May 28, 2012. Homily, Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Mark 10:28-31


Peter began to say to Jesus, "We have given up everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother of father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more in this present age: house and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last and the last will be first."
The Gospel of the Lord.


Yesterday's Gospel was about the young man who ran up to Jesus and asked, "Lord, what must I do to be saved?" Jesus answered, "Follow the commandments." "Lord, I have followed the commandments since my youth." "Then, if you would be saved, give up all that you have to the poor and come and follow me." And the young man turned away saddened, for he had much property.


Then in today's Gospel Jesus responds to yesterday's Gospel and promises "a hundred times more in this present age" to those who have given up family and property to follow Jesus.


He defended the commandment to honour one’s father and mother (Mk 7:10-13), but here he was asserting freedom from control by one’s family. The call to discipleship is not necessarily in conflict with family, but in case of conflict it has to take priority over it.
Here we have the oft-repeated paradox of the Gospel, set off very clearly against yesterday’s account of the rich young man: when we try to possess something we lose it; it is only when we are prepared to give it away that it really becomes ours (Mt 10:39; 16:25; Mk 8:30; Lk 9:24)

May 23, 2012. Homily, Saturday, May 26, 2012

John 21:20-25

Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and said , "Master, who is the one who will betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me." So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die, just "What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of your?"
It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Each of the four gospels, each of the four tellings of the "good news" is about Love. How many times/descriptions of love do we have in this last story of John's gospel.

Peter turns and sees the disciple whom Jesus loved.
Peter is jealous. Lord, what about him. Jesus says, What if i decide that he should remain until I return. What business is it of yours? You follow me.
John writes about his love for Jesus, but his writing is incomplete, for it he wrote it all, he does not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.


Erma Bombeck had fantasized that her 25th wedding anniversary would be held under a big white tent with guests milling around and an orchestra playing "our song." It turned out differently. Her kids threw a few hamburgers on a grill, scarfed them down and split-- leaving her and her husband to clean up. Later, her husband said, "Close your eyes." She did. When
she opened them, he held in his hand a jar of cauliflower, packed in pickle juice. "I hid them from the kids," he said, "because I knew how much you like it." Erma ended, with this beautiful remark, "Maybe love is that simple."

What did Erma mean?

Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together. Simone Signoret
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Posted by Daniel Murphy at 5:33 PM  

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.