Deacon Ken’s Homily for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Times
The word is Eschatology Eschatology, “simply means last.” What’s the “big deal” about the end times? The “big deal” is that Jesus is coming back to get us. All the rest of the end time things don’t matter. Why should we be Concerned about fires, floods, wars and such, because in the end God Wins!” If we are right with God, we win too! So, our focus on the end times then should be that we endure through the bad stuff and celebrate as we prepare to meet Jesus who is coming to save us.
There are many passages in scripture that give us hope during the end times. Here are a few. God is love. (1 John 7) God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Do not fear. (Isaiah 41:10) do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
God knows all about you. God values you. (Luke 12:7) But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. God will never leave us. (Hebrews 13:5) For he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” There are three parables in the Gospel of Luke that describes just how far God will go to keep us close to him. Remember the Parable of the Lost Sheep? The Shepherd has one hundred sheep, and one wanders off. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to search and find the lost one. When he returns home, he asks his family and friends to rejoice with him. What about the woman who lost one of her ten silver coins? She lit a light swept and cleaned until she found the lost coin. When she had found it, she called together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ And lastly, The Parable of the Prodigal Son A man who had two sons. The younger son took his share of the property that belonged to him. He left town and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. Tired of the destitute life he was living, he got up and went home. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. The father said to his servants, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. Today, God is patiently waiting for us to return to him. He wants to forgive us and even when we have turned our backs to him, He searches for us, and when he finds us, He tells us: “I will love you, always” He wants us to return to the fold where we are safe from harm. He doesn’t want us lost and not found. He’s looking for us today, and when we return to him, there will be a great celebration. So, what do we have to fear about this great tribulation? The answer is…Nothing! When Jesus returns, God will make his dwelling among us. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for all these things shall pass away. If we do our part and keep our souls clean through the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, we have nothing to fear.
Deacon Ken Stewart
Deacon Ken’s Homily for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Times
I read these readings several times one evening hoping for some “enlightenment” from God. I’ve got to tell you nothing was coming!
Crickets is the word I hear floating around these days. I thought “Maybe I’ll just rest a while like Jesus and His Apostles did after their long week of preaching and healing.” I turned on the television to a Western Movie. The name of the movie was “Silverado”. It’s the story of four good guys, who mix it up with an evil sheriff, and his evil deputies, who are bought and paid for by an evil rancher. Of course, the sheriff is protecting the evil rancher who illegally acquired one of the good guys’ family’s farms. The ranchers’ men have kidnapped the nephew of two of the good guys, and the nephew is being held at the ranch. The big finale of the movie is that the good guys join forces to rescue the boy and then rid the town of the evil rancher, evil sheriff and evil deputies. It is a classic good guy versus bad guy, good versus evil movie.
The next day, I’m back to the readings and I discover there’s a bit of Silverado going on here. Picture this: God and Jeremiah are teaming up to confront the elders of the church, who are not acting responsibly towards those God has given them. For sure, the elders know what they are supposed to do and how they are supposed to act, but many want to be seen and treated as dignitaries. They walk around with “Holier than Thou attitudes.” They impose strict rules on those they are supposed to lead, but they don’t follow those same rules themselves. If you listen closely, you can almost hear Jeremiah, in a west Texas drawl say: “Boys, you’ve scattered the sheep, I’m going to have to run you out of town.”
Then, along comes Jesus and his apostles in the Gospel. They are the good guys who travel from town to town, village to village doing good works and preaching the gospel. Recently, they’ve run sin and evil out of town when Jesus rebuked an evil spirit on a naked man in a cemetery and the evil spirit leaves the man. A woman touches the hem of His garment and is healed from years of hemorrhages. A little girl is not dead, but asleep after Jesus tells her “Little girl, I say arise!” Jesus is “the” good shepherd, the righteous shoot of David, and He and his apostles will do what is right and just, and because of them many will be saved.
Today, you and I are living our own Silverado. We are called to rid our towns and villages of sin and evil. We do this by our actions when we: show love to the unloved, feed the hungry, fight injustice and prejudices, and share the love of Jesus with others. All the while we have to guard ourselves that we are never anything more than a humble servant of God. From time to time, we need to rest and look inward to see where we are in the grand scheme of things. Picture a sliding scale with the icon of a weed on one end and seeds on the other. Somewhere between the weeds and the seeds we find ourselves. Though we start out as weeds, we should always strive to constantly plant seeds that lead to the Good Shepherd. We trust God and have faith that even in our weaknesses God will seek us out whether we are near or far from him.
In his great love and mercy, God has sent us a good shepherd who will provide for us now and forever if we but turn to him. Good versus evil. It’s all around us. We see it every day. If we but pay attention to the shepherd, He will teach us many things and He will bring us together one people, gathered in love. And then, at the end of our days The Good Shepherd will ride His white horse into town and say to us: “Well done my good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your master.”
Deacon Ken’s Homily for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Times
A Chinese proverb goes like this: “The journey of a thousand miles, begins with the first step. Nothing happens until the first step is taken, and much will happen between the first step and the end of the journey. Along the journey there will be failures and successes, but as the journey nears the end, faith and confidence soars. Like a mustard seed, many great things start out small.
Most, if not all of you, have heard of a Poor Clare nun by the Name of Mother Angelica. As a young woman she had a horrible stomach ailment. Mother Angelica’s mother took her to see a Mystic who prayed over Mother Angelica and made her promise to pray a novena, which she did. At the end of the novena, Mother Angelic was healed. Her healing is what led her to become a Nun. She felt God asking her to begin a ministry for Catholics in the Bible Belt in the south, and with a handful of Nuns, they began making fishing lures to support the venture. In 1961, Mother and her sisters bought some acreage and a building and began a community. The community was named Our Lady of the Angels Monastery and is located to this day in Irondale, Alabama. Working in the community Mother Angelica began to give talks. Eventually, her talks were recorded and broadcast via satellite to the entire world. In the early 1970’s, Mother Angelica, felt inspired by God to begin a Television Station for Catholics. Acquiring donations worldwide, The Eternal Word Television Network was born. It began when a garage was fashioned into a makeshift television studio. It is estimated that EWTN reaches 264 million families worldwide daily. On a trip to Columbia, Mother Angelica received a vision she was to build a Shrine in honor of the Baby Jesus. Collecting over $48 million in donations from around the world, the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament was constructed in Hanceville, Alabama. The Shrine is visited by thousands each year. Like a mustard seed, many great things start out small, even fishing lures.
Deacon Ken Stewart
Deacon Ken’s Homily for the 8th Sunday in Ordinary Times
Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta was a schoolteacher in the mid-40’s. While travelling to Calcutta for a retreat with her Sisters of Charity, Saint Theresa felt she received a call to care for the poor and suffering in Calcutta, India. She began her journey by opening a hospice, in an abandoned Hindu temple, where people who were a blight on society, could come and receive medical treatment. Some came to Saint Theresa so they might die with dignity, not laying in the street or sidewalk. She walked the streets of Calcutta looking for those who needed her help and brought them back to her Hospice. She often had to walk those same streets begging for food, and contributions money, medicine and volunteers. Her goal was that no one in Calcutta would die alone while on the streets. Later, Saint Theresa opened a hospice for those with leprosy, and the Children’s Home of the Immaculate Heart, for orphans and homeless youth. Saint Theresa then expanded the congregation abroad, opening houses in Venezuela, Rome, Tanzania, the United States and many countries in Asia, Africa and Europe. By 2007, the Missionaries of Charity worldwide, operated 600 missions, schools and shelters in 120 countries. Like a mustard seed, many great things start out small.
Behind Saint Augustine, volunteer trees grew from a foot tall to fifteen feet tall in an area deemed too rough for the landscapers to mow. There was a hole in the ground six feet long, four feet wide and three feet deep, that looked as if someone used a bobcat to move dirt from one place to another, leaving the hole. A simple plan was made dig up the trees, fill up the hole, level the ground. To keep the area cleaned up, an idea was born to create a pile of dirt on which a small statue of Mary would be placed, and flowers would be planted. Today, it is a Rosary Prayer Garden. The beads are made with concrete and broken glass placed in KFC side dish bowls. In the center of the garden stands a life-sized statue of Mary. The garden has comfortable benches for those who want to sit and meditate. A woman, visiting Germantown from Lake Elsinore California described it on her Facebook page as “A little Gem”. Like a mustard seed, many great things start out small, even a pile of dirt.
How did Jesus enter the world? He entered the world as a little baby in a manger in a stable. He began life listening to the sounds of cattle and oxen crunching their grain and hay. No brass bands, no ticker tape parades. As he grew, he acquired a few followers, and continued to acquire more followers. To this day, there are a little over 1.39 billion Catholics in the world. Like a mustard seed, the greatest of all things started out small, like a little baby.
Our faith can be the catalyst to inspire others in their faith. Often, we hear, I am not worthy, and the truth of the matter is we are not. But God calls us to do great things. We often let fear keep us from doing the small things that can blossom into the larger things. If we only remember the words of the Prophet Isaiah who said: “Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, I am your God, I will strengthen you, and help you, and uphold you with my right hand of justice” (Isaiah 41:10)
Today, God is calling us to do great things for his Kingdom. Will we answer the call, or will we let it pass by like a shadow in the night? Today, start something small for the Kingdom, and watch how God will make it grow!
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, and to those who were Father figures to others. Happy Father’s Day also to our church Fathers who feed us with the bread of life
Deacon Ken Stewart
Deacon Ken’s Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter
CORPORAL JASON LEE DUNHAM USMC
(A Good Shepherd)
Jason Lee Dunham, was born in Scio, New York. Just an average boy from New York but destined to be a hero. He graduated from Scio Central School in early 2000 and left for Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in July of that year. After graduating recruit training, He completed Advanced Infantry Training and was assigned to Company K, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, based in Twentynine Palms, California and deployed with them to Iraq in early 2004. Jason didn’t have to go. As a matter of fact, Jason had to extend his time in the Marine Corps by six months to go to Iraq. He told his parents: “I want to be with my boys. and I want to make sure all my boys come home”. He loved his Marines, and they loved him.
On 14 April 2004, Jason was participating in a reconnaissance mission as a Rifle Squad Leader, in the town of Karabilah, Iraq, when they heard gunfire erupt a short distance away. Jason quickly ordered his squad toward the fighting. Jason and his team discovered seven Iraqi vehicles attempting to depart the area and began stopping the vehicles to search them for weapons. As the Marines approached the vehicles, an insurgent leaped out and attacked Jason. While wrestling the man to the ground Jason noticed that the insurgent had released a grenade during the struggle. Jason shouted a warning to his fellow Marines to “Get Back”, before covering the grenade with his helmet and body, bearing the brunt of the fatal explosion himself and saving the lives of at least three other Marines. Three of Dunham’s platoon mates suffered shrapnel wounds but survived. what he was doing. He wanted to save Marines’ lives from that grenade,” said Lance Cpl. Jason Sanders, a mortarman in Jason’s squad. The battalion commander at the time, Lt. Col. Matthew Lopez, submitted Jason’s Dunham’s nomination for the Medal of Honor, noting “I deeply believe that given the facts and evidence presented, he clearly understood the situation and attempted to block the blast of the grenade from his squad members. His personal action was far beyond the call of duty and saved the lives of his fellow Marines”. Corporal Jason Dunham died of his wounds eight days later at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, at the age of 22. The Navy’s newest destroyer bears the name “the USS Jason Dunham”. A good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep.
Today is vocations Sunday. There’s a story I heard about Saint Francis of Assisi, that Saint Francis was walking down a road in France one day and a Priest was walking toward him. As they neared each other, St. Francis said, “If I were to meet at the same time some saint coming down from heaven and any poor little priest, I would first pay my respects to the priest and proceed to kiss his hands first. I would say, ‘Ah, just a moment St. Lawrence, because this person’s hands handle the Word of Life and possess something that is more than human. These hands have touched my Lord, and no matter what they be like, they could not soil Him or lessen His virtue. To honor the Lord, honor His minister. He can be bad for himself, but for me he is good.”
Today is a day to celebrate God’s goodness to us. It is a day to celebrate that we have Priests, whose hands give us the Eucharist. To receive the body and blood of Christ is to receive all the splendor the earth has to offer. The Priest who truly lives for others, that others might attain salvation. They sacrifice themselves, that others might live in the kingdom of God, forever. Thank God for our Priests!
Vocations are not only for those who have been ordained. Everyone has a vocation, in life and in the church. For our Church to continue to function we need Eucharistic ministers, Musicians, Lectors, Sacristans, Altar Servers, Ushers, Money Counters and Environmental people who decorate our church so beautifully. Average people doing extraordinary things. These are examples of self-sacrificing love. Love of a Marine for his Marines, Love of our Priests for their people and love for each other in our community. See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. God Bless you, and God Bless our Priests.
Corporal Dunham story adapted from his Medal of Honor Citation
https://www.usmcu.edu/Research/Marine-Corps-History-Division/Information-for-Units/Medal-of-Honor-Recipients-By-Unit/Cpl-Jason-Lee-Dunham/
Saint Francis story adapted from the Franciscan Website.
https://franciscandiscernment.org/index.php/2017/11/13/st-francis-on-bad-priests/
Deacon Ken Stewart
Deacon Ken’s Homily for the
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Have you noticed it? New life is springing up all around us. What has appeared dead is now coming to life. I noticed it earlier this week when I turned the school bus into the driveway of the Mobile Home Park in New Lebanon. The tree on the right, which had been barren since the fall, had leaves beginning to sprout. The grass has gone from a dingy brown to bright green, and its growth has taken off like a jet on the end of the runway. Buttercups have broken through the ground and are blooming. Daily examples of the Paschal Mystery, the life, death, and new life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
From the Prophet Ezekiel we hear that: “God will open your graves and have you rise from them and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people! I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD”. That’s not an empty promise! He was speaking of the Jewish people who were being prepared to be released from the Babylonian Exile. Not only were the Jewish people going to be restored, but also the Temple in Jerusalem and Jerusalem proper were going to be restored.
Saint Paul tells us: “If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you”. Saint Paul is telling us to have hope because restoration and resurrection is ours if the spirit dwells in us.
No one cheats death. Not even Jesus’ best friend Lazarus. When Lazarus falls ill, Martha and Mary know there is only one thing to do and that is to send for Jesus and have someone bring Him back to heal Lazarus of his illness. Death is never kind to those we love. Martha and Mary knew if Jesus would return to Judea in time, He could save their brother. They’ve heard all the stories. The crippled are healed and walk normally. Ears of those who were deaf were touched and now they hear the birds singing cheerfully in the trees. A blind man from birth washed spittle and clay from his eyes in the pool of Siloam and is able to see. No one had ever made the blind to see until now! Wherever Jesus went, miracles happened but Jesus is days away from Judea, when Lazarus dies.
When Jesus returned, Martha met him on the way into town. Martha explained to Jesus that Lazarus had been dead for four days. A first century Judean belief was that the soul hovered around the body for three days. After the three days had passed, there was no hope that the body would ever come back to life again. Martha and Mary thought Lazarus was gone forever. Jesus had other plans, plans that will glorify the Father. So, Jesus tells Martha that Lazarus will rise. Martha has a flawed understanding of what Jesus is trying to tell her. She believes that Lazarus is going to be raised on the last day at the resurrection with all those who had gone before him. Those are not Jesus’ plans, and so He tells her “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Martha says she believes. Martha takes Jesus to where Lazarus is buried and Jesus tells Lazarus to come out, and he does. This Gospel shows us the power of Jesus over physical death. It allows Lazarus to come out from the tomb, and it gives us hope that we too will be raised from the dead. Lazarus’ resurrection is the precursor of the Lord’s resurrection. In His power, His love and mercy Jesus shows the Jews in His day, and us in our day that we need to believe and have faith that he will do what he says he will do. That we too will rise.
As the season of lent draws to a close, may our faith be strengthened, and may we come to believe that the one who raised Lazarus from the dead, and who also was resurrected, wants us to rise so that we may spend eternity with Him. That Jesus, in his humanity, at our death will weep, and then call us to Himself by saying: “My child come out!” “Come out” of darkness into light. “Come out” of sin into Grace, “Come out” past the tomb where the stone is rolled away “Come out” you are Resurrected!
Do you believe this?
Come to believe!
Deacon Ken Stewart
Deacon Ken’s Homily for the First Sunday of Lent
My grandfather’s name was Alva Ray Stewart. He spent the early years of his life working in a coal mine. Later, he got a job in a factory as a “Stator winder”. If my memory serves me correctly, a Stator winder winds the coils around parts in car generators and starters that make those parts magnetically produce electricity. My Grandparents lived in Bluefield, West Virginia, and their house was on the top of a mountain. From the back porch, a person could see all of Bluefield. Grandpa Stewart was one of the funniest people I ever met. Once, while eating supper he stood up, reached to the center of the table, grabbed a slice of bread and sat down. Grandma Nora said: “Alva, don’t you have a tongue?” Grandpa replied: “Yes, but my arm is longer”. Another time my dad and Uncles Jim and Raymond had reached my Grandma’s last nerve. I never learned what infraction they committed, but when Grandpa got home from work Grandma told him: “Alva, you need to whip those boys”! She was mad! Grandpa took the three boys into his bedroom and began to tell the boys why they shouldn’t cause their mother so much grief. As he was talking to them, he slid his belt out of the loops. At the end of his lecture, he said: “Grab that pillow and bring it here to the end of the bed”. He looked at the boys and said: “When I swat this pillow, you cry out, understand”. They said they did. Grandpa swatted that pillow and all three boys cried out. Grandma thought Grandpa was being too harsh on the boys and she went to the bedroom to save them. Grandma opened the door just as Grandpa was striking the pillow. Grandma was really mad at that point. She grabbed the belt, ran Grandpa out of the room, and the boys got their whipping!
The season of Lent, when lived as God wants us to live it, is not an easy time. It’s a time when we are called to look back on the events in our lives to see when we were walking with God or walking away from him. It is a time when we walk in the desert of our lives to see when we have gotten on God’s last nerve. It is a time to discover that when we were tempted by the evil one, did we submit to the will of God, or to the will of him who has come to kill and destroy. No, lent is not an easy time.
I shudder to think of what the world was like that God had to destroy his creation and start anew. I wonder if it was anything like our world today. Surely, it couldn’t have been much worse, could it? I think of our world today where people have no concern for others. People rob, steal from and beat others with no thought of the consequences of their actions or the welfare of their victims. Babies are allowed to be killed in the womb up to the day of their birth. Children are being sold into slavery and prostitution. It’s seems to me to be as if we’re asking God to flood the world again. Thankfully, God made a covenant with Noah, that He would not ever flood the world again.
A covenant is more than just a promise or pledge. It is a sacred, binding, solemn agreement between God and human beings and it involves commitments and guarantees. Saint Peter talks about Baptism. Baptism is the first covenant we make with God. We promised to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, always remember Him, keep His commandments, and serve Him to the end. Another covenant is Matrimony. The marriage covenant refers to the relationship between the husband, wife and God: a permanent union of persons capable of knowing and loving each other and God.
Our forty days in the desert is taking us to the Paschal Mystery. The Paschal Mystery is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It is the reason you and I have hope. As Saint Paul tells us, if we live with Christ, we will die with Christ. Just as Christ rose from the dead, so will we. To journey to the Paschal Mystery, God tells us to follow his Son and listen to Him. That’s easier said than done, isn’t it?
Just as God gave Noah a rainbow as a covenant sign, He gives us signs that point to the Paschal Mystery. First and foremost, God gives us the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s Passover from death to life. Each Sunday we are reminded in the Eucharistic Prayer and the Profession of Faith, that Jesus: suffered for our sins, was crucified, died and rose from the dead. Through the Paschal Mystery our salvation is accomplished. As we begin our Lenten journey, God asks us to focus, not on the ways of the world, but on the ways of those Christians who have gone before. God asks us to focus on how we can make a difference in the world, by sharing our love with our neighbors. We are asked to focus on what brings us closer to God. As we make our Lenten journey, may our focus be on doing God’s will, and turning away from evil. This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand, Repent, and believe in the Gospel!
Hopefully, we don’t end up on God’s last nerve. Welcome to Lent!
Deacon Ken Stewart
Deacon Ken’s Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent
Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar tells the story of a woman who was sent to him by a friend. This woman was the epitome of the phrase “Negative Nelly”. Mr. Ziglar had about ten minutes before a speaking engagement and agreed to talk with the woman. She began to tell Mr. Ziglar how much she hated her job. Mr. Ziglar asked her what she liked about her job. She responded with: “There is nothing I like about my job. I don’t like the company, I don’t like the people who work there”. Mr. Ziglar asked: “Do they pay you”? She said: “Yes, quite well”. Zig said: “Well you like getting paid don’t you”. She replied: “Yes I do”. Zig told the woman to sit down with a pen and paper right then, and write down why she goes to work every day, and she did. Before the ten minutes was up, the woman had written down twenty-two items that compelled her to go to work every day. Here is a list of some of what she had written down:
She gets paid.
She gets paid above average.
She gets three weeks of paid vacation.
She has a retirement program.
She has profit sharing.
She has Health Insurance.
She has Life Insurance.
She has Accident Insurance.
She works less than ten minutes from home.
She has her own private office.
She has her own parking space.
And more…
Mr. Ziglar advised the woman to go home, stand in front of a mirror every night and say to herself: “I love my job because” and then read the list, and add to it.
Several weeks later, Mr. Ziglar saw the woman sitting on the front row of another seminar he was giving. Zig said: “She had a grin on her face from ear to ear, wide enough that she could eat a banana sideways. Zig asked: “How are you doing”? “Great” she said. You will not believe how much those people at work have changed”!
Third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudette Sunday. Gaudete, is a Latin word which means “rejoice.” This theme is echoed in today’s readings. It is a reminder that Advent is a season of joy because our salvation is at hand.
I’m wondering. If we went around the sanctuary, do you suppose in the time we have, could we come up with reasons to rejoice? Could we get at least twenty-two? Let’s try… someone start us off…I am rejoicing today because?
Advent is also a season of hope. The hope that the lion will lay down with the lamb. That the scorpion, the asp and the child will play together in the meadow, listening to the mountains and trees sing of the glory of God.
In his great love, God sent a poet to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners. God also sent John, a man in a camel hair and leather belt ensemble with probably a tad bit of body odor to tell us that one is coming who is far greater than he. One who is going to make things new. How is He going to make all things new? Through Baptism. Through water and spirit.
Through water and spirit, God makes a new Christian. Through water and spirit God made a new world after the old world was too sinful. God made a flood, Noah made an ark. When the rain subsided, a world was made new. A dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit was flying above the Ark. Water and spirit. When the Israelites left Egypt, God travelled with them as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. As the Israelites passed through the Red Sea and arrived safely on the other side with God as a cloud or pillar of fire above them, the Nation of Israel was made new. Water and spirit.
Our baptism enjoins us into Christ’s saving mission. We begin a lifelong relationship with God and with each other. As such, it becomes our responsibility, our duty, to also share in John’s mission, to announce the coming of the Savior of the world to those who have not heard the Gospel message. Brothers and Sisters, may our list of reason to rejoice grow longer this Advent season and throughout the coming year, and by our rejoicing, may others come to know the reason for our joy.
Deacon Ken Stewart
Deacon Ken’s Homily for 33rd. Sunday in Ordinary Times
In the readings today, we hear about two types of talents. The talent of the wife in the first reading speaks to her talents to care for her family and her community. Her worthiness is valued far beyond pearls. She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms to the needy. Let her works praise her at the city gates. She has a unique ability for good that she shares abundantly.
In the Gospel, A man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted his possessions to them—to each according to their abilities. He trusts his talents, his roman coinage to the talents of his servants, according to their abilities, to increase his talents, the roman coinage. Two servants were very successful upon the master’s return, the third not so much.
What can we learn from these readings?
We are called to expand our talents for the kingdom.
What do we see when we look around the sanctuary? We see greeters, musicians, lectors, singers, Eucharistic Ministers and sacristans”. If we take a closer look we see: School Teachers, Factory workers, Nurses, Farmers, Pastors, Moms and Dad’s and a host of others using their talents to advance the kingdom. God has given us each a talent, one that suits our abilities that we are to use to bring others along the journey to the kingdom. What would our parish look like if all were singers? We could make a joyful noise but who would teach our children in their classrooms? Who would initiate the Sacraments for us? How would we hear the word of God? When we came into this world, we were not equipped with everything we need to develop our spiritual life. Therefore, we need others.
God wills that we receive from others what we need, and that we share our talents with those that need them. By sharing our talents, we glorify God through our deeds.
Stay busy doing God’s will, because we don’t know when the Lord is coming back.
We know that it is God’s desire to take each and every one of us with Him to heaven. Our world, racked with sin, is slowly passing away. We also know that God is preparing a very special place for us in a new world where there is no sin, and happiness and peace fill the hearts of all. The Lord is returning to get us like a thief in the night, and we know not the hour or day He is coming. When Christ returns, He will render to each person according to their works (Romans 2:6), and according to their acceptance or refusal of grace. As we heard in last week’s Gospel, when the door gets locked it will not be reopened.
Those who do God’s will are “valuable”.
Those who do God’s will are an “unfailing” prize. They bring good and not evil. They reach out to the poor and extend their arms to the needy. Christian witness, meaning living the Gospel is authenticated by the witness of the life of the Christian. Witnessing a Christian life and good works done, have great power to draw people to faith in God. Through our faith, and through our works of charity, God judges us worthy of heaven.
Brothers and Sisters, we are called to be fellow workers with Christ, and we can accomplish great things when we use our talents for Christ. God calls us to put our gifts into action. God gives each of us a talent to use for “His” good. We are to use that talent to bring about the kingdom of God. We bring about the kingdom of God here on earth by sharing our talents with others. In his wisdom, God gives us each a different talent to use for the benefit of others and not for ourselves. We are not to limit ourselves using our talents to benefit only our family and friends. When all share their talents, life in the community is enhanced and the kingdom comes.
Expand your talents,
Stay busy doing God’s will.
Make yourself valuable for Christ and for others.
Pretty good rules to live by.
Rules to help us hear:
“Well done my good and faithful servant,
Come share your master’s joy.
Deacon Ken Stewart
Deacon Ken’s Homily for 28th. Sunday in Ordinary Times
Like myself, my friend Dave loves to trail ride horses. Seems at least every other week he sends me a text inviting me to go riding with him. Lately, I’ve had to turn him down… a lot. Three weeks ago a bus driver got sick and could not take their Saturday afternoon field trip, that field trip fell on me. Two weekends ago was the annual family reunion pig roast. Last weekend was the Deacon retreat at Maria Stein. This weekend, my preaching weekend, gets spent in polishing up and practicing my homily and preaching. Three Masses in one weekend will wear a person out! God Bless our Priests who do it constantly. I wonder if the last text I got from Dave will be the last invite I ever receive since I have turned him down so often. We’ve all declined an invitation to something, whether it be us unable, or unwilling to attend.
Parables aren’t necessarily events that truly happened. They are simple stories to provide examples of something to learn or a teaching moment. Parables allow readers to “plug and play”. In today’s parable, the King isn’t really a King, He is God. The King’s son is Jesus. The servants God sends out are all the apostles, disciples, evangelists, missionaries and martyrs who God has sent into the world to spread the good news. I’m sure you can recall the fate that many of them suffered. Those who were invited but didn’t respond are the people to this day who turn their backs on God. The wedding feast itself is an invitation to attend the Messianic Banquet. It will be a banquet the likes that you and I will never experience in our lives. It is a banquet hosted by God in the eternal city of Zion in heaven. A feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy rich food and pure choice wines. When we accept the invitation to the messianic banquet, death for us will be destroyed forever and we will live in the house of the Lord for all eternity. Why on earth would somebody refuse that invitation?
Some say that the ending of this parable, the part of the man who was not properly dressed to enter the wedding feast was added much later. It could be that Matthew is trying to tell us that to enter the wedding feast we have to be prepared beforehand. We should be asking ourselves “what are we doing in the here and now to prepare ourselves for the coming invitation”. Father Jewell addressed this question at the Deacon retreat last weekend. He suggested that we all should do these four things:
Daily – read the bible. It takes but a few minutes to read a chapter. The best place to start is the gospels.
Weekly – spend an hour in adoration.
Monthly – go to confession. Confession prepares the soul to enter the banquet.
Yearly – attend a retreat. Recharge the spiritual batteries which help us to draw closer to God.
God is calling all of us, sinners and saints alike, to his banquet. To enter the banquet we sinners have to submit to conversion of our hearts and minds. Today, you and I are invited to a banquet, a Eucharistic Banquet. A banquet in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passion is renewed, our souls are filled with grace, and the pledge of life to come is given to us. The Eucharistic Banquet is a foretaste of the Heavenly banquet yet to come.
Brothers and Sisters, to enter the banquet, there can be no blemish on our Souls. We have to come with a clean heart. God has provided us the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we can get ourselves prepared to enter the banquet, for nothing unclean will enter heaven. God wants all to enter, but those who are unclean will be left outside where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. God will never offer us a “last invitation”. Come prepared for the banquet, and live forever in the loving presence of God. Come to the banquet!
Deacon Ken Stewart
Deacon Ken’s Homily for 24th Sunday in Ordinary Times
Did you ever feel like God was giving you a nudge to do something, and that something wasn’t something you wanted to do? It happened to me on Monday morning. I opened my Christian Prayer Book guide and saw the date: 11 September 2023. September 11th. I’ll never forget that date. Everybody born before 11 September 2001, can tell you where they were and what they were doing on that day. I was hauling asphalt out of Spring Valley when the plant operator called me up to the tower saying: “Ken, you’ve got to come see this! I saw a replay of the first plane fly into the tower. I’m sure you would agree when I say it was horrific!
I think of the poor souls who were instantly vaporized by the flames. I think of others trying to escape through fire and darkness only to have the building crumble down on them. I can still see the image of a man leap from the building to escape the flames from a height no one could survive.
As I finished my morning prayers, I felt a need to pray for all of the victims of 9/11, the ones in the towers, the planes and the Pentagon. And then I felt the nudge to pray for the terrorists who killed so many people. I didn’t want to. I thought: “why in the world should I pray for those terrorists?” My cousin’s wife Laura was one of the lucky ones to escape from the towers, but her escape was short lived. Five years later she died of a respiratory disease, like many others who had breathed in the toxic air that day.
I had printed out the readings for today and had them folded up in my trouser pocket and the words seven times seventy Ken, seven times seventy came to mind It was then I began to pray for those horrible creatures. They were God’s creatures, and they were in need of forgiveness.
Forgiving over and over again sounds easy in theory. However, it doesn’t seem to me to be that easy in practice. That comes from my own experience and from my own observations. Scripture makes it very plain that if we want to be forgiven of our sins, we MUST forgive those who have sinned against us. Forgive others as God has forgiven us. It doesn’t mean that we have to forget the sin committed against us, it means that to love God we have to love our neighbor, and to love our neighbor we have to forgive them. If we choose not to forgive those who have sinned against us, then we have become their judge. God tells us: “Do not judge, for in the same way you judge others, you will be judged” (Mat 7:1-2). When we begin to judge, where does it stop? Does it stop at the one who has sinned against us? Do we judge the way someone dresses? Do we judge the person with the blue colored hair? What about the individuals who stand on the entrance and exit ramps asking for money? Do we judge them? God is the only authority who can judge, not us.
God desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4), even those who commit the most despicable sins. When we choose not to forgive, we are telling God that this sinner is not worthy of HIS love and are deserving of Hell. There is no offense, however serious, that God and the Church cannot forgive, there is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided their repentance is Honest. Christ, who died for all, desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin. God will never stop pardoning our unfaithfulness and sins.
Brothers and Sisters, be merciful, as your Father is merciful. When we choose mercy, we choose life for the other, and for us.
Hell is relevant. It is hot, it is chaotic, and we should want no part of it. When we need to forgive someone, we only need to recall Jesus’ words from the cross when He said: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”. Forgive others, as your heavenly Father has forgiven you.
Deacon Ken Stewart
Deacon Ken’s Homily for 20th Sunday in Ordinary Times
Thus says the Lord: Observe what is right, do what is just. The scene is 1943, Rome, Italy. Rome has just been seized by the Germans. Colonel Herbert Kappler is selected to represent the German government. His duties are to arrest Jewish people and send them to concentration camps. Additionally, he is tasked to round up escaped Prisoners of War and, return them to the POW camps. He is also tasked to arrest revolutionaries. Colonel Kappler was a brutal man.
Colonel Kappler’s nemesis is Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty. Monsignor O’Flaherty has organized an underground network to assist Jews, escaped POWs and revolutionaries. The Monsignor hides these people in houses, farm buildings and church buildings and, supplies them with food and false documents so they can escape over the mountains into Switzerland. It is estimated that Monsignor O’Flaherty assisted over 6,500 people during the German occupation. After a subsequent length of time, Colonel Kappler realizes what Monsignor O’Flaherty is doing and orders that should Monsignor O’Flaherty ever leave the Vatican, he is to be shot and killed on sight.
Towards the end of the war, with the Allies advancing on Rome, Colonel Kappler asks Monsignor O’Flaherty to get his (Kappler’s) wife and children safely to Switzerland, as Kappler believes that the partisans will murder them if they don’t escape. Monsignor O’Flaherty tells Colonel Kappler: “You ask me to help you after all the damage you have done here! I will see you in Hell first.” Miraculously, Colonel Kappler’s family escapes to Switzerland.
Thus says the Lord: Observe what is right, do what is just.
If you’ve never seen the movie “The Scarlet and the Black”, I highly recommend it. You can get from the local library.
In today’s language, the Canaanite woman was being a Mama Bear. She was being obnoxious and pushy, but Jesus and the apostles weren’t even going to give her the time of day. After all, she was a Canaanite and, they were Jews. They had been bitter enemies for a number of years. It was the Israelites who marched around Jericho, a Canaanite city, and blew the trumpets on the seventh day, which caused the walls to fall. No love lost between them. Mama bear wasn’t going to go down without a fight. She hounded and pestered until Jesus was forced to a respond to her. Jesus compared her to a dog! Not to be outdone, the Canaanite woman shoots back “even dogs get scraps that fall from the master’s table”. This Mama bear wasn’t going to leave without her daughter being healed. Jesus relented and healed Mama Bear’s daughter. Jesus has a plan, a teaching moment for his apostles. A teaching moment for us! Do you suppose Jesus recalled the words of the Prophet Isaiah?
“Observe what is right, do what is just”.
Jesus is teaching his apostles and us that when it comes to love, there should be no barriers and no prejudices between us. Not nationality, not gender, not skin color. God’s love is for everybody, even an impetuous Canaanite woman who needs God’s mercy and love and a little Canaanite girl who needs healing, and even you and me. Today, God is offering us proof of His great love. God offers us Proof of his love through the words of scripture in the story of a Canaanite woman who came to faith, and whose daughter was healed. God offers us proof of his love in the true story of a brutal German Officer who came to know God, in a military prison with the help of a kindly Monsignor who once was his nemesis. In all of this, God offers us the proof of his love, when we share his love with the “outsiders of society”. God’s love transcends all boundaries, and is given freely for those who accept it. God offers us proof of his love through His Son Jesus who died on a cross for a Canaanite woman and her sickly daughter, a brutal German Officer, and us, that our souls might be made clean.
May the word of the Prophet Isaiah,
“Observe what is right, do what is just”
Be our guide as we walk this path called life.
Deacon Ken Stewart