Homily - First Communion 20170521 (wriiten; not delivered)

This weekend, we celebrate with these young people something very new to them.  Something very precious to them.  When we are young, we have a sense of wonder and awe.  As a young person watches mom and dad or older brothers and sisters approach the priest or extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, don’t they often marvel at all of us receiving what appears to be bread and wine.

Over the years, I get a smile on my face each time I see a youngster who walks beside mom or dad in the communion line and they reach for the communion host.  And, they really want it.  I doubt that most have a clear idea of what it is that we are receiving.  Or, let me correct myself, I doubt that the youngster understands “who” we are receiving.  But they want!  Why do they want?  Because they see us receiving and isn’t it human to want what others receive?

So, I turn my words for a moment to these young people who will approach the Lord’s table for the first time today to receive.

Kids, can you tell all these adults around you who it is who you will receive in the Eucharist for the first time in a few minutes?  (Wait)...  Who is He?  (JESUS!!!!)  And, what have you felt in the weeks leading up to now as you waited for your turn to receive Jesus?  (Nervous, anxious, envious)!

My friends, these children do know WHO they seek to receive and they are filled with wonder and awe at the very idea of receiving GOD into themselves through the gifts He gives to us.  They have journeyed through formation classes to better understand these special gifts.  They may have heard why Jesus chose bread and wine as the elements for this Eucharistic celebration.

Bread because of the process it goes through to become what it is.  We don’t just say poof and there’s bread.  No we take wheat that is dried (the stalk is dead).  We grind it up (it is broken).

And the wine?  Wine typically comes from grapes.  But what must happen to these grapes before we have wine?  That’s right, they must be stomped or smashed to collect the sweet juice from the fruit.

But these aren’t just simple symbols for us, are they?  Please, all of you, at this very moment.  Think of what we are about to do.  Do you “know”, do you “believe” that what still appears to be bread and wine, are really and truly changed?  Do you believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist we share?  Do you?

When we each approach in the communion line, we are presented with a gift and a statement is presented to us…”The Body of Christ”...and we make a decision in that moment!  We decide that we truly believe in the Real Presence of Christ in that small wafer.  And we say “Amen”.  Amen...I believe.  OR, do we simply go through the motions and walk up in the line because everyone else does?

And then a second statement is offered to us…”The Blood of Christ”...Again, we make a decision, a decision that, like the first, makes all the difference in the world.  We say “Amen”.  Amen, I believe.

I said at the beginning, that children are filled with wonder and awe.  And, as they prepare for their First Communion, they WANT Him.

Do you WANT Him?  Do you NEED Him?

Or is this some game, some obligation?

Whether today is your First Communion or if you have received His Body and His Blood for many years, I pray that you will again be filled with wonder and awe.  That you might tremble with excitement and anticipation as you prepare to receive the Word made flesh into your self.  This Word which created the entire world and This Word who saved this world through giving Himself up on the Cross.
My friends, we are all children.  Children of a loving God!  Oh, that we might be like our Jewish brothers and sisters who are in such awe of our Creator that they will not speak His name.  As you approach the Eucharist today, I wonder if any of you might be filled with that wonder and awe from when you first received!  I wonder if any of you might be moved to tears as you realize the great gift which Christ and His Church give to you today in His Body and His Blood!

After you receive Him today, please quietly return to your pew and spend a few minutes with Christ.  Christ within you!  Allow Him to permeate every cell of your body.  Your “Amen” changes everything!  Jesus Christ changes everything!

Homily 13Sun of OT Yr A - Baptized into Christ's Death

In case you're interested, below is my homily from this weekend (13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A)

When you walked into the Church this morning, you probably dipped your fingers into the waters of the Baptismal font.  Do we do this so much out of habit that we forget?  Maybe, you still have the drops of water on your shirt or blouse!

Do you ever think of the babies and young children who were just baptized in the last week and months at this very font?  Do you think of the newly baptized who came into the Church this past Easter?  It wasn’t but 2 months ago or so!

We make such a spectacle, and I don’t mean it’s a bad thing, but we make a big deal around the celebrations of Baptism and the other Sacraments.  But, do we remember?  Do you and I treasure the graces that we receive and that other members of our Church family receive at this font and in this Church?

St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “Are you not aware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death”?

Does going to Church make a difference in your life?  Or, is it still making a difference in your life?  When you fall down in sinful ways, does your faith and your baptism help you to rise again?  Have you taken the Bible in your hands recently and allowed God to form your heart by His Word?

St. Paul knew his Jewish faith well as a Pharisee!  He knew his scriptures and practiced his faith so well that he was willing to defend his faith against what he believed was blasphemy!

He killed early Christians to protect the faith he knew.  But he was wrong!  And, Christ knocked him down and rebuilt him.

St. Paul, who wrote to the Romans, “We were indeed buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, by the glory of the Father, we too might live in the newness of life,” he was himself raised from the death of hatred and misunderstanding of God’s plan.

St. Paul, in the newness of his own life after baptism, spread the Gospel and helped others and he helps us to know Christ through his letters to the early Church communities.

As you reflect on how your life might be influenced by today’s society of social media, music, pornography, gossip, and more, know that you need to die to the ways of the world and rise again.  I encourage you to open your Bible to Paul’s letters during Ordinary Time this summer and into the fall to learn what St. Paul wants to share with you about the life of Christ.

In all the wonders of this world and amongst the entertainment and distractions, have you and I allowed these things to change us?  We are formed by all that we read, we are formed by all that we see, and we are formed by all that we experience.  For better or for worse!

Can you, like St. Paul did throughout his life, look at how you are experiencing life and see where Christ is working and where you might need to allow Him to work?  Or, do you have it all figured out?  Do you recognize sin in your life?  Are you willing to call sin SIN and offer it up to Him?

If you are like me and often get caught in the routine of life and even in the Church don’t live in the moment of the beauty of each action, each symbol, each word, might you be willing to focus today as you go out into the world!

Like Christ, we have died through the waters of Baptism!  And, like Christ we have risen.  Let us not take our Faith for granted, let us not take our community for granted, rather let us invest our whole selves into our families, our faith community and our roles in this society!  “So that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, by the glory of the Father, we too might live in the newness of life”.   Amen.