Corpus Christi Sunday, June 22, 2014

Homily by Fr. John De Celles

St. Raymond of Peñafort Catholic Church

Springfield, VA

What  strange words the Master spoke to that crowd

gathered in the Synagogue in Capernaum:

“…my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”

And how much stranger still the words he spoke months later

on the night He was betrayed:

“this is my body…this is my blood.”

How could anyone believe  these words?

But  as we see clearly in Scripture, and in the life of the Church,

this is  what  exactly what  His  apostles did believe.

And they believed these words not because they  were  reasonable,

but  rather  because it was Jesus Christ himself who said them.

It was through absolute faith  in Jesus that they believed

that what was once ordinary bread is no longer bread at all,

but completely and substantially, the actual and real Body of Christ.

 

This is the faith of the Church, from the earliest times until now:

So we read in today’s second reading from St. Paul’s 1^st letter to the Corinthians,

written 20 years later:

“The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?”

And see this carry over to the writings of the early Fathers.

As St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote in the year 107:

          “There is one Eucharist, which is the body of Christ.”

And Tertullian, around the year 200:

“The bread which he took and gave to his disciples

he turned into his body with the words “this is my body”…

Christ [did not just] preten[d] to make the bread his body…”

And as St. Cyril of Jerusalem taught the catechumens of the mid-4^th century

on receiving Communion:

“Receive it with care that nothing of it be lost to you…

What you might permit to fall [from your hand],

think of as being the loss of a part of your own body”

And over and over again,

with so many of the great fathers of the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd   centuries:

until we get to St. Augustine  who summarizes them in all the 4th century:

“It was in His flesh that Christ walked  among us

and it is His flesh that He has given us to eat

for our salvation.”

And it wasn’t just in receiving that the Eucharist is to be treated differently

–as St. Augustine says:

“No one, however, eats of this flesh without having first adored it…”

 

Now, the gift of the Eucharist is at its heart a union or communion

between Christ and the Christian.

So the receiving Holy Communion

implies some things related to communion with Christ.

First it implies communion, or unity, with Christ and His Church,

the Catholic Church,

and with the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist as truly

the body, blood soul and divinity of Christ.

Because of this only Catholics may receive Communion at Catholic Mass.

 

Also, it implies unity with the life and love of Christ

—the way Jesus lived and taught His disciples to live and love:

the Christian moral life.

So that a Catholic aware that he has gravely departed from that moral life,

that he has committed mortal sin,

must always go to sacramental confession

before receiving Holy Communion.

The only exception to this rule is if it’s truly impossible to go to confession,

and by that the Church means it is physically impossible

to go to confession for at least a month or so

because there are absolutely no priests around

—not, because I forgot or don’t have time to go.

 

Some people say, but Father,

it’s embarrassing not to go to Communion,

or it hurts not to go to Communion.

But the thing is we should be embarrassed by our sins,

and mortal sins are not only hurtful, truly deadly to our souls.

And they are our free choices.

So if we choose to commit mortal sin,

we freely choose the consequences,

including the painful and embarrassing consequence

of excluding ourselves from Communion.

 

But at the same time, we shouldn’t judge others for not going to Communion.

Assume they have some other reason

—maybe they didn’t keep the fast,

maybe they’ve received at earlier Masses

or maybe they’re just over-scrupulous, too hard on themselves.

But if you do feel tempted to start judging

turn that judgment around

and instead praise that person for his great humility,

and ask yourself if you shouldn’t be imitating him yourself.

 

Now, all that takes into account what we believe in our minds,

and the proper internal disposition of the soul for receiving Communion.

But Communion is not just about the mind and soul,

especially since it’s something brought about through the body:

our bodies receive the Body of Christ!

And our bodily sharing in the Eucharist isn’t limited to just eating the host,

but it also includes the way our bodies express

what our hearts and minds believe about what we eat.

Our actions should express what’s in our minds;

and our actions also help our minds to understand and accept

what we believe.

 

So after 20 centuries we have a set of customs that we use

both to physically express and remember our belief in Christ’s

true presence in the Eucharist.

 

For example we have the custom of kneeling in the presence of the Eucharist.

In particular, we kneel at Mass, but also outside of Mass,

whenever we visit Christ present in the tabernacle

—always genuflecting to him whenever

we enter or leave, or pass in front of, his presence.

 

Another way we express this reverence

is in the way we receive Holy Communion.

It seems that for the first few centuries of the Church

receiving Communion in the hand was not unusual.

But as the Church grew in her understanding of the Eucharist,

to help us remember that this is no ordinary food,

it became the practice to receive communion directly on the tongue.

This was the law of the Church for almost 14 centuries.

In fact, it is still the law, or the normal way of receiving, today.

In 1969 Pope Paul VI allowed individual bishops give permission to their people

to receive communion in the hand.

But Pope Paul’s warned us not to let this form of receiving

be the occasion for any loss of reverence.

And while most bishops around the world now permit Communion in the hand,

some bishops, seeing a loss of reverence for the Eucharist,

have repealed their permissions

and now require their people to receive on the tongue.

And if you ever watch a Papal Mass you see

that folks who receive Communion from the Holy Father

must receive only on the tongue.

 

So, like the Pope, I always encourage people to receive on the tongue.

It is no ordinary food, so it’s important that it not be received as if it were.

Moreover, I share St. Cyril’s fear of dropping particles of the host

—each of which are also truly the body of Christ.

I clean the patens at the end of Mass—I know there are particles.

And if you notice, during the Mass after the consecration

I either hold the two fingers that touch the Host together

or I’m constantly cleaning them over the paten.

 

On the other hand, so to speak, there’s nothing illicit about receiving in the hand

—there are many very good reasons for doing it,

and the pope and bishop has given you permission to do so.

 

But besides the practical problems I just described

there is a more important potential problem, long term.

 

As one who holds the Eucharist in his hands

more than any of you probably ever will,

I can tell you that the more you handle the Body of Christ,

the easier it can become to take for granted and forget

exactly Who it is you’re holding.

 

So, if you take communion in the hand, ask yourself:

          do I do it in a way that expresses and reminds me of my belief?

Before you extend your hands you should first show a sign of reverence

—the normal sign in the U.S. is a bow of the head,

but many people make a profound bow of the body

or even genuflect,… and some even kneel to receive.

Again, if you watch people receiving from the Pope

they not only receive on the tongue they also kneel to receive.

 

But as I said, you may simply bow your head, if you choose.

 

Then as you receive, if you receive in the hand, remember the instruction

of St. Cyril of Jerusalem the 4^th century:

receive by placing your left hand on top of your right hand

as if you were creating a throne to receive your God,

keeping your eyes on Christ;

and then, stepping to the side

carefully take the host in your right hand

and place it in your mouth,

being careful to consume any crumbs.

And please remember, when you receive in the hand

          there are special requirements

          put on the priest and extraordinary minister too!

We are required to make sure that the host is

“consumed at once, so that no one goes away

with the Eucharistic species in his hand.”

So if we watch you for a moment after giving you the host,

please don’t be offended

—it’s part of our reverence for the Eucharist.

Also, if we perceive even a danger of irreverence

the priest—or extraordinary minister—

must give you communion in the hand.

So for example, let’s say you come up with a baby in your arms,

we are required by the bishop to give you communion on the tongue

—not because you have a baby,

but because your arms and hands are concerned

with your baby, as they should be.

 

And when it comes to bodily expressions,

a most fundamental way we express our belief in the Real Presence

is by what we wear to Mass.

Think about it: if you were going on a job interview, you would dress the part.

Every time I go to Mass I dress up

—what would you think if I showed up today in shorts and a tee-shirt?

Now, I know it’s getting hot outside;

and I know sometimes you might have

a very good reason for dressing down.

So no one here should judge you for how you dress.

Even so, if a father dresses in a business suit to go to work,

but in shorts and a tee-shirt when he comes to Mass,

what message is he sending, especially to his kids,

about the relative importance of each?

 

It’s easy to lose site of the great wonder

of Christ’s real and living presence in the Blessed Sacrament

–to take for granted that this is no ordinary piece of food

but the very Body of Our Saviour

which is to be worshiped and adored, even as it is to be eaten.

It looks like a piece of bread

—but in our hearts we believe in the word of Jesus when he says:

                   “this is my body…this is my blood”…

and  “my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”

Let us then show this belief in his Body, by the actions of our bodies.

Trinity Sunday (Father’s Day), June 15, 2014

Homily by Fr. John De Celles

St. Raymond of Peñafort Catholic Church

Springfield, VA

 

Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity,

celebrating the most sublime mystery of our faith:

that God is One,

but also three Divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

We call it a “mystery” because

it is something that we would have never known

if God Himself hadn’t revealed it to us.

And it remains a “mystery” because

it’s something we will never fully understand

because its divine and infinite nature is so far above

our limited human intelligence and experience.

This doesn’t mean it’s irrational or imagined

—no more than Einstein’s Theory of Relativity is irrational or imagined

simply because it isn’t understood by 99.999…% of humanity.

It just means it’s too big for our little brains to wrap around.

 

Now, I also say it’s a “sublime” mystery

because it reveals something amazingly wonderful about God:

that He is a personal communion of three persons

sharing one life and one love.

So that at the heart of God’s very being…who He most truly is,

is this eternal, total, complete, mutual self-gift

between the three Divine Persons in love,

that is at the center of their absolute unity.

 

And I say it’s “the most” sublime mystery because it is really

the beginning of all meaning in life

and the end to which all life is directed: living in the love of God.

The Bible begins by telling us that we were created

in the image of God.

So that when Jesus reveals that God is a Trinity of Persons

we come to understand that human beings

are created in the image of this amazing Trinitarian love

in order to share in it, both on earth

—by loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength,

and loving each other—

and in heaven.

 

What a glorious Feast.

 

Today is also, of course, Father’s Day.

It’s great when this secular holiday

falls on the Christian Holy Day of Trinity Sunday,

because the Trinity is really where Christians come to understand

the true and profound meaning of Fatherhood

Because, in a certain sense the Trinity is a Family:

first there is God the Father

—from whom the Son is eternally begotten,

and from whom, with the Son, the Holy Spirit proceeds.

And today we remember that Divine familial relationship within God

and see that we are created to live and love in the image of God

most fundamentally in human families of father, mother and children.

 

Now some might say, there’s a problem with this: where’s God the Mother?

Well, first of all, we shouldn’t limit our understanding of the Fatherhood of God

to the narrow confines of the human sexes—male and female.

God is neither, male or female,

so God’s “parenthood” is revealed in both Fatherhood and Motherhood,

although differently in each.

So that God can say in Scripture:

that he is [Deut]: “the God who gave you birth.”

and [Isaiah 66:13]: “As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you.”.

 

Even so, nowhere in Scripture does he identify as or call himself “mother”

—he constantly identifies Himself as “Father.”

There are many reasons why he does this.

Perhaps the most fundamental reason for calling himself by the masculine title

is that he calls his people by the feminine title: His “bride” or His “wife”!

This mystery of the divine bridegroom and his bride is full of rich meaning for us.

But at its core it teaches us of the depth and breadth and height

of God’s love for us,

and reveals how he intensely he loves us,

and how intensely we should love him.

And it also teaches us dignity and the rich possibilities

of the love of a husband and wife, father and mother,

as they sharing in and reflect in a fundamental and unique way

the love that is at the heart of the Trinity.

 

Still another reason God reveals himself as Father

is that it shows us in a powerful and irrefutable way

the essential importance and role of human fathers in human families.

If God is Father, how can any family be all it was created to be

without its own human father?

And how can human fathers think they’re not important to their families,

to their wives and children?

And how can families think that fathers are unimportant?

And how can society deny the societal importance of fatherhood?

 

And yet today, that is exactly what is happening.

In the America today,

more than 34% of all babies born are born to absentee fathers,

and 43% of children live in fatherless homes.

What would you expect when for 50 years so many forces in society,

including the Marxist-left, the feminist movement

and the gay rights movement,

have tried to convince us that fathers are not necessary to the family.

 

All this in spite of the fact that statistics show the devastating effects

of fatherless homes on society:

90% of homeless and runaway children

are from fatherless homes;[1]

as are 71% of pregnant teenagers;[2]

63% of youth suicides;[3]

71% of high school dropouts;[4]

and 85% of youths in prisons.

 

Fathers are absolutely important to their children—and to their wives.

The facts prove that

…and the revelation of the Fatherhood of God shows us why.

It’s because that’s the way God made us:

to share in the His mystery of the life and love of the Trinitarian Family,

by sharing in the mystery of the human family of

father, mother and children.

 

Does that mean that a family can’t survive and even flourish

without a father or a mother or even children?

Or does this demean heroic single-mothers who are trying their best

to raise their children alone?

Or does it mean that there’s something wrong with children

who don’t have a father active in their lives?

Of course not, absolutely not.

 

But are we better off with only a mother and not a father?

We might as well ask are we better off with only one arm,

or with two arms and no legs?

In the same way, every family is better off if it functions as God designed it to:

with both a mother and a father.

 

But not just any father.

The Fatherhood of God teaches us

that fathers are meant to be good fathers to their families.

 

Fatherhood has a dignity all its own, rooted in the dignity of God’s fatherhood.

But the Trinitarian mystery reveals

that the dignity of fatherhood always exists in relation

to the equal dignity of each member of the family:

God the Son (Jesus) is equal to God the Father,

even as Jesus is obedient to His Father.

And so, even as fathers and husbands lead their families,

they must always respect the dignity of each member of the family.

 

And at the core of this respect, at the core of being a good father,

is the same thing that’s at the core of the Trinitarian mystery: love.

To be a true father, as God created you, is to love.

And not to love as you feel like loving, but to love as God the Father loves.

 

And how does God the Father love?

Look around you: look at all you have,

your jobs, your houses, the sun shining outside,

your good health, and your wives and children.

God the Father gave you all that.

But then also look at every single beat of your heart,

and at every breath you take.

God also gives you those: he is always there, at every moment, caring for you.

 

That’s how a true father loves his children:

always there, always giving everything he can for the good of his children.

 

Now, note I said, “for the good of his children.”

We ask God for things all the time,

a lot of which he doesn’t give us because he loves us

and he knows it’s either it’s bad for us or he has something better in mind.

 

Human fathers have to do the same thing.

Sorry kids, but Dads, you should not give your children everything they want;

but you should strive to give them everything they really need,

and everything that you can that is truly good for them.

Is spoiling your children good for them?

Is letting them do whatever they want good for them?

As Scripture tells us:

“the LORD disciplines those he loves,

as a father [disciplines] the son he delights in.”

 

That’s how God the Father loves, and that’s the way human fathers should love.

 

But the greatest way to understand the love of God the Father

the words Jesus on the night before he died:

“the father and I are one….

he who has seen me has seen the Father.”

We see what God the Son does, and we see how God the Father loves:

like Father, like Son.

And so we see the love of a good father as Christ sacrifices

everything on the Cross out of love for his bride and his children.

And we see that same love as he comes back to be with them in the resurrection,   and as he keeps his promise:

“I will not leave you orphans… Behold, I am with you always.”

 

The Dogma of Most Holy Trinity,

is the most sublime mystery of our faith:

that God is One, but also three Divine Persons:

a personal communion of three persons

sharing one life and one love.

 

In this time of social upheaval and attempts to corrupt family life,

and specifically the degradation of fatherhood and husband-hood,

this great mystery reveals that marriage and family are created

to share in and truly be an image of the Trinitarian love and life,

and reminds us of the absolute importance of fathers to God’s plan

for the good of the family and the salvation of mankind.

 

As we now enter into more deeply the mystery of this Holy Mass,

and are drawn more profoundly into

the Communion of life and love of God the Father, Son and Spirit,

let us beg the Blessed Trinity to shower graces on the families of the world,

and especially all fathers, and most especially our own fathers.

By the grace of this Most Blessed sacrament

may God the Father, through the sacrifice of God the Son,

and the working of the Holy Spirit

renew in us a profound respect for the twofold blessing we celebrate today:             the most sublime mystery of the Most Holy Trinity,

and the great dignity and importa

 

[1] US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census. All stats taken from http://fatherhoodfactor.com/us-fatherless-statistics/, and comparable to other websites.

[2] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services press release, Friday, March 26, 1999

[3] US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census

[4] National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools

Pentecost Sunday, June 8, 2014

Homily by Fr. John De Celles

St. Raymond of Peñafort Catholic Church

Springfield, VA

 

In today’s 1^st reading we hear the story of the first Pentecost,

and how on that great day the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples

“And suddenly there came from the sky           a noise like a strong driving wind… Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,

which …came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit           and began to speak in different tongues.”

 

It goes on to tell us that the disciples

immediately went out and started proclaiming the Gospel to the crowds

and that 3000 were baptized that day.

 

Some remember the dramatic events of that day

and wonder why these things don’t happen today:

today there is no loud wind, except perhaps a windbag preacher,

and the only flames of fire

are the candles around the Altar. If the Holy Spirit is here, why doesn’t he make himself known

like he did 2000 years ago in Jerusalem.

But you know, maybe sometimes he does.

 

As you all know, 6 weeks ago Pope John Paul II was canonized a saint.

So he’s and his life have been on my mind an awful lot lately.

It seems to me his whole life was witness to the presence of the Holy Spirit.

I remember a few months after his election to the papacy,

when he returned to his hometown of Krakow Poland,

on Pentecost of 1979,

and stared down the atheistic-Communist government.

His words sting ring out, as he prayed:

“Send down your spirit! … And renew the face of the earth! This earth!”

And the crowd of 3 million Poles began to shout: “we want God! we want God!”

And Communism was over in Poland, and the fall of the Iron Curtain began.

 

But another memory of John Paul that came after his life stands out even more,

as I recall the vivid scenes of his funeral Mass,

9 years ago, on April 8^th, 2005.

As terribly sad as that day was,

watching all the events transpire I remember thinking then:

this is the Holy Spirit—this is Pentecost.

 

I don’t know if you remember it, but I see it like it was yesterday.

4 million people gathered from all over the world,

came together, overflowing from St. Peter’s Square

into the streets of Rome

all to see a dead man.

And another 2 BILLION folks saw the funeral on TV.

Incredible….but as incredible as that was,

how much more amazing to see heads of state

from all the nations of the earth

standing together—more than ever assembled before.

The sight of the foreign minister of Iran shaking hands

with the foreign minister of Israel.

The sight of a Methodist President of the United States

and the Secularist Prime Minister France

kneeling next to each other before our Eucharistic Lord at Catholic Mass.

And then the wind blew, and blew, flipping the pages of the Book of the Gospels

laying on the casket back and forth—as if in invitation to read it all at once.

And then, you may remember, how at the end as the casket of the pontiff

was turned to the people one last time,

and at that very moment the clouds parted and the sun shone down

for the first time all day.

 

4 million people, 2 billion people, all different languages, all different faiths,

to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed

by the successors of the apostles…

…the wind buffeting, the fire of the sun descending.

Pentecost in the year 2005.

 

My friends, the Holy Spirit is alive and well in the Church.

And if that day wasn’t enough to prove his presence,

11 days later he made his presence known in perhaps a more subtle way,

but still, a truly powerfully supernatural way.

 

While all the worldly pundits droned on about how the new pope would have to

be young, vigorous and charismatic like the John Paul of 1978,

and would have to open to radical changes in the Church…

…the Holy Spirit thought differently.

Instead, he moved the cardinals in conclave to elect

one of the oldest of their number, a quite scholar: Pope Benedict XVI.

A staunch defender of tradition and orthodoxy, who had been responsible

for publicly reprimanding many of the men who would elect the new pope.

And still they would overwhelmingly vote for him,

because the Holy Spirit had chosen him.

And Pentecost in 2005 continued.

 

And then jump forward to 2013.

Pope Benedict resigns and again the cardinals elect a man no one thought of.

This time a cardinal from the 3^rd world, the “new world.”

Another old man, but one who surprises us every day with his energy and wit,

and has the whole world taking a second look at the Catholic Church.

And yet he hasn’t made one change in doctrine or liturgy,

and, in fact, has affirmed strongly the teachings of his predecessors

—especially John Paul II and Benedict XVI—

on the most so-called “controversial” subjects.

 

Pentecost 2014.

 

But the Holy Spirit is not just manifested in great events or in the lives of Popes.

 

The real reason we don’t need extraordinary ostentatious displays of power

—like on the first Pentecost—

is because we have something even greater

that is a persistent powerful display of his presence.

2000 years ago Jesus Christ established his Church on earth.

And when he had ascended into heaven,

He and His Father sent their Holy Spirit into the Church,

like a wind, a breathe of life,

just as he had once blown into the lifeless body of Adam,

bringing him to life.

What we have is the Church, living and breathing,

working and preaching in the world.

And this is the great and dramatic sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence:

despite of all the weak men and women

who have been and are now her members,

despite the scores of weak, foolish and even sinful Popes,

and thousands of weak, foolish and sinful

bishops, priests and lay people,

in spite of all that,

the Church still stands after 2000 years,

as a beacon of light, truth and grace to the whole world.

 

Why seek spectacular shows of fire and wind and languages,

when see the power of the Holy Spirit protecting the pristine Word of God

flowing to us in Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition,

and clarifying that Word through His continuing protection

of the teaching magisterium of the Church, especially the popes.

Why seek dramatic signs

when every single hour of every day of the week,

the power of the Holy Spirit turns bread and wine

into the Body and Blood of God the Son, Jesus Christ,

at Masses celebrated all over the world.

Why seek incredible displays of divine power

when every time a sinner kneels before a priest with sorrow for her sins,

the words of Christ to his first priest on that first Easter

echo over 20 centuries:

“receive the holy spirit: who’s sins you forgive are forgiven.”

And by the power of the Holy Spirit the sinner arises a saint.

 

Pentecost today—and every day!

 

And the Holy Spirit isn’t just manifest in His Church as a whole

—but also in each one of its members.

Years ago each of you were baptized in the name of

the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

As water was poured onto your head the Holy Spirit was poured into your heart       —and has abided there ever since.

And at your confirmation the Holy Spirit descended on you

in the fullness of his power

just as surely as he descended on that upper room on the disciples.

And he strengthen your Baptismal grace, and gave you new gifts

so that you possess inside of you every gift you need

to be the incredible saint, God created you to be.

 

So that when people ask me why

the Spirit doesn’t come in fire and wind and tongues,

in the end I have to respond:

2000 years ago the Spirit did all that to get our attention

and to make the point that he had arrived,

not only in the Church as one body,

but also in the individual members of that body.

So why are we so interested in about what he’s doing around us,

when we should be asking ourselves what he’s trying to do inside us?

 

Think of this, the same powerful Spirit of the Most High God

that made himself so clearly manifest at the first Pentecost

is the same Spirit that came to you in baptism and Confirmation.

The Spirit of Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude and Piety

and Reverence.

The Spirit Who 2000 years ago transformed those cowering sheep,

hiding behind that locked door in Jerusalem,

into bold prophets, and future martyrs, fearlessly proclaiming the Gospel,

–and converting 3000 people in one day.

That Spirit lives in you—and me.

 

But we forget.

Or perhaps we never quite understood

—or it wasn’t explained to us, or maybe we weren’t paying attention.

Okay, then let’s pay attention now

—that’s why we celebrate Pentecost every year!

Because just as the Holy Spirit has sustained the Catholic Church for 2 millennia

and made her a rock of truth and holiness

he is in you to give you every grace

to live in the fullness of the life and love of God

and to make you a light to the nations,

a witness to the truth,

a clear example of what it means

to love God with all your heart, mind soul and strength

and your neighbor as yourself.

 

If you want to see the Holy Spirit

all you have to do is let him go to work in your life.

 

But how do you do that?

First, you have to pray.

The first disciples weren’t just twiddling their thumbs in the upper room

–they were praying for 9 straight days for the Holy Spirit to come.

What is your prayer life like?

Do you make time every day to really talk to God, and to listen to him?

How can you know the Holy Spirit if you don’t regularly take time

to recognize and acknowledge his presence?

 

Second, you must stay close to the Church

—you must act like the member of the body of Christ that you are.

Don’t be fooled by those who try to separate the Church and the Spirit

—that’s like trying to separate the body and soul—it brings death.

And you can’t separate yourself from the Church

and still experience the Holy Spirit in your life

–that’s like plucking an eye from the body and expecting it to keep seeing.

 

As the Acts of the apostles tells us today,

the Holy Spirit came to the first disciples when

“they were all in one place together.”

Do you come to church regularly, and experience the power of the Holy Spirit

acting in the sacraments?

Do you unite yourself to the apostles and their successors

by studying the teachings of the Church ?

 

Third, are you trying to live a life consistent with those teachings?

Are you trying to live a moral life?

Are you following the way of the Lord Jesus which he revealed to his Church,

or are you flagrantly or carelessly following some other road?

 

And fourth, are you even trying to proclaim the Gospel to those around you

—either by your actions or your words?

How can you say you don’t experience the Spirit and his gifts in your life

if you never even try to cooperate with him or use those gifts?

 

My friends, the Holy Spirit is alive and well in the Catholic Church, and in us.

If only we recognize him and allow him to work in our lives.

Let’s begin today—right here and now.

 

Here at this Mass we come together to pray.

We hear the teachings of his Church, and unite ourselves to his apostles.

And we acknowledge his power acting in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

And we resolve that when we leave here today,

we will live our lives consistent with those teachings,

and we will proclaim those teachings to all we meet.

 

If you need things like the fire and the wind and miraculous speech

to believe the Holy Spirit is present to us today

what more do you want after seeing something like

the events in Rome 9 years ago at St. John Paul’s funeral?

But really, who needs that when you have

the miracle of the Church, the Word of God, the sacraments

and the Holy Spirit inside you.

 

And so, if there’s a loud noise to be made today,

let it come from us as we proclaim in our prayers [and in song]

our faith in the promises of Jesus.

And if there’s fire to burn today, let it burn in our hearts filled with love for Jesus.

And filled with the Spirit, united in the one Body of Christ Jesus,

let that Spirit come forth today through us,

as we boldly proclaim the Gospel to all the world.

 

 

Lord, send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created. R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Ascension Sunday, June 1, 2014

Homily by Fr. John De Celles

St. Raymond of Peñafort Catholic Church

Springfield, VA

 

Some six weeks ago the Church came together

to observe the Passion and death of Our Lord.

It was a time to remember the sacrifice of the Cross,

as well as the three days in the tomb when the early Church

experienced life without Christ.

Do you remember the gospel readings from those days?

How the apostles hid together in the upper room, a bunch of quivering cowards,

bolting the door because they were afraid

someone might come after the Master’s followers?

Despite the Lord’s repeated promise that He would rise from the dead,

the apostles lost confidence in Him.

But the Lord still kept His promise: at the end of the days in the tomb,

He conquered death

and walked right into that same locked upper room

and banished all fear and restored all hope.

The disciples learned in one three day lesson never to doubt Him again,

for He is the Messiah–the promised one  who keeps His promises.

 

After He had stayed with His apostles for 40 days,

teaching them and opening their minds and hearts to the truth,

it came time for Him to leave again

—to ascend, [as today’s second reading tells us]

to sit at the Father’s “right hand in the heavens,

far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion.”

And as He Ascended into heaven He made them three new promises:

that from his throne in in heaven he would send His Holy Spirit

to clothe them with “power from on high”

so that He would remain with them “always, until the end of the age”;

and that at the end of the age he would come back to them.

And this time, they believed in his promises.

 

Now, today’s Gospel from St. Matthew

tells us what Jesus said right before the Ascension,

and today’s 1^st Reading from the Acts of the Apostles

gives us an account of what happened during the Ascensionitself,

but  neither of them tell us what happened after the Ascension.

To find that we need to go to the next passage in the Bible

that follows the text we read from Acts today.

There it tells us the 11 apostles:

“returned to Jerusalem …[and] went to the upper room ….

[They] devoted themselves with one accord to prayer,

together with [the] women,

and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”

 

They did not lose hope, as they did on Good Friday,

even though he’s gone away again.

Instead, they went to that same upper room they stayed in after the crucifixion,

but this time not to hide and whimper in fear,

but to wait and pray in hope for the fulfillment of Jesus promise

to send to His Holy Spirit.

 

Looking back on these events,

many of us are amazed at the apostles’ behavior before Easter.

The fools!

They had seen his miracles

–they saw him walk on water,

and calm a storm at sea;

–they saw him feed over 5000 people, twice,

and raise 3 people from the dead,

one who had been in the tomb for 4 days!

How could they have such little faith?

He was Jesus–God–and they knew Him!

Surely they remembered His promise that

on the third day He would rise from the dead!

How could they lose hope like that?

 

And yet, how many times have we lost hope in Christ?

How many times have we given up on Him?

Perhaps not by locking ourselves in our homes and barricading the door,

but in other ways.

How many times did the troubles in our lives seem so heavy

that we felt that even Jesus had failed us, or abandoned us,

and turned away to wallow in the darkness of despair,

rather than turning to Jesus, who is the light of the world?

 

Or how many times have we faced some powerful temptation

to do something Jesus clearly taught was sinful,

and we just gave in, saying “it’s too difficult,”

and maybe even blamed Jesus: “I prayed but Jesus didn’t help me”;

or maybe even, “I know what Jesus taught, but he was wrong.”

 

Or How many times have we been in a conversation with friends or family

and someone raised a criticism of the teaching of Christ or His Church,

and we just remained silent?

 

Every time we did these things we locked the door and cowered in fear

and lost hope in the promises of Jesus.

 

But one of the wonderful things about this Feast is that it reminds us that,

no matter how many times we’ve doubted, or been afraid to follow Jesus,

today, can be a new beginning.

 

We see this in today’s readings in a very subtle, but beautiful way.

Both today’s Gospel and 1^st reading from the Acts of the Apostles

tell us the events surrounding the Ascension.

Now, in general, the Gospels give us the story of the life of Jesus

when he walked in his body on the earth,

while the “The Acts of the Apostles,” gives us the story of the life of Jesus

once he had bodily ascended to heaven,

–the story of his life lived in his mystical body on earth

—the Church.

The Gospels record the failures and sins of men

—in particular the weaknesses, doubts and betrayals of the apostles—

but the Acts of the Apostles record a new beginning for the apostles.

No longer will they hide in fear, and never again will they deny the power of God,

 

What’s happened to make this change?

Of course, the resurrection happened—Christ conquered sin and death!

But in a sense, that was only a beginning.

Today we celebrate the fact that Christ Ascended bodily into heaven:

he not only rose from the dead and lived again in his body in 33 A.D.

–he then ascended into heaven and really lives there in his glorified body,

now and forever.

His chest heaves with the breath of life, his heart beats with love of God.

His ears are open to hear our prayers,

His mouth smiles when we show him love,

His eyes weep when we fall from grace.

His hands reach out to lift us when we fall,

and His arms open wide to welcome us into his peace.

And, as the Book of Revelation tells us, as he sits on his throne in heaven,

he looks out on us and says: “behold, I make all things new.”

 

Today  we remember that day when Our Lord ascended into heaven

a day that marks the end of one way of living

and the beginning of a new way of living.

A new way of living based on the three promises he made that day.

As promised, He has sent His Holy Spirit

—as we remember as we celebrate Pentecost next Sunday.

And by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus does remains with us,

even until the end of time,

in his Church, in his Word, and in his sacraments,

and through his sacraments, in our hearts.

And by the power of the Holy Spirit

he makes sinful, fearful and doubting cowards,

like the apostles and you and me,

into holy, courageous and faithful heroes.

And made confident by the fulfillment of these promises,

we live in joyful hope,

that he will surely keep his 3^rd promise: he will come again in glory.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead,

yes, to cast out those who have not loved him,

but more magnificently, to raise up those who have loved him,

who have remained faithful,

who have kept his word, and followed his commandments.

Then, as St. Paul tells us today, we shall see “the riches of glory,”

and share “his inheritance among the holy ones.”

 

As we now enter more deeply into the mystery of this Holy Mass,

as the true Body of Jesus Christ enthroned in heaven,

descends to this altar through the action of the Holy Spirit,

we pray that, like the apostles on the first feast of the Ascension,

we will learn from our foolish mistakes of the past

and  from now on trust in His promises.

And that by the power of the Holy Spirit we can lay aside past fear and sin

and begin a new life of faith and hope in He who sits at the Father’s

“right hand in the heavens,

far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion.” So that we may remain with him, Our Lord Jesus Christ, always,

in the trials of this world, and in the glories of the world to come.