Good Friday

Good Friday:

Last night we entered into the Last Supper of Jesus.  He washed our feet, he gave us his presence in the Eucharist, and his lasting ministry through the Priesthood.  Last night we also reflected on St. Peter.  He tried to stop Jesus from washing his feet.  He may have even had good motives: he didn’t feel worthy of having Jesus stoop down.  We might not feel worthy of his love either.  But, if we don’t let him love us, we will stop from receiving the most amazing gifts ever.

Today we are at the foot of the cross.  We hear about Jesus and his saving sacrifice.  Jesus hands over his life for us.  Again, we can look at St. Peter as an example for us.  You know, when St. Peter said last night that he wasn’t worthy, he may have been on to something.  Even though at the Last Supper Peter professed that he would never deny Jesus, we hear today that he did deny Jesus 3 times.  What do we learn?  Peter is weak.  He means well, but he fails.  Sound familiar?

Many of us have been going to confession recently.  Lent is a great time to experience God’s mercy.  But, I often feel like Peter.  I mean well, I profess I won’t fall, then I do…  But, you know what, the point is to keep getting up. 

Jesus knew Peter would fall.  He even predicted it at the last supper. And what does Jesus do today?  He still hands over his life.  Jesus knows we are not perfect.  Jesus knows we are sinners.  He loves us anyway.  He forgives us anyway.  Look at today: he dies because he loves us.

I hope everyone gets a chance to let this sink in.  Jesus dies today.  He really dies, he completely empties himself.  Even his blood and water flow out for us when his heart is pierced.  He really dies. 

This hasn’t always been easy to accept.  There have been people since the early days of the church who have found this hard to accept.  People have said: no, Jesus just appeared to die.  Or, no, Jesus just appeared to be fully human.  But, Jesus really died.  His whole life was handed over out of love for each of us, even though we are sinners.

Let that sink in today.  This is a lot of love.  Let this love fill you and give you hope. 

Holy Thursday

Holy Triduum 2017:

Tonight marks the beginning of the most important time in our year.  This holy night begins 3 amazing days for the Catholic Church.  And it’s important to be sure we have the right idea about history.

For many people, history is simply the retelling of an old event.  I think about this fact every year on December 7.  On that date we hear about the attack on Pearl Harbor, about the loss of life, and how December 7 is a day that will live in infamy.  This is what it means for most people to think about history.  We remember what happened on that day.  We even vow to continue to learn lessons from the past.  But, it’s very clear that Pearl Harbor was an attack that happened many years ago.

The Triduum is not history in this sense at all.  For Catholics, the Triduum is an event that always lives in the present tense.  Every year when we mark the events of the triduum, they are not old, they are not history; rather, it’s like they are happening right now.  Now, I’m not saying that these events happen each year.  Jesus doesn’t die anew every time.  Rather, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the events of the Triduum are happening right now, and we are privileged to be there.  It’s almost like we get to open a window in time, and we are present with the Lord during these three eventful days.

Tonight we draw near to Christ.  He stoops down to wash our feet.  He feeds us with his Body and Blood.  He gives us the gift of the Holy Priesthood to carry on his ministry in his name.  But, I cannot stress enough, we are there.  That’s why we celebrate the Mass tonight.  That’s why I will wash the feet of people here this evening.  This is why we will worship the Holy Eucharist at the end of this Mass.  Because tonight we don’t remember Jesus, or simply talk about him.  Tonight we experience Jesus, and we talk TO him.

Tomorrow, we will stand at the foot of the cross and take in his saving sacrifice.  Saturday night we will gather in the dark, when all hope seems lost, and we will see the light of Christ burst forth into the night.  These are not simply past events.  We will live them and experience them.  So open your hearts to the Lord.

But, this is not so easy as it sounds.  Opening our hearts to the Lord and receiving his love can be quite a challenge.  We may not feel worthy of Christ’s love.  We may not realize how much we need Christ’s love.  We might not even know Jesus well enough to tell if we need his love and mercy in our lives.  What might be blocking you from receiving his love?

Look at St. Peter in the gospel tonight, he wasn’t ready to be served by Jesus.  Now, on the face of it this looks like piety: no, no Jesus: you are too good and holy to do something so lowly as wash my feet.  Maybe Peter would have even said further: I should be washing your feet, I should be serving you.  And, that’s really true if you stop to think about it.  We should all be ready to worship Christ, to love and serve him.  But, Jesus’ answer is pretty astounding: If I don’t wash your feet you have no inheritance with me.  Don’t you find that fascinating?  Peter says you should be the one to wash my feet; Jesus replies, this is the only way you will have eternal life.  Why is that?

My friends, perhaps Peter had great intentions there.  Maybe he wanted to be moved by Love for Christ, maybe he would have said: I will serve you Lord.  But, as always, Jesus knows better.  The only way for Peter to really understand what it means to serve, to love, is for him to experience Christ’s love, and his humble service.  I think it’s the old adage: you can’t give what you don’t have.  Peter is motivated to give love and service, but Jesus tells him: you will have nothing to give if you do not first receive from me.

This is the idea that I’m taking away from tonight’s mass.  It’s not always easy to open our hearts and to receive from Jesus, but it’s the only way that we can be filled with love.  I’m sure all of us here would say: I want to love Christ, I want to serve him.  Listen to Jesus say to each one of us: unless I wash you, you have no inheritance.  Unless you let me love you, you will have no love within you.

Tonight on this Holy Thursday, Christ loves us in three ways: service, the priesthood, and the Holy Eucharist.  Each of these are great gifts given to us by Christ who loves us till the end.

First, service.  Jesus bends down to wash the feet of his disciples.  When have we experienced the love and care of God or others.  We can all look to our baptism.  Jesus washed us clean there.  Pray for Alexis and Timujin who will be baptized Saturday night.  But, maybe you’ve had other experiences where someone loved and served you because of their kindness.  If we are going to serve others, we need to recognize all the service we have received.

Second, the priesthood.  Here is one that is pretty humbling for me, I can tell you.  I’m always wondering: who am I to be chosen for the priesthood.  Believe me, I’m not perfect, not even close.  I’ve got tons of weird hang-ups and quirks, I’m a sinner, constantly in need of God’s mercy.  And yet, just like he chose those 12 apostles so long ago, Jesus chose me for the priesthood.  This doesn’t really say very much about me, but it says an awful lot about Jesus.  Jesus loved us so much, that he wanted his lasting presence to be felt in the church.  He didn’t want us to be left without guides and shepherds.  So, he chose humble and simple men and asked them to lead and guide his people.  This ministry of service has been handed down from generation to generation by the power of the sacrament of Holy Orders.  Thinking about what the priesthood really means, I could be tempted to say something like Peter: you can’t give me this amazing spiritual gift, Lord.  But Jesus says: if you don’t receive this gift, my people will go without the sacraments, without the forgiveness of their sins, without the guidance they need in their lives.  So, I continue to open my own heart to the gift of the priesthood. 

But, let me make a special request.  Please keep praying for us priests.  I’m always constantly aware of my inadequacies.  We need your prayers and support.  And pray for more priests.  If you want to keep receiving the gifts of the sacraments, pray for more priests.

Finally, the eucharist.  Jesus shows us how much he loves us by handing over his body and blood to us.  He shows us that he loves us till the end of time.  But, again, like Peter, we might be tempted to say: I’m not worthy to receive something so precious.  Let Jesus love you, let Jesus feed you, let Jesus literally fill you up with his love.  Tonight we celebrate the eucharist, and we will worship the Eucharist following the mass.  There is no better proof to us of the Lord’s lasting love than the gift of the Holy Eucharist.  Don’t be afraid to open your heart to this precious gift.

So, tonight is all about the love of Jesus.  This is not just some event in the past.  No, it’s happening now.  He loves us by serving us, by giving us the priesthood, by giving us the Eucharist.  However, it can be really easy to be St. Peter.  We can block receiving God’s love if we think we are not worthy, not ready, or not in need.  But, let the response of Jesus ring out in your hearts: if you don’t let me love you, you will have no inheritance with me.  Therefore, as we begin this Holy Triduum, with St Peter as our model, we open our hearts to the Love that Christ wants to give us this evening.

Christ has power over death

5^th Sunday of Lent year A 2017:

Today we hear this powerful story of the raising of Lazarus.  Today we hear about Jesus exercising his divine power.  I think all of us recognize that death seems to be a power completely outside of human control.  As much as we might try to fight death with medicine, health, diet, exercise, etc.  Death is beyond our control.  As much as we hate death, as much as we try to avoid it, or overcome it, we recognize that we are powerless against it.  Human beings cannot conquer over death.

And then there is Jesus.  Today we just heard him cry out: Lazarus come out.  And the way the gospel puts it is so amazing it says: the dead man came out.  There was no doubt that Lazarus had died, he had fallen as yet another victim of the power of death.  And yet, at the voice of Jesus, the prophecy of Ezekiel is fulfilled: God opened the tomb and caused Lazarus to rise.  And, of course, this story prefigures the resurrection of Jesus as well.  Again, Jesus shows his divine power in his triumph over death.

I can’t stress enough the importance of this reality.  Christianity proclaims an amazing truth: Jesus has power over death, Jesus can raise the dead, even Jesus who died, rose from the dead and lives now forever.  If we don’t get this truth right, we won’t get anything right.  If you go through the catechism you will see that we believe and teach a lot of stuff about God, faith, prayer, morality.  But, at the heart of everything we believe is this one central message: Jesus died and rose again.  He has power over death.  So, whenever we encounter the scary power of death, we have a hero, we have a defender, we have someone we can rely on.  Hopefully our faith in Christ will fill us with hope, even if we suffer, die, or go through the suffering and death of those we love.

Speaking of that, Friday was a sad day for our whole parish community.  Friday we celebrated the funeral Mass for Jonathan Nusbaum.  I think Jonathan and his family are pretty well known here at St. Jude.  But, Jonathan had been battling cancer for a number of years, and he died on Tuesday morning.  It was a sad day for many of us.  We have been praying all these years that Jonathan would be healed.  But, it didn’t work out that way.  But, we have a hero, we have Jesus.

I think the words of Lazarus’ two sisters speak pretty well to the pain we feel in our hearts.  Did you notice that both sisters say the exact same thing to Jesus: Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.  Maybe many of us could say the same thing this week: Lord, if you would have intervened, Jonathan would not have died.  I think this is an appropriate prayer really.  On the one hand, it takes into account the pain that we are feeling at the loss of a friend.  On the other hand, it also acknowledges that we believe that God is all powerful.  It’s actually a bit of a faith statement.  Both the sisters in the Gospel, and all of us, believe that Jesus Christ is God and all powerful.  So, a prayer like this one can really be helpful when we are saddened by the loss of a loved one: Lord, if you had been here.

But, one other important thing to take away from this gospel story is not just the fact that Jesus does have power over death and that he can give life to Lazarus, Jonathan and all our deceased friends.  The other thing to take away is that Jesus is close to us, he is never far away.  My favorite line in this gospel is also the shortest: and Jesus wept.  What a powerful statement!  Jesus wept.  He didn’t weep because he was powerless against death, he knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead.  He wept because he shared in the lives of Martha and Mary.  Jesus is not distant and remote from them, he is united to them and he weeps with them when they are sad.

The same is true for us.  This has been a tough week for so many.  But, Jesus isn’t far.  He is still united to us, he is still with us and he shares our lives with us.  He is still weeping with those who are sad.  And while the pain remains, it helps to know that Jesus shares that pain with us.  We can always turn to Christ.

So, this gospel gives us three things to remember: 1, Jesus has the divine power to overcome death.  This should fill us with amazing hope, especially when we think about our own mortality, or the loss of someone we love.  2, don’t be afraid to share your grief with Jesus, just like the two sisters did in the gospel: Lord, if you were here.  3, we are not alone in our pain.  Jesus weeps with us, Jesus is close to us.  Hopefully that thought can give us some strength in tough times as well.