Can't preach the Resurrection with Good Friday faces

MT 5:13-16

Everything I really needed to know I learned in Kindergarten.

There is a lot of truth in this expression. The gospel of today, in which Jesus calls us to be salt of the earth and light of the world, reminds me of my time in Kindergarten. One day, my class stood up in front of the rest of the school and sang “This Little Light of Mine” while holding in our hands small torches that we had made out of Styrofoam cups with paper flames glued to the top. Many of you will remember the lyrics to the song:

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine.Hide it under a bushel? Oh no! I’m gonna let it shine.Jesus gave me the light, I’m gonna let it shine.

In Kindergarten I learned the important lesson that Jesus wants us to have a real positive effect on those we come in contact with. Christ calls us to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. The two images of light and salt would have been very meaningful for those who heard Jesus’ words some 2000 years ago. At that time, salt was a necessary part of life and a valuable commodity. In addition to flavoring foods, salt was used to preserve food in a time before refrigerators. Then as now, light is something of fundamental importance. Light dispels darkness and it it helps us to see; when light takes the form of a flame it keep us warm.  When Jesus tells us to be the salt of the earth, He expects that through our words and actions we season the world with love, justice and all that is good. Like salt we are also meant to be a preservative. We are called to preserves truth in the world, the truth about who God is and who we have been created to be as human beings. When Jesus tells us to be the light of the world, He is asking us to dispel from the world all the darkness caused by sin, hatred, violence and greed by bringing the light of joy, goodness, faith and hope. Being salt of the earth and light of the world means that as Christians we are called to transform everything around us for the better.

The best way to transform the world is one person at a time. Maybe you have heard this joke. 

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Jesus’ call to reach and transform the entire world can be very intimidating. We need to remember that this transformation starts one encounter at a time. Mother Teresa exemplified this principle.She is remembered for her vast worldwide network to help the poor. Interestingly, she never went out trying to eradicate global poverty. What she did do was strive to bring the love, care and kindness of Jesus to one person at a time. She would often say,

Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.

If you have ever had the opportunity to see video showing Mother Teresa in action you will notice the remarkable attention she paid to however she happened to be with, rich or poor. When she was speaking to someone, she listened as though there was no one else in the world. She showed such care and interest in the person through they way she looked at them, touched them and smiled at them. She was salt and light to one person at a time. Do we do the same? Think about it. Are the people that you encounter and speak with during the day left happier and more full of hope and joy after having spent time with you? Are family members, coworkers and friends better off for having been in your presence? We are called to transform the world one person at a time.

vatican.va

Often we are not salt and light to those that we encounter. In the Gospel warns us against hiding our light or from becoming salt that has lost its saltiness, something that is good for nothing and thrown away. What does it look like when we Christians lose our saltiness? Christians who have lost their saltiness are a drain on people that they encounter. They have become pessimistic, cynical, sad and lacking in conviction. They are not pleasant to be around. In his speeches and writings, Pope Francis is known for some unique turns of phrase. Pope Francis explained recently that Christians who had lost their saltiness turn into “sourpusses” (Evangelii Gaudium, 85). As followers of Jesus we have been entrusted with the Good News that Jesus has died for our sins and has risen from the dead so that we can one day live forever with Him. This news should fill us with joy and affect the way that we behave. Certainly, we cannot be upbeat all the time, that is not realistic. That said, if Christians are habitual sourpusses, pessimistic and lacking in zeal there is something wrong. As the expression goes,

We cannot preach the Resurrection with Good Friday faces.

Often we are not salt and light to those that we encounter.

The good news is that we can regain our saltiness once we have lost it. We can make our light brighter if it has become dimmed. The secret to doing this is by remembering where we got this light from in the first place. This is something I learned in Kindergarten:

Jesus gave me the light, I’m gonna let it shine.

Jesus is the light of the world. As Christians, we are called to carry His light to others. This fact is symbolized in a powerful way during the rite of baptism. After anyone is baptized, they are given a lighted candle and told to “receive the light of Christ” and to “keep the flame of faith alive in our hearts”. It is very significant that the candle is lit from the Paschal Candle. This is the candle that it blessed at the Easter Vigil, the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. The Paschal candle is a special symbol of Jesus’ resurrection. In order to brighten our light if it is dimmed or regain our saltiness, we need to return to the source: the resurrection of Jesus. Often the disappointments and struggles of life can get us down and defeated. We can turn into sourpusses without even being aware of it. We need to remind ourselves of the simple fact that because of of His resurrection Jesus has conquered everything: sin, hatred, greed and death itself. We need to remind ourselves that the war is already won. As Pope Francis said:

Nobody can go off to battle unless he is fully convinced of victory beforehand. If we start without confidence, we have already lost half the battle and we bury our talents.(Evangelii Gaudium, 85)

When we consciously remind ourselves of Jesus’ resurrection, we can restore our saltiness when it has been lost and brighten our light if it has become dim.

When we talk about being salt of the earth and light of the world, we must resist the temptation to think abstractly. God has put concrete people in our lives that we are called to impact in a positive way: family, friends, co-workers. In our encounters with these people, are we bringing them joy and peace? Whenever we find that our we are losing our saltiness or that our light has become dimmed let us remind ourselves of a powerful truth we learned in Kindergarten: our light comes from Jesus Christ who has Risen from the dead and conquered death.  Christianity is about Good News. Let us not be sourpusses but a light to others that can shine, shine, shine.

Keep calm and go to the Vocation Live-in

Fellas, if you are interested in the priesthood or the consecrated life, I encourage you to go to this:

Vocation Live-in

February 14 - 16

Seminary of Christ the King, Mission, BC

For more information call: 604.826.8715

At this weekend you will get the chance to learn more about the priesthood and what it is like being a seminarian by following their life for a weekend. It lasts from Friday night till Sunday after lunch. You will pray, eat and play sports together with the seminarians. This weekend is for those interested in becoming a priest.

The key word here is interested. By going to this weekend you are not announcing to the world: "I am going to become a priest 100%!!" Keep calm... don't put that kind of pressure on yourself. By going you are simply saying that you are interested and open to the idea. Maybe you will become a priest, maybe not. The reality is that most people who go to a Live-in (or enter the seminary for that matter) do not go on to become a priest. I do think, however, that the experience benefits them in whatever life they choose. I went to my first Live-in when I was in Gr. 9, but didn't enter the seminary for another 10 years. 

The Seminary of Christ the King has both a Minor Seminary (grades 8 - 12) and a Major Seminary (college students studying Philosophy or Theology). After university I studied philosophy for a couple of years at the Seminary of Christ the King and it was a awesome experience for me. I really appreciated the balance between prayer, study, community life and sports. It was challenging, but very enriching. Plus the location is beautiful:

source: sck.ca

Knowing what vocation God is calling you to can be difficult. In this video Fr. Robert Barron gives some very good advice for how we can better know whether God is calling us to be a priest. The principles hold for any vocation.

I leave you with this prayer from Blessed John Henry Newman. It expresses well the feelings of excitement, uncertainty and fear that we can experience when we try to discover what kind of life Jesus is calling us to. The prayer reminds us of the importance of trusting God. He loves us and has great plans for us.

God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am. I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801 - 1890)

I am with Bill Nye on this one

Oh boy, this is happening...

More information can be found here.

Some headlines covering this event are pretty frustrating: Bible! Science! Who will win the great debate? (here). Umm... can't both win? I think this type of debate is unfortunate because it suggests that:

1. You cannot be a Christian and agree with evolution at the same time
2. Evolution somehow disproves the existence of God

The YOUCAT has a great discussion on this topic which I have included in full below.

In short, we can agree with evolution as long as we don't support evolutionism, "which views man as the random product of biological processes"(YOUCAT #42). Though we believe in a Creator we cannot go along with creationism, which "naively take biblical data literally (for example, to calculate the earth’s age, they cite the six days of work in Genesis 1)" (YOUCAT #42).

So, I am with Bill Nye on this one (as long as he isn't advocating evolutionism...). Plus his bow tie is awesome.

Here's what the YOUCAT has to say...

YOUCAT #42 Can someone accept the theory of evolution and still believe in the Creator?

Yes. Although it is a different kind of knowledge, faith is open to the findings and hypotheses of the sciences.

Theology has no scientific competence, and natural science has no theological competence. Natural science cannot dogmatically rule out the possibility that there are purposeful processes in creation; conversely, faith cannot define specifically how these processes take place in the course of nature’s development. A Christian can accept the theory of evolution as a helpful explanatory model, provided he does not fall into the heresy of evolutionism, which views man as the random product of biological processes. Evolution presupposes the existence of something that can develop. The theory says nothing about where this “something” came from. Furthermore, questions about the being, essence, dignity, mission, meaning, and wherefore of the world of man cannot be answered in biological terms. Just as “evolutionism” oversteps a boundary on the one side, so does Creationism on the other. Creationists naively take biblical data literally (for example, to calculate the earth’s age, they cite the six days of work in Genesis 1).

Creationism: (from Lation creatio = making, producing): the idea that God himself by his direct action created the world all at once, as if the book of Genesis were an eyewitness account.

Why we should advertise the Consecrated Life

credit: pkeleher

LK 2:22-32

Today close to 100 million people will watch the Super Bowl. Though many do watch because they enjoy football, I think that a good number secretly watch it only for the commercials. Super Bowl ads are among the most creative and pricey around. Like all advertising, however, it tries to convince you that if you purchase a product your life will be changed for the better. Today I would like to do a little advertising of my own. I do not want to advertise a product, but a way of life.  In addition to being the day of the Super Bowl, today is also the World Day for Consecrated Life. Today we pray in a special way for all those who living a consecrated life: religious sisters, brother and priests. We also pray that many young people will choose to enter this way of life.

We do not advertise Consecrated Life enough in the Church because it doesn't seem like a normal way to spend one’s life. We don’t do enough to encourage young people to consider becoming a religious priest, brother or sister. I do not want to play favorites here and suggest that one vocation is better than another. All vocations are good and beautiful: married life, religious life, priesthood and single life. The best vocation for you personally is the one that God is calling you to. That said, for various reasons, everyone considers getting married. Young people, however, will rarely consider becoming a religious sister or brother or priest unless they are encouraged to do so. This, unfortunately, is rarely done. I recently heard a priest describing an experience he had while speaking with a large group in a parish. During their conversation, some parishioners complained about the fact that the number of Masses in their parish had recently been reduced because there were not enough priests. Others remarked that they were sad because when they were growing up they used to see many religious sisters, in school, for example, and now there seemed to be so few. In response to these concerns, the priests asked the people to put up their hands if they had a son or daughter who was between the age of 18 - 25. Many hands went up. Next he asked them if they had ever encouraged their son or daughter to become a priest or religious sister or brother. Hardly a hand went up. The priest said, “so you see want more priests and religious, but you will not encourage your children to become one? Why not? After a time of silence, one woman in the front yelled out, “because, Father, my children are normal!” We do not do enough in the Church to encourage young people to become religious sister, brother or priest because it does not seem like a normal way to live.

Perhaps we need to redefine what we think a normal life is. Who shows us what it means to live a good, fulfilling life as a human being? Because He is truly God and truly man, Jesus shows us what it means to live a good life as a human being.

Jesus reveals that normal and fulfilling life is one in which we offer ourselves as completely to God as possible. In fact, in the Gospel we have heard describing the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, we learn just that. During Jesus’ time, when a first born son was presented in the Temple he would have to be redeemed. In order to do this, an animal was offered to God. The child could then be redeemed and handed over to his parents. Interestingly something different happens for Jesus. An offering is made but, instead of Jesus being redeemed and handed over to His parents quite the opposite occurs: Jesus is presented or offered entirely to His heavenly Father. Because of this total offering to God the Father, Jesus’ life will be indescribably fruitful for others. As Simeon predicts, Jesus will be the one to bring God’s salvation to the world. To accomplice this, Jesus will have to suffer and sacrifice much. He will be contradicted by many. In this short scene of Jesus’ presentation in the Temple we learn that to live a good and normal human life, we need to offer our life to God.

Though it requires sacrifice, the more generous we are in giving ourselves to God, the greater He can work in our life and the lives of others. The amount of good that God can work through our life is proportional to our generosity to Him. This principle is illustrated by the following story. In India there was a beggar sitting by the side of the road. Every so often a traveller would pass by and place a little rice in the bowl the beggar was holding. One day the beggar heard the king approaching with his entourage. This was the moment the beggar was waiting for. Surely the king would give him plenty of rice! The king did indeed stop before the beggar. But when he bent over towards him, this great king said something unexpected. The king said to the beggar, “give me some of your rice”. The beggar was taken aback! He reached into his bowl and gave the king one grain of rice. The great king calmly replied “is that all”? Furious, the beggar took out a second grain from his bowl and tossed it at the king. With this the king gathered up his entourage and was off. The beggar, filled with rage, greedily fingered the remaining rice grains in his bowl. It was then that he noticed that one grain felt different to the touch. When he brought it out of the bowl he noticed that it was a grain of pure gold! The beggar quickly checked the rest of his bowl. To his delight he found a second grain of gold. He had one grain of gold for each grain of rice he gave the king. As the king walked away, the beggar couldn't help thinking “why on earth did I not give the king everything?!”  We should ask ourselves the same question. Why do we not give God our King everything? The more we give of ourselves to God, the more wonderful things He can work in our life and the lives of others.

Consecrated Life is an incredible satisfying and fruitful way of life because it involves trying to offer your entire life to Jesus. Consecrated persons strive to give all their rice to the King. Just as Jesus was offered to God the Father in the Temple,  through their three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, religious men and women seek to make of themselves a total gift to God and through God they become a gift to other people, especially those most in need. Far from being an abnormal way to live, it is in fact something every normal Catholic young person should consider. Since Consecrated Life involved making your whole existence a gift to God, it is an incredibly fruitful and satisfying way of life.

Now, since any good commercial requires a testimonial from a satisfied customer, here is mine. Speaking as a priest who has had some experience also in religious life, I can testify that it is an incredibly fulfilling and rewarding way to live. It is not easy. The life is full of sacrifices and challenges. At the same time it is a wonderful and exciting way of life. It has brought me much joy and happiness. For those who are called, I think there can be no better way to spend your life. I would love it if in the Church it became a normal thing that when people are considering what to do with their life, they think about becoming a religious sister, brother or priest. Everyone should at least have the opportunity to consider if this wonderful life is for them. Let us try to make this a reality by doing a little advertising for Consecrated Life.

Christians: Stronger together than alone

1 Cor. 1.10-13, 17-18 | Matthew 4.12-23

When I was in elementary school I used to play on a lot of different sports teams. I didn't play well, truth be told, but I played. Being on a team can be a struggle; the members often don’t get along and it takes a lot of coordination and commitment to make it work. In the end, however, it is worth it. Whenever I was on a team I realized that others always brought talents I didn't have. As the Superbowl is just a week away, you will forgive me for quoting the famous running back Walter Payton. He summarized well the power of working together on a team with this simple phrase: “we are stronger together than we are alone”. We have just finished the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. As Christians we are all supposed to be on the same team, working for the same goal. Unfortunately, the disunity we see among Christians shows we are not playing as a team. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is a moment to ask ourselves: are we not stronger together than we are alone?

Disunity among Christians holds us back from fulfilling the mission we have been given by Jesus. Any team that is divided will cannot win. As we heard in the Gospel, as Christians we have all been called by Jesus and given the mission to be “fishers of men”, that is, to help all people to come to love, know and serve Jesus. Disunity hinders this mission. It is important to realize that the Ecumenical Movement, which strives to create greater unity among Christians, began among missionaries. They witnessed that not only were Christians missionaries not working as a team, they were working against each other. For example, Anglican missionaries would come to a village and share the Gospel with those who had never heard of Jesus. Soon after, Catholics missionaries would come to the same village and explain that although the Anglicans were right about Jesus, they were the wrong Christian group to be part of. The same thing happened when Catholic missionaries arrived first. The villagers, seeing this situation, would ask why they should become Christians if Christians themselves didn’t have their act together. This disunity is nothing new. In the second reading, Paul asks the community at Corinth a provocative question: “Is Christ divided?” With this question, which in fact has been the theme of this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, St. Paul reproaches the Corinthians for their divisions and rivalries. In his most recent Wednesday Audience, Pope Francis said the following:

“Christ has certainly not been divided. But we have to recognize with sincerity and with sorrow that our communities continue to live divisions that are a scandal … Divisions among Christians are a scandal. There is no other word for it. A scandal!”

Divisions among Christians is a scandal that harms the effectiveness of spreading the Gospel.

Since we are stronger together than we are alone, we should earnestly desire the goal of greater unity among Christians. A team will not be able to unite if its individual members are not sold on the importance of coming and working together. It is not enough that we hope that Christians just get along better or are more civil to each other. The goal of the Ecumenical Movement is very ambitious since it is the unity that Jesus wanted and prayed for: full and visible unity among Christians. This goal respects two important truths regarding the current unity that exists among Christians.

1. On the one hand, a very real unity exists among us because of our Baptism. One of the tangible fruits of the Ecumenical Movement is a rediscovered sense of brotherhood among Christians. Because of Baptism, We are truly brother and sisters in Christ.
2. On the other hand, we must acknowledge that there are real divisions that exists among Christians. It helps no one when we level off or ignore differences, whether they be doctrinal or otherwise. As the document on Ecumenism from the Second Vatican Council said, “Nothing is so foreign to the spirit of ecumenism as a false irenicism”(Unitatis Redintegratio, 11), that is, a false making of peace.

These two truths should motivate us to be earnestly committed to the goal of full, visible unity among Christians.

Just as building any team involves a commitment to different activities, there are several dimensions, or tasks, involved in furthering Christian unity. One way is through theological dialogue. The Catholic Church has trained delegations which are in official dialogue with most other Churches and Christian communities in order to discuss doctrinal differences. This work has born real fruit. In 1999, for example, the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation signed Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. In this, Catholics and Lutherans were able to agree on the main theological issue which originally sparked the Protestant Reformation. This was a historic achievement. Another way that the Church works towards building unity is through common prayer and cooperation. Though our divisions prevents us from joining in a common Eucharist, common prayer as Christians is appropriate and powerful. Additionally, Christians should cooperate in initiatives which further Jesus’ mission, such as charitable works, working to build peace and the pro-life movement. A powerful example of such common prayer and cooperation is the Taize Community in France. This is an ecumenical monastic community composed of Catholics and Protestants who through their common life, prayer and welcoming of young pilgrims are working to bring greater unity among Christians. Theological dialogue and common prayer and cooperation are two ways in which the Ecumenical movement works to bring greater unity among followers of Christ.

Though these dimensions are interesting to hear about, for most of us, these don’t seem like things we can really be involved in. How can we personally contribute to the unity and teamwork among Christians? To answer that, think of this. Is it not the case that a team is only as strong as its individual members? No matter how closely knit a hockey team may be, if the individual players are terrible the team will be terrible. On the other hand, when individual players improve their own game, the entire team will get better.

We all play a vital role in furthering Christian unity by becoming better followers of Jesus. Simply put, the holier we become individually, the greater will be the unity among Christians.  As read in the gospel, we have all received a person call to follow Jesus Christ, as did Peter and Andrew. This call is meant to change our life entirely. We are called to repent and enter into a relationship with Jesus and imitate His way of behaving. The better we are at following Jesus, the greater will be our unity as Christians. Imagine for a moment that a number of individuals have become scattered on a mountain, each on different slopes surrounding the peak. What is the best way for them to find one another again? If they each walk down the mountain, their separation will increase. If they walk horizontally around the mountain there is no guarantee they will meet as they may be at different levels and might all be walking at the same time. The surest, quickest way to find each other is if all individuals hike up to the peak of the mountain and become reunited there. As Christians, we are the people scattered on the mountain. At the peak of the mountain we find Jesus. The closer that Christians walk towards Jesus, the closer we grow towards Him, the closer we will come to each other. We all have a vital part to play in strengthening unity among Christians. The greater our holiness, the greater will be our unity.

source: Σ64

We all probably personally know Christians who are not Catholic. It is a source of joy and hope that we share so much in common. At the same time, we cannot help but be saddened by the disunity that exists among us. Today we should remember that furthering Christian unity is the job of each one of us, not just for specialists living in the Vatican or elsewhere. The closer we as individuals follow Jesus, the greater will be the unity among Christians. Jesus has called us all personally and given us the mission to be fishers of men. We are on the same team. Let us never forget that we are stronger together than we are alone.

Overcoming fear with the Cowardly Lion

1 SM 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 | MK 3:1-6

If you know the story of the Wizard of Oz, then you must remember the character of the Cowardly Lion. The Cowardly Lion feels that since he is the “King of the Beasts” he should be able to do anything that he thinks is right. The lion, however, is often paralyzed from doing what he knows is right because of fear. He is ashamed that he feels fear at all. We can experience much the same thing. We may know what the right thing to do is but we may be too afraid to do it because of fear of judgement, persecution or harm.

Because such fear is unavoidable, it is important that we cultivate the virtue of courage. The two readings today speak of the importance of having the courage to do the right thing in the face of fear. The first reading tells us the story of David and Goliath. All the soldiers in the army of Israel are too afraid to fight the enormous warrior Goliath from the opposing Philistine army. Only David has the courage to face his fear and do the right thing by battling Goliath. In the gospel we see that Jesus also has the courage to do the right thing in the face of opposition. Jesus knows that it is right to heal the man with the withered hand. He also knows that there will be consequences if He acts. He will be judged by the Pharisees who say that by healing this man Jesus would be breaking the law - as they saw it - by working on the Sabbath. Perhaps Jesus also knew that they would use His action as a reason to have His put to death. Jesus has the great courage to face these fears, do the right thing and heal the man. Without courage, we would rarely be able to do what we know is right.

Trusting in God gives us the strength to courageously face difficult situations. David is quite clear about the source of his courage to face Goliath: trust in God. David is able to overcome His fear because he is certain God will protect him. Today we are witnessing a powerful example of people facing their fears and doing the right thing by trusting in God. In Washington D.C., ten of thousands of people have gathered today for the annual March for Life. They are marching in very cold, inclimate weather. These individuals are powerfully reminding society of the dignity of all human life from conception to its natural end. They are standing up for the fact that before birth a child is human being deserving protection and that abortion is wrong because it is the taking of an innocent life. It can be difficult to speak this truth today. Speaking it can evoke a strong, sometimes hostile, reaction. Those marching today, therefore, show great courage by doing the right thing and standing up for the dignity of human life even in the face of the fear of consequences. Those participating in the march rely on God for their courage to do so. In their prayers - which is the backbone of the event - they put their trust in God, knowing that He will take care of them. When we too trust in God, He gives us the courage to do the right thing in the face of fear.

Eventually the Cowardly Lion learns an important lesson. He learns that true courage does not mean never feeling afraid. On the contrary, true courage is doing the right thing in the face of fear. Feeling fear is natural and unavoidable. The lion realizes this, and pushes himself outside his comfort zone, no longer allowing himself to be paralyzed by fear. Today we can ask ourselves a question: “is there some course of action that I know is right but which fear is preventing me from taking?” Let us ask God to give us the gift of courage to overcome our fears and do the right thing.

Finding Your Catholic (Bourne) Identity

audio

John 1:29-34

Many of you have probably seen the movie The Bourne Identity (1). The movie begins on a thrilling note as the protagonist, Jason Bourne is found barely alive, floating at sea. It is soon discovered that Bourne has no memory of who he is. In him we can witness firsthand what a terrible experience it is when someone loses their identity. Such a person is sad, restless and lacks peace and direction. At times we as Catholics can be like Jason Bourne. Even though we come to Church each Sunday, often times we are unsure about our mission. What is our main task as a Church? What is the most important job that we have been given to do? We risk losing our deepest identity. The gospel of today is a remedy against this. The example of John the Baptist is a strong reminder and example of what our identity is as a Church and individual disciples of Jesus.

Our identity as Catholics and the Church is that we are meant to lead other people to Jesus Christ. Our most important mission is to evangelize. John the Baptist is an example for us because his whole existence is like a signpost leading people to Jesus.  Especially since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has reminded herself many times that this fundamental identity. For example, in 1975, Pope Paul VI wrote the following with respect to Catholic identity:

Evangelization is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize. (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 14)

We have just begun the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This annual event strives to further the Ecumenical Movement, which works to bring about greater unity among Christians. One of the important reasons why the Ecumenical Movement began was because of a growing realization among Christians that our disunity hindered our ability to fulfil our primary mission of Evangelization. The Ecumentical Movement in large part began among missionaries. For example, in India, Anglican missionaries would come to a village and share the gospel among those who had never heard of Jesus. Soon after, Catholics missionaries would come to the same village and explain that although the Anglicans were right about Jesus, they were the wrong Christian group to be part of. Of course, the same thing happened when Catholic missionaries arrived first. The Indian people, seeing this situation, would ask why they should become Christians if Christians themselves had such disunity. Divisions among Christians hindered our main mission of leading people closer to Jesus; it went against our primary identity as an evangelizing community.

In order to fulfil this mission, we must have a clear understanding of who Jesus is and what he does for us. Today there can be a lot of confusion on this question. In the Gospel we see that John the Baptist is very straightforward in announcing who Jesus is and what He does for us. Notice that John the Baptist is not saying, “look everyone, there is Jesus, a great teacher, a good guy, or a sage, moral leader”. No, John says, “behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world”. Later on, He testifies that Jesus is the Son of God. In a few short statements, John the Baptist has proclaimed the core of the Gospel, which is often called the Kerygma, meaning  “the cry” or “the proclamation”. The Kerygma is something we should all know by heart. It explains very briefly who Jesus is and what He does for us. In four easy points, the Kerygma is as follows:

1. God created you for a relationship with him
2. Our relationship was broken through sin
3. Jesus - true God and true man - restores our relationship
4. We respond by inviting Christ to be the centre of our lives

In order to lead people to Jesus Christ, as did John the Baptist, we must have a clear understanding of who Jesus is and what He does for us.

More than knowing about Jesus, our relationship with Him must change our life.  There is a big difference between simply knowing about something and having that thing change your life. Let us take, for example, the relationship that different people have with the Vancouver Canucks. Compare the relationship that a sportswriter will have with the team to that of a die-hard fan. The sportswriter might know everything about the Canucks: the history of the franchise, the statistics on all the player and every possible detail about the team. This knowledge, however might not have any impact on the rest of the writer’s life. It is just a job. For a die-hard fans, the situation is completely different.  Their relationship with the team impacts all aspects of their life: how they spend their free-time, what they wear, what makes them happy (victories, not losses) and what they talk to other people about. When it comes to Jesus, we need to be like the die-hard fan. John the Baptist was such an individual. He knew about Jesus but this knowledge changed all aspects of his life.  Its not enough to know about Jesus, our relationship with Him must change us.

In order to complete our mission of bringing people to Jesus, we need to be able to articulate to others the difference He has made in our life. We, like John the Baptist, need to be able to testify about Jesus. When we are able to explain to others in an open and honest way the story of how God has worked in our life we are able to draw other people to follow Jesus. For a long time this was something that I struggled doing. During my time at University my friends would ask me questions similar to the following. Why are you Catholic and not some other religion? Why do you go to Church on Sunday? Who do you that think Jesus is? At the time, I struggled to answer these questions. Perhaps it was because I only a minimal relationship with Jesus back then. In order to better articulate our faith to others, we can begin by asking ourselves three questions:

1. When in my life did I make the personal, intentional choice to put Jesus in the center of my life? Or, when did I chose to follow Christ in a deeper way?
2. What was my life like before making this decision?
3. How has my life changed since I chose to make my relationship with Jesus a priority in my life?

When we are able to articulate to others the difference that Jesus has made in our life, we can better draw other into a relationship with Him.

Jason Bourne eventually re-discovers his identity. This revelation does not suddenly make his life easy. Quite the contrary, in fact. After finding out his identity, Bourne’s life becomes one challenging adventure. Knowing his identity, however, gives Bourne a sense of purpose, focus and peace. When we as Catholics remind ourselves of our identity, much the same thing happens. As individuals and communities we are given a clear focus and goal that unifies all our activities and energies. Today let us be reminded that our greatest mission is to be like John the Baptist. We are called to lead as many people as possible to know, love and serve Jesus Christ. This is our Catholic identity.

(1): Some ideas for this homily come from Catholic Christian Outreach’s Commission Study. In particular the Bourne Identity reference and the 4-point Kerygma.

Falling in Love makes all the difference

Recently I found this prayer fixed to a bulletin board at the back of the Church:

Nothing is more practical than

finding God, than

falling in Love

in a quite absolute, final way.

What you are in love with,

what seizes your imagination,

will affect everything.

It will decide

what will get you out of bed in the morning,

what you do with your evenings,

how you spend your weekends,

what you read, 

whom you know,

what breaks your heart,

and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in Love, 

stay in love,

and it will decide everything.

This prayer is attributed to Fr. Pedro Arrupe S.J. (1907 - 1991). Prior to becoming the Superior General of the Society of Jesus (a.k.a. The Jesuits, the religious community of which Pope Francis is a member), Fr. Arrupe was a missionary, serving for many years in Japan. Incredibly, he was living in suburban Hiroshima when the city was devastated by an atomic bomb on August 6th, 1945. Though Fr. Arrupe and seven other Jesuits were within the blast zone, they all survived.

I first read Fr. Arrupe's prayer several years ago while on a month-long retreat in Mexico led by another Jesuit, this one spent the majority of his life serving in India. Since then I have loved this prayer. It always reminds me that Christianity is not, in the end, about ideas or even a way of acting but primarily about a relationship with Jesus. As Pope Benedict wrote:

Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. (Deus Caritas Est, 1)

I want my relationship with Jesus transforms all areas of my life. I can become discouraged when I see that this is not the case. I take great hope from Fr. Arrupe's prayer. It encourages me to focus on the most important thing. Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.

The most important day of your life

Matthew 3:13-17

What is the most important day of your life? Maybe it was the day you were born or the day you got married. Normally we celebrate these life changing events every year. We all celebrate our birthday year after year even though we become less straightforward with how old we are with each passing birthday. Married couples celebrate their anniversary yearly, even if husbands need the occasional reminder. We tend to celebrate the most important days in our life. Here’s a question: do you know the date of your baptism? Today we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. It is a perfect opportunity to both look at the significance of this event and remind ourselves of the importance of our own baptism. 

It can be very difficult to understand why Jesus was baptized. Try to picture this scene for a moment. You are in the desert, beside the river Jordan. You are surrounded on all sides by a great mass of people. One by one each person enters the river and approaches John the Baptist who immerses them into the water. What are these people doing? They have come to accept John’s baptism of repentance. In being baptized they are publically acknowledging that they are sinners. More than this, they are making the choice to change their ways and choose a new path for the future. How can Jesus be among this crowd? How can Jesus, who is without sin, repent? John the Baptist seems to grasp the problem and tries to prevent Jesus from being baptized, saying, “I need to be baptized by you and yet you are coming to me?”  At first glance it does not make any sense of Christ to be baptized by John the Baptist. 

The Baptism of Jesus makes sense when we begin to see it in the light of the Cross and Resurrection. Many of you will know that a few years ago, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote a wonderful book on Jesus of Nazareth. There he tackled the question of the significance of Jesus’ baptism. He explained it this way:

Looking at the event [of Jesus’ baptism] in light of the Cross and Resurrection, the Christian people realized what happened: Jesus loaded the burden of all mankind's guilt upon his shoulders; he bore it down into the depths of the Jordan. He inaugurated his public activity by stepping into the place of sinners. His inaugural gesture is an anticipation of the Cross.

Simply put, Jesus did not get baptized for Himself but for us. At His baptism, Jesus is embarking on His mission as the “Suffering Servant” who reconciles mankind to God, which we read about in the first letter from the prophet Isaiah. At His baptism, He took our sins on Himself and descended into the water, which is symbolic of His death. Afterwards He came out of the water – a symbol of the resurrection – He left behind our sins in the Jordan. The significance of Jesus’ baptism comes into focus when we view it through the lens of His Cross and Resurrection. 

When looked at this way, we better appreciate the fact that the Baptism of Jesus completes Christmas. It is with good reason that today’s feast concludes the Christmas season. Among the Doctors of the Church there is a famous expression used to describe the purpose of the Incarnation that says: “God became man to make men like God”. St. Thomas Aquinas expressed it this way:

The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.

The first part of this phrase, which speaks about God assuming our human nature, happened with the conception and later birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The second part of the phrase, which speaks about us becoming like God, was made possible in large part by the Baptism of Jesus. Because Jesus was baptized, our own baptism has force and power. As one ancient theologian wrote:

For when the Saviour is washed all water for our baptism is made clean, purified at its source for the dispensing of baptismal grace to the people of future ages. (St. Maximus of Turin)

Our baptism is precisely the moment in our life when we “become like God”. At our baptism:

1. We are grafted onto Jesus Christ
2. We are filled with grace, the very life of God
3. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
4. We become forever a beloved Son or Daughter of God

God became man so that man could become like God. The baptism of Jesus is like the completion of Christmas.

Because our baptism is such a life-changing event, it is something that we should remember and celebrate. We all tend to celebrate well a baptism on the actual day of the event. Baptisms are usually accompanied by a big party and everybody gets dressed up – particularly the person getting baptized. A few years ago I spent some time in Tijuana, Mexico. In the chapels that I would visit, the people always had such beautiful celebrations for baptism, even though they did not have much money. In particular I remember vividly how one young boy was dressed at his baptism. He was of course dressed all in white, but his clothes were remarkable. He wore a small white tuxedo, complete with bow-tie. On the back of his tuxedo was embroidered in gold the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He was even wearing white shoes with a silver decal of the Holy Spirit on them. The parents of this young boy definitely realized that something important was happening to their son at his baptism. Though we celebrate baptism on the day of the event, most of us probably do not remember and celebrate our own baptism as we would our birthday or wedding anniversary. I admit that while preparing this homily, I had to look up the day that I was baptized. Pope Francis has encouraged us to remember our baptism day and celebrate it each year. If we don’t, he said “we end up considering it merely as an event that took place in the past – and not even by our will, but rather by that of our parents.” Our baptism was one of the most important days of our life, it is the day that we became forever a beloved son or daughter or God. This is something we need to remember and celebrate.

Today, as is the custom of the Popes on the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, Pope Francis will baptize several children in the Sistine Chapel. Our own baptism, though not in such an incredible setting, is no less important. Today, I challenge each of us to follow the advice of Pope Francis by trying to celebrate in some way each year the day of our baptism. If you don’t know this day, find it out and write it in your calendar. We should never forget this life-changing day in which we were grafted onto Jesus and forever became a beloved son or daughter of God.