Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, August 24 2008
By: Fr. Ron Floyd
Who do people say that I am? As humans where do we find our identity and meaning?
In today’s first reading a man lost his job. I think all of us can relate to this experience or at least to the anxiety over the possibility of loosing a job.
When we are young a job is often just a means to an end, it is the way you get spending money, however as time goes on it becomes: the way you feed your family, a source of your identity, an affirmation of your human dignity, and it can often seem like it becomes a part of your essence, of the very fabric of who you are. And while younger people may not define themselves by a job—they too often do find an identity in what they do hobbies, sports, and social clicks. How often when we first meet someone do we define ourself by our occupation or interests?
The problem with this, as we see in the first reading and as we know from life is that things change. All you have to do is drive by the numerous abandoned mills here in NB to learn the truth that things fall apart and almost nothing lasts forever. Whether it’s a job, a hobby, or a sport, all these things can and most likely will someday be taken away from us and given to another.
Even if you seem to have job security TODAY, if your identity and meaning comes from what you do what happens when you get sick one day? What happens when the economic situation change? Or best case scenario, what happens when one day you will retire?
Then what? What happens to your identity when your job or hobby is over, or taken away from you and when you are force just to be, who you are?
Where do we get our dignity when we seem not to be needed any more?
This is a HUGE problem in our culture today, which so often gauges people’s worth materially by their quality of life or by their potential productivity and not based on the intrinsic value of each and every life.
In contrast to this materialistic value system Jesus reveals today the Gospel value system the good news, which we repeated in the psalm: that our God’s love is eternal and that he does not forsake the work of his hands.
We are the work of His hands and as St. Paul writes: from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. Our God reveals today that our value comes not from what we can do, from how smart we are, from how pretty, agile, strong or brave we are, but from the fact that we come from God that through God’s powerful love for us we exist and that we exist for God: that God has a plan for each of us.
Our dignity, value, and in truth happiness does not come from anything passing, from anything that can be taken away from us but from our identity and role in the plan of God, which can never be taken away from us?
So what is this plan?
In the book of Genesis we read that: God created Man and Woman, in the image and likeness of God He created them, and He declared that they were very good. Fundamental to God’s plan for all of us is being in his image and likeness, becoming like unto God. This means being holy as our heavenly Father is Holy. This means loving with our whole heart, the way God loves, loving not just in word but in deed by being in loving relationships with one another and with our God. These lifelong relationships—are fundamental to our identity—they are our true calling in life—our vocation.
Today I am here to tell you that our God has a plan for each of us! Young and old, strong and weak, it doesn’t matter. God is calling! This calling or vocation, comes from God and unlike jobs, vocations last forever.
They give us dignity, meaning, and happiness because they come from the same God who made us and knows us better than we know ourselves.
As we see in the question Jesus raises to the Apostles, Who do people say that I am? None of us are defined by what other people say about us by what we do, or who we associate with. Rather we are defined by, and our identity comes from who God made us to be.
In the case of Jesus, as St. Peter states, You are the Christ, the son of the living God. In life and in death from the first moments of his conception in the womb of Mary, this was who Jesus was made to be, and who he always will be. And as Jesus himself notes, this vocation, this calling did not come from Peter but rather from God Himself!
As Peter reveals Jesus’ identity, Jesus in turn reveals Peter’s vocation: you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church. Jesus calls Peter a rock—not because of what he would do but because this is the relationship Peter would have with the church God would build up the Church, using Peter as a foundation. Likewise, God has a plan for each of us, that is based not on what we can or might do, but on who we are!
So who are we? For all of us our vocations start with being sons and daughters not only to earthly parents but also of our heavenly Father. This vocation starts at our conception in our mother’s womb however while we all are sons in the Son, in Jesus we are all also called to be images of the Father—of divine parenthood.
Thus some are called to by holy by being natural parents, by being open to life and raising children for the Lord. In this way they become a symbol and icon of the love that God the Father has for us, his children. But parenthood is not just limited to those who are biologically parents rather many others demonstrate the love of God in single lives.
Some are called to spiritual fatherhood and motherhood Living as virgins and yet truly becoming parents to others by their loving concern for them—today we see this in the lives of so many religious.
Finally, a few men might be called like Peter to be rocks for the Church, to be the tools by which Christ builds up, teaches, and sanctifies His Church.
One thing that must be clearly seen is that vocations are not jobs, while they can be cast aside, because they are integral to who we are they can never be lost!
A mother, father, nun, monk, or priests remains what they are even if they abandon their children and forsake the title. And their children owe them respect and obedience even when they become old and needy of care themselves.
This is true because parenthood is a gift of self—a donation of your life to another that never ends—and thus can never be negated.
How God’s plan for each vocation will play out remains a mystery to us always. Truly God gives us the gift of our life and vocation, wrapped in the fabric of time as a mystery and a surprise both to our self and to the world. God’s plan for us does not determine what we do with our life As if we were some sort of pre-programmed machine but rather giving us direction, in freedom, He sets us free. His plan shows us in general terms—how he wants us to live. So that the genius of our free will has direction.
In my own life, I thought for so long that I would follow God’s plan as a married man; I wanted to find a wife, and to raise a family. So when I began to listen to His plan I was shocked to discover this vocation to the priesthood and to the celibate life it entails. I soon found out that when you follow God’s will your confirmation that you are doing what He wants comes quickly—in the form of a peace and joy that is unimaginable, that can only come from doing God’s will.
While I am not a parent in the natural sense as a priest I have been invited to be a part of so many families and to be a father to them—representing the Father and the Son.
Today I am here, a newly ordained priest, just two months ordained to tell you the Good News: God has a plan for your life and to invite each of you to consider it carefully.
Because following His plan is the only way to become who we were made to be the only way to find meaning in our life, and the only path to true happiness.
What we risk if we don’t listen to the voice of God is not the loss of a job, but the loss of the gift of ourselves to the world.
So as we God to the Altar today, ask God for the strength needed to listen for his call and act upon it and ask him for the grace needed to help others to listen.
What Recompense can I give to the Lord?
Ordination to the Diaconate
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Have pity on me Lord, son of David.
Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, August 17th 2008
By: Fr. Ron Floyd
Have pity on me Lord, son of David.
There is a reason why for almost the entire life of the Church the ancient Greek refrain—Kyrie Eleison Christe Eleison Kyrie Eleison Or Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy—has held a prominent place in the life of the Church. This two millennia old litany has always been close to the heart of the Church, because of our fundamental conviction of the weakness of our human condition.
As St. Paul notes: we are weak, but He (our God) is strong.
Central to the path to holiness, that each of us is called to is this admission, which we ritually make at the beginning of almost every Mass. The admission that we are in need, that in fact we can not succeed in our vocation, calling, and mission in life, without the help of God
Thus the plea of the woman in today’s Gospel have pity on me son of David, is in reality our plea!
Today’s gospel points out that it is natural to feel that we are not worthy of the call that we have been given to feel as if we are not worthy to be saints, to be holy that we are not worthy to follow God’s plan for us and you know in truth we are not worthy, none of us! But as I tell people all the time—inspite of and even because of our weakness our God has a plan for us a plan to make us his Saints, his Holy Ones.
Of course, at times because of our human weakness and fallen nature, we are all weak and we all sin. Our reluctance, however caused by shame, also is the result of sin, and of our pride, which doesn’t want to admit our sinfulness. Thus we, like the woman in the Gospel, must be humble before the Lord coming to him and crying out: Lord have Mercy, have pity on me Lord, son of David, because we know that when we do this He will always lift us up!
For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable, as Paul tells us in today’s second reading. St. Paul brings us to the reason for my visit here today. You see St. Paul teaches us that inspite of our weakness each of us has an awesome vocation—a calling from God
In God’s plan for the restoration of the whole world each of us has a huge part to play, a part that we may never fully know or understand. This part, this calling, this vocation, is irrevocable—God never takes it away from us, even when in our weakness we reject or overlook it.
I am a newly ordained priest—I’ve been a priest for just under two months now and for the past five years I have been studying with 160 men for the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Men who realized their own unworthiness and yet overcame it, by crying out, Lord have Mercy and by trusting in God to provide them strength.
It is amazing how many of them, deferred God’s call. How many of them shied away from their vocation either they were too unworthy, too sinful, or because they though they were too weak to follow the amazing path to the priesthood.
One is a 50 year old accountant, a multi-millionaire who was the former CFO of an insurance company. Another was a division one college football quarterback who for years thought he would play football professionally. Another worked for years for the CIA. I myself for years deferred and ignored the call I had heard and felt in my heart even from childhood. Rather I follow the path of Law and politics in high school and college I spent so much time and effort on my plan for my life, and I was quite successful at whatever I did!
At 16, I was already working on campaigns, and already playing some dirty politics. By 19 I had my foot in the door, finding myself one of the youngest paid staffers working on Capitol Hill. By twenty I had been interview by ABC, CNN, and the BBC and I had already had the dubious privilege of being an anonymous source in a news paper article cited by Bill O’Reilly on Fox News.
But even though I was achieving my plans and my goals though I was financially comfortable, and fairly content by my Junior year of College I realized that something was wrong, I wasn’t truly happy—and my heart was not at ease. And so, after much prayer, and after making so many excuses I entered seminary—initially planning to give it a year and then leave, having realized that I was too weak and too sinful for the priesthood.
What I discovered though, rocked my world. I discovered for the first time in my life true happiness which came from trusting in God and doing His will, despite the difficulties and sacrifices of this vocation and my own weakness in the face of them.
Being a Priest is hard—impossibly hard without God because as a priest you are called to lead and build up God’s people. You are called to be another Christ: to wash people with the blood of the Lamb in Baptism; to purify and strengthen them with the fire of the Spirit in confirmation; to feed them with the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ at the Mass; and to heal and forgive them their sins in confession.
How can any sinful man do these things? How can sinful man dare to try to do these things?
For me they are impossible, but with God all things are possible. To be a priest is impossible for Man because in fact there can be only one priest the Man-God Jesus Christ. But, when we cry out in our need, as God’s people—God sends workers into the vineyard He calls and sends us Pastors, priests, just like his Apostles, who were weak fallible men, who act as proxies and representatives of Christ the High Priest.
In my experience, for those who are called to this vocation who are called by God to the priesthood not to dare, not to try, not to listen to the voice of God leads to a life that is sure to be full of regrets and emptiness.
You see, at the heart of all human suffering is the rejection of God’s plan for man and for the world. At the heart of all suffering is spiritual blindness and deafness. At times we have all been blind and deaf to the hidden voice of God speaking to us in our Heart. So at some point we all must cry out: Have pity on me son of David. And turning back to God, begin anew to listen to him.
Our God hears us when we cry out: Lord have mercy, Kyrie Eleison. When we cry to Him, He does heal us, because the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. He heals us through the example and encouragement of others, He heals us through the ministry of good and holy priests, He heals us in the sacrament of penance and He heals and strengthens us at the Altar of God with His Body and His Blood.
As we approach that Altar – let’s lift our hearts and voices to God, asking him to have mercy on us to strengthen us, so that we may hear and listen to His plan for us, and act upon it.
And let’s pray, that more young men trust in God and despite their own weakness, consider a vocation to the Priesthood.
In our weakness God wants us to be Saints calling on him for mercy and strength. Let’s always remember to pray that God reveals His plan to us because it is in doing the will of the Father that we will find joy and peace here in this world and forever!
Sunday, August 17th 2008
By: Fr. Ron Floyd
Have pity on me Lord, son of David.
There is a reason why for almost the entire life of the Church the ancient Greek refrain—Kyrie Eleison Christe Eleison Kyrie Eleison Or Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy—has held a prominent place in the life of the Church. This two millennia old litany has always been close to the heart of the Church, because of our fundamental conviction of the weakness of our human condition.
As St. Paul notes: we are weak, but He (our God) is strong.
Central to the path to holiness, that each of us is called to is this admission, which we ritually make at the beginning of almost every Mass. The admission that we are in need, that in fact we can not succeed in our vocation, calling, and mission in life, without the help of God
Thus the plea of the woman in today’s Gospel have pity on me son of David, is in reality our plea!
Today’s gospel points out that it is natural to feel that we are not worthy of the call that we have been given to feel as if we are not worthy to be saints, to be holy that we are not worthy to follow God’s plan for us and you know in truth we are not worthy, none of us! But as I tell people all the time—inspite of and even because of our weakness our God has a plan for us a plan to make us his Saints, his Holy Ones.
Of course, at times because of our human weakness and fallen nature, we are all weak and we all sin. Our reluctance, however caused by shame, also is the result of sin, and of our pride, which doesn’t want to admit our sinfulness. Thus we, like the woman in the Gospel, must be humble before the Lord coming to him and crying out: Lord have Mercy, have pity on me Lord, son of David, because we know that when we do this He will always lift us up!
For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable, as Paul tells us in today’s second reading. St. Paul brings us to the reason for my visit here today. You see St. Paul teaches us that inspite of our weakness each of us has an awesome vocation—a calling from God
In God’s plan for the restoration of the whole world each of us has a huge part to play, a part that we may never fully know or understand. This part, this calling, this vocation, is irrevocable—God never takes it away from us, even when in our weakness we reject or overlook it.
I am a newly ordained priest—I’ve been a priest for just under two months now and for the past five years I have been studying with 160 men for the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Men who realized their own unworthiness and yet overcame it, by crying out, Lord have Mercy and by trusting in God to provide them strength.
It is amazing how many of them, deferred God’s call. How many of them shied away from their vocation either they were too unworthy, too sinful, or because they though they were too weak to follow the amazing path to the priesthood.
One is a 50 year old accountant, a multi-millionaire who was the former CFO of an insurance company. Another was a division one college football quarterback who for years thought he would play football professionally. Another worked for years for the CIA. I myself for years deferred and ignored the call I had heard and felt in my heart even from childhood. Rather I follow the path of Law and politics in high school and college I spent so much time and effort on my plan for my life, and I was quite successful at whatever I did!
At 16, I was already working on campaigns, and already playing some dirty politics. By 19 I had my foot in the door, finding myself one of the youngest paid staffers working on Capitol Hill. By twenty I had been interview by ABC, CNN, and the BBC and I had already had the dubious privilege of being an anonymous source in a news paper article cited by Bill O’Reilly on Fox News.
But even though I was achieving my plans and my goals though I was financially comfortable, and fairly content by my Junior year of College I realized that something was wrong, I wasn’t truly happy—and my heart was not at ease. And so, after much prayer, and after making so many excuses I entered seminary—initially planning to give it a year and then leave, having realized that I was too weak and too sinful for the priesthood.
What I discovered though, rocked my world. I discovered for the first time in my life true happiness which came from trusting in God and doing His will, despite the difficulties and sacrifices of this vocation and my own weakness in the face of them.
Being a Priest is hard—impossibly hard without God because as a priest you are called to lead and build up God’s people. You are called to be another Christ: to wash people with the blood of the Lamb in Baptism; to purify and strengthen them with the fire of the Spirit in confirmation; to feed them with the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ at the Mass; and to heal and forgive them their sins in confession.
How can any sinful man do these things? How can sinful man dare to try to do these things?
For me they are impossible, but with God all things are possible. To be a priest is impossible for Man because in fact there can be only one priest the Man-God Jesus Christ. But, when we cry out in our need, as God’s people—God sends workers into the vineyard He calls and sends us Pastors, priests, just like his Apostles, who were weak fallible men, who act as proxies and representatives of Christ the High Priest.
In my experience, for those who are called to this vocation who are called by God to the priesthood not to dare, not to try, not to listen to the voice of God leads to a life that is sure to be full of regrets and emptiness.
You see, at the heart of all human suffering is the rejection of God’s plan for man and for the world. At the heart of all suffering is spiritual blindness and deafness. At times we have all been blind and deaf to the hidden voice of God speaking to us in our Heart. So at some point we all must cry out: Have pity on me son of David. And turning back to God, begin anew to listen to him.
Our God hears us when we cry out: Lord have mercy, Kyrie Eleison. When we cry to Him, He does heal us, because the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. He heals us through the example and encouragement of others, He heals us through the ministry of good and holy priests, He heals us in the sacrament of penance and He heals and strengthens us at the Altar of God with His Body and His Blood.
As we approach that Altar – let’s lift our hearts and voices to God, asking him to have mercy on us to strengthen us, so that we may hear and listen to His plan for us, and act upon it.
And let’s pray, that more young men trust in God and despite their own weakness, consider a vocation to the Priesthood.
In our weakness God wants us to be Saints calling on him for mercy and strength. Let’s always remember to pray that God reveals His plan to us because it is in doing the will of the Father that we will find joy and peace here in this world and forever!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Why are you here?
Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
In today’s first reading we hear the question asked: Why are you here Elijah?
A question which echoes in each of our hearts and I don’t mean why are you sitting here in this Church but why are you here in this world. What is your purpose? What is the meaning of this life?
I think all of us ask this question of ourselves at some point because all of us want to know who we are, all of us want to know what our place is in this life. We all want to know that our life has value—that we are not just a cosmic mistake.
Sadly, too often, too many people give up hope of ever finding meaning in their life. Either, because of comfort and pleasure they become content with their everyday life and forget to seek out a greater meaning and purpose, content just to be content or, because of suffering and sorrow, they reject the possibility of finding any meaning, purpose, or real happiness in life. And despairing of finding meaning, they like Elijah collapse, spiritually, under the tree of depression praying for death: either physical death or worse spiritual death, death to the possibility of anything more than our material existence.
In the midst of Elijah’s despair a voice reminds Elijah that, in fact, we all have a purpose and calls him back to the source of that purpose. All of us want to know the answer to the question: Why are you here? But none of us can answer this question ourselves and so we look to those around us to help us.
And surely they do, by the gift of love, given and received we find purpose in our life. Our parents, wives and husbands, sons and daughters, friends and neighbors—all contribute to our sense of identity and meaning. However, as Elijah discovered all of these can be taken away and sadly, all of these can abandon and forsake us in time. But our God never abandon’s us our God, who is love, loves us and never take away that gift of love.
For Elijah, just as for us, in the midst of our despair in the midst of life’s trials and sorrows it is in the presence of our God that meaning is rediscovered and that the weary heart is reinvigorated.
True happiness comes from this purpose, this meaning. It comes from seeking out the will of God and doing it. But where do we look for our God, how can we listen to Him? As we read, like Elijah, we find the Lord not in the noise of the world or in grand events of seismic proportion but in the quiet of the desert, and on the lonely mountain.
Its often said that people only turn to God when they are in need when they are suffering or afraid. In fact, the famous novelist CS Lewis noted this, saying, “Pain is God’s megaphone.” I think maybe people hear God so clearly when they are suffering or afraid, because at these times the feel so alone. At these times they for a moment escape from the rut of everyday life and find themselves for a moment free and ready to listen. They feel so alone that they open their mind to anyone looking for consolation and love.
My friends I am here to speak to you about vocations to the priesthood.
But the fact of the matter is that if we want to have more priests, if we want to have more religious brothers and sisters, if we want to have more holy catholic parents and families—if we want to have more saints then the key is to teach people to listen to each other, and to God, who often speaks through others.
It might not seem like our lives are important but we never know how many lives and hearts we touch by our actions and omissions. Each one of us needs to help the other to listen to God encouraging each other to take time out of our busy schedules, to get away from the world and ask the simple question: why am I here?
Our God speaks, he tells us of his love and his plan but he speaks in a hushed voice, in a whisper in our heart. I say this from experience in my life I so vividly remember the many times when on retreat or pilgrimage on vacations and even on my day off, when I heard the voice of God.
My friends, I am here to testify to you today that listening to the voice of God and following His plan is the only way to true happiness here in this life and forever!
Of course, hand and hand with listening goes action! Like Elijah who heard the voice calling to him and walked out into the desert or like St. Peter, who heard Jesus call to him and walked out on the water.
When we hear the Lord’s voice calling to us we must take a risk, we must take that first step. We must know and believe that when we do the will of God he will give us all we need to succeed.
In my own life, after years of not listening he opened my ears and I took a chance, I trusted the whispering voice of God, I followed him to the priesthood. And you know, I knew I would be able to tell if this was really what God wanted for me because I know that following God always make us happy, but in all honesty I never imagined the sheer joy it would bring into my life.
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
In today’s first reading we hear the question asked: Why are you here Elijah?
A question which echoes in each of our hearts and I don’t mean why are you sitting here in this Church but why are you here in this world. What is your purpose? What is the meaning of this life?
I think all of us ask this question of ourselves at some point because all of us want to know who we are, all of us want to know what our place is in this life. We all want to know that our life has value—that we are not just a cosmic mistake.
Sadly, too often, too many people give up hope of ever finding meaning in their life. Either, because of comfort and pleasure they become content with their everyday life and forget to seek out a greater meaning and purpose, content just to be content or, because of suffering and sorrow, they reject the possibility of finding any meaning, purpose, or real happiness in life. And despairing of finding meaning, they like Elijah collapse, spiritually, under the tree of depression praying for death: either physical death or worse spiritual death, death to the possibility of anything more than our material existence.
In the midst of Elijah’s despair a voice reminds Elijah that, in fact, we all have a purpose and calls him back to the source of that purpose. All of us want to know the answer to the question: Why are you here? But none of us can answer this question ourselves and so we look to those around us to help us.
And surely they do, by the gift of love, given and received we find purpose in our life. Our parents, wives and husbands, sons and daughters, friends and neighbors—all contribute to our sense of identity and meaning. However, as Elijah discovered all of these can be taken away and sadly, all of these can abandon and forsake us in time. But our God never abandon’s us our God, who is love, loves us and never take away that gift of love.
For Elijah, just as for us, in the midst of our despair in the midst of life’s trials and sorrows it is in the presence of our God that meaning is rediscovered and that the weary heart is reinvigorated.
True happiness comes from this purpose, this meaning. It comes from seeking out the will of God and doing it. But where do we look for our God, how can we listen to Him? As we read, like Elijah, we find the Lord not in the noise of the world or in grand events of seismic proportion but in the quiet of the desert, and on the lonely mountain.
Its often said that people only turn to God when they are in need when they are suffering or afraid. In fact, the famous novelist CS Lewis noted this, saying, “Pain is God’s megaphone.” I think maybe people hear God so clearly when they are suffering or afraid, because at these times the feel so alone. At these times they for a moment escape from the rut of everyday life and find themselves for a moment free and ready to listen. They feel so alone that they open their mind to anyone looking for consolation and love.
My friends I am here to speak to you about vocations to the priesthood.
But the fact of the matter is that if we want to have more priests, if we want to have more religious brothers and sisters, if we want to have more holy catholic parents and families—if we want to have more saints then the key is to teach people to listen to each other, and to God, who often speaks through others.
It might not seem like our lives are important but we never know how many lives and hearts we touch by our actions and omissions. Each one of us needs to help the other to listen to God encouraging each other to take time out of our busy schedules, to get away from the world and ask the simple question: why am I here?
Our God speaks, he tells us of his love and his plan but he speaks in a hushed voice, in a whisper in our heart. I say this from experience in my life I so vividly remember the many times when on retreat or pilgrimage on vacations and even on my day off, when I heard the voice of God.
My friends, I am here to testify to you today that listening to the voice of God and following His plan is the only way to true happiness here in this life and forever!
Of course, hand and hand with listening goes action! Like Elijah who heard the voice calling to him and walked out into the desert or like St. Peter, who heard Jesus call to him and walked out on the water.
When we hear the Lord’s voice calling to us we must take a risk, we must take that first step. We must know and believe that when we do the will of God he will give us all we need to succeed.
In my own life, after years of not listening he opened my ears and I took a chance, I trusted the whispering voice of God, I followed him to the priesthood. And you know, I knew I would be able to tell if this was really what God wanted for me because I know that following God always make us happy, but in all honesty I never imagined the sheer joy it would bring into my life.
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time TV Mass
My friends, where do we look for the Lord? In the famous account from the first book of Kings, Elijah is called to make a pilgrimage to the Mountain of God, Horeb, there to meet the living God.
It all sounds quite biblical doesn’t it! Like Moses climbing Mt. Sinai to receive the commandments or Abraham going up Mt. Moria to sacrifice Issac. I think often the historical setting of the scriptures can make them sound as if it happen a long time ago in a far away land, that has no bearing on our lives today. In truth the heart of Man is the same today as back then and so the basic experience is anything but foreign to us. If we take a closer look, we begin to see this and we find that Elijah’s experience is not unlike our own.
Elijah’s jorney begins with dejection and depression. Despite the fact that he had worked great miracles his message had been rejected, his life threatened, and so he escaped into the wilderness. Falling down beneath a tree to wait and pray for death.
While Elijah was a great prophet we too are called to preach the word of God, daily by the way we live our lives and so many of us, strenghtened by the sacraments, make a heroic effort to live a good life avoiding sin and every temptation and teaching the faith to our children and friends by the testimony of our lives. Despite all our efforts, however, so often our lives fall apart. Despite our best efforts to do good, we are plagued by so many evils, so many disappointments.
Elijah’s experience of despair at the result of his life’s work can often be our own—and like Elijah when it seems that our life is a failure we can grow depressed and even begin to pray for death. In such situations it can often seem like the Lord has abandoned us, and we can despair of ever finding him. However it is in situations of despair and seeming failure like these that the Lord is most near us.
Out of despair, the Lord calls Elijah to take up and eat, to prepare himself for a great journey.
The Lord calls Elijah to Horeb, so that Elijah can be renewed. Wo that his life, which seemed a failure and at an end could be reinvigorated and given new direction.
In the Gospel’s we see this same message repeated. The disciples, out in a boat, get stuck in a storm. To them it seemed as if God had forgotten them, as if their lives were about to be wasted. Again, into this moment of despair, the Lord enters walking on water he calms the sea and gives a new direction to the lives of the apostles, which seemed to be at an end.
Our God is an awesome God whose wisdom is beyond anything we can imagine. As St. Paul says, even the foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of the wise. Out of what to us seems like the biggest failures and the greatest of evils our God can make all things work for good. And so while many look for God in success and honors, in mighty acts of power, the witness of the scriptures, and especially of the Cross is clear. We Catholic Christians know that in reality, our God who is always present is most at work when things seem a failure, when we suffer under the weight of the Cross. It is in situations such as these that we should look for the Lord, and it is situations such as these that we are most likely to find him—not in earthquakes or bolts of lighting but in the defending silence that comes from his peace.
As we approach God’s throne today, pray that people might be attentive to God especially in the trials and tribulations of life and that they might experience the silent whisper that bears witness to the presence of God in our Lives.
It all sounds quite biblical doesn’t it! Like Moses climbing Mt. Sinai to receive the commandments or Abraham going up Mt. Moria to sacrifice Issac. I think often the historical setting of the scriptures can make them sound as if it happen a long time ago in a far away land, that has no bearing on our lives today. In truth the heart of Man is the same today as back then and so the basic experience is anything but foreign to us. If we take a closer look, we begin to see this and we find that Elijah’s experience is not unlike our own.
Elijah’s jorney begins with dejection and depression. Despite the fact that he had worked great miracles his message had been rejected, his life threatened, and so he escaped into the wilderness. Falling down beneath a tree to wait and pray for death.
While Elijah was a great prophet we too are called to preach the word of God, daily by the way we live our lives and so many of us, strenghtened by the sacraments, make a heroic effort to live a good life avoiding sin and every temptation and teaching the faith to our children and friends by the testimony of our lives. Despite all our efforts, however, so often our lives fall apart. Despite our best efforts to do good, we are plagued by so many evils, so many disappointments.
Elijah’s experience of despair at the result of his life’s work can often be our own—and like Elijah when it seems that our life is a failure we can grow depressed and even begin to pray for death. In such situations it can often seem like the Lord has abandoned us, and we can despair of ever finding him. However it is in situations of despair and seeming failure like these that the Lord is most near us.
Out of despair, the Lord calls Elijah to take up and eat, to prepare himself for a great journey.
The Lord calls Elijah to Horeb, so that Elijah can be renewed. Wo that his life, which seemed a failure and at an end could be reinvigorated and given new direction.
In the Gospel’s we see this same message repeated. The disciples, out in a boat, get stuck in a storm. To them it seemed as if God had forgotten them, as if their lives were about to be wasted. Again, into this moment of despair, the Lord enters walking on water he calms the sea and gives a new direction to the lives of the apostles, which seemed to be at an end.
Our God is an awesome God whose wisdom is beyond anything we can imagine. As St. Paul says, even the foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of the wise. Out of what to us seems like the biggest failures and the greatest of evils our God can make all things work for good. And so while many look for God in success and honors, in mighty acts of power, the witness of the scriptures, and especially of the Cross is clear. We Catholic Christians know that in reality, our God who is always present is most at work when things seem a failure, when we suffer under the weight of the Cross. It is in situations such as these that we should look for the Lord, and it is situations such as these that we are most likely to find him—not in earthquakes or bolts of lighting but in the defending silence that comes from his peace.
As we approach God’s throne today, pray that people might be attentive to God especially in the trials and tribulations of life and that they might experience the silent whisper that bears witness to the presence of God in our Lives.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Baptism Sermon for Hannah Faith
Homily for the Baptism of Hannah Faith
Sunday, August 10th
By : Fr. Ron Floyd
My friends, we come together on this joyous day to celebrate the Baptism of Hannah Faith into the faith of the Church and into the Body of Christ. Of the seven sacraments of the Church, Baptism is the first one spoken of, and in fact, commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels. As we read in the last line of the last chapter of the Gospel of Matthew; summing up the mission of the Church, Jesus commands His disciples: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."
Of course Baptism predated Jesus, who himself was baptized by John in the Jordan. In the first century Baptism was popular among many of the new religions popping up. The first century was a time of religious awakening people were rejecting the old pagan superstitions and myths and looking for the true God. Part of this search was the realization that something was not right in the world.
That for one reason or another, our relationships with our God, our neighbors, and our world were disordered. You see man was meant for communion, and community, with God and neighbor; and he was meant to be a steward, a caretaker, of nature. Failing in these tasks, not following God’s plan, sin put man at odds with nature and all creation and caused so much suffering in the world then, as it still does today. For this reason people began to use one of the most basic symbols: water to show our desire to restore what was lost, to become clean again—to return to God’s plan.
Water—think about its significance: ee drink it, it feeds crops and plants, it washes away dirt and disease. Truly water gives life; but at the same time it is unpredictable and chaotic. Too much water washes away not just dirt and disease but homes, peoples livelihood, an it can even take their life. Too little and both man, beast, and plant alike die of thirst. Eater, like the water of a sea or the rain waters can never be completely controlled. Thus to the people living in that first century religious revival snd also to us today—water symbolized purification and nourishment from a source that was uncontrollable and mysterious.
Our God sees the big picture, knowing how all time will unfold and so it is not surprising that upon entering the world he took those basic things ehich naturally and innately have so much meaning to us to become symbols of his loving work among us, symbols of his plan to save us: water, fire, bread and wine, oil, and the family itself.
Today we Christian Catholics utilize all these signs to acknowledge and make visible the unseen and invisible work of spirit and grace that our God is working in the life of little Hannah, and in the lives of her family and friends.
Today Hannah will be cleansed of that original stain of sin yhat we all bear because we are part of the human family. When speaking with Jen and Francis, they asked me about Original sin. It’s a good question—how is it that we can say that this or any cute, innocent, adorable child can have this sin.
Original sin is not like lying or stealing—its not something we are guilty of—but rather its like a spiritual disease that we are born with. As we hear in the Book of Genesis our first parents sinned, their sin was a sin of pride, their sin was to choose something good over and above something great—over Love for and of God. As Christians we believe that our first parents ate from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil—and eating of this tree they rejected God’s plan.
They closed their eyes and ears to God snd decided for themselves what was good, and what was evil. They decided to depend on themselves for happiness. As a result they discovered, the hard way, that true happiness, true peace and justice and order, can only come from following God’s plan.
Like the first Christians, today by this Sacrament of Baptism ee are asking our God to open Hannah’s eyes and ears and heart to God’s plan. By water we ask God to wash her from original sin snd to give her to drink the water of eternal life. With the holy oils we anoint her, like any parent would anoint their own child soothing balms to declare that today she is part of God’s royal family. With fire we will symbolize the fire of the Holy Spirit, which in her heart will help her to follow God’s plan. And finally returning her to her family—but also accepting her into the larger family of the Church we will show her a symbol of God’s love for the world, which is familial love.
Today, little Hannah will go down into the waters of Baptism snd there in the symbol of life and death dhe will share in Christ’s saving death. She will see that true love means to sacrifice yourself and to die for others. And rising from the waters she will share in the hope and promise of the resurrection.
I urge you all to meditate on these mysteries, and pray for little Hannah Faith, as she dies with Christ and rises today a new creation.
Never let her forget that by this Baptism God has chosen her to save the world, He has chosen her for a special mission, He has a plan and purpose for her that is so special.
Help her parents from this day forward to raise Hannah so that she may grow in grace, beauty and wisdom before the Lord.
Baptism of Hannah Faith: Instructions at the Door
My friends we gather here at this door to the Church to welcome this child into the faith of the Church into our faith. She enters today the house of God as a visitor but like all the Baptized she will leave here our little sister in Christ
A Daughter not just of Jennifer and Francis, from whom she take her humanity but a Daughter of God, adopted into God’s family by the blood and water that flowed from the side of Christ on the Cross.
All are welcomed here in God’s house for indeed God desires that all be saved and outside of Christ, outside God’ family none are saved. But entering into this house as a member of the Body of Christ, a member of God’s family has duties and responsibilities.
Our God gives us the gift of freedom he wants us to be free—but true freedom and true happiness means seeking the will of God the Father and doing it daily.
As you enter into God’s house—I encourage those of you who are Baptized, who are members of the family of God to remember your duty to seek God’s will
God calls you along with all the Baptized to be holy in this way you will save your soul and teach so many others the Love that is Jesus Christ.
Coming here today we gather with Jen and Francis to welcome our new sister in Christ.
Help them to witness by your lives and words to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Help them to teach Hannah Faith, the faith of the Church and the Law of God and Help her to live it. Do not create obstacles for her faith do not distract her from her vocation, her calling to be holy do not be an occasion to scandalized this little one, for as the Gospel says, it is better to be cast into the sea with a millstone around your neck than to scandalize even one of these little ones.
As I told her parents—as a baptized Christian she will become our sister in Christ not just a child but our equal in the eyes of God. Be humble therefore, open your heart so that you can learn also from her about the Love that God has for the whole world.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Offering the Lord your gifts.
Vocation Series: Sacred Heart in Fall River
18th Sunday
By: Rev. Fr. Ron Floyd
In today’s Gospel, Saddened at the news of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus went off to a deserted place, to pray, and to be alone with his God and Father. But the crowds followed him, and Jesus had pity on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. John had been their shepherd, calling them to good pastures and to the clean waters of Baptism but John is taken away from them and so Jesus takes up his rightful place, as their TRUE shepherd.
He stays with them, as evening draws near and when they get hungry he says to his Apostles: Feed them. Echoing His future command to Peter after the Resurrection, the command he gives to His Church and his priests: Feed my lambs. This is after all what a shepherd does, He brings his flock to green pastures and to running streams so that they can eat and drink, and be renewed.
In today’s Gospel according to Matthew when Jesus tells them to feed the Crowds the Apostles simply state the fact that they have only five loaves and two fish. However, the story is a little different in John’s Gospel. In John’s Gospel, it a boy who offers his own food, bread and fish, for the crowd. The key element here is the boy’s generosity.
Lets think about it—a boy, not a man, that is someone who theoretically could not take care of himself, offers to Jesus all that he has, his own food and his own livelihood. Its not a very big offering, but it is all he has to give. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, takes the simple offering, He Blesses and breaks it and shares it with the crowds, saying, take and eat.
Jesus feeds the multitudes with what seems to be nothing. But it was something—Jesus didn’t conjure food out of thin air, rather he waited for our cooperation, our generosity. And a child leads us and shows us the way, so that Jesus can take our weak gift, and make it a great banquet.
Obviously our Lord is drawing an anology with and forshadowing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. At the Mass we, God’s children, like the boy in the Gospel of John, offer to God simple gifts of bread and wine which he blesses through the ministry of the Priest. And taking that simple gift of bread and wine He multiplies it a thousand fold. Multipling not its quantity but its power to satisfy us changing it from bread and wine into the sacred Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He does this, so that we who receive His Body and Blood, with a clean heart, might be sanctified and strenghtened by it, and be one with him.
However, the boy in John’s Gospel doesn’t just give Jesus his lunch; along with the explicit gift of fish and bread the boy also implicitly offers his life—in the middle of nowhere, the boy risks everything giving away all his food.
Like the boy, we too are called to offer not just our simple gifts of bread and wine, but to offer our whole life to the Lord at the Mass. He gave Jesus all he had to sustain his own life confident that Jesus would repay him twenty or a hundered fold. We who approach this Altar, are also called on to make a similar gamble.
You see, today our Lord is teaching us the basic structure of reality. Our God created us to be his co-workers, to cooperate with His plan of salvation. He wants to save the world, to renew and recreate it into the paradise that He planned before we sinned, but he will not do it by force. He will not save us with out our cooperation; and so He invites us each day to feed each other. As Christians he wants us to minister to and love our neighbor, so that from our simple offering of ourself, He can transform the world.
When we look at the state of the world, it seems as if the problems are too big as if man can do nothing to save himself. In truth, alone or even in groups of people and nations we can do nothing, unless we seek and obtain the help of God.
God, wants to take our gift of ourself and mutiply its potency, its power! At the Mass he calls us to be Holy, He gives us the food we need to be Holy, and when we are Holy, our Holiness changes the world. That’s the vocation, calling, and plan that Jesus reveals for his holy Church.
All of us in different ways are called to build up God’s Kingdom—as we pray, on earth as it is in heaven. Some he calls to be holy as parents, others as single, celebate people, and a few he calls to be Holy as priests.
If today’s Gospel passage is about the Eucharist, the Mass, then of course it is also about the priesthood. Priests are sucessors of the Apostles, who like Jesus are called to alway available to God’s people snd to feed God’s flock. In the Gospel Jesus’ wanted some alone time, He wanted to pray for and mourn the death of his friend John, but the people needed Him, they need to be healed and fed, and so he took pity on them He put his own needs aside so that he could teach, heal, and feed the flock entrusted to him.
Jesus calls priests from among men, to be shepherds and spiritual fathers to his people to govern, teach, and sanctify them. Like the Apostles in today’s Gospels, priests are called to accept the gifts of the people, to bless and multiply them in the power of the Holy Spirit
so that they can feed the people of God and strenghten them in their own vocations.
In this way priests help the people be holy,
So that the Lord our God can multiply the simple gift of our life so that even in our weakness, we can become strong, strong enough to change the World. Priests build up God’s people each and every day. Feeding them with the Word of God and the bread of life and healing their mind, bodies, and souls, so that the Christian people can help the world be holy.
This is the vocation to which I said yes, five years ago, when I entered seminary, and this is the vocation which the Lord gave me for the rest of my life, a month ago at my Ordination. Like all true callings, this is the vocation has filled my heart with so much grace, joy, and peace, because true happiness comes from doing the will of the Father.
Like all callings, to become a priest requires strenght, discipline, and self sacrifice—things that can seem foreign to the modern world. It requires you, like Jesus, to forget yourself in order to serve God’s people, day and night, when you feel like it and when you don’t.
But it is also so rewarding, to help them to live a life of holiness and to see people trying to follow God’s plan—seeing how great is God’s plan when it is lived! In this way Priests become in a real sense a Father to them: taking pride in them when they succeed in loving God and neighbor and being there for them in their times of suffering and sorrow, helping and healing them when they fall, offering them God’s forgiveness, and sanctifying and strenghtening them with the Holy Eucharist. Today I am here to invite you to think about the way the Lord God wants you to offer yourself to the Church and the World in service of your neighbor.
Like the boy who offered all he had to the Lord, I invite you to ask the Lord how He wants you to do the same. And if think you or some one you know might have a vocation to the priesthood, I invite you to take a chance, trust in the Lord, take that first step, and talk to a priest about that vocation. We’re not looking for you to make a binding commitment, but simply to consider the Lord’s plan for you. To consider how the Lord plans to multiple your gifts!
18th Sunday
By: Rev. Fr. Ron Floyd
In today’s Gospel, Saddened at the news of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus went off to a deserted place, to pray, and to be alone with his God and Father. But the crowds followed him, and Jesus had pity on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. John had been their shepherd, calling them to good pastures and to the clean waters of Baptism but John is taken away from them and so Jesus takes up his rightful place, as their TRUE shepherd.
He stays with them, as evening draws near and when they get hungry he says to his Apostles: Feed them. Echoing His future command to Peter after the Resurrection, the command he gives to His Church and his priests: Feed my lambs. This is after all what a shepherd does, He brings his flock to green pastures and to running streams so that they can eat and drink, and be renewed.
In today’s Gospel according to Matthew when Jesus tells them to feed the Crowds the Apostles simply state the fact that they have only five loaves and two fish. However, the story is a little different in John’s Gospel. In John’s Gospel, it a boy who offers his own food, bread and fish, for the crowd. The key element here is the boy’s generosity.
Lets think about it—a boy, not a man, that is someone who theoretically could not take care of himself, offers to Jesus all that he has, his own food and his own livelihood. Its not a very big offering, but it is all he has to give. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, takes the simple offering, He Blesses and breaks it and shares it with the crowds, saying, take and eat.
Jesus feeds the multitudes with what seems to be nothing. But it was something—Jesus didn’t conjure food out of thin air, rather he waited for our cooperation, our generosity. And a child leads us and shows us the way, so that Jesus can take our weak gift, and make it a great banquet.
Obviously our Lord is drawing an anology with and forshadowing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. At the Mass we, God’s children, like the boy in the Gospel of John, offer to God simple gifts of bread and wine which he blesses through the ministry of the Priest. And taking that simple gift of bread and wine He multiplies it a thousand fold. Multipling not its quantity but its power to satisfy us changing it from bread and wine into the sacred Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He does this, so that we who receive His Body and Blood, with a clean heart, might be sanctified and strenghtened by it, and be one with him.
However, the boy in John’s Gospel doesn’t just give Jesus his lunch; along with the explicit gift of fish and bread the boy also implicitly offers his life—in the middle of nowhere, the boy risks everything giving away all his food.
Like the boy, we too are called to offer not just our simple gifts of bread and wine, but to offer our whole life to the Lord at the Mass. He gave Jesus all he had to sustain his own life confident that Jesus would repay him twenty or a hundered fold. We who approach this Altar, are also called on to make a similar gamble.
You see, today our Lord is teaching us the basic structure of reality. Our God created us to be his co-workers, to cooperate with His plan of salvation. He wants to save the world, to renew and recreate it into the paradise that He planned before we sinned, but he will not do it by force. He will not save us with out our cooperation; and so He invites us each day to feed each other. As Christians he wants us to minister to and love our neighbor, so that from our simple offering of ourself, He can transform the world.
When we look at the state of the world, it seems as if the problems are too big as if man can do nothing to save himself. In truth, alone or even in groups of people and nations we can do nothing, unless we seek and obtain the help of God.
God, wants to take our gift of ourself and mutiply its potency, its power! At the Mass he calls us to be Holy, He gives us the food we need to be Holy, and when we are Holy, our Holiness changes the world. That’s the vocation, calling, and plan that Jesus reveals for his holy Church.
All of us in different ways are called to build up God’s Kingdom—as we pray, on earth as it is in heaven. Some he calls to be holy as parents, others as single, celebate people, and a few he calls to be Holy as priests.
If today’s Gospel passage is about the Eucharist, the Mass, then of course it is also about the priesthood. Priests are sucessors of the Apostles, who like Jesus are called to alway available to God’s people snd to feed God’s flock. In the Gospel Jesus’ wanted some alone time, He wanted to pray for and mourn the death of his friend John, but the people needed Him, they need to be healed and fed, and so he took pity on them He put his own needs aside so that he could teach, heal, and feed the flock entrusted to him.
Jesus calls priests from among men, to be shepherds and spiritual fathers to his people to govern, teach, and sanctify them. Like the Apostles in today’s Gospels, priests are called to accept the gifts of the people, to bless and multiply them in the power of the Holy Spirit
so that they can feed the people of God and strenghten them in their own vocations.
In this way priests help the people be holy,
So that the Lord our God can multiply the simple gift of our life so that even in our weakness, we can become strong, strong enough to change the World. Priests build up God’s people each and every day. Feeding them with the Word of God and the bread of life and healing their mind, bodies, and souls, so that the Christian people can help the world be holy.
This is the vocation to which I said yes, five years ago, when I entered seminary, and this is the vocation which the Lord gave me for the rest of my life, a month ago at my Ordination. Like all true callings, this is the vocation has filled my heart with so much grace, joy, and peace, because true happiness comes from doing the will of the Father.
Like all callings, to become a priest requires strenght, discipline, and self sacrifice—things that can seem foreign to the modern world. It requires you, like Jesus, to forget yourself in order to serve God’s people, day and night, when you feel like it and when you don’t.
But it is also so rewarding, to help them to live a life of holiness and to see people trying to follow God’s plan—seeing how great is God’s plan when it is lived! In this way Priests become in a real sense a Father to them: taking pride in them when they succeed in loving God and neighbor and being there for them in their times of suffering and sorrow, helping and healing them when they fall, offering them God’s forgiveness, and sanctifying and strenghtening them with the Holy Eucharist. Today I am here to invite you to think about the way the Lord God wants you to offer yourself to the Church and the World in service of your neighbor.
Like the boy who offered all he had to the Lord, I invite you to ask the Lord how He wants you to do the same. And if think you or some one you know might have a vocation to the priesthood, I invite you to take a chance, trust in the Lord, take that first step, and talk to a priest about that vocation. We’re not looking for you to make a binding commitment, but simply to consider the Lord’s plan for you. To consider how the Lord plans to multiple your gifts!
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