Homily
for May 28, 2006 Liturgical Year B - Cycle II 7th
Sunday in Ordinary Time by
Fr. John Carney Topic:
A blessed time for Christians + + +
Have
you ever
wondered what it would be like to live at the time that Jesus lived, to
walk
with him, to look at him and to watch him?If you asked the question, “Wouldn’t it have been great to live
at that
time?”Many would probably say,
“Yes.That would have been great.”The reality is that if we had lived at the
time of Christ, we probably would not have believed in him because most
people did
not.Even the disciples, who did believe
in Christ and followed him, were a flaky bunch.They really were.We are not
talking theologians and heavy thinkers.They were full of problems.Those
first twelve bishops, unlike the excellent, perfect bishops we have
today,
those first twelve…They struggled with
their faith.In fact, you know more
about Christ and the theology of Christ and his methods than Peter did
when
Peter walked this earth.You do,
today.The fact is that we are closer to
Jesus Christ today than the Apostles were when they were with him
before
Pentecost.Pentecost is the big change
and we celebrate that next week.We have
the Holy Spirit.You receive the spirit
of God in Baptism and it was confirmed in you in Confirmation.That Spirit lives in you. We
believe that.Most will receive the Body,
Blood, Soul and
Divinity of Jesus Christ today at this mass.You will eat his body and drink his blood.There
is no more intimate union than
eating.It becomes you.You become him. We
have the New
Testament.The Apostles did not.Many of them helped to write the New
Testament, but they didn’t have it as a reference to help them
understand the
complexities of this age.Paul’s letters
are rich theological treatises that are clearly inspired by the Holy
Sprit.You read his letter for instance,
on the Hebrews, about priesthood or the priesthood of Jesus Christ,
about
covenants. Oh, those letters.That’s why I know you spend so much time each
day reading the New Testament. The
Creed.You know when I travel I usually
don’t
celebrate or co-celebrate the mass with the priest.I sit, you know in what I call the “cheap
seats”, where you are sitting.I prefer
it actually.It’s easier to celebrate
for me, there than here.I can just relax,
pray, and worship God without having to think about what to do next.I am always impressed, and I really feel
emotional when I stand in a community that I do not even know, and we
all say
the Creed together.99% of the people
know the words by heart. I
remember I was in
Hanoi
in a packed church and I mean we were
packed, like sardines.We were all
saying the Creed.I said it in English,
but it was so loud that it didn’t matter.It was just a great moment.That
Creed wasn’t written until 381.The
Apostles didn’t have that Creed.They did
not know what we know.That Creed is a
rich, rich statement of faith.Listen to
yourself today when you proclaim it. In
addition, we
have 2000 years of Spirit discerned understanding of Jesus and his
Church.We have sacred art, sacred
literature, and
sacred music, poetry, beautiful resources that connect ourselves to the
divine
through art.That is why Jesus said
before he ascended into heaven, “It is better that I leave you, that I
go to
the Father, so that I can then send the Spirit.”When
Jesus walked this earth, he was where he
was.Now God is omnipresent, and
wherever the Father is, the Son and the Spirit are but in a personal
way. When
Jesus walked this earth, he was where he was.After he ascended into heaven and sent his spirit, he is
everywhere.He is with you in a personal
way.It is better that he left us so that
he can
come to us.Jesus ascended into heaven,
but he is still with us, just in a different way.We
know that from the Scriptures.He said to
Paul, “Why are you persecuting
me?”Well, Paul was persecuting
Christians.Well, that’s him.He is in the hearts of Christians.He
says, “What you do for the least of my
brothers and sisters, you do for me.”“When
did I see you hungry and give you food?”He is here, just in a different form than when he walked the
earth.God is with us; God is with you,
very close,
very intimate. I
was listening the
other day to a song on my IPOD.I have
an IPOD.I am trying to be cool.Except I’ve got real square music on it, you
know what I mean.I was listening to
Ronan Tynans, the great Irish tenor, and a beautiful song God Is
Watching Us
From a Distance.You hear it a lot
around Christmas.You know that
song?From a distance…You’ve heard that one?I love that
song but it’s terrible
theology.God isn’t watching us from a
distance.He is right in the middle of
this mess.He is in the middle of your
messy life.You know that song says that
from a distance, the Earth is beautiful and everything looks peaceful
but as you
get closer to it it’s a mess and God is kind of looking at it going,
“EEWWW.”He’s there in that earth; he’s
with you, and he’s there in the midst of our lives, in the good times
and bad,
and in sickness and in health.We are
really blessed.I am glad I am living
now, especially in this age. We
live in a
post-Christian era.Vatican II
recognized that.That was the purpose of
the council.Something had changed.It started in the Industrial Age, the Age of
Enlightenment, something.For many
centuries
in western civilization, it was a Christian era.This
is the Post-Christian Era.This is an era
of great opportunity, of great
growth, to relearn our faith.We have
resources today that have never been available before.Just look at how you can study your faith;
with the media we have now, with the Internet, with DVD’s and CD’s.What’s coming next, who knows?Sacred music on your IPOD.We have
all these things today to bring us
closer to the Christ that is already here within us.
"Nothing will separate you from the love of Christ” is what
Paul says in
Romans 8.Nothing.Not
even death.Nothing.God is with you.Not watching you
or judging you from a distance.He is
with you. I
was thinking
about this last Tuesday.I imagined this
conversation between two of the Apostles. Let’s
say Peter and Andrew.I can see Andrew
looking down on us and
saying to Peter.“You know how fortunate
these brothers and sister are.It must
be great living in their time in history.They have the Holy Spirit, the advocate.They have the Sacraments to heal and strengthen them.They have the Bible.They
have a universe of wonderful and holy literature
to inspire and teach them.They have
libraries and museums filled with sacred art.They have Jesus, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity and Holy
Communion.We never had all that.I wonder if they have any idea how blessed
they are?”