Fr. Dave's Homilies

Click here for the Gospel reading.

What is the greatest mystery in the Catholic Church? What you see on the altar at Mass when the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ is probably a contender. How is it that it can look and taste and appear to be bread but it actually isn’t? It is the real presence of Jesus. One could also make the case that Jesus taking on human flesh is the greatest mystery. How can God become human and remain divine at the same time? How is it possible that Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, was conceived in a human by the power of the Holy Spirit? Yet, the Catechism states that the central mystery of the Christian faith is the mystery of the Holy Trinity. It is the mystery of God in Himself and is the source of all the other mysteries of faith. It is the most fundamental and essential teachings of all the teachings in the Church.

The Christian religion is the only one that teaches that there are three Persons in one God. Many of the other mysteries in our faith tell us about what God does or what God has done. This mystery is about who God is - one God: the persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. While this teaching is so important, it seems like it has little impact on our daily life. You would think it would have an impact because every time we make the sign of the cross, we are reminded of our belief in the Trinity. What goes through your mind when you make the sign of the cross? Because we do it so often, we can be careless when we do it. In fact, we probably don’t give this teaching much thought. Yet it is the heart and soul of our Christian life.

But wow, it is hard to understand. We know from our own experience that each of us is a single human being - one distinct person. We are separate realities. That is not the case with the Trinity. Each of the Divine persons is the infinite God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. Each person of the Trinity does not share in the divine nature of God. They are not a piece of the pie. They are not three infinite God’s but one infinite God. To even make it a bit more difficult, there is no before and after with the persons of the Trinity. The Father did not generate or produce the Son. And the love between the Father and the Son which is the Spirit is not produced or an effect of their love. Their love doesn’t give rise to the third person of the Trinity. The love proceeds from the Father and the Son without being another god. It is truly a fascinating teaching. It hurts your head to think about and to try and deepen your understanding of it.

But this teaching is not meant just to test us and our faith. The most important aspect of this teaching is that it teaches us how to love. This is why this teaching is so important. Our God is not just a narcissist god who loves Himself. It is a God of three persons who exists in a relationship of love. As we imagine the love between the three persons of the Trinity, there is nothing of a selfish or self-centered love. It is a love that gives and a love that unites. That is how we are called to live and to love. Theologians tell us that people always try to be like the God they worship. For example, people who worship a God of wealth/success tend to be people who seek wealth/success. People who worship a God of wrath tend to be angry people. Our God is a God of love. So we must become a people of love.

So every time we make the sign of the cross, we remember the love that exists in the Trinity. And then, we are challenged and reminded that this is how we are to live and to love. Even on a more practical level, I believe the sign of the cross can not only remind us of God’s love, but also be a source of gratitude for us and cause us to be more thankful. When we say - In the name of the Father - we are grateful for our Father, the creator of all things, who gave us every created thing, especially our life. Each one of us was created in the image of God and for a purpose. We have been called by our Father in heaven to be made holy so we can live in eternity with God and to invite others to that great calling.

When we say - and of the Son - we are grateful for God’s love which became visible in Jesus. It was Jesus who was always obedient to his Father and willingly shed His blood so that we could be saved. Even though we were all created for a purpose, sin changed all that. Jesus though, was not going to let us remain in sin and offered that sacrifice for us all. When we say - and of the Holy Spirit - we are grateful for the love of God - the Holy Spirit - who sanctifies us and guides us and gives us that fire to love our God and neighbor. It is the Spirit who wants to move us towards the Father’s love.
The Trinity is not just a teaching to believe. It is fundamental to our life each day. We are called to live within the love offered to us each moment by a merciful God. On this feast day of the Trinity, let us rejoice at the gift of life and love that has been so freely offered. And so every time we make the sign of the cross, let us not forget what we are recalling - that the Father loves us and sent His only Son to save us and that through the Holy Spirit, we can live in that love and be guided to the heavenly kingdom.

Click here for the Gospel reading.

Even with modern farming methods, there is still a need in parts of the world for shepherds. In areas where there are multiple herds of sheep, you will find that the shepherds will work together in keeping their flocks safe at night against predators. They will gather all their flocks together before sunset and then they will share times to watch over the whole flock. In case of any danger, the shepherd on watch will do what is needed to keep the flock safe. When the sun comes up, all the shepherds will go to the whole flock and call out their own sheep. Each sheep will know the voice of their shepherd. The shepherd knew his sheep and the sheep knew him.

You probably know where this is going. Do we know the voice of our shepherd? That’s a tough question because we live in a world that is very noisy. There are tons of voices trying to get our at-tention. How do we navigate through all these voices? How do we discern which one is the voice of Jesus, our shepherd? That’s a great question because it is not easy. On one level, we live in a cul-ture where silence is not appreciated. No matter where you go - the store, the dentists or doctors’ office, or even at home - there seems to be noise in the background. It could be music or the TV. It’s not that you are even paying attention to it. It is just there to overcome the silence. So that’s one area.

Then we have to deal with the voice of the culture and the world and our own struggles. There is that voice that tells us we don’t have time for investing more in our faith because we are so busy with other things. There is the voice that we have to keep our children constantly busy or involved in things. There is that voice of greed that tells us we need to have more things or better things. There is the voice of comfort and pleasure. Young people hear the voice of peer pressure to do things to fit in. We also hear the voice where we are very concerned about the opinions of others. Maybe it is our own voice of dealing with our own insecurities. You may be wondering why this is so critical.

If you think about it, we need to hear the voice of our shepherd because we need to know where God is leading us. If a sheep does not listen to the voice of his shepherd, he is going to fall prey to the wolves. As followers of Jesus we all want to do the right thing. We want to make wise choices. With all the noises and voices bombarding us, it can be very difficult. Silence will help us to hear that voice when seeking God’s guidance.

But probably the best reason as to why this is so critical comes in our first reading. Peter says this - “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” Jesus is the only way. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Do you see why this is so important? Think about it. There is only one way to be saved. Jesus Christ. That is the truth. Some want to say that it doesn’t really matter which religion you believe in as long as you are sincere. But that is not true. Not all religions are the same. To say that is a cop-out. It also contradicts the message of Jesus Christ. Are you living your life knowing that Jesus is the only way? Because we know the truth, there are no more excuses that we can make. We can’t say to God at the end of our life – sorry God, I didn’t know this.

Here is the struggle. We so easily fall into the trap of having other paths in our lives. I say that be-cause there are other kinds of idols or paths that people are taking other than the path of Jesus Christ. Idols can take the form of sports or the TV, or money, or pride, or lust, or laziness, or addic-tions or any form at all. This is why we must be listening to the voice of our shepherd.

The best way to give ourselves a chance to hear the voice of Jesus is to have some silence in our lives. This has to happen in two ways. First, In a world that is constantly bombarding us with noise and images, we have to make that time for silence. I am not even talking about prayer yet. It is so easy to just waste time and mindlessly scroll through websites or on social media. It is tempting to have music on or the TV on in the background. It really does take some effort to cultivate it in our lives. Even when you are in your car, we may say that we are listening to religious podcasts. While that is good, there is still something important about having that silence. We need to be comforta-ble with some silence in our day.

The second way is being silent in prayer. I don’t mean just sitting or kneeling in silence. You engage God through scripture or a devotion or your needs and then allow God to respond. That takes time and patience and silence. It is really up to us to actively seek out and hear the voice of God. It is only the voice of God that gives us the meaning and purpose in our life that we desire. God is always speaking to us. He speaks to us through our hearts, our conscience, the teachings of the Church, scripture, the sacraments, and the example of the lives of the saints. Let us be followers of Jesus who seek Him out. Who want to hear his voice. May we give our hearts and our lives to our good shepherd, Jesus Christ.
 

Click here for the first reading.  Click here for the Gospel reading.

To a certain degree, I wish we could be more like Peter. In our first reading, he is very blunt. He does not sugarcoat the truth. He tells his fellow Jews - You do know the God that you worship, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - that same God sent Jesus and you handed him over to death. You preferred a murderer - Barabbas over Jesus. Don’t you remember the prophets who told you that God’s anointed one would have to suffer and die? And then God raised Him from the dead. But I know how ignorant you were. Peter warns them by saying – Repent and be converted so that your sins may be wiped away.  There is no wiggle room here. Obviously, being this blunt will not work in every situation. But if we find that someone is on the wrong path and their salvation is in danger, why would we hold back? 

Did you notice what was said in both our first reading and Gospel? Peter mentions that he and the other followers of Jesus are witnesses to the death and resurrection of Jesus. At the end of the Gospel, Jesus concludes by saying – you are witnesses of these things. We all might have different definitions as to what it means to be a witness. Most people probably think of someone in a courtroom. The witness is someone that has seen something take place and is there to tell of all that they saw, heard, and experienced. Likewise, as Christians, we are called to be witnesses for Christ. Some might say that for us as Catholics, being a witness means going to Mass on Sunday and saying your prayers every day. If that is going to be our definition, that is a pretty pathetic definition. It's a good start but it's the bare minimum. If you look at the Greek word for witness, it actually comes from the word - martyr. That’s what a martyr does - it bears witness to the truth. Jesus needs us as witnesses. 

In our lives, how are we being a witness to Jesus? To whom in our lives are we witnesses to Jesus? Do we hear the command to be witnesses as forcefully as it was delivered to the disciples? When a young person asked Pope Francis about what it means to be a witness, this is what he said. "If I say I am Catholic and go to Mass every Sunday with my parents, but I don't speak (about Jesus), and I don't help my grandparents, don't help the poor, don't visit the sick, then it is not witness and it is useless." In other words, Pope Francis says it is just words. Christian witness requires action. We all know that Christianity has spread throughout the world because people have given witness in word and deed to Jesus as savior. 

The Apostles did not go to evangelization school to learn how to be a witness. They simply followed Jesus and listened to him and tried to imitate his example. They were not perfect. They sinned. They had to deal with pride and jealousy. They certainly were not the bravest. They ran away when Jesus needed them most. Yet, they were witnesses because they knew they were sinners and that they could not be saved by anything they did. It was from Jesus alone. For us, being a witness means recognizing that yes, we are sinners but Jesus is our Lord and we will do our best to witness to Him every day. We will do our best to repent and remain on the path of righteousness. 

Right now, the struggle that many of us have been facing is how do we as Catholics be a witness in the midst of the racial struggles that we have in our state and country. We can choose to just ignore it and say it is not our problem. Or we can be a part of the solution. I think our Catholic faith has something to offer. Deacon Harold is a well-known speaker and author. He himself is an African American, Catholic, a deacon, and a former police chief. He gave a presentation and because of his credibility, he has some insight to offer us. He was very honest in admitting that the Church in the U.S. has often been slow to respond to the issue of race. The good news he gave is that Catholics can be instrumental in breaking down the walls of racism. We do that by being hands-on in building relationships based on respect and understanding. He gave us a number of things that we can do. They are:

See past stereotypes and see people. See Jesus in the person standing in front of you. See every person through the eyes of God. 

Stop supporting media outlets, individuals and organizations that create, and encourage and perpetuate racist stereotypes and propose violence and anarchy as solutions.

Appreciate the gift of cultural diversity. Hastings is not too diverse but maybe there are ways we can be a part of it in our community. 

Make a serious effort to promote conversation and dialogue. This is important. Listen to people who have experienced racism, especially those Catholics who have experienced it in the Church. Learn about its history in culture and society. 

Reevaluate law enforcement and use-of-force practices. He believes in reform and rebuilding but not defunding. 

Put God back in society. This is an obvious one. 

Pray and fast. We as Catholics are good at this. Never underestimate the power of this combination. 

Ask for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

All of those are things that we can do. If we as Catholic are not part of the solution, the secular culture is going to step in with solutions that have nothing to do with God and grace and mercy and forgiveness. Most politicians only care about politics rather than solutions. They often only cause more division rather than bringing people together. They serve only those who will elect them. Deacon Harold said that - In order to defeat racism, there must be a deeper examination of our conscience so that we can get to the root causes of disunity and divisiveness within humanity that lead to sinful acts.

Please, don’t hear this as me suggesting that you are racists or white supremacists. This is an issue of human dignity. We love the unborn. We love the poor. We love the person on death row. And we love our brothers and sisters who have had to deal with racism. Many of them are members of our Catholic Church. Every area of our life is a mission field. If we want, we can live our lives in a bubble, never worrying about those around us, or we can live as God wants us to live — always looking beyond ourselves to those around us. If we have that attitude at all times, we will be surprised by how much of a positive impact we can have on those around us. 

St. Peter, in his letter, said this - You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. No matter what the issue, we are called to live in the light of Christ and give witness to the saving power of Christ’s death and resurrection.