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Episodes
Homilies from Saint Bernadette Catholic Church, Prospect, KY
Episodes
Sunday Feb 12, 2017
Sunday Feb 12, 2017
6th Sun OT-A’17
“Not the Smallest Letter”
Fr. Jeff Nicolas
“Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law…” So says Jesus about “the rules”.
Boy if I only had a nickel for every time someone, usually under the pretense of being more enlightened than I, has said to me, “Religion is just a bunch of rules that get in the way.” Maybe you have met a few of these people? Religion to these folks is just an archaic collection of rules that inhibit a person from getting to God, or at least from getting to fun.
But here is the TRUTH… the opposite is actually the case. You see, the “god” these folks are “worshipping” is really just a figment of their own imagining. Theologian Christian Smith captures their “god” with the term, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. “God is useful; he is like a butler who comes at our convenience when we call him; he wants us to be nice; and good people go to heaven.”
This is not a God of sacrifice, a God of discipline, a God of real love. Rather this is a “god” of the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and something they read about Zen and Buddha all wrapped up in one. This is not a “god” who saves; this is not a relationship with the real Jesus Christ.
Our Catholic religion brings us into relationship with the real Jesus Christ. Our religion doesn’t get in the way; it IS the way!
As my friend Fr. David Scotchie so succinctly explains, our relationship with the Lord is the heart of Catholic religion. How we live it out - the rules - follows from this relationship. The rules of religion exist to protect our inner relationship with the Lord. Using a banana to illustrate his point he writes,
“A banana has two parts, the skin and the fruit. No one eats the skin. Yet who would buy a banana without a skin? Without a skin, the banana fruit quickly becomes mush; it spoils and smells. The skin protects and preserves the fruit. In the same way the rules of religion protect and preserve the relationship with the Lord. As the purpose of the banana skin is to protect and preserve the fruit, so too the purpose of the rules of religion is a flourishing relationship with the Lord. Yes there are rules, but the living heart (the banana!) is your relationship with the Lord.”
Hence our Gospel reports Jesus clearly saying, “I have come not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.” A real relationship with Jesus Christ is facilitated by our Catholic religion. Our religion transports us into the depths of a real relationship with Jesus Christ where we in our freedom can say to him, “I’m Your’s.”
But this relationship with Jesus must be chosen. This is why our Church has us hear the reading from the Book of Sirach today…
“If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live; he has set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose stretch out your hand.” God knows that if I cannot say “no” to Him, then my “yes” means nothing. This is why there is no such thing as a natural disciple; there are only intentional disciples.
As Lent approaches we as a parish are going to be given many opportunities to intentionally choose to delve deeper into our relationship with Jesus Christ. We have put together a wonderful offering… [list can be found on our parish website: stb2008.org]
The way has been prepared; the well has been dug, but all I can do is lead you to the water, you must choose to drink. Don’t let this Lent slip away. Cease this moment, make this your best Lent yet!
Sunday Feb 05, 2017
Sunday Jan 29, 2017
Sunday Jan 29, 2017
3rd Sun OT-A’17
A Disciple’s Mantra
Fr. Jeff Nicolas
Before today in our Gospel we saw John the Baptist calling folks to repentance. Basically he said, “Do this and then God will draw close.”
He gives us examples: To the crowds he says, “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.” To tax collectors he says, “Don’t collect more than is prescribed.” To soldiers he says, “Don’t falsely accuse anyone and be satisfied with your wages.”
Do this, the baptist says, and God will draw close.
This is a message we hear a great deal in Church. PRAY and God will draw close. SACRIFICE and God will draw close. SERVE and God will draw close. WORSHIP and God will draw close. And we certainly do these things to be close to God.
But hear this… what if this message can mislead us into thinking that somehow we are the determinants of Gods action? What if this leads us to believe that somehow BECAUSE we pray, sacrifice, serve, and worship THEREFORE God draws close?
This is just fine to believe when everything is going our way, it can actually give us a sense of control in a chaotic world.
But when tragedy strikes, or darkness envelops, or emptiness consumes, what happens then? We either figure we were incorrectly praying, sacrificing, serving, or worshipping and therefore try harder and double-down on our efforts, or we give up altogether. Fight or flight. Either way, its all about my strength, my ability to do, my action.
But I cannot save myself!
On retreat I read a little book by a friend of mine, Fr. David Scotchie, entitled: “A Prayer For Hope: I Can’t. You Can. I’m Your’s.” In this book Fr. David explains how believing that I have some kind of control over God’s actions ultimately culminates in either a fight or flight reaction on my part when things go south. (Fight = I’ll double-down and try harder. Flight = I give up.)
He then points out that there is a third way: acknowledging that Jesus can do what is impossible for me, and then joining myself to him. Hence the prayer, I Can’t. You Can. I’m Your’s.
This is a prayer that I believe a would-be disciple of Jesus Christ needs to memorize; a mantra a disciple facing a trial or cross bigger than himself or herself needs to recite. (Repeat… I Can’t. You Can. I’m Your’s.)
Disciples, here is what I believe Matthew wants us to see today. Whereas the Baptist, speaking only to God’s chosen ones, taps into our human fight or flight reflexes - repent and completely change your life and then God’s Kingdom can come in its fullness (or in other words, do this and God will draw close) - Jesus does something different.
Jesus first goes to Zebulun and Naphtali, cities full of Gentiles, reaching out first to those seemingly beyond God’s offer of salvation because they are not a part of the Chosen People. Salvation was beyond them.
(I Can’t.)
Scripture tells us that because of this action of God they then saw the Light; the same Light the foreign-born Gentile Magi first saw thirty years earlier! What was impossible for them became possible through Jesus! (You Can.)
You see, Matthew wants us to realize that God, through the God-man Jesus, makes the first move!
Jesus goes to Peter and Andrew, James and John, and calls them to himself. (This is backwards from the way it was supposed to be done. Back then the disciple would seek out the Master, not the Master the disciple.)
And Jesus’ message to these four men?
Draw close to me (declare “I’m Your’s”) and then you will be able to do what I do. (I will make you fishers of men.)
Thus, the Baptist’s “Do this and then God will draw close”
BECOMES
Jesus’ “Draw close to God and then you can do this.”
I Can’t. You Can. I’m Your’s.
Remember this mantra when you face a trial or cross greater than your own strength.
A deepening faith in Jesus Christ depends upon a deepening embrace of this mantra.
Sunday Jan 15, 2017
Sunday Jan 08, 2017
Saturday Jan 07, 2017
Sunday Jan 01, 2017
Sunday Dec 25, 2016
Sunday Dec 25, 2016
Christmas 2016
“What Is Christmas?”
Fr. Jeff Nicolas
We at St. Bernadette are about developing deep relationships with Jesus Christ, a discipleship we live out through our washing of one another’s feet. This discipleship transformation we seek is the Christmas gift we open from our altar. Author Sherry Weddell has actually mapped out five “thresholds” through which a disciple must pass in order for this deep relationship to occur. I believe our Christmas celebrations point the way. You see, Christmas is a multi-layered celebration, sort of like a gift that keeps giving. (Show large Christmas box.)
First of all, Christmas is a CULTURAL reality. Christmas is the best excuse ever for shopping! Everyone starts here… Santa Claus, Christmas trees, fireplace stockings and presents galore. At this cultural level trust can begin to spout within us since all the Christmas specials, Christmas sales, and Christmas messaging point to some “Big Good Thing.” Just about everyone can celebrate Christmas on this level. (I got a Christmas card from local Buddhist monks!) If so many can imagine this good, a person can begin to believe there may actually be something good to aspire to or to hope in. Trusting that there is something (or someone) bigger than ourselves that we can trust in is the first threshold of discipleship through which any would-be disciple of Jesus Christ must pass.
(Showing next inner box) Unwrapping Christmas a little more and we get to the historical level: Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Not just a made up character, Jesus of Nazareth actually walked the earth two thousand years ago. At this historical level curiosity can begin to grow as we explore how this one person singularly changed the course of history like no one before him or after. Think about it… our very calendar is based on the birth we celebrate today! Curiosity about someone bigger than us is the second threshold of discipleship through which any would-be disciple of Jesus Christ must pass.
(Showing the next inner box) Some people go deeper still and we get to the theological level: Christmas is a celebration of the incarnation of God, when God and humanity become in-separately one. This is how close God wants to get to us! Moses’ request to look upon the face of God is finally granted as God the Son (through Mary’s “yes” to God’s will) takes on a human face, human feet, human hands, and a human heart. At this theological level openness to saying, “yes” to God expands our growth and the beginning stirrings of a hunger to know more awakens within. Openness is the third threshold of discipleship through which any would-be disciple of Jesus Christ must pass.
(Showing the next inner box) Then unwrapping Christmas a little more, there are those who taking the narrow road, having gone through the above thresholds, get to Christmas’ spiritual level recognizing that Christmas is more than simply a great reason to shop, or a historical event to remember, or even a theological truth to contemplate. Christmas is a celebration of the ongoing action of God among us. Knowing that God now chooses to get to us through us, the Church is the perpetuation of the Incarnation. Jesus continues to heal through us, to forgive through us, to commission through us, to teach through us, and to nourish through us. One Christmas card I received captures this spiritual level of meaning:
Every time a hand reaches out to help another… that is Christmas. Every time someone puts conflict aside and strives for understanding… that is Christmas. Every time people forget their differences and realize their love for each other… that is Christmas.
At this spiritual level those who get to this depth of meaning become seekers, like the Magi. These celebrators of Christmas are “dating with purpose” so to speak. They are gauging for themselves whether any other object of adoration, philosophical mindset, or life-centering preoccupation can compare to that of God becoming one with us in Jesus Christ, and journeying with us through us as Church to this very day. Becoming a seeker is the fourth threshold of discipleship through which any would-be disciple of Jesus Christ must pass.
(Showing the inner most box) Then, for those among us who choose it, the deepest level of Christmas’ meaning is unwrapped… the relational level. Christmas is a celebration of God’s crazy love for each of us; a love that connects us to Jesus Christ and through Jesus to all others whether living or dead (especially right here at our altar). At this deepest of levels the Christmas worshipper forsakes all else so as to have arms free to embrace Jesus Christ who came in the first place to embrace us! At this deepest of levels the Christmas worshipper covenants with God in a marriage of wills striving to become one. At this deepest of levels (the fifth threshold of discipleship) the Christmas worshipper becomes an intentional disciple, a child of God, born by God’s choice into salvation. Here at the relational level all the other Christmas levels of meaning find their completion.
This ring for me represents this discipleship with Jesus Christ to which our Christmas celebration invites each of us. It reads, “Jesus I trust in you!” In this way our discipleship quest comes full circle!
May the prayer of St. Therese of Avila entitled, “Trust In God,” speak our Christmas wish for all of us…
Trust In God.
Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you, all things are passing,
God never changes.
Patience always conquers.
Whoever has God lacks nothing, for God alone suffices.
Today we celebrate that God gives us the gift of Himself.
We lack for nothing. Merry Christmas!!
Sunday Dec 18, 2016
Sunday Dec 18, 2016
Advent 4-A ’16
“The Inverted Glove”
Fr. Jeff Nicolas
Our season of Advent is drawing to a close… a time to prepare for Jesus… and understanding the centerpiece of Christmas is integral to this preparation, for at Christmas we celebrate God’s Incarnation.
Incarnation is a big word, but here is what it means in a nutshell: When humanity was created we enjoyed a unity with God and embraced our dependency on God. God’s will and humanity’s will were hand in glove. (Put on glove.) Sin entered our existence when we tried to exist independently from God, as if we were not dependent on God, as if we were “the center of the universe” instead of God.
This turned us “inside-out” so to speak (take off glove and replace it inside-out). All of our struggles stem from our trying to live in this “inside-out” state. We couldn’t fix this on our own… as it has always been, we were dependent on God (in this case to save us).
So God, through Jesus Christ, became one of us! Incarnation! (Turn the glove back right-side-out.) Our task to this day as disciples is to live “right-side out” through Jesus.
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to our doing this successfully is not realizing we need to! Perhaps this is where some in our company have an edge on the rest of us according to the wisdom of scripture which teaches that the first shall be last and the last shall be first…
Many are struggling right now because of the holidays. Television specials, store windows, commercials, and cards all tell us we should be happy, but this just isn’t the reality for many. Maybe its your first Christmas alone, maybe your health is failing, maybe you are in the middle of a big fight with someone, maybe you have lost your job, etc… Compared to the images of people displayed all around us which say that the happy people are first, those among us struggling can feel like they are last.
Yet listen to this, as Louisville Deacon Denny Nash recently shared with me, the Jesuit theologian, Gustavo Gutierrez, writes ”When we think everything is occurring normally we are not capable of perceiving what is new.” Gutierrez suggests that Joseph in today’s Gospel needed to be shaken up in order to realize the miracle that was really taking place. As human beings….it is when we are vulnerable, beaten down, when life seems out of control….it is those moments that we are most receptive to God’s plan for us and can be open to his redemptive grace….
Those among us who are struggling know first hand that we need God. (They can feel that the glove is inside-out so to speak.) The cross they bear actually opens them uniquely to our God who comes to save us…they know they need saving! In this way the Last (those hurting among us) become the First and the First (as far as the world’s perception goes) can become the Last.
This final week before Christmas I urge everyone to be mindful of all those among us who are struggling; lift them up in prayer. And remember in your Christmas preparations why God comes to us in the first place… TO SAVE US.
Sunday Dec 11, 2016
Sunday Dec 11, 2016
3rd Advent-A’16
“WAIT on GOD”
Fr. Jeff Nicolas
John the Baptist is not having a good day. Locked up, little hope of escape, he sends word to Jesus asking if he is “The One.” How often can we find ourselves in John’s sandals? Locked up in prisons of sickness, grief, betrayal, resentment, helplessness, or unforgiveness, we find ourselves questioning God. Jesus are you the One or should I look for another?
Jesus’ response: Wait on God, or in other words, Be Patient.
Now this is not the trite “Be Patient” we sometimes rattle off to antsy worriers. Jesus teaches us both how and why we are to be patient. First, the how… The key to patience is found in the phrase, “Wait on God.” It is a matter of where we place the emphasis when saying it. When we say, “Wait on GOD,” we are reminded of who it is we await…GOD. God is in control. God will act. God promises and fulfills.
Every promise of God in the OT unfolds in the NT. Each successive event in salvation history discloses a new unanticipated fulfillment of previous prophesies. For instance, the prophet Isaiah promises in our first reading that God will come with vindication, with divine recompense God will come to save us. And God does just that, but not like everyone expected. God came not as a great political worldly power, but as an itinerant preacher, Jesus. And God did not just send a preacher, God came Himself.
Time and time again God fulfills His promises in ways we could never imagine, and the end result should be trust on our part. We should grow to trust that just as God has been with us throughout salvation history, God will remain with us into paradise. Wait of GOD. The first key to patience: trust our future to God.
Change the emphasis of our sentence and we discover a second key to patience… “WAIT on God.” Here I mean “wait” in the sense of a waiter working a table. We need to “wait” on God. We need to attend to God in the present moment.
What happens to us when we lose our patience? We obsess about something in the future. Whether it is a red light that won’t change to green; a checkout clerk who cannot find the price tag; or a child learning how to get along with siblings; we get caught up in what “ought to be.” I believe Jesus calls us back to the now. Wait on God. Be attentive to God in the now. Notice what God is doing right now… The blind to faith, see. The crippled by sin, walk. The wounded by resentment, heal. The deaf to injustice, hear. The dead to forgiveness are raised to life. The grieving, hope.
By waiting on God, being attentive, noticing grace, we pull ourselves back to the present and then more readily can entrust our future to God. THIS IS PATIENCE.
But why be patient? Jesus teaches us this as well. By being patient we witness our trust and attentiveness to God. Like John the Baptist, we become messengers of God’s good news, preparing the way of the Lord. Perhaps like me many of you are receiving Christmas cards. Some declare friendship; some invite to parties; some catch up on events that have occurred; and some express gratitude for a gift received. Yet despite their differences, all point toward Christmas. All announce this good news.
Each of us intentional disciples are called to serve God’s purpose of preparing the way for others to find Jesus Christ. As we each witness our trust and attentiveness to God in our own unique circumstances, we allow ourselves to become “Christmas cards” for Christ, announcing the good news of his presence in our lives and our world.
May Christ say of our witness what he said of John the Baptist’s: “God cares enough to send his very best!”