I’m going to miss Fr. Ray. I found his homilies and talks interesting. While most people were sleeping during his talks on Saturday night on retreat, I was taking notes on what he was saying. I specifically remember one homily at a retreat mass on a Friday night a few years back. While I don’t remember the topic, I do remember one particular line: “Jesus said it. Jesus never lies. Therefore, I believe it.”
Knowing that God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit are one in the same, how should we interpret Deuteronomy 5:12:
"Take care to keep holy the Sabbath day as the LORD, your God, commanded you."
Or, how should we interpret Genesis 2:2-3:
"Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation. "
Did you ever wonder, did God rest because he was tired? Why did he rest? I think to show us by example and to establish his relationship with all that he created. He didn’t create it and walk away like some lane addition to a highway. God said it. God never lies. Therefore, what? We must believe it.
There is this great website. It’s called salvationhistory.com. In there are some very easy and simple lessons on understanding the Bible. The author is Scott Hahn, a former protestant. He says God creates by speaking. God said, “Let there be light.” And there was, the Bible tells us; literally, light out of darkness; something out of nothing; sort of like being blindfolded and brought to some place and then removing the blindfold and instantly seeing everything in front of you. Do we really believe this about God, that he created something from nothing? God speaks, something happens. So, if at Mass, when the priest, who speaks for Jesus and says, “This is my body,” what does that mean? First it was bread, God speaks, and it becomes his body – a source of nourishment and renewal. Now, remember what the Bible says about the Sabbath and remember what the priest says during Mass, if we don’t go to Mass, and if we do go to Mass and do not receive the Eucharist, what are we really NOT doing? We are not following God’s will and there’s a consequence to suffer for that.
The last thing the priest says at Mass is “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and each other.” The priest doesn’t say “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and yourself.” It’s not about me or you. It’s about US. It’s about what God’s expects US to do during the week. Then, at the beginning of the next week, we gather again to reflect on how we have done during the past week at Mass on Sunday. Each Sunday, we get reminded of our mission, we get reminded of God’s covenant with us, we get reminded of how we should live our lives, and we get nourished. Because we believe that God creates by speaking, there’s a personal meaning for each and every one of us for EVERYTHING that happens at Mass. What else would Mass be for; to be bored or waste time or daydream? God would not let any “poor” homily stand in the way of fulfilling His will for each and everyone one of us. All we have to do is show up and be present.
Now, don’t forget there’s more than the homily where God tries to reach us. There’s the other 40 minutes or so of Mass where God tries to reach us over and over again. If we listen carefully to each and every prayer – not just the scripture readings - we get answers to our questions and we get advice on how to live our lives. We just have to be present. Are you “present” right here right now in this chapel? You might be here, but are you present? Many times it is not until later on that we come to truly understand the impact of what God is trying to say to us. Sort of like how I remember Fr. Ray’s words that he said at a retreat mass long ago. And if you remember a single thing from this retreat or any Mass, then know that you have indeed been present and know that God is pleased and that you are following God’s will.
When I was 10 years old I used to go to Mass with my sister without my parents. My parents stayed home while we went to church. It’s probably a little because of this past experience that I so dearly want to go to church as a family. It doesn’t happen often that me and my family attends church together. I wish we did. I wish we all could experience what God fully intends us to have at Mass together. I’m often there alone and feel very lonely. In my loneliness, I look around and see other families together. I start to despair. Can you image that I can have these feelings at Church during Mass, of all places? My wife Joan and I aren’t on the same page about our faith. What married couple is really? But, we don’t share the same feelings about the importance of faith, which is a deeper problem. So it seems that the slightest scheduling conflict or the slightest inconvenience with attending Mass throws us in a tailspin. The stress it creates and the arguments that result worry me. So I find myself backing off and going by myself or not going at all – it’s heart wrenching to me.
Where does this turmoil come from? How can I possibly honor the Lord on the Sabbath? One way is to understand that the disagreements at home about Church and faith our not our own. There are generations of this turmoil before us: my parents, Joan’s parents, our grandparents. Just as there are maybe generations of families that have attended church together, there are generations of families that haven’t. Not only are we bearing our own sins, we bare the sins of generations before us. Think about it. Think about the detachment from God caused by generations of detachment. Think about the some of the big problems of this world: poverty, alcoholism, drug addition, infidelity, homosexuality, murder, and abortion, just to name a few. They are the result of generations of sin from our ancestors all the way back to Adam and Eve. Don’t get me wrong – by no means should this absolve us from our own responsibility and accountability to God. But, this is why we come together as a community at Church: so we can create and be part of generations of grace; be part of generations of peace; be part of generations of charity; generations of humility, generations of life.
So, when I do get to Church, by myself, I bring my cross of loneliness with me. When one or all of my family is with me, I praise and thank God. When I don’t get to Church, I pray and ask for God’s forgiveness, forgive myself, and move on. There’s no use in standing still in self-pity and pouting. There’s always the next moment, the next hour, the next day, the next week to recommit to God’s will.
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