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Homily from Sacred Heart: LISTEN NOW: CLICK HERE

Dear Believers,

The disciples in this gospel passage, Luke 9: 51-62, just can’t figure out what following Jesus really means. They are filled with pride and ego, thinking that if they follow him then they must keep the Samaritans away from them. Jesus is trying to invest in his new followers and they are missing the mark.

Jesus tells the disciples that there is no place for him to lay his head. In other words, nothing permanent is given the disciple. The disciple will not have certainty, false power or false pride. They must become people of love, people who follow Jesus’ commands. The disciples say they can pull it off, that they will follow him without reservation.

However, the disciples come up with many excuses not to follow Jesus. They must go and bury a relative. They ask to say goodbye to their families. In between the words, we can feel the hesitation. Here, the rubber meets the road. They realize that following Jesus means they risk much of what is familiar, ordinary and well established. They must learn to let go of all the attachments of their hearts and lives.

Now we have celebrated all the major feasts of Easter and Pentecost and beyond. The sacred liturgy invites us to put what we believe into practice. Yet, we find our lives and our faith much like the disciples. We are lukewarm in our following; we are reluctant to let go of what is comfortable in our lives. Worse yet, we are filled with many excuses.

Real conversion takes time. In fact, it takes a lifetime. To let go of our human attachments of power, pride and self-sufficiency, is a process that few people will enter into. Conversion does not mean only following Church rules. It means finding in our hearts the person of Christ Jesus who leads us into life, hope, love and service. This conversion process is radical. It changes our perspectives, our concerns and how we live our daily lives.

I invite you to consider this week all of the excuses you have for not following Jesus with more intention and with more purpose. Here are some excuses to consider: I don’t have time. I don’t know how to follow. I don’t know enough to follow. I don’t know enough about scripture. I am not interested in faith. I don’t get Jesus in the first place. Showing up to Mass is good enough. Faith is for prudes. My heart holds only my opinions. My faith and politics are good enough. I have to fold my socks.

Jesus is asking us to make room for him in our hearts in order to change the world. If we can give our lives to him, he will invite us to welcome the stranger, to offer solace to the frightened and listen to the discouraged. If we can learn to let go of our excuses to follow Jesus, he will show us a new path of kindness that will change our lives and those around us.

We live in times of violence and corruption and many of our youth are depressed and discouraged about life. We need to be radically transformed into people who hold hope within our hearts. We need Jesus today more than ever.

Peace,

Fr. Ron

June 30, 2019

Thirteen Sunday in Ordinary Time

Let us follow Christ Jesus into new lands where integrity shall lift up the Church and genuine faith shall sprout in the hearts of all believers.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us follow Christ as we let go of our excuses and discover for our own lives the richness of service and the beauty of justice for people who most need us.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us follow Christ Jesus when we are called to extend our hands in service and our hearts in compassion for the stranger and foreigner. May people in poverty convert our hearts toward mercy.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us follow Christ Jesus on paths of faithfulness as we invite others into faith and the Church. May our lives reflect goodness for the entire world.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us follow Christ Jesus as we put our hands on the plow and face into the direction of earthly peace, kindness within our family lives, and compassion toward our enemies.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us follow Christ Jesus even when we are most challenged by grief and despair. May our hearts express the tenderness of faith, and our efforts reflect God’s passion toward unity and wholeness. In this Mass we remember…

We pray to the Lord.

Homily from this evening’s Mass for the Sacred Heart. CLICK HERE: LISTEN NOW

“The Sacred Heart”: This image was published in AIM Magazine, World Library 2018. Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC

“What if

Our hearts were broken open enough

To finally realize the beauty of life

For all people

Like those who washed up

On our shore floating face down

Or what if we recognized

How difficult life is for

Our single mothers who

Cannot afford healthcare for

Their newborns or what

If our hearts were tender enough

To walk with our children

Who are so angry with their

Fathers in prison or

What if we finally let

Go of our prejudice toward

People whose skin color

Threatens us or maybe today

On the feast of the heart we

Might find art and poetry

Help us get to a religion that

Will free people and not put them

Down or what if we could have

Honest conversations with people

Across opposite aisles or

What if our hearts were free enough

To listen to the love flowing

From the Sacred Heart of

Christ Jesus?”

I just finished my workshop. I told more stories and used other examples than this text. Here is the structure of what I said. 

Fr. Ron Raab, CSC: “Bending Toward the Light: Our Posture of Solidarity through Preaching” This workshop will explore our radical change of perspective, insight, faith and posture when we preach among marginalized people. When we listen to and accompany people living in poverty or suffering from mental illness or addiction or abuse, we bend toward the Light of Christ together. We imitate Jesus who bent down to heal Simon’s mother-in-law. We kneel in the sand with Jesus as he doodles, listening to a woman caught in adultery. Jesus uses spittle and clay to open our eyes and to release our tongues. These experiences of living among our desperate poor reveal our deepest humanity and our need for God. This spirituality connects prayer and service and invites liberation and hope for all people.

Notre Dame Preaching Conference 2019

On Good Friday this year I stood by our large mission crucifix in our church while parishioners slowly moved forward in prayer for veneration. For nearly an hour, families, widows and visitors bent their knees or bowed toward the wood of the cross. Each person brought their own need to Jesus with a kiss or touch, each soul longing to make sense out of their lives, the suffering of their families, and of the world.

As each person in our assembly venerated the cross, I prayed on our sanctuary step with my arm and hand up over the crowd and blessed them silently. I wept for them because I know much of their pain and the reasons they came to the cross in the first place. Their questions and prayers seemed to run through my soul. I felt their lives cling to the mercy of God. I sobbed because I caught a glimpse of their depression and addictions, their fear in relationships and their guilt over their wrong decisions. I cried because I could feel on Good Friday much of their despair and the hope they carry with them well beyond the Triduum.

My posture at that moment of the Triduum has become a vital image of preaching and ministry for me. Standing at the Cross praying for my parishioners seems to be the least thing I could do as a pastor on that day, since my role is to connect the saving Word of God to human suffering and turmoil. My role as a preacher is also to understand the depths of human anguish so to reveal where the messages of Jesus’ liberation, mercy and love make a home within them. This moment on Good Friday forms our posture of solidarity among God’s poor within our preaching. On Good Friday, I realized with profound tenderness, that my connection to people’s need for God and the reality of Jesus’ Paschal Mystery helped me surrender to love and the beauty of God’s redemption within us all. Continue reading →

July 23, 2019

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Let us seek to satisfy the hunger of the Church by working for spiritual renewal and integrity of mission for the benefit of all believers.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us seek to satisfy the hunger of people who are physically starving in every land and nation, especially for refugees and migrants, those who face draughts and floods, and those who cannot afford healthy food.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us seek to satisfy the hunger of all Christians as we seek unity amid division. May we seek communion and love of the Eucharist for all people.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us seek to satisfy the hunger of loved ones in prison, our loved ones who bear the pain of their past actions. May we together feast on justice and mercy.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us seek to satisfy the hunger of people in depression and loneliness. May the Eucharist keep us in communion with God’s fidelity and goodness. May hope satisfy all people.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us seek to satisfy the spiritual hunger of those who grieve our dead. May the Holy Spirit lift the burdens of loss and regrets of the past. In this Mass…

We pray to the Lord.

Dear Believers in the Christ,

We celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This feast focuses on what we do every day; celebrate the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We may take this for granted, so at the end of the Easter season, we reflect on the Most Holy Trinity and the Eucharist.

Luke 9:11B-17 offers us a story of Jesus that reveals his abundance. There is a large crowd of people who are hungry. They have been satisfied by hearing Jesus’ teaching and being in his presence. So they shared five loaves of bread and two fish. Even though there were five thousand people, they had fish and bread left over. This miracle comes to us in order to reflect on the message of what the Mass is for us and what Eucharist can be for us who consume the Real Presence of Jesus nearly every day.

We are all hungry for God. God alone initiates this reality. God creates us in order for us to long for love, integrity and justice. We are given a taste of God’s real presence every time we receive the Eucharist. However, there is more for us to see, to realize and to become when we taste the Real Presence of Christ Jesus. The Eucharist is not just a liturgical action. Receiving communion is not just a rule of the Church or a rote gesture.

The Eucharist offered to every human heart is a deep gift from God. This gift is shrouded in love, love for each and every person. This gift of bread and wine is meant to heal our hearts with such abundance of hope, with everlasting integrity and joy. For most people, Mass remains simply something we just do, not something we all become. There is something far deeper in the external white host and a sip of cheap wine. In every morsel and in every sip, there is the miracle and profound love of Christ Jesus, uniting us in the Trinity, giving us a glimpse of heaven itself.

In the gospel, Jesus tells the disciples to give the people some food themselves. Jesus is asking for their initiative to feed and to comfort. I believe this is an important part of the gospel passage today. We are to become what we eat. In other words, God feeds us in so many ways we cannot even imagine. If we take this food seriously, we can find his real presence in our hatred, in our violence and in our apathy. We can find healing in our regrets and in the tragic moments that separate us from family members. We can heal our politics and become people of wisdom in the center of the Eucharist. If all of that is true, then we must learn to live in our world the love we receive.

We become the Eucharist in the world; this is the mission of the Church. We are to feed the hungry, shepherd the lost and quell those who crave hatred. We are to heal the toxic divisions of violence and corruption. We are to feed people ourselves as the gospel suggests. We are to become the Real Presence of Christ in our fragile world. We break open our lives, just as the bread is broken. We pour out our lives, just as the wine is poured out. We are the Body of Christ who feeds others and offers hope for every person in our world.

Blessings,

Fr. Ron

June 16, 2019: The Most Holy Trinity

Let us seek God who pours into our hearts love and integrity for our Church and for all people on earth. May we live as messengers of such gifts.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us seek God who pours into our hearts the ability to aid people living with injustice and fatigue. May we work from the heart of the Trinity for right relationships on earth.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us seek God who pours into our hearts the knowledge and fidelity of the Gospel so to lift up the suffering, to welcome the migrant, and to visit the prisoner.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us seek God who pours into our hearts love for our fathers, our grandfathers, stepfathers, foster fathers and single fathers. May we remain grateful for our dads both living and deceased.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us seek God who pours into our hearts a love for a healthy community within the Church, a source of peace for all disturbed by war, hatred and violence.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us seek God who pours into our hearts the healing we need in our grief and loss. We pray for our beloved dead and in this Mass…

We pray to the Lord.