Memorial Day 2008

Memorial Day | May 26, 2008

It is an honor for us to gather this morning at St. Lawrence’s Cemetery to commemorate Memorial Day—our country’s 140th celebration since the first Decoration Day on May 30, 1868, when the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers were decorated with flowers.

It is heartbreaking to recall that yet once again, our great nation is engaged in a foreign war. Every day brings news of more casualties from Iraq. As of this past week, 4,079 Americans—more than half of them under 25—have been killed since the war’s beginning in March 2003… and another 29,829 have been injured. And as for the ones who do make it out physically unscathed, the military is seeing that 30% of returning U.S. troops develop serious mental health problems within 3-4 months. The Iraqis have suffered losses of somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000; some estimates say their casualties may be as much as 600,000.

Whatever the politics, the simple, bottom-line fact is that many daddies and mommies, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, are never coming home again. They have made the supreme sacrifice. And to make matters even worse, many of them are innocent victims who never once picked up a weapon. Yet now their lives are snuffed out.

When will our human race learn? Will we ever be able to put war behind us once and for all?

The simple answer is: not as long as there is sin in the world.

If we want peace in our world, then each of us—and this sounds funny to say—has to fight for it. Isn’t that ironic? You have to fight for peace! We have to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ, because God sent his Son into the world to teach us the way to peace.

Christian people are called to be soldiers for Christ. Luke, in Chapter 10 of his gospel, tells how Jesus sent out 70 disciples in pairs to lay the groundwork for his visits. He made them his laborers to go out into the abundant harvest. He gave them powerful weapons. Even though he sent them out “as lambs in the midst of wolves,” Luke also tells us, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you.”

Yes, Christ speaks of weapons and enemies… yes, this is war and he is conscripting us into his holy service.

And, my friends, Jesus Christ doesn’t just want us to be soldiers… but GOOD soldiers. What exactly are the marks of a good soldier? Let me propose a few.

First, a good soldier is a follower. Jesus said in Mark’s gospel, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” No one can be a good leader if he isn’t first a good follower. In the military, there is almost always someone in rank above you, whose orders you must follow. Following Jesus is not an option; it is a command. In the military, if you refuse to follow an order, you will be court-martialed. Yet we take obedience to God so very lightly in our daily lives…

Next, a good soldier is a fighter. He’s trained and taught to be aggressive when necessary. He won’t cower or retreat in the face of an enemy. He will defend his own honor and that of his country. St. Paul writes that the very same is true in the spiritual realm. In his First Letter to Timothy, Paul commands, “Fight the good fight of faith!” In other words, don’t back off in the face of the enemy. Don’t give in. Stick to your guns.

Third, a good soldier is savvy. He knows the strategies and tricks of the enemy, and he’s alert to avoiding his traps. He’s familiar with the weapons at his disposal, and he knows how to use them. Plus, he’s a good team player and watches out for his friends—and they watch out for him.

And finally, a good soldier is faithful and loyal. He hangs in there and remains true even when the going gets tough.

Being a soldier of Christ is a great blessing, because the Lord promises us everything: Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.

Yes, with the grace of God, each of us can be the good soldier that Christ wishes us to be.

On this Memorial Day, let us especially pray for the souls of all our beloved dead—our compatriots in this great spiritual battle—and let us also beg the Lord to strengthen us and empower us for the good fight ahead.

Today, in this sacred burial ground, we stand in the presence of those who have joined our Lord in the greatest sacrifice that can be made—and now they wait to meet him on the Last Day. We are so proud. We have profound respect and admiration and love for their memory and deeds. It is an honor to remember them on this special day set apart for that purpose.

We pray that God will send his abundant blessings upon all our beloved dead—and upon us, as well. May he touch our hearts to strive for real peace in our lives and in our world.

God bless America—and God bless you!

"Jesus Hugged Me and Kissed Me!"

Feast of the Body & Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

One of the most charming stories in the life of Jesus is the one where Christ takes a little child in his arms. The apostles had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. Jesus said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mk 9:35). Then he took a little child, and had him stand among them. The Lord wrapped his arms around the boy and said to the apostles, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me” (Mk 9:37).

According to the Church’s ancient tradition, that youngster grew up to become the great St. Ignatius of Antioch, the holy bishop and martyr who gave his life for Christ in the year 107. The story goes that while he was still a boy, Ignatius often took his friends to the spot where Jesus held him and pointed out, “Look, here’s the place where the Lord Jesus took me in his arms and hugged me and kissed me.”

Call this a just a legend if you want, but we do know positively that Jesus did embrace a little child. In fact, it’s good to think about that gospel story today as we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ… the feast of the Holy Eucharist. That’s because when we receive Holy Communion, not only do we embrace Jesus, but he also embraces us!

Maybe you never thought about Holy Communion that way. When we ingest something—whether it’s food or drink or even medicine or a pill—we consider ourselves the “active agent”—the one doing the eating or drinking. That applies to communion, too. So it’s entirely correct to say, “I received Jesus in Holy Communion.”

Now, we also know, of course, that Jesus is a living presence in the Eucharist. He’s not just an “ingredient.” So it’s also correct to say that in communion, Jesus comes into our heart. In other words, we might speak of communion as embracing the Lord. Again, that expression shows us as the active agent: we do the embracing.

But think about this: communion also means that Christ embraces us. Jesus takes us into his heart in a special way. Not only is Jesus in me; I am also in Jesus. That’s one meaning of what Our Lord tells us in today’s gospel: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him” (Jn 6:56). Just like St. Ignatius, we can say, “Here is the place where the Lord Jesus took me in his arms and hugged me and kissed me!”

What’s it like to be hugged and kissed, or embraced, by the Lord? St. Cyril of Alexandria, another spiritual and mystical bishop and doctor of the early Church, said that receiving Holy Communion unites us with the Lord just as if two pieces of wax were being melted together. St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower, gave a similar explanation. She said her First Holy Communion was a fusion with Christ—a melting together. Isn’t that a beautiful image? We become so totally attached to the Lord that it’s like we melt together inseparably, each losing our individual identity.

What love and what bonding! Picture a child running to meet his father. He throws little arms around his father’s neck, hugging him with all his might. Daddy responds by sweeping the child up in his big, strong arms, hugging him even more lovingly. Or imagine two lovers merging together in their loving union. Communion is like that. We embrace Jesus. We take him into our heart. And even more, Jesus embraces us and takes us into his heart.

As you reflect on this simple truth, you’ll begin to realize that it is not our love, our longing, or our prayers that are most important—although, of course, they’re very important. No, what’s most important is the limitless love of Jesus Christ: his burning desire to hug us, kiss us, embrace us… his passion to share his very life with us. Christ wants us to remain in him, just as we want him to remain in us.

This is the awesome truth we celebrate today on today’s beautiful feast day. And this has been God’s will since the very first time Christ gave himself to the apostles at the Last Supper on that first Holy Thursday 2,000 years ago.

Rejoice in this ultimate gift of loving union—of the Eucharist. Embrace the Lord your God with excitement and joyful delight… and let him sweep you up in his arms and hug you and kiss you today and always.

The Mystery of the Holy Trinity

Trinity Sunday
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

If you ever listen to jazz music, you may be familiar with an artist named Mary Lou Williams. She was a pianist from New York: African-American, a nightclub performer and recording artist of the 1950s and ’60s. Williams was famous for her brilliant and soulful boogie-woogie and swing, and for smashing the gender and color barriers in the music business. She was also a convert to the Catholic faith.

When Williams was in her mid-40s, she began to feel a special calling from God in her life. She attended the Abyssinian Baptist Church for a while, but it didn’t feed her hunger. So her good friend, fellow jazz-musician Dizzy Gillespie, pointed her to the Catholic Church. She started to worship at Our Lady of Lourdes on 142nd Street in Harlem, and she fell in love with this parish community. It became her lasting spiritual home.

It was there at Our Lady of Lourdes that she met a very special Jesuit priest, Father Anthony Woods, S.J. During 1956 and 1957, Father Woods gave her instructions and showed Mary Lou how to draw together her musical life and her spiritual life. He often explained things in musical terms.

For example, Father Woods gave a wonderful explanation of the Holy Trinity, whose feast day we celebrate today. He taught this way:

“How does a piano produce musical sounds? There are three things involved: first, the mind with its musical sense tells us what to do. Second, the fingers strike the keys. And third, the wire strings inside the piano make the sound.

“The mind doesn’t make the sound, and the fingers don’t make the sound, but these both work together with the strings which do make the sound. All three work together, although the special work of the wire strings is to generate the sound. The Holy Trinity works something like that.”

Once of the first prayers that we learn as Catholics is the very simple Sign of the Cross. We touch the fingertips of our right hand to our forehead, chest, left shoulder and right shoulder as we pray: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” This holy gesture reminds us that there are three Persons in one God—and that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, died on a cross for all of us.

Going a step further, the illustration of the piano helps to begin to understand how the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity work together. What one Person of the Trinity does, they all do together. Each has a special work.

We often say that the First Person of the Trinity—God the Father—is the “Creator.” But it’s equally true that the Son and the Holy Spirit also took part in the creation of all things. You can hear the plural form in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis when God says (v. 26): “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.”

In the same way, you often hear it said that the Second Person of the Trinity—God the Son—is called the “Redeemer.” Yet it’s also true that the Father and the Spirit were united with him. Because they are God, the Father and the Holy Spirit are everywhere, especially in the God-Man Jesus, even though they didn’t take on human flesh the way he did.

And finally, the Third Person of the Trinity—God the Holy Spirit—is often known as the “Sanctifier,” since it’s his work to make human beings holy. Of course, the Father and the Son also take part in this enterprise. There is a loving, working relationship among all three Persons of the Trinity.

Jesus once preached: “I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me” (Jn 8:16). The Scriptures also proclaim that the Holy Spirit is with him, too. Luke’s gospel tells us: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan” (Lk 4:1) after his baptism.

In our second reading today, Paul speaks for the first time the words that we frequently hear at the beginning of mass: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor. 13:14). What a perfect prayer to celebrate the Most Holy Trinity!

In just a little while, we will stand and together profess our faith. We’ll say: “We believe in the Father… maker of heaven and earth. We believe in Jesus Christ… who suffered… died… rose… will come to judge. We believe in the Holy Spirit… the giver of life.”

It goes without saying that the Blessed Trinity is a profound mystery. We’ll never completely understand it. But even so, we do believe and trust in the Holy Three. We should turn to them with love, during this mass and always. We should keep in mind that they’re looking over all of us in their divine Providence… that they love us more than any of us can imagine… and that they want to give us joy and peace. All they ask in return is that we put ourselves in their loving hands.

In the ancient words of the Creed of St. Athanasius: Glory be to you, equal Trinity, one Godhead, both before all time, now and for ever.

And in the words we all know so well: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Peace of Christ

The Feast of Pentecost
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

Today we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, the culmination of the Easter season. This is the day that the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles and those gathered in the upper room—changing their lives forever. It would also change the lives of countless people they came in contact with, and that’s why we also consider Pentecost to be the birthday of the Church on earth.

This past week, I was reading a little article about butterflies. I guess I hadn’t really thought much about caterpillars and cocoons and the like since elementary school, so it was fun to have a quick refresher. You may recall that the butterfly lays eggs, and these hatch into caterpillars. They’re the children of the species. Caterpillars, of course, are earthbound. In due time, they form a cocoon. Inside, the chrysalis begins to transform. Eventually, the new adult emerges—in the form of a butterfly, which is liberated from the ground and now can fly.

As I read the simple story, I made a mental analogy that somehow, we start out spiritually like the earthbound caterpillar. Then when we receive the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Pentecost, we are released and transformed into a butterfly. In a supernatural sense, we become adults in the Lord. But of course, unlike caterpillars, we have a choice. If we want to live out our lives held down by gravity and munching on leaves, we can do that. But if we want to open our heart and ask the Holy Spirit in, then we create a beautiful new destiny for ourselves.

I love our short gospel passage today. Jesus says: Peace be with you… receive the Holy Spirit.

There’s a great quotation that basically says that in order for people to be at peace, they need three things: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to. This is exactly the formula that Jesus uses in these few short verses.

First, the disciples showed that they loved Christ. The Scripture says: The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Secondly, Christ gave them something to do. He said to them: As the Father has sent me, so I send you.

And lastly, Jesus gave them something to look forward to: He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

In just a few short words, Christ gave them the formula for peace in their lives. And best of all, this way to peace would serve them well even with all the inner turmoil they were experiencing because of their fear of the religious authorities who were seeking their very lives. We know, in fact, that these apostles—the first bishops of the Church—went on to lay the foundation for the Christian faith which today has spread to every corner of the globe and has touched literally billions of human beings.

All these centuries later—and indeed, to the end of time—all people are invited to experience the peace that Jesus gives. Even in the midst of storms, we can experience that peace. The storms in our lives may come from our own inner turmoil or from outside circumstances beyond our control that befall us. But either way, Christ is prepared and eager to enter our lives with the same message of hope and joy: Peace be with you. Yes, it is the peace of loving God, of doing his mission, and of looking forward to his rewards.

Did you ever stop to wonder why peace was Jesus’ parting gift to humanity? Is it possible that another virtue might have served us better?

Take courage, for example. For the apostles, and for all of us, courage would be great to have so we could stand up to face the future and especially the trials ahead. But the Lord no doubt realized that courage without peace soon becomes aggression… and aggression is not our God’s way.

Well then, how about wisdom? The Bible speaks about wisdom quite a bit. If the disciples—and again, if we—had an extra measure of wisdom, then maybe the gospel could have been spread more rapidly, more efficiently. But once again, Jesus knew that wisdom by itself often leads to arrogance and pride. Only when it’s combined with inner peace does wisdom, even heavenly wisdom, remain humble and effective.

But peace! Doesn’t peace just seem so flimsy… so nebulous… so impossible?

Yes, I suppose it does when it’s designed by human hearts. But Jesus gives us another kind of peace—the peace that transcends earthly understanding. It’s the peace that is stable when everything around us is collapsing. It’s the peace that accompanies us wherever we go, and strengthens and nourishes us even in the face of death. It equips us to build strong bridges over hostile waters. It calls us to see all of life thoughtfully. It encourages harmony. It highlights truth. That is the peace Jesus promises.

Hopefully our prayer today, on Pentecost, is this: “Jesus, I want this peace! What must I do?”

And the Lord answers: “Simply open your heart, my friend. Touch the peace that lies within. Unwrap the gift already given.” Amen. Alleluia.

Where to Look for God

Feast of the Ascension
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

It’s now been 40 days since Easter—just over a month. The apostles have been through so much! So much turmoil as they tried to wrap their minds around all kinds of mysteries and miracles: Jesus’ strange appearances and disappearances, his popping up here and there without warning… looking not quite the same, yet there’s something so familiar and compelling about him. Can it really be the same Jesus?

Then today, the eleven are summoned to the Galilean mountaintop. Is Jesus actually going to be there? But this is crazy! How could some of those apostles not have had some lingering doubts… and just wonder if they’re hallucinating… maybe thinking they should turn around and go home for lunch?

But Jesus did show up. He spoke to them. He gave them a few final instructions. And then he levitated into the sky… a cloud floated by… and when it passed, he was gone. Dumbfounded, the apostles kept looking up at the empty sky.

It’s interesting how they kept looking for Christ where he was, not where he is now! But truthfully, don’t we do the same?

When I was back in high school, I had a friend named Bruce who was an amateur magician. I shudder at how geeky we were, but he loved card tricks and other stunts involving sleight of hand. I guess the success of these tricks depends on people’s expectations and making them look where you want them to, so they don’t actually see what you’re really doing to fool them.

In some ways, maybe that describes how we want to see God. Because we find comfort in familiarity and stability, that’s what we expect from the Lord. We pray to God: please make it good and then leave it that way!

Ah, but Jesus isn’t so big on the ho-hum and the status quo. It seems he always wants to lead us to new and better places! Remember what he said a couple of weeks ago: I am the way and the truth and the life. And to experience this way, this truth, this life, means that we’ve got to step out of our comfort zone. In other words, we must seek the Lord not in the old familiar places… not where he was yesterday… but where he is now and where he wishes us to go.

Of all the characters in the New Testament, perhaps no one experienced this more than the apostle Paul. He started out as the Pharisee of Pharisees, so opposed to Christ and so obsessed with his understanding of his religion that he went on a one-man terrorist campaign to rid the world of Christians! Yet after a powerful conversion experience on the road to Damascus, he embraced Christ’s way and truth and life. God wasn’t in the old place that Paul thought. Once he let go, he found him again and took his faith journey to another level.

Paul wants us all to experience the same thing. Listen to his potent and magnetic words to the Ephesians that we just heard: May God give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory… what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe…

So, where do we begin to look for God? How do we find his new place?

If you’re a fan of CSI or Cold Case or even Hercule Poirot, you might think that you’ve got to do some detective work—track down lots of clues and check them out exhaustively. But no. Jesus isn’t at all trying to hide his tracks or make it hard to be found. On the contrary, he wants us to find him. That’s the whole point!

The Bible is full of passages that tell us how near God is. We read in Acts: God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us (Acts 17:27). And of course, Our Lord’s well-known words in the gospel: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened (Mt 7:7-8). Yes, God is right there!

So we’re faced with a bit of an interesting paradox. On the one hand, sometimes God seems to disappear from view, and it may frustrate us that he’s not there, not answering our prayers, not giving us the answers we want. But then on the other hand, he tells us he’s easy to find if we just ask… yet we hesitate. Maybe that’s because we’re afraid that God will ask more of us than we want to give. Maybe we’re afraid that he’ll want us to change when we don’t want to.

On Ascension Day, when the apostles realized that Jesus was gone for good, they hightailed it back to Jerusalem and barricaded themselves in the Upper Room. They were frightened now that it dawned on them that Jesus wasn’t there any more. So they began to do what the Lord had taught them to do so well: to pray fervently.

Next Sunday, we’ll celebrate another feast that commemorates the culmination of their prayer: the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit, that Spirit of courage, joy and divine power, totally energized them to reconnect with the Lord where he truly was, and that gave birth to the Church. That same Spirit is ours for the asking, as well. The Lord promises that once we let him into our life, everything will change for the better and we’ll do amazing things.

We shouldn’t be afraid. We mustn’t be! Turn to the Lord in your heart and ask him to show himself. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.