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Funeral, Sacrament-based, Holy Day, Holiday, Special Occasion

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Authors PTW staff

funerals sacrament-based holidays holy days special occasions

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Exploring the word

10 Aug 2014 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Whenever shocking events rock the world, many shake their heads and wonder what God is up to. Why would God cause an earthquake or permit a tsunami? Why does God do nothing while those two warring groups chop each other to pieces? Is there a God at all if we live in a world where children die of preventable diseases? Why does God give evil people such free reign to commit grave harm? Other people, just as naturally and a bit more optimistically, point to signs of God's presence and concern in the people who rush to rescue others in times of need. God is in the impulse of firefighters and law enforcement, aid workers and medical volunteers, peace keepers and chaplains who enter the arenas of danger to offer their help. God is not punishing in the storm but pulling souls from the wreckage. Is that where God is? Where else might God be? God is in the mother who holds the wailing baby and hush-hushes his fears in the middle of the night. God is in the church full of energetic believers praising the Lord, and God is in the silent church where one elderly man kneels to say his rosary. God is at the nursing home, visiting the aging relative who rarely responds with a few coherent words, and God is in the same nursing home, weakening on a bed and surrendering more of the former self every day. God is on the bus, making room for one more person to sit. God is in the monastery, praying for a world that has forgotten the Divine Name. God is in the kind offering, the kiss of peace, the forgiveness offered, the sacrifice cheerfully and invisibly made. God is in the promise kept between husband and wife and parents and children. God is in the mutual respect between teacher and student or boss and employee. Where people mourn, God is there. And when people comfort the mourners, God is there, too. And when you celebrate, God shares the joy with you. And when you seek to discern your course, God's wisdom seeks to illuminate the way. And if you're afraid, God bolsters your courage and gives you strength to proceed. And even in your doubts, the divine gift of faith provides you the grace to move forward into the darkness. God is in the sacraments and rituals of belief. God is in the routines and rhythms of domestic life. God shares the triumph and tragedy, the gains and the losses. God knows all about the crown and the cross. So when you find yourself on the stormy sea, and Jesus comes near your boat, you know you can trust him when he invites you to walk on the waves with him. You will never be stranded. Where you are, God is. Related scripture links Compare to original story: Mark 6:45-52 Divine rescue at sea: Pss. 65:8; 89:10-11; 107:26-30; Job 26:12-13 Drowning as personal metaphor: Pss. 18:5, 17; 69:2-3, 15-16; 107:23-30; Wisd. 14:2-4 Canaanite myth: Ps. 77:17-21; Job 9:8; 38:8-16; Isa. 43:16; 51:10; Hab. 3:16; Sir. 24:5-6 Prominence of Peter in Matthew: Matt. 16:17-19; 17:24-27 Catechism links Jesus and the storm: CCC 448; 2602 Salvation: CCC 55; 122-133; 161; 169

Authors Alice Camille

sacrament Tragedy

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Exploring the word

25 May 2014 - Sixth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

Jesus was around on this earth for about three decades, and then he wasn't. Some said he died on the cross and that was that. Some said he rose from the dead, stuck around another 40 days, and then returned to his Father. But those who believe accept two things simultaneously: that Jesus definitively went away, and that he also emphatically remains. So where is he? Jesus said he would be with his church always, to the end of time. So that's one good place to seek and find him: within the community of faith. Jesus also said he would send his Spirit, the Advocate, to be with us and dwell within us. So that's the second place you might seek Jesus: in the indwelling Spirit of God in each person. You profess that Jesus is truly present in the bread and wine, which become Body and Blood of Christ at every Eucharist. So that makes three reliable places to find Jesus: church, Spirit, and communion. Jesus tells his followers that whatever they do to the least of their sisters and brothers they do to him personally. Number 4 location of Jesus today: in the lives of the poor. Jesus is the divine Word spoken into the world—and we still hear that Word proclaimed in our assemblies. So the Number 5 place to find Jesus is within the proclamation of scripture which is transformative when it becomes a word-made-flesh in people’s lives. The church has long called the priest alter Christos, “another Christ.” While most priests will blush to identify themselves so completely with Jesus, it is true that the ministry of the church is a definite sign of Christ-action in the world. So yes, both metaphorically and actually, the priesthood of the church is a place to look for Jesus. To the extent all share in the priesthood of the baptized, they participate in that reality, too. Theologians have termed Jesus as "the sacrament of God"—that is, Jesus both conceals divinity inhis person and reveals divinity through his person. In turn Jesus provides seven sacramental actions that both conceal and reveal God. So if you're looking for Jesus, look to sacramental signs of welcome, thanksgiving, reconciliation, testimony, healing, fidelity, and service. The sacraments point appropriately to the Number 7 way to find him. Three more places to find Jesus! Seek the Holy in the holy: Look to the lives of the saints, both living and gone before, who imitated Jesus until it was no longer they who lived but Christ who lived in them. The crucified Lord is the most familiar image of Jesus for a reason: You also find Jesus in the suffering of humanity. One more place to find Jesus? I leave that to you. Where do you most reliably discover him? Scripture links Stephen’s first (and last) homily: Acts 6:8-7:60 Philip and the magician, and the Ethiopian: Acts 8:9-13, 18-25, 26-40 The gospel to the ends of the earth: Matt. 28:19-20 Catechism links Spirit of Truth: CCC 243-248; 687-688; 692; 729; 733-741; 787-789; 2465-2503; 2615; 2671 Apostolic authority: CCC 1286-1289

Authors Alice Camille

Service Eucharist Community sacrament

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Exploring the word

02 Jun 2013 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Cycle C

Saint Luke calls it the breaking of the bread. Saint Paul calls it the supper of the Lord. Jesus termed it the new covenant in his body and blood. Most of us use "Holy Communion." But however you describe it, Eucharist is the centerpiece of the Catholic Christian experience. Eucharist is rooted in the Jewish tradition of keeping memorial: a ritual that makes the past present and resurrects the old into fresh life through communal memory. The church has long understood the Eucharist as a “sacrifice,” but this sacrifice is not only expressed through the surrender of Christ’s body and blood—on the cross or at the altar—for suffering, sinful humanity. The sacrifice of the Eucharist is meant to include the whole Christian life as well: We ourselves, as partakers of this Body and Blood, agree to participate in the sacrifice. Perhaps we overlook this detail, preferring to leave the price of the Paschal Mystery on the table, as it were. You might want to reflect on the cost of your participation in this sacrament before you quickly consume what’s held out for you. Even after the miracle of multiplication, it’s the disciples who are commissioned to distribute the loaves and fishes. Throughout history some have chosen to emphasize the mystery contained in the sacrament, focusing on the words “this is my Body, this is my Blood” as a reality to be wondered at, admired, and adored. Others have given more weight to the words “take and eat, take and drink,” acknowledging that it’s a privilege and responsibility to incorporate this Christ-life for the sake of a hungry world. Around the time of the Reformation, Catholics went one way, Protestants the other in the understanding of what’s most vital in the Eucharist. Catholics clung to the mystery, the Latin, the priest’s prerogative to the contents of the chalice. Only gradually did Catholicism appreciate the wisdom in softening the distinct devotional aspect of this sacrament to ensure that “full, conscious, and active” participation would be achieved by the whole assembly. Theologians like Johann Baptist Metz and Edward Schillebeeckx have warned about the “dangerous memory” implicit in our actions here—as well as the liberating contents of this sacrament. Sharing in Christ’s Body and Blood means offering testimony “against unjust suffering, [in] solidarity with the dead, and [in] desire for the transcendent,” as Oblate Father David Power put it. Be careful what you wish for, as our mothers declared. Desire for transcendence doesn’t simply take you to Mt. Tabor, but also to Golgotha. Withstanding unjust suffering may well take you to some lonely and difficult places. Keeping this dangerous memory alive in the Eucharist is more than recalling what happened to Jesus. It’s also about where this living memory seeks to take you today and every day. Scripture links Luke, Jesus, and mealtime: Luke 5:27-32, 33-35; 6:1-5; 7:33-34, 36-50; 9:10-17; 11:37-52; 12:37-48; 14:1-6, 7-14, 15-24; 15:23-24; 16:19-30; 17:7-10; 22:7-20; 24:29-32, 41-43 United in faith: Rom. 14:7-9; 1 Cor. 12:4-30; Eph. 4:1-6 Catechism links Eucharist: CCC 787-791; 1099; 1322-1405

Authors Alice Camille

Eucharist sacrament Bread mystery

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Sign & sacrament

02 Jun 2013 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Cycle C

Human need doesn’t get much more basic than food and drink. But our hunger and thirst go beyond the physical. We also have essential spiritual requirements: We hunger and thirst for God. To our eternal good fortune, God satisfies all of our needs through the Body and Blood of Jesus. The sacrament of the Eucharist is a living reminder that God is with us and provides us with abundance where there was scarcity; presence where there was absence; life where the shadow of death once fell. It sounds like a miracle, and it is. What more do we need? For more “Sign & sacrament” material, search the Prepare the Word database by today’s scripture reading, a particular theme, or a special occasion.

Eucharist sacrament

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Exploring the word

19 Sep 2010 - Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

PEDAGOGY IS AN ugly word to use at the start of a homily. Better to talk about the way we learn and how it shapes what we learn. It's Catechetical Sunday, not exactly a church feast but a significant feature on the landscape of religious understanding. It's a time to remind ourselves that when it comes to religious education, none of us ever graduate. Religious education gets pegged as something that happens to parochial school children or in Confirmation classes. It's something new parents are forced into to get their kids baptized. Certainly religion teachers and DREs offer a tremendous service to our community in their careful presentation of the faith. But have you considered how the presider is also a catechist, as is the preacher? Liturgy is the most important catechism of the church because it's the one everyone learns just by showing up. We learn by saying our part and attending to the responses. But we also learn from songs, gestures, the movement of the action from the Sign of the Cross to the Act of Contrition, from word to sacrament, from responsorial psalm of praise to silent prayer of thanksgiving after communion. While the homilist's primary motive is not catechetical, a little "stealth catechesis" once a while doesn't hurt. Liturgy and sacrament are great teachers. So is the moral life as a whole. Practice makes perfect, and even those of us who aim much lower than perfection still learn a lot from every attempt we make to love better, forgive more, fear and judge less, be more generous. Environment shapes our learning, too. Remember all the posters in your early classrooms? The alphabet and numbers running colorfully around the room? Catholic environment is composed of words of grace and images of holiness. If you doubt it, try putting a crucifix in every room of your home. Erect a small prayer shrine in a corner. Post your favorite scripture verse on the fridge. Of course it's good to make conscious choices for adult learning, too. Read a Catholic book; for suggestions, check out the catholicsread.org website or visit the nearest Catholic bookstore. Attend a retreat or parish workshop. Join a faith-sharing group. Subscribe to a Catholic magazine, paper, or news site. Find out what the bishops really said; don't settle only for media reports. Is a commercial for religious education necessary? Yes, and biblical. We know that when it comes to how grace operates in the world, God doesn't add things up as we do. A duplicitous steward may show more spunk than a disciple of Jesus. If we want to learn the new math, we had better do our homework. Related scripture links Great cheaters of the Bible: Abraham (Gen. 12:10-20, 20:1-18); Abraham and Sarah (Gen. 16:1-15); Isaac (Gen. 26:6-11); Jacob (Gen. 27:1-45); Laban (Gen. 29:15-30); Rachel (Gen. 31:19-35); Onan (Gen. 38:8-10); Tamar (Gen. 38:11-30); Joseph (Gen. 44:1-34); Ruth (Ruth 3:1-9); Saul (1 Sam. 28:4-25); Judith (Jth. 10-13) An Israelite without guile: John 1:47 Catechism links Money: CCC 952; 2269; 2401-2414; 2419-2425; 2443-2449 Pray for the powerful: CCC 1349; 1900-1904; 2240; 2636; 2822

Authors Alice Camille

religious education Catechism liturgy sacraments Teach

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Baptized into Christ

Funeral, Sacrament-based, Holy Day, Holiday, Special Occasion - Sample homilies to be adapted for your use

Sacrament: Baptism Readings: Mark 1:7-11 IF WE WERE CHILDREN before the gathering of the Second Vatican Council, we probably learned in catechism that one of the reasons we need to be baptized is to remove the original sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. Nowadays, we prefer to teach that Baptism initiates the non-baptized into a lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ in the context of the pilgrim community we know as church. Although both of these theologies are correct, there are perhaps even more profound reasons why we need the sacrament of Baptism in the church. Mark’s gospel on the Baptism of Jesus gives us a hint of the profundity at work in the sacrament of Baptism. That hint comes to us in the form of a question. It could be put like this. If we need to be baptized in order to remove original sin or to begin a new life in the church, then why did Jesus need to be baptized? After all, Jesus was born without sin, and it is we who are initiated into a relationship with Christ, not vice-versa. One reason that is often given is that in being baptized Jesus shows his solidarity with the rest of us. Although he did not have to be baptized, Jesus asked John to baptize him so that he could be seen as one with the rest of us. Although that explanation is plausible, there are others that are more profound. A more plausible explanation is one that turns the tables. It is not so much that Jesus is baptized to show solidarity with us, but, rather, to give us an example so that we may show solidarity with Christ. In other words, Christ asked to be baptized in order that we may imitate him. Jesus, in being baptized, offers us a kind of imitatio Christi, imitation of Christ. The imitatio Christi is a centuries-old practice of spiritually following Jesus through all his earthly sufferings, even unto the cross. We do this by reflecting deeply on our own sufferings and identifying them with Jesus’ own. Christ asked to be baptized in order that we may imitate him. If Baptism is a kind of imitatio Christi, many of us are not aware of it. Nonetheless, if we listened carefully to the words of the rite, we would hear the words of suffering and the cross. As the priest or deacon baptizes, he speaks about a great flood, of dying and rising with Christ. These are the words of an imitatio Christi. They are the words of an invitation to follow Christ in our Baptism in his suffering. We often do not hear these words of future suffering because we are enthralled with the familiar picture of an infant or child being proudly presented to the community. Nonetheless, there is an element of tragedy in the baptismal rite—an invitation to follow Christ even to the cross. This tragic element, however, has to be understood in the fullness of following Christ. We not only follow Christ to the cross but also into his Resurrection. Baptism invites us fully to imitate Christ. It is this element of the baptismal imitatio Christi that gives the baptismal rite its festive and joyful character. Unless, however, we understand the reason for that joy, the sure promise of the resurrection—that there exists certain hope even in the midst of the world’s suffering—our festivity at a Baptism may not be as rich or profound as it is meant to be. THE MOST PROFOUND REASON, though, for Baptism is that depicted in Mark’s detail of Christ’s Baptism. The heavens open up while a dove descends and a voice is heard to say: “This is my Son with whom I am well pleased.” Of course, we usually do not experience an ordinary Baptism in this way. We do not ordinarily see the heavens open up or hear voices from the sky. We do not see something glorious or heavenly happening before our very eyes. We do not really need to. In being baptized, Jesus taught us that we, too, should be baptized because it pleases God. In being baptized, Jesus revealed God’s will for us. This is, after all, the most important reason for being baptized—that in being baptized we please God. Indeed, if we had the spiritual eyes to see and the spiritual ears to hear, we, too, might be able to see and hear, as the water is poured over a soon-to-be Christian, a marvelous light and a wonderful voice that says: “This is my child with whom I am well pleased.”

Authors Alex García-Rivera

sacrament baptism Mark 1:7-11 rite of initiation

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A blessing of healing

Funeral, Sacrament-based, Holy Day, Holiday, Special Occasion - Sample homilies to be adapted for your use

Sacrament: Anointing of the Sick Reading: James 5:14-15 I WAS A ROOKIE CHAPLAIN-IN-TRAINING at a huge metropolitan hospital. I stepped gently into the room, with my Roman collar on, to visit an elderly ethnic patient prior to surgery. As soon as she glimpsed the collar, she began to wail, “No, no, Father, I’m not dying! It’s just appendicitis!” That was my conspicuous inauguration into the world of pastoral care of the sick and people’s common perception of “anointing.” If the priest comes, you must be dying. If he anoints you, it’s “the last rites,” extreme unction, the skids are greased. But in 1975, by the decree of Pope Paul VI, the church reinvented this sacrament—formerly called Extreme Unction because it was used only in extremis—making it more available to any and all those suffering physically or mentally. Hence, a new name, the “Anointing of the Sick.” What’s this ritual really supposed to be about? We find its origin in the New Testament, near the end of the Letter of James. “If anyone among you is ill, send for the elders of the church. They will anoint that person with oil in the name of God and pray over them. Prayer offered in faith will save the sick one and God will raise them up again. If they have committed any sins, they will be forgiven. . . . The heartfelt prayer of a good person works very powerfully.” I believe that. No, I’m not a faith-healer, at least not in the sense of tent revivals, charming snakes, and the like. But I do believe that faith can heal—both physical ailments as well as the soul. A priest friend of mine told me about a nursing home experience he once had and how it changed his own faith perspective about anointing. There was an elderly, hearing-impaired woman, whom my friend used to visit regularly. One night he was summoned to her bedside because she was believed to be on her deathbed. Because she seemed unresponsive to his voice and touch, the priest assumed she was unconscious. “No need to shout loudly,” he thought, as he usually did to compensate for her hearing loss. So he said the ritual prayers quietly: “My dear sister, we’ve come together in the name of the Lord Jesus, who restored the sick to health, and who himself suffered so much for our sake. . . . I entrust you, my sick sister, to the grace and power of Jesus Christ, that the Lord may ease your suffering and grant you health and salvation.” Then he gently anointed her forehead with the blessed oil and also her hands. “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.” Having finished the simple ritual, he touched her head in blessing and left her there sleeping. I do believe that faith can heal—both physical ailments as well as the soul. Two days later, on his rounds of the same nursing home, there she was, wide awake, propped up on a couple pillows, sipping her luncheon soup. She inaugurated the conversion. “Oh, I want to thank you, Father, for coming to pray over me and putting that blessed oil on me. When you spoke about how much Jesus suffered for us, I heard you perfectly. I don’t know if it was your touch or the Lord’s, but I’ve been feeling much better.” The priest muttered, “But I barely whispered those words. You couldn’t have heard me!” “I don’t know how loudly you spoke,” she said, “but I heard what you said and it brought me comfort, honestly.” Physical healing? It does happen, especially where there is a psychosomatic link between mind and body. “Anointing” may have a fairly direct effect on ulcers, stress, blood pressure, heart rate, depression, hives, headaches, and similar conditions. So, too, anointing may well be of some influence in guiding the surgeon’s hand or the pharmacist’s ministrations. Still, there is no promise in the anointing gesture that broken bones will magically knit together or cancerous tumors will vanish. But even these kinds of “miracles” are not impossible with God. Surely there can be inner healing, peace of mind and soul, brought about by greater trust that God is there, ever-faithful, and will not abandon us—whether we beat this illness or not, whether we rise from this sick bed or, instead, rise to new life “on the other side.” So I gently, humbly, prayerfully approach the center aisle, where you await this sacrament. I don’t promise magic zaps. Nor do I believe that many of you will throw away your crutches or canes on the spot. But God is powerfully present. May this anointing relieve your pain, lighten your suffering, and heal you inside and out. As Saint James wrote, this prayer, among good people, can work very powerfully. God promised so. You can count on it, come what may.

Authors Father Richard Sparks C.S.P.

sacrament anointing of the sick James 5:14-15 Last rites

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