Lord, To Whom Shall We Go?

Rejection is a fact of life for Christians. No matter how kind we are, no matter how eloquently we present the good news, no matter how sensitive we are to others’ feelings, our message will be resisted. If they cannot argue with our logic or common sense, then they will result to calling us names. We will be told that we are backward, that we are hateful bigots. Many will even go so far as to say that Jesus would not approve of our message or that we are acting more like the Pharisees than His disciples. We might even start to question ourselves, wondering whether we just have not found the right way to present the good news to our culture and whether it would be better to stay quiet, keep to ourselves and not share our beliefs with others.

However, Jesus makes it very clear that we can expect to be rejected for choosing to follow Him. No one was holier than He or better at connecting with an audience and yet He still was ridiculed and mocked for what He taught. We see this clearly in today’s gospel. When He tells the crowd that He will give them His Body and Blood as food, they are shocked and disgusted. Many of His own disciples turn their backs on Him.

If there were newspapers in Jesus’ day, imagine what the headlines would have been. They would have said that Jesus had a meltdown or that He had lost His mind. They would have claimed that He was out of touch with Jewish society and culture. They would have speculated that the Jesus movement was in crisis and that many others would soon see Him as a false prophet. What the world says about Christians today is no different from what people said about Jesus.

Jesus’ message is demanding. It requires that we radically change the way we look at life and at the world. It calls for sacrifice and surrender to God’s will. Because it is difficult, we may be able to understand why so many people reject it. But why do so many people still believe and still follow Jesus? Why does He continue to be the most influential person who ever lived?

Saint Peter speaks for us at the end of today’s gospel passage when he says, “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.” We accept the difficulties entailed in living the gospel message and the ridicule and rejection that are a part of the Christian life because only Jesus has the words of everlasting life. We have not been able to find the love, joy and peace that our hearts yearn for in any other person than in Jesus Christ. Only in Him have we found the truth and meaning our minds have searched for. And we want to share that joy and truth with others even if it means being rejected by them. As we read in today’s Responsorial Psalm, we have tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord and His praise shall be ever in our mouths.

Throughout the centuries, Christians have been persecuted for one reason or another. The first followers of Jesus were put to death for not worshiping the Roman gods. In the last century, many Christians were killed for resisting dictators and oppressive political systems. In our day, the persecution comes from Western culture which rejects the dignity of human persons, especially the weakest and least productive. It denies the sanctity of marriage as God created it between one man and one woman as Saint Paul so beautifully describes it for us in today’s second reading. It makes no room for immigrants and refugees except to exploit and scapegoat them. This is the world to which God has called us to bring the gospel message of love.

With all the difficulties we face, we can be tempted to turn away, to keep to ourselves and to hide. We do not want to be called names or be accused of offending anyone. However, there are many people out there who are hurting and lost. They deserve to be told the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. There are so many who are the victims of this society’s twisted ideologies. They are the children who are neglected and abandoned by their parents. They are the immigrants and refugees who live in the shadows and are subject to exploitation and crime on a daily basis. They are those who have just not been able to gain a foothold in a competitive marketplace. They deserve our love and compassion. Just as important, we need to be their voice and to tell their stories.

We also have a duty to the culture at large to show them that there is a better way. We have been entrusted with a great treasure, namely,  the truth of the gospel message as it has been handed down to the Church through the centuries. It is the only way for our world to find true and lasting justice and peace. Just as we would not deny a hungry person a morsel of food or not give a blanket to a homeless person, just so we cannot deny our world the truth about Jesus Christ and His message about the incomparable dignity of each and every human being. We have to strive with all our strength to pass that message on, even when it is rejected, in hopes that it will finally sink in and make a difference in a world that has grown tired and cynical.

The great Catholic communicator, Fulton Sheen, said it best: “The world today is tearing up the photographs of a good society, a good family, a happy, individual personal life. But the Church is keeping the negatives. And when the moment comes when the world wants a reprint, we will have them." Each of us needs to be an example of the joy and peace that comes from believing in Jesus. Each of us needs to be a light to a world that has too long been imprisoned in darkness. By doing so, we show the world that there is a better way. By doing so, we point others to Jesus who has the words of everlasting life so that they too can be convinced and join us in sharing the gospel until our world is transformed through the love of God.

Submitting To One Another In Love

What is the opposite of love? Is it hate? Is it apathy or indifference?

Pope John Paul II in his book, Love and Responsibility, has an interesting answer to the question. Unlike what we might normally think, the opposite of love is not hate or indifference. Rather, the opposite of loving others is using them.

Any of us who have had the heart-wrenching experience of having been used by another person know how true the Holy Father’s words are. Those who use us do immensely more damage than those who merely hate us. We let such people into our lives because we believed they loved us and wanted to be our friend. We trusted them and may have even shared intimate secrets with them. But when they got from us everything we could give them, they abandoned us leaving us feeling cheap and useless. We feel like fools for ever believing that they were really our friends. Going forward, we find it difficult to ever trust someone again. If they had just hated us rather than used us, they would have done far less damage to our psyches.

When we use others, we treat them as mere objects. We are saying to them that their needs and desires are not as important as our own. We are telling them that their only value lies in what they can do for us. The minute they are no longer useful to us or begin making demands of us, we drop them and move on to our next victim.

How different love is! When we love someone - whether it be a friend or a spouse - we treat him or her as a unique individual full dignity and value.  We accept them for their strengths and their weaknesses. We are by their side in good times and bad. In our concern for their well-being, we often put their needs and interests before our own. Being with them and spending time together is all that we ask. Love always seeks the good of the other even when it is difficult or painful.

Today’s second reading from Saint Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is one of the most difficult readings in all of Scripture for our modern culture to hear - “Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.” It seems to go against the grain of our ideas about the equal dignity and value of both women and men. Furthermore, the passage has been misused in the past to keep women in harmful and abusive relationships. However, if we read these words in the light of Pope John Paul II’s words and our reflection on the true meaning of love, Saint Paul’s teaching becomes clearer to us.

By being subordinate to each other - by putting the needs and concerns of the other before our own - we make sure that we are never in a position to use the other person. Our submission in love to one another - both the wife for the husband and the husband toward the wife - ensures that we are not in a relationship only to benefit ourselves - to get what we want out of the other person - but that we are really seeking his or her good even when it means sacrifice on our part.

We should also remember that Saint Paul’s words are directed not only to the wife but to the husband: “Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.” In fact, his words are even stronger for husbands. While he tells wives that they should be subordinate to their husbands, he tells husbands that they should love their wives as Christ loved the Church. And how did Christ love the Church? He died for it. Just so, men should be willing to lay down their lives for their wives.

What does that mean in practical terms? It means taking the time to listen even if it means turning off the TV. It means emptying the dishwasher without being asked or not groaning when the wife points out repairs that are needed in the house. It means going out when we feel like just staying in. Men are often tempted not to do such things because they seem small and insignificant. But to women, these small actions show that we are paying attention to them and attending to their needs.

Though Saint Paul’s words are directed to married couples, they still hold meaning for those of us who may not be married or who are not planning on getting married. In all our relationships we should be practicing love and avoiding using others. By so doing, we imitate Jesus who gave His life up for us. If we can put the needs and concerns of our family members and friends ahead of our own now, it will come more naturally to us later on if we do get married.

We are naturally selfish people. It is not easy for us to put others first. That is where Jesus comes in. He gives us the strength to forget ourselves in service to others through the inspiration of His word and by His Body which He offers to nourish us. When the needs of our loved ones become difficult to bear, when we are tempted to abandon them, we should first turn to Jesus in prayer and ask Him for the strength to carry on. He will not fail to give it to us because, like a good friend, He always puts our needs and concerns ahead of His own.

Confusion

After a life-changing spiritual experience, a woman decided to try reading the Bible from cover to cover. She had a hard time making it through the Old Testament because there was so little of it that she understood. And yet she tried not to let herself get discouraged because she believed that even in all the bizarre stories about kings who lived thousands of years ago God had a message for her. Even though she understood only about ten percent of what she read, she thanked God for the ninety percent he would one day reveal to her. Her trust that God would help her to understand kept her from getting discouraged and abandoning her commitment to reading Scripture.

The disciples in today's gospel find Jesus as hard to understand as the woman in our story found the Old Testament. Jesus had just finished saying that he would give them his flesh to eat, and they cannot understand what in the world he could mean by that. So, in frustration, many of them choose to stop following him rather than listen to what they considered to be nonsense. However Peter, speaking for himself and some of the other disciples, tells Jesus that he will stick by him. It is not that Peter understood what Jesus was saying any more than the disciples who decided to leave. The difference was that Peter knew he had nowhere else to go and no one else to turn to. He had left his family and his job as a fisherman to follow Jesus because he was convinced that there was something special about him. Even though there was much about Jesus that he didn't understand, he knew that no one could speak about the Father the way he could. No one else could make his heart burn with love and faith. No one else could inspire him the way Jesus did. Though he did not always understand what Jesus was saying, he could not imagine ever leaving him.

Looking at our own lives, we can relate to the disciples' confusion. There is much about life, about God and about religion that we find difficult to comprehend. Many of our questions never seem to get a satisfactory answer. Some mysteries of the faith are so perplexing that we cannot even begin to understand them. How does the bread and wine become the very body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus? How can God be three persons in one nature? They are important and difficult questions, but to be honest, we are not going to have a nervous breakdown over them. The toughest mysteries are those that hit us where we live, the senseless experiences that really challenge our belief in God. If God is good, how can he look on as innocent people are tortured and murdered? Why do I have to suffer? Why did my father, wife or daughter have to die? Why can't I find the love I need? Why does God tell us to forgive and turn the other cheek when there are so many wicked people in the world?

Many good and intelligent people have abandoned their faith in God because of these questions. But we have decided to stick around. We have decided to continue believing in God, believing that he is good and believing that he loves us even though that sounds like nonsense in a world that's falling apart.

What keeps us coming back to God? It must be because, like Peter, we know that there is no one else to turn to. No one else can give us the hope God gives us that the world can change and that things can get better. No one else but God can give us the hope that the sufferings of the present are as nothing compared to the glory to be revealed in us. If God does not exist, if he is not all good, if he does not know each of us and love us completely, then we are ruined. There is nothing left to hope for. There is no meaning in our lives.

It is during the difficult times in our lives, when these hard questions arise, when we are suffering or depressed or bored that our faith in God is put to the test. We know that our faith is strong if we can pull out of these hard times still believing in God, still loving him and still trusting that he cares for us. That is the type of faith that saves us: the faith of a woman who continues to read the Bible even though she finds it hard to understand; the faith of Peter who can stick by Jesus even when many of the other disciples have left him; our faith that no matter what life throws at us, our God still loves us.

Precious Sundays

When Roy turned 52 years old, he was struck by how short life is. He had already lived 52 years and they had gone by so quickly. He reflected on how much time he had wasted, how he had taken for granted that there would always be enough time to accomplish his goals in life. The years just seemed to all slip through his hands and he wondered to himself what he had to show for it. He wondered to himself what he could do to make the most of the time he had left.

Sitting down at his desk, Roy figured that the average male lives to be 72 years old, which meant that he had about 20 years left. As there are 52 Saturdays in a year, he calculated that he had about 1040 Saturdays left in his life. So, the next Saturday morning, he went to every toy store in town and bought all their marbles until he had exactly 1040. Then he put a large glass vase on his desk and filled them with the marbles. Every Saturday he would take one of those marbles out and throw it away to remind himself of how little time he had left and not to waste it.

When Roy called his local Catholic radio station to tell his story, it was on the day he had taken the last marble from the vase. He was about to wake his wife up so that they could pick up their grandchildren and go out for breakfast. He explained how the marbles had taught him to cherish his family and all the beauty around him. Now that he was down to his last one, he was going to go out and by another 1040 marbles in hopes that he will live to his ninety-second birthday. All the while, he promised himself never to take another day for granted.

(adapted from a story told on Glen’s Story Corner on Relevant Radio)

In today’s second reading, Saint Paul warns us, “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil.” God has given us this day and every day of our lives as a unique opportunity to do good, to enjoy His creation and to love the people around us. We will never have this day again. There is no way to get it back. Therefore, we need to make the most of it, to not waste it and to treat it as a precious gift. None of us knows how much time we or our loved ones have left. We never know when our goodbyes might be our last. We need to make the most of every opportunity God gives us each day.

In the story, Roy used the marbles to count how many Saturdays he had left. However, I’d like to challenge us to think about how many Sundays we have left. How many more opportunities will we have to gather around this altar to hear God’s word proclaimed in the assembly of the faithful and to receive Jesus’ Body and Blood? God willing, we will have thousands more. However, it is possible that this will be our last.

At Blessed Mother Teresa’s chapel in Calcutta, in the area where the priest prepares for Mass, there is a sign that reads, “O, priest of God, say this Mass as if it were your first Mass. Say this Mass as if it were your only Mass. Say this Mass as if it were your last Mass.” That is powerful advice for priests but it is equally powerful for us who gather to celebrate. Imagine the devotion, wonder and joy we would experience if every Sunday we celebrated as if it were our first Mass, our only Mass or our last Mass! And, for all we know, it could very well be our last one. With God’s help, we need to make the most of this opportunity to be united with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through the miracle of Holy Communion.

All of us want to live life to the fullest. We all want to believe that we have made the most of the opportunities offered to us and experienced all the joys of life. However, what does it mean to live life to the fullest? Jesus tells us in today’s gospel. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Living life to the fullest means receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus. Jesus is the one who created us. He is the one who breathed life into us. Most importantly, He is the one who died for our sins and rose from the dead to give us the promise of everlasting life. Every Sunday - in fact, every day - He offers Himself to us in Holy Communion so that we can receive His very life. Unlike our human lives which will come to an end, the eternal life Jesus offers us will carry us through into heaven. What other way can there be to live life to the fullest than to receive the eternal life that Jesus offers us at every Mass?

Jesus goes on to say, “...unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” Those are powerful words which we should all take seriously. When we miss Mass on Sunday, we miss an opportunity to have God’s life within us. When we allow sin to make us unworthy to receive the Eucharist, we begin to die inside. All the pleasures and riches in the world mean nothing if we are not drawing life from Jesus.

If there is a sin on your conscience which is keeping you from receiving communion, I urge you to go to confession as soon as possible and have your sin forgiven. If you are in a relationship or marriage which is keeping you from receiving communion, I encourage you to meet with a deacon or priest and begin the process of having it blessed by the Church. You will not be judged but welcomed with joy. Whatever situation you may find yourself in, do what you need to do to make it right. Do not let another Sunday go by without receiving Jesus’ Body and Blood.

Today is the day the Lord has made. We rejoice and are glad in it. Every day is a gift from the Lord which He gives us to live to the fullest. In particular, every Sunday is a special opportunity to gather with this community of faith and encounter our Risen Lord in the Bible and in the Eucharist. As Saint Paul says, “the days are evil”. We need the life that can only be found in Jesus who gives His flesh for the life of the world.

The Miracle Of Lanciano

Over twelve hundred years ago, in the small Italian town of Lanciano, a monk was celebrating Mass in the parish of Saint Legontian. Having been a priest several years, he was beginning to struggle in his faith. Especially difficult for him was the Church’s teaching on the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Does the bread and wine offered at Mass really become the Body and Blood of the Son of God? How is this possible? Is it not more reasonable to believe that they are only symbols?

With this doubt in his heart, he prepared the gifts on the altar and began to recite the Eucharistic prayer. As he repeated Jesus’ words, “This is my body...This is my blood.” something miraculous happened. The bread which he held in his hands turned into real human flesh and the wine turned into real blood in the chalice.

News of the miracle spread throughout the world. When the pope learned of it, he instituted the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ which we continue to celebrate every summer, two weeks after the feast of Pentecost.

The flesh and blood which appeared on the altar that day over twelve hundred years ago are still visible in that church in Lanciano. Although over twelve centuries have passed, the flesh and blood have not decayed. They are as fresh as the day they miraculously appeared.

Over the years, the flesh and blood have been tested by scientists the most recent being in 1971. Two professors from the University of Siena examined them and found that the flesh was human heart tissue and the blood was also human with the same blood type as the flesh. Both the heart tissue and the blood were determined to be as fresh as they would have been had they been just recently taken from a human body. After examining the chemical structure, they found no traces of preservatives such as formaldehyde to explain why the heart tissue and blood had no signs of decomposition. Finally, they concluded that there was no scientific explanation for the events that took place in Lanciano.  Their findings were published in one of Italy’s foremost journals of medicine.

The miracle at Lanciano is only one of many eucharistic miracles that Jesus offers us to strengthen our faith in His real presence in the Blessed Sacrament. However, the fact is that a true miracle takes place every day on altars all over the world - simple bread and wine become the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God .

When we receive the Eucharist, we are truly receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. It is not just a symbol. It is not just a way of remembering all He did to save us. Rather it is the source and summit of our Christian life. It is our intimate union with our God and Savior. It is the promise of His real presence with His Church until the end of time.

It is very tempting for us in this age which is always looking for a scientific explanation for everything to doubt that the miracle of the Eucharist can take place. Like the monk in Lanciano, we want to reduce communion to a mere symbol and a simple remembrance of Jesus. However, that is not at all what Jesus taught. He told the apostles very plainly at the Last Supper, “This is my Body...This is my Blood.” Furthermore, none of the early Christians living in the first few centuries after Jesus’ death ever taught that the Eucharist was merely a symbol. All throughout the history of the Church, there was agreement that when we receive communion, we are receiving the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

Nonetheless, Jesus understands that this is a difficult teaching for many to grasp and comprehend. As we see in today’s gospel, in His own day many people rejected and were even repulsed by Jesus’ words that He would give them His flesh to eat and His blood to drink. A quarrel even broke out as He was spelling it all out for them. Rather than tell them He was only speaking symbolically, he re-emphasizes his meaning: “My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.”

If we find ourselves struggling with doubts about this teaching, it is time to turn to Jesus in prayer. Only by faith can we come to embrace this mystery. And faith only comes as a gift through Jesus. We cannot come to such faith only by thinking things through, though that also is important. The only way to come to not only believe but love Jesus present in the Eucharist is to take time in silent meditation before the tabernacle or, even better, before our Lord in Eucharistic Adoration. Sitting in His presence, this wonderful truth becomes seared into our hearts and minds. We are touched and transformed in an invisible way by His presence. Experiencing the peace that only He can give, doubt melts away and it becomes clear to us that Jesus meant what He said when He told us, “This is my Body.... This is my blood.”

Jesus promised to be with us always until the end of the world. That promise is fulfilled in the mystery of the Eucharist. We have the honor today of receiving His Body. Let us ask Him to deepen our faith in this miracle so that we may receive it worthily and be transformed in love even as He has loved us.

Jesus - The Bread Of Life

There is an ache and a restlessness that haunts us throughout our lives. We can reach a certain degree of happiness and fulfillment, but there will always be something missing from it. We always want to be more and to do more. The widespread abuse of alcohol and drugs, the breakdown of marriages and the aimlessness of so many young people testify to the fact that people everywhere are groping for more in life but do not know where to find it.

As Christians, we interpret this restlessness as our desire for God. We believe that when God created us he ripped a hole in our soul that only he could sew back up. He left an emptiness within us that only he could fill. We also know that during our lifetime this emptiness will never be filled until we are with God in our heavenly homeland. In fact, one of the reasons why religious women, brothers and priests do not get married is so that they can stand as signs of the truth that we cannot find total fulfillment in our earthly lives.

The Bible describes this emptiness as a hunger and uses many images of food and of meals to show how God alone can satisfy that hunger. In the first reading, Wisdom is pictured as a woman preparing a banquet for all those tired of seeking happiness in foolish pursuits. The psalm response, "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord", speaks of God's beauty and goodness in terms of delicious foods. Though the second reading from Paul's letter to the Ephesians does not talk specifically about food, he hints at the same idea. When he warns us not to get drunk on wine but to be filled with the Holy Spirit, he is saying in effect, "Do not turn to alcohol to cure your loneliness but turn to the Spirit who alone is capable of filling that emptiness." Finally, in the gospel reading, Jesus calls himself "the living bread come down from heaven." He is the one sent by God to fill up this hunger we all suffer from. He tells us that his flesh is "real food" and his blood "real drink" meaning that it alone can really satisfy that emptiness that God left within us.

The Scriptures also use the image of food to describe our relationship with God because it is so vital to our lives. Just as we cannot live without food, so we cannot live with God. Just as our body requires bread to sustain it, so our souls require God to nourish the gift of eternal life.

This theme is also weaved throughout today's gospel. Jesus promises that whoever eats the bread of life - a bread which is his very body - will never suffer death. That is quite a claim to make! No wonder the crowd listening to Jesus found it hard to understand and accept. Could anyone seriously offer a cure for death, a promise of immortality? Could anyone offer an escape from what we fear most? But that is exactly the bold claim that Jesus is making: "Whoever eats this bread will live forever."

What is the eternal life Jesus promises us who eat his body and blood? What is this life that even survives death? It cannot be a human life because human life does not last forever. If it is eternal and comes from Jesus, it must be God's life, a divine life already living in us, already at work within us who have believed in his only Son and received his Body and Blood. For that reason, we can make the claim that we are God's dear children. Sons and daughters receive life from their parents. They have their parents' blood running in their veins. Just so, we are God's sons and daughters because we have the life of our heavenly Father living within us.

Besides the gift of life, children also receive many of their characteristics from their parents. They look like them, have many of their same talents and often act similarly. Just so, we who are the children of God, who have received eternal life through him, are to be imitators of God. We are to be people who follow the way of love that Jesus followed. The eternal life we receive from the Father manifests itself when we choose love rather than hate. When we have been hurt we do not seek revenge but to forgive. Following Jesus' way of love means that a man and a woman wait until they are in the committed relationship of marriage before making love rather than risk using the other as an object. To love as Jesus loved means we give to those around us the attention and care we would like others to show to us. We know that Jesus is truly living within us and that God's life is really at work in us when everything we say and do is marked by love.

We come to Jesus at this Mass today simply because we need him. Nothing else can satisfy the deepest craving of our heart for the love and life of God the Father which only Jesus can bring us.  Our heavenly Father has prepared a banquet for us, the Body and Blood of his Son, given to us out of love. And yet it is not enough for us to receive that love. We must also give it away to all those we meet. As God has fed us, so we are to feed others. Then the love and the life of God can take root in our hearts, and we can know the great joy that our hearts were created to contain.

God Lifts Up The Lowly

It is a theme that runs throughout the whole Bible. When God is preparing to do a great work in the world, He chooses the weak rather than the strong. When He wants to reveal Himself, He chooses to speak through the uneducated rather than through the intelligent. He prefers to work through the humble rather than the proud.

We see this in the story of Abraham. When God wanted to raise up a great nation, He did not choose a young virile man or a robust, healthy woman. Rather He chose Abraham, an elderly man already well past His prime. And He chose Sarah, a woman who had never been able to have children and was well past childbearing age. Through these two, the most unlikely of parents, God raised up the people of Israel.

We also see this at work in the story of the anointing of David as king of Israel. God sent the prophet, Samuel, to the house of Jesse to choose one of his sons to be king. Samuel assumed that it would be one of the older sons. However, God had a different plan. He chose Jesse’s youngest son, David, to be king over Israel. Through this most unlikely of kings, God gave the people of Israel victory over their enemies and made them dwell securely in the land He had given them.

God’s greatest miracle, the birth of Jesus Christ, came also through the most unlikely of women. Mary was a young virgin when the angel Gabriel appeared to her to ask her to be the mother of the Messiah. God chose a virgin to make it clear that the child to be born would be “called the Son of the Most High.” There was to be no question who this child was - the Son of God made man. God used Mary, the most unlikely of women, to bring Jesus into the world to save us.

We also see throughout the Bible that God does not simply choose one mission for a person to complete. Rather, working for God is  a lifetime commitment. We see this clearly in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her mission was not through when she gave birth to Jesus. It did not end even when He became an adult. Rather, she accompanied Jesus throughout His ministry all the way up to the cross. After His resurrection, she was present when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles on Pentecost. Now, in heaven, she continues to serve as Mother of the Church, bringing our prayers and needs to Jesus.

Finally, God shares His glory with those who say “yes” to His call. God gave Abraham glory in being called the father of a great nation. God also gave David glory as the king of Israel. Mary is no different. However, the glory that God had planned for her was not to be evident in her lifetime. She continued to live as the humble handmaid of the Lord. Her glory, instead, was to be revealed in heaven, at the right hand of her Son, where she was taken, body and soul, to reign forever as Queen of Heaven and Earth.

On this great Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we celebrate the great gift Mary received to be taken body and soul into heaven. Just as she stood faithfully at the foot of the cross, suffering alongside her Son, so she now stands in Heaven participating in  the glory of His resurrection.

This great feast is not only an opportunity for us to commemorate our Blessed Mother in Heaven. It is also a reason for us to rejoice in hope because of God’s promise that, if we are baptized and believe in Jesus,  we will also be raised from the dead. God wants to share His glory with us who have said “yes” to the mission He has entrusted to us. No matter how humble it may seem, if we do it faithfully, we can look forward to being raised body and soul to the glory of heaven. Unlike Mary, we will have to wait for the end of time. Nonetheless, we can stand firm in the hope that an everlasting glory awaits us in heaven.

God chooses the weak, the powerless and the humble to carry out His work to make it clear that it is not by human effort that salvation comes to the world but by God’s power. We see this clearly in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We look to her now because she gives us hope that we, like her, will one day be in Heaven. And we entrust ourselves to her motherly intercession to preserve us as we struggle in this life with our eyes fixed on the glory that awaits us with Mary in the presence of her Son, Jesus Christ.

Why Do We Honor Mary?

We honor the Blessed Virgin Mary above all women who have ever lived. Because she had the great honor of carrying our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ within her very body, we celebrate her life of faith with many feasts throughout the year, including today. As she says of herself, “From this day all generations will call me blessed.”

There are many, however, who question the honor we show to Mary. They wonder if it somehow takes away from the honor that is due to God alone. By acknowledging our Blessed Mother, are we offending our Heavenly Father who alone deserves all glory and praise.

A few examples should help us understand how it is that by honoring Mary we also give honor to her Son, Jesus.

Often when we look out at the created world we cannot help but marvel at the beauty of it all. When we see the majesty of the ocean or the awesome expanse of the universe, does it not lead us to give praise to the God who created it all? Does it not cause us to wonder how great the God who brought it all forth from nothing must be? Just so, when we honor Mary’s role as mother of our Saviour and the deep faith with which she lived her life, do we not also honor our Heavenly Father who created her and endowed her with so many graces?

Another helpful example is that of an artist. If I were to praise a masterful painting, would the artist be offended? If I were to go on and on about how moving a piece of sculpture is, would the one who created it say that by doing so I was ignoring her? Of course not. The painter or sculptor would take pride in my recognition of his or her masterpiece. Just so, when we recognize the beauty of our Blessed Mother we are honoring the God who made her.

Of all her wonderful qualities, the one fact of her life that we celebrate is her “yes” in participating with God in bringing forth Jesus. Without that “yes”, our Lord and Savior could not be born. Our Heavenly Father did not coerce or force Mary to be the mother of His Son. Rather He sent an angel to invite her to play such a momentous role in our salvation. In total trust in God’s plan, she put aside her own plans and dreams. Though she may never have fully understood how it would all turn out, she stood at Jesus’ side right up to His death on the cross.

Because of her faithfulness, God rewarded her with the dignity of being assumed, body and soul, into heaven. Just as she was the first to believe, just as she was the first to say “yes” and give herself fully to God’s plan, so she is the first to enjoy the crowning achievement of salvation - the resurrection of the dead. Our Heavenly Father would not allow her sinless body to lay corrupt in the grave, but raised her up and made her Queen of Heaven.

Her life serves as an example for us. We will not serve the Kingdom of God in the same way she did. However, each of us has a part to play. Each of us must say “yes” on a daily basis to God’s will. Like Mary, we will not always understand how it will all play out. But our trust and abandonment to our Heavenly Father in faith is indispensable to bringing about the salvation of the world.

This feast in particular reminds us where our hope lies. As we recite every Sunday in the Creed, “We look forward to the resurrection of the dead.” Like Mary, we hold on to God’s promise that if we have suffered with Jesus, we will also reign with Him. The eternal life of heaven and the resurrection of our bodies awaits all of us who not only believe that Jesus is the Son of God but who stake our lives on it by living according to His teaching no matter what the cost.

We honor God, our Heavenly Father, when we reverence His most beautiful creature, the Blessed Virgin Mary. He has given her to us to be our Mother, to pray for us, to serve as an example for us and to give us hope that we too will share in the eternal life she now enjoys at the throne of her Son, Jesus. As we receive the Body of Christ, the Body that Mary carried in her womb with so much love and the Body which rose from the dead to give us the hope of everlasting life, let us say “yes” together with her to the plan of God which is still unfolding in history and which will one day culminate in the victory of Christ over sin, suffering and death.

The Gift Of Faith

If you and I had been alive when Jesus walked the earth, would we have believed in Him? If we had seen Him with our own eyes and heard Him speak, would we have followed Him? Would we have left behind our old ideas about religion and society to put faith in a man who claimed to be not only the Messiah but the Son of God?

These questions help us to understand some of the struggles the people of Jesus’ day faced when confronted with His preaching. He claimed not only to have unique insights into the mind of God, but He claimed to be God Himself. No wonder the people of His day had so much trouble understanding and accepting Him.

Nonetheless, many did come to believe in Jesus. Many left their jobs and families to follow Him. And after He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, many gave their lives to spread the gospel. What did they know that the religious leaders didn’t know? How were Jesus’ disciples different from the crowds that rejected Him and later called for Him to be crucified? Were they smarter or better people than those who thought Jesus was nothing more than a troublemaker?

Jesus speaks about this in today’s gospel. Believing in Him is a gift from the Father. As Jesus puts it, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him...” Those who accept Jesus’ teaching and follow Him do so because they have been given faith directly from God. It is not because they were smarter than everyone else or better people. For some mysterious reason known only to God Himself, they received a special gift of faith.

The same is true for us in our day. Why is it that the gospel message is so compelling to us? Why is it that many of us have changed our lives in sometimes radical ways to live up to the ideal of life in Christ? At the same time, we see a world with so many people who have rejected Jesus and His Church. We see so much hostility to the gospel message even among our family members and friends. Why are we different? We might be tempted to believe that we are smarter or better people than those who refuse to accept the gospel, but that would not be what Jesus taught. The simple fact is that, for some mysterious reason, we have been given the light of faith whereas others have not or have been given less light than we enjoy.

This is a very important truth for us to reflect on and consider. Faith is a gift. It is not something we have achieved or a title we have earned. It comes to us directly from the Father. Therefore, none of us can boast about it. It should not be a source of pride for us or a reason for us to have a judgmental attitude toward those who seem to lack faith. We could just as easily not have been given this gift. The only proper response for us is to humbly accept this gift and live it with the grace that comes from God.

The other truth we must consider is that, if we have been given this gift, we will be accountable to our Heavenly Father about how we have used it. Have we lived our faith in such a way that others have seen the beauty and truth of the gospel message? Have we loved others, served the poor, counseled the doubtful and guided the lost by the light we have received? Or have we kept it to ourselves? Jesus warns us that much will be expected from those to whom much has been given. We have been given the greatest treasure of all - faith in the Son of God. How are we putting that gift to use to draw others to Jesus?

It is true that we live our faith in the midst of a world that is indifferent to the gospel and often hostile to it. It is difficult to hold fast to the teaching of Jesus when so often it is called into question, ridiculed and attacked. We need to have that gift of faith nourished and refreshed if it is to withstand all the trials that will come. Like Elijah in today’s first reading who is strengthened by the cake and jug of water provided by the angel, we need a heavenly food to sustain us in our life of faith.

That nourishment comes to us through the Eucharist. As Jesus tells us, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven...and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Just as our bodies require food to energize them, so our spirits need heavenly nourishment to keep them strong. It is vitally important for us to receive the Eucharist as well as the other sacraments as frequently as possible so that this gift we have received at the cost of Jesus’ death can continue to sustain us and inspire others.

Mother Angelica, the founder of the Catholic global television network, EWTN, once said, “Faith is having one foot on the ground, one in the air and a queasy feeling in your stomach.”  Following Jesus often means making sacrifices, being rejected by others and foregoing many of the pleasures that this world offers. But what we receive in return - an intimate knowledge of God’s love, friendship with Jesus and the hope of eternal life - cannot compare to anything this world can offer. What we have received as a gift, we must know give as a gift so that even more people can be drawn to Jesus by the Father and share with us the joy of faith in the Son of God who gives His flesh for the life of the world.

Reflecting The Compassion Of God

About half of the New Testament is made up of the letters of Saint Paul. Unlike those written by Saint James, Saint John and Saint Peter, Saint Paul's letters are addressed to specific Christian communities in the areas that are now Turkey, Greece and Italy. In effect, the letters to the Romans, the Galatians, the Corinthians and others are written to communities which we today would call "parishes" to instruct them on the mystery of Christ and how they might live the faith they have received in a fuller and richer way.

Our second reading today is taken from Saint Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus. Ephesus was an important seaport city with a rich diversity of people, and like the city, the church there was made up of people of very different backgrounds. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that Ephesus was one of the earliest Christian communities to be established after Pentecost and that there were even disciples of John the Baptist there. Nonetheless, like the parishes of our own day, it was a church that suffered many divisions, a community torn apart by conflict among its different groups. We can tell by the words Saint Paul uses in today's reading that their gatherings were marked by shouting, fury and anger. Someone looking in from the outside would not recognize them to be a church marked by the love of Christ. And so one of the purposes of Paul's letter is to remind them that loving Christ means also loving our neighbor and that our worship of the living God is useless if it is not making us kind, compassionate and mutually forgiving. 

Today's reading gives us as a parish an opportunity to ask ourselves whether we are a community marked by the love of Christ. Are we a reflection of the compassion of God or are we here to meet our obligation and go home? These are important questions because our success as a parish depends not on how much money we raise or on how many children we graduate from our religious education program but on how we imitate the love, compassion and forgiveness of the God we worship. 

Every parish, like every family, suffers from infighting, jealousy and gossiping. We cannot claim to be any different. To the extent that each of us participates in it or allows others to participate in it, we are all to blame. The root cause of any divisions in our parish is really our unwillingness to forgive. We work closely together as a parish community, and it is inevitable that someone is going to say something thoughtless which will hurt our feelings. There are times when we will feel that our work is taken for granted and not appreciated. Or there are people who for whatever reason just get under our skin. As long as we are a parish made up of human beings, we will offend each other from time to time. By holding on to our grudges, however, we are only allowing bitterness to take hold of our hearts and poison our community. When we are unwilling to forgive, we give the person who hurt us power to steal our inner peace and hinder our relationship with God. It is imperative that each one of us forgive one other from the heart for our own sakes and for the sake of our parish community. Only then will our worship be pleasing to our heavenly Father who has so richly forgiven us in Christ.

If we are to grow as a community which models the love and compassion of Jesus, then we must also be a welcoming community. Everyone should feel as though they have a place at the table with us - the poor man, the homeless, the immigrant, the sinner and the saint. Jesus tells us in today's gospel that no one comes to him unless he is drawn by the Father. Do we accept and welcome those who are drawn to our community by the Spirit? Do we marshal their gifts and talents in service of the gospel? Can we look around this church and recognize God at work in each of us so that we are not just a nameless bunch of people but a community of faith and love called together by the Spirit? Our answer to these questions will determine just how effectively we are living the gospel message.

The story is told of a priest stationed at a parish in a popular beach resort area. There was a strong community of year round parishioners who served the parish well. However, during the summer months, the number of parishioners would swell with those who had seasonal residences in the area and tourists. One Saturday afternoon, a young man walked into the church for Mass straight off the beach with just a bathing suit on and a towel draped over his shoulder - no shirt, no shoes and his long, dirty blond hair still dripping wet. He walked straight up the center aisle and sat on the floor in front of the first row of pews. Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do.  The priest was about to send an altar boy over to invite him to at least sit in a pew, when one of the oldest members of the parish got up to approach the young man. Everyone in the church started to tense up as they expected the older man to scold the young man for being inappropriately dressed for Mass. But instead, the older man walked over and sat on the floor next to the younger man. The whole church burst into applause and laughter at what was so obvious a display of the all-embracing love of our heavenly Father.

I'm not suggesting that we should encourage people to come to Mass in bathing suits! But just such a welcoming spirit is required of us if we are to grow as a community marked by the presence of Christ.

We gather in this place today to worship a God who sent his only Son to die for us. We gather at this table to receive the living bread come down from heaven. Each of us is  drawn hear by our heavenly Father and called to be a reflection of his love, compassion and forgiveness. By putting away our bitterness, jealousy and grudges we can become a community of believers wherein each person feels welcomed and challenged by the gospel message. It is the life that we are called to as followers of Christ.

Chasing Illusions

Over the years, we hear hundreds of stories of how people came to believe in Jesus Christ and dedicate their lives to Him. Many of them follow a familiar pattern.

First, they start off following a dream of worldly success. Some people dreamed of becoming famous athletes while others yearned for wealth. Throughout their lives, they made sacrifices to pursue their goals. Sometimes, marriages were ruined because of their passion to fulfill their dreams. Eventually, because of their hard work and determination, they reach their goal. They become more famous than they ever thought possible. Or, they made more money than they could ever hope to spend. However, when they had reached the heights of success, they found themselves asking, “Is this all there is? Was this worth all the sacrifices I’ve made?”

Then, they begin to ask themselves the deep questions. Why am I here? What purpose is there to life? What am I meant to do with my life? If they are honest with themselves, they come to find the answers to those questions in Jesus Christ. Then they find the fulfillment they had been seeking in money, fame, success and pleasure.

Like many of us, they believed the lie that we can find our ultimate happiness in this world. They confused “having more”  with being fulfilled. Chasing the false promises of this world only led to frustration. In a never ending search for that “something more”, happiness remained elusive. They were caught in a cycle of chasing one illusion, finding that it didn’t satisfy and then chasing after another illusion.

In today’s second reading, Saint Paul tells us “you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.” Chasing after the things of this world is, ultimately, futile. It cannot meet the deepest need of our heart which is union with God. As Christians, we have found the answer to the questions, “Why am I here? What purpose is there to life? What am I meant to do with my life?”

Because we have found our ultimate purpose in Jesus Christ, we must live differently than our brothers and sisters without faith do. It must be clear that we have different priorities than those who place their hope merely in the things of this world. If our faith is not reflected in our behavior, then our faith isn’t real.

How are we, as Christians, different from those who lack faith?

The first difference is that Christians put God’s will before their own. As Jesus taught us, we pray, “thy will be done” rather than “my will be done”. People who live only for this world need to assert themselves. They believe they will only be happy by getting what they want. However, people of faith trust in God. They understand that God really wants what is best for us. In fact, only He knows what will truly make us happy. Therefore, our first question always is “what will please God” rather than “what will please me.”

The second difference is that people of faith seek first the things of heaven rather than the things of earth. We still need to eat, we still need homes to live in, we still need money. However, these are not our primary concerns. Because we have faith that God will provide us with all that we need, we do not worry about those things. Rather, we ground ourselves in the things that last, the things of heaven. Because of that, we are free to give what we have to the needy and volunteer our time. We are not so concerned with our needs that we overlook the needs of our neighbors. And, in the process, we discover that our fulfillment comes not from meeting our own needs but from helping meet the needs of others.

The third difference is that people of faith truly love their neighbors. Those who are caught up in the lie that they have to get ahead to be happy or that they need more stuff to be fulfilled see other people as obstacles or competitors. Or, in their quest to be successful, they see people as objects to be used to help them advance. However, Christians see people not as “others” but as “brothers”. Because God’s love burns in our hearts, we understand that we cannot be truly happy if we have enough of this world’s goods while our sisters and brothers are suffering in poverty. We find happiness, then, not in hoarding things out of fear that there won’t be enough for us but in giving things away, even going without, so that others may have what they need. In the process, we discover that fulfillment comes not from filling ourselves up but from emptying ourselves for others.

Fourthly, Christians understand their self-worth differently from those who lack faith. Those who have set their hearts on the things of this world measure their worth in dollars and cents. There is nothing more important to them than what others think of them. So they are always trying to impress, always trying to have more than others, always fighting to come up on top. People of faith, however, measure themselves by how much they love. We are focused not on accomplishments but on relationships. What is important to us is not how much we get done but how much love we put into our work.

People of faith have found the secret to happiness. It is God. Only He can meet the deepest need of our heart because He created our hearts. When we give our lives over to Him, we live differently and find our ultimate fulfillment.

There is another pattern in most conversion stories. Usually those who become disillusioned with the things of this world meet someone who is full of joy and peace. They see in that person the fulfillment and happiness they have been seeking in the things of this world. They ask the person what that secret is and they reply, “It is faith in Jesus Christ.” Let us, then, be that person who is different. Let us be that person who is so filled with joy and peace that others ask us what our secret is. Then we can share with them the good news of Jesus Christ and, in so doing, we will have realized our ultimate purpose in life.

Futility

Futility.

The dictionary defines it as the quality of being ineffective or useless. We sometimes describe it as banging our head against the wall or going nowhere fast. We know what we want but no matter how hard we try we just don't seem to be able to achieve it. Happiness, security and love seem to be just beyond our grasp.

Futility describes the experience of many people in the business world. They go to the right schools, graduate near the top of the class, land prestigious jobs with impressive titles and earn exorbitant salaries and bonuses. They thought that status and wealth would give them the security and the self-esteem they so desired. However, no matter how much they achieve, they still feel frightened and alone. They can’t help but ask themselves, "Is this all there is?" They experience the futility of chasing after worldly success. It does not deliver on its promise of security and esteem..

Futility describes the experience of so many young people in our world today. They so long to love and to be loved but find it difficult if not impossible to negotiate all the unwritten rules of relationships in a culture obsessed with sex. Our society promises them that having sex will give them a sense of fulfillment and make them adults. They are told it is the way of filling up the emptiness they feel inside. However, the experience of sex outside of marriage turns out to be painful. They feel emptier than ever before and the sting of rejection leaves them feeling worthless. They experience the futility of chasing after uncommitted sex. It does not deliver on its promise to satisfy and empower us.

Our world is burdened by a sense of futility. We never reach the fulfillment that we desire and that the world falsely promises. Sometimes we are tempted to give up, telling ourselves that we will never really be happy. We settle for dysfunctional relationships and fleeting pleasures because we think it is the best we can do. Or we avoid commitment just in case something better comes along. We become indifferent preferring to let our hearts become hard rather than to ever feel hurt or disappointed again. We give into the futility of life rather than strive for something more.

St. Paul tells us in today's second reading that we have been delivered from the futile way of life our fathers handed on to us. The path to happiness society points out to us – worldly success, fame, pleasure and possessions – is not the only way. In fact, it only leads to futility and unfulfillment. Jesus Christ is the only way to meet our deepest need for joy, security and love. God created our innermost being and put within it those desires. And only he is great enough to fulfill and meet the longing within us. If you are haunted by that feeling that something is missing in your life, it is most likely the presence of Jesus. All you need to do is turn to him, invite him into your life and watch the change take place.

Once Jesus becomes the center of our lives and the source of our fulfillment, we start to see the other areas of our life change.

First of all, we experience more peace and joy in our relationships. We no longer look to others to meet all our needs and cure our sense of loneliness and isolation. We become less demanding and more giving. Because our fear of rejection becomes less intense, we are not afraid to give love more freely. In so doing, we discover the spiritual truth that the more we give the more we receive. Our relationships become sources of encouragement and joy for us because we accept others as they are, with the same weaknesses and faults that we have. Overcoming the futility of trying to meet all our needs through others, we discover the joy that comes from loving them unconditionally.

Secondly, when we invite Jesus into our lives,  our experience of work even changes. We no longer look at our jobs or our school work as ways of showing everyone how important we are but as ways of serving others. Rather than trying to gain power over others, we start looking for ways to help them. Our time and energy goes more into building relationships than building wealth. We begin to have a sense that we are really doing something worthwhile with our lives and are really making a difference. This renewed sense of purpose helps us to deal better with difficulties in our schools and places of business. We no longer fear that problems that come up or challenges from our co-workers will expose just how incompetent we are. Rather we look at them as opportunities to grow and to learn. The futility of trying to find our place in the world through wealth and worldly success gives way to the joy of serving others when Jesus becomes the center of our lives.

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us: “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you…” The sad reality of life in the world today is that so many people spend their time, energy and even ruin their health and relationships chasing after what, in the end, fails to satisfy them. All the while, Jesus offers the fulfillment, love and peace we seek free of cost. It is ours for the asking if we simply turn to Him.

We are about to receive the Bread of Life, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Only He can soothe the aching of our hearts. Only He can meet the deepest need within us. The good news is that He is eager to do so. We only need to stretch out our hands to Him in faith and receive the Body of Christ with the word, “Amen.” Then the futility of this life will give way to the joy which lasts to eternal life.