1st Sunday of Lent @ St. Peter Chesaning / St. Cyril Bannister

HOMILY - FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
FEBRUARY 20/21, 2021

In her 2013 book titled, “ROY G. BIV,” Jude Stewart explores the history and mystery of colors. 

For instance, that blue wasn’t always for boys … and pink wasn’t always for girls. That phenomenon is roughly 50 or so years old. 

Prior to that babies with blue eyes wore blue, and babies with brown eyes wore pink. 

Or else in the Middle Ages, or in some Catholic countries, girl babies wore blue in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and boys wore pink to honor a particular martyr who shed his blood in a heroic imitation of Christ.

Throughout the 176 pages, Stewart explores colors and their meanings in various cultures and times. While not an exhaustive text, it at least makes you think about what and why.

And for the record, Roy G. Biv is not a person, but is a mnemonic for the seven primary colors of the rainbow; namely, red, orange, yellow, green, blue indigo and violet.

Today is the first Sunday of Lent.

Four down, thirty-six to go. And just for the record, the Sundays don’t count.

Have you given something up? Have you taken something on?

In today’s First Reading from Genesis, we hear the end of the story of Noah … and how God created a “covenant” with him. A covenant in the Hebrew understanding of the word is less of a legal document and more like adoption papers.

In the Old Testament, we hear of six covenants between God and humanity. 

The first being the Garden of Eden … after those seven days of creation … and the promise of a future redemption through the offspring of the woman. 

The covenant with Noah … signified in the rainbow … made up of seven primary colors … to remind us of our relationship with God and creation. 

The covenant with Abraham – how one man would become the father of many nations, and bless the nations of the world. 

The Mosaic covenant – the Ten Commandments and the dietary (and other cultural) laws of the Hebrews … and their 40 years of preparation in the desert. 

The covenant with Kind David … who was chosen above his seven brothers to be king … and the promise of a future king of his line who would be “God’s son.” 

The covenant described by the seven major prophets – that if the people would only return to God … God would return them from whatever exile they were experiencing. 

But the covenant we should be most  interested in is the one we’re living under now. The one where God has fulfilled the promises of those first six covenants in Jesus Christ.

And in the covenant – that is relationship, or adoption – that we are living under, there are seven sacraments … literally seven oaths or promises … that we take in order to enter … and to live out this life of grace … in a family relationship to God the Father, as members of His Son, in order to be filled with … and exercise in our lives … the power of the Holy Spirit.

You see, all of these “churchy” things that we do are not just made up last week so that we can sit on hard seats and put more money in the collection basket. Rather, they are the fulfillment of almost six thousand years of relationship between God and creation and the entire human race.

These seven signs: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist; Confession, Anointing; Marriage and Holy Orders … these establish and maintain the covenant between us and God … as well as relationships … a covenant … between ourselves … and how we are to relate to the world.

It all starts with Baptism, which opens for us the other six. And which St. Peter gives an excellent explanation of the operations of grace between us and God.

And while seven is a particular number tied in with covenants in both the Old and New Testament … the number 40 plays a role in birth and rebirth.

40 days of flooding … 40 days of fasting … 40 years in the desert … 40 comes from the 40 weeks it takes to make a baby. The number 40 is intimately tied to a very specific biological process … that while in itself a beautiful and wonderful and miraculous thing … also brings with it morning sickness, cramps, swollen ankles, and later on … the occasional heated argument and slammed doors.

And so, we are moving along our own 40 days of rebirth. It’s not easy, but it’s meant to remind us of who we are in relationship to God and in relationship to each other. Also during this time, we prepare those who will join us through Baptism and the other Sacraments in this unique family of God. We accompany them in prayer and sacrifice as they prepare to be born again through water and the Spirit … and become our brothers and sisters in Christ.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us remember what we are about … and who we are called to be. 

May our efforts as we proceed through the holy season of Lent help us to strengthen our relationships with God and with one another. 

May these 40 days of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving draw us ever more deeply into the life of grace and the family of God … reminding us of the divine power we have at our disposal through these seven sacraments which establish, strengthen, and restore our covenant with God and one another.

Ash Wednesday @ St. Cyril Bannister & St. Peter Chesaning

HOMILY - ASH WEDNESDAY

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

Archimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician and scientist during the third century before Christ. He is credited with many scientific, mathematical, and engineering discoveries. Perhaps most famous among them – although apocryphal (that is, not verifiable) – is the following story.

King Hiero II of Syracuse had a crown made out of pure gold. However, he thought he had been cheated, and lesser materials had been used to make the crown. The king charged Archimedes with determining whether the crown was pure gold or not … without melting the crown down to see what made it tick.

While sitting in his bath, Archimedes noticed that his body displaced a certain volume of water. In an instant, he realized that by comparing the amount of water displaced by the crown to the amount of water displaced by a similar weight of pure gold he could determine the composition of the crown without destroying it in the process.

In his enthusiasm, Archimedes leapt from the bathtub – buck naked – and ran for his laboratory shouting “εὕρηκα, heúrēka!” – that is, in Greek, “I have found it!”

Thus giving rise to the common phrase, “a eureka moment.”

Today is Ash Wednesday. 

And the whole theme of Lent is repentance. Which comes from a Greek word for “change your mind.” We spend our time in Lent focusing on sin and its consequences. The original word in Hebrew for sin means “to miss the mark.”

Too often, we allow the world to convince us to replace our own precious crown of glory for the tinfoil hat of religious speculation … or a paper hat of impassioned partying. In either case, we trade the glory of the children of God for mere dust and ashes.

Today we will have ashes placed on our heads as a sign of our desire to repent – to turn back – to our divine inheritance … to admit to the world that we have sinned – that is, missed the target of who God has revealed us to be through His Son Jesus Christ … our Savior and our Lord.

And if I might, I would like to borrow an idea from Keith Idleman, a Kentucky pastor, who uses the parable of the prodigal son and the acronym A.H.A. to help his readers to engage in God-inspired “Aha!” or “Eureka” moments.

We all know the parable of the prodigal son. Son goes away, son figures out he’s screwed up, son comes back with a plan, father blows son out of the water with his generous mercy. Other son screws up by being a jerk.

We all screw up. We are all, at one time or another the prodigal younger son – who loses his spiritual way through material things; or the prodigal older son – who loses his spiritual way through bad thinking. 

And so, on to “AHA.”

The first “A” is for “AWAKENING” … the younger son in the parable had a sudden awakening that what he had done and how he was now living were not where he was supposed to be.

The “H” is for “HONESTY” … the son was brutally honest with himself. He didn’t blame anybody. He didn’t make excuses. He figured it it with bold and honest clarity.

The final “A” is for “ACTION” … immediate action. The son didn’t schedule his trip home for when it was convenient for the pigs or OK with his new master. He went. He just went.

Pastor Idleman points out that we may hit on one of the three at any given moment – but when we hit on all three, and engage the grace of Almighty God … those are the AHA moments of TRUE REPENTANCE – returning to God’s fullness of grace, and mercy, and love. Drawing closer to our divine inheritance as the children of the kingdom.

As we continue our morning liturgy … and as we receive ashes on our heads shortly … and as we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ … let us pray for that grace – the AHA moment of divine grace to wake up to what we have done, or are doing; to be brutally honest in recognizing the “big T” Truth of God’s revelation … found in the Person of Jesus Christ, and – without delay – take that moment for action.

In other words: let us REPENT, AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL.

Ss. Cyril and Methodius @ St. Cyril Bannister

HOMILY - SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

Today is the feast day of Ss. Cyril and Methodius. 

The two holy brothers were missionaries in the 9th century, and are considered to be the Apostles to the Slavic people.

The eastern church calls them “Equal to the Apostles,” and they are credited with creating an alphabet, called Glagolitic, which was used to transcribe the ancient language of the area now known as Old Church Slavonic.

They were born Constantine and Michael, and took the names Cyril and Methodius on being received into the monastic life.

I also read somewhere that in earlier centuries, French monks went to eastern Europe hoping to convert the Slavs, but were thwarted by their own limitations. Much to the monks’ frustrations, nobody else spoke French or Latin. 

After confusing everybody they came across during their very unsuccessful missionary efforts, most of them turned around went back to France.

In their own time, the holy brothers came across the remnants of those French monks, who gave the two of them a hard time. The brothers went to Rome, and argued for the use of a language other than Hebrew, Greek, or Latin in prayer and liturgy. It was on this trip that Cyril died in Rome, while Methodius returned after being named archbishop.

He continued on alone, oftentimes coming into conflict with French and German bishops, and always taking his case to Rome. He died 18 years after his brother, and is buried in the cathedral church of Great Moravia.

One thousand years later, in 1880, Pope Leo XIII introduced the feast of Cyril and Methodius into the General Roman Calendar on July 5, and then seven years later, it was moved to July 7. It stayed there for over 80 years until the reform of the liturgy in 1969, where it was moved to February 14 – today. 

In 1980, Pope St. John Paul II named the brothers as co-patrons of Europe – along with St. Benedict of Nursia.

6th Sunday in OT @ St. Peter Chesaning

HOMILY - 6TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

FEBRUARY 13/14, 2021

The English language is an interesting conglomeration of ancient languages. Most likely because of it’s location as an island nation, it has been in the middle of multiple conflicts between various parties over countless years.

Taking some word that are perhaps too familiar these past 12 months: pandemic – comes from the Greek, virus – from Latin, sickness – from Old English, illness – from Old Norse, and disease – from Old French.

I’ve never been fond of hospitals. The constant noise: beeping, walking, doors opening and closing, phones ringing, people talking . . .  I guess most people aren’t very excited about them. 

Once in a while someone will talk about hospitals having good food. That’s not my experience.

Getting sick is just no fun. And if one year ago, if we had very little knowledge about disease and illness, thanks to the Pandemic, we’ve all become experts of a sort. Too much information seems to be the order of the day.

Today is the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

In our first reading from Leviticus, we hear of how those suffering with leprosy were quarantined from the community at large. Although medical science, not being as sophisticated as it is now, leprosy could mean anything from acne or a rash to what is now known as Hansen’s disease or even skin cancer.

The temple priest was to do the examination and make the determination as to whether the person did or did not have leprosy. And we hear that a  leper was to “muffle his beard” – that is, wear a mask. And that “[he] shall dwell apart” – that is, maintain social distance. 

The penalty, of course, in those days was death. If a leper broke the rules, he would be stoned to death. 

In the Gospel, a leper approaches Jesus, kneels, and asks to be healed. The man had faith that Jesus would heal him, but as an outcast the question was: Would Jesus heal him?

Now, instead of following proper legal protocols (that is getting away from the leper, and throwing stones,) Jesus touches him. This, by law, makes Jesus subject to the same penalties. Jesus goes even further, He speaks to the leper: “I do will it. Be made clean.”

And, well, the rest is history.

Theologians of every stripe have compared sickness to sin – for better or for worse. The idea that sickness is caused by sin is certainly outdated. But the analogy, the comparison – of the effects of sickness and the effects of sin – can often be instructive.

Sin is often deeper than what is immediately apparent. 
Sin can be contagious. 
Sin can cause injury and harm. 
And sin isolates and separates.

And we can see this, not only in the Bible stories of leprosy, but also in our own lives . . . especially as we have been living in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

This reading isn’t accidentally here in the first several weeks after Epiphany. Rather, the Church knows that we will be heading into the Season of Lent. It’s not just about purple vestments and minor keys in music. 

Lent is about repentance. Lent is about sin. Lent is about being healed from sin.

Jesus came to bring us into right relationship with God. While that gives us freedom, St. Paul points out in the second reading that freedom is balanced by responsibility. And that when we are in right relationship with God, we are called to be in right relationship with one another.

With our siblings in Christ, we are called to glorify God. With those outside of Christ, we are called to reach out to them – by word and example – to win those souls for Christ.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us recognize that we are mere days from Lent . . . but also, let us recognize the need for us to be healed from personal sin, while reaching out to those who do not know Christ.

And through our efforts over 40 days, and the powerful grace of God, may we move closer to Christ and be healed from all things that separate us from Him.