Venit Maria Magdalena annuntians discipulis: Vidi Dominum! Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples: I have seen the Lord! (John 20:18).
Vidi Dominum! I have seen the Lord! These were the joyful words spoken by St. Mary Magdalene to the disciples, announcing to them the good news that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. What wonderful words from our patroness. What a powerful message.
There is nothing more joyful in the life of the Christian than an encounter with the Risen Lord. It is such a powerful experience that it must be shared. The Christian can't help but tell everyone the good news of this encounter. In his recent apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (the Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis remarked, "Goodness always tends to spread. Every authentic experience of truth and goodness seeks by its very nature to grow within us." (1)
One of the great joys of being the pastor of St. Mary Magdalene Parish is that I am privileged with the gift of hearing the many stories of how Jesus Christ has changed the lives of the members of our community. Christ is very much alive and at work in our parish. The joy of these encounters with Jesus Christ are so powerful that I find myself sharing them as often as possible. The reaction that I receive from sharing these stories is that people love hearing them. Every community needs to know the fruit that is being born from the work of the Holy Spirit. Seeing the fruit of the Holy Spirit is a need for every Christian community. It is for this reason that we have chosen a new format for our bulletin, and have given the Latin translation of St. Mary Magdalene's testimony of her first encounter with the Risen Christ as its title: Vidi Dominum; I have seen the Lord!
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
For the longest time I could never understand why the solemnity of the Ascension was an important celebration. Why did Jesus have to ascend to Heaven? Why is this event so important for the Church? Why do the Gospel writers make such a big deal about it? And then one day in prayer, the answer finally dawned on me: the Ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven is similar to the narrative predicament found in the Joseph Heller novel, Catch-22.
For those of you who have never read the novel Catch-22 before, let me give you a little background. In Catch-22, the main character, John Yossarian, a US Army Air Force combat pilot, wants to be grounded from combat flight duty. However, in order to be grounded, he must first be evaluated by the squadron's flight surgeon and then be found "unfit for flying." In order for someone to be found "unfit for flying," they would have to be considered insane. The problem is that to be declared "unfit for flying," the person would first have to submit a request for an evaluation. Such a request could only be submitted by a sane person and would be evidence enough to prove the sanity of the one requesting the evaluation. The message is that anyone who wants to get out of flying, isn't really crazy. Hence, pilots that submit requests for evaluations are sane and must fly in combat missions. At the same time, if a request is never submitted, the pilot will never receive one, will never be found insane, and must also fly in combat. Therefore, the Catch-22 is that no pilot can ever be grounded for being insane – even if he were.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Cardinal Dolan, the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, in his book, Called to Be Holy, tells a story of an experience he had with Cardinal Angelo Dell'Acqua during Mass at St. Peter's Basilica while he was a seminarian. At the end of Mass, the Cardinal looked at all of the American priests, sisters, and seminarians and said, "I have a favor to ask each of you. As you walk the streets of Rome, please smile."
There is nothing worse than a Catholic who has no joy. It's essentially an oxymoron. There is nothing that drives more people away from the Church than bitter Catholics. Jesus says in today's Gospel (John 15:9- 17), "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete." Jesus desires that we live a joyful life. He wants us to radiate the joy of the Gospel to all people.
Often, a lack of joy is a sign of a lack of trust in God. If I do not believe that Jesus Christ loves me, forgives me, and has the power to transform me, then my response to God is going to be "joyless." However, if I have a relationship with Jesus Christ, if I communicate with Him on a regular basis and offer myself up to Him as a gift (without holding a part of myself back from Him), then I know that He will be there to give me the light I need when I find myself in a dark place. In a relationship with Christ, I discover that He has overcome the world and that there is nothing in this world that we can encounter that He cannot transform by His great power and love. A lack of joy is usually a sign that we doubt God's power and love.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
For the past two weeks we have been reflecting on the theological virtue of faith. In particular, we have examined how the object of faith is the Person of Jesus Christ and the context of faith is the Church. Today, we finish our reflection on faith with an examination of the result of faith. In other words, what does faith produce in the life of a believer?
There is a famous Augustinian expression that says, "Faith is letting oneself be grasped by the Truth." The more we are "grasped by the Truth," the more we become witnesses of the Truth. This is the result of faith: it produces a witness. The more the faith becomes an active part of our life, the more our entire life becomes a witness to Jesus Christ.
What does it mean to "witness to Jesus Christ?" Although there are many ways we offer a witness to Jesus Christ, there are two that I would like to reflect upon in this letter. First, we offer witness to Jesus Christ through suffering. The late Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete, a Catholic priest who used to be a regular contributor to the New York Times, once wrote, "Suffering is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived." He who suffers well, offers a beautiful witness to Jesus Christ. How?
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