Corpus Christi Blog

“You have a Mission- if you choose to accept it”. You and I have a Mission, and we don’t have to be Ethan Hunt to accomplish it (for those who don’t know- Ethan Hunt is the character of Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible movies). You and I have a mission, that is possible, but we have to choose to accept it. And it is a mission for each and every person, no matter who a person is. And it is not a mission that you should do, like you should clean your room; nor is it just another thing added to everything else that you’ll never really get around to, but rather this mission will no doubt encompass our entire life, but will also truly give your life meaning, purpose, and joy. This mission has been given to us by the Holy Spirit at our Baptism, and fully if we were Confirmed; and so this mission dwells within us, and is meant to be lived out.

My brothers and sisters, our 1st reading, in fact the entire chapter of Acts chapter 10 is an important chapter for the life of the Church. In this chapter, God reveals to Peter through Cornelius, a Gentile Roman officer- but believer in the God of Israel, that He hears the prayers of those who are not Jews but still believe in Him, and that He wants to pour down his love and salvation upon every human person. The leader of the Church declares, “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him”. Our Gospel teaches what it means to act uprightly, but first let’s look at our 2nd reading which reveals how God shows no partiality towards people, “Everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God…for God is love”. Let that truth sink in for a moment. “Everyone who loves, is begotten by God and knows God…for God is love”.

Today we are given such an insightful Gospel to help us grow in faith and our discipleship. Our Gospel is the well-known analogy Jesus uses to describe who God is, and who we are meant to be in relation. Jesus said to his disciples, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower, and you are the branches”. You and I are the branches, and if we remain in God, and God in us, we will bear much fruit. Jesus goes on in the Gospel to illustrate 2 kinds of branches- branches that bear fruit and those that do not. Today, I will describe these 2 branches, as well as the fruit that grows, and how this growth of fruit is the journey to true discipleship. To help highlight the growth, I will share a true story of a young man named Daniel. So, let us look at ourselves and examine if fruit is or is not growing in our lives, discover what this journey to discipleship really looks like, and reflect on how we still might need to grow.

Today, on this 4th Sun of Easter, like it is every year, our Gospel is a portion of John chapter 10 in which Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd. This is a well-known analogy of Jesus which is given to help us know who He is. But before you think, Oh I’ve heard all about the Good Shepherd, I want us to look at this passage as a chance to measure our lives against the ideal of the Good Shepherd, and challenge ourselves in the areas we fall short. We know that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will never leave or abandon but will always care for and protect us, his flock. Indeed, God, in Christ Jesus, has entered into a covenant with us, his people, and He will never go back on that covenant. Therefore, He sent His Son Jesus, to be the Good Shepherd, who has laid down his life for us, his flock, to save us and bring us back into Communion with Him. God is the Good Shepherd who will never go back on that covenant He has made with us, His people; but this homily will not focus so much on this truth itself, as much as how we, his people, are to relate to that truth. I feel inspired to challenge each of us, including myself, to reflect upon the high standard that we are given in the Good Shepherd. Hopefully, for many, if not all of us, this homily will cause us to take a hard look at ourselves, our lives, and those around us, to be inspired by the Good Shepherd. So, let us ask our Lord to open our mind and heart to what He wants to reveal to you today.

Our Gospel for this Easter Sunday is from Luke, which comes immediately after the appearance of Jesus to the 2 disciples on the Road to Emmaus. If you remember that story, 2 disciples who had been following Jesus when he was alive, now were leaving Jerusalem and going back home after Jesus’ death, saddened because they thought he was the Messiah who would save them. On their journey of 7 miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus, Jesus appeared and walked with them, and while they were walking Luke describes, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted to them all that referred to Him in all the scriptures”. Then when they were sitting down for a meal, “Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them”. And at that, at the breaking of the bread, their eyes were opened and the recognized that it was the Risen Jesus with them all along.

Our 1st reading and Gospel today are such important and impactful events in salvation history, hopefully you know these stories well. Today I want to try and reveal how these 2 important events are tests and a preparation for us in this season of Lent. So, let me jump right into it.

Our Gospel today is Mark’s version of the temptation of Jesus in the desert. You undoubtedly noticed how short Mark’s version is, and in case you zoned out- it’s already over. Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark doesn’t explain each particular temptation and how Jesus overcomes them; instead, Mark simply and succinctly states: The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for 40 days, tempted by Satan. He was among the wild beasts, and the angels administered to him”. So, it is this 1 verse I will preach on, with short tie-ins from the other readings. But before you start getting excited, thinking that because it’s only covering 1 verse then it’ll be a shorter homily- Sorry to get your hopes up, but you have to know me by now, right? This is a short, but such a jam-packed verse, that although I could, I won’t have time to explain the fullness of its meaning in this one homily. But I promise you that I will apply my homily to Lent and our spiritual lives, so hopefully it’ll be well worth your attention and reflection.

Even though it is not a popular belief today or topic in some churches; let me be clear from the beginning- Satan does exist. In fact, one of the tactics of the Devil is to get others to believe he doesn’t exist. For if there is no Evil One, then neither must there be a Holy One. However, there is a devil. Scripture is clear on this point, and calls Satan- the ‘prince of darkness’, ‘the accuser’, the ‘father of lies’, a ‘liar and a thief’. Satan, and all his demons, have one objective- to steal away the life of God in humans and lead to the demise and damnation of every person’s soul. God is the author of life, and Satan does all he can to lead us away from that life- both joy and happiness on this earth as well as eternal life. And so, this battle for our soul is very real and serious, but we need not be overly fearful. Our God is the all-powerful faithful God, and our Church is a protective Church, and our faith, rooted in Scripture, including our Gospel today, instructs us about this battle that is raging for our souls. Let me unpack this Gospel, to enlighten us of its truths and meaning for our lives.

In today’s Gospel, which is the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, we hear Jesus went to Galilee, a fishing village right off of the Sea, and proclaim the Kingdom of God is at hand. And seemingly inexplicably, Jesus calls Simon and Andrew and then John and James, and all 4 of them immediately leave the fish they had caught and their boats, leave their father behind, and immediately and follow Jesus. Seems kind of sudden, don’t you think? Why would anyone, let alone 4 grown men who have a good family and successful jobs drop everything on the spot, and follow this strange man they had just met? Have you ever thought about why?

The last verse in the Gospel of Matthew is the Great Commission of Jesus to his 12 apostles- “Go, and make disciples of every nation”.  In this, Jesus gave the Church our marching orders, our mission.  The very reason and purpose of the Church, and thus of every parish, is to make disciples.  For this reason, a few years ago, if you were part of the parish at that time, I encouraged you all to read the book Forming Intentional Disciples. This book describes where the Church is at, why so many Catholics have fallen away, and describes the steps or thresholds of someone’s journey to discipleship.  If you don’t have a copy, you can check out a copy in the parish library, or read the copy that is left in the Adoration chapel when you’re there. But before we can help make disciples, we have to first know who a disciple is and become one ourselves.

We come to the final week of the Christmas season by celebrating the Epiphany.  Epiphany means appearance or manifestation, and so we celebrate the 3 wise men or magi that followed the star to the Christ child. 

Before we reflect on what this celebration means for us today, it is helpful to have an understanding of who the Magi were and what they were doing.  The magi were the ones who were summoned by the king whenever he wanted advice or to learn about something.  The Magi were literally wise men who were very learned in philosophy and astrology, among other subjects, and so able to read the signs in the stars.  The magi, in general, were Gentiles, or people who did not believe in the one true God of Israel.  However, even though these 3 magi were Gentiles, they still knew the prophecies of the Jewish believers.