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2 Peter 3: 12-18

Beloved:
Wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames
and the elements melted by fire.
But according to his promise
we await new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells.

Therefore, beloved, since you await these things,
be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.
And consider the patience of our Lord as salvation.

Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned,
be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled
and to fall from your own stability.
But grow in grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
To him be glory now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

The Word of the Lord.

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One of the great delights about being a priest is baptizing children. Lately, it seems like I’m doing so every weekend!

Often, when parents tote their newborn children into church, the children are wearing the baptismal gown that either their mother or father wore many years ago.

The gown is always white, some are ornate, and often the gown flows like a snowy river down past the child’s feet at least several inches, if not over a foot.

Before pouring water over the child’s head, I ask either Mom or Dad to hold their child up.

“Do you see? This gown doesn’t fit this baby; it’s way too large; overflowing!”

And that’s precisely the point.

The gown isn’t meant to fit yet because it’s symbolic of the Christian life. Each child – indeed all of us – must learn to how to grow into it.

Baptism is just day one of our Christian journeys.

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In our first reading, Saint Peter is writing to some of the early Christians, some of whom he himself may have baptized.

Although they were received into the Church, they still have to mature in their faith. There are four things, in particular, which Peter advises them to do.

First, live as if the end is near. As he says, “Be eager to be found without spot or blemish before the Lord.”

Second, be at peace – at peace with God, at peace with your neighbor, and at peace with yourself.

Third, guard against all evil; resist falling into temptation.

And, finally, “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.”

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Which of these four things might I need to grow in today – purity, peace, endurance, or knowledge of our Lord?

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Make every effort to grow into the gown, as it were.

Maturing in our faith is part of fulfilling our destiny we began long ago, the moment we were baptized.

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Image credits: (1) Desiring God (2) The Importance of Baptism, AD Today (3) All Free Crochet

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2 Peter 1: 2-7

Beloved:
May grace and peace be yours in abundance
through knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

His divine power has bestowed on us
everything that makes for life and devotion,
through the knowledge of him
who called us by his own glory and power.
Through these, he has bestowed on us
the precious and very great promises,
so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature,
after escaping from the corruption that is in the world
because of evil desire.
For this very reason,
make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,
virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control,
self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion,
devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When do you sing out loud?

Perhaps at a concert, or on a hot summer day, driving in the car alone – windows down, hair blowing in the wind, not a care in the world.

To me, singing’s a bit like whistling – it’s hard to do when your sad, but easy when you’re happy.

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Today we celebrate the feast of Charles Lwanga and his companions, who sang to God during the darkest and final hour of their lives.

By the end of the 19^th century, Catholicism was spreading like wildfire throughout Africa. But whenever the Church begins to flourish, it often meets resistance. 

Such was the case in in Uganda.

The king didn’t pay any attention this new religious movement budding beneath his throne, until he was confronted directly by Christ’s teachings. 

One day, Charles Lawanga told the king that he was living a life of immorality and debauchery – that his actions offended the Lord and that he should repent.

But the king became so enraged that he decided to kill Charles and his companions, forcing them to march into the woods for two long days, before burning them on wooden stakes.

As they were being led to their death, Charles and his companions sang songs to God – a sign of how deeply rooted their faith in Christ had become.

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As the old Swedish proverb reminds us, “Those who wish to sing always find a song.”

It’s not only true on good days, while jamming out a concert or cruising down the highway, but even in the darkest hour of our lives.

We can always sing of glory because of Him, who first loved us and gave himself for us.

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Image credits: (1) eBay (2) National Catholic Register (3) Dreamstime.com

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Gospel: Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
when they sacrificed the Passover lamb,
Jesus’ disciples said to him,
“Where do you want us to go
and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
He sent two of his disciples and said to them,
“Go into the city and a man will meet you,
carrying a jar of water.
Follow him.
Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,
‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room
where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”‘
Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.
Make the preparations for us there.”
The disciples then went off, entered the city,
and found it just as he had told them;
and they prepared the Passover.

While they were eating,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, gave it to them, and said,
“Take it; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them,
and they all drank from it.
He said to them,
“This is my blood of the covenant,
which will be shed for many.
Amen, I say to you,
I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine
until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Then, after singing a hymn,
they went out to the Mount of Olives.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Many of you know, I’m a convert to the Catholic faith. I wasn’t raised with any deep religious foundation; I was only baptized in a Protestant church as a child.

But as I entered my teenage years, I started questioning, searching for God. 

So, when I went off to college, I started going to Mass; it was a Catholic university. After 100 Sundays of watching others sit, stand, kneel, then proceed forth for Communion, I came to the simple conclusion: “That’s either Jesus, or it’s not.”

“And if it is, then I must have him.”

So, I became a Catholic … and, years later, a priest. 

Often, we get caught up in the question of, “How can that be Jesus?” The Eucharist looks like just a piece of bread. Perhaps it’s better to focus not on how, but, “Why would that be him?”

It seems the stage was set from the very first pages of the Bible.

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In the Book of Genesis, how do Adam and Eve break their communion with God?

Through an act of eating.

As Satan the serpent slithers in the Garden of Eden, he convinces Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge. She then shares that fruit with Adam. 

This breaks the command given by God to Adam: “You are free to eat from any of the trees in the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it, you shall die.”

Christians understand this to be the origin of sin – and by extension the evil that is still present in our world. Once humanity’s relationship with God was severed through a disobedient act of eating, “all hell broke loose,” as it were.

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus reverses that ancient curse of Eden by establishing a new, final covenant, also through an act of eating. 

“Take this, all of you, and eat of it,” he says. “This is my body, given up for you… This is my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant. Do this in memory of me.”

Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge.

In the Eucharist, we eat from the tree of life. 

As the Lord promises elsewhere, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”

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Pondering this truth that we receive Christ in the Eucharist is enough “food for thought.”

But receiving our Lord also comes with great responsibility. As Saint Augustine once taught, “Become what you consume.” Become like Christ in the Eucharist – bread broken and shared, offering nourishment for others. 

So, each morning as I hold that sacred Host in my hand, I pray in union with the Lord, saying silently in my heart, “This is also my body, my heart given up for you – this community of faith.”

Every encounter, every homily written, every Mass, baptism, wedding, anointing, or funeral celebrated is my way of offering myself with Jesus … for you. 

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Don’t we all attempt to satisfy that command in some way?

“Do this – be this – in memory of me?”

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I think of parents who sacrifice sleep and sanity to raise a family; those who care for an elderly parent or an aging spouse; those involved in parish ministry, and so on. We give ourselves freely for this community of faith, each in our own way.

As Saint Teresa of Avila once wrote:

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which He looks. Yours are the feet with which He walks. Yours are the hands with which He blesses. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

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His body becomes our body every time we receive him in the Eucharist.

So, “Do this – be this – bread broken, life for others, in memory of me.”

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Image credits: (1) Do This In Memory of Me, Andy Schmalen, Fine Art America (2) Aleteia (3) Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington