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Fr. Matt's Homilies

- Homily for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 12, 2021
  
  Who do you say that Jesus is? This question must be answered by us--within our own hearts. Some who have never come to church might think that Jesus is a swear word. But sometimes the only time they hear His Name is when someone is cursing; this is especially scandalous when it is Christians who are taking His name in vain. To really root this vice out of us, I think I should put a swear jar out in the Gathering Space; every time someone takes the Lord’s name in vain, they need to put in a $20 bill. Some other people would say that Jesus is a myth (like Paul Bunyan)—he didn’t really exist. Others would say Jesus is a good person (like Gandhi). Others, like Jesus’ contemporaries, would call him a prophet—someone who speaks God’s message and works miracles. And then we have the correct answer from Peter that Jesus is “The Christ.” Jesus is God.
  
  God had given a special grace given to Peter (as the future first pope). We know that Jesus is unlike any other leader in history—Jesus claimed that He was God. We know what happens later. Jesus died on the Cross and restored us to relationship with the Father. And Jesus rose from the dead.
  
  If we think about our own happiness, our own successes and failures in this life, and our destiny in the life to come, the person that has the most influential role in all that is Jesus. Jesus makes like easier and gives us true freedom and peace. However, knowing Jesus also complicates my life, because He gives us more responsibilities.
  
  In our relationships with others, we need to keep in mind how our loved ones see Jesus. Everyone is longing for a deeper connection to Christ even if they don’t know it. Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of all our desires for happiness. We can only have real fellowship with those who are following Christ with every fiber of their being, most especially when they are members of Christ’s true Church, the Catholic Church.
  
  We are called to encourage our loved ones to take the next step to deeper union with Christ and His Catholic Church. For those who don’t believe in God, we can ask, “Do you want to have a meaningful life?” For those who believe in God but don’t really practice their faith, we can say, “You believe that Jesus is God. How does one live as a Christian?” We can point to Baptism and worshipping God at Sunday church. For Protestants, we could ask, “You already worship God at church. How can Christians be ‘one’ as Jesus had prayed that we would be one at the Last Supper?” Ultimately we would encourage them to seek truth wherever it can be found, to understand the fullness of our Christian faith (with our Eucharistic Lord—who gives Himself entirely to us—at the center), and to realize that the Bible alone doesn’t work.
  
  It can also be helpful in our discussions to know, too, the history of Christianity. The only Christians for the first 1000 years were Catholics. After The Great Schism, the only Christians for the next 500 years were Catholics and Orthodox. In the 1500s, you have Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the Church of England…lots of fracturing. So now there are tens of thousands of denominations. Catholics aren’t non-denominational, but we are pre-denominational. The Catholic Church has the fullness of truth; the other denominations have some share in that truth. Although we celebrate the things we share in common (like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ), there are significant differences…
  
  For example, some of them believe in “Faith alone,” but we believe that “Faith without works is dead,” as mentioned in today’s 2nd reading (James 2:17). Some would say that Communion is just a symbol of Jesus, whereas we believe that the bread and wine are transformed substantially into the Body & Blood of Jesus. Some would say that divorce and remarriage is possible, whereas we believe that is not possible without an annulment (which just says that the 1st marriage was never a marriage to begin with). Some would say that abortion is healthcare, but we see it as the murder of innocent human life.
  A question that it is good to ask ourselves and pray about is, “God, who do you say that I am?” Often when we meet someone, we say something like, “Hi, I’m a Matt. I’m an engineer.” But we are not just a profession. We are not just a spouse or a parent or a child. Our true identity is that we are God’s beloved. We are adopted children of God by our Baptism. We are brothers and sisters of Christ. And we are disciples of Christ. As Jesus told the first disciples, we are called to deny ourselves, take up our Cross and follow Him daily.
  
  As we have reflected upon who Jesus is and how to grow in union with Him, we realize that Jesus wants a deeper relationship with everyone. We entrust our loved ones to Jesus and we look for ways to encourage them to take the next baby step toward Jesus and His Catholic Church
- Homily for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 5, 2021
  
  One of my favorite movies is The King’s Speech (2010). It focuses on Prince Albert, the Duke of York, who lived in the early 20th Century. He had a stuttering problem (like 1% of the population). Many speech therapists at that time believed that stuttering was a strictly physical condition. The Prince’s speech therapist, though, believed that stuttering had a psychological dimension to it. The therapist pioneered a new therapy—that the Prince would sing the words he was having trouble saying. When his brother King Edward VIII left the throne to marry, Prince Albert became King George VI. The speech therapy was very important for a speech he gave on September 3, 1939 when he declared war on Nazi Germany. The speech was given live. He was told to speak it to his therapist as if they were just having a conversation between friends.
  
  We hear about those with speech problems in our readings today. In our 1st Reading from Isaiah, we hear, “The ears of the deaf be cleared…The tongue of the mute will sing.” This happens to some of the mute in the Bible. The prophet Moses said to God at the Burning Bush, “I am slow of speech and tongue.” To this God replies, “I give the eloquent speech!” God reluctantly permits Moses to use his brother Aaron for his spokesperson (at least for a while). In the New Testament, we hear about Zechariah who doubted that his wife Elizabeth would have a child in her old age. So God struck him mute until his son, John the Baptist, was born. And what is the first thing that Zechariah does when he can speak again? He sang about God’s blessedness (“Blessed be the God of Israel.”).
  
  In today’s Gospel, we hear about a deaf man with a speech impediment. Jesus heals him and says the words, “Be opened!” Jesus uses saliva to heal the man—saliva was thought to have therapeutic qualities in the ancient world. Not so much any longer! But still, it shows how Jesus uses material things as a vehicle to God’s grace. This happens, too, in the Sacraments.
  
  One sacrament that mentions speech is Baptism. At your baptism (even if you don’t remember it), the priest or deacon performed an Ephphatha (“Be opened!”) rite based on today’s Gospel passage. He would have said, “May the Lord Jesus soon touch your ears [touches the ears] to receive his word, and your mouth [touches the mouth] to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God.” I think that that blessing gives some insight into our spiritual life. As I regularly discuss, it’s important to listen to God’s word. In particular, we need to work at deafening ourselves to the cacophony of the world—all the sounds that don’t build us up. The tongue is also an important instrument. Like Moses, Zechariah, and the man in the Gospel, we are called to praise God in song and word.
  
  Another sacrament in which speech is included is Confirmation. At Confirmation, we are given the grace to proclaim Christ to non-believers. I like to think of that moment as sort of like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. Inside the cocoon, the butterfly can’t fly to the heights, and it is closed off from hearing or
  making sounds. When the butterfly breaks out of the cocoon, it then has the wings to fly to the heights. At Confirmation, the Holy Spirit says, “Be opened!” If we don’t see people flying to the heights after Confirmation, it might be because they have chosen to stay in their cocoons. At Confirmation, we receive gifts or charisms to help build up Christ’s Body the Church, but we have to be willing to foster them and use them.
  
  A final sacrament related to speech that I would like to reflect upon is Holy Orders. A man who is ordained is given the grace to preach. In seminary, we would give “practice homilies.” But before ordination, they were just practice! And it wasn’t an actual homily until it was at an actual liturgy. If my homilies ever connect with you, it’s from the grace of Holy Orders (and not my introverted personality).
  
  My brothers and sisters, as we reflect on the ways in which God’s power brought people to speak—in the Bible, in history, and through the Sacraments—we ask that God would use us as His mouthpiece. May we “be opened” to the Holy Spirit working in our lives so that God’s goodness would be proclaimed to all people.
- Homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 29, 2021
  
  During the last 16 months, I’ve been rather mindful in my role as Covid Anointing Corps chaplain if my hands are contaminated with Covid. I’ve sanitized my hands many times and taken hot showers and washed my clothes on hot. And I’m sure all of you have thought more about washing your hands during this pandemic. Proper hand hygiene is something that we will want to continue going forward.
  
  Jesus, though, tells us of what truly stains or defiles in the Gospel. He speaks harshly against the scribes and Pharisees who were concerned with being defiled (for worship at the Temple or synagogue) by something they touched. Jesus calls them hypocrites—a hypocrite is somebody who doesn’t do what they tell others to do. Literally, the word for hypocrite means a “stage actor,” so they were pretending to be holy. Jesus says it is within the heart that a person becomes defiled. He quotes from Isaiah that those who have defiled hearts…their hearts are far from God. Jesus implies that the scribes and Pharisees were already defiled by what was on their hearts. This defilement happens to any of us when our passions (like hunger, thirst, sex, and anger) are not ordered by reason. Jesus lists 6 sinful actions: evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, and greed. He also lists problematic (or sinful) interior dispositions: malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, and folly.
  
  St. James says that those who have pure religion (or practice their Christianity purely) will be unstained from the world. Such a person follows God’s laws (like the 10 Commandments alluded to in 1st Reading). A Christian cares for those who are easily forgotten in society—St. James specifically mentions “widows and orphans;” we could add those in foster care, the unborn, migrants (such as those trying to leave Afghanistan), the imprisoned, and the sick. Some examples of those who lived unstained from the world include the martyrs who died for the faith and were witnesses that Heaven is where our home is. And the greatest examples are Jesus and His Mother Mary. They lived unstained from the world by always willing to do whatever was the Father’s will.
  My brothers and sisters, how do we live unstained from the world in this age. Most importantly, we are to pray throughout the day—to know God’s will and then to do it. We want to be more concerned with pleasing God rather than pleasing others. Otherwise, we fall into “peer pressure” or “just going with the flow.” St. James also gives us some suggestions. Not only are we to listen to God’s word daily—perhaps through listening to Fr. Mike Schmidt’s “Bible in a Year” app or reading the Gospel passage of the day or slowly going through a book of the Gospel on our own. So not only to listen to God’s word but to allow ourselves to be moved/stirred to change our lives by humbly admitting that we aren’t as perfect as God is calling us to be. And then finally, we have the Eucharist that un-stains us from our sins and is the food of charity. In our Prayer after Communion, we will pray that the Eucharist will “stir us to serve [God] in our neighbor.”
  
  The readings today tell us to not overly concern ourselves with things that could defile us exteriorly but rather on the things that could defile our hearts. We look to order our passions and to focus rather on loving others that God had put into our lives. And then by making the eternal Word the center of our lives, we will be filled with God’s grace to live as if we already are home in Heaven.
- Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 22, 2021
  
  Like the Israelites in our First Reading and the disciples in the Gospel, a choice has been set before us—will we serve the Lord or not? In the passage that precedes today’s Gospel, Jesus says to His disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat (or literally “gnaw on”) the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” This week, many of Jesus’ disciples say that this teaching is difficult and then abandon Jesus. This teaching on the Eucharist is the only time in the Gospels where there is a mass exodus of believers. We should note that Jesus doesn’t prevent them from leaving and He doesn’t water down His teaching. Only those who can accept His Teaching on eating His Flesh and Drinking His Blood will be able to follow Him to the Cross and His Sacrifice on Calvary.
  
  Here at Mass, we have the opportunity to receive Jesus’ Flesh and Blood. When we do so worthily, God’s life flows within us and the Holy Trinity comes to dwell within us. We are fed by God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  
  Choosing to serve the Lord doesn’t mean that our life is on autopilot, though. We need to choose Jesus every day. Choosing Jesus means conversing daily with Him in prayer, turning to Him in temptation, and receiving His forgiveness when we sin. We draw strength for living from our Eucharistic Lord, especially through receiving Him at Mass.
  
  If consuming Jesus’ Body and Blood is something that Jesus requires of mature believers, why aren’t there more practicing Catholics? I think in large part it is because many Catholics do not live as if the Body and Blood of Jesus is flowing through them. This is the case for all of us when we choose to sin.
  I think an important way for understanding the lack of fruitfulness in receiving the Eucharist is through understanding how Jesus desires us to receive Holy Communion. Jesus desires us to receive Holy Communion both spiritually and sacramentally. However, some people only receive Jesus spiritually but not sacramentally while others only receive Jesus sacramentally but not spiritually.
  
  First--those who only receive Jesus spiritually but not sacramentally: these are people who following Jesus whole-heartedly but not receiving the Eucharist. This would include some Protestants who don’t know about the importance of the Eucharist or perhaps who are still in the process of becoming Catholic (through a process like RCIA). Those who don’t receive sacramentally would include people who break the 1-hour (it used to be a lot longer) fast before Holy Communion. It also includes Catholics who are not able to come to Mass. If you do not have the ability to get to Mass, make sure you let the office know that you want the Eucharist.
  
  Second--those who only receive Jesus sacramentally but not spiritually. This would include non-Catholics (who perhaps without proper understanding) receives the Eucharist without believing everything that the Church teaches. And, more importantly, this would include Catholics receiving the Eucharist in the state of mortal sin. As St. Paul in his 1st Letter to the Corinthians urges us to examine our conscience:
  "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself" (11:27-29).
  
  My brothers and sisters, we keep communion with Jesus by following His command to eat His Flesh and drink His Blood. May we cooperate with God’s grace so that we can be gracious vessels of His Flesh and Blood. And may we commit to encouraging others to receive Jesus both sacramentally and spiritually.
- Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 8, 2021
  
  Our Old Testament readings the last few weeks have included things that prefigure the Eucharist…miracle foods that give strength to those who eat them. We have heard about quail and manna that the Israelites fed on in the desert; Jesus speaks about the manna again this week. In this week’s Old Testament reading, we hear about a hearth cake that feeds Elijah for a 300-mile journey as he is fleeing for his life.
  
  Jesus says in the Gospel, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Jesus gave us the Eucharist—the Sacrament of His very self—to help us on our way to Heaven (which is like a million-mile journey on foot). The Eucharist is also called Viaticum (especially the last time someone receives on their deathbed); Viaticum means “food for the journey” (from Earth to Heaven). Jesus’ words: “Do this in remembrance of me” are repeated at Mass. We eat the living bread whenever we worthily receive the Eucharist at Mass. We don’t receive the Eucharist just once (like Baptism/Confirmation) because we need to choose Jesus every day.
  
  In what would normally be next week’s Gospel, Jesus adds, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” Jesus commands us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. As a result, John’s Gospel says that many of his disciples found the teaching difficult and then they deserted him. This saying of Jesus is still difficult. If people believed that Jesus started the Catholic Church and that He is truly present in the Eucharist, then nobody would leave the Church. The greatest joy we can have in this life is to receive our Lord in the Eucharist.
  
  I love my Protestant brethren like those in the Hastings Ministerial Association, but we aren’t living the perfect unity that Jesus prayed for at the Last Supper. Protestants don’t have the Eucharist because they don’t have validly ordained priests. Most Protestants subscribe to the doctrines of “Bible alone” and “faith alone,” which are non-Scriptural. And many of them don’t take Jesus at his word here in John’s Gospel—that we need to eat his flesh. God can save people without the sacraments, but He gave them to us for our sake, to help us get to Heaven. Protestants are missing out on many of the helps that Jesus instituted for our sake (most notably the Eucharist and Confession).
  
  Jesus as the Bread from Heaven gives spiritual life. One thing we have in common with the Israelites who ate the manna is that we will physically die. Moses and the Israelites—who were pleasing to God even when they physically died—did not suffer spiritual death. The faithful Jews who consumed the manna were hungering for Christ—and they have received their reward now that Jesus has opened Heaven. The same is true with us—if we are pleasing to God when we die, we will live with God forever. We begin to live Heaven on earth.
  
  My brothers and sisters, as we prepare to receive Jesus the Bread from Heaven today, we ask that we would be strengthened for the journey ahead of us—our earthly lives on the way to Heaven. May we chose to follow Jesus whole-heartedly today and always.
- Homily for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 1, 2021
  
  In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus is viewed by the Israelites as being sent by God. They are beginning to think that he could be the Prophet-like-Moses that God had promised to send. The crowd now suspects that Jesus believes himself to be even greater than Moses. This is why they expect him to do something greater than Moses (who pleaded with God to send the manna), so they ask for a sign. Jesus tells them, “My Father gives the true bread.” When Jesus says “true” bread, he does not mean that the Manna was false; rather, that the manna was incomplete or less than perfect. God was foreshadowing in the manna the even greater care that God provides in Jesus.
  
  God chose the material of bread and wine to be transformed into Jesus’ Body and Blood. Why did He chose bread and wine, though? Bread is simple; it is usually not eaten alone (but it can suffice for a meal if that’s all that you have…unless you’re Fr. Dave, who is gluten intolerant). Wine has a festive significance—we drink it at celebrations and at banquets.
  
  There are several instances in the Bible of bread and wine. For bread in the Old Testament, we have the offering of the priest Melchizedek, then the unleavened bread that the Israelites ate the night of the Passover, then the manna in the desert that we heard of in the 1st Reading, and later King David and his troops eat the bread of the presence. In the New Testament, Jesus multiplies the loaves (which we heard about last week). As for wine, there is the cup of blessing at Passover in the Old Testament. And then Jesus’s 1st miracle was changing water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana. To the festal dimension of wine, Jesus adds a heavenly dimension to it. The Mass is the wedding feast of God’s kingdom where we the faithful drink the new wine that has become the Blood of Jesus.
  
  Jesus says at the end of the Gospel, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” This identity of Jesus is intricately linked with a Beatitude he says elsewhere: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they shall be satisfied.” When we hunger and thirst for righteousness, which just means right relationship with God, then everything else falls into place. Other things that we could hunger and thirst for just seem rather unimportant.
  
  So my brothers and sisters, as we come forward to receive Jesus, the Bread of Life, we ask that we would be satisfied by the Lord. Then our duty becomes to help others to be satisfied by Him.