6 Easter A.docx

2020-   4^th Sunday of Easter May 3, 2020 - Acts 2:14a, 36-41    1 Pt 2:20b-25    Jn 10:1-10

Whenever I hear this gospel about Jesus the Gate, I think of my Aunt Grace & Uncle Jerry, the first of our relatives to move to Suffolk County. They lived in Huntington Saturday, while the rest of our family lived in Brooklyn or Queens. My uncle and aunt always greeted us at the gate that led to their back yard with huge smiles and warm hugs: it was clear they were glad to see our family together in one place. They had a gate to their back yard for some good reasons.  For one thing, it gave their family some protection: you could hear the gate swing open & closed, & it kept my aunt & uncle aware that people were entering & exiting all weekend long.   

Another reason for gate was my cousins Jerry & Kathleen who were young & moved quickly!  In fact, many times Aunt Grace & Uncle Jerry were in hot pursuit of them,calling “come back!”  There was also a puppy living there, who liked to RUN & get out of the yard if given a chance!                So, to keep their kids & pet close & safe, in the verdant pastures of their huge back yard, one of the expressions of Uncle Jerry & Aunt Grace’s love was that gate. That was also the gate to which they’d walk when we left: it took forty-five minutes to say goodbye: they wanted us to stay longer.  They’d stay at the gate until we were in our car, & waved goodbye until we were gone. It seems to me I learned a lot about Jesus the faithful gate, way back, from my aunt & uncle.

And on this Good Shepherd Sunday, one question Jesus raises for each of us to answer is: in whose pasture do we want to live? & whose leadership & shepherding & advice & guidance are we going to follow? Well, true statements & false statements are expressed privately & publicly each & every day.  In time, persons develop a reputation for being a truth-teller and a trustworthy source, OR we learn, sometimes to our sadness, that some people can be liars, cheaters & deceivers. Jesus says that both the liars & the truth-tellers can be anywhere: in any town on earth. That’s why it’s SO important for our minds & hearts to be clear: to be open to God-truth, while refusing to be misled by any false shepherd  who, for example, tells you being good and holy is easy: that is simply not true, and no one should believe it! It does, however, take a person of courage to name and continue to follow Jesus as Shepherd. 

So, why do so many people, even into our own time, cling to Jesus, the Good Shepherd? Jesus distinguishes Himself as a shepherd who puts our well-being ahead of his own. Think of how Jesus endured the physical pain and humiliation linked to His own crucifixion: He did not do that for Himself, certainly, but as the Gospel says, so that we might have life. And the description of how a proper shepherd conducts Himself, which is Jesus’ model also, allows the sheep to see his face and hear his voice, so they can identify him truly and safely.               

I saw that for myself in the example of three shepherds some years ago, whom I encountered in the Holy Land. Hundreds of sheep belonging to the three shepherds were grazing together in a huge meadow one day, when each of those three shepherds started making a unique and distinctive sound for their own respective sheep (like a whistle, a click with their tongues, a bit of a song, etc.). Then, each of them stepped to the front of the direction in which they wanted their sheep to go, & each of them kept making that distinctive sound as they began to lead in different directions. Their sheep would be safe and secure under their guidance, for each member of the flock trusted their one true shepherd. 

For us, during the month-and-a-half since we have been able to gather in public to celebrate Mass with a full congregation, Jesus our Good Shepherd has not stopped for one minute in leading/guiding/protecting us. Jesus is a Truthful Shepherd: He never promised all life would be easy, but He did promise that He would walk with us, like the travelers on the road to Emmaus we heard about last week. This is the SAME Jesus who was with us on the most difficult day of our lives in the past, and who promises He will never abandon us in the challenging times that lie ahead. Let us realized how loved we are, how blessed we are, & how sought after we are by Jesus, for His Love is everlasting: Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

3 Easter A.docx

Here at St. Louis de Montfort, the early weeks of Lent came and went like other Lents: with ashes, and homilies; we even had 2 speakers who encouraged us to live the Holy Spirit’s gifts we had received in Baptism and Confirmation. And then…we were all swept up into the orbit of the Corona Virus: COVID-19; that changed most of us a lot! Before it hit us, many were SO sure of themselves, and ourselves: we felt surer of our own destiny; we thought we knew how secure we were financially and otherwise, and we found out how wrong we were. And now, like other plague and crisis times in history, we’re re-learning: that we are truly creatures, not God, and as creatures we continue to need the redemptive power of the Risen Christ Jesus. Alleluia!  How blessed we are to have this fountain of faith that runs within our immortal souls.

So we gather, at this first Mass of Easter, to soak up into our senses our common story:  the story of how Jesus Christ saved us once for all, and how we hunger and ache for its now power to assist us.  And so, what has prepared us to receive God’s gracious Easter Good News?    

Well, those first two selections from the Hebrew Scriptures form a beautiful prelude or preparation for our Easter message: In the first, Genesis tells us that God says we are good: even when we don’t feel we are, or think we are, or believe we are: God says so. And the Exodus reading reminds us that God is determined to liberate us from all evil, sin, death, hatred, and that includes the Virus that’s robbed us, and re-routed our time and priorities, too.                           NB: when our Jewish friends celebrate Passover, they’re very clear to say that the saving power of God in the Exodus is NOT just in past tense, as if it’s done and over. No, it’s now power!  That’s a great reminder for us: Christ rose almost 2,000 years ago, but his Resurrection power continues to free people of faith today!

So, let’s reflect on that mystery of God’s undying love in Christ Jesus in St. Matthew’s Gospel.  It starts at dawn on Sun AM: on the first day of the week: the beginning of a new creation,  as God invites us to understand that this world is NOT big enough to hold God’s lasting love:this world, and its judgments like the cross, are not the final word: God does get the final word, and God’s Word is Life, new birth, and hope in darkness, even for today’s darkness of uncertainty. To hear those selections from Scripture is to hear God’s confidence in US about new light. You will remember in Psalm 23: “though I should walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid.” That is, God is already victorious in His Son’s death and resurrection.                            

and then, there are surprises: 1.they feel an earthquake and see the angel victorious atop the rock; 2. those guarding Jesus’ tomb grow pale, like dead men, while a dead Jesus is risen and seen with a new body; and 3rd, the women who stayed faithful even after Christ’s death receive a noble task: they are the 1^st to announce to the 11 faithful apostles that Jesus was alive and that he would see them soon. Those women are the apostles to the apostles, messengers of the Gospel, bearing good news. 

You know how some TV series will present an episode in two parts, and at the end of part one, the screen simply says “to be continued.” That’s the NOW power I am speaking about. Christ's resurrection means that the story of Jesus is "to be continued" in you, and in me, and in every life that is touched by the power of the Good News, for He is risen, as he said." That’s right: the resurrection contains the personal delivery of a promise, door to door!                             

So it’s up to us: not only to name and claim OUR link to the Resurrection, but where we see it!  And YOU know, sometimes we Christians use verbal shorthand: when we want 2summarize quick, we’ll talk about Jesus’ life, suffering, passion, death, resurrection and ascension as the Paschal mystery: that is, Christ the Pasch, the Lamb was slain once, never 2 die again, and faithful to God.  Let’s name a few of the places where WE see and feel the power of Christ’s Resurrection continuing:  

When I look around to see the lives that are shining lights with helpful and tireless love, I see doctors and nurses, from NY and out of town, sacrificing time without their families at home; and from work, the doctors and nurses hold up signs: “We stay here for you; please stay home for us.”                 

I see workers in supermarkets staying calm and polite, even when shoppers accuse them of holding back on bags of lentils, hand sanitizers, bathroom tissue, and cans of chickpeas. I see law enforcement personnel: risking their lives with danger coming from every direction: they say: I come to serve. I see a newspaper delivery man, who brings the paper about 4am, when he also picks up the grocery shopping list of elderly people on his route who are at risk to be in stores, and he delivers their food later in the day. Aren’t these people really and truly rays of hope? Yes. And SO is the woman who is making “Sunshine Phone Calls” every day, to people in her senior group. In these people our Good God, this God of Life and Love, is turning fear to faith, and suffering to grace.  

So, let US be of one heart and one voice with the millions of people throughout the world who truly believe that Jesus is alive and active today, even as we struggle personally with the Corona Virus. Let us view see these life-given and divinely-inspired efforts all around us as sparks of light, shining as the public notice that God’s promised grace is en route. Alleluia.  

Happy Easter, one and all.

Reflection for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

How often do we ask questions when we already know the answer we expect?  More often than we probably realize.  Occasionally someone will call the house and ask if I would like to take a “non-partisan” poll.  Usually I say no, but on occasion I have agreed.  So, then the interrogation starts and within the first couple of questions you can tell this is not a “non-partisan” poll.  The questions, in fact, are designed to elicit specific answers and there is no space for an alternative perspective. At this point, I usually end the discussion!  It is perhaps the one reason why I have no respect for these polls to which everyone on television and in politics is always referring.  

But we also do the same for faith issues as well, don’t we?  How often have you asked a question expecting a certain answer?  How often have you asked a question with the express purpose of making a point? 

Throughout the season of Lent, we have experienced this same phenomenon in the Gospel texts from John.   Nicodemus visits Jesus to question him, but gets more than he bargains for – “How can these things be?”  he asks in frustration when Jesus is not giving him what he expects. The Samaritan woman asks Jesus where God is to be found and consequently where true worship of God is to be conducted? But she knows what Jesus will say, because after all, he is a Judean!  

 The disciples point to a blind beggar and ask Jesus whose sin is the consequence for this poor man’s condition – was it his or his parents? After all, that is what everyone understood – that bad things happen for a reason, and that reason is, someone is a sinner!  But in each of these instances Jesus does not give the expected answer.  In fact, Jesus turns the questions upside down and completely changes course.  To Nikodemus he says, “You must be born again!” To the Samaritan women he says, “Neither in Jerusalem or on Mt. Gerezim, for God is worshiped in Spirit and truth here and everywhere!” And not content to simply dismiss the disciple’s small-minded question Jesus shows his contempt for popular wisdom by actually reaching out and healing the blind man!   

Which brings us to Lazarus.  Jesus gets the message that his friend Lazarus is ill, but instead of leaving immediately he “tarries” and by the time he arrives in Bethany, Lazarus is not only dead, but already buried 4 days ago!  And he is admonished by his sister Martha: “If you had been here my brother would not have died!”  This outburst is filled with anger and hurt, but Jesus responds by simply telling Martha that her brother will rise again.  Well, yes of course, way off in the future on the last day, right? She replies.  That is when we will all rise again… but it doesn’t really help this situation now!  And it is at this point that we get the twist from Jesus. 

 Those in Bethany and we the readers, are assuming that Jesus is pointing Martha and Mary towards hope in the future resurrection, to a heavenly time way off in the distant future.  After all, what else could he say at this point, Lazarus is dead now, and there is nothing to be done.  But this is not what Jesus is saying: “I am the resurrection AND the life” He says!  This is not an exclusively heaven-focused faith at all – there are implications now for life… for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus’ and for us as well!

This is the challenge of today’s Gospel, that there is not only a distant future in heaven; in fact, the Gospel is not primarily about going to heaven at all.  The Gospel is about living life in the Kingdom HERE and NOW in the midst of our everyday lives.  “…The promises of God we announce are not only about life eternal with God or even about God’s forgiveness at the last day. Rather, the Gospel should make a difference now… make things possible now…to open up opportunities and options now, and to transform relationships now. The promises of God are present tense, not just future.”

So then, what difference does the Gospel make in your lives here and now?  Death is not the last word – Jesus brings life: a full and complete eternal life that begins now.  So, what difference does this make in your lives here and now?  For Lazarus it meant being restored to the community and his family; for Mary and Martha it meant having the relationship with their brother restored; for the others who witnessed this event it meant a restoration of relationship and a new calling!  Do you notice that theme of the restoration of relationship?  Yet again this is central to the proclamation of the Gospel.  The Gospel is about the restoration of relationships – not just with each other, but also with God.

But there is also a calling included in this text.  Jesus tells the community to unbind Lazarus and to let him go.  The community is called upon to participate in this action of God’s.  Restoring life and breath was God’s work through Jesus, but it would have been a useless exercise if Lazarus had been left to languish in the cave swaddled in his linen shroud.  Other hands were needed to continue and complete the work. 

And those hands are ours.  Like the other stories we have heard during this season of Lent this story comes back around and looks squarely at each of us demanding that we consider this important question: what difference does it make?!?  What difference does it make in your life here and now that Jesus is not only the resurrection but also the life?  That Jesus has come so that we might have life and have it abundantly?  That we are called to make a difference, to open the tombs of those who are trapped in darkness and despair; to unbind those who are tied up in the shrouds of hardship, poverty, hunger, loss, illness and so on. To free those who are imprisoned by addictions and obsessions and every kind of death inducing situations?  

To what response is Jesus calling you?  What does you're here and now eternal and abundant life look like?  

Across the street from the bombed out Federal Building in Oklahoma City, where 168 people died needlessly and senselessly, there stands a memorial. At the heart of that memorial is a nine-foot statue of Jesus. Not one of a stony Jesus with arms held out wide, but of Jesus with his face buried in his hands, turned slightly away from where the acts of terror took place, and the plaque reads simply, “And Jesus Wept.”

For thousands of mourners and survivors of that day, and perhaps for those who suffer during this present virus outbreak, this image of Jesus will bring resurrection and hope and new life. It has become a pillar of comfort for all who pass by. 

Sometimes we may ask ourselves, “What has God done for us”. Perhaps he simply sits down beside us and helps us cry.  And sometimes that’s all we really need.

Fr. Chris’ Guided Meditation for this weekend, the 5th Sunday of Lent – “A” Cycle - John 11:1-45 or                                           11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45- Lazarus is raised from the dead.

Intro: I’m using a guided meditation form popularized by St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. .

As we focus on today’s Gospel, we want to encounter Christ more deeply.

I invite you to clear your laps, place your hands unfolded comfortably in your laps, sit up straight and,                            
if your feet can touch the floor, put them there. Let’s take a few breaths in, and out x3, & keep going..

As we enter our meditation, you are standing with Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus, with Martha &Mary. All are crying. You know how you feel when a loved one dies: you feel all kinds of feelings:                           
sad, scared, lost, even mad. Martha misses her brother Lazarus; she tells Jesus she’s mad at Him,                     
because Jesus wasn’t there to keep Lazarus from dying. 

Jesus continues to love Martha, who keeps crying about Lazarus being dead.

Hearing Martha tell Jesus how she really feels about Him gives YOU courage: all of a sudden,

you remember that YOU at times are impatient or annoyed with God, who does not always do things soon enough, or improve the condition of someone/something you were concerned about.

Tell Jesus of a time you remember being annoyed with Him! or with God! even if for a minute,                                                               mad for what happened or didn’t happen, or for what didn’t happen quickly enough for you. [pause].

You stay close to esus, as He speaks to God in prayer: you want Jesus to bring Lazarus back.              
Then you hear Jesus say, “Lazarus, come out,” and you look over at the tomb.                                                  
For a second, nothing happens. Then, he’s there: you see Lazarus for the first time, and you gasp! 

You wanted it to happen, yet it’s shocking: Lazarus is alive, he’s breathing, and he’s moving.

Everyone’s in shock: Lazarus is hopping out of the tomb; he hops ‘cause he’s tied up & can’t walk. 

Jesus has to remind everyone who is there: “untie Lazarus, & let him go free.”

You look at Lazarus: you know that feeling Lazarus has, being tied up, unable to move: it’s tough!

tell Jesus right now what you feel is keeping you tied up in life: is a bad habit? Is it a relationship that robs you of your freedom? Or is it someone/something that makes you feel alone or trapped?

Tell Jesus EXACTLY what/who you need to be freed from, & how much you want to be free. [pause]

Then you see Lazarus untied: he’s SO happy to be alive again. And Martha & Mary have tears of joy.

You tell Jesus how GLAD you are that He raised up Lazarus from the dead.

And now: you can SEE that Lazarus is FILLED with life, and joy, and the power to love others.

You WANT to feel what Lazarus feels. And as you tell that to Jesus, he nods his head toward you.                                         Jesus truly understands what this desire for freedom means to you: 

he knows that feeling tied up or lacking freedom is hard, like being a slave to someone or something.

And when you’re not feeling free, it hurts, & robs you of chances to be of service and help others.

Tell Jesus WHO you’ll be helping/serving this week, and HOW you’ll need His help to do it well. [p]

As we come to the end of our meditation, we feel our feet press against floor; we feel our body relax;
we slowly open our eyes & adjust to the light. We know that just as Jesus’ face was filled with joy,                                                                he calls us to be that joyful presence as we love others. We know we can ALWAYS depend on Jesus.

3LentA 20 -  the woman at the well –   from Fr. Chris Heller

Intro: during Lent, I’m preaching a series of homilies different from those that have stories and illustrations. Instead, I’m using a guided meditation form popularized by St. Ignatius Loyola, one that uses a single Scripture passage, and invites us into the middle of it, to encounter Christ more deeply. I invite you to clear your laps, place your hands unfolded comfortably in your laps, sit up straight and, if your feet can touch the floor, put them there. I’ll invite you to close your eyes. Let’s take a few breaths in, and out…and keep going…

It’s time to enter into our meditation. You’re standing near the marketplace in a small, insignificant town.

You have been traveling from before sunrise, & your throat is dry: you need something to drink right away.

You expect that you’ll be in this backwoods place for 10, 15 minutes at the most, and be on your way again. 

You approach a store that’s offering something to drink, something to take away your thirst. And then…

You see a woman standing out front & talking loudly, & her excitement causes a crowd 2 gather around her. 

She keeps saying: come see this man…. Come this man…He promised to give me living water.                                     Come with me….. Come see this man….Come see this man who told me everything I have done.”

You’re not interested in anything other than getting a drink, and getting out of there. But now you’re curious:

what kind of man can read hearts. .. who can see inside you…who can know the whole you, tell U your story?  

Take a moment: think of one positive event or part of your life story you’re  happiest/most proud of. [pause]

As you’re going past this woman to get your drink, she stops talking, touches your arm & says: come with me. You stop: she’s broken your stride toward the store; she says calmly: “come see this man: it will do you good.”

You surprise yourself: joining a group of people, to see/meet a man only this woman has seen; who told her all. 

& when you get close to this Jesus teacher, he’s standing/speaking & telling EACH person his/her story, 

You decide you’re going to wait/speak with Jesus. When you get close, you can see the peace/calm on his face.   

He tells you lot about you: a relationship going well; a habit needing to end; needing to pray more often.  

At 1st you think it’s a trick! You’re amazed, & realize this man was very specific: when/how you can do better. 

He doesn’t hassle/condemn you, or make you feel horrible: he just tells you the truth, so you can live in truth. You’ve never felt like this before: you no longer have to live those old lies, sins, faults & flaws no more.  

& you feel so relieved, YOU start saying to other nearby people what that woman first said to you before: :

“Come see a man who told me everything…. everything…. everything I have ever done in my life.”

Take a moment and admit it:  name any of those sins, or flaws or faults inside you that make you feel uncomfortable. Tell Jesus which sin/fault you’re ready to let go of right now.[pause]

Being honest to Jesus makes you feel better:  more peaceful & focused, and less worried than before: 

Now you can admit to yourself what once was a dark secret: you’re a sinner, someone needing love/mercy. 

& now you know what other sins/fault to start eliminating from your life, & & make more room for joy/hope! 

Before you leave that town, before you finally get that drink you started out to get, & get going out of town,

take a moment: make a promise to Jesus & yourself: what prayer will you pray most often this week. [p] 

As we come to the end of our meditation, 

we’ve told Jesus how we will pray & live this week, & we know He will bless us with strength 2B faithful. 

We feel our feet press against the floor; we feel our body relax; we slowly open our eyes & adjust to the light. 

We know that just as Jesus’ face was changed, he calls us to be changed, to be different, 2B>loving 2others. 

We know we can depend on Jesus, because Jesus is always with us: he IS truly our Good Shepherd.

19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle “C” Gospel link: Luke 12:32-48. 

My sisters and brothers in Christ, Jesus speaks directly to you and me today when he says: stay awake, alert & alive 2 serve others. We ALL know people who are trained to be ready at a second/moment’s notice all the time. Think of our police and fire staffs, the EMTs & ambulances, & I personally know it’s true: when I became dehydrated last week & couldn’t see straight, people at Mass & an ambulance crew helped me to get medical care to get re-hydrated and well within a 24 hour period. Of course I’m grateful to them, and admire their faithful service!

But who else stays awake, alert & alive to be of service to someone else? I saw it on TV this week:  at a professional tennis match, there were ball boys & ball girls at compass points on court:  1 behind each player, and 2 closer to the net area. The ones closest to net: had to keep the court clear of tennis balls and foreign items. The ones behind the players provided towels & a supply of tennis balls.  Most of all, these servants acknowledged they were there for players & game, and NOT to call attention to themselves. (PS: they’d be paid about $9.00 an hour to start, with raises given to multiple-year servers.

These young people did EXACTLY what Jesus was calling all of us to do when we serve God:             to be READY & focused on the one whom we’re serving, even if changing things up at last second is what we’re called to do, to be those who stay focused STAY faithful & are faithful to God.  But there’s ALSO a big difference between these young men & women chasing tennis balls all over, and the followers of Jesus, who are called by God to serve from now until our last breaths.            

The biggest difference in the Gospel is that if we DO all we’re supposed 2do & follow Christ’s direction, then Jesus, who is our Master & our Good Shepherd, is going to exchange ROLES with us. Now, to picture Jesus putting on an apron, sitting  you and me at a table 4a meal & waiting on US who are the servants, is NOT a picture that most people’s brains will allow them to compute. Yes: God waiting on me? NO WAY. It was a shocking thought 2000 years ago, & it’s an almost unthinkable thought now, because Jesus teaches us he’s called 2 serve others, NOT 2B served by others. Here’s the difference: when Jesus serves us servants, Jesus shows respect 2the humble ones as he teaches the world. He overturns the social, political, & religious expectations of his/our time. Yes: it’s a surprise, a change for us, & as our VBS friends learned this week: “when things are changing, God is good!”

So, what about us? When we put God & others ahead of ourselves, as in the acronym J.O.Y., (Jesus, Others, & Yourself), we are imitating Jesus, who put God and others ahead of himself, and his own preferences. Also, the more ready we are at a moment’s notice to serve someone of God’s own choosing, the deeper our relationship with Jesus is, because we will have become synchronized w Jesus’ own heart. Another way to say that is to remember that when loving others in the spirit of Jesus Christ becomes second nature and almost automatic to us, we have then gone beyond being admirers of X: we’ve become his legs/arms, his vocal chords, his heart/mind and spirit in God’s power.   May we all become Eveready servants of God, every day and in every way.

Sunday, July 28, 2019 Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Back in the 1990’s there was a store on Orchard St. on the Lower East Side called Sox & Suspenders.

Before my first visit, I had been equipped by a good friend with some important insider information: the insider info was if I was the 1^st customer of the day, I’d get a discount by haggling over the price

So there I was one morning before 9am, & as the 1^st customer I told the owner I wanted black sox.

The owner quoted me a price of “$2.50” a pair; I kept on looking over the selections & said “nah!”

And the owner came right back & said, “Well, what can I do for U today?” and bold as brass I said,

“I’d like 5 pairs of black socks for $5, including tax.” He looked at me with my insider information, & said with the tone of familiar pretend resignation in his voice: “all right, let’s make a sale.”

The same principle is at work with Abraham in the 1^st reading from Genesis. Abraham has insider info about God. And it’s clear in Abraham’s exchange with God: Abraham knows who he is, & who God is.

God is divine, & Abraham is a creature, and God interacts with us on & provides for us mercy & love.

But the comedy part contains the Important Insider Information.  Abraham reminds God of how good and forgiving God is, the way a manager or a parent coaches people, and reminds others of how good they really are.  And while there might be some people who are shocked at this dialogue of haggling between Abraham & God, Abraham our father in faith knows he can dialogue directly with God without fear.  

Jesus picks up on Abraham’s lead, w a BIG difference: it’s no longer Important Insider Information:                   it’s info for everyone to use. So when some disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he could have given them any number of ways:  Today’s shorter version of Luke’s Lord’s Prayer is like the express train to St. Matthew’s local:

it summarizes what Jesus wanted his disciples to have in their hearts. & it is familiar to us:

The OF contains four basic types of prayer we use: petition, adoration, contrition, & thanksgiving.

When we remember that we are both God’s creatures AND God’s cherished/chosen children,         we’re able to pray both to God & in union with God, who gave us the power to pray in the 1^st place.

Sometimes at Mass, the priest will conclude the lead-in line to the Our Father, “we dare to say!” why? Because when we say “thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” those are orders we’re delivering to   God, & it’s pure arrogance to say to God .

But U&I know well that when we are intent on prayer, praying doesn’t change God: it changes US 

When my mother’s mom was dying of cancer years ago, I promised God the sun, moon & stars,

I forgot that the sun, moon & stars were created by God & were not mine to give to God.

What did I do? I promised God I’d say these prayers, make these devotions, and visit those shrines.

Two weeks later, the doctors caring for Grandma told me she was in a coma & would not be coming out. What happened then? As Grandma got sicker, the words & feelings of our praying shifted:

So we changed our prayer: it was no longer that we didn’t want her to leave us in death; rather we saw that Grandma in her coma was trapped between heaven & earth, & asked God to free her.

Our prayer shifted from praying for someone sick, to someone who was dying & on her way home.

That was the prayer that was answered, the prayer in tune & in sync with how God called her.

As we ask the Blessed Trinity to fill our hearts and minds with God’s truth vs. substitute fiction, and as we pray the Our Father and receive the Eucharist with mature faith in God’s power, we may be a blessing to God’s church and world.

Recently, I went with friends to see a movie called “The Avengers”- it was three hours of good versus evil! I saw this movie with friends who LOVE popcorn, & by passing it back & forth, we were all covered with it. Before we left, I went to the rest room to wash my hands, & I was drying my hands under an electric hand dryer when I saw a sign attached to the dryer. And you know what it said? “Feel the Power!” Now, the dryer was strong!  But “Feel the Power” has been our Christian motto since the 1st Pentecost described in the Acts of Apostles. Yes: it’s clear our God is a sensual God: God communicates through our human senses, so people feel the wind, hear its sound, and see the fiery tongues. God wants to awaken us, so we feel the Spirit’s power, too! So where do we, on our Church Birthday in 2019, know God’s Holy Spirit is active? Here’s a few of them.

I see the Spirit alive when neighbors offer a hand and heart to welcome others. Wasn’t that true on Pentecost, when people joyfully heard the Gospel in words they could understand?  Look at our classic welcome gestures: neighbors bring flowers or a cake as a symbol of welcome. One neighbor, seeing the newcomers head for their cars with coffee cups in the morning, went to 7-11 and bought them gift cards! But such a fine gesture, in a world that’s running so fast it can’t seem to catch its breath, requires us to slow down! Then, the Spirit pauses with us & breathes new life into us, just as the Spirit took the scared & divided apostles, and  breathed into them the courage to serve Jesus more fully. By the way, the word Scripture uses in Greek, our first church language, for God’s power is dunamis: yes, God Power is at root dynamic, like dynamite.

I also see and feel the Holy Spirit working when there’s a surprise: when something good or unexpected occurs. I always think I know how a day is going to go, because I have a day timer, right? Not always: I was on my way to visit one of my godchildren, taking Route 25A into Route 347 West. I was making very good time … or so I thought! My rear left tire behind me caught a nail, I soon realized I had a flat tire. But I had also just had physical therapy for my back, and was told not to lift heavy things. So, where’d the surprise come from?  In less than 2 minutes, a carload of young men saw I was in trouble, and in 5 minutes had changed the tire. When I offered them some cash to thank them for their generosity, one said: “No, that’s alright: it seems this is what we were supposed to do today, & we just did it.” To me, it sounded like a young person’s version of what we heard this past week from our senior D-Day survivors. One of them said: “we had a job to do & we did it, in the midst of bullets and bombs, with loyalty to our country.” They also combatted the Nazi aggressors.

These are CLEAR signs to me that Jesus has NOT forgotten about us & we are NOT orphans. In fact, God’s message is personal & tailored to each of us at the CORE of our being & soul. So today, before you and I consult with God, to identify what our NEXT task of bringing Christ to the world will be, I invite you to close your eyes for the next minute: together, let us both listen to and hear God’s Word, and God’s voice speaking to us, as we culminate this Easter season of grace:                                                                                                                                              

God says: “I KNOW who you are: you are my beloved; YOU carry my creative/unique genius within you.” [pause] God says: “ your soul is filled with my divine gifts, & I place them there, along with my confidence in you, deep within you.” [pause]. God says: “I brought you to life to share your gifts & talents with others with joy, gratitude, and love, because you are my very own.” [pause] Let God’s voice in you be the Holy Spirit, speaking Good News to others. Yes: Happy Birthday, Church!

Fr. Chris

P.S. As you thank God for including in you the gifts of the Holy Spirit,  please join me in offering a prayer of thanks for ALL those who have been Confirmed this year: our tweens, teens, young adults and adults: how blessed we are here at St. Louis!