THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD [C] (May 29) 8-minute homily in one page

Introduction: Today’s readings describe the Ascension of the Lord Jesus his Heavenly glory after promising to send the Holy Spirit to the Apostles as the source of Heavenly power and commanding them to bear witness to Him through their lives and preaching throughout the world. But the ascended Jesus is still with us because of His promise, “I am with you always; yes, to the end of time” (Mt 28-20). He is with us at all times and in all places, releasing a new energy upon the earth, the energy of the Holy Spirit.

The Scripture lessons summarized: The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, presents the scene of Jesus’ Ascension, the promise of the Holy Spirit, his instructions to the apostles to wait in Jerusalem for the Power from above, and the missionary command to the apostles to bear witness to him. Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 47) suggests that, by his Ascension, the risen Lord “mounts his throne” in glory. In the second reading, Paul teaches us that God revealed His might in the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and in exalting Him over all angelic forces. Jesus remains accessible to us now in the life-giving Holy Spirit, assuring us that one day we, too, will be ascending to Heavenly glory, provided that, with His grace, we live out our Faith in Him through the mission of loving service He entrusts to us. Today’s Gospel tells us that, with his return to the Father, Jesus completes his mission on earth. But just before his Ascension, Jesus entrusted to the disciples the mission of preaching the Good News and evangelizing the whole world by bearing witness to him through their lives. It is in his Ascension that we see Jesus entering fully into the life and glory of God. In the descriptions of Christ after his Resurrection, we are given a hint of what life will be like in Heaven. The prospect of sharing that glory should be the driving force of our lives.

Life messages: 1) We need to be proclaimers and evangelizers: To be a Christian is to be a proclaimer and an evangelizer. There is a difference between preaching and proclaiming. We preach with words, but we proclaim with our lives. Let us ask the guidance of the Spirit of God to bear witness to Jesus by our transparent Christian lives.

2) We have a teaching mission: Jesus taught us lessons of Faith, Hope, Love, forgiveness, mercy, and salvation by his life and his preaching and gave us the same mission for our brothers and sisters. Hence, let us learn about Jesus and his teachings through our daily study of the Bible and the teachings of the Church, experience Jesus in personal prayer, our reception of the Sacraments and our works of charity, and convey to others Jesus whom we experience with the help of the Holy Spirit. 3) We need Jesus as our source of strength and encouragement in doing His will: We will be able to overcome doubts about our Faith and baseless fears, anxieties, and worries by meditating on Jesus’ Ascension and the lesson it teaches — that we, too, are called to share his glory in Heaven.

Ascension of the Lord  (May 29): Acts 1:1-11; Eph 1:17-23; Lk 24:46-53

Homily starter anecdotes # 1: The Unfinished Painting: Leonardo da Vinci had started to work on a large canvas in his studio. For a while he worked at it – choosing the subject, planning the perspective, sketching the outline, applying the colors, with his own inimitable genius. Then suddenly he stopped working on it. Summoning one of his talented students, the master invited him to complete the work. The horrified student protested that he was both unworthy and unable to complete the great painting which his master had begun. But da Vinci silenced him. “Will not what I have done inspire you to do your best?” — Jesus our Master began to spread the Good News some two thousand years ago by what he said and did, and supremely by what he suffered. Jesus illustrated his message and left us to finish the picture. Will Jesus’ life not inspire us to finish the picture? This is the message of the Ascension (John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

# 2: The disciples who completed Puccini’s opera Turandot. The Italian composer Giacomo Puccini wrote La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, and Tosca. It was during his battle with terminal cancer in 1922 that he began to write Turandot, which many now consider his best work. He worked on the score day and night, despite his friends’ advice to rest, and to save his energy. When his sickness worsened, Puccini said to his disciples, “If I don’t finish Turandot, I want you to finish it.” He died in 1924, leaving the work unfinished. His disciples gathered all that was written of Turandot, studied it in great detail, and then proceeded to write the remainder of the opera. It was completed by Franco Alfano. The world premier was performed in La Scala Opera House in Milan in 1926, and Arturo Toscanini, Puccini’s favorite student, conducted it. The opera went beautifully. When Toscanini came to the end of the part written by Puccini, he stopped the music, put down the baton, turned to the audience, and announced, “Thus far the master wrote, but then he died.” There was a long pause; no one moved. Then Toscanini picked up the baton, turned to the audience and, with tears in his eyes, announced, “But his disciples finished his work.” The opera closed to thunderous applause, and to a permanent place in the annals of great works.

# 3: “I have no other plan — it must work.” A beautiful old story tells of how Jesus, after his Ascension into Heaven, was surrounded by the Holy Angels who began to enquire about his work on earth.  Jesus told them about his birth, life, preaching, death, and Resurrection, and how he had accomplished the salvation of the world.  The Archangel Gabriel asked, “Well, now that you are back in Heaven, who will continue your work on earth?”  Jesus said, “While I was on earth, I gathered a group of people around me who believed in me and loved me.   They will continue to spread the Gospel and carry on the work of the Church.” Gabriel was perplexed.  “You mean Peter, who denied you thrice and all the rest who ran away when you were crucified?  You mean to tell us that you left them to carry on your work? And what will you do if this plan doesn’t work?”  Jesus said, “I have no other plan — it must work.” — Truly, Jesus has no other plan than to depend on the efforts of his followers!  (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

 Introduction:  Today’s readings describe the Ascension of the Lord Jesus into Heavenly glory, after promising to send the Holy Spirit as the source of Heavenly power for the apostles and commanding them to bear witness to him through their lives and preaching throughout the world.  What we celebrate today is Jesus’ exaltation and the end of his earthly existence, as a prelude to the gift of the Spirit.  The ascended Jesus is still with us because of his promise, “I am with you always; yes, to the end of time” (Mt 28:20).  He is with us at all times and in all places, releasing a new energy upon the earth, the energy of the Holy Spirit Who enables us to preach his Good News of salvation and to bear witness to him in living out His word.  Hence, today’s feast is the celebration of Jesus’ glory after his suffering and death – the glory in which we also hope to share.  The Ascension and Pentecost, together, mark the beginning of the Church.  The feast of the Ascension tells us that the Church must be a community in mission, guided by the Holy Spirit and confident of God’s protection even amid suffering and death. Today’s liturgy communicates the Ascension’s significance for us: “he ascended, not to distance himself from our lowly state but that we, his members, might be confident of following where he, our Head and Founder, has gone before” (Preface I of the Ascension of the Lord).

The Scripture lessons summarized:  The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, presents the scene of Jesus’ Ascension, the promise of the Holy Spirit, the instruction to the apostles to wait at Jerusalem for the power from above, and the missionary command to the apostles to bear witness to him. In today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 47), the Psalmist sings, “God mounts His throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord,” celebrating God’s universal Kingship. This Psalm was originally sung in connection with a cultic procession honoring the Ark of the Covenant. By his Ascension, the risen Lord likewise “mounts his throne” in glory.  In the second reading, Paul teaches us that God revealed His might in the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, thus exalting him over all angelic forces.  Jesus remains accessible to us now in his life-giving Holy Spirit, assuring us that one day we, too, will be ascending to Heavenly glory, provided that, with his grace, we live out our Faith in him through the mission of loving service he entrusts to us. Today’s Gospel tells us that, with his return to the Father, Jesus completes his mission on earth.  But just before his Ascension, Jesus entrusted to the disciples the mission of preaching the Good News and evangelizing the whole world by bearing witness to him through their lives. It is in the Ascension that we see Jesus entering fully into the life and glory of God.  In the descriptions of Christ after his Resurrection, we are given a hint of what life will be like in Heaven.   The prospect of sharing that glory should be the driving force of our lives.

The first reading (Acts 1:1-11) explained: The event of Jesus’ Ascension, recorded in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, serves as today’s first reading. Before ascending to the Father, Jesus instructed the apostles to “remain in Jerusalem and wait for the baptism by the Holy Spirit” so that they might become Jesus’ “witnesses to the ends of the earth” by the power of the Holy Spirit. Then “a cloud took Jesus from the sight” of the disciples, and two heavenly messengers in white garments gave them the assurance of Jesus’ coming return to earth in glory. “Luke will note that [the disciples] number about 120. This numeric note is more than mere census; the multiple of twelve underscores Luke’s conviction that this Jerusalem community of “Jews for Jesus” begins to fulfill the ancient expectation that “The Age to Come” would entail the restoration of Israel. The list of eleven disciples is conspicuous for the absence of Judas. The first agenda item for this post-Ascension community will be the restoration of the core group to the number twelve, showing the apostolic concern for restoring the number to the very meaning of Jesus’ original choice of a symbolic Twelve.” (Fr. Dennis Ham).

The second reading (Eph 1:17-23) explained: [alternate Hebrews 9: 24-28; 10: 19-23]: The first part of our passage prays for the Church’s growth in wisdom and knowledge and looks to the risen and ascended Christ for the power to foster this growth. The hymn then goes on to elaborate on the exaltation and kingship of Christ. (Fr. Reginald Fuller). St. Paul got a glimpse of this post-Ascension glory on the road to Damascus. (CCC #659). In Ephesians, Paul explains the theological meaning of Jesus’ exaltation by saying, “May God enlighten the eyes of our hearts so that we may know the great hope to which we have been called.”  Our great hope is that one day we too will be ascending to Heavenly glory, provided that, with His grace, we live out our Faith in Him through the mission of loving service He entrusts to us. Our mission is to preach the Good News of salvation to the whole world by word and deed. We continue to receive the Divine assistance and spiritual gifts necessary for our Christian witnessing through the Holy Spirit Whom the risen Jesus, after His Ascension, asks the Father to send on the Church.

Gospel exegesis [Note: This Sunday’s Gospel is made up of the last six verses of Mark’s Gospel, which are not found in the earliest and best ancient manuscripts of Mark. Many Biblical scholars today believe that they may have derived from a second-century source which included accounts of post-Resurrection appearances. Nevertheless, they are considered canonical and inspired by the constant tradition of the Church, and by the Church’s teaching authority. (Gerard S. Sloyan, Preaching from the Lectionary: An Exegetical Commentary, p. 329).]

1. A) The Ascension: Each Sunday we profess through the Creed, “He ascended into Heaven.” Christ’s Ascension was the culmination of God’s Divine plan for Christ Jesus – his return to his Father with his “Mission Accomplished.” His Ascension is the grand finale of all Jesus’ words and works done for us and for our salvation.  It is a culmination, but not the conclusion.  As Jesus is now with God in glory, so Jesus is with us now in Spirit: “Lo, I am with you always…”(Mt 28:20). The feast of the Ascension celebrates one aspect of the  Resurrection, namely Jesus’ exaltation.  Jesus did not wait 40 days to be glorified at God’s right hand. That had already happened at his Resurrection.  The focus of this feast is the Heavenly reign of Christ.  The Lord is now “seated at the right hand of the Father” as we profess in the Nicene Creed, meaning He alone is in control of the continuing plan of salvation through the Holy Spirit, unrestricted by time, space, or culture.  Thus, in the Paschal Mystery, Jesus’ passion, death, Resurrection, Ascension, and sending of the Holy Spirit form one unbroken reality which is to be understood by Faith. The Ascension means that Jesus, His salvific suffering for our Salvation completed, is with his Father in glory. Being seated at the right hand of the Father is the fulfillment of “the prophet Daniel’s vision concerning the Son of Man: ‘To him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed’” (CCC #664).
2. B) The Ascension account and its significance: The Biblical accounts of the Ascension focus not so much on the details of the event as on the mission Jesus gave to his disciples.  For example, in the accounts narrated in Luke and Acts, the Ascension took place in Jerusalem.  In Matthew and Mark, on the other hand, the event occurred in Galilee. All accounts, however, agree that the Ascension took place on a mountain.  In Luke and Acts, the Ascension happened forty days after the Resurrection, a period during which Jesus appeared repeatedly to his followers.  In Matthew and Mark there is no indication of the time period between the Resurrection and the Ascension.  The Gospel writers apparently were not aiming at accuracy of historical detail but were more concerned with transmitting Our Lord’s message. Christ’s Ascension or going up to heaven completes his Incarnation or coming down to earth. Christ has opened the way to heaven for us. (CCC #661). “Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father’s glorious kingdom so that we, the members of his Body, may live in the hope of one day being with him forever” (CCC #666). “Jesus Christ, having entered the sanctuary of heaven once and for all, intercedes constantly for us as the mediator who assures us of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit” (CCC #667).
3. 
   C) The Ascension message: “Preach the Good News and be my witnesses:” Matthew, Mark and Acts record Jesus’ last words differently: 1) “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  2) “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).  3) “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15).  All are in agreement that (a) Jesus gave the disciples a mission of bearing witness to everyone by preaching and living the Good News. They are to tell and re-tell the story of Jesus’ life, suffering, death, and Resurrection. (b) He assured them of the Divine assistance of the Holy Spirit in the carrying out of this mission. (c) He instructed them to baptize the believers: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Mt 16:19-20).  “In the earliest community and for some time, Baptism was administered in the name of Jesus. It is only in this passage of Matthew and in the Didache, a Christian writing probably dating back to the end of the first century, that we hear of the threefold formula.” (Fr. Reginald Fuller).
4. D) Christmas and Ascension: The Ascension is most closely related, in meaning, to Christmas. In Jesus, the human and the Divine become united in the Person and life of one man who is also True God. That’s Christmas.  At the Ascension, this human being – the person and the resurrected living body of Jesus – became for all eternity a part of who God is.  It was not the Spirit of Jesus or the Divine Nature of Jesus that ascended to the Father.  It was the Risen living Body of Jesus: a Body that the disciples had touched, a Body in which He Himself  had eaten and drunk with them both before and after His Resurrection, a real, physical, but gloriously restored Body, bearing the marks of nails and a spear.  This is what, and Who, ascended.  This is what, now and forever, is a living, participating part of God. That is what the Ascension, along with the Incarnation, is here to tell us – that it is a good thing to be a human being; indeed it is a wonderful and an important and a holy thing to be a human being.  It is such an important thing that God did it.  Even more, the fullness of God now includes what it means to be a human being.

Life messages: 1) We need to be proclaimers and evangelizers: In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives this mission to all the believers: “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” This mission is not given to a select few but to all believers. To be a Christian is to be a proclaimer and an evangelizer. There is a difference between preaching and proclaiming. “We preach with words but we proclaim with our lives.” As we celebrate the Lord’s return to His Father in Heaven – His Ascension — we are being commissioned to go forth and proclaim the Gospel of life and love, of hope and peace, by the witness of our lives. On this day of hope, encouragement and commissioning, let us renew our commitment to be true disciples everywhere we go, beginning with our family and our parish, “living in a manner worthy of the call [we] have received.”

2) We need to live a life of Christian joy in the presence of the ascended Lord. According to Luke, the disciples “returned to Jerusalem with great joy”(Mk 16:15). Apparently Jesus’ exaltation and final blessing gave them, as it gives us, the assurance that, though absent, Jesus is still present, present even in the pain and sorrow we undergo. That is why St. Augustine, in a Homily on the Ascension, assures us, “Christ is now exalted above the Heavens, but he still suffers on earth all the pain that we, the members of his Body, have to bear. He showed this when he cried out from above: ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ and when he said: ‘I was hungry and you gave me food.’ While in Heaven he is also with us; and while on earth we are with him. He is here with us by his Divinity, his power and his love. We cannot be in Heaven, as he is on earth, by divinity, but in him, we can be there by love”(Eph 4:1-6). (https://dominicanfriars.org/the-feast-of-the-ascension/)

3) We have a teaching mission:  Jesus taught us lessons of Faith, Hope, forgiveness, mercy, redemption, and Love.  We cannot put these lessons on a shelf and ignore them.  They stand before us in the person of Jesus.  Although no longer visibly present in the world, Jesus is present in his words, and we must make these words real in our lives as well as in the lives of others. Christianity was meant to be a Faith in which Jesus’ followers would help and care for others, just as Jesus had done.   But the spreading of the Good News to all nations is not a goal that can be attained by human might and craft.  This is why Jesus promises to empower the Church with His abiding presence and that of the Holy Spirit.   The challenge of sharing the Good News with all mankind should, therefore, begin with our admission that we have often been arrogant and overbearing.  We must learn to be humble and let the Holy Spirit lead the way.

4) The ascended Jesus is our source of strength and encouragement: Perhaps some of the nagging doubts which inevitably accompany the journey of Faith could be lessened by our meditating on the Ascension and its implications. When we are too far from Faith to pray on our own, let us remember that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous, praying for us. When the trials of life feel too heavy to bear, we must remember that Christ will come again in glory, the same glory in which Jesus arose from the tomb, the same glory to which Jesus ascended, and the same glory in which Jesus currently abides. Though our limited perception might find him absent, Jesus is fully present, participating in every moment of our lives. By His Ascension, Christ has not deserted us but has made it possible for the Holy Spirit to enter all times and places. In this way it is possible for each of us to be transformed by the power of the Spirit into agents or instruments of Christ. We become enlivened, and our actions become animated in a new way by the Spirit of the God we love and serve. We have become other Christs in the world.

JOKE OF THE WEEK

# 1: The Ascension mission to preach the Gospel: After attending a convention led by Billy Graham a woman wrote to him. “Dear Sir, I feel that God is calling me to preach the Gospel. But the trouble is that I have twelve children. What shall I do?” The televangelist replied: “Dear Madam, I am delighted to hear that God has called you to preach the Gospel. I am even more delighted to hear that He has already provided you with a congregation in your own home.”

# 2: Ascension walk-out: There was a long-winded pastor who preached salvation history from Genesis to Revelation in every sermon. On the feast of Ascension as he reached Isaiah, he remarked that the prophet said nothing about the ascension of Our Lord. He asked his audience, “What shall we do with him?” One old man in the front seat said, “He can have my seat, Father, I am leaving.”

# 3: And after death ascend or descend? At the end of school what do you want to do?  I want to do my Senior Certificate. After your Senior Certificate what do you want to do? – I want to go to college. After college what do you want to do?
– I want to get a job. Then what do you want to do? – I want to make big money.  What do you want to do after making money? – I want to build a big house. After that what do you intend to do? – I want to get married. What will you do after getting married? – I will have a family. What will you do after having a family? – I will retire.  What do you want to do after you retire? – I want to take a rest. What will you do after taking a rest? – I don’t know. Will you die? – Oh yes, I will die too.  What will happen after death? I am not sure!

USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK

1) Fr. Don’ collection of video homilies & blogs: https://sundayprep.org

2) Video Sunday-Scripture study by Fr. Geoffrey Plant:

https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant2066

3) Dr. Brant Pitre’s commentary on Cycle C Sunday Scripture for Bible Class: https://catholicproductions.com/blogs/mass-readings-explained-year-c)      

4) Fr. James Farfaglia website: http://fatherjames.org/about/

5) Catholic Online Directory: http://www.catholic.org/newsearch/

6) USCCB Daily reflections videos: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/ For video homilies, copy and Paste the U R L http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/  on to the Address Bar and press Enter.

21 Additional anecdotes:

1) Solar Power: One of the national coordinators of Sun Day held early in May every year is Denis Hayes. He worked as researcher at a Washington D.C. ‘think-tank’ and has written a book on solar energy entitled Rays of Hope: The Transition to a Post-Petroleum World. Hayes claims that we are at the crossroads of making a critical choice for mankind – the choice between going solar or going nuclear for a power source. Hayes opts for the sun because it is “the world’s only inexhaustible, predictable, egalitarian, non-polluting, safe, terrorist-resistant, and free energy source.” We’ve already learned to use the power of the sun to grow food, make wine and operate greenhouses. All we need to do is develop better technology to harness solar energy to heat houses, drive our cars and run our industry. People like Hayes are looking at the sky with its sun as the main source of our future energy supply. — Today we turn our attention to the sky for another reason – to commemorate our Lord’s Ascension into Heaven. In the first reading, from Acts, Jesus makes a promise: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes down on you” (Acts 1:8). That Spirit is the power source that can give all the energy we need to live our lives to the full. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

2) “Is this thing working?” There is the funny story of the raw army recruit standing at attention on the drill field. The Drill Instructor yells, “Forward, march!” And the entire ranks begin to move, all except this one raw recruit. He’s still standing there at attention. So the Drill Instructor strolls over to him and yells in his right ear, “Is this thing working?” “Sir, yes, sir!” The recruit yells. Then the drill instructor walks around to the other ear and yells, “Is this thing working?” “Sir, yes, sir!” The soldier says. “Then why didn’t you march when I gave the order?” “Sir, I didn’t hear you call my name.” —  Some of us are like that soldier, standing around waiting for God to call our names. But the great commission given by Jesus on the day of the Ascension is a blanket order. It has everyone’s name on it. And you can be sure that  when the Man in Charge says, “Go! Make disciples! Teach!” it is your mission and my mission. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

 3) Passing the Baton: The critical moment in a relay race is the passing of the baton from one runner to another. More relays are won or lost at that moment than at any other. — The feast of the Ascension might be compared to the passing of the baton in a relay race. On this day over 2,000 years ago, Jesus passed the baton of responsibility for the Kingdom of God to the Apostles. Jesus commissioned them to complete the work he had begun. Practically, what does this mean? How do you and I, in the 21st century, carry out Jesus’ commission to be Jesus witnesses to the world and teachers to the nations? There are as many ways to do this as there are Christians. We can do what two 25-year-old university graduates did recently. After completing their degrees, one from Georgetown and the other from Marquette, they entered the Seminary. We can do what Albert Schweitzer did. At the age of 30 he abandoned his music career in Europe to study medicine and became a missionary doctor in Africa. We can do what the baseball coach of Spring Hill College, Alabama, did a few years back. At the age of 35 he resigned his position and began his studies for the priesthood. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quoted in Net for Life).  (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

4) Great commissions: Actually, there have been many persons given exciting commissions in their lifetimes. There was Michelangelo’s commission to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Sir Christopher Wren’s commission to re-build St. Paul’s Cathedral in London after the Great Fire of London in 1666, Walter Reed’s assignment to stop yellow fever at the “Big Ditch” in Panama, Chamberlain’s orders to stop the Confederates at Little Roundtop in Gettysburg, and most recently the mission of the U.S. Navy Seals to get the terrorist master-mind, Bin Laden, dead or alive. — But I tell you, in my life and yours, there is an even greater commission. It is found here in Mt 28:18-20 where Jesus Christ turns to his disciples and says, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

 5) “Torpedo evangelism.” Rebecca Pippert, the author of Out of the Salt Shaker: Into the World, tells of a time she was sitting in her car at a traffic light with her window rolled down. As the light turned green a car drove by and its occupant threw something into her car hitting her on the cheek. It didn’t hurt but she was so startled that she pulled over immediately. When she unrolled the paper, she discovered it was a Gospel tract. — She says she was the apparent victim of what she refers to as “torpedo evangelism.” I’m sure the torpedo-er meant well. At least I hope so, but he or she did the wrong thing for the right reason in the wrong way. We can engage people in conversation about their Faith and their relationship with God in a non-judgmental manner. We can encourage. We can invite. We can offer counsel. But we leave the hard work, the heart work, up to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. You see, we are not on some sort of spiritual mugging mission. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

6) Reaching Peak Performance: One of the superstars on the professional speakers’ circuit is a man named Charles Garfield. He is a psychologist from San Francisco. He makes up to 150 speeches a year, he says. Actually, if the truth were known, he makes one speech 150 times. He began his career as a mathematician for NASA. He was part of the Apollo Project that put a man on the moon. He left NASA to study psychology. He became interested in what motivates people to reach their highest possible achievement in this life. He went to Berkeley and got a PhD in psychology. Then he interviewed 1,500 people on how they achieved what he called “peak performance.” He published that result in a book, and then he started on the lecture circuit. He said the one thing that all peak performers have in common is a sense of mission. “What you need in this life if you want to have fulfillment is a sense of mission.” — It is giving yourself to something that is greater than yourself. That is what a mission is. That mission is found at the conclusion of Matthew’s Gospel: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age”(Mt 28:18-20). Not only does the Church have a mission to perform in this world, but everybody in the Church is supposed to have a part in performing that mission. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

7) “They don’t drink no water.” The chief warrant officer was brought before the provost marshal and asked if he had received the general’s order. “Yes, Sir.”
“Then why didn’t you comply?” roared the provost.
“Well, Sir, I didn’t think it applied to us.”
“And why not?”
“Because, Sir, when my men go to town, they don’t drink no water.”[Robert L. Jamison, “Humor in Uniform,” Laughter, the Best Medicine, (New York: Berkley Books, 1981), p. 29.] —-Fortunately, those men who first heard the ascending Lord’s orders did not look for ways to get around them but did what they were told. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

8) Nietzsche and Hitler: Nietzsche, the German philosopher, said, “God is dead and the stench of his corpse is all across Europe.” He advocated humanism and proposed the development of a “superman” of Aryan heritage, protected by selective breeding and superior education. The Nazi Party picked up his idea, and men like Hitler, Goering, Goebbels, Mengele, Himmler, and Rommel set about building such a society in Germany’s Third Reich. But it all ended with bullets and bombs, chaos and suffering such as the world has seldom seen. — The Christian Faith has no less a plan. But it involves a higher order. Hitler would have renewed man by his own efforts. We seek to renew the human race by the work of God. Our mission as given by the ascending Jesus is not to make converts or Church members, but baptized, receptive, obedient disciples! (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

9) Three-step Baptism:  In one of the great cathedrals of Europe there is a baptistery that tells the story. The water flows through it, reminding us that Jesus says he is the Living Water. To be baptized, a person walks down three steps, each one marked by a word: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Descending the steps, the convert is plunged beneath the water to die to sin and then is raised from the depths to newness of life in Christ. To leave the baptistery now he must climb three steps, each one marked by a word: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So it is that a new creature is born, a new breed of man, a citizen of a new Kingdom, a breed apart.  Dead to sin, he is alive to God and sent forth to grow and love and give light to a lost and dying world. — He doesn’t do it alone. He does it in the Church, in little communities. In these, people demonstrate, in their way of being together, God’s eternal kingdom come upon them. It took Michelangelo over ten years to paint the Sistine Chapel. Our missionary commission lasts until the job gets done, until life is over, “until the close of the age.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

10) “Alter your course 10 degrees north.” Have you heard the story of a sea captain who was guiding his ship on a very dark night? He saw faint lights in the distance and told his signalman to send a message, “Alter your course 10 degrees south.” A prompt message returned, “Alter your course 10 degrees north.” The captain became angry because his command had been ignored, so he sent a second message, “I command you to alter your course 10 degrees south!” Again a message promptly returned, “Alter your course 10 degrees north.” Infuriated, the captain sent off a third message: “I am the captain and this is a battleship. Alter your course 10 degrees south!” Once again a prompt reply came, “Alter your course 10 degrees north – I am a lighthouse.” — These last words of Jesus are the signal we are to obey. No wonder we label the call “the Great Commission.” The tragedy of the Church – our great sin – is that the Great Commission of Jesus is our “great omission.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

11) Plus Ultra = “More beyond!” “In Fourteen Hundred Ninety-two/Columbus sailed the ocean blue!” In 1992, the world marked the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ adventure in the Santa Maria. As we all now know, Columbus did not end up where he was headed, which is why some native Americans are now called Indians. This man from Genoa believed, “God granted me the gift of knowledge … (and) revealed to me that it was feasible to sail … to the Indies, and placed in me a burning desire to carry out this plan.” Columbus set out with a belief that he had tested with his mind, and with a Faith to which he was willing to give his life! How many of us can walk in Columbus’ shoes? When, on Friday, August 3, 1492, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, eased away from their moorings at Palos, in southern Spain, Columbus was putting his beliefs and his Faith into the realities of life. Before the reports of his trans-Atlantic travel penetrated the Old World, Spanish coins had stamped upon them an outline of the Straits of Gibraltar. Underneath the outline of the Straits was the Latin inscription Ne Plus Ultra. It translates, “No more beyond.” It meant that the world ended in the great expansive voids of water beyond the Straits. There was nothing more. But once Columbus returned home and told of what he had seen, of what he had discovered, and once that report was widely shared, new coins were minted. The inscription was changed to Plus Ultra. It translates, “More beyond!” — That is the mountaintop affirmation which came to the disciples in Galilee and the word that ends Matthew’s Gospel. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

12) Wellington defeated: Wellington and Napoleon were fighting the battle of Waterloo. It was a decisive battle. Life for many, many persons hinged on its outcome. At last, word was transmitted to London by means of semaphores – a visual code with reflected sunlight spelling out the message letter by letter. A sentry picked up the message from his post atop a great cathedral. Letter by letter he passed on the message to London. The first word was “Wellington.” The second word was “defeated.” Suddenly a very dense fog settled in upon the cathedral, making it impossible for the light to penetrate the mists and allow the message forwarded on. The fog grew more dense, and its darkness was mirrored in the hearts of the Londoners who had received the word, “Wellington defeated.” It meant that Napoleon had won. The English of London were a conquered people. Hope was gone. Liberty was no more. England was ruled by another. But as suddenly as it had come, the fog lifted. The sentry returned to his tower, and went back to his duties, feverishly attempting to transmit the whole message. And London saw it – the good news breaking upon the city and telling the full story: “Wellington defeated the enemy!” — Whether the semaphores’ message to London is history or fiction, it does convey the truth of Christian Faith! That truth, “He is not here. He has risen!” was spoken by angels in Joseph’s garden as the earliest followers of Christ made the discovery. It is the victory message of Jesus’ word to his disciples upon that Galilee mountaintop, and it is the shout heard through the centuries as human life has been understood as life lived in two worlds – one temporal, the other eternal. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

13) “I am the smartest man in the world”. A ridiculous story with religious significance has been making the rounds lately. It is about a pilot and three passengers a boy scout, a priest, and an atomic scientist in a plane that develops engine trouble in mid-flight. The pilot rushes back to the passenger compartment and exclaims, “The plane is going down! We only have three parachutes, and there are four of us! I have a family waiting for me at home. I must survive!” With that, he grabs one of the parachutes and jumps out of the plane. The atomic scientist jumps to his feet at this point and declares, “I am the smartest man in the world. It would be a great tragedy if my life were snuffed out!” With that, he also grabs a parachute and exits the plane. With an alarmed look on his face, the priest says to the Boy Scout, “My son, I have no family. I am ready to meet my Maker. You are still young with much ahead of you. You take the last parachute.” At this point, the Boy Scout interrupts the priest, “Hold on, Father. Don’t say any more. We’re all right. The world’s smartest man just jumped out of the plane wearing my backpack!”  — For such smart people who do not believe in an afterlife, today’s feast of the Ascension seems a myth. But it is the guarantee of their resurrection and ascension to heaven for Christians. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

14) Are we going to them? 95% of North American Christians will not lead a single person to Christ in their lifetime and I cry, “Lord, help us!” Some of you know the story: 36 million Americans (14% of the population) live in poverty. Of those, the portion living in our urban centers has increased from 30% in 1968 to about 47% today. Are we going to them? And are we going to the 57% of the 36 million poor who remain in rural America? Seventy million individuals in the United States are under the age of 18—are we going to them? Nearly one million foreign-born people immigrate to this country every year. Are we going to them? Thirty-two million people in America speak some language other than English as their primary language. Are we going to them? We have more unsaved and unchurched people in our nation than ever before in our history—172 million. Are we going to them? Ninety percent of the population of the United States now lives in urban settings. Are we going to them? — Over 150 million people in America claim to be “born-again Christians.” We have to question what that means. And we wonder if people are not interpreting the Christian Faith as mere mental assent to correct doctrine, accepting forgiveness and professing Christ as an insurance policy – a way to get into Heaven when we die and leave this earth – missing the whole notion of discipleship, growing into the likeness of Christ. If all born-again Christians were disciples, would there not be greater signs of the transforming power of Christ at work in the world? (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

15) “The City of the World increasingly oozes its decay.” Peter Kreeft, professor at Boston College, has perceptively noted, “The City of the World increasingly oozes its decay.” We saw signs of it in the half-time show of the 38^th Super Bowl. One hundred million people – how many children were among them? – saw Justin Timberlake rip off a portion of Janet Jackson’s upper clothing, exposing a private part of her body. We cringed at that and the media talked about it for days. But not much was said about the “dirty” dancing and lewd lyrics, including words about getting a woman naked before the song was done. Other singers through lyrics and dance displayed sexual lust as they gyrated with female dancing partners. — The truth, friends, is that halftime show is not the exception in television fare. In fact, it was rather tame compared to what constantly flows from television and the Internet. “The City of the World increasingly oozes its decay.” But what about disciples of Jesus? What about the Church? What about the City set on a hill? What are we doing about “the fact that all the septic tanks on the hill are backing up”? We need disciples with a passion for shedding the light of Christ into every dark corner of the world. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/). 

16) Gaze heavenward but go worldwide! Nicky often boasted about his deep Faith. Once, a storm arose and the rains threatened to flood Nicky’s house. A fireman rushed in and said, “Come, I’ll carry you away!” Pointing upward, Nicky exclaimed, “Jesus is the way!” The downpour continued and the waters reached Nicky’s waist. A fisherman rowed by and screamed, “Jump in, I’ll steer you to safety!” gazing heavenward, Nicky retorted, “Only Jesus saves!” Later, rising rainwater forced Nicky to climb onto the roof. The pilot of a helicopter hovering overhead shouted, “I’ll help you!” Nicky replied: “I trust in God alone!”–  Nicky drowned in the raging waters. In Heaven, he complained: “Lord, I trusted You, but You abandoned me!” God replied, “No, I didn’t! I tried to save you as fireman, fisherman and pilot! Why didn’t you do anything besides gazing heavenward?”  (Francis Gonsalves in Sunday Seeds for daily Deeds; quoted in Net for Life) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

 17) He is the same yet different……Lech Walesa worked for years as an electrician in the Gdansk shipyards. During those years he and his fellow workers founded the movement which came to be known as “Solidarity.” Walesa became its leader. This brought them into open conflict with the Communist leaders. Eventually the workers won out. The Communist regime collapsed and democracy returned to Poland. Then on December 9, 1990 something happened which a few years prior would have been unthinkable. Walesa the shipyard worker was elected first president of a free and democratic Poland. It was a great honor for Walesa. His fellow-workers were delighted. They, too, felt honored because of their association with him. However, there was sadness too. They knew that it would change forever the way they related to him. They knew they were losing him. However, they were hoping that he would not forget them and that he would help them from his new and more influential position. –The illustration may go some way in helping us to understand what we are celebrating on this great feast of Ascension (Flor McCarthy in New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies; quoted in Net for Life). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

18) The power within: A Jesuit priest, Walter Ciszek by name, was in Russia for 23 years, five of which were spent in the dreaded Lubyanka prison in Moscow and ten of which were spent in the harsh Siberian slave labour camp. He was finally released from Russia in 1963, in exchange for two Soviet spies held in USA. He died in 1984 at the age of 84. After release he wrote a book “He Leadeth Me.” In this book he tries to answer the question: ‘How did you manage to survive in Russia?’ he says: “I was able to endure the inhuman conditions in which I found myself because I experienced somehow the presence of God. I never lost my Faith that God was with me, even in the worst of circumstances.” — What was true of Fr. Walter Ciszek is true of each of us. Jesus is with us; God is with us in the power of the Holy Spirit. (Vima Dasan in His Word Lives; quoted in Net for Life) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

19) Footprints: In the familiar story entitled “Footprints,” a man at the end of his life wanted to know why in tough times there was only one set of footprints in the sand. After all, the Lord had promised to walk with him all the way. The Lord replied by telling him that He never left him in times of trial. When the man saw only one set of footprints, it was then that the Lord carried him.  — The Lord was with Fr. Ciszek for twenty-three years of hardship in Russia. The Lord was with the man walking in the sand. May the risen Lord be with us all the days of our life! (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted in Net for Life). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

20) Run the race well: Many years ago, a great Arctic explorer started on an expedition to the North Pole. After having spent two years in the freezing and lonely place, he wrote a message, tied it to the leg of a carrier pigeon, and let it loose to make the two thousand miles journey to Norway. The bird circled thrice, and then started its southward flight in the freezing cold for hundreds of miles; it travelled and crossed the icy frozen oceans and wastelands until it reached and dropped into the lap of the explorer’s wife. The arrival of the bird proved that everything was well with her husband in that deserted, lonely and frozen arctic North. — Likewise, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of the Pentecost proved to the disciples that Jesus had entered the Heavenly sanctuary after His Ascension as He had promised. Now He was seated at the right hand of God the Father, for His redemption work was over. The coming of the Holy Spirit was the fulfillment of the promise of Christ. (John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies; quoted in Net for Life). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

21) “Let me see your hands, your feet, and your side.”  The early Church Fathers told a much-loved story of Christ’s arrival in Heaven after his Ascension from the earth. The devil, they said, still smarting from Christ’s descent into hell, was furious that Christ had defeated him and robbed him of his power to shape the lives of men and women. So, masquerading as Jesus Christ himself, the devil rushed ahead of Jesus into God’s presence and, holding his hands up high in a greeting of triumph, approached the Divine Grace, saying ‘I am here, I have done the work you gave me to do, I have offered my life for the salvation of the world. Give me the seat of honor at the right hand of your majesty and let me share you power.’ ‘Let me see your hands, your feet, and your side,’ God answered, ‘for those dreadful wounds suffered in love are the proof of your faithfulness, and they alone can gain for you access to my majesty and power.’ — Of course, the devil had no such wounds to show, as all in Heaven could see from his uplifted hands. At that very moment Christ appeared–See! He lifts his hands above! Alleluia! See! He shows the prints of love! Alleluia! Of course, the devil was exposed for the fraud he is and once again cast into outer-darkness, while Christ was welcomed by the Divine Grace to sit at God’s right hand, there forever to intercede for the world he loves for which he died a cruel and agonizing death.” (Rev. Bruce Jenneker). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).  L/22

 “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle C (No. 35) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com

Visit my website by clicking on http://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle C homilies, 141                   Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit also https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies  under Fr. Tony’s homilies and  under Resources in the CBCI website:  https://www.cbci.in  for other website versions.  (Vatican Radio website: http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html uploaded my Cycle A, B and C homilies in from 2018-2020)  Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604 .

May 23-28: Kindly click on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed Sunday and weekday homilies, RCIA & Faith formation classes May 23 Monday: John 15: 26–16:4 : 26 But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; 27 and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning. (John 16) 1 “I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

Context:In his final discourse with the apostles at the Last Supper, Jesus assured them that he would not desert them. Instead, a powerful Divine Helper, the Holy Spirit, would come to them from Jesus and the Father in order to guide them and to strengthen them.

The role of the Holy Spirit as outlined in today’s Gospel: 1) As the Counselor or Paraclete or Advocate, the Holy Spirit would coach, defend, and strengthen the apostles in their sufferings and persecution and would guide them during their trials before the civil authorities. 2) As the Spirit of Truth, He would bear witness to Jesus and enable the apostles to bear witness to Christ heroically before the pagans. The Holy Spirit would give them an experiential knowledge of Jesus and an in-depth knowledge of Jesus’ teachings. “The mission of the Church is carried out by means of that activity through which, in obedience to Christ’s command and moved by the grace and love of the Holy Spirit, the Church makes itself fully present to all men and peoples in order to lead them to the Faith, freedom, and peace of Christ by the example of its life and preaching, by the Sacraments and other means of grace” (Vatican II Decree, Ad Gentes 5). Then Jesus foretells the nature of the persecution: 1) Excommunicating Jesus’ followers from synagogues; 2) Establishing the murder of Jesus’ followers (“heretics”), as a religious duty in defense of Judaism and, so, pleasing to Yahweh.

Life messages: 1) As the Divine Advocate, the Holy Spirit, living within us, continues to help us bear witness to Christ by assisting us to live transparent Christian lives. 2) He also gives us courage and perseverance when we meet adversities and challenges. 3) As the Divine Teacher, the Holy Spirit, through our daily study of the Bible, helps us to know Jesus thoroughly, to love him personally and to experience him intimately, so that we may live the ideals of Christ and convey them to others through our genuine Christian lives. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)L/22

May 24 Tuesday: John 16 :5-11: 5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: In today’s Gospel, Jesus tries to console his sad and disheartened disciples at the Last Supper, for they are at a loss, hearing the news of their master’s imminent departure. So, he assures them that they will not be left alone. He will send the Holy Spirit upon them as a friend, guide, consoler and teacher. Then Jesus explains the three different roles of the Holy Spirit in their lives. First, He will convince the world about the seriousness of sin. Thus, the Holy Spirit will lead us to repent of our sins and seek forgiveness from Jesus. The Divine Advocate will demonstrate that not believing in Jesus is the real sin. It is the Holy Spirit Who would prick the hearts of the Jews on the day of Pentecost, convicting them of their sin of crucifying their Messiah. In the same way, He convicts us of wrongdoing and convinces us of God’s truth. Second, the Spirit convinces us of the righteousness of Christ, which means that that Jesus was right in his teachings and promises, as proved by God His Father Who granted him Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. Although Jesus was condemned to death, it was actually Satan, the ruler of this world, who was condemned through Jesus’ death. Third, the Holy Spirit gives us the inner and unshakable conviction that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. When we heed God’s judgments, we find true peace, joy, and reconciliation with God.

Life message: We need to allow the Holy Spirit to do what He wishes in and through our lives so that He may release us from the grip of sin and set us ablaze with the fire of God’s love. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22

May 25 Wednesday: (St. Bede, Venerable, Priest, Doctor of the Church),https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-bede-the-venerabl, St. Gregory VII, Pope, https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-gregory-vii St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, Virgin: (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-mary-magdalene-de-pazzi) . ): Jn 16:12-15: 12 “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: Today’s Gospel passage is taken from the Last Supper discourse in which Jesus instructed his disciples on the role of the Holy Spirit and His relationship with Jesus and God the Father.

1) First, as the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit is the Gift of God Who is the Possessor and the Giver of all truth. It is the Spirit’s role to make the disciples fully understand the truths revealed by Christ. Vatican II teaches that Our Lord “completed and perfected Revelation and confirmed it…finally by sending the Spirit of Truth” (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 4).

2) By bringing to their minds and clarifying everything Jesus has taught them, the Holy Spirit will also enable them to render glory to God by glorifying His Son Jesus.

Relationship of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son: Jesus also reveals the mystery of the Blessed Trinity in today’s Gospel passage, saying that the Three Divine Persons have the same nature: “everything that the Father has belongs to the Son, and everything the Son has belongs to the Father” (cf. John 17:10), and that the Spirit also shares the same Divine Essence with the Father and the Son.

Life message: 1) We need the daily guidance and strengthening of the Holy Spirit in our mission of bearing witness. We should remember that Faith is a gift. Hence, we do not gain converts by argument or eloquence, but by praying for them and by radiating, through our living, the Good News that Jesus has died for our sins, has risen for our justification, and offers us a share in his glory. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22

May 26 Thursday: (Feast of Ascension of our Lord)or  St. Philip Neri, Priest)https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-philip-neriJn 16:16-20: 16 “A little while, and you will see me no more; again a little while, and you will see me.” 17 Some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, `A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, `because I go to the Father’?” 18 They said, “What does he mean by `a little while’? We do not know what he means.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him; so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, `A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: In the Last Supper discourse, Jesus tells the Apostles about leaving them in order to return to his Father and about coming again at the end of time to usher in the new age of God’s kingdom. When they start asking each other the meaning of these statements, Jesus explains to them the hardships they will have to face after his departure and the glorious reward waiting for them in his Second Coming. But as he had consoled them earlier, promising to send a Paraclete, now Jesus assures them that his absence is only temporary.

A little while: Jesus is speaking about a three-level disappearance and reappearance. The first level is Jesus’ death and Resurrection. The apostles will no longer see Jesus when he dies. But they will see Jesus again in three days as their risen Lord. The second level is the mystical level: They will lose sight of Jesus physically when he ascends to the glory of the Father. But they will see Jesus again in many ways by Faith when the Holy Spirit comes (e.g., in the Holy Eucharist, in the Holy Bible, in the praying community, and in people we meet). There is also a third level. Jesus is not now visible physically to the world but will manifest his glory to the whole world when he comes again in glory for the Last Judgment. In the light of eternity, a few thousand years are but an instant, a very short while.

Life messages: 1) Let us try to recognize the presence of the living Lord in our midst here and now. 2) Let us ask Him to help us adjust our daily lives accordingly, so that we, too, may inherit the eternal joy prepared for us. Fr. Tony (frtonyshomilies.com) L/22

May 27 Friday: (St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop):https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-augustine-of-canterbury; Jn 16:20-23:: 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name. Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: After foretelling his imminent departure following the Last Supper, Jesus tried to boost the morale of his sad and dispirited disciples. First, he consoled them, promising them to send his Holy Spirit as their Paraclete — Consoler, Guide and Advocate (Attorney). Then, Jesus assured them that his absence would only be temporary.

Contrast between present sorrows and future glory: Jesus compares the temporary pain, sufferings and persecutions of his disciples to the passing, though intense, labor-pains of a woman giving birth to her child. The moment she hears the cry of her child and sees his or her face she forgets all her pain. In the same way, the “other-worldly” joy waiting for his disciples will transcend all types of earthly joys.

Life messages: 1) Let us see our pains and suffering as God’s means to strengthen our will and form our character. The conviction of the temporary nature of our suffering and of the glory waiting for us if we accept pain and suffering graciously, converting them into willing acts of reparation for sins, will help us to face them heroically. (Fr. Tony) L/22

May 28 Saturday:Jn 16. 23-28: 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name. 24 Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. 25 “I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the Father. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: Jesus used parables and metaphors, both in teaching the general public and in explaining teachings to the apostles. Today’s Gospel passage is taken from Jesus’ last discourse with his disciples at their Last Passover Supper together. Here, too, Jesus uses metaphors of a vine and its branches and the simile of a woman giving birth. Now Jesus tells them that he is going to tell them about God, his Father, in plain language. Jesus explains the mystery of his Incarnation in plain language saying, “I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” Then Jesus corrects the Jewish misconception of God, his Father, as a judging and punishing God, telling the apostles that God the Father is a loving and forgiving Father, to Whom they can pray directly (“Abba!”) in Jesus’ name, and that their prayers will be granted because the Father knows that they love His Son, Jesus, and believe in His Divinity. To pray in Jesus’ Name is not a magic formula or password. It means that we come to God the Father in the merit and righteousness of His Son Jesus. In other words, I come to the Father depending on the perfect merit of Jesus which gives me standing before the Father. It also means that I pray to Father as Jesus’ representative, asking that God the Father’s will be done and that His name be glorified. In other words, praying in Jesus’ name means praying with Jesus’ authority and asking God the Father to act upon our prayers because we come in the name of His Son, Jesus. This is the pattern of prayer in the Liturgy. The Eucharistic prayer is invariably addressed to the Father, “through Him (Jesus), with Him and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit” All our prayer has the pattern of the Trinity stamped on it. This does not mean that we should never pray to anyone but the Father. We are free to pray to Jesus, Mary, and the saints, but always in the full knowledge that the Father is the ultimate Recipient of all prayer – just as the sea receives every stream.

Life message: 1) God our Father is a loving, merciful and providing God who wants His children to approach Him directly and through His Son and our only mediator, Jesus. 2) Hence, let us make our prayers of adoration, praise, thanksgiving, contrition, and petition more effective and fruitful by offering them to God our Father through His Son Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22

Easter VI [C] (May 26) Homily Jn 14:23-29 (One-page summary) L/22

Introduction: Today’s readings show us the effects of the abiding presence of God in His Church and of His indwelling in each one of us. Scripture lessons: The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, tells us how the Holy Spirit, indwelling in the Church, helped the apostles to solve a major doctrinal problem about the Gentiles becoming Christians, which shook the very foundation of the early Church. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 67) prays that all the nations on the earth may recognize their God and praise Him. The second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation, describes the Church as the Heavenly Jerusalem which replaces the holy presence of God in the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem. This New Jerusalem is a city united in love, with the victorious Jesus residing in it and in each of its members. The Gospel passage reminds us that the Holy Spirit, abiding within us, is our Teacher, our Advocate, and the Source of our peace and joy. The passage offers a vision of hope as well. Jesus promises his followers that the Holy Spirit will come and instruct them in everything they need to know.

Life messages: 1) Let us be aware of the abiding presence of God within us: We live in the New Covenant of Jesus, daily facing uncertainty, conflict, and temptations. It is the abiding presence of God within us that enables us to face the future with undying hope and true Christian courage. The Holy Spirit Whom the risen Lord asked His Father to send upon His Church prompts us to turn to His Holy Scriptures for support and encouragement, enables us to learn the Divine truths, and grants us His peace at all times. However, to be able to receive these gifts, it is necessary for us to spend a little time each day in personal prayer, talking to God and listening to Him. We must deepen our relationship with Jesus, learn to get in touch with him, and sincerely love him. When we listen to the Holy Spirit, we will know His plan for our life and His solutions to whatever problems we face. We will be able to love our fellow human beings, and there will be a core of peace within us. The Holy Spirit teaches us through the Scriptures and preaching during the Holy Mass. Jesus loves us and comes to us in Communion. When the Mass is ended, we go forth in the peace of Christ — all this under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

2) We need to have the conviction that we are not alone: One of the great social and ethical problems of our time is isolation. Today approximately 25% of all adults live alone. Spouses, parents, and children often live as virtual strangers to one another. This is unfortunate because we never need to be alone. Jesus can always be present to us. He shares his joy with us and replaces the burden of our guilt with the freedom of forgiveness. He takes our grief and turns it into joy. We need only allow Jesus into our lives to be rid of this loneliness. Oneness with Jesus is the greatest gift we can give our children, our friends, or those who see no purpose in life. We can help to bring people into unity with Jesus, a unity that will change their lives. As we celebrate this Eucharistic meal, our Mass, let us celebrate in a special way the price Jesus paid for our redemption. May this Eucharistic celebration empower us to lead a true Life of the Spirit!

Easter VI  (May 26): Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Rv 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn 14:23-21

Homily Starter Anecdotes:#1) “Temples of the Holy Spirit”: Francis of Assisi was an ardent advocate of the doctrine of the indwelling of God in man. It enabled him to love everyone equally whatever his status in life. One day he met a fellow who had no love for God. As they walked along, they met a man who was blind and paralyzed. St. Francis asked the sightless cripple: “Tell me if I were to restore your eyesight and the use of your limbs, would you love me?” “Ah,” replied the beggar, “I would not only love you, but I would be your slave for the rest of my life.” “See,” said Francis to the man who maintained that he could not love God, “this man would love me if I gave him his sight and his health. Why don’t you love God who created you with eyesight and strong limbs?” — That is what Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel. If we love Jesus because of the countless blessings he has given us, and so keep his word as the center of our life, he will start dwelling within us in the company of his Father and the Holy Spirit, making us the temples of the Triune God. (Msgr. Arthur Tonne). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

# 2: Helen Keller’s indwelling God? The story is told that after Helen Keller’s teacher, Annie Sullivan, had given her the names of physical objects in sign language, Miss Sullivan attempted to explain God and tapped out the symbols for the name “God.” Much to Miss Sullivan’s surprise, Helen spelled back, “Thank you for telling me God’s name, Teacher, for He has touched me many times before.” — How could Helen Keller have known about God? Although she was blind and deaf, Helen Keller knew God, for God had shown Himself to her. That is the “revelation” of an indwelling God about whom today’s Scripture readings speak. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

#3: “The most unpromising boy in my class” A schoolmaster in France was discouraged with one of his students. He wrote in his roll book concerning this student: “He is the smallest, the meekest, the most unpromising boy in my class.” Half a century later, an election was held in France to select the greatest Frenchman. By popular vote, that meekest, smallest, most unpromising boy was chosen. His name? Louis Pasteur, the founder of modern medicine. When he was seventy-three, a national holiday was declared in his honor. He was too weak to attend the ceremony in Paris, so he sent a message to be read by his son. The message read: “The future belongs not to the conquerors but to the saviors of the world” [Edward Chinn, Wonder of Words (Lima, Ohio: C.S.S. Publishing Co., Inc., 1987), p. 18.] — Louis Pasteur was driven by a great purpose. Your name and my name may never be household words as is Pasteur’s, but we, too, can be driven by a great purpose. Christ can give us that purpose. But there is one thing more Christ gives us. He gives us the presence of the Holy Spirit as promised in today’s Gospel. A healthy sense of identity and a driving purpose are not enough in themselves. One thing more is needed. It is the in-dwelling Spirit of the living God. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

Introduction: Today’s readings show us the effects of the abiding presence of God in His Church and of His indwelling in each one of us. The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, tells us how the Holy Spirit, dwelling in the Church, helped the apostles to solve a major doctrinal problem, which shook the very foundation of the early Church. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 67) prays that all the nations on the earth, not just Israel, may recognize their God and praise Him. The second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation describes the Church as the Heavenly Jerusalem, a city united in love, with the victorious Jesus residing in it and in each of its members, replacing the holy presence of God in the Holy of Holies of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Gospel passage reminds us that the Holy Spirit abiding within us is our teacher and the Source of all peace. The passage offers a vision of hope. Jesus promises his followers that the Holy Spirit will come and instruct them in everything they need to know.

The first reading:Acts 15:1-2, 22-29, explained: The first major controversy in the infant Church was about “what one must do to be saved.” For the first 15 to 20 years of the Christian era, all Jesus’ followers were Jewish. During that period, any Gentiles who wanted to become Jesus’ disciples were expected first to become Jews. They had to attend Sabbath synagogue services and keep the 613 Torah laws. This situation began to change when a few “liberal” Christian communities like the newly founded Church of the Gentiles in Antioch, began to admit Gentiles into their number without demanding that they first be converted to Judaism. Some of the Judeo-Christians from Judea and Jerusalem argued that the new Gentile converts must observe the Mosaic Law of circumcision, dietary regulations, purification rituals, etc. The issue couldn’t be settled on a local level, although Paul and Barnabas tried that at first. Hence, they had to go to Jerusalem to consult the apostles. The apostles convened the first Cburch Council at Jerusalem and, with the clear leading of the Holy Spirit, decided that the Gentiles need not become Jews first, to be saved as Christians. The decision was momentous for two reasons. First, it marked a significant break of Christianity with Judaism. Second, it put the burden of salvation on God rather than on man. In other words, it is God’s love and His gift to us of Faith in Jesus that save us when we receive it and live it out. Our prayers, sacrifices or keeping of the Law, are only expressions of our gratitude to God, which foster our Faith. We see Saint Paul wrestling with this question, first in Galatians, then, in a more polished way, in Romans. (The New Covenant was sealed not with the blood of circumcision, but with the blood of Jesus Christ (CCC #610, 613). This and other dogmas are examples of the exercise of authority given to the Church Magisterium by Christ. Belief in — acceptance of — such dogmas is obligatory since they are truths contained in divine Revelation or have a necessary connection with them (CCC #88).

(A question on dissension answered: The early Church seems to be embroiled in dissension less than one decade after the Resurrection of Jesus. Can the Holy Spirit really be at work in those circumstances?Perhaps the question could be rephrased this way: “Is there a place for both controversy and peace in our Church?” There are a lot of ways to nuance the meanings of “dissension” and “debate,” but the underlying thrust is the same: disagreement over a matter of importance, at least to the parties engaged in debate. The year is only about 49 or 50 AD when this occurred, which shows that lively arguments were arising whenever “changes” occurred that would alter or even threaten to modify “established” rituals and practices. The answer is a resounding “YES.” The Church grew and still grows in understanding its Faith through lively discussions and debates among qualified theologians. Those discussions have been going on ever since the vision of St. Peter (Acts 10) which led to the baptism of the first Gentiles (Cornelius’ household), around 43 AD. It is important to recognize the wording of the Apostles’ decision regarding the waiver of the former discipline of circumcision: “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit AND to us to lay upon you no greater burden than…necessary things…” (Acts 15:28). Clearly, the dietary laws, variations in certain rituals, and similar disciplines were deemed eligible for change as circumstances warranted. Every suggested change creates healthy discussions and is preceded by healthy discussions. Closure is then brought to the discussion at some point in time, when the Apostles (or their successors, the united Bishops) reach a decision. Cultural conditioning plays a large part in some decisions (e.g., Paul insisting that women had to wear hats in church), as it does today; these are also identified as matters of “discipline.” ( Fr. Robert F. McNamara).

The Catechism on healthy debates: Perhaps it is better to leave the debates in the hands of the theologians, who are schooled in the ways of theological research (CCC #94), and who know the difference between debate and dissension. At some point in time, the Magisterium — the official and recognized teaching office of the Catholic church — reaches a decision on a subject, and to that decision we owe the obedience of Faith (CCC#144, 85, 88) or assent of Faith (optimally), or as a minimum the religious respect of intellect and will; and the Christian faithful are called upon “to take care to avoid whatever is not in harmony with that teaching” (Canon Law #752).

The second reading, Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23, explained: The Book of Revelation was written to bolster the Faith of the persecuted Christians of all ages. Everything John described via symbols, signs, numbers, etc. has already happened except, of course for the second advent of Jesus in glory. John’s vision of a new Jerusalem should be understood as a description of the Church, rooted initially in time and space, but growing and evolving toward an eschatological future. It describes the Church as the Heavenly Jerusalem, a city united in love, with the victorious Jesus residing in it. While the earthly Temple was often thought of as a reflection of the Heavenly Temple, there will be no Temple in the New Jerusalem because the Almighty and the Lamb will be the Temple. They will provide all the light that is necessary, so there will be no need for the sun or the moon. Ancient Jerusalem had long been for the Jews a token of God’s presence with them. God had aided them in capturing and holding it, in making it their capital, in building the Temple there, and in returning to it after their exile in Babylon. Within the holiest chamber of the Jerusalem Temple, they kept the stone tablets of the Law, given by God, in an enthroned chest known as the Ark of the Covenant. God dwelt in a particular way in the space above the ark. This is, in the end, a metaphor for the Church, which is called to reveal to the human race God’s presence among us.

Gospel exegesis: John (Chapter 14) continues to recount Jesus’ farewell discourse after the Last Supper. Today’s Gospel passage explains the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Trinity in the human soul, and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

1) The abiding presence of God in the human soul: The promise of God’s abiding presence must have been of great comfort to John’s community who knew that the Temple in Jerusalem — the symbol of God’s presence with His people — had been destroyed by the Roman army. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus tells us that the one thing in life which we can always trust is God’s presence. God inhabits our hearts so deeply and intimately that we become the visible dwelling place of God. His living and life-affirming Presence is always with us, yet ‘”hidden” in the very things we so often take for granted. Thus, we are invited to look for and encounter — “God-with-us,” yet “hidden” — in the person sitting next to us, in the words we speak, and in the songs we sing at worship.

2) Condition for the indwelling of the Holy Trinity: Jesus teaches us the condition for this indwelling of the Holy Trinity, namely, we have to show our love of God by keeping his word. And this keeping of his word will be facilitated by the Holy Spirit, God’s Holy Breath.

3) The role of the Holy Spirit is twofold: a) to “teach” the disciples and b) to “remind” them of what Jesus has already taught them” (v. 26). “At work since creation, having previously ‘spoken through the prophets,’ the Spirit will now be with and in the disciples, to teach them and guide them ‘into all the truth’” (CCC #243). Jesus affirms that even though He will no longer be visibly with them, he will continue to be present among them through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Truth will continue teaching them and helping them to understand and to build on what Jesus has already taught them. The Advocate will bring no new revelation because God has already revealed Himself in Jesus. But the Advocate will deepen their understanding of the revelation given by Jesus.

4) Jesus gives his followers four gifts: First, he gives them his love, which will enable them to keep his word. Next, he gives them the Holy Spirit, who will teach them everything they need to know. The Holy Spirit is the abiding love of God available to us, enabling us to accept the friendship of Jesus, while imitating Him, the Master. Third, he gives them His peace to strengthen them against fear in the face of trouble. Here “peace” is not just the absence of conflict, but also the far wider concept of shalom, the total well-being of the person and community. The promise of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will bring a peace that will quell their fears of the unfolding darkness ahead. “In Johannine language, peace, truth, light, life and joy are figurative terms reflecting different facets of the great gift that Jesus has brought from God to the world. ‘Peace is my gift to you,’ is another way of saying, ‘I give them eternal life’ (Jn 10:28) (Raymond E. Brown). The Holy Spirit is available as Comforter and Guide to those who believe in Jesus and follow in his way. The One God — the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – is pure Love. This Love, the Triune God, comes and lives in us, takes up residence in us and lives in our body. When God’s love lives in us, and we live in Him, there is much more peace in our families, our Churches, our offices. Fourth, Jesus rewards them with the assurance of his second coming.

Life messages: 1) Let us be aware of the abiding presence of God within us: We live in the New Covenant of Jesus, daily facing uncertainty, conflict, and temptations. It is the abiding presence of God within us that enables us to face the future with undying hope and true Christian courage. The Holy Spirit, sent upon the Church by the Father at the request of the risen Lord, prompts us to turn to His Holy Scriptures for support and encouragement, enables us to learn the Divine truths, and grants us His peace at all times. However, to be able to receive these gifts, it is necessary for us to spend a little time each day in personal prayer, talking to God and listening to Him. We must deepen our relationship with Jesus, learn to get in touch with him, and sincerely love him. When we listen to the Holy Spirit, we will know His plan for our life and His solutions for whatever problems we face. We will be able to love our fellow human beings, and there will be a core of peace within us. The Holy Spirit teaches us through the Scriptures and preaching during the Holy Mass as well as in our prayer and our private reading of Scripture. Jesus loves us and comes to us in Communion. When the Mass is ended, we go forth in the peace of Christ — all this under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

2) We are not alone: One of the great social and ethical problems of our time is isolation. Today approximately 25% of all adults live alone. Spouses, parents, and children often live as virtual strangers to one another. This is unfortunate because we never need to be alone. Jesus can always be present to us. He shares with us his joy and replaces the burden of our guilt with the freedom of forgiveness. He takes our grief and turns it into joy. We need only allow Jesus into our lives to be rid of this loneliness. Oneness with Jesus is the greatest gift we can give our children, our friends, or those who see no purpose in life. We can help to bring people to unity with Jesus, a unity that will change their lives. As we celebrate this Eucharistic meal, our Mass, let us celebrate in a special way the price Jesus paid for our redemption. May this Eucharistic celebration empower us to lead a true Life in the Spirit.

JOKE OF THE WEEK

1) Here is an Irish lyric: “Paddy Murphy went to Mass, never missed a Sunday. But Paddy Murphy went to hell, for what he did on Monday.”

2) Don’t lose your mental peace: The Sunday school children had all been photographed with pastor sitting in their center. The pastor was trying to persuade the children to buy a copy of the group photo. “Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, ‘There’s Jennifer; she’s a lawyer,’ or ‘That’s Michael; he’s a doctor.’ A small voice at the back of the room rang out, “And there’s our Pastor; he’s dead.”

3) Peace and Relaxation:Did you know that…..If you can start the day without caffeine, if you can get going without pep pills, if you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains, if you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles, if you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it, if you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time, if you can take criticism without resentment, if you can ignore a friend’s limited education and never correct him, if you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend, if you can conquer tension without medical help, if you can relax without liquor, if you can sleep without the aid of drugs, …Then you are probably the family dog!

USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK

1) Fr. Don’ collection of video homilies & blogs: https://sundayprep.org

 2) Video Sunday-Scripture study by Fr. Geoffrey Plant:

https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant2066

3) Dr. Brant Pitre’s commentary on Cycle C Sunday Scripture for Bible Class: https://catholicproductions.com/blogs/mass-readings-explained-year-c)    

20 Additional anecdotes

1) The ‘Butterfly Effect’     “Today’s real borders are not between nations, but between powerful and powerless, free and fettered, privileged and humiliated. Today no walls can separate humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in another. Scientists tell us that the world is so small and interdependent that a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon forest can generate a storm on the other side of the earth. The principle is known as the ‘Butterfly Effect.’” (Kofi Annan –“Excerpts from Nobel Prize acceptance speech”). — Today we realize more than ever, that the world of human activity also has its own ‘Butterfly Effect’ for better or for worse. The classical example is the history-making growth of Christianity in the first century by the Spirit-transformed lives of the apostles and early Christians. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

2) Two loves in our lives: Jimmy Carter, in his book, Sources of Strength, tells about interviewing Eloy Cruz, an admirable Cuban pastor, who had tremendous rapport with poor immigrants from Puerto Rico. “What is the secret to your success?” asked Carter. — Pastor Cruz replied, “Señor Jimmy, we need to have only two loves for our lives, love for God and love for the person who happens to be in front of us at any time.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

3) “You were walking with Mary Susanna Brown, a child of God“: Retired Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, (the eldest son of Boston physician, poet, and polymath, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes), was walking down a street one day. A little girl joined him. When the girl started to turn back home, the famed jurist said, “When your mother asks you where you’ve been, tell her you’ve been walking with Oliver Wendell Holmes,” to which the little girl replied confidently, “And when your folks ask you where you’ve been, tell them you were walking with Mary Susanna Brown, a child of God.” — There’s a little girl with a healthy sense of who she is! Psychologists tell us that a healthy sense of identity is one of the most valuable gifts we can give our children. We are God’s children and our God is an indwelling God. First, however, we need that gift ourselves. And if we did not receive it from our parents, we will need to look to God. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

4) Head and tail fight of bulldog ants: The philosopher Schopenhauer once compared us to a Bulldog Ant. If we cut a Bulldog Ant in half, the front and rear segments will enter into a savage fight. The head will seize the tail with its teeth, while the tail will sting the head with fury. The fight might last for hours. — That is the way some of us are on the inside. There is part of us that wants to move ahead and a part that wants to stand absolutely still. There is a part of us that wants success and recognition. There is another part that wants to sit on the river bank and while away the hours. There is a part of us that wants to serve Christ. There is another part that says, “No, I’ve enough to do right now. Let someone else take their turn.” There is a fierce battle going on within many of us. Few of us know what it is to live lives of contentment and peace. — Jesus said to his disciples, “I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid”(Jn 14:27) What a promise! What a gift! Peace of mind and heart. He can give it to us. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

5) Love as Jesus loved: Jesus said, “I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love.” (John 13:9). During World War II, a prisoner escaped from a labor detail in Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration camp in Poland. The camp commander announced that if he were not found in 24 hours, 10 of the 600 men in Block 14 would be picked at random to starve to death. Next morning the prisoners were lined up and stood all day in the burning heat of the sun. At 6 pm, 10 were selected at random. One was the father of a family. As they were being marched off, a Franciscan priest among the prisoners, St. Maximilian Kolbe, offered to take his place. The Nazi officer in charge was stunned, but he regained his composure and said, “Accepted.”  — The priest’s heroic act of love for a fellow prisoner is a faint reflection of Jesus’ love for us,  and of the Father’s love for Jesus. Can I recall a time when I went out of my way and offered to help someone in need? The greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them. (Jn 15:13). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

6) “Were we shot down?“ A commercial airline pilot on one occasion made a particularly bad landing. The wheels of the big jet hit the runway with a jarring thud. Afterward, the airline had a policy, which required that the pilot stand at the door while the passengers exited. He was to give each of them a smile and say, “Thanks for flying with us today.” In light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment, but no one seemed annoyed. Finally everyone had gotten off except for one little old lady walking with a cane. She approached the pilot and asked, “Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?” “Why, no, Ma’am, what is it?” said the pilot bravely. “Did we land,” she asked, “or were we shot down?”  — Maybe you’ve had days like that, days when it felt like you were shot down. Even worse, maybe things are going quite well for you, really. Your friends and your family tell you how fortunate you are. But you don’t feel fortunate. In fact, your life is somewhat tortured by a nagging fear that you cannot even define. It is at those moments that God wants us to turn to Him. He is our Peace, always. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

7) “Mommy, are you there?”: I recall the story of a little girl who, when trains were popular transportation, was taking her first train ride with her parents. As night descended, the mother took the girl, who was clearly quite anxious, and placed her on the upper bunk of the sleeper. She told her little one that up there she would be nearer to God and that God would watch over her. As silence enveloped the young lady she became afraid and called softly, “Mommy, are you there?” “Yes dear,” came the response. A little later, in a louder voice, the child called, “Daddy, are you there, too?” “Yes dear,” was the reply. After this had been repeated several times one of the passengers sharing their sleeper car finally lost his patience and shouted loudly, “Yes, we’re all here, your father, your mother, your brother, and all your aunts and cousins; now settle down and go to sleep!” There was a moment of silence and then, in hushed tones a little voice asked, “Mommy, was that God?” — Jesus, in offering peace, does not say, “I’m here, the Holy Spirit’s here and God is here, now be at peace!” The peace that Jesus offers cannot be had simply by desiring it. The peace of God is a gift; it can only be received as a by-product of Faith. That’s why the world is largely a stranger to it. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

8) Brendan Behan, an Irish playwright, virtually drank himself to death. His biographer attributes it to an unrelenting sense of guilt. Behan went to England on a mission for the I.R.A. One day he planted a bomb set to go off during rush hour. It exploded as a young woman with her baby was passing by. Both died in the blast! Brendan Behan was overwhelmed with guilt for killing that innocent woman and her baby. And as time went on he increasingly tried to drown his memories and silence his conscience in a bottle, without success! — Guilt is a terrible thing. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a guide in life a guide Who will help us avoid those things that we know are wrong, those things that fill us with regret? Christ has promised us such a guide. That guide is the Holy Spirit. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

9) Loving grandpa and the naughty grandchild: Grandpa walked into the family room and found his little grandson, Jeffy, standing up in his playpen, crying. He looked so pitiful, standing there in his little baseball T-shirt and diaper. His face was red and tear-stained from crying. When Jeffy saw his grandpa, his face lit up in a way that smote the old man’s heart. He immediately reached up his chubby little hands in supplication. “Take me out, Papa, out!” What grandpa could resist such a plea? Not this one! He walked over to the playpen and reached down to lift his little buddy out of captivity and distress. Just then, however, Law and Order stepped into the room. Jeffy’s mother walked out of the kitchen with a dishtowel in her hand and spoke sternly. “No, Jeffy! You are being punished. You have to stay in bed! Leave him right there, Dad.” Oh, fine. Now what’s a grandpa to do? His grandson’s tears and reaching little hands tugged mightily at his heart – but he didn’t want to interfere with a mother’s discipline either. What could he do? Love found a way. Since Grandpa couldn’t take Jeffy out of the playpen, he climbed in with him. “If you’re in the playpen, Buddy, I’m in the playpen. What’s your sentence? How long are you in for?” —  And finding a big, jolly grandpa suddenly filling his little prison cell, the little boy found comfort even in his captivity. Today’s readings explain God’s indwelling in the Church and in the believers in terms of God’s love for His children. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

10) The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky regarded by many as one of the greatest literary geniuses of all time. His books are classics. The Brothers Karamazov is regarded by many as the greatest novel ever written. His stories all have a similar theme, that our redemption is to be found through suffering, not simply physical suffering, but in the anguish of our selfhood. We become fully human, Dostoyevsky believed, by being tested and being strengthened through it [Pulpit Resource, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Logos Art Productions, Inver Grove, Minnesota) pp. 14-15.] — The peace which Jesus gave to the disciples involved very little contentment. They had to endure persecutions, misunderstanding, and hardships of every kind. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

11) “But Papa, I love him; he loves me.” In the Broadway play and movie of the same name, Fiddler on the Roof, the chief protagonist is Tevye, a poor Russian Jew struggling to make a life for himself and his family. Economically and politically strapped by the harsh conditions of life prior to and during the Russian Revolution (ca. 1917), Tevye the milkman can hold onto little else except his traditions. However, even these began to crumble when his eldest daughter refuses to acquiesce to an arranged marriage and opts for love in poverty rather than wealth without love. Further shaken by the marriage of his second daughter to a Russian who favors the revolution, Tevye seems unable to bear anything more. But the final blow comes when his youngest daughter chooses to marry Christian. When Tevye argues with his daughters in favor of the centuries’ old traditions of their people, they counter him on every point with the simple explanation, “But Papa, I love him; he loves me.” —  Love proved to be a force powerful enough to overcome separatism and the distrust of others and their ways on the grounds that they did not share the same roots, background and beliefs. In Tevye’s family, love began to establish new traditions, though not easily or rapidly. The family which was the early Church also struggled with the tasks of surrendering old ways (as described in the first reading) and of learning and establishing new ones as it grew and developed. Based on love and founded in peace, the Church’s new traditions were inspired, supported and guided by none other than the Holy Spirit. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

12) Conversion: Joshua, a young Jew, fell in love with Mary, a devout Catholic. When Joshua proposed to Mary, she sought counsel from her parents, each of whom advised her differently. “Convert him to Catholicism!” commanded Mary’s dad, but her mum said, “Love him tenderly and God’s Spirit will work wonders!” Mary’s dad wouldn’t give in and ordered her to work hard at converting Joshua to Catholicism. Mary obeyed and Joshua was duly converted. Weeks later Joshua called off the marriage. “What’s up?” asked Mary’s dad. Mary sobbed: “Joshua wants to be a priest!” (Francis Gonsalves in Sunday Seeds for daily Deeds). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

13) The little mediator, Wee Willie Winkie: John Ford’s superb family action-adventure film, Wee Willie Winkie (1937), is loosely based on Rudyard Kipling’s popular story from his Tales of British India.   The setting of this movie is 19^th century British-occupied India. Little Priscilla Williams and her widowed mother travel to India to live with their relative, Colonel Williams. The colonel ruled his British Army base in India with an iron fist making of it an oppressive place.  Priscilla is a very curious, precocious child, who gains the nickname of “Private Wee Willie Winkie.”  The little girl quickly charms everyone around her, including a tough Scots Sergeant. After a series of adventures, she wins the hearts of everyone by challenging the prejudicial assumptions of both friends and enemies.  Her innocent, yet challenging questions are instrumental in helping Colonel Williams and Islamic freedom fighter, Khoda Khan, to see the senselessness of violence.  This leads them to a negotiated peace. — Today’s Gospel assures us that it is the abiding presence of God the Father with God the Incarnte Risen Son in the Holy Spirit within us,  which gives us lasting peace. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

14)  A New Advocate:      When the heartbroken Nathaniel Hawthorne went home to tell his wife that he had been a failure and had been fired from his job in a customhouse, she surprised him with an exclamation of joy. “Now,” she said triumphantly, “you can write your book!” “Yes,” replied Nathaniel, “and what shall we live on while I am writing it?” To his amazement, she opened a drawer and pulled out a substantial sum of money. “Where on earth did you get that?” he exclaimed. “I have always known you were a man of genius,” she told him. “I knew that someday you would write a masterpiece. So every week out of the housekeeping money you gave me I saved a little. So here is enough to last us a whole year!” From her confidence and encouragement came one of the greatest novels of United States literature, The Scarlet Letter. –- As a farewell, gift Jesus spoke of the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate he would give us. On the Divine level, deeper experiences of God do not make Christians immune to human problems and pain, but Jesus showed that his peace can be present even in the midst of insults, persecution, and approaching death. (Harold Buetow in God Still Speaks: Listen!) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

15) “Padre, padrecito,” he exclaimed, “I knew you would come.”  It happened that a missionary priest was visiting his extensive parish, high in the Andes Mountains. The best way to reach certain parts of the parish was on horseback. Once, toward sunset, the priest got disoriented and could not find the way back to his base camp. Rather than risk exposure at such an altitude, he decided to give his horse free rein and hope to find shelter. After a couple of hours of wandering, he saw a welcome sight. In the distance a lamp burned in a hut. This was unusual because the native people went to bed shortly after dark in order to get up at an early hour. When the priest got near the hut, a man ran out, “Padre, padrecito,” he exclaimed, “I knew you would come.” Surprised, the priest asked how he knew that. The man said, “My mother has been praying all day that a priest would come. She is dying.” The priest went inside, heard the woman’s confession, then gave her Holy Anointing and Holy Communion. The woman softly spoke these final words, “Taita Dios heard me.” — Taita Dios is not easy to translate. Dios of course means God, but Taita is hard to translate. It is an intimate, affectionate way of addressing one’s father. Taita is like “daddy,” except that a grown-up man could say it with no embarrassment. Taita Dios, my dear Father, has heard me. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that if someone keeps Jesus’ word, “the Father will love him.” He then describes an intimacy impossible for us to imagine. He tells us that he and the Father will dwell within us – by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Phil Bloom). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

16) “I would obey the commandments of God.” When Jimmy Carter was running for President of the United States, one of the more vivid moments in the campaign passed by almost unnoticed. One Sunday morning, candidate Carter had been worshipping at the Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. When the service was over, he exited the church into the swarm of press encamped on the church’s front lawn. Cameras whirring, video lights glaring, microphones thrust forward, the media mavens moved in for interviews, pushing themselves to think of clever questions to ask a presidential candidate on the way out of a Southern Baptist Church. Suddenly, a reporter, probably in a stroke of luck, shouted out a question that genuinely mattered: “Mr. Carter, suppose when you are President, you get into a situation where the laws of the United States are in conflict with what you understand to be the will of God. Which will you follow, the laws of the state or the commandments of God?” Carter stopped, looked up, and blinked into the bright Georgia sun, obviously turning the question over in his mind. Then, perhaps still “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,” perhaps with the Spirit gently whispering the lyrics of the Gospel into his ears, he turned toward the reporter and replied, “I would obey the commandments of God.” Alert aides, alarmed by this candor, unnerved by their candidate’s near-treasonous remark, hurriedly whisked him away from the press and into a waiting car. — Carter the politician should have avoided the question, or hewed closely to the law of the land, but Carter the Christian had the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ whispering in his ear, “Do you love me? The world cannot see or know me, but do you love me? Do you keep my commandments?” The reason we need the Holy Spirit murmuring the Gospel in our ears, of course, is that we are notoriously forgetful. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

17) The true peace Christ brings us, according to St. Francis Assisi: The Little Flowers of St. Francis, composed at the end of the 14th century by a Tuscan, is  based on Actus beati Francisci et sociorum eius in divided into 53 short chapters. Here is a gripping story told in the book.  “Walking one day in the bitter cold with Brother Leo, St Francis began to teach him about perfect joy and perfect peace. He called to Brother Leo, who was walking on before him, and said to him: ‘If we monks were great holy men who edified all those around us, this would not be perfect joy.’ A little further St. Francis called to Brother Leo again: ‘O Brother Leo, if we monks were to make the lame to walk, if we should make straight the crooked, chase away demons, give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, and, what is even a far greater work, if we should raise the dead after four days, write that this would not be perfect joy.’ ….After some two miles of this Brother Leo finally spoke up and said: ‘Father Francis, I pray thee teach me wherein is perfect joy.’ Francis then teaches him this: ‘If, when we shall arrive at St Mary of the Angels, all drenched with rain and trembling with cold, all covered with mud and exhausted from hunger; if, when we knock at the convent-gate, the porter should come angrily and ask us who we are; if, after we have told him, “We are two of the brethren,” he should answer angrily, “What ye say is not the truth; ye are but two impostors going about to deceive the world, and take away the alms of the poor; begone, I say”; if then he refuse to open to us, and leave us outside, exposed to the snow and rain, suffering from cold and hunger till nightfall – then, if we accept such injustice, such cruelty and such contempt with patience, without being ruffled and without murmuring, believing with humility and charity that the porter really knows us, and that it is God who maketh him to speak thus against us, write down, O Brother Leo, that this is perfect joy. And if we knock again, and the porter come out in anger to drive us away with oaths and blows, as if we were vile impostors, saying, “Begone, miserable robbers! To the hospital, for here you shall neither eat nor sleep!” – and if we accept all this with patience, with joy, and with charity, O Brother Leo, write that this indeed is perfect joy. And if, urged by cold and hunger, we knock again, calling to the porter and entreating him with many tears to open to us and give us shelter, for the love of God, and if he come out more angry than before, exclaiming, “These are but importunate rascals, I will deal with them as they deserve’; and taking a knotted stick, he seize us by the hood, throwing us on the ground, rolling us in the snow, and shall beat and wound us with the knots in the stick – if we bear all these injuries with patience and joy, thinking of the sufferings of our Blessed Lord, which we would share out of love for him, write, O Brother Leo, that here, finally, is perfect joy.’  — I believe that what St Francis was saying to Brother Leo was that the Peace of Christ comes through our acts of obedience especially obedience in times of suffering. We will do well if we remember that true peace is the assurance that one day our Brother Jesus will return to take us back, back to our Father’s house. “So, do not let your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid.” (Jn 14:1) Amen. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

18) Peanut in our pocket:  There is a story told  about a young lady named Sally. Sally was growing up, becoming a woman, preparing to go off to college. Her mother had struggled to provide for her education, an especially difficult task since her father had died several years earlier. Her mother had made every effort within her power to raise Sally right. Now Sally would be on her own, an exciting and frightening time. Sally had strong reservations about leaving her mother alone to mind the farm and do the chores. She was also nervous about having to find her own way without her mother’s guidance. As she prepared to meet the bus, bags packed and ready, her mother took her arm and said to her, “You’re gonna see things an’ do things you ain’t never heard of, and you won’t know which way to turn sometimes. You ‘member how you used to tug on my apron string when you wanted something, and I’d see to what you was after? You ‘member how when you was too close to the road, and I’d holler to you to tell you to get away from there’?” her mother gently reminded her. “Well, I’m gonna be there with you in your heart, but it’ll be up to you to listen to what I told you. I can’t kiss your hurts when you fall down an’ skin your knee or quiet you when the big storms come rollin’ through. But, I’ll be close as a peanut in your pocket when you need me. If you’re afraid, I’ll stand with you. And if you are hurting, you can feel me close, and if you do wrong, I’ll whisper the truth to ya, so you won’t do it no more.” The tears came to both their eyes. Her mother opened the dresser drawer and took out a neatly folded handkerchief and placed it in the pocket of Sally’s dress. Upon leaving, Sally felt completely alone. As she fought back the tears, she reached into her dress pocket to take out the handkerchief her mother had placed there. Then she noticed a knot in one corner just like her mother used to tie her milk money in her handkerchief. Upon untying the knot, she found a single peanut. She knew that her dear mother would always be with her in her heart (3. Parables submitted by Ron Alberston). — The Good News is that God wants to dwell in our lives. God wants to take up residence in our hearts. God wants to be with us always, as close as a peanut in our pocket. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

19) “Watch Jimmie in chapel:” In his book, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat, Oliver Sacks tells the story of Jimmie, a former sailor, now a patient in a nursing home, whose severe neurological disorder had left him with a profound and permanent amnesia. He simply had no memory of anything from 1945 on. Having no ability to retrieve the past and no ability to construct a meaningful present, Jimmie lacked the continuity that makes for a sense of the self. He was, wrote Sacks, a person who “wore a look of infinite sadness and resignation.” However, when Sacks asked the Sisters who ran the nursing home whether Jimmie had lost his soul, the Sisters were outraged by the question. “Watch Jimmie in chapel,” they said, “and judge for yourself.” So Sacks did watch Jimmie in chapel, and there he observed an astounding transformation. He saw an intensity and steadiness in Jimmie that he had not observed before. As he received the Sacrament, there was “perfect alignment of his spirit with the spirit of the Mass.” There in worship, Jimmie was no longer at the mercy of a faulty and fallible memory. “He was wholly held, absorbed ….” He whose mind was broken was given in worship, “a continuity and unity so seamless it could not permit any break.” . (Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat, is reported in Craig Dykstra, “Memory and Truth,” Theology Today, XLIV/2, p. 162).  — Jimmie in his own way is like all of us. In the final analysis, none of us is able to construct a self. We must all be given a story and a continuity not of our own making. Where we have no faithful memory, God remembers, and by the grace of God, the Spirit whispers the lyrics of the saving Gospel in our ears. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

20) The City Sparkled Like a Diamond: We pray for the dead, “May perpetual light shine upon them”. Have you ever wondered what sort of light perpetual light would be? Soft and white, perhaps, like the light of a frosted bulb? Piercing, like the headlight of a motorcycle? Scary electric blue, like a flash of lightning? Too dazzling even to look at, like the glare of the summer sun? It might resemble any of these. But somehow, I believe that the light in heaven will be more gracious. — Today’s second reading suggests what I mean. St. John had a preview of the “new Jerusalem” to be sent down by God. He says, “The city had the radiance of a precious jewel that sparkled like a diamond.” In other words it shone with a glittering, amiable, transparent light. John used similar descriptions elsewhere in the Book of Revelations: “The city was of pure gold, crystal clear” and “The streets of the city were of pure gold, transparent as glass. The floor around (God’s) throne was like a sea of glass that was crystal clear.”  Centuries before St. John’s days, the prophet Ezekiel had described the sky above God, whom he too saw in a vision, as shining “like glittering crystal.“ From 1915 to 1917 the three children of Fatima, Portugal – Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta – had several visions of Our Lady and of angels. They, too, described the light in these visions as something you could see through. Lucia has recorded that the angel they saw in 1916 “was a young man, about 14 or 15 years old, whiter than snow, transparent as crystal when the sun shines through it.” And when Our Lady appeared to them on May 13, 1917, Lucy said “she was more brilliant than the sun, and radiated with a light more clear and intense than a crystal glass filled with sparkling water when the rays of the burning sun shine through it.” I think I would like that sort of light. (Father Robert F. McNamara). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)       L/22

 “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle C (No. 33) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com

Visit my website by clicking on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle C homilies, 141                   Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit also https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies  under Fr. Tony’s homilies and  under Resources in the CBCI website:  https://www.cbci.in  for other website versions.  (Vatican Radio website: http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html uploaded my Cycle A, B and C homilies in from 2018-2020)  Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604 .

May 16-21: Kindly click on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed Sunday and weekday homilies, RCIA & Faith formation classes: May 16 Monday: Jn 14:21-26: 21 He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. 25 “These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” Additional Reflections:( https://youtu.be/db4dRureCVs?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DA8uaxE25BlBvINntS5bWpi) Click onhttps://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections(Copy and paste these web addresses on the Address bar of any Internet website like Google or MSN and press the Enter button of your Keyboard).

The context: Today’s Gospel passage is taken from Jesus’ Last Super discourse. It was commonly held by the Jews that when the Messiah came, he would be revealed to the whole world as King and Savior. Hence, Judas Thaddeus asks why Jesus is revealing himself only to his disciples. Jesus does not answer that question directly. Instead, He continues his work of preparing his disciples for his imminent departure from them by assuring them that he is not leaving them alone. Instead, Jesus is going to live in them along with God his Father and God the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Father can be experienced through the experience of love. It means that the criterion of the Father is always the same: love. “If anyone loves Me, he will observe My word, and My Father will love him and We shall come to him and make a home in him.”

Jesus promises the abiding presence of the Holy Trinity in his disciples who express their responsive love for him by keeping his commandments, especially his commandment of love, because only this type of loving will open them and make them receptive to the Divine Indwelling of the Trinitarian God. Jesus is referring to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the soul renewed by grace. God repeatedly revealed Himself in the Old Testament and promised to dwell in the midst of His people (cf. Ex 29:45; Ez 37:26-27; etc.). But here Jesus speaks of the presence of God in each person. We are each a part of the Divine chain of love. God loves man. He sent His Son to prove it. After Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension, God the Father continues to live in us with His Son and the Holy Spirit. This abiding God gives us the Father’s protection and providence, the Son’s redemption and forgiveness of sins, and the Holy Spirit’s sanctification and guidance.

Life messages: 1) Let us live in constant awareness of the abiding presence of the Trinitarian God within us and behave well in His presence. 2) During moments of doubts and temptations, let us seek the active guidance and strengthening of our indwelling God. Fr. Tony(https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22

May 17 Tuesday:  Jn 14:27-31a: 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, `I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go hence. Click onhttps://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: In his Last Supper discourse, Jesus gives two gifts to his disciples, namely, the gift of peace and the gift of the cross leading to glory. Today’s passage refers to the gift of peace. Wishing a person peace (Shalom), was, and still is, the usual form of greeting among the Jews and the Arabs. Shalom is a right relationship with God and with others. Arabs wish each other saying “Islam Alikum” in Arabic, meaning peace be with you. And the response is “alikum Islam” (and also with you). Moses instructed the Israelites to bless others with God’s peace: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Nm 6:22-26). “Peace be with you!” is the greeting which Jesus used, and which the Apostles continued to use. Hence, the Church uses it several times in the liturgy. Peace is one of the great Messianic gifts. St. Paul tells us that it is it is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Jesus repeats his promise saying, “My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you.” Pope St. Paul VI (canonized October 14, 2018), said: “True peace must be founded upon justice, upon a sense of the untouchable dignity of man, upon the recognition of an indelible and happy equality between men, upon the basic principle of human brotherhood.”

Life message: 1) We are invited to live in the peace wished by Jesus. This requires that we be reconciled every day with ourselves, with our neighbors, and with our God. Reconciliation with God demands that we obey His commandments, repent every day of our sins, and ask God’s forgiveness. Reconciliation with others demands that we forgive others for their offenses against us, and that we ask for their forgiveness for our offenses against them in words and deeds. Reconciliation with ourselves comes from our grace-given humble recognition of our weaknesses and failures and our grateful acceptance and use of the Holy Spirit’s loving gifts to us of deepened love and trust that God loves us in spite of these weaknesses, forgives us our sins when we repent, helps us to do better, and uses our weaknesses to bring us closer to Him, and to demonstrate His own Love and Power working through us for His glory. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22.

May 18 Wednesday: (St. John I, Pope, Martyr): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-i; John 15:1-8: 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples:. Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/;https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: During his Last Supper discourse, Jesus uses one of his favorite images, the vine and the branches, to help his disciples understand the closeness of their relationship with him and the necessity of their maintaining it. Jesus assures them, using the parable of the vine and branches, that the Life-giving Spirit, Whom Jesus will send them, will be present and active among his disciples and their successors. This Gospel passage also emphasizes the need for Christians to abide in Christ as an essential condition for producing fruits of kindness, mercy, justice, charity, and holiness. Paul further clarifies this idea in Colossians 1:18 using another metaphor, that Christ is the Head and Christians are the different members of His Mystical Body. Pruning is an essential part of growing fruit-producing branches. In the vineyards in Palestine, dead branches were pruned to save the vine. Fruitless, leafy branches draining life sap from the main trunk were also pruned away leaving only fruit-bearing branches. Jesus tells his apostles that they have already been pruned by the words he has spoken to them. Eventually, they will be pruned of all attachment to the things of this world so that they may be ready to attach themselves to the things of Heaven.

Life messages 1) We need pruning in our Christian life. Pruning, which cuts out of our lives everything that is contrary to the spirit of Jesus and renews our commitment to Christian ideals in our lives every day, is the first type of self-imposed pruning expected of us. A second kind of pruning is accomplished by practicing self-control over our evil inclinations, sinful addictions, and aberrations. A third type of pruning is done by our permitting Jesus to prune, purify, and strengthen us as God allows us to face pain, suffering, contradictions, and difficulties with His grace and the courage of our Christian convictions. 2) Let us abide in Christ and let Christ abide in us: Personal and liturgical prayers, frequenting of the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation, daily, meditative reading of the Bible, and selfless, loving acts of kindness, mercy, and forgiveness enable us to abide in Jesus, the true vine, as fruit-bearing branches (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22.

May 19 Thursday: Jn 15: 9-11: 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 This I command you, to love one another. Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/;https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: During the Last Supper discourse, Jesus teaches his disciples that love is the hallmark and the criterion of Christians. Jesus reminds his disciples that he has chosen them as his friends with a triple mission. First, they are to love others as he has loved them. Second, they are to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Third, they are to ask God the Father for whatever they need in Jesus’ name.

The criteria of Christian love: First, Jesus modifies the Old Testament command from “love your neighbor as you love yourselves” (Lv 19: 18) to “love others as I have loved you.” This means that our love for others must be unconditional, forgiving, and sacrificial. Jesus invites each Christian to be in the inner circle of his friends by obeying his commandments including the new commandment of love. Such friends abide in Jesus, and Jesus abides in them, and their prayers in Jesus’ name will be answered promptly by God the Father. We express our love for Christ by obeying his new commandment of love. Jesus further explains that the real source of Christian joy is the certainty that God loves us. We, too, must be ready to express our love for others by our readiness to die for them as Jesus died for us.

Life message: 1) Let us remember that true Christian love is costly and painful because it involves sacrifice on our part when we start loving unlovable, ungrateful, and hostile people with Christ’s unconditional, forgiving, sacrificial love. But our Christian call is to love others as Jesus has loved us, and as Jesus loves them. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22

May 20 Friday: (St. Berndine of Siena, priest): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-bernardine-of-siena Jn 15:12-17: 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 This I command you, to love one another. Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/;https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: Today’s Gospel passage is a part of Jesus’ Last Supper discourse. Jesus reminds his disciples that he has chosen them as his friends with a triple mission. First, they are to love others as he has loved them. Second, they are to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Third, they are to ask God the Father in Jesus’ Name, for whatever they need.

First, Jesus modifies the Old Testament command from “love your neighbor as you love yourselves” (Lv 19:18) to “love others as I have loved you.” This means that our love for others must be unconditional, forgiving, and sacrificial. We, too, must be ready to express our love for others by our readiness to die for them as Jesus died for us. Jesus reminds the apostles that the ultimate expression of love (and especially Christian love, agápê) lies in self-sacrifice for others” Second, Jesus explains that the calling to produce fruits, which the Apostles received, and which every Christian also receives, does not originate in the individual’s good desires but in Christ’s free choice. Third, Jesus concludes his advice by referring to the effectiveness of prayer offered in his Name. That is why the Church usually ends the prayers of the liturgy with the invocation “Through Jesus Christ our Lord….”

Life messages: 1) Let us cultivate an abiding and loving friendship with Jesus: a) The qualities we normally expect from our friends are trust, mutuality, faithfulness, equality, forgiveness, joy, and self-sacrifice. Jesus offers us all these qualities in our friendship with him. b) As a friend, Jesus has trusted us by sharing with us everything that he has heard from his Father. Hence, we have to trust him as a friend by listening to him through the Bible and talking to him by prayer. c) As our friend, Jesus will be always faithful to us. Let us return this fidelity by being faithful to him in doing His will. d) By calling us his friends, Jesus makes us equal to him. Let us be proud of this and lead lives worthy of our unique status. e) As an understanding friend, Jesus is ready to forgive us time and time again. Let us also forgive those who offend us. f) As a friend, Christ has told us everything so that our joy might be complete in him. Let us enjoy Jesus’ Divine friendship. g) Jesus declared that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend. He has done it for us. Hence, let us also love others sacrificially.

#2: Let us be persons for others: Jesus demonstrated the love God, his Father, has for us by living for us and dying for us. Hence, as his disciples, we are to be persons for others, sacrificing our time, talents, and lives for others. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22.

May 21 Saturday: (St. Christopher Magallanes):https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-cristobal-magallanes-and-companions Jn 15:18-21: 18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, `A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all this they will do to you on my account, because they do not know him who sent me. Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: In today’s Gospel passage, taken from the Last Supper discourse, Jesus warns his apostles of what they are to expect from a world which ignores God and His teaching. They will be hated and persecuted as Jesus was. But there can be no compromise between Christ’s disciples and the followers of the powers of darkness. The term “world” in today’s Gospel passage means people who are hostile towards God and opposed to His will. They represent an evil society which “calls evil good and good evil” (Is 5:20). Such a society will hate Christ and his teachings because Christian teaching exposes the evil of society and its false and dangerous doctrines. Since the Church Jesus established stands for truth, morality and justice, it does not support the modern “dictatorship of relativism.” The modern world hates and ridicules everything Christian through its liberal, agnostic and atheistic media.

Life message: Let us ask the Holy Spirit for the courage of our Christian convictions to believe and practice what Jesus taught and what Jesus continues to teach through the Church. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22.

Easter V [C] (May 15) Eight-page homily in one-page (L/22)

Introduction: Today’s readings are about renewal and new things: The New Jerusalem, a new Heaven and a new earth, and a new commandment. Scripture lessons: The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, describes how the small Christian communities helped the work of renewal in their members by their agápe love, imitating the agápe love of Paul and Barnabas. The second reading, from the Book of Revelation, explains how God renews His Church, the New Jerusalem, by being present in her members, in their parish communities, and in their liturgical celebrations. “See, I am making all things new.” Today’s Gospel passage gives us the secret of Christian renewal as the faithful practice of Jesus’ new commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:35). Jesus has added a new element to the Old Testament command of love by teaching us that the true test of discipleship is to love other people in the same way that he has loved us, with sacrificial, selfless, self-giving, unconditional, agápe love. Hence, the renewal of Christian life means a radical change of vision and a reordering of our priorities in life. Such a renewal brings us to embrace new attitudes, new values, and new standards of relating to God, to other people and, indeed, to our whole environment.

Life messages: 1) Let us learn to love ourselves so that we may learn to love each other. The old commandment (Lv 19:1-2, 9-18) says: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We cannot learn to cherish others and care for them if we have never learned to do the same for ourselves. We live in a world that denies our basic human worth. How do we reclaim our basic worth? We can become whole and holy only when we learn to love ourselves properly, acknowledging the fact that we are children of God and that the Triune God resides in our souls, making our bodies the “temple of the Holy Spirit.”

2) Let us love others in our daily lives: We are asked to love as Jesus loved, in the ordinary course of our lives. We love others by responding to their everyday needs with love and compassion. We love others by comforting and protecting those who have experienced loss. We love others by serving others in every possible way, no matter how small, seeing the face of Jesus in them. We love others by forgiving rather than condemning, by challenging rather than condoning. Finally, we love others by sacrificially sharing our time, talents, and blessings with them.

3) Let us demonstrate our love for others in our gatherings and parish assemblies: When we are assembled as a religious or social community, we have an opportunity to demonstrate our love for one another. People must see Christians as people who interact with a love and concern for one another that reveals their strong love and appreciation for each other. They should see in us a quickness to appreciate and readiness to forgive, even as Christ has forgiven us.

Easter V [C] (May 5): Acts 14:21-27; Rv 21:1-5a; Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35

Homily starter anecdotes # 1: “Little children love one another:” St. Jerome relates of the apostle John that when he became old, he used to be carried to the assembled Churches, everywhere repeating the words, “Little children, love one another.” His disciples, wearied by the constant repetition, asked him why he always said this. “Because,” he replied, “it is the Lord’s commandment, and if it only be fulfilled, it is enough.” — John knew that the greatest truth was most apt to be forgotten because it was taken for granted. This is one of the greatest calamities in the Christian Church and the one that causes divisions. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

# 2: “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.” One day, as St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa, 1910-1997) and her Missionaries of Charity were tending to the poorest of the poor on the streets of Calcutta, they happened across a man lying in the gutter, very near death. He was filthy, dressed in little more than a rag and flies swarmed around his body. Immediately, Mother Teresa embraced him, spoke to him softly and began to pick out the maggots that were nesting in his flesh. A passerby was repulsed by the sight of the man and exclaimed to Mother Teresa, “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.” Her response was immediate, “Neither would I!” –Obviously, monetary gain did not motivate the diminutive woman known as the Saint of Calcutta; love did. In her writings, Mother Teresa frequently affirmed the motivating power of love. Quoting Jesus in today’s Gospel, she wrote, “Jesus said, ‘Love one another. Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for each other.’” She continued, “We must grow in love, and to do this we must go on loving and loving and giving and giving until it hurts – the way Jesus did. Do ordinary things with extraordinary love: little things, like caring for the sick and the homeless, the lonely and the unwanted, washing and cleaning for them.” Elsewhere, Mother Teresa remarked that the greatest disease in the West today is not tuberculosis, leprosy or even A.I.D.S.; it is being unwanted, uncared for, unloved. That she did her part in trying to “cure” this disease was attested in everything she did and in every word she said. (Sanchez Files) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

# 3: Catherine Lawes who transformed a notorious prison with love: In 1921, Lewis Lawes became the warden at Sing Sing Prison in New York state. No prison was tougher than Sing Sing during that time. But when Warden Lawes retired some 20 years later, that prison had become a humanitarian institution. Those who studied the system said credit for the change belonged to Lawes. But when he was asked about the transformation, here’s what he said: “I owe it all to my wonderful wife, Catherine, who is buried outside the prison walls.” Catherine Lawes was a young mother with three small children when her husband became the warden. Everybody warned her from the beginning that she should never set foot inside the prison walls, but that didn’t stop Catherine! When the first prison basketball game was held, she went … walking into the gym with her three beautiful kids, and she sat in the stands with the inmates. Her attitude was: “My husband and I are going to take care of these men and I believe they will take care of me! I don’t have to worry.” She insisted on getting acquainted with them and their records. She discovered one convicted murderer was blind so she paid him a visit. Holding his hand in hers she said, “Do you read Braille?” “What’s Braille?” he asked. Then she taught him how to read. Years later he would weep in love for her. Later, Catherine found a deaf-mute in prison. She went to school to learn how to use sign language. Many said that Catherine Lawes was the body of Jesus that came alive again in Sing Sing from 1921 to 1937. Then, she was killed in a car accident. The next morning Lewis Lawes didn’t come to work, so the acting warden took his place. It seemed almost instantly that the prison knew something was wrong. The following day, her body was resting in a casket in her home, three-quarters of a mile from the prison. As the acting warden took his early morning walk he was shocked to see a large crowd of the toughest, hardest-looking criminals gathered like a herd of animals at the main gate. He came closer and noted tears of grief and sadness. He knew how much they loved Catherine. He turned and faced the men, “All right, men, you can go. Just be sure and check in tonight!” Then he opened the gate and a parade of criminals walked, without a guard, the three-quarters of a mile to stand in line to pay their final respects to Catherine Lawes. — And every one of them checked back in. Every one! They had learned the commandment of love as practiced by Catherine. [Stories for the Heart compiled by Alice Gray (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1996), pp. 54-55.] (https://frtonyshomilies.com/).

Introduction: Today’s readings are about new things: the New Jerusalem, a new Heaven and a new earth, and a new commandment. In the reading taken from the Book of Revelation, God tells us that His saving and healing work in the world is ongoing: “See, I am making all things new” (Rv 21:5a). The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, describes how the small Christian communities helped the work of renewal in their members by their agápe love, imitating the agápe love of Paul and Barnabas. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 145) prays that “Your faithful ones” may “make known Your might to the children of Adam,” not just to Israel. The second reading, taken from Revelation, explains how God renews His Church by being present in her members and in their parish communities and liturgical celebrations. Today’s Gospel passage gives us the secret of Christian renewal as the faithful practice of Jesus’ new commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:35). Jesus has added a new element to the Old Testament command of love by telling us that the true test of discipleship is to love other people in the same way that he has loved us. Hence, the renewal of Christian life means a radical change of vision and a reordering of our priorities in life. Such a renewal brings us to embrace new attitudes, new values, and new standards of relating to God, to other people and, indeed, to our whole environment. For most of us, “renewal” is something that comes at different stages in our lives, each time bringing us to a deeper understanding, insight, and commitment.

First reading: Acts 14:21-27, explained: Each Jewish synagogue served its Faith community year-round as a) a House of Prayer (b) a House of Study and (c) a House of Assembly or Socialization. When Jesus came, acting as a Teacher, a rabbi, he gathered around him a talmudim — a small group of twelve men to travel with him, to share prayer, ministry, Faith, and values. Jesus promised his followers that wherever two or three would gather in his name, he would be present among them. After his death and Resurrection, Jesus’ disciples tried to establish small Christian communities wherever they found a welcome. Paul and Barnabas knew that evangelization and Baptism were but the first steps in a lifelong process of turning to, and being transformed by, Christ. Hence, in their subsequent visits to Christian communities, they continued to instruct their converts. Already in the first Christian century, believers understood that catechesis is a cradle-to-grave endeavor. Paul and Barnabas also considered their mission an extension of the small community’s outreach to the world. Because of this they were accountable to the Christian community that had sent them. Therefore, they returned to relate all that they had done, careful to credit God for their success and the increasingly universal character of the Church, for it was He who had “opened the door of the Faith to the Gentiles” (v. 27). It is a welcome sight to see modern Christian communities, which are criticized for too much structural set-up,returning to their first century roots by establishing congregations that are a network of individual Christians, bound together in prayer, Faith, mutual support, service, missionary outreach, and accountability. We may not be called to the same kind of missionary activity as were Paul and Barnabas, but we must be as unselfish in our service of others as were these early Christians.

Second Reading, Revelation 21:1-5, explained: The Book of Revelation was written to bolster the Faith of persecuted Christians in all ages. Today’s passage begins the final section of the book. The scene is really a vision of the new age of eschatological fulfillment inaugurated by the death and Resurrection of Jesus. The ancient city of Jerusalem had long been for the Jews a token of God’s presence with them. God had aided them in capturing and holding it, in making it their capital, in building His Temple there, and in returning to it to rebuild it after its destruction by their captors and their consequent exile in Babylon. Within the holiest chamber of the Jerusalem Temple, they kept the stone tablets of the Law given to Moses in a chest known as the Ark of the Covenant. God dwelt in a particular way above this chamber. These details give richness to the image of the “New Jerusalem” spoken of in Revelation. The image is a metaphor for the Church, which is always called to reveal God’s presence among us. Today’s passage from the Book of Revelation (21:3) gives us the assurance that “God’s dwelling is with the human race.” It affirms the fact that God is present at every moment of human history, even those most desperate and threatening. Jesus’ death and Resurrection have created a state in which a once-distant God is now present to every person and in every situation. Moreover, Jesus has given us the insight and power to transform everything in our lives by practicing agápe love in our interactions with people. It is through this constant love-centered interaction among us that the “new earth, the new Heaven, and the new Jerusalem” can begin to come into existence – not at some unknown future time and in some other place, but here and now. In this second reading, taken from Revelation, John shares a vision of nuptial love. When all the former things have passed away and sin and evil are completely overcome, God will welcome the redeemed as a husband welcomes a bride. The love and life that they will share will preclude tears, pain, crying out, mourning and death.

Gospel exegesis: Today’s Gospel reading comes from Chapters 13:1–17:26 of St. John’s Gospel, known as “The Last Discourse,” which took place at the Last Supper, on the night before Jesus went to the Cross. In these chapters, Jesus has left urgent messages for his Apostles and for us – things that he wanted to tell us before he went away. This farewell discourse is a powerful and intimate part of Jesus’ teaching on the Christian concepts of glory and love.

The Christian concept of glory: The glorification mentioned in today’s passage refers, above all, “to the glory which Christ will receive once he is raised up on the cross (John 3:14; 12:32). St. John stresses that Christ’s death is the beginning of his victory: his very crucifixion can be considered the first step in his Ascension to his Father. At the same time, it is glorification of the Father, because Christ, by voluntarily accepting death out of love, as a supreme act of obedience to the Will of God, performs the greatest sacrifice man can offer for the glorification of God. The Father will respond to this glorification which Christ offers Him by glorifying Christ as Son of Man, that is, in his holy human nature, through his Resurrection and Ascension to God’s right hand. Thus, the glory which the Son gives the Father is at the same time glory for the Son.” (The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries). As Christ’s disciples, we also will find our highest motivation and glory by identifying ourselves with Christ’s obedience in our daily lives, especially by keeping his new commandment of sacrificial, unconditional, forgiving agápe love.

The new commandment: In the second part of the farewell discourse, Jesus gives his followers a new commandment: they must love one another as he has loved them. They would be known, not by the sign of the fish or even of the cross, but by their mutual love, the fruit of their conversion. Just as Solomon, in the story of the disputed child, was able to discern the identity of the true mother by her love, so will the world be able to identify the true disciples of Jesus by their love for one another. The command of Jesus is both new and old. It repeats the precept of Lv 19:18 to love one’s neighbor as one’s self. What is new is that this love characterizes the new life inaugurated by Jesus and is proof of one’s love for God (1 Jn. 4:7). Jesus’ new commandment calls for love without limits, conditions, or prerequisites. This love opens our eyes to facts that we might otherwise overlook — that the poor in the world belong to our family; that those who live in despair may be saved by God through our care of them; that God’s peace can come to the world through our efforts as we pray and work with Him.

The nature of Christian love: Jesus speaks ofagápe, a love that requires total commitment and trust. It is the kind of love with which God loves us, a love that should be the model of the love we have for others. This love should be more than just a warm feeling toward others; it should be a compassionate gift of ourselves to meet the spiritual and bodily needs of our brothers and sisters. Agápe implies a reaching out to others in a caring attitude for their wellbeing without expecting any favor in return. It is strong, positive, difficult, determined action. Jesus repeats the command to love one another three times, first explaining what it is (“a new commandment”), how it is to be applied (“as I have loved you“), and finally noting that this love would stand as the trademark of his disciples. Not only is this a new commandment, but also, Jesus teaches, it is the greatest. To love, in fact, is to know God—”Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). The early Christians practiced this love literally. That is why Tertullian stated why the heathens held the Christian congregations in high regard: “See, how these Christians love one another!” The fact is that Jesus’ death and Resurrection serve, not just as an example of how to love, but as the agent that actually frees us from our selfish love through His indwelling presence. It was this new kind of love which was manifested by the first disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem (Acts 2:44-45), and in the Churches in Macedonia (2 Cor 8:1-5). It was a love that was attentive to the poor and the needy. During his life on earth, Jesus Himself was lovingly present to those who were not at all lovable. He allowed himself to be moved with pity and compassion when he encountered those in need, and he was moved to tears in the midst of sadness. He openly shed tears at the tomb of Lazarus. He shed tears also over the city of Jerusalem (Lk 19:41-44). Even the anger that Jesus displayed in the Temple was rooted in love — the love for His Father and for His Father’s house. Jesus loved by serving others, by helping them, and by healing others. His was a love that healed and built up, challenged, and inspired people. It was a deeply forgiving and sacrificial love. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13).

St. Augustine’s commentary on the new commandment of love: Isn’t Jesus asking the “impossible” when he asks his disciples to “love one another” (Jn 13:31-35)? Can anything be harder? St. Augustine also wrestled with the question of love and demonstrated through the life of Jesus that love conquers all. Available on the “New Advent” website is his “Homily 7 on the Epistle of John” which contains the famous phrase, “love and do what you will.” His example contrasts the actions of beating and caressing: which of those two would you rather receive? Which is better: a father chastising his son, or a pedophile caressing his object of lust? Everything depends on what is in the heart of the person before and during the action. Augustine’s point is his interpretation of Jesus’ command to love one another as He has loved us. Some things may have a good appearance, but one’s actions are only discerned by the root of charity. This is why he confidently says, “love and do what you will.” If you have a right relationship with God and with others, then you have nothing to worry about. This kind of love is a sacrificial love, not a selfish love. It only thinks of the best for the other person – even if that “best” means corrective action out of love. If this kind of love is within you, then with Augustine we say “from this root can spring nothing but what is good.”

Life messages: 1) Let us learn to love ourselves so that we may learn to love each other. The old commandment (Lv 19:1-2, 9-18), says: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” How do we learn to cherish others and care for them if we have never learned to do the same for ourselves? We live in a culture that devalues life and worships death—a culture in which people drug themselves into oblivion. Women and girls are willing to starve themselves to fit some unrealistic media image of beauty and worth. People and relationships are sacrificed on the altar of “workaholism.” How are we to love ourselves when we are told over and over again that we are unlovable? How do we reclaim our basic worth? We can become whole and holy only when we learn to love ourselves properly, acknowledging the loving presence of the Triune God in our souls, making our bodies the “temple of the Holy Spirit.” Only those persons who are fully convinced that they are themselves lovable because God has loved them and so brought them into being can reach out comfortably and unconditionally to love those who themselves cannot love but can only hurt and hate and destroy. It is through constant love-centered interaction with God and each other that the “new earth, the new Heaven and the new Jerusalem” can begin to come into existence.

2) Let us love others in our daily lives: We are asked to love as Jesus loved, in the ordinary course of our lives. This means that we should love others by allowing ourselves to be moved with pity for them. We love others by responding to their everyday needs. We can show love by materially sharing with those who have less. We love others by comforting and protecting those who have experienced loss. We love others by serving others in every possible way, no matter how small. We love others by forgiving rather than condemning, by challenging rather than condoning. We love others by responding to the call of God in our lives and by walking in the footsteps of Jesus. We love others by making sacrifices for them. This is how the world will know that we are the Disciples of Christ.

3) Let us demonstrate our love for others: When we are assembled and have guests, we have an opportunity to demonstrate our love for one another. They must see Christians as people who are glad to see one another, who are willing to take the time to visit with each other and who know each other’s names. Our assemblies may be the only time some guests have the opportunity to see Christians interact with love and concern for one another, an interaction that reveals the strong love and appreciation for one another which the members have. Christians will often sin against one another and offend one another. But others should see in us a quickness to forgive, even as Christ has forgiven us.

Joke of the Week: One Sunday a priest was finishing up a series on marriage. At the end of the service, he was giving out small wooden crosses to each married couple. He said, “Place this cross in the room in which you fight the most and you will be reminded of Jesus’ new commandment, and you won’t argue as much.” One woman came up after the service and said: “You’d better give me five crosses.”

USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK

1) Fr. Don’ collection of video homilies & blogs: https://sundayprep.org

 2) Video Sunday-Scripture study by Fr. Geoffrey Plant:

 https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant2066

3) Dr. Brant Pitre’s commentary on Cycle C Sunday Scripture for Bible Class: https://catholicproductions.com/blogs/mass-readings-explained-year-c)      

4) Catholic FAQ http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/a/faq-cc.html: (=Catholic answers to frequently asked questions) & http://www.catholic.com/

5)        USCCB Daily reflections videos: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/

15-Additional anecdotes:

1) The bomber and the victim: Two World War II veterans, a German and an American, were attending a three-day seminar.  As they were washing dishes one evening after dinner, they exchanged stories about the war. The American told of the horror he felt as a young pilot during the particularly savage bombing of a city in Germany.  He had orders to bomb a hospital, which he would know by the huge Red Cross painted on the roof.  The German — somewhat shocked by the story — revealed that his wife had been giving birth to their baby in that very hospital when it was being bombed, resulting in the death of the mother and the baby.  After a few minutes of silence, the two men fell into each other’s arms weeping. —  Imagine being in Heaven, at the end of the world, where we fall weeping upon one another, waves of reconciliation breaking upon us as we adjust ourselves to this dimension of pure love which Jesus demands from his followers in today’s Gospel passage. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

2) Quest for Fire:         In the early 1980s, an unusual film was playing in movie theatres across the nation. It was called Quest for Fire. Its French producer said it fulfilled a lifelong dream. He’d always dreamed of celebrating, in film, the discovery of fire.  For it was the discovery of fire 80,000 years ago that saved people on the planet Earth from total extinction. It was the discovery of fire that made it possible for them to make tools for survival and to protect themselves against the cold. — Today, people on planet earth are beginning to worry again that we are teetering on the brink of global disaster. This time the danger comes not from something basic like the lack of fire but from something even more basic – the lack of human love, the kind of love Jesus preached. This makes us wonder. It makes us ask ourselves a question, a frightening question: ‘Do we love? Have we learned to love?’

(Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

3) Love is the Christian uniform: The renowned French artist Paul Gustave Dore once lost his passport while traveling in another country in Europe. When he came to a border crossing, he explained his predicament to one of the guards. Giving his name to the official, Dore hoped he would be recognized and allowed to pass. The guard, however, said that many people attempted to cross the border by claiming to be persons they were not. Dore insisted that he was the man he claimed to be. “All right,” said the official, “we’ll give you a test, and if you pass it we’ll allow you to go through.” Handing him a pencil and a sheet of paper, he told the artist to sketch several peasants standing nearby. Dore did it so quickly and skillfully that the guard was convinced he was indeed who he claimed to be. Dore’s actions confirmed his identity. — In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us the mark of Christian identity: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-5). Love is the Christian’s identity. Love is the Christian’s uniform. Love is the Christian’s habit. If you are wearing the habit of love, you are in. If you are not wearing love as a habit, you are out. (Fr. Essau). Let us remember the words of Shakespeare in Measure for Measure (Act V: Scene 1, l. 263): “Cucullus non facit monachum” [a cowl does not make a monk]. A Christian name or a cross on a chain will not make us Christians, unless we practice Jesus’ new commandment of love given in today’s Gospel. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

4) “This is an Arab bus”: The Reverend Timothy J. Kennedy tells of traveling by bus throughout Israel one summer. On one part of the journey, the bus driver placed a big white sign by the passenger side windshield. Since it was in Arabic, Kennedy asked their guide to translate. The sign said, “This is an Arab bus, owned and operated by Arabs. Please do not throw stones.”  When they got close to Tel Aviv, the driver pulled another sign from behind his seat, and replaced the first sign in the windshield. Since it was in Hebrew, Kennedy asked their guide to translate again.  The new sign said, “This is a Jewish bus, owned and operated by Israelis. Please do not throw stones.”  — How do you tell the difference between an Arab bus and a Jewish bus? A big plastic sign in the windshield. But back to our primary question, how do you identify a Christian? I guess we could wear plastic signs. But would that really do the trick? (1. http://grace-lutheran-church.com/sermons/2006/03/1). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

5) “I missed!”: President Reagan told a humorous story during the last days of his administration. It was about Alexander Dumas. It seems that Dumas and a friend had a severe argument. The matter got so out of hand that one challenged the other to a duel. Both Dumas and his friend were superb marksmen. Fearing that both men might fall in such a duel, they resolved to draw straws instead. Whoever drew the shorter straw would then be pledged to shoot himself. Dumas was the unlucky one. He drew the short straw. With a heavy sigh, he picked up his pistol and trudged into the library and closed the door, leaving the company of friends who had gathered to witness the non-duel outside. In a few moments a solitary shot was fired. All the curious pressed into the library. They found Dumas standing with his pistol still smoking. “An amazing thing just happened,” said Dumas. “I missed!” — I am amazed how many Christians have been in the Church all their lives and still have missed the Gospel of Jesus’ new commandment. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

6) Christian love in action: Comedian Jerry Clower tells a story about Christian love in action. Two Christian businessmen were having lunch in a downtown restaurant. The waitress serving their table dumped a bowl of hot soup right over one of these businessmen. Everybody gasped and stared. As Clower tells it, “They just couldn’t wait for the manager to run out and fire this lady. They just couldn’t wait for this man, standing there, dripping, with his suit ruined, to cuss this waitress out, but the fellow looked at that waitress and said, ‘Young lady, I  am so sorry this happened to you. I know it embarrasses you.”  — How would you have handled that situation? Can you love as the Master would have us love? Can any of us do that? How? [Jerry Clower, Life Ever Laughter (Nashville, Tennessee: Rutledge Hill Press, 1988.] (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

7) Mother Teresa’s love: One day, as St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) and her Missionaries of Charity were tending to the poorest of the poor on the streets of Calcutta, they happened across a man lying in the gutter, very near death. He was filthy, dressed in little more than a rag and flies swarmed around his body. Immediately, Mother Teresa lovingly lifted him up him, cleaned his body, spoke to him softly and laid him comfortably in her ambulance. A passerby was repulsed by the sight of the man and exclaimed to Mother Teresa, “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.” Her response was immediate, “Neither would I!” — She demonstrated the type of love that Jesus wants from Christians. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

8) “Grandma, please”: In Chicago there is a unique telephone service called “Grandma, Please” that is geared to latch-key kids. “Grandma, Please” provides free number kids can call if they are home alone and need someone to talk to. Senior citizens volunteer their time to answer telephones and talk to kids who are lonely or scared and need a little adult company. The “Grandma, Please” switchboard gets about 800 calls per month. Many of the children want to share the news of their school day with someone. Some will call because they heard a noise outside and got scared. Most call simply for the chance to connect with another human being. They are so lonely.– One volunteer reports that her phone calls often end with the child saying, “I love you, Grandma. What is your name?” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

9) Christian love of a coach: Author James Moore tells about K.C. Jones, the former coach of the Boston Celtics basketball team. Jones became famous for his unique ability to give his players some unforgettable words of encouragement when they needed it most. If a player scored 50 points or made the game-winning basket, Jones would not say much more than, “Nice game!” But when a player was down and really struggling, Coach Jones would be there to comfort and help and inspire. All-star forward Kevin McHale asked Coach Jones about this one day, and K.C. Jones answered: “Kevin, after you’ve made the winning basket, you’ve got 15,000 people cheering for you, TV commentators come rushing toward you, and everybody is giving you high fives. You don’t need me then. —  When you need a friend, most is when nobody is cheering.” (Collected Sermons, King Duncan, Dynamic Preaching, 2005, 0-000-0000-20) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)       

10) The dreadful accident on the battleship USS Iowa:  Do you remember the tale of the dreadful accident on the battleship USS Iowa? It occurred in the spring of 1989. Forty-seven young men were killed in a still unexplained explosion in a gun turret. The investigation showed that the explosion was the result of a significant overrun of the powder bags into the already-loaded guns.  There is much tragedy in the sad story. But also, one can find strong threads of glory. The storyteller reminds us the glory belongs, paradoxically perhaps, not to the survivors but to the casualties. The heroes were not the men who may have kept the battleship afloat after the accident. Rather, the heroes were the sailors who died. They shall ever be numbered among the Navy’s honored dead. Writes the poet, “They shall not grow old…At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.” — As it was for these young men, so it was for Jesus. That is why you will find the word glory mentioned an extraordinary five times in the opening two sentences of today’s Gospel. So can it be for you and me – if, of course, we have spiritual courage and discipline. (Fr. James Gilhooley) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

 11) Love changes everything:   In 1976 a car accident tore open the head of a 21-year-old Chicago young man named Peter. His brain was damaged, and he was thrown into a deep coma. Doctors told Peter’s family and friends that he probably wouldn’t survive. Even if he did, he’d always be in a comatose state. One of the people who heard that frightening news was Linda, the girl Peter planned to marry. In the sad days ahead, Linda spent all her spare time in the hospital. Night after night, she’d sit at Peter’s bedside, pat his check, rub his brow, and talk to him. “It was like we were on a normal date,” she said. All the while Peter remained in a coma, unresponsive to Linda’s loving presence. Night after night, for three and a half months, Linda sat at Peter’s bedside, speaking words of encouragement to him, even though he gave no sign that he heard her. Then one night Linda saw Peter’s toe move. A few nights later she saw his eyelash flutter. This was all she needed. Against the advice of the doctors, she quit her job and became his constant companion. She spent hours massaging his arms and legs. Eventually she arranged to take him home. She spent all her savings on a swimming pool, hoping that the sun and the water would restore life to Peter’s motionless limbs. Then came the day when Peter spoke his first word since the accident. It was only a grunt, but Linda understood it. Gradually, with Linda’s help, those grunts turned into words — clear words. Finally, the day came when Peter was able to ask Linda’s father if he could marry her. Linda’s father said, “When you can walk down the aisle, Peter, she’ll be yours.” Two years later Peter walked down the aisle of Our Lady of Pompeii Church in Chicago. He had to use a walker, but he was walking. Every television station in Chicago covered that wedding. Newspapers across the country carried pictures of Linda and Peter. Celebrities phoned to congratulate them. Families with loved ones in comas called to ask their advice. Today, Peter living a normal life. He talks slowly, but clearly. He walks slowly, but without a walker. He and Linda even have a lovely child. —  Today’s Gospel message is to love others as Jesus did. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

12) “Boy! I would like to be that kind of brother.”  In the lovely book, Chicken Soup for the Soul, there’s a story about a man who came out of his office one Christmas morning and found a little boy from a nearby project looking with great admiration at the man’s new vehicle. The little boy asked, “Does this car belong to you?” And the man said, “Yes. In fact, my brother gave it to me for Christmas. I’ve just gotten it.”  With that, the little boy’s eyes widened. He said, “You mean to say that somebody gave it to you? And you didn’t have to pay anything for it?”  And the man said, “That’s right.  My brother gave it to me as a gift.” With that the little boy let out a long sigh and said, “Boy, I would really like…”  And the man fully expected the boy to say, “I would like to have a brother like that, who would give me such a beautiful car,” but instead the man was amazed when the little boy said, “Boy! I would like to be that kind of brother.  I wish I could give that kind of car to my little brother.” –Somehow that child understood the secret of the “new commandment” of love, which Jesus gave to his apostles during his last discourse, as described in today’s Gospel: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34).  True love consists, not in “getting” something from the lover, but in “giving” something to the loved one.  The most familiar example of this type of love is a mother’s love for her child. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

13) The humble lady:   There is a beautiful legend about a king who decided to set aside a special day to honor his greatest subject. When the big day arrived, there was a large gathering in the palace courtyard. Four finalists were brought forward, and from these four, the king would select the winner. The first person presented was a wealthy philanthropist. The king was told that this man was highly deserving of the honor because of his humanitarian efforts. He had given much of his wealth to the poor. The second person was a celebrated physician. The king was told that this doctor was highly deserving of the honor because he had rendered faithful and dedicated service to the sick for many years. The third person was a distinguished judge. The king was told that the judge was worthy because he was noted for his wisdom, his fairness, and his brilliant decisions. The fourth person presented was an elderly woman. Everyone was quite surprised to see her there, because her manner was quite humble, as was her dress. She hardly looked like the greatest subject in the kingdom. What chance could she possibly have, when compared to the other three, who had accomplished so much? Even so, there was something about her the look of love in her face, the understanding in her eyes, her quiet confidence. The king was intrigued, to say the least, and somewhat puzzled by her presence. He asked who she was. The answer came: “You see the philanthropist, the doctor, and the judge? Well, she was their teacher!” —  That woman had no wealth, no fortune, and no title, but she had unselfishly given her life to her pupils. She practiced love as Jesus instructs). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

14) The leader who led the army from the front: In 1336 BC Alexander the Great began his conquest of the world. It was his dream to conquer India, the land of legends. With his army he marched towards India and reached the city of Multan. Alexander saw that the city was well fortified.  He was not ready to give up. He led the assault against the city of Multan. He climbed the fortress and ascended on the top of the city walls. Below he saw a large army aiming their poisoned arrows at him. He did not wait. He jumped into their midst. Two of his soldiers followed him. The great leader of war led from the front and his soldiers followed him. — History presents a few examples of such heroic men who led from the front and others followed him. We do not see any leader other than Jesus admonishing his followers to imitate him. Jesus told his apostles, “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34). (Fr. Bobby Jose). V(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

15) Emperor who abdicated his throne for the realization of his love. Edwards VIII ascended the throne of the British Empire after the death of his father. But his proposal to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorced American Socialite, led to a constitutional crisis in British Empire. Religious, legal, political, and moral objections were raised. Mrs. Simpson was perceived to be an unsuitable consort to him. But king Edward was not ready to give up his love in exchange for the throne. The conservative leaders and people were unwilling to compromise. Edward abdicated his throne for the realization of his love. — Jesus came down from his heavenly glory and lived like one of us to teach demonstrate how  God loves mankind and gave us his new commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13: 34). (Fr. Bobby Jose). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

16) God Dwelling Among Men: December 27, 537 AD, was a day of triumph for the Christian Roman Emperor, Justinian I. On that date he attended the dedication of the great church of Holy Wisdom (Sancta Sophia or Hagia Sophia) that is still the chief monument of Constantinople (Istanbul). Justinian had entrusted the design of the building to Anthemius of Tralles and Isodorus of Miletus, and these architects had produced an epochal masterpiece. A vast and subtle structure of many domes, its interior was sheathed with marbles and fine mosaics. King Solomon had built a magnificent temple in Jerusalem, but Justinian boasted, with permissible pride, “Solomon, I have vanquished you!” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)    

— There is an old running debate among Christians whether it is better to spend money on splendid churches or to keep the churches simple and to spend the money on the needy. In one sense, Jesus Himself solved this dilemma. When the devout woman of Bethany anointed His feet with costly perfume, it was Judas Iscariot who said, “This is waste, it would have been better to spend the price on the poor!” Our Lord countered by praising her good intentions, and said she was preparing His body for burial. “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.” (Jn 12:1-8) It would certainly be irresponsible to spend thousands on a building when the local people were in the clutches of poverty. But a beautiful church is an alms to another sort of poverty – poverty of heart. For ages Christians have had their hearts lifted by the sight of a great cathedral. Its loveliness enthralls them and reminds them that God dwells there in a special way. Surely a beautiful home is becoming to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The more we reverence God’s home the more we will reverence God. By blessing ourselves with holy water on entering, by maintaining a devout silence in church, by doing our best to ward off from it anything irreverent or unseemly, we are saying to God, as in today’s liturgy, “Your house is a house of prayer, and Your presence makes it a place of blessing.” (Father Robert F. McNamara). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)     L/22

 “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle C (No. 32) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com

Visit my website by clicking on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle C homilies, 141                   Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit also https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies  under Fr. Tony’s homilies and  under Resources in the CBCI website:  https://www.cbci.in  for other website versions.  (Vatican Radio website: http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html uploaded my Cycle A, B and C homilies in from 2018-2020)  Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604 .

May 9-14: Kindly click on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed Sunday and weekday homilies, RCIA & Faith formation classes: May 9 Monday: John 10:1-10: 1Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. 2But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. 5But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” 6Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them. 7So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the door. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.10A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Through today’s Gospel, the Church reminds us of our call to become good shepherds of God’s flock and good sheep of His parishes and invites us to pray for vocations to the priesthood, the diaconate and the consecrated life. In today’s Gospel, the two brief parables show us Jesus, first, as a selfless, caring “shepherd” who provides for his sheep protection and life itself, and second, as our unique gateway (“sheep gate”), to eternal salvation. Besides guiding his flock to Eternal Life as the Good Shepherd, Jesus is himself the gateway to Eternal Life. The first parable of today’s Gospel contrasts Jesus, the true Shepherd, with fake shepherds, thieves and robbers. Jesus gives us warning against false shepherds and false teachers in his Church. Jesus’ love and concern for each of us must be accepted with trust and serenity because he alone is our Shepherd, and no one else deserves our undivided commitment. As a true Shepherd, he leads his sheep, giving them the food and protection only Jesus, the Good Shepherd, can provide, and he protects us and leads us to true happiness. In the second parable, Jesus compares himself to the Shepherd and to the Gate. The first title represents His ownership because Shepherd is the true owner of the sheep. The second title represents His leadership. Jesus is the Gate, the only Way in or out. He is the One Mediator between God and mankind. All must go through Him, through His Church, in order to arrive in Heaven.By identifying Himself with the sheep-gate, Jesus gives the assurance that whoever enters the pen through Him will be safe and well cared-for. Jesus is the living Door to His Father’s house and Father’s family, the Door into the Father’s safety and into the fullness of life. It is through Jesus, the Door, that we come into the sheepfold where we are protected from the wolves of life. There is safety and security in being a Christian. There is a spiritual, emotional and psychological security and safety when we live within Jesus and his Church, within the protectiveness of Christ, Christian friends and a Christian family.

Life Messages: 1) We need to become good shepherds and good leaders: Everyone who is entrusted with the care of others is a shepherd. Hence, pastors, parents, teachers, doctors, nurses, government officials, and caregivers, among others, are all shepherds. We become good shepherds by loving those entrusted to us, praying for them, spending our time, talents and blessings for their welfare, and guarding them from physical and spiritual dangers. Parents must be especially careful of their duties toward their children, giving them good example and instruction and training them in Christian principles. 2) We need to become good sheep in the fold of Jesus, the Good Shepherd: Our local parish is our sheepfold, and our pastors are our shepherds. Jesus is the High Priest, the Bishops are the successors of the Apostles, the Pastors and their Deacons are their helpers, and the parishioners are the sheep. Hence, as the good sheep of the parish, parishioners are expected to a) hear and follow the voice of our shepherds through their homilies, Bible classes, counseling, and advice: b) receive the spiritual food given by our Pastors through our regular participation in the Holy Mass, our frequenting of the Sacraments, and our participation in the prayer services, renewal programs, and missions they offer; c) cooperate with our Pastors by giving them positive suggestions for the welfare of the parish, by encouraging them in their duties, by offering them loving, constructive correction when they are found misbehaving or failing in their duties, and always by praying for them;andd) actively participate in the activities of various councils, ministries and parish associations. 3) We need to pray for vocations. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/;https://www.epriest.com/reflections (Copy and paste these web addresses on the Address bar of any Internet website like Google or MSN and press the Enter button of your Keyboard).L/22

May 10 Tuesday: St. John of Avila, Priest, Doctor of the Church; (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-of-avila) St. Damien de Veuster of Molokai, Priest (U. S. A. )(https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-damien-de-veuster-of-molokai.) Jn 10:22-30: Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered round him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness to me; 26 but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; 28 and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: It was December during the week of the Jewish Feast of the Dedication of the Temple or Hanukkah, a week with the year’s shortest days and longest nights. The feast was also known as the Festival of Lights because during this feast the Jews lighted lamps representing the Mosaic Law and put them in the windows of the houses. Hanukkah served as a remembrance ofthe cleansing and rededicating of the Temple and its altar by the Jewish military commander Judas Maccabaeus in the year 165 B.C., after he had liberated Jerusalem from the control of the Seleucid Kings of Syria. The Syrian King Antiochus IV Epiphanes had profaned the Temple and its altar. It was during Hanukkah, when Jesus was teaching in Solomon’s portico, that the Jews plotted to trap Jesus by asking him to declare whether or not he was the promised Messiah.

Jesus’ reply: 1) Jesus accuses the Jews of unbelief and challenges them to believe in his Messianic and Divine claims by truthfully assessing his miracles instead of holding to their own personal ideas about the promised Messiah as a political liberator. 2) Then Jesus gives the reason why the Jews cannot believe in him. They are not among his sheep. Faith and eternal life cannot be merited by man’s own efforts: they are a gift of God, and the Jews are refusing to accept this gift from God. 3) Jesus gives the assurance that his sheep – his followers – will have eternal life and will not perish because they are protected by God his Father Who is stronger than the Evil One. 4) Finally, Jesus declares that he and God the Father are one. In other words, Jesus reveals that He is one in substance with the Father as far as Divine Essence or Nature is concerned, but He also reveals that the Father and the Son are distinct Persons.

Life messages: 1) When doubts about our Faith haunt us, let us try to read more about our Faith, to consult Catholic experts in our locality or reliable Catholic sources on the Internet, and to pray for the light of the Holy Spirit. 2) Let us find protection from the temptations of the Evil One in the sheepfold of the Church by frequenting the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist, by meditative reading of the Bible, by personal prayers, and by works of charity. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22

May 11 Wednesday: Jn 12:44-50:44 Jesus cried out and said, “whoever believes in me believes not only in mebut in Him who sent me. 45 And he who sees me sees Him Who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If any one hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden me.”Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: Today’s Gospel text, taken from John’s Gospel, is a passage from the last public discourse of Jesus before his arrest and crucifixion.

The main ideas in the passage are 1) Jesus’ relationship with the Father; 2) Jesus’ role as the Light and Life of the world; and 3) the criteria for His final judgment of us – Heaven or Hell. First, Jesus teaches us that he is one with the Father and he is the image of his invisible Father. He is one with the Father, so that Father speaks through him and operates through him. Hence, those who accept Jesus and his message accept God the Father’s message. Second, Jesus claims that he is the Light and Life of the world. Psalm 27 exclaims, “The Lord is my Light and my salvation!” As Light, Jesus removes the darkness of evil from the world and from our souls, shows us the correct way to go in life, and gives us the warmth of his sharing, sacrificial love. As Light, God’s word enables those with eyes of Faith to perceive the hidden truths of God’s Kingdom. As the Life of the world, Jesus, by his words, produces the very Life of God within those who receive these words with Faith. Third, we are rewarded or punished eternally based on whether or not we accept Jesus and his teachings and whether or not we live our lives accordingly.

Life messages: 1) As Christians our duty is to reflect and radiate the light of Jesus in the darkness of evil around us by acts of sharing love, kindness, forgiveness, and humble service. 2) Let us ask for the strength of the Holy Spirit to choose Christ and his ideals every day and to reject everything contrary to Christ’s teachings. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

Fr. Mark Link S.J. story: W.C. Fields was a film comedian. A story–maybe apocryphal–says that near the end of his life he spent a lot of time reading the Bible. Someone asked him about this, Fields replied, “I’m looking for any loopholes I can find.” The implication was that Fields knew that he had not lived his life in full accord with Jesus’ teaching. Now he was looking for a way to excuse himself for this failure when he appeared before God How fully am I living in accord with the teaching of Jesus? (http://www.staygreat.com/).L/22

May 12 Thursday: Saints Nereus and Achilleus, Martyrs; (https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/may-12-saints-nereus-and-achilleus-martyrs/)St. Pancras, Martyr (https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/may-12-saint-pancras-martyr/)Jn 13:16-20:16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of you all; I know whom I have chosen; it is that the scripture may be fulfilled, `He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I tell you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives any one whom I send receives me; and he who receives me receives him who sent me.” Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/;https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: Today’s Gospel is the second part of the explanation Jesus gave to his disciples after washing their feet before the Last Supper. He promised his disciples that that whoever listened to them would be listening to him as well, provided his preaching disciples became the humble servants of others.

Gospel lessons: In the first part of today’s Gospel, Jesus emphasizes the fact that the hallmark of his disciples must be their readiness and generosity in offering humble and sacrificial service to others, because that was the model Jesus had given them by his life and especially by washing their feet. It is by serving others that we become great before God. In the second part of today’s Gospel, Jesus shows his apostles how to treat people who are unfaithful and disloyal. Jesus hints at the betrayal of Judas by quoting Psalm 4:9: “He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.” Instead of distancing himself from Judas, Jesus offers him reconciliation, showing him more affection by washing his feet and by giving him a morsel of bread dipped in sauce with his own hand. In the third part, Jesus gives the basis for apostolic succession, stating that one who receives his apostles and messengers receives him, thereby receiving God the Father who sent Jesus.

Life messages: 1) Let us prove that we are true disciples of Jesus by rendering others humble and loving service today. 2) Let us learn to be reconciled with those who offend us by unconditionally pardoning them, by wishing them the very best, and by keeping them in our prayers. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)L/ 22

May 13 Friday: Our Lady of Fatima (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/our-lady-of-fatima) : John 15:1-8: Today is the 105thanniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to three shepherd children,Lúcia Santos (10) who later became a Carmelite nun (Sister Lúcia) and died in 2005 at the age of 97, and her cousins Francisco Marto (9) who died at 11 in 1919 and Jacinta (7) who died at 10 in 1920. The apparitions took place on a small spreading holm oak tree, six times in five months, on the thirteenth of each month from May through October 1917, at Fatima, a village 110 miles North of Lisbon in Portugal. Mary instructed the children to pray the Rosary for world peace, for the end of World War I, for sinners and for the conversion of Russia. On October 13th, 1917, seventy thousand people witnessed the dancing sun miracle without hurting their eyes. They saw the sun rotating, enlarging, shrinking, approaching and retreating.(https://youtu.be/-vIRDTmrUZU?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DA8uaxE25BlBvINntS5bWpi /)

The three secrets of Fatima: On July 13, around noon, the Lady is said to have entrusted three secrets to the children. Two of the secrets were revealed in 1941 in a document written by Lúcia, at the request of José da Silva, Bishop of Leiria, to assist with the publication of a new edition of a book on Jacinta. The first secret was a vision of hell and its torments. The second secret was a statement that World War I would end and supposedly a prediction of the coming of World War II, should God continue to be offended and if Russia were not converted. The second half requests that Russia be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart. When asked by the Bishop of Leiria in 1943 to reveal the third secret, Lúcia struggled for a short period, being “not yet convinced that God had clearly authorized her to act.” However, in October of 1943 the bishop of Leiria ordered her to put it in writing. Lucia then wrote the secret down and sealed it an envelope not to be opened until 1960, when “it will appear clearer.” Pope John Paul II directed the Holy See’s Secretary of State to reveal the third secret in 2000. It spoke of a “bishop in white who was shot by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows into him.” Many people, including Pope St. John Paul II himself, linked this secret to the May 13, 1981 assassination attempt against him in St. Peter’s Square by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca. Some claim that this was not the real secret revealed to Lúcia, despite assertions from the Vatican and Sister Lucia herself to the contrary. According to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, “it appeared evident to his Holiness that it was a motherly hand which guided the bullets past, enabling the dying Pope to halt at the threshold of death.” (BBC). The local bishop approved the feast of Our Lady of Fatima in 1930; and it was added to the Church’s worldwide calendar in 2002.

Life messages: 1) We need to become holy children of a holy Mother by leading pure lives. 2) We need to imitate Mary’s trusting faith in God’s power, her unconditional surrender and obedience to God’s will, and her spirit of selfless and humble service. 3) We need to obey the Fatima message of repentance, renewal of life and praying the Rosary. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/;https://www.epriest.com/reflections  Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22

May 14 Saturday: St. Matthias, Apostle (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-matthias) (Jn 15: 9-17 or 12-17: 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 This I command you, to love one another. Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections (Copy and paste these web addresses on the Address bar of any Internet website like Google or MSN and press the Enter button of your Keyboard).

The context: Today’s Gospel passage is a part of Jesus’ Last Supper discourse. Jesus reminds his disciples that he has chosen them as his friends with a triple mission. First, they are to love others as he has loved them. Second, they are to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Third, they are to ask God the Father in Jesus’ Name, for whatever they need.

First, Jesus modifies the Old Testament command from “love your neighbor as you love yourselves” (Lv 19:18) to “love others as I have loved you.” This means that our love for others must be unconditional, forgiving, and sacrificial. We, too, must be ready to express our love for others by our readiness to die for them as Jesus died for us. Jesus reminds the apostles that the ultimate expression of love (and especially Christian love, agápê) lies in self-sacrifice for others. Second, Jesus explains that the calling to produce fruits which the Apostles received, and which every Christian also receives, does not originate in the individual’s good desires but in Christ’s free choice. Third, Jesus concludes his advice by referring to the effectiveness of prayer offered in his Name. That is why the Church usually ends the prayers of the liturgy with the invocation “Through Jesus Christ our Lord….”

Life messages: 1) Let us cultivate an abiding and loving friendship with Jesus: a) The qualities we normally expect from our friends are trust, mutuality, faithfulness, equality, forgiveness, joy, and self-sacrifice. Jesus offers us all these qualities in our friendship with him. b) As a friend, Jesus has trusted us by sharing with us everything that he has heard from his Father. Hence, we have to trust him as a friend by listening to him through the Bible and talking to him by prayer. c) As our friend, Jesus will be always faithful to us. Let us return this fidelity by being faithful to him in doing His will. d) By calling us his friends, Jesus makes us equal to him. Let us be proud of this and lead lives worthy of our unique status. e) As an understanding friend, Jesus is ready to forgive us time and time again. Let us also forgive those who offend us. f) As a friend, Christ has told us everything so that our joy might be complete in him. Let us enjoy Jesus’ Divine friendship. g) Jesus declared that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend. He has done it for us. Hence, let us also love others sacrificially.

#2: Let us be persons for others: Jesus demonstrated the love God, his Father, has for us by living for us and dying for us. Hence, as his disciples, we are to be persons for others, sacrificing our time, talents, and lives for others. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22.

MOTHER’S DAY REFLECTION (May 8) -One-page summary 

Introduction: Today we thank our mothers, pray for them, and honor them by celebrating Mother’s Day, offering our mothers on the altar of God.

The origin of “Mother’s Day.” Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948) first suggested the national observance of an annual day honoring all mothers because she had loved her own mother so dearly. At a memorial service for her mother on May 10, 1908, Miss Jarvis gave a carnation (her mother’s favorite flower), to each person who attended. Within the next few years, the idea of a day to honor mothers gained popularity, and Mother’s Day was observed in a number of large cities in the U.S. On May 9, 1914, by an act of Congress, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. He established the day as a time for “public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” By then it had become customary to wear white carnations to honor departed mothers and red to honor the living, a custom that continues to this day. Proverbs 31:10-31 offers us God’s description and estimation of what a godly wife and mother looks like.

The role of mothers in our lives: This is a day to admit gratefully the fact that none of us is able to return, in the same measure, all the love that our mothers have given us. Their influence on their children is so great that it affects the children throughout their lives. Our mothers not only gave us birth but nursed us, nurtured us, trained us in their religious beliefs and practices, taught us good manners and ideal behavior, disciplined us as best as they could, and made us good citizens of our country, our Church, and our society. There is a beautiful Spanish proverb: “An ounce of mother is better than a pound of clergy.” Hence, it is highly proper for us to express our love and gratitude to our mothers by our presence (if possible), gifts, and prayers on Mother’s Day. We offer this Eucharistic celebration on Mother’s Day for all the mothers in our congregation, whether they are alive here or have gone for their eternal reward. The word “Mom” is synonymous with sacrificial, agápe love in its purest form, as commanded by Jesus in his farewell speech: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Hence, let us lavish our love on our mothers and express our gratitude for them in the form of fervent prayers offered for them before God.

Remember that a Christian has two mothers: On Mother’s Day, let us acknowledge the truth that we have two mothers: our earthly mother and our Heavenly Mother, the Mother of Jesus. The Catholic Church proclaims the great nobility of the Mother of Jesus, Mary most holy, and presents her as the supreme model for all mothers. On this Mother’s Day, presenting all mothers on the altar, let us sing the beautiful song we sing on the Feast of the Presentation, “Gentle woman, peaceful dove, teach us wisdom, teach us love.” Let us show our love and appreciation for both of our mothers and let us ask our Heavenly Mother to take care of our earthly mothers. We need to be persons for others, sacrificing out time, talents, and lives for them as our mothers are now or have been doing.

MOTHER’S DAY REFLECTIONS – May 8, 2022

The origin of “Mother’s Day.” It was Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948), who first suggested the national observance of an annual day honoring all mothers because she had loved her own mother so dearly. At a memorial service for her mother on May 10, 1908, Miss Jarvis gave a carnation (her mother’s favorite flower), to each person who attended. Within the next few years, the idea of a day to honor mothers gained popularity, and Mother’s Day was observed in a number of large cities in the U.S. After a Mother’s Day bill passed both houses in 1914, it was signed into law on May 9 by President Woodrow Wilson who proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. He established the day as a time for “public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” By then it had become customary to wear white carnations to honor departed mothers and red to honor the living, a custom that continues to this day. More than 46 countries throughout the world celebrate Mother’s Day, among them Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. The earliest Mother’s Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the mother of the gods, including the chief god Zeus. (http://heavy.com/news/2017/05/mothers-day-history-origins/) .

Let us salute our mothers: Mothers should be saluted 1) for their tenacious and sacrificial love for their children, 2) for the tremendous impact they have on their children, and 3) for their intimate relationship with us from birth to death. We learn to speak by calling “Mom” and die with the same name on our lips.

Let us offer our mothers on the altar today: We offer this Mass on Mother’s Day for all our mothers, whether they are alive here or have gone to their eternal reward. We also thank God for all the mothers in this congregation and offer them on the altar. There is a beautiful Spanish proverb: “An ounce of mother is better than a pound of clergy.” The word “Mom” is synonymous with sacrificial, agápe love in its purest form as commanded by Jesus in his farewell speech: “Love one another as I have loved you.” On this Mother’s Day, let us gratefully admit the fact that we cannot return, in the same measure, all the love that our mothers have given us. Hence, let us thank our mothers today by lavishing our love on them if they are alive and by offering our prayers for them if they have gone for their eternal reward. When Giuseppe Sarto, Pope St. Pius X, first became a Bishop, he experienced a little touch of vanity as he proudly held up his hand to his loving mother and said, “Mother, look at my Episcopal ring!” His mother, being a strong Italian peasant, returned by holding up her elderly and worn hand bearing her wedding ring and said: “If it were not for this ring, you would not have that ring!” Who can ever take the place of a mother who gave us birth, trained us, sacrificed her time and heath for us? “A Mother’s love will go with her son whether he goes to the governor’s chair or the electric chair.” (Dr. Meck)

A Christian has two mothers: On Mother’s Day, let us Christians acknowledge the truth that we have two mothers: our earthly mother and our Heavenly Mother, Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The Catholic Church proclaims the great nobility of the Mother of Jesus, Mary most holy, and presents her as the supreme model for all mothers. Born into humble surroundings, she was called by God to be the Mother of the Son of God. She affirmed her obedience to the call of God, and she lived her vocation throughout her entire life. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, our Blessed Mother, is the true model of motherhood. “It can thus be said that women, by looking to Mary, find in her the secret of living their femininity with dignity and of achieving their own true advancement. In the light of Mary, the Church sees in the face of women the reflection of a beauty which mirrors the loftiest sentiments of which the human heart is capable: the self-offering totality of love; the strength that is capable of bearing the greatest sorrows; limitless fidelity and tireless devotion to work; the ability to combine penetrating intuition with words of support and encouragement” (Pope St. John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater). The month of May is traditionally the month of Mary. Through Mary, the work of Motherhood is glorified and sanctified. On this Mother’s Day, presenting all mothers on the altar, let us sing the beautiful song we sing on the Feast of the Presentation, “Gentle woman, peaceful dove, teach us wisdom, teach us love.”

Mothers and motherly women in the Bible: Certainly, the Bible recognizes women in positions of power – women who have contributed to making the world a better place. There wasMiriam who led the people in praising God after the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex 15:21); Ruth who put God first and became the ancestress of King David (Ruth 1:16; 4:17); Deborah, a judge in Israel (Judges 5); Hannah who “gave to the Lord” the child of her prayers (1 Sam 1:28); Esther who took her life in her hands to plead for her doomed people (Esther C:14-30); the pagan widow whose obedience sustained the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17:9-16); a little captive Jewish maid who told Naaman’s wife of the man of God in Israel who could cure Naaman of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:2-4). The most important mother in the New Testament is Jesus’ Mother, Mary, to whom Jesus, on the cross, gave John, his beloved friend, to be her son; at the same time, Jesus gave His Mother to John, and all the rest of us for whom He was dying, to be our Heavenly Mother. Jesus praised the poor widow for her gift of two mites to the Temple (Mk 12:43). The New Testament also presents some women who showed maternal love. There is the woman who anointed Jesus with the expensive ointment (Mk 14:3); Martha who served and Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus (Lk 10:38-42); Mary Magdalene who brought spices to anoint Jesus, who first greeted the risen Lord, and who received the first commission –“Go, tell….” (Jn 20:17-18; Mk 16:9); Lydia one of the first converts in Macedonia (Acts 16:14); Tabitha, called Dorcas – full of good works (Acts 9:36); Phoebe and Priscilla – servants of the Church (Rom 16:1-4); Lois and Eunice who had sincere faith (2 Tim 1:5), Persis “the beloved,” and Tryphena and Tryphosa who labored for the Lord (Rom 16:12). So being a mother does not suggest lack of initiative and ability; it does mean getting one’s priorities straight. It doesn’t mean freeing men from all responsibility with young children; it does mean a mutual sharing of responsibilities with the recognition of individual gifts and needs.

Ideal wife and mother in Proverbs: Prv 31:10-31 offers us God’s description and estimation of what a godly wife and mother is. 1. She is a devoted wife (vv 11, 12, 23). She is one who has the confidence of her husband; she seeks his welfare and enhances his reputation. 2. She is a diligent partner (vv 13-17, 18b, 19, 22, 24). As a woman with God’s viewpoint, she is a willing worker, a wise shopper and a planner who is able to minister to her family because she keeps herself fit, spiritually and physically (cf. vv 18a, 25). 3. She is a dutiful servant to the needy and the poor (v 20). She has a vision for ministry not only to her family but also to her society. 4. She is a dependable mother (vv 15, 21, 27). She is devoted to the needs of her family. She is well-groomed, attractive, organized and disciplined; as such, she is a testimony to her children. 5. She is a doctrinally oriented woman (v 26). She is a woman full of God’s wisdom. St. Paul exhorts husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the Church (Eph 6:25). Husbands have the solemn duty to sacrifice themselves continually in their total love for their wives and their children. Each day provides numerous opportunities for husbands to live out their family life with many acts of patience, kindness, and service. The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

Eminent men on mothers: George Washington once said, “My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I received from her.” Abraham Lincoln spoke similar words when he said, “All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.” Theodore Roosevelt has the following beautiful advice to all mothers: “Into the woman’s keeping is committed the destiny of the generations to come after us. In bringing up your children, you mothers must remember that, while it is essential to love and be tender, it is no less essential to be wise and firm.” Thomas Edison once said, “I did not have my mother long, but she cast over me an influence which has lasted all my life. The good effects of her early training I can never lose. If it had not been for her appreciation and her faith in me at a critical time in my experience, I should never likely have become an inventor. I was always a careless boy, and with a mother of different mental caliber, I should have turned out badly. But her firmness, her sweetness, her goodness were potent powers to keep me in the right path. My mother was the making of me. The memory of her will always be a blessing to me.”

Intercessory prayers for mothers on Mother’s Day (USCCB)

http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/prayers/intercessory-prayers-families.cfm

For all mothers, particularly those who are with child: that they may be supported by loved ones and warm friends, and that they may
be understood and blessed; We pray to the Lord:

For young mothers everywhere, and especially those who are tempted to despair: that through the child they carry deep within,
they might know hope and joy; We pray to the Lord:

For all mothers, especially those who are young or alone:
beaten or addicted; that God may heal their broken hearts
and seal them with his love; We pray to the Lord:

For mothers, especially those wracked with fear, depression or despair, that the new life of their child may touch them with the eternal love of God;
We pray to the Lord:

For young mothers tempted to abort their  child: that God’s grace may give them the wisdom and fortitude to preserve the gift they carry within them;
We pray to the Lord:

For all mothers tempted to abortion: that God may teach us how to love them; We pray to the Lord:

For expectant mothers: for the gifts of patient endurance and joyful hope;
We pray to the Lord:

For each mother who has miscarried: that her love for the child of her womb
may deliver her from grief
and join her to the hope of the Cross of Christ;
We pray to the Lord:

For pregnant teenagers: that we may provide examples for them
of holy and faithful married love; We pray to the Lord:

For the eternal repose of our deceased mothers: We pray to the Lord:

Mother’s Day videos: 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsJAvfXbWk4&feature=player_embedded

• Mother’s job: https://youtu.be/HB3xM93rXbY
• https://youtu.be/PEi5IVwI-ZQ
• https://youtu.be/Xa-7jtvi7J4

• 22- Anecdotes for Mother’s Day (visit frtonyshomilies.com)

  # 1: Mother’s sacrificial love: On Sunday, August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines flight 225 crashed just after taking off from the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. One hundred fifty-five people were killed. One survived with injuries: a 4-year-old from Tempe, Arizona, named Cecelia. News accounts say when rescuers found Cecelia, they did not believe she had been on the plane. Investigators first assumed Cecelia had been a passenger in one of the cars on the highway onto which the airliner crashed. But when the passenger register for the flight was checked, there was Cecelia’s name. “Cecelia survived because, as the plane was falling, Cecelia’s mother, Paula Chican, unbuckled her own seat belt, got down on her knees in front of her daughter, wrapped her arms and body around Cecelia, and then would not let her go.” — She was a real mother. That sounds to me like a metaphor of the love of God. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

  # 2: “How are you able to stand all the pain of family rejection?“ There was an interesting story on CNN not long ago about a twenty-five-year-old man in San Francisco who was dying of AIDS. Because of that his father had completely disowned him. His mother was dead. So, there was nobody. The man looked like he could not weigh over a hundred pounds and had the look of death on his face. The reporter asked him how he was able to stand all of the pain, not only of death, but the pain of family rejection. He gave an interesting answer. He said, “I stand it by closing my eyes and imagining that I will awaken in the arms of my mother. I know that she will never leave my side.” — I tell you friends, long after some fathers have disowned their children a mother will still be there. There is a tenacity about mothers. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

  # 3: Mother has the authority to correct: You may be grown-up now, but to your mother, you are still fair game for correction. When his pager went off during a council meeting, Knoxville, Tenn. Police Chief Phil Keith was startled to see that the call was from his mother. Concerned, he rushed to the press table and phoned her. “Phil Keith, are you chewing gum?” asked his mom, who had been watching the council meeting on cable TV. “Yes, ma’am,” answered Chief Keith. “Well, it looks awful,” his mother said. “Spit it out.” — Keith dutifully removed the gum and went back to his meeting.(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

  # 4: Humor: Mothers Can Be Shrewd: Former president Jimmy Carter spoke at Southern Methodist University and related an incident that occurred after he had left the White House. A woman reporter came to Plains, Georgia, to interview his mother in relation to an article about Mr. Carter and his family. His mother really didn’t want to be interviewed but was being gracious. So, when the reporter knocked at her door, Mrs. Carter invited her in. The reporter asked some hard questions and actually was rather aggressive and rude. “I want to ask you a question,” she said. “Your son ran for the presidency on the premise that he would always tell the truth. Has he ever lied?” Mrs. Carter said, “I think he’s truthful; I think you can depend on his word.” The reporter again asked if he had ever lied in his entire life. His mother said, “Well, I guess maybe he’s told a little white lie.” “Ah, see there!” the reporter exclaimed. “He’s lied! If he told a white lie, he has lied.” The reporter was still not satisfied and asked, “What is a white lie?” And then Lillian Carter said, “It’s like a moment ago when you knocked on the door and I went to the door and said I was glad to see you.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

  # 5: “Let the boy go home with his mother. A. Lincoln.” During the Civil War a Confederate Major by the name of Horace Harmon Lurton was taken prisoner by the Union forces. In prison, Major Lurton developed tuberculosis. His mother came to visit him and was alarmed by his condition. She knew her son would die if he stayed behind bars. So, Mrs. Lurton traveled to Washington to beg mercy from the only person she thought could help her, the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was so moved by this mother’s concern that he sat down and wrote a note to the Union forces in charge of her son’s prison. It said simply, “Let the boy go home with his mother. A. Lincoln.” — Horace Harmon Lurton was released from prison. He recovered from his tuberculosis and went on become a distinguished lawyer and the chief justice of the Supreme Court of his state. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

  # 6: Wherever mother is that is where home is:  A priest was visiting a family who had just moved to Memphis from Baltimore, Maryland. The pastor asked the man if he was originally from Baltimore and he said: “No, my family transferred around quite frequently and there is really no one place that I can say was home.” The he said something I shall never forget. He said: “I suppose that wherever mother was that is where home was.” — Wherever mother is that is where home is. Maybe a lot of us can identify with that. A house is a physical place. A home is where our loved ones are gathered. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  #7: My mother’s Bible: Axelrod shares this story about a magnificent mom: Four preachers were discussing their favorite translations of the Bible. The first one said, “I like the King James Version because of its beautiful English.” Another said, “I like the New American Standard version because it is closer to the original Greek and Hebrew.” The third one declared, “I like the Good News version because it’s so easy to read. The fourth minister was silent for a moment then said, “I like my mother’s translation best.” The other three men were surprised. They said, “I didn’t know your mother made a translation of the Bible.” — “Yes,” he replied. “She translated it into everyday life. And it was the most beautiful and convincing translation I ever saw.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  # 8: My mother’s God: Two college students went to hear the notorious agnostic Robert Ingersoll lecture in his heyday. As they walked down the street after the lecture, one said to the other, “Well, I guess he knocked the props out from under Christianity, didn’t he?” — The other said, “No, I don’t think so. Ingersoll did not explain my mother’s life, and until he can explain my mother’s life, I will stand by my mother’s God. [James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Tyndale, 1972), p. 38]. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  # 9:  How did God create the first mom? By the time the Lord made the woman He was into his sixth day of creation and working overtime. An angel approached and said, “Why are You spending so much time on this creature?” And the Lord answered and said, “I am making a woman who is to become the mother of all mankind.  So she should have some special features: 1) Six pairs of hands, five of them invisible. 2)  Three pairs of eyes, one visible pair in the front, the second and the third invisible pairs at the back and at the sides of her head.  3) A large and elastic heart. 4) A lap that can hold three children at one time and that disappears when she stands up. The angel said, “I can guess why a mom should have six pairs of hands and a large heart, but why three pairs of eyes?  God said, “One pair of invisible x-ray eyes at the sides to see through closed doors when she knocks at the door asks, “What are you kids doing?”  And she already knows what is going on inside.  The second invisible pair at the back of her head is to see what she is not supposed to see but has to see as a responsible mother.  And of course, the third pair of normal eyes in the front is to look at a child when he makes a mistake and say without uttering a word, “Dear, I understand you, I love you.” “Any other specifications?” the angel asked.  God said, “She should be able to run on black coffee and leftovers.  She should have a kiss that can cure anything from a bruised leg to a broken heart from a disappointing love affair.  She should be able to heal herself when she is sick.  She should feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger, and finally she should have eyes that shed tears of joy and pride, tears of sadness, tears of disappointment and tears of old age aches and loneliness.”  The Angel was impressed. “You are a genius, Lord! This woman is amazing.” — Is this not the picture of your mom?  [Adapted from Erma Bombeck’s essay entitled, When God Created Women]. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  10) Home is where mother is:  St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) relates this incident about a boy. “Once I picked up a child and took him to our Children’s Home; we gave him a bath, clean clothes, and everything. After a day, the child ran away. Somebody else found him, but again he ran away. Then I said to the Sisters: ‘Please follow the child and see where he goes when he runs away.’ And the child ran away the third time. There under the tree was the mother. She had put a small earthenware vessel on two stones and was cooking something she had picked out of the dustbin. The Sisters asked the child: ‘Why did you run away from the Home?’ And the child said, ‘This is my home because this is where my mother is.'” — True! Wherever our mothers are, there our home is.(John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

   11) “Way to go, Mom. Way to go!” A man was boarding an airplane one day. As he came on board, he happened to notice that the head of the plane’s cockpit flight crew was a woman. That was no problem. Still, it was a new experience for him. As he found his seat, he noticed three persons sitting immediately behind him. One was a young boy about six or seven years of age. Next to him was a man in his early thirties. And next to the man was a woman in her early sixties. The man could not help overhearing the conversation among these three persons as the plane made final plans for departure from the gate. It was not long before he realized that they were the woman pilot’s family. The boy was her son. The man was her husband. And the older woman was her mother. Suddenly he realized why the family was on the plane. This was the first time the woman pilot had been the head of a flight crew! They were there to honor her promotion.  The plane taxied down the runway and poised itself for takeoff. The engines began to roar, and the plane gained speed quickly. Within seconds they were airborne. As the plane began to ascend the bank to the south, the six-year-old boy began to applaud! “Way to go, Mom. Way to go!” (Norman Neaves) — This morning we are applauding our Moms. “Way to go, Moms, way to go!” Truly, today’s Mom deserves all the support and applause she we can give her. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  12) Rudyard Kipling wrote:

  If I were hanged on the highest hill, I know whose love would follow me still.
  Mother of mine. Mother of mine.
  If I were drowned in the deepest sea, I know whose tears would come down to me.
  Mother of mine, Mother of mine.
  If I were damned by body and soul, I know whose prayers would make me whole.
  Mother of mine, mother of mine  v(https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  13) Magnet or mother? A teacher gave her class of second graders a lesson on the magnet and what it does. The next day in a written test, she included this question: “My full name has six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I? “When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with the word “Mother”. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  14) Economics of Mother’s Day: Nearly three-quarters of the nation’s 103.4 million women aged 15 and older are mothers. 23% have one child; 35% have two; 21% have three; 21% have four or more. Mother’s Day trounces poor Father’s Day by a long shot. Hallmark estimates that 150 million Mother’s Day cards will be sent this year (but only 95 million Father’s Day cards), making Mother’s Day the third largest greeting card holiday of the year. U.S. Americans spend an average of $105 on Mother’s Day gifts, $90 on Father’s Day gifts. The phone rings more often on Mother’s Day than Father’s Day. (Business Week survey, as reported in “Happy Mother’s Day,” The Boomer Report, May 1998, 3.) The busiest day of the year at car washes? The Saturday before Mother’s Day. — What Mom thinks still matters. Even if it is a fallacy, we do like to think of Mother’s Day as “Mom’s day off.” Usually this takes the form of dining out for one of the three meals. Making her breakfast in bed. Maybe doing some of the more odious chores that have stacked up like cordwood around the house. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  15) Day Care: What Is the Difference? Only one long-term study has ever been done on the effects of Day Care. It was done by Moore in 1975 and in it, the  findings were largely negative. Boys reared in substitute care were more aggressive, nonconforming, and less interested in academic subjects than boys reared at home. Girls reared in substitute care were nostalgic about childhood, while girls reared at home by their mothers were active, positive in their attitudes toward the opposite sex, and well-adjusted socially. Even Harvard’s Kagan, himself an advocate for Day Care, has said of Day Care’s Children, “I think they will be different, but I can’t say how.” (Brenda Hunter in Homemade, October, 1987).

   16) Who is the greatest preacher in your family? Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, was a British evangelist, preacher and a leading Bible scholar. He had 4 sons, and they were all preachers. Someone once came into the drawing room when all the family was there. They thought they would see what Howard, one of the sons, was made of so they asked him this question: “Howard, who is the greatest preacher in your family?” — Howard had a great admiration for his father and he looked straight across at him, and then without a moment’s hesitation he answered, “Mother.” (A. Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life, Eerdmans, p. 139).(https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  17) “A sixth.” A teacher asked a boy this question: “Suppose your mother baked a pie and there were seven of you, your parents and five children. What part of the pie would you get?” “A sixth,” replied the boy. “I’m afraid you don’t know your fractions,” said the teacher. “Remember, there are seven of you.” —  “Yes, teacher,” said the boy, “but you don’t know my mother. Mother would say she didn’t want any pie.” (Bits and Pieces, June 1990, p. 10).(https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  18) In her footsteps: It was a busy day in Costa Mesa, a California home. But then, with ten children and one on the way, every day was a bit hectic for Davida Dalton. On this particular day, however, she was having trouble doing even the routine chores — all because of one little boy. Len, who was three at that time, was on her heels no matter where she went. Whenever she stopped to do something and turned back around, she would trip over him. Several times, she patiently suggested fun activities to keep him occupied “Wouldn’t you like to play on the swing set?” she asked him. But he simply smiled an innocent smile and said, “Oh, that’s all right, Mommy. I’d rather be in here with you.” Then he continued to bounce happily along behind her. After stepping on his toes for the fifth time, she began to lose her patience and insisted that he go outside and play with the other children. When she angrily asked him why he was acting this way, he looked up at her with sweet green eyes and said, “Well, Mummy, in Sunday school my teacher told me to walk in Jesus’ footsteps. But I can’t see him, so I’m walking in yours.” —  She gathered him in her arms and held him close. Tears of love and humility spilled over from the prayer that grew in her heart, a prayer of thanks for the simple, yet beautiful perspective of a three-year-old boy.
  (John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies; added on Dec 18, 2012). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  19) Scatter my ashes in the local Wal-Mart:  A single mother who raised her only child lavished her whole love on her only daughter and spent her health and wealth, time, and talents on the girl’s upbringing.  But the daughter dated and married a drug addict against her mother’s warnings and wishes. As a well-employed girl, she never cared to visit her mother.  So, on her deathbed the mother instructed her attorney to cremate her body and to scatter the ashes in the local Wal-Mart of the city where her daughter lived. He enquired why. — The mother said: “Then I will be able to see my daughter visiting me every week!” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  20) Actor Kirk Douglas’ mother: I read something recently about actor Kirk Douglas’ mother.  Douglas, for years one of Hollywood’s most prominent stars, but now known chiefly as Michael Douglas’ father, remembers his mother as a woman who overflowed with encouragement for her children.  When he was in his mother’s presence, Kirk never doubted that he was special and beloved.  He recalls a visit he made to his mother’s house not long after his first big movie came out.  Kirk’s mother had invited all her friends over to meet him.  When she introduced Kirk, she announced, “This is my son.  The earth trembles when they mention his name.” [Kirk Douglas, My Stroke of Luck (New York: HarperCollins, 2002), p. 124.] — Now that’s a proud mother! Does it make a difference when people love you and believe in you and encourage you? Of course, it does. I feel for children brought up by negative parents who are critical, demanding, quick to admonish, slow to praise. I see people every day who are scarred by parents who could give them everything except what they needed most–unconditional love and acceptance. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  21) Ungrateful children?: One day an African mother left her baby in the house as she went down to the river to wash clothes.  After some time, she heard screaming and saw smoke.  As she ran toward the village, she saw that her house was on fire.  “My baby, my baby” she cried.  With no thought for her safety she dashed into the house to save her baby.  Just as she was leaving the burning thatched roof fell on her but she managed to get the baby out safely.  She herself was badly burned and badly disfigured.  This same mother used all of her energy to take care of her child, to educate him and even to send him to medical school.  Her boy was a great success but never returned to the village.  After some years the mother wanted to see her son, so she went to Kinshasa.  With the help of friends, she found the office of her son the doctor.  She knocked on the door and a nurse opened it but was shocked by the presence of the disfigured woman.  “Yes?”  “I want to see my son”.  “Who is your son?”  “The doctor”.  The nurse left the woman outside the office and went to ask the doctor if he could see his mother.  “My mother?  What does she look like?” “She is horribly disfigured.” —  “In that case,” said the doctor, “she cannot be my mother who is very beautiful.  Send her away.” (Fr. Bobby Jose). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  22) Mother’s Place?: I heard about a father who was trying to explain the concept of marriage to his 4-year-old daughter. He got out their wedding album, thinking visual images would help, and explained the entire wedding service to her. When he was finished, he asked if she had any questions.– She pointed to a picture of the wedding party and asked, “Daddy, is that when mommy came to work for us? (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  MOTHER’S DAY JOKES # 1: A four-year-old and a six-year-old presented their mom with a houseplant. They had used their own money to buy it and she was thrilled. The older of them said with a sad face, “There was a bouquet at the flower shop that we wanted to give you. It was real pretty but it was too expensive. It had a ribbon on it that said ‘Rest In Peace,’ and we thought it would be just perfect since you are always asking for a little peace so that you can rest. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

  #2: One Mom had a most revealing experience on the Mother’s Day.  Her two children ordered her to stay in bed. She lay there looking forward to being brought her breakfast, as the inviting smell of bacon floated up from the kitchen. At last the children called her downstairs. She found them sitting at the table, each with a large plate of bacon and eggs: “As a Mother’s Day surprise,” one explained, “we’ve cooked our own breakfast.”

  # 3: Angie, 8 years old, wrote: “Dear Mother, I’m going to make dinner for you on Mother’s Day. It’s going to be a surprise. P.S. I hope you like pizza & popcorn.”

  # 4: Did you hear about the 5-yr. old boy who said to his mother, “Mommy, I love you, and when I grow up, I’m going to get you an electric iron, an electric stove, and electric toaster, and an electric chair.” (The boy did not know that the last one was used for electrocuting criminals).

  # 5: Tony Campolo says that his wife is a brilliant woman. She has a Ph.D. and is capable of pursuing a very profitable career. But she elected to stay home with her children when they were young. Her decision didn’t bother her at all except when other women would ask, “What do you do?” She would answer, “I’m a homemaker. I stay home and take care of my children and my husband.” They would usually respond with “Oh” and then ignore her from then on. So Mrs. Campolo came up with this response when she was asked what she did: “I’m socializing two Homo-sapiens in Judeo-Christian values so they’ll appropriate the eschatological values of utopia. What do you do?” They would often blurt out “I’m a doctor” or “I’m a lawyer” and then wander off with a dazed look in their eyes.

  # 6: Little children can come up with some very interesting ideas. Listen to what some children wrote to their mothers for Mother’s Day. Robert wrote: “I got you a turtle for Mother’s Day. I hope you like the turtle better than the snake I got you last year.” Eileen wrote: “Dear Mother, I wish Mother’s Day wasn’t always on Sunday. It would be better if it were on Monday so we wouldn’t have to go to school.” Little Diane wrote: “I hope you like the flowers I got you for Mother’s Day. I picked them myself when Mr. Smith wasn’t looking.” And how about this one from Carol? “Dear Mother, here are two aspirins. Have a happy Mother’s Day!”

  # 7: 4-year-old wisdom: When your mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair. You can’t trust fighting dogs to watch your food.

  #8: First grader’s mom: For weeks a six-year old lad kept telling his first-grade teacher about the baby brother or sister that was expected at his house. One day the mother allowed the boy to feel the movements of the unborn child. The six-year old was obviously impressed but made no comment. Furthermore, he stopped telling his teacher about the impending event. The teacher finally sat the boy on her lap and said, “Tommy, whatever has become of that baby brother or sister you were expecting at home?” Tommy burst into tears and confessed, “I think Mommy ate it!”

  #9: A small boy is sent to bed by his mother…
  [Five minutes later]
  “Mom…” “What?”
  “I’m thirsty. Can you bring me a glass of water?”
  “No. You had your chance. Lights out.”
  [Five minutes later]
  “Mom…” “WHAT?”
  “I’m THIRSTY…Can I have a glass of water??”
  “I told you NO! If you ask again, I’ll have to spank you!!”
  [Five minutes later]
  “Mommm…” “WHAT??!!”
  “When you come in to spank me, can you bring me a glass of water?”

  # 10: STEVEN (age 3) hugged and kissed his Mom good night. “I love you so much that when you die, I’m going to bury you outside my bedroom window.”

  #11: A father came home from work just before supper and was met by his five-year-old daughter on the sidewalk outside his house. The little girl was not smiling. “Is something wrong, honey?” he asked. “Yes,” she said, “all day long I’ve been having trouble with your wife.”

  # 12: Getting along with Mom: A cartoon shows two boys walking to school, discussing their parents. One of them says to the other one, “I’ve figured out a system for getting along with my Mom. She tells me what to do, and I do it.”

  # 13: G.K. Chesterton once wrote: “Drunk or sober, she is still my mother.”

  # 14: Bugs: “Mom, are bugs good to eat?” asked the boy. “Let’s not talk about such things at the dinner table, son,” his mother replied. After dinner the mother inquired, “Now, baby, what did you want to ask me?” “Oh, nothing,” the boy said. “There was a bug in your soup, but now it’s gone.”

  Mother’s Day Blessing. (http://www.cathedralchapel.org/)
  Heavenly Father, Bless all those You have entrusted with motherhood. Inspire them to follow the example of Mary, the Mother of Our Lord, and follow her in her fidelity, humility, and selfless love. May all mothers receive Your Grace abundantly in this life, and may they look forward to eternal joy in Your presence in Heaven. Amen.

  A Prayer for Mothers

  Our mothers are earthbound angels

  Sent by God above

  To give our lives direction

  And fill our hearts with love.

  They have no wings or halos

  And yet they are divine,

  For years of toil and sacrifice

  Have rendered them sublime.

  So, mothers, may God bless you

  Wherever you may be,

  For the gift of love you gave us

  Lives on eternally!

  Thank you mother: Thank you, dear Lord, for our mothers: who were brave enough to give us birth, who loved us through many growing-up years, who taught us about God and love and being good, who often got no thanks, whose ears could hear the slightest cry, whose eyes didn’t miss much either, whose hands held and bathed and picked us up, whose hearts were often broken, who always forgave and forgot, who encouraged us when things went badly, who always had time to listen to us, who worked so hard to make things go well, who made the world so much better — who deserve our love on Mother’s Day and every day even for eternity. Amen.

  Moms enjoy innocent fun: Letter from an Irish Mother to her Son

  http://abitoblarney.com/letterfromirishmothertoherson.htm

  Dear Son,

  Just a few lines to let you know I’m still alive. I’m writing this letter slowly because I know you can’t read fast. We are all doing very well.

  You won’t recognize the house when you get home – we have moved. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happen within 20 miles from your home, so we moved. I won’t be able to send you the address because the last Irish family that lived here took the house numbers when they moved so that they wouldn’t have to change their address.

  This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine. I’m not sure it works so well though: last week I put a load in and pulled the chain and haven’t seen them since.

  Your father’s got a really good job now. He’s got 500 men under him. He’s cutting the grass at the cemetery.

  Your sister Mary had a baby this morning but I haven’t found out if it’s a boy or a girl, so I don’t know whether you are an auntie or an uncle.

  Your brother Tom is still in the army. He’s only been there a short while and they’ve already made him a court martial!

  Your Uncle Patrick drowned last week in a vat of whiskey in the Dublin Brewery. Some of his workmates tried to save him but he fought them off bravely. They cremated him and it took three days to put out the fire.

  I’m sorry to say that your cousin Seamus was arrested while riding his bicycle last week. They are charging him with dope peddling.

  I went to the doctor on Thursday and your father went with me. The doctor put a small tube in my mouth and told me not to talk for ten minutes. Your father offered to buy it from him.

  The weather isn’t bad here. It only rained twice this week, first for three days and then for four days. Monday was so windy one of the chickens laid the same egg four times.

  We had a letter from the undertaker. He said if the last payment on your Grandmother’s plot wasn’t paid in seven days, up she comes.

  About that coat you wanted me to send you, your Uncle Stanley said it would be too heavy to send in the mail with the buttons on, so we cut them off and put them in the pockets.

  John locked his keys in the car yesterday. We were really worried because it took him two hours to get me and your father out.

  Three of your friends went off a bridge in a pick-up truck. Ralph was driving. He rolled down the window and swam to safety. Your other two friends were in back. They drowned because they couldn’t get the tailgate down.

  There isn’t much more news at this time. Nothing much has happened.

  Your loving Mum

  P.S. I was going to send you some money but I had already sealed the envelope.

• Websites on Mother’s Day homilies1) http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermons/abc-mothers-day.php2) http://www.sermoncentral.com/articleb.asp?article=Mothers-Day-Sermons-Videos-Illustrations

  3)  http://www.preaching.com/sermons/mothers-day/

   4) http://www.sermonsearch.com/topics/mothers-day/

    I Am a Mother! (https://www.facebook.com/118175254946925/posts/i-am-a-motherthe-officer-at-the-driving-license-counter-asked-the-lady-what-is-y/813515948746182/)

  The officer at the driving license counter asked the lady: “What is your occupation?”

  The woman, seeking a renewal of her license seemed to be puzzled.

  so the officer said “Ma’am, are you employed, have your own business or…”

  “Oh yes!‘ The woman replied, “I do have a full-time occupation. I am a mother!”

  The officer rolled his eyes: “We don’t have ‘mother’ as an option for occupation. I’ll write it down as ‘housewife’. That takes care of all questions.”

  This had happened long ago and was forgotten. Years later, when I (the woman in the story, if you hadn’t guessed) went to get my license, the public relations officer was a somewhat pompous woman.

  “Your occupation?” she asked in a rather authoritative tone.

  I just had a moment of inspiration and replied, “I am a researcher in the field of child development, nutrition and inter-personal relationships.”

  The lady officer stared at me in amazement.

  I calmly repeated my statement and she wrote it down verbatim. Then, unable to conceal her curiosity, she politely asked “What exactly do you do in your profession, ma’am?”

  I was feeling good about having described my occupation so calmly and confidently, so I replied “My research projects have been going on for a number of years [mothers NEVER retire]. My research is conducted in the laboratory as well as in the field. I have two bosses [one is God and the other is my entire family]. I have received two honors in this field [a son and a daughter].

  My topic is considered to be the most difficult part of sociology.

  [All moms will agree]. I have to work more than 14 hours every day. Sometimes even 24 hours are not enough, and the challenges are tougher than many other professions. My compensation is in terms of mental satisfaction rather than money.”

  I could see that the officer was thoroughly impressed. After completing the licensing formalities, she came to the door to see me off.

  This new viewpoint about my occupation made me feel much better on my way back home.

  I was welcomed by my 5-year old research assistant at the door. My new project (my 6-month old baby) was energetically practicing her “music.”

  I had earned a small victory over the governmental red tape today. I was no longer merely “a mother.” Instead, I was now a highly-placed functionary in a service vital for mankind – motherhood!

  “Mother ” – isn’t it a great title? Fit to be added to the nameplate on the door?

  By this standard, grandmothers deserve to be called senior research officers, and great-grandmothers qualify as research directors. Aunts and other ladies of that age group can be called research facilitators!

  Please share this with all mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers,

  all ladies currently holding posts like this – they deserve it!

  All husbands, fathers, please note!

  Kids answer the question on their mothers:

  Why did God make mothers?

  1. She’s the only one who knows where the Scotch tape is.
  2. Mostly to clean the house.
  3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

  How did God make mothers?

  1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
  2. Magic plus superpowers and a lot of stirring.
  3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

  What ingredients are mothers made of?

  1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
  2. They had to get their start from men’s bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

  Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

  1. We’re related.
  2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s moms like me.

  What kind of little girl was your mom?

  1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
  2. I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
  3. They say she used to be nice.

  What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

  1. His last name.
  2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
  3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

  Why did your Mom marry your dad?

  1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.
  2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
  3. My grandma says that Mom didn’t have her thinking cap on.

  Who’s the boss at your house?

  1. Mom doesn’t want to be boss, but she has to because dad’s such a goof ball.
  2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
  3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

  What’s the difference between moms and dads?

  1. Moms work at work and work at home, and dads just go to work at work.
  2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
  3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power ’cause that’s who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend’s.
  4. Moms have magic; they make you feel better without medicine.

  What does your Mom do in her spare time?

  1. Mothers don’t do spare time.
  2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

  What would it take to make your Mom perfect?

  1. On the inside she’s already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
  2. Diet. You know, her hair. I’d dye it, maybe blue.

  If you could change one thing about your Mom, what would it be?

  1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I’d get rid of that.
  2. I’d make my Mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
  3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on her back of her head.

  Mom, the good shepherd

  My mom is my shepherd; I shall not want. She makes me lie down under cool, downy comforters. She watches me play beside still waters. She restores my soul.

  She leads me in paths of respect, responsibility, and goodness, for I am her namesake!

  Yea, even though I walk past monsters in the dark, I will not be scared, because my mom is always near me. Her hands and her voice, they comfort me.

  Mama sets the table and cheerfully calls me to dinner even in front of big, mean bullies.

  She anoints my skinned knees and broken heart with kisses. She smiles and throws me a towel when my cup runneth over.

  Surely God’s peace, power, and mercy shall uphold me all the days of my life, for my Mother taught me to dwell in the house of God forever.

  Source: Christian Education 101: A Child Learns to Trust by Laurie Hays Coffman

  A strong woman works out every day to keep her body in shape, but a woman of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape.

  A strong woman isn’t afraid of anything, but a woman of strength shows her courage in the midst of fear.

  A strong woman won’t let anyone get the best of her, but a woman of strength gives the best of herself to everyone.

  A strong woman walks sure-footedly, but a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls.

  A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face, but a woman of strength wears grace.

  A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey, but a woman of strength has Faith that in the journey she will become strong. ( https://www.pinterest.com/pin/512988213777462309/) L/ 22

  “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle C (No. 31) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com

  Visit my website by clicking on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle A homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies  under CBCI or  Fr. Tony for my website version. (Special thanks to Vatican Radio website http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html -which completed uploading my Cycle A, B and C homilies in May 2020)  Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604

• Note: (Pictures are available only in my emailed homilies because permission from the publishers is necessary for legally uploading pictures in a website. You may get pictures  from Google images, by typing the subject Mother’s Day under Google images).

Easter IV [C] [May 8] Good Shepherd Sunday (World Day of Prayer for Vocations) (Eight minute-homily in one-page)

Introduction: The fourth Sunday of Easter, known as Good Shepherd Sunday, is also the “World Day of Prayer for Vocations.” Each year on this Sunday, we reflect on the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd who devotedly and kindly takes care of his flock. The title “pastor” means shepherd. A shepherd leads, feeds, nurtures, comforts, corrects, and protects his flock—responsibilities that belong to all Church leaders, parents, civil leaders, and all who are in charge of others.

Scripture lessons summarized: Today’s first reading describes how Paul and Barnabas opted to listen to the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and follow him, and how, like their Master, they were rebuffed and rejected when they tried to share the good news of salvation. It also suggests that the sympathy of the early Christians for the Gentiles caused a rupture with Judaism. The second reading, taken from the book of Revelation, depicts Jesus as both the glorified Lamb and the Shepherd. John’s vision encourages his readers with the assurance that every person who has ever followed Christ and led others to him will share everlasting life with him. The Gospel text offers us both comfort and a great challenge. The comforting message is that no one can snatch the sheep out of his Father’s hands. The challenge is that pastors should be good shepherds to those entrusted to their care, while their flock of lay people should respond by being good sheep.

Shepherds in the Bible: In the Old Testament, the image of the Shepherd is often applied to God as well as to the leaders of the people. The book of Exodus represents Yahweh several times as a Shepherd. The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel compare Yahweh’s care and protection of His people to that of a shepherd. Ezekiel represents God as a loving Shepherd who searches diligently for the lost sheep. Psalm 23 is David’s famous picture of God as The Good Shepherd: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” In the New Testament: Introducing himself as the Good Shepherd of his flock, Jesus makes three claims in today’s Gospel. 1) He knows his sheep and his sheep hear his voice: 2) He gives eternal life to us, his sheep (by giving us Faith in him through Baptism, and then by strengthening that Faith through Confirmation, by nourishing our souls with the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Bible, and by making our society holy through the Sacraments of Matrimony and the priesthood (Holy Orders). 3) He protects his sheep by placing them in the loving hands of his Almighty Father. St. John’s Gospel adds two more claims: 4) He goes in search of stray lambs and heals the sick ones (through the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing of the sick). 5) Jesus died for his sheep to free us from our sins, giving us life.

Life Messages: Let us become good shepherds and good sheep, good leaders and good followers. (1) Let us become good shepherds: Everyone who is entrusted with the care of others is a shepherd. Hence pastors, parents, teachers, doctors, nurses, government officials, etc. are all shepherds. We become good shepherds by loving those entrusted to us, praying for them, spending our time and talents for their welfare, and guarding them from physical and spiritual dangers.

(2) Let us be good sheep in the fold of Jesus, the Good Shepherd: Our local parish is our sheepfold, and our pastors are our shepherds. Hence, as the good sheep of the parish, parishioners are expected to a) hear and follow the voice of their shepherds through their homilies, Bible classes, counseling, and advice; b) receive the spiritual food their pastors provide by regular participation in the Holy Mass, by frequenting the Sacraments, and by attending prayer services, renewal programs, and missions; c) cooperate with their pastors by giving them positive suggestions for the welfare of the parish, by encouraging them in their duties, by lovingly offering them constructive criticism when they are found misbehaving or failing in their duties and by praying for them always and forgiving them at need; and d) cooperate in the activities of various councils, ministries, and parish associations. (3) Let us pray for vocations to priestly and religious life so that we may have more good shepherds to lead, feed, and protect the Catholic community.

Synopsis of Mother’s Day homily: Today we thank our mothers, pray for them and honor them by celebrating Mother’s Day and by offering our mothers on the altar of God and by praying for them. This is a day to admit gratefully the fact that none of us can return, in the same measure, all the love that our mothers have given us. Our mothers are the good shepherds we all experienced. They gave us life, nursed us, fed us, taught us, disciplined us and showed Christ’s self-sacrificing agape love for us, their children, practicing Christ’s commandment of love, “love others as I have loved you.” Let us remember that we have two mothers. Hence, let us entrust our mothers to our Heavenly Mother, Mary, the mother of Jesus who gave her as our mother, as his last gift to us from the cross, before his death.

EASTER IV [C] (May 8): Acts 13:14, 43-52; Rv 7:9, 14b-17; Jn 10:27-30

Homily starter anecdotes #I: “I know the Psalm, but he knows the Shepherd:” Years ago the great actor Richard Burton was given a grand reception in his childhood parish. While replying to the complimentary speeches in the parish auditorium he asked if there was anything, they specially wanted to hear from him. After a minute’s pause his old pastor asked him if he could recite the Good Shepherd Psalm (Psalm 23), which he had taught Burton in his Sunday school. A strange look came over the actor’s face. He paused for a moment, and then said, “I will, on one condition—that after I have recited it, you, my pastor and teacher, will do the same.” “I,” said the old, retired pastor, “am not an actor, but, if you wish it, I shall do so.” Impressively the actor began the Psalm. His voice and intonation were perfect. He held his audience spellbound, and, as he finished, a great burst of applause broke from the audience. As it died away, the old pastor rose from his wheelchair and began to recite the same Psalm. His voice was feeble and shivering and his tone was not faultless. But, when he finished, there was not a dry eye in the room. The actor rose and his voice quivered as he said, ‘”Ladies and gentlemen, I reached your eyes and ears, but my old pastor has reached your hearts. The difference is just this: I know the Psalm, but he knows the Shepherd.” — This Good Shepherd Sunday, Jesus wants us to know him by experiencing him and to become good shepherds to those entrusted to our care. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

#2: “Who’s running the Church, you or the Holy Spirit?” Here is an anecdote that perfectly conveys the humble spirit of Pope St. John XXIII as a good shepherd. On the evening when he announced the opening of the Second Vatican Council — the first one since 1870 — he couldn’t sleep. Finally, he called himself to order: “Angelo, why aren’t you sleeping? Who’s running the Church, you or the Holy Spirit? So sleep.” And he did. Prior to his being elected Pope, Angelo Roncalli had served as a clerical diplomat in Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece; as Papal Nuncio in Paris; and as Patriarch of Venice. All this training helped him deal with social problems in society and in the Church. While still an Archbishop, he noted: “Wherever I go, I pay more attention to what we have in common than to what separates us.” Pope St. John XXIII began his mission by promising to be “a good shepherd.” He brought a real revolution to the Apostolic Palace by getting rid of the three prescribed genuflections in private audiences and by his impromptu conversations with workers and gardeners on the streets of Vatican City. He was the first Pope in history “to pay tribute to the part played by women in public life and to the growing awareness of their human dignity.” Best of all, by convening the Second Vatican Council, Pope St. John XXIII, led by the Holy Spirit, set in motion a spirit of reform that continues to our day. — In September of 2000, this son of Italian peasants was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II; he was canonized by Pope Francis on April 27, 2014. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

# 3: “LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY.” On a recent highway trip, one bumper sticker in particular grabbed my eye and caused me to consider its frank command: “LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET OUT OF THE WAY.” — In a sense, the Scripture readings for today, Good Shepherd Sunday, proffer the same challenge to believers. Christianity admits of no mediocrity; the decision of Faith which discipleship demands requires a daily deliberateness and a constantly renewed certainty. Either Jesus and his way of life are accepted and followed, or they are rejected. There is no middle path; to live otherwise is to become an obstacle in the way of others. As Christians, each of us is called to be both a leader and a follower. Ultimately, as John points out in the Gospel, our leader is Jesus, the loving shepherd who calls us away from sin and self to union with him and one another. (Sanchez Files) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

Introduction: The fourth Sunday of Easter, known as Good Shepherd Sunday, is also the “World Day of Prayer for Vocations.” The Scripture lessons for this day concern the role of the shepherds of God’s flock in the Church. Each year on this Sunday, we reflect on the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd who devotedly and kindly takes care of his flock. One pastor recently made the joking remark that some people think that their pastor works only on Sundays! This is obviously untrue. Exactly what responsibilities does God give a pastor and what does God expect of him besides saying Mass and preaching? The answer to the question lies in the title “pastor,” which means shepherd. A shepherd leads, feeds, nurtures, comforts, corrects, and protects his flock—responsibilities that belong to every Church leader. The earliest Christians saw Jesus as the fulfillment of the ancient Jewish dream of the Good Shepherd, Who also wished to include the Gentiles as part of God’s flock. Today’s first reading describes how Paul and Barnabas opted to listen to the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd and follow him, and how, like their Master, they were rebuffed and rejected when they tried to share the Good News of salvation. It also suggests that the sympathy of the early Christians for the Gentiles caused a rupture with Judaism. Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 100) reminds us that “…the Lord is God: He made us, His we are – His people, the flock He tends.” The second reading, taken from the book of Revelation, depicts Jesus as both the glorified Lamb and the Shepherd. John’s vision encourages his readers with the assurance that every person who has ever followed Christ and led others to him and who has suffered rejection and persecution will also know the unending joy of victory and have a share in everlasting life. The Gospel text offers us both great comfort and a great challenge. The comforting message is that no one can snatch the sheep out of Jesus’ Father’s hands. The challenge is that pastors should be good shepherds to those entrusted to their care., and their flock, the laity, should be good sheep, obedient and helpful to their shepherds.

The first reading: Acts 13:14, 43-52, explained: Paul and Barnabas were on their first missionary journey to Asia Minor (present day Turkey). On the Sabbath, Paul and Barnabas entered the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia where they were invited to give a word of exhortation to the people. They explained that since Christ had been rejected by the Jews, Christians were obliged to preach the Gospel to all the nations, thus emphasizing the universal mission of Christianity. In other words, since the Jews had rejected the word of God, it was being offered to the Gentiles. But those Jews in Antioch who opposed the idea of preaching to the Gentiles gathered enough support to expel the apostles from their territory. Nevertheless, Paul and Barnabas remained faithful to the Gospel that Jesus had revealed. They “were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit” and continued to preach to the Gentiles who welcomed them with delight (v. 48). The mission of the Church is indeed a continuation of the ministry of salvation begun by Jesus. Is the seed of the Gospel still being sown to the ends of the earth? Are the poor, the blind, the deaf, the lame, the hungry, the thirsty, the lost, and the imprisoned still the primary focus of our service?

The second reading: Rv 7:9, 14-17, explained:

The book of Revelation, the vision Jesus gave to St. John the Evangelist,  to be written down, was meant to instruct and  encourage persecuted Christians, not only of the First Century but of all centuries. The Vision presents Jesus as both the slain and glorified Lamb and the Good Shepherd.  In the latter role, he protects and refreshes his flock when they suffer persecution.  John has a vision of all the sheep, representing the universal Church — people “from every nation, race, people, and tongue”  —  rescued by the Good Shepherd.  The Lamb will shepherd and shelter those who, with his help, win through. He will feed them well and will wipe “away every tear from their eyes.”  The essence of the vision is that Christ, the Son of the Living God Incarnate, now risen from the dead, glorified, will, in his glorified humanity, have the chief place in Heaven, and that all rational creatures will sing his praises forever.  John’s visions promised his readers that Jesus, the Passover Lamb, would shepherd them, providing them with shelter, protection, and safe passage to the life-giving waters of eternity (Ps 23; 80; 35:10; Is 40:11; Ez 34:23; Jer 2:13).

Gospel exegesis: The context: It was December, wintertime, probably the time of the Jewish Hanukkah festival (the Feast of Dedication), which commemorated the triumph of the Jewish commander Judas Maccabaeus over the Syrian leader Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 165 BC).  Jesus was walking in the Temple on the east side, which offered protection against the cold winds from the desert.  The Jews had gathered around him.  They were not sure whether or not he was the promised Messiah because there were many such wandering preachers and healers in those days.  Hence, they asked him directly whether he was the Christ. Instead of giving them an equally direct answer, Jesus claimed that he was the Good Shepherd and explained to them his role.

Shepherds in the Old Testament: In the Old Testament, the image of the Shepherd is often applied to God as well as to the leaders of the people.  The book of Exodus represents Yahweh several times as a Shepherd.  The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel compare Yahweh’s care and protection of His people to that of a shepherd.  “He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against His breast and leading the mother ewes to their rest” (Is 40:11).  Ezekiel represents God as a loving Shepherd who searches diligently for the lost sheep.  Psalm 23 is David’s famous picture of God as The Good Shepherd: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul” (RSV, 2nd Catholic Edition).   The prophets often used harsh words to scold the selfish and insincere shepherds (or leaders) of their day.  Jer 23:1: “Doom for the shepherds who allow the flock of My pasture to be destroyed and scattered.”  Ez 34:2: “Trouble for the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves!  Shepherds ought to feed their flock.”

The Good Shepherd in the New Testament: Introducing himself as the Good Shepherd of his flock, Jesus makes three claims in today’s Gospel.

1) He knows his sheep and his sheep hear his voice: Just as the Palestinian shepherds knew each sheep of their flock by name, and the sheep knew their shepherd and his voice, so Jesus knows each one of us, our needs, our merits, and our faults.  He loves us as we are, with all our limitations, and he expects us to return his love by keeping his words.  He speaks to us at every Mass, through the Bible, through our pastors, through our parents, through our friends, and through the events of our lives.  “God whispers to us in our pleasures, He speaks to us in our consciences, and He shouts to us in our pain!” (C.S. Lewis).  2) He gives eternal life to us, his sheep by receiving us into his sheepfold and giving us Faith through Baptism, and then he strengthens that Faith in Confirmation.  He supplies food for our souls in the Holy Eucharist and in the Divine words of the Holy Bible.  He makes our society holy by the Sacraments of Matrimony and the priesthood (Holy Orders.  3) He protects his sheep by placing them in the loving hands of his Almighty Father.  Without him to guide us and protect us, we are an easy prey for the spiritual wolves of this world, including Satan and his minions.

In chapter ten of John’s Gospel, Jesus adds two more roles to those of the Good Shepherd.  He goes in search of stray lambs and heals the sick ones.  Jesus heals the wounds of our souls through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and strengthens us in illness and old age with the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.  Jesus dies for his sheep:  Just as the shepherds of ancient days protected their sheep from wild animals and thieves by risking their own lives, so Jesus died in expiation for the sins of all people.

Through today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches one of the central aspects of the ministerial priesthood: the priest as shepherd.  It means that a priest is one who, by his consecration, lives for others.  The title, “Father”, like the title, “Shepherd,” expresses a relation of loving service to others in everything, from the most sacred ministries to the most trivial chores.

World Day of Prayer for Vocations. ” Today is also “World Day of Prayer for Vocations.” It is a day when Christians are invited to reflect on the meaning of God’s call and to pray that they may answer the call to dedicate their lives to serve the Church in a special way, i.e. to shepherd the Church communities, particularly as pastors in their parishes and as superiors in their religious orders or congregations. The Church presents to us in today’s Gospel the figure of Jesus the Good Shepherd that we may reflect on the meaning of the  religious vocation to priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life.  Last Sunday we reflected on  Our Lord’s commission and charge to Peter, saying once, “Feed my lambs,” and twice, “Feed my sheep.” In that way he made Peter a shepherd, a pastor. Our Lord continues his work of shepherding his people through Peter and his co-workers: the apostles and disciples, and through their successors: the Pope, the bishops, priests, deacons, catechists, and committed lay people. The first thing we need to remember is that every single person here has a vocation!  Each person here, whatever one’s state in life, has been, and is being, called by God through the Holy Spirit to offer one’s special gifts to benefit  the rest of the community.  Therefore, “Vocations Sunday” is not just for a few selected for directly religious vocations, it is for all of us here. On the one hand, each one needs to reflect on what one’s particular calling is and how one can respond to it for the well-being of the whole parish community. Secondly, one needs to help others,  and not be an obstacle to them as they respond  to the particular calling and graces that God through his Spirit is giving one. If we will all actively respond to that call what a wonderful community, we  will be! For, “We are his people, the sheep of his flock.”

 Life Messages: Let us become good shepherds and good sheep, good leaders and good followers.

1) Let us become good shepherds:  Everyone who is entrusted with the care of others is a shepherd.  Hence, pastors, parents, teachers, doctors, nurses, government officials, etc. are all shepherds.  We become good shepherds by loving those entrusted to us, praying for them, spending our time and talents for their welfare, and guarding them from physical and spiritual dangers.  Parents must be especially careful of their duties, thus giving their children good example through the way they live their Christian lives as husband and wife and as parents.

2) Let us be good sheep in the fold of Jesus, the Good Shepherd: Our local parish is our sheepfold, and our pastors are our shepherds.   Jesus is the High Priest, the bishops are the successors of the apostles, the pastors, assisted by their Deacons,  are their helpers and the parishioners are the sheep.  Hence, as the good sheep of the parish, parishioners are expected to a) hear and follow the voice of their shepherds through their homilies, Bible classes, counseling, and advice; b) receive the spiritual food our pastors provide by regular participation in the Holy Mass, by frequenting the Sacraments, and by attending prayer services, renewal programs, and missions; c) cooperate with our pastors by giving them positive suggestions for the welfare of the parish, by encouraging them in their duties, by lovingly offering them constructive criticism when they are found misbehaving or failing in their duties, by praying for them always and forgiving them at need; and d) cooperate with our fellow-parishioners in the activities of various councils, ministries, and parish associations.

3) Let us pray for  generous responses to all the vocations God offers men  to enter the priesthood, the diaconate, the mission fields, and all the vocations God offers   both men and women  to enter the consecrated  life, so that we may have more good shepherds to lead, feed, and protect the Catholic community here an abroad. Let us remember that the duty of fostering vocations is the concern of the whole believing community, and we discharge that responsibility primarily by living exemplary Christian lives. Parents foster vocations by creating a God-centered climate in homes based on solid Christian values. They should pray with their children for vocations during the family prayer time and speak encouraging words about their pastors, the missionaries, and the religious, instead of criticizing these servants of God. Such an atmosphere in the family will definitely foster vocations from such families. Financial support of seminarians is also a positive contribution to promoting vocations.

JOKE OF THE WEEK

#1: The young pastor was teaching the 23^rd Psalm to the Sunday school children. He told them that they were sheep who needed guidance.  Then the priest asked, “If you are the sheep, then who is the shepherd?”– obviously indicating himself.  A silence of a few seconds followed.  Then a young boy said, “Jesus. Jesus is the Shepherd.”  The young priest, obviously caught by surprise, said to the boy, “Well then, who am I?”  The boy frowned thoughtfully and then said, “I guess you must be a sheep dog.”

#2: A man in an Armani suit, Ferragamo shoes, the latest Polarized sunglasses and a tightly knotted power tie emerges from his shiny silver BMW, approaches a shepherd guarding his flock, and proposes a wager: “Will you give me one of your sheep, if I can tell you the exact number in this flock?”  The shepherd accepts.  “973,” says the man.  The shepherd, astonished at the accuracy, says, “I’m a man of my word; take the sheep you have won.”  The man picks a sheep and begins to walk away.  “Wait,” cries the shepherd, “Let me have a chance to get even.  Will you return my animal if I tell what your job is?”  “Sure,” replies the man.  “You are an economist for a government think-tank,” says the shepherd.  “Amazing!” responds the man, “How did you deduce that?”  “Well,” says the shepherd, “you drove into my field uninvited.  You asked me to pay you for information I already know, answered questions I haven’t asked, and you know nothing about my business.  Now put down MY DOG!”

Note: (Pictures are available only in my emailed homilies because permission from the publishers is necessary for legally uploading pictures in a website. You may get pictures  from Google images, by typing the subject John 10: 27-30 or Easter IV Sunday (C) under Google images).

USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK

1) Fr. Don’ collection of video homilies & blogs: https://sundayprep.org 

2) Video Sunday-Scripture study by Fr. Geoffrey Plant:

https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant2066

3) Dr. Brant Pitre’s commentary on Cycle C Sunday Scripture for Bible Class: https://catholicproductions.com/blogs/mass-readings-explained-year-c

 4)      Catholic questions& answers: Once Catholic.org,

5)      Catholic answers for teenagers: EveryStudent.com,

6)      The Catholic News Service:http://www.catholicnews.com

7)      Doctrinal Concordance: http://www.infpage.com/concordance/

8) USCCB gospel video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/

23 Additional anecdotes

1) St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa)’s Good Shepherd prayer: During her visit to the United Nations several years ago, Mother Theresa was approached by a diplomat who said, “I am not a Catholic, Mother.  But I want to know: how should I pray.”  The frail little nun took his burly hands in hers and spread out five of his fingers on one hand.  “When you pray,” she said, “Think about the many blessings you have received; then, at the end of the day, count out on each finger the words spoken to you by Jesus: ‘You.. did.. this.. for.. Me.’”  The diplomat left holding up his hand as though it were a trophy and saying: “You did this for me.” — In this simple prayer, Mother Theresa let us see the Resurrection as real.  What she meant was that the love and peace of the Good Shepherd is present to us in the many moments of compassion that bless our lives:  in kind words, in the listening ear, in generous actions.  Jesus is also present in the blessings we extend to others.  The Good Shepherd of today’s Gospel guides us every day in our journey to eternal life. (Sanchez Files) https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

2) “Whatever happens, don’t let go.”  There is a wonderful scene towards the end of the movie, Titanic.   As the ship is preparing to take its final plunge into the cold waters of the Atlantic, Jack Dawson and Rose are hanging straight onto the edge of the ship.  Jack turns to Rose and tells her: “Don’t let go. Whatever happens, don’t let go.” —  There is something profound in knowing that there is someone who wants us to hold on, no matter how difficult the situation.  As children, we held onto our parents for guidance and protection.  When we are adults, we hope to find a spouse or close friend who will hold us when we are hurt and carry us when we stumble.  In today’s Gospel, we hear the profound revelation from Jesus that God intends to “hold us” through every storm and every difficulty of life.  Jesus, as our Good Shepherd, offers us double protection.   He assures us that we are in his hands and nothing will ever take us from him.  He further assures us that we are also in the Father’s hands.   Nothing can ultimately hurt us. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

3)   “I have a dream:” https://youtu.be/_IB0i6bJIjw   During the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. kept alive the hopes of victims of race discrimination by sharing his dreams. On August 28, 1963, standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, he told the audience of nearly 250,000  those who had joined the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, (Wikipedia) “I have a dream . . . a dream that one day the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. . . that this desert state sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” King’s dream awakened a nation and challenged its people and its legislators to face the inequities being perpetrated against some of its citizens. King’s dream offered consolation, inspired courage and strengthened the committed. Twenty centuries before King, the seer, John, similarly served his contemporaries with his visions. Like King, John shared his visions with the struggling. During the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian (AD 81-96), Christians were being persecuted for their Faith. Denied the right to worship as they wished, they were judged guilty of treason for refusing to venerate Domitian as god. So condemned, they became the prey of one of the fiercest persecutions ever launched against the Church. A contemporary of John’s, Clement of Rome, described the injustices suffered by those early followers of Christ as “sudden and repeated misfortunes and calamities.” Nevertheless, the Church was not without hope. John’s vision of a glorious future in the eternal presence of God and the victorious Lamb of God (Jesus) strengthened his contemporaries in their resolve to remain firm in their Faith, undeterred in their baptismal commitment. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

4)  A sergeant’s good shepherd’s story:  There was a sergeant in the Marines who was the senior enlisted man in his platoon.  One day his outfit was ambushed and pinned down by enemy fire.  The lieutenant in command was badly wounded as were many of the men.  The sergeant took over and extricated the men from the trap, though he himself was wounded twice.  He went back by himself to carry out the wounded commanding officer.  Miraculously every man in the platoon survived, even the wounded lieutenant.  Later the men said that if it were not for the incredible bravery of the sergeant, they all would have been killed.  “He was like a father to us,” they said.  He was recommended for the Medal of Honor but did not receive it.  However, he did receive the DFC.  — He never wore the medal because he said the lives of his men were more important than any medal.  Later when he had children of his own, he loved them devotedly.   His wife said that during the war he had learned to be tender. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

5) Jesus knows his sheep by name: There have always been people with a good memory for names: Napoleon, “who knew thousands of his soldiers by name . . .” or James A. Farley, “who claimed he knew 50,000 people by their first name . . .” or Charles Schwab, “who knew the names of all 8,000 of his employees at Homestead Mill . . .” or Charles W. Eliot, “who, during his forty years as president of Harvard, earned the reputation of knowing all the students by name each year . . .” or Harry Lorayne, “who used to amaze his audiences by being introduced to hundreds of people, one after another, then giving the name of any person who stood up and requested it.”– But can you imagine Christ knowing all his sheep by name? That’s millions and millions of people over 2,000 years. No wonder we call him Master, Lord, Savior – watching over his flock, calling each by name! https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

6) “I only know them by name.” Tony Campolo loves to tell the story of a particular census taker who went to the home of a rather poor family in the mountains of West Virginia to gather information. He asked the mother how many dependents she had. She began, “Well, there is Rosie, and Billy, and Lewella, Susie, Harry, and Jeffrey. There’s Johnny, and Harvey, and our dog, Willie.” It was then that the census taker interrupted her aid said: “No, ma’am, that’s not necessary. I only need the humans.”                                                “Ah,” she said. “Well, there is Rosie, and Billy, and Lewella, Susie, Harry, and Jeffrey, Johnny, and Harvey, and….” But there once again, the census taker interrupted her. Slightly exasperated, he said, “No, ma’am, you don’t seem to understand. I don’t need their names; I just need the numbers.” To which the old woman replied, “But I don’t know them by numbers. I only know them by name.” — In today’s Gospel Jesus the Good Shepherd says that he knows his sheep by name. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

7) “I’d like to preserve my integrity and credibility.” About 4 years ago, Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, offered WGN Chicago Radio sports-talk host David Kaplan $50,000 to change his name legally to “Dallas Maverick.” When Kaplan politely declined, Cuban sweetened the offer. Cuban would pay Kaplan $100,000 and donate $100,000 to Kaplan’s favorite charity if he took the name for one year. After some soul searching and being bombarded by e-mails from listeners who said he was crazy to turn down the money, Kaplan held firm and told Cuban no. Kaplan explained: “I’d be saying I’d do anything for money, and that bothers me. My name is my birthright. I’d like to preserve my integrity and credibility.” [Skip Bayless, Chicago Tribune (1/10/01), Leadership Summer 2001)] — The name “Christian” is our birthright. From the moment of our Baptism and our birth into the Kingdom of God, we are the sheep of the Good Shepherd who promises to lead us to green pastures and beside the still waters. The Voice of the Shepherd protects us. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

8) “May I see your driver’s license?” Everyone, it seems, is interested in my numbers. I go to the grocery store to buy some groceries. After the checkout woman rings up my bill, I pull out my checkbook and write out the check. She takes it from me. She looks at the information. Numbers tell her where I live. Numbers tell her how to reach me on the telephone. “Is this information correct?” she asks. “Yes, it is,” I reply. “May I see your driver’s license?” she asks. She looks at my driver’s license and writes some more numbers on my check. Finally, I am approved. The numbers are all there. I can eat for another week. One could wish it were a bit more human and personal. So the IRS knows me by my tax number. My state knows me by my driver’s license number. My bank knows me by my bank account number. My employer knows me by my social security number. On and on it goes for you, for me, for everybody. Everybody knows my numbers. I am not sure that anyone knows me! — The numbers game that is played in our culture is one symptom of loneliness and alienation that surrounds us today. “All the lonely people, where do they all come from?” That is a line from the song Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles. Loneliness. Isolation. Alienation. These are the realities of contemporary civilized life. “I am the Good Shepherd.” These are Jesus’ words in our reading from John’s Gospel text for this sermon. “I am the Good Shepherd; I know my own and my own know me …” Today’s Gospel tells us that Jesus knows us personally and loves us. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

9)  His Master’s Voice: Have you ever seen the painting done in the 1930s of a dog, looking with a cocked head, at an old gramophone? The name of the painting is His Master’s Voice. This serves us today as a symbol of what Jesus is saying to us: “The sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

10) “Then we FLEECE them!” Two television evangelists were talking. One was explaining how he was seeking to be the ideal shepherd to his television flock. “There are three ways I seek to do that,” he said. “What three ways do you mean?” asked the other evangelist. “Well” he explained, “First, we FIND them. Every year we find new stations to carry our ministry. Then we FEED them. I give them the plain unvarnished word of God.” “But what’s the third thing?” asked the second evangelist. “Well,” he answered, “Once we’ve found them and fed them, then we FLEECE them!” –Some TV evangelists have become quite proficient at fleecing their flock. I hope you understand that nothing could be farther from the example of Christ. Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep . . .” Fleecing the flock is a long way from laying down your life for them. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

11) “But I never jumped.” A paratrooper who had recently resigned from the military was asked how many times he had jumped out of an airplane. He said, “None.” A friend of his asked, “What do you mean, ‘none,’ I thought you were a paratrooper?” He said, “I was, but I never jumped. I was pushed several times . . . but I never jumped.” — The hired hand never jumps. He has to be pushed. Churches often have hired hands in them. Not our Church, of course! But other Churches are full of people who have to be pushed to do what they know they ought to do. Jesus did not have to be pushed. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

12) “I give my life for my sheep”: We applaud when a man or woman gives his or her life for another. Such instances do come along from time to time. Murfreesboro, Tennessee. May 28, 1989: “Former NFL football player Jerry Anderson,” read the newspaper account, “died Saturday after pulling two young boys out of a rain-swollen river about 40 miles southeast of Nashville. Witnesses said Anderson saw two boys, thought to be 11 or 12 years old, attempting to cross a dam spanning the river. One or both boys fell into the water. According to Officer Bill Todd, ‘Mr. Anderson jumped in the water and managed to get the little boys out, but witnesses said he went under two or three times and about the fourth time, he didn’t come back up.’” He gave his life to rescue two small boys. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

Of course, you don’t have to be an American or a football player for such heroic actions. In a Middle school in the Ukrainian village of Ivanichi, a young teacher died sometime back. He absorbed the blast of a hand grenade to protect his pupils. What was a grenade doing in a middle school? According to the London Times, the teacher, a graduate of the KGB border guard college, had been delivering the military instruction that is a compulsory part of the curriculum for Soviet children. He was teaching them how to handle what should have been an unarmed grenade. When he pulled the pin a wisp of smoke showed that a live grenade had become mixed in with demonstration grenades, and he fell on the grenade, giving his life to save the children. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

And you don’t have to be a man to perform such heroics. Many years ago a woman carrying a baby through the hills of South Wales, England, was overtaken by a blizzard. Searchers found her later frozen to death in the snow. Amazed that she had on no outer garments, they searched further and found her baby. She had wrapped them around the child, who was still alive and well. He grew up to be David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister of Great Britain in World War I. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

13) Big Brother is watching us: Ever since George Orwell’s 1984 hit the bookstores, people concerned about individual privacy and freedom have looked for signs that Big Brother is becoming a reality in our society. And it is true that more and more of our urban landscape is being observed by security cameras. But that is only one way our privacy is being invaded. There was a news report several years ago that Israeli scientists are now marketing a microchip that, implanted under the skin, will protect film stars and millionaires from kidnappers. The chip emits a signal detectable by satellite to help rescuers determine a victim’s approximate location. Originally the chip was developed to track Israeli secret-service agents abroad. The $5,000 chip doesn’t even require batteries. It runs solely on the neurophysiological energy generated within the human body. The firm which developed it, Gen-Etics, won’t reveal where the chip is inserted but said that, at that time, 43 people had had it implanted. Since this report was published there has been an explosion of interest in this technology. Farmers keep tabs on the health and safety of their cows and other livestock with such chips. But the use of such devices to monitor human beings is almost limitless. Already there is a monitoring bracelet for Alzheimer patients, so that families can use GPS systems to help find loved ones who might have wandered off. Would it be inconceivable that loving parents might want to monitor the whereabouts of their children via satellite? Why not have a chip implanted? Pet owners are already using such technology. Some cynics have suggested that some wives might want to monitor their husbands. Soon we will see signs, “Big Brother is watching.” — Here’s what’s amusing to me. There are people who have no difficulty believing that one day the government will keep track of us all, but who cannot conceive that an all-knowing God can take a personal interest in each of His children, hear each of our prayers, and be responsive to each of our individual needs! https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

14) Images are highly influential. They become emblazoned on the wall of our minds, and they evoke a wide range of responses. Millions of people will remember the fireman carrying the baby out of the ruins of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. World War II veterans, particularly the ones who served in the South Pacific, will always remember Mount Surabachi and the Marines who raised an American flag at its summit, as well as the image of General MacArthur returning to the Philippines. Neil Armstrong taking that first step on the moon in the early ’70s is frozen in many memories, too. If you were old enough to watch and understand television in l963, you probably remember young John F. Kennedy, Jr., at the casket of his father Jack. Much closer to our own time, many of us will long retain the image of students running out of Columbine High School with their hands over their heads. — Some images are immensely powerful and have a tenacity that is tireless and timeless.  If there is one image associated with the Christian Faith which, more than any other, has found an enduring place within the collective life of the Christian church, it is the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

15)  Hannah and her Sisters: A movie by Woody Allen, titled, Hannah and Her Sisters, deals precisely with that theme. It is about Hannah and her sisters and how family life gives some sense of stability to life in a fractured world. The part played by Woody Allen in the movie is that of a man who is constantly afraid that he will get some terrible disease. He is what we call a hypochondriac. As he comes into the movie, we see him on his way to the doctor. The doctor assures him that nothing seems to be terribly wrong, though some additional tests need to be made. Woody cannot calm himself over these additional tests. He is sure they will find something terrible. “What are you afraid of,” one of his friends asks him, “cancer?” “Don’t say that,” Woody responds with a look of terror. More tests are performed. A CAT scan is prescribed for his head. He is sure they will find a brain tumor. But his fears are unfounded. The doctor announces to him that all is well. In the next scene we see Woody coming out of the hospital, kicking up his heels, and running joyfully down the street. He is celebrating. But suddenly he stops. We know instinctively why he stops. He tells us in the next scene. “All this means,” he says, “is that I am all right this time. Next time it will probably be serious.” —  Our lives are lived in constant danger. Woody Allen’s character overplays the danger. But the danger is there. There are all kinds of realities that imperil our lives nearly every day. Accidents might befall us. Natural disasters strike. Oppressive structures of life weigh us down. Disease stalks us and death awaits. That is the way life is. We live our lives in constant peril. Woody Allen might have exaggerated a bit, but he is right. Human beings belong to an endangered species. Death calls a halt to every human life.  “I am the Good Shepherd,” Jesus says. “The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

16)  The Bismarck: In the beginning of World War II, the Nazis commissioned a massive battleship named the Bismarck.  It was the biggest fighting vessel the world had seen up to that time.  With the Bismarck, the Germans had the opportunity to dominate the seas.  Very soon after it was commissioned, the Bismarck sank tons of Allied shipping and allied aircraft.  Its massive armor plating resulted in the boast that the Bismarck was unsinkable.  But the Bismarck was sunk.  And it was sunk due to one lone torpedo.  A torpedo hit the Bismarck in the rudder.  As a result, the battleship zig-zagged through the sea, unable to reach harbor.  It was only a short while before the British navy was able to overtake and destroy it.  No matter how large the battleship may be, it is doomed without a rudder to direct it. — Floundering on the waters of chaos without a rudder, the Bismarck is a modern-day image of a world without the direction of Jesus the Good Shepherd.  Without the Lord, the world is headed toward chaos.  But with the Lord there is guidance, direction and purpose in life. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

17) Alexander, the shepherd of soldiers.  When the emperor Alexander the Great was crossing the Makran Desert on his way to Persia, his army ran out of water.  The soldiers were dying of thirst as they advanced under the burning sun.  A couple of Alexander’s lieutenants managed to capture some water from a passing caravan. They brought some to him in a helmet.  He asked, “Is there enough for both me and my men?” “Only you, sir,” they replied.  Alexander then lifted up the helmet as the soldiers watched.  Instead of drinking, he tipped it over and poured the water on the ground. The men let up a great shout of admiration. —  They knew their general would not allow them to suffer anything he was unwilling to suffer himself. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

18) “It will kill you if you move.” A soldier dying on a Korean battlefield asked for a priest. The Medic could not find one. A wounded man lying nearby heard the request and said, “I am a priest.” The Medic turned to the speaker and saw his condition, which was as bad as that of the other. “It will kill you if you move,” he warned. — But the wounded chaplain replied. “The life of a man’s soul is worth more than a few hours of my life.” He then crawled to the dying soldier, heard his confession, gave him absolution and the two died hand in hand. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

19) Four clergymen, taking a short break from their heavy schedules, were on a park bench, chatting and enjoying an early spring day. “You know, since all of us are such good friends,” said one, “this might be a good time to discuss personal problems.” They all agreed. “Well, I would like to share with you the fact that I drink to excess,” said one. There was a gasp from the other three. Then another spoke up. “Since you were so honest, I’d like to say that my big problem is gambling. It’s terrible, I know, but I can’t quit. I’ve even been tempted to take money from the collection plate.” Another gasp was heard, and the third clergyman spoke. “I’m really troubled, brothers, because I’m growing fond of a woman in my church — a married woman.” More gasps. But the fourth remained silent. After a few minutes the others coaxed him to open up. “The fact is,” he said, “I just don’t know how to tell you about my problem.” “It’s all right, brother. Your secret is safe with us,” said the others. “Well, it’s this way,” he said. “You see, I’m an incurable gossip.- — Jokes like this have shaped our views of priests as if there is no difference between the life and work of a priest and that of other Christians. Today’s Gospel tells us that priests are expected to be Good Shepherds as the picture given by Jesus. (Fr. Munacci). https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

20) WHO IS YOUR SHEPHERD?

The TV is my shepherd; I shall not want.
It makes me to lie down on the sofa.
It leads me away from the Faith.
It destroys my soul.
It leads me to the path of sex and violence for the advertiser’s sake.
Even though I walk in the shadow of Christian responsibilities,
There will be no interruption, for the TV is with me.
Its cable and remote control, they comfort me.
It prepares a commercial for me in the midst of my worldliness
And anoints my head with secular humanism and consumerism.
My covetousness runs over.
Surely ignorance and laziness shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell in the house of wretchedness watching TV forever.                                (Broadcast on EWTN on March 18, 2002) https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

21) “I prayed and prayed, and I thought you were going to save me!” A Christian humorist once told a story about a man who had climbed onto the roof of his home to escape rising flood waters from torrential rains. He prayed to God to act quickly to save him. After a short while, a search and rescue team came and shouted for the man to jump and swim to their boat. He refused, saying that God would take care of him. Later, a helicopter pilot lowered a ladder and beckoned to him to climb up to safety. Again, he refused, affirming his reliance on God. Hours passed and, as the sky grew dark and the air cold, the man cried out his distress to God, “I prayed and prayed, and I thought you were going to save me!” After a moment of silence, the rooftop refugee heard a voice, “I sent you a team with a boat and a pilot with a helicopter. . . what more do you want?” — Because aid did not come in the manner he expected, the man didn’t recognize his divine rescuer. Many of Jesus’ contemporaries appear to have had a similar experience. He was not the type of Savior they had anticipated; therefore, they did not recognize him as such, nor did they respond to his voice by following him. However, as the fourth evangelist points out in today’s Gospel, those who did hear his voice were promised the gift of eternal life. (Sanchez Files). https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

22) Jewish dream for a new Judas Maccabeus:  An eight-day festival of lights held each Chislev (December), Hanukkah memorialized the successful Maccabaean revolt against the Seleucids (a Greek dynasty) in 164 B.C.E. Three years earlier, in 167 B.C., Antiochus IV Epiphanes had desecrated the Lord God’s Temple in Jerusalem by placing a statue and altar of Zeus on the altar of burnt offerings, Daniel’s “the abomination of desolation in the Holy Place” (Dn 8:13).  Antiochus ordered the people to worship the  idol and to sacrifice swine on Zeus’s altar to worship that god. [(Josephus, The Jewish War). (See www. Penelope.uchicago.edu —Encyclopaedia Romana, Notae, Miscellanea, Trivia Questions, Question #11: Which three kings of Orient old were like no man’s adversary?) After routing their oppressors and destroying their idols, the Jews, led by Judas Maccabeus built a new altar and reconsecrated the Temple. Thereafter Hanukkah became a feast which celebrated not only the restoration of the Temple and its liturgy but also the national heroes of Judah. There is little wonder that this feast also occasioned public excitement and desire for a new Judas Maccabeus to rise up from among them and lead them to victory over the Romans.  — Jesus, however, was a hero of another ilk. He would, indeed, lead a revolt and emerge victorious, but it would be a revolt against the forces of evil and a victory over death. Those wishing a share in his victory need only listen to Jesus’ voice and follow his lead. https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

23) My sheep…I know them:” In his book “Everyday Life of the Mayas,” Ralph Whitlock tells us of the delicate respect that these Central American Indians had for animals in pre-Christian days. “Every animal in the forest,” he writes, “had a soul, which was protected by the gods of the earth. A man could kill an animal if he needed to, but before or immediately afterwards he had to offer an apology.” —   When Christ spoke of the almost “family” relationship between the Good Shepherd and his sheep, he was speaking in terms that his Palestinian listeners, largely shepherds, well understood. Even today in the Middle East, there is close, almost familial, rapport between a shepherd and each of his flock. The sheep know his voice and follow him like children. He in turn knows them as individuals and treats them as a loving father. He will protect them at all costs against anybody who will try to “snatch them out of his hand” (Today’s Gospel). If one of them should stray, he leaves the rest in a safe place and goes off through brush and briar in search of the wanderer. Even when he finds the maverick sheep, he will not scold it (it is already sufficiently frightened and humbled); but simply put it over his shoulders and bring it back joyfully to the sheepfold.

St. Maximus the Confessor, an abbot of the seventh century, pointed out the close parallel between the forgiving shepherd and the forgiving Christ. Of Jesus he said, “When He found wandering in the mountains and hills the one sheep that had strayed from God’s flock of a hundred, he brought it back into the fold, but He did not exhaust it by driving it. Instead He placed it on His shoulders and so compassionately, He restored it safely to the flock.” — Jesus, our good shepherd, calls on us, the sheep of his fold, to return to Him, whether we have wandered far or near. He asks us to confess our sins and change our hearts. We need not fear to say, “I am sorry”. He who calls will treat us gently. He not only loves us; He respects us. (Father Robert F. McNamara). https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

 “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle C (No. 30) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com

Visit my website by clicking on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle C homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit also https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies  under Fr. Tony’s homilies and  under Resources in the CBCI website:  https://www.cbci.in  for other website versions.  (Vatican Radio website: http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html uploaded my Cycle A, B and C homilies in from 2018-2020)  Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604

May 2-7:Kindly click on http://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed Sunday and weekday homilies, RCIA & Faith formation classes: May 2 Monday: (St. Athanesius, Bisop, Doctor of the Church) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-athanasiusJn 6:22-29: 22 On the next day the people who remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 However, boats from Tiberias came near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 So when the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections .

The context: Today’s Gospel introduces Jesus’ famous discourse on the Holy Eucharist which emerged within a dialogue between Jesus and the Jews who had gone around the Lake and come to Capernaum searching for him. In answer to their question about his arrival, Jesus challenged them, saying that they were looking for him so they could get another free meal and that such meals would not satisfy them. He also instructed them to labor for food that would give them Eternal Life.

Naturally, the Jews asked Jesus what they should do to get such a food. Since the Jews believed that the Torah was the “bread of life,” many may have thought that Jesus was instructing them to keep the Torah to attain Eternal Life. So, Jesus clarified that they had to do the work of God to attain eternal life; he told them that the “work of God” was not to work miracles for their own sakes but to believe in Him as the Son of God, sent to give Eternal Life to those who believed in him. While regular food helps us to stay alive in this world, spiritual food sustains and develops our supernatural life, which will last forever in Heaven. This food, which only God can give us, consists mainly in the gift of Faith in Jesus and in the grace God gives us to live according to Jesus’ teaching. Through God’s infinite love, we are given in the Blessed Eucharist the very Author of these gifts, Jesus Christ, as nourishment for our souls.

Life message: 1) Most of the time, we work for food which only nourishes the body. Jesus teaches that he is the Heavenly food, who nourishes the soul and gives us eternal life in union with God in Heaven. Hence, let us receive this Life-giving food both in the Holy Eucharist and in the Holy Scripture with proper preparation and reverence while repenting of our sins. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22

May 3 Tuesday: (Saints Philip & James the Lesser, Apostles) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saints-philip-and-james :Jn 14: 6-14: 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, `Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. 14 Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

James, son of Alphaeus, called James the Lesser wrote the epistle that bears his name and became the bishop of Jerusalem. He is the brother of Jude, and they are cousins of Jesus because their mother Mary, who was married to Alphaeus or Clophas, is the sister or cousin of Jesus’ mother. (This James is different from James the Greater, the son of Zebedee who was married to another sister or cousin of Mary; hence, James and his brother John were also cousins of Jesus). James the Lesser is also known by the title of James the Just on account of his eminent sanctity. James and his brother Jude were called to the apostleship in the second year of Christ’s preaching, soon after the Pasch, probably in the year 31. James, son of Alphaeus, only appears four times in the New Testament, each time in a list of the twelve apostles as number 9. In Christian art he is depicted holding a fuller’s club because he was believed to have been martyred, beaten to death with a fuller’s club, at Ostrakine in Lower Egypt, where he was preaching the Gospel.

Philip: John describes Philip as a fisherman from Bethsaida in Galilee, the same town as Andrew and Peter. It is possible that Philip was originally a follower or disciple of John the Baptist because John depicts Jesus calling Philip out of a crowd attending John’s baptisms. Immediately after his call as an apostle by Jesus, Philip introduced Jesus to his friend Nathaniel as the “one about whom Moses wrote” (Jn 1:45). On one occasion, when Jesus saw the great multitude following him and wanted to give them food, he asked Philip where they should buy bread for the people to eat. Philip expressed his surprise declaring “two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enoughfor each of them to have a little bit” (Jn 6:7). It was in answer to Philip’s question, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us” (Jn 14:8) that Jesus answered, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). Since Philip had a Greek name, some Greek Gentile proselytes once approached him with a request to introduce them to Jesus. Eusebius records that Polycrates, 2nd century Bishop of Ephesus, wrote that Philip was crucified in Phrygia and later buried in Hierapolis, in Turkey. Tradition has it that his death was around AD 54. We celebrate his feast day on May 3rd.

Life message: Let us ask the intercession of Sts. James and Philip so that we too may bear witness of Jesus by our lives to those around us. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) 22.

May 4 Wednesday: Jn 6:35-40: 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; 39 and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus repeats his claim that he is “the Bread of Life.” He means that, just as God sent manna from heaven to sustain the physical life of his people in the desert, so He has sent His Son Jesus to sustain the spiritual lives of His people. Spiritual life is actually Sanctifying Grace, our living relationship with God the Father, through His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus makes three claims: 1) He claims to be our spiritual Food and offers himself in order to produce God’s life within us. 2) He promises to those who believe in him unbroken friendship with God. 3) Jesus also promises to those who believe in him a share in his own Resurrection at the end of this world and share of Eternal Life with him in Heaven.

Life messages: 1) We need to live dynamic spiritual lives, sharing in God’s Life, Sanctifying Grace, through the Holy Eucharist. 2) We can keep the friendship of Jesus only by leading holy lives free from sin. 3) We can enjoy and share the joy of Jesus’ Resurrection only by realizing and appreciating his presence within us and all around us. 4) Only God can satisfy our deepest needs. Fr. Tony: (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)22

May 5 Thursday: Jn 6:44-51: 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, `And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: Today’s Gospel passage is the continuation of Jesus’ teaching on the Bread of Life. Jesus declares that he has seen God his Father because he has come from Heaven. Jesus also states that we hear God the Father’s Voice through him and through the Holy Spirit because the Father draws us to Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus reminds the Jews that they cannot be his disciples unless God his Father draws them to him and teaches them. The Magisterium of the Church has repeated this teaching in Vatican II: “Before this Faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior help of the Holy Spirit, Who moves the heart and converts it to God, Who opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth” (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 5). Once they become his disciples, Jesus will feed their souls with the Bread from Heaven, and this Heavenly Bread is his own Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Eternal Life is reserved for such disciples. This Eternal Life is a Life of love, fellowship, communion, and union with God.

Life messagew: 1) Holy Communion is the wonderful banquet at which Christ gives himself to us: “The Bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My Flesh.) 2) Hence, let us receive the glorified Body and Blood of the Risen Lord Jesus in the Holy Eucharist with a repentant heart, proper preparation, reverential fear, and grateful joy. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22

May 6 Friday: Jn 6: 52-59: 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections (

The context: The Jewish audience for Jesus’ teaching on the Bread of Life were scandalized at his statement that he was going to give them his Flesh to eat, for it suggested to them cannibalism, forbidden in the Jewish Scriptures. Hence, they wanted to know how Jesus could give his Flesh to eat as a means to gain Eternal Life. Jesus asserted that it was a must for them to eat his Body and drink his Blood if they were to receive Divine Life, Eternal Life, and resurrection from the dead. There is no way to interpret Jesus’ words as “simply symbolic,” which would mean that receiving Communion is only a metaphor, and not really eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ. Jesus stresses very forcefully that it is necessary for us to receive him in the Blessed Eucharist in order to share in Divine Life and to develop the life of grace we have received in Baptism. “We receive Jesus Christ in Holy Communion to nourish our souls and to give us an increase of grace and the gift of eternal life” (St. Pius X Catechism, # 289). “Really sharing in the body of the Lord in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with him and with one another.” (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 7). Jesus adds that eating his Body and drinking his Blood are essential for abiding in him, which is, on this earth, the beginning of the Eternal Life of Heaven. Communion with Jesus enables us to start enjoying Eternal Life with God here on earth, while resurrection gives us eternal life with God forever. St. Thomas Aquinas gives this explanation: “The Word gives life to our souls, but the Word made Flesh nourishes our souls.” (“Commentary on St. John, in loc.”).

Life message: 1) We need to receive Holy Communion with the full awareness that we are abiding in Jesus, carrying him wherever we go. Hence, we are expected to radiate to all around us the love, the mercy, the spirit of service, and the forgiveness of Jesus. Fr. Toy; (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)22

May 7 Saturday: Jn 6:60-69: 60 Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you that do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 66 After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. 67 Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Additional reflections: Click on https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/; https://www.epriest.com/reflections

The context: Today’s Gospel passage explains the reaction of Jesus’ listeners when he unequivocally offered eating and drinking of his Body and Blood as an essential condition for Eternal Life which would thus begin on earth. Many Jews in the crowd stopped listening to Jesus. Even some of his disciples started murmuring.

Jesus challenged them, asking how they would they react when they saw his Ascension to Heaven, if they found it difficult to accept this doctrine. He clarified that only someone who listened to His words and received them as God’s Revelation, which is “Spirit and Life,” would be in a position to accept them. Jesus Christ requires his disciples to accept his words because it is He Who has spoken them. That is what the supernatural act of Faith involves–that act “whereby, inspired and assisted by the grace of God, we believe that the things which He has revealed are true; not because of the intrinsic truth of the things, viewed by the natural light of reason, but because of the authority of God Himself Who reveals them, and Who can neither be deceived nor deceive” (Vatican I, Dei Filius, Chapter 3). But the Apostles were not scandalized by our Lord’s words. They said that they already had a deep-rooted confidence in Jesus, and hence, they did not want to leave him. What St. Peter says (v 68), is not just a statement of human solidarity but an expression of genuine supernatural Faith which is the result of the influence of Divine Grace on his soul.

Life message: 1) The mystery of the Eucharist does call for a special act of Faith from us believers. We believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the consecrated Host and Wine because we believe that Jesus is God, and nothing is impossible for God. Even though we cannot explain the “how” of this mystery we accept it as a doctrine of Catholicism based on the authority and veracity of the Gospels as Divine Revelation. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)22

Easter III [C] (May 1) Sunday Homily- One-page summary 

Introduction: Today’s Gospel narrative shows us the rehabilitation of Peter, who denied Jesus three times in the courtyard of Caiaphas, repented, and then received Primacy in the Church from Jesus. The Gospel also shows us God in search of man, even when man tries to evade Him.

Scripture lessons: The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, tells us how the Holy Spirit transformed Peter, whom Jesus had appointed head of his Church, from a man fearful of powerful men into a brave witness to the Resurrection. Peter stands before the Jewish Supreme Court – the Sanhedrin — boldly announcing that he and the others must obey God rather than men. The second reading, taken from Revelation (the Apocalypse), presents John’s vision of the Risen Lord as the glorified “Lamb of God,” enthroned in Heaven. The whole of Revelation is an expression of Christian hope in the Risen Lord. Today’s Gospel tells the post-Resurrection story of our merciful Savior Who goes in search of His band of disappointed and dejected disciples. The incident proves that Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearances were not mere hallucinations. In the first part of today’s Gospel, the risen Jesus appears to His disciples and gives them a symbol of their mission in a miraculous catch of fish followed by a grilled fish breakfast prepared by Jesus himself. The second part is a dialogue between Jesus and Simon where Simon is asked three times whether he loves Jesus, and he answers that he does, as if in reparation for his triple denial of Jesus. The two metaphors used in the story, namely fishing and shepherding, are the duties of the Church in her missionary work. Peter, as a forgiven sinner, is chosen for the quality of his love to serve as leader in a community of brothers and sisters. As his primary mission, Peter is given the care of the vulnerable lambs and sheep, and he is told that fidelity to this mission will lead him to martyrdom.

Life messages: We need to open our eyes, ears and hearts wide to see, hear, and experience the Risen Lord coming into our lives in various forms, circumstances, and events: 1) The Risen Lord blesses us with success and achievements. We often fail to acknowledge the presence of the Risen Lord behind our unexpected successes, great achievements, promotions at work, miraculous healings, and success in relationships. He is right there in our parties, celebrations, and occasions of rejoicing. 2) The Risen Lord is present in our pains and suffering: Acts 9:1-13 tells us how the Risen Lord transformed the life of Saul by pushing him down onto the Damascus Road and making him temporarily blind. The same Jesus often visits us in the form of accidents, illnesses, the loss of dear ones, pain, suffering, and problems in relationships. 3) The Risen Lord visits us through our friends and well-wishers: He is present in those who visit us and encourage us in our sad and desperate moments. The Risen Lord visits us in the form of unexpected help from the least expected persons in our dire needs.

4) The Risen Lord is present in our Christian worship: He is present on our altars during the Holy Mass to share His life with us; He is present in the words of Holy Scripture; He is there in the Sacraments, and He is there where two or three are gathered in his name (Mt 18: 20).

EASTER III [C] (Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41; Rv 5:11-14; Jn 21:1-19)

Homily starter anecdotes # 1: Do you love me? Fiddler on the Roof is a musical by Sheldon Harnick which had 3000 Broadway performances. It is based on the book Tevye and his Daughters by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. The story centers on Tevye, the father of five daughters who owned a milk business, and his attempts to maintain his family and Jewish religious traditions while outside influences encroach upon their lives. Finally, he had to move out of his village because of the edict of the reigning Tsar who evicted the Jews from their village. There is a very tender and moving scene in the play, Fiddler on the Roof. Tevye and his wife Golda are being forced to move from their home in Russia. One day Tevye comes into the house and asks his wife, “Golda, do you love me?” “Do I what?” “Do you love me?” Golda looks at him and then responds: “Do I love you? With our daughters getting married and this trouble in the town, you’re upset, you’re worn out, go inside, go lie down, maybe it’s indigestion.” Tevye interrupts and asks the question, “Golda, do you love me?” Golda sighs as she looked at him and says, “Do I love you? For 25 years I’ve washed your clothes, cooked your meals, cleaned your house, given you children, milked the cows. After 25 years, why talk of love right now?” Tevye answers by saying, “Golda, the first time I met you was on our wedding day. I was scared, I was shy, I was nervous.” “So was I,” said Golda. “But my father and my mother said we’d learn to love each other,” Tevye continued, “and now I’m asking, Golda, do you love me?” “Do I love him?” Golda sighs. “For 25 years I’ve lived with him, fought with him, 25 years my bed is his! If that’s not love, what is?” “Then you love me?” Tevye asks. “I suppose I do!” she says. “And I suppose I love you too!” he says. “It doesn’t change a thing, but after 25 years it’s nice to know.” — “Do you love me?” is the same question Jesus is asking Peter in the closing scene of the Gospel of John. Jesus knows that Peter and the other disciples love him because they show him. They bear public witness in the face of opposition and persecution they accept martyrdom out of love for him. “If you love me” Jesus had said “keep my commandments.” Show me by loving other “as I have loved you.” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

# 2: Interview for telegraph operator: Fr. Mark Link S.J. once told an incident that happened during the great depression (AD 1929-1939). Jobs were scarce, and when an opening was announced, dozens of applicants applied. On this particular occasion, they crowded into a waiting room, eager to be interviewed for the position of telegraph operator. But the noise of their conversation competed against a steady background of dots and dashes. Suddenly, the door opened and yet another applicant entered the room. After standing there quietly for a moment listening attentively to the dots and dashes, he walked to a door marked “Private” and knocked. The personnel director opened the door and announced to the others, “You may all go now; this applicant has the job.” Furious and frustrated, the others demanded an explanation. At that, the director said, “Listen!” When the room became quiet, all heard the dots and dashes, repeating over and over the same message, “If you hear this, come in; the job is yours.”  This story reminds us that God is constantly speaking to us, but, like the crowd of applicants, we are not always listening. Today’s Gospel describes how the Risen Lord reveals himself to his listening and observant apostles through a miraculous catch of fish and then confers on Peter Primacy in the Church. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

# 3:  The value of a $20 bill:  A well-known speaker began a seminar by holding up a $20 bill.  He asked the audience, “Who would like to have this $20 bill?”   Hands started going up.   He then said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this.” He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, “Who still wants it?”   The hands remained in the air.  “Well,” he added, “What if I do this?”  He dropped it to the floor and proceeded to grind it with his shoe.  He picked it up, crumpled and dirty.  “Now who still wants it?” Still a few hands were raised because the bill had not decreased in value.  It was still worth $20.  —   Many times in our lives, we feel crumpled and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.  We feel as though we are worthless.   No matter what has happened to us, however, we never lose our value in God’s eyes.   The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we are, but from Him to whom we belong!  We are special – let us never forget it!  This is the lesson of today’s Gospel, which tells us how Jesus chose the repentant Peter to be the leader of his Church, even though Peter had denied him three times. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

Introduction: Today’s Gospel narrative shows us the rehabilitation of Peter, who denied Jesus three times in the courtyard of Caiaphas, repented, and then received Primacy in the Church from Jesus. The Gospel also shows us God in search of man, even when man tries to evade Him.    This theme prompted   Francis Thompson to write his famous mystic poem, “The Hound of Heaven.”    The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, tells us how the Holy Spirit transformed Peter, whom Jesus had appointed head of his Church, from a man fearful of powerful men into a brave witness to the Resurrection. Today’s Responsorial Psalm, (Ps 30) reminds us that it is God Who rescues us from our troubles and that it is because of Him that, for us as well as for our Risen Lord, “at nightfall weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing.”   The second reading, taken from Revelation (the Apocalypse), presents John’s vision of the Risen Lord as the glorified “Lamb of God” enthroned in heaven.  Using rich imagery, John explains that Jesus has done something unprecedented and has given us more than we deserve.  Hence, the angels sing praises around God’s throne. The book of Revelation is an expression of Christian hope in the Risen Lord. The Gospel tells the post-Resurrection story of our merciful Savior who goes in search of His band of disappointed and dejected disciples.  John presents this as the third of Jesus’ post-Resurrection apparitions.   The incident proves that Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearances were not mere hallucinations.  In the first part of today’s Gospel, the risen Jesus appears to His disciples and gives them a symbol of their mission in a miraculous catch of fish followed by a grilled fish breakfast prepared by Jesus. The second part is a dialogue between Jesus and Simon. Three times, Jesus asks Simon Peter, “Do you love Me?” and Peter responds that he does, as if in reparation for his triple denial of Jesus.  The two metaphors used in the story, namely fishing and shepherding, are duties of the Church referring to her missionary work. Peter, as a forgiven sinner, is chosen as a leader in a community of brothers and sisters for the quality of his love. As his primary mission, he is given the care of the vulnerable lambs and sheep, and he is told that his fidelity to this mission will lead him to martyrdom.

First reading (Acts 5:27-32, 40-41), explained: This reading describes how the post-Pentecost Apostles reacted when the Jewish leaders tried to stop them from preaching about Jesus.  The Apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin and ordered to stop teaching in the name of Jesus.   This was the second time they had been arrested by the Sanhedrin — the Jewish Supreme Court.   When the High Priest demanded that Peter and his companions listen to him and obey his orders, Peter replied, “We must obey God rather than men.”  Then they testified to God’s raising of Jesus as Savior “to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.” Although they were flogged and given strict order not to repeat the “crime,” the Apostles went away “rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus’ name.”

Second reading (Rv 5:11-14) explained: This is John’s description of the vision given him of the praise offered to the risen Jesus by all those in Heaven, on earth, under the earth, and in the sea.  In Heaven, angels and other spiritual beings sing praises around God’s throne. In God’s hand is a sealed scroll. A Voice asks, “Who is worthy to receive the scroll and open its seals?”   Then the risen Jesus is pictured as a slain Lamb who stands before the throne of God in Heaven.  Those in Heaven praise him by saying, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing.”  Like the suffering, innocent lamb of Isaiah, Jesus is vindicated by God. This passage gave the early Christians the message that the only lord worthy of worship is the risen “Lord Jesus Christ” (and not the Roman emperor). Jesus’ once-and-for-all-sacrifice as the ultimate Passover Lamb has made it possible for every forgiven sinner and faithful believer to pass from death to life. At every Eucharistic celebration, the worthy and victorious Lamb of God is invoked three times as the gathered assembly admits its need for forgiveness: “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. . . grant us peace.”

Gospel exegesis: The risen Jesus in Galilee: The primary purposes in recounting this appearance of the Risen Christ to his Apostles were to rehabilitate Peter who had denied Jesus three times, but then had repented, and to stress the actual conferring of Primacy in the Church on Peter. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus appears to the women saying, “Go tell my brethren that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there.”  It seems that the risen Christ had a specific purpose in seeing his apostles in Galilee.  It was there that he had begun his own mission and recruited his apostles. It was his purpose to confer the Apostolic mission on Peter and the apostles in Galilee.   We realize that the risen Jesus was the One who planned and directed the missionary activities of the early Church.  We can be certain that the Risen Lord Himself leads and directs his Church today, through the encouragement, guidance and protection of the Holy Spirit, as He did for the Apostles and has done for their successors, down through the ages in their missionary endeavors. [Scholars disagree on whether the author responsible for the first twenty chapters of John also wrote Chapter 21. The fourth Gospel may have originally ended with chapter 20.  If so, Chapter 21 may  have been added later to clear up some ambiguities about the roles that Peter and John were to exercise in their first-century Christian communities.]

Back to the sea for fishing: Chapter 21 of John’s Gospel shows Peter returning to his old way of life, trying, perhaps, to forget the disastrous events of the crucifixion of his master. Six other apostles join him:  Thomas the former doubter, the two hotheaded sons of Zebedee, the faithful and loyal Nathaniel, and two others who are not named.  Although John mentions that “it was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead” (v. 14), this is actually the fourth appearance.  The first was to Mary of Magdala (20:11-17).  The second was to the disciples without Thomas (20:19-23).  The third was to Thomas and the disciples (20:26-29).  This post-Resurrection appearance of Jesus reminds us of an earlier incident in his ministry, namely the call of Peter and the other disciples after their night of fishing in the Sea of Galilee.  (Fishermen often worked at night in order to be able to sell the freshest possible fish at the market in the morning). In both instances, Jesus asks the disciples to cast their nets into the sea a second time.   In both cases they catch a large number of fish, and in both incidents   Jesus invites Peter to follow him. “The Fathers and Doctors of the Church have often dwelt on the mystical meaning of this episode: the boat is the Church, whose unity is symbolized by the net which is not torn; the sea is the world, Peter in the boat stands for supreme authority of the Church, and the number of fish signifies the number of the elect (The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries).

Eucharistic meal with the Risen Lord: The return of the apostles to their old occupation sets up the next stage of their conversion.  Eventually, they come to understand that the stranger on the shore directing them to a tremendous catch of fish actually is “the Lord.”  They recognize him while they are doing what they have always done. Immediately afterwards, the disciples eat a meal with Jesus.  Though later followers of Jesus narrowed the Eucharist into a formal ritual in which everyone shares a small piece of consecrated Bread and a sip of consecrated Wine, his first disciples celebrated his resurrected presence with a complete meal. Jesus authenticated their work by adding to the meal some of the fish they had caught.  It was at this point that they realized that their “Lord” was among them, imparting to them the experience of his glorified presence.  In John’s Gospel, Jesus opens his ministry with a miracle of abundance at Cana (2:1-11), and closes his ministry with another miracle of abundance on the Sea of Tiberius (21:4-6). “Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish” (21: 13).  This wording has Eucharistic overtones, but there is no mention of the blessing or breaking of bread, both of which are part of the usual Eucharistic formula.  This is also reminiscent of the earlier feeding of the five thousand on the shores of this same sea (6:1-15).  Jesus is sensitive both to people’s physical and to their spiritual needs.   Since then, the Church has followed Jesus’ example by feeding, clothing, housing, and educating people.  Our concern for people’s physical needs not only relieves human suffering, but also constitutes a powerful spiritual witness.

The triple confession and commissioning of Peter: “One of the features of the stories about the appearances of Jesus after his Resurrection is that they nearly always end up with Jesus commissioning someone.  Jesus appears for a purpose.  The presence of Jesus is strongly linked with the sense of calling.  Peter denied Jesus three times on the night of Jesus’ arrest (18:17, 25, 27), and repented; now, Jesus is offering him three chances to redeem himself.  Jesus first dealt with Peter’s sin and then commissioned him to work on His behalf.  Jesus asks twice if Peter loves him with the deeper, stronger, and more sacrificial kind of agape love and not mere phileo love involving brotherly love or friendship.  In any event, “the one thing about which Jesus questioned Peter prior to commissioning him to tend the flock, was love.  This is the basic qualification for Christian service.  Other qualities may be desirable, but love is completely indispensable (cf. 1 Cor. 13:1-3).” (Paul Avent, Study John’s Gospel, Volume II). By this triple confession, Peter is restored to the leadership position from which he had fallen by his triple denial.  Furthermore, it is proclaimed that Peter is indeed a pastor, who is to show his love for Christ in feeding Christ’s sheep, a recycling of denial into affirmation.  Peter’s rehabilitation is a celebration of Divine Grace.  As the shepherd appointed by the True Shepherd, to do as He did, to care for the sheep, Peter also symbolizes leadership.   “Feed My lambs,” will continue to be the agenda of the post-Resurrection Church until the risen Lord appears in glory.

Peter’s martyrdom foretold: Finally, Jesus says that Peter will glorify God by his death just as Jesus has glorified God by his (v. 19; see also 7:39; 12:16; 13:31-32; 14:13; 17:1-5).  “Stretch out your hands” sounds like crucifixion, and by the time of the writing of this Gospel Peter had been martyred, probably by crucifixion in Rome.  Legend has it that he asked to be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to emulate his Lord, although evidence for this legend is weak.

Apostles’ experience and our experience:  Just as Peter recognizes the risen Lord and leaps into the waters, so Christians profess their Faith in the risen Jesus and are baptized in water and the Spirit. Just as the first disciples share a meal with the risen Jesus, so we now regularly share the Eucharist with Him. And just as the risen Jesus commissions Peter to undertake a pastoral mission on his behalf, so the natural consequence of Baptism and the Eucharist for us is to share ourselves and our Faith with others.

 Life messages: 1) We need to open our eyes, ears and hearts wide to see, hear and experience the Risen Lord coming to our life in various forms, circumstances and events. A) The Risen Lord gives us success and achievements: We often fail to acknowledge the presence of the risen Jesus behind our unexpected victories, great achievements, job promotions, miraculous healings, and success in relationships.  Let us not foolishly attribute a success in our career only to hard work; our good health only to daily exercise coupled with moderation in food and drink; and our sound financial position only to frugal spending habits and good management of money.  Let us remember the Divine warnings, “Without Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5); and “If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless” (Ps.127: 1). B) The Risen Lord is present in our pain and suffering:  Acts 9:1-13 tells us how the Risen Lord transformed the life of Saul by pushing him down onto the Damascus road and making him temporarily blind.  The same Jesus often visits us in the form of accidents, illnesses, the loss of dear ones, pain,  suffering, and problems in relationships.  When Cardinal Bernadine was hospitalized for the surgical removal of his gall bladder and one of his kidneys to arrest the growth of pancreatic cancer, he said: “Cancer augmented my Faith in the presence of the Risen Jesus as actively involved in my life.  I could experience Him in the hospital room more than any time in my busy pastoral life” Bishop Desmond Tutu who was losing the battle against prostate cancer, spoke of how the disease had given him new ears and new eyes to see things and hear things he had so taken for granted – the love of one’s spouse, the Beethoven symphony, the dew on the rose, the laughter on the face of a grandchild. C) The Risen Lord is visiting us in our friends and well-wishers: He is present in those who visit us and encourage us in our sad and desperate moments.  The Risen Lord visits us in the form of unexpected help from the least expected persons in our dire needs.  He is right there in our parties, celebrations, and occasions of rejoicing. D) The Risen Lord is present in our Christian worship. He is present on our altars during the Holy Mass to share his life with us; he is present in the words of Holy Scripture; he is there in the Sacraments and he is there where two or three are gathered in his name (Mt 18:20).2) We need to work with the Risen Lord and plan all our activities with his blessing, after consulting him in prayer and receiving his instruction.  Let us pray that we may be a Church that continues in that Gospel lifestyle of fishing for people, of tending the sheep and feeding them with the word of life.

3) Let us compensate for our moments of weakness by genuine acts of love, compassion, and service.  Peter was called upon to prove   his love:  “If you love me, feed my sheep.” The same Risen Lord reminds us: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15). What do our present actions and activities say about our love for Christ?  The Risen Jesus accepts our apology, dismisses the charges against us, exonerates us of guilt, and forgives all our weaknesses.  He   continues to challenge us to demonstrate our love for him by faithfully, freely, feeding his sheep entrusted to our care.

JOKE OF THE WEEK

Feeding lambs of the Secret Service: The pastor grabbed the young man by the hand as he came out of the Church after the Easter Sunday Mass, and pulled him aside. “Young man,” he said to him, “You need to join the Army of the Lord!” The young man replied, “I’m already in the army of the Lord, Father.” The pastor questioned, “How come I don’t see you except as a Christmas Poinsettia and an Easter Lily?” He whispered back, “It’s because I’m in the Secret Service of Jesus.”

“Feed my lambs,” in the attorney’s office: A priest settled into a chair in a lawyer’s office. “Is it true,” said the priest, “that your firm does not charge the members of the clergy?” “I am afraid you are misinformed,” stated the lawyer. “People in your profession can look forward to a reward in the next world, but we lawyers have to take ours in this one.”

Note: (Pictures are available only in my emailed homilies because permission from the publishers is necessary for legally uploading pictures in a website. You may get pictures  from Google images, by typing the subject John 21: 1-19 or Easter III Sunday (C) under Google images).

Websites of the week

1) Fr. Don’ collection of video & written homilies & blogs: https://sundayprep.org

 2) Video Sunday-Scripture study by Fr. Geoffrey Plant:

https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant2066

3) Dr. Brant Pitre’s commentary on Cycle C Sunday Scripture for Bible Class: https://catholicproductions.com/blogs/mass-readings-explained-year-c  

4)Ways of Reading the Bible (Fr. Felix Just, S.J): http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Reading-Bible.htm

5)Methods of Praying with the Scriptures (Fr. Felix Just, S.J): http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Prayer-Methods.htm

6)Bible Study, Catholic Style: http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/bible_study_catholic_style/

7)Lectio Divina a) Ignatian style: http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-what-how-why-of-prayer/praying-with-scripture b) Carmelite style: http://ocarm.org/en/content/lectio/what-lectio-divina

8)Text week on John 21. 1-19: http://www.textweek.com/mkjnacts/jn21.htm

21– Additional anecdotes:

1) The Obelisk in St Peter’s Square: In St. Peter’s Square, in Rome, there stands an ancient Egyptian obelisk that illustrates this truth. It is a single block of marble almost 100 feet high. Its shape was the  model for the Washington Monument;  it weighs 330 tons. Originally, it was erected as a monument to the Pharaoh around the year 1850 B.C., and it watched over two thousand years of the history of Egypt’s Empire. It stood there when Abraham heard his call, when Joseph was viceroy of Egypt, when Moses led his people out of Egypt. After the time of Christ, the Roman Emperor Caligula brought it to Rome as a sign of Rome’s superiority to Egypt. There it stood for four more centuries, a symbol over the Roman Empire, one of the largest empires in human history. A golden urn with Julius Caesar’s ashes was placed on top of it. It stood in the arena where St. Peter himself was martyred, crucified upside down, as Christ predicted in today’s Gospel passage, and where hundreds of other Christians were martyred through centuries of persecution. Then thebarbarianssacked Rome, and the obelisk fell.  Ivy grew around it. It was half-buried near the old basilica. But the Church converted the barbarians, and when Christian Europe flourished, and St. Peter’s Basilica was rebuilt and expanded, Pope Sixtus V erected the obelisk in the center of the square. No longer is it a reminder of the long-perished empires of Egypt and Rome and the barbarian hordes. Now it stands as a symbol of the universal Kingdom that has outlasted them all and that will continue to outlast those of the future, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, embodied in his Church. Now it is topped with a bronze cross, and inside that bronze cross is a small fragment of the true cross, the cross on which Christ was crucified – the throne from which Jesus continues to reign, and will continue to reign, until he comes again and his Vicar hauls the bulging net to the shores of eternity. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) 

2) “We’re Texans, and we’re going to have a barbecue.” An old Reader’s Digest story tells about a family who moved to Seattle from Texas. The whole family was missing Texas, especially when Christmas was just around the corner and the whole place was covered in snow. We like snow on Christmas morning or Christmas Eve, just as long as it’s all gone by the time we get on the road to go to visit our families, right? Well anyway, this woman said when she went to pick up her first-grade son from school, his teacher told her about a conversation she overheard as the kids were talking about Christmas break. One boy said, “We’re Catholics, and we are going to Christmas Mass.” Another little boy said, “We’re Jewish, and we’re going to have a Hanukkah celebration.” Her little boy chimed in and said, “We’re Texans, and we’re going to have a barbecue.” (Reader’s Digest, Dec. 1999, p. 141.). –Today’s Gospel describes a charcoal fire of forgiveness the Risen Lord prepared for Peter who denied him thrice and repented, and the delicious breakfast of fish grilled on that fire that He prepared for all of them.https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

3) A school of herring that sank a 63-foot boat: The Associated Press carried a good fish story from Oslo, Norway some time back that turns out to be true. The story was about a school of herring that sank a 63-foot boat. The herring were caught in the fishermen’s net and refused to give up without a fight. When the crew tried to haul in the net, the entire school of herring swam for the bottom. This actually capsized the ship.  The skipper of the ship was quoted as saying, “I have been fishing since I was 14 and I have never seen anything like it.” Crew members tried to cut loose the net but were forced to abandon the capsized ship, which sank in 10 minutes. No one was hurt and the six fishermen were rescued by another trawler. It was not clear whether the fish escaped the net or not. (http://www.motherflash.com/sermons/sermonsc8/epiphany3.html). — Today’s Gospel describes how the risen Jesus ordered a miraculous catch of fish for his Apostles, headed by Peter.(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

4) The Pope as Chauffeur: After getting the former athlete Pope John Paul ll’s luggage loaded into the limo, the driver notices the Pope still standing on the curb. “Excuse me, Your Holiness,” says the driver,” Would you please take your seat so we can leave?” “Well, to tell you the truth,” says the Pope, “they never let me drive at the Vatican when I was a cardinal, and now that I’m Pope, I’d really like to drive today.” Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 105 mph. “Please slow down, Your Holiness!” pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens. “Oh, dear God, I’m gonna lose my license — and my job!” moans the driver. The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio. “I need to talk to the Chief,” he says to the dispatcher. The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he’s stopped a limo going a hundred and five. “So bust him,” says the Chief. “I don’t think we want to do that, he’s really big,” said the cop. The Chief exclaimed, “All the more reason!” “No, I mean really important,” said the cop with a bit of persistence. The Chief then asked, “Who ya got there, the Mayor?” Cop: “Bigger.” Chief: “The Governor?” Cop: “Bigger.” Chief: “The President?” Cop: “Bigger.” “Well,” said the Chief, “Who is it?” Cop: “I think it’s God!” The Chief is stumped, ” You been drinking, John?” Cop: “No, Sir.” Chief: “Then what makes you think it’s God?” Cop: “He’s got the Pope as a chauffeur.” — Imagine the surprise to Peter and the other disciples in today’s Gospel episode when they finally realized it was the really Big One–the Risen Lord Jesus himself who had come to see them.(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

5) “Rest in peace.”‘ Two children, a four-year-old and a six-year-old, gave their mother a houseplant for Mother’s Day. They had used their own money, and she was thrilled. The older child said with a sad face, “There was a bouquet at the flower shop that we wanted to give you, but it was too expensive. It had a ribbon on it that said, ‘Rest in peace.”‘ — A parent, particularly a mother, gets little chance to rest in peace this side of Heaven. Parenting is intensive leadership, 24 hours per day. The Bible describes parental leadership as follows: “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Our Scripture for today is about leadership. In John’s Gospel, chapter 21, the risen Christ meets the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He cooks breakfast for them. Afterward, he turns to Simon Peter and asks him the same question three times: “Simon, Son of John, do you love me…?” Each time, Simon Peter answers yes. Then three times Jesus commands him to shepherd the sheep of his flock; that is, the people of the infant Church.(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

6) How to Live to Be 100… or More. One of the most beloved entertainers of all time was the comedian George Burns. He died in Beverly Hills on March 9, 1996. He was 100 years old. When he was in his nineties he wrote a book entitled How to Live to Be 100… or More. In the book he has a chapter with the heading, “Stay Away from Funerals, Especially Yours.” George Burns said, “If you look in the obituary column in the morning, and your name isn’t there, go ahead and have breakfast.” He said that if he ever looked in the obituary column and found his name was there, he would go ahead and have breakfast anyway because he said, “I’m not leaving on an empty stomach.” — Now, that kind of sense of humor kept George Burns young at heart for all of his 100 years. But the fact is that we are all going to die… and even more painful is the fact that people we love are going to die… and that can fill us with despair. Today’s Gospel describes how the Risen Lord transforms the despair of his apostles into hopes and dreams.(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

7) “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” There’s a beautiful story (likely an urban legend), that speaks to this. According to the legend, Ignace Paderewski who rose to prominence as Poland’s most famous pianist and Prime Minister, once scheduled a concert in a small out-of-the-way village in hopes of cultivating the arts in rural Poland. A young mother, wishing to encourage her son’s progress at the piano, bought tickets for the Paderewski performance. When the night arrived, they found their seats near the front of the concert hall and eyed the majestic Steinway waiting on stage. Without thinking, the mother found a friend and began visiting, and in the excitement of the evening the little boy slipped out of sight! When eight o’clock arrived, the house lights came down, the spotlights came up, the audience quieted… and only then did anyone notice the little ten-year-old boy seated at the concert piano, innocently picking out “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” His mother gasped, the stagehands started out to grab the boy, but suddenly Paderewski appeared on stage and waved them away. Paderewski quickly moved to the piano… and standing behind the little boy, whispered into his ear: “Don’t quit. Keep playing! Don’t stop!” Leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around the other side of the boy, encircling the child, to add a running obligato. Together, the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized with great music in a magic moment. — Nothing transforms life more than having the strong voice of the Master, who forever… surrounds us with His love, whisper in our ear time and again, “Don’t quit! Don’t stop! Keep on playing!” That is what Peter and his friends experienced on the shore of Tiberius as described in today’s Gospel.(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

8) The love confessed, and the love expressed: Three little boys were debating whose mom was the most loving. The first little boy said: “My mommy loves me because I gave her a quarter, but she gave it back, saying ‘Go and buy a piece of candy.'” The second little boy argued that his mother loved him more because “If I give her a quarter, she gives me back two quarters for two pieces of candy.” The third little boy, seeing the direction of the debate, scratched his head and said, “Well, my mom loves me more because she would keep the quarter and then tell me how much that quarter will help her pay the bills.” — The love confessed and the love expressed can take many different forms and not all of them are pleasant. Today’s Gospel passage describes a triple confession of love by Peter rewarded by the Risen Lord.(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

9) What fish? A young man in Tennessee was fishing on one of the TVA lakes. He was stopped by a game warden as he was leaving the lake with two large buckets of fish. The game warden asked, “Do you have a license to catch those fish?” “Nope,” the young man replied. “These are my pet fish.” “Pet fish?” the warden asked. “What do you mean, pet fish?” “Well,” said the young man, “Every night, I take these fish down to the lake and let ’em swim around for awhile. Then, I whistle, and they jump right back into my ice chests and I take ’em home.” “That’s a bunch of hooey!” said the warden. “Fish can’t do that.” The young man looked at the game warden for a moment, and then said, “Here, I’ll show you. It really works.” “I’ve got to see this!” said the warden. The young man poured the fish into the lake and stood and waited. After several minutes, the warden says, “Well?” “Well, what?” says the young man. The warden says, “When are you going to whistle and call ’em back?” “Call who back?” asked the young man with a grin on his face. “The FISH,” replied the warden! “What fish?” asked the young man. — Fishermen are famous for their creativity. Someone has said the only question about the veracity of Jesus’ disciples is that at least four of them were fishermen. Our lesson for the day takes place after the Resurrection. It is another example of how the disciples struggled with the news that Christ had risen from the dead.(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

10) A teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket:  During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director, “How do you determine whether or not a patient should be institutionalized?” “Well,” said the Director, “we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub.” “Oh, I understand,” said the visitor. “A normal person would use the bucket because it’s bigger than the spoon or the teacup.” “No,” said the Director. “A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?” — The Apostle Peter was not a normal person. He hadn’t been normal from the day Jesus entered his life. That didn’t mean he was going to get a bed by the window in a mental institution. No, what it meant for Peter is that God had big plans for him. But in order to fulfill those plans, Peter had to let go of some things, one of which was the heart-rending heavy burden of his denial of Christ.(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

11) “I want the band to play ‘Dixie’“ : Those who visit  Washington, DC, make a  tour of all the traditional sites like the White House, the Smithsonian, the halls of Congress and the Lincoln Memorial. There is something about standing in the Lincoln Memorial and reading the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address which gives you goosebumps. One line in the Second Inaugural reminds you what a caring and compassionate man Lincoln was. He was speaking about the coming end of the War and he said: “With malice toward none; with charity for all….” Lincoln put this idea into practice on the day that news arrived in Washington that the war was over. A crowd gathered at the White House and a military band was playing some festive music. Lincoln stood on the balcony of the White House and spoke. Instead of lashing out against the South, he spoke of the horrors of war being over. He spoke of families getting back together. He spoke of a time of peace. Then he said, “In a few moments I want the band to play and I’m going to tell them what I want them to play.” Of course, the band started getting the “Battle Hymn of The Republic” ready to play. This had been the theme song of the North throughout the Civil War. But Lincoln crossed them up. He stood there and said: “The band will now play the theme song of the people we have called our enemy. They are not our enemies anymore! We are one people again. I want the band to play ‘Dixie.'” Historians say there was a long, awkward pause. The band didn’t have the music for “Dixie,” but they finally got it together and played “Dixie.” Lincoln knew that the South was not only hurting because of the horrors of the war, but also because of the shame which accompanies defeat. Lincoln was sending a clear signal to the South. Lincoln was telling everyone that there would be no punishment upon the South. Lincoln was saying that the South would be treated with love and compassion. — When you love after the patterns of Jesus, caring and compassion become the cornerstone of your love. Love is not vicious or hostile. Love does not try to compound the guilt. Love doesn’t try to rub salt in the wounds of shame.(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

12) “Sometimes I can even sense him sitting there beside me.” An old man became gravely ill, and when the pastor came to visit, the pastor noticed a chair beside the man’s bed. “Oh, goodness,” the pastor said, “you’ve already had a visitor today.” “Oh, no,” the man replied, “let me tell you about that chair. Years ago, I told a friend that when I prayed at night, I frequently fell asleep right in the middle of my prayers. And my friend suggested that I put a chair beside my bed and imagine that Jesus is sitting there with me, because after all, he really is. So I started doing that, and you know what? It really helped. Sometimes I can even sense him sitting there beside me.” After talking with the man a while longer, the pastor went home, and later that night he got a call from the man’s daughter. She said, “Pastor, my dad just died. Can you come over?” So the pastor went to see her. The daughter said, “You know I was in the room and everything was fine. He wasn’t struggling or anything. He was just lying there peacefully. So I left the room for a moment. When I came back, he had passed away. But what’s strange is that when I came back in the room, I noticed that the chair was pulled back up beside his bed. Somehow he had managed to roll over on his side and stretch out his arm to the chair beside him.” — Real solutions to real problems — that’s what the Resurrection of Jesus can mean to us: God’s power and love flowing into our lives; the forgiveness and newness that can be ours in Jesus; the assurance of his presence with us always. Jesus calls to us today to drop down our nets.(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

13) “I’ve never seen a newborn baby,” he said, “that weighed fifty pounds!”  Fishermen have a reputation for exaggeration.  Someone said that the difference between a hunter and a fisherman is that the hunter lies and waits and the fisherman waits and lies. One fisherman I heard about got tired of people doubting his veracity. He bought a scale and took it with him to his favorite hole. He insisted on weighing every fish he caught, just to prove that he didn’t exaggerate.  Months later his wife had a baby. The doctor borrowed the man’s fishing scale to weigh the baby. The doctor gasped, “I’ve never seen a newborn baby,” he said, “that weighed fifty pounds!”  — Today’s Gospel describes a true fish story about a miraculous catch of fish. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

14) “Say, father, say, if yet my task is done” : In 1748 during the battle of Nile aboard the French Ship Orient, there took place a great and heroic event of trust. Commander Louis de Casabianca asked his young son Giocante to wait for his order to leave the deck. The boy stood on the deck waiting for his father’s orders. The ship caught fire. Flames rose to the sky. He was surrounded by flames. Finally he called out, “Say, father, say, if yet my task is done” But the poor little boy did not know that his father was lying dead and cold in the bottom of the ship. He stood on the burning deck with absolute trust in his father. “Speak, father!” Once again he cried. “If I may yet be gone!” While over him fast, through sail and shroud/ The wreathing fires made way.” English poet Felicia Dorothea Hemans immortalized the trust of Giocante in the poem Casabianca. As Giocante showed unwavering trust in his father we see Peter expressing his unchallengeable trust in Jesus. (Fr. Bobby Jose).(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

15) The Sun has risen: The editor of one of the leading religious newspapers was walking along some cliffs near Eastbourne, England, one Easter morning. In his walk he met an old fisherman, and during their conversation together, the editor was struck by the simple Faith of the old fisherman in his risen Savior. “How do you know that Jesus has risen?” he asked. “Sir,” came the reply, “do you see those cottages near the cliffs? Well, sir, sometimes when I am far out at sea, I know that the sun has risen by the light that reflected by yon cottage windows. How do I know that Christ has risen? Why, sir, do I not see his light reflected from the faces of some of my fellows every day, and do I not feel the light of his glory in my own life? As soon tell me that the sun has not risen when I see his reflected glory, as tell me that my Lord is not risen.”  – (Anthony Castle, More Quotes and Anecdote; quoted by Fr. Botelho).(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

16) Love Breakthrough:  There is a marvelous New Yorker cartoon which depicts a moment of challenge in the life of one man. He is well on in his middle years, his hair is in retreat, and thick round spectacles sit on his nose. Dressed in pyjamas and dressing gown he stands inside his door staring at something on the floor. The door is heavily reinforced with steel brackets and a variety of bolts and locks and chains. It is a picture of security gone mad. There is no letter box to receive mail, but there is a peeping hole to see out. Clearly no one could penetrate this place without approval. But something has got through this array of defenses. A white envelope with a large red heart impressed on the back is lying on the floor. A valentine card has been slipped under the door. Our middle-aged hero stares in wonder. Is this a joke? Is it a flat letter bomb? Should he claim it or push it back across the threshold? We’ll never know! — It is particularly difficult for people who live in fear to show their love. After the Resurrection the apostles still lived in fear so Jesus asks Peter the question: “Do you love me?” Insisting on love is something of a mark of Jesus. Loving the Lord is always a charge to care for others. The question of Jesus stays with us hoping for an answer. This Jesus is worth letting through our defenses and locked doors. He’s not a security risk. After all, his Valentine has already been slipped under the door.  (Dennis McBride, Seasons of the Word; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

17) Back from the brink with Mother Teresa: Brother Andrew from the Missionary Brothers of Charity tells the following story. One day Mother Teresa received a letter written by a man on the day of his intended suicide. He wrote that, on the preceding afternoon, he had worked out all the details for what seemed to him a perfectly “rational” suicide. And then, quite by accident, he came across Malcolm Muggeridge’s biography of Mother Teresa. Bored and with nothing else to do, he started to read it. As he read, he found that book, or rather that life, giving him a new interest in life, and, as he finished it, he moved back from the brink of suicide to begin life anew. The example of Mother Teresa, until then unknown to him, had given him hope. — This man had discovered that his boat was empty. But by the example of a living saint, he realized that it could be full. Today’s Gospel episode describes how a full boat of fish opened the eyes of the apostles to the Risen Lord.  (E- Priest) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

18) “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.” All the saints exemplify this truth. None of them achieved their holiness and happiness without suffering, because only through suffering for and with Christ could their love for Christ mature. The supposed last words of St Thomas More sum up the lesson beautifully. St Thomas More was the Chancellor of England in the early 1500s, a layman, and a close friend and faithful servant of King Henry VIII. Unfortunately, the King was less faithful. When his first wife didn’t give him a son, and he found pleasure in one of the Queen’s ladies in waiting, King Henry requested an annulment from the Pope. But there were no grounds for an annulment. So King Henry, instead of humbly accepting the Church’s decision and trusting in God, took things into his own hands. He declared himself the supreme head of the Church in England, denouncing the Pope’s rightful supremacy. Then with his newfound religious authority, he granted himself the annulment, so he could marry his mistress. Almost all of England’s bishops and noblemen took the king’s side in this affair, and the Church of England was born. St. Thomas More, the King’s highest-ranking adviser, refused to sign the Act of Supremacy and go along with the King. He and his family were threatened, cajoled, and tortured, but he would not betray Christ’s Church. Finally, he was convicted of treason and executed. There are various accounts of his last words. The 1966 Academy Award winning movie, A Man for All Seasons (based on the play of the same name by Robert Bolt), told Thomas More’s life story, in which Thomas’ his last words are recorded as: “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.” — In this fallen world, to love Christ with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, will get us into trouble, sooner or later. But that kind of trouble is good for our souls, which is why God allows it. Suffering for Christ matures our love, and only mature love gives lasting meaning to our lives. That is why, in today’s Gospel, Jesus informs Peter that he will glorify God by his martyrdom. (E- Priest). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

19) Would-Be Church Destroyers: Our culture is so focused on current events and headlines, that we can easily lose sight of this perspective. But a brief glance at history can remedy that. The mere fact of the Church’s endurance through twenty centuries, maintaining the same doctrine, the same forms of worship (the Mass, seven sacraments), and the same structure (bishops united under the pope’s leadership to serve believers) is, without a doubt, miraculous.

It only becomes more amazing when we take a look at the actual obstacles and enemies it had to overcome. TheRoman Empire tried to stamp out Christianity for 300 years. That Empire is gone; the Church remains. In the Middle Ages, the Islamic Empireextended over even more territory than Rome had, and conquered many Christian lands. It invaded Europe and tried to do away with the Church. That Empire fell, but the Church remains. In the sixteenth century, most of northern Europe rebelled against the Catholic Church in what was called the Protestant Reformation. In some countries, being Catholic became a crime earning capital punishment. Yet today, the Catholic Church remains the largest Christian community, and in those countries, the Church remains alive. In the seventeenth century a new Islamic Empire, that of the Turks, tried again to overrun Christian civilization. That Empire is gone; the Church remains. In the eighteenth century, the French Revolution tried to eradicate the Church in France, martyring hundreds, if not thousands. The Revolution passed; the Church endured. In the nineteenth century, Napoleon conquered all of continental Europe, usurped the Church hierarchy, and imprisoned two popes in efforts to take over the Catholic Church. His Empire passed away; the Church remains. In the twentieth century, Soviet Communism tried to wipe out the Catholic Church in all of its territories, as did the German Nazis. Those regimes are gone; the Church remains. Today the saga continues, in Africa, the Middle East, China, and Vietnam. But the Church hasendured, and it will continue to endure, just as Christ promised. Peter will bring the net to shore, overstuffed with large fishes, and the net will not be torn. (E- Priest) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

20) “Was Jesus a white man or a black man?” A European missionary, who labored on the east coast of Africa in medieval period, tells this story: One day a little black boy came to him and enquired, “Was Jesus a white man or a black man?” The missionary was going to say right away that Jesus was a white man, but he happened to guess what was in the black boy’s mind. He knew that if he said Jesus was a white man, the boy would turn away with a sad look, thinking that everything that was good had been given to the white man. So, the missionary thought for a moment. He remembered that Jesus lived, when on earth, in a very warm country, that the people were dark skinned, though not black. So, he answered, “No, Jesus was not a white man, nor a black man, but sort of between the two. He was kind of brown.” “Oh, then he belongs to both of us, doesn’t he?” exclaimed the little fellow with delight and went away. — Yes, Jesus belongs to all of us. He belongs to you and to me. Risen Jesus has a Jewish face, a Chinese face, an Indian face, a Filipino face, a Vietnamese face, a European face, an African face, an American face… and is present everywhere. “Jesus is alive and he is always with us.”(Fr. Lakra). (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)

21) Circus: There was a story which I read from a book entitled, Chicken Soup for the Soul, authored by two great American writers Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. The title of the story is, “The Circus.” It was told like this: “Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family between the ticket counter and us. This family made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12; you could tell they didn’t have a lot of money. Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean. The children were well behaved, all of them standing in line, two by two behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly jabbering about the clowns, elephants and other acts they would see that night. One could sense they had never been to the circus before. It promised to be a highlight of their young lives. The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be. The mother was holding her husband’s hands, looking up at him as if to say, ‘You’re my knight in shining armor.’ He was smiling and basking in pride, looking at her as if to reply, ‘You got that right.’ The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He proudly responded, ‘Please let me buy eight children’s tickets and two adult tickets so I can take my family to the circus.’ The ticket lady quoted the price. The man’s wife let go of his hand, her head dropped; the man’s lip began to quiver. The father leaned a little closer and asked, ‘How much did you say?’ The ticket lady again quoted the price. The man didn’t have enough money. How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight kids that he didn’t have enough money to take them to the circus? Seeing what was going, my dad put his hand into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill and dropped it on the ground. We were not wealthy in any sense of the word! My father reached down, picked the bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said: ‘Excuse me, sir, this feel out of your pocket.’ “The man knew what was going. He was not begging for a handout but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate, heartbreaking and embarrassing situation. He looked straight into my dad’s eyes, took my dad’s hands in both of his, squeezed tightly onto the $20 bill, with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied: ‘Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family.’ My father and I went back to our car and drove home. We didn’t go to the circus that night, but we didn’t go without” — because we answered Jesus’ question to Peter, ‘Do you love me?’ And I learned how to answer that question in my life.” Quoted by Fr.Benitez. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)  L/22

 “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle C (No. 29) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com

Visit my website by clicking on http://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle C homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit also https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies  under Fr. Tony’s homilies and  under Resources in the CBCI website:  https://www.cbci.in  for other website versions.  (Vatican Radio website: http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html uploaded my Cycle A, B and C homilies in from 2018-2020)  Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604 .