Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr. Jim Deiters

A couple years ago after a Mass I celebrated for those in our local prison, one of the young men came up to tell me his good news that he was finishing up his time and heading home to reunite with his family.  He talked about how much he had changed and grown during this time and was ready to start a new chapter of living.  He shared with me how much the Eucharist and coming to weekly Mass helped him.  I remember him specifically saying, “I’ve come to know how God forgives our past and helps us change.  I’m ready to cross over to a new beginning with Jesus at my side.” 

His faith was such an inspiration to me…and his story came to mind as I was reflecting on this Gospel story that starts out with Jesus saying, “let us cross over to the other side.”  It is an invitation from Jesus for us to ‘move’ to a new place or new way of thinking… from whatever side of the “lake of life” we are on.  But, moving to the “other side” means I have to believe that there IS another side, another way to think or live.  Then, I have to have the DESIRE to ‘move’ from where I am to a new way.  And this is where Jesus comes into our boat.  Jesus is only going to take us to a better place…AND be in the boat during any difficult transition or “crossing.”  Jesus never stops inviting us to “cross to the other side” in our ongoing conversion to place all our trust in God…and become more like Jesus.  

In such a short story, the author Mark sums up three stages that a disciple of Jesus will go through.  On one side of the lake, the first ‘stage,’ Jesus’ followers only see him as a ‘miracle worker,’ someone to fix their problems and ‘do things’ for you.  In the chapters before this lake excursion, Jesus had healed someone paralyzed and performed an exorcism.  More people were coming to him for miracles.  As important as miracles were a part of his ministry, Jesus was inviting people to know the bigger role he wanted to play in their life…as Son of God and our Savior.

In the journey we must make to know Jesus as our Savior, the story teaches us that the second-stage is like a “boat ride” we take to the other side…which will not be a smooth one, since it requires putting our full trust in God even during tumultuous times.  The turning point in the stormy sea story happens after Jesus calms the wind… and the disciples finally recognize Jesus’ full power; and it says they were “filled with awe,” the third level of discipleship -- being in utter amazement at who God is.

The calming of the storm story transports us back to the Creation Story in Genesis when God turned chaos and darkness into the beautiful seas and the light of the sun.  Jesus, as God, was there, forming the oceans billions of years ago…and is now on those same waters…revealing his power over all of creation.  Other healers can fix an illness but only God has power over elements of the universe!

Jesus will keep inviting us to ‘cross over’ from simply knowing him as a ‘healer,’ to a discipleship stage of AWE…that Jesus is the Son of God, with greater powers and a vision for our future… beyond our imagining!  To be in “awe” of God means that no matter what storm we are in, we trust that God has power over whatever ‘forces’ are frightening to us in the moment.  To be in AWE of God, means that I let go of fear and worries, and really BELIEVE that Jesus is at my side…taking me to the “other side” where somehow the present storm will pass… and on some new ‘shoreline’ there will be light and life.

The problem is that our ‘faith process’ is not just a one-way street but rather cyclical and ongoing.  This means that even though we may have a moment when it feels like I AM on the other side, trusting in Jesus and in awe of God’s love for me, another “violent squall” or crashing waves comes along…and can easily toss me back to wondering “where is God?” or “why me?” stage of doubting.  When that happens, we need to recall the calming part of the story in which we learn that Jesus is actually IN the boat with us “asleep on a cushion.”  He is not asleep in the sense of not caring, but rather as a sign to not worry…since the rough waters we might be in…are part of the journey to a deeper faith in God.  Knowing that Jesus is on “a cushion” next to us…helps us take a deep breath of faith…that on the ‘other side’ of this…I will ‘arrive’ as a more faith-filled person, in awe of God’s power and love.

Let us approach the Eucharist and our prayer this week, with this image of Jesus “on a cushion” next to us, telling our restless mind to “be still” …and our worrying heart to place our “faith” in God.

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Jim Deiters

One of the greatest assets we have in our area is Forest Park in St. Louis.  With 1,300 acres of trees, bike and walking paths, lakes, two free museums, a free zoo, the Muny and Shakespeare theatres, and a new Naturescape children’s area, it is even larger than Central Park in New York City.  In one of my regular walks there, I recently discovered an historical landmark on the south side of the lake near the boathouse restaurant.  It is a large stone where you can sit and watch those in row boats and on paddle boards.  On the stone is a large bronze plaque with a quote from Joseph Pulitzer, the founder of our St. Louis newspaper and the first school of journalism at Columbia University.  In 1893, when St. Louis was in a state of depression and high unemployment, in addition to the newspaper, Pulitzer organized an effort to provide paid work for the unemployed and homeless by having them help dig this new lake in Forest Park.  The quote from Pulitzer on the stone by the lake he helped pay for reads, “always fight for progress and reform; never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news.”

Not to make any human into a saint, but certain people throughout our history made substantial contributions to society, especially those who work for justice and alleviating the suffering of the poor.  These were two main goals of Jesus during his ministry, not just to be a ‘good person’ and make the world a better place, but because, as God, Jesus never stopped seeing the POTENTIAL in each person he encountered.

Often times our view of someone is based on how they look, their history, or rumors we heard about them.  From the scriptures, we hear over and over again how God looks into a person’s heart and soul and calls forth their “potential,” forgiving our past and summoning us to be our best self, created in God’s Image and Likeness.  God puts into our personality and mind a ‘potential’ that is based on unique gifts God weaves into us when he is creating us in our mother’s womb.  A parent’s job is to nurture a child’s potential, teaching their children to use their gifts, not selfishly, but for God’s glory and honor.  And in God’s eyes, our potentiality never has a retirement date!  Imagine if we started seeing each and every person, like God does, for their potential…and not their past.

In our readings for today, the images used to describe human potential is that of a “seed” and “tree.”  Through the prophet Ezekiel, God imagines the future of the Israelites as a “small tender tree shoot” taken from a mighty cedar tree and replanted to grow into a magnificent place for “birds of every kind to dwell within it.”  Jesus uses a similar image of a seed…that grows into a large, welcoming place for others to call home in it’s “shade.”  These images of seed and sapling reveal several things about God’s vision for us as his Church and all humanity.

First, it shows us that God has incredible patience with each person, who starts out as a seed, and may take a very long time to develop his or her full potential.  To think more like God does, we need to develop our own patience with others, and think of their potential rather than their past or how far they still have to go.  Secondly, these scripture images of a “majestic cedar tree” and “large mustard plant” focus on how the plant is meant to be a welcoming place for others to find comfort and belonging.  Thus, our 2000-year history as a Church has used these images for our own Mission as a People of God, to remind us that we must continually ‘grow’ our outreach to others, especially those who may feel unworthy or marginalized based on how others have viewed or treated them.  Are we shaping our own heart, our parish, our country, and our own family as a place with large branches that is as welcoming as God is?  How wonderful that God never gives up on each of us and our potential to become an extended branch that keeps growing and contributing to the bigger picture of God’s vision…for all peoples to live together in peace.  In this sense, we might think of God’s Kingdom as a Divine “cedar tree and mustard bush arboretum.”

As we marvel at the miraculous way that God can turn a seed into a cedar tree, it is even more beautiful how God places a seed of potential into each human heart to become a welcoming branch for those seeking ‘shade’ from any form of suffering.  In the Holy Eucharist, Jesus’ Spirit of Love comes into the ‘soil of our soul’ to nurture our seed of potential to keep becoming more and more like Jesus himself.
 

Corpus Christi
LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
Fr. Jim Deiters

Some of you may remember that last year during quarantine, we made 11 YouTube videos for parishioners to learn about the spirituality of what all went into the design of our new church.  For example, in the video about our altar, I spoke about how we did a two-day retreat learning about the 2000-year history of altars that started out as kitchen tables.  From that, parishioners gave input on ideas for our altar, its shape, material, and how the pews would be arranged around it based on our rich history.  In the retreat, we learned about the biblical background of meals and tables in the Old Testament and in Jesus’ time; and I am taking a risk saying this in front of teenagers, but in Jesus’ day, they usually ate ‘lying down’ on couches next to the table.  But the main purpose of all meals is to build relationships in family life and community.

Eating at a table is one of the most uniquely human things we do.  No other creature consumes its food at a table.  And eating at tables with other people reminds us of the social dimension of sharing a meal and not just eating for sustenance.  It is no coincidence that Jesus spent a good portion of his ministry at a lot of different tables eating with all kinds of people, usually inviting strangers and sinners to sit next to him and his friends.  From the Gospel stories of Jesus’ many meals, you can tell that the events were less about the food and more about the connections Jesus wanted to make with the people he gathered around him.

That was the case until Jesus decided to combine the two aspects of ‘what’ he feeds the world…and how that ‘food’ would permanently connect the hungry person with his own Body and Soul.  In the Last Supper story we just heard, and at every Eucharist, God’s DNA mixes with ours…and a permanent bonding takes place between us.  The connection that happens goes beyond just God and me; since every human is also part of Christ’s Body, when I receive the Eucharist, I am bonding myself to the rest of God’s People…who are already IN Christ’s Body to whom I am now connected.

This is why in the Eucharistic Prayer has a focus on universal salvation as we pray for the whole human race to be ONE BODY in Christ.  This is a big part of what distinguishes us from ‘congregational’ non-denominational churches down the street since the word ‘catholic’ itself means universal, and through the Eucharist we are intimately connected to the sufferings and hopes of the members of Christ’s Body all around the world.  A meal with Jesus always pulls us out of our self-centeredness!

Therefore, when I receive the Body of Christ, in addition to it being a personal encounter with Jesus, I am also uniting my joys and sufferings with the rest of Christ’s Body…connecting me to the whole human race…which IS Christ’s Body.  This is part of the reason that the pews of our church are wrapped around the Altar Table, symbolizing the world… clinging to Christ and our unity with one another.

Based on Jesus’ emphasis of gathering people around a table, including the night before he died, I think that one of the most important spiritual disciplines for us Christians to recover is the practice of what is often called “table fellowship.”  In the fast-paced, tech-saturated, disconnected culture in which we find ourselves, Christians need to reclaim the ‘spiritual art’ of a s-l-o-w meal… around a table, with people we care about.  If our youth don’t have a rich experience of table meals with family and friends during the week, then the ‘meal’ aspect of the Mass won’t make much sense.  Yes, there is the other aspect of the Mass called “sacrifice,’’ which our Hebrews passage today highlights that I have preached on many times before.  For this great feast day of Jesus’ Body and Blood, what stands out for me in this Gospel, is the simple ritual and gesture of Jesus gathering people around a table to eat with him.   God spent a good deal of his time on earth at tables…trying to get us to see our connectedness to God and one another.

With the power of his words, that we cherish at every Mass, “This is my Body,” what looks like regular food and fellowship…becomes a great Mystery of Jesus’ Real Presence in the sacred host…feeding our bodies with his very Self…and uniting us to one another and the whole Body of Christ.  As St. Augustine wrote so simply and beautifully, “we become…what we eat.”

Trinity Sunday
LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
Fr. Jim Deiters
 
On Monday, the feast of the Visitation for us Catholics, and Memorial Day for our country, also marks a unique, patriotic-Catholic historical moment as the city of Baltimore celebrates the 200^th anniversary of the first Catholic Cathedral in the United States.  Officially called the Cathedral of the Assumption, it was dedicated on May 31, 1821, and designed by the famous architect Benjamin Latrobe, who had also been selected by Thomas Jefferson as an early architect for the U.S. Capital building, which was under construction at the same time.  There was a lot of turmoil in the United States at that time after the War of 1812, and the small minority of our Catholic immigrant ancestors were being heavily persecuted.  It was no small event for Rome to establish a Cathedral here, making it known that we are here to stay and eventually make a huge impact on the education, justice, and healthcare systems of this new country.
 
The Baltimore Cathedral at that time became the center for the U.S. Bishops to meet and establish such things as our Catholic schools, evangelization efforts, an infrastructure for welcoming and protecting immigrants, and the famous “Baltimore Catechism” teaching manual that many of us ‘old’ Catholics grew up with.  The anniversary of our first United States Cathedral got me thinking this week about the connection between inspiring Catholic Churches and the ministries that the Catholic Church provides for God’s people, especially our WORSHIP of God that happens at the Mass.
 
For this feast of the Blessed Trinity, instead of attempting to address what the Trinity “is” or “means,” I want us to look closely at our first reading today from Deuteronomy that calls us to think about God, primarily from the perspective of AWE and amazement.  This section of Deuteronomy is part of Moses’ ‘farewell,’ after the Exodus and before his death… and he poses some powerful questions to remind us to always be in awe of God.  To paraphrase, Moses asks, “has any other god created the sun, moon, the sky, and humans?  Has any other god spoke from a burning bush or cared for you in all your troubles?”
 
Prayers of awe, adoration, and worship of God are so important for us adults to focus on when teaching the Catholic faith to our children.  Yes, they need to learn the teachings of the Church, but we have to first ground them in being completely in AWE of God’s greatness!  When we help them notice God’s Presence and Power during the week, then going to Mass will make more sense since it is here in the Eucharist, in the most perfect way, we worship God’s Greatness!
 
Let me give a few examples of how to be in awe and wonder of God… so that the Blessed Trinity is a part of our daily life.  To teach our children about the awesomeness of God as our Creator/ “Father” we could use a version of Moses’ questions and ask, “can any other god create the color of a robin’s egg, the smell of a rose, the taste of a strawberry, and the miracle of a baby in the womb?”  These are signs of GOD’s Majesty and Creativity, NOT just nature’s happenstance…so we come to sing God’s praises for these at Mass!
 
We are in awe of the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus, for his role in redeeming and forgiving.  Each time Jesus helps us forgive; each time we are cleansed of our sins in the Mass and Sacrament of Confession; and for all the ways that Jesus keeps forgiving us humans for the ‘messes’ we create, we kneel in AWE at the Mass for the loving mercy of Jesus working in our life and poured over the whole world in the Eucharist.
 
And we are in awe of the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit of Love…for each act of LOVE that flows from God into our life and for the Spirit continually breathing new life into our world!  In the Mass, we are in AWE of the Holy Spirit for giving us faith in times of trouble, hope for our future, and filling us with God’s Love when we doubt our meaning and purpose.
 
Do we adults and our children have a sense of awe and wonder at the amazing ways that God is present in our life?  Moses challenges us to help one another be more aware of the awesomeness of God in our daily lives so that participating in Mass will be a powerful experience of giving our heart and soul to God in praise and worship.
 
While we do need inspiring church buildings to help us worship God, we also need to remember that the temple of our body is also meant to be a ‘cathedral’ of praise as we use our senses to notice signs of the Blessed Trinity all around us and within us.  It is through our Baptism, when the Trinity entered our bodies…that we are privileged to come to this Altar…as we hear again the voice of Moses, “Know and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God…and there is no other.”
 

PENTECOST
LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
Fr. Jim Deiters

I love how occasionally the children come up to me after Mass with a question about something they saw or heard during Mass.  It is amazing what their minds see and hear, processing all that is going on as they are learning their Catholic faith.  One of our second-grade students came up to me a few weeks ago when she was preparing for her First Communion to tell me how excited she was for it.  Then she got a very serious look and caught me totally off-guard when she so beautifully asked, “But… how do I know if I am really worthy enough to receive Jesus in the Eucharist?”  I was floored by her genuine humility…and stumbled a little at first for an explanation…as her question forced me quickly to re-assess my own unworthiness.  As I attempted to explain how only Jesus can make us worthy by first forgiving our sins, I reminded her of the prayer we say right before Communion, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you under my roof, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”  Her eyes lit up and she said, “Oh, I see, now that prayer makes sense!”

Applying her seriousness about the sacrament as the Eucharist, this feast of the Holy Spirit challenges each of us to examine our conscience as to our ‘worthiness’ of letting the Spirit of Pentecost enter us…to radiate God’s Love in all we say and do.  Since the scriptures for our feast day focus on the Spirit’s gifts of unity, forgiveness, and peace, Pentecost 2021 challenges us to put these into practice more than ever, given the sometimes divisive climate that had taken over our country in the past few years.  Can we Christians be examples of the Spirit’s unity and forgiving peace to a society wounded by political divisions?  Or will we let the Satanic voices of condemning judgement and lies tear us apart in camps of who is more conservative or liberal?

The one word and phrase in our second reading from Corinthians that stood out for me has the word, “drink.”  St. Paul tells us, “we were all given to drink of the one Spirit.”  We all need a big, refreshing ‘drink’ of the Spirit’s Peace and Love…to first, heal our own troubled heart…then to BE the Spirit’s Peace and forgiving love to others.

It begs the question as to ask ourselves, “where or to whom do I go to try and quench the inner thirsts of my heart and soul?” And “is that ‘source’ I keep going back to filling me with God’s Peace and deepening my love for others?”  If it’s not, then it cannot be the font of the Holy Spirit from which I am drinking…and I need to change my pattern of going to that ‘well’ that is not helping me be a witness to the Holy Spirit of love!

The problem is not that the Holy Spirit has stopped pouring God’s forgiving love into our world; the issue is whether I make time each day to ‘drink’ from God’s font of grace which overflows as St. Paul says, with “different spiritual gifts…to benefit each of us differently…but from the same Spirit.”  Can I embrace how the Spirit works differently in other people?

But isn’t it interesting that while Paul talks of ‘drinking’ of the Spirit, Jesus speaks of “breathing” the Spirit?  There is a powerful complementary movement here in how the nose and mouth have a common passageway in the throat, but with two pipelines: one takes ‘drink’ to our stomach, and the other takes breath to our lungs.  God gets very physical with us in the way the Spirit enters us in varied ways…feeding our lungs, our stomach, and our soul…with a drink and breath of LOVE… meant to unite us to God and one another. 

This means that if my thoughts and words are not based on “forgiveness, love, peace, and unity,” as the scriptures describe the Holy Spirit, then today’s feast of Pentecost is time to inhale and drink differently, centered in God’s dream for a unified, loving humanity.

In a sense we are ‘unworthy’ to be receptacles of the pure love of the Holy Spirit.  But for some reason God chose you and me, through baptism, in all of our unworthiness, to BE the vessels of the Spirit’s unifying love for our divided world.  The ‘word’ Jesus says to make us worthy is when he tells us in the Gospel, “Receive.”  In spite of our ‘unworthiness’ Jesus still says, “receive the Holy Spirit.”  A completely free gift of God’s Love…poured into our soul to drink…and breathed into our lungs and mind.  Simply RECEIVE.

Solemnity of Jesus’ Ascension
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Fr. Jim Deiters

I always marvel at the genius of those who work in the medical-surgical world who can do miraculous things with the human body.  Recently, one of our parishioners went through a heart transplant and we talked briefly about the miracle of knowing that part of someone else, who lost their life, is now beating away and saving the life of another.  The human heart is one of God’s most amazing creations.  When the youth sometimes ask questions about whether God really exists, I give them an example they can relate to, “Who else could create a heart organ that keeps our body going for many years…without ever being plugged in?!”  My favorite story about the beauty of the heart is when a married couple once told me, “whenever we get in an argument and need to forgive one another, we lie down and place our head on the other person’s chest, stay silent, and simply listen to their heartbeat; it is such healing intimacy for our marriage.”

God has his own fascination with our heart since God speaks about it often throughout the scriptures, with Jesus himself telling us to “love God with our whole heart,” and in Ezekiel God says, “I will give you a new heart by breathing my Spirit within you.”   In our scriptures for today’s feast of Jesus’ Ascension, the phrase that stood out for me was in our Ephesians reading when Paul says to us, “May they eyes of your heart be enlightened…that you may know.. the hope and riches” of Christ’s glory.

There is something powerful in the symbolism of our heart having “eyes” …that are meant, as Paul says, to ‘see’ how rich we are in Christ.  We celebrate with great fanfare the Mystery that Christ ascended into heaven since it means that heaven is now OUR home as well.  Since we are literally a part of Christ’s Body, Jesus going to heaven means that part of us is already there with him…and that heaven is our homeland.  But does our heart really ‘see’ the beautiful meaning of this?

Our hearts are often restless, going in many directions, distracted by greed, lust, jealousy and more.  Often times, our heart is ‘blind’ to our own goodness, made in God’s Image, as we try to impress others and win their approval, forgetting that we have from God all the love and ‘approval’ we need.  St. Paul is praying for us to let the Holy Spirit “open the eyes of our heart” so that we put things back in perspective of what really matters…once we ‘see’ that our life was made by God, belongs TO God, and will forever be WITH God now that Jesus has shown us the path to God.  A beautiful way of saying all this is in the Eucharist Prayer for today when we will hear, “Jesus was taken up to heaven…that he might make us sharers in his divinity.”

That phrase sums up our feast – opening the eyes of our heart to really SEE and BELIEVE that we are blessed to already share in Jesus’ divine-heavenly life.  This is especially comforting and helpful to remember for anyone going through depression, anxiety, or doubting their purpose in this life.  YOUR life is so holy and precious in God’s eyes, that by Jesus ascending, he unites your life INTO the life of the Blessed Trinity of pure love.

To summarize, God ‘descended’ from the heavenly realms to become a human in the Person of Jesus, lived like us in all things but sin, rose from the dead, and ‘ascends’ the whole human race in His Body…to take us into the center of the Trinity…where Jesus abides.  This is powerful…if we let the “eyes of our heart” take in this great mystery and really believe it!  It puts a new perspective on the VALUE of our life…and the life of every human being.

We can never hear enough that famous quote from St. Augustine who struggled himself with materialism, lust, and the distracting things of this world.  When he was finally ready to turn his life more fully over to God, he wrote this prayer, “Our hearts are restless O God, until they rest in you.”

At every Mass, Jesus gives us his healing love and mercy to calm our restless hearts.  In a special way for this feast, let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us ‘see’ that as we consume Jesus’ Body into ours, the lifeblood of God’s Love wants to ‘pump’ new life into our heart to remind us that our life belongs to Jesus and that heaven will always be our true home.

Make time this week… to let Jesus look into the eyes of your heart.

Sixth Sunday of Easter
LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY

r. Jim Deiters

One of the most profound experiences I have ever had was at the Poor Clare Monastery in Belleville this week, celebrating the funeral of our founding Abbess Sister Marie Therese.  As Abbess, she was also called “Mother.” Mother Marie Therese gave 70 years of her life as a cloistered nun in daily Eucharistic devotion in praying for the needs of others.  It's hard to describe how powerful the funeral Mass was, since our Poor Clare nuns follow the original Saint Clare traditions of 850 years ago.  What was most profound for me, was spending a holy hour in front of her casket, reflecting on this amazing woman who dedicated her life in seclusion to praying for your needs and mine.  She was laid out in a plain pine box in her full brown and black habit surrounding her face; but most striking was that the Sisters wove a band of white roses placed on her head that looked like a halo but served as her ‘crown’ as a Bride of Christ.  As I prayed before her holy body in the casket, I thought of all the lives she impacted as a Poor Clare Nun.  Even though she was cloistered away, she had a profound influence on the world, as Poor Clare nuns dedicates their whole life as a witness to joyful silence, poverty, and prayer.  Mother Therese had a special love for our parish of St. Clare, her role model…and in my prayer at her side, I thought of the 1000’s of people whose lives she affected in her 70 years of service to the Church… including hundreds of married couples whose marriage she saved by praying for them to forgive and stick to their commitment.  I thought of the thousands of babies she saved (!) praying daily for all women to choose life in their pregnancy.  And within her 70 years of praying, I thought of wars she helped prevent or end with her intercession… and the many refugees and prisoners who felt the Presence of God because of her prayers for them!

While many people cannot understand the unique vocation of a “cloistered nun,” spending one’s life in prayer before God, St. Clare herself founded this Religious Order… to be rooted in someone falling so in love with Jesus, that they want to spend their life INSIDE the heart of Jesus, represented by the cloister.  As Mother Therese said to me one time with her thick French accent, “once you enter deep into Jesus’ heart, why would you ever want to leave?”  And as I was looking at this Bride of Christ lying there with a bridal wreath of roses on her head… her face was glowing with this intense light of love…as I knew that her life of love she gave so selflessly to the world…was certainly now fused intimately into the loving heart of Christ in heaven.  As they sealed the final piece of wood on the pine box, tears came to my eyes as another Sister played the organ with the tune “Tantum Ergo,” the hymn for Eucharistic Adoration, representing the thousands of hours she spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament communing with God. 

I share this long story with you because her life was such a unique witness and embodiment of the kind of Love that we just heard proclaimed in our Scriptures for today.  Jesus sums up what we are supposed to do with our life in that one simple word, LOVE.  But putting into action the ‘kind’ of love Jesus is talking about is a life-long process… of taking myself out of the center and putting the needs of others before my own, which is what the Crucifix means.

Depending on our vocation - married life, single, or religious, we each have to create with God the best way “I” am called to live the kind of selfless love that Jesus taught us.  In one sense, there is a common denominator in how ALL of us are called to be people of Jesus’ inclusive love.  But the sacrifices that takes… looks differently if we are single, married, or religious.  Living our Christian love also looks unique in our various careers and within our home life, as the love that Jesus commands us to practice, cannot be confined to this room.

Two things that Jesus highlights in his overview of living in his love: First, when we remain centered in God’s Love, it keeps us grounded in the Spirit’s JOY.  Secondly, Jesus says that he wants us to “remain in his love” so that we develop an actual FRIENDSHIP with him.  By Jesus specifically using the word “friend,” he challenges us stop putting God way up there in the clouds and realize that he wants to be our very best friend to whom we talk to and trust for whatever we need.  Jesus knows that our hearts are often troubled and thus he wants to be the one true ‘friend’ who will forever be there for us, especially at the moment of our death, when the only face we will stare into is Jesus.

What Mother Marie Therese and our other Poor Clare Nuns model, is how to spend time every day, looking into the eyes of Jesus in prayer, and letting his gaze…melt you into an embrace of love that takes the word ‘friend’ to a whole new level.  Try, during this Mass…and in your prayer this week, to let Jesus’ love and friendship embrace your whole being…so that our own bodies and way of living will bring God’s Joy and Love to others.

 Fifth Sunday of Easter
LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY

Fr. Jim Deiters

One of the many things I am proud of our parish is the growing diversity of our members.  Compared to the days of St. Clare Parish beginnings in the 1860’s, when the population was primarily German and Irish immigrants, it is beautiful to notice a wide variety of ethnicities and origins who now claim this area as home.  Part of this is due to the blessing of our military community who come from around the world, but other factors draw people here from sea to shining sea.  This was evident this past Thursday night at Confirmation, when Bishop McGovern and I talked afterwards about the spectrum of ‘skin colors’ of our youth coming forward for the Sacrament – our teens as a rainbow of God’s creativity!

One of God’s many attributes is “creativity.”  We see this in the incredible miracle of God’s Creation, in which he paints things as intricate as a monarch butterfly to the magnificent human heart formed in a baby in the womb as early as six weeks old!  When I hear Jesus using the image of “branches” to describe those who connected to Him, I can’t help but marvel at the wide variety of “branches” God grafts onto himself and grows from the living Vine of Jesus.

Those first branches of Christians were a pretty homogenous group of Middle Eastern women and men from the geographical area of Galilee.  This means that our religion started out as mostly dark brown skin people; and very interestingly, we learn from the scriptures, that the next people to embrace Christianity were from north and eastern Africa.  But the Holy Spirit of Pentecost pushed the disciples to expand in all directions, and the ‘color’ and ethnicities of branches becoming ‘grafted’ to Jesus the Vine became more and more diverse, eventually including those of us from more ‘white’ European heritage.

What is radical about Jesus’ Vision for the Church is that it was the first human institution to be completely open to all races and nations!  Up to this point in human history, people only thought in terms of national boundaries, and connecting only with people of similar race or status.  Because God always had a global vision for humanity, the Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to the world made it clear that “branches” of all kinds could now be part of the ONE Vine, Jesus.

St. John, in today’s second reading, sums up what faithful ‘branch’ membership into Jesus means: "We should believe in the name of God’s son, Jesus Christ and love one another just as he commanded us." St. John is clear that the way to gain a ‘membership badge’ in this Christ-centered community…is that we love one another.  It sounds so simple, but LOVE is a litmus test of being Christian.  If we take a deep dive into this image of being ‘grafted to a vine,’ it means that anyone who is a branch shoot off the vine… drinks into his or her branch the very ‘life-sap’ of LOVE that flows from the Heart of Jesus. 

Moreover, a branch that consumes their life sustenance from the Vine Jesus, gradually BECOMES what flows from the Vine into the branches!  And the Love that flows from Jesus into our branch, is meant to flow THROUGH us…and into the lives of others.  Our branch is meant to keep growing and extending the very “sap of Love” that we ourselves are privileged to taste and live on!
But sometimes our branch does not look or act like the Vine to which we belong; and thus Jesus offers the gift of “pruning,” to cut back and trim off those parts of our branch that start to look like – prejudices, grudges, unwillingness to forgive others, impure living, and selfishness.

This is what is so powerful about the Eucharist that we keep coming back to; It is both an act of God’s ‘pruning forgiveness’ of our past…and an outpouring of his “Vine-sap” of love into the veins of our branch.  Think about what this means we can become…as Jesus mixes his divine love with our simple human branch.
 

Fourth Sunday of Easter
LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
Fr. Jim Deiters

As I approach my 30^th Priesthood Anniversary in June, and 25 years here as pastor, today’s scriptures and it being National Day of Prayer for Vocations, bring back some nostalgic feelings about various significant persons who were a part of helping me open my heart to God’s Calling.  When I was young, in addition to a few priests who modeled the joyful side of the priesthood, I must say that just as important were the Religious Sisters who, in a strong maternal way, really challenged me to listen for God’s Voice.  The Poor Handmaid Sisters, Barbara Bruns and Maxine Peppenhorst in junior high, always reminded us students that the only path to happiness is doing God’s Will and not just what we wanted.  And Sr. Agatha Niebrugge, as may senior year advisor could see I was waffling about going to the seminary for college, finally said to me one day, “Jim, at least give it a try!  God will make things clear for you if you keep open that door to priesthood.”  Her encouraging words were the push I needed that eventually led me to hear in a clear voice from God that He wanted me to be a priest; and after that calling prayer experience during the summer after my sophomore year in college, I was blessed by the Holy Spirit to never doubt my calling and to find incredible joy and happiness in serving God and his people as a priest.

I say this not as a story about myself, but as a way to praise God for the gift of the Priesthood, and to honor the women and men who were ‘guideposts’ on the journey of discernment.  Our United States Bishops have dedicated this Sunday to pray for all vocations, and particularly the priesthood, since in this Gospel Jesus names himself as the “good shepherd,” who serves as the model for all priests to be “shepherds” of God’s people.  But I think the scripture image of Jesus as our “good shepherd” is a model for all of us since we each have some version of a ‘shepherding role’ in our various vocations as single persons, married, and religious.  When I think about how those three Religious Sisters were truly shepherding influences in my vocation, it tells me that God wants to use each of our lives, men and women, to lead people to Jesus’ own shepherding love.  Priests do this in a particular way through their important ministry of preaching and ministering the sacraments, which is why we pray often for young men to listen closely for God calling them to serve in this wonderful vocation as a priest for his people.

But the Church, in the Catechism, also reminds us that parents are the first teaching ‘shepherds’ of their children and have a huge responsibility to form their children in the teachings of Jesus and the Catholic faith.  I am always inspired by those parents and grandparents in our parish who take this seriously as I see many of you being faithful ‘guideposts,’ leading your children to our Good Shepherd Jesus.  It is so difficult for young people today to really LISTEN for God’s Calling, since they are surrounded by so much ‘noise’ and busyness in their lives.  One of the best gifts we can give our youth is to help them create some quiet space in their daily life to hear God’s voice… and remind them of this passage from St. John, “See what love God has bestowed on you…for you are a child of God!”

When I talk to the young men in our parish, I always say that the most important part of discerning your vocation and career, is to ask God daily in prayer what HE wants for your life.  As Sr. Maxine told me in 5^th Grade, “you will find true happiness if you follow what God has in mind for your life.”  Then she told our class to pray one Hail Mary every day, asking Mother Mary to help us know what Jesus wants you to be.  Mary’s main role is to point us to Jesus and hear his voice.

To listen daily to Jesus’ Shepherding Voice is something we each have to practice, no matter what stage of life we are at.  Jesus’ Voice is heard primarily in these Gospels, in which he speaks about a path of humble service that we each must follow, in whatever vocation we are called to.  For me, I cannot imagine a more fulfilling and rewarding life than being a priest.  But for those called to marriage, religious, or the single life, you also know great joy when you are living God’s Will and listening daily for Jesus’ Guiding Voice.

It is when we clutter our ears, eyes, and heart with things and voices other than our Good Shepherd Jesus, that we can feel lost and confused, trying to do our own thing or follow distracting voices.  Whatever challenges or anxiety you might be going through at this time, let us pray together for Jesus’ Shepherd Love to guide us…as we listen again to these words of St. John, “See what LOVE God has bestowed on you…for you are a child of God.”

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER
LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
Fr. Jim Deiters

Some good news this week is how the officials in the city of St. Louis went out into the streets to offer vaccines to those who are homeless.  There was a beautiful short interview with one of the homeless, and she said, “I’ve been living in fear, thinking I’ll never get the shots since most people don’t know we exist out here on the streets.  I am happy, not only to get the shot, but just to be noticed that I am a person.  I am so grateful.”  Her words stirred up mixed emotions in me, trying to put my mind around the daily fear she lives with and what it would be like to wonder if someone will notice that you exist…but still being able to muster up gratitude.

Her expressions of ‘fear’ and gratitude came to mind when I was reflecting on these Easter Scriptures that describe people who are dealing with fear and worry in their life…but eventually become great witnesses of faith in God.  Since we, too, often get stuck in fear or worries, let’s delve into the scriptures to learn about the process of moving from fear… to faith; from worry… to worship. 

In the first reading from Acts of the Apostles, it is Peter who is proclaiming his faith testimony.  Remember, this is the same Peter who, out of fear, denied that he even knew Jesus.  But now, once he let the Holy Spirit of Pentecost take over his heart and mind, fear was cast aside and he becomes this great preacher of what Jesus has done for us.  Peter can be a real patron saint for someone who is trying to move from fear… or a sense of unworthiness… to become a forgiven person of faith.

The second reading from St. John is written about 20 years later to a group of Christians who were worried about what people would think of them if they actually professed their faith in Jesus; so they gave in to peer pressure and were going back to their old ways of sinful living.  John reprimands anyone who gets lax in their faith practice; but then the author reminds us that we have Jesus as our “Advocate” who is praying for us in heaven to help us and forgive our sins.  As our “Advocate” in times of worry and sin, how comforting it is to know that Jesus is praying for YOU and me right now!

But also inspiring is the Gospel we just heard…when the Risen Jesus appears to the disciples, right in the middle of their fears and sins.  Jesus asks quite bluntly, “Why are you troubled?” and “Why do questions arise in your heart?”  It seems that Jesus knows very well the fears, worries, and questions that we all have swimming around in our head and heart.  For some mistaken reason, we think that we must be perfect and have things all figured out before we approach Jesus.  But I like the way that Jesus doesn’t wait for the disciples to come to him…but instead he goes to them and calms their fears with the greeting, “Peace,” and the hospitable gesture of eating with them.

What a great image for prayer this gives us – God inviting himself to eat with us!  Which is what Jesus does in the Eucharist.  In your personal prayer, imagine sitting with Jesus at a meal; OR plan an actual meal for yourself or with others and invite Jesus to come and eat with you.  It was during the intimate meal, we just heard, that Jesus began to “open their minds… to understand the Scriptures.” Jesus wants to ‘open our minds’ to new possibilities…to new ways of thinking…about our self and others…in relationship to HIM!  Jesus wants us to make the connection between our fears, worries, and sufferings...WITH the scriptures about Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection.  The Risen Jesus wants to draw our fears and worries INTO himself…by helping us understand how OUR life is now a part of his suffering, death, and resurrection.  That is why, at every Mass, we have the Crucifix above us…to SEE the wounds of Christ Crucified…as ‘entry points’ for us to go INTO Jesus’ Life.  When we place our fears, sins, and wounds into His, Jesus, as our Advocate, redeems them and takes us to a new place of Resurrection!  This is the dying and rising that we participate in here at the Altar.  From fear…to faith; from worry…to worship!

Jesus’ Resurrection creates a new ‘plane’ or ‘sphere’ of living – in which all our fears and worries are to be ‘reinterpreted’ through the lens of his Death and Resurrection!  The key element is when it says that Jesus “opened their minds” to really believe that there IS new life…beyond suffering and death.  In our prayer at this Mass and throughout our week, let us invite Jesus to dine with us…and ‘open our minds’…to let go of fear… and trust that our life is already a part of Jesus’ Resurrected Life.