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homilies
on the liturgy of the Sundays and feasts
by robert p. clark
Sunday spirituality
9th Sunday of the Year—March 5
“B” Readings: Deut. 5:12-15 • 2 Cor. 4:6-11 • Mark 2:23—3:6
Title: Observance of Sunday (A)
Purpose: to show (1) why Sunday is God’s special day; (2) how best to participate at Mass on Sundays.
There is a wonderful spiritual legacy that we have received through Christ which is made clear in the Gospel of today’s Holy Mass, viz., “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” These are Our Lord’s own words which charge us to take seriously the Third Commandment “Keep holy the Sabbath.” By understanding our role in true worship—how we are spiritually “renewed” by true worship—we glorify the Lord of the Sabbath.
Following the lead of God himself in the creation of the world, Christians are called to be even more conscious and aware of the need to preserve and keep holy that which is so often disregarded and profaned by the modern secular world. Hence, Sunday is not only a day of rest and recreation, it is that day when we most fittingly offer to Almighty God the praise and thanks he is due.
In his apostolic letter “Dies Domini” issued on May 31, 1998, Pope John Paul II states: “. . . among the many activities of a parish, none is as vital or as community-forming as the Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Day and His Eucharist” (p. 43, Dies Domini, Pauline Books and Media). As we begin the third millennium of Christianity, pastors have a serious obligation to teach their parishioners the requisites of right and proper worship. Their obligation is also shared by parents and grandparents as they educate their children and grandchildren in the “ways of the Lord.” Simply put, as Catholics we never miss Holy Mass on Sunday (whether at home or on vacation) unless there is a serious reason.
For us as Catholics the Sunday Mass is the source and center of all we have and are. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in the obligation commit a grave sin.
Participation in the communal celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and to His church. The faithful give witness by this to their communion in faith and charity. Together they testify to God’s holiness and their hope of salvation. They strengthen one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (p. 527, 2181-2182).
It is good to call to mind those practices and attitudes which can help us to best participate in and spiritually appreciate the Sunday Mass. It is good to arrive early; ten or fifteen minutes allows us the time we need to settle into the presence of God. A commendable practice is to read the scripture readings before Mass begins. It is helpful to bring along a favorite prayerbook or hand missal. This assures us of not losing one moment which can be directed to the glory of God. By attentive listening to the readings, prayers and homily we are “fed” and strengthened to face the challenges of the workplace and family life. Our devout reception of Holy Communion—and most importantly our prayerful Thanksgiving after receiving allows us once again to proclaim the Lord of the Sabbath. The devout “sacramental” actions of taking and blessing ourselves with holy water, genuflection as we enter and leave the pew, and a discussion of the homily with the family on the return trip home, all sanctify the Lord’s Day.
Once the Sabbath is properly ordered in a spiritual way, it is easier to spend the rest of the day in ways which glorify God and build up family life. Family recreation (which excludes shopping and servile tasks) is a continuation of giving God the glory begun earlier in the day at Holy Mass. All of these tasks leave the human family spiritually, emotionally and physically refreshed to begin another week and to carry out the duties of discipleship in Christ. The great saint-pope of the early twentieth century, Pope St. Pius X, encourages us:
Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to heaven. There are others: innocence, but that is for little children; penance, but we are afraid of it; generous endurance of the trials of life, but when they come we weep and ask to be spared. The surest, easiest, shortest way is the Eucharist (p. 79, Quotable Saints, Ronda De Sola Chervin, Servant Publications, 1992).
The coming days of Lent offer us a chance to renew ourselves and our families in a “Sunday Spirituality.” It is not merely a pious idea or an optional extra—it is a command of our loving God!
Suggested reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2168-2195.
A plan of action
1st Sunday of Lent—March 12
“B” Readings: Gen. 9:8-15 • 1 Pet. 3:18-22 • Mark 1:12-15
Title: Lent and Self-Discipline
Purpose: to show that we also are (1) strengthened by overcoming temptation; (2) strengthened by self-imposed hardships.
Last Wednesday, Catholics around the world were marked with the sign of the cross and blessed ashes. The age-old admonition “Remember man that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return,” rang out in our churches. As Almighty God set the rainbow as the sign of the old covenant in the first reading of Genesis from today’s Holy Mass—so he has once again set the cross of Christ before us at the start of these forty days of Lent. Following the scriptural example of Our Blessed Lord, we begin this holy season in a spirit of self-discipline. Extra prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the rule of the day. These time-tested spiritual practices allow us to open our hearts to God’s will and to overcome the temptation of Satan and of the world.
Every Catholic needs to have a special “plan of action” for these sacred forty days—individually tailored to those areas in our personal lives that have the most need of transformation. Parents and grandparents have a tremendous responsibility in this respect; not only by setting a good example, but also by encouraging and suggesting ways that their children and grandchildren can open themselves to the life of Christ by sacrifice and self-denial.
Matt Talbot was born in Dublin, Ireland on May 2, 1856. He was the second of twelve children. Matt’s parents Charles and Elizabeth were poor and his early home life lacked the stability which is often the cornerstone for good living later in life. Matt’s formal education amounted to little more than one year’s worth of school. By age twelve Matt Talbot had his first job at a wine bottling store—he was also a drunk. In his early teens he began a slippery slope of alcohol addiction which took its toll on his body and on his soul. He worked to make money to drink and he drank trying to find the meaning of life in a bottomless well of despair. After being abandoned and rejected even by his drinking “buddies,” Matt sobered up long enough to know that after sixteen years of alcoholism he would soon be dead if he didn’t sober up for good. He took the “pledge”—the solemn promise to never drink alcohol, the promise made so popular in Ireland by the noted Franciscan Father Mathew.
Matt Talbot made the pledge for three months, holding on day by day, and then he renewed it for several more months. He returned to the sacraments and went to Holy Communion. The first three months were the hardest. Matt turned to Christ for the support needed for an entirely new way of life. He went to Confession weekly and assisted at a 5:00 a.m. daily Mass before going to work. His Catholic Faith and devotional and sacramental life became the center of his existence. Within a year he made the pledge for life and for the next forty-one years remained sober.
Matt Talbot’s self-denial in regard to alcohol was to be key to a new way of life. All of this was taking place long before any twelve-step programs or support groups were available for those suffering from addiction. He developed a personal regime of prayer and fasting during the various liturgical seasons, encouraging a friend to fast by saying, “We do well to punish the body and not by studying the gut” (p. 364, Modern Saints, Book Two, Ann Ball, Tan Publishing, 1990). In various ways, using a board for a mattress, wearing penitential chains and giving almost all his salary to the needy, Matt was able to express his love for Christ by an intense self-denial. It was in this self-denial that he was free to find Christ.
Matt Talbot died on Trinity Sunday, June 7, 1925. He died alone on the street on his way to Holy Mass. Matt was fond of telling people, “How can anyone be lonely, with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament?” (p. 364, Modern Saints II). Matt Talbot found Jesus Christ through self-denial and self-discipline. Christ was his constant companion in life and in death.
This same union should be our aim for these forty days of Lent. Begin now to master your will, bit by bit, for the glory of God. With a fresh spiritual focus, you will be able to use each of the forty days of Lent to grow spiritually according to the mind of Christ and the Church. Make your spiritual “pledge” today. Whatever holds you bound, allow Christ to free you in the self-denial of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Suggested reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 538-540, 1434-1438, 2099-2100.
Both God and man
2nd Sunday of Lent—March 19
“B” Readings: Gen. 22:1-2. 9. 10-13. 15-18 • Rom. 8:31-34 • Mark 9:2-10
Title: Transfiguration: How to Understand Jesus
Purpose: (1) to show Jesus in the Gospels as human but also as divine; (2) to explain the Church’s definition of Jesus as possessing a divine and a human nature (Creed).
Our Lenten journey in faith challenges us to “put on” Christ and “take off” or remove anything that would keep us from him. Our quest for faith is motivated by the fact that the Christ of the scriptures is truly the God/man. Hence, Christ is more than a good storyteller, a moral leader or one who enables the gifts of the community. Christ as portrayed in the sacred scriptures so intimately reveals the “glory of the Father” that his divine nature (via miracles, pronouncements, healings) is clearly seen. The fact that the twelve apostles and many other disciples sacrificed all (including their very lives) to follow Christ testifies to the fact this Jesus was more than another preacher who made an impact.
From the earliest age of the Church there has been an ongoing struggle to accept Christ in his fullness—a struggle that persists even to our own day. It is good for us to recall:
In the General Councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451) the Church taught officially that the divine and human natures are united in Jesus Christ in one person—and that person is the Logos or the second person of the Blessed Trinity. Thus, in Jesus there is one person but two natures—a human nature taken from Mary and the divine nature which is common to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Since a mother gives birth not just to a human nature but to a person, it can be said with full truth that Mary is the Mother of God. For Jesus is not a human person; He is a divine person who has taken to Himself a human nature.
The New Testament offers many proofs that Jesus Christ is both God and man. It attributes to Him both divine and human qualities or characteristics (omnipotence, eternity, birth, suffering, death). Since all of these attributes are affirmed in the one Jesus Christ, it follows that the two natures must belong to one and the same subject or person. . . . The Church in her doctrinal teaching has explained this mystery in the phrase Hypostatic union. This is a statement of fact; it does not explain how it is possible. . . . That is the mystery of the Incarnation of God. . . . The acceptance and affirmation of this great mystery requires faith. . . . (pp. 217-218 Fundamentals of Catholicism Vol. II, Kenneth Baker, S.J., Ignatius Press, 1983.)
This brings us back to the Second Sunday of Lent and to a consideration of how Jesus manifests his divinity and humanity. This manifestation is on Mount Tabor, in the various miracles in the scriptures, and par excellence in the sacramental life of the Church. It is also found in other phenomena even in our day.
Francesco Forgione was born on May 25, 1887 in the village of Pietrelcina in southern Italy. He was dedicated to Christ in Baptism the very next day and was surrounded by a strong and practical Catholic Faith. On January 6, 1903 at age sixteen he entered the Capuchin Franciscan Order and was given the name Brother Pio. He was ordained to the priesthood on August 10, 1910 and for reasons relating to poor health spent the next six years living at his family home. In 1916 he was transferred to the Friary of Santa Maria della Grazie at San Giovanni Rotondo and remained there until his death in September 1968.
In September 1918, Padre Pio had an encounter with Jesus Christ that “transfigured” him for life. While making his thanksgiving after Holy Mass, he was marked with the stigmata of the five wounds of the passion of Jesus Christ. For the next fifty years Padre Pio bore witness to the God/man Jesus Christ by exercising the gifts of suffering, bilocation, the reading of souls and a simple filial devotion to Christ, his Blessed Mother Mary and the Church.
Many souls in the Church today are touched and transformed by how this simple Franciscan Friar was transfigured to Christ in both a spiritual and a physical way. Devotion to Padre Pio accompanies a dedication to prayer and the sacraments allowing us to delve further into the eternal mystery of Jesus Christ—human and divine.
On this second Sunday of Lent, as we stand and recite the ancient Nicene Creed, let us be aware that at each Holy Mass we once again encounter the Christ of Tabor—body, blood, soul and divinity. May these holy days of Lent lead us to the mountain of Holy Week to experience the true revelation of Jesus Christ, true God and true man!
Suggested reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 456-478, 554-556.
Christ crucified
3rd Sunday of Lent—March 26
“B” Readings: Exod. 20:1-17 • 1 Cor. 1:22-25 • John 2:13-25
Title: Redemption through the Passion of Christ
Purpose: (1) to describe the Passion of Christ as Christ’s willing acceptance of sufferings; (2) to show this attitude of Christ as our model for living.
The focus of our Lenten pilgrimage to Calvary is clearly defined on this third Sunday of Lent. Today we hear the words of St. Paul in the second reading to the Corinthians in spiritual admonition, “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. . . .” Christ accepted suffering and death to take away the sins of the world—a “willing” acceptance of that which most of us spend a lifetime trying to avoid. In Christ, then, is to be found a model of living; by accepting sufferings in our own lives we can unite ourselves more closely to the Lord who suffered for all. His Passion and crucifixion are not only a tremendous and painful sacrifice, they are the means by which Almighty God deigned to redeem the world. In the Providence of God our suffering also has merit, especially when united to (as St. Paul says in the second reading) “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” It is in the understanding of the “providence” of God that the sufferings of Christ and our own share of sufferings here in this life make sense.
Louis Guanella was born on a farm in the Italian Alps in 1842. He grew up knowing the hard work of mountain people and was skilled in agriculture and carpentry. Above all, from his devout Catholic parents he learned that a loving spirit in sacrifice can work miracles. Through the sacrifice of family and friends he was able to attend the seminary and was ordained a priest in 1866. Don Guanella was to become an apostle for the relief of suffering in Italy, Switzerland and even the United States. He was motivated by the notion that “The heart of a Christian, who believes and feels, cannot pass by the hardship and deprivations of the poor without helping them” (p. 222f, Modern Saints, Ann Ball, Tan Publishing, 1983).
Father Guanella would spend his entire life dedicated to those who suffered incurable diseases, the physically and mentally handicapped, and the aged who had been abandoned by family and friends. These were the people whom “Providence” had sent for Christianity to receive its practical application. Don Guanella worked closely with the spiritual “greats” of his day, Don Bosco at the Oratory of Turin and Pope Pius X. In order that the work would continue he founded the Servants of Charity and the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence to relieve the suffering and maintain the dignity of society’s outcasts.
The work of Father Guanella suffered greatly at the hands of anticlericals, socialists and the freemasons. He was often under the watchful eye of the police; people could only marvel at what the motivation was for such acts of charity and relief of suffering. In 1890 when the House of Providence in Como, Italy was burned to the ground by an anticlerical mob, Don Guanella comforted the two hundred poor and suffering who lived there by housing them that night in the local church. Father Guanella encouraged them to tell God, “Lord, in your design you have permitted that our house be burned down! We will stay here in yours!” (p. 225, Modern Saints).
Don Guanella did much to aid suffering earthquake victims in Italy in 1905 and 1915. World War I was another occasion to provide relief and shelter for refugees. Faith in action, Faith which was a sacrifice—this was not only the Lenten credo of Don Louis Guanella, it was his daily credo. Father Guanella died on October 24, 1915 after spending a lifetime of uniting human suffering and sacrifice to the sacrifice and suffering of Jesus thereby giving it true meaning unto eternal life.
This third Sunday of Lent finds us almost midway on our spiritual pilgrimage to Calvary. We must move forward walking confidently with Christ. Renew today your Lenten resolutions made on Ash Wednesday. If you have failed or neglected that which you embraced enthusiastically at the beginning of Lent, begin anew today. All good works, all sacrifices, all prayer redounds to the glory of God.
The spiritual classic, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas á Kempis, encourages us in proclaiming Christ crucified:
Had you not gone before and shown us the way, who would have even tried to follow you? How many would have lagged behind had they not your blessed example before their eyes! We are still slow and lukewarm, though we have heard of all your miracles and doctrine; what would we be if we had not your life to guide us? (p. 137, Ch. 18, Book Three, Catholic Book Publishers, 1977)
During this holy Lenten season let us proclaim Christ crucified—an absurdity to the world, but to those of us called, the wisdom of God.
Suggested reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 572, 605-618, 1508, 1521.
Reverend Robert P. Clark, a priest of the Diocese of New Ulm, Minn., was ordained in 1984. He received his M.A. in theology from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. He has served as a high school teacher, associate pastor and pastor. Currently he serves at the Church of St. Agnes and is a member of the faculty of St. Agnes schools in St. Paul, Minn. His last series of homilies appeared in January 1999.
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