Category Archives: Year B

It seems like we always have to make decisions about how we live out our belief in God. We have to make choices about how we act, what we say, and how public do we allow our faith to be. Those choices are pretty easy to make when life is going good, but when any difficulty arises, those choices become more of a challenge for us. Even in the most difficult of times and faced with the most challenging of teachings, we are called to make the decision to be faithful to God.

Our readings today show us two situations in which choices were presented and decisions were made. In the first reading, the Israelites finally arrive in the Promised Land after many years of wandering. One of the first decisions they had to make was whether or not to serve the God who led them through the desert while providing for them and protecting them. It would have been easier to fall back on the religious practices of earlier generations who did not know God, or follow the false gods of the Amorites, neither of which put such a strong demand on their followers. Joshua was unapologetic for his decision, saying “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord,” and the people of Israel agreed.

Like the Israelites, we have the choice whether or not to serve God the Father. Do we serve Him, even that becomes difficult, or do we follow the cultural “gods” of Consumerism, Materialism, Selfishness and Greed? Just as the Israelites could have followed the gods of the Amorites, who owned the land they were living in, we are constantly challenged by our culture to turn away from God and become self-centered, seeking personal fulfillment and pleasure without consideration of the needs of others.

If we do decide to serve God, we also have the choice of how deeply do we want to follow Our Lord, a choice which was presented to the disciples in today’s Gospel. Over the past five weeks, we have been reading from the Gospel of John, hearing Our Lord reveal Himself as the Bread of Life which leads to eternal life. When Jesus proclaimed that they literally had to receive His Body and Blood in order to gain eternal life, the disciples responded, as we see at the beginning of the Gospel passage today, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Many of the disciples couldn’t handle what Jesus was teaching, and no longer followed Him.

How do we respond when we encounter an area of Jesus’ teaching that we don’t understand or find difficult to follow? Our Lord tells us that His words are “Spirit and life,” so we know that everything He says is the Truth that will lead us to eternal life, but that doesn’t mean that following His teachings will be easy to do. We’re not always going to agree with the Church, but we are still called to follow the teachings of Christ passed down to us through His Church.

When we do come across one of those areas of disagreement, the temptation comes to either ignore the teaching, doing our own thing, or to actively fight against it. We see this especially when looking at public figures who claim to be Catholic while publicly promoting something contrary to the moral precepts that the Church proclaims. This is a spiritually dangerous position to be in, as it makes what we think more important to us than what Our Lord has revealed to us. If we submit to this temptation, we are like the disciples who left Jesus when what He was teaching became too hard to accept.

The real struggle of Christian life is to be able to say with St. Peter, “To where shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” It’s easy to say we agree with the Church’s teachings on areas where those around us also agree, but it takes a lot of humility to stand up for those teachings when others might vehemently disagree with the Church’s stance. When we submit to the Church’s teachings, the focus becomes less about ourselves and more about following Our Lord Jesus Christ.

As we encounter those choices in our lives which challenge us when we follow the Church’s teachings, may we be able to say with St. Peter, “We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God,” and make the decision to follow our God, the God of Israel and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Over the past couple of weeks, our readings have focused on the importance of the Eucharist, and this Sunday is no different. We’ve looked at why the Eucharist is important to us, and why it is important to attend Mass on a regular basis, but the readings today focus on another spiritual benefit to the Eucharist: unity with Our Lord and the Holy Spirit.

In the Gospel passage, which is a continuation of the previous Gospel readings from John’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that “whoever eats [His] flesh and drinks [His] blood remains in [Him] and [He] in us.” (Jn 6:56) By receiving Holy Communion, Our Lord enters into us, literally, and becomes part of us. At the same time, we are drawn into union with Him and union with Christians throughout the world, unifying us as members of the Body of Christ.

Through our union with Jesus, we become open to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and become more willing to receive the gifts that are present whenever the Holy Spirit is at work. The first reading today shows us one of those gifts: wisdom. Whenever the Scriptures mention Wisdom as a person, such as in the first reading, it is always referring to the work of the Holy Spirit.

This first reading tells us that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are ours for the taking, much like food at a banquet that we’ve been invited to attend. They’re not being withheld from us, nor do we have to spend large amounts of money to receive them. Instead, every Christian is offered these gifts, but we need to have the humility to ask God for them.

If we do ask for the gift of wisdom from the Holy Spirit, St. Paul tells us that we will have the ability to “live, not as foolish persons but as wise.” (Eph. 5:15) Instead of “continuing in ignorance” of God’s will for our lives, we will “try to understand what is the will of the Lord.” (Eph. 5:17) In other words, we will be more open to seeking those things and actions that are good for us and for those around us, and will set aside those aspects of our lives that are harmful to us and our neighbors.

One aspect of our lives that we will better understand if we seek to be wise instead of foolish is the effect of sin on our lives. We live in a culture that at best minimizes sinfulness, and at worst presents sinful actions and desires as normal or even preferable. If we’re not open to the gift of wisdom from the Holy Spirit, it is extremely difficult to discern what aspects of our culture truly are beneficial to us, and what aspects presented to us as good are actually sinful.

I think there’s almost a pride in our hearts that we think we can come up with different sins than what St. Paul faced nearly 2000 years ago, but as the passage from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians shows, we still struggle with the same sins as they did back then. The one example St. Paul gives us is one that many struggle with today, and often isn’t even looked upon as sinful: getting drunk on alcoholic beverages, such as wine or beer. There are many people who feel that over consumption of alcohol is morally neutral, and may only be a bad idea as it can lead to hangovers and making bad decisions, like driving home while impaired.

St. Paul obviously disagrees that drinking alcohol to excess is morally neutral, so he gives one reason why it’s sinful to get drunk while leaving another reason implied. Implied in his admonition not to drink to excess is the gluttony that goes into consuming enough alcohol that would lead to drunkenness. It is always sinful to engage in gluttony, whether food or drink, as we are called to moderation in all things. Consuming the occasional drink, even one or two a night, can be beneficial for our health and well-being, but consuming alcohol to the point of drunkenness is always gluttony.

Secondly, and more importantly, becoming drunk has the tendency to lower one’s willingness to refrain from other sinful actions. Just as some might be more willing to express their opinions after a few drinks, actions which may be unthinkable when sober become possible or desirable when drunk. We are then more open to committing sins which will affect us long after the effects of the alcohol has worn off.

As we receive Holy Communion, may be drawn more closely into the Body of Christ. May we also be more open to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit at work within us, allowing that wisdom to aid us in avoiding sinful actions.

Over the next couple of weeks, we will be looking at one of the key passages within the Gospels about the Eucharist. This passage, commonly called the Bread of Life discourse, is a long series of acts and teachings by Our Lord proclaiming Himself as the Bread of Life, which we will discuss more in the next couple of weeks.

This week we begin this discourse with the Multiplication of Fish and Loaves. This miracle by Our Lord is foreshadowed in the first reading by the prophet Elisha giving 20 loaves to 100 people. These loaves were not large, like the typical sliced bread that we can buy at the store today. Each loaf would not be enough to fill one person, much less 5. Yet, 20 loaves fed 100 people with food left over. While this anticipates Our Lord’s miracle with the loaves and fish, Our Lord does it on a much grander scale, as He was able to feed 5000 with 12 baskets of leftovers.

By His miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, Our Lord shows us an even greater sign. He is not showing us that He will continue to feed us physically, so that we no longer have to worry about providing physical nourishment for ourselves. Instead, He is showing us that He will feed us spiritually through the Eucharist. We are given spiritual food we need to grow closer to Our Lord in this life, and to prepare for our future life in Heaven with Him.

In the document Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council calls the Mass “the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows.” Our Faith flows from the Eucharist and leads us towards the Eucharist. When we attend Mass and receive the Eucharist on a regular basis, we should be drawn to Our Lord. If we are open to the graces that flow through the Eucharist, we should desire to learn more about Jesus and His teachings, which are passed down to us through the Church.

Just as our physical bodies require regular nourishment in order to grow and survive, so our spiritual life requires nourishment. Humans cannot go more than a few days without water, and won’t last much longer without food. Likewise, our spiritual life needs to be nourished by the Eucharist on a regular basis or it will die. This is why it’s so important to come to Mass every week, every Sunday.

You might have heard someone say that it’s not important to go to Church as long as they find God in their own way. Yes, there are many ways in which we can find God outside of the Church, and we are encouraged to do so, but our spiritual life will be severely weakened if we do not receive Our Lord in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ which is given to us at every Mass as food for our spiritual life. God can feed us through other ways, but the normal way we are spiritually fed is through the Eucharist.

As an analogy, a person could live off a diet of just meat; no bread, cheese, or vegetables. It wouldn’t be the most balanced diet, and would affect their physical health in the long run, but one could survive off of a diet of just meat. In the same way, one could spiritually live off of just personal prayer to God, but his or her spiritual life would not be as strong as the spiritual life of those who both pray and receive the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the nourishment we need to have a full, healthy, and balanced spiritual life.

This nourishment also prepares us for the journey to the next life, as well as the struggles in this life. It is a long-standing tradition within the Church that one receives the Blessed Sacrament on their death bed as Viaticum, food for the journey. The Eucharist gives us the spiritual strength to face death and the judgment that follows. It also prepares us to face with joy the difficulties and struggles that come at us daily as part of existence on Earth.

Today, may we be open to the graces which flood over us every time the Eucharist is celebrated, and may those graces prepare us for our spiritual journey.

A common theme within the Scriptures that we’ve spoken about before is Our Lord’s call to all Christians to proclaim the Good News of salvation that Jesus revealed. We see it repeatedly throughout the Gospels, including today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark. A question that we don’t often think about is “why?” Why would we want to be open about our faith and preach it to others? Why allow our faith to influence our daily lives? Why can’t we live our lives the way we want, so long as we come to Church once a week?

I think many of us feel like the prophet Amos. He just wanted to live a simple life as a shepherd, and had no desire to to be a prophet. He just wanted to be a simple man doing a simple job. God had other plans for his life, and Amos followed God’s plans instead of his own. This doesn’t mean that Amos lived the easy life. On the contrary, things didn’t fall into his lap, and people didn’t run to follow him. In fact, we see in today’s first reading that he was even attacked for his prophecy by a priest, by one who should know better.

When we follow God’s will, life may become more difficult, and we may be attacked for what we say and do. In response, many will say, “No thanks!”, and understandably so. No one wants to seek the difficult path in life. So, again, why would we want to proclaim our faith to the world?

We proclaim our faith, because it is what we were baptized to do. When we were baptized, the priest poured Sacred Chrism on our heads, declaring that Christ was anointed priest, prophet and king. As members of the Body of Christ, the Church, we also share in those roles within the world. Just as Christ was anointed to be a prophet, we also are anointed to be prophets.

As Christians, we do not prophesy the same ways the Old Testament prophets did. They would often go throughout the countryside proclaiming what God revealed to them, confronting those who would ignore God’s call to conversion. A familiar example is Jonah, who walked through Nineveh declaring, “Forty days more, and Nineveh will be destroyed.” We see that as well with Amos in today’s reading, as he got into a confrontation with the priest in Bethel over the prophecy that Amos was proclaiming.

Our role as prophets is to allow our words and actions to proclaim the Gospel. If we live our lives allowing the commandments of Our Lord to shine through us, we will be prophesying to a world that has largely turned away from those commandments. If we are proud of being disciples of Jesus, we will be quick to defend His Church against those who attack Her and misrepresent Her teachings. As prophets, we must always strive for our words and actions to match what Our Lord commands of us, and allow our example to speak for us.

Again, the question arises, “Why would I want to be a prophet for Christ? It sounds like a lot of trouble for little reward.” From an earthly sense, yes that’s true. There is very little earthly reward for being a Christian prophet. You won’t become rich, you probably won’t become famous, and you definitely won’t be the most popular person in the world.

We want to be a prophet of Christ for heavenly rewards and not for earthly ones. St. Paul shows us the great rewards we have already received by becoming members of the Body of Christ. We have been adopted as God’s sons and daughters, and are able to share in the inheritance of eternal life. In a matter of speaking, our lives have been ransomed from the power of death by the shedding of Our Lord’s blood on the Cross. We no longer have to fear death, but can rejoice in the hope of eternal life. Our sins no longer have to weigh us down, but we can receive forgiveness and new hope. We’ve even received the Holy Spirit, which St. Paul tells us “is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption.”

With all these great rewards, why would we not want to proclaim the Good News of salvation?

When you go to a library or bookstore, there’s often a whole section dedicated to self-help books. These books claim to be guides to improving yourself and helping you become more self-sufficient, improving your strengths while reducing or eliminating your weaknesses. If you follow these books, the authors assure you, you’ll be more successful in business, relationships, and any activity you put your mind towards doing. It’s all about you improving yourself so that you’ll be successful in whatever you want to do.

While improving yourself is not a bad thing, as we should always be striving to overcome our faults and failings, today’s readings provide an alternative message to these self-help books. Instead of a message of personal strength, we see examples of personal weakness allowing God’s strength to shine through. Likewise, in the Gospel we see what happens when we put our focus on ourselves and what we know or believe.

Starting with the Gospel, Jesus returns to His home town of Nazareth and is confronted by townspeople about His teaching and healing. Of course, they’ve known Him most of His earthly life, and are quick to bring up who He is and what family He’s from. This is not an uncommon event, especially in small towns. Someone returns home after an extended absence, and everyone starts talking about what this person did in his or her life. This person may have done and seen many great things, but everyone remembers times in that person’s life when he made mistakes or bad decisions. He may be well-known and respected throughout the world, but not always in his home town.

The same thing happened to Jesus. The people of Nazareth thought they knew who Jesus was. After all, some of His family still lived there in town, and they knew that His father, Joseph, was a carpenter. How dare He preach to them, since they thought that He was no better than the rest of them.

Of course, the people of Nazareth didn’t completely know Jesus as well as they thought, but they weren’t open to hearing what He had to say. They had closed off their minds to anything other than their own opinions, and were unwilling to admit that they didn’t know. Instead, as the Gospel tells us, the people “took offense at him.” Because they were so sure they knew who Jesus was that they were upset that He dared try to teach them. He was unable to work many miracles there because the people of Nazareth were unwilling to put any faith in Him.

Of course, being strong-willed was not a new thing at Jesus time. In the first reading, we see the Prophet Ezekiel being sent by God to lead the people of Israel back to Him. Israel had once again begun to ignore God’s promptings and were instead following its own path. Ezekiel’s job was to call Israel back and open their hearts to God so that He could once again bless the nation of Israel.

In this reading, we are given two contrasting ways of responding to God’s call in our lives. First, we see Ezekiel’s openness to God, and see how Ezekiel’s openness allowed God to work through him to reach Israel. On the other hand, we see the stubbornness of Israel, calling them “obstinate of heart”, which prevents God from working through them.

While Ezekiel is sent to the nation of Israel, being obstinate of heart is not only on a community or national level. Each of us can be hard-hearted towards God. In fact, this reading presents us with a choice. Do we come before the Lord weak and open to Him, or do we rely on our own strength and close ourselves off to the Lord?

St. Paul encourages us to come before the Lord in weakness, relying on God’s grace and not on our own strength. As St. Paul tells us, “I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.” God’s power can only work in and through us when we realize that we are weak and powerless before him. If we try to remain self-sufficient and rely on our own power, we close ourselves off from the graces that God wants to bestow on us.

We all want to be self-sufficient and rely on our own strength, but God’s graces can only work within those who are weak enough to accept them. May we come before Him weak and open to His will.

Between the first reading from the book of Job and the Gospel reading from St. Mark, God is shown to us as an all-powerful being. Job is reminded that God alone has the power to control the seas, setting their limits and controlling their waves. Likewise, St. Mark shows Our Lord commanding the stormy seas to be calmed. It would be easy to see God as the deep voice thundering from the Heavens, striking people down with lightning, much like Zeus, the king of the gods in the Greek mythology.

As we see in the second reading, this is not the relationship that our God wants to have with us. St. Paul reminds us that God is a father who loves us so deeply that He protects us from even the power of our own sins. The Father’s love is so strong that He was willing to give His Son, who He loved above all things in Heaven and on Earth, to die for us that we might love Him in return. This is the total self-giving love that God the Father has for us.

Of course, today we are celebrating Fathers’ Day, that day we set aside each year to remember and honor our earthly fathers. It’s good that we do set aside a day for fatherhood, as I think it’s important that we take time to celebrate our fathers. For many of us, this is a day to thank them for the love and commitment which they’ve shown to us throughout our lives.

Celebrating Fathers’ Day is especially important in a culture in which fatherhood is increasingly seen as unnecessary. More and more children are being born out-of-wedlock, and fewer and fewer couples are entering into the marriage covenant, with the children being left with the mother when the relationship breaks apart. I recently heard a statistic that 85% of youths in prison came from single-parent families without a father in their lives. In some places, especially low-income, inner-city neighborhoods, children are seen as the woman’s problem and the father is completely out of their lives.

This is not the example that we are given by our Heavenly Father of what fatherhood should look like. God our Father gives to us a complete and total love, a love that truly desires the best for us, even if we do not understand or agree with what that might look like. In the same way, earthly fathers are challenged to put their families over their own desires and wants. Fathers are called to teach their children, to show them right from wrong, and to give them an example of how to live their lives and treat others with respect. They are challenged to give of themselves so completely that they are even willing to give up their lives to protect and care for their children. This is the total, self-giving love which fathers are called to have for their children, a love which we celebrate today on Fathers’ Day.

This year, we have a second fatherhood which we are asked to remember. On Friday, the feast of the Sacred Heart, Pope Benedict proclaimed the Year for Priests, a year of prayer for priests and celebration of the ministerial priesthood. Like Fathers’ Day for our earthly, physical fathers, we are called during this special year to remember those priests who have truly shown the spiritual fatherhood that is the nature of the priesthood.

While most priests are not fathers by birth, all priests are called to be spiritual fathers, who give the same self-giving love to the people they have been called to serve. The focus of any priest should not be on his needs and desires, but on what is best for the parishioners that he’s called to both serve and lead. Sometimes that service and leadership might lead to making decisions that aren’t popular, but priests are still called to make those decisions on behalf of the parishioners.

Priests are also called to teach and preach the saving love of God and show the example of loving God and loving our neighbors. We’re called to join in celebrating joyful occasions, and to be a source of comfort in times of sorrow. In short, we are called to be fathers. It’s not a coincidence that the spiritual fatherhood and the earthly fatherhood have similar job descriptions. Both draw from the example of God our Father in Heaven.

As we celebrate both Fathers’ Day and the Year for Priests, may we remember and pray for our fathers, both earthly and spiritual, and may those called to be fathers show to their families the self-giving love which God the Father has for all of us.

Edit: fixed grammatical “oops”.

Today we’re celebrating the feast that commemorates the greatest of all mysteries within Christianity, the Most Holy Trinity. This feast always brings up the question “How do you explain the Holy Trinity?” Most of us could probably come up with the traditional formulation “The Trinity is One God, Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” if asked. OK, so we understand that, but what does that really mean? How do you explain what the formula really means?

This is a question that has plagued some of the greatest philosophers and theologians throughout the history of Christianity. Some of the greatest minds have dwelt long and hard on this issue. St. Thomas Aquinas dedicated a large chunk of the Summa Theologica, his master work, on the questions that surround the Trinity. Many people are familiar with St. Patrick’s use of the three-leaf clover to demonstrate the relationship between the Trinity. An image called the Shield of the Trinity explains the relationship within the Trinity by use of a triangle.

While these images and reflections on the Trinity are attempts to help us to better grasp this great mystery, we still have to come to the realization that we are no closer to understanding the Trinity than we were when Jesus commanded His disciples to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” (Mt 28:19) The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that “the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself.” (CCC 234) If we get the Holy Trinity wrong, we get the whole of Christian belief wrong.

Throughout the history of the Church many people, theologians, philosophers, bishops, and priests, have spread false or confusing theories on the Holy Trinity, which caused division and even violence within the Church. Many heresies in the first centuries of the Church were caused by faulty understanding of the Trinity, and more than a few of the early councils of the Church were called to correct these poor theologies. Because of these heresies, the Church has declared specific formulas to express our belief in the Trinity. We proclaim these formulas as we recite the Nicene Creed at every Sunday Mass, but the Church is also aware that these formulations are likely just scratching the surface of what the Trinity truly is. As Christians, we need to trust in the Church’s teachings on the Trinity, as we should trust and follow all that the Magisterium presents as authoritative, even if we don’t understand those teachings completely.

Due to our inability to truly understand what the Trinity really means, any variation on the Church’s teaching on the Trinity usually results in a complete denial of the relationships within the Trinity. Over the past three to four decades, it became fashionable among priests to stop using the names Father, Son and Holy Spirit for the Three Persons of the Trinity. Instead, these priests would use the terms Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, which describe what each person of the Trinity does for us. In place of a description of the relationship between the three persons, the new titles tell us the jobs that they do for us here on Earth.

Some priests even went so far as to use these terms in the Baptismal Rite, going against Our Lord’s command that we heard in today’s Gospel reading. Because these priests refused to baptize as Jesus commanded, they never actually performed the Sacrament of Baptism, but just made an unbaptized baby wet. It also caused a lot of heartache and anger when people were notified that the baptism needed to be performed once again, sometimes after many years. By not following the teachings of the Church, these priests caused great scandal among the faithful members of the Church.

Although we do not totally understand the Holy Trinity, One God in Three Persons, we are called to accept this mystery with deep faith in the revelation of Our Lord Jesus Christ as passed down through the Magisterium of the Church. May we have the faith to believe what we do not truly understand.

I always try to imagine the reaction of the Apostles as Our Lord ascended into Heaven. Were they standing there with their mouths open in amazement, which is why they were staring into the sky even after He disappeared? As they stood there, they were left with a promise that Our Lord, who reigns in the Kingdom of Heaven and opened the way to Heaven for us, will return again to judge us worthy to enter into that kingdom.

At the time of Jesus’ life on Earth, the Jewish people were awaiting a Messiah, a king who would save Israel from the oppressing nations. They thought that this would be an earthly king who would rise up and banish conquering nations from the land of Israel and reunite the tribes. Before Jesus, there were many who claimed to be this Messiah, and some even managed to build a small army before being crushed by the Roman military.

We now know who this Messiah was: Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was not merely an earthly king that established an earthly kingdom for the Israelite people, but a divine king who established a divine kingdom for all peoples of every nation. As we see in the first reading, the Apostles didn’t have the benefit of the hindsight that we now enjoy when they asked if Our Lord would restore the kingdom of Israel. They were still thinking that the Messiah would establish an earthly kingdom, even after seeing Him tortured, crucified, buried, and then being with Him after He rose again.

They did figure it out eventually, as we see from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. He tells us that God “[raised Christ] from the dead and [seated] Him at His right hand in the Heavens”. (Eph. 1:20) Jesus was given the position of authority within the Heavenly kingdom, and was also placed as “head over all things to the church, which is His body”(Eph. 1:22-23), thus establishing the divine kingdom, the Church, over which Our Lord reigns from Heaven. As we recite every week in the Nicene Creed, “he ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Ascension is described as “the definitive entrance of Jesus’ humanity into God’s heavenly domain”. (CCC #665) That complicated sentence simply means that Jesus, who is fully human as well as fully divine, entered into heaven and opened the gates of Heaven to all humanity. Just as a king who was victorious in defending his kingdom might lead his troops in a triumphant parade back into the capital city, Our Lord leads the way into Heaven, showing us that it is possible for humanity to enter into Heaven.

While Jesus led the way to Heaven as the triumphant king, we have the promise of the angels in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles that He will “return again in the same way”. (Acts 1:11) One of the most important tasks of a king was to be the final judge of any legal matter in the kingdom. The king set the laws and also enforced and ruled on them. Our Lord, as head of the Kingdom of Heaven, “will come again to judge the living and the dead”, as we also say in the Nicene Creed. At the end of time, which could be a week from now or could be 1000 years from now, Our Lord will return to Earth and we will experience the final judgment. In this judgment, we will be judged whether or not we are to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and join Our Lord in the joys that come in the presence of God, our Heavenly Father.

Of course, we know that this is not an arbitrary judgment, but rather is a determination whether or not we followed His commandments. Our Lord even tells us before He ascends what we need to do in order to be judged worthy of the Kingdom: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16) Note that merely being baptized isn’t enough, nor is believing in Him without receiving the Sacrament of Baptism. Likewise, this must be an active faith, one that moves us to proclaim the Gospel and to reach out to those in need.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has ascended into Heaven, and now reigns at the right hand with God, our Heavenly Father. When Our Lord returns again for the final judgment, may He find us worthy and lead us triumphantly into the Heavenly Kingdom.

We live in a culture where the word “love” is thrown around very casually, but no one ever thinks about what the word means. When we watch TV shows or movies, the characters are often talking about “being in love” with another character, but is this the same type of love that Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel? Is there something more to the love that he wants us to have for the Father, and the Father has for us?

In the Gospel reading, Jesus says, “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in His love.” (Jn 15:10) For many guys, myself included for some time, we hear the word “love” and get uncomfortable. After all, love is a mushy emotion that real men don’t express publicly, at least that’s what the world tells us.

The popular view of love is that it’s merely an emotion, an attraction between two people who are interested in each other. There’s nothing rational about love, it’s something we can’t control. You just fall into it, and as the high divorce rate in the United States shows, you fall out of it. You can’t even control who you fall in love with, thus the debates over same-sex marriage. If two men or two women are “in love”, meaning have this chemical and emotional attraction for each other, they should be able to get married and live together as spouses. At least that’s what the popular culture is telling us.

This is not the meaning of love that Jesus is inviting us to enter into. As English speakers, we have the distinct disadvantage of a terribly imprecise language. Unlike many other languages, many English words can have lots of different meanings, and the word “love” is no exception to this rule. By commanding us to love our neighbors, Our Lord is asking us to have a true and active “concern for the well-being of others.” (Dictionary.com) This concern is not an emotion, like the feelings we might get when we hear about a death in a friend’s family. Instead, the concern that we are asked to show to our neighbor is a conscious choice to give of ourselves totally for the well-being of all we meet. The love that Our Lord commands of us is a conscious choice whether or not to have concern for the well-being of our brothers and sisters in the world.

While it might seem like enough to merely be concerned about those in need and maybe do something about it, Our Lord gives us the ultimate example of how this love should look. He challenges us, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13) This is the ultimate challenge, and the ultimate expression of true concern for well-being.

This total self-giving is the love that God shows for us. St. John tells us in the second reading, “In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.” (1 Jn 4:9) God is so concerned for our well-being that He was willing to send His own Son to us and allowed Him to die on the Cross to atone for our sins. This is what it truly means to love one another, to wish the well-being of others over ourselves.

This love for our neighbor is not something that we should limit to just those we like, or those who we might agree with. We are called to love all without partiality, as St. Peter describes the love of God in the first reading. This doesn’t mean that we will agree with everyone, nor does it mean that we’ll particularly like everyone, but we are still called to have this love, this concern for their well-being, for all.

Without St. Peter’s new understanding of God’s love that occurred at Cornelius’ house, it’s possible that we would not be Christians today. At first, the early Christians believed that Jesus came only as the savior of the Jewish people. Through God’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Cornelius and his companions, the Church quickly realized that Our Lord came to save all people and nations. Thus we can now receive the graces of salvation, regardless of ancestry.

God has shown us how to love through the death and resurrection of His Son. We need to take that example and pass on that love, that concern for others’ well-being, to the whole world.

Whenever we hear of Our Lord or the Blessed Virgin Mary speaking to someone, it’s never those who are in high position. It’s never the brilliant theologian who can teach on any subject under the sun. Nor is it the bishop who is held in high regard because of his position within the Church. No, those who have received the grace of legitimate private revelation from Our Lord are without exception those who are very humble.

The feast we’re celebrating today came from one such revelation. During the 1930’s, Our Lord revealed to Sr. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun, what we have come to know as the Divine Mercy. St. Faustina, canonized in the year 2000, came from a very humble background, and had received very little education. For this reason, she didn’t hold a lofty position within her convent, but spent her time as cook and gardener. It was to this humble religious sister that Our Lord chose to express the depth of His Divine Mercy.

Out of these revelations have come two devotions which I think many Catholics are familiar with. First is the image of Divine Mercy, a painting of Jesus with one hand touching His heart and the other raised in a blessing. From His heart are two rays, one red and the other white. In her diary, St. Faustina writes that Jesus explained that “the pale ray stands for the water which makes souls righteous.” These waters are the waters of baptism, by which all of us have entered into the merciful embrace of the Church. Our Lord continues to explain that “The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls.” We receive this Blood when we receive the Eucharist. By this explanation, Our Lord shows us that we receive His Divine Mercy through our baptism and reception of the Blessed Sacrament in the Eucharist. (thedivinemercy.org)

The other devotion that many are familiar with, especially since many parishes have regular opportunities for communal recitation of this prayer, is the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Through this Chaplet, we extend the offering of the Eucharist, the offering of Our Lord’s Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in intercession for the whole world. It’s a very simple devotion, prayed using a Rosary, but has great power. Our Lord promised that those who “recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death.” Likewise, Our Lord promised that he will intercede on the behalf of someone who is dying if we pray the Chaplet in their presence. This is a devotion which all Catholics should be encouraged to pray on a regular basis. It is especially encouraged to be prayed at 3:00 PM, the “Hour of Great Mercy” during which Our Lord died on the Cross. (thedivinemercy.org)

This promise of Divine Mercy by Our Lord is not just mercy for us at the hour of our deaths, but is also an admonition to extend that mercy to others through the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. As Jesus tells the disciples in today’s Gospel passage, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (Jn 20:21) Our Lord was sent to earth to bring the mercy of God to His people, and He now sends us to do the same. The Catechism of the Catholic Church lists the Corporal Works of Mercy as “feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead.” Likewise, the Spiritual Works of Mercy are instructing, advising, consoling, comforting […] forgiving, and bearing wrongs patiently.” Of course, prayer for the living and the dead is a vital Spiritual Work of Mercy. (CCC 2447) Through these works of mercy, we share with our neighbors the mercy which Our Lord has given to us. Our Lord sums this up by giving us three ways of practicing mercy to our neighbor: by deed, by word, and by prayer.

Lest we think we can get away without these works of mercy, He warns us that if we do not share His mercy, we will not receive that mercy on the day of judgment. This is a very stern warning by Our Lord, and one that we need to pay close attention. To repeat Our Lord’s words, “If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment.” (thedivinemercy.org)

On this feast of Divine Mercy, may we allow His mercy to come upon us and allow us to be sent as He sent His disciples.