In the Shade of the Tree - Homily for the 11th Sunday in OT (B)

 

We heard the beautiful parable of the mustard seed of this morning. 

A few days ago, after reading this parable about the seed and the growth of the tree and its shade, I decided to go for walk in Old Town. And I love walking in Old Town because, unlike the newer subdivisions, we have trees here. Large and beautiful ones—not the small, just-planted ones. And I was thankful for those large trees out there because it was really hot outside. Something like 95 degrees and sunny and humid—and it was doubly hot because I was wearing my black clothes (clerics) out there. So, as I was walking, I thanked God for those big trees out there because they provided that shade which is so nice and cool and which makes walking in Old Town Florissant so wonderful. 

In fact, as I was walking, I saw a few people working in their yards and they stopped and said, “Hey, Father!” and I enjoyed some conversations along the way. And those conversations took place not in the middle of the street under the blazing heat. They took place in the cool shade. And I said to myself, “Self, I think there’s a homily here.” 

* 

When Jesus talks about the mustard seed, He is firstly talking about Himself. He is the mustard seed. And He gives growth to and brings forth the tree—which is the Church. The Kingdom of God, therefore, is Jesus—and it is His Church. That’s the ultimate meaning of the parable. 

But notice: the tree grows from the seed. The tree looks different than the seed. By analogy, the Church is going to grow and develop over the ages. And therefore it will look different than it did as a seed—that is, as it was during the time of the Apostles. But here’s the thing: it’s the same tree. From the same seed. 

This is very important, this organic growth. Because this means that there’s no such thing as a “pre-Vatican church” or a “post-Vatican church.” It’s just one Church. Nor is there a “pre-Tridentine church” or a “post-Tridentine church”—Tridentine being about the Council of Trent. No, it’s just one Church. 

Has there been growth and development? Yes, absolutely. 

But, as soon as we see things that are totally contrary to the one universal Church—as soon as we start hearing things being taught that have never been taught before—we can get rid of those things. They are not part of the tree; they are a foreign and invasive species. 

So we talk about the “perennial teaching” of the Church. Another word is traditio, from the Greek, meaning “to hand on,” from which we get the word Tradition. So, for example, Saint Therese of Lisieux or Saint John Vianney or Saint Vincent de Paul or Saint Augustine—they should be able to come into the pews today and say, “Hey, I recognize this Church. It doesn’t look exactly like I remember it (because the Tree was a sapling in my day), but ah! it’s growing.” And when it comes to the teachings, they should be able to look at the Church’s teachings today and say: “Ah, yes! How wonderful! What you say today naturally flows from the seed of knowledge that we had at that time.” 

And that’s quite the contrast to them saying, “Huh. What you teach is odd. How did you come up with that?” 

* 

This is important, because what does the tree—what does the Church—provide? The shade. 

And what does the shade provide? Coolness. 

And I don’t mean “cool” like “hip,” no. (We are going to be anything but hip as Catholics. We oftentimes are the total contrary of being hip. We don’t chase after the fads of the passing world). 

The shade provides the protection against the heat. 

And what is the heat? The world. The heat of the day where there are those noonday devils. 

The Church, in her perennial teachings, in her prayerful life, in her reflection, and in her being one with Jesus—that’s what protects us from the world. And gives us strength and courage in the world. 

And that means that we must dwell in that shade. Which is what we just heard in the parable. It’s an often-overlooked detail, but it is a vital detail. It says, 

            The tree puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade. 

* 

What does it mean to dwell in this shade of this Tree which is the Catholic Church? 

To dwell in it means, first, to do what you are doing right now: you come to Holy Mass and it is a place of prayer and coolness and rest and conversation and you are protected. 

But it also means to reflect upon the teachings of the Church.   

And it’s not enough to simply rely on experts to give you the meanings. Just open up the Catechism. It is one of the beautiful things of the Catechism: it tells you clearly what the teachings are. And you don’t have to be an expert to read it. And you can rely on that and trust in that and dwell in that because it protects you from the craziness and confusion that is in the heat of the world. 

* 

A final thought. 

The birds that were in the tree in its shade. They had an ancient, spiritual meaning: the angels. The birds, of course, are real beings that fly in the sky—but, as they are beings that flew, they were almost seen to have a spiritual quality to them. Artists would often depict angels, therefore, with wings. They saw a kind of “lightness” in the birds; an ability not only to fly, but to be above the earth’s difficulties and its painful heat. 

Why do I mention all of this? 

Because the good angels are also here. 

We recently celebrated Corpus Christi. And we were reminded on that great solemnity about our communion with Jesus in the Eucharist and our communion with all Catholics throughout the universal Church throughout the world. 

But there is one more element that we must reflect upon: and that is that we are in communion with the holy angels of God. 

This is important, because what do the angels do? Their names often give it away: they are called guardian angels. They protect you in this shade in the Church. They help you! 

But when was the last time you prayed to your guardian angel? Do you remember your guardian angel? Have you asked for his help? Or St. Michael the Archangel?—the one who protects us in battle and is our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. When was the last time we called upon Saint Michael to help us in the heat of this Day? 

Yes, brothers and sisters, our Lord is giving us many gifts. We are walking in grace. He protects us and gives us some rest. Because in that shade things are better: they are cooler and restful and contemplative; there is conversation; even an enjoyment of life. To enjoy life again: to stop and smell the flowers. – But you don’t stop and smell the flowers if you are always afraid. And you are afraid if you don’t believe that you are being protected. 

Our Lord is protecting you. He is with you. He is giving you grace. You are in the Church. You are surrounded by holy and beautiful angels. You can slow down. You can enjoy the shade of the Tree. +

Sacrificial Belonging - Homily for Corpus Christi

To whom do you belong?

This is a very interesting question. To whom do you belong? You may answer "I don't belong to anybody." But, really, the ones for whom you sacrifice-- that's to whom you belong. Parents, in a way belong to their children. You teens and young adults: you just finished up a hard semester. In a way, you have belonged to your school. To whom we sacrifice often indicates to whom we belong. Because with sacrifice comes belonging.

* 

Recently, I met up with an American missionary priest. He is a Catholic priest in China. We were celebrating the Holy Mass together. After Holy Mass, I had a chance to ask him about his ministry in China. “What’s it like over there?” I asked. 

He told me what you would expect: it’s hard. He can’t dress as a priest. It’s difficult to know who to trust. He is often on the run because of the government. Many priests and bishops are in jail. The Vatican Agreement with China has been a disaster. 

But the people are very faithful, he said. “I minister to about a hundred communities. And some of the people there haven’t seen a priest in twenty years. Which means they haven’t had Mass in twenty years. In many places, they gather in a home at night and hold a prayer vigil, asking God for the gift of a priest and the gift of the Holy Mass.” 

Can you imagine?

Interiorly, I started to realize that I was talking to a man—I had received Holy Communion with this man—who, a year from now, could possibly be imprisoned, tortured, killed. I saw his sacrifice as the same as Jesus’ sacrifice, and the sacrifices of the people he served. 

* 

As we continued to talk, the missionary priest told me that he “couldn’t wait to get back.” 

“You know, Anthony,” he said, “it is easier to keep the faith in Communist China than in the United States.” 

I looked at him funny. 

 “Well,” he said, “there you can see the enemy and you know its attacks clearly. Avoid the government. That’s easy. But here in the U.S., the enemy is often hidden and it slowly wears away without one knowing it. I’ve seen Chinese Catholics move from China and come to the U.S.—faithful Catholics in China who have been persecuted and some tortured—and yet when they come here, they fall away from the faith.”  

I asked him: Why do people fall away so quickly in the U.S.? What’s the hidden enemy?  

“Choice,” he said. “We have so many choices in the United States. Phone carriers, fast-food places, cars to drive, experiences to have, employment, even Catholic parishes and priests—we have so many choices that we expect and demand choice and the catering to our desires, so much so that it has become fossilized, engrained in our lifestyle. Who in your parish, if they had to drive for an hour to Holy Mass, would drive an hour for Holy Mass? The enemy in this is that religion itself has devolved into just another choice on par with any other choice. And when that happens—if Mass is just another choice like a job or a counselor or a sport—why choose it at all?” 

In China, it is very clear that religion is not just one choice among many, precisely because of the fact that if you make that choice you will be arrested and killed. 

I can’t wait to get back, he said. 

* 

When you and I were children growing up, the world was our oyster and all options were available. 

But the hallmark of our growing into maturity and adulthood was to let go some of those choices, to sacrifice one thing for another, and to then be committed. A mature, married person, for example, has sacrificed and continues to sacrifice all other options for this one person. And that choice is above all other choices and circumstances—sickness or health, good times or bad. 

Sacrifice, far from being a fearful thing of destruction, is actually the healthy process of maturation and the insertion point into community. When the man and woman get married, the two become one. And in that community they can say to each other: “I belong to you and you belong to me. We are one. We are in communion.” 

Sacrifice is also the protection of that communion. In order that no man or woman may separate them, they must sacrifice the desire for any other man and woman, and thus preserve the marriage. Indeed, this exclusivity helps to define the marriage: the spouses can say to each other, “I belong to you and to no other.” No other person. No other job. No other possession. I belong to you and you to me. 

By analogy, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, far from being a fearful thing of destruction of a precious Sunday morning, is actually the healthy process of maturation and the insertion point into community. When we receive the Eucharist in Holy Communion, we become one with Jesus and He with us. You say to Jesus: Jesus, I belong to you and you belong to me. And Jesus, in His Sacrifice, says And I belong to you and you belong to me, too. 

Sacrifice protects that communion. As the First Commandment says, You will have no other gods. The Commandments also define that communion, just as Jesus said: You are my friends if you keep my Commandments. Keeping the Commandments, which necessarily requires sacrifice, is a prerequisite for communion. Without sacrifice, there is no communion; just as without sacrifice in marriage, there is no union. The priest points this out when he says, “Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the almighty Father.” 

*

Here, we come to a very decisive moment. 

Some live in fear and always keep their options open. The finality of a sacrifice is terrifying. And so, a family invites their daughter over for Sunday dinner but she hedges because there might be a better offer. A guy dates a girl but balks on popping the question because he doesn’t want to be pinned down. But that lack of a commitment is a commitment. And there is a side-effect to choosing indecision: isolation. 

Some go further and think they can choose anything—that God requires nothing from me, no sacrifice, and only a nominal belonging such that any choice, even a choice against His Commandments, is acceptable.

I think of Flannery O'Connor's words here when, at a dinner-party with some fallen away Catholics, faced the daunting task of defending the Eucharist, quote: 

I then said, in a very shaky voice, 'Well, if it's a symbol, to hell with it.' That was all the defense I was capable of but I realize now this is all I will ever be able to say about it, outside of a story, except that it is the center of existence...; all the rest of life is expendable.

Consider here the Communion of Saints. 

Can a Catholic politician who advocates the killing of infant children really consider himself in communion with Saint Gianna? Or even with our Lord who says Let the little children come to me and do not prevent them? 

Can a Catholic priest who actively subverts and casts doubt on perennial Church doctrine concerning sexuality seriously consider himself in communion with Saint John Vianney or Saint Charles Lwanga? Or even with our Lord who says, It would be better that a millstone be tied around your neck and hurled into the sea than to teach these little ones to sin. 

Can anyone present themselves to Holy Communion and not at least pause and consider our brother and sister Catholics in China who sacrifice all and would sacrifice all to have just one Sunday Mass? 

The opening words of our Lord’s ministry are important here. Repent and believe. That Catholic politician, that doubting priest, that lukewarm Catholic—any sinner—they can all receive and enter into Holy Communion if they simply offer the sacrifice of repentance. I’m sorry I cheated on you, Lord. I want to belong with you again. 

* 

This morning, Our Lord gives us the great celebration of Corpus Christi—that is, the Body of Christ. It is a celebration of the Eucharist, the Body of Christ (which we receive at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass), and it is also a celebration of the Catholic Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the place and also the effect of this Holy Communion. 

At the end of the Holy Mass, we will have a Eucharistic Procession. It is not simply a parade. What we are saying in this procession—what God is saying—is that this neighborhood belongs to Jesus. This community belongs to Jesus. We belong to Jesus and we are one in Jesus. This Communion is our communion. We live a sacrificial belonging—which we call Love, true Love—and we are inviting you to join us. To enter into communion with the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, and to receive the bread of angels, the Eucharist, our Holy Communion, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus, which is called Corpus Christi.

And before we go out and do that, let's take a moment and answer the questions by which I started this homily. To whom do you belong? To whom do you sacrifice?

The Essential Oil, the Necessary Spirit - Homily for Pentecost 2021

 + At the heart of our Catholic faith is the heavenly Father and His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, whose love for each other is so perfect, so infinite, so eternal, and so personal, that this Love is God, the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, and we call Him the Holy Spirit. 

The question is: What does He do? And is he essential? 

* 

When I was growing up, I learned about the Holy Spirit when I was learning about Confirmation, but the extent of my learning was that the Holy Spirit is a fluffy dove. Or, if you are dancing, you had to leave room for the Holy Spirit. As a seventh grader, I didn’t care too much about either thing. And I certainly didn’t see Him as something essential. 

I mean, I believed that we were saved by Jesus and His Cross—but, really, what more was necessary? In a way, I was Protestant. 

Later on, in my 20s, I discovered something Jesus said. He said, “It is necessary that I ascend. Unless I go away, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.” 

This struck me. Why was this necessary if I was already saved by Jesus’ cross? Or, to put it another way, why was it even necessary that I be baptized at all if I was already saved by the Cross? Why the extra step of baptism if the Cross has saved me? 

These questions and the subsequent answers would lead to my intellectual conversion. 

To put it briefly, the Father and the Son do not only want to save us. They do. But they also want to sanctify us. They want to make us holy. 

* 

So, I started looking into this Holy Spirit and I soon discovered the Holy Spirit is the one who enacts the Father’s plan and makes it effective. 

In the beginning, it is the Holy Spirit that hovered over the waters of creation and brought forth light and order. It is the Holy Spirit, also called the “ruah”—the breath of God—that the Father breathed into the nostrils of Adam and gave him life. It is the same breath that came as a mighty wind and separated the waters of the Red Sea. It is the Holy Spirit who gave King Solomon wisdom and the holy prophets sacred and authoritative utterance. It is the Holy Spirit that overshadowed the Blessed Virgin Mary and it was by His power that Mary miraculously conceived. It is the Holy Spirit that sanctifies John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth who rejoices when Mary visits with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that is given to the Apostles in a particularly unique way this day, the fiftieth day since Easter, which we call Pentecost. 

It is the Holy Spirit who inspires the Sacred Scriptures. The forgiveness of sins happens by the power of the Holy Spirit. Bread and wine are consecrated and transformed into Jesus by the epiclesis of the Holy Spirit. A man is ordained to be a priest of Jesus Christ by the gift of the Holy Spirit. And a man and woman miraculously become one by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. And they are called to be holy—hence the Sacrament is called Holy Matrimony. 

It is the Holy Spirit who guards the Church, especially in Her teachings on faith and morals so that, when the Church teaches, it is Jesus whom we hear. For, “Whoever hears you [Apostles], hears me;” for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and you will know the Truth. 

Indeed, without the Holy Spirit, there is no holiness. There would only be morality and wishes. But no actual power in the Sacraments or the Scriptures or the Teachings. 

And why all of this? 

It is not only to save us, but so that we may be holy. 

And what does it mean to be holy? To be holy means to live and to participate in union with the very inner life of the Father and the Son. 

* 

This changed everything for me. 

I understood Baptism. Baptism was not a rite of passage. It is where the graces of the Cross are poured into the soul and that soul becomes the dwelling place of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Hence, you are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 

And why? To save you. And to make you holy. 

Confirmation: Confirmation is not about me confirming my faith and choosing my religion. (I do that every day by choosing whether or not I will follow His Commandments, go to Mass, and so on). No, Confirmation was about the Holy Spirit coming upon you and me and orienting our souls so that our holiness may lead to others’ salvation and sanctification. 

Hence, you chose a Confirmation saint. Or, actually: the saint chose you. 

Shoot, even the name, Christian, which is shared by Christ, comes from the Greek—Christos—meaning “anointed one”—and that anointing isn’t simply with oil. It is the divine gift of Love between the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit. 

It’s about holiness. 

* 

The soul, therefore, that desires this Spirit of God will attain the deepest treasures and great spiritual fruits. And you will know when you are receiving the Holy Spirit by those very fruits. (Just as we know a tree by its fruits.) Those fruits are joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, perseverance in suffering, gentleness, faith, modesty, chastity, and self-control. 

A soul that is filled with the spirit of the world—that is, the pursuits of worldly treasures, self-comforts, self-pursuits, bitterness, resentment, agnosticism, lukewarmness—when a soul is filled with these harsh spirits, they will struggle to receive the Holy Spirit. 

How can the Comforter come to the one who seeks worldly comforts and has no room for divine comfort? How can the Counsellor come to the one who has no need or desire for counsel? How can the Holy Spirit be an Advocate for the soul in sin if the soul does not acknowledge their sin? How can the gift of God be received by the soul who thinks there is no need of the Gift of the Holy Spirit? How can the gentle coolness of the breath of God find a home in a harsh soul? How can such a soul hear His whisper in prayer when the soul is filled with the loudness of the world? 

How can we grow in holiness—how can we become saints—unless we understand that the Holy Spirit is essential? 

* 

Final words of Jesus come to my heart. He says: “Ask. Ask and you shall receive.” 

Those who ask and who make room in their hearts and minds for the Gift of the Holy Spirit will receive. 

That is our prayer now. “Come, Holy Spirit!” 

That’s all you have to say. “Come, Holy Spirit!” 

And when you do that, you will discover that sweet anointing from above, that fragrance of God, which inspires gratitude and an ability to carry any size cross. You will grow in holiness. You will start to become a saint. And you will see Him as the saints have confessed Him in the Creed: as the “Lord and the Giver of Life who is worshipped and glorified.” 

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