Stories Are Gift - Christmas Homily 2010

I hold in my hand what could be a hot commodity right now. After all the running around we've all done to prepare for Christ's coming. Could anybody go for a nice hot cup of Starbucks coffee?

If there is one thing you should know about me if you do not already is that Starbucks and I are pretty close. Not like me and Jesus close, but close. Starbucks could even be considered, dare I say, sacramental? JK! And so, to know me is to know that part of my personal story is that a good cup of coffee, Starbucks in particular, is part of my life.

One thing I have noticed over the past couple of months is the message that is printed on the sleeve, for the coffee cup. The sleeve, the thing that allows us to pick up a cup of peppermint mocha goodness worry free! Anyway, the message on the cup sleeve this holiday season is: "STORIES ARE GIFTS - SHARE"

Stories are gifts, share. Stories are gifts, share. As I reflected upon Christmas this year I kept coming back to this phrase. I kept wondering why? Well, I realized that if we are to truly make good about the mystery of this Christmas season, of Christ coming to earth and taking on flesh, then it is imperative that we share our Christmas story.

Now it would be easy for me to tell you to go home and along with your loved ones share stories of Christmas past. Stories of the hours you spent baking cookies or stringing popcorn, stories about family traditions, stories about a special gift you gave or received. It would even been easy for me to tell you to go home and tell the Christmas story that is near and dear to us Clevelanders, that of Ralphie and is quest for the Red Ryder BB gun!

We all have these kinds of Christmas stories. For example, just the other day I was helping my grandmother set up her nativity set and she was describing some of the scenery that go with her set, where some of the pieces came from, and part of her Christmas story that is now part of my own. Now,it would be easy for me to tell you, that as you pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie, to share these stories; but the reality is is that these are not the Christmas stories we are called to share.

You see if we want to make good on what this Feast and Season of Christmas is all about... If we really want to share the Christmas story of Christ taking on flesh... of God breaking into our humanity... of God being born in us... a mystery and a story that strikes to very core of our Christianity... of our humanity... then we are called to share a different kind of Christmas story.

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, every time we share stories of when we've experienced the presence of God whether in good times or bad; when we name and claim these stories we become deeply aware of the presence, the grace of God at work in us and in doing so, we proclaim to the world the essence of the Christmas season... the story of Christ being born in us... the story of Emmanuel "God is with us!"

What is your Christmas story? Is it a story of the triumph? A story of how your faith has made a difference in your life? A story of how your faith has helped you or helped you to help another? A story of how even in struggle someone reached out to you? These stories are gifts that we are called to share because when we share these stories we open our eyes to the reality that Christmas is not a December 25th thing but an everyday thing! By sharing the stories of when we found ourselves on fire for God or even the times of struggle and someone reached out to us or we reached out to someone else; we share the Christmas story, the story of Christ being born in us, day in and day out.

It is important for us to share these Christmas stories because when we do this we proclaim to the world that our God is indeed alive! When we share these Christmas stories, these God experiences, we proclaim to the darkness, "you got nothin'!"

Stories are gifts, share. Our personal Christmas Stories are gifts, share.

And so I ask you my brothers and sisters, when you gather with family and friends, what Christmas story will you share? How will you proclaim, Emmanuel "God is with us." Will you share a story of triumph? A story of when your faith made all the difference? What Christmas story will you share?

Divine Mercy Sunday (2nd Sunday of Easter) homily

This past weekend we just celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday instituted by our late Holy Father Pope John Paul The Great! This is a devotion that started to spread back in the 1930's based on the revelations given to St. Faustina Kowalska and for further information on Divine Mercy Sunday please visit: www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/index.htm

DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY HOMILY:

You may recall, (if old enough), in the early 1980s there was this mystery illness that started to gain attention and caused medical professionals to take notice. No one really knew how it was spread, what caused it, who was vulnerable, what was the best course of treatment, was there even any treatment, etc. so needless to say, there was a lot of fear, questions, stigma, misjudgments, and mystery surrounding this illness we now know to be HIV/AIDS. As you continue to read, remember the cultural climate of this situation, if you cannot recall this time period or were not alive then, imagine the fears associated with H1N1 Flu; multiply that by at least 10x! At least with H1N1 we know it is a form of the flu, with HIV/AIDS in the early 1980s it was a complete unknown in almost every way shape and form.

At the same time, a true story mind you, there was a young Franciscan priest residing at a parish in New York City along with three other parochial vicars (a.k.a. associate pastor) and a very prim and proper Monsignor who was the pastor. The Monsignor was a very well kept person, not a hair out of place, cuff links, the whole nine yards.

One day at dinner the Monsignor informed the other priests that a parishioner had called explaining that her son was in a local hospital dying of this mystery illness and was wondering if someone would visit him. The Monsignor proceeded to ask the parochial vicars if they would be free to visit this gentleman. One by one however, they politely excused themselves, perhaps for legitimate reasons or perhaps motivated by fear, who knows. Then the Monsignor looked at the Franciscan priest in residence and asked him, if he would be interested in going. The young Franciscan priest didn't say no but did acknowledge that he wasn't sure what he would say. Then the Monsignor asked, "Will you go if I go with you?"

The next day the two priests departed for the hospital. Before they entered the hospital room of the dying man, shrouded in in the mystery of this illness, they shrouded themselves in all sorts of protective gear, gloves, masks, hazard suits, etc. Then upon entering the room, the Monsignor seeing the dying gentleman, did something very uncharacteristic. Despite all the fears and implications it could have for him and/or his future ministry he took off his protective gear, his hazard suit, mask, gloves, everything and hugged the dying man. At this the dying man was in tears explaining this was the first time in a long time that anyone had embraced him, period! The Monsignor was also in tears and very touched explained to the young Franciscan priest, "I have been able to be for someone what Jesus has been for me everyday."

The dying man in the story was bound by the circumstances of his situation. Sometimes we too are bound by the circumstances of our own life situations or by our sins, or by own judgments, struggles, or sense of worthlessness. Whatever the case is, let us be clear, that the God's Divine Mercy, and what we celebrate today is about much more than going to the sacraments of Reconciliation, receiving the Eucharist, and the other prescribed prayers of the devotion. Divine Mercy Sunday is about coming to a deeper realization of the presence of God's mercy and just how much in love and in mercy God is reaching out to us.

The celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday stands in testimony to the very fact that God is and continues to reach out to us. God reaches out to us despite our past short comings, despite what we may or may not think of ourselves, despite any sense of worthlessness; God is reaches out to us!

In the sacraments God give us His complete and total forgiveness in the sacrament of Reconciliation and reminds us how much he reaches out us in the Eucharist. It is the Eucharist that we understand how much God loves us. AND this is why it is so good to be Catholic! For it is all well and good to give praise to God, to read and reflect upon the Sacred Scripture, but it is so much more to receive our Lord in the Eucharist. For it is in the Eucharist that, as we receive our Lord, we become ONE WITH HIM. Our God reaches out to us and loves so much that it is not good enough for Him to just receive our praise and worship but He gives Himself to us in His Body and Blood so that we may become one with Him.

In the cross we see the Lord reaching out to us. Yes, Jesus' arms were stretched wide on the cross for obvious reasons due to the shape of the cross. However, let us be clear, Jesus' posture on the cross is not simply a matter of circumstance but a matter of LOVE. Jesus' stretched arms on the cross remind us that He is always there to embrace us with arms wide open.

In our brothers and sisters the Lord also makes His mercy known. In the case of the Monsignor the dying man was able to know God's mercy and love. In the way we receive the embrace of others we can experience God's mercy and the way in which we reach out to others we can extend that mercy too.

And as we look to the scriptures this Sunday and in particular the Gospel, (Jn. 20:19-31 ). In the Gospel we see that despite their circumstances and fears that even a locked door was not going to keep Jesus out of the lives of the disciples. Jesus came and reached out to them, and said, "Peace be with you," despite their uncertainty and anxieties. This tells us that nothing will or can keep Christ away from us not even the locked doors of our hearts. We only need to embrace the mercy God is extending to us.

Furthermore, even when we are rooted more in struggle and doubt than faith as was Thomas, we see in what Christ did for him that our Lord will never stop reaching out to us and never stop doing what it takes to reach out to us in Word, Sacrament, or deed. As if to say, 'fine, if it takes you putting your fingers in my hands and your hand into my side to know that I am here, to know that I am very much alive, and to know that I LOVE YOU, then do it!'

My brothers and sisters in Christ, this weekend we celebrate God's Divine Mercy, reminding us that God continually reaches out to us in love. Despite our circumstances or what we can or cannot see, God is reaching out to us. May we embrace His mercy and offer that others in return.

Easter Mission

As we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday and throughout this Easter Season it is a time filled with joy, hope, and at times confusion. Yes, that's right, I said confusion. What do I mean by this???

Well, if we take a moment to think about it, how can we say that we believe in the resurrection which was meant to bring peace, joy, and hope and at the same time we see a world filled with violence, anger, famine, war, and other strife? While this negativity and certainly influence us or take the wind out of sails at times let us be clear that while down we are not down and out, while down we are not down for the count!!!

We always carry at least two things with us.

First is the hope we gain from the renewal of our baptismal promises. In this Easter Season we reclaim who we are, what we believe and what we are about!

Second is a sense of mission. Just as we were on a mission during our Lenten journey to grow closer to the Lord, we carry the same sense of mission into our Easter celebration. Armed with the faith we have renewed we are called to take that with us and share it everywhere we go!

Sort of like Kashi has 7 whole grains on a mission for a healthy life, WE the CHURCH have 7 Sacraments and 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit on a mission for the life of the world!

May we take the grace we receive by faith and the sacraments and bring that to where there is hatred, strife, despair, and by doing so, be the light and live the resurrection the world so desperately needs! By living out this Easter joy and taking it wherever we go we will help others to witness the resurrection in their midst!!! It will help others to take the resurrection from something that we not only believe but we experience too!

Peace be with you!

PICK UP THE BABY - A Christmas Homily

About a month ago I had the opportunity to hold my cousin's new born daughter Madison. Holding a new born baby is in many was so awesome it is indescribable at least of which we know that it is a blessing beyond our wildest imaginations. For myself, it had been a while in my life since I had held a newborn and so in some ways I had forgotten this blessing. Since the moment I held Madison, I was inspired by the Spirit to think about the great feast of Christmas. I found myself marveling at the miracle of new life and what the future held for little Madison. I also thought about the similarities between holding Madison and the baby we all embrace at Christmas, Jesus our Lord, our Savior, our Brother.

The image of a baby, the newborn Jesus to some is considered a "weak" image but that view could not be further from the truth. In a newborn lies one of the most powerful images possible; an image capable of transcending so much. For in holding a newborn who isn't in awe of the miracle of life? Who is not thankful for new life? Who is not filled with hope? Who does not stop and ponder the future and possibilities ahead for this new one? Who doesn't for even just a moment, sense all is just as it should be in our world? Really, no matter what may come, above and beyond all within us, when we hold a baby this also this innate sense that it must protected, nurtured, and encouraged to grow to it's fullest potential. AND! Cannot all of what we just said of a newborn can be translated to our faith?

Our faith is life in Christ, our faith allows Christ to be incarnated within. Our faith too must be protected, nurtured, and fostered. In addition, we must also ponder the future and allow our faith to help us discern God's will!

As we rejoice in the newborn baby Jesus may we take time to pick up the baby. When anger takes hold may we lay it down and pick up the baby. When pride, jealousy, and envy weigh heavy on our hearts may we lay it down and pick up the baby. When we are filled with doubt, anxiety, and fear may we lay it down and pick up the baby. When we feel we are loosing hope and all patience, may we lay it down and pick up the baby. When the world rejects us because of our faith, may we pick up the baby.

In picking up the baby we become the heralds of God's profound love proclaiming great joy for all people. In picking up the baby we become light to those walking in darkness who tell of our God-Hero, Wonder-Counselor, Father-Forever, our Prince of Peace. In picking up the baby we draw ourselves to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately and justly as we await in blessed hope, the return of Jesus to earth.

May we: pick up the baby!

What shall we celebrate?

What do you anticipate celebrating at Christmas? The joy of the birth of Christ? Joy of the season? The love of God, family, and friends? Christmas is a special time of the year which evokes many special things in all of us. One of the things that can get lost amidst the hustle and bustle of the season and often goes unsung is the celebration of the incarnation of Christ in all of us! With everything that goes on during the Christmas season, it is definitely hard to focus on the very fact that Christ is within us! The gospel of the 4th Sunday of Advent calls us to do just that; that is: to celebrate the incarnation of Christ within. However, it is at times, hard to take hold of this realization. In fact, sometimes it is easier to image far off sci-fy lands of Avatar then it is to increase an awareness of the Christ in each of us. Us who bear the image of Christ, who as Christians, are called to be little Christs!

The previous weeks of Advent have been preparing us to deepen our awareness of the incarnation Christ within; let us note the pattern! First week of Advent: Vigilance - cleaning out the junk in our lives, aware of what needs to change. Second week of Advent - make straight the paths, putting aside the twisted muck we place in our lives that draw us away from Christ. Third week of Advent: a renewal of the call to faith and duty as children of God that we called to fulfill daily! NOW, the 4th Sunday of Advent show us through Mary and Elizabeth that if we are completely open to God's will that God will work with us and be incarnated within. Mary by way of her yes literally incarnated Christ into her very being; we do spiritually. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit because of her openness.

If we desire the same for us then we too must seek to grow in giving ourselves completely to God and being completely open to His will. Amen.

Can you tell me what to do???

Day by day - Day by day - Oh Dear Lord - Three things I pray - To see thee more clearly - Love thee more dearly - Follow thee more nearly - Day by day

Well, while I cannot answer the question in the title of this post is a specific manner for every one reading, I will respond in a general way. Oh, and yes, the Godspell kick continues.... LOL Ok, so, What should I do? is the question the people approached John the Baptist with as the Gospel continued from St. Luke during this 3rd week of Advent.

It is interesting, and maybe not so interesting, but anyway, that what John tells the people is not something over the top nor did he reinvent the wheel so to speak. Rather, John calls the people to take up and follow through with the things they have been called to originally and to stop wandering from that call. For example, those who have clothing or food to share and those in charge of money or authority to be honest and responsible. So we see the essential element here, is faithfulness to what we have been called to do in the first place. If we shed ourselves then of any dishonesty or other sinfulness and negativity that has crept into our lives and be about the business of responding faithfully to who and what we are called to be then indeed the paths will be straight within and we will be disposed to receiving God's grace properly.

Often though, many times we think we have to come up with some new random over the top solution to our problems or be really creative or unique. While sometimes there are situations that will call for a little more ingenuity than others, on the whole, if we are faithful to God's call and abandon our wandering then in turn we will experience the grace of God's always faithful love for us! Now onto Wicked!!! ...just like Elphaba sings: Like a ship blown from its mooring by a wind of the see we can drift and so it is then during this season of Advent to bring ourselves back to the dock, to stop the drifting and secure ourselves properly in doing God's will.

...and if we do this day by day then does not Christ grow within us all the more? Is Christ not then born in us again? And while yes we celebrate the birth of Christ which happened some 2000 years ago and anticipate His return, we also celebrate the Christ born in each of us day by day. Christmas, if you want to wrap it up in a bow is a time of thanksgiving, anticipation, and embracing Christ in us is what Christmas really draws us to rejoice in, hope in, and live in!!!

...to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly...

Point in the right DIRECTION

On the 2nd Sunday of Advent we heard that we are to make straight the ways of Lord, so on and so forth, a familiar Advent message from the Gospel of Luke:


“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” (Lk. 3:4b-6)

Now while at first, you may, like myself, have the song Prepare Ye from the musical Godspell running through your head. Ok, so seriously now, the descriptive and metaphorical language of paths, mountains, valleys, hills, and the like are meant to draw us to a self examination of our own ways.

For how often is it that we tend to forsake the age old principle of the shortest distance from point A to point B is a straight line and make long and tangled roads in our lives? How often are we all too comfortable with letting good ol' "time"* solve our problems and allowing things to become drawn out and twisted as opposed to marching directly straight down the road to forgiveness and mercy?

The paths we are called to make straight and valleys we are called to fill are the ones in our own lives. The lack of love, charity, and so on, we are called to reconcile, make straight, and allow the grace of God to flow in us freely rather than with all the roadblocks can put up.

If we allow this grace to flow in us freely, we prepare the way of the Lord, and allow, through a renewal of our own discipleship, Christ to be born in us once again!!! Which reminds us that Christmas is not simply a celebration of what happened approximately 2,000 years ago, nor is it a celebration of anticipation of when Christ will come again, but it is also an ongoing event everyday. A process of letting Christ be born in us today and everyday by being vigilant towards our anxieties and drowsiness of heart and of making crooked ways straight is also what we rejoice in, and celebrate on December 25th.

Let us not over complicate things, make crooked ways, or devise ways to get from point A to point B that we hope or think are quicker!



*Like the saying, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people," the same is true of time. Time doesn't solve problems, people with the help of God solve problems.

Advent... time of vigilance

As many Advents, or really all, let's be honest, do, the readings this past weekend spoke of anticipation and being on one's guard. Specifically Jesus said that we should be vigilant.

Now with this vigilance, and specifically when it comes to anticipating Christ or the end times, we must always decipher what we are focused on. What do I mean by this? Well, our culture has some O.C.D. going on surrounding end time events such as cosmic disasters, violence, famines, etc. as personified by the movie 2012, the history channel special The Nostradamus Effect, and a new facebook app I saw today about 2012, all of these teach us to be vigilant about big things that really do us no good.

While Jesus did elude to cosmic events taking place in the end times in the sky and such, he mentioned that we should be vigilant in preparing our hearts and shaking off the anxieties that weigh us down. Ultimate Jesus points to an interior focus regarding vigilance not an exterior one. In fact, think about it; has not all the hype of 2012, especially if you buy into it, cause more fear and distress and anxiety too rather than goodness and hope and spiritual growth? Furthermore, are we not lacking in faith and placing our trust in a false hope if we buy into the dooms-day 2012 predictions? Are we saying that the Mayans or Nostradamus know more or are more in charge then God? Let's just say there's going to be one big event that wipes us all out, wouldn't our time be better spent getting to know the God we will meet? And, lastly, not to sound shallow or anything but really, if the world were to end in 2012, isn't that God's job to take care, worry about, and handle, not ours?!

However, if we are vigilant about matters of the interior, i.e. of the heart, mind, and soul, such as, the virtues we struggle with or where we will strive to grow, don't we stand more to gain? Yes, we do!!! For if we are vigilant about shaking off needless anxieties and worries do we not gain the freedom that comes with that? If we concentrate and standing erect before the Lord and purifying our hearts, confronting our struggles, naming and claiming what we do well and where we need to grow, do we not stand to gain a whole bunch more? We do!!!

For if we strengthen what we do well as Christ's disciples and seek to improve where we are lacking, in our quest for growth, Christ is born again within us and amongst others we come into contact with.

While hype and vigilance in the uncertain seems so alluring, we can grow in God's grace which is assuring. While we can buy into hype about what 'might' happen some day, we can grow in God's grace today and everyday. In all of this, we need only to name and claim those areas of strength and growth, be specific and challenge ourselves to allow hope, to allow Christ to be born within us again and again. Should we not place our focus here?

PIE Mania!

With the passing of Thanksgiving, the time for pie mania came and went too. I had a good Thanksgiving with my parish and immediate families. I also had a wonderful time baking Thanksgiving pies... yes, one of my hobbies includes baking pies... put me in a kitchen and I'll bake all day and be completely content. That is exactly what I did!!! While I don't mean to brag, all I can say is: "Bring it on!" Baker's Square and Marie Callendar!!!

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving found me baking 19 pies! And, I baked a 20th pie on the weekend, the final of the Thanksgiving pie season. With recipes based on basic recipes I've collected online and from other sources, I went to work. The Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving, with some help from my good friend Fr. Chris, I put together 22 crusts in preparation for the big baking day. Then after a good night's rest and some last minute shopping for the freshest ingredients possible, the baking commenced!

Wednesday saw the yield of 6 dutch caramel apple pies (my signature pie), 3 pumpkin pies, 3 french silk pies, 2 triple berry pies, 1 pecan pie, 1 chocolate pecan pie, 1 blueberry and cream pie, 1 strawberry and cream pie, 1 cherry pie, and a triple berry cream pie on Saturday. It was a full days work that concluded with making fresh whipped cream.

I must say it is quite a joy to know that others enjoy these pies and I'm thankful God has blessed me with this talent that I can share. I am also very thankful for the help I received in the kitchen from making the crust to two wonderful assistants who helped clean and prep utensils and ingredients on Wednesday. Now, it's on to including the eggnog pie on the Christmas list.

102.1 FM in Cleveland... it's too soon for Christmas music!

Ok, so everyone I'm sure has an opinion on this and you may find that you disagree with me... I'll say it anyway!

102.1FM playing Christmas music today, it's just too soon! It only further enforces an idea of celebrating Christmas now and getting it over with! It isn't even Thanksgiving yet!!! I remember the days when Christmas music and other things did not start until the day after Thanksgiving, giving us a chance to be thankful, to celebrate and give the holiday of Thanksgiving due process and time, rather than turning it into "ThanksPreChristmasgiving Day" I'm not opposed to playing Christmas music after Thanksgiving Day but I am concerned about a danger in overdoing it!

By celebrating too soon, we end-up taking the celebrating out of the celebration. What I mean by this is that when Christmas day actually rolls around, the trees and other decorations are on the front lawn by the next day and no one seems to care. In the end we treat Christmas more like a time to get through and over rather than something sacred to be treasured. There is no time to cherish the gift of the birth of Christ, to really take to heart and ponder the deeper meaning of the Feast.

I hope that we take time to really engage the deeper meaning of each holiday and feast in it's proper time; we don't want the birth of Christ, the most important thing besides Jesus' death and resurrection, to become one more thing we just 'get through' because we're sick of it by December 25th. Let us not, miss the Christmas season which starts on December 25th... not today 102.1!!!