July 9, 2006

Jesus Christ

Posted in Homilies at 9:00 am

Fourteenth Sunday, Year B, July 9th , 2006

The topic of my homily today is Jesus Christ. In my last few homilies, we have covered various relevant topics such as Canadian heroes, our missionary speaker, modesty, and so on. But as the time for summer holidays begin in July and August, let us turn our attention back to center of our faith, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Some people think that a holiday means a vacation from God and Church. Let’s stuff ourselves with steak and lobster and drink ourselves into oblivion – now that’s the way to find true peace and happiness on holiday! Instead we find only the bloated belly of gluttony, restless dissatisfaction and disillusionment with our own selfish desires, and unhappiness when we try to take a holiday from God. For myself, I find that I am miserable if I neglect prayer on holiday, so I try not to take a holiday from my regular schedule of prayer and Mass, either in the missions of El Salvador or the beaches of New Brunswick.

Father Cantalamessa, the preacher for the Papal Household, recently said that one purpose of a vacation is “ to lay aside all our activities to become aware of the most important thing in the world, namely, that God exists.” So rather than trying to escape God and Church on holiday, let us take advantage of the extra-time to actually grow closer to God – by taking along the Bible or a spiritual book with us, so that we might grow each day in our knowledge and love of Jesus Christ.

Isn’t that the meaning of the life of a Christian in this world? To grow each day in our knowledge and love of Jesus Christ? In fact, if we as Christians are not growing each day in our knowledge and love of Christ, then what are we doing with our lives? He is our God; He created us, loved us and gave Himself for us; we at least claim that we want to spend all eternity with Him. Don’t we want to know Him and love Him more every day of our lives?

I would compare it to marriage. I don’t know what it’s like to be married, but I would imagine that were I married, I would want to grow each day in my knowledge and love of my wife. Husbands, please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this normal? Each human being is a fascinating mystery, and there are endless depths to each beautiful human personality. There is no possibility of boredom or routine. So isn’t it normal that a husband would want to grow each day in his knowledge and love of his wife, and vice versa? Please correct me if I’m wrong . . .

Jesus Christ is infinitely more fascinating and beautiful than any human being, because He is God, and has a personal love for each one of us.
One of the simplest ways that we come to know and love Jesus more is by taking even five minutes a day to meditate on His life as portrayed in the Gospel. Take today’s Gospel as an example. It is a short and simple passage about Jesus returning to his hometown and teaching in the synagogue. The people do not accept Jesus as a prophet, and are scandalized that God would give such wisdom and deeds of power to a mere carpenter.

So what do we learn by meditating on today’s Gospel?

For one thing, the universal call to holiness. We know that Jesus the carpenter is no ordinary workman – He really is God, like Clark Kent really is Superman. But by his choice of profession, Jesus is teaching all people that carpenters can be prophets and saints. Farmers can be saints, lawyers, prophets, housewives, holy! “My grace is sufficient for you,” the Lord tells St. Paul in the Second Reading (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). God is infinitely holy, powerful and generous; His grace is sufficient to make all of us saints.

This Gospel passage also reveals the sad truth that those closest to Jesus were often those who knew Him and loved Him the least. First of all,
when the Gospel refers to the “brothers” of Jesus – James, Joses, Judas, and Simon, and to his sisters, we must realize, as explained in annotated Catholic Bibles, that “in Semitic usage, the terms ‘brother,’ ‘sister’ are applied not only to children of the same parents, but to nephews, nieces, cousins, half-brothers and half-sisters” (New American Bible, note on Mk 6:3).

But the point still remains: these people, the close relatives of Jesus who should have known Him and loved Him more than others, did not accept Him as one sent by God; not only that, but they actually had less faith than others so that “Jesus was amazed at their unbelief.”

We can almost hear Jesus speaking privately to his relatives in the words He would later use with Philip: “Have I been with you all this time and still you do not know me?” (John 14:9).
When we think of all the people in the world today – all the Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and so on, we Christians, and especially Catholics, are the close relatives of Jesus.

How long has each person here been baptized? How long have you been a close relative of Jesus Christ? But how would you rate yourself in your knowledge and love of Him? Is it possible that Jesus would say also to you, with a wounded heart, piercing eyes, and a gentle but reproving voice, “have I been with you all this time, and still you do not know me? I have given my life for you, and still you do not love me?”

It is never too late to begin again – whether on holiday or in ordinary time – to respond to the call to holiness, to start a new day and say, “help me Lord to know you and love you more and more each day, and to be holy as you are holy.”

I would like to address a few words to the young people of our parish. What are you waiting for to set out boldly on the path of holiness? Are you afraid of giving your lives to God? Or do you have so many other priorities in your life, with your work, your studies, your plans for future success, that Jesus Christ does not rate highly on your list?

To compliment you I say to all of you young people listening to me that I admire you for your faith and dedication, and you are much better than I was at your age. But to challenge you I say – that still might not be enough to get into heaven, let alone be holy! So do not be afraid to set out on the great adventure of holiness! Christ is calling you, and His grace is sufficient for you to come to know Him and love Him more and more each day, and to become saints.

July 2, 2006

Canadian Heroes

Posted in Homilies at 9:00 am

Thirteenth Sunday, Year B, July 2, 2006 (Canada Day Weekend)

In the First Reading, we heard that God did not create death; He created us for incorruption. But through the envy of the devil, death came as a foreign invasion into the world God created. God established Canada and each nation to be a civilization of life and love, but we can’t seem to keep out those foreign elements, whether it’s those Chinese “ladybugs” who have invaded our land and homes, displacing our beautiful, native Canadian ladybugs, or that foreign element of the culture of death in our once Christian land.

But we trust in the power of Jesus who raised the daughter of Jairus, and can raise up new Canadian heroes to re-establish a civilization of life. Perhaps the heroes of our Canadian past will inspire new heroes in our land to fight the culture of death.

I will bring you back to the years of 1812-1815, when Canada produced many heroes, in response to the American invasion in the war of 1812. Those foreigners, Americans, wanted to take over all of North America; their success would have meant the death of our unique Canadian culture (so that we would no longer be able to say “eh?”)

Our first hero is Sir Isaac Brock. Major General Isaac Brock, in the first few months of the war, gained fame and admiration on both sides of the border for his honour, bravery and boldness, for example, in capturing Fort Detroit with an army half the size of the American Army. At a time when many Canadians were discouraged and pessimistic, feeling helpless before the superior forces of the Americans, Sir Isaac Brock was confident and inspired the whole nation. He set up a “thin red line” of soldiers along the Canadian side of the Niagara River, to guard against an American attack, which came on October 13, 1812 at Queenston Heights. Sir Isaac Brock was convinced that if they lost this battle for the heights, Upper Canada would be lost. Sword in hand, he led his men on a charge up the hill. He was shot in the wrist but continued his charge, then a bullet to his heart killed him, but the Canadians won the battle, and Canada remained Canadian.

Laura Secord is our second hero, one of the heroine’s of the War of 1812. Some people think that she must have risked her life to bring chocolates to the soldiers on the front line! She and her husband lived near Queenston Heights and her husband had been one of the soldiers wounded in that battle. And Laura did risk her life and “went the extra mile” to warn Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon and his soldiers of an impending American attack. She walked for 18 hours covering 30 kilometres in stifling June heat, through forests and swamps, in danger of being intercepted by American soldiers and shot as a spy. But she made it, and her warning helped the Canadians to win the Battle of Beaver Dams on June 22, 1813.

Has the time for heroes come to an end? Does Canada need a war to produce heroes? Now that we have peace and a good economy, we can live for ourselves and our own selfish desires, without any need of heroic self-sacrifice?

In fact, every age has need of heroes. In 1812, the threat to Canada was death at the hands of American soldiers, in a bloody war with guns and cannons. Today the threat is spiritual death, and we are living in a culture war between the civilization of life and the culture of death.

The adherents of the culture of death do not really believe in Christ or the Church or the Resurrection of the body or life after death. For them, the purpose of life is the selfish pursuit of personal freedom, power and pleasure in this world. They do not believe in marriage, family or children, because all these cost money and interfere with personal freedom.

I don’t want to dwell on the Canadian architects of the culture of death. I would rather highlight some of the virtues of Canadians and mention some of our modern heroes. I was complaining the other day about Canada (because I’m a good Canadian!) and a priest-friend of mine corrected me and pointing out many of the virtues of Canadians. For example, a successful economy does not depend on natural resources alone (the Congo has lots of natural resources too), but on the virtues of its citizens. Canadians are generally hard-working, honest, ethical, trusting, polite. Canadians have many natural virtues. But we cannot deny that in the last few decades, the culture of death has invaded Canada and weakened or destroyed many of the Christian virtues of our once Christian land. That’s why we need new heroes today!

Who are our Canadian heroes today? All those disciples of Jesus Christ who live and promote a civilization of life. The man and woman who marry young and stay married until death. The mother and father who make sacrifices of time and money in order to raise a family. Laura Secord “went the extra-mile” to warn Canadian soldiers of an American attack. Today’s Canadian heroes are those parents who go the extra mile, and even when they are tired persevere without complaint in their work, their chores, their cooking and cleaning, with patience, charity and cheerfulness, in the same spirit of Mary and Joseph in Nazareth.

And you children can be heroic when you choose to be generous and grateful, rather than selfish and spoiled, and even though you are young, make an effort to think about the needs and feelings of others.

Sir Isaac Brock charged the American line with sword in hand. Today’s Canadian heroes are those Christians who are willing to wield the sword of the spirit to protect their families from the attacks of the culture of death and cut through the lies of a media and entertainment industry that promotes selfish pleasure rather than life-long commitment.

Today’s Canadian heroes are those Christians who are not afraid to speak the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with humility and charity, to their unbelieving family, friends, or co-workers.

The tragic and colossal failure of marriage and family in our times has at least raised our awareness that what we took for granted for generations as one’s normal and expected duty is actually heroic – to live a Christian marriage, to raise a Christian family, to eventually end up in heaven with your entire family – this is heroic, make no mistake about it. We need to reclaim and proclaim the heroism of everyday life. Marriage and family can be the crucible, the testing ground, the glorious battlefield, that will produce the saints and heroes of these latter days.

Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus as proof that He is the God of life and the conqueror of death. He can also rescue us from the spiritual death of much of modern culture. May He raise up new Canadian heroes in our time to keep Canada Canadian, with revitalized Christian marriages and families at the heart of a civilization of life.