Homily originally presented May 10, 2020

Like Father … like Son!

While we won’t have any ordinations for our Diocese this year ...

but we’re very hopeful to have one next year about this time.  That would be the ordination of my nephew, Chuck Deering, to be a Deacon of the Catholic Church!

We heard of the ordination of a Deacon ... actually 7 Deacons ... in our First Reading today.

There in the 6^th Chapter of Acts, the growing number of Christians required more leaders to be able to serve them. Scripture says,

“They presented these men to the Apostles, who prayed and laid hands on them.”

So it was there that the Apostles, the first Bishops of the Church,

instituted the Sacrament of Holy Orders ...

by calling down the Holy Spirit, through the laying on of hands,

     to grace those men to fulfill the first level of service to the people.

That was the First Ordination & it’s been carried on that way for some 2000 years.

And, God willing, my nephew, Chuck will be ordained that very way next May, when our new Bishop, Bishop Steven Raica, lays his hands on his head and calls down the Holy Spirit on him!

That will bestow on Chuck the first level of Holy Orders.

He will then receive the second level of Holy Orders after 1 more year of seminary formation and is ordained Priest ... again through the laying on of hands by Bishop Raica, who has the third and highest level of Holy Orders.

How affirming to see the hierarchy of authority and the practice of ordination that is visible in the Catholic Church right there in the pages of Scripture!

You know I remember attending the Ordination of 2 Deacons 9 years ago, who are now Priests for the order ... Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word,

that brings the knowledge and love of God to the whole world

through the Eternal Word Television Network.

well,  as I looked out at the congregation, I saw a man in the second pew

who was the spittin’ image of one of the men being ordained!

I said to myself ... “That has to be Brother Leonard’s father!”

I mean, just by looking at the physical appearance of this man,

his size, his stature, his hair, his eyes, his nose, his movements, his stance …

there was no question in my mind that this man was Brother Leonard’s Dad.

And it turned out it was!

Here’s a man I’d never seen before

and somehow I felt I knew him

because he resembled Brother Leonard so much and I knew Brother Leonard.

Even though I’d never met his dad  …

I knew what he’s be like ...

because he resembled Brother Leonard so closely.

Perhaps you’ve had a similar experience.

Surely you’ve noticed how children have to a greater or lesser degree

a physical resemblance to one or both of their parents.

And children often resemble their parents in other ways too ...

in intellect or aptitude or skill or demeanor or one of many other traits.

It’s one reason for the adage, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

In other words, there’s a great similarity between the tree and the fruit it bears.

Another adage you’ve probably heard is,    “Life father, like son.”

This connectedness that we see between children and their parents is exactly what Jesus wants us to come to grips with in seeing how He’s connected to His Father.

In our Gospel today, Philip begs Jesus, “Show us the Father and that will be enough.”

And Jesus comes right back saying, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

Let’s think about that for a moment!

Consider who the Father is.

He is the Creator of the entire universe.

He is the Author of life who holds everything in existence.

He is the unapproachable Light, whose beauty only partially revealed ...

left Moses with his face so radiant ... that people couldn’t look at it unveiled.

All-Powerful ... All-Knowing ... Ever-Living ...

Glorious in holiness, robed in light, majestic beyond compare … this is the Father.

And how do we get to experience the Father?       Through His Son!

Today, Jesus tells Phillip, “Whoever has seen me ... has seen the Father!  

And when Jesus asks, “Do you not believe

 that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”

   He’s actually revealing a cornerstone of our faith …

that God is the union of Persons that God is Trinity... 3 Persons in 1God!

We know that God is pure Spirit .... while we are embodied spirits.  

So how are we supposed to get to know God, if He is pure Spirit and we are not?

We get to know Him most perfectly and most completely through God’s Son,

 Jesus, who is fully God and fully man.

And this whole process begins ... through the action of God’s Holy Spirit.

Yes, it begins in Baptism and is nurtured with prayers and sacraments.

St. Peter tells us in our Second Reading,

“Come … let yourselves be built into a spiritual house”.

And he goes on to explain the purpose of this building.

Peter says, so that you become “a holy priesthood

to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Wow, this one statement contains so many important truths!

First, when we were baptized, we entered the common priesthood of Jesus Christ,

also know as the priesthood of the faithful.

That’s what Peter means when he says that we become a holy priesthood.

I’m in the Ministerial Priesthood, and all of you are in the Common Priesthood.

With this grace, you are now capable of ...  and ... expected to

offer spiritual sacrifices to the Father …

in a personal way for sure, but more importantly in a communal way at Holy Mass.

You see, Mass is the highest spiritual sacrifice we can offer to God.

That’s because Mass is the re-presentation of the Sacrifice of His Divine Son, Jesus

Mass is a participation in the eternal sacrifice of Calvary made present once again.

Yes, Jesus, the unblemished Lamb, was the only acceptable sacrifice that could atone for our sins and repair the separation  that existed between God and man.

And the Mass enables us to unite ourselves with this great sacrifice to the Father.

In the Mass we get to offer all of our prayers, our praise our petitions and our very selves to the Father with and through Jesus, the only acceptable sacrifice, who is truly present on the Altar!

That’s why the Eucharistic Prayer closes with the words,

“Through Him, with Him, in Him, O God almighty Father in the unity of

the Holy Spirit all glory and honor is yours,  forever and ever.”

To which you all respond, “Amen”!

The Mass stands alone as the greatest most powerful prayer in the world.

It is the ultimate spiritual sacrifice that we can offer to the Father.

And this is what God wants … spiritual sacrifice.

Recall the account in John of Jesus meeting the Samaritan Woman at the well.

Jesus says to her, “The hour is coming … when true worshippers

   will worship the Father in Spirit and truth.”

He goes on saying, “Indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.”

He explains,

“God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”

It is through the work of the Holy Spirit and the hands of the Priest that Jesus becomes truly present at Mass. So the Spirit is present and Jesus is present … Jesus who revealed Himself today as “the Way the Truth and the Life”.

In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we worship God in Spirit and Truth as He desires!

This is not a sacrifice that you do at home … it’s done in Church ...

and you participate in it either being here in person or viewing it at home.

The Mass is the most perfect spiritual sacrifice.

How does the Father want to be known and loved and worshipped?

Through His Divine Son, Jesus.

Which is why Jesus reveals Himself today as the Way … the Way to the Father.

And Jesus points out that no one goes to the Father except through Him.

If you want to go to the Father … you have to enter into Jesus!

And the way you enter into Jesus is by receiving him in Holy Communion.

Remember how Jesus said in John 6,

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in Me and I in him.”

So, not only is Jesus entering into us when we receive the Eucharist,

but we are entering into Him!

It’s this process that prepares us to go to the Father.

Hopefully you can see why attending Mass is so important …

It’s in the Mass that we offer spiritual sacrifice to the Father in Spirit and Truth

And it’s in the Mass that we eat His Flesh and Blood to remain in Him.

As Peter says, our goal is to be built into a spiritual house …

so that we can offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to the Father.

This gives us great dignity as Peter proclaims,

“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own.”

God is Spirit … we are embodied.

Jesus is both … Spirit and Body.

It’s through Him that we come to know and love and worship the Father.

Just as Deacon Leonard bore a striking resemblance to his Father,

Jesus bears a full resemblance to His Father.

If we come to know Him … we really come to know the Father as well

Like Father … like son.           Like Heavenly Father … like Divine Son!

Let’s faithfully worship the Father as he desires …

in the acceptable sacrifice of His Son.