5th Sunday of Easter- Vine & Branches

 

 In Gospel today Jesus said, “I am the Vine, you are the branches.”

On the day we were baptized, we became attached to the vine and began to dwell within Jesus, who began to dwell within the temple of our heart. As baptized Christians, we remain in Jesus and Jesus remains in us by the things we do in life. Yet, we can also separate our self from Jesus, the vine in this life.

It’s not just a question of making our home in Jesus because it feels good. A branch which is connected to the vine bears fruit. He said “I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in Him, He it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing.”

How is it we remain in Jesus? We draw grace (sap) from Jesus who give us grace to live Christian lives. We draw this sap from Jesus when we pray everyday, when come to Mass, when we adore Jesus during Eucharistic Adoration, and especially when we receive Holy Communion where (Jesus truly abides in us and we abide in Him). Also we draw sap from Jesus, the Vine, when we read the Bible and pray the Rosary.

When we pray the Rosary, we are coming in contact with the mysteries about the life of Jesus. For example, if we pray the Glorious mysteries of the Rosary, we see Jesus come out of the tomb and appear to the Apostles, we see Jesus ascend into heaven on a cloud, we are there in the upper room when the Holy Spirit comes down upon Mary and the Apostles in the form of wind and fire. We are at the tomb of the Virgin Mary, when Jesus comes down from heaven and brings Her with Him body and soul into heaven. Then we are in heaven, and become aware of the multitude of angels and saints gazing upon the Virgin Mary, as She is crowned queen of heaven and earth.

By meditating on the life and Jesus and Mary, we come in contact with the mysteries of our faith. We grow spiritually in faith, hope and love. The Rosary is a powerful way to gain access to God and be united to God through Mary.

Jesus is asking us to make our home in Him. And if we make our home with Him, we will live a holy and a virtuous life, we will do good deeds (which will be the fruit of our abiding life with Jesus). We can’t help but do good things, if we abide with Goodness itself. The branch bears fruit because of the goodness of the vine.

People who see how we live our life as Christians, by the good things we say and do, inspire others to want to be one of us.

In this life, we have to be careful so that we don’t cut our self off from the vine, by not abiding in Jesus. With all the seductions of this life, all the worldly things, and all the distractions, these things can cause us to be separated from Jesus, the Vine.

Jesus gave an explanation of what can happen if we separate our self from Him. He said, “If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.” He speaks of a fire, where a branch is thrown to be burned and when He speaks of this fire, Our Lord is speaking of hell, where the person is eternally separated from Him, because the person refused to abide in Him and not stay attached to Him, the Vine, in this life.

As branches, we are disciples of Christ, who cling to Jesus. We love Jesus. We abide with Jesus and Jesus then produces fruit by being attached to Him. A good way to renew our attachment to Jesus is to regularly give our self and our life to Jesus.

When we receive Holy Communion, we become one with Jesus. He abides in us and we abide in Him.

When we go home after Mass and when we live our life throughout the week, will we bear fruit for the kingdom of God? We have to remember “our love is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active; only by this can we be certain that we are the children of the truth…” Everyone around us should see Jesus abiding in us. They should see we are attached to the Vine and that the Vine is bearing fruit in our life.

If we go to PJ’s and are eating with friends who Catholic and non-Catholic, are the words that we speak edifying? Do they build up others or tear them down? Do we use dirty words in our expressions and make remarks that are not Christian?

In the second reading today from the First Letter of St. John. St John said, “Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God and receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments. And His commandment is this: we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as He commanded us. Those who keep His commandments remain in Him, and He in them, and this way we know that He remains in us-- is from the Spirit He gave us.”

By John’s words, we understand that if we keep His commandments we remain in Jesus and Jesus remains in us.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus Himself said, “This is my commandment love one another.” He also said, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.” As Christians, we are to constantly live our life in union with Jesus. If we sin, by not keeping His commandments, we separate our self from Him. If we give bad example, by our words, our actions or our deeds, we separating our self from the vine.

But, if we give good example, speak words of truth, and help others in need, it shows we are attached to Jesus.

We always have the opportunity of returning to the Lord by the sacrament of mercy in confession. When one has separated themselves from the Lord through serious sin, the person no longer abides in Jesus. They caused themselves to be cut off.

However, the beauty of the Resurrection of Jesus is that even if a branch should die and be cut off from the vine, it can be given life, and be grafted back on to the Vine and become a very fruitful branch.

Today, we turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and ask Her to help us to remain in Jesus, Her Son, so that if we remain in Him in this life, we will abide with Him forever in the glory of heaven.

Homily partially taken from Fr. Tommy Lane

3rd Sunday of Easter - New Catholics

This is an exciting day for those who by their profession of faith, will be entering into full communion the Catholic Church. It is also exciting for our parish of Holy Trinity. You have been on a journey of faith. Growing in your knowledge and love of the truth revealed by God. Most importantly, you have discovered more about who Jesus really is and what He did for us, and is doing for us today through the sacraments.

You participated in over 30 sessions to learn about what we believe. For someone to become Catholic, they need to know about our faith, and not just know about it, but to believe it. St. Justin, the martyr, in the 200’s, wrote to the emperor, about how no one may become one of us, and cannot receive the Eucharist, unless they first believe all that what we believe and live as we live as Christians. He also said that they must be baptized. All of you who are entering into the Catholic Church, were baptized Christians, and today, after you profess your faith, you will receive a new saint name and an outpouring of the Holy Spirit when you are Confirmed. By your Confirmation, you will become a solider for Christ, a witness for Christ. You are becoming a member of the Church founded by Jesus Christ Himself, that has been in existence from the beginning.

You will receive for the first time in your life, the real and true presence of Jesus in Holy Communion. As Catholics, we have the same faith in the Eucharist as the Apostles and the early Christians. We believe we are receiving the real bodily resurrected Jesus in Holy Communion, who will come inside your heart. Even before time began, when God conceived the idea of creating you, He immediately was looking forward to this day, when you will make your First Holy Communion. Because the priest has apostolic succession, the laying on of the hands, all the way back to the Apostles, the priest has the authority and power to change bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Other religions, do not believe the Eucharist is the real body of Jesus, but only a symbol. They don’t have apostolic succession.

For us Catholics, the Eucharist is not a symbol, but really and truly Jesus, who will come inside your heart and who will remain the tabernacle. Many of the disciples no longer followed Jesus after He told them, they were to eat His flesh and drink His blood. At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “This is my body, to be given up for you.” He did not say, this is a symbol of my body. He meant it literally and this what Christians have believed from the beginning up to today.

We believe at Mass, the event of Jesus Crucifixion becomes re-presented. It is made present on the altar. Jesus is not re-crucified, but rather, the one event becomes present on the altar, that’s why its called the Sacrifice of the Mass. The Mass is like a mystical time machine.

Some don’t understand what we believe. For example, some say, we worship statues, but we don’t. No body worship’s Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC. Statues are merely a reminder of important people, who lived among us. And saints in heaven. Some say, we worship saints, but we don’t. We ask them to pray for us like we ask each other to pray for us here on earth.

Catholics are counter-cultural. We have always and will always defend life from the moment of conception until natural death, because we believe every person is created in the image and likeness of God.

We also love and honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Jesus gave Mary to John, when He said, “Woman, behold your son” and to John, “Behold your Mother”. The 10 commandments tell us to honor our father and mother. We honor Mary, because Mary is our spiritual mother. She knew Jesus better than anyone else, because She lived with Him for 30 years. We pray Her Rosary knowing She intercedes for us, as She interceded for the wedding couple at Cana, when Jesus turned water into wine.

In the Gospel today, Jesus appeared to the Apostles and said “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought, it was a ghost, after all, Jesus was buried in a tomb. But, Jesus said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts. Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” He then showed them His hands and feet. He then wanted to remove all doubt and ate baked fish in front of them.

Don’t you wish you could see Jesus, just like the Apostles when He appeared to them? Every sacrament, especially the Eucharist is an occasion where we come in contact with Jesus. St. Francis of Assisi said, "And just as He appeared before the holy Apostles in true flesh, so now He has us see Him in the Sacred Bread. Looking at Him with the eyes of their flesh, they saw only His Flesh, but regarding Him with the eyes of the spirit, they believed that He was God. In like manner, as we see bread and wine with our bodily eyes, let us see and believe firmly that it is His Most Holy Body and Blood, True and Living. For in this way our Lord is ever present among those who believe in him.”

Through Confession, Jesus is there to forgive us. When you made your First Confession, Jesus forgave all the sins of your life. And He did it in the most loving and tender way. Come to Jesus often to receive His loving and tender mercy.

All of the Apostles, the bishops and priests as their successors, forgave sins because Jesus told them, “As the Father sent me, so I send you. And He breathed on them saying, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive sins, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” There are documents in the early Church that support the fact, that people confessed their sins to priests.

Through Holy Communion, Jesus is one with us, as He said, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in Him.” St. John Chrysostom said, “How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment."

St. Teresa of Avila encouraged others to pray deeply to Jesus in Holy Communion. She said, “Let us entertain ourselves lovingly with Jesus and not waste the hour that follows Communion. It is an excellent time to deal with God and put before Him the matters that concern our soul… As we know that the good Jesus remains within us until our natural warmth has dissolved the bread-like qualities, we should take great care not to lose so beautiful an opportunity to treat with Him and lay our needs before Him.' "

St. Therese of Lissieux spoke about receiving Holy Communion often. She said, "Receive Communion often, very often...there you have the sole remedy, if you want to be cured. Jesus has not put this attraction in your heart for nothing..." "The guest of our soul knows our misery.”

My friends, we celebrate with great joy, your entry into the Church and especially your new and more profound relationship with Jesus in the sacraments. He is always there, because He loves us so much.

Seek to get to know Jesus even more, by reading about Him in the Bible. Read about the lives of the saints, and you will discover a treasure of spiritual richness and the many ways Our Lord Jesus Christ, shows you how much He loves you and is with you in every situation of life.

And you have here in our church, new friends, who will help you on your way to heaven, as you help us on our way to heaven to be with Jesus forever.

3rd Sunday Easter - In Traumatic Events - Jesus is There, Vigil Mass

 

Have you ever witnessed or heard about a traumatic event? Have you ever seen a ghost? When I was in high school, a 17 yr old boy died in a car accident. His car ran into the back of a parked semi. The accident was so bad, he was decapitated. How horrible for his family and friends.

While I was in seminary, four people were murdered in Wichita. I knew two of them. They were stripped of their clothing, and then they were shot in the back of the head in a field.

Later, when I became a priest, there was a plane accident that killed a father and son. There were two other boys who survived the accident, but it was traumatic for them to witness to death of two of their friends. I was there when I took his wife and the mother of her son, to see both of their bodies at the mortuary.

My nephew was in Afghanistan and his armored vehicle hit a landmine. He survived, but he has suffered much from the mental anguish of the war.

Once on a trip, I stayed in a particular place, in Atchinson, Kansas, and as I just turned off the lights to go to sleep, I saw a black figure in my room. At first, I thought it was a ghost, but later came to understand it was an evil spirit.

All of these traumatic events remind us how frail life really is. When we suffer from a traumatic event, it can cause us to be upset for a long time and some people develop what’s called PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder, which can cause depression, fears, flashbacks and nightmares. This is true for first responders such are police, firemen, ambulance crews and soldiers.

For the Apostles, it was very traumatic three days. They were with Jesus during the Last Supper, His agony in the garden, His betrayal by Judas, Our Lord’s arrest, Peter denying Jesus. Later that night, after going before the Sanhedrin, Jesus was placed in a dungeon. The apostles then heard about Judas, one of the twelve, whom they were together with for 3 years, committing suicide. In the morning Jesus was taken before Pilate, then taken to Herod and then back to Pilate. Jesus was then scourged, crowned with thorns, and condemned to death by the people yelling, “Crucify Him”. Pilate gave in to their request and Jesus carried His Cross to the top of the mountain, falling three times along the way. Then at 12 noon, He was stripped of His clothes, and His hands and feet were nailed to a Cross for everyone to see. He hung there for 3 hours of agony before His death. Once He was dead, a soldier pierced His side with a lance and blood and water flowed from it.

Can you imagine what it was like for the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus to witness Her Son being treated so terribly. John, the apostle, and the other two women also watched as He was nailed to the Cross. They felt helpless, not being able to help Jesus, their friend. They stood there for 3 hours, as He slowly became weaker and weaker losing blood. His lungs filled with fluid and blood and then He died. How traumatic these events must have been for the Apostles, who were friends of Jesus, and who had been with Him every day for three years. They had witnessed His miracles and now He died.

But, what happened next would help the Apostles and us to know-- that no matter what kind of terrible experience we have in our life, Jesus is with us. While they were gathered together in the upper room, and when they were discussing about all that happened to Jesus, suddenly, He stood in their midst, and said, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought, it was a ghost, after all, Jesus was buried in a tomb. But, Jesus said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts. Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” He then showed them His hands and feet. He then wanted to remove all doubt and ate baked fish in front of them.

Jesus appearance to them is a reminder for us, that at the end of the world, we too will get a resurrected body, a real physical body, and we will be able to eat like He did. Even though we will have a physical resurrected body, we will be able to walk through walls like Jesus.

When He appeared to His Apostles, He spoke to them about the scriptures in the bible, that referred to Him and how they predicted these terrible events over the past three days.

If you had a past traumatic event that haunts you, whatever your situation, Jesus longs to do for you what He did for His disciples. He longs to give peace to your heart and mind. He wants to heal those emotional wounds caused by seeing, hearing or witnessing terrible events that should have never happened. Jesus is here today, looking into your eyes, saying, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid. It is I.”

For Catholics, we believe the bread on the altar is changed into the true resurrected body of Jesus. And when we gaze upon the Eucharist, we are gazing upon Jesus, who is gazing upon us. Jesus comes in to the wall of our hearts and we are united with Him in Holy Communion.

During Eucharistic Adoration, Our Lord is standing before us as we adore Him with love.

Many may not have not had traumatic events, like what I spoke about. But you may have had bad events that bothered you. For example, divorce, or a child being separated from a parent, or the loss of a parent or grandparent. Being bullied by someone. A relative or friend who deeply hurt you, by their words or actions.

Today, Jesus is here and wants to help you. What is most helpful--- is to pray, and in prayer talk to Jesus about the event or circumstance that causes you anguish.

He already knows all about it, but He wants you to speak to Him about it in prayer. Jesus is God and knows everything. What you probably never thought about, Jesus is always present at every event in our life, whether past or future.

Jesus feels what we feel. He feels our fears. He knows why-- and when we are angry. He cares about our every circumstance of life. He wants to encourage you, to console you, to help you in your decisions. He wants to calm your fears.

Jesus is not in some far away place from us. Rather, He is risen. He is alive. He is with us and most especially in the Eucharist. While we may not see His physical body like the Apostles witnessed on the day Jesus rose from the dead, our faith tells us, He is really there in the Sacred Host and wants to help us and loves us more than we can possibly imagine.

Divine Mercy Sunday - Year B - How Merciful is God?

 

How merciful is God? If we look at Sacred Scripture, we see how God was merciful to Mary Magdalene, a prostitute, who converted. She later stood at the foot of the Cross and when Jesus rose from the dead, He chose to appear to her first, before the Apostles.

St. Paul, who persecuted Christians and was responsible for the stoning of St. Stephen, but converted after having a vision of Jesus and then became an apostle founding many churches and wrote letters that now make up the New Testament.

Or Peter, who denied Jesus three times, but became the first Pope of the Catholic Church. Remember what Jesus asked Peter after the resurrection? He asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” in order to make up for the three times Peter denied Him.

Remember the adulterous woman, who was going to be stoned to death and all Jesus told her, was “Go and sin no more.”

Outside of scripture, Blessed Barto Longo, a satanic high priest, converted due to the Holy Rosary and became a Dominican brother.

Or Fr. Don Calloway, who was a drug mule delivering drugs from one dealer to another. He lived very promiscuous life with many young women, and was addicted to drugs, but had a conversion and was then called to be a priest and is now a Marian of the Immaculate Conception.

Or Bernard Nathanson, who was an abortionist, who admitted to killing over 7,000 unborn children, but converted, was baptized as Catholic and then became a pro-life leader.

Bishop Fulton Sheen tells the story of a prostitute, who went to Confession and then later became a cloistered nun. Jesus said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

All of these people were touched by their personal contact with Jesus. All of these and many more came to know the love and mercy of God. If God was merciful to all these people, He certainly will be merciful to each of us, whose sins are so much less than these notorious sinners.

In the year 2000, Pope John Paul instituted the Feast of Divine Mercy, which is celebrated today, the Second Sunday of Easter. The feast arises out of a series of apparitions, from a Polish nun, by the name of Sr. Faustina. She was born in Poland in 1905. When she was twenty years old, she entered the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy-- where she lived for the next thirteen years until her death on October 5th, 1938. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1993, and canonized in 2000.

In February of 1931, Sr. Faustina saw Jesus dressed in a white garment. He held one hand raised-- in blessing and the other hand touching his garment at his chest. From the point on his garment two rays of light emanated (one red and the other white). Jesus said, “Paint a picture according to the vision you see and with the signature, ‘Jesus I trust in You!’ I desire that this picture be venerated first in your chapel and then throughout the whole world.” Later Jesus explained, “The rays represent the Blood and Water which gushed forth from the depths of my Mercy when My agonizing heart was pierced on the cross. The pale rays symbolize the water which cleanses and purifies the soul: the red rays represent the blood, which gives new life to the soul.”

In the Gospel today, the disciples were gathered in the Upper Room and were afraid. But Jesus came to them with his message of peace. He said, “Peace be with you!” They were no longer afraid. It is like that for us too. We will not find peace until we find it in Jesus. Jesus’ message for each of us today is to find our peace in Him. In the Gospel, He also breathed on them, and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained'.

Jesus entrusted to them, and to all the bishops and priests unto today through apostolic succession, the gift of "forgiving sins,", the way of giving peace to mankind. Forgiving sins is a gift that flows from the wounds in His hands, His feet, and especially from His pierced side. From there a wave of mercy is poured out over all humanity. The rays of Divine Mercy restore hope, in a special way, to those-who feel overwhelmed by the burden of sin.

Jesus asked Sr. Faustina that the Sunday after Easter be celebrated as a Feast of Mercy and be preceded by a novena beginning on Good Friday. Jesus promised those who go to confession and receive Holy Communion would obtain a complete remission of all sin and all punishment due to sin.

The cardinal of Poland- at the center of the devotion said, the Lenten confession is sufficient for the requirement of the devotion, as long as one is not currently in mortal sin.

A different priest from Poland, Canon Ignacy Rozycki, came to the conclusion that the extraordinary grace promised by Jesus on the Feast of Mercy is a gift of grace equaled only by the grace of Baptism. Therefore, today, if we have the intention of having all our sins forgiven and all the punishment due to our sins washed away, our soul will become like it had been at baptism. And, if we were to immediately die after receiving Holy Communion, we would go straight to heaven. There would be no purgatory time at all. All sins and punishment due to our sins will be completely washed into Our Lord’s infinite ocean of mercy.

Jesus said, “Let no soul fear to come to me, even if its sins be as scarlet. This feast emerged from the bosom of my mercy and is founded in the depths of my mercies.”

Sr. Faustina saw an angel about to execute God’s punishment on a city. She prayed for mercy but her prayers were without effect. Then suddenly she heard this prayer, “Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.” which caused the angel to lose its power to punish the city.

With this prayer, as well as the prayer, “For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world”, it’s called the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

Jesus said, “Say unceasingly this chaplet. Anyone who says it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as a last hope. If the most hardened sinner recites this chaplet even once, they will receive grace from my infinite mercy. I want the whole world to know my infinite mercy. I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in my mercy.” Jesus also said, “I desire the confidence of my people. Let not even the weak and very sinful fear to approach me, even if their sins be as numerous as all the sand of the earth all will be forgiven in the fathomless pit of my mercy.”

Today, we will celebrate Divine Mercy Devotions, with a Eucharistic Holy Hour at 3pm. Please come and pray for God’s mercy for the Church, our country and our families.

After we receive Holy Communion, with a heart full of thanksgiving like the Virgin Mary’s Heart, which was always completely free from sin, and the punishment due to sin, may we return to our pews, kneel down, close our eyes-- and from the depths of our heart---- cry out, “Thank you Lord, for forgiving all of my sins and the punishment due to my sins. For you-- O my Jesus--- are infinitely merciful. And I am an unworthy sinner—but I trust in your unfathomable mercy.”