Peter began to say to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Imagine spending the entire day walking around in public, running errands, speaking with colleagues, picking up the kids from school, with your clothes turned inside out.
Or showing up to work wearing clown-sized shoes.
Or shaving only half of your beard.
Or walking into church jumping up and down shouting for joy.
These things sound ridiculous to us.
If people saw me walking around with a half-shaved beard or clown-sized shoes, then I’m sure they would burst out in laughter. Some would probably think, “Dear God, Father has lost his mind!”
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Today we celebrate the life of a priest who did these things on purpose.
Saint Philip Neri is the patron saint of joy and humor. He was a man who laughed constantly and motivated others to do the same.
Oddly enough, the more comical he was, the holier and humbler he became.
But Philip wasn’t simply a jokester. He balanced his sense of humor with intense periods of prayer, eating meager meals, visiting the sick, and striking up conversations with people, slowly introducing them to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
A few years after his priestly ordination, Philip founded a religious order, commonly known as the Oratorians, who followed his rule of life.
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One of Philip’s biographers once wrote of him, “Philip was all things to all men… When he was called upon to be merry, he was so; if there was a demand upon his sympathy, he was equally ready…”
May the Lord grant us the grace to live our lives accordingly – rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who weep, and, above all, the grace to poke fun at ourselves, counteracting our pride, and spreading a little joy along the way.
Saint Philip Neri, pray for us.
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Image credits: (1) Delta Dental of Illinois (2) Called to More, YouTube (3) Be the Reason Someone Smiles Today line jounals, Amazon
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately Blood and water flowed out.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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The death of Jesus ushers in the rarest event in scripture. Three days when God seems entirely absent from this world.
As John says in today’s Gospel, “Bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.”
Imagine Jesus wrapped in bloody burial cloths, tucked away in a dark and dusty tomb, concealed behind a heavy stone.
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In some sense, Mary becomes a unique source of consolation; she is the closest anyone will get to Jesus during those three sorrowful days, because she knew him best. Only she was with the Lord for all thirty-three years of his earthly life, from her womb to his tomb.
During those hidden years in Nazareth, Mary watched Jesus grow. She learned his habits; marveled at his heart; soaked in his wisdom; studied his mannerisms; and sought to become ever more like her Son.
There she became his first disciple.
If anyone could speak on his behalf during the three days of his absence, then it’d be Mary, which is why Jesus says to John in today’s Gospel, “Behold, your mother.”
As the Lord slips into death, Mary stays and keeps watch.
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So, what does this feast of Mary, Mother of the Church, mean for us today?
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Mary not only offers us the promise of her intercession, keeping watch over our lives, she also models for us what a life of complete fidelity to Christ looks like from womb to tomb.
May we, the Church – the body of Christ on earth – continue to learn from her motherly example, who never abandoned the Lord; rather, she remains by his side.
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Together we pray:
Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen.
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Image credits: (1) Stella and Tide (2) Growing in Faith with Mary, Rev. Benjamin-Maria Igbinovia, WordPress (3) The Coronation of the Virgin Mary, Botticelli, Metropolitan Museum of Art
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Maximillian Kolbe was a Franciscan friar who was arrested and sent to Auschwitz, an infamous death camp where more than a million people died during World War Two.
One day while working in that camp, another prisoner tried escaping over a barbed wire fence. Furious, the guards selected ten men to die in his place.
One of the prisoners selected broke down, pleading for mercy, telling the guards that he was a husband and a father. Suddenly, Maximillian Kolbe stepped forward and said:
“I am a Catholic priest. Let me take his place.”
Maximillian and the nine other men selected were led off to prison cells, condemned to death by starvation. Incredibly, Maximillian led that group of men in prayer and song for nearly two weeks.
Survivors from Auschwitz later recounted how the group could be heard singing at all hours of the night, transforming their darkened cells into a choir of praise.
The hope was contagious.
And the courage that filled Maximillian’s heart – from the moment he stepped forward, volunteering to die in another man’s place, to the moment he sang his final note – was Pentecost.
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Pentecost is not an event that happened only once behind locked doors in Jerusalem, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles. It happens all the time, whenever a person is filled with divine inspiration.
But what happened to the disciples – their inner transformation from cowardice to courage, from fear to freedom – is key to understanding what Pentecost is and why it matters.
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In last week’s Gospel, Jesus ascended into heaven, vanishing before his disciples. Matthew tells us, “they worshipped, but they doubted.”
They worshipped Jesus because he returned in glory to his Father. But they doubted because they didn’t know what to do next.
Their only consolation was Christ’s mysterious promise given to them at the Last Supper, that he would send them the “Advocate,” the Holy Spirit, who would be with them always, guiding them to all Truth.
Days after the Ascension, the disciples once again find themselves behind locked doors in Jerusalem. Suddenly, a strong wind breaks the still air as the Spirit descends upon them, appearing as tongues of fire.
Infused with courage, the disciples rush back into Jerusalem and begin preaching to the very same crowds who shouted for the Lord’s death.
This is when the Church is born – and the journey to the ends of the earth begins. The Apostles go on mission.
We will see Pentecost happen again and again as they live out their ministries, calling upon the Holy Spirit to impart the courage to preach, the grace to heal, and the strength to endure various trials.
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For example, when Saint Paul is nearly stoned to death and left for dead on the edge of town, he suddenly comes to his senses. Standing up bruised and bloodied, he returns to the same town, preaching the same message to the same people who tried killing him.
His bravery converts many.
That is Pentecost.
When Paul and Silas are later chained to a stake in the ground in the innermost cell of a dungeon after being flogged and publicly humiliated, they begin singing songs to God at midnight.
That is Pentecost.
When an earthquake strikes the very same ground, freeing Paul and Silas from their chains. When they don’t budge an inch, but stay in their cells and begin preaching the Gospel to the jailer who once held them captive. Then that jailer is overcome with faith.
That is Pentecost.
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When I was ordained a priest 11 years ago after laying flat on the cold, marble floor of our cathedral in Newark while thousands prayed for my brothers and me.
That was Pentecost.
Asking the Spirit to fan my faith into flame after celebrating thousands of Masses, hundreds of baptisms and funerals, dozens of weddings, and countless visits to the sick and homebound.
That is Pentecost.
When a child runs off to JAM, our children’s liturgy of the Word at the 10 am Mass, and comes back excited about Jesus.
That is Pentecost.
When fear is overcome… When wisdom is given… When peace settles into a heart shaken by tragedy…
When a couple celebrates five, ten, or fifty years married…
When a family clings to resurrection hope after the death of a loved one…
That is Pentecost.
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Pentecost happens whenever we call upon the Holy Spirit.
May that same Spirit, who transformed the hearts of the disciples, and who sustained the lives of Saints like Maximillian Kolbe, also come to our aid.
