Homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord
Given at St. Patrick’s in Wareham
Midnight Mass—by Rev. Mr. Ronnie P. Floyd
One day, at then end of his historic 1979 tour of the US, Pope John Paul II, was being driven back to the Airport in a limousine. Knocking on the window between him and the driver, he explained to the chauffeur that he had never been in a limo, and asked the man if he could drive for a while.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence the man agreed, pulling the limo over and swapping places with the Pope. Little did he know the the pope, being a young man then, had a lead foot.
The Holy Father "floored it," going from 0 to 60 mph in just a few seconds, to see what the limo could do.
Going well over 80, an acceptable speed in Europe, the Pope noticed flashing blue lights in his rear view mirror, and so he pulled over.
The state trooper who approached the drivers door was shocked to see the white clad driver. Asking him to wait just a moment he went back to his cruiser to radio in for instructions.
He told the Sargent--"I've got a problem, I pulled someone important over"
"Who is it?" The sergeant asked, "the governor again?"
"No more important," the trooper replied.
"The President?" the sergeant inquired?
"No even more important!"
"Well who the heck is is it?" The sergeant demanded!
"I don't know," replied the trooper, "but the pope is his Chauffeur"
In most cases important people—have and show off the trappings of importance. I mean even the poverty of a Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, or a certain Cardinal of Boston becomes in a sense a type of status symbol complete with entourage and paparazzi.
And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing—its just a fact of human society.
But this fact makes it difficult to truly understand the gift of Christmas.
Tonight we celebrate the coming of the limitless God in the form of a tiny baby.
Why does he come to us in the darkness of the night? In a hidden corner of the world? In the form of a little baby, born to parents of no worldly importance?
This entrance make it sometimes seem as if our God is a weak or silly God, doesn’t it?
I mean we say he is all-powerful and all-knowing, but if this is true, why not come in glory and might?
I think this is one of the questions that bothers the modern believer most about God—and it is closely related to another question of a similar vein. Where is God when he allows so much evil to occur in the World? If we believe that our God is all powerful His coming in poverty and weakness seems and absurdity. And if He is truly good and loving, then why does he allow people to suffer?
This question is a old one and throughout the centuries it has been answered in three ways:
The Greek Philosophers—who rejected pagan myths about the gods
- answered that the one God,
- was so much greater and beyond us
- that he couldn’t possibly care about man.
Two thousand years later, however—Jesus introduced us to the unknown God of the Philosophers a God who truly cared for men and suffered with them
The second answer, was the skeptical one,
Fifteen hundred years after the birth of Christ, people started to look for evidence of God and finding nothing hard and fast, they slowly began to deconstruct God pushing him further and further into the background until eventually they made the logical step toward atheism.
The third answer is the Christian answer—It was an answer that had been made during the first centuries of the Churches existence to defend our belief in the incarnation and crucifixion.
We, like the pagans, expect our God to come in glory on a chariot of fire, like the roman god Helios or in a limo, driven by the Pope.
We expect him to come with supernatural pyrotechnics, like some sort of rock star, with the heavenly hosts flanking him like the secret service,
and yet our God comes in a barn, a rock cave, used for housing animals he is wrapped in rags for his birthday suit and his crib is a manger—basicly a slop bucket from which animals are fed. How do we understand this?
The Christian answer to this question is a question base in Love.
You’ve seen the bumper stickers—John 3:16- God so loved the world that in the fullness of time he sent his only begotten son that we may not perish but have eternal life!
God comes in silence, quietly into the darkness the world without any fanfare because he loves us.
As I said on Sunday—God keeps His promises even when we fail to love Him and keep our promises.
He loves us so much that he comes in silence so as to respect our freedom, and to challenge us to become truly Holy
Sure it would be easier and less painful if he rolled into town like the US Marines into Iraq—with shock and awe and fixed all of our problems and ended all suffering. Like a TV Santa Clause
But as they say—if you give a man a fish he will eat today if you teach him how to fish he will eat for a lifetime.
God wants to challenge us, to stretch us, to take our selfish hearts and make them hearts that love even when it hurts to love.
He doesn’t do it for us, but also he doesn’t leave us to do this alone, rather he does it with us.
Emmanuel, a God who love us so much that he condescends to become one of us, experiencing all the pain and suffering that is part of human life.
By doing this he is showing us how to fish, that is, how to truly love and to be at peace in a world that is anything but peaceful.
Tomorrow the world might fall apart: famine, war, terrorism, plague, all of these are real possibilities.
But why should we be afraid of them, when our God promises that he will be here with us through them all.
As I have told some of you in private. This peace, was how I knew, that this was the vocation God was calling me to.
Our God is just as comfortable in a palace as in a stable. He would just as soon break bread with us as go to the cross with us.
This is true love—and the source of a peace that shatters the power of war.
This is the true gift of Christmas. He is with us now, come let us adore Him.
What Recompense can I give to the Lord?
Ordination to the Diaconate
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas Eve
Vigil of The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord
Christmas Vigil—Rev. Mr. Ronnie P. Floyd
Ever since I was a child I always loved reading.
When I was about twelve I picked up one of C.S Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia books, and I was hooked.
And after reading the entire series I moved on to other authors ending up with one of my very favorites: J.R.R. Tolkien
You might remember a few years ago at Christmas time the final chapter of the movie version of Tolkien’s famous Trilogy The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King came out in theaters.
As I was preparing for this homily this book stuck in my mind.
With good reason, Tolkien, a devout Catholic could not help but base his mythical tale on the basic structure of reality, his Christian Faith, that was so central to his life. Tolkien believed, as I do, that while Children fear monsters under their bed that don’t exist adults fail to fear the monsters that really do exist in dark places.
Although everyday life is usually not as dramatic as one of Tolkien’s stories: most of us are living “a hobbits life” of creature comforts and rountine tedium
Tolkien believed that in the absence of proactive good without someone to guide society in the way of truth, and ultimately without access to God, mankind would grow careless, allowing dark things to emerge and become powerful.
In the absence of a good King, power, greed, ambition, lust, and those individuals and forces that would use these things to control people would necessarily try to lead mankind and the world down the road to destruction.
It’s a pretty fantastic story—and yet it is our story.
We have all seen the results of evil in the world so often during the last century:
in Communism’s iron curtain,
in Nazism’s “scientific” plan
to wipe entire people’s from the face of the Earth
in 40 years of Cold-War on the brink of self-annihilation
and just a few years ago in New York and Washington
but so often we who have seen these things fail to believe in the Evil that is at their root. I think it true, that the devil’s best trick is convincing people that he doesn’t exists.
But as Christians we believe in monsters men who have been corrupted by power, as well as in other creatures, fallen angels, Who want nothing else than to see the world fail. It is important to remember this reality in which we live and in which Christ was born into, a reality which we often forget or ignore just so that we can sleep at night.
While we may sing peaceful songs like: silent night and away in a manger, tonight
We can’t forget that just days after Jesus’ birth King Herod ordered the massacre of the Holy Innocents, hoping to kill the baby Jesus.
As we will hear in a few weeks on the Feast of the Presentation The Prince of Peace; the baby Jesus is born to be a sign of contradiction, destined for the rise and fall of many. On Christmas night we celebrate the Return of the King Jesus, who is born into a long line of Kings going back to David, to Abraham and to Adam, but who is also a king because he is the Son of God and God himself
We celebrate his coming with joy, joy at his arrival, and joy at the promise of victory over evil.
He will shine light on all the dark places of our lives giving us strength to overcome our fears and we must not forget that although the War is won just by the fact of His Birth
Many Battles remain and each of us are called to stand with Him every day of our life--not just avoiding evil, but in doing good!
That is what Christmas is about, and that is what our faith is all about.
As we enter into this reality here at the Altar let us pray that the King of Kings will help us to dispel the powers of darkness and lead each of us to Victory this Christmas.
The King is very near, come out and greet Him!
Christmas Vigil—Rev. Mr. Ronnie P. Floyd
Ever since I was a child I always loved reading.
When I was about twelve I picked up one of C.S Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia books, and I was hooked.
And after reading the entire series I moved on to other authors ending up with one of my very favorites: J.R.R. Tolkien
You might remember a few years ago at Christmas time the final chapter of the movie version of Tolkien’s famous Trilogy The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King came out in theaters.
As I was preparing for this homily this book stuck in my mind.
With good reason, Tolkien, a devout Catholic could not help but base his mythical tale on the basic structure of reality, his Christian Faith, that was so central to his life. Tolkien believed, as I do, that while Children fear monsters under their bed that don’t exist adults fail to fear the monsters that really do exist in dark places.
Although everyday life is usually not as dramatic as one of Tolkien’s stories: most of us are living “a hobbits life” of creature comforts and rountine tedium
Tolkien believed that in the absence of proactive good without someone to guide society in the way of truth, and ultimately without access to God, mankind would grow careless, allowing dark things to emerge and become powerful.
In the absence of a good King, power, greed, ambition, lust, and those individuals and forces that would use these things to control people would necessarily try to lead mankind and the world down the road to destruction.
It’s a pretty fantastic story—and yet it is our story.
We have all seen the results of evil in the world so often during the last century:
in Communism’s iron curtain,
in Nazism’s “scientific” plan
to wipe entire people’s from the face of the Earth
in 40 years of Cold-War on the brink of self-annihilation
and just a few years ago in New York and Washington
but so often we who have seen these things fail to believe in the Evil that is at their root. I think it true, that the devil’s best trick is convincing people that he doesn’t exists.
But as Christians we believe in monsters men who have been corrupted by power, as well as in other creatures, fallen angels, Who want nothing else than to see the world fail. It is important to remember this reality in which we live and in which Christ was born into, a reality which we often forget or ignore just so that we can sleep at night.
While we may sing peaceful songs like: silent night and away in a manger, tonight
We can’t forget that just days after Jesus’ birth King Herod ordered the massacre of the Holy Innocents, hoping to kill the baby Jesus.
As we will hear in a few weeks on the Feast of the Presentation The Prince of Peace; the baby Jesus is born to be a sign of contradiction, destined for the rise and fall of many. On Christmas night we celebrate the Return of the King Jesus, who is born into a long line of Kings going back to David, to Abraham and to Adam, but who is also a king because he is the Son of God and God himself
We celebrate his coming with joy, joy at his arrival, and joy at the promise of victory over evil.
He will shine light on all the dark places of our lives giving us strength to overcome our fears and we must not forget that although the War is won just by the fact of His Birth
Many Battles remain and each of us are called to stand with Him every day of our life--not just avoiding evil, but in doing good!
That is what Christmas is about, and that is what our faith is all about.
As we enter into this reality here at the Altar let us pray that the King of Kings will help us to dispel the powers of darkness and lead each of us to Victory this Christmas.
The King is very near, come out and greet Him!
Sunday, December 23, 2007
God keeps his promises!
4th Sunday of Advent Given at St. Patrick's in Wareham
By: Rev. Deacon Ronnie P. Floyd
At Baptism, we were adopted into God’s family and became members of his chosen people.
That’s why we read sacred scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments at Mass, in our private prayer, and in small groups. Because the Scriptures are the stories and memories of God’s family, which is also our family.
So when we read today the promises made to the Israelites, To the chosen people, we should see in them promises made to us!
The Old Testament is full of prophecies. But what exactly do they all mean?
Throughout the Old Testament, from the very first sign of trouble when our first parents lost their way God promises to save us.
The bible is the story of His promise to us
and of the way God has carried them out
• the calling of Abraham,
• Moses and the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt,
• The entrance into the promise land
• the establishment of Israel under King David
All of these events tell us about God’s work to save us in the past but also today, in our lives!
Today's First Reading is taken from the last period of salvation history just before the coming of the Christ.
The Kingdom of Israel broke down because:
• the people of God were unfaithful.
• they stopped following God's commandments,
o and so their nation was divided,
o and they became vulnerable to invasion.
• The Israelites failed to keep their promises to God.
o abandoning Him,
o and so they suffered the consequences.
But even though the Chosen People didn't keep their promises, God still kept his.
God didn't force his people to follow him – he allowed them to break their promises.
But because true love is freely given, without strings attached he was faithful to his promises.
This story should sound familiar because this is not only the story of Israel but our own personal story.
Just like the Children of Israel each and every one of us sins. We can’t help it, because separated from God we can never live perfect lives. And just like that first sin our sins have ripple effects, effects that further divide and alienate us from each other, and from our God. This is the situation that God promised to repair.
As St. John Chrystdom writes: The pagan desire to see and have access to God which for them took the form of the worship of statues for us becomes a reality in the birth of Christ, Emmanuel, God with us.
The God, who is all-powerful and just, keeps his promise with his people by humbling himself to become a little Child
So that we who have sinned, are able to approach him, without fear, and to find in him a foundation for true life.
This gift, of Emmanuel, is the basis for all human hope. As Pope Benedict points out in his recent encyclical letter,
He says: God is the foundation of hope: not any god, but the God who has a human face and who has loved us to the end, each one of us and humanity in its entirety.
His Kingdom is not an imaginary hereafter, situated in a future that will never arrive; his Kingdom is present wherever he is loved and wherever his love reaches us.
His love alone gives us the possibility of soberly persevering day by day,
[For it] is at the same time our guarantee of the existence of what we only vaguely sense and which nevertheless, in our deepest self, we await: a life that is “truly” life. (Spe salvi, #31)
________________________________________
God’s love is the foundation of our Hope, our hope for a life and a world, that is truly human—where true happiness can be found
In a world full of suffering and difficulties, it's easy for us to forget this. We are so wounded by life, by experiences in which people have broken their promises to us, or not lived up to their word to us, that our hearts can get cold. We build walls around our hearts to protect them, but those walls end up keeping God out too.
In the mountains in northern Alaska there is a lake whose waters are always warm.
• Even in the coldest winter months, it is warm enough to swim in.
• In the midst of a frozen wasteland some underground channel constantly feeds it and keeping it warm.
• Creating a real oasis of warmth and life amid the desolation of arctic winter.
Christ is like that lake.
• No matter how much this fallen world causes us to suffer, no matter how cold the world gets, his love never weakens, his goodness never freezes over.
• Like this warm lake in the midst of arctic ice, the Heart of Christ, a heart that keeps his promises, is always there to welcome and sustain us.
• He is the fulfillment of the Father's promises.
In a couple of day we will celebrate the fulfillment of these promises, so as we enter this final, short, fourth week of Advent our hearts should be especially full of gratitude.
• But what is the best way to express this gratitude?
• God loves us, he keeps His promises to us!
• But have we loved and kept our promises to Him?
During this last day and a half of Advent let's renew our commitment to keep our promises to Him made at Baptism and Confirmation:
• to reject evil, but also to do good,
• to imitate Christ in our daily lives, most especially by
o loving God with all our hearts
o and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Let’s prepare to enter into the spirit of Christmas, a spirit that is all about giving, because when we do this we become truly God’s family and experience the life changing warmth and light of God’s Love, even in these darkest and coldest days of the year.
As we prepare to God to the Altar take a minute to recommit yourself to God to giving yourself as a gift to Him even as we prepare to receive him into our Hearts.
(Preperation materials and example from www.epriest.com)
By: Rev. Deacon Ronnie P. Floyd
At Baptism, we were adopted into God’s family and became members of his chosen people.
That’s why we read sacred scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments at Mass, in our private prayer, and in small groups. Because the Scriptures are the stories and memories of God’s family, which is also our family.
So when we read today the promises made to the Israelites, To the chosen people, we should see in them promises made to us!
The Old Testament is full of prophecies. But what exactly do they all mean?
Throughout the Old Testament, from the very first sign of trouble when our first parents lost their way God promises to save us.
The bible is the story of His promise to us
and of the way God has carried them out
• the calling of Abraham,
• Moses and the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt,
• The entrance into the promise land
• the establishment of Israel under King David
All of these events tell us about God’s work to save us in the past but also today, in our lives!
Today's First Reading is taken from the last period of salvation history just before the coming of the Christ.
The Kingdom of Israel broke down because:
• the people of God were unfaithful.
• they stopped following God's commandments,
o and so their nation was divided,
o and they became vulnerable to invasion.
• The Israelites failed to keep their promises to God.
o abandoning Him,
o and so they suffered the consequences.
But even though the Chosen People didn't keep their promises, God still kept his.
God didn't force his people to follow him – he allowed them to break their promises.
But because true love is freely given, without strings attached he was faithful to his promises.
This story should sound familiar because this is not only the story of Israel but our own personal story.
Just like the Children of Israel each and every one of us sins. We can’t help it, because separated from God we can never live perfect lives. And just like that first sin our sins have ripple effects, effects that further divide and alienate us from each other, and from our God. This is the situation that God promised to repair.
As St. John Chrystdom writes: The pagan desire to see and have access to God which for them took the form of the worship of statues for us becomes a reality in the birth of Christ, Emmanuel, God with us.
The God, who is all-powerful and just, keeps his promise with his people by humbling himself to become a little Child
So that we who have sinned, are able to approach him, without fear, and to find in him a foundation for true life.
This gift, of Emmanuel, is the basis for all human hope. As Pope Benedict points out in his recent encyclical letter,
He says: God is the foundation of hope: not any god, but the God who has a human face and who has loved us to the end, each one of us and humanity in its entirety.
His Kingdom is not an imaginary hereafter, situated in a future that will never arrive; his Kingdom is present wherever he is loved and wherever his love reaches us.
His love alone gives us the possibility of soberly persevering day by day,
[For it] is at the same time our guarantee of the existence of what we only vaguely sense and which nevertheless, in our deepest self, we await: a life that is “truly” life. (Spe salvi, #31)
________________________________________
God’s love is the foundation of our Hope, our hope for a life and a world, that is truly human—where true happiness can be found
In a world full of suffering and difficulties, it's easy for us to forget this. We are so wounded by life, by experiences in which people have broken their promises to us, or not lived up to their word to us, that our hearts can get cold. We build walls around our hearts to protect them, but those walls end up keeping God out too.
In the mountains in northern Alaska there is a lake whose waters are always warm.
• Even in the coldest winter months, it is warm enough to swim in.
• In the midst of a frozen wasteland some underground channel constantly feeds it and keeping it warm.
• Creating a real oasis of warmth and life amid the desolation of arctic winter.
Christ is like that lake.
• No matter how much this fallen world causes us to suffer, no matter how cold the world gets, his love never weakens, his goodness never freezes over.
• Like this warm lake in the midst of arctic ice, the Heart of Christ, a heart that keeps his promises, is always there to welcome and sustain us.
• He is the fulfillment of the Father's promises.
In a couple of day we will celebrate the fulfillment of these promises, so as we enter this final, short, fourth week of Advent our hearts should be especially full of gratitude.
• But what is the best way to express this gratitude?
• God loves us, he keeps His promises to us!
• But have we loved and kept our promises to Him?
During this last day and a half of Advent let's renew our commitment to keep our promises to Him made at Baptism and Confirmation:
• to reject evil, but also to do good,
• to imitate Christ in our daily lives, most especially by
o loving God with all our hearts
o and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Let’s prepare to enter into the spirit of Christmas, a spirit that is all about giving, because when we do this we become truly God’s family and experience the life changing warmth and light of God’s Love, even in these darkest and coldest days of the year.
As we prepare to God to the Altar take a minute to recommit yourself to God to giving yourself as a gift to Him even as we prepare to receive him into our Hearts.
(Preperation materials and example from www.epriest.com)
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