May  7th - 3rd Sunday of Easter  (English)

May  14th - 4th Sunday of Easter  (English) - Homily Father Chris did at Patrick AFB

May  21st - 5th Sunday of Easter  (English)
 

 If someone asked you to describe your crowning achievement, that which you are most proud of, what would that be?  I can imagine that for some it might be getting a high school or college diploma.  Maybe after years of work you finally got that piece of paper that says you’ve graduated.  It could be that you finally got your Master’s Degree or a Ph.D.  That would certainly be something to be proud of.  I know that some people have done very well in business.  They have started companies or had ideas that were brought to completion that has made the lives of people a little better.  Some people are proud of their military career.  They have stood with courage and valor in the face of adversity.  Still others might point to how they raised their children, ran the home, or how they have been a good spouse as their most important achievement.
 These are good and important things.  But now, put that list to the side.  Let’s suppose you had to list the most embarrassing or worst thing that you have done.  I wouldn’t even want to give examples of what those might be.  Each of us can search our hearts and think almost immediately of the negative things that we have done.
 Luckily we don’t usually have to share those negative things.  We enjoy talking about our successes and about the good things that have happened to us.  They become good conversation starters.  Not too many people like to share their problems publicly, unless they are on the Jerry Springer Show.
 Imagine how the people felt when Peter pointed out their worst fault.  “You betrayed the Son of God!  You put the Author of Life to death!  You allowed Pilate to have his way with Jesus.”  That probably wouldn’t have been well accepted.  Yet, Peter goes on to say, “I realize that you didn’t know what you were doing.  You were thinking in the ways of the world, not the ways of God.”
 But then Peter says something that points to the age-old truth that God’s ways are not our ways.  He says, that even though you sinned by turning Christ over to Pilate God raised Him from the dead.  Even though you did the worst thing possible, God made the best thing come from that.  God always is able to write straight with our crooked lines.  It is just like the Exultet we sang at the Easter Vigil: O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam that won for us our salvation.  Sin is not something that we are proud of, and rightly so.  Yet, if it weren’t for the sin of Adam and all the sins of humanity Christ would never have died for us and we would not have experienced the power of mercy and compassion God had in store for us.  What a tremendous turn of fate!
 Peter and the apostles became witnesses of two things.  They experienced the power of Christ’s resurrection.  They saw God do a marvelous thing in raising Christ from the dead.  They saw Christ on the road to Emmaus, in the Upper Room, at the seashore, and in various other places over 40 days.  But the second thing they became witnesses of was salvation.  They recognized they didn’t deserve to be witnesses.  They had sinned by turning away from Christ at his most important hour too.  They had denied him and ran away.  In many ways they were no different from the crowds.  They had locked themselves in the upper room afraid of what might happen to them.  Yet, Christ came to them, gave them the power of the Holy Spirit and freed them from their sins.  They could now boldly go before the people and proclaim how merciful God really is.
 You and I are witnesses of Christ too.  We did not experience the resurrection first hand.  We can’t witness to that.  But we can share how God has saved us from our sins and allowed us to stand before everyone without fear and tell them of God’s marvelous work.  That we can do.
 So in the biggest reversal of all we now can share our faults and sins not out of pride for them, but out of humility that God has forgiven them.  Our achievements, our possessions, our courage are all wonderful, but they will never get us to heaven.  We can only merit salvation because Christ and his cross have saved us.  That is our boast and our hope.  Amen.
 
 

4th Sunday of Easter 

 Some years ago when I was in St. Louis I had the opportunity to go up into the Gateway Arch.  It’s a magnificent structure of stainless steel.  When the day is sunny it gleams with tremendous brilliance.  I was most amazed at how the structure was built.
 I would have imagined that it was started on one side and finished on the other.  That isn’t how it was made.  What they did was build both ends first and meet in the middle at the very top of the structure.  The final piece, the observation area, was fitted last.  In fact, because the steel expanded in the sun they had to wet it down with water to make the last piece fit in smoothly.
 What always amazed me about that way of building is that there was no room for error.  If they had been off in their calculations by only an inch or two, by the time they got to the top there would be no way to fit in the last piece.
 I learned recently that in ancient Greek and Roman architecture the cornerstone of the structure wasn’t necessarily at the base of the building.  Often it would be at the top of an arch much like the way the Gateway Arch was constructed.  All the stones would be balanced and the cornerstone or better, keystone, would keep it altogether.  That way mortar wasn’t needed.  As you know, many Greek and Roman shrines still exist after 2000 years.  Everything depended on perfect balance that the keystone provided.
 Today, Peter declares to the people that Jesus is the cornerstone of the Church.  All believers will find balance and meaning with Christ as the center of life.
 Peter could say this after healing a crippled man.  Sickness was often equated with sin.  A crippled person would have been considered a terrible sinner, or his parents were.  Peter healed him through the name and power of Christ.  Christ freed this man of sin, sickness, and isolation.  Now he could freely worship and praise God for his goodness.  There was no fear anymore.
 Most of us live lives of fear and anxiety.  We fear crime and violence.  There is even a demonstration today in Washington by mothers against gun violence.  That’s fear and anxiety!  We often find that we have enough money for personal security yet we fear sickness or some other disaster that will wipe out our savings.  We have anxiety over whether people will treat us with dignity and respect.
 Today we hear of two consoling images of Christ.  The first is the keystone, which gives balance to life.  The second is that of the shepherd.  Jesus, the Good Shepherd, cares for us, His sheep, unlike any other shepherd.  He knows our name and even laid down his life for us.
 The shepherds that we so often follow only lead us into greater fear and anxiety.  Sometimes we follow shepherds who tell us we will be safe if we have the right clothes or car.  Maybe our shepherd is our job or career that we will give all to, even sacrificing time with family or time for rest and concern for the poor.  The shepherd’s voice might call us to trust in drugs and alcohol, entertainment and diversions, or anything else that promises peace, hope, and security.  But these shepherds are false.  They don’t know us.  They won’t lay down their lives for us.  Only one shepherd does that—Jesus.
 I suppose in many ways you and I are here because we know there is more to life than the external things.  Yet how often do these lesser voices seduce us?
 To know that salvation comes through a relationship of love with the shepherd should give us great joy.  We have Good News to bring to the whole world.  God has been revealed as love through Jesus.  There is no other way to God, no other way to happiness or eternal life except through love.  All the ways of the world fail only one lasts forever—Christ Jesus.
 May Christ, the Good Shepherd, the keystone of life, grant us peace and joy now and for eternal life when we will become like Him.  Amen.
 

5th Sunday of Easter 
First Communion

 Have you ever tried to grow anything?  Maybe it was wild flowers or vegetables.  Maybe you planted a tree or some flowers.  It’s a little easier to see when you plant living trees and flowers.  Then all you have to do is water them.  But when you start from seeds there is a lot of work.  Now suppose you decided to have a rose bush.  You took a rose and planted it in the ground.  What would happen, do you suppose?
 It wouldn’t grow.  Why not?  It doesn’t have roots.  For plants and trees to grow they need roots.  Roots have to be covered with soil or be in water otherwise they can’t get nourishment and the plant dies.  If you have ever had a plant that had its roots exposed for too long you probably noticed that it didn’t last too long.  It died.
 Now when we plant seeds in the ground here in Florida besides water what else is needed?  The plants need fertilizer.  They can’t grow if they don’t have the proper minerals in the fertilizer.    Usually plants that don’t have fertilizer can make it for awhile, but eventually the plants get weaker and weaker because they don’t have the right things to grow.
 We are like that in a lot of ways.  Probably you’ve seen pictures of children that are starving in Africa.  You notice that they are so thin.  Often a child your age looks like he is 4 or 5 because he is malnourished.  That’s why your parents tell you to eat your vegetables.  Maybe you take vitamins each day to help you grow up to be strong and healthy.
 The same thing is true in our spiritual life.  We need Jesus.  We can’t survive without him, at least not for long.  That is why he said that he is vine and we are the branches.  He is the source for our strength and nourishment.  If we remain close to him we can grow stronger each day.  That way we can withstand the temptations that come our way.  But if we don’t have Christ in our lives we soon will wither.
 St. Paul was someone that wasn’t always close to Jesus.  In fact he tried to harm other Christians.  He would arrest them and put them in jail.  Then one day Jesus spoke to him on the road.  He asked him, “Why do you persecute me?”  Saul didn’t know who was speaking.  When he learned that it was Jesus he realized that whenever he was putting a Christian in jail or giving them a hard time he was doing it to Jesus.  He changed from the bad things that he was doing and became one of the greatest followers of Jesus.  He told everyone that he could how good Jesus had been to him.
 Today you receive your First Communion.  It is a day when you receive nourishment from Christ in a special way.  He is giving you his body and blood so that you will be strong in facing whatever difficulties in life you have.  It’s very special for you because now you have this added help.
 Also, because you have this strength you are made one with everyone here.  You now have communion or unity with every other Christian in a special way.  That means that you are to help them.  You can no longer treat other people with disrespect, for whenever you do it to them you are doing it to Jesus.
 Finally, because Jesus is very close to you today he wants to remain close.  That is why it is so important to receive Jesus every Sunday.  The strength and closeness you feel to the Lord will go away after time if you don’t attend Mass and receive Him often.  May God continue to bless you as He does today.  Amen.