St. Joseph Church Homilies

Welcome to Trinity Sunday. “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  The Sign of the Cross. Words we say,-a simple action we do,-an outward sign in our belief in the Holy Trinity. The sign of the cross was originally done in some parts of the Christian world using only the right-hand thumb across the forehead. Today, we still see this gesture with blessings using the Chrism Oil in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and ordinations of priests and bishops. The use of the sign of the cross traces back to the second century, being used in baptism, when washing before praying, and during times of temptation. People back than must have done a lot of praying or a lot of temptations as I found this quote from Tertullian a Christian author wrote: “We Christians wear out our foreheads with the sign of the cross.” There are many early Christians’ testimonies to this practice. It was their favourite devotion as it required no special knowledge or skill. You did not have to be literate to make the Sign of the Cross, or rich enough to own a book of instructions. All you needed was one working finger.

Although there are a few other faiths which also use the Sign of the Cross, few actions so clearly distinguish a person as a Catholic in our culture, as the Sign of the Cross. The bible also supports the use of the Sign of the Cross. In revelations we read, ”I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God. Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.”(Rev.7:2-3) “Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.” (Rev.14.1) Paul writes, “But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts.(2 Cor. 1:22)

Theologian, Scott Hahn writes, “The Sign of the Cross is the most profound gesture we make. With our words, we proclaim the Trinitarian faith into which we were baptized and received membership into the Church. With our hand, we proclaim our redemption by the cross of Jesus Christ.” 

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) wrote: “The most basic Christian gesture in prayer is and always will be the Sign of the Cross as it signifies our re-acceptance of our baptism.”

Think about all the times when we use or see the sign of the cross when we come to mass. When we enter the church, we bless ourselves with holy water. Some of us bless ourselves while genuflecting before entering the pew.  The priest begins the mass with the sign of the cross and at the end of mass he blesses us with the sign of the cross. Before the Gospel is read, we make the sign of the cross on our forehead, our lips, and our heart. We bless ourselves after receiving the Eucharist. All of our blessings, the rosary, the beginning and ending of prayers, we use the sign of the cross. Usually on Ash Wednesday, a cross with ashes is traced on the forehead. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is creating the inner connection of the Holy Trinity. Christ tells us, “When, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but will speak whatever He hears,” Christ is telling the apostles that the Spirit is not speaking of His own mind. Instead, “He will speak whatever He hears. He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and will declare it to you.

Many biblical scholars believe today’s chapter of the Gospel was added by John after his original Gospel was completed. Previous chapters spoke about the tomb being empty and that the Risen Christ had a real body which still bore the marks of the nails and the spear thrust in his side. This story goes a step further. The emphasis of this story is to make it quite clear, the reality of the resurrection of the Lord, in a human form. The Risen Christ was not a vision, not a hallucination, not even a spirit, but a real person. When we read todays Gospel, the first thing we notice was Jesus calls his disciples children. This may sound odd to us but we have to remember, we hear quite often in the Gospels about becoming children of God. Jesus then tells them to cast their nets to the right side of the boat. This would not have been a strange instruction to the disciples as sometimes, fishermen would have a spotter on the shore or in the water. Because of the reflection of the sun or clouds on the water, from that vantage point, the spotter or someone walking in the sea or on the shore, could quite often see a school of fish that those in the boat could not see. After a short period of time, John realizes that it is actually Jesus speaking to them and Peter immediately jumps into the sea and swims to shore. Peter must have been quite an impulsive individual. We know in the past, he was the one who tried to walk on water towards Jesus. A couple of weeks ago, we heard how he cut off the ear of a servant, and today he jumps into the sea instead of waiting for the boat to come ashore. When they came ashore they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it. John is making it quite clear Christ is in a human form. This is not a hallucination, which all the disciples are experiencing. A vision or a spirit would not point out a school of fish to some fishermen. A vision or a spirit would not have a charcoal fire on the seashore, and certainly a vision or a spirit would not be cooking a meal as there would be no need of food. Yet, this what John tells us, the Risen Christ had done. 

John goes on to purposely mention that they caught one hundred fifty three fish. Many believe, John quite often had hidden meanings in his Gospel. 

There have been many theories about the number of fish, a hundred and fifty three. The simplest of the explanations is the one given by St. Jerome. He said, that in the sea there are one hundred and fifty three different kinds of fish. This catch is one which includes every kind of fish; and therefore, the number symbolizes the fact that someday, all men and women of all nations will be gathered together to Jesus Christ. We also heard even though there was a great number of fish, the net was not torn. So the net symbolizes the Church and shows there is room for everyone with no restrictions. We truly are a universal church. Next we have to look at who brought the net from the boat to the shore, Simon Peter. We know from Mathew’s gospel Christ said, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. (Mt.16:18) So we have Peter responsible for bringing all people to Jesus and eternal life.

After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Do you love me more than these?” This question could be taken in two ways. Jesus could be asking Peter, do you love me more than these disciples, or he could be asking, while spreading his arms, do you love me more than all these worldly treasures you see in front of you. This is really a good question for all of us, and something we should meditate on especially during this Easter season. Do we love Christ more than the worldly things around us that we sometimes put so much time and emphasis on acquiring? Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Peter must have felt guilty, ashamed, and unworthy. He was supposed to be the “rock” of the Church,

Since Palm Sunday, we’ve reflected on some of the signs of Jesus’ love for us. We need signs of love. Love, after all, can’t be seen on its own. That doesn’t make it any less real, of course. But although we know love is real, signs of love are extremely helpful reminders that affirm what we know to be true. A couple may exchange rings on their wedding day as a sign of their love for one another. Good friends may exchange pictures or a child may make something for a beloved relative. These are all signs that don’t create love but reveal its presence.

On Palm Sunday, we looked at how Jesus reveals his love for us through the breaking of bread. Although the Last Supper seemed to end miserably, the sign of the breaking of bread didn’t end at Jesus’ arrest. Our Lord continued to break bread as he stood before judges, carried his cross and was crucified. Many of the early Christians recognized the risen Jesus only through the breaking of bread and this, sign, the breaking of bread, has become a central part of our worship here.

On Holy Thursday, we explored how Jesus reveals his love through the washing of feet, through service. Service is never accidental; Jesus didn’t accidently wash the feet of the disciples. No, his service is always planned and deliberate. Sometimes this is a call for us to seek out ways to serve others and sometimes it’s a call for us to accept the ways Jesus continues to serve us today, especially through the Sacraments. Like Peter, we too can be reluctant to accept the gift of service Jesus offers us.

On Good Friday, we witnessed another great sign of Jesus’ love for us: the forgiveness of sins. We all carry wounds, sometimes wounds so deep that forgiveness seems impossible; for us, sometimes it is. But in the cross we see how Jesus can forgive all and in those moments when we reach our limits, we can always invite him to do what we cannot. At times, the very idea of asking God to bless someone who has hurt us may seem impossible; our prayer in such a case may simply be, “God, do something.”

Finally, on Easter, we examined another sign of Jesus’ love for us, his self-revelation. While many of us exert a great deal of energy putting up false fronts and guessing at the intentions of others, Jesus reveals who he is and what his intentions for us are. The problem is that at times we’re like Mary Magdalene, standing in the presence of Jesus while not able to recognize him. The trick is to know what to look for. In the pictures of the childrens’ book, ‘Where’s Waldo?”, Waldo can only be found if you know to look for the man with the red and white stripped toque and shirt; it’s the only way to find him. To find Jesus, we don’t look among the dead, but for the signs of his love today: the forgiveness of sins, the washing of feet and the breaking of bread, signs that are all present in this place.

The Gospel this week continues describing the events of that first Easter day. We’re told it’s the first day of the week. It’s evening, so the light of day is fading. This is a call back to creation, to a time before God separated light from darkness and the universe was nothing but a formless and chaotic void. For the followers of Jesus, the events of that first Easter must have seemed chaotic also. The tomb of Jesus was found empty early in the morning and all kinds of stories circulated about what might have happened, what it all could mean. So, the disciples lock themselves away.

This is an experience familiar for us. Two years ago, when a tiny virus created uncertainty in our world, we were advised to lock ourselves away and the chaos of illness, war, inflation, supply chain limits and many other things still fill many with fear and isolation.

Notice what happens next in the Gospel though: Jesus,