Tag: Sermon

Teamwork

A homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 15, 2022

Acts 14:21-27, Rev 21:1-5a, Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35

Professional athletes have a lot of privileges and advantages that we regular people don’t, but maybe the biggest advantage they have over us is: They get to have a preseason.

Before they start their annual campaigns toward winning a league title or a world championship, athletes spend weeks or even months training to get better at their sport.

And then they get to scrimmage or play preseason games under real rules and typical conditions, with scores that are zeroed out when the real season starts.

Wouldn’t it be great if we all had preseasons anytime we started a new endeavor?

Continue reading Teamwork

For joy

A (brief) homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, May 8, 2022

Acts 13:14, 43-52, Rev 7:9, 14b-17, Jn 10:27-30

The Apostles headed out to spread the Good News, traveling mostly by foot from town to town, telling people they met about everything they had heard and seen during their days with Jesus of Nazareth.

Some people listened and followed. Some people heard but turned away. Some people ignored them completely.

Some people ran them out of town.

No problem.

The Apostles shook the dust off their feet and moved on.

(I love that image, knowing that the dust they were shaking off contained all sorts of mean, nasty, ugly stuff. Much more powerful than rude hand gestures.)

Continue reading For joy

Busted

A homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, May 1, 2022

Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41, Rev 5:11-14, Jn 21:1-19

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the Kremlin ordered steep fines and lengthy prison terms for anyone caught protesting against the so-called “special military operation.”

Thousands took to the streets in cities all over Russia, in defiance of the order.

After it became clear that the U.S. military presence in Vietnam was ill-advised and that there was growing discontent among citizens, especially young people, cities ordered curfews and demanded that groups apply for permits before exercising their First Amendment rights.

Tens of thousands took to the streets in cities all over America, in defiance of the orders.

After it became painfully obvious that skin color was being used as a reason to deny Americans their God-given inalienable rights, and that disenfranchised people planned to demonstrate and defy Jim Crow laws, states ordered lockdowns and warned of massive legal and extra-legal punishments.

Millions took to the streets in cities all over America, in defiance of the orders and threats.

Just as a handful of believers did in the First Century.

Continue reading Busted

Forward march

A homily for the Second Sunday of Easter, April 24, 2022

Acts 5:12-16, Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19, Jn 20:19-31

Why do we follow someone?

Why do we pay attention to politicians, movie stars, athletes, religious leaders or cult leaders?

Is it what they say? Is it what they do?

Is it because their words or actions — or both — make the world better? Better for humankind? Better for all of God’s Creation?

Is it because they have that je ne sais quoi quality about them?

That “It” quality…

That charisma…

Continue reading Forward march

Alive again

A homily for Easter Sunday, The Resurrection of the Lord, April 17, 2022

Acts 10:34a, 37-43, Col 3:1-4, Jn 20:1-9

It’s appropriate that Easter is the crowning jewel of springtime.

Both Easter and palpable spring come after a long period of waiting. We had 40 days of Lent; we had (was it only?) three months of winter.

Both trigger some housecleaning. One brought about spiritual housecleaning; the other involved scrub brushes and elbow grease.

Both give us extreme joy. Both give us a sense of relief.

Both renew our faith in resurrection.

Continue reading Alive again

Do I want to know?

A homily for Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, April 10, 2022

Lk 19:28-40, Is 50:4-7, Phil 2:6-11, Lk 22:14—23:56

They’re a pair of questions posed in movies, in literature, and in deep conversations over coffee, tea or something stronger:

Would you want to know when you’re going to die? Would you want to know how?

And then, the follow-up:

If you did know, what would you do with the time you have left?

Continue reading Do I want to know?

Cleanup on Aisle 3

A homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Cycle C, April 3, 2022

Is 43:16-21, Phil 3:8-14, Jn 8:1-11

We remember Alexander Pope’s most famous quote:

To err is human; to forgive, divine

And in this Lenten season of repentance and the seeking of forgiveness, we admit that we err occasionally. Or more than occasionally.

And we take comfort in knowing that our loving God forgives us and welcomes us home every time.

But there’s another quotation from this 18th Century writer that relates to all three of our passages from Scripture this weekend:

Continue reading Cleanup on Aisle 3

Empty nests

A homily for the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare), Cycle C, March 27, 2022

Jos 5:9a, 10-12, 2 Cor 5:17-21, Lk 15:1-3, 11-32

The well-known parable of the Prodigal Son is a story of gifts, but not necessarily the ones we’re fully conversant in.

There’s the fattened calf (I prefer the old-school “fatted calf,” but this is the current translation, sigh) and the welcome-home party for the repentant son, plus the ring on his finger and the hug from his father, who greets this ne’er-do-well as if he had risen from the grave.

And we recognize the gift of God’s eternal mercy toward everyone who repents, as echoed by the actions of the young man’s father. That, in fact, is the traditional and simplest Occam’s Razor interpretation of this sizable passage from Luke’s Gospel. And it’s a totally valid understanding of the passage: Jesus intended the forgiving father in the parable to represent The Forgiving Father of All Creation.

But wait, there’s more:

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Outlook

A homily for the Third Sunday of Lent, March 20, 2022, Cycle C

Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15, 1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12, Lk 13:1-9

If patience is a virtue, then a whole lotta Americans are far from virtuous. Especially New Jerseyans.

We proudly list the dozens — hundreds, even — of things we jam into every day, and at the (actual) end of the day, we mourn what we didn’t do rather than celebrate what we did.

Yeah, we’re a little warped that way.

Continue reading Outlook

Fame unfortunately

A homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, March 13, 2022

Gn 15:5-12, 17-18, Phil 3:17—4:1, Lk 9:28b-36

Celebrity is a strange concept, especially how it’s practiced today.

We have the self-declared so-called Influencers, who use TikTok and other social media du jour to dictate what their followers must say, think and do. Influencers actively promote themselves incessantly and shamelessly. They preen so that they can be seen. And they attract millions of disciples.

We have the Reality Stars, who broadcast and stream from their Los Angeles Kompounds and from their Real Houses all over the world and from the Jersey Shore, and whose lives and loves and fun and faults are laid bare, similarly shamelessly. And millions more kan’t take their eyes off them.

We have Traditional Stars, who mesmerize us on massive movie screens (remember those?) and in our home theaters. Off-screen, they project a public persona that mirrors or dovetails with the characters they play, but they work equally as hard to shield their true private lives from the public’s prying eyes. They, too, have millions in their thrall.

Why, then, would Jesus not want to be in any of those groups? Think what he could have done with all those beliebers.

Continue reading Fame unfortunately