Be Not Afraid!

John 20:19-23 (Pentecost, year A)

"Creative Commons Apostles receive the gift of tongues (Acts 2)"is licensed under CC0 1.0

One of my heroes is St. John Paul II. This man, who was Pope during most of the time that I was alive, helped inspire me to follow Jesus more closely and to become a priest. The most important message that I received from Pope John Paul II can be summarized in the short speech that he gave immediately after he was was elected Pope. If you haven’t seen the footage, I suggest you check it out on YouTube. Walking to the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica right after his election, Pope John Paul II addressed the many thousands gathered below in the square with a simple, powerful message: “Do not be afraid!”

The reality is that fear often prevents us from fully engaging in society in order to carry out the mission Jesus has given us. Like the disciples in the Gospel of today, we lock ourselves away from the world out of fear. For the disciples, their fear was of the Jewish authorities. Today, we can often be afraid to even let people know that we are Catholic. We are timid to discuss our faith with others. We are hesitant to offer our opinions on some matters because we do not want to be judged or drawn into arguments. Recently the Catholic Church has taken a beating in the court of public opinion. Many of these wounds are self-inflicted. Because of the terrible actions of some of its members - the sexual abuse scandal is a notable example - the reputation of the Church is greatly tarnished. Many people no longer care to listen to what the Church has to say, arguing that is a backward and outdated institution. Some, like Richard Dawkins, appear on television arguing that the Catholic Church is among the greatest forces of evil in the world. Certainly, there are many who admire and support the Church. That said, we have all probably felt a certain shyness of fear to even admit to others that we are Catholics. Like the disciples in the Gospel of today, we are unable to do the mission Jesus has entrusted to us because we lock ourselves away from society out of fear.

It is through the gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus transforms us completely. Without Jesus, we would forever be locked away. The Gospel of today is the Evangelist John’s depiction of Pentecost. In this, Jesus breathes on the disciples and says “receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. This act of breathing is very significant. It reminds us of of the account of the creation on the first man in which God brought the man to life by breathing into his nostrils. Similarly, by giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus gives His followers new life. Here are two manifestations of this new life:

1. Jesus forms us into a community, the Church. Pentecost is usually considered the Birthday of the Church. Because of the Holy Spirit, we are united into one family from every nation and language. As we saw in the first reading, the disciples went and spoke every language. This is still a reality today.
2. Jesus sends us out on a mission. After giving them the gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus tells His disciples, “as the Father sent me, now I send you”. The Church is meant to continue Jesus’ mission of reconciling the world to God. To do this the disciples must unlock the doors and go boldly into society.

By giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus gives us a new life.

The Holy Spirit gives each of us gifts that are meant to be used in the service of Jesus’ mission and of others. In the second reading, we heard St. Paul describe the Church as a body. A body is made of many parts which are all connected to each other and important to the proper functioning of the body. Likewise, as members of the Church we are part of one body. We are all connected to each other and serve a common mission: as Jesus was sent by the Father, so He sends us. Each of us have been given different gifts. We are not meant to keep these gifts to ourselves. They are meant to be used to carry out this common mission. In addition to Pentecost, today is also Stewardship Sunday. We are reminded today that we are meant to use all our gifts - our time, talents and treasure - in the service of others and the mission Jesus has given us. As the saying goes, “use it or lose it”! We cannot bring these gifts with us after we die! Or, as Pope Francis is found of saying, “there are no pockets in a burial shroud”. God has all given us time, talents and treasure that are meant for the service of others.

The Holy Spirit gives us the courage to fearlessly use our gifts to help further the mission that Jesus has given us. From the first reading, we see that after the apostles received the Holy Spirit, the went out and courageously witnessed to Jesus. Sometimes we think that we are not good, talented or knowledgeable enough to do the mission Jesus gives us. The truth is that we aren't and neither were the disciples. We are weak, but the Holy Spirit will work through us. When Pope Benedict was elected, he explained that he felt afraid and that he was not up to the task. He said, however, that he took comfort from the “fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with insufficient instruments”. For me, an inspiring example of someone using fearlessly using their gifts to further Jesus’ mission is a young Italian religious sister named Sister Cristina. Recently she won the Italian version of “The Voice”, a singing competition. Competing in her religious habit and openly speaking about her faith, she has been a vibrant, compelling witness to Jesus Christ. As one of the heavily tatoo-ed judges named J-Ax remarked when he first heard her sing, "If I had met you during the Mass when I was a child, now I would be Pope. I would surely have attended all of the functions." To this, Sister Christina responded, “well, you have met me now”. The Holy Spirit gives us the courage to overcome our fears and use our gifts to serve others and bring them closer to Jesus.

Pentecost is a day of hope. It is a day to be proud to be called by Jesus to be part of the Church and given a mission. We all have a vital role to play. No one is insignificant or unimportant. Let us not lock ourselves away due to fear. Today let us consciously pray that the Holy Spirit will fill us with the courage to to participate in Jesus’ mission. On Pentecost more than any other day those words of Pope John Paul II should echo deep within our hearts: “be not afraid”!

Boredom is not an option for a Christian

Matthew 28:16-20 (Ascension, year A)

source: commons.wikimedia.org,  Fat Les, RanZag

Without a doubt, my favorite television show is Sherlock. This is an updated take on the story of Sherlock Holmes set in modern day London. Each episode shows the adventures of the amazing and talented detective. If you have seen this show, or even read any of the original stories, you probably noticed something interesting. When Sherlock Holmes is engaged in a mystery, he is a whirlwind of activity. He is completely focused on his mission and fully alive. At those times when Sherlock has no mission, however, he becomes a different person entirely. Without a case, he sinks rapidly into boredom. He becomes despondent and lacks direction completely.

Similar to Sherlock, many of us today are often bored and lacking in vigor because we have no sense of mission in our lives. It seems that this boredom tends to manifest itself in two main ways which I will call “busy bored” and “lifeless bored”. Being “busy bored” is very common, I know I often fall into this category myself. Many times we are running around doing many things. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. How, you ask, could someone who is busy be bored? Boredom sets in because underneath all the business we can feel a general unease and disquiet because we lack a unified goal and direction in our life. We work hard, but what are we working for? We do many things, but why ultimately do we do them? To avoid facing these questions we can just throw ourselves into more activity. These questions struck me pretty hard when I was studying engineering at university. I worked hard and I enjoyed my studies - at least most of the time! Within all my busy-ness, however, a kind of boredom and uneasiness sunk in. What was the ultimate purpose of all this work? I often thought, “there must be more to life than this”. I lacked a sense of mission. The second kind of boredom, “lifeless bored” is what Sherlock suffers from when he is without a case. If you have ever read the books, you will know that when he becomes bored, Sherlock begins to take drugs as an escape from the boredom. Similarly, many people in our culture get into some harmful and questionable activities in order to escape their boredom: drinking, drugs, gossip and prying into other people’s lives, and throwing whole days away playing video games. In our country we are blessed with so many opportunities and resources yet we are often bored. Like Sherlock, for so many of us our lives lack vigour and excitement because we lack a sense of purpose.

We all desire to be part of some great mission. This desire is a part of our DNA. Think about this for a moment.  Who is one living person who you greatly admire for all the good that he or she does in the world? Try to picture this person in your mind. Now, imagine that one day this person contacted you to arrange a meeting. At this meeting, this individual presented to you a bold new plan for changing the world in some positive way. This mission is going to be very challenging and will encounter much resistance. Next, this person you admire surprises you by telling you that they have been watching you for some time and think that you have what it takes to be part of this mission. They offer you a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a member of a team that will be working to bring about real change in the world. If this happened to you, how would you feel? Excited and full of energy? Nervous and afraid? Special and worthwhile? Certainly, we would have strong feelings and this is for just a human being! How would you feel if it was Jesus, someone you admire above all? Maybe it seems unbelievable that He would personally choose us in this way. Each and every one of us desires to be part of some great quest or undertaking.

In reality, Jesus does send us out on the greatest mission. This mission involves nothing less than the transformation of the world. Today we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus when Jesus returns to His Father. He has not, however, left us idle. Jesus hands on to His followers the mission that He Himself initiated in what is often called the great commission:

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

In a word, the great commission calls us to evangelize. Recently, Pope Francis released an incredible document called the Joy of the Gospel in which he strongly reminds us all of this mission. He explains that all followers of Jesus, all disciples, must be missionary disciples. Each of us is meant to go and spread the good news that God has reconciled the world to Himself through the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is our salvation. Pope Francis reminds us that we need to be explicit with this message. We need to draw all people to a relationship with Jesus because in this the human heart finds its deepest joy. There is also a clear social dimension to evangelization. As Pope Francis said: “Mission is at once passion for Jesus and passion for His people”. We are called to impact society, in particular, we must care for the poor. All of us are called to participate in this radical mission, whether we are married, priests, religious or single. Whatever our “day job” is, our ultimate job is to make disciples of all nations and build up the Kingdom of God. Jesus send us out on the greatest and most challenging mission imaginable.

We need to ensure that we personally accept this mission of Jesus. As Catholics, we unfortunately can go our whole lives without embracing this commission of Jesus. When this happens, we end up serving the predominant mission of our society: getting by, keeping busy and trying to live a good life. Personally, I went for a long time without ever really embracing the mission Jesus has given us. I finally did this when I had the opportunity to attend World Youth Day in Cologne at the end of my time in university. I remember clearly the prayer vigil during at which Pope Benedict addressed a crowd of over one million young people late into the night. That evening, he challenged the youth to embrace the radical mission that Jesus has left us all: to go and make disciples of all nations and change the world in doing so. He invited us to be part of a revolution of holiness, which is the only kind of revolution that can bring about true change in the world. That night I felt as though the Pope was speaking straight to me and I wanted more than anything to be part of this mission. In my heart, I embraced this mission from Jesus. I think the World Youth Days have been one of the most transformative series of events in the recent history of the Church. At them countless individuals - both young and old - have personally accepted Jesus’ mission. It is impossible to forget images from the most recent World Youth Day in Brazil where Pope Francis addressed 2 million young people gathered at Copacabana beach with the image of Christ the Redeemer in the background. There again, the Pope echoed the the great commission: go and make disciples of all nations! It is crucial that we personally accept this invitation.

Whenever I watch the show Sherlock, it is sad to see Sherlock Holmes when he is bored. It seems like such a waste of talent. If we are honest, we must admit with sadness that the Church is filled with far too many bored Catholics. This is an incredible waste. We have been given an incredible mission that gives purpose and energy to our lives. Today ask yourself a simply question: have I personally accepted this mission from Jesus? We need to realize that if we are bored as Catholics, we are doing something terribly wrong!

King of the Ring

John 14:15-21 (6th week of Easter, year A)

This past weekend, many youth from the parish participated in an awesome retreat called The King of the Ring. During this retreat, boxing was used as a powerful metaphor for our life as Christians. This metaphor is very accurate. Following Jesus means that we will often have to fight against various opponents. Like a boxer we are also surrounded by a great many people. Some are on our side, cheering for us and giving us advice. At the same time, it is difficult to hear these voices because there are also some in the crowd who are cheering for our opponents. They also try to give us bad advice in an attempt to have us make a false move or give up. Being a Christian is much like being a boxer fighting in a ring.

When we follow Jesus, we will have to fight to love God and keep His commandments. This is the challenge that Jesus gives us in the gospel of today. Though we all need to love God more, in a real way, we all do love God. Though we all are need to follow God’s commandments better, we all are trying to live and love as Jesus did. It would be wonderful of this was an easy thing to do. It would be great if being a Christian could be all rainbows and unicorns all the time, but it isn’t. Trying to follow the commandments is a struggle against various opponents. First, we fight against ourselves. None of us is perfect. We are broken and selfish human beings. Though we often know the right way to act, it can be very difficult to do so. As Jesus said, “the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mt 26:41). Second, we sometimes battle against other people. Conflicts can arise simply because of misunderstandings. Sometimes because of their own woundedness, people will try to hurt us, often to make themselves feel better. Regardless of the reason, these blows hurt. Finally, we fight Satan. The devil is real and will do all he can to keep us from loving God and keeping His commandments. As the saying goes: the struggle is real. This, however, should not surprise us. Jesus Himself was a fighter. He fought for all that was good, true and beautiful. He fought for the weak. He fought to reunite us with God our Father. It should come as no surprise that if we want to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and keep God’s commandments, we will also have to struggle.

In this fight, many voices will try to prevent us from winning. As a boxer in the ring, you are surrounded by a great crowd who all cry out. Many of these voices try to prevent you from loving God and following His commandments. For an activity on the retreat, I had the opportunity to talk with a few youth about this Gospel, in order to brainstorm ideas for this homily. They focused on the fact that in our life as Christians we encounter many voices that hold us back. Some of these voices take the form of negative peer pressure from our friends. Some of these voices we perceive as coming from those closest to us, our own family. Some of these voices come from within our own head. Here is a selection of some of the things the youth heard these voices saying.

You need to get good grades at school. If you don’t you are a failure. Don’t go to Mass today. You are too busy with school and work. If you want to fit in, you need to go to this party where there will be drugs and alcohol. You’re not good enough. You’re not pretty enough. You’re not smart enough. Nobody really likes you.

The youth also described how these voices made them feel. Anxious. Alone. Weighed down. Defeated. In our struggle to love God and follow His commandments, many voices try to prevent us from winning.

In this fight, the Holy Spirit is in our corner, ensuring us of victory. While on retreat, the youth talked about the numerous people that each of us have in our corners like our parents and good friends. Though Jesus does not fight our fights for us, as He explains in the Gospel of today, He has given us the Holy Spirit, who is the strongest support that we have. The Holy Spirit is like like the trainer that each boxer has in his or her corner. The trainer advises the boxer and gives encouragement. The trainer is the most important voice of all to listen to. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Paraclete. The word Paraclete means a number of things such as advocate, counsellor and consoler. In contrast to all the negative voices they hear, the youth explained that the Holy Spirit will say things like this to us.

You are beautiful, good, and God’s beloved son or daughter. You are never alone no matter how lonely you feel. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t succeed at first. Try your best. Life is a journey. God has a great plan for you. Respect and take care of yourself by not giving into the pressure to drink and do drugs. No matter how bad things seem, they will get better. Don’t loose hope.

The youth also described how it made them feel knowing that they had they Holy Spirit in their corner supporting them. Hope. Cared for. Trust. Peace. Loved. The Holy Spirit is the greatest gift from Jesus, He is our greatest support in our battle as followers of Jesus.

In order to ensure ourselves of victory, we need to take some practical steps to ensure that we are able to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Our lives are very busy and noisy. Here are two practical things we can do to ensure that the voice of the Paraclete is not drowned out:

1. Actively seek silence and solitude in order to listen to the Holy Spirit. In a boxing ring, the boxer cannot normally hear the trainer over the noise from the crowd. For this reason, in between rounds, the boxer goes into the corner to be with and listen to the trainer. Likewise the voice of the Holy Spirit is a quiet one. In order to hear what He is saying to us, we need to choose some time each day to be in silence and solitude. Turn off your phone, music and computer. Give the Holy Spirit a chance to be heard. Start with five minutes.
2. Keep a journal of the good things that the Holy Spirit says to you. You can do this during your time of silence and solitude! We have all at times heard the Holy Spirit’s voice of encouragement and love. Sometimes it is in something we read, sometimes through the voice of a friend or other times when in prayer. Unfortunately we tend to forget quickly these good and encouraging things. We focus on the negative voices. To combat this tendency, it can be very powerful to write down in a book the truth the Holy Spirit shows you. Write down all the things you love about yourself. Your talents and good qualities. What makes you a good friend. The values you want to live by. Often write down the blessings that happen in the day. Simple things like a nice conversation with a friend or the time you were able to show kindness to someone. Keep all this in a journal and refer to it often, especially when you are down and feel like giving up.

Our life as followers of Jesus is a battle. Loving God and keeping His commandments is not easy, but it is a something truly worth fighting for. Never give up, especially when you are knocked to the ground. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to help and console us. Today chose to take some steps to ensure you can hear His voice above the crowd. Decide to spend some few minutes each day in silence and solitude to write in a journal all the good and encouraging things that the Holy Spirit has to say to you. With the Paraclete by our side, victory is assured!