Good Friday Homily 2013

Over the past few weeks, the Church has been reading John's gospel at daily Mass. As the gospel progresses, Jesus enters into greater and greater conflict with chief priests of the temple, the scribes, and some of the Pharisees. As early as chapter six at the end of the "Bread of Life" discourse, we hear how many who had accompanied him "returned to their former way of life" because "they could not accept this teaching." There are numerous moments when the temple officials try to arrest Jesus but they were unable to do so "because his hour had not yet come." Finally, it is the raising of Lazarus from the dead that is the last straw for Jesus' opponents because so many "had begun to believe in him.

I think it is safe to say that John portrays Jesus' path to the Cross as a long one that stretches out over a much longer expanse of time than just one "holy week." Jesus knows very early on what is to come. Way back in chapter 3 of the gospel, Jesus testifies "just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” He is very much aware of the type of death that awaits him and the suffering that he will endure.

In the Passion which we have just heard, he also finds himself abandoned by most who follow him. He stands alone, with no one to speak on his behalf, in front of Annas, then Caiphas, then Pilate. What it must have been like to look around, to know that one is innocent, to know the horrible death that lies ahead, and to see nothing but the faces of those who seek your death! Unlike the moment when earlier in the gospel Jesus stood alone with the woman caught in adultery and says, "Woman, where have they all gone? Is there no one here to condemn you?"and she, though guilty, is spared her life, now he, Jesus, the innocent one, is completely surrounded by those who are more than ready to condemn him.

We know from other gospel accounts that Jesus did not face the prospect of suffering and death without fear or second thoughts. In the garden of Gethsemane, he asked God to “take this cup away from me.” Yet, to paraphrase the words of Isaiah, he did not turn away. He gave his back to those who beat him, his face he did not shield from blows and spitting. Jesus did not turn away from the path he had chosen, even though he could have. He moved forward, keeping faith in God, trusting in God’s ultimate plan for him, even when he was alone and all seemed so dark. He freely stayed on the path of the long road to Calvary.

But, as we know, this long path of death did not end there but lead to the empty tomb of the resurrection and Christ's ultimate victory over death. As St. Paul wrote, “we know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him.” Because Christ chose to walk the road that he did, he opened the gates of heaven for Himself and all who believe in Him. In the end, Jesus chose the right path. The road to Calvary became the road to eternal life.

"No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown." (William Penn)

Each of us has to make choices in our life, choose the road that we would walk. We do so not knowing where it will ultimately lead and also knowing we leave other possibilities behind. The poet, Robert Frost, in one of his most beloved poems, “The Road not Taken,” speaks with a bit of melancholy when he looks back at his life and wonders what lay down the road he did not choose:

“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood,
and I – I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

“I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Surely with the heart of Christian faith, these words of the poet can take on further meaning. Those of us follow the path of Christ, a road that increasingly in this day and age is “less traveled by,” have chosen to walk with Christ and “that has made all the difference” for us. It is not an easy road to follow. It is not without sacrifice, hardship, and scars. Even after his resurrection, Christ still bore the wounds of his Cross. But like Christ’s own path, it is not without the ultimate reward that we commemorate in these sacred days – our salvation, the victory of life over death for those who stay the path.

St. Francis de Sales "On Fasting"

To treat of fasting and of what is required to fast well, we must, at the start, understand that of itself fasting is not a virtue. The good and the bad, as well as Christians and pagans, observe it. The ancient philosophers observed it and recommended it. They were not virtuous for that reason, nor did they practice virtue in fasting. Oh, no, fasting is a virtue only when it is accompanied by conditions which render it pleasing to God. Thus it happens that it profits some and not others, because it is not undertaken by all in the same manner.

...We know very well that it is not enough to fast exteriorly if we do not also fast interiorly and if we do not accompany the fast of the body with that of the spirit.

That is why our Divine Master, who instituted the fast, greatly desired in His Sermon on the Mount to teach His Apostles how it must be practiced (Matt. 6: 16-18), which is a matter of great profit and utility....He knew that to draw strength and efficacy from fasting, something more than abstinence from prohibited food is necessary. Thus He instructed them and, consequently, disposed them to gather the fruits proper to fasting. Among many others are these four: fasting fortifies the spirit, mortifying the flesh and its sensuality; it raises the spirit to God; it fights concupiscence and gives power to conquer and deaden its passions; in short, it disposes the heart to seek to please only God with great purity of heart.

The first condition is that we must fast with our whole heart, that is to say, willingly, whole-heartedly, universally and entirely. If I recount to you St. Bernard's words regarding fasting, you will know not only why it is instituted but also how it ought to be kept.

He says that fasting was instituted by Our Lord as a remedy for our mouth, for our gourmandizing and for our gluttony. Since sin entered the world through the mouth, the mouth must do penance by being deprived of goods prohibited and forbidden by the Church, abstaining from them for the space of forty days. But this glorious saint adds that, as it is not our mouth alone which has sinned, but also all our other senses, our fast must be general and entire, that is, all the members of our body must fast. For if we have offended God through the eyes, through the ears, through the tongue, and through the other senses, why should we not make them fast as well? And not only must we make the bodily senses fast, but also the soul's powers and passions-- yes, even the understanding, the memory, and the will, since we have sinned through both body and spirit.

How many sins have entered into the soul through the eyes, as Holy Scripture indicates? (1 Jn. 2:16). That is why they must fast by keeping them lowered and not permitting them to look upon frivolous and unlawful objects; the ears, by depriving them of listening to vain talk which serves only to fill the mind with worldly images; the tongue, in not speaking idle words and those which savor of the world or the things of the world. We ought to cut off useless thoughts, as well as vain memories and superfluous appetites and desires of our will. In short, we ought to check all those things which keep us from loving or tending to the Sovereign Good. In this way interior fasting accompanies exterior fasting.

Jim Morris and the United Nations World Food Program, Part 3

In this final installment, I speak with Jim Morris, former executive director of the United Nations World Food Program about his present work in central and southern Indiana with the Interfaith Food Initiative. Jim offers that so many who are “food insecure,” especially children, should not be, especially here in the U.S.  ”Every child ought to have a well-balanced diet of good nutrition providing 2300 calories a day … Doing something about child hunger is the most powerful intervention we can make in the life of a child.”

"Prayer for the Church in Anticipation of the Vacancy of the See of St. Peter" (courtesy of the Knights of Columbus)

O Lord Jesus Christ, Supreme Pastor of Your Church,
we thank you for the ministry of Pope Benedict XVI
and the selfless care with which he has led us
as Successor of Peter, and Your Vicar on earth.

Good Shepherd, who founded Your Church
on the rock of Peter's faith
and have never left Your flock untended,
look with love upon us now,
and sustain Your Church in faith, hope, and charity.

 Grant, Lord Jesus,
in Your boundless love for us,
a new Pope for Your Church
who will please You by his holiness
and lead us faithfully to You,
who are the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.

Podcast: Jim Morris and the United Nations World Food Program, Part 2

Part 2 of my conversation with Mr. Jim Morris continues with a discussion about the root causes of chronic hunger and malnutrition in the world and the different responses that are being posed to address the issues. JIm speaks of his time in Rome with the World Food Program and the work of individual Catholics he has met and Catholic Relief Services in seeking to feed the hungry. Finally we talk about the Interfaith Food Initiative being undertaken in the city of Indianapolis to make sure that our families and children are fed.

[personal note: This interview took place as I was coming down with the flu - didn't realize I sounded so bad until I heard it again. Woe was me ....]

Podcast: Mr Jim Morris and the United Nations World Food Program - Part 1

This podcast is the first of the three-part conversation that I had with Mr. Jim Morris. Jim served as executive director of the UN World Food Program [UNWFP], the largest humanitarian program in the world. Jim was executive director of the Program for over five years and during his tenure the UNWFP fed over 15 million people in more than 100 countries. In this first conversation, he and I talk about the scope of hunger in the world today and some of the root causes of this. We also look at basic categories such as chronic hunger situations versus hunger caused by disasters or cataclysms, the distinction between hunger and malnourishment, and the question of world hunger from a moral or economic or political perspective. “The average 7-8 year old boy in North Korea is already 6-7” shorter and 40 pounds lighter than his counter-part in South Korea…. For $35-40 we can feed a child in school for a whole year."

Podcast: The Martyrs' Project - Part 3

In this final segment of my conversation with Duane Arnold and Michael Bell we discuss the tensions that exist in the present culture around the whole issue of the nature of suffering and martyrdom. We discuss, for example, the difference between the martyrdom that Archbishop Romero suffered and the martyrdom that is embraced by some terrorist extremists. Death and suffering within the Christian context are always connected to the person of Christ and his death on the Cross. In addition, we talk about how the whole life of the Christian is one in which we move more deeply into a life of sacrifice so that the idea of dying for something is not all that foreign because we have been dying to so many other things already. Next, we turn to the person of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a martyr at the hands of Nazi Germany, and the song they have created around Bonhoeffer's words of martyrdom. Finally, we talk about the anonymous words of martyrdom found at the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp and the incredible act of forgiveness of ones persecutors found in these words.