says, that while many people may be worthy of admiration, only Jesus is worthy of adoration.

A man with leprosy comes before Jesus and is healed.  Jesus tells him "See that you say nothing to anyone about this."

A deaf man comes to the Lord.  Jesus says "Ephphathat, Be Opened" and the man hears.  Then Jesus tells him to say nothing to anyone.

A blind man has his sight returned, and, similarly, Jesus says to him, "Keep this quiet--don't even enter the villages."

Jesus dies on the Cross, a pagan, a Roman centurion now makes the announcement: "Surely this is the Son of God."

To understand who Jesus is, we have to stand under the Cross.  To recognize how much God loves us, we have to realize the extent of his suffering for us.  To realize that we are his followers, we have to join Him on the Cross.

Love gives joy, but this joy can result in pain. Love means giving, but this gift can result in suffering as we say no to our own desires for the sake of the one whom we love. Love gives life. The Lord loves us so much that we receive his life.  As we begin this Holy Week we pray that we might have the courage to follow Christ in embracing our own crosses.  May we make real the cross of Christ in the world by giving ourselves to others in love.