What is the New Evangelization?

 

Cardinal Dolan offers thoughts on moving from 'maintenance to mission' and just what constitutes the New Evangelization.
When a parish wanted to sell a building to a day care center, The Bishop asked why they weren't the ones offering day care...

"When there was a need for a Catholic school in the parish 100 years ago, your people built the school for their kids.  Now the children need a day care center.  Wouldn’t it be a magnificent apostolate to welcome those little ones as Jesus did?”
Not a bad question.
Actually, I wonder if this is part of the new evangelization?  We are not into maintenance but mission; we are not landlords but servants of the Lord; our buildings are not investments to be rented out but means to serve, teach, and sanctify.  Why not creatively use our properties to continue the mission of the Church?"

Read more here:   http://blog.archny.org/?p=2446

Homily for 5th Sunday of Lent 3/25/2012

Lent 5B  Unless a grain of wheat dies, it cannot produce fruit.

          How is Lent going for you? Seems like it wasn’t that long ago I stood here, amazed that Lent had started so soon because to me, it seemed like Christmas had just passed. Now I stand here today still amazed that Easter is only 2 weeks away.

          Everyone still is talking about what they have given up for Lent, which reminds me of a story. Seems there was this fellow who was in the habit of going into his favorite bar, by himself, & always ordering 3 beers. One of the regular patrons took notice of this, and got up enough gumption to ask him why he would always order 3 beers for himself. The man was only too kind to explain that the reason for this was that long ago he and his 2 brothers had made a pact to always order a beer for each of them when they visited a bar. So, this seemed to be a satisfactory answer. And the routine went on for quite a while, with the man always ordering 3 beers for himself at this bar. Then one day the man came in & to everyone’s surprise, he ordered only 2 beers. His buddy saw this, & immediately sensed that something serious must have happened to one of the brothers. So he approached the man, & asked if one of his brothers had died. No, he replied, my brothers are fine. It’s me… I gave up beer for Lent.

          But on a serious note, I sincerely hope you all have made some effort to do something special and meaningful this Lent. I was at lunch one recent Friday with a group of Catholics, and one observed that everyone was eating fish. And he asked me, “Look at this, because it’s Lent, everyone eating fish whereas usually only 1 or 2 people eat fish. What does it all mean? What do people get out of it?”

          He posed a very intelligent and interesting question. Do we do these Lenten sacrifices only because the church asks us to do so? Do we do them out of obligation and then that’s the end? The intent of Lenten sacrifices and devotions should be to get closer to God, to deepen our relationship with the Lord. By forgoing things that we are accustomed to, our physical hunger for food or certain kinds of food should instill within us a spiritual hunger, a hunger that only God can fulfill.

          I asked my Mom what she was doing for Lent. She simply replied, “Just to pray more.” What a wonderful, pragmatic response! It captures the essence of Lent- changing ourselves in such a way that we get closer to God.

          Some people, I think, view Lent as a season for meditating on Jesus’ dying, and we look forward to Easter to celebrate his rising. But it’s sad to look at the season with that distorted view. Lent is no more a preparation for the resurrection of Jesus than Advent is a preparation for Jesus’ birth. To do so would emphasize history more than the mystery. It is the mystery of the cross and resurrection that is of utmost importance, The paschal mystery is what Jesus’ followers failed to understand until quite a few weeks after it all happened. There is indeed a history, a fact of His dying and subsequent rising. But all of Lent, and really, all Sundays, derive their meaning from Easter. And what is Easter? It is the paschal mystery. The mystery of the dying and rising Jesus.  Lent is not Jesus’ dying and then Easter his rising. It is the mystery of this duality..of his dying and rising. The whole of Lent is an intense initiation into the paschal mystery, into the twin reality of Jesus dead and Jesus risen.

          Just think of the Gospels we have heard and reflected on this Lenten season. Each one took us deeper into this central mystery of our Catholic faith. The 1^st Sunday was Jesus in the desert. The desert is not only the place of temptation, wandering, searching and confusion, but also a place of discovery. A place where Abraham and others received the covenant for God’s chosen people. It was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the desert.

          And the 2^nd Sunday..the Transfiguration. Jesus reveals to the disciples who he really is…a person of life. But they fail to grasp the entire death-life duality, this seeming contradiction of how Jesus had to die to save us. One of the disciples says “It is good for us to be here”, but the reality is that the entire story is about to unfold before them.

          The 3^rd Sunday told us of Jesus upsetting the moneychangers in the Temple. In the midst of destruction would come resurrection. Jesus proclaims, “Destroy this temple and in 3 days I will raise it up!” The followers still haven’t realized that the Temple that Jesus was speaking of was his own body.

          And last Sunday we had the contrast between darkness and light. In the midst of darkness, Jesus is presented as a person of light. Not at the end of darkness, but rather, in its very midst.

          And today’s gospel, we hear of the grain of wheat. In dying, the grain of wheat yields a rich harvest.  In dying, Jesus lives. In dying, he gives life, life to all of us.

If we take a closer look at today’s Gospel, we see Jesus speaking to the people who pulled out all the stops and got to see Jesus. He tells them that the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified, but then he goes on to describe that glorification with a very striking image: "Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit." He is talking about himself. He will die and then produce much fruit, and that fruit is the salvation for many.

But he is talking about us as well. Indeed he says we have to die in order to live. Now he doesn't mean the end of our earthly life. He is talking about our everyday lives. What does our baptism mean to us? It means dying to our old way of life & beginning a new life in Christ Jesus.

If we would serve Jesus and preserve our lives then we must follow him to the cross, to the service of one another. For He has told us that where his servant is, Jesus himself is found. We are journeying in the company of Jesus and there are others trying to get to Jesus through us, just as those Greeks in today’s Gospel came to Philip and then to Andrew and finally to Jesus. We must ask ourselves, “Whom are we bringing to Jesus? And how in our life of service are we dying to our old way of life in order to live? How is the grain of our lives falling into the ground? Who needs our service now?

          Which brings us back to our Lenten resolutions. What are we doing to get closer to God? Are we getting rid of those disordered affections, as St Ignatius called them, those unimportant, frivolous things that get in the way of us and our relationship with Jesus?

          I am convinced that 99% of us are addicted to something, whether it is eating, shopping, internet, facebook, TV, video games, or blaming, or gossiping. The simplest definition of an addiction is anything we use to fill the empty place inside us that belongs to God alone.

Every Sunday, and especially during Lent the church asks us to delve deeper into prayer and to meditate upon the paschal mystery--Jesus’ death and rising.  Jesus spoke eloquently about his final hour. Well, this is our hour, the hour we come together in communion with others to celebrate the Eucharist, to pray and to receive our spiritual nourishment. We need to share with those we love and with those with whom we worship how we have learned to be servants in the sense that Jesus was a servant, to give ourselves for one another.

This is our faith. This is our hope. And this is our comfort: that Jesus suffered, prayed, obeyed and died that we might be like that grain of wheat, and live and die with Him.

         

Homily for 1st Sunday of Lent

Homily for 1st Sunday of Lent  Feb 26 2012

          Well, here we are again. Seems like the New Year has just begun, and we look at the calendar & it is the first Sunday of Lent. We came for ashes on Wednesday, but are we fully involved in the season?

What are our thoughts as we approach this Holy season? Are they somber, yet reflective thoughts, of how we might, with God’s help, change ourselves into a better person?

We have always thought of it as a rather solemn season, preparing us for the joys of Easter, but is that only way we can experience it?

 We all know that Lent is regarded as a typically somber and subdued time, a time for introspection, a time for reflection on where our life is going, on how our relationship with Jesus can be improved. It’s a time when we see violet color at Mass, when we don’t sing “Alleluia” or the Gloria. But in spite of these outward signs, there is still time during Lent to be joyous and happy. The preface before the Eucharistic prater addresses the Father and says, “Each year you give this joyful season when we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery with heart and mind renewed. The preface for Lent II says, “The great season of grace is your gift to your family to renew us in spirit.”

          Do you think of Lent as a joyous season, or as a Gift? I mean, how can fasting and penance be joyful?

          Our fasting with its accompanying hunger should remind us of our hunger for God. It’s a way that we pray with our bodies as well as our minds. It shouldn’t make us irritable and grumpy.

          Our spiritual director in diaconate formation tells the story of how he and his fellow Jesuits encountered Lent one year. They had all made great sacrifices during the season. At the conclusion of the Easter Vigil, they gathered in their own upper room for a welcome glass of brandy, and reflected on the just concluded Lenten season. One Jesuit remarked, “You know I’m really proud that I gave up smoking for all 40 days of Lent.” To which all the others responded in unison, “We know so well because we had to live with you!”

          I’m reminded of an article a few years ago in Newsweek, which told of a man who put all his time and energy into running a homeless shelter in the nation’s capital. The reporter asked him what that experience meant to him. His answer was, “Well, I don’t like it, but darn it, somebody’s got to do it!”  I mean, if your heart isn’t in it, why bother?

If our Lenten sacrifice will make us irritable and grumpy, we should find some other way to get spiritually focused. Spiritual events that don’t lead us to greater charity are useless. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, without love we are nothing.  If we cannot become a more charitable person, our faith, knowledge, and even our martyrdom, should we be so called, is nothing.

          True fasting and prayer should make us more aware that nothing on earth can ultimately satisfy us. We are made for union with God and while things of the earth make take away the hunger pains for a while, they ultimately don’t truly satisfy. Our physical hunger should remind us of our spiritual hunger We are, as St Augustine wrote, made for God, so our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.

Today’s gospel is short and to the point, as are many of Mark’s gospels. “Repent and believe in the good news.” Mark tells us of Jesus’ own encounter with evil and the fact that he did not struggle alone. When Jesus was tempted by the devil, he had the Holy Spirit to guide and inspire him, as well as the angels to support and strengthen him. From that encounter, Jesus emerges to announce the reign of God, which is to be welcomed in repentance and faith. Today we are recruited once again in the struggle against evil. To that end, we acknowledge our responsibility for it and our willingness to work toward our own transformation.

         Upon leaving Mass today, a lot of people will be asking each other: “What are you giving up for Lent?” Good question. But I like to remind myself that the first word of “giving up” is giving. It is not truly a sacrifice unless it is also, somehow, a gift. An offering of self, with no expectation of getting anything in return.
On Ash Wednesday, the prophet Joel told us: “Rend your hearts.” Open them up for the world. That is how we should spend the next 40 days. That is where penance begins.

      Penance means more than just prayer and fasting, devotions and dieting. It is also a hardship.  What are some of the modern hardships we find difficult to bear?

      Well, try this: spend a few moments respectfully listening to someone you’re not fond of– or somebody that no one else likes, either. Everyone has heard of an adolescent who doesn’t fit in. At meals, no one would sit with him-- except for one other student, who went out of his way to spend just a few minutes quietly eating with him, and letting him know that he still mattered.

     That student was being Christ to another. Each of us, I think, can learn from that example.

    Or if that seems like too much, try this: Pray for a stranger – or an enemy. Skip an expensive dinner and send the money to a Catholic charity. Take time to write a letter to a soldier overseas. Visit the sick, the aging, the shut-in. Light a candle for all those who are lost, frightened, uncertain or alone. Buy lunch for the homeless person you see walking the streets every morning. Say a rosary for peace.

    In short, begin this season of giving up…by giving.  Plant these small seeds of sacrifice. Tend them. Nurture them. And then let the roots take hold.

    And, in time, grace will grow. You may be astounded at the minor miracles that have blossomed by Easter morning. If we truly live the Lenten season as it is meant to be, we should see a difference in ourselves.

     And if we do, remember that it is all grace, amazing grace.  And it grows out of sacrifice, and prayer.

Homily for 3rd sunday Advent, Dec 11, 2011

Advent 3B Christ Our Light

          You may be wondering what is up today with the pink or rose colored vestment that Fr Jerry is wearing. The liturgical color for this third Sunday in Advent is indeed rose because together with the whole church we celebrate Gaudete Sunday, which translated from the Latin means joyful. The church wants us to be joyful in our anticipation of the coming season. This is the weekend we light the rose colored candle on our advent wreath. This is the Day we hear St Paul tell us “Rejoice always”. Why have a joyful Sunday during Advent?, you might ask.

          Because during Advent, which is indeed a season of waiting and of penance, we are reminded that as followers of Christ, we can never be gloomy in our prayer and penance. For good reason, we should not be wallowing in sin. And that is because Jesus is still with us, which is why joy is the echo of God’s life in us.

Advent is a season of many themes. It is the season where we wait in joyful anticipation of the coming of Christ. It is the season of watchful waiting, not knowing when a spectacular event may occur. It is a season of patience, where we admire the patience of Mary. It took a great deal of patience, not knowing what would occur after she said “Yes” to God’s call. Not to mention the patience she must have endured with her pregnancy, and with trying to find a place to give birth.

          But another theme is that of Christ our light. As the amount of daylight we are granted this month continues to dwindle with each passing day, we seem to delve deeper and deeper into darkness. The nights get longer, the days get shorter. Darkness can also manifest itself in world events. The European Union continues to teeter on the brink of insolvency. The unemployment situation is slightly improved in our own country although at a minuscule rate. Thus, there are still deep concerns about the sustainability of our economy. There are concerns and anxieties with our debt level and with our leadership in all branches of government. Sometimes we wonder what will ever pull us out of these dark days.

          We are ever on the lookout for someone, some event, that will shed light on the situation at hand. We are waiting for that white knight, that quick fix that will solve world problems, as well as our own individual problems.

          There is a story in Catholic circles about a small rural Catholic parish whose pastor had done a marvelous job of leading his people for more than 20 years. The parishioners absolutely loved him. He was the most wonderful priest anyone could want. They loved everything about him. Then one day his Bishop transferred him out of town. The people were irate. They were furious that the Bishop would dare do such a thing. Conditions got so bad; the Bishop had to make a trip to the parish to explain himself.

And what he told the people was something quite unexpected. He told them their priorities were wrong. He told them they were seeing the priest as indispensible. They saw him as their light of the world. He said Get your focus off the pastor, & put it where it belongs—put your focus on the one person who is indispensible, Jesus Christ. The pastor is not the light; Christ is our light. It is not about us. It is about Him. For it is Jesus who is truly the light of the world.

          The interesting irony of all this is that have you ever noticed what happens when people try to make it all about themselves? Inevitably, their life spirals downward. That is, they undermine the very possibility of getting what they need. I mean, after all, who is going to be attracted to a person wearing a figurative neon sign that says “Love Me” or “Respect Me.” 

In contrast, the most lovable people we know, the ones we respect the most lead lives that are fundamentally focused on others. We love those who love us just the way we are, and not to meet their neediness. We respect those who speak & live the truth itself and not what they think others might want to hear.

          We are full of light only when we are revealing Christ the light. It is not at all our light that is important, but rather our witness to the light has everything to do with being penetrated by that light.

We hope for the darkness to fade away and for the Light of the world to shine in our world today. There is paradox in the season of Advent. Christ came 2000 yrs ago, but we prepare for his coming today. We prepare for his coming in the hope of bringing us out of ignorance and sin and into the light that is Christ.

As a kid growing up, one of my favorite Advent activities was putting one electric candle in our front window. Many of our neighbors did this, as well. It’s not much of a decoration; not at all fancy. Today, it would probably be classified as tacky by the neighborhood decorating committee. But it truly symbolized the light of Christ piercing the darkness. At that time, the Catholic order, the Christophers, would run TV ads asking people to do just that, to light just one little candle. For it doing so, said the voice over, what a bright world this would be.

Let us in this season of Advent, look about to find the signs of light in our world. Let us be signs of light for others. And, on this Sunday of joyful anticipation, let us then be like the angel Gabriel and bring good news! Let us not only make Advent a season of light and hope for ourselves, but most especially for others. This is the Good News we celebrate today! Let us discover the real meaning of this advent & Christmas season: Let find a way to be the light of Christ to others.

Homily for Nov 20, 2011

Feast of Christ the King Nov 20, 2011

We all know that we are called to try to live out the gospel values, to imitate Christ, and to do what He asks of us. But yet I am always amazed how difficult it can be to do just that. It is often extremely difficult to live out the gospel message. For instance, during this past summer we heard Jesus tell us to love our enemies.  I mean, after all, almost by definition, they are our enemies because we don’t love them. But the gospel calls us to do just that, as well as other things that are very counter cultural.

At first glance, doing what Jesus tells us in today’s gospel, namely, providing unconditional assistance for the poor, I didn’t think, would be that difficult for most people. But when I posted some things on facebook about how we Americans treat the poor, the hungry, the homeless, I was shocked by the reposes posted by folks calling themselves “Christian”.

          One quipster suggested that if they are lazy, we don’t have to help them. One said that the poor don’t matter as much as the unborn do.

One friend couldn’t resist replying that “God helps those who help themselves”. I supposed he was shocked when I told him that saying doesn’t appear anywhere in the Bible. It’s an ancient Greek aphorism that has no Biblical basis at all.

But if we look closely at what we just heard,

'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,
and not minister to your needs?'
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones,
you did not do for me.'

The reality is that Jesus puts no pre-conditions, no a prioris, on our obligation to help the needy. In fact, this statement comes as Jesus’ response to the apostles’ question of how we will be judged at the final judgment. Jesus tells us that we will be judged on how we helped our needy brothers & sisters.

I would think this would come as a shock to most folks about how we will be judged on the final day. I mean, when I was growing up, the conventional wisdom was that / the way to get to heaven was to go to church every Sunday, go to confession once a year, and to avoid mortal sin. We didn’t grow up with an awareness of what kind of Catholic our baptism calls us to be. It is from studying and praying the scripture passages such as today’s gospel that we get a different understanding. It is then that we realize that we are called to share in the mission and ministry of Jesus as our way into the kingdom.

 I suppose I really shouldn’t be surprised at all by those facebook responses. Mother Teresa apparently ran into a similar problem. When asked what she thought of American society, her response was that her work in India was easy relative to what she would be tasked with in America. She said “In India, I can help by providing food, clothing & shelter, but the problem in America is much deeper, because America has a poverty of values.” The things and behaviors that we value are often out of synch with what Christ taught us. Sadly, sometimes our greed and overwrought desire for accumulation of wealth overrides the gospel values.

Lest I imply that everyone here has not heeded the specific tasks Jesus asks of us today, I should emphasize that many folks at Mass this morning certainly have worked tirelessly to aid the poor. They have assisted the poor without asking if they deserve it. Ron & Rosie Walling have ministered in Georgia’s prison for years. Ken & Diane Cone and others have worked tirelessly for Interfaith hospitality, providing shelter and food for the homeless. Many parishioners, even our youth, have waited tables at the Masters Soup Kitchen. Some here have pounded nails and hung sheetrock to build houses for Habitat. Many volunteer at Catholic Social Services to serve the needy. Just as Jesus came to serve, and not to be served, so, too, many parishioners have served the poor as an act of Christian charity.

The Last Judgment that Jesus speaks of in today’s gospel is a topic that we seldom hear much reflection on. Today’s feast offers us an opportunity to bring it to bear upon how we live our lives in the present. Resorting to an image of fear and intimidation would only lead one into a fire and brimstone speech. Rather, it is so comforting to speak to someone who has gone out of their way to help someone in need of assistance, and ask how they felt after doing it. I’m sure that in all cases, you’ll hear about how rewarding an experience it was. You’ll hear statements like “If you’re feeling sad and lonely, one cure for that is to do something for someone else.”  Or “Helping others gave me such a warm and good feeling.”

          And we should not forget that we are indeed surrounded by the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the ill, the imprisoned, both physically and emotionally. Nursing homes are filled with people who hunger for a visit from anyone. There are people who thirst for companionship. There are people who are imprisoned by evil thoughts.

The Gospel tells us that on judgment day we won’t be asked if the needy that crossed our path were deserving or undeserving, whether they were Republican or Democrat, but rather, “When you looked into their eyes, did you see the face of Jesus?”  We are asked to clarify what we see in the needy. If we see Jesus in them and extend assistance to them, then we will be judged favorably. If not, then we will be condemned.

God invites us to a very special banquet this morning: the Eucharist.

Eucharist helps us as a community to know that we are all in relationship with one another. We are our brother’s keeper. Practicing our faith is about love, about really loving God & loving our neighbor, whoever he or she may be.

By helping our neighbor, especially the needy, we strengthen our relationship with God & with one another. So together let us all come to the table to Jesus he comes to us. In love.