May 29, 2023: Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church

The Blessed Mother Mary bore Christ into the world, the Head of the Church.

Christ then entrusted Mary to the church when handing her to the beloved disciple at the Cross.

Mary's fiat reversed the curse of sin brought by the disobedience of Adam and Eve.

And she played an important role at the start of the church, praying with the apostles as they awaited the Holy Spirit.

Five years ago, we first celebrated this feast on the day after Pentecost.

May we rejoice in her intercession so that we grow closer to God as the Church, the Body of Christ.

May 28, 2023: Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday

The first reading starts by stating the time for Pentecost had been fulfilled, just as the Paschal Mystery is at that time.

The Holy Spirit descended powerfully on the disciples gathered in the upper room.  They are enabled to proclaim Jesus as Lord, like the 2nd reading from 1 Corinthians describes.  The Spirit manifests Himself in various ways, as each of them spoke a different language so that those gathered from around the world could understand the proclamation of the mighty works of God.

Indeed, the joy we experienced 7 weeks ago on Easter Sunday we encounter again today because the Risen Christ has breathed His life-giving breath on us so that we become alive in the power of the Holy Spirit.  And as Jesus said to those in that locked room, so He has sent us forth on that mission to continue proclaiming the Paschal Mystery.

10 years ago on Pentecost Sunday, I graduated from Valparaiso University.  During my four years there, I was enlivened with new understandings of faith, and upon graduation, I truly sensed being sent forth to carry out the gift of faith.

Over 100 years ago, St. Joseph's Church was established in Alexandria, VA, in part with funds from St. Mother Katherine Drexel.  She answered the call to use money from her inheritance to start churches and church institutions for African Americans and Native Americans.  And as I saw there at Mass today, the Holy Spirit continues to bear fruit through the efforts of her and so many others.

May 21, 2023: Solemnity of the Ascension Sunday

The Resurrection is a great feast, and the Ascension is another that summons forth more exuberance for another part of the Paschal Mystery.

The Risen Christ entered an even more glorious state when He ascended to Heaven.  Before doing so,  He left His disciples with important words:  They would receive power from the Holy Spirit to fulfill a mission of proclaiming what Christ taught them to all the world.  They would make disciples.  And in the powerful words that end the Gospel according to St. Matthew, He would be with them always.

St. Paul profoundly describes the marvelous work of God when Christ rose from the dead and then went to Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father. And where the Head of the Church has gone, we, as the Body of Christ, will follow.  We join with St. Paul's prayer that God will give us a Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we can faithfully do the work of His mission and on our way to Heaven, experience it now.

My home church of Ascension in Oak Park has a great patronal Feast, especially to inspire us to take up this mission.

May 14, 2023: 6th Sunday of Easter

At the Last Supper, Christ promises to send another Advocate to always be with His disciples, and all His people.  This Advocate, the Holy Spirit, keeps us close to God, so that we are conformed to His ways, living His commandments, including the greatest commandment to love, and we abide in His Love.  Even when the world doesn't see or understand, we acknowledge that God is alive among us through the Spirit.

This Holy Spirit is the power upon us and in us that brings us alive, just as Christ, after suffering for our sake, came alive.  When the people of Samaria, customarily regarded at the time as ostracized from Jews, accepted the word of God, the apostles came to bestow the Holy Spirit upon them.  It makes sense that there was great joy in Samaria because of the Holy Spirit's work.

We continue to experience joy as the Holy Spirit works among us, revealing God's love among us, just as we see it in the way our mothers love and care for us.

With this Holy Spirit, we are aware that we have reason for hope, as St. Peter writes.  We proclaim this hope because it is real in us.

May 7, 2023: 5th Sunday of Easter

God is no longer as mysterious to His people as He once was because Jesus, in John 14, declares Himself "the Way, the Truth, and the Life", with direct access to the Father.

Jesus reveals that God does great works among us, and He continues to make Himself known in doing these works among us.  A great example is in the first reading, when the early Church addressed a controversy of some widows' needs getting neglected.  Men filled with the Holy Spirit were called to meet those needs, serving as the first deacons.

Today, we join with all people of the church as living stones building ourselves into a spiritual house where God's spirit dwells and continues to do even greater works among us.

April 30, 2023: 4th Sunday of Easter/Good Shepherd Sunday

We have a Good Shepherd in Jesus, because He lay down His life for us, and continues to bring us life.

When He faced opposition for what He stood for, He submitted, and His obedience brought us back to the way of righteousness.

Indeed, in another analogy in John 10, Jesus describes Himself as the gate by which the sheep of His flock go on the path that leads to Life.

It is the glorious Gift of Life that rises from the Empty Tomb and comes alive in us.

With so many other voices around to distract us, let us draw close to the Good Shepherd Who knows us so closely, and follow His voice into Eternal Life, opening our hearts to this Life even now.

I am grateful for the many shepherds who followed in the way of Christ to guide me in faith, starting with Father Pacocha, who baptized me on his ordination anniversary.  As I mark the anniversary of my baptism at the end of this month, I have much to celebrate because of the ways Christ has led me through so many people and experiences.

April 25, 2023: Feast of St. Mark, the Evangelist

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the Best News of All.

And the Risen Jesus sent forth His apostles to proclaim this message, as described in the final verse of today's Gospel reading.  Though Jesus ascended to Heaven, He remained with them in the work of proclaiming the Gospel with "accompanying signs".

And God is still at work among us as we do our part to proclaim the Gospel even in our lives with signs that demonstrate He is alive among us and continues the work of redemption in manifesting the Paschal Mystery of Christ's Death and Resurrection.

God is alive, roaring like a lion, as in the Newsboys song.

And I was stirred in the heart to be part of the work of handing on the faith to my students for the past 10 years, and to conclude my tenth year this evening by helping my students encounter God in our time together as we learned about what faith means for us.