Burning Strength Homilies

My friends, it is easy to feel defeated when we mess up in life When we fall to sin…when we lose in something It is easy to take it to heart and sometimes to even drown in it But when we gather in this place… in this Church or any other Church They are beacons of hope in the midst of a world that focuses on the defeat of the grave. But we look beyond the grave.

It is evident by the story in today's Gospel that physical blindness is not the only type of blindness. Sometimes our hardness of heart and pride can prevent us from seeing the truth and beauty of God all around us.

What was the big deal with this weekend's Gospel? For starters, it was a much bigger deal that just Jesus speaking with a Samaritan Woman at a well. Jesus was willing to break a whole number of cultural norms, enter into the dirtiness of the woman's life, so as to help her become more fully who God made her to be. The beauty of the story is that God desires to do the same for us.

In the story of King Midas, he is tempted with happiness by wishing for a "golden touch". As the story progresses he realizes that this wish was not what it seemed to be at first. When it came to the temptations of Christ, He saw right through the lies of satan. When we're tempted, do we see them for what they truly are, or do we try to rationalize why we should choose to do them?

"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" God created Adam out of the dirt of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life. So too does God imbue us with the breath of life, but how often do we think about the significance of this breath?

"No one can serve two masters." It is a simple phrase from Jesus, but I think it can help us so much as we prepare for Lent to begin this coming Wednesday. Sometimes we have the tendency to begin Lenten preparations somewhere in the middle of Lent. By that time, it sort of feels too late. We can get carried away with other things. We can serve at other altars instead of the altar of the Lord. 

"You are the salt of the earth…you are the light of the world…" Sometimes we are so preoccupied with what we don't have, that we fail to think about what we do have. We lose that sense of gratitude for what God has given us and the people he has surrounded us with.

There's a secret that the spiritual masters of the Church speak about in their writings about the spiritual life. We tend to disregard this simple advice because it is just that...simple. What's the answer to a better spiritual life? Humility.

Light is a very big theme with our readings this weekend. We realize that the Word of God (Scripture) is one of the best ways to walk from a valley of darkness into a land of light. Our ancient ancestors would rejoice when they would acquire a new book of Scripture in their town or village. This is because books were so rare. I think we can often take for granted just how much access we have to the Word of God and other texts in 2017.

The ways that human beings have introduced ourselves to other over the years has changed. We see this in writings, history books, and even in entertainment media. St. Paul also introduced himself in a unique manner to people. But we must imagine him writing to us. "To you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy..." St. Paul writes in his letter. He calls those who have been baptized in Christ Jesus, as "holy" or "set apart".

Sometimes we have the experience of driving at night, and suddenly whilst driving under a streetlight or with an oncoming car's headlights beaming at us, we notice that our windshields are actually disgustingly dirty. We relish the opportunity to return back to the darkness so that everything can, at the very least, appear to be okay.  We are like those windows. Sometimes we're afraid to let Christ's light shine upon us because we're afraid of what we might find. Sometimes, we prefer to stay in the dark so that we can "appear" to be okay... at least that is what we tell ourselves.

What would it be like to be locked in a barren room for 24 hours sustaining yourself only on bread and water? This is a prayer style called "Poustinia" where retreatants are allowed to bring only a crucifix, journal, and Bible. This experience helps to remind us that God wants to have a relationship with us, even amid the many distractions of our lives. Mary shows us that we don't always need a "desert day" in order to have a relationship with God.

What drives people to come in droves to Churches all around the world on Christmas eve and Christmas day. It is the story of Hope. We live in a world that's often filled with despair. We can feel lost at times in our schedules and obligations. Gathering for Mass gives us that opportunity to break from those schedules so as to allow God to change our hearts. Our hearts were made for joy, after all.

Rejoice! We are now closer to Christmas day than when we 1st started our Advent journey. We mark this by lighting the rose (pink) colored candle. Churches all across the world may also highlight this by decorating with rose (pink). Your priest may even wear it as it is one of the two times per year that rose (pink) is permitted to be worn as a vestment. We get excited to tell people about all sorts of things in life, so why not excitedly proclaim the closeness of Christmas? Or even yet, why not proclaim a true encounter with our Lord, Jesus Christ in word and sacrament?

Before the beginning of time as we know it, God had loved humanity in His Divine mind. But He also knew that we wouldn't always do the right thing as people... we would fall to sin. this is why He forged a plan to have the greatest of the human race to be born mostly unnoticed by the world. Her name would be Mary. 

Is perfection on earth possible? People through the years have dreamt of such a place... a place often named "Utopia." Ironically, the name Utopia literally means "no place." Our 1st reading this weekend seems to speak of the Messiah ushering in an era very similar to Utopia; however, 2000 years later, we know that Jesus never promises Utopia here on earth. We do know; however, that the same Spirit with which He baptizes, the Holy Spirit of fire, is given to us at each of our own baptisms. We receive these gifts to help us in our calling to follow in the footsteps as prophets; one of our own baptismal callings.

We hear a lot of references to mountains in our readings this weekend. It was the place, our ancestors believed, they would best encounter God. All of us have mountains in our own life, but are we climbing the right ones? J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" helps us understand this a little bit more.

What does it mean to give proclaim Jesus Christ at the King of the Universe? As disciples, we're called to do it at all times with our words and actions. A 14 year old boy had a unique way of doing this. It would ultimately cost him his life, but he'd live forever as a Saint of God in Heaven.

As we find ourselves closer to the end of the Church year, we tend to get scripture readings with apocalyptic themes. And with each of these stories, there is a story behind the story. Jesus is speaking to His disciples about being vigilant about the things to come. They're not to be followers of these false messiahs. While the stories of Christ's followers would ultimately have a happy ending in Heaven. Many of them would suffer persecutions and be betrayed by friends and family members. Jesus urges for them to take courage and have faith in Him through it all.

There's an iconic scene in Star Wars: A New Hope where Luke Skywalker is gazing off into the horizon. He has just experienced the loss of his family and he's wrestling with what it all might mean for him. This scene; however, provides Luke with an opportunity to let the past and future melt away into the present for a brief moment. It gives him a sense of peace. As Christians, we're encouraged to imitate Luke Skywalker in some ways. But instead of looking into the sunset, we're to look to the Son - Jesus Christ.