Month: May 2023

Posted on

Pentecost Sunday – Mass during the Day

Pentecost

John 20:19-23

Do you know that “you, baptized members of the Catholic faith, are called to evangelize and are called to be missionary disciples?” These words are from Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. Many lay faithful think that the works of evangelization are assigned to clergy, religious orders, or missioners. However, when we think like that, we are ignoring an honored vocation. Today, if you remember nothing else in my homily, you must remember that whatever your position in the Church or your level of instruction in faith, you are called to be missionary disciples and agents of evangelization.x2

You may question why do I preach about missionary vocation on the solemnity of Pentecost? It seems not related to the nature of this occasion. I should talk about the Holy Spirit, such as who he is, or what the meaning of his titles is. However, I tell you that the feast of the Holy Spirit is the best occasion to remind you of your missionary vocation. Why?

Let us recall the readings and the gospel you have heard. In the gospel, after greeting his disciples, Jesus commissioned them “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Then, He gave them the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit they had received is not to keep for themselves, but to go forth on their mission to proclaim the kingdom of God and the forgiveness of sins. In the acts of the apostles, after the people were all filled with the Holy Spirit, they had begun to proclaim the good news of Resurrected Christ, not only in their mother tongue, but also in different tongues that everyone can understand clearly. In the letter of Saint Paul to Corinthians, we see that the Holy Spirit enables us to believe “Jesus is Lord.” The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to everyone in different kinds so that he or she can give a hand to build the unity of the mystical body of Christ. The pattern of all readings today is receiving the Holy Spirit and proclaiming the Gospel.

Does what happened in the scripture relate to you today? Yes, if you personalize the word of God you have heard. That is, you place yourself in the word of God so that what happened in the scripture is what happens to you. If you consider you are among the disciples in the locked door room, you are also given the Holy Spirit and commissioned to proclaim the Gospel. Indeed, you received the Holy Spirit when you were baptized. In baptism, you are commissioned to evangelize the whole world. Moreover, God does not commission you without preparing you for your mission. By the sacraments of Christian initiation and by the gifts of the Holy Spirt, you are prepared well to be missionary disciples and agents of evangelization.

            Now, when you are aware of your missionary vocation, you can think of how to carry it out. There are various ways to do it, but I recommend two actions, namely participate, and dedicate. That is, you participate in daily mass so that you cultivate your relationship with God. You participate in apostolate works to serve God and people. You participate in social life in your conditions by promoting the common good, respecting the just laws, and witnessing the gospel in society. By dedicate, you dedicate yourselves to daily prayers not only for your needs but also for the mission of the Church. You dedicate yourselves to the works of charity by which you show God’s merciful face to everyone. You dedicate yourselves to building the unity of the Church by becoming peacemakers. I encourage you to find and add more ways to participate in and dedicate to proclaiming the word of God in your conditions.

The image of honeybee workers is a good image of your missionary vocation. Honeybee workers have only one mission to fly away from their hive to find honey. Their trips are always long with danger from the predators, but they never stop doing their mission. Thus, the hive is full of precious honey. The hive is the Church. You are the honeybee workers. Honey is the soul of the repentant. Like a bee worker, you are sent everywhere in the world to gather people to the Church. You may encounter many dangers and challenges, but never fear because you have the Holy Spirit, your Paraclete, your Advocate. Brothers and sisters! Go and gather honey to the hive. You are missionary disciples and agents of evangelization.

Posted on

Seventh Sunday of Easter – Ascension

Chúa Thăng Thiên

John 17:1-11a

            Does anyone know where Jesus now? Three days ago, we celebrated the Ascension of Jesus, so he must be in heaven now. However, where is heaven? Is it somewhere in the sky or in the cosmos? No! we do not understand heaven as a physical place, but we understand it as a state in which there is God. In other words, heaven is wherever God is found. If you know the song ubi caritas, you will know where God is found. The song begins with the words “where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found.” Now, you can see the signs of heaven are love and charity. Heaven is not far from us, but it is right here among us when we show love and charity to each other. Thus, Jesus’ ascension means that he returned to the Father, but it does not mean that he went far away from us. He is still present here among us to intercede for us, to give us the hope of one day being fully united with him in heaven.

            Being aware that while Jesus ascended to heaven, Jesus is present among us, what should we do. The readings and gospel today advise us to do three actions, namely believe, pray, and rejoice. The gospel is Jesus’s petitions for his disciples. In his petitions, we find that who belongs to God are those who accept Jesus’s words and believe that Jesus is sent by God. Thus, if you want to belong to God and to be united with him, you first and foremost have to believe in Christ and his words. We can explicitly express our belief in Christ through our acts of worship. The true belief in Christ must foster us to appreciate the necessity of our worship to him. He does not need our praise, and our praise does not increase anything for him, but the praise given to him is for our own sake. In addition, we can show our belief in his words through the love of Scripture because Scripture is the word of God. That is, we frequently listen to the Scripture in the liturgy or by ourselves in private. We read the Scripture, ponder it, and live out its messages in our lives.

            Pray! The first reading from the acts of the apostles tells us that “After Jesus had been taken up to heaven the apostles returned to Jerusalem. […] “[They] devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” Prayer was very important for them at that moment because they feared the Jews. Prayer brought them peace and courage. We, followers of Jesus, also need to imitate the example of the apostles. That is, we have a prayerful lives. In prayer, we can offer to God everything that matter to us, such as our fear, our joy, and our sadness. We surrender to God all our life concern. He will strengthen and console us. We have two types of prayers, namely communal prayer, and personal prayer. The apostles in the reading were doing communal prayer. We now can do it by attending mass and celebrations of sacraments, by holding prayer in group or in family. Besides, we are encouraged to take sometimes by ourselves alone to pray with God. In personal prayer, we can cultivate deeper our relationship with God whom we believe and worship.

            Rejoice! Normally, we rejoice in delighted events. For instance, Ascension is truly a delighted event for us to rejoice. However, in the second reading, Saint Peter exhorts us that “Rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly.” We can share in the suffering of Christ when we renounce a bad habit or forgive someone his mistakes. Sharing in the sufferings of Christ is not easily seen as a delight because we may experience wounds and pains. Wounds and pains seem impossible to make us rejoice, but the truth is that they are possible. Precisely, those who accept to forgive someone must accept some kinds of wounds, but forgiveness can bring joy and peace for both the forgiving and the forgiven. In a family, if husband and wife, parents and children accept the weakness of each other and forgive each other any mistakes, that family will be filled with joy and love. We see here that wounds and pains accepted out of love can truly rejoice us. “Rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ.”

            Brothers and sisters! ‘Believe, pray, and rejoice’ is the message for you today. I invite you to take it home, pondering it, and living it out. May our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen our faith, lift us up in prayer, and rejoice us in sharing with his sufferings. Amen.