God Will Provide

“For the LORD, the God of Israel, says,
‘The jar of flour shall not go empty,
nor the jug of oil run dry,
until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’”

1 Kings 17:14

How often when we are in the middle of a a difficult situation that causes us worry and anxiety do people say to us, sometimes even automatically, “God will provide.” Perhaps we even say it to others ourselves. “I am a single mother of three and I just got fired from my job… Oh, God will provide…” “I am being evicted from my apartment by the end of the week because I am no longer able to afford the rent… Don’t worry, God will provide.” “I’ve lost all sense of my life and I am not sure what to do with my life, and I have no job, no income… Surely, God will provide.” God does indeed provide. He sends us forth.

There is a priest at one of my local churches who in every homily (or almost every homily) brings in the social dimension of our faith. He would always say we can’t just say we will pray for you and walk away. How will we help those who come to us for help? Saying “God bless you” will not help their immediate needs. Just like with students, if they do not have the basic necessities of life, how can we expect them to study and perform well in school? If they are hungry, thirsty, troubled, living in anxiety, how is it possible for them to live, let alone thrive? In the same way, brothers and sisters, when someone comes to us expressing a need, yes, we should pray for and with them, but we should also do something with and for them. Do they need clothes? Do they need a warm meal? Maybe it is a scorching day and they have been without water for some time. What can we in our situation do to alleviate the immediate needs of our brothers and sisters? Sometimes, oftentimes, it does not require much, but will we take the time to encounter them?

When the Prophet Elijah asked the widow at Zarephath for a small cup of water and some bread, the widow explained that she does not have much, and in fact what little she had she would feed her son and herself and then die. There was a drought in that area. The Prophet promised the widow that her jug of oil will not run dry and jar of flour will not go empty until rain falls once again, and so encouraged her to have faith. She believed, prepared something for the Prophet and she and her son lived off of that jar and jug for a year. God will provide.

The widow did as she was told because she believed that God would provide. Not a wishful thinking, but a response of profound faith, faith that if she placed the word of God first, everything else will be okay. Similarly, if we seek first the Kingdom of God, everything else that we need will come to us when we are ready to receive it. God provides for us, but we must trust and believe with sincere hearts. In our own lives, perhaps we can think of the times when others came to our hour of need. God sent those people into our lives. What might God be asking us to do today? How might God be trying to provide for another through us today? May we respond in faith like the widow who used the little oil and flour to provide for Elijah, and help those who are calling out to us today.

Behold, Your Mother

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’
Then he said to the disciple,
‘Behold, your mother.’”

John 19:26-27

One of the very last words Jesus spoke from the Cross before He handed over His spirit, breathing life into the world by His death was spoken to John and by extension to all of us today, “Behold, your mother.” As a faithful son, Jesus made sure Mary will be taken care of in His absence but He also makes provisions for His disciples. Jesus entrusted John and all of us to Mary. In Christ, we have a mother, a mother who loves us, prays for us, and leads us to Her Son.

Mary plays a special role in the lives of Catholics, but really, Mary should also play a role in the lives of all who call themselves Christian. Mary is not someone who was merely chosen by God to be used in His plan of salvation, but someone who exemplifies and personifies the great mystery that is the Church. A few years ago Pope Francis promulgated that the Monday after Pentecost Sunday would be celebrated as the “Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.” Think about this. Mary was there at the foot of the Cross, watching her Son take His very last breaths, and by doing so, He was really breathing life into the people, into the Church. Weeks later, Mary was with the disciples in the upper room when the Holy Spirit descended upon all those present — she was present at the moment the Church was birthed. Mary was there (for obvious reasons!) when the the Word was made flesh, when Jesus entered into the world — the head of the body that is the Church, and she was there at the gestation, if you will, of the Church, and she was there when the Church — the body, was born at the descent of the Holy Spirit. Mary is the only one who was there at every moment of the Church’s development, from the Head to the body. How fitting and true it is then that we celebrate Mary as the Mother of the Church.

At the Cross, blood and water flowed from the pierced side of Christ, the blood and water that gave rise to the Church (just as our bodies are physically blood and water, so too the Church), flowed from Christ, and this blood and water first came from Mary in whose womb Our Lord was carried and nurtured. Truly, Mary is the Mother of the Church, Our Mother, through whom we have the source of our salvation — Jesus Christ, Our Lord. How can any Christian, anyone who is a follower of Christ, deny this special woman and the importance she has in the life of the Church? Today, Our Lord looks intently at us once again, and directing our gaze to Mary and says, “Behold, your Mother.”

Receive the Spirit

Here is a Pentecost Sunday homily I wrote and delivered as part of the homiletics program at the seminary

Happy birthday, brothers and sisters! Today we celebrate Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, the “birthday of the Church.”  Because on that day something amazing happened. Something that encouraged the early followers of Christ so that they no longer hid in fear but instead proclaimed boldly the Good News of Christ so that all who would listen could be saved.

We hear in the Gospel today that after His Resurrection, Jesus stood in the midst of the Apostles who were hiding from the Jews behind locked doors. There Jesus said to the Apostles, “Peace be with you.” Not words of disappointment or questions about why they ran and left when He was arrested, but simply “Peace be with you.” Not only this but He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” and sends them forth just as Jesus Himself was sent by the Father. Peace and Holy Spirit are what Jesus gave to the Apostles, and that is what Jesus seeks to fill our hearts with today.

In the first reading we can see what this Holy Spirit does. We hear in the Acts of the Apostles how tongues of fire descended upon the disciples and that they were filled with the Holy Spirit, causing something very interesting to happen. There were people present from many different places and who spoke different languages, yet they understood one another. The Holy Spirit brings down all barriers and heals all divisions, and He enables people to go and proclaim boldly the Gospel message.

Have you ever been to another country and went to Mass? Maybe you didn’t understand exactly what was said or what the homily was about, but you knew what was happening, right? It was the Mass. It was the same Jesus. The same Holy Spirit. And the language of this Spirit is something that goes beyond our grammar and syntax, it’s a language of love, a language that speaks to the heart. A language that speaks to where we most need healing, peace, comfort, and rest. It is the language that says “I love you.” It is the language between God and His children. St. Paul reminds us that we have received the Spirit of adoption, and we call God, “Abba, Father.”

Brothers and sisters, we are so loved by God. It was not enough for Jesus to suffer and die on the Cross where He gave up his life and spirit for us on Good Friday. It was also not enough for Jesus to rise from the dead on Easter Sunday. He loved us so much that even after ascending into heaven, 10 days ago, He sends us His Spirit as He has promised so that we might no longer live in fear or doubt or shame or guilt, but rather live in the freedom of the children of God, which we have been made. There is nothing more that can keep us from God. Jesus descended into hell, and broke through the gates of hell triumphantly, and the Holy Spirit broke down the language barriers and the gates that kept our hearts locked. Let us live in the Spirit, let us live in God’s love. Brothers and sisters, Jesus gave us His Spirit so that we might know that we are forever loved and held in the hands of His Almighty Father. Today Jesus says to us, “Peace be with you! Receive my spirit!” Will we be open to and allow the transformative power of God’s love to work within our hearts to cast out all the worries and anxieties that may be weighing on our hearts today? He wants to. Let us let Him. What are those things, brothers and sisters that are heavy on our hearts today? Let us take a moment to bring them to the Father now.

In a short while, the same Jesus who asked the Father to send down His Spirit upon the Apostles on that first Pentecost Sunday will once again be made present to us on this very altar, so that all who chooses to receive may be filled with the peace and the love the Jesus brings.

So indeed, Happy Birthday, brothers and sisters, for today, the Spirit of God has come down upon us, renewing us, strengthening us, inviting us to a new life once again, a life that never ends, a life that is in Christ Jesus, Our Risen Lord.