See What We Look For (3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A)

To listen to this homily, click here.

Last week, during one of the school Masses, I spoke with the kids about a common experience most of us have had at some point in our life. It’s that moment when you see someone familiar but in an unexpected context. Because you are not expecting to see this person in that place, you wonder if it is actually them at all or just someone who looks like them. A little game of peek-a-boo ensues as you try to covertly determine if that is who you think it is, all the while not trying to let them know that you are actually staring at them. The situation we all agreed on having was that awkward moment of seeing one of your teachers (or priests) at Target, Dierbergs, or the movie theater. When you don’t expect to see someone or something, you can miss whatever is right front of you.

We see this in the gospel today. Two of the disciples are on the road to Emmaus, about seven miles away from Jerusalem. They were downcast and debating about the life and death of Christ. Jesus himself joins them, but they do not recognize him. You can hear the frustration, dejection and confusion in their voices as they speak with this “stranger”.

During the entire walk, the two disciples do not recognize the Lord. Even after he explains the scriptures for them, they still cannot fathom how he could be risen. For them, it didn’t seem possible that the Messiah, the Son of God, could redeem the world if he died on the cross? Their expectations and perspective made them blind to the wisdom of God, working through Jesus Christ. It is not until the breaking of the bread that they recognize Jesus and begin to understand.

The same thing can happen to us. Throughout our lives, we find ourselves on the road to Emmaus when we are downcast, confused, disappointed, angry, and hurt because we expected one thing from God but got something entirely different. Perhaps it is the death of a loved one, a personal affliction or illness, difficulties at work or home, and or the million other things that break our heart. These hardships challenge the way we think of God; they can make us feel alone and abandoned. Because of our own expectations of God, we can be blind to the fact that he is walking right alongside us. We often have our own ideas of how God should act and what the plans for our lives should look like. When those don’t work out, it can cause great distress, disappointment, and even anger. 

 But even in the darkest moments of our lives, we should not despair or give up. Christ is always with us during these moments but we may not recognize him right away. Like the disciples, we may walk quite a distance down our road of difficulty before we recognize the presence of Jesus. This healing, calming presence of our Lord may be found where we least expect it: in the kind words of a stranger, in the beauty of fine spring day, or the smile of a friend or family member. 

Finally, we can see our time at Mass each week as our own journey to Emmaus. Here in this first part of the liturgy, we can bring the things we have on our mind and present them to God. Here we have the Word of God, which is opened up and explained to us as it relates to Christ. Jesus is working here and now to show how the Scriptures point to him and his saving message. 

But He doesn’t stop at explaining the scriptures. In a few minutes he will become present in the breaking of the bread on our altar. It was this breaking of the bread that opened the eyes of the disciples and helped them to recognize the risen Christ in their midst. He wants our eyes to be opened too, so we can see him working in each and every situation of our lives. He wants us to let go of our own expectations of God so we can believe and trust completely in him, that he is Lord of heaven and earth, that not even sin and death can overpower his plan of salvation for us.  

    My prayer for all of us here today is that we approach this Eucharist and our daily lives with the eyes of faith, a renewed perspective which sees that Jesus is walking alongside us, every step of the way. May we be a people who recognize the presence of Christ here in the breaking of the bread. May we, like the disciples, say to one another as we leave this church: Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”    

Mercy For All (Divine Mercy 2023)

 To listen to this homily, click here.

Several years ago, around the time that Covid broke out, I was planning a pilgrimage to Poland. This country is not necessarily the first place people put on their list to visit for pilgrimage but for me, it had several key draws. First, it is the home of John Paul II, one of the most transformative popes in the last 500 years. Secondly, it is where the Auschwitz concentration camp is located, a site of terrible human suffering and evil but also a place where goodness, holiness, and courage triumphed over the forces of darkness. Last, and most importantly of all, Poland is where St. Faustina lived, the humble nun who received the message and vision of Jesus’ Divine Mercy and shared it with the world through a devotion that offers a remedy to the many spiritual troubles that afflict humanity. Unfortunately, the pilgrimage was cancelled but the feast of Divine Mercy, the feast we celebrate today, remains one of my favorites.  

Divine Mercy is something I have received throughout my life; God has been so good and patient with me, in the sacraments of the Church and also through the goodness of others who have forgiven my faults and failings. I am continually humbled by the way I get to be a minster of mercy as a priest, offering God’s forgiveness through the sacrament of confession. But sometimes Divine Mercy is scandalous. We humans have a limit to our mercy; there are some sins we simply cannot forgive. This feast day reminds us that this is not the case with God, who gives his mercy to those who need it the most but deserve it the least.

Consider the story of Rudolf Hoess. Hoess was raised Catholic but as a young man he renounced his Faith and pledged his allegiance to Nazism after hearing one of Hitler’s speeches. He was one of the earliest members of the Nazi party and made a name for himself by his ruthless oversight of Dachau concentration camp. In recognition of his complete allegiance to Nazi views, he was named the commandant of Auschwitz, a living hell of darkness, cruelty, and evil where as many as 2000 innocent people an hour were put to death. It is estimated that Hoess was responsible for the death of 2.5 million people. Auschwitz is also where St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, and many other priests and nuns were martyred for their Catholic faith. The sins of Hoess continue to affect families and countries today and his evil choices changed world history and created wounds that will never fully heal.

After the Nazi regime fell, Hoess was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. He spent his final days in a prison in the same city in Poland where Pope St. John Paul II was born and raised. During his imprisonment, Hoess experienced his first taste of Divine Mercy from the guards who watched over him. They were men, chosen from the friends and family members of those who died at Auschwitz. Hoess expected to be tortured and beaten as retribution for what he had done but was instead shown a kindness and dignity he had not earned or deserved. This mercy led to a conversion of heart. He wrote: “In Polish prisons I experienced for the first time what human kindness is. Despite all that has happened I have experienced humane treatment which I could never have expected, and which has deeply shamed me.”

In prison, Hoess came to realize that everything he had lived, worked, and killed for was based on a hateful lie and he repented. He said: “I have inflicted terrible wounds on humanity. I have caused unspeakable suffering for the Polish people in particular. I am to pay for this with my life. May the Lord God forgive one day what I have done.” 

On Good Friday, April 4, 1947, awaiting execution, Hoess asked to see a Catholic priest. The authorities had trouble finding one who spoke German, but Hoess happened to remember the name of one: Fr. Władysław Lohn. Years ago, the Gestapo had arrested several Jesuits and sent them to Auschwitz. Fr. Lohn, the community’s superior, happened to be absent at the time of the arrest. When he found out what happened to his brothers, he snuck into Auschwitz to find them. When the guards noticed Fr. Lohn, they took him to Hoess to decide his fate. Impressed by his bravery, Hoess released the priest unharmed. 

Though it took many days, Fr. Lohn was located in nearby Krakow. He happened to be praying at the Shrine of Divine Mercy, where St. Faustina was buried. On April 10, 1947, three days before Divine Mercy Sunday, Fr. Lohn heard Hoess’ Confession. The next day, Hoess received Holy Communion. Afterward, he knelt in his cell and wept. Five days later, he was executed, dying in God’s grace.

Isn’t God’s mercy scandalous? I think so! Did Rudolf Hoess deserve the mercy he was given? Absolutely not! This man was responsible for the death of millions of people. He oversaw one of the darkest and most evil places that ever existed. And yet he repented. Can we doubt the sincerity of his repentance? Maybe. But that must be left to God. What we cannot doubt is that God can and will forgive any sin if we are truly sorry, if we truly desire his mercy. The only sins which cannot be forgiven are the ones we hold on to and hide, the ones we refuse to confess. What actually changed the heart of this mass killer was mercy, first from his guards who represented his victims and then from God in the sacrament of confession. Mercy and grace achieve things that no court, punishment, or human effort can. Divine Mercy makes possible the impossible, it heals in ways that no one and nothing else can. 

This is the message of Divine Mercy. No sin is unforgivable. No sin is greater than God’s mercy. Even the commandant of Auschwitz can be forgiven. This is the scandal of Divine Mercy. This is the infinite depth of God’s love. This is God’s unquenchable desire that all people be saved and live with him in eternal happiness. And while none of us have sinned in the way Rudolf Hoess did, we have each received the Lord’s mercy long before we did anything to deserve it. In fact we can never earn or deserve it; it is always a gift. 

Let us praise God who loves us so generously and mercifully. Let us receive Divine Mercy humbly and often. And let us make sure and show the same mercy to those around us, even to those who have hurt us deeply. Perhaps God will use us to begin their conversion and bring them back to life and friendship with Him!

Don't Take Any Chances; Have Happiness in Hope (Easter 2023)

To listen to this homily, click here.

First of all, on behalf of the clergy and staff of Incarnate Word, I want to wish you a very holy and happy Easter! To our parishioners, I hope this lent and this time of rejoicing in Christ’s victory offers you countless grace and hope. To our visitors, please know we are happy to have you with us and you are welcome anytime!

I recently read about a story, a rather tragic one, about a man, his wife, and his ever-challenging mother-in-law who went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. While they were there, the mother-in-law passed away. This sort of thing is a nightmare when it happens at home; even more so when it occurs in a foreign land. The mortician told them, “You can have her body sent home for $10,000, or you can bury her here in the Holy Land for $150”. The man thought about it for a while and told the mortician she must be taken taken home for the funeral. The undertaker asked, “Why…. why would you spend $10,000 to fly your mother-in-law home when it would be wonderful to be buried here in the place which is considered holy to so many, all the while saving lots of money?” The man replied immediately, “A man died here 2000 years ago. He was buried and three days later, he rose from the dead.” “I just can’t take that chance.”

It is good to have a laugh, hopefully many of them on Easter Sunday. It is a day of joy and celebration and that spirit is reflected in the flowers, the decorations in church and at home, the joyful music, the Alleluias, even the Easter outfits, and for some, fancy hats, which all proclaim our joy in the renewal of the world. The celebration of Easter stands in stark contrast to our commemoration of Good Friday. Just two days ago, there were no flowers, no alleluias, no triumphant music. There was simply the Cross.

And yet, both Good Friday and Easter, as well as Holy Thursday, are bound together as one celebration, the celebration of the Paschal Mystery. Before Jesus’ sacrifice, mankind had lost the ability to enjoy eternal life. Humanity’s sin to push God out of our lives, destroyed that relationship. The rejection of God allowed the devil to have free reign over the earth.

But God never gave up on us! In the fullness of time, when all the pieces were in place, Jesus came as the new Adam, the one who would choose life. Through a mystery beyond our understanding, Jesus’ death was the means for restoring life to us. Jesus rose from the dead and became the source of redemption to all who believe in Him. He is infinitely more than a good guy, a miracle worker, social reformer, or wise teacher. He is Savior, Redeemer, and King of Kings! This is why we call out Alleluia. We are dead no more, but alive in the Lord.

It is necessary and helpful for us to be reminded often of the Easter Miracle and what it means for us. We have a very short attention span and we quickly move on to the next thing that piques our interest or needs to be addressed. It is possible for us to go weeks, months, and years without reflecting on how close we came to complete and utter disaster as a human race. Without God’s intervention, we would have no remedy for the sin, suffering, and darkness which afflict us. With the Rising of Jesus that first Easter, the war between good and evil, life and death, light and darkness, took a decisive turn. In fact, at that moment, the war was won for God and for those who love him. All that remain are the final battles. But the result is certain. God, and those who follow him, will be triumphant. Coming soon is a world of endless joy, peace, and goodness. 

That is the source of our joy today and that is why we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday. Easter marks the moment when everything changed. Even though the perfection of what Jesus started is not here quite yet. Even though we must endure the sufferings and injustices of an imperfect world; we know that this pain is temporary and soon all things will be brought in line with God’s perfect plan. One of the great saints of our Church, St. Augustine, had a phrase he liked to use which was, “happiness in hope. He used it a number of times in his great work, The City of God, to describe the Christian attitude in life. It is true we have to do everything possible to bring peace and justice to the world, this is our way of serving Christ’s presence in the poor and downtrodden. We certainly have to protect the lives of those who have been conceived but are not yet born. We cannot turn our backs on people who are suffering, whether they be Americans or people in another country. We have to demand that those in leadership use their authority justly and for the good of others. And yet, we know that in the end, our society cannot provide lasting happiness for anyone. Human society can only provide lasting happiness if it is united to God, if it is a City of God.

We Christians have eternal life as our happiness and hope. Easter is the celebration of that hope and a reminder of our destination. Our hope is that we will share in the fullness of the New Life Jesus won for us. Our faith provides sanity, direction, and purpose to our lives. Sickness, death, turmoil, unemployment, and all sorts of other crises enter our lives, but our faith in the Resurrection gets us through it all by allowing us to have happiness in hope. No one can take the Risen Savior from us. No one and no situation, no matter how terrible, can take His Presence from us.

This then is the Gift of Easter Sunday! May the life of the Risen Lord flow through our veins, so every thought, word, and deed of our lives may shout out: Jesus lives and can die no more! May we all be happy in the hope of eternal life and may this be the best and most joy-filled Easter yet!

 

Signs of God's Love (Good Friday 2023)

 To listen to this homily, click here.

We wear it around our necks. We place it in the rooms of our homes, schools, and hospitals. We put it on the top of our buildings and people say, "That must be a Church. That person must be a Christian.” It is the best-known symbol of Christianity. It is the cross. Why is the cross so powerful? Is it because it reminds us of the actual events that took place some 2,000 years ago? On one hand, yes; we recall the specific day in history when the God manifested his love for us by allowing His Son to die the most shameful death possible to restore us to the life lost by our sinfulness. But the cross is more than a memory. It is the living sign from our Savior to love as He loved, to love with a sacrificial love that holds nothing back. It is a reminder that his love can never be overwhelmed by the darkness of sin or death. 

The cross, originally a means of the worst type of shame and torture, has been transformed by the Lord into an instrument of love. It is an eternal testament to the power of God; he can take the worst possible thing and turn it into life, hope, and renewal. For this reason, we come to the cross this evening with a mixture of gratitude, awe, and sorrow. We will touch and kiss the crucifix as a concrete way of expressing these emotions to the Lord. We come and ask Jesus to help us love as He loved, to live in a way that puts others before ourselves. We come to the cross this evening and we give Jesus our sins, our pains, and our sorrows. We know in our hearts that we ourselves are in some way responsible for what he suffered. Our own sins have in some way, contributed to his Passion and Death. We experience a whole range of emotions from grief on one hand to gratitude on the other.

As a priest and pastor, Good Friday is one of the of most meaningful liturgies to me. I am filled with so many emotions whenever I watch parishioners come forward to venerate the cross. I am blessed to know many of your stories. I see you come forward expressing a deep faith that the Lord will care for you and your loved ones, a deep trust that all will be well even if the future is uncertain. The procession to the cross embodies faith in action for all who are in pain right now, all those who are suffering. The cross becomes hope and confidence for those fighting cancer, ALS, dementia, Parkinson’s and other serious ailments. The cross is a sign of life for those mourning the loss of a spouse, a child, a parent, a family member, or friend. The cross is encouragement for those with chronic pain, unfaithful spouses, broken marriages, mental illness, or anything else that threatens our faith and hope in God. Finally, the cross is something to lean on for all who have lost their job, who are caring for an elderly parent, a sick child, or just feel alone or unloved. All of these are embodied in us, as we come forward to venerate the cross. All of us, despite our struggles, sadness, and setbacks, have found happiness in this hope that Jesus cannot be defeated by the worst human beings can do.

This evening, we are blessed to include a number of beautiful relics embedded in the cross we will venerate. These are contained in 4 small round cases, which you may kiss or touch when you come forward. On the top is a small piece of the scroll which hung above Jesus’ head and said, “Jesus the Nazorean, King of the Jews.” Beneath that, there is a reliquary containing a small piece of the crown of thorns, a fragment of the pillar where Jesus was scourged by the Romans, and a small amount of soil from the Holy Sepulcher where he was laid after being taken off the cross. Looking to the left, you will see a relic of St. Longinus, the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with a lance and proclaimed, “Truly, this was the Son of God” when all went dark and the earth quaked as Jesus died. Finally, looking right, you will see a reliquary which holds a splinter from the cross of St. Dismas, the good thief,  who turned to Jesus in his final agony and begged, “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom!” These relics remind us that our God’s love and salvation is so close to us that we can literally see and feel it, even 2000 years later. 

Each of us comes here tonight with our own crosses, worries, and sufferings. ”How am I going to make it through these difficulties?” many of us ask every day. God’s answer is found in the outstretched arms of Christ crucified. He invites us to come to the cross. Give your problems and challenges to the Lord and know that no matter what happens, as the mystic Julien of Norwich wrote, "All will be well.” For when everything is placed in the hands of the one who died for us, every challenge, every illness, loss, or sadness, every difficulty that life throws at us becomes a prayer united to the power of our Crucified Savior which conquers all things, even death itself. Come to the cross! Unite the challenges of your lives to the cross. And know that the One who loved us, to the death, will also love us into new and eternal life!