Happy Father's Day
Homily for June 17, 2018 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi
Happy Father’s Day weekend. I hope that those of you who are fathers are having a blessed weekend, and that those of you who have fathers (by the way, that would be all of us) – I hope you all take some time this weekend to pray for their souls, whether they are still living or have already passed on, and whether they were good fathers or not. Especially if they were not, for they are probably more in need of prayers and God’s mercy than a “good” father is.
In any case, at first glance, you might not think that today’s Gospel has much in common with Father’s Day. But if we take a closer look at the two parables that Jesus shares with the crowds, I think we can see that they contain a very important message for all of us, especially for fathers. (Before I go on, this message applies more or less equally to mothers, too, but they’ve already celebrated their day in the sun. Today it is us dads’ turn.)
First, we have the parable of the sower and the seed. Who is the man that scatters seed in today’s Gospel? Often in the Bible whenever we see a reference to seed being scattered, the sower is usually assumed to be God the Father or Jesus. And while the references to the sower not knowing how the seed grows, and that the seed yields fruit “of its own accord” seem contradictory to the wisdom and power of God, it would be easier to understand it in the context that the average person would not know or understand how the seeds of faith scattered by God grow and bear fruit.
But what if the sower Jesus refers to is us? In that sense, the “sower” can be thought of as a father and the “seed” being sown as his children. He might provide nourishment and tender guidance for his child, but he doesn’t know how that child will grow in faith.
And it’s not just his children. After all, we are all called to evangelize our brothers and sisters by spreading – sowing – the Good News which is found in the person of Jesus Christ Himself. He is the faith that lives in every fruitful seed. This parable would actually make more sense that way, as we often do not know what impact our lives have on those around us. We do not know what causes another person to grow in faith, as faith is a gift – a grace – which comes only from God. And only God knows when a seed that is a person is ready to come to judgment.
And then we have the mustard seed. This too seems a little odd to be a comparison for God as, despite the image given here, mustard plants are not majestic cedars like we hear in our first reading, but instead are hardy, scruffy bushes that spread widely from a tiny seed. But that too can be a good analogy for fathers as most of us probably didn’t have any idea of what was really going to be asked of us as fathers when our first child came along, and despite the scruffiness of our faith we’ve slowly grown and matured, and hopefully through our faith we have become a spiritual shelter to our family and those who are close to us.
For those of us who are fathers responsible for our children, or father-figures like Fr. Szatkowski and Fr. Benito, who are responsible for their family of parishioners, we know that it’s tough being a father. The role of a father has changed in recent years from being the head of the household and the primary breadwinner to one of shared responsibility and mutual cooperation – and this is a good thing.
But sadly all too often in today’s society and especially in the media, the importance of fatherhood is being belittled and dismissed. And yet, recent studies have shown just how important it is to be a father. Statistics quoted at last year’s Texas Fatherhood Summit in Austin were striking – children with actively involved fathers were:
• 39% more likely to earn mostly A’s in school
• 45% less likely to repeat a grade
• Twice as likely to go to college and find stable employment after high school
• 60% less likely to be suspended or expelled from school
• 75% less likely to have a teen birth
• 80% less likely to spend time in jail
Speaking of jail, when I was in prison ministry during my formation as a deacon, I made the mistake on Father’s Day of asking the inmates to compare God the Father to someone in their lives who they considered a strong, loving father-figure. The room of about 30 inmates went silent. They had no good father-figures to draw on – the fathers they knew were either bums or had abandoned them and they had few positive male role models in their lives.
So, if our role as father is so important to those we love and to society as a whole, what must we do to be true sowers of the faith? A recent article in “Columbia”, the monthly publication by the Knights of Columbus, listed four things Catholic men must do to defend the faith and build a culture of life in our secular society:
1. We must be men of prayer.
2. We must never lose hope.
3. We must show our friends and neighbors a better way.
4. We must be active and practical.
Whatever our particular vocation in life – whether it be religious, married or single – we are called to be sowers of the seeds of faith and must be followers of the Great Gardener, Jesus. And may our faith shelter those whom we love and all those we meet.
Happy Father’s Day.
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Happy Re-Birthday!
Happy Re-Birthday!
Homily for May 20, 2018 Pentecost Sunday - B
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi
[Author’s note: the Catholic Church historically and officially recognizes Good Friday as the actual birth of the Church, when Christ’s side was pierced by the centurion’s spear. But just as the Church also teaches that we are reborn into the Church at our baptism, and as Jesus told Nicodemus that man “must be born from above”, “of water and Spirit” (Jn 3), it is appropriate to celebrate Pentecost as a “baptism” or “rebirth” of the Church. Just as Jesus told his disciples prior to his Passion that they needed the Holy Spirit to guide them to the truth (Jn 18), and to wait for when they would “be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1), we celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit coming with His gifts at Pentecost.]
Today we celebrate what some theologians consider is the birthday of our Church - Pentecost. Why is that? Because it was on Pentecost that the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples and gave them the courage to come out from hiding and go into the streets to preach the Good News of God – to evangelize the people. Actually, it was more than courage, for often we think of courage as facing challenges that we would rather avoid. Those first disciples – the Apostles and the others from the upper room – were on FIRE with the presence of God in their hearts and were compelled to share that Good News to others. It wasn’t that they were still afraid and forced themselves to overcome that fear; they were truly FEARLESS because they had no reason to fear. From that tiny group of now fearless men AND women, the Church sprang into life; the people of God were reborn. From that moment on, the world would never be the same. It was a Happy Birthday.
To celebrate this special day, we actually have two completely different sets of readings for this weekend. Normally, the Mass on Saturday evening, although we often call it the “vigil” service, uses all of the same readings, liturgical parts, and so on that we would use on Sunday. But for certain celebrations – like Easter and Pentecost – the church offers a true “vigil” liturgy with different Mass parts and readings because there is an important before-and-after message contained in the combined celebrations. To get the full “value” of this celebration, you should attend Mass both Saturday night AND Sunday.
So, if you didn’t come to Mass last night, you might want to note it on your calendar to come to Mass twice on this Sunday next year.
Yeah, I can see your eyes rolling even from here. I’m just saying, it isn’t a sin to go to Mass more than once a weekend. And if you didn’t go last night, you have a homework assignment: look up and read the other set of readings when you get home.
In any case, today we celebrate Pentecost. In Jesus’ time, Pentecost was known as Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks. Shavuot was one of the three pilgrimage festivals where Jews were required to travel to Jerusalem, and it commemorated the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai. It was celebrated seven weeks after Passover – hence our name Pentecost, or 50 days. Because Jews had to travel to Jerusalem, it explains why there were so many people there who spoke different languages. But more on that later.
Our readings this weekend then all relate to the presence and action of the Holy Spirit. But in order to fully understand the complete message of Pentecost, we have to look at both sets of readings together.
Saturday’s first reading is the story of the Tower of Babel. It is a fairly straightforward story – the people, in their arrogance, decide to build a tower that reaches to heaven. They didn’t want to be “scattered all over the earth”; they preferred to bask in their own glory and abilities rather than God’s, and so the Holy Spirit came upon them and removed their ability to understand each other.
But in the passage from Acts that we heard today, we see how the Holy Spirit gave the Apostles the ability to speak to all present in their own language of the Glory of God – it’s the classic story of Pentecost. The combination of the two readings reminds us that true peace and unity among nations cannot occur without our unity with God first.
And then Saturday’s brief Gospel from St. John comes from the first time Jesus reveals to his disciples his future passion and death, and alludes to the coming of the Holy Spirit. It occurs on the last day of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, another one of the three main pilgrimage feasts in Jerusalem and it too was a time of joyful celebration, coming just after Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. (By the way, these pilgrim festivals generally lasted all week, from Sabbath to Sabbath.) During this feast, Jesus ticks off the Jewish authorities by his words and deeds to the point that they’ve begun to seek a way to kill him. The key to this short scripture passage are the last two lines: “He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
This doesn’t mean that there was no Holy Spirit. As the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit has always existed co-eternal with the Father and the Son. Earlier versions of this passage include the word “given” after “yet”, signifying that the disciples had not received the fullness of the Spirit, which will come to them on that first Pentecost after the Resurrection.
But in Today’s Gospel from John’s Last Supper discourse, Jesus makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is coming, and how important the presence of the Advocate will be to his disciples. They are not ready yet for the total power of the Holy Spirit, but they will need that power in order to continue Jesus’ mission after his physical presence leaves. After His Resurrection they will receive strength and guidance from the Holy Spirit so that they will be able to give Glory to God and proclaim the Good News.
So is this Holy Spirit present in our lives today? Did I miss something at my Confirmation, or have I just lost it? Why are we still afraid to risk everything proclaim the Good News? If I’ve received the Holy Spirit, why can’t I speak Spanish?
The Holy Spirit doesn’t come into our lives just once in a spectacular moment and then leave. The Holy Spirit is with us always, to guide us and bless us. St. Paul talks to us about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how they are ours forever, if we accept them. The Seven Gifts are:
1. Wisdom – the knowledge and awareness of "divine things" and the ability to judge and direct human affairs according to divine truth.
2. Understanding – the ability to "see" God in creation and the insight into the very heart of things necessary for our eternal salvation.
3. Knowledge – the ability to judge correctly about matters of faith and right action, so as to never wander from the straight path of justice.
4. Counsel – allows a man to be directed by God in matters necessary for his salvation.
5. Fortitude – a firmness of mind in doing good and in avoiding evil, particularly when it is difficult or dangerous to do so, by virtue of the assurance of everlasting life.
6. Piety – the reverence of God with filial affection, paying worship and duty to God in accordance to Scripture and the Church.
7. Fear of God – the "filial" or chaste fear whereby we revere God and avoid separating ourselves from him—as opposed to "servile" fear, whereby we fear punishment.
We all received these gifts at our Baptism and had them strengthened at our Confirmation. We continue to receive guidance on these gifts through the Holy Spirit whenever we actively seek it. But do we?
I remember a story of a woman who loved to give gifts. She was always thoughtful in what she gave, and one year she worked especially hard on a gift for a very good friend. Her friend took the gift and later thanked her for the perfect gift. One day while the woman was visiting her friend, she saw her gift on a shelf, still wrapped, unopened.
How many gifts do we have, unopened? For this Pentecost, ask the Holy Spirit to give you the courage to open and use your gifts.
Homily for May 20, 2018 Pentecost Sunday - B
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi
[Author’s note: the Catholic Church historically and officially recognizes Good Friday as the actual birth of the Church, when Christ’s side was pierced by the centurion’s spear. But just as the Church also teaches that we are reborn into the Church at our baptism, and as Jesus told Nicodemus that man “must be born from above”, “of water and Spirit” (Jn 3), it is appropriate to celebrate Pentecost as a “baptism” or “rebirth” of the Church. Just as Jesus told his disciples prior to his Passion that they needed the Holy Spirit to guide them to the truth (Jn 18), and to wait for when they would “be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1), we celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit coming with His gifts at Pentecost.]
Today we celebrate what some theologians consider is the birthday of our Church - Pentecost. Why is that? Because it was on Pentecost that the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples and gave them the courage to come out from hiding and go into the streets to preach the Good News of God – to evangelize the people. Actually, it was more than courage, for often we think of courage as facing challenges that we would rather avoid. Those first disciples – the Apostles and the others from the upper room – were on FIRE with the presence of God in their hearts and were compelled to share that Good News to others. It wasn’t that they were still afraid and forced themselves to overcome that fear; they were truly FEARLESS because they had no reason to fear. From that tiny group of now fearless men AND women, the Church sprang into life; the people of God were reborn. From that moment on, the world would never be the same. It was a Happy Birthday.
To celebrate this special day, we actually have two completely different sets of readings for this weekend. Normally, the Mass on Saturday evening, although we often call it the “vigil” service, uses all of the same readings, liturgical parts, and so on that we would use on Sunday. But for certain celebrations – like Easter and Pentecost – the church offers a true “vigil” liturgy with different Mass parts and readings because there is an important before-and-after message contained in the combined celebrations. To get the full “value” of this celebration, you should attend Mass both Saturday night AND Sunday.
So, if you didn’t come to Mass last night, you might want to note it on your calendar to come to Mass twice on this Sunday next year.
Yeah, I can see your eyes rolling even from here. I’m just saying, it isn’t a sin to go to Mass more than once a weekend. And if you didn’t go last night, you have a homework assignment: look up and read the other set of readings when you get home.
In any case, today we celebrate Pentecost. In Jesus’ time, Pentecost was known as Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks. Shavuot was one of the three pilgrimage festivals where Jews were required to travel to Jerusalem, and it commemorated the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai. It was celebrated seven weeks after Passover – hence our name Pentecost, or 50 days. Because Jews had to travel to Jerusalem, it explains why there were so many people there who spoke different languages. But more on that later.
Our readings this weekend then all relate to the presence and action of the Holy Spirit. But in order to fully understand the complete message of Pentecost, we have to look at both sets of readings together.
Saturday’s first reading is the story of the Tower of Babel. It is a fairly straightforward story – the people, in their arrogance, decide to build a tower that reaches to heaven. They didn’t want to be “scattered all over the earth”; they preferred to bask in their own glory and abilities rather than God’s, and so the Holy Spirit came upon them and removed their ability to understand each other.
But in the passage from Acts that we heard today, we see how the Holy Spirit gave the Apostles the ability to speak to all present in their own language of the Glory of God – it’s the classic story of Pentecost. The combination of the two readings reminds us that true peace and unity among nations cannot occur without our unity with God first.
And then Saturday’s brief Gospel from St. John comes from the first time Jesus reveals to his disciples his future passion and death, and alludes to the coming of the Holy Spirit. It occurs on the last day of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, another one of the three main pilgrimage feasts in Jerusalem and it too was a time of joyful celebration, coming just after Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. (By the way, these pilgrim festivals generally lasted all week, from Sabbath to Sabbath.) During this feast, Jesus ticks off the Jewish authorities by his words and deeds to the point that they’ve begun to seek a way to kill him. The key to this short scripture passage are the last two lines: “He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
This doesn’t mean that there was no Holy Spirit. As the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit has always existed co-eternal with the Father and the Son. Earlier versions of this passage include the word “given” after “yet”, signifying that the disciples had not received the fullness of the Spirit, which will come to them on that first Pentecost after the Resurrection.
But in Today’s Gospel from John’s Last Supper discourse, Jesus makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is coming, and how important the presence of the Advocate will be to his disciples. They are not ready yet for the total power of the Holy Spirit, but they will need that power in order to continue Jesus’ mission after his physical presence leaves. After His Resurrection they will receive strength and guidance from the Holy Spirit so that they will be able to give Glory to God and proclaim the Good News.
So is this Holy Spirit present in our lives today? Did I miss something at my Confirmation, or have I just lost it? Why are we still afraid to risk everything proclaim the Good News? If I’ve received the Holy Spirit, why can’t I speak Spanish?
The Holy Spirit doesn’t come into our lives just once in a spectacular moment and then leave. The Holy Spirit is with us always, to guide us and bless us. St. Paul talks to us about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how they are ours forever, if we accept them. The Seven Gifts are:
1. Wisdom – the knowledge and awareness of "divine things" and the ability to judge and direct human affairs according to divine truth.
2. Understanding – the ability to "see" God in creation and the insight into the very heart of things necessary for our eternal salvation.
3. Knowledge – the ability to judge correctly about matters of faith and right action, so as to never wander from the straight path of justice.
4. Counsel – allows a man to be directed by God in matters necessary for his salvation.
5. Fortitude – a firmness of mind in doing good and in avoiding evil, particularly when it is difficult or dangerous to do so, by virtue of the assurance of everlasting life.
6. Piety – the reverence of God with filial affection, paying worship and duty to God in accordance to Scripture and the Church.
7. Fear of God – the "filial" or chaste fear whereby we revere God and avoid separating ourselves from him—as opposed to "servile" fear, whereby we fear punishment.
We all received these gifts at our Baptism and had them strengthened at our Confirmation. We continue to receive guidance on these gifts through the Holy Spirit whenever we actively seek it. But do we?
I remember a story of a woman who loved to give gifts. She was always thoughtful in what she gave, and one year she worked especially hard on a gift for a very good friend. Her friend took the gift and later thanked her for the perfect gift. One day while the woman was visiting her friend, she saw her gift on a shelf, still wrapped, unopened.
How many gifts do we have, unopened? For this Pentecost, ask the Holy Spirit to give you the courage to open and use your gifts.
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