Homily Given at St. Margaret's Retreat Center
On the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
to the 9th Grade Confirmation students from St. Christine's in Marshfield
By: Rev. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL
Friends in Christ, There is a lie that we have been told since our youth a lie about what human life is about and about what will truly make us happy.
When you turn on the TV or look at the internet we are bombarded by images of excitement and glamor. Whether its Jack Bauer saving the world ever 24 hours and doing more in an hour than most people do in a life time or the fabulous cribs of famous celebrities or the made for TV drama of reality TV, if we are not careful, just because of the sheer volume of these images, we might get the idea that what we see in the media is normal and that our lives are boring in comparison.
So often in my parish I hear teens in my youth group complain about how boring Wareham is, maybe you feel the same, but the fact of the matter is that if you are bored with your life it's because you are looking for happiness in all the wrong places.
Before entering seminary I lived in Washington, DC and worked for the US government,
and having spent five years after that living in the Vatican while doing my studies, I have had the chance to do all sorts of neat things, and to meet and get to know many interesting people, who live the lives that TV teaches us to envy.
I've met Admirals and Generals, spies and millionaires, Princesses, Senators, Cardinals, and Popes, I've met fighter pilots and soldiers, gypsies, and monks,
comedians, actors, and even a deposed Emperor or two.
I've been airlifted from the US Capitol in Marine Helicopter, fired machine guns and grenade launchers, eaten dinner with Ambassadors, worked with the Secret Service and the Swiss Guard, and even met Dick Cheney when he wasn't in an undisclosed location.
God blessed me with so many opportunities in my life, but none of it brought me happiness. I think its because, whether it's the first time you drive a car or the first time you ride in a limo or a helicopter or the first time you meet a president, rock star, or Pope your first time is always the most exciting. The feeling of Euphoria, of a type of happiness, that comes from doing something you have only dreamed about for the first time, often can deceive you into thinking that the next time will be as good as the first, but it's not so! The excitement of a rare first,
quickly becomes common place the second and third and fourth time you do something.
I remember when I first met the Pope I could barely bring myself to speak to him, I was so excited, and while I never became a close confident with the Holy Father
living in Rome, attending so many Papal events, and seeing the Pope so often I lost that nervous joy that I had the first time I met John Paul or the first time I served Mass for Pope Benedict.
I wouldn't know from personal experience, but I am told that it's the same between married people. That first time, especially when you have saved yourself for your spouse--is awesome--a true gift that you can only give to one person, but soon the martial act becomes less exciting, more common place, and yet when done with love also more rewarding, or so I'm told.
The world lies to us when it tells us that sex, or wealth, fame or power will make us happy. They can't because they all become old, tired, boring, almost as soon as we experience them.
Our God reveals the truth about what makes us happy in the life of Jesus Christ--
Jesus teaches that the stuff of life, the things and situations we experience that some people think will make us happy are really only a pretext, a stage, on which we have the opportunity to love.
As the Catechism teaches: we are made to know God, so that we can love Him, and because we love Him, serve Him. This Love of God is discovered, and learnt, and practiced, and perfected in and through the created world, most especially by our love for our fellow man.
True happiness comes from true love, because true love is never boring but always new. AND I am not talking about smoochie smoochie love but the type of love that makes two people want to be friends for life. When you love a person, human or divine
you are always interested in them, always discovering new things about them, always seeking new ways to help and care for them, because of this every situation of life whether it's your wedding night or the day you watch your beloved dies of old age
becomes an adventure and an opportunity to mine the depths of the mystery of love.
Jesus shows us that we can be happy even hanging on the cross because even there we can love, this is why St. Paul points to the Jesus on the Cross when trying to explain what true love is to married Christians. Love makes the boring everyday life that we all live an opportunity to love deeper, harder, and more faithfully.
The events of life are of secondary importance to the people because while every experience no matter how exciting eventually becomes common place, becomes boring, it's the people we love and who love us that gives even a boring experience joy.
Most especially, Jesus tells us, it's our God's loving presence in all the moments of our life that gives life meaning.
In His Baptism in the Jordan, Jesus shows us that God is willing to go down even into the waters of sin, into the darkest parts of the human experience and even enter into the death and suffering that sin causes. And by doing so he shows us what it means to truly love and He frees us from Sin, giving us the possibility to love selflessly.
In Baptism, Jesus shares in the repercussions of sin so that we can share in His love, His sonship, and His Spirit, which is the spirit of Love.
When Jesus was baptized the Heavens opened and a voice from heaven proclaimed: This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. God says this also about each of us because of our Baptism. We are His beloved sons and daughters and it is this love that makes life worth living. Our job, our vocation, is to respond to this love
each in our own unique way. But, Love is not easy and so our loving Father gives us the Spirit of His Son the Holy Spirit to strengthen us so that the Love of God which comes to dwell in our hearts in Baptism can blossom in our lives.
My friends I tell you from personal experience that no experience or material thing can make you happy. Your happiness doesn't even depend directly on a person. Happiness comes from within, when we accept the gift of God's life in us when we accept the gift of Love and live in the Spirit of God who is Love.
I hope you believe me now, but even if you don't, remember what I am telling you, because eventually we all realize that without true Love the world is boring. Sooner or later we all realize that nothing in the world can bring us true happiness, and it's in that moment that we are faced with a choice take the risk of loving God or despair.
The world is good, and there is nothing that exists that is totally evil, but only by living in total goodness, in the presence of our God who is Love, can we see and appreciate the goodness of the world.
Through the Sacraments given to the Church by Christ God is constantly entering into our lives, cleansing us from our sins and giving us the power to love. This is the power that He wants to give you in confirmation the power to be a heroic lover--the power to bear witness to love--the power to be a Saint.
God loves you--no matter what you do--no matter how you look--no matter what you own, or who you are, or what you can do for Him. God really does love you, just the way you are.
The world lies to us trying to convince us that we need something or someone else to be Happy. God wants you to know today, that happiness is simply accepting His Love and responding to it by choosing to live in the Spirit--by choosing to Love.
AS we go to God's altar today we pray that all those who are preparing to receive the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Love don't listen to the lies the world tells us about happiness but find true happiness by living their life in the spirit, the spirit of Love.
What Recompense can I give to the Lord?
Ordination to the Diaconate
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Baptismal Priesthood and the the Vocation Shortage
Homily Given at St. Patrick's in Wareham
On the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
The 1st Sunday in Ordinary Time
By: Fr. Ron Floyd
My friends there is a vocation crisis going on in the Church today I am sure you all know about it. We need more priests in the Church to spread the gospel, and lead the people, and sanctify the world.
Ask a dozen faithful Catholics what the solution to the problem is and you will get a dozen answers ranging from prayer, to advertisements, to ordaining married men.
But the true answer to the problem is that we all have to realize that the shortage of ordained priests stems from a shortage of baptismal priests, Or at least, from a shortage of Christians living up to the vocation that we all receive from Christ in Baptism.
I remember a funny little story I once heard:
After the Baptism of his baby brother in church,
little Johnny sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.
His father asked him three times what was wrong.
Finally, the boy replied, "That priest said
he wanted us brought up in a Christian home,
but I want to stay with you guys."
In the Gospel today Jesus went down into the waters of Baptism to share in totally in the human condition. In my version of the Gospel it says nothing about Jesus getting into the clergy baptism line. Rather he went down into the waters with all of us with the multitudes of men women and children there to take on our guilt and the repercussions of our sins but also to give us a share in His life and destiny.
In the waters of Baptism Jesus ordain to share in our sufferings so that we could share in His mission on Earth and His glory in Heaven.
As baptized Christians we are called a prophetic, royal and priestly people because to us is given the commission and command to spread the good news, by governing our lives, our families, and our world according to God's Law and by sanctifying the world by the sacrifices this requires.
Friends we are all priests in Jesus Christ, all of us called to offer sacrifice, to live sacrificially, which simply means to live lives of selfless LOVE. As an ordained priest my vocation is to help you by preaching God's word and offering up the Sacrifice of the Altar which is the same sacrifice of Calvary the Cross of Jesus Christ by which Jesus washes us of our sins and leaves us a model for how to love, and how to live in love.
But your vocation is just as awesome, and just as necessary!
All baptized Christians--having received the gift of faith, and heard the word of God, having been washed clean of our sins in the waters of Baptism and through the Blood and Water that pour forth from the heart of Jesus as He hung on the cross, and having seen the example and model of perfect charity in Jesus' sacrifice for us on the Cross--
All baptized Christians are invited to go and do the same.
The Crisis in the priesthood began, and will end, if and only if Christians begin to live their baptismal priesthood. The day that Catholic Christians begin to see the difficulties of life whether marriage, or family, or children, or work, or illness, or poverty not as something to be loathed and avoided but as an opportunity to Love God and offer our lives as a sacrifice to Him, is the day that our children will again begin to consider in large numbers, the possibility of sacrificing the human happiness of a family, for the spiritual happiness of religious life or the priesthood.
As a culture we have become selfish, that's not to say we make no sacrifices for each other, but how often when we do make a sacrifice for our children or a neighbor
do we do it half-heartily, how often do we complain about it, how often do we fail to risk everything and give all we are and have not just to a stranger, but to our wives and children and families?
One used to hear people talk about offering up their sacrifices to the Lord, today it seems we simply try to run from difficulty and pain! Thats not to say that God wants our suffering, but that He wants and we need to loving hearts in the face of suffering. He wants us to be thankful for our life even when we don't understand why we are suffering!
Jesus our High priest shows us that priesthood is about self-giving which, of course, is simply another name for thanksgiving, love and sacrifice.
And true priest ends at the cross with the total gift of what we hold most dear
As Jesus' priesthood shows us, eventually any authentic priesthood demands that ultimate sacrifice--the total gift of self.
That's what we signed up for at baptism, that's the deal that will get us into heaven
and if it sounds scary it should, because we can't do it alone! With the help of the Holy Spirit, however, we are all capable of this sort of heroic love.
We are all called by our baptism to save souls, by living our life as a heroic self sacrifice. God doesn't ask anything extra-ordinary of most of us He simply asks that we do whatever we normally do extra-ordinarily.
Today as we contemplate the baptism of the Lord I will leave you with a last little story:
A priest and a bus driver both died and went to Heaven .
They get to the pearly gates where Pope St. Peter greets them.
Motioning to the priest, he points to 50 acres in heaven of rolling hills
with a little cottage on the knoll.
St. Peter turns to the priest and says "This will be yours for eternity.
A perfect little cottage, right next to lovely pond, a lush little garden,
and a library full of books."
The priest says, "Thank you so much. This I shall enjoy!"
Next, St. Peter motions to the bus driver.
Pointing to a castles on a mountain in the distance he says,
there are about 500 acres of land,
with mountains and lakes and rivers for you here.
St. Peter says "This will be yours for eternity.
You can live in that castle with servants to wait on you hand and foot,
and you can have everything you want."
The bus driver looks and St. Peter and says
"Well, now, don't think I'm not grateful,
but why am I getting so much more than the priest?"
St. Peter just laughs and says "You brought more souls to Heaven!
When the priest preached, everyone fell asleep.
When you drove your bus, people prayed!"
As the body of Christ we are all responsible for helping each other
get to heaven, will you take this responsibility seriously this year?
On the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
The 1st Sunday in Ordinary Time
By: Fr. Ron Floyd
My friends there is a vocation crisis going on in the Church today I am sure you all know about it. We need more priests in the Church to spread the gospel, and lead the people, and sanctify the world.
Ask a dozen faithful Catholics what the solution to the problem is and you will get a dozen answers ranging from prayer, to advertisements, to ordaining married men.
But the true answer to the problem is that we all have to realize that the shortage of ordained priests stems from a shortage of baptismal priests, Or at least, from a shortage of Christians living up to the vocation that we all receive from Christ in Baptism.
I remember a funny little story I once heard:
After the Baptism of his baby brother in church,
little Johnny sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.
His father asked him three times what was wrong.
Finally, the boy replied, "That priest said
he wanted us brought up in a Christian home,
but I want to stay with you guys."
In the Gospel today Jesus went down into the waters of Baptism to share in totally in the human condition. In my version of the Gospel it says nothing about Jesus getting into the clergy baptism line. Rather he went down into the waters with all of us with the multitudes of men women and children there to take on our guilt and the repercussions of our sins but also to give us a share in His life and destiny.
In the waters of Baptism Jesus ordain to share in our sufferings so that we could share in His mission on Earth and His glory in Heaven.
As baptized Christians we are called a prophetic, royal and priestly people because to us is given the commission and command to spread the good news, by governing our lives, our families, and our world according to God's Law and by sanctifying the world by the sacrifices this requires.
Friends we are all priests in Jesus Christ, all of us called to offer sacrifice, to live sacrificially, which simply means to live lives of selfless LOVE. As an ordained priest my vocation is to help you by preaching God's word and offering up the Sacrifice of the Altar which is the same sacrifice of Calvary the Cross of Jesus Christ by which Jesus washes us of our sins and leaves us a model for how to love, and how to live in love.
But your vocation is just as awesome, and just as necessary!
All baptized Christians--having received the gift of faith, and heard the word of God, having been washed clean of our sins in the waters of Baptism and through the Blood and Water that pour forth from the heart of Jesus as He hung on the cross, and having seen the example and model of perfect charity in Jesus' sacrifice for us on the Cross--
All baptized Christians are invited to go and do the same.
The Crisis in the priesthood began, and will end, if and only if Christians begin to live their baptismal priesthood. The day that Catholic Christians begin to see the difficulties of life whether marriage, or family, or children, or work, or illness, or poverty not as something to be loathed and avoided but as an opportunity to Love God and offer our lives as a sacrifice to Him, is the day that our children will again begin to consider in large numbers, the possibility of sacrificing the human happiness of a family, for the spiritual happiness of religious life or the priesthood.
As a culture we have become selfish, that's not to say we make no sacrifices for each other, but how often when we do make a sacrifice for our children or a neighbor
do we do it half-heartily, how often do we complain about it, how often do we fail to risk everything and give all we are and have not just to a stranger, but to our wives and children and families?
One used to hear people talk about offering up their sacrifices to the Lord, today it seems we simply try to run from difficulty and pain! Thats not to say that God wants our suffering, but that He wants and we need to loving hearts in the face of suffering. He wants us to be thankful for our life even when we don't understand why we are suffering!
Jesus our High priest shows us that priesthood is about self-giving which, of course, is simply another name for thanksgiving, love and sacrifice.
And true priest ends at the cross with the total gift of what we hold most dear
As Jesus' priesthood shows us, eventually any authentic priesthood demands that ultimate sacrifice--the total gift of self.
That's what we signed up for at baptism, that's the deal that will get us into heaven
and if it sounds scary it should, because we can't do it alone! With the help of the Holy Spirit, however, we are all capable of this sort of heroic love.
We are all called by our baptism to save souls, by living our life as a heroic self sacrifice. God doesn't ask anything extra-ordinary of most of us He simply asks that we do whatever we normally do extra-ordinarily.
Today as we contemplate the baptism of the Lord I will leave you with a last little story:
A priest and a bus driver both died and went to Heaven .
They get to the pearly gates where Pope St. Peter greets them.
Motioning to the priest, he points to 50 acres in heaven of rolling hills
with a little cottage on the knoll.
St. Peter turns to the priest and says "This will be yours for eternity.
A perfect little cottage, right next to lovely pond, a lush little garden,
and a library full of books."
The priest says, "Thank you so much. This I shall enjoy!"
Next, St. Peter motions to the bus driver.
Pointing to a castles on a mountain in the distance he says,
there are about 500 acres of land,
with mountains and lakes and rivers for you here.
St. Peter says "This will be yours for eternity.
You can live in that castle with servants to wait on you hand and foot,
and you can have everything you want."
The bus driver looks and St. Peter and says
"Well, now, don't think I'm not grateful,
but why am I getting so much more than the priest?"
St. Peter just laughs and says "You brought more souls to Heaven!
When the priest preached, everyone fell asleep.
When you drove your bus, people prayed!"
As the body of Christ we are all responsible for helping each other
get to heaven, will you take this responsibility seriously this year?
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