Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Luke 1:39-56

Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”

And Mary said:

    “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
        my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
        for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
    From this day all generations will call me blessed:
        the Almighty has done great things for me
        and holy is his Name.
    He has mercy on those who fear him
        in every generation.
    He has shown the strength of his arm,
        and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
    He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
        and has lifted up the lowly.
    He has filled the hungry with good things,
        and the rich he has sent away empty.
    He has come to the help of his servant Israel
        for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
        the promise he made to our fathers,
        to Abraham and his children forever.”

Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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While studying for the priesthood in Rome, I used to visit a children’s hospital located right next to our seminary. I’ll never forget meeting a 5-year-old girl there named Martina.

Martina suffered from a very rare condition, causing her to spend almost every day of her short life in the hospital.

She had no joints. The bones in her arms and her legs didn’t connect, so she could neither stand nor walk. All she could do was lay in her little hospital bed.

It sounds impossible, but making her life even harder, she was blind, deaf, and mute. 

Martina had never seen her mother nor heard her voice. She only felt her mother’s touch, a gift she experienced every single day.  

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Martina’s mother never left her side. She was always there, because that’s what mothers do – they give us life; they bring us into this world, they nurture us, they shower us with love and affection.

Seeing the bond between this mother and her child reminded me of a definition I once heard of love: “Love is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.”

This mother was inseparable from her child; they were like a single soul dwelling in two bodies.

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That’s the type of bond we celebrate today – the inseparable bond between a mother and her child – in particular, the bond shared between Mary and Jesus.

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Mary was the only person who both welcomed Jesus into this world and was with him when he left it; from the day he first opened his eyes in Bethlehem to the moment he closed them on Calvary, Mary was there.

Wherever her child went, she would follow. But she was not only the Mother of Jesus; she was also his disciple.

Some would say, his first disciple. 

Over the course of thirty-three years, Mary’s heart became so united to Christ, they were like, “a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” His will became her will; whatever was pleasing to Jesus was pleasing to Mary.

As she reminds Christians in every age, “Do whatever he tells you.”

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On this Feast of the Assumption, it makes sense that wherever Jesus goes, Mary would follow – not only in this life, but also in the next.

After he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, Jesus called his mother home – body and soul. It’s what we celebrate today – our belief that human beings have a place in heaven, starting with Mary.

As Jesus says in John’s Gospel, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, you have faith in God. Have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.”

A place for Mary. A place for Martina. A place for you. And a place for me.

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This is essentially the message I shared with Martina’s mother the day Martina died. That bond of love between the two of them was so strong it was as if they were, “a single soul dwelling in two bodies.”

Wherever Martina went, her mother would eventually follow.

But in heaven, Martina’s body has been freed from the cross that bound her here on earth. She’s been given a glorified body where she’ll be able to walk and run; she’ll see her mother face to face; and she’ll thank her for never leaving her side.

It’s just what mothers do. Wherever their child is, so the mother will follow.

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Image credits: (1) The Visitation, Reddit (2) The Jakarta Post (3) A Contemporary Assumption, Catholic Telegraph

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Gospel: Matthew 17:22-27

As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee,
Jesus said to them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men,
and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.”
And they were overwhelmed with grief.

When they came to Capernaum,
the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said,
“Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?”
“Yes,” he said. 
When he came into the house, before he had time to speak,
Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon?
From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax?
From their subjects or from foreigners?”
When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him,
“Then the subjects are exempt.
But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook,
and take the first fish that comes up. 
Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax.
Give that to them for me and for you.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There’s an old Swedish proverb, “Those who wish to sing always find a song.”

In good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, those who wish to sing always find a song.

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Today is the Feast of Saint Maximillian Kolbe, priest and martyr.

You may remember his story. Maximillian was one of the millions of prisoners sent to Auschwitz, the most infamous death camp in history. 

One day while working in the camp, another prisoner tried to escape. Furious over the attempt, the camp guards selected ten other men to be put to death in his place.

One of the men selected pleaded for mercy, telling the guards that he was a father and a husband.

Then Saint Maximillian stepped forward and said, “I am a Catholic priest. Let me take his place.”

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Maximillian and the other nine men were thrown into a hole, condemned to death by starvation.

He led those men in prayer for nearly two weeks. Personal accounts recalled how their singing could be heard rising out of the ground at all hours of the day, making it sound like a church choir buried in Auschwitz.

The hope was contagious.

“Those who wish to sing always find a song.”

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No matter where we find ourselves today – in good times or in bad, in sickness or in health, on a mountaintop or in the belly of the earth – we all have a reason to sing.

Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, promising that we, too, shall rise.

“Those who wish to sing, always find a song.”

Amen! Alleluia!

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Image credits: (1) Vatican News (2) Catholic World Report (3) iStock

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Gospel: Matthew 14: 22-33

After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat
and precede him to the other side,
while he dismissed the crowds. 
After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. 
When it was evening he was there alone. 
Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore,
was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. 
During the fourth watch of the night,
he came toward them walking on the sea. 
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. 
“It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. 
At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” 
Peter said to him in reply,
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 
He said, “Come.” 
Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. 
But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;
and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter,
and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 
After they got into the boat, the wind died down. 
Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,
“Truly, you are the Son of God.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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I experienced one of the most terrifying moments of my life while attending World Youth Day last Sunday in Lisbon.

As Pope Francis finished celebrating Mass, he gave us his final blessing. “Go forth,” he said. His words were meant in a figurative way to be a commissioning – “Go forth” and make disciples.

Return to your home, to your workplace, to your school and share this experience with others. Tell them about Jesus, about your experience of the universal Church – that it is filled with hope, tell them about the renewal of your faith. Invite others to, “Come and see.”

But for us, “Go forth” also meant, in a literal way, “Depart from this place. Return to your bus.” After sleeping outside under the stars the night before, and celebrating Mass that morning, it was time to pack up and head out.

Suddenly, I realized our group of 43 pilgrims had a harrowing journey ahead.

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It was already 96 degrees. The sun was rising. The day was only getting hotter. Our bus was six-miles away. We needed to move quickly. But 1.5 million other people were thinking the same thing. 

I remember the bottleneck at the bridge – our only exit. We were literally clinging to the backpack of the person in front of us as we passed by people fainting from panic and heat exhaustion. Fortunately, medics were there to care for them.

Two hours later – exhausted and grateful – we reached our bus.

That experience of being fearfully scrunched like sardines in a can made me think of the disciples in today’s Gospel.

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They’re terrified. As the Gospel says, they’re literally being “tortured” by the waves.

This is the first time they are without Jesus. And what happens? Disaster strikes! A storm forms around them that is so strong, these professional fishermen fear they are drowning. Meanwhile, the Lord is praying by himself safely on solid ground.

Jesus later approaches them by walking on the water, but the disciples mistake him for a ghost, making them even more fearful.

“Take courage, it is I,” he says, “Do not be afraid.”

Before calming the storm, Jesus invites Peter to overcome the fear that’s seized him by stepping out of the boat and onto the water.

Often, we fault Peter for sinking. But after all he’s endured, imagine the courage it took for him to do what no other human being had done before. 

The Gospel does not tell us how far Peter went; only that, “he began to walk on the water towards Jesus.” 

Suddenly, the power dynamics have shifted. Peter’s fear gives way to faith, allowing him to do the impossible.

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That is what Pope Francis asked of our young people – and by extension all of us – to shift the power dynamics; to replace our fear with faith; to dream big; in a sense, to walk on water.

Yes, when Peter took his eyes off of Christ and saw how strong the wind and waves were, he sank.

But for a moment he conquered his fear. I’m sure years later, he still revisited that night in prayer, reminding himself, as Saint Paul says, that, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” 

It’s a matter of keeping our eyes fixed – not on the wind and waves – but on Jesus.

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Where in my own life do I need Peter’s courage? Where do I need to learn how to walk on water … or, in some cases, to walk on water again?

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While we may never find ourselves caught in storm at sea or scrunched in a bottleneck on a bridge, there are moments when we will all feel afraid – as if we’re stuck, pressured, unable to move.

But the Lord says to us the same thing he said to Peter, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Step out of the boat. Shift the power dynamics. Replace your fear with faith. Even if you lose your focus and begin to sink, the Lord will be there to raise you up again.

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Image credits: (1) The Meeting Tent (2) Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt (3) Meridian Magazine