A few months ago, our nation witnessed the horrifying and inexcusable killing of George Floyd. In the succeeding weeks and months, there has been social unrest, peaceful protests against racism in our country as well as eruptions of violence and looting. There’s a lot of anger and division in our society. Two months ago, I met with Deacon Mel Tardy, whom I am so grateful is here with us today, and with the other members of our Diocesan Black Catholic Advisory Board. I wanted to hear how they were doing and their perspectives on the situation in our country and our response as Catholics in this situation. Their insights are always so helpful to me. I decided, after that meeting, that I wanted to pray with the youth of our diocese for an end to racial injustice. I have so much hope in you, our young people, and so we are here today at Bishop Luers and joined via livestream video with all the Catholic high school students and many junior high students throughout our diocese.
Why did I select today, Sept. 9, for this prayer service? Because today is the feast of the patron saint of race relations, St. Peter Claver. And because the bishops of the United States have designated this feast as a day of prayer and fasting for peace in our communities. We beg the Lord to strengthen our resolve and to bless our efforts to end racism and bring about greater peace in our communities and greater harmony among people of different races.
Peter Claver was a Spanish Jesuit missionary who came to America in the year 1610. He came to the city that was the chief African slave market in the world: Cartagena, Colombia. There he became known as “the apostle to the slaves” and “the slave of the slaves.” For 44 years, he served the physical and spiritual needs of the slaves, 1,000 of whom arrived every day from Africa. Upon their arrival, St. Peter Claver would board the ships to tend to the immediate medical needs of those held in bondage who had endured unimaginable emotional and physical suffering in the journey across the ocean. He would continue to minister to them after they disembarked and were moved to slave camps.
Besides caring for their physical and medical needs, he sought to meet their spiritual needs by teaching them about God and their dignity as human beings created in God’s image. It is reported that St. Peter Claver baptized over 300,000 slaves over the course of his many years of service in Cartagena. He also served as an advocate for the slaves before the slave traders. Because of his ministry and advocacy, Peter Claver was rejected and ostracized by many. Though of his own power he could not suppress the slave trade, he could alleviate some of its suffering. We ask St. Peter Claver to intercede for us and for our nation and our world that continues to be infected, not only by Covid-19, but by the deadly virus of racism.
Young brothers and sisters in Christ, you have learned in your Catholic education the two great commandments of Jesus that are at the heart of the Christian life: love of God and love of neighbor. These commandments are so inextricably connected, that, as St. John teaches, if one says he loves God, but hates his neighbor, he is a liar. Racism is a grievous sin against Jesus’ commandment of love. It is, as the bishops of the United States have taught, “an intrinsic evil,” that is, it is always and everywhere wrong. It is a grave violation of the most fundamental principle of Catholic social teaching: the sacred and inviolable dignity of every human person. Racist attitudes, holding that one’s own race or ethnicity is superior and judging others as inferior (for example, white supremacy) are evil. Racist attitudes often lead to racist acts: exclusion, mistreatment and unjust discrimination against persons on the basis of their race or ethnicity. Such racist acts are sinful. They fail to acknowledge the dignity of others, to recognize others as the neighbors Jesus calls us to love. Racism is a radical evil, ignoring or rejecting the fundamental truth that all people are created in the image of God. The Catholic Church proclaims that the sin of racism defiles the image of God, that it “is not merely one sin among many; it is a radical evil that divides the human family and denies the new creation of a redeemed world” (Brothers and Sisters to Us).
Racism is a serious offense against God our Creator. It is a grave sin against love and against justice. In this service, we are praying for racial justice. Pope Benedict XVI taught that if we want to exercise Christian love toward others, we must first treat them with justice. If we do not treat others justly, we are not loving them, and, if we are not loving them, we are not loving God. In our nation, we cannot ignore the continuing inequalities in education, housing, employment, wealth and criminal justice, inequalities that are rooted in our country’s shameful history of slavery and, afterwards, the Jim Crow laws that sanctioned segregation. I encourage you to study and learn this history. We’ve seen wonderful advances in racial justice, to be sure.
I was seven years old when the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, followed by the Voting Rights Act in 1965. I remember the civil rights movement. These were great legislative accomplishments, but these advances are incomplete. I encourage you to read the U.S. bishops’ pastoral letter on racism, which we issued two years ago. It is titled “Open Wide our Hearts: the enduring call to love.” In that letter, we said the following: “Racism can only end if we contend with the policies and institutional barriers that perpetuate and preserve the inequality – economic and social – that we still see all around us. With renewed vigor, we call on members of the Body of Christ to join others in advocating and promoting policies at all levels that will combat racism and its effects in our civic and social institutions.”
Racism is a pro-life issue. Protecting human life also requires us to protect the dignity of each person. Notice how racism and attacks on human life are often manifested together. Think of abortion. Of course, abortion strikes at human life regardless of race, but African-Americans and Latinos are at an even greater risk since the racist abortion industry typically locates its clinics in neighborhoods with large racial minority populations. We all know that the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, had this racist motivation. In our pastoral letter, we bishops unequivocally state that racism is a life issue. “The injustice and harm racism causes are an attack on human life.” As Pope Francis recently said: “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.” The Holy Father also said regarding the violence that has erupted in many cities of the U.S. that “violence is self-destructive and self-defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost.” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us the same message.
We heard in the reading today St. Paul’s description of the Body of Christ. He uses the image of the human body. Each part of the body has a distinct function and each part plays an essential role. The Church, the Body of Christ, is made up of diverse people and needs every one of its diverse members to be whole. In solidarity, we are called to share the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Christ who have been wounded by the evil of racism. Their wounds are the wounds of the whole Church. If any member of the Body of Christ is suffering, whether they’re white, black, or brown, we are all responsible for that member. As St. Paul wrote: “If one part (of the body) suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.”
Our African-American, Latino, Asian, and native American brothers and sisters are vital members of the Body of Christ. Over 250 million members of the Catholic Church today are of African descent. That’s about a quarter of the over 1.2 billion Catholics in the world. The Church, the Body of Christ, is catholic, which means universal. We must appreciate this universality and celebrate our unity in diversity. One of my greatest joys as a priest was serving as pastor of a poor, beautifully diverse inner-city parish. In the neighborhood there were white churches, black churches and Hispanic churches. Our parish, St. Francis of Assisi was all three: 60% Latino, 20% black and 20% white. We were also blessed with a few Vietnamese families, recent refugees. The parish was a beacon of hope in the community. We prayed and worked together and fed over 200 poor and homeless every day in our soup kitchen. It was a blessing for me to learn from the various cultures that made up our community of faith. It was beautiful to see the parishioners united in faith and action and the bonds of friendship that grew among the diverse people of the parish. Developing relationships and friendships with people of different races and ethnicities really helps to break down prejudice and racism.
I want to mention two additional points for our parishes and schools: First, it’s important as Catholics that we honor all our saints: black, white and brown. At St. Francis, we had images in our church of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady, Mother of Africa. #2: We must know and learn the valiant history of African-American Catholics in the U.S. I pray that soon one of the many African-American Catholics who have proposed for sainthood will be canonized.
Young people, I have great hope in you as participants in the battle to overcome racism in our society. You are vital members of the Body of Christ and the Church needs your witness to the sanctity and dignity of life and to the equality of all people. The Church needs your witness to peace, justice, and solidarity! I pray that all our schools will be shining examples of unity in diversity, communities animated by the love of Christ. As we fight the coronavirus, let us also fight the virus of racism that can infect our hearts and communities and poison our souls and the soul of our nation. Let us walk in the light of Christ, the light of the Gospel, and work together to dispel the darkness of racism. May God bless us and St. Peter Claver intercede for us!
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September 9, 2020
May 18, 2020
Giving a Reason for our Hope
The following is the text of the homily given by Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades in a livestreamed Mass on May 17, the Sixth Sunday of Easter:
We’re in the midst of graduation season. I feel sorry for our college and high school graduates who aren’t able to celebrate their graduation ceremonies, unable to gather with their classmates and receive their diplomas together because of the pandemic. Our four Catholic high schools hope to celebrate these ceremonies in late July, if it is possible. I miss celebrating their Baccalaureate Masses, but hopefully it will be possible at that time. In any event, let’s be sure to congratulate our young men and women on their graduations. To the graduates who are watching this Mass, we are proud of you!
In the Gospel today, Jesus speaks of the Advocate that He will give to His disciples to be with them always. He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. So I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will be with our graduates as they go into the world, a world where many do not believe or can even be hostile to believers, especially Catholics. I pray that our young graduates will stay firm in the faith.
I hope we have prepared our graduates well, to go forth not with fear, but with hope and courage. I pray that their faith will remain strong and will grow, not become weak or disappear. I hope that when they sit in a class where a professor is attacking religion or Christianity and particularly Catholicism (a favorite target today), that their faith will not only not be shaken, but that they will be able to stand up for our faith.
This brings me to today’s second reading, the wonderful passage we heard from the first letter of our first pope. St. Peter wrote: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.”
Are we able to give an explanation for the hope that is within us, the hope that springs from faith? Of course, our hope is Christ. Are we ready to give a good, articulate and intelligent explanation of our beliefs? Are our young people able to do so? I hope so — that’s why our Catholic high schools and our parish youth ministry programs must be excellent in catechesis. And that’s why it’s so important that parents are practicing and living the faith, giving good witness to their children. Parents need to be able to give a reason for their hope and be able to explain the faith to their children. This is effective only when parents are authentically living the faith, living in a way that is consistent with the faith.
St. Peter doesn’t say that we should be ready “now and then” to give an explanation of our faith or reason for our hope. He doesn’t say “sometimes.” He says: “Always” be ready to do so! I invite you to ponder these questions:
Are you ready and able to explain why you believe and hope in Jesus Christ and why you are His disciple?
Are you able to intelligently speak to an atheist why it is reasonable to believe in God or to a Muslim or Jewish friend why you believe that Jesus is God or why you believe that God is a Trinity of three Divine Persons?
Are you ready and able to explain to a Protestant friend why you believe that the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus and has preserved the fullness of the apostolic faith?
Are you ready and able to explain the importance of the seven sacraments and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist?
Are you ready and able to explain why we confess our sins to a priest, why we venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints, why we believe in the authority of the Pope and bishops and why we believe in the doctrine of purgatory?
Are you able to explain and defend our belief in the sanctity of all human life, in the dignity of the child in the womb, of immigrants and refugees, of the sick and the dying, and, therefore, why we oppose abortion, xenophobia and euthanasia?
Are you able to explain and defend why marriage is a union between one man and one woman, why some reproductive technologies are harmful to human dignity and why sex should only be within marriage?
Are you ready and able to explain why the option to follow Christ in the Catholic Church is a positive option, one that brings joy and human fulfillment, “a yes” to life and love, and a path to true freedom?
Are you able to articulate why you believe that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and how this belief has given meaning and purpose to your life?
I get a lot of questions on my weekly show on Redeemer Radio. I love trying to answer the questions people call in about many teachings of the Church, questions about doctrines like the Holy Trinity and other mysteries of the faith, questions about moral issues, about prayer and about the Christian life. I’m happy to receive the questions. They show me how people are truly seeking to better know and understand our faith. If we’re going to be able and ready to give an explanation to others of the reasons for our hope, we must know our faith. If you feel you’re not able to explain some aspects of our faith or to answer some of the questions I’ve proposed, I encourage you to study the question, to seek answers, to delve more deeply into the what and the why of what the Church teaches.
There’s something else very important that St. Peter wrote that we find at the end of the sentence I’ve been talking about. He says: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear…”. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of the latter part of this sentence. In explaining our faith and the reason for our hope, we must never do so in an uncharitable way. So much harm is done by Catholics who claim to be orthodox or even super-orthodox in their faith, but they turn people off, even away from Catholicism, because of their self-righteousness, their anger, judgmentalism, or pride. We must not be modern-day pharisees. If we’re not proclaiming the truth in charity, we’re not really orthodox, we’re not really proclaiming the truth, because love is central to the truth of Christianity and Catholicism. We must always treat others with love and respect, “with gentleness and reverence,” as St. Peter teaches us.
When we share or defend our faith, it’s not about just winning arguments. Good apologetics is not polemical. It’s not trying to pick a fight. Yes, there may be arguments, but debates and arguments should not degenerate into attacks on people or lack of respect for those who disagree with us. Our purpose, after all, in bearing witness to the truths of our faith, is not to win an argument. It’s to win souls for Christ, to bring them to the peace, joy and fulfillment that is found in Christ and His Body, the Church.
Back to our graduates! I am often edified when I see and get to talk to some of our young people when they are home from college. I’ll ask them how it’s going and about their faith life. Some will share with me the challenge of forming good relationships and friendships in the midst of a hook-up culture or an alcohol-centered social milieu. Some share the challenges they encounter in some classes where they might be the only practicing Catholic, the only one who challenges a professor putting down Catholicism or Catholic teaching. Some tell me it’s sometimes hard to do. Some say they feel support from other like-minded students through their involvement in Catholic campus ministry. Some tell me that the challenges and questions they get have made them better Catholics, made them study and delve more deeply into the faith. That’s such good news. We sometimes become better Catholics when our faith is ridiculed, challenged, or attacked.
A final word to parents with sons and daughters in college or going to college: try not to worry too much. My advice: pray every day for your children. Entrust them to the Lord; ask the Holy Spirit to guide them and our Blessed Mother to protect them.
To all who are watching this Mass and especially to our graduates, may you take to heart the challenge from St. Peter: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear.”
We’re in the midst of graduation season. I feel sorry for our college and high school graduates who aren’t able to celebrate their graduation ceremonies, unable to gather with their classmates and receive their diplomas together because of the pandemic. Our four Catholic high schools hope to celebrate these ceremonies in late July, if it is possible. I miss celebrating their Baccalaureate Masses, but hopefully it will be possible at that time. In any event, let’s be sure to congratulate our young men and women on their graduations. To the graduates who are watching this Mass, we are proud of you!
In the Gospel today, Jesus speaks of the Advocate that He will give to His disciples to be with them always. He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. So I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will be with our graduates as they go into the world, a world where many do not believe or can even be hostile to believers, especially Catholics. I pray that our young graduates will stay firm in the faith.
I hope we have prepared our graduates well, to go forth not with fear, but with hope and courage. I pray that their faith will remain strong and will grow, not become weak or disappear. I hope that when they sit in a class where a professor is attacking religion or Christianity and particularly Catholicism (a favorite target today), that their faith will not only not be shaken, but that they will be able to stand up for our faith.
This brings me to today’s second reading, the wonderful passage we heard from the first letter of our first pope. St. Peter wrote: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.”
Are we able to give an explanation for the hope that is within us, the hope that springs from faith? Of course, our hope is Christ. Are we ready to give a good, articulate and intelligent explanation of our beliefs? Are our young people able to do so? I hope so — that’s why our Catholic high schools and our parish youth ministry programs must be excellent in catechesis. And that’s why it’s so important that parents are practicing and living the faith, giving good witness to their children. Parents need to be able to give a reason for their hope and be able to explain the faith to their children. This is effective only when parents are authentically living the faith, living in a way that is consistent with the faith.
St. Peter doesn’t say that we should be ready “now and then” to give an explanation of our faith or reason for our hope. He doesn’t say “sometimes.” He says: “Always” be ready to do so! I invite you to ponder these questions:
Are you ready and able to explain why you believe and hope in Jesus Christ and why you are His disciple?
Are you able to intelligently speak to an atheist why it is reasonable to believe in God or to a Muslim or Jewish friend why you believe that Jesus is God or why you believe that God is a Trinity of three Divine Persons?
Are you ready and able to explain to a Protestant friend why you believe that the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus and has preserved the fullness of the apostolic faith?
Are you ready and able to explain the importance of the seven sacraments and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist?
Are you ready and able to explain why we confess our sins to a priest, why we venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints, why we believe in the authority of the Pope and bishops and why we believe in the doctrine of purgatory?
Are you able to explain and defend our belief in the sanctity of all human life, in the dignity of the child in the womb, of immigrants and refugees, of the sick and the dying, and, therefore, why we oppose abortion, xenophobia and euthanasia?
Are you able to explain and defend why marriage is a union between one man and one woman, why some reproductive technologies are harmful to human dignity and why sex should only be within marriage?
Are you ready and able to explain why the option to follow Christ in the Catholic Church is a positive option, one that brings joy and human fulfillment, “a yes” to life and love, and a path to true freedom?
Are you able to articulate why you believe that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and how this belief has given meaning and purpose to your life?
I get a lot of questions on my weekly show on Redeemer Radio. I love trying to answer the questions people call in about many teachings of the Church, questions about doctrines like the Holy Trinity and other mysteries of the faith, questions about moral issues, about prayer and about the Christian life. I’m happy to receive the questions. They show me how people are truly seeking to better know and understand our faith. If we’re going to be able and ready to give an explanation to others of the reasons for our hope, we must know our faith. If you feel you’re not able to explain some aspects of our faith or to answer some of the questions I’ve proposed, I encourage you to study the question, to seek answers, to delve more deeply into the what and the why of what the Church teaches.
There’s something else very important that St. Peter wrote that we find at the end of the sentence I’ve been talking about. He says: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear…”. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of the latter part of this sentence. In explaining our faith and the reason for our hope, we must never do so in an uncharitable way. So much harm is done by Catholics who claim to be orthodox or even super-orthodox in their faith, but they turn people off, even away from Catholicism, because of their self-righteousness, their anger, judgmentalism, or pride. We must not be modern-day pharisees. If we’re not proclaiming the truth in charity, we’re not really orthodox, we’re not really proclaiming the truth, because love is central to the truth of Christianity and Catholicism. We must always treat others with love and respect, “with gentleness and reverence,” as St. Peter teaches us.
When we share or defend our faith, it’s not about just winning arguments. Good apologetics is not polemical. It’s not trying to pick a fight. Yes, there may be arguments, but debates and arguments should not degenerate into attacks on people or lack of respect for those who disagree with us. Our purpose, after all, in bearing witness to the truths of our faith, is not to win an argument. It’s to win souls for Christ, to bring them to the peace, joy and fulfillment that is found in Christ and His Body, the Church.
Back to our graduates! I am often edified when I see and get to talk to some of our young people when they are home from college. I’ll ask them how it’s going and about their faith life. Some will share with me the challenge of forming good relationships and friendships in the midst of a hook-up culture or an alcohol-centered social milieu. Some share the challenges they encounter in some classes where they might be the only practicing Catholic, the only one who challenges a professor putting down Catholicism or Catholic teaching. Some tell me it’s sometimes hard to do. Some say they feel support from other like-minded students through their involvement in Catholic campus ministry. Some tell me that the challenges and questions they get have made them better Catholics, made them study and delve more deeply into the faith. That’s such good news. We sometimes become better Catholics when our faith is ridiculed, challenged, or attacked.
A final word to parents with sons and daughters in college or going to college: try not to worry too much. My advice: pray every day for your children. Entrust them to the Lord; ask the Holy Spirit to guide them and our Blessed Mother to protect them.
To all who are watching this Mass and especially to our graduates, may you take to heart the challenge from St. Peter: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear.”
May 11, 2020
On Pilgrimage to the Father’s House
The following homily was delivered by Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades during a livestreamed Mass from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on the Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 10, 2020:
The Gospel today is part of Jesus’ final discourse to His disciples at the Last Supper. The disciples were naturally troubled that Jesus was leaving them. Our Lord encouraged them to have faith. He told them not to be troubled, that He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house. And He promised them that He would come back and take them with Him to His Father’s house.
What comfort these words bring to us. That’s why many people choose this Gospel for the funeral Masses of their loved ones. We believe that Jesus has indeed gone to the Father’s house and entered into heavenly glory and that He will come back at the hour of our death and take us to be with Him and the Father forever. Because of this faith, when someone we love dies, we don’t fall into despair. St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “do not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.” As Christians, we have this hope in eternal life because we believe that Jesus is “the resurrection and the life.”
It’s good to think of our life and to live our life with this destination in mind. This is what our life is: a pilgrimage to the Father’s house. Our purpose, our end is to go to the Father’s house. And Jesus shows us the way. He is the way! In the Gospel today, Thomas asked Him about this. I always love when the apostles, who often don’t really understand what Jesus is teaching them, speak up and ask a question. I’m glad they ask because then Jesus explains more, which helps us also, because we’re like the apostles, we’re human, and we seek to understand what Jesus teaches. If it wasn’t for Thomas and other disciples asking Jesus questions, we wouldn’t have these wonderful answers that Jesus gives. So thank you, Thomas, for asking Jesus to explain! Thomas said: “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” And because Thomas asked that question, we have those wonderful words of Jesus in response: “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
Jesus is the way. In last Sunday’s Gospel, we heard Jesus say something similar. He said: “I am the gate for the sheep.” Jesus is the gateway leading to God and eternal life. He’s the way to the Father’s house. He is the truth as well. He reveals the truth about His Father and the truth about us, about who we are and are meant to be. Jesus is also the life. He’s the source of eternal life. Remember the words of Jesus we heard last Sunday: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Jesus gives us a share in the life of the Blessed Trinity. That’s why He became man: to lift us up to share in the divine communion which he, as the Son, has enjoyed from all eternity.
When you pray, do you ever ask Jesus questions or ask Him for explanations? We should, because we don’t always understand things. We can pray: “Jesus, help me to understand.” Understanding is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. We can ask the Holy Spirit to give us that gift. We should be honest and frank when we pray, trusting that He will give us light and strength.
It’s not only Thomas who asks a question in the Gospel today. Another apostle, Philip, also asks Jesus a question. Like Thomas, Philip was having a hard time really understanding what Jesus was saying. So he said to Jesus: “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Our Lord very gently rebukes Philip for his incomprehension. He says: “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip?” When you think about it, Philip had been with Jesus for about three years. He should have had some understanding about what Jesus was saying. This kind of gives us some hope when we’re a little slow about understanding some aspect of our faith.
Jesus patiently answers and teaches Philip. He says: “Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Remember, elsewhere Jesus had said this to the disciples: “The Father and I are one.” Jesus had often told them about His union with the Father. He had told them that the Father had sent Him into the world. So Jesus then asks Philip and all the disciples: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?” Jesus goes on to explain that the words He speaks are not His own. He is the spokesman for the Father. And then He explains also that His works (His miracles) are the deeds of His Father. Jesus says: “The Father who dwells in me is doing His works.” Our Lord appeals to the disciples to believe this. He says: “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me or else, believe because of the works themselves.”
The basic truth of all this is that whoever has seen Jesus has seen God. As Pope Benedict XVI so often said: “God gave Himself a human face, the Face of Jesus, and consequently, from now on, if we truly want to know the Face of God, all we have to do is to contemplate the Face of Jesus! In his Face we truly see who God is and what He looks like!” This gets to the very heart of our Christian faith. Jesus isn’t merely a great prophet or world religious figure. He is God. God is not an unknown Person. He revealed Himself to humanity. He became flesh and blood. Jesus is the Truth, the true Face of God. Jesus of Nazareth is also the ultimate answer to who we are and who we are meant to be.
We all seek meaning in our life. We seek joy and happiness. We find these things in Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, in God’s only-begotten Son who became flesh and dwelt among us. God did not leave us groping in the dark. He has shown Himself to us as a man. As Jesus said to Philip: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
Our mission, the mission of the Church, is to show the world by our words and by our actions the true Face of God. We are the Body of Christ. We are called to reflect in our lives the Face of Jesus. In a world often empty of God, that has often forgotten God, we’re called to show His Face, the Face of mercy, goodness, and love, the Face of Jesus Christ who reveals the Father.
Jesus said in today’s Gospel: “whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.” How is this possible? It is possible because the glorified Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit. Throughout the Acts of the Apostles, which we hear so often in the readings of this Easter season, we see the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church.
Brothers and sisters, we’re all on this pilgrimage to the Father’s house where Jesus has prepared a place for us. Jesus is our Way on this pilgrimage. He is the Truth that lights our way. And He is the life that sustains us. I think of the example of Pope St. John Paul II, whose 100th birthday is approaching — May 18th. He lived His whole life as a pilgrimage to the Father. He believed in Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And He showed the whole world the Face of Jesus, the Face of God. The last words He spoke on the day he died, on April 2, 2005, on his deathbed, were whispered to a nun who was caring for him at that time. He said to her in the weakest of voices: “Let me go to the Father’s house.” That was his life’s goal and he reached it. May that be our life’s goal! Let us help one another on our pilgrimage to the Father’s house!
The Gospel today is part of Jesus’ final discourse to His disciples at the Last Supper. The disciples were naturally troubled that Jesus was leaving them. Our Lord encouraged them to have faith. He told them not to be troubled, that He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house. And He promised them that He would come back and take them with Him to His Father’s house.
What comfort these words bring to us. That’s why many people choose this Gospel for the funeral Masses of their loved ones. We believe that Jesus has indeed gone to the Father’s house and entered into heavenly glory and that He will come back at the hour of our death and take us to be with Him and the Father forever. Because of this faith, when someone we love dies, we don’t fall into despair. St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “do not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.” As Christians, we have this hope in eternal life because we believe that Jesus is “the resurrection and the life.”
It’s good to think of our life and to live our life with this destination in mind. This is what our life is: a pilgrimage to the Father’s house. Our purpose, our end is to go to the Father’s house. And Jesus shows us the way. He is the way! In the Gospel today, Thomas asked Him about this. I always love when the apostles, who often don’t really understand what Jesus is teaching them, speak up and ask a question. I’m glad they ask because then Jesus explains more, which helps us also, because we’re like the apostles, we’re human, and we seek to understand what Jesus teaches. If it wasn’t for Thomas and other disciples asking Jesus questions, we wouldn’t have these wonderful answers that Jesus gives. So thank you, Thomas, for asking Jesus to explain! Thomas said: “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” And because Thomas asked that question, we have those wonderful words of Jesus in response: “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
Jesus is the way. In last Sunday’s Gospel, we heard Jesus say something similar. He said: “I am the gate for the sheep.” Jesus is the gateway leading to God and eternal life. He’s the way to the Father’s house. He is the truth as well. He reveals the truth about His Father and the truth about us, about who we are and are meant to be. Jesus is also the life. He’s the source of eternal life. Remember the words of Jesus we heard last Sunday: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Jesus gives us a share in the life of the Blessed Trinity. That’s why He became man: to lift us up to share in the divine communion which he, as the Son, has enjoyed from all eternity.
When you pray, do you ever ask Jesus questions or ask Him for explanations? We should, because we don’t always understand things. We can pray: “Jesus, help me to understand.” Understanding is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. We can ask the Holy Spirit to give us that gift. We should be honest and frank when we pray, trusting that He will give us light and strength.
It’s not only Thomas who asks a question in the Gospel today. Another apostle, Philip, also asks Jesus a question. Like Thomas, Philip was having a hard time really understanding what Jesus was saying. So he said to Jesus: “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Our Lord very gently rebukes Philip for his incomprehension. He says: “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip?” When you think about it, Philip had been with Jesus for about three years. He should have had some understanding about what Jesus was saying. This kind of gives us some hope when we’re a little slow about understanding some aspect of our faith.
Jesus patiently answers and teaches Philip. He says: “Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Remember, elsewhere Jesus had said this to the disciples: “The Father and I are one.” Jesus had often told them about His union with the Father. He had told them that the Father had sent Him into the world. So Jesus then asks Philip and all the disciples: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?” Jesus goes on to explain that the words He speaks are not His own. He is the spokesman for the Father. And then He explains also that His works (His miracles) are the deeds of His Father. Jesus says: “The Father who dwells in me is doing His works.” Our Lord appeals to the disciples to believe this. He says: “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me or else, believe because of the works themselves.”
The basic truth of all this is that whoever has seen Jesus has seen God. As Pope Benedict XVI so often said: “God gave Himself a human face, the Face of Jesus, and consequently, from now on, if we truly want to know the Face of God, all we have to do is to contemplate the Face of Jesus! In his Face we truly see who God is and what He looks like!” This gets to the very heart of our Christian faith. Jesus isn’t merely a great prophet or world religious figure. He is God. God is not an unknown Person. He revealed Himself to humanity. He became flesh and blood. Jesus is the Truth, the true Face of God. Jesus of Nazareth is also the ultimate answer to who we are and who we are meant to be.
We all seek meaning in our life. We seek joy and happiness. We find these things in Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, in God’s only-begotten Son who became flesh and dwelt among us. God did not leave us groping in the dark. He has shown Himself to us as a man. As Jesus said to Philip: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
Our mission, the mission of the Church, is to show the world by our words and by our actions the true Face of God. We are the Body of Christ. We are called to reflect in our lives the Face of Jesus. In a world often empty of God, that has often forgotten God, we’re called to show His Face, the Face of mercy, goodness, and love, the Face of Jesus Christ who reveals the Father.
Jesus said in today’s Gospel: “whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.” How is this possible? It is possible because the glorified Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit. Throughout the Acts of the Apostles, which we hear so often in the readings of this Easter season, we see the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church.
Brothers and sisters, we’re all on this pilgrimage to the Father’s house where Jesus has prepared a place for us. Jesus is our Way on this pilgrimage. He is the Truth that lights our way. And He is the life that sustains us. I think of the example of Pope St. John Paul II, whose 100th birthday is approaching — May 18th. He lived His whole life as a pilgrimage to the Father. He believed in Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And He showed the whole world the Face of Jesus, the Face of God. The last words He spoke on the day he died, on April 2, 2005, on his deathbed, were whispered to a nun who was caring for him at that time. He said to her in the weakest of voices: “Let me go to the Father’s house.” That was his life’s goal and he reached it. May that be our life’s goal! Let us help one another on our pilgrimage to the Father’s house!
May 3, 2020
Trust in the Good Shepherd
The following is the text of Bishop Rhoades’ homily on May 3, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, at a livestreamed Mass from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Fort Wayne:
I recently read about another epidemic besides the coronavirus pandemic, the epidemic of anxiety. I read that 20% of Americans suffer from anxiety disorders and millions more wrestle with worry and stress on a daily basis. I imagine that number has grown since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic because of the fear of becoming infected or because of financial distress. Those who have been laid off from work are naturally worried and anxious. Others are worried that they might get laid off.
As human beings, we all experience natural worries, but we can tend to worry too much. It is perhaps part of the human condition. We worry about our health. Parents worry about their children, and children worry about their parents. We worry about money and finances. We worry about the future. It seems we can worry about everything. And worry brings anxiety, lack of peace, sadness, and even depression. How much time do we spend worrying? We worry and ask ourselves, “what’s going to happen?” or “how will this turn out?” The big problem is not that we experience some natural worries, but that we consent consciously to anxiety. This is when we willingly worry and then our minds become troubled.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, as people of faith, we must make a conscious effort not to worry. As Christians, when our minds are troubled and we feel anxious, we should very quickly make an act of confidence in the Lord.
One of the most beautiful acts of confidence in the Bible is Psalm 23, today’s responsorial psalm. What a great prayer to say during this pandemic! “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul… Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage.” Do we believe this? We probably do in. our heads, but we also need to believe it in our hearts. We must let this truth that the Lord is our shepherd who watches over us, cares for us, and protects us penetrate our hearts as well as our minds. When we do, what happens? Worry dissipates. Anxiety lessens or disappears. The result, of course, is peace, interior peace, even in the midst of external violence, misfortunes, and suffering.
The very heart of the spiritual life is confidence or trust in the Lord. That’s the little way that St. Therese, the Little Flower, teaches us. So does her namesake, St. Teresa of Avila who famously said: “let nothing trouble you; let nothing frighten you. Everything passes; God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone is enough.”
Today, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, is Good Shepherd Sunday. The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is a beautiful image that teaches us to trust in Him. Some images have Jesus tenderly carrying a lamb in His arms and others show Jesus carrying the sheep on his shoulders, especially reminding us of Jesus finding the lost sheep. This image should be our image of God. It was an image from the Old Testament — God as the shepherd of His people Israel. And it’s an image from the New Testament — the Son of God, Jesus, as the good shepherd who not only seeks out the lost sheep, but also lays down His life for the sheep. This is the true image of God. This is who He is.
If we have faith in the true God, then we believe that He is a God of tenderness and love, of mercy and forgiveness. With this true image of God, why do we consent to worrying so much and allow ourselves to become troubled in our minds and hearts? Don’t we believe that the Lord is at our side when we walk through the dark valley, as we pray in psalm 23? We need to really trust in the Lord as our shepherd. If you struggle with worry and anxiety, I invite you to pray with psalm 23.
God does not want us to be troubled. Remember Jesus’ words to the disciples at the Last Supper: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God. Have faith also in me.” God desires our peace. He sent us His Son, the Prince of Peace. What was the first announcement of Christmas? Peace! The angels proclaimed glory to God and peace on earth to people of good will! That was at the beginning of the Gospel. And then at the end of the Gospel, after Jesus rose from the dead, we hear the same message. When the Risen Jesus appears to the disciples, what does He always say? He says “peace,” “peace be with you!”
The Risen Lord offers us this wonderful gift of peace today. But sometimes we don’t feel it and we still worry and get stressed out and anxious. because our nature drags us down. Rather than placing our trust in our shepherd, we worry. Our minds become troubled. Maybe it’s because we don’t have an accurate view of God. I think of the Jansenist heresy. It’s still around. The Jansenists’ view of God was not as the good shepherd. They had a distorted view of God. Their view of God was not one of His holding a lamb in His arms, but a God with His arms raised to strike, a demanding God, a vengeful God. Many people were led astray by this heresy. This was a clever ploy of the devil, tempting people under the pretext of recognizing their sinfulness and unworthiness, actually leading souls away from Jesus.
The true God is the Good Shepherd who says with open arms: “Come to me; come because you are unworthy; come because you are sinful; come because you need to be saved.” The heresy of Jansenism is still around today, the heresy which turned a God of love and mercy into a cold and vengeful God. When Jansenism was rampant a few centuries ago, Jesus did not endure it — He appeared to St. Margaret Mary and revealed to her and to the world His Sacred Heart as proof of His love. It is the Heart of the Good Shepherd whose love for every one of His sheep is infinite and whose mercy has no limits, except hardened hearts that are closed to His love and refuse to believe in His mercy.
I encourage you on this Good Shepherd Sunday to throw away worry. We have no right to worry. Anxiety is not good for us. The Good Shepherd is with us. He’s always there. He watches over each one of us. He knows us each by name. He showed us His Sacred Heart, trying to convince us of His love, His tenderness, His mercy. What wounds the Heart of Jesus most is when we don’t trust in Him, when we don’t listen to Him saying to us: “Peace be with you.”
When you feel worried and anxious, I invite you to listen to the shepherd calling your name, saying to you: “I’m here with you. I love you. Don’t worry.” When things are difficult and life seems threatening, it’s natural to worry. But we shouldn’t remain with the natural but turn to the supernatural. That’s what faith is. In the midst of the storms of life, there is a peace that descends from heaven into the depths of our soul — the peace that St. Paul describes as surpassing all understanding. It’s the peace of Christ. It’s His gift to us. It’s the gift of the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for us. It’s the gift of Easter. It’s the gift from the One who came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
When St. Therese was asked to summarize her little way, she answered: “It is to be disturbed by nothing.” How is that possible? Trust and confidence in Jesus, whom St. Peter described in the second reading today as “the shepherd and guardian of our souls.” May we follow Him who leads us to restful waters and refreshes our soul, who guides us in right paths, and who is at our side when we walk in the dark valley, with his rod and staff that give us courage!
I recently read about another epidemic besides the coronavirus pandemic, the epidemic of anxiety. I read that 20% of Americans suffer from anxiety disorders and millions more wrestle with worry and stress on a daily basis. I imagine that number has grown since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic because of the fear of becoming infected or because of financial distress. Those who have been laid off from work are naturally worried and anxious. Others are worried that they might get laid off.
As human beings, we all experience natural worries, but we can tend to worry too much. It is perhaps part of the human condition. We worry about our health. Parents worry about their children, and children worry about their parents. We worry about money and finances. We worry about the future. It seems we can worry about everything. And worry brings anxiety, lack of peace, sadness, and even depression. How much time do we spend worrying? We worry and ask ourselves, “what’s going to happen?” or “how will this turn out?” The big problem is not that we experience some natural worries, but that we consent consciously to anxiety. This is when we willingly worry and then our minds become troubled.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, as people of faith, we must make a conscious effort not to worry. As Christians, when our minds are troubled and we feel anxious, we should very quickly make an act of confidence in the Lord.
One of the most beautiful acts of confidence in the Bible is Psalm 23, today’s responsorial psalm. What a great prayer to say during this pandemic! “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul… Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage.” Do we believe this? We probably do in. our heads, but we also need to believe it in our hearts. We must let this truth that the Lord is our shepherd who watches over us, cares for us, and protects us penetrate our hearts as well as our minds. When we do, what happens? Worry dissipates. Anxiety lessens or disappears. The result, of course, is peace, interior peace, even in the midst of external violence, misfortunes, and suffering.
The very heart of the spiritual life is confidence or trust in the Lord. That’s the little way that St. Therese, the Little Flower, teaches us. So does her namesake, St. Teresa of Avila who famously said: “let nothing trouble you; let nothing frighten you. Everything passes; God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone is enough.”
Today, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, is Good Shepherd Sunday. The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is a beautiful image that teaches us to trust in Him. Some images have Jesus tenderly carrying a lamb in His arms and others show Jesus carrying the sheep on his shoulders, especially reminding us of Jesus finding the lost sheep. This image should be our image of God. It was an image from the Old Testament — God as the shepherd of His people Israel. And it’s an image from the New Testament — the Son of God, Jesus, as the good shepherd who not only seeks out the lost sheep, but also lays down His life for the sheep. This is the true image of God. This is who He is.
If we have faith in the true God, then we believe that He is a God of tenderness and love, of mercy and forgiveness. With this true image of God, why do we consent to worrying so much and allow ourselves to become troubled in our minds and hearts? Don’t we believe that the Lord is at our side when we walk through the dark valley, as we pray in psalm 23? We need to really trust in the Lord as our shepherd. If you struggle with worry and anxiety, I invite you to pray with psalm 23.
God does not want us to be troubled. Remember Jesus’ words to the disciples at the Last Supper: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God. Have faith also in me.” God desires our peace. He sent us His Son, the Prince of Peace. What was the first announcement of Christmas? Peace! The angels proclaimed glory to God and peace on earth to people of good will! That was at the beginning of the Gospel. And then at the end of the Gospel, after Jesus rose from the dead, we hear the same message. When the Risen Jesus appears to the disciples, what does He always say? He says “peace,” “peace be with you!”
The Risen Lord offers us this wonderful gift of peace today. But sometimes we don’t feel it and we still worry and get stressed out and anxious. because our nature drags us down. Rather than placing our trust in our shepherd, we worry. Our minds become troubled. Maybe it’s because we don’t have an accurate view of God. I think of the Jansenist heresy. It’s still around. The Jansenists’ view of God was not as the good shepherd. They had a distorted view of God. Their view of God was not one of His holding a lamb in His arms, but a God with His arms raised to strike, a demanding God, a vengeful God. Many people were led astray by this heresy. This was a clever ploy of the devil, tempting people under the pretext of recognizing their sinfulness and unworthiness, actually leading souls away from Jesus.
The true God is the Good Shepherd who says with open arms: “Come to me; come because you are unworthy; come because you are sinful; come because you need to be saved.” The heresy of Jansenism is still around today, the heresy which turned a God of love and mercy into a cold and vengeful God. When Jansenism was rampant a few centuries ago, Jesus did not endure it — He appeared to St. Margaret Mary and revealed to her and to the world His Sacred Heart as proof of His love. It is the Heart of the Good Shepherd whose love for every one of His sheep is infinite and whose mercy has no limits, except hardened hearts that are closed to His love and refuse to believe in His mercy.
I encourage you on this Good Shepherd Sunday to throw away worry. We have no right to worry. Anxiety is not good for us. The Good Shepherd is with us. He’s always there. He watches over each one of us. He knows us each by name. He showed us His Sacred Heart, trying to convince us of His love, His tenderness, His mercy. What wounds the Heart of Jesus most is when we don’t trust in Him, when we don’t listen to Him saying to us: “Peace be with you.”
When you feel worried and anxious, I invite you to listen to the shepherd calling your name, saying to you: “I’m here with you. I love you. Don’t worry.” When things are difficult and life seems threatening, it’s natural to worry. But we shouldn’t remain with the natural but turn to the supernatural. That’s what faith is. In the midst of the storms of life, there is a peace that descends from heaven into the depths of our soul — the peace that St. Paul describes as surpassing all understanding. It’s the peace of Christ. It’s His gift to us. It’s the gift of the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for us. It’s the gift of Easter. It’s the gift from the One who came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
When St. Therese was asked to summarize her little way, she answered: “It is to be disturbed by nothing.” How is that possible? Trust and confidence in Jesus, whom St. Peter described in the second reading today as “the shepherd and guardian of our souls.” May we follow Him who leads us to restful waters and refreshes our soul, who guides us in right paths, and who is at our side when we walk in the dark valley, with his rod and staff that give us courage!
May 1, 2020
Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker
The following homily was delivered by Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades during an All-Schools Mass livestreamed from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Fort Wayne, May 1, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker.
In the first reading today, we heard St. Paul’s simple exhortation to the Colossians: “Be thankful.” Be thankful! I want you to know how thankful I am for our Catholic schools, especially during this coronavirus pandemic. I’m very thankful for the hard work of our teachers, principals and Catholic school staffs who are making sure that you, our children and young people, continue to receive a great education. I know it’s not been easy to switch to on-line teaching, yet many have worked so hard and made many adjustments to make sure you continue to learn, to grow in knowledge and advance in your education. So thank you to everyone! But also I’m thankful to all of you students. You’ve also been working hard, reading and studying and completing assignments. I’m sure you miss being with your friends in school. We all look forward to our schools reopening in the fall, to come together again in our school and parish communities.
The Lord calls us to be thankful. I also think it’s important for all of us to be thankful for the many doctors, nurses and health care workers who are working so hard to care for the sick and dying at this time, even at the risk of becoming infected with the virus themselves. Please be sure to pray for all those who serve and are in harm’s way, including all those workers who have been serving during this time, like police officers, firefighters, first responders, those working in food production and grocery stores, garbage collectors, postal workers and other important services. They have continued to work so that we can all have what we need during this time.
I mention all these workers specifically today May 1, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. We ask St. Joseph to pray for them and to protect them, just like he protected Jesus and Mary. St. Joseph was the protector of the Holy Family and he is also the patron and protector of the Catholic Church. We can always turn to St. Joseph for his prayers and protection. It’s also important for us to remember in prayer all those who are out of work during this time, all those who have lost their employment because of the pandemic. We ask St. Joseph to intercede for them.
In the Gospel today, the people in the synagogue in Nazareth were astounded by Jesus’ wisdom, by His teaching and His miracles. But they questioned how Jesus could have such wisdom and power. They knew him as the son of Mary and Joseph, a part of their community. They said: “is he not the carpenter’s son?” Joseph was a carpenter, a regular worker. How could his son have such wisdom and power? So they were doubtful about Jesus. The Gospel says that “they took offense at Him.” They did not have faith in Him. They didn’t believe that this Jesus, whom they knew, could be that special. But Jesus was special. He was the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior. And He indeed came into the world as the son of Mary and the son of a simple carpenter. In fact, he worked in his father’s carpenter shop. He learned the trade of carpentry from his earthly father, Joseph. And He also learned a lot more from Joseph and from Mary. He grew in wisdom and grace in His home in Nazareth. Of course, He had the greatest Mom and Dad anyone could ever have.
Today, we remember St. Joseph as the worker. He worked with His hands. He worked with wood and made furniture. He shows us the importance of human work. Because of his work, he was able to support his family. And he did his work with dedication and skill. He’s a good example for us of the dignity of human work. He did his work for the glory of God and for the love of his family. He shows us that all the work we do, including your schoolwork, should be for the glory of God.
In our first reading, St. Paul wrote: “Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” At the beginning of doing our work, it is good to give thanks to God and to offer up our work to Him. You can say before you begin your homework, “Lord, I offer up my work to you.” We can pray the words of today’s responsorial psalm: “Lord, give success to the work of our hands.” And we can always ask St. Joseph to intercede for us in our work, saying “St. Joseph the Worker, pray for us.”
Today the Bishops of the United States are re-consecrating our nation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Church. We’re doing so at this time because we want to entrust our country and ourselves to Mary during this challenging time. At the end of this Mass, I invite you to join with me as I re-consecrate our diocese to our Blessed Mother. She is already our patroness under the title of the Immaculate Conception. I’m celebrating this Mass here in our Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. As we remember today Mary’s husband, St. Joseph, we also place ourselves in her arms. We ask both Mary and Joseph to intercede of us during this terrible pandemic.
I hope that all of you will continue to work hard in your studies and complete this academic year successfully. Special greetings to all those who are graduating this month, especially the graduates of our four high schools, Bishop Luers, Bishop Dwenger, Marian and Saint Joseph. I’m proud of you and am praying for you as you approach graduation and prepare for college or other pursuits. May Mary our mother and St. Joseph watch over you and keep you always close to Jesus! As we continue with this Mass, we lift up our minds and hearts to the Lord. Even though you are unable to receive Holy Communion, you can be united to Jesus spiritually through your prayers. We look forward to the day when everyone can receive the Holy Eucharist again. In the meantime, let’s not stop praying, but pray even more. That’s what we are doing together via this livestreamed Mass. Though we’re physically separated at this time, we are spiritually united — from 43 Catholic schools all over the diocese — we are united in our faith and our love. We are united in Jesus our Lord. May He bless us with His love and His peace!
In the first reading today, we heard St. Paul’s simple exhortation to the Colossians: “Be thankful.” Be thankful! I want you to know how thankful I am for our Catholic schools, especially during this coronavirus pandemic. I’m very thankful for the hard work of our teachers, principals and Catholic school staffs who are making sure that you, our children and young people, continue to receive a great education. I know it’s not been easy to switch to on-line teaching, yet many have worked so hard and made many adjustments to make sure you continue to learn, to grow in knowledge and advance in your education. So thank you to everyone! But also I’m thankful to all of you students. You’ve also been working hard, reading and studying and completing assignments. I’m sure you miss being with your friends in school. We all look forward to our schools reopening in the fall, to come together again in our school and parish communities.
The Lord calls us to be thankful. I also think it’s important for all of us to be thankful for the many doctors, nurses and health care workers who are working so hard to care for the sick and dying at this time, even at the risk of becoming infected with the virus themselves. Please be sure to pray for all those who serve and are in harm’s way, including all those workers who have been serving during this time, like police officers, firefighters, first responders, those working in food production and grocery stores, garbage collectors, postal workers and other important services. They have continued to work so that we can all have what we need during this time.
I mention all these workers specifically today May 1, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. We ask St. Joseph to pray for them and to protect them, just like he protected Jesus and Mary. St. Joseph was the protector of the Holy Family and he is also the patron and protector of the Catholic Church. We can always turn to St. Joseph for his prayers and protection. It’s also important for us to remember in prayer all those who are out of work during this time, all those who have lost their employment because of the pandemic. We ask St. Joseph to intercede for them.
In the Gospel today, the people in the synagogue in Nazareth were astounded by Jesus’ wisdom, by His teaching and His miracles. But they questioned how Jesus could have such wisdom and power. They knew him as the son of Mary and Joseph, a part of their community. They said: “is he not the carpenter’s son?” Joseph was a carpenter, a regular worker. How could his son have such wisdom and power? So they were doubtful about Jesus. The Gospel says that “they took offense at Him.” They did not have faith in Him. They didn’t believe that this Jesus, whom they knew, could be that special. But Jesus was special. He was the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior. And He indeed came into the world as the son of Mary and the son of a simple carpenter. In fact, he worked in his father’s carpenter shop. He learned the trade of carpentry from his earthly father, Joseph. And He also learned a lot more from Joseph and from Mary. He grew in wisdom and grace in His home in Nazareth. Of course, He had the greatest Mom and Dad anyone could ever have.
Today, we remember St. Joseph as the worker. He worked with His hands. He worked with wood and made furniture. He shows us the importance of human work. Because of his work, he was able to support his family. And he did his work with dedication and skill. He’s a good example for us of the dignity of human work. He did his work for the glory of God and for the love of his family. He shows us that all the work we do, including your schoolwork, should be for the glory of God.
In our first reading, St. Paul wrote: “Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” At the beginning of doing our work, it is good to give thanks to God and to offer up our work to Him. You can say before you begin your homework, “Lord, I offer up my work to you.” We can pray the words of today’s responsorial psalm: “Lord, give success to the work of our hands.” And we can always ask St. Joseph to intercede for us in our work, saying “St. Joseph the Worker, pray for us.”
Today the Bishops of the United States are re-consecrating our nation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Church. We’re doing so at this time because we want to entrust our country and ourselves to Mary during this challenging time. At the end of this Mass, I invite you to join with me as I re-consecrate our diocese to our Blessed Mother. She is already our patroness under the title of the Immaculate Conception. I’m celebrating this Mass here in our Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. As we remember today Mary’s husband, St. Joseph, we also place ourselves in her arms. We ask both Mary and Joseph to intercede of us during this terrible pandemic.
I hope that all of you will continue to work hard in your studies and complete this academic year successfully. Special greetings to all those who are graduating this month, especially the graduates of our four high schools, Bishop Luers, Bishop Dwenger, Marian and Saint Joseph. I’m proud of you and am praying for you as you approach graduation and prepare for college or other pursuits. May Mary our mother and St. Joseph watch over you and keep you always close to Jesus! As we continue with this Mass, we lift up our minds and hearts to the Lord. Even though you are unable to receive Holy Communion, you can be united to Jesus spiritually through your prayers. We look forward to the day when everyone can receive the Holy Eucharist again. In the meantime, let’s not stop praying, but pray even more. That’s what we are doing together via this livestreamed Mass. Though we’re physically separated at this time, we are spiritually united — from 43 Catholic schools all over the diocese — we are united in our faith and our love. We are united in Jesus our Lord. May He bless us with His love and His peace!
April 26, 2020
The journey to Emmaus is our journey
The following homily was delivered by Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades during a live-streamed Mass from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception April 26, the Third Sunday of Easter:
We prayed in the Collect, the Opening Prayer of today’s Mass: “May your people exult forever, O God, in renewed youthfulness of spirit.” In the Gospel today, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus were renewed in youthfulness of spirit when they listened to Jesus explain the Scriptures to them and when they recognized Him in the breaking of the bread.
Before Jesus accompanied them on their journey, their spirits had grown old. The two disciples were disappointed and disillusioned after Jesus was crucified. They were downcast, the Gospel tells us. They told Jesus, whom they did not recognize, “we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel.” Notice the past tense, “they were hoping.” So they had lost that hope. They had been Jesus’ disciples and had believed He was a powerful prophet, but with His crucifixion, they thought His mission had failed. They were experiencing a crisis of faith and a loss of hope. That’s why they left Jerusalem. Why stay? The One they had put their hope in was dead. They had lost their youthfulness of spirit. We can say they were dispirited. But this man who joined them on the road, whom they did not recognize, changed that.
The Risen Jesus explained the Scriptures to them, including the prophets, passages that spoke about how the Messiah would suffer and then enter into His glory. Their spirits were touched by the interpretation of the Scriptures that Jesus was providing them. They were so touched that they urged Jesus to stay with them that evening. As they would say to each other later: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” Their eyes were being opened to the truth about Jesus and what happened on Calvary. Their faith and hope was being renewed. And, of course, the climax of that wonderful encounter with Jesus came when, at table that evening, Jesus “took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.” Then their eyes were truly opened and they recognized Him.
The journey of Emmaus is our journey. In our journey of life, we experience disappointments, doubts, times of sadness and disillusionment. We can experience crises of faith, loss of hope, and temptations to despair. We all have some negative experiences in our life. We can become dispirited like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. We need our youthfulness of spirit to be renewed, like we prayed in the opening prayer today. I was thinking about this need today as we go through the trial of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Risen Jesus wants to renew our spirits, like He wanted to renew the spirits of the two disciples. He wants to join us on our journey. He wants to accompany us. We can encounter Him in our journey to Emmaus by listening to His Word through the Sacred Scriptures. Some of the faithful have shared with me that during this time of no public liturgies, they have spent more time reading and praying with the Scriptures. This has revived their spirits. They have experienced the Lord’s presence and grace at the table of his Word. That’s been a kind of unexpected grace for them as they long to return to Mass.
One man told me he has rediscovered the Scriptures during these past several weeks. I asked him about this and told him, “but we always listen to the Scriptures at Mass — in fact, the first half of Mass is the Liturgy of the Word.” He agreed, but he told me that he’s now meditating more on the Scriptures than he used to. That’s been an unexpected gift he has experienced during this time as he eagerly looks forward to receiving the Eucharist again. I hope and pray that others are also using this time to encounter the Lord more deeply by reading and praying with the Scriptures.
As I mentioned, the climax of the Emmaus story was indeed when Jesus sat with the two disciples at table and broke the bread. The climax of our journey is also when we participate at the table of the Eucharist. There our spirit is nourished in the most profound way by the Body and Blood of the Lord. Like the two disciples, we recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread. It is good to have this longing to go back to Mass and to receive the Bread of life.
Our faith is nourished by the Word of God and by His Real Presence in the Eucharist. Our youthfulness of spirit is renewed. I invite you to relive the experience of the disciples of Emmaus and to open yourselves to the grace of that transforming encounter with the Risen Lord. May we, like those two disciples, plead with Jesus: “Stay with us, Lord.”
Brothers and sisters, the Risen Lord is ever present in our midst. He walks with us on our journey to Emmaus. He guides us and opens our eyes. He has the power to do this. He gives us the grace to believe and to hope. And when we open our hearts to Him, He frees us from fear and despair. Faith in Him transforms us and fills us with God’s love. That’s what gives meaning to our lives.
May the Lord bless us with renewed youthfulness of spirit! May our hearts burn within us as we read and pray with the Scriptures! And may we soon be able to gather again at the table where we recognize the Lord in the breaking of the bread!
April 19, 2020
'Jesus, I trust in you'
The following homily was given by Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 19, 2020, during a livestreamed Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Fort Wayne.
After the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples stayed in the upper room. They stayed there out of fear, today’s Gospel tells us. After Jesus’ death, they were filled with anguish. Their Master, their Teacher, was no longer with them. They were confused — after all, they had left everything and followed Him and now He was dead. They were left in sorrow and must have felt very desolate.
While they were in that state of fear and sorrow and anguish, the Risen Jesus “came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” The Lord showed them the wounds in His hands and side. In that marvelous encounter, their sorrow and fear evaporated. The Gospel tells us that the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Risen Lord. And then, the Lord said to them again, “Peace be with you.”
At different times in our lives, we experience anguish and sorrow. We can be confused and afraid. In this time of pandemic, many are in sorrow at the death of loved ones. Many are in anguish and are afraid of contracting the coronavirus. Many are afraid because they’ve been laid off from work or might be laid off from work. They are afraid for their and their family’s economic wellbeing. Many are confused about what our country and our community should do next: afraid that if restrictions are lifted, the virus might spread more or afraid that if restrictions are not lifted, the economic toll will be disastrous for many people.
In the midst of fear, anguish, confusion, and sorrow, the Lord wants to give us His peace. We need to hear Him say to us as He said to the disciples that first Easter night, “Peace be with you.” The Risen Lord wants to enter our homes and our hearts with His peace. We need to open the doors to let our Lord in. We do so when we pray. We open the doors of our homes and our hearts when we say like St. Faustina: “Jesus, I trust in you.” When we do so, we receive the Lord’s Easter gift to us: His peace.
I invite you today, Divine Mercy Sunday, to look at the wounds of Jesus, the wounds in His hands and feet, and especially the wound in His heart. These are the source from which flows the great wave of mercy that Jesus poured out on humanity. I invite you to gaze upon the image of Divine Mercy: with His right hand, Jesus is blessing us and the world. His left hand is touching the wound in His Sacred Heart, and from that Heart two rays of light come forth, one red and the other white and bluish, like the blood and water that flowed from His heart on the cross. The wound in Jesus’ heart is the great proof of God’s mercy, proof that God’s love for us is real and comes forth upon those who trust in Him.
When the Risen Jesus appeared to Thomas and the other disciples a week later, He greeted them again with the words, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas: “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Jesus wants to take away Thomas’ doubt. He wants to take away our doubts, our anguish, our fear, and our sorrow. He wants us to believe in His love and mercy. He wants us to believe what He has done for us on the Cross and to believe in His resurrection from the dead. He desires the light of His mercy to descend upon us (the light we see in the Divine Mercy image). When it does, we experience the peace which this world cannot give.
The peace that Jesus offers us is not a life free of suffering, but it’s the peace of knowing that God truly loves us, that Jesus is with us in our suffering. He still bears the wounds of His passion. They are wounds of mercy and they are now glorious wounds. God’s merciful love defeats sin and conquers death. When we are anxious or upset or afraid, we need to look at those wounds and pray: “Jesus, I trust in you.”
St. Peter wrote in his first letter: “By his wounds, you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus invites us to behold His wounds and to enter into the mystery of those wounds, to believe in God’s merciful love, and to look at Him and say with St. Thomas: “My Lord and my God.” Then we can hear Jesus saying to us: “Peace be with you.”
On this Divine Mercy Sunday, I invite you to pray before the image of Divine Mercy and to say: “Jesus, I trust in you.” These words summarize our faith, “the faith of the Christian, which is faith in the omnipotence of God’s merciful Love” (Pope Benedict XVI, Regina coeli, 4-15-2007). I also invite you to pray today for all who are sick and suffering, those who have wounds that afflict their bodies and souls, that the Risen Lord may heal their wounds.
We heard in our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles that the early Christian community, the primitive Church, was of one mind and heart. Every day the Lord added to their number. I pray that the Church today, all of us, will be so united. Like those first Christians, the Lord has entrusted us with the mission to be agents of His mercy. He calls us to be bearers of His peace and agents of His mercy. The message of divine mercy is not just for our individual spiritual lives. It is a message to be shared and spread throughout the world, especially by our actions. The Lord said to Sister Faustina: “Speak to the whole world about my mercy.”
Pope St. John Paul II told us: “Be apostles of Divine Mercy.” The devotion to Divine Mercy is not just for our chapels and churches. It is a truth to be lived by showing mercy and compassion to our neighbors in need. We’re not just to talk about the divine mercy, but to live it. It is actualized in our gestures of charity, kindness and forgiveness towards others. That’s what the early Christians did. And the Church grew. “Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” May that happen to the Church today!
May Mary, our Mother of Mercy, intercede for us, for the Church and for the whole world!
While they were in that state of fear and sorrow and anguish, the Risen Jesus “came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” The Lord showed them the wounds in His hands and side. In that marvelous encounter, their sorrow and fear evaporated. The Gospel tells us that the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Risen Lord. And then, the Lord said to them again, “Peace be with you.”
At different times in our lives, we experience anguish and sorrow. We can be confused and afraid. In this time of pandemic, many are in sorrow at the death of loved ones. Many are in anguish and are afraid of contracting the coronavirus. Many are afraid because they’ve been laid off from work or might be laid off from work. They are afraid for their and their family’s economic wellbeing. Many are confused about what our country and our community should do next: afraid that if restrictions are lifted, the virus might spread more or afraid that if restrictions are not lifted, the economic toll will be disastrous for many people.
In the midst of fear, anguish, confusion, and sorrow, the Lord wants to give us His peace. We need to hear Him say to us as He said to the disciples that first Easter night, “Peace be with you.” The Risen Lord wants to enter our homes and our hearts with His peace. We need to open the doors to let our Lord in. We do so when we pray. We open the doors of our homes and our hearts when we say like St. Faustina: “Jesus, I trust in you.” When we do so, we receive the Lord’s Easter gift to us: His peace.
I invite you today, Divine Mercy Sunday, to look at the wounds of Jesus, the wounds in His hands and feet, and especially the wound in His heart. These are the source from which flows the great wave of mercy that Jesus poured out on humanity. I invite you to gaze upon the image of Divine Mercy: with His right hand, Jesus is blessing us and the world. His left hand is touching the wound in His Sacred Heart, and from that Heart two rays of light come forth, one red and the other white and bluish, like the blood and water that flowed from His heart on the cross. The wound in Jesus’ heart is the great proof of God’s mercy, proof that God’s love for us is real and comes forth upon those who trust in Him.
When the Risen Jesus appeared to Thomas and the other disciples a week later, He greeted them again with the words, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas: “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Jesus wants to take away Thomas’ doubt. He wants to take away our doubts, our anguish, our fear, and our sorrow. He wants us to believe in His love and mercy. He wants us to believe what He has done for us on the Cross and to believe in His resurrection from the dead. He desires the light of His mercy to descend upon us (the light we see in the Divine Mercy image). When it does, we experience the peace which this world cannot give.
The peace that Jesus offers us is not a life free of suffering, but it’s the peace of knowing that God truly loves us, that Jesus is with us in our suffering. He still bears the wounds of His passion. They are wounds of mercy and they are now glorious wounds. God’s merciful love defeats sin and conquers death. When we are anxious or upset or afraid, we need to look at those wounds and pray: “Jesus, I trust in you.”
St. Peter wrote in his first letter: “By his wounds, you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus invites us to behold His wounds and to enter into the mystery of those wounds, to believe in God’s merciful love, and to look at Him and say with St. Thomas: “My Lord and my God.” Then we can hear Jesus saying to us: “Peace be with you.”
On this Divine Mercy Sunday, I invite you to pray before the image of Divine Mercy and to say: “Jesus, I trust in you.” These words summarize our faith, “the faith of the Christian, which is faith in the omnipotence of God’s merciful Love” (Pope Benedict XVI, Regina coeli, 4-15-2007). I also invite you to pray today for all who are sick and suffering, those who have wounds that afflict their bodies and souls, that the Risen Lord may heal their wounds.
We heard in our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles that the early Christian community, the primitive Church, was of one mind and heart. Every day the Lord added to their number. I pray that the Church today, all of us, will be so united. Like those first Christians, the Lord has entrusted us with the mission to be agents of His mercy. He calls us to be bearers of His peace and agents of His mercy. The message of divine mercy is not just for our individual spiritual lives. It is a message to be shared and spread throughout the world, especially by our actions. The Lord said to Sister Faustina: “Speak to the whole world about my mercy.”
Pope St. John Paul II told us: “Be apostles of Divine Mercy.” The devotion to Divine Mercy is not just for our chapels and churches. It is a truth to be lived by showing mercy and compassion to our neighbors in need. We’re not just to talk about the divine mercy, but to live it. It is actualized in our gestures of charity, kindness and forgiveness towards others. That’s what the early Christians did. And the Church grew. “Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” May that happen to the Church today!
May Mary, our Mother of Mercy, intercede for us, for the Church and for the whole world!
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