St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

Homily for Saturday of the 2nd Week of Easter

As Jesus retreated to the hills for prayer, His disciples went to cross the lake in their boat. Despite His solitude, Jesus was not oblivious to His friends' plight. He was acutely aware of their struggle against the wind and exhaustion from rowing, demonstrating the power of prayer in maintaining connection and awareness.

If genuine prayer sharpens our awareness of other people's needs. If our prayer opens us up to God, it leaves us more open to others struggling with life's stresses and storms.

As Jesus is invited into the boat with his disciples, the wind drops, and they find themselves in a calmer space at their destination. This is a powerful reminder that we, too, can ask for the Lord's calming presence during the many stresses and storms that threaten to overwhelm us. His grace enables us to share our trust in His saving presence with others.

Homily for Friday of the 2nd Week of Easter

Today's Gospel tells a well-known story of Jesus feeding a large crowd with just five barley loaves and two fish and having twelve wicker baskets of leftovers when it was all done.

There's a rather important detail to this story that is often overlooked. Where did Jesus get the five loaves and two fish with which he performed the miracle?

He got them from a small boy. The boy didn't have much but gave what he had, and the LORD did all the rest.

There is an essential truth in that detail: God relies on our cooperation for His will to be carried out. We need to offer our gifts, as meager as they may seem. God will take our actions, talents, and efforts and make great things of them, especially when it comes to feeding the poor, finding shelter for the homeless, caring for the sick, standing up for the oppressed, and bringing God's love, mercy, and providence to those who need it the most.

As we reflect on this story, let us remember that our mission on earth is not accomplished through our own strength alone. Through God's grace, our efforts are multiplied, and our mission is completed. Let us, therefore, pray that we will always be willing to use our gifts and talents for the good of others, trusting in God's grace to bring about His will.

Homily for the Memorial of St. Stanislaus

Our first reading today presents us with a challenge that we face every day: the challenge to turn away from the world's expectations and, instead, follow God's expectations, to obey God's will rather than the impulses of humanity.

The apostles served as a beacon of courage in their unwavering commitment to Jesus' teachings. They stood their ground even when their safety and lives were at stake, a testament to their unyielding faith.

Our challenge, too, is to stand firm in our obedience to God and proclaim the truth of God's love and our redemption in Christ, even when the world doesn't want to hear it.

Let us pray that we will have the same courage as the Apostles and keep our eyes fixed firmly on heaven.

Homily for Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Easter

The evenings are getting longer, with daylight extending beyond 7:30 PM. Most of us are happy that daylight is increasing daily at this time of year. Our hearts sink later in the year when the days grow shorter. Even though most of us like light, the Gospel passage from John notes that sometimes people prefer darkness to light.

However, John is not referring to natural light but to the One who is the "Light of the World": Jesus Himself.

Jesus declares that anyone who lives by the truth, who seeks the truth with sincerity of heart, will come out into the light. They are already standing in the light of God's grace, even if they may not be fully aware of it. This is the light that people of faith, those who seek to be guided by the light of Christ, will always have in common with all who seek the truth.

Homily for Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Easter

In today's Gospel passage, Nicodemus, a well-educated person with strong beliefs, seems surprised and confused in his conversation with Jesus. The conversation is challenging because what Jesus says doesn't align with what Nicodemus holds as true. In response, Jesus encourages him to let the Holy Spirit dwell in him so he may be reborn.

Often, we are told to surrender ourselves to the Spirit, but in today's passage, Jesus is not asking us to surrender. Instead, he asks us to open our minds and hearts to the Spirit. He is not asking us to give up anything but to listen to the Spirit.

Our relationship with God is a relationship, which means that we actively participate in speaking and listening. In this relationship with the Spirit, we can understand who and what God is in our lives and souls and who we are to God.

Let us pray that we will truly open ourselves to the Holy Spirit so that we may come to know God and keep Him in our awareness as an ever-present and influential reality.

 

Homily for the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

Today, we commemorate the Annunciation of the Lord. It was the moment when Mary received God's call to be the mother of His Son. It must have been scary for Mary to be visited by an angel and to put her reputation, along with Joseph's, at risk of being accused of wrongdoing.

Despite her fears, Mary answered God's call with all her heart, soul, mind, and body.

Let us pray that Mary's selfless devotion to God's will may inspire us to follow God with all our hearts, even when it is difficult, unpopular, or at odds with those around us.

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)

In his book entitled Miracle on the River Kwai, Ernest Gordon tells the story of British soldiers, prisoners of war, who their captors forced to work on a jungle railroad. Suffering drove the prisoners to hate their captors. Even their behavior toward one another degenerated into division and bitterness.

One day, a shovel was missing. The officer in charge was enraged and demanded that it be returned. Not one of the prisoners budged. The officer raised his gun and threatened to begin killing them on the spot if the guilty one did not come forth. It was apparent he meant what he said.

Then, one of the prisoners stepped forward, trembling with his head bowed. The officer immediately killed him. After this, he ordered a recount of all the tools to be sure nothing else was missing. At the second count, it was discovered that none of the shovels were missing. There had been a miscount the first time. Every tool was there.

Word spread like wildfire throughout the whole camp. An innocent man laid down his life to save them! His sacrifice had a profound effect. Prisoners began treating each other like brothers. And not only each other.

When the victorious Allies swept in, the surviving soldiers, who were hardly more than human skeletons, stood between their captors and the Allies. Instead of attacking, they protected the captors, saying, "No more hatred, no more killing. Now we want forgiveness!" One man's sacrificing love transformed them.

The image of God's love for us, Jesus dying on the Cross, transforms us. When we see the image of Jesus on the Cross, we are reminded that whenever one of His members suffers, Jesus suffers, for we are His body. When our bodies are in pain, our heads suffer as well.

Eight days after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the Apostles. He stretched out His hands before them and said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands; and bring your hand and put it into my side."

Jesus could have said, "Look at my hands, look at my side. See the wounds." Instead, He tells Thomas to enter His wounds, "Put your hand into my side." In other words, “Let your flesh become one with my flesh, your sufferings with my sufferings.” Jesus suffered because we, His body, suffer many things.

The sacrifice of one soldier inspired the others by his example of love for them. The inspiration Jesus gives is infinitely greater. He breathes His Spirit into us: inspiration. He enters us and takes our wounds upon Himself to bear our sufferings. The image of Jesus will be on the Cross until the last member of His body shares in His Resurrection and ascends with Him into the kingdom of heaven.

Homily for Saturday in the Octave of Easter

The Sanhedrin, who had rejected the idea that Jesus was the Messiah, also disputed that He had risen from the dead. This was because accepting this fact would require them to reinterpret their traditions.

However, Peter and John, two humble fishermen, boldly stood before the Council and affirmed that Jesus, who had been crucified, was now alive and present on earth, bringing healing and renewal. Despite the Council's formal ban on such statements, they risked their lives to deliver this message, as it was too important to be suppressed by human authority.

The Resurrection of Christ removed more than just the stone that blocked the entrance of His tomb. It opened the doors to a vast future and offered a glimpse of what lies beyond.

Like the disciples, we are called to accept Jesus as our Savior. This acceptance forces us to re-examine everything we believe as He illuminates our lives with new perspectives. If we trust that He has risen from the dead, our faith will energize our lives and bring light into our hearts, minds, and souls.

Homily for Friday in the Octave of Easter

After a night of fishing, the disciples returned empty-handed and feeling discouraged. Jesus appeared on the shore and met with them in the early morning light. He invited them to have breakfast with Him. He had placed before them an abundant table full of fish and bread. In their disappointment, Jesus was present to them and fed them physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

Similarly, Jesus meets us at the water's edge to offer comfort and sustenance for our journey. However, like the disciples, we must recognize Him in our lives, wherever and in whomever He appears, and make ourselves present to Him to hear His invitation.

As a result, nourished by the food of His Word and the sacrament of His Body and Blood, we become His presence to others, nurturing, healing, and loving all we encounter.

Homily for Thursday in the Octave of Easter

As we just heard, Jesus’ followers had difficulty believing that the man standing before them was the same Jesus they had come to know and love. They believed they were seeing a ghost.

They had been so traumatized by the Crucifixion just a few days earlier, that they struggled to believe that Jesus was really alive. It was too much for them.

Perhaps, even today, we struggle to take in the good news of Easter, to really believe it. It is easier to identify with the death of Jesus than with His Resurrection. We can easily connect with His suffering.

Maybe that is why we need seven weeks of Easter: to take it all in; to recognize that the Risen LORD is indeed standing among us, saying to us what He said to His disciples, “Peace be with you.

He offers us that peace of mind and heart, which is the fruit of His love and poured into us by the Holy Spirit.

When we allow ourselves to receive this gift, He sends us out as ambassadors of reconciliation, love, and peace, just as He sent out His disciples nearly 2,000 years ago.

May our hearts be open to the reality of that love so that we may go forth and truly and fully share it with others.