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!

Jesus, the answer is always Jesus!

John 14:1-12 (5th Sunday of Easter, year A)

 Late Roman Empire apsidal mosaic from the Church of Santa Pudenziana, Rome

Before they die, a leader will often give to their followers their Last Will and Testament, in which they give one final teaching or last set of instructions.  For example, St. Pope John Paul II wrote a Last Will and Testament that was published after his death. This document was quoted in newspapers around the world. For good reason, people tend to pay close attention to the Last Will and Testament of famous leaders. In such a speech or document, leaders gets one final opportunity to leave some “last words” with their followers. They tend to make these words count!

We should pay close attention to the Gospel of today because it is part of Jesus’ Last Will and Testament. The Gospel passage that we just heard is from a section of the Gospel of John that is usually called the Farewell Discourse. This section comes right after Jesus has washed the feet of His disciples at the Last Supper and right before He begins His Passion. It is the last opportunity that Jesus has to speak with His followers. In the Farewell Discourse, of which we heard only the first part today, Jesus does three things:

1. Offers consolation. Prior to his death, Jesus wants to comfort his followers by making sure that they will be taken care of. He wants them to ensure that their “hearts are not troubled”.
2. Sum up the purpose of His life and teaching. Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus is clear about His mission: He has been sent by the Father to reunite us with the Father and make us His sons and daughters. Jesus does this both by revealing the Father to us by His words and actions and by His Passion death and resurrection. Jesus is clear that He and He alone can perform this vital mission.
3. Appoints a successor. Because He will soon be returning to His Father, Jesus will no longer be present to His disciples in the same way. Jesus however, will not abandon them. He explains that He will send a successor to be present and guide all His followers. This successor is the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit.

These are the important points that Jesus makes throughout His Last Will and Testament.

The farewell discourse of Christ should fill us with peace and consolation.  A portion of today’s Gospel should should very familiar because it is often read at funerals. This is the part when Jesus explains to His followers that there are many rooms in His Father’s house. Whenever I hear this, I am struck by how personal this message is. Imagine that you have been away from your family for years. Perhaps you were working abroad or studying in some foreign country. Finally the moment has arrived for you to return home. After your plane lands at YVR, you take a cab back to your family home. When you arrive at the house, you see your loved ones waiting for you at the front door. You leave the cab and embrace them. Eventually you are shown inside the house to a room that has been lovingly prepared just for you. If this happened to you, would you not feel special? Would you not feel peace and consolation? Jesus’ words are meant to make us feel this way. He wants us to know that we are taken care of not just now, but for all eternity. Jesus has prepared a room has lovingly been prepared just for each one of us.

In His Last Will and Testament, Jesus makes us clear that He and only He can prepare this place for us in the Father’s house. I really enjoy visiting students in the school or in catechism class. Sometimes I ask the student some questions. Regardless of the the question, students invariably give the same answer each time: Jesus! They think that this is always the correct answer. With respect to this Gospel, the students would be right. Jesus tells His followers that He is the way, the truth and the life. We need to remember that Jesus is not saying that He is a way, a truth and a life. No, what Jesus is saying is very provocative and very challenging. He is the way, the truth and the life. With this He affirms the thinking of those students.  It is as though He is saying, “the answer is Jesus, it is always Jesus!” What does it mean that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life? By telling us this, Jesus reminds us that of a few things:

• Because He is the way, everyone who goes to heaven goes there because of Jesus. Anyone who is reunited with God, regardless of when they lived or what religion they professed is reunited because of Jesus, whether they believe in Him or not.
• Because Jesus is the truth, He alone fully reveals who God is and how we should live as human beings. Certainly we can find truth in other religions and philosophies, but the fullness of this truth is only found wholly in Jesus.
• Because He is the life, all human beings benefit from being in a relationship with Jesus Christ. He alone can fill the human heart.

Jesus is very clear in His farewell discourse that He and He only prepares a place for us in the Father’s house.

We need the courage to hold fast to this message and not water it down.  Jesus’ statement that He is the way, the truth and the life was incredibly provocative and controversial when He said it. It is no less radical today. In our western culture it is considered rude at best and hateful at worst to claim that there is one truth that is applicable to all people. In the name of tolerance, we are told that all truths are relative. In this way of thinking, though I could say that it is true and right for me personally to follow Jesus and His way, I could never say that that is true and right for all people. Inconveniently, however, Jesus says just that! Now, I am not suggesting that we shove our beliefs down other people’s throats. It is helpful to remember the words of St. John Paul II:

We must make clear to all our brothers and sisters that the Church imposes nothing; she only proposes.

The Church imposes nothing, but she proposes everything. We need to make sure that we propose to others what Jesus wants us to propose. This is hard for me. When I am speaking with friends who are not Christian it is easier for me to say that I try to put Jesus at the center of my life and this makes me happy. It is a lot harder to say that I believe that it is best if they too try to put Jesus at the center of their lives. It is not easy to propose to others that they will be happier and live a better life if they are in a relationship with Jesus and follow the way of life He showed us. It is hard but that is the message Jesus has left us. It takes courage to hold fast to this message and not water it down.

The Last Will and Testament of someone is a very special and even sacred thing. We pay close attention to the last words of someone. We respect them and would never want to change them. In His farewell discourse Jesus fills us with consolation in knowing that we are taken care of. At the same time, He leaves us with an incredible challenging message: I am the way, the truth and the life. Let us respect the Last Will and Testament of Jesus by holding fast to this message and ask for the courage to propose this message to those we encounter. Or in the words of those students: Jesus! The answer is always Jesus!

Easter: an unopened gift?

John 10:1-10 (4th Sunday of Easter, Year A)

Jesus as the Good Shepherd, S. Callisto catacomb, 3rd century

What happens if someone gives you a gift and you never unwrap it? Obviously you would never get to enjoy the gift. It would never really become a part of your life and would just sit on the shelf unused. Year after year during the Easter season we celebrate the greatest gift we have been given: the new life we have received from Jesus. Do we, however, truly experience this new life? As the years go by, do we experience the peace that should come with this gift of new life from Jesus? To be honest, I often do not experience this peace. I do not think I am alone. Perhaps it is because we do not truly open and use the gift Christ has given us. Oftentimes it sits on our shelves, unopened and unused.

We cannot experience the new life Jesus won for us by His death and Resurrection without our participation. Jesus does not simply wave a magic wand over us and we instantly feel and peace. We need to do something. This point is illustrated by two images for Jesus that we find in the Gospel of the day. 

1. Jesus, the Good Shepherd. This is an image we are more familiar with. If we were to continue reading on in this chapter from John, we would read about how Jesus is a shepherd who gives life to His sheep through His own death. 
2. Jesus, the Gate. This is an image we are less familiar with. Jesus describes Himself as the gate of the sheepfold. Why a gate? When we think about it, the image makes a lot of sense. Imagine that we are trying to enter a beautiful, lush pasture that is gated all around the perimeter. The only way that we can enter into such a pasture is through the gate. Jesus is the gate that leads to the pastures of new life, both now and for eternity. What this image draws out is the fact that though Jesus has opened for us the way to salvation and new life, we personally have to walk through the gate. 

Jesus has given us the gift of new life, but we need to open this gift, we need to do something in order to experience it.

We pass through this gate and experience the new life Jesus has won for us by responding to our vocation. Before the Second Vatican Council, many Catholics thought that the only people who had a vocation were priests and nuns. This way of thinking is still out there. For example, when I was at the seminary and someone made the decision to leave the seminary, people would sometimes say that this individual “lost his vocation”. The Second Vatican Council, in the document called Lumen Gentium, affirmed that each and every baptized Christian has a vocation. In fact, we all have the same vocation: holiness. The primary calling of each of us is to be holy, which means to live like Jesus did. It is by becoming holy that we truly experience the new life that Jesus has given us. This fundamental vocation of holiness is lived in different ways. These different paths towards holiness are what we usually think of when we think of vocations: married life, priesthood, religious life and the single life. This weekend we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. It is a great time to remind ourselves that for each of us our primary vocation is to be holy. We also want to pray in a special way that young people in particular will be able to discover the special path that God is showing them to become holy, whether it be a call to the priesthood, married life, religious life or single life. In our baptism we have all been given a vocation and it is by accepting and living this vocation that we pass through Jesus, the true gate, to experience the fullness of life.

We respond to our call to holiness by laying down our lives for others in imitation of Jesus. Jesus laid down His life for us in a total and absolute way by dying for us on the cross. Though we probably are not asked to literally die for others, each of us is called to lay down our lives for our neighbors in a very concrete way through service. Recently, I saw a short video that became very famous online called Interview for the World's Toughest Job. In this video, someone made up a fake job and advertised it online and in newspapers. A number of people, believing that it was a real job, applied for the position and real interviews for the job were held. The video is a compilation of a few of these interviews. During this interview, the applicants were gradually told the expectations and requirements of this job:

• must serve a client who can be very demanding and offer little thanks
• must possess a large number of skills and talents in order to serve client
• there are few, if any breaks while working
• expected to serve their client 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• this job pays absolutely nothing

Each of the people being interviewed responded that the job description sounded inhumane. Some asked if it was even legal. The man doing the interview then revealed that millions upon millions of people actually do this, the world’s toughest job everyday: moms! This weekend, we celebrate Mother’s Day. We want to give thanks to our mother’s for the great love and service they have shown us. Motherhood is a striking example of how people, in imitation of Jesus, concretely lay down their lives in service of others out of love.

When we serve other people, we experience true peace. Service is the way that we unwrap the gift that Jesus has won for us by His death and Resurrection. Service is the path through which we enter Jesus the gate. In order to be an authentic, sustained way of life, this service must be motivated by the faith and love that comes from encountering God. Blessed Mother Teresa, someone who was known around the world for her faith, love and service, formulated the following saying:

The fruit of silence is prayer,

the fruit of prayer is faith, 

the fruit of faith is love, 

the fruit of love is service, 

the fruit of service is peace.

I find this saying very helpful. When we do not experience fully the gift of new life that Jesus gives us at Easter, we can use it as a type of diagnostic tool. Are you not feeling peace? If so, ask yourself if you are serving others. Are you unable to serve your neighbor? If so, ask yourself if you feel love for them. If you feel no love for those around you ask yourself if you have faith. If your faith is weak, check on your prayer life. If you are struggling in your prayer life, take time for silence so that you can rekindle an encounter with God. Today let us test ourselves. Where in this prayer from Mother Teresa are we getting blocked? What can you do about it? Let us unwrap the gift of new life we receive from Jesus. Don’t put it on the shelf, unused and ignored.

You are what you eat

This weekend many children received their First Holy Communion at our parish. Here's my homily for the occasion.

Jesus with the Eucharist, Juan de Juanes, 1579

In 1975, Bishop Nguyen Van Thuan was arrested by the communist, Vietnamese government and imprisoned in a “reeducation camp”. In total, Bishop Van Thuan spent thirteen years in prison, nine of which were spent in solitary confinement.  While in prison, his captures allowed him to write to his friends on the outside to send him an extremely limited number of bare necessities. Can you guess what was on the top of his list of requests? Wine - which he claimed was to be used as stomach medicine - and small, communion hosts. When he finally received the wine and hosts, Bishop Van Thuan was able to celebrate Mass for himself and for his fellow prisoners. He would celebrate Mass from memory because he had no Missal. As he had no chalice, he would place three drops of wine and one drop of water into the palm of his hand. He would later write that celebrating Mass and being able to have Jesus present among them in the Eucharist and to receive His Body and Blood was their greatest source of strength and hope. From personal experience, Bishop Van Thuan understood that the Eucharist is the greatest gift that God has given us. As St. John Vianney wrote about the Eucharist:

God would have given us something greater if He had something greater than Himself to give.

Bishop Van Thuan and his fellow prisoners recognized that the Eucharist transformed them. They discovered that by receiving the Eucharist, they were changed to become more like Him who they received. Now, we have probably all heard the expression “you are what you eat”. If we eat healthy food, for example, we will be healthy. If, on the other hand, I were to eat only chips all day, then I would become quite unhealthy. This rule applies to the Eucharist. Nearly 750 years ago, St. Thomas Aquinas explained it this way:

The actual effect of the Eucharist is the transformation of man into God.

Bishop Van Thuan and his fellow prisoners learned firsthand that receiving the Eucharist changed them to become more like Jesus. They became more like Jesus both as individuals and as a group.

1. Individually they found that they became more like Jesus. Imitating Jesus in His Passion, they were better able to cope with their sufferings in prison, infusing them with patience and a sense of purpose. As well, they were given the strength to look beyond their personal suffering and serve others in the prison. The same thing should happen to us. Receiving the Eucharist should change us, gradually but really and truly, to become more like Jesus.
2. Collectively they grew together in unity. When we receive the Eucharist, we believe that we become - all of us together - the Body of Christ. Receiving the Eucharist should make us a stronger and more united community.

We are privileged to receive the Eucharist weekly and even daily, if we choose. Unlike Bishop Van Thuan, we can do this freely and with comparative ease. We need to be careful that our ready access to this gift does not allow us to lose sight of its true value. Today, as so many among us will receive Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time, let us give thanks for this great gift. Perhaps those of us who have been receiving the Eucharist for many years can use this opportunity to ask ourselves if we are really becoming Him who we receive in the Eucharist. Over our years of receiving the Eucharist, have we changed to become more like Jesus in the way we act? Has receiving the Eucharist strengthened our parish community so that we truly are one body, unity in love? This won’t happen without our cooperation. Let us strive more and more to truly become what we eat.

Frozen and Easter: acts of true love

Act 10:34-43; Jn 20:1-9 (Easter Sunday, Year A)

The Resurrection, El Greco, 1600

One of the most popular movies of this past year was the animated movie Frozen, which tells the story of two sisters, Anna and Elsa, who has the power to create ice and snow. One day, the two sisters had an argument and Elsa accidentally froze the heart of her sister Anna. We soon learn that Anna can only have her heart unfrozen - and her life saved - by an act of true love. What could this act of true love be? At first Anna thinks that her heart will be thawed by a kiss from her fiance, Hans. This plan, sadly, is unsuccessful and Anna slowly becomes more and more frozen. Things seem hopeless for Anna. In anger, Hans seeks out Elsa, confronts her in a fit of rage, and is just about to strike her down with his sword. At this moment, Anna arrives on the scene and saves her sister, Elsa, by putting herself in the path of Hans’ sword just as she herself becomes completely frozen. The sword of Hans simply bounces off the now-frozen Anna. Suddenly though, Anna began to un-thaw. In sacrificing herself to save her sister’s life, she had performed an act of true love. I think that what makes the movie so compelling is that its plot of fall, suffering, redemption and new life, mirrors that of the Easter story. Frozen points a lesson that Easter presents fully. It is a lesson about the nature and effects of true love.

From Easter we learn the real meaning of love. Love is perhaps one of the most misused words in the English language. For example, one moment I can tell my mother I love her, then in the next breath I can say how much I love cake. What is love? Is it a feeling or something more? Where can we go to find an answer? For Christians we believe that we discover the true meaning of love by going straight to the source: God. Remember in the letter of St. John we find this incredible definition for God: God is love. It is not just that God is loving. God is love itself. In order to love, then, we need to act and become like God is. We learn who God is, and therefore what true love is, from Jesus Christ. By His words and example, Jesus taught us that true love is laying down your life for another. True love means sacrificing yourself for the sake of others. When Anna sacrifices her life to save her sister, Elsa, she is showing true love. A mother or father who wakes up in the middle of the night to care for their baby, at the cost of their own sleep, is showing true love. A student who gives up their lunch break to help a friend with their schoolwork is showing true love. Jesus hanging on the Cross is the ultimate icon of true love.

Easter teaches us the effects of true love: goodness and life. When love is true, it creates goodness in others. Normally, when we love people it is because of some good qualities we perceive in them. For example, perhaps you love your friend because they have a good personality. You love this good quality about them, but you did not create this goodness. When Jesus, loves, however, He creates goodness in others. In the first reading we find that those who are loved by Jesus become better people as “He went about doing good”. He loves goodness into those He came in contact with. More than this, when Jesus loves, His love creates life, which is the highest goodness of all. This is what the Resurrection is all about. On Good Friday Jesus performed the greatest act of true love by suffering and dying for us. But this was not the end of the story. Jesus’ act of true, sacrificial love, broke the bonds of death and gave life to Himself and to all of us. In the Gospel, Mary Magdalene, Peter and the beloved disciple discover the empty tomb and finally “understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead”. Jesus’ ultimate act of love could not be contained by the tomb and death. In the movie Frozen, we see this principle reflected. Anna’s act of true love brings life and goodness. In sacrificing herself to save her sister, Anna brought life to herself. In addition, Anna’s love for her sister makes Elsa a better person. When you see the movie you notice that after Anna’s act of love, Elsa becomes a kinder and more loving person herself. In addition to teaching us what love truly is, the Easter story teaches us that true love creates goodness and life.

Easter gives us a very simple way to test the quality of our love. Since being ordained a deacon and later a priest, I have had the opportunity to meet with a number of couples preparing for marriage. In our initial meeting, the conversation usually goes something like this:

Me: Why do you want to get married?

Couple: Because we love each other.

Me: How can you be sure that you love each other?

Couple: ummm… (while silently wishing I would stop asking stupid questions!)

From this, we usually get into a good conversation about what true love is. We talk about how it is more than a feeling, that true loves means sacrificing yourself for the one you love. I then explain that there is a very simple test to know if we really do love someone. I first heard about this test from one of my former teachers. He explained:

In order to know if we truly love someone we need only ask if our love for that person has made them better.

A man truly loves his fiancee if she has become a better person on account of his loving her. A woman truly loves her fiance if he has become a better person on account of her loving him. This is the simple, yet profound test of true love.

Today, on Easter Sunday, we celebrate the love of Jesus for us which lead Him to die for us and rise from the dead giving life to Himself and us all. Without the Resurrection, we would not be here. It is the central, single most important reality of human history. Easter is the victory of love over death. This Easter let us deepen our understanding of true love. Further, let us take a moment to test how true our own love is. Today let us look at one important relationship in our life, perhaps with your spouse or a friend, and ask yourself a very simple and important question: has this individual become a better person because of my love for them?

Good Friday: what we must know

John 18:1 - 19:42 (Good Friday)

Christ Crucified, El Greco, 1604

In the movie the Life of Pi, there is an interesting scene in which the main character, Pi, who is then a Hindu with no knowledge of Christianity, recalls a childhood experience in which he entered a Catholic Church because a friend dared him to go and drink some of the holy water. After he has had a few sips of the holy water, Pi began looking around the Church and was struck by the paintings of the Stations of the Cross. As he is looking at these images of the sufferings of Jesus, a priest approaches Pi and the two get into a conversation. Pi shares his confusion with the priest. He says that he cannot understand why God would do this. Why would God send His Son, an innocent, to suffer and die for the guilty? At each Good Friday liturgy, I feel a bit like Pi. I enter the Church with my mind full of different concerns and preoccupations. Then, when I hear the account of Jesus’ Passion, I am startled by the story. Along with Pi I find myself asking, why would God do thing? After Pi has asked his questions, the priest responds with one simple, powerful statement: the only thing you need to know is that God did this because He loves you.

We need to remember that the Gospel we have heard today of the Passion of Jesus is the climax in the world’s greatest love story. This love story began at the moment of creation. God created everything out of nothing because of an overflow of His love and goodness which could not be contained within the Trinity. He created humanity to be in a relationship with Himself. We were created so that we could love God in return. This plan went off the rails when we used our free will to choose sin, selfishness and greed rather than a relationship with God and one another. Throughout history, God tried again and again to draw us back to Himself - through Covenants, the Commandments and the Prophets - but we continued to go further astray. Finally, in the final and decisive act of this love story, God sent His only Son to achieve our reunification with God, something which was impossible for us to do on our own. When we hear the Passion of Jesus, we need to remember that Jesus freely chose this path. This is particularly clear in the Gospel of John. Jesus is shown in control of the situation, like a King. The Cross is His throne. Why is there so much suffering in this love story? In His Passion, we can see that Jesus, the sinless one, has become a kind of lightening rod for all the hate, evil and violence in the world. He takes all the suffering and punishment that should come to us on account of our sins and absorbs it into Himself. He suffers beatings, insult, crucifixion and death because He loves us so much that He could not bear to be separated from us.

We need to remember that the death of Jesus is not the end of this love story. We need to realize that in in this story, which can seem so hopeless and final, there is a glimmer of hope. The Gospel of John presents this in a very interesting way. This Gospel is the only one to tell us that after Jesus died and was taken down from the Cross, He was buried in a tomb that was in a garden. This detail is significant. Jesus is put in the tomb just like a seed is planted in a garden. The seed is put into the ground with the expectation that it will soon sprout forth in new life. This reminds us of the words of Jesus:

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. (John 12:24)

Though there is terrible sadness when Jesus dies and is placed, or planted, in the tomb in the garden, at the same time their is hope and expectation. Jesus’ death is not the finale.

We need to remember that this love story is incredibly personal. Jesus did not die for “humanity” in general. He suffered and died for me, personally. He suffered and died for each and every one of you. Because He is God, Jesus would have been able to know and picture in His mind every human being for whom He was suffering, even those who were not yet born. You and I were literally on Jesus’ mind when He hung dying on the Cross. Several days ago, Pope Francis reminded us of this.

This week, we should ponder Christ's pain and tell ourselves: 'this is for me. Even if I was the only person in the world, he would have done it. He did it for me. We should kiss the crucifix [today, on Good Friday] and say : 'for me . Thank you Jesus, for me'.

We cannot listen to the Passion story like some distant spectators. It should be something very personal.

Today we wonder aloud with Pi, why did God do all this? Why did the innocent one suffer on behalf of the guilty? In the end the only thing we need to know is that God did this because He loves us. Let us never approach this story as a mere spectator, but enter into it. It is a love story and it must be very personal.