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.
What Recompense can I give to the Lord?
Ordination to the Diaconate
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
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!
Monday, July 28, 2008
One Month Anniversary of Fr. Floyd's first Mass
Who do people say that I am?
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Two Princes of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul, two very different people from very different backgrounds who were thrown together in the adventure we call Catholicism. Indeed, it’s quite amusing how different they were.
In Naples, Italy, where I have been assisting as a Deacon at the US Navy base for the past year I know a sailor who reminds me a lot of Peter. He is humble and kind, a hard worker, but also a little rough around the edges A simple man, but wise in the school of life.
I think Peter had a similar personality. He was loyal and good hearted and yet at the same time he was often rash putting his foot in his mouth more than once.
My name sake and patron, Saint Paul on the other hand, reminds me more of myself—he was a little bit more stuffy. A zealot and occasionally an ideologue. A man who lived an academic life.
Both Peter and Paul, however, were ordinary men, comfortable with their lives as they were before they met Jesus. They were comfortable with their identity and place in life. Today, we celebrate Jesus shaking things up a bit.
Like Peter and Paul, most of us become very comfortable with the way the world is, we become engrossed in our work, our families, and our hobbies and we become distracted by so many comforts, responsibilities, and concerns. WE GET CAUGHT UP IN THE WORK-A-DAY WORLD and forget that we were made for something better, that as Paul tells us, we are strangers and sojourners in this world, Pilgrims on the way to our true home, to true happiness and peace! WE forget the bigger picture and we forget to ask the bigger questions.
We are told: You must have the heart of a Child to enter Heaven, precisely because children ask theses questions—unceasingly—that is, until they become discouraged by the lack of enthusiasm shown by adults, for, at least, the pursuit of, answers. But these are the same great questions that the great thinkers of every culture and age have asked in the masterpieces of theology, philosophy, and mysticism. As Pope John Paul II, observed in his Encyclical Fides et Ratio:
a cursory glance at ancient history shows clearly how in different parts of the world, with their different cultures, there arise at the same time the [same] fundamental questions which pervade human life: Who am I? Where have I come from and where am I going? Why is there evil? What is there after this life? These are the questions which we find in the sacred writings of [all cultures]. They are questions which have their common source in the quest for meaning which has always compelled the human heart.
These are the questions which ordinary often forget to ask! Today Jesus suggest these questions to Peter and the twelve when he asks: Who do people say that I am,
Today Jesus asks an important question, because by asking “who do people say I am,” Jesus is really asking the Apostles DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? And DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?
Who am I? This question of identity is a question that we all ask ourselves, from the beginning of our lives until the day that we die, and since the circular answer: “I am me” is unsatisfing we are all forced to turn outwards—to other people—for answers. Know theyself—the famous inscription at the Oracle at Delphi, reminds people that the question of identity is a life long human task of self-discovering, essential to our self-fulfillment and happiness. Today Jesus, in asking who others say he is, is really reminding Peter and the twelve of this task.
We ask, who do people say that I am, because from the first days of life, we realize that the answer does not lie in our self, but rather in our relationships to the other. Just as a sailor plots his position based on known landmarks and stars so also we chart our identity based on our relationships with others. First with our mothers, then our fathers, then our siblings, and friends and eventually even based on our relationships with strangers… We ask: who do people say that I am? Because just like the sailor, to affirm, “I am here,” means nothing if you don’t know where here is.
For Jesus, however, hearsay did not suffice, while it is true that we need all of those other reference points to plot a relative location or identity. When we really think about it, tn reality, these reference points fail to tell us anything absolute about ourselves. Einstein sums it up well in his theory of relativity—you can’t judge things based on points themselves in motionvand expect an answer that is not relative itself to those reference points.
In Italy we joke that when you ask for directions the Italians, always say: Sempre Dritto, straight ahead, refusing to admit that in reality they don’t know where they are or where you are going. You can ask, who do people say that I am? To as many people as you want, but if, as I have suggested, in truth, none of them truly know who they are, then none of them can tell you who you are.
People in Jesus’ time, said Jesus was—from Nazareth, the son of Mary, the Carpenter’s son—and others, seeing his signs and miracles began to say he was—a prophet, the reincarnation of John the Baptist or Elijah. Today some people say similar things: They say he was a great teacher, a guru, a political & social activist. In response to these misconceptions, Jesus asks his closest disciples—those He had chosen to lead and build His Church: And who do you say that I am?
And again Jesus is not asking who they think he is, relative to them but who he is in reality. Because if in reality Jesus is just another man, no different from Buddha, Mohammed, or Gandhi then Jesus can be only a relative reference point for the world.
To Jesus’ question: who do you say that I am? Peter gives two answers: You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. As Pope Benedict notes, Peter’s answer, which was not revealed to him by ‘flesh and blood’ but was given to him by the Father… contains as in a seed the future … faith of the Church. (The Apostles, 48)
He is the Son of the Living God—and this identity comes from the unmovable source of all creation—God Himself. It is only because of His identity as the Son of God that Jesus says: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light because of the reality of his identity as Son of God he is the Savior of the World.
Each of us is a mystery to ourselves and to others. Although we live in ourselves, we really don’t know who we are talking about when we say “I.” Who is this I? How do we define ourselves?
Simon was a fisherman, a father, a husband, an ethnic Jew, but none of these things defined him. One day while cleaning his nets he encountered Jesus and leaving all these things behind, he followed him. He followed Jesus because by His preaching Jesus had awakened in Simon’s heart the desire for meaning, for a meaning that his life as a fisherman couldn’t provide.
Today Simon receives his answer from God. Replying to Jesus’ question, Simon finally finds a point of reference that is unmovable and certain, and confessing—you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God Simon finds his own meaning, his own identity—You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.
For Saul it was the same— when Jesus appeared in a blinding light, prompting Saul to ask: who are you Lord? …And accepting the identity of Christ, Saul, the greatest persecutor of Christianity becomes one of its greatest missionaries,
SO HERE IS THE POINT…
What we must realize is that Jesus is God, when we see Jesus we see God. This is what Peter and Paul came to accept, and accepting it Jesus became for them a mirror of truth
Jesus became man, so that we could regained access to God and because God is Truth, when we open our eyes and see Jesus, we see God and we see the truth, the truth about ourselves!
This was my own personal experience! Born and raised a Catholic: I was always taught to believe in God, The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but like most Catholics today, I did not let this faith transform my life, and so I spent years looking for who I was. Trying to define myself by my intelligence and grades at school, by my occupation and hobbies, by my ideology and political activism. But all of this was un-satisfying to me. Because we humans are not what we do, what we believe, or what we are capable of.
Rather, we are what God made us to be! This is the realization I reached in College. That faith in God the Father, Son, and Spirit requires change and reformation of who I think I am into who I really am, the person God created me to be. I wasted so much time, avoiding the question that we all must ask. Not who do people say that I am, but rather, who does God want me to be? But God, who is so patient, allowed me to try so many other things, in order to show me through them that He had a different plan for me.
The fact of the matter is that when we see and come to know Jesus we see God, and seeing God we begin to understand the nature of creation: that God made us, that we continue to exist Only because He loves us, and that He who knit us together in our mothers womb, has a plan for us!
God’s plan and His plan alone, is our one path to happiness, fulfillment, and knowledge of who we truly are. In seminary, I knew I was on the right path, because I was more content and happy than I had ever been. Today, my first day as a priest, I can say the same, and while I remain still a mystery to myself I know today that an intergral part of who I am is a Priest of Jesus Christ. Like for Simon and Saul, it is only in seeing the reality of who Jesus is, that we can find a constant point of reference for our own identity and start to become who we were made to be.
As St. Catherine of Siena says beautifully in her mystical writings: If you would be happy remember, you are she who is not and He is He who is. To know that God is God and you are not, to know that He is in Charge and that all things are in reference to Him; this is the beginning of Wisdom and of Self-knowledge.
My friends, today we gather here as a community of Faith. To confess our belief in God and in Jesus Christ who he sent
In doing so we acknowledge our own identity as His people and together with Christ offer him the perfect Sacrifice of praise—the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
This is the source of our communal and personal identity, this act in which acknowledging our poverty we receive God’s goodness, and in Jesus make recompense to God for all the goodness God has shown us.
Thus as we enter into the sacred mysteries Jesus asks each and every one of us today: Who do you say that I am?
When I, with you, pray using Christ’s words—this is my body, this is my blood, do this in memory of me—Jesus gives us the chance to say with Peter: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and in doing so to learn who you are and who God wants you to be.
Ss. Peter and Paul, pray for us.
Given the 29th day of June in the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ 2008
On the Solemn Feast of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul
In the first year of priesthood
Vocation Series
The Bishop of Fall River, the Most Reverend George Coleman, has assign me to travel around my diocese preach the good news about vocations. This weekend I began that assignment at St. Mary's in New Bedford. Next week I head to Fall River to Sacred Heart Parish. Below you will find the text of my vocation homilies.
Please pray for me in this apostolate and pray that the young men and women who hear the word of God through my preaching might be open to it and act on it--and ask the Master of the Vineyard to send more laborers!
Please pray for me in this apostolate and pray that the young men and women who hear the word of God through my preaching might be open to it and act on it--and ask the Master of the Vineyard to send more laborers!
Finding the Treasure God has prepared for you!
Vocation Series: St. Mary's in New Bedford
17th Sunday
By: Rev Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
When I was a young boy, not all that long ago, I used to be convinced that buried treasure lay around every corner and under every rock. The result of this thought was that I always kept my eyes open looking for the treasure that I was sure I was destined to find one day. I even dug a few wholes in our back yard much to my mothers dislike—looking for that treasure. Though my attentiveness did reward me, over the years, with the discovery of a few dollars of lost change on the street, I never did find the treasure that I had imagined.
Today the Lord too speaks of treasure, of pearls and gold found in a field. Of course he is not speaking a physical treasure, which elsewhere in the Gospel he warns will corrode, tarnish, and be left behind when we die, rather he is speaking of the Kingdom of God. And while the Kingdom of God—often refers to Heaven that is ultimate reality beyond our wildest dreams; the Kingdom of God is not just the resurrection, the eternal reward we pray for after death. The Kingdom of Heaven is also a reality here and now. In the Gospel of Mark our Lord declares: The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand.
You see the kingdom of God is nothing less than true happiness, the true happiness that can only come from our eternal relationship with the Father .
The kingdom of God is the realization that we are sons and daughters of God by virtue of our Baptism; that our Father has his hand on us; that our life matters because our God has a unique plan for me; and most importantly, that we are loved by our creator. To love and be loved by our God and to become co-workers, cooperators in the work of God this is the Kingdom of God, available to us even in this life. On Heaven or on Earth—this relationship with God promises and truly is the only way to Happiness!
That’s why our Lord tells us today that the Kingdom is like a treasure found in a field. If you found a great treasure buried in a field, he tells us, you would trade all that you have to possess it. However, the problem with a buried treasure is not obtaining it once we have found it, the problem is finding it! People hide and bury treasures in the hope that distracted by other things no one will notice the great wealth hidden beneath your feet in the simple earth of a field.
This is true in life too! The great treasure of the Kingdom of God—that is given to us at baptism is too often buried and forgotten under the sands of time lost in our every day mundane life. And when we realize that our happiness is missing, and we start to look for it, we are too often distracted by lesser treasures
It’s like the math brain teaser that many of your kids bring home: Offered a million dollars or a penny doubled for a month which would you choose?
Many of us choose the lesser treasure of a million dollars over the seemingly insignificant treasure of that first penny. But like the treasure of Heaven—the penny bears with it a promise of things to come. For those of you taking notes for Math class a penny doubled for a month is worth almost $11 million dollars in an average month and $2.6 million in the month of February!
Which sounds better to you 1 or 11 million?
Sadly, offered the choice between the immediate gratification of a Megabucks win and true happiness with God now and forever most people today would choose the Megabucks. That’s where the disappointments begin! First you will find that whatever your winnings might be Uncle Sam always gets his cut. And even with the seemingly endless money that remains; the odds show that most end up less, not more happy.
And its not just money that people choose over a right relationship with God: Sex, Drugs, Power, Fame, Popularity—all fading, all short-lived, are all frequently chosen before that Treasure in the field.
This was my own experience in life. Born a Catholic, and raised in a devout family I grew up taking my Catholic faith for granted. I allowed my childhood thoughts of becoming a priest to be eclipsed by thoughts of lesser treasures.
At 12 I wanted to become a doctor—because doctors where rich. When I learned that I didn’t care for the sight of blood my mind turned to law and government. At the age of 16 I had worked on my first campaign and by the time I was 20 I had begun to be paid for my efforts. Volunteer work quickly landed me a position working for the US Senate, as one of the youngest paid staff members. I was living in Washington, DC, working closely with members of Congress on Legislation and by the time I graduated college I had already been offered a mid-level job in the executive branch of Government. This was my dream, my goal in life thus far, I had my foot in the door, and was ready to begin the life of public service that I had mapped out for myself.
None of these goals were bad, immoral, or sinful in themselves and yet having attained so many of my goals and being on track for fulfilling my dreams I found my heart heavy I wasn’t satisfied by the treasures that I had chosen. It was at this time in my life that the Lord brought a saintly priest into my life. A priest who helped me to see that we can never be happy if we are not doing the work that God made us for. Examining my life more closely, I began to rediscover
The treasure of my vocation, that had been hiding all along beneath the surface of my heart.
Today I have found that treasure and sold all of my possession, all of my old plans and goals, to obtain it. Since I enter seminary five years ago I have found that peace, contentment, and happiness that can only come from doing God’s will. And I am hear to tell you that despite the sacrifices and difficulties, it is great to be a priest.
And so today I have been sent here today by the Bishop of Fall River to preach to you the good news about vocations. So here it is!
God has a plan for you, [and you, and you]! He has a unique vocation for all of us! It doesn’t matter if you get married, or become a priest, or dedicate your life to God as a single person. What matters is that you listen to the voice of God speaking to you in your heart, showing you the way he has planned for you. Your happiness depends on it because your vocation is the gateway to holiness, it is the entrance into the Kingdom of God, and the map to that Treasure God has buried just for you.
Please God, some of you young men will be called to the priesthood of Jesus Christ, God knows how much the world needs good men to teach, sanctify, and govern His people; andto heal the wounds of the world, with the blood of Christ that comes to us through this Altar! But, what’s most important is that you seek and do God’s will. This is the sure path to the treasure of eternal happiness.
17th Sunday
By: Rev Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
When I was a young boy, not all that long ago, I used to be convinced that buried treasure lay around every corner and under every rock. The result of this thought was that I always kept my eyes open looking for the treasure that I was sure I was destined to find one day. I even dug a few wholes in our back yard much to my mothers dislike—looking for that treasure. Though my attentiveness did reward me, over the years, with the discovery of a few dollars of lost change on the street, I never did find the treasure that I had imagined.
Today the Lord too speaks of treasure, of pearls and gold found in a field. Of course he is not speaking a physical treasure, which elsewhere in the Gospel he warns will corrode, tarnish, and be left behind when we die, rather he is speaking of the Kingdom of God. And while the Kingdom of God—often refers to Heaven that is ultimate reality beyond our wildest dreams; the Kingdom of God is not just the resurrection, the eternal reward we pray for after death. The Kingdom of Heaven is also a reality here and now. In the Gospel of Mark our Lord declares: The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand.
You see the kingdom of God is nothing less than true happiness, the true happiness that can only come from our eternal relationship with the Father .
The kingdom of God is the realization that we are sons and daughters of God by virtue of our Baptism; that our Father has his hand on us; that our life matters because our God has a unique plan for me; and most importantly, that we are loved by our creator. To love and be loved by our God and to become co-workers, cooperators in the work of God this is the Kingdom of God, available to us even in this life. On Heaven or on Earth—this relationship with God promises and truly is the only way to Happiness!
That’s why our Lord tells us today that the Kingdom is like a treasure found in a field. If you found a great treasure buried in a field, he tells us, you would trade all that you have to possess it. However, the problem with a buried treasure is not obtaining it once we have found it, the problem is finding it! People hide and bury treasures in the hope that distracted by other things no one will notice the great wealth hidden beneath your feet in the simple earth of a field.
This is true in life too! The great treasure of the Kingdom of God—that is given to us at baptism is too often buried and forgotten under the sands of time lost in our every day mundane life. And when we realize that our happiness is missing, and we start to look for it, we are too often distracted by lesser treasures
It’s like the math brain teaser that many of your kids bring home: Offered a million dollars or a penny doubled for a month which would you choose?
Many of us choose the lesser treasure of a million dollars over the seemingly insignificant treasure of that first penny. But like the treasure of Heaven—the penny bears with it a promise of things to come. For those of you taking notes for Math class a penny doubled for a month is worth almost $11 million dollars in an average month and $2.6 million in the month of February!
Which sounds better to you 1 or 11 million?
Sadly, offered the choice between the immediate gratification of a Megabucks win and true happiness with God now and forever most people today would choose the Megabucks. That’s where the disappointments begin! First you will find that whatever your winnings might be Uncle Sam always gets his cut. And even with the seemingly endless money that remains; the odds show that most end up less, not more happy.
And its not just money that people choose over a right relationship with God: Sex, Drugs, Power, Fame, Popularity—all fading, all short-lived, are all frequently chosen before that Treasure in the field.
This was my own experience in life. Born a Catholic, and raised in a devout family I grew up taking my Catholic faith for granted. I allowed my childhood thoughts of becoming a priest to be eclipsed by thoughts of lesser treasures.
At 12 I wanted to become a doctor—because doctors where rich. When I learned that I didn’t care for the sight of blood my mind turned to law and government. At the age of 16 I had worked on my first campaign and by the time I was 20 I had begun to be paid for my efforts. Volunteer work quickly landed me a position working for the US Senate, as one of the youngest paid staff members. I was living in Washington, DC, working closely with members of Congress on Legislation and by the time I graduated college I had already been offered a mid-level job in the executive branch of Government. This was my dream, my goal in life thus far, I had my foot in the door, and was ready to begin the life of public service that I had mapped out for myself.
None of these goals were bad, immoral, or sinful in themselves and yet having attained so many of my goals and being on track for fulfilling my dreams I found my heart heavy I wasn’t satisfied by the treasures that I had chosen. It was at this time in my life that the Lord brought a saintly priest into my life. A priest who helped me to see that we can never be happy if we are not doing the work that God made us for. Examining my life more closely, I began to rediscover
The treasure of my vocation, that had been hiding all along beneath the surface of my heart.
Today I have found that treasure and sold all of my possession, all of my old plans and goals, to obtain it. Since I enter seminary five years ago I have found that peace, contentment, and happiness that can only come from doing God’s will. And I am hear to tell you that despite the sacrifices and difficulties, it is great to be a priest.
And so today I have been sent here today by the Bishop of Fall River to preach to you the good news about vocations. So here it is!
God has a plan for you, [and you, and you]! He has a unique vocation for all of us! It doesn’t matter if you get married, or become a priest, or dedicate your life to God as a single person. What matters is that you listen to the voice of God speaking to you in your heart, showing you the way he has planned for you. Your happiness depends on it because your vocation is the gateway to holiness, it is the entrance into the Kingdom of God, and the map to that Treasure God has buried just for you.
Please God, some of you young men will be called to the priesthood of Jesus Christ, God knows how much the world needs good men to teach, sanctify, and govern His people; andto heal the wounds of the world, with the blood of Christ that comes to us through this Altar! But, what’s most important is that you seek and do God’s will. This is the sure path to the treasure of eternal happiness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)