Anyone who ever met Jesus was given the chance to change. This was true even at the end of his life when we have the reaction of the two thieves who were crucified with him. One recognized Jesus as an innocent man undeserving of such a cruel death. The other man saw Jesus as just another convict. Calvary transformed the life and death of one and left the other unchanged. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Homily’ Category
Homily – July 29
Sunday, July 29th, 2012Break Down the Walls That Divide Us
Sunday, July 22nd, 2012Just a few thoughts on our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Christian community in Ephesus. This community was made up of Jewish and Gentile men and woman. Those Jewish men and women who came to believe Jesus as the Messiah still held on to their conviction that they were special to God above all other people. Some strongly resisted the acceptance of Gentiles into the community. These people were known as Judaizers. They insisted that Gentiles be circumcised and keep Jewish dietary laws. This mentality caused a certain tension in the community. Paul had to battle this narrow minded attitude throughout his whole life. Justification, a person’s relationship with God comes through the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, not from following the Law. Justification is a gift not an earned reward.
So we hear Paul telling the Ephesians; “Now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both Jews and Gentiles into one and had broken down the dividing wall, that is the hostility between us. So Jesus Christ came and proclaimed peace to you who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.”
We would have to be blind not to see the hostility, the resentments, and the divisions that separate people one from another, in politics, in neighbourhoods, in places of work and in our church. There is such a lack of civility in political discourse. There is so much resentment toward newcomers to the country. ‘They’re taking over the neighbourhood.’ There is a fear of the stranger and the different. The ordinary person has a helpless anger toward the captains of finance who manipulate markets, make fortunes while most ordinary people struggle to keep their heads above water. We’ve seen that anger expressed in the Occupy Movements, the 99% movement over the past years. Cutbacks in social, welfare and pensions funds cause great anxiety in a lot of good people of limited means. There is a widening divide between the haves and the have-not’s. As the saying goes, the rich get richer and the poor get babies. We must know by now that bigger prisons will not silence the guns on our streets.
We have divisions in the church. There are some bishops, priests and people who want to go back to the good old days and others who say, no way Jose. Some want to put the brakes on and others want to step on the gas.
We are all good people. We are convinced in the rightness of our convictions, whether they are political, theological or ideological. But we are missing something. We are missing the grace to see in the person with whom we disagree a brother or sister loved by God our Father before the world began. We fail to recognize in the other a person Jesus’ love even unto death, even death on the cross. We ignore the truth that the person we may be belittling or dismissing as a person sanctified by the Holy Spirit just as we were.
I think we should all hear Paul’s plea to the Ephesians for peace and understanding in their community and work to bring that peace to our own communities, whether they be local, civic, national or church. We have all been brought near to each other by the blood of Christ, his sacrifice we celebrate at this Eucharist and this is why we should treat our brothers and sisters, of whatever faith, whatever nationality, whatever social standing, with respect and love. To quote St.Paul, “Say only the good things people need to hear, things that will really help them.”
Homily – July 15
Sunday, July 15th, 2012For some people the big news over the past weeks was the discovery of the God particle. Scientists have been working for years and spending billions of dollars to isolate this particle. Back in 1964 a physicist named Peter Higgs wrote an article about a theoretically massive particle of the bosonic type that could be responsible for giving or causing mass not only to itself but to all matter in the universe. Another physicist named this particle the “God Particle” because it is so central to the state of physics today and so crucial to our final understanding of the structure of matter. Actually this great venture has nothing to do with God. Scientists were looking for the basic particle that explains so many things in creation. (more…)
When I am weak, then I am strong
Sunday, July 8th, 2012I’ve often said that we are all “mistake making beings”. There is that saying, “I’m not the person I want to be but thank God I’m not the person I used to be.” Hopefully we are all striving to be someone better than we are. But it’s a struggle. (more…)
Happy Canada Day
Sunday, July 1st, 2012God did not make death. The writer of this statement is trying to find an explanation as to why people die. He goes back to the story of Adam and Eve and the serpent to explain the reality of death claiming death came through the envy of the devil. Death is not a mystery it is a reality of life. As someone has said, ‘no one gets out of this world alive.’ Our Christian faith tells us that death is not the end of life; it is the beginning of new and endless life. That’s all we need to know. (more…)
Founded by St. Paul of the Cross, every Passionist takes a special vow to spend his or her energies in promoting remembrance of the sufferings of Jesus, the memory of the Cross, and reflection of the meaning of the Cross for the world.
