April 20, 2012. Homily, Tuesday,, Ma¥ 1, 2012

John 10:22-30.

The Feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given the to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The father and I are one."

The Gospel of the Lord.

The Feast of the Dedication was the feast of lights; it took place in what is our month of December, on the 25th day of that month, our Christmas. Jesus says, "It was winter", meaning that it was dark. The beginning of John's Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Everything came into being through Him, and nothing came into being except through Him. What came to be through him was life, and this was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." The Jews ask, "If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." And Jesus answers, "The works I do in my Father's name testify to me." Those works, those signs of John's Book of Signs, are the water into wine at the Cana, the healing of the man paralyzed 38 years, the curing of the royal official's son from a distance, the feeding of the multitude, the giving of sight to the man born blind, the raising of Lazarus.

Those works testified to Jesus as the Messiah. The Jews did not believe. Then, the Passion , Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Jesus conquered death. Thus, after the resurrection, we can say with Paul, O Death, where is your victory. O Death, where is your sting.

Jesus speaks of his followers as sheep. Do we want to be called a sheep? Ask this, do we want eternal life. Jesus promised eternal life to his sheep and that his followers will never perish. He has promised eternal life to us. And Jesus answers the question as to His provenance, "The Father and I are one."

April 20, 2012. Homily, Saturday,, April 28, 2012

John 6:60-69.

Many of the disciples of Jesus who were listening said, "This saying is hard [unless you eat my Body and drink my Blood, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of God]; who can accept it?" Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, "Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoke to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." Jesus knew from the beginning the one who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father."

As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve. "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

The Gospel of the Lord.

On Archbishop Dolan's ordination as Bishop, he took as his motto: "Master, to whom shall we go?"

Pope Saint Pius X [8/4/1903 - 8/30/14] appears on the stained glass window in the back of this Church; Pius X was the Pope who pressed for the frequent acceptance of the Eucharist; he said "Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven."

Pope Pius X took as his motto as Pope, "to renew all things in Christ." He was the first pope beatified as a saint since the 15th century. As Pope, he compiled the first book of Canon Law and wrote the first catechism of the Church.

He was humble: "I was born poor. I have lived poor. I expect to die poor." He did not use his power as Pope to advance his family: His brother remained a postal clerk; his favorite nephew remained a parish priest; his three sisters lived close by in near poverty.

When he was made a saint, he was the first pope to be declared a saint since the 15th century (500 years).

April 20, 2012. Wednesday prayer service, April 25, 2012

Feast of St. Mark [It is also the Gospel reading for Ascension Thursday]

Mark 16: 15-20.

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and proclaimed the word through accompanying signs.

The Gospel of the Lord.

This is the end of the Gospels. Jesus has lived His life, gone through the Passion, Death and Resurrection, and now spent these days of His Resurrection giving His last instructions, and preparing His apostles for the coming of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.

The first reading is from Saint Peter [Peter ends his letter with "greeting [from] Mark, my sonTradition has it that Mark was the son of Peter, so that the Scriptures in quoting Peter's advice are giving Mark the advice of Mark's biological father.]: Beloved: Clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for - God opposes the proud! But bestows favor on the humble.

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he might exalt you in good time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

The Gospel for today, the Gospel according to Mark, is the addendum to Mark, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature." When I was ordained, the bishop who ordained me, Cardinal Egan, told all the ordinandi: "Read the Gospel, believe what you read, preach what you believe, practice what you preach." And that is the point of this Gospel and my instruction to you: "Read the Gospel, believe what you read, preach what you believe, practice what you preach." In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

April 20, 2012. Tuesday Homily, April 24, 2012

John 6: 30-35.

The crowd said to Jesus: "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat."

So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

So they said to Jesus, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

The Gospel of the Lord.

This Gospel describes the next day after Jesus had fed the 5000 in the wilderness with five barley loaves and two fish. The crowd is asking "What sign can you do?" Sign. The first part of John's Gospel is the Book of Signs; the second is the Book of Glory." In the Book 0f Signs, John describes six miracles of Jesus, water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana, the healing from a distance of the son of the royal official, the curing of the paralytic who had been paralyzed 38 years, the feeding of the multitude, the curing of the man blind from birth, the resurrection of Lazarus.

The real sign of Jesus is His words, for John's Gospel starts: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him, nothing came into being. What has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it." John 1: 1-5.

We can trace it back. Jesus says, "For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." And Jesus came down from Heaven, and Jesus "gives life to the world." So the crowd said to Jesus, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." What is this bread? It is the Word. And Jesus is the Word.

April 17, 2012. Sunday Homily, April 22, 2012

Luke 24: 35-48.

The two disciples recounted [to the Eleven back in Jerusalem] what had taken place on the way [the road to Emmaus], and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." [JPII "Do not be afraid."] But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have." And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them.

He said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, "Thus is it written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Rev. Jack Peterson, Arlington, Virginia:

Luke and John recount in their Gospels that Jesus' most common greeting during the resurrection appearances was "Peace be with you." * * * * Yet, there is more to Christ's gift of peace than a simple desire to calm his frantic followers.

* * * * He became at the resurrection a source of eternal peace. * * * * Christ's frequent offer of the gift of his peace after Easter morning suggests that his peace was a particular fruit of the resurrection.

[John Paul II:] "Therefore, [Peace] is not the result of human efforts nor can it be achieved only through agreements between persons and institutions. Rather, it is a gift to be accepted with generosity, to be preserved with care, and to be made fruitful with maturity and responsibility. However troubled the situation may be, however strong the tension and conflict, nothing can resist the effective renewal brought by the risen Christ. He is our peace."

One of the most powerful ways that we bear witness to Christ is when his peace reigns in our hearts. The world is starving for peace, on every level. If we know Christ's peace, if it reigns in our lives in spite of life's countless trials, then people will seek the source of our peace and we will be led to Christ. When we are deeply aware that the war has already been won by Christ and with Him at the center of our lives we have nothing to fear, the Good News will spread like a brushfire on this earth.

Lord, make me a peace-filled witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

April 11, 2012. Homily, Saturday, April 14, 2012

Mark 16:9-15.

When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told his companions, who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

After this he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on the way to the country. They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either.

But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature."

The Gospel of the Lord.

One of the prophecies of the Book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 36:26 reads, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."

"I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

"[H]e appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature."

April 5, 2012. Prayer Service, Wdnesday, April 10, 2012

Luke 24:13-35 [The Road to Emmaus]

The very next day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near

and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing h iim. He asked them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?" They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, =named Cleopas, said to him in reply, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?" And he replied to them, "What sort of things?"They said to him, "The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us; they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not found his Body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see." And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into this glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriuptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged his, "Stay with us for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized them, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, "Were not our heart burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?" So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the Eleven and those with them who were saying, "The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!" Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Ita. Missa est.

Go forth. The message has been completed.

Ita [Go forth].

Missa est. [The message has been completed].

April 5, 2012. Homily, Tuesday, April 10, 2012

John 20: 11-18

Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, he bent over the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken my Lord, and I don't know where they laid him." When she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" She thought it was the gardener and said to him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni," which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and then reported what he had told her.

The Gospel of the Lord.

In the Catholic Weekly NY edition on Timothy Dolan, our new Archbishop, one commentator who knew him as the rector of the North American College in Rome, said that Dolan acts as a spiritual father to the faculty and seminarians, and by analogy to his priests, clergy and the faithful, reflecting the Rule of St. Benedict on the conduct of an abbot, that he should "arrange all things that the strong have something to strive for and the weak have nothing to fear."

So we turn to today's Gospel on the treatment of Jesus to Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was strong enough to stay by the side of Jesus and of His mother during the time of Jesus on the cross and yet weak enough so that at His tomb, she was blinded by her tears as she sought to do her duty as she saw it. And Jesus on His way to His Father and to our Father, to His God and to our God, paused to tend to her, to call her name, "Mary!", to comfort her, and then to send her as his messenger to "His brothers" to the apostles to tell them that she had seen the Lord, that He had risen, to tell them and eventually through them to tell the whole world the message of Easter, that Jesus had risen, that Jesus had conquered death, so that we can say with St. Paul, "O Death where is your victory. O Death where is your sting."

This is one of the most beautiful passages in John's gospel. Jesus was fully man and fully God; this scene captures Jesus giving up his manhood and resuming his Godhood. The angels in the tomb each ask Mary Magdalene, "Woman, why are you weeping?" An angel is a messenger of God. Then Jesus who is the second person of God asks the same question of Mary Magdalene. "Woman, why are you weeping?" She is weeping because Jesus has died, and the angels and Jesus who are not mortal but immortal think she should not be weeping but be rejoicing because Jesus has risen - Jesus has reassumed His immortality.

April 1, 2012. Homily, Tuesday, April 3, 2012

John 13: 21-33, 36-38

Residing at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, "Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of the disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus' side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus' chest and said to him, "Master, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it." So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, "Buy what you need for the feast," to give something to the poor. So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.

When he had left, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, 'Where I go you cannot come, so now I say it to you."

Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later." Peter said to him, "Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not Crow before you deny me three times."

The Gospel of the Lord.

John's Gospel is the Book of Signs followed by the Book of Glory. So here we have Jesus reclining at table "deeply troubled" and Jesus testified "Amen, amen I say to you, one of you will betray me." A prophesy by Jesus. Peter asks "the one whom Jesus loved [John, the writer of this Gospel]" to find out whom Jesus meant. And Jesus indicated Judas. Then Jesus sent Judas on his way. Judas "left at once." "And it was night."

Now starts the Book of Glory. For Jesus says, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him." Now starts the Passion of the Lord. And none of the "disciples" are to undergo the Passion with him except as observers. Each fail in their own way. Judas betrays him. And John with knowledge of the betrayer Judas takes no steps to stop Judas. Peter takes up the sword to defend Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest. But Peter is stayed and the servant's ear healed. Peter goes on to deny Jesus "three times". Jesus forgives Peter (after the Ascension when he asks Peter "three times" whether Peter loves him) and forgives John (at the Cross where Jesus gives care of his mother Mary to John). Judas commits suicide, so that we assume that Jesus did not forgive Judas. But would Jesus have forgiven Judas. What precedent do we have. Well, Jesus forgave Saul (who orchestrated the murder/martyrdom of Stephen) for Saul became Paul the great apostle and missionary to the Gentiles.

Passion, Death and Resurrection. The three days of the Passion and Death are the prologue to the Resurrection of Jesus and the attendant eternity of the Glory of Jesus.