Enthusiastic Easter

Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection, April 5, 2015
Saint Michael Catholic Church

Mass Readings: #42ABC

Watch the Mass on YouTube, Gospel at 22:20

The infield of Churchill Down's is known for a lot of things. There's a lot of running around that happens there, and not just by the horses circling the track. One event that I have participated in a couple of times is an Easter Egg hunt that is put on by volunteers on Good Friday. I imagine that is a very different scenario than many of you had in mind. That's ok. The timing of this event always seemed off, but their intentions were good. They invite neighborhood children and especially any children of the migrant works that travel, and literally often live, with the horses. These children would come, enthusiastically running around filling their baskets with plastic eggs, and then turn those baskets in for Easter baskets full of candy and toys. It took some work scattering the eggs even though there was no place to really hide them. Instead, we took the several large storage crates full of plastic eggs and scattered them on the grass. This made it much more of a frantic gathering of eggs than really hunting for them. One thing can be said for sure about all the running around. It was done enthusiastically, and the volunteers were pretty enthusiastic because there was little work picking up the eggs that had taken some time to scatter. Is this similar to your Easter celebration? Running around, hunting eggs or chasing the Easter bunny from family gathering to family gathering? Will you do all this running around enthusiastically, with a joyous Easter heart? 

Scattering Easter Eggs at the Infield with my brother

A lot of that same great, enthusiastic running can be seen in our Gospel. Mary Magdalen runs from the tomb to get the disciples, Peter and the Beloved Disciple run to see what she is talking about, the Beloved Disciple wins the race but waits for Peter to arrive. There is a lot of running around and there should be, after all it's not every day that a dead man's tomb is found empty. I'd be running around enthusiastically, that's for sure! I would run for the man I had given my life to, a time spent following and learning from, a man who performed great works and sent me out to do the same. This man I thought was the Messiah had died, and now you're telling me he might be alive! Legs don't fail me now! 

The word enthusiastic doesn't appear in this Gospel passage, but I have nonetheless used it several times already. Do you know that you can't really do anything enthusiastically without doing it with and for God? If something is true, beautiful and for our good and the good of others it can, and really should, be done enthusiastically. Are you lost on how I came to this conclusion? You might use the word all the time and never once think about God. Well, I might just ruin the word for you. The key is the 'thus' in enthusiasm. It comes from the Greek for God, Theos, think of Theology - the study of God. The 'en' is the same as our in. So enthus, or Entheos, literally means in God, but can also means caught up in Divine power. 

Peter and 'the Beloved Disciple'

Any of the followers of Jesus: Mary Magdalen, Peter, John, the Beloved Disciple; did any of them just kind of wandering around eventually making their way back and forth from the tomb. No, they ran! They were filled with Divine energy and they ran; like Forrest Gump, they ran. Those Disciples were soon completely filled with the Holy Spirit and in the words of Forrest - they just felt like running. The disciples ran and ran spreading Christianity across the Roman Empire at an astounding rate. They did this because they were filled with the love of God, they did this because they lived and breathed in God. 

You and I have an opportunity today to practice true enthusiasm, not a fake kind of 'I'm so happy to be here.' But a real God-centered enthusiasm. The kind of enthusiasm that says yes I'm a Christian, yes I'm a Catholic, yes I'm a happy Catholic. Today you might give an enthusiastic yes to Christ, after all he gave an enthusiastic yes on the cross for you. This Easter, enthusiastically work on growing in your faith, do that and you'll find the Divine energy there waiting for you to do so. I also add, for those who hasn't been to Mass in a while, we have missed you. Seriously, it hasn't been the same without you here. With great enthusiasm I encourage you to join us again real soon. With that enthusiasm we can, like the early disciples, spread the faith across a world desperate for Good News.

That Escalated Quickly

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

March 28-29, 2015
Saint Michael's Catholic Church

Year B, #37 and #38
Mark 11:1-10, Isaiah 50:4-7, Psalm 22, Philippians 2:6-11, Mark's Passion Narrative

Watch the Mass on YouTube 

That really escalated quickly. We went from the entrance to Jerusalem to the crucifixion in seemingly no time at all. We see it almost every week. A new celebrity scandal or political misstep. It doesn't really matter who they are, just that they are famous in some way. It might be a race car driver, an actress, a sports star, a singer, a politician, a billionaire, or a celebrity famous for being a celebrity; they seem to be going along just fine and then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, they take a drastic fall. That's really a big part of it, isn't it? Why society watches, why we watch? We wait for something big to happen, we might even predict that something big will happen.

Christ's Entrance into Jerusalem 

In a similar way Jesus had a lot of people watching him. We are frequently told that great crowds gathered to listen or see him perform a miracle. Jesus had a flock of spectators, and in those crowds there always seemed to be some group wanting to see him fall. The drama will escalate this week. We will go from his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, to the last supper and the institution of the priesthood and the Eucharist on Thursday. We will witness Christ's agony from the garden to the cross on Friday, and at the Vigil we will watch as new members enter the Church and Christ is risen from the dead. All of this celebration will continue on through Easter Sunday.

We have a choice: we might decide to watch all that is going on in the Church this week, we might decide to ignore it all together, or we might desire to enter into the experience, making ourselves available in terms of time, and space in our hearts. No matter what you decide to do Christ has already decided on what he will do. Christ will regard us. He will do more than look at us, watch us. He will look into us and he will not turn away with shame, or anger, or regret. Instead Jesus will look at us, and see us for what we truly are! His beloved for whom he was willing to die!

All those people who looked at him, Jesus regarded them. The people who gathered to witness him early on, he truly saw them. The people who came and cheered for him, he regarded them with love, and with that same love he looked upon the very people who cheered for his death. Imagine looking at a crowd of cheering people, knowing that in a few short days they would be shouting for you to be crucified? How would you look at those faces? Would you be able to look at them at all?

Tintoretto, Crucifixion, 1565

I believe the reason for life is simple, it is a quest to be known. To be known so fully, so completely by another, that it is both pleasure and pain. To have another look into our eyes and 'get it.' I think that is what motivates the vast majority of what we do. Sisters and brothers the eyes of another person will eventually fail you. At some point even your eyes won't recognize the person staring in the mirror; and the person you thought understood you will disappoint you in an unspeakable way. The eyes of Jesus never fail. The eyes of Jesus always look upon you with complete love and understanding. This Holy Week will escalate very quickly, where will your eyes fall?

The Holy Family and Their Mess

The Feast of the Holy Family

Dec. 27-28, 2014, Year B, #17

Saint Michael's Catholic Church

Imagine for a moment a desolate wasteland, a once happy place that is now strewn with shredded wrapping paper and empty boxes. A place characterized by tangled lights and half packed decorations. In the distance you hear a soft sob. Is it a child that did not get from Santa what they asked? Is it a teenager that got something for which they did not ask? Or, more likely, is it the sound of a husband still in a daze over the large quantity of AAA batteries he purchased when his wife clearly told him that the new toys only take 9volt? And we talk of subordination! Nonetheless, in the air lingers the smell of leftovers and scented candles long since burnt out; while the questions of now what, and how did I eat so much, weigh on everyone's mind. The days following Christmas are not always the cleanest, often they are downright messy.

We will be in the season of Christmas for some time now, until January 11th to be precise, when we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. All the same, it is not hard to see that Christmas gets a little stale very quickly. You have often heard from me about the need for, and the danger of, expectations. Here is one at play - all the energy goes into the preparation with little saved for the living out. It is not surprising at all, however, because of the enormity of the gift we have received. If we were to try and fully grasp, for an extended period of time, the immensity that is the gift of the birth of God-made-man, well... I find it hard to believe that our weak minds could take it - it is just too big! There is a technical term for the phenomenon wherein a gift soon becomes a common part of life; that term is hedonic adaptation. The author Oliver Burkeman describes it as the "predictable and frustrating way in which any sort of pleasure we obtain... swiftly gets relegated to the backdrop of our lives. We grow accustomed to it, and so it ceases to deliver so much joy." (1) Simply put, getting something often feels more satisfying than keeping it.

I image the messiness of family life was present in the Holy Family, along with a focus on present things and a bit of hedonic adaptation to top it all off. Just imagine the mess and confusion active in their lives! A child born in a stable, the smell of cattle mixing with the smell of unbathed shepherds, the exotic sounds and smells of the wise men, the baby crying with a dirty diaper - the kind that needs constant washing. From there they have the fear and confusion of taking flight to Egypt, the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents at the hands of Herod, the road, the dust, the anxiety. From just today's gospel there are days of purification, turtledoves for sacrifice, Simon and his promises of glory, of pain, of pierced hearts and contradictions. The prophetess Anna and her very public proclamations about their little child. There are words of growing strong, being filled with the wisdom and favor of God; and one cannot forget those infamous words of Paul: subordinate, as is proper, love, avoid bitterness, obey parents, do not provoke children, avoid discouragement. These words must have applied to the Holy Family as well, and just as with many areas of faith that don't sit right - there must be something greater going on below the surface. How well was the Holy Family able to celebrate the days of that first Christmas? How different are their struggles from the lives of average families? In a very human way, I imagine, as best they could, with as much grace as possible.

It is too easy to picture the Holy Family in the way we have presented here. Serene, peaceful, the epitome of love, of trust, of balance. This Holy Family was just as much a family as yours and as mine. This signifies that our families can be as holy as this family. They are not introduced here as something to be idolized, they are revealed as something to emulate, to find within their union holy inspiration. The more our families are prayed into holiness, the less we will need this amazing statue and the more we will rely on each other as witnesses to the genuine, complex, holy, and messy reality that is the domestic church - the primary place where faith is formed.

Even though it is probably mixed up in the effects of our fall into original sin; I am glad, in a certain way, for  human nature and this hedonic adaptation. Without it we could too easily be overwhelmed by the gifts we have been given and forget to live them out. We could focus on God to the detriment of our attention to humanity. For this balance we need God-made-man. This must be part of the reason why Christ loved us so much to take the form of a messy, puking, pooping, wailing, beautiful little baby boy; a miracle and a mess all wrapped up in a bundle of flesh and blood. Might we imitate him as much as he has imitated us?

1. The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman, page 31

Falling, and Falling Well

First Published in the Seminary Bi-Monthly Publication: 

The Raven

Saint Meinrad Seminary; November 11, 2014

Here we are, well inside the autumn season. A time of year when many reflections can, and have been, made of the changing leaves, their slow demise, and human life and struggle. As the year anniversary of a dramatic fall of my own has come and gone, I offer this reflection to add to the wisdom already shared on the subject.

The starting point, nevertheless, is not leaves - green or brown - but rather on physical therapy. Yes, you read that right. During my adventures this past year there came a routine consultation with a physical therapist and I gained an unexpected insight from this meeting. She talked about how the majority of people, albeit a natural inclination, are afraid of falling, hurting or making a fool of themselves. It is this inclination towards a safer route that causes many of us to balance ourselves with external things, often when it is unnecessary. The fear of falling takes over and we reach out instinctively. The trouble is not in itself a need for balance; rather the danger is revealed when a fall does occur - and in life, a fall of one kind or another, is inevitable. In the action of falling, after spending so much time holding on to externals, we end up injuring ourselves more than if we had minor falls all along. The muscles used to balance and keep us up are underdeveloped or seldom exercised. The physical therapist's advice: risk falling more frequently so as not to fall for real. It is even said that each human step, from first tenderly placed foot, to last strenuous stride, every step is a controlled fall with the possibility of things ending not-as-planned.  

We experience this physical reality all the time, especially in the chapel. Chairs grasped when genuflecting, clung to when kneeling, and rising. Pushing off one's seat when standing and searched for when sitting. I'm not suggesting we all adopt a hands free approach to our posture at Mass, rather, notice how you interact with your environment and ask 'what am I afraid of?'

Those leaves, you know the ones, they seem to hang on long after their brothers, friends, cousins, friend's cousins - all have let go. It's time for them to fall, but they hold out. What could they have a fear of? When will they let go and accept the risk of falling?

Many people do their best to control the world they inhabit, but truth be told a single breeze or the changing temperatures are more powerful than we could ever try and wield. There are many opportunities we can fall into if we are simply willing to let go.

The Promises of the Season

Homily for the First Sunday of Advent, Year A 

St. Francis Xavier, Mt. Washington KY & 

All Saints, Taylorsville KY

November 30 & December 1, 2013

Happy New Year! No, I have not lost my mind; the First Sunday of Advent is on the Church calendar as the first Sunday of the year. Just like the secular New Year, with all of its resolutions for the future, Advent is a season of promises, and likewise Advent is a time to reevaluate your expectations of reaching those promises. I cannot help but think of the Advent calendars, you know the ones with the little chocolates or toys. You would open the little door each day, and find a little treat, but the real excitement came with the realization that Christmas day was one day closer. It’s no wonder that this tradition came about; we do kind of the same thing in church. Who here can say that they do not look at the Advent candles and automatically do the mental math to answer the question: how long till Christmas? I know I do! Advent is a season of promises, most notably the promise of Christmas. Do we, however, rush quickly through the season of promises without appreciating the promise itself? C.S. Lewis, a prominent writer and Christian philosopher, wrote that:

If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.[1] 

This quote should surprise you! It was meant to be surprising when it was given for the first time more than 70 years ago. The world wants to play a devious trick. The world wants you to think that Christianity is all about giving things up and feeling guilty when you do not. Advent is here to remind us that while we are asked to be mindful of the things we do, we are also rewarded with great promises that go far beyond the other things that we think we would rather be doing. Advent is a season of promises and its promises are many!

Let’s take a moment and look through some of the promises we are given in today’s readings: the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain, all nations shall stream towards it, one nation shall not raise sword against another, our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed, the day is at hand, be prepared for at an hour you do not expect the Son of Man will come. So many promises and all of these promises have as their core Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of all promises. These promises are huge, and imagine that these are just the promises in today’s readings – in the season of promises what more might Christ have in store for you, what more might be in store for us!?!

Keeping in mind the fact that God does not always answer our prayers in the way we would expect them to be answered; what promises in your life would you want God to fulfill this Advent season? Have you taken the advice of C.S. Lewis? Have you prayed big as he urges? You might pray for wisdom in dealing with things at work. You could pray for patience with your family and loved ones. You might pray for a greater desire for prayer. You could pray for the courage to stand up to that bully at school. I have a friend who recently told me about how she has been praying for the ability to work so as to please God, and not her boss. She is now more comfortable in her work, and more attached to a divine reason for her doing a good job, and beyond that she is also more productive and achieving even better than she had been when she was working more to please her supervisor.

These examples seem worldly, I know. They are, however, examples which reveal God’s desire to be involved in all aspects of our lives. If God desired to be a distant God, unconcerned and disconnected from our daily lives, that God would not have become man and lived, worked, and died as a man. Our Gospel for today says: so too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. Advent is a season of promises. Are you willing to get out of the way so that this promise can be realized in your life as well?

---

[1] C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, a sermon first given at Oxford University Church of St. Mary the Virgin, June 8, 1941.

Introducing: Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Goyette

Kortnee & Dan Nuptial Homily

Saint Aloysius,
Pewee Valley, KY

November 9, 2013

           I met Colby last summer. He was two at the time and he could barely talk, he could, however, run. I think he skipped learning how to walk and went straight into running. Colby was also the center of attention at the parish, and he knew it – everyone knew Colby and Colby never met a stranger. I know one thing about Colby, he’s going to break some hearts and cause his mother a world of frustration.

I was helping out with vacation bible school and I noticed Colby would come up to me, pretend to be picking something off my pants leg and walk away while putting this thing in his mouth. At first I though it was a piece of lent or something and so it concerned me that the child was swallowing anything he could get his tiny hands on, so I watched him closely and sure enough he was just walking up to me, pretending to take something off me, and eat it. I also noticed that he would only come to me, and none of the others standing around, and that he would also walk away right after taking his bite so to speak. It was this final clue that made it all click. Colby, you see, would come up with his mother at Mass, and she would receive Holy Communion. Colby, like many children, want something too. Now in a different setting, and without his mother’s controlling presence, Colby was going to come up to me and get what he wanted, even if it were only pretend. It was pretty profound to think that Colby was pretending to ‘eat me’ like he would one day truly partake of the Body of Christ that would be consecrated at an altar much like this one here. I was truly an image of Christ for Colby even if Colby couldn’t even begin to describe it to you.

            In our Gospel we hear of people approaching Jesus and they, like Colby, were not sure what they hoped to receive. They knew they wanted more wine because marriage feasts, in that culture, went on for days if not a week or more. Unfortunately we don’t have the time in our culture for such lengthy communal festivities. They wanted more wine but Jesus was insisting that he was not ready to begin his public ministry, he was not willing to give these people the wine they wanted and he wasn’t yet willing to give them the miracle they did not even think to want. Mary, his mother, on the other hand knew that Jesus was capable of filling a need and she bypasses his unwillingness and got things moving; letting Jesus handle the rest.

            Who then are we in this Gospel story? Who do we identify with? Especially for our lovely bride and groom, who are you to identify with? I think most of the time we are somewhere between the people who want something more, and Jesus who is not sure if he is ready to give it to them. We know we want more out of life but hesitation often holds us back. Now Mary is frequently a symbol for the Church, and she brings these two aspects together, and after examining the situation, she declares that it will work out. She, the Church, reveals that the mission is true and good.

             Dan and Kortnee, do you know exactly how your married life will play out? Of course not! Are you a little nervous as you prepare to make this definitive step in your lives? Of course you are! You hold within yourselves this very tension which the Gospel reveals to us. You have come before the Church asking for marriage, she in her wisdom has agreed that this is the vocation you are called to, and today you will make a public definitive act as you begin to live out that calling. You have a very real idea of what you are seeking but at the same time aren’t the surprises part of the excitement? You know you love one another, there is no doubt there. Where that love will lead you both, however, that is yet to be seen. So in a very real sense, Kortnee and Dan, you are both like Colby – like little children first grasping hold of a greater reality, and just like Colby you are reaching out for Christ, although you might not fully realize it. Your fulfillment is now bound to the other. Your spiritual paths are joined and you now will for now on approach this altar together as one. Remember the words of our second reading: clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy, with kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Do this not only because you love one another, but because you are Christ for one another! Your relationship with one another affects your relationship with Christ, and vice versa. Do not work to hide Christ from the other but instead work to more fully reveal him to one another and through that love you will reveal him to the world. The world needs, and the Church needs, indeed I need, this sign of your love for one another and for God!

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King

Homily for 34th Sunday of Ordinary, Year C

Cathedral of the Assumption,
Louisville, KY

November 24, 2013

Two weeks ago now there was a man standing out on Shelbyville Rd. right in front of the mall. He may still be out there for all I know; this may, in fact, be his plan from now until Christmas. Coincidently, or more likely with no coincidences at all, he was standing in front of Chick-fil-a there at the intersection. To ease your possible concerns: no, this is not a homily about Chick-fil-a or their policies and opinions. This man was, however, holding a sign in big black permanent marker that read: Christianity has failed. He was just there on the sidewalk, going back and forth, holding his sign, Christianity has failed. Now the thought crossed my mind: maybe he was using reverse psychology or maybe he truly believes Christianity has failed. All the same I did find it rather ironic as a relatively young man sitting in my vehicle wearing my collar, actively preparing to take on a lifelong calling to priestly ministry. I thought ‘I’m living proof that Christianity has not failed’ and in my arrogance I thought, much like the Roman soldiers in the gospel, ‘show me your proof!’. My thought was arrogant because Christianity has indeed failed: failed to meet this young man’s expectations, failed to entertain, failed to give simple answers to life’s complex questions, failed to meet the criterion of truth that this world itself doesn't even belief. In the world's eyes, Christianity failed in the beginning and will always fail.

The parallel with today’s Gospel is almost painful. Christ may as well have hung on that cross with a sign that not only said ‘King of the Jews’ but also a sign that read ‘I have failed!’ There, surrounded by his enemies and with only a precious few loved ones in sight, it looked like failure to all present. Where was the sense in all of this? Even one of the criminals pointed out the failure of Jesus. A man in the same position had the daring to point out how Jesus seemed to be a failure. Those witnessing these events at the time were pulled into thoughts of failure, how then are we to view the crucifixion as anything other than failure? It is so easy to see Jesus hanging on that cross and see failure, missed opportunities, and hard truths.

Our Lord Jesus Christ the King of the Universe 

We are blessed to know the other side of the story, however. Humanity would have been blessed enough to have Christ born as one of us. We would have been blessed enough to have him die for our sins. God, however, was not finished pouring out his grace upon us for Christ rose from the dead and resurrected humanity with him. Today we celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King. It is important to remember all that our king has done for us. Christ also did not leave the sign of his torture behind. He carries his cross still as an invitation for us to see within our own suffering the loving presence of Jesus.

That young man on the street corner, it would be easy to see him in a simple light. God helped me look deeper, however, and I resented him and I loved him at the same time. I could feel his search for meaning, and I was sad knowing that that search, with that attitude, will always leave him empty handed. Only the king can give meaning, especially when that king has a cross for a throne. It might be naïve, but I hope that young man was using reverse psychology; I hope he was saying one thing with the intention of getting people to realize the opposite. If the young man at the intersection was using reverse psychology, if the divine plan somehow incorporates appearing one way but being another, if the truth is hidden in this way: are you willing to be tricked into surrendering to a king on a cross?