Homilies from St. Anthony, Allston, MA

God Spirit Does Not Need Fireworks

Today is the day when we see the power of the Holy Spirit come upon the Apostles and disciples.

There is the visual manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the tongues like fire that come down upon them and the physical manifestation of those who start preaching the Gospel powerfully in different languages.

Let us look at those words today, however.

We can make a huge mistake when we require to see a manifestation of power in order to recognize God at work in our lives. Sometimes, God’s power is seen not in what we can see but through what happens.

Even if God manifests himself in ways that do not look so powerful as we see in today’s celebration, we can recognize that He is working in our lives. We can know that God is alive and we can act on that fact. Or we can see when we take all of that for granted and do not respond to God’s grace alive within us.

I want you to reflect on this for a second. The Apostles preached the Gospel empowered by the Holy Spirit that day. Their preaching changed people’s lives and secured thousands of converts again that day.

However, what happened the next day? Obviously, they were preaching and bringing in more converts from the Jews to the new Christians. Remember, further, the new Christians were also Jews at the time. However, the manifestation that we see on the day of Pentecost did not keep happening. God’s work was happening without all the fireworks going on the background.

Why is that important? Because God’s work was happening even though there were not fireworks going on when you were baptized or confirmed. The last time you went to confession, God’s work was still happening. Even through an online Mass, God’s work is still happening, even though we do not see any fireworks.

 

We can know that each of us have an invitation to respond and when we do, God works even stronger in our lives, but we may never see a manifestation of it that looks like Pentecost another time.

So let me reiterate what I just said. Even though the day you were baptized and confirmed there were no fireworks, that does not mean that God’s power was not working then and is not working now.

Now one of the things that I preach regularly and did so in some of my previous parishes was to talk about the first chapter of Romans. That is a chapter that is often misunderstood. People use it to specifically condemn homosexuality just for one verse in the chapter. However, if you look at it carefully you will see that there is a lot more to that chapter than that simple verse.

What do you see?

If you go look it up, you will see that St. Paul lays out a kind of a road map. He complains that first people practice idolatry by turning from the God they know they should worship, then there is moral breakdown and finally there is civil breakdown. I have been warning about that for years. Does all of that look familiar now.

We see some real civil breakdown many of our young people have never seen it before and some of our older people have not seen it since the 1990’s or the 1960’s.

What is the source of this breakdown. It is a lot of things but some of it is to put our faith to the side in the interest of progress. Contrary to the commandments of God, we stop paying attention to Him now because we don’t have time, we were planning all along to go to church before the virus, but we did not have time.  Right now our school, our work, our career, our diploma whatever are on the line. They are more important.

When we as a society decide to turn from God something is bound to go wrong: Unless there is no God then everything will be fine. Something went wrong!

We see emotions that exploded which were exacerbated by the fact that we gave certain people the role of gods over us because they would keep us safe. Now several cities are literally burning at this time. Why? We as Americans lost a sense of who we are as humans. 

When this whole corona virus issue first appeared and we had the immediate shut down, I warned everyone then that we went, as described in the bible, literally overnight from a time when we said we lived in peace and security to an overnight change that led to chaos. We already had people turning away from God for a long time which brought forth moral breakdown and, finally, now we have civil breakdown.

What is the cause? A loss of sense of who we truly are. St. Paul reminds us in Romans 1 that we are creatures called to worship the creator, not other creatures. He warned that when we do the opposite the road maps starts to work. Suddenly, we will see moral breakdown and then civil breakdown.

I have warned over the years watching through the eyes of faith that the Church was suffering from great persecution because the Lord was strengthening us for difficult times ahead. I also said back then that those who left the Church angry would never have had what it will take to remain in the Church when things really went south. You who are watching right now are those who remain.

Now things are really going south. But why?

We Americans tried to be what we were not and now we are seeing the fruits of what that means.

Do you think any of the reporters of the media have any understanding of what the word sin means? Ok some do. But

What would Jesus say to the officer who had his knee on the man’s neck and did not let up even though the man claimed that he was suffering that he could not breathe. What do you think he would say?

Isn’t that a sin? You bet it is. The wheels of justice will determine if it was a crime, but was it a sin? Yes, because racism is a sin.

It is a sin because it is a source of evil. Evil when it first appears becomes like a germ in a petrie dish, it is invisible at first but then becomes as obvious as, well, the plague.

Idolatry is a sin and we practice idolatry when we decide that God won’t mind if we do not pay attention to him, after all we are busy people—don’t you know.

Pride is a sin. When we decide that we know better than others can’t you tell by our successes?

As we prepare to open up our parish next week. Let me invite you to consider today and throughout the week a recommitment to Christ and to root out all forms of idolatry in your life. Recommit to following Christ to where he is leading you. Why? Because on this Pentecost Sunday, that is what we need more than anything else.

Our committing ourselves to the call that the Holy Spirit gave to us at Baptism and Confirmation even though we did not experience any fireworks.

From the Archdiocese of Boston

Good afternoon,   The following document is guidance for resuming Mass following Governor Baker's morning announcement regarding re-opening.   We understand cities and towns, such as the City of Boston, are implementing orders specific to their community. We will review this and the state orders tomorrow (May 19th) at the 1:00pm webinar. A reminder for the webinar will be send out this afternoon.   Thank you.

May 18, 2020 [email protected]       Archdiocese of Boston Plan for safely resuming Masses at the beginning of Phase One     Governor Baker announced on Monday, May 18, that houses of worship can resume services, within the guidelines he has issued.       When can we start Masses? If a parish within the Archdiocese of Boston, after careful and deliberate preparation, considers that they are able to meet all of the State, Municipal, and Archdiocesan guidelines (given below), they may request permission from their Regional Bishop or Episcopal Vicar to begin Masses as early as Saturday evening, May 23. The Regional Bishop or Episcopal Vicar should grant that permission only if he is convinced that the parish can in fact comply with all of the guidelines.   Many, or even most, parishes may well need more time to prepare, and may choose Sunday, May 31 (the Feast of Pentecost), as the date for their reopening.   Parishes should not resume Masses before they are ready, and the decision to delay the resumption of Masses until May 31 may very well be the best decision for a parish.    No matter what the start date, no parish should have Mass unless they can do it safely, and in compliance with the guidelines.   Please note: SOME COMMUNITIES, INCLUDING THE CITIES OF BOSTON AND SOMERVILLE, MAY HAVE LOCAL MUNICIPAL ORDERS THAT ARE STRICTER THAN THOSE OF THE STATE, AND THOSE MUST BE RESPECTED.   Daily Masses and Funerals can resume on Monday, May 25. Both daily Masses and Funerals will need to comply with the same social distancing and safety guidelines as Sunday Masses do, including the wearing of masks.   Shrines and chapels within the Archdiocese fall within these same guidelines.   Who should come to Mass? The dispensation from the Sunday Mass obligation will continue for the foreseeable future.   Cardinal Seán strongly encourages people in vulnerable populations, especially the elderly and those with complicating physical conditions, to continue to watch Mass from their homes, on their parish’s social media or on CatholicTV.   Parishes need to have a way of limiting the number of people who come into the church. A viable option may be to make use of a registration package like SignUpGenius or EventBrite. Signing up by phone or email should also be an option. To view these options please click here.   No matter what option a parish chooses, the pastor must be able to ensure that the size of the congregation in the church is not more than 40% of capacity and not more than the church can fit with social distancing maintained.   If a parish learns that a person who has come to Mass has tested positive for COVID-19, it must notify the Local Board of Health (LBOH) in the city or town in which the church is located and assist the LBOH as reasonably requested to trace likely contacts and advise contacts to isolate and self-quarantine.   Every parish is encouraged to continue the streaming of their Masses, in order to maintain a relationship with those who are not yet ready to return to Mass.   How do we get ready? Every parish is encouraged to form a small committee to help to guide the parish through the restart process, and to ensure that all of the criteria, including the check-boxes on the “Places of Worship – MA Safety Department”, are met. Pastors should be sure that that committee has credible, professional, and cautious people on it to help the parish through this transition. In addition to the state check list, there is a check list at the end of this document which may be helpful to the committee.   Right away, and before resuming Masses, parishes should indicate appropriate seating where individuals or families can sit and yet maintain social distancing. The church cannot be filled to any greater than 40% of its posted capacity as an absolute upper limit, but most churches may find that they cannot fit that many people in and still maintain social distancing. Signs should be posted to help people to sit in the right places. No person or household should sit closer than six feet to any other person or household, even if that means using every third pew rather than every other pew.   In multi-church collaboratives or parishes, a pastor may decide to focus only on one church for now, in order to increase the attention on safety.   Parishes may decide that in order to provide for all of their parishioners who want to come to Mass, more Masses should be added on the weekend. That being said, sufficient time is needed to clean the church between Masses.   The Office of Risk Management of the Archdiocese will send out a document very soon on how to clean and disinfect the church adequately, both between the Masses and on a regular basis.   The church needs to be deeply cleaned before the resumption of Masses, in accordance with the methods in the Office of Risk Management document.   In order to provide that ample opportunity for cleaning the church building between the Masses, pastors should consider ways in which the parish can celebrate Mass in a shorter time frame, while maintaining reverence.   A corps of volunteers should be formed and trained to help to direct the flow of people into and out of the church, and to clean the church between the Masses.   All hymnals and missalettes need to be removed from the church. Holy water fonts will remain empty. In order to discourage the habitual reaction on the part of parishioners to put their fingers in the fonts, a simple and respectful covering could be devised for the fonts.   Arrows should be placed on the floors indicating the direction of traffic flow, so as to assure one-way movement.   In places in which people have to stand in line, tape should be placed on the floor to mark out six foot distances.   Signs should be placed inside and outside of the church reminding people of the need to wear masks and to maintain social distancing.   Bathrooms should be clean and accessible, and soap plentiful. A plan should be developed and explained for safe restroom use. That plan will look different for each parish.   Proper ventilation should be ensured. It may be that opening doors or windows makes sense.   Each priest and deacon should have a set of vestments which will be worn only by him, stored separately, and laundered frequently.         What guidelines do parishioners need to observe while in church? If parishioners can bring their own bottle of hand sanitizer to the church, they should. Otherwise, they can use sanitizer provided by the parish and positioned at the entry to the church.     All members of the congregation need to wear masks, with a few exceptions: Children under the age of two should not wear masks. Parents should judge for children between the ages of two and five whether they should wear a mask. All people who claim an exemption because of health can forego wearing a mask. They do not have to provide documentation. The priest and others with him in the sanctuary do not need to wear masks in the sanctuary as long as strict socially distancing is maintained. They do have to wear masks when assisting with the distribution of Holy Communion.   With reasonable exceptions allowed, there should be no public access to the sacristy while the church is open.   There will be no social gatherings either before or after Mass.   What do we need to do during the Mass to keep it safe? There should be no processions at the Masses, including no offertory processions.   There should be no altar servers.   Choirs will not be allowed.   Congregational singing will not be allowed in these early days. Fully respectful of the very important role that music plays in our liturgies, and also respectful of the public health concerns, the congregation should be instructed not to sing, either by announcement or by signs. There can be a cantor and an instrumentalist, who would provide music during the Mass (perhaps limited to the psalm, the Mass parts, and a song at Communion).   Masses can have a priest, a deacon, a lector, an instrumentalist, a cantor, and whatever volunteers are necessary to ensure the safe flow of people. If there are to be two communion stations (only in a large church), an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist could be used if there is no deacon.   Any priest, deacon, lector, or volunteer who has a respiratory infection of any kind should not attend Mass.   In the sanctuary, the priest, the deacon, and the lector must respect strict social distancing. They should not wear masks in the sanctuary.   There must be no passing of the basket for the offertory. Instead, a basket could be present at the main entrance and people could put their offering into it on their own. Parishes should promote the use of “90-Days Now for your Parish” (link here) as a way of helping parishioners to get started with online giving or use their local online giving solution if that is already set up.   During the consecration, hosts to be distributed should be placed on a second corporal to the side, so that they are not directly in front of the priest.   There should be no holding of hands during the Our Father.   There should be no invitation to participate in a sign of peace. For the distribution of Holy Communion: There will be either one or two communion stations, depending on the size of the Church. It should be announced that parishioners may well decide not to receive Holy Communion if they feel the risk is too high, and that decision will be honored and respected. There will be no distribution of the Precious Blood. The communicants and the priest will wear masks. Neither the priest nor the communicants should wear gloves during the distribution of Holy Communion. Congregants who are not coming forward to receive Holy Communion or a blessing should still get out of their pews at the beginning, so that no one will have to climb over anyone else. The priest will have a table next to him with hand sanitizer. The priest will hold the consecrated host over the communicants’ outstretched hands and drop the host into their hands without touching their hands. Communicants will receive the consecrated host in their hands, step to the side, lower their mask, consume the host, replace their mask, and return to their pew. In the case of unintentional contact, the priest will sanitize his own hands immediately. If the priest himself is a member of a vulnerable population, a deacon or a trained lay minister should distribute communion. The people should return to their pews by a different route, to avoid contact with approaching people. There will be tape on the floor to show where to stand as a communicant approaches to receive communion. There also will be tape on the floor to show where to stand to demask and consume the host, and arrows showing how to return to the pews. There should be a couple of minutes after Communion for silent prayer, before the final prayer and dismissal.   Participants at Mass would be encouraged to leave the church within a couple of minutes of the end of the Mass so as to allow for time for cleaning the church before the next Mass. Row by row exiting, directed by the trained volunteers, is encouraged.   If a Parish cannot offer Mass safely, following these guidelines and all of the checkboxes on the State document, they should not offer Mass.   The Vicars Forane will have regular conversations with the Pastors and will report regularly to the Vicar General with regard to compliance.     Check List: What needs to be in place before we start to have Mass? ✔Church deeply cleaned, according to methods outlined in the Risk Management document ✔Hymnals and missalettes removed ✔Volunteers in place to assist with traffic flow ✔Signs clearly posted, letting people know: That they must wear masks Where they can sit No congregational singing ✔Socially distant seating marked out ✔Hand sanitizer available ✔Holy water fonts empty ✔Markers on the floor indicating the direction of traffic flow and spacing off six feet in places where people might be in lines ✔Some method in place to restrict the number of people who enter the church to below 40% capacity, and no more than the number of socially distanced seats available ✔Plan and volunteers and materials in place to clean church between Masses ✔Permission of Regional Bishop or Episcopal Vicar if starting Mass before May 31

Live and Teach What You Believe

There is a great line in today’s second reading from St. Peter that is very apropos for us this week. It actually is the opening line in the reading: Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, ¹⁶ but do it with gentleness and reverence. (I Peter 3:15 NABRE)

Let us remember that we do not just believe in God. How we believe affects every decision and our way of living. This is something that Jesus emphasized in the Sermon on the Mount. We are the salt of the Earth. If salt loses its flavor then it is good for nothing but to be trampled underfoot.

So we have a calling to live in such a way that our faith speaks for itself. Our faith, however, is not just believing after all the devil believes in God more than you do, but he rejects and hates him. Our faith is also helping us understand who we are. That is why we live a different life than those who do not believe because we define ourselves differently. We define ourselves through our communion with Jesus Christ which is at the root of our prayer.

Our prayer with Christ will help us to grow in a deeper understanding of whom we are and where we are going.

Notice something else. St. Peter calls us to be ready to give an explanation of why we do the things we do based on our faith. But he says do it with gentleness and reverence.

There are tons of Catholics out there who are ready to pounce on anyone who disagrees with what we believe and ready to dismiss and even verbally assault those we disagree with in the name of what they consider being faithful to the Church. However, the first pope, the one appointed by Christ himself says for us not to do that. We must respond with gentleness and reverence. How do we do that? By humbly rooting ourselves in Christ and acting on that relationship with him in reverence to his love for others as well.

This means we need to know our faith well.

The Vatican II council says the following:

The laity need to be trained to discern God’s will through a familiarity with his word, read and studied in the Church under the guidance of her legitimate pastors.

 

Yes, you have a call to know your faith in a way that you live as St. Peter requests. But it also teaches us whole new way of being.

I have used this example even at funerals. You may or may not know that I do not have a cardiologist. I did at one time until he told me to give up rice, potatoes, pasta and bread. I gave up one thing: my cardiologist.

But he told me that he wanted me to live until 90. With all due respect to nonogenerians, I asked him if he understood what I do for a living. I explained that I am in the eternal life business.

My whole role is to help others and myself come to eternal life in Christ. So why do I want to be so focused on living a long life, when I am more focused on encountering Christ at the end of this one.

I am certainly not going to live this one without bread, rice, pasta etc. by the way. You may have notice that I have done well controlling what I eat and knowing when to eat those things in their proper proportion.

You see, I was explaining that if God wants me to live until my hundreds that was up to him, but my goal is ultimately eternal life with him and helping those he sends into my life to end up there as well.

Another expression I use is that we are like in the lobby in fine hotel waiting for the room to be ready so that we can move in.

So we will look at the world differently than those who have nothing beyond this life.

At this time we deal with many people who are afraid of the virus. I listen to people who recite the talking points they see in US media that enforces how afraid they are. I get my news from RT so I do not watch the US channels.

I spoke earlier how it is our job to give them hope and that is what St. Peter tells us. By having a deep understanding of who we are as Christ tells us through the holy spirit we live our lives differently than those who do not believe at all.

We are called to do that and when people ask us why, we can explain so that they will understand.

Right now our country is in a unique position. The reason is that freedom and liberty are the key virtues in our country, but those who are not afraid of the virus are afraid that freedom and liberty are at stake. To be honest the most contested and vilified politicians in our country are so because they have not allayed the fears of those who are worried about the future of our country more than their future under the virus.

However, our hope is in the next world more than this one. So St. Peter tells us to define ourselves and act on this definition so that we may be signs to others no matter what happens that there is more and it is in Christ.

There are protests happening over whether one should wear the mask. Well, I am wearing the mask, why because whether I agree with it or not, I am serving Christ by obeying the civil authorities right now. So it is not a sign of submission or of fear, it is a sign of service to the Christ who calls me to live in such a way that I am testifying to what I believe and I believe in being in service to My Lord in whom I hope and his people whom I serve.

Peter is telling us to live differently than those who do not believe. It is central to what we are all about. Let us always remember that.

 

 

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter

One of the reasons I enjoy the letters in the New Testament is that they are straight forward. They say what they mean and so they are easy to read. The opposite is also true because they are easy to read, they help us to understand what they say and what they mean.

St. Peter in today’s second reading defines you. Listen to those words again.

But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

This is who you are. You have a special dignity before the Lord, but that is not a prize as much as a responsibility. Where does this dignity come from: your baptism and your confirmation.

These are not tools to help you get to Heaven as much as tools to help you to live as Christ has called you. St. Paul describes you as ambassadors for Christ.

You will notice that St. Peter defines whom you are as a royal priesthood. What does that mean? It is a powerful term that indicates the priesthood of the laity.

When you were baptized you receive an anointing that brings you into he priesthood of the laity. That anointing with sacred Chrism which is also used at your confirmation brings you to share the ministry of priest, prophet and king with Our Lord Himself.

That is the priesthood of the laity. The priesthood of the ordained is a call to service of the priesthood of the laity. So you are everything that St. Peter calls you to be. A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. The ordained priesthood has a mission to serve the priesthood of the laity, not the other way around. You have that special role to be that in the world.

This is a time where that really is becoming more relevant.

We are listening to many opinions regarding this current pandemic. Granted we are waiting to open up, but I think that it may have affected how we see the world around us. I know it has with me.

What is most important is the element of fear that surrounds us and people actually afraid of the virus. Others are angry at the way this was handled. We are seeing protests in this state and others where people have angrily demanded that the state open up and others fearful of those events and their effect on the people.

 

One of the reasons I enjoy the letters in the New Testament is that they are straight forward. They say what they mean and so they are easy to read. The opposite is also true because they are easy to read, they help us to understand what they say and what they mean.

St. Peter in today’s second reading defines you. Listen to those words again.

But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

This is who you are. You have a special dignity before the Lord, but that is not a prize as much as a responsibility. Where does this dignity come from: your baptism and your confirmation.

These are not tools to help you get to Heaven as much as tools to help you to live as Christ has called you. St. Paul describes you as ambassadors for Christ.

You will notice that St. Peter defines whom you are as a royal priesthood. What does that mean? It is a powerful term that indicates the priesthood of the laity.

When you were baptized you receive an anointing that brings you into he priesthood of the laity. That anointing with sacred Chrism which is also used at your confirmation brings you to share the ministry of priest, prophet and king with Our Lord Himself.

That is the priesthood of the laity. The priesthood of the ordained is a call to service of the priesthood of the laity. So you are everything that St. Peter calls you to be. A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. The ordained priesthood has a mission to serve the priesthood of the laity, not the other way around. You have that special role to be that in the world.

This is a time where that really is becoming more relevant.

We are listening to many opinions regarding this current pandemic. Granted we are waiting to open up, but I think that it may have affected how we see the world around us. I know it has with me.

What is most important is the element of fear that surrounds us and people actually afraid of the virus. Others are angry at the way this was handled. We are seeing protests in this state and others where people have angrily demanded that the state open up and others fearful of those events and their effect on the people.

 

One group of experts says we are doing everything right and one group of experts says we are doing everything wrong.

However, we represent the bigger reality the bigger issues the ultimate reality that this pandemic is drawing us to understand.

We can ask many questions of what is true and false of what we hear, of whom we trust and we do not trust. For the record may I say that it seems our state is not as locked down as others people can still enjoy walks while social distancing along the Charles, the Boston Common and the Public Gardens so many including myself are thankful for this.

However, we have a mission to be the chosen representing the Kingdom of God. We have a mission to lead people away from their anxiety and into a sense of peace in Christ even if things are not resolved.

St. Pio of Pietraclina whom most people know as Padre Pio always taught that we should pray, hope and never worry. How can people understand those words if we do not live them ourselves.

People need to know that God is present to them and is always calling them to draw near to him and to understand the call to holiness. How can they hear that message if we do not live that message ourselves.

We hear people scare others by saying that God is punishing his people for their sins and pointing at people who do not have any relationship with God as the target of God’s wrath. But God does not work that way. Even the Book of Revelation shows that God calls us toward him so that we can understand his truth no matter what happens around us. However, how are people going to understand that if we are not living it and teaching it.

I am currently reading Fr. Daniel Moloney’s book on Mercy, Fr. Moloney is a fellow priest ordained for the Archdiocese of Boston and is currently the chaplain at MIT. He makes an interesting teaching. He says the issue of original sin is that unless we are redeemed and healed from it, then we would be miserable in Heaven. That is actually why Jesus came to us, he explains. The effects of original sin separate us from God being able to make us fully human and fully alive. God is calling us to grow in holiness and in doing so we will be joyful in Heaven. The more we understand that, the more we can live it and teach it.

These are the messages people need to hear today in the midst of their trepidation and even bad information that they are hearing in a time of great anxiety and upheaval.

None of us have every been through anything like this and it reflects fear and anxiety in the face of forces bigger than us. There is a lot of fear of political maneuvering which makes it hard to trust the authorities that are acting sincerely. That lack of trust compounds the fear, frustration, anger and more.

Yet, our greatest trust is in Christ and even if we disagree with the authorities, we respect and respond to them knowing that in doing so we are serving Christ. Christ calls us to be a voice of calmness in the face of anxiety. The reason is that we are looking at the bigger picture and trusting a bigger authority that will get us through this and is using this to transform us.

This is all part of our role right now as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

This reading is so apropos for us right now because it is a calling us to live in service to God and our neighbor. It is a service our neighbor needs us to live right now.

One group of experts says we are doing everything right and one group of experts says we are doing everything wrong.

However, we represent the bigger reality the bigger issues the ultimate reality that this pandemic is drawing us to understand.

We can ask many questions of what is true and false of what we hear, of whom we trust and we do not trust. For the record may I say that it seems our state is not as locked down as others people can still enjoy walks while social distancing along the Charles, the Boston Common and the Public Gardens so many including myself are thankful for this.

However, we have a mission to be the chosen representing the Kingdom of God. We have a mission to lead people away from their anxiety and into a sense of peace in Christ even if things are not resolved.

St. Pio of Pietraclina whom most people know as Padre Pio always taught that we should pray, hope and never worry. How can people understand those words if we do not live them ourselves.

People need to know that God is present to them and is always calling them to draw near to him and to understand the call to holiness. How can they hear that message if we do not live that message ourselves.

We hear people scare others by saying that God is punishing his people for their sins and pointing at people who do not have any relationship with God as the target of God’s wrath. But God does not work that way. Even the Book of Revelation shows that God calls us toward him so that we can understand his truth no matter what happens around us. However, how are people going to understand that if we are not living it and teaching it.

I am currently reading Fr. Daniel Moloney’s book on Mercy, Fr. Moloney is a fellow priest ordained for the Archdiocese of Boston and is currently the chaplain at MIT. He makes an interesting teaching. He says the issue of original sin is that unless we are redeemed and healed from it, then we would be miserable in Heaven. That is actually why Jesus came to us, he explains. The effects of original sin separate us from God being able to make us fully human and fully alive. God is calling us to grow in holiness and in doing so we will be joyful in Heaven. The more we understand that, the more we can live it and teach it.

These are the messages people need to hear today in the midst of their trepidation and even bad information that they are hearing in a time of great anxiety and upheaval.

None of us have every been through anything like this and it reflects fear and anxiety in the face of forces bigger than us. There is a lot of fear of political maneuvering which makes it hard to trust the authorities that are acting sincerely. That lack of trust compounds the fear, frustration, anger and more.

Yet, our greatest trust is in Christ and even if we disagree with the authorities, we respect and respond to them knowing that in doing so we are serving Christ. Christ calls us to be a voice of calmness in the face of anxiety. The reason is that we are looking at the bigger picture and trusting a bigger authority that will get us through this and is using this to transform us.

This is all part of our role right now as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

This reading is so apropos for us right now because it is a calling us to live in service to God and our neighbor. It is a service our neighbor needs us to live right now.

The Good Shepherd Shepherds Us

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday and the readings we read reflect Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

When crises like this happen, it is always a good time to reflect on what God may be saying to us through them.  

Meanwhile, I have heard people ask during this time: “ Where is God?”

However, we have to understand that God is bigger than our ability to understand or imagine him.

Jesus reminded us that He is our shepherd. So, if God is with us, then he is shepherding us right now.

How does a shepherd work? He guards the sheep, he knows them and cares for them. So the shepherd cares for his flock. Everything the shepherd does for his flock is to their benefit. However, they may not understand it. This is why the sheep must learn to trust the shepherd.

There are several things that the shepherd will be aware of that the sheep will not. For example, they will be in the pasture but eventually they will have to be moved to another pasture. They do not understand what is happening, it is just that the shepherd is moving them from where they were to a greener pasture, literally. They might have been comfortable there, but the shepherd is in charge. If they fight the shepherd then he will have to move them in such a way that they understand he is the shepherd and they are not. It will not be to force his authority but for the benefit of the flock.

There may be other issues. Maybe a storm is coming and they have to move to shelter. So again the shepherd has to move his flock to shelter even though they may not understand it. Maybe the wolf is in the area and he has to protect the sheep. Whatever is happening, the shepherd is in charge and the sheep have to allow the shepherd to lead them.

 

So at this time, which is so difficult, we have to allow the shepherd to shepherd us. We may not understand this difficult time, but keep in mind nothing happens to us that is not allowed by God. He may not will it to happen, but he allows it to happen.

Maybe you have a child or grandchild that is learning to ride bike. You know that part of learning of falling off the bike. You may not will it to happen, but you allow it to happen or the child will never learn to ride a bike.

The sheep have to learn to trust the shepherd and they will be fine. Even when they are sheered. They lose all their wool for blankets and shirts and other materials. However, if they do not allow the shepherd to do that, then he cannot afford to keep his sheep. So he knows and they have to trust him completely.

During this time, it is essential that we keep focused on the shepherd and we trust in him completely.

That can be quite difficult, especially at this time, but it is also a skill that you are learning.

Let me give you an example. We can go to the one of the most famous natural disasters in New England: The Blizzard of ’78.

I was a student at UMass Boston at the time and my father was writing for the Boston Globe across Morrissey Boulevard. I used to spend hours and hours at the radio station sometimes to late at night. My father calling me from the newsroom warned me that the storm coming was worse than anyone ever saw and I was not to stay late at WUMB. I didn’t. I got home and went to bed. The first thing I heard when I woke up the next morning was Governor Michael Dukakis saying: “Do not go out of your house, it is against the law.” The first word out of my mouth was: “What the heck happened?”

Eventually, everything got cleaned up and we were fine, but my father made an observation. He pointed out that before the storm everyone groaned at the thought of four inches of snow falling to the ground. After the storm we would look at forecasts for a foot of snow and dismiss them as nothing to deal with for we lived through the Blizzard of ‘78.

Take this time as God is training us for many things. He is training us to trust him more. He is training us for other issues coming down the pike which will make this time easier to work with. He may be training us and shepherding us for what is in our future. We do not know. He can see what we cannot. However, trust in the shepherd.

Keep your prayers going and build your devotions. Allow this time to ask the Lord to transform you and to lead you closer to him that you may do his work. Stay close to Jesus as our Good shepherd especially when you are struggling and you do not understand.

We do not know what we will deal with in the future. However, our time here will prepare us for it because our Lord is shepherding us through it.

Remember those words of St. Peter: Cast your cares upon the Lord for he cares for you.

Remember the words that St. Faustina taught us: Jesus I trust in you.

Jesus is shepherding us. Allow yourselves to be shepherded by him and trust.