“The Man who Shot Liberty Valence” is one of the great American Films. It was produced in the early 1960s and chronicles both the evolving American West and the developing American newspaper industry. It contains a most memorable line “When a legend becomes fact, print the legend” This combined with the adage “Nature abhors a vacuum” is the foundation of many of our Christian stories. St Thomas the Apostle is a case in point. (Link to the scene in the movie can be found here liberty valance print the legend – Bing video)
Continue reading “Homily – Divine Mercy Sunday (Fr. Smith)”Author: Fr. William Smith
Divine Mercy Sunday – Jesus Is with His Church
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Caravaggio, 1603
Then [Jesus] 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.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
(John 20:27–28)
Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Gospel
Divine Mercy Sunday
John 20:19–31
April 16, 2023
Our Gospels for the Easter season tell the stories of our Lord’s Resurrection and the new life which it offers. They are beautiful, demanding but so deep that they should be read with new eyes every year. They contain many themes and use many literary devices so any brief examination, however valuable, will be superficial. Today we will begin with why there are two endings to the Gospel of John.
Continue reading “Divine Mercy Sunday – Jesus Is with His Church”
Homily – Easter (Fr. Smith)
When the angel spoke to the women at the Tomb in today’s gospel, he told them “Go quickly and tell his disciples” to meet him in Galilee. This is the language of the org chart. The angel recognized where the disciples, the most prominent followers of Jesus, are in the organization and gave them instructions from their direct report.
Several minutes later the women meet Jesus himself and he tells them to “go tell my brothers to go to Galilee”. His desire to see him is understandable. All the disciples ran away when danger arose, some fell asleep when he needed them most and Peter, their leader, denied him three times before the authorities. Our first thought might be that they have a lot for which they must answer. Yet Jesus calls them “my brothers”. He uses the language of family and speaks of them with affection.
Has he forgotten their betrayal, has there been no judgement? Far from it. The resurrection is itself the judgement of God. For centuries the LORD sent prophets, teachers, kings and poets to show his people how to live. He shared his very mind with them, but they did not change. He therefore sent his son. God’s judgment is that reformation isn’t enough, there must be transformation. Jesus did not show us a new way of seizing earthly power or of obeying the divine law, he showed us a new way of being human.
Homily – Good Friday (Fr. Smith)
BEFORE READING OF THE PASSION: As we read the Passion of St John today, I ask you to pay attention to when Jesus knew that everything was finished.
HOMILY:
The Passion according to St John is majestic and perfectly integrated into his whole gospel. I asked you to listen to when Jesus found everything finished. Let us ask what was finished and why then.
The moment was after Jesus had told Mary to “Behold her Son” the beloved disciple, usually called John, and John to behold Mary as his mother. Both too much and too little can be made of this passage.
Continue reading “Homily – Good Friday (Fr. Smith)”Easter Sunday – Revealing Jesus’ Light
The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Tomb,
Eugène Burnand, 1898, Musée d’Orsay
(About this Image)
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
(John 20:3–8)
Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Gospel
Easter Sunday
The resurrection narrative in St. Matthew (Matt 28:1-20)
April 9, 2023
This year our Sunday gospel readings in Ordinary (Green) time have been from St. Matthew. The Passion read on Palm Sunday and the Gospel reading at the Easter Vigil will also be from Matthew. (It is also an option for the Easter Day Mass.) The full resurrection narrative is Matthew 28 1-20, but we only read from 1-10 on Easter with the rest used on Easter Monday. They are, however, so connected that I think it is important to read and examine them together.
This is a passage of such unusual depth that this overview is quite superficial. There will also be extensive quotations from scripture.
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
And behold, there was a great earthquake;
for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.
His appearance was like lightning
and his clothing was white as snow.(Mt 28:1–3)
Matthew likes continuity and has the same two women follow Jesus from his death and burial to the empty tomb (Matt 27:55, 61 and 28:1). This is presented as history without theological speculation. Matthew wants to show that it happened, it is important, and it has consequences. It was announced by an earthquake and an angel. Angels and earthquakes are featured prominently in the popular religious literature of Jesus’s time when discussing the end of time. In the previous chapter after Jesus gave up his sprit:
Homily – Palm Sunday (Fr. Smith)
(In lieu of a homily for Palm Sunday, the following reader’s guide was read before the Passion.)
Peter and Judas are prominent in all the Passion stories, but it is only in Matthew, which we read today, that they, or rather their fates, are clearly contrasted. Both know they are sinners but take vastly different paths,
Peter was the spokesman for the Apostles and although he often put his foot in his mouth, he was rewarded for his exuberance. His declaration of faith in Jesus as the Messiah is reported in Matthew, Mark, and Luke but only in Matthew is he renamed the rock, and only here is he given the keys to the kingdom. (Mat. 16:13-19) He is unquestionably the most honored of the apostles. Yet as in Mark and Luke when he argues with Jesus over Jesus’ prophecy of his impending execution, he is called Satan, a stumbling block. (Mat. 16:23) The harshest words ever spoken by Jesus.
Continue reading “Homily – Palm Sunday (Fr. Smith)”Palm Sunday – Manifesting the Glory of God
Entry into Jerusalem, Wilhelm Morgner, 1912,
Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund, Germany.
(About this Image)
The crowds preceding him and those following
kept crying out and saying:
“Hosanna to the Son of David;
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord;
hosanna in the highest.”
(Matthew 21:9)
Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Palm Sunday
Philippians 2:6-11
April 2, 2023
None of the New Testament authors wrote a catechism. They addressed the concerns of specific communities and breathed the air of the marketplace more than the cloister. Their situations and concerns are often very specific. These specifics have given their writings a longer life than if they presented detached universal and eternal truths. They experienced the life of their communities and even if some of the language and concepts may be initially foreign the situations are all too familiar.
This is especially so in Paul’s “Letter to the Philippians”. We examined this letter before and basic information can be found here. Philippi, like most of Paul’s cities, was an important center. It was noted for its “light manufacturing” and had fewer Jews than most of the places Paul evangelized. It did have in common, however, with virtually all of them dissension and divisions not only because of different beliefs but personal rivalries. Near the very beginning of the letter, he writes:
Continue reading “Palm Sunday – Manifesting the Glory of God”