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homily – January 21

Sunday, January 21st, 2007

1 Corinthians 12:12-30

One of the emphases of our new church, which structurally opens us up to the world around us through our south window, is our connectedness to the rest of God’s good creation.

The newspapers and the TV have been filled with strange weather happenings around the globe – we’ve had a mild December and most of January while Victoria has had snow and cold weather. Governments around the world are facing up to the reality of global warming. We are finally admitting that human consumerism and pollution are taking their toll on the health of the planet. As I’ve said before, the earth does not belong to us, we belong to the earth and what we do to the earth we do to ourselves – we did not weave the web of life, we are a strand in the web and what we do to the web we do to ourselves. All life systems of the planet are interconnected and interdependent. As individuals and as a species we cannot life in isolation – what we do and how we live affects those around us.

As it is with our life on planet earth, so it is with our life within the church.

This truth is expressed so powerfully in today’s second reading of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and his description of the church, not the building but the people, as the body of Christ. Christ is the head of the body and we, each one of us, are important members of that body we call church. No one member of the body can say to any other member of the body ‘I have no need of you’. The Pope cannot say that to us, nor can we say it to the Pope. Our new Archbishop cannot say that to us, nor can we say that to him. We cannot say that to the person sitting next to us at this Mass. We do need one another.

As St. Paul reminds us, ‘when one member suffers the whole body suffers, when one member is honored all rejoice with it together.’ In the past few years the body of the church has suffered because of the scandals of sexual abuse – we are a wounded church, a wounded body in need of healing. At the same time, we as church can rejoice over the lives and example of good men and women who brought life and holiness to the church – and I’m thinking here of the late Archbishop Tony Meagher of Kingston, who used to be the pastor of Blessed Trinity Parish. He was a good man and a holy man who served the church – the body of Christ – well. The truth of the matter is, the body of Christ is holy if we are holy, and it is wounded when we failed to live our lives as followers of Christ.

As members of the body of Christ each of us can echo the words of Jesus in today’s gospel – the Spirit of the Lord has been given to me – at our baptisms and confirmations – the Lord anointed us – to bring good news to the poor. The good news of God’s love for each of us when God sent His Son into the world to die for us – the good news that Christ is with us no matter what our faults and failings – the good news that no matter how much we may devalue our own self worth, Christ thought enough of us to die for us. Because of our baptisms and confirmation each of us can say, I have been sent to proclaim release to captives – not necessarily people in prison but friends and family members held captive by addictions, by unhealthy relationships, held captive by depression or discouragement. As members of the Body of Christ each of us can offer new sight to the blind – good people blind to their own goodness, good people blind and indifferent to the needs of the poor right in our own neighbourhood, good people blind to God’s concern for them.

Each of us in sent to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor – that the grace and love and power and healing of our loving God is with us always – yesterday, today, tomorrow.

As with planet earth so with the church we are one, we are interconnected, interdependent – we cannot say to any one ‘I have no need of you.’

As we continue to celebrate this Mass on a day on which we begin a week of prayer for the unity of all Christians, we can pray for ourselves and for each other for the grace and insight we need to see how important each of us is for the well being of the church, the body of Christ – for the church is wounded when we are unfaithful to our call to be Christ-like but the church is holy when we are who we are called to be – the body of Christ – for the Spirit of the Lord has been given to us.

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homily – January 14

Sunday, January 14th, 2007

John 2:1-11

Back in 1835 my great grandfather built a farm house in a place called Barnsville, New Brunswick. The farm house is still there and I have a first cousin living in it. As kids our great summer adventure was to spend a week at the farm helping my uncle hay – I know we weren’t much help but he was gracious about it.

One of the things I remember about the farm, other than the outhouse and the straw mattresses, was a big rain barrel at the kitchen door. This was the water used for washing dishes or clothes. A skunk has fallen in the well that was near the house and ruined its water. There was a spring a good ways away and it was a chore to get the spring water to the house. The rule of the house was the spring water was only used for making tea or drinking. It was special.

The water used in today’s gospel would be like the rain barrel water – run off water, not fresh, water used for washing hands and feet of visitors. Not first choice water, that was too precious for ordinary ablutions. It was this run off water Jesus used in today’s gospel – we could call it the least of the least but through His words of love and life He transformed it into choice wine in order that the wedding celebration of His two friends could continue. Scripture tells us God gave us wine to gladden our hearts and certainly the hearts of this young couple must have been gladdened by this wonderful gift since their own wine had run out.

The second reading is about how the Christian community is blessed with a variety of gifts. Every parish experiences this reality of the Christians of Corinth. Every parish is blessed with men and women gifted with the ability to lead, to plan, to teach, to be involved in issues of social justice or outreach into the neighborhood or to help build a sense of community in a parish. Every parish is blessed with people who have the ability to proclaim the scriptures with intelligence and meaning, people gifted with the ability to make people feel welcome, people with good voices to form choirs, people who are at ease in visiting the sick and shut-ins.

Everyone person here is blessed in one way or another with gifts, talents that are theirs alone but gifts given for the common good, gifts meant to be shared. But how often do we really appreciate those gifts, enjoy those gifts, and share those gifts. How often do we dismiss, devalue these gifts by thinking of them as something like the water in the rain barrel, not worth all that much, not worth sharing with others. How often do we see our lives as bland, without excitement, without zest? Just rain barrel water, just rain barrel lives. Yet today’s gospel shows us how Jesus takes what we consider to be so bland, so boring, so ordinary – so, ‘just there’, and transforms it into choice wine – something rich and exhilarating, something to be shared and enjoyed by ourselves and others.

Maybe there are times when we look at our lives, our jobs, our family life, our relationships and we say, I have no wine, no zest, no enthusiasm, my job is a grind, my family life is dull, and really what have I done with my life? These are all downers; these speak of left over rain water stagnating in a barrel. These thoughts and feelings speak of how we’ve lost our awareness of how our lives have been blessed with gifts that are ours alone. These thoughts say, ‘I have no wine’. We all go through such times, such downers. That’s why we start each Mass trying to be mindful of how are lives are blessed and gifted.

Maybe a gospel like today’s can help us in our down times when we really feel not all that good about ourselves, our lives, our jobs. Maybe we can find the trust to take these very real feelings to Christ and honestly say, “I have no wine”. Maybe we can trust that Christ will grace us as He graced His newly married friends by taking our feelings of being inadequate and grace us with a deeper appreciation of how our lives have been blessed – blessed with health and love and friends and faith and abilities uniquely our own. Maybe we can appreciate in new way how lucky we are. In that sense of appreciation may we take the gifts with which we have been blessed and share those gifts with others.

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homily – January 7

Sunday, January 7th, 2007

Matthew 2:1-12

In today’s gospel we have Matthew’s version of the birth of Christ with the emphasis on a king who would brook no rival and the arrival of these sages from a distant country seeking a new born king. Luke’s telling of the birth of Jesus let us know that this new born king, born in a stable, came for the least of the least. The first to witness the birth of the Savior, were poor shepherds, people who had no standing in society at all. Today we would call them marginalized. These least were the first to see this wonder of wonder, God entering into humanity in the person of His Son, Jesus.

In Matthew’s gospel his take on the birth of Jesus is that Jesus came for everyone – for any person of any nationality who does what is right – these sages from – who knows where, represent all that nations of the earth – all are welcome, all are changed by this wonder of Divinity embracing humanity. Matthew’s gospel which was written long after Paul’s letter to Ephesians is affirming what Paul taught: the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body and sharers in the same promise in Christ Jesus.

Of all the teachings of Paul, this was the hardest one for Jewish Christians to accept, that Gentiles, non Jews, were embraced by God just as they were, that the Gentiles were the new Israel of God. In Christ there was no longer Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free – all were one – all were equally loved by God – all were reconciled, made one with God, through the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ. Matthew, who wrote for Jewish Christians, affirms this teaching of Paul in and through the imagery of these strangers, searchers coming from afar and who are welcomed by the Christ.

One of the great problems we face today is that of fundamentalism – not just the Islam extremist who sees anyone who does not agree with them as infidels. Not just the Hindu extremist who would kill anyone who converted to a different faith. We Christians have our own fundamentalist our own extremists too – Catholic and non-Catholic – unless we buy into their narrow, restricted, even distorted beliefs on God, on Jesus, on the church – we are out.

I love that statue of Christ at the entrance of the underground parking – I call it, ‘the welcoming Christ’, arms outstretched to embrace any and all who come to Him burdened with life’s troubles. But there are those who would tie those outstretched arms behind His back, restraining His love and welcome from those who do not believe as they believe, from those who have the maturity to think for themselves, to question and to search as these wise men in the gospel did.

As you know epiphany means manifestation – a eureka experience – an insight into something new and wonderful. That’s what we celebrate today – that awesome insight hidden to former generations but now revealed through God’s Spirit – the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body and sharers in the same promise in Christ Jesus.’ As St. Peter put it: ‘any person of any nationality who does what is right, is acceptable to God.’

As we continue to celebrate this feast of wonder and revelation we can pray for ourselves and for each other that we be blessed to have those welcoming arms of the welcoming Christ and rejoice and respect the many ways the grace of God is working in the lives of all people – of all faiths, all denominations, and all nationalities.

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homily – December 31

Sunday, December 31st, 2006

Luke 2:41-52

I went to see the movie ‘The Nativity’. In my opinion it was spared all the excesses of a Hollywood production. When we think back on our memories of movies such as the Ten Commandments, Ben Hur or the Robe with all the extravagance and poetic license they took with Scripture, the Nativity was a breathe of fresh air. It certainly had nothing in common with The Passion of Christ.

The Nativity showed the common yet harsh life of the poor people of the time. The simple homes, the cramped living conditions, the hard labor and yet the sense of community in small villages such as Nazareth. It was a hard life. The movie showed in its own way how Jesus became as we all are, one like us in all things. I think they portrayed Mary as an ordinary young woman of the time – helping with family chores, having friends, helping others. But I liked Joseph the best. A hard working, friendly young man looking for a bride, approaching Mary’s father for her hand – the deal being made with Mary having little if anything to say about it. Poor Joseph is shocked when Mary comes back to Nazareth after her three month visit with her cousin Elizabeth, obviously pregnant. Tongues wag and knowing looks are exchanged when Mary walks through the streets. But as the Gospel tells us Joseph took her as his wife and took away the shame. From then on in different scenes of their journey to Bethlehem Joseph always referred to ‘our child.’

I’ve mentioned on every feast of the Holy Family what a disservice Christian artists have done to Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Everything is so serene, so unruffled, they are like porcelain dolls. They’ve taken them out of the realm of reality – especially the harsh reality portrayed in The Nativity. Their’s was not an easy life.

I think today’s gospel story of the loss of the young Jesus in the bustling city of Jerusalem gives points to this truth. Can you imagine if a son or daughter of yours just disappears without a word – you have no idea where they are? Imagine the panic. You are distraught. You call the police, you call friends – does anybody know where he or she is. Then when they do show up you’re caught between relief and anger. You want to take them and shake them, you want to take them and hug them. Mary and Joseph were no different. Joseph lets Mary do the talking, ‘why have you done so to us’ how could you be so thoughtless, so irresponsible’ but Joseph must have had words with Jesus as well.

How many parents have asked a son or daughter – no matter what their age; ‘why have you done so to us?” How could you do such a stupid, thoughtless thing? How could you pick such friends? What were you thinking? The circumstances that cause such questions are endless. They leave you confused and questioning; where did we go wrong? Why didn’t we see this coming?

I say this every year and I mean it. Looking at you good people, good parents, I have to say, ‘ I took the easy way out’ The saints of the church are in the pews of the church, people like yourselves, whether you are in two parent or single parent homes. Good people like yourselves trying to do the best you can as you struggle with trying to keep your own relationship alive, as you worry about keeping a roof over your heads and raise a family. You are the saints.

As we continue to celebrate this Mass on this feast of the Holy Family – a family that knew its own struggles and its own joys, we pray for every family in the parish that they have the faith and strength to face their problems, the insight to appreciate how special is each member of the family and the love to bear one another’s weaknesses, knowing that all of us, as individuals and as family; we are all a work in progress.

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homily – December 25

Monday, December 25th, 2006

Luke 2:15-20

One past president of the United States said that the day a man landed on the moon was the greatest event since Creation. It was a great event, a breakthrough in space exploration. But it can’t compare with the event we celebrate today – the Son of God landing on the earth. The church uses a quote from scripture to describe that moment. ‘When all things were in quiet silence and the night was in the midst of its course your Almighty Word leapt down from heaven, from your royal throne.’

Luke describes the Son of God landing on earth in the beautiful gospel we’ve just heard.

St. Paul describes Christ’s landing on the earth this way – Have this mind in you which was also in Christ. He did not consider being equal to God as something to be clung to, but he emptied himself to take to himself the condition of a slave and became as we are – and being as we all are he humbled himself even to accepting death on the cross. And because of this God has exalted him and given him a name that is above all other names so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven and earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Today we celebrate the awesome truth Jesus became one of us – one like us in all things – though he did not sin. Jesus lived in troubled times as we do today – his homeland occupied by foreigners – a society troubled by political and religious unrest. He grew up in a nondescript home in Nazareth, his father Joseph taught him a trade and we can be sure that there were times when He who made the world was out of work.

Today we celebrate the awesome truth that Jesus is one of us – like us in all things. Jesus knows what it is like to be poor and homeless, he knows what it is like to have to flee one’s homeland for safety’s sake. He experienced the struggles of adolescence, the search for his own identity and the discovery of His life’s vocation – a vocation His parents did not understand. He knew what it was like to grieve the loss of someone he loved when Joseph died. Jesus knew He was to bear witness to the truth of God’s love for all of us – and He was faithful to that witness even to the point of dying. And in His death He gave witness to the truth that God loved the world so much He sent His Son to the world and He loved us so much He gave His life for us.

We all have our own problems and worries, our own joy and our own heartaches. If we think about it too much we can be over whelmed by the injustices, the senseless violence, and the personal tragedies that destroy good people’s lives that we hear about every day. There can be times when we get down on ourselves, we’re disappointed in ourselves; we’re discouraged by unfulfilled hopes and dreams, embarrassed by personal weakness. We can worry about financial and job security, we worry about family stability and well being.

This is why Christmas is such an important feast and celebration for all of us, it reminds us that Christ emptied Himself of divinity to take upon Himself our humanity – to become one like us – knowing and experiencing all our joys and all our pains. Christ walks with us as we live our lives – He knows how burdened we can be and offers us the wonderful invitation – ‘come to me all you who labor and find life burdensome and I will refresh you’.

We can continue our Christmas celebration giving thanks to Jesus Christ for becoming one of us, sharing our burdens, enjoying our joys and trusting His promise that He would be with us, supporting us, healing us, forgiving and loving us all through our lives. We can all go through life trusting the awesome truth of Emmanuel – God with us – God with us in joy and sorrow, but always God with us.

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