Some Things Are Worth Running For – Easter 2019

                When I tell my extended family later today that I did a 5K at 5 o’clock this morning, I expect to be greeted with incredulous stares and sarcastic remarks. I can’t blame them. I’ve never been very athletic, or athletic at all for that matter, so “5K” and “Mike” aren’t two words one normally would find in the same sentence, unless the word “avoid” is strategically placed among them. But my friend Eric, who organized the SonRise 5K, can be pretty persuasive, especially when he’s on fire with faith, so I rolled out of bed at 4:30, stuck a pin in my Eric voodoo doll, and headed out for my 5:15 start time. Why did I do it?  Because Eric convinced me that some things are worth running for.

            There’s a lot of running going on in this morning’s Gospel passage from John. Upon discovering the empty tomb, Mary of Magdala, initially thinking that someone had taken Jesus’ body, runs to tell the apostles. Incredulous, Peter and the apostle whom Jesus loved run to the empty tomb to see for themselves. The scattered burial cloths tell them all they need to know. They finally understand the Scripture that the Lord had to rise from the dead. In the wee hours of that first Easter morning, perhaps a bit winded, the apostles finally understand the Good News.

            We could all use a little Good News right about now. With so much despair, suffering, and addiction in our world, it seems harder and harder to convince people that life is worth living. That’s where Jesus comes in. God’s Word became flesh to share our joys and our sorrows, our comfort and our pain, our blessings and our afflictions. He suffered, died, and rose from the dead, not only to break the bonds of sin and death, but to convince us that our loving God is the God of the living, and that life, indeed, is worth live. But Jesus can’t deliver this message alone. He needs people to preach his Good News, sometimes with words, but always through our loving actions toward one another. He needs people who live their lives in such a way that others will say, “If such is the servant, I must meet the Master.” Jesus needs us to carry his message to the ends of the earth with the same urgency of the first apostles. Jesus needs good runners who understand that some things are worth running for.

            My family may not believe that I did a 5K at 5 o’clock this morning, but I have proof, and not just the 3.1 miles clocked on my step counter before 6 am and a really cool SonRise race T-shirt. I have witnesses. About 60 people from our community (and two all the way from North Carolina) turned out dark and early to run or walk the course, no doubt having also stuck pins in their respective Eric voodoo dolls. Crossing the finish line together at 6:15, just in time to watch the sun breach the horizon and peak through clouds over the verdant hayfields of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, we joined together in worship, fellowship and praise of the One whose resurrection we celebrate today. In their enthusiasm, perseverance, and palpable faith, this cloud of witnesses inspires me and gives me great hope. In them I see that Jesus has a lot of good runners, people who understand that some things are worth running for.   

Happy Easter!

Reading: John 20: 1-9

A Personal Relationship with Jesus - Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, The Third Scrutiny

         A promising, young religion major was thrilled to find the following question on her final exam in sacramental theology: “Please explain the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharistic.” Most theologians cower in the face of such a challenging question, but not our religion major.  Assured of an A, she dove right in with this pithy response: “Jesus is as present in the Eucharist as the pews are in the church and the candles on the altar.”  She failed the final exam.  Our religion major neglected to mention the one thing we need to understand the real presence and everything else we believe as Christians – a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  She might have gotten that A if she had paid attention to today’s readings.

          Today’s third installment in the trilogy of readings that lead our Elect to sacramental initiation speak to us about life in Christ.  Our first reading summarizes Ezekiel’s prophetic mission to the exiles: “He preaches the word of God to bring new life to a dead Israel.”^[1]  In our Gospel, Jesus proclaims that he is the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in him will live, even if he dies; and whoever lives and believes in him will never die.  That’s why Saint Paul tells us in our second reading that the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us gives eternal life to our mortal bodies.  Christ dwells within us, and we receive that gift of eternal life when we enter into a personal relationship with Jesus.

          Pope Francis tells us that “[b]eing a Christian means having a living relationship with the person of Jesus; it means putting on Christ, being conformed to him.”[2]  Understanding Jesus’ presence in our lives, hearing his word, following his teachings, and everything it means to be a Christian all depend upon having a personal relationship with him.

So what do we mean by a personal relationship?  Well, let’s return for a moment to our young religion major’s misguided explanation of Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist.  Pews in the church and candles on the altar are present, but they’re not really present. “The only real presence is interpersonal presence, the presence between two persons actively [engaging].”^[3]  That’s a personal relationship.  Think of it this way, if I were to show up at your house this afternoon and ask you to describe one person sitting near you at Mass who didn’t come with you, would you pass the test?  For some of us, they might as well be a candle or a pew.  One of the reasons we have the greeting before Mass and the sign of peace is to foster personal relationships – to take a moment to look each other in the eye, to speak to each other, to exchange a smile.  Those simple gestures are at least the beginnings of a personal relationship, the kind of relationship we need to have with Jesus.  Why?  Because eternal life is relational.  “Man did not acquire it from himself or for himself alone.  Through relationship with the one who is himself life, man too comes alive.”[4]  Freed from the fear of death, our lives our transfigured – we find joy in serving others; we trust that God will provide all that we need; and we face illness, pain, and death with resolute courage.  A life lived in personal relationship with Jesus “is clad with a new loveliness, a new charm, a new strength.”^[5]  

          Hopefully by now you’re saying, “Sign me up for a personal relationship with Jesus!”  The problem is I can’t.  You have to.  A personal relationship with Jesus is just that – personal.  Jesus’ revelation to Martha calls for a personal response: “Do you believe this?”  Martha aced that test because she knew Jesus, she spent time with him, and she listened to him.  Only you can answer that question for yourself, because only you can commit yourself to developing a personal relationship with Jesus.  I can’t do it for you, but Martha’s good example is a great place to start. 

First, get to know Jesus better.  Read Scripture, attend Bible Study classes, ask questions of your clergy, read books.  God’s Word became flesh so that we could know him and, through him, know the Father.  Let’s make the effort to get to know him better.  Second, spend a little time with Jesus.  Actively participate in liturgy, sit quietly with him before the Blessed Sacrament, accompany him on the Way of the Cross, pray.  The disciples developed intimate, personal relationships with Jesus by spending time with him.  Let’s set aside a part of each day to spend a little time with Jesus.  Third, listen to Jesus.  Offer your cloak, live like a child, show compassion, forgive.  We come to know Jesus best when we conform our lives to his.  Like Martha, let’s acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God and listen to him.  Being a Christian is the work of a lifetime. “Whether we are about to receive the sacraments of initiation in two weeks’ time, or have lived many years as Catholics, we must struggle continually to deepen our faith in Christ”[6] and develop a personal relationship with him.

   Our Elect and candidates have been working really hard for the past seven months to prepare themselves to receive the sacraments on Easter.  You’re almost there.  You’ve endured Deacon Mark’s boring lectures, you’ve experienced Ed’s lofty spiritual exercises, and you’re probably still trying to figure out what I was talking about in my presentation on God.  Now, I understand that you’ll be taking your final exam in class this morning.  Deacon Mark didn’t tell you?  Well, then let me offer you a little help.  There’ s only one answer to every question on the test because none of the doctrines, dogmas, rites, and rubrics that you’ve learned mean a thing without it.  That answer is a personal relationship with Jesus.   

Readings: Ezekiel 37: 12-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8: 8-11; John 11: 1-45

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[1] Lawrence Boadt, “Ezekiel,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Roland E. Murphy, eds. (Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1990), 325.

[2] Pope Francis, Homily of the Holy Father, October 4, 2013.

[3] Michael G. Lawler, Symbol and Sacrament: A Contemporary Sacramental Theology (New York: Paulist Press, 1987), 145.

[4] Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth – Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2011), 84.

[5] William Barclay, The Gospel of John, vol. 2 (Louisville, Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), 110.

[6] Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Homiletic Directory (Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2014), 39.