4th Sunday of Lent
Homily by Fr. Ed Doran
Category: News
Third Sunday of Lent
3rd-sunday
HOMILY BY FR. EDWARD DORAN
Among the saints of the church, one of the luminaries who really, really did so much to build up the Church was an extraordinary man called Francis of Assisi- very humble, very ordinary in many ways. Francis had a vision from the Lord. The Lord visited him in the form of an angel, and he asked Francis to build up the Church of God. Francis, in response, went out into the fields, and he began at great cost to carry massive stones to build up the church, for he felt that at San Damiano, almighty God was calling him to build a magnificent edifice – maybe something like this: walls, a roof.
Finally, a second time the angel of the Lord visited him, and explained to him that He wasn’t looking for a building: he was asking to build up the Church – that is, His people. The church is the building, but there is no Church without all of the people who are here, present.
How does one go about, and how did Francis of Assisi go about building up the Church? He did exactly what was said in the first reading from Exodus. The people of Israel were longing to find the way to do the right thing: to build their strong relationship with almighty God. They commissioned Moses and he went up onto the mountain to talk to the Lord, and say, “Lord, tell us what you want us to do.” Moses came down from the mountain with the Decalogue – the Ten Commandments – and it is through those Commandments that we build up the Church of God.
Now, the Commandments – there are a cluster of them of our relationship with our loving God. We are to honor Him; we are to worship Him in a regular fashion; we are to reverence and respect his Holy Name. And we are not to put other gods – the god of money, the god of greed, the god of power, before Him. That’s one cluster of the Commandments: reverencing, loving, and honoring God.
Then there is another group of Commandments that talk about reverence, respect and love for the people around us. Honor thy father and thy mother. Thou shall not lie. Thou shall not steal. In other words, those Commandments establish a wonderful, respectful, and loving relationship, so that we become men and women of integrity, that we become men and women that deeply respect our fellow human beings, and we treat them with the dignity that befalls them, because they are children of God.
A third cluster is the cluster that relates to intimate loving and caring relationships with our spouses, that the essence of our relationship – of a husband to his wife, and a wife to a husband — is fidelity, and that any variation from that fidelity, to have intimate relations with another, is not only inappropriate, but gravely sinful.
And finally, and lastly, in order to build up the Church, he tells up something that is extremely important, that almighty God gives onto each and every one of us certain gifts and certain talents, certain abilities and certain skills, and when we use them, we are praising and honoring and worshiping God in the way that he calls us.
I think of the many gifted, talented people, we have a group of wonderful people right up here – they raise their voices in praise of God. I love to sing, but I don’t know one note from the other. They not only know one not from another, they can sing the right notes. I can’t do that, but if I listen, I can follow them. That’s a gift! I think of the beautiful gift of dance, and the many times that we see and our spirits are lifted by the gift of dance. I think of the gift of the human mind, and the wonderful men and women that cultivate and develop their talents for the good of everything. That is building up the Church.
And when we say, as Francis of Assisi did, to build up the community of God, the Church, the Commandments represent the very basic and very essential steps.
Now as a Church — both the building called St. Charles, and the people – all of us gathered together – we continue to ask in the year 2009, “how do we build up the Church in Brooklyn?” And each and every year, our bishop reaches out to us and invites us to help him build up the Church. Let me give you an example. This year, 2009, the bishop wrote me a note, and asked me to inaugurate and begin the annual Catholic Appeal. Translating: Would we consider one percent – one penny out of every dollar for the needs of, for example, the Migration Office.
Now, I’ve mentioned before that my grandmother and my grandfather were Irish-Americans. They came from a country called Ireland. Some of your ancestors maybe came from Ireland, maybe came from one the Asian countries, one of the Hispanic countries, one of the European countries, but most of us share in common that our ancestors came from somewhere else. And in Brooklyn — the only completely urban diocese in the world – we celebrate Mass in 62 different languages. Any language you want – I’ll look it up and I’ll send you to a Mass celebrated in Creole, ..Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Afghani language – anything you want, you will find it. And that is all because the Migration Office reaches out and helps people looking to foster a good life here.
In addition to Migration, we also have a magnificent Catholic Charities, reaching out for the needs of those of us who are disabled, for the needs of those who are poor, for the needs of those who are sick: many, many different people who have found very difficult times. The beautiful thing about our Catholic Charities is, that about 98 cents of every dollar spend by Charities goes out to provide help. 2 cents stays to administer the going out of that help.
The Catholic Education office: another endeavor to form and shape our young people in the knowledge and love of God., and it is the men and women of the Education office who assist us educating our young children in knowing the faith, that assist our Catholic schools.
There is the ministry of the Vocation Office, seeking out wonderful men and women to follow Jesus as Sisters, as Deacons, as Priests, as Brothers, to continue to server our wonderful Church. The Vocation Office receives help through your generous contributions and your generous reaching out.
All of this is under the umbrella of the building up of the Church — certainly the building here, but the people of God: you and I. And we are asked if out of our spirit of the Lenten season, a spirit of prayer, of fasting, and of almsgiving: today we are being offered the opportunity for almsgiving, that is sharing what we have and praising God by helping migration, by helping charities and the poor, by helping the education and formation of young people, by helping the vocational efforts of our church, by helping the administration, so that we can continue to grow, to praise God and to bless God and to give Him thanks for all that He does.
What I am going to be doing now is to ask of the ushers – I’m going to give each of you an envelope…. The envelope is an opportunity to playfully consider and reflect in what way, can you respond to the call of Jesus today.
Now some have already have made their contribution, but we would like to reach out to all of you to give you the opportunity to take and share the wonderful gifts God has given onto you with those in need, which those that do not have the opportunity, or the blessedness, to be able to have everything that they would wish. Again, all that I ask is that you think about it and pray about it. And in the sense of dialogue with the significant people around you, ask what you can do. In my own case, I have decided, I will try to give something that hurts a little bit, because this is a time of almsgiving. This is a wonderful opportunity to touch the lives of others. This is an invitation to build up our Church, so that we may grow, we may prosper, we may bless God and we may praise God, always giving Him thanks for all that He has done; always thanking Him for His blessing onto us, and giving praise and glory by offering back our own blessing. So please take this home and prayfully consider what you might be able to do in the remaining weeks of the Lenten season, what almsgiving would befit your family, a tremendous source of blessing.
I might also mention as you look it over, you are invited to make a pledge – rather than one time — each month maybe you can offer something to help. So I would simply ask that you give that prayful consideration as we stand together and recite our Creed.
Second Sunday of Lent
2009-03-08a
HOMILY BY FR. EDWARD DORAN
The gospel of the Transfiguration stands in such sharp contrast with the very first reading. Abraham went up onto the mountain, and as he went up, he commissioned, he charged his very beloved son to carry sticks on his shoulders. And only as they began up the mountain did the realization that Abraham was called to offer sacrifice, but he has nothing to sacrifice, save his only beloved son. The weight upon Abraham’s shoulders must have been overwhelming; his prized possession, his beloved son! Yet Abraham was the man who was faithful to the Lord, no matter what the Lord called him to do. He was prepared to do.
There is another mountain story besides the Transfiguration, and it is the mountain which Jesus went – Golgotha — and there He carried a bundle of wood on His shoulders. He carried the cross as He journeyed up that hill, in order to give Himself freely for our sins and for our salvation.
How about the Transfiguration? The Transfiguration is our linkage between Heaven and Earth and it reminds us that in every one of our lives there are those brief moments where we go up to the very top of the hill and we feel a sense of exhilaration; maybe the birth of your first child – a wonderful and powerful event. Vividly do I remember the receiving of my doctorate – that was a great moment! But the down moment was when I had to take my New York State exam to become a licensed psychologist, and I remember walking into the exam fantasizing spending the rest of my life behind a McDonald’s counter flipping hamburgers because I failed the test. The only Ph.D working at McDonald’s! Never happened, but you know at times we doubt, and we do experience those down moments.
The reading opened up by saying that the moment at which our health becomes an issue, the moment at which we worry about our children, the moment at which we are concerned about our finances and our job stability — my brothers and sisters, our lives are full of our transfiguration moments, moments of joy, but they also are experiences of Golgotha and suffering on the cross. And today, we turn to this cross, and we say, “What is it that you want of me, O Lord? What is it that you want of me?”
And I can’t say to you in the context of our readings, he wants us to have a connectedness to him. He wants to give us the strength in those moments of Golgotha, in those moments when we experience confusion and pain and uncertainty; those moments when the doctor says that we have cancer; those moments when we lose someone who is so vital and important in our lives; those moments where job stability goes out the windows; those moments where the children begin to experience – those are the moments where we need Him so badly and so desperately. He is there for us; he wants to be there for us; he where be there for us without reservation or question. All we are challenged to do to establish a link to Him. It will give us the strength that we need always and without question.
Each and every Friday, I lead the congregation to the 14 Stations of the Cross. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, … and the remaining seven — because as we re-enact the journey of Jesus, we see an offering of love. He is coming to us, giving everything that he has, to the very point of humiliation and crucifixion, and death. But out of that comes resurrection, and on Easter Sunday, we will celebrate that resurrection. On Easter Sunday, we will rise with him. But we can only rise if we have a connectedness with him, if we are animated by the strength of our relationship with Him.
All my brothers and sisters, we bring our pain and our confusion down this aisle, to place them on the table of the Lord, where they will be blessed, consecrated, and given back to us, with whatever strength that we need. Every time I look at that cross, every time I journey these 14 stations, I feel His strength. I know that He is with me, and that He will animate me, and sustain me in every way that I could possibly need. But I must – it is so vital and so important – the Lord has his arms open on the cross, but we must open our arms to Him.
How much does He wants to come to us, but in order to come to us, we need to go towards him. And tragically, and unfortunately the Devil wanders the earth trying to block our path, trying to prevent us from reaching out, instead presenting the alluring situations that end up in absolute disaster, that spreads terror in our journey towards our loving God, and in this season, this time of repentance, we need to go to the Lord to humbly acknowledge that “I am weak. I am vulnerable. I yield to sin in my life. Grant me your pardon and forgiveness.” Not only will He grant, but He will grant with no strings, with no conditions, out of pure, unadulterated love.
The pillars of the Lenten season: prayer – building and establishing a relationship with our loving God. Fasting – disciplining and controlling our bodies so that they work towards the good that we want in our lives. Almsgiving – talking the wonders that God has given onto us and sharing them with everyone around us. Yet I know certainly in my own life that I trip and I stumble along the way. And one of the stations that I love is when Jesus falls under the weight of his cross, because I fall under the weight of my sins. But I ask his pardon and his forgiveness, because that is the very aspect of this season, that in this wonderful season of Lent, we are encouraged, exhorted, that we take the opportunity to avail ourselves to humbly go before him, to ask pardon and forgiveness.
Today, my brothers and sisters, the story of Abraham is a story that is dark in its reality, but it is real. Abraham was to sacrifice that which meant so very much to him. He did not want to sacrifice, but because of his constancy and his loving relationship with God, he was ready to sacrifice. The Disciples needed to be prepared for the departure of Jesus. They hung on every word that he said, but he was about to be taken away from them. They need that deep moment of transfiguration.
From those two, I realize – and we realize – that our lives are moments, are those times that we are called to sacrifice, those times that we are called to exhilarate. But in both the peaks and the valleys, the one thing that remains constant is our loving relationship with Him, and we gather today to animate that relationship, to nurture that relationship, to cultivate that relationship, so that we have the strength during these 40 days to move closer and closer toward Him.
First Sunday of Lent
TRANSCRIPT OF HOMILY BY FR. EDWARD DORAN
When I was a teenager growing up in St. Patrick’s Church in Glen Cove, Long Island, one of the ordinary characteristics of our Lenten journey each Lent [was that] we had a parish mission. And those of you of my age might have remembered those – it would have been either a priest of the Passionist Monastery , or a Vincentian priest, or a Franciscan priest, who would come to the parish in order to make sure that Lent was very special, to enter into the journey of Lent and to encourage us.
One year – I was about 15 years of age – they invited a Father of Mercy. I had never ever heard of that order, but it happened that the priest that came to give the retreat was a Father of Mercy. And the reason I clicked with it is that the date of the retreat was the exact same Gospel that we read today. And I remembered it vividly. And I have to tell you that this Irish priest with his very adorable brogue had us spellbound. He was an extraordinarily good preacher. And I remembered it vividly because at the end he said “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to give all of you the opportunity to come to confession. I’ll be available back there. Come and see me.”
So I was so inspired, I was so animated, I said “I’m going to go to confession.” And off I went, and I was the first one in line. And I went in and I confessed some embarrassing impulses and thoughts that I had, as would be characteristic of a 15 year old boy.
And he simply said to me, “Well man, did you entertain those thoughts?”
I said, “Well Father, I didn’t entertain them, but boy sure did they entertain me!”
In many ways, sin entertains us. Sin is not a horrible, terrible evil thing, oh my goodness! Rather, sin is rather appealing. And in the first reading from Genesis, what was happening — what was going on, the context — was that the people were engaged in sin. They had turned their back on the Lord, and were entering into the evils of their time. Noah was attempting to call them to task. He was saying, “What are you doing. What is going on here?” He was patient – he didn’t scream at them, he didn’t condemn them, but he was calling them to task.
And while he did it, he patiently built an ark. He gathered large timbers, and he began to assemble those timbers, and to put them together, with the proper way of doing it. And he spread tar on the timbers, and very patiently he gathered together the animals and the beasts, and everything on earth, two by two, he took them into the ark. And what happened was that the ark was sealed, and it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, and the earth was washed clean. It was purified, it was made holy, it was reconsecrated, it was made sacred to God again.
That is what these forty days are about. We are in the ark of the Lord, and the waters of baptism are going to wash us clean again. But I say to you that the only way that the waters can wash you clean is if you all it to course over your body. If you allow it to wash you, if you take the soap and you put it on your body, and you take the cloth or the brush and scrub, you are made clean.
As a young man, my mother said to me, “Get in there and take your bath”. And I was not particularly enamored of taking my bath. So I went in and I ran the water like a banshee – it was running like crazy. And in within a few minutes, my father came in and there I was sitting on the edge of the tub, with the water going like a banshee.
And I said, “How did you know?”
He said, “I know everything. Now get in that tub!”
We have to get in the tub! We have to get in the tub, and take the soap and use it. We have to take the cloth or the brush and cleanse ourselves. That is what the 40 days are all about – cleansing and purifying and changing and making whole. Sin entertains us. Sin is captivating. Sin is fun. So we are challenged then to re-think, and re-work.
How do we do it? Well we do it by prayer, entering into a prayful relationship with our loving God. Does it mean that we never pray? No, but honestly can our prayers can become so routine that they almost lose their spark, their luster? How well I can remember saying the rosary: “Hailmaryfullofgrace, thelordiswiththee, blessedarethouamonstwomen, blahblah”, 200 miles an hour. What is that? Slow down, mister! Savor the words, let them speak to you. We can inadvertently allow things to become careless and routine. Prayer – vital and important.
Secondly, fasting. One of the things that I think are essential to change behavior is disciplining ourselves so that we do things in a slightly different way. On Wednesday, a man came to me, a little bit on the heavy side, and he said, “Father, I just want to say this to you publicly, because I am saying this to everybody. I’m committing myself to fasting for Lent.”
He said, “Father, it is spiritually good, but I have to take some of this weight off. That’s all there is to it.”
And I said, “God will bless you. What a wonderful, wonderful thing.”
So I saw him on Ash Wednesday. He came over to the rectory on Saturday and rang the bell, and he said, “I have good things to report and I have bad things to report.”
And I said, “Let’s share, let’s talk a little bit – how did it go?”
“Father, Wednesday was great – my resolve was strong and I could feel my strength. Thursday was good, I succeeded. Friday came and I accidently drove past the bakery that I was trying to avoid – it was an accident, I didn’t mean to do it. When I found myself in front of the bakery, I said to myself, ‘Lord, if your Holy Spirit opens up a spot in front of the bakery, I’ll just pull over’.”
“Father, after nine trips around the block, a spot opened, and I went into the bakery and bought the biggest éclair you’d ever want to see.”
It is violating the spirit of what he said. How often our intentions are good, but our follow-through is weak. This is a human thing, and I think each Sunday of Lent we have to challenge ourselves and say how did it go from Ash Wednesday, to Thursday to Friday, to yesterday, and where am I at today, and what am I going to do tomorrow, tonight, et cetera.
One of the things I am trying to offer here to each and every one of us, including myself: we are presenting Stations of the Cross. Every Friday, the 12 o’clock Mass — immediately after we have Stations. Every Friday, from 7 until 8, we have Stations. It happens this Friday is the first Friday of the month, devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Sacred Heart of Mary. So what I am going to be doing this Friday: exposing the Holy Most Blessed Sacrament, we will journey together for the 14 stations, and we will have a wonderful opportunity of prayer. Now, obviously it is not obligatory to go to the Stations of the Cross, but wouldn’t that be a wonderful Lenten sacrifice, and a way of growing?
Tonight, I’m going to be giving a presentation on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I’m going to be talking about the Bible and its source of inspiration and strength. Now, nobody is obligated to come, but maybe if you are hanging around watching boring television shows from 7 to 8, be bored by me –right here. From 6 to 7, be bored by me. It will be a wonderful thing. And then tomorrow, I’m doing the same thing for the old crowd like me. For us older folks who have difficulty getting out at night, from 11 to 12.
The point is, that if Lent has meaning, if these 40 days have meaning, if we are going to get into the ark for the 40 days, so that at the end of the 40 days, the ark settles upon the land, it opened up and the birds of the air, the fish of the sea and all the wild creatures, and they were cleansed and purified, and they entered with great joy on a earth that was cleansed and purified. In 40 days, you and I are going to join together on Easter Sunday. Wouldn’t it be great if all of us were cleansed and purified and made whole? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if on Easter Sunday we can feel the resurrection because we will rise with Jesus when our time is complete?
I pray that, for me and for each and every one of you, that this be a Lenten season in which you enter into the season by prayer, by fasting, and by almsgiving. And let me promise you that if you enter into the joy and the sorrow of this season, you will be blessed by God, and you will find on Easter Sunday the joy and happiness in your heart will elevate you and lift you up, because you will experience the happiness and joy of his resurrection, which will bless you again, and again, and again.
Ash Wednesday Mass
Celebrated by Fr. Edward Doran
Ash Wednesday
Listen to homily here: [podcast]http://166.84.6.232/stcharles/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2009-02-25homily.mp3[/podcast]
Matt 6:1-6, 16-18
TRANSCRIPT OF HOMILY BY FR. EDWARD DORAN
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of a 40-day journey into the desert with Jesus. Before He began his ministry of love, his surrendering his life, He went in order to pray and receive strength from His heavenly Father. For he was about to undertake a mission that involved great suffering and great pain. But it was also a mission of love, and it was the very mission that he was called to.
Lent is the period of 40 days — the exact time Jesus went into the desert. And the exhortation and encouragement off these 40 days involves fasting – that is the disciplining of our bodies to bring about a control of our impulses, a control of our destiny. So fasting is a vital and an important part of these 40 days.
Prayer. Prayer is our union with God, a reaching out to our loving God, to have him come to speak to us and to give us direction, assurance, and encouragement. Prayer is a vital part of these 40 days.
The third leg is the leg of almsgiving . The Lord has blessed us as a people. Every night when I rest my head on the pillow, I rejoice because I have had sufficient food during the day. I rejoice because my thirst has been quenched. I rejoice because my medical needs have been taken care of. I rejoice because I have a warm bed and a warm house. And let me assure you that many, many people in the world do not have what we have. The loving God though, asks only one thing of us: stewardship of what He has given onto us. Taking from our own blessedness, to provide blessedness onto others. Almsgiving is a most important way of telling the Lord how much we love Him. So much so, that we want to give onto others so that they are provided for, or taken care of.
The symbol of the Lenten journey is the imposition of ashes. And in that imposition, turn away from sin, and follow the Gospel. And then from the Old Testament we are reminded that from the earth we came, and onto the earth we shall return. Remember that thou art dust, and onto that dust thou shall return. Tremendously humbling scriptural passages, for one of the things that we are challenged to do are to submerge our strong ego in order to take on Christ, in order to allow Jesus to reach into our very being, to shape and to form a new person in a new image.
Truly, in no way can the imposition of ashes, can the imposing of ashes, guarantee that all of this will happen. But certainly it is a wonderful beginning that we stand in public, with a darkened image on our forehead, acknowledging that we love the Lord so very, very much, that we willing to embark on the journey. For I would dare say to you that the chances of success go up exponentially as you attend mass – minimally on Sunday – as you discipline with fasting of your body, as you take what has been given onto you and share it with others.
Those three ingredients will guarantee that this Lent will bring you to great joy, for you will rise with Jesus on Easter Sunday. You will feel the palpable joy of that resurrection, and at some point you will be called to share with him in the glory of that resurrection.
My brothers and sisters: I say to you that these 40 days are so very, very important. I say onto you that it is my humble privilege to impart the ashes onto your foreheads. It is my humble privilege to bring you the body and blood of Jesus to animate and strengthen you, so that these 40 days might be marked by fidelity, constancy, and absolute commitment to fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. For it is in the embrace of those three that we find our way; it is in the embrace of those three that our journey become clearer.
May He strengthen and guide us this day and every day of our lives.