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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

We are to be consecrated in truth.

Readings: Acts 20:28-38 Psalm 88:29-30, 33-36 John 17:11b-19

Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they may also be consecrated in truth. [John 17:18-19]

Read the Gospel very slowly and if possible, out loud and if necessary, three times! Although John’s literary style is quite complex, the farewell prayer of Jesus is as powerful as is Paul’s farewell message in Acts.

It is not likely that these passages are the actual words of Paul and Jesus. They are compositions that Luke and John or whoever wrote in their name and are based on the oral tradition of the sayings of Jesus and the preaching of Paul. They were written in the style of farewell addresses of prominent leaders of their times in order to win the attention of early believers to whom the message of truth was entrusted.

The ‘truth’ that is being proclaimed is not from a catechism nor is it a defined doctrine or dogma. It is the core truth about the God who spoke through the prophets and then through Jesus about the universality of God’s love.

During this time of immediate preparation for Pentecost, we are invited to think about our own responsibility to pass on the ‘truth’ of God’s goodness entrusted to us in Christ and how we are to live that truth in our daily lives, each in our own unique way. No one of us can do this alone and so we much join hands literally and figuratively within the community of believers everywhere.

To live the ‘truth’ is to live in the Spirit of Jesus Christ the fruits of which are charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, moderation, self-control, reverence, etc. I’m sure you memorized these ‘fruits of the Holy Spirit.’

These are the true ‘marks’ of our authenticity as believers.

‘Sui generis’ – One of a kind!

Friday July 29, 2011

Homily for the Liturgy of Christian Burial for colleague and friend, Father Joe Casey

Three weeks ago Joe during a visit with Joe, we spoke about this day. He asked me in his own inimitable way if I knew the difference between a sermon, a homily and a eulogy. I replied, yes, I do. Then he said, “Tell me the difference.” I told him a sermon is a doctrinal lesson one or other aspect of Church teachings. A homily is a reflection on the Scriptures and a eulogy is a commentary on the life of the deceased. He said I knew you’d know the difference. Then after a long pause he said, “I’d like you to deliver the homily at my funeral – no eulogy!”

I will of course respect Joe’s wishes but I believe it is within parameters of a homily to weave into it the unique qualities that made this man ‘sui generis’ – one of a kind—who embraced his call to priesthood faithfully to the very end. He did so in his own unorthodox way – no, not unorthodox but in a manner he truly believed was faithful to the Judeo-Christian Biblical and theological tradition that we in the Catholic tradition treasure so dearly and consistent with the teachings of Jesus as the way, the truth and the life.

Father Joe selected the first two readings for this liturgy but we did not have the opportunity to unpack them prior to his departure. Not surprisingly, they are not typical of the selections contained in the standard funeral rites.

“See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that with you: all the birds, and the various wild and tame animals that were with you and came out of the ark.” [Genesis 9:10-11]

This says to me that we are a covenanted people, invited into a partnership with God signed and sealed forever at our baptism. Later in the text we read: “This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” [Genesis 9:12]

Joe understood the inclusive nature of his creator.

The story of Noah was a new creation story, a new beginning, and a fresh start for our Jewish ancestors, still among our sisters and brothers in faith. But it was also a promise that God would be faithful forever and that God’s faithfulness would not depend on our worthiness but on God’s mercy and compassion – hard-nosed compassion. “As the bow appears in the clouds, I will see it and recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings – all mortal creatures that are on the earth.” [Genesis 9:16]

Who is not thrilled by the sight of a rainbow? It brings out the child in all of us. Several months ago, driving back from St. Luke Parish in Long Valley, a rainbow stretched across the sky ahead of me. I could see the entire arch with its full spectrum of colors from the left to the “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow on the far right. It reminded me once more of the creative energy and artistry of God. It is one more proof that God has a highly developed right brain, the origin of visions and dreams, the source of beauty, music and poetry.

Joe was that kind of a person with a very developed right brain who brought rainbows into the lives of many people. That’s because he took his partnership with God very seriously. He was covenanted at baptism, the primordial sacrament for all Christians. He viewed his ordination to the priesthood not as an elevation above others but as a compliment to the common baptismal priesthood that he shared with all the baptized. That’s why he sat among you in the congregation for the Liturgy of the Word and that’s why he used to invite members of the congregation to join him at the altar during the Eucharistic prayer.

The priest is not ordained to be above the people of God but to be among them as one who serves by collaborating with them in the ministry of Christ who in the words of St. Paul to the Philippians, “did not deem equality with God something to be grasped, but who emptied himself taking the form of a slave, humbling himself becoming obedient to death, even death on the cross.” To obey comes from the word ‘to listen.’ Joe listened attentively to the heartbeat of God and God speaks the loudest to all of us in the human heart.

Father Joe loved the priesthood not because it was hard—it is very hard at times—but because in his own words, “it was fun!” During his last Mass at this altar on the anniversary of his ordination a few weeks ago, he invited young people, men and women, to be open to a vocation to the priesthood that enjoyed for forty-five years. Joe was loyal to the Church, sometimes part of the loyal oppositin, but loyal.

In the words of St. Paul to the Ephesians, “May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe in accord with the greatness of his might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens.” [Ephesians 1:18-19] This is our destiny. This is Joe’s destiny.

And so the Scriptures speak to us this morning not of death but of life and hope. For believers death is not an intruder but the conclusion of one phase of life. For Father Joe Casey, today is a celebration of a solemn baptismal promise now fulfilled because unique as he was, he lived in a manner worthy of his call faithfully and joyfully.

Joe was an avid reader of Teilhard de Chardin and so I conclude with a bit of Teilhardian wisdom:

It is our duty as men and women to proceed as though the limits of our abilities do not exist. We are collaborators in creation.

We are one, after all, you and I. Together we suffer, together exist, and forever will recreate each other.

The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of one’s self to others.

Joe, you gave of yourself faithfully, generously and joyfully. Go in peace to the God who loved you into being and who now has loved you into eternity.