St. Joseph Church Homilies

Today we celebrate our mothers and the gift of motherhood. We recognize their different roles and gift in the development of the church of Christ. Humanly speaking, the church cannot do much without our mothers. It was our Mother Mary, a woman who gave birth to Jesus. It was a woman who was at the crucifixion of Jesus, standing hear the cross even when most of his male disciples ran away. It was also a woman, Mary Magdelene who was the first to see Jesus alive and in person after his resurrection and ran to give the message to the rest of the disciples. They are gifted in so many ways…Please let us appreciate them. 

I hope our fathers are not jealous. The fact is that when you put side by side the love of our mothers and the love of God, you understand and appreciate the unconditional love of God towards us his children that he had to send his own son to die for us. John 15:13 tells us, “There is no greater love than this that a man lay down his life for the sake of his friends. 

Jesus wants us to reciprocate this love by loving him and keeping his commandments. He tells us in the gospel reading today, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. The questions we should ask ourselves are; Do we really know the commandments of God? Do I make effort to keep the commandments or do I choose those to keep and those to disobey? Do I also make effort to teach them to my children? After God had given the people of Israel his commandments and laws, he said to them: You shall teach them diligently to your children and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house. (Its our duty as parents..). Prov. 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he/she should go and when they are old they will not depart from it.”

Jesus summarized the 10 commandments into two: 1. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. 2. Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. 

St. Augustine simplified it for us when he asserted, “Love God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the one who is Beloved. If you love God, you will learn to love and forgive people. If you love God you will learn to be patient with your parents, your children and those around you. If you love God, you will make effort to avoid sin, you will not kill, Steal, commit adultery. If you love God you will keep his commandments. 

You will agree with me that there is no true love devoid of giving. John 3:16 would tell us that, “For God so love the world that he gave us his only son…” and in our gospel reading today Jesus promises us the gift of the Holy Spirit as our counselor and helper. We saw the manifestation of this promise in the first reading-How the followers of Christ received the gift of the Holy Spirit after the Apostles laid hands on them.  

Jesus went on to assure us in his farewell speech that he will not abandon us nor leave us as orphans. (leaving us desolate). This is a clarion call to remind us that as Christians we are not standing alone. Jesus is standing with us. In the darkness moments of our lives, Jesus is standing with us. In that sickness and in our weakness, Jesus is standing with us. When your best friend, family, children or even your spouse abandon you, Jesus is standing with you. Whatever challenges you are experiencing in life. Jesus is standing with you.    

       Because He lives, you also will live and because Jesus is alive, all our fears and worries should be no more.

Now, I’m not at all sponsored by Airbnb and this isn’t an endorsement as it’s not for everyone, but I often use Airbnb to save money while travelling. For those maybe not familiar, Airbnb helps connect travelers with homeowners who are willing to accept strangers into their homes. Anyway, once I stayed with this lady who regularly opened two bedrooms of her house for paying guests. She made enough from this that she quit her job and, aside from taking the time needed for basic housekeeping, she spent her days sitting on a tropical beach. Sounds like a fantastic arrangement and at first, I thought she had found the perfect, almost heavenly, life arrangement.

Heaven is sometimes described as a place of rest and for us who work hard or toil, that’s an easy image to cling to. But, while there’s nothing outright wrong with this image for heaven, it does fall short. Truth be told, I’m not sure I could spend my remaining days just sitting on a beach somewhere; I know I’d eventually get bored and if heaven is the perfect place, then it can’t be boring.

All kinds of analogies have been used to depict heaven, but it’s actually very difficult to describe the place because there’s no real eyewitness accounts of what it’s like and if someone were to come back and, in plain English, describe what heaven is like, I’m not sure any of us would understand. Yet, it’s extremely important for Christians to consider heaven, to long for that place, because it’s a big part of what our faith is about. Jesus died on the cross to open for us the gates of heaven. He ascended into heaven to lead us there and in the Gospel for today, he tells his disciples that he goes to prepare a dwelling place for his followers in that kingdom, our true home.

The Father’s house: I believe that is one of the best analogies for heaven. It’s a true home. When a home functions well, it becomes the place everyone wants to go to and remain. A good home offers safety from all dangers, it delivers rejuvenation and peace, joy and love. But, when a home isn’t working well, when it’s a place people wish to escape from, it becomes instead a place of grief and loss.

Lots of great things happen in a good home. While each member of the household may have their own lives, their own rooms and interests, there’s no room for self-centredness. Members of a true home support one another and depend on each other. So, the home becomes the place for many individuals to live as one.

Heaven isn’t just something for the end of life, it makes a difference today if it’s allowed to shape the hearts of disciples. Of course, we can’t create heaven on earth. But we can create opportunities to get a taste of heaven here. In the first reading today, we heard about a time when the early Christians discovered a problem within their community: some of their members, widows, were suffering for lack of food. After some thought, prayer and discussion, the ministry of the deaconate was established and the problem overcome. The witness of love prompted many to join the Church. We may never be able to eliminate sadness, poverty, disease, war or any other evil entirely in this life. But we still work to do so because our efforts offer a taste of the unity and love found only in our true heavenly home; it gives a hint of what happens when many live as one.

Many living as one: it’s the model we ought to keep in mind when we grow our families and our Church. Disciples keep this in mind when making decisions or using their time, gifts and energy.

But sometimes we encounter serious roadblocks or some evils just seem impossible to overcome. I know there are many who sadly find it difficult to discern any similarities between the peace and love offered in the father’s home and their own workplace, church or even home.

Imagine, for a moment, two sheep. One of these sheep lives out in the wild while the other lives in the fenced in fields of a shepherd. One is free to do whatever it wishes while the other is limited by the fence and rules of the shepherd. We might ask, “which of these two has the greatest freedom?” We all long for freedom; wars have been fought for it and it’s a topic that’s been coming up frequently over the last couple of years.

Sure, the first sheep who lives in the wild is free to do whatever it wishes whenever it wishes but only at a price: by giving up the guidance and protection of the shepherd. Unfortunately, the world is filled with wolves, with all kinds of powers that work to destroy, divide and spread despair. The sheep living in the enclosed field may be expected to follow the rules of the shepherd, they may be unable to freely leave the pen, but it’s this sheep who lives in the peace needed to truly grow. It’s this second sheep, who submits to the guidance and protection of the shepherd, who can sleep well each night without fear or worry.

This weekend is often called Good Shepherd Sunday. We have all kinds of shepherds guide us in life: teachers, relatives, parents and friends among so many others. But this weekend we reflect on a special shepherd we all have: Jesus, the Good Shepherd. There’s lots about our Good Shepherd to celebrate. But one aspect that catches my attention is the freedom the Good Shepherd offers his sheep.

It’s not always easy living under the rule of shepherds. Sometimes the shepherds who are supposed to care for us don’t live up to their role or have let us down. There are shepherds who have neglected their responsibility for the sheep, selfishly used the sheep or even taken advantage of those in their care. Truly, many of the deepest hurts we’ve sustained have come through the hands of those who are supposed to be shepherds. So, it’s easy to mistrust shepherds and when prayers seem to go unanswered, when questions arise in the heart about the love or concern of God, we may even find within ourselves seeds of mistrust for The Good Shepherd himself.

So, to protect ourselves from future injury, we may be tempted to set off on our own and be like that first sheep who is free of dependence on any shepherds. On our own, it may be possible to hide away from the dangers of the world. It might be possible for the strongest of us to overcome all kinds of threats. But the Good Shepherd does much more than protect the sheep, the freedom Jesus offers is built on something much more than safety; he offers a special freedom impossible to find anywhere else.

Among the readings selected for Good Shepherd Sunday is a favourite psalm, Psalm 23. We all love the beginning of the psalm: the parts about the Good Shepherd guiding the sheep to green pastures and still waters. We love hearing about the protection the Good Shepherd promises in the dark valleys. But towards the end of the passage we heard here today, we learn that the Good Shepherd also prepares a table for his sheep.

Now, I’m no expert on any kind of farm animals, but I know sheep don’t normally eat at a table; they’re happy to settle for the grass of green pastures. The Good Shepherd, however, goes above and beyond: he lifts his sheep up. He offers his sheep a new freedom they could never imagine, something they could never do for themselves: he makes them like himself and invites them to the feast of the Good Shepherd. Those sheep who surrender to the will of the Good Shepherd are most free, not just because they’re kept safe, but because they are lifted up to share in the life, joys and work of the Good Shepherd.

As a people who long for the freedom of the Good Shepherd, as people who wish to be lifted up,

Ever been told a joke where you just didn’t get the punchline? Or maybe there was some concept taught in school that just seemed impossible to grasp. Oh, you were told everything you needed to hear; no details were skipped. But something just seemed to go right over your head. I know of many who love going to art museums and can spend hours appreciating great works of art. For me though, after about twenty minutes of looking at paintings, they all start looking the same. I know I’m missing something and can’t get the same enjoyment as many others.

That’s basically the position the two disciples on the road to Emmaus found themselves in. As they walked along, Jesus was with them, but they didn’t recognize him. In fact, it seemed to be a common pattern: that those who saw Jesus after the resurrection couldn’t recognize him. Now, even before the resurrection, there were many who didn’t recognize who Jesus was. Many saw his miracles but couldn’t believe. Lots heard his message of Good News and were still eager to put Jesus to death. But it’s very strange that his closest friends weren’t initially able to recognize Jesus after the resurrection.

This past Easter, we reflected on the strangeness of the first Easter. The empty tomb, the vision of angels, the rolled back stone: these were very strange things that caused lots of confusion among the disciples who just didn’t understand what they were witnessing. But, despite the strangeness of the resurrection, these closest friends of Jesus should have been able to recognize our saviour; he was right there before their eyes.

Now, they knew all the right things. As they walked along the road, they were able to retell the story of the life of Jesus in great detail. They knew of his miracles and of his message. So, their inability to recognize Jesus certainly wasn’t because they didn’t know enough. No, they weren’t ignorant; something else clouded their vision and this is no small thing. That first Easter day should have been a day of joy, but clouded vision led to sadness. The first Easter day should have been a day of light, but clouded vision kept the disciples from appreciating the truth of what was going on around them.

A key detail in understanding this scripture is found when we look at what the disciples were doing at the beginning of this Gospel passage: they were walking away from Jerusalem. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is seen moving towards Jerusalem; it’s where his saving work would take place. The trek these disciples were taking, away from Jerusalem, was going against the efforts of the Saviour. I think this is the point the writer is making: We won’t understand Jesus if we’re walking the wrong way. As long as the decisions we make or the way we live our lives doesn’t match the plan of God, our maker’s ways won’t make sense and his presence may even remain hidden.

It’s so easy to be like those disciples who walked along the road to Emmaus with Jesus; they knew all the right things, they had first-hand knowledge of the power of God, but they couldn’t recognize the presence of the saviour next to them and instead of being full of joy, they were full of sadness. Many of us have spent years in Catholic schools. But, worry and anxiety still creeps in and we find ourselves wishing for more faith or trust in God; it’s a sure sign that we’re in the same position as those disciples, that we’re not recognizing God with us.

There’s definitely great news though. Even if we’re going the wrong way and cannot recognize him, Jesus still walks with us and urges us in his ways. To those disciples along the road, Jesus worked in their hearts by opening the scriptures, by reminding of them of God’s Word. We do the same thing at every Mass. Yes, we’ve heard the scriptures many times.