Second Sunday of Advent
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Fr. Jim Deiters

Teenagers are an amazing species.  Some of them brag about being a blend between part human, part comedian, and part zombie avatar.  I always enjoy being around them, since I don’t have to live with them, but get a joyful dose of them either in the classroom or youth event.  Their uniqueness was summed up well by one teenager in the gym the other day who wore a t-shirt that said, “I am great work in progress.” We can only marvel at God’s sense of humor in the ‘process of development’ that we each go through to try and figure out our purpose and place that God has in mind for us.  If only we would be more patient with our self and others to realize that each of us is a unique ‘artwork in progress’ on which God is still working.

In this Advent Season, a season of HOPE, we are gifted with this powerful passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians in which he says to us, “I am confident that the One who began the good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.”  Paul is reminding us that each of us is indeed a ‘work in progress;’ a ‘project’ that God started when he began forming us in the womb of our mother…and then placed his Spirit of Love in us at baptism…to keep guiding and shaping us into the beautiful person that God dreams us to be.

Our part…of assisting God in this ‘artwork’ life of ours…is to cooperate and participate in the “good work” that God himself has begun…and WILL bring to completion, St. Paul tells us.  God IS the Creator of our life, but allows us, by the gift of our free will, to help co-create in the beautiful design that God wants to “complete” in us.  Too many of us are trying to ‘complete’ and run our life on our own…forgetting that God is the Artist at work…and we need to keep consulting/praying to God about his plan for our life…even through our adult and senior years.  Your life is so extraordinary to God… that every single day he keeps using the ‘brushstroke of the Holy Spirit’ to keep updating the colorful canvas of our heart, mind, and soul.

Images from our other scriptures today support this Advent spiritual theme of God actively working in creation until things are “complete” according to God’s Will.  The prophets Baruch and John the Baptist both speak in the active tense about God’s plan to make “rough ways…smooth and difficult lofty mountains made low.”

Whether you have been walking down a long, winding road already…or it feels like you are climbing a challenging mountain, God keeps using each new trial as an opportunity to sculpt and mold us more and more into the image of his Son Jesus.  God does not cause the suffering, but in his love finds ways to lower that mountain and smooth out the rough roads…and all the while continuing to “bring to completion the good work he has begun in us.”

We mistakenly think that life should not have mountains or winding roads…or that if I just get over ‘this’ mountain the rest of my life will be easy.  The real reason that Christmas is such a significant event is that it marks the day that God was born into our world to show us the holiest way to walk through the difficult roads and mountains.  When I keep Jesus at my side and in my heart through daily prayer, it is his GRACE that helps us grow from each new trial we come upon.  Another way to think of ‘prayer’ and its importance, is that prayer acts as a sort of ‘PAUSE on our busy life journey’ to talk to God…and ask things like, “God, I wonder how you will use this experience as a way to keep ‘bringing to completion this good work you began’ in me?”

Whatever crooked road or lofty hill lies before you, I want to close with a quote from St. John Damascene whose feast we celebrated this week.  He wrote this prayer in the 7th Century, to thank God for the wonder of his life, even in the challenges he was facing.   Imagine yourself having this prayer conversation with God as St. John had…in his own process of becoming the ‘good work’ God has begun in each of us.

“O Lord, you formed me in mother’s womb and brought me, a naked babe, into the light of day; You adopted me as your own child.  You nursed me with the spiritual milk of your divine word.  You keep me alive with the solid food of the Body of Jesus Christ.  You carry me, your stray sheep, on your shoulder and you let me graze on the green pastures of the Church’s teachings.  Do not let my heart lean either to the right or the left, but let your Good Spirit guide me along the straight path, according to your will.”

First Sunday of Advent

WATCH THIS HOMILY
Fr. Jim Deiters

Over the past year, Pope Francis had the Vatican Library renovated and now opened it up for the public to access it for the first time.  It is home to treasured manuscripts, rare books, and ancient maps.  At the dedication recently, our Holy Father gave a beautiful reflection and said, “In this epochal change that the pandemic has accelerated, humanity needs new maps… to discover the sense of fraternity, of friendship and the common good.”  He went on, “We need a new beauty, that isn’t the usual reflection of power of some…but a courageous mosaic of everyone’s diversity and gifts.”

Advent…is a holy time to update the “map” we have been using for our life.  The past year and a half has disoriented us from any sense of a ‘normal road’ that we were on.  The map we thought would guarantee happiness often takes us down paths that are unfulfilling…or the roads change for various reasons.  Mother Church gives us this gift of Advent to mark the start of a new year…and remind us how sacred is the time we are given here on this earth.  In a sense, Advent and the scriptures that go with the season, invite us to re-align our personal ‘map’ with the road that God has in mind for our happiness and peace.

Listen again to the words of Jesus from today’s Gospel when he said, “when it feels like the world is coming to an end, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”  What he is telling us is that, even though we ultimately wait for Jesus’ Second Coming, which I preached on two weeks ago, we also need to look for “signs of redemption” in our daily life now.  The Holy Spirit is constantly giving us ‘signposts’ to guide us on the map of life.  But have my eyes an ears been attuned to NOTICE that my redemption (and the Spirit’s guidance) is “at hand?”

While Jesus’ First Coming was 2000 years ago, and his Second Coming will take place at a date we do not know, we live right now in the middle of Jesus ‘present’ coming…as we experience his saving Presence…in the Sacraments, in this Holy Word, in our loved ones around us, and in those quiet moments of prayer when the Spirit wraps us in God’s Love.  If my old map has had me too busy to notice Jesus’ Presence… or if I have been consumed with a map of peer pressure, selfishness, or self-righteousness, Jesus says to us today, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing or the anxieties of daily life.  Be vigilant at all times and pray that you are always ready to stand before the Son of Man.”  The last part of that sentence has me asking myself, “am I ready to face Jesus if my death and his Second Coming is this week?”

Do you see how I am trying to make a connection between Jesus’ Second Coming in the future and his ‘present coming’ that happens on a daily basis in our life?  The more we live in Jesus’ Presence throughout our day, the better prepared we will be if Jesus shows up at our bedside tonight to take us home. 

The other phrase that Pope Francis used at the Vatican Library dedication is that we need “to expand our sense of beauty.”  He gives us a great image for beginning our Church Year…to “expand our sense of beauty.”  Especially with the challenges we have all faced in the past year…in our families, our country, and world, St. Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians gives us a blessing for the map of our new year with these words, “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.”  In this sense, increasing our love for others adds beauty to the world!  Or another way to approach our new Church year, is bring to God in prayer these questions, “Jesus, in what ways do you want me to ‘expand beauty’ in your Kingdom?  Where and to whom do you want me to increase in love for others?”

Too often in our stubbornness, we keep trying to use our old ‘map’ of thinking…and not allow Jesus to provide a new ‘way’ of using our life for adding love and beauty to other peoples lives.  Here in the Eucharist, Jesus enters into our body…to help us see this new year as an opportunity for new possibilities, a new chapter, and a new ‘map’ for walking in his ways of love and forgiveness.

Christ the King
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Fr. Jim Deiters

Halloween is always challenging for me since I can never keep up with the latest version of superheroes and princesses…and the children are a bit scandalized that I don’t know which hero or princess they are simply by the color of their wig or cape.  I guess I could blame my parents for not immersing us into the Disney kingdom, or sometimes I use the excuse with the kids that “I’m too old.”  But this year at our parish celebration, one little boy helped me out of an embarrassing situation when his little sister was having a meltdown because I did not know which princess she was; he swatted her shoulder and said, “how is he supposed to know who you are?  He’s just a priest!”

There are so many things that form us as children into who we become or who we think we are.  Of course our parents are the main formators of our thought process, but increasingly, the role of peers and social media are shaping our youth and their self-identity.  It is an understatement to say that the role of the bible and Catholic morality are struggling to claim their significance on how God envisions our human race to be.

This feast day highlights scriptural images of Jesus as “king” and we often call it “God’s Kingdom.” For some, those words might sound distant or stagnant, as if we are passive pawns on God’s ‘Kingdom chessboard’.  Without diminishing those titles, perhaps another way to think of these truths is using the phrase, “Reign of God,” which suggests God being more active and engaged in our lives. 

Putting aside images of gold crowns, jewels, capes, and fancy thrones, our King Jesus…came from humble origins, washed feet, kissed lepers, wore a crown of thorns, and gave his life for you and me, then breathed his Spirit into us as part of his ‘reigning presence’ in the world.  When asked by Pilate about him being a ‘king,’ Jesus replies, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.”  In this response, Jesus is teaching us that, as part of his Body and Resurrected Life, we now belong to another kind of “reign,” living in another realm or dimension, while still a part of this beautiful world God created for us.

While the world’s rulers draw the lines of their power on a map, Jesus draws his on the human heart.  Since baptism makes us part of Jesus’ royal reign, our lives should constantly reflect the source and ‘rule’ of the one we follow.  Jesus activated a Reign of Love, Peace, and Justice; is that the map and border that I live by?  Jesus revealed a kingship where the only ‘force of power’ is Love.  And the only weapon he used was his voice of peace and forgiveness.  His words and actions won over people to want to be a part of his Reign just as he had predicted to Pilate when he said, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

The fact that Jesus announces his version of the word ‘kingdom’ before the chief political figure of his time, reminds us that this feast today is not just some theological or ritual celebration to make us feel good.  Our feast immerses us in the political world as well, in which Jesus shows us how to confront the injustices of this world and be proud that our primary citizenship is to God’s kingdom.  Our baptismal passport has Chrism oil smeared all over it, announcing we belong first to Christ…with the sweet fragrance of God’s Spirit of love following us wherever we go.

When your first nationality is in the Person Jesus, it should have us always desiring to actively work at making the kingdom of ‘this’ world a better place, especially for those who are neglected or left out of the blessings that God gave us to share with the less fortunate.  Living in this world, but having our residency in Jesus Christ, will continue to make us act and talk differently from those whose kingdom is based on the idea that “those with the most at the end, win.”

This holy Eucharist helps remind us that the only crown we should be working for is sainthood, in which our life looks more and more like the life of Jesus.  Living under Jesus’ ‘reign’ of love, some people will not be able to figure out ‘who we are.’  But the more we practice living our Christ-like citizenship, the more people will recognize the baptismal crown we wear.

If you had to pick 5-10 words to describe the kind of ‘reign’ or kingdom you live in…what are those? 

Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Fr. Jim Deiters

I might be one of the most ‘tech-ignorant’ persons out there, but I am fascinated by people who CAN think and navigate technology in its various forms of computers, phones, and smart tv’s.  It took me a few years of therapy to ‘embrace’ my small mind that has its own limited talents to the arenas of theology and scripture…and good food!  And so, when I read articles about what is happening in the world of “artificial intelligence” and things like a “metaverse,” my mind goes a little sideways at how this will all work and affect the way we relate to one another as human beings.  Not that I am against technological advances, but when we start creating things that can literally out-think humans…or have people living in virtual worlds where they will no longer need to see or speak to real humans, it brings up all kinds of ethical and moral issues we Christians must continually address.

Our scriptures for this week and next, at the end of our Liturgical Year, challenge us to think about the real things of this world and the afterlife.  In scripture language, we call these kind of scriptures, “apocalyptic,” which means they deal with the 'end times' and how to face life when it seems like the world is falling apart.   A concern is that the more people are living in virtual worlds or turning things over to non-human intelligence, the less skills people will have to navigate living in this world and embrace the joys and suffering and death that come with being a human.

The word “Apocalypse” is a Greek word and actually means, “to lift the veil.” Apocalyptic literature, like our readings today, challenges us with what we think we see as reality, in fact, may be obscured by ‘veils’.  Living in a technological world, where what you ‘see’ may not be real at all, more than ever we need God and his Word to help form our vision; we need God’s Spirit to ‘unveil’ anything that hinders us from seeing our life as sacred, created by God IN Love and FOR love…and meant to live forever WITH God in the afterlife.  All kinds of things can 'veil' and hinder our relationships with one another and God.

The main ‘unveiling’ event that God did in the world happened when Jesus rose from the dead.  Before that cosmic moment, the only ‘reality’ we knew was that a person was born, managed life’s difficulties, and died.  Jesus’ Resurrection lifted the veil to a new reality…that humans are meant to live beyond death and be with God for eternity.  Our sacred existence is not a video game or ‘trial run;' and the suffering and dying that are part of life are no longer the end of the story!  That is why Jesus wants us to see things differently by saying, “even though the world around you will be shaken and things seem really dark; and the world around you is passing away…but my words, (my Reality) will not pass away.”

Notice that Jesus does not promise life to be pain-free for his faithful.  Rather, he invites us disciples of his to ‘see’ life through the lens of God’s ‘reality’…where, instead of living on the surface of life, with our eyes behind a screen or false mask, we encounter each day of life with human eyes wide open, embracing the true reality that life is a sacred gift from God and we are meant to fill this world with God’s Love and Peace.  Yes, life is fragile and short, but our life is part of a bigger reality that is eternal, holy, and where true love and peace do exist in God’s Presence.

Our world so NEEDS these sacred scriptures of God's reality of eternal love, especially as so many things make it seem like the world is coming to an end – with fires, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and terminal illnesses…consuming so many lives.  The world as we know it IS passing away; but when we truly know our self as part of God’s ‘bigger picture reality’…any fears we may have about our future are melted into the virtue of HOPE and a true inner peace.  The veil of fear and death that Jesus’ Resurrection lifted…allows us to now ‘see’ life with eyes of faith in God’s great love for us…beyond the passing things of this world.  In a world of so many lies and false ideas, we must make an extra effort to live life more fully in the present moment as witnesses of God’s reality of love.

In a couple minutes in the Eucharistic Prayer, we hear again that part of the prayer that speaks of our waiting for Jesus’ Second Coming.  His “Second Coming” will happen in an unknown future when heaven and earth are fully united…and yet Jesus’ Coming is already here in our midst as the Real Presence of Christ is here in Word and the Eucharist.  This is as REAL as it gets.  Any false egos, or ‘veiled,’ virtual ideas of who we think we are… must be left behind…in order to fully receive Jesus’ gift of his Body coming into ours.

Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Fr. Jim Deiters

Many years ago, I started a daily, personal ‘pro-life’ goal of actively looking for acts of goodness done by people I come across that day.  In a world of so much negative news, it can be easy to forget how many very good people there are doing God’s works of love all around us.  This week, the most inspiring person I observed was in the grocery store.  It was a dad, who was incredibly patient and loving toward his son who was having a meltdown over something.  What made this dad so special… was that the son was about 25 years old and on the far-end spectrum with autism.  The son was as big and tall as his dad, and during his outburst of upset, the dad spoke so gently with him… and hugged him close for a couple minutes until the son calmed down.

I watched from a distance and got tears in my eyes at seeing such love and patience of one man caring for another grown man.  I thought about the many years of caring love this parent has been through; but also wondered how many times he had probably struggled to hang on to hope, or somedays wondered how long he could keep doing this. 

I always thought we Catholics needed a specific patron saint for “when you feel like your bucket is empty and you want to give up.”  In our scriptures today, we have three examples of people who, although not official ‘saints,’ were ‘at the end of their rope’ and still trusted in God through some pretty dark days.

In our first reading from Kings, we have both the prophet Elijah and a widow whose name we don’t know, who are both in dire situations given the drought and famine that had come over their land.  God had told Elijah to go to this town of Zarephath and a woman there would help him.   He had already felt rejected by his community and was starving…and now has to go further to get help.  The woman, along with her son, are also famished and are literally down to their last meal.  But she trusts the prophet, that if she shared her last meal with him, God would provide for her future.

It is a story of trust, but also generosity and community.  Sharing the little she had with someone in need…God blesses her with enough food for a year.  Each of them found another person who was weary from worrying about how they would get through one more day.    They witnessed to each other a faith in God…even when it seems like our “jar is empty” and our “oil jug” is running very low.

We hear a similar example of trusting God in the witness of the poor woman in the Gospel who gives her last coins away for the good of others.  All three of these ‘saints’ in our scriptures teach us about faith, generosity, and helping others, even when it feels like we have so little left to give away.  How strange that we often forget that the more we give away…the more God pours into our life.

Following their examples is especially challenging for us who live in a culture of individualism or self-centeredness…usually focused on our own needs…and determined we can ‘get through this’ on my own.  Rather, dependence on God is a GIFT and not a sign of weakness.  Of course, our real teacher and model of trust and generosity comes from Jesus.  Giving generously of our time and resources takes a daily spiritual discipline of following Jesus’ example of “emptying oneself” for the good of others.

One of the greatest devotions we have as Catholics is our Stations of the Cross, a photographic overview of how Jesus modeled to ‘not give up’ but keep our eyes on doing God’s Will and depending on God’s Love to get us through really difficult days.  Each of the Stations, if you spend time with them before or after Mass, are meant to help us see Jesus teaching us how to trust in God…when it feels like the weight of our ‘cross’ is too heavy to carry some days.

The Stations, in literature terms, are like a ‘short story’…of Jesus’ example of how to “empty oneself” …one selfless act after another.  Whether I am giving patient help to someone in need, or I am giving away ‘my’ hard-earned money for God’s Church or the poor, the more we are ‘empty’ of our SELF, the more ‘room’ there is for the Holy Spirit to come inside and fill us with the wealth of God’s Love and Peace.

I’m not sure how full or ‘running on empty’ is your ‘life-jar’ right now?  Let’s take a quiet moment to talk to Jesus about whatever part of our body or mind that feels like we don’t have much more to give…and we come to this Holy Eucharist to invite the Holy Spirit to replenish us with God’s Redeeming Love.

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Jim Deiters

One of my cousins married into a Jewish family and even though they are non-practicing-Reformed, they still celebrate some Jewish traditions that I enjoy being a part of.  One of the couples in the family invited me over for dinner recently and was proud to show me their Mezuzah, attached just outside of the front door.  The Mezuzah is a small cylinder or plaque that has on it the “Shema” prayer taken from this Deuteronomy passage in our first reading and re-affirmed by Jesus in the Gospel we just heard.  It hangs there to remind anyone entering or leaving the home this core tenet of belief, “The Lord is God alone.”

In the Gospel today we have a rare situation in which Jesus and a scribe agree on something.  If you remember from previous chapters of Mark’s Gospel, the scribes and pharisees often times tried to catch Jesus being too liberal with scripture or tradition and thus they had a contentious relationship.  This particular scribe changed the focus of the conversation from being about rules…to the deeper question about what really matters to God as the most important commandment.

Of course, Jesus correctly names the love of God as the most important commandment, which we also heard in our first reading from Deuteronomy.  This is the ‘Shema’ prayer that Jewish families have attached to their house entry and Orthodox Jews literally wear strapped to their forehead, reminding themselves, “The Lord is God alone!”  We Catholics include this important scripture in our Gloria when we sing, “You alone are the Holy One, You alone are the Lord!” It is a prayer that reminds us that there is nothing more important in our life than how we love and serve God.  But does our daily calendar really reflect that God is the most important part of our life?

Interestingly, Jesus attaches to this another commandment to “love your neighbor” to show that you cannot separate a love of God from how you treat others.  Powerfully, both Jesus and the scribe are able to cross their usual dividing line of differences to confess a common faith.  Jesus and the scribe have stepped away from the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ categories and they set-up an ‘island of reconciliation’ in a sea of division.  It is such a powerful story of UNITY for us today…as we are often immersed in a culture of hostility and mean-spirited judgement of others.

Jesus and the scribe put things in perspective for us…as we sometimes mistakenly separate what we do here in prayer from what we say and do out in the world.  For Jesus, it makes no sense to have great ritual, prayer and creeds about God…while ignoring issues of justice…and active care of our “neighbor,” a person in need!  In other words, we cannot consume the living Body of Christ in the Eucharist…and then turn our heads away from the living members of Christ’s Body who need our help.  That would be sacrilegious or sinful since it goes against how Jesus merges the two.

This one reconciling conversation between Jesus and the scribe challenges us to think about what we might need to change or get rid of in our routines, habits, or attitudes, that do not reveal this most important Commandment to “Love God with all your heart…soul…mind…and strength.”  I like the way this Commandment gets us to think about God in every part of our BODY.  In other words, applying this physically like an investigative surgery, what part of my heart…needs God’s love to convert?  What section of my mind…needs God’s Peace to bring calm?  What part of my soul…needs God to purify and forgive?  And, lastly, do I give my body to so many different things and people that I have no strength left in my day to make prayer time with him my top priority?  To ask in another way, what are the other ‘lords’ consuming my energy and time?

Every Eucharist, in a sense, is our version of a “mezuzah,” a constant reminder to keep God as the only “Lord” of every part of our life; and to seek God’s forgiveness for any time we have put some person or thing above God and his Commandment of love for others.  In a few minutes we will hear these words in the Eucharistic Prayer: “Jesus always showed compassion for the poor…and became a neighbor to the oppressed and the afflicted.” 

And so we pray, “O Holy Spirit, embed into our minds and hearts and soul Your Commandment of Love.”

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Fr. Jim Deiters

This past week, ESPN re-showed a video newsclip of an amazing pro-life story about an NFL player and his wife, and how they overcame the grief of losing three children in miscarriage, and finally carrying a healthy baby to full-term who is now 18 months old.  While the story was primarily about the NFL star’s choice to skip last season to stay home with his wife to grieve together, the interview had indirectly given strong pro-life message as they explained how the first lost baby, at 3 months pregnancy, was developed enough to show pictures of the dad’s finger holding the tiny hand of his premature child.  Their story captured national attention as they modeled a great marriage relationship through their three losses, and how they kept their faith and patiently waited for their fourth child who was born safe and healthy.

To me, their story showed the amazing resilience and strength that some people have when faced with very difficult obstacles.  Most of us have been through, or going through, a very challenging situation in our life…which can sometimes have people asking, “where is God in this mess?”  Or some, out of desperation, mistakenly wonder if God is ‘causing’ the suffering for something they did.  Since God can only will the ‘good’… and love for us, it is GOD who carries us THROUGH the trials that life brings.

When I prayed over this Gospel story of Bartimaeus being healed by Jesus, the part that stands out for me is the man’s resilience, confidence and persistence in calling out to Jesus.  He faced two big obstacles that were preventing him from a personal encounter with Jesus.  First, he was blind, pushed aside for his disability, and not able to see his way to Jesus.  Secondly, the crowd tried to silence him when he was calling out for Jesus’s help.

Like all Gospel stories are meant to do, on a deeper level, it is a lesson about the faith journey we must all make to get as close to Jesus as possible.  It is a story about naming and working through what at first seem as major ‘obstacles’ to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.  Based on Bartimeaus’ example, let’s look at some reasons why we sometimes resist the effort it takes to achieve the happiness that comes from trusting in Jesus…even through life’s challenges.

The miracle story teaches us that there are two ‘categories’ of obstacles or trials that we have to confront.  The first is internal, the second external.  Internally, there are all kinds of things we can sort of ‘blame’ or use as an excuse for keeping to our self and not making the time or effort to grow in our faith.  The man in the story could have kept saying to himself, “I have a disability so what could Jesus do for me?”  Whether we have a physical disability, a psychological one, or a sinful habit that seems too big to change, we can all be tempted to be some kind of ‘victim’ of our circumstances…and count our self ‘unworthy’ of Jesus’ attention and ‘unfixable’ of his healing power.  Bartimeaus shows us that, internally, we should never think our life is too small or insignificant that Jesus does not hear us ‘calling out’ for his help.  As a matter of fact, from the story we learn… that Jesus attunes his ears to listen closely for those who are in very difficult situations.

The second issue the man had to deal with, externally, is the crowd who was trying to silence him and keep him from Jesus.  The ‘crowd’ in the story represents the people or things around us that try to convince us we should stay ‘where we are at’ and why make the sacrifices needed for our spiritual growth.  We can easily blame our ‘culture,’ politicians, or a tragedy for the ways they can make our beliefs seem wrong…and we play victim; but Bartimeaus shows us how to stand strong in our faith and voice his trust in Jesus sound above the other ‘noise’ around him.  While everyone else had put him in a box category of “things will never change for you,” he believed deep in his heart that Jesus could make things new for him!

The important ‘first step’ of faith that Bartimeaus had to take…was convince himself how much he needed JESUS’ help and mercy.  Even with all the things going against him, his faith in God gave him the courage and will to never give up trusting in God’s healing power.  The man’s conversion is summarized in how he went from “begging” for money on the roadside, to ‘begging’ for Jesus’ help.

If we look at that word ‘begging’ as a pleading, working for, or spending a lot of time doing, I think Bartimeaus looks at us today and asks you and me, “What are you ‘begging’ for on the roadside of life?”  Is it attention, popularity, a promotion, wealth, self-seeking pleasure?  What if the thing we most sought after…was Jesus’ Mercy and Love?

Twenty Ninth in Ordinary Time
LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
Fr. Jim Deiters

Last year, our parish produced a series of videos on our YouTube site that describe the architecture and art of our new church.  In one of the videos, I focused on our Crucifix, its meaning, and a short history of crosses in general for Christians.  I was pleasantly surprised at how that particular video on the Crucifix elicited a good number of comments and questions by both adults and our youth.  Some people, rightly so, have a hard time looking at any image of Jesus that depicts the gory details of what he went through, as his body writhes in pain and his body limp from suffocation and blood loss.  While in our Catholic Mass, we are primarily centered in Jesus’ Resurrection, it cannot be separated from his Death.  In the Mass, it is the Risen Jesus who is in our midst and leads our prayer; but part of the reason we always have a Crucifix of Jesus’ Death in the church…is because of this scripture from Hebrews today which reminds us that Jesus is “able to sympathize with our weakness.”  To view his weakness and suffering during Mass invites us to bring to him all of our own weaknesses and sufferings…while believing and knowing there is a ‘resurrection/new life’ beyond what we are going through.

Every three years, when this Hebrew passage comes around, I try and preach on it since Hebrews is complicated but also because it heavily influences what we believe about Jesus, his death, and his resurrection.  (So put on your theology hats for the next 4 minutes!)  First, let’s go back a couple thousand years to our Jewish ancestry.  In the Temple, the high priest alone could enter the “Holy of Holies” section of the Temple, the physical place where they believed God was present.  Once a year, the high priest would enter this sacred place to offer an animal sacrifice and prayers for the atonement of the sins of the people.  The high priest for Jews was the intermediary between God and the people, and the animals sacrificed were symbolic of the people’s prayers for forgiveness.

What distinguishes Christians is that we believe that the old sacrificial system of using burnt offerings to appease God was replaced by the one true, perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross… as he is both the priest AND the sacrifice.  (This is why we sometimes call Jesus the “Lamb of God.”) This Hebrews passage teaches us that in the Mass, Jesus is our High Priest who takes our sins with him on the Cross and goes into heaven, the “holy of holies,” with our prayers, to the Father.  This is why we pray in the Mass, “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.”

Just as the Jewish high priest passed through a curtain into the sacred area of the Temple, the author of Hebrews describes Jesus… as passing, not through a ‘curtain,’ but ‘passing’ through “death…into heaven for us.”  The author reminds us that our High Priest, Jesus, has shared in all parts of our humanity - he knew temptations, suffering, broken relationships, feeling abandoned and rejected...and thus the author says, “He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.” Jesus can relate to our weaknesses and so he knows exactly WHAT to pray for us at God’s “throne of grace!”

Part of what drew me to the Priesthood is when I came to learn that the priest in the liturgy acts in “persona Christi,” in the person of Christ, as the voice and representative of our actual High Priest, Jesus Christ.  In the Mass it is Jesus himself who is praying for us and interceding for us in heaven as our Eternal High Priest.  I get a little fired up about this since it is the real Mystery of what all happens in the Mass…that I pray all Catholics would come to know!

In the Eucharistic Prayer, Jesus himself, acting as our High Priest, ‘pulls back’ if you will, the ‘curtain’ between our lives here on earth and the “throne of grace” in heaven… and takes our prayers to God!  In the Mass, we leave ‘chronological time’ and enter into Jesus’ timeless death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. 

If we can gradually help our youth understand this great Mystery and miracle of the Eucharist they would never want to quit being Catholic…and more young men would want to be priests…since there is no other place or experience that unites humans so intimately to God in heaven!  Those who quit going to Mass for various excuses have sadly missed the point of what is happening here!  Truly, this is THE most important hour of our week…where we are one with Jesus Christ…on the Cross, at the empty tomb, and ascending with him into heaven!  With Jesus, we confidently approach the Eucharist, our “throne of grace.”

Are you ready to go with Jesus into the ‘holy of holies’ of heaven today?

Twenty Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
Fr. Jim Deiters

This past week I was at our diocesan priest convocation with our bishop and the fifty other priests in our diocese.  Two of our presenters were experts in theology and ethics with regard to healthcare issues, and they reviewed with us the core tenets of our Catholic approach to the dignity of human life.  One of the sessions specifically challenged us to reflect on our own plans for end-of-life decisions when the presenter had us sit for 5 minutes of silence with this question: “How do you want to die?”  Meaning, questions like where, how much medical support you want, and with whom by your side?

This was all in the context of analyzing the ethics and justice issues around how much money is often spent on medical procedures in the final months of one’s life; with so many advances in keeping a person alive, we can almost forget our actual faith goal is to go home with God in heaven.  We have a Catholic tradition of praying to St. Joseph for “a happy death.”  But have you spoken to family and friends about what a ‘happy death’ means to you?  We must find a balance between cherishing this sacred life on earth…while remembering that our ultimate joy will be with God in heaven.  While our culture spends the majority of its resources on trying to “live forever,” we Christians must reclaim our unusual belief in a glorious afterlife…and that should determine what we are doing with our time and money right now.

The person in the Gospel today summarizes this dilemma we all face when he asks Jesus, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  It might be the most important question in the whole bible.  While the man tried hard to keep the Commandments, for most of his life, his questions were centered around his business, his salary, and his savings.  The Spirit finally urged him to ask a more important question…about his death and the afterlife.

We often avoid conversations about our inevitable death, which is not helpful for family members or a medical team when difficult decisions need to be made about end-of-life or funeral planning.  I love the way children ask questions about heaven…but then the parents usually tells the child to ask ‘Father’ after Mass for an answer.  Why not ask a version of this important Gospel question and turn it into a conversation with a loved one, a teenager, or children, by asking each other, “so, are you ready to meet Jesus face to face?” Or “what part of heaven do you look forward to?” If our young people were reminded early on and regularly that our ultimate happiness will be with God in heaven, it might keep them more interested in faith and religion as a way to help them accomplish this goal.  But we get so side-tracked with other short-term happiness goals that we can easily sympathize with the person in the Gospel who did not really want to hear Jesus’ answer about being detached from the things of this world.

Having money and things is not the problem.  But we know from experience how strongly they influence our thinking and goals.  Jesus could see the power that possessions had on people’s lives and so he compassionately says, “how hard it is for someone too attached to their money and things to get into heaven.”  This is not a punishment from God for wealth, but a loving warning from Jesus to beware of how many things will distract us from our ultimate goal of heaven.  Coming to Mass every Sunday or daily for the Scriptures and the Sacraments helps us remember the great gift of Eternal Life that God offers us…and what I need to do to get there.  That is why we are so concerned about those who are not here with us each Sunday…as the lure of earthly distractions gets stronger without God’s Word and Eucharist to keep pointing us to heaven.

Even for those of us who are here to be strengthened with God’s Grace, we can easily get sidetracked from keeping our path to heaven as a top priority.  Our beautiful first reading today gives us a prayerful tool to help us.  The author teaches us that one of the most important things to pray for is the Holy Spirit’s gift of WISDOM.  We are told that Wisdom is worth more than all the riches of the world!  Holy Spirit’s gift of WISDOM keeps us on the path of always making choices that are truly good for us…and keeps us detached enough from our things… in order to gain Eternal Life with God when we take our last breath.