Homily originally presente April 11, 2020

My Son died for you ... don’t you see how much I care?

I’d like to share a little story with you ...

a story I read when it was first published 18 years ago ... in 2002.

It’s not a true story ... but it has a happy ending ... well sort of.

The Author begins:

Wow!   What a story!

It wasn’t a true story when it was written ... or was it?

The author of the story is Matthew Kelly ...

a powerful evangelist for Jesus and the Catholic Church!

He’s written several books, given many talks, produced many CD’s 

over the past 20 years ...

and he gets his message across

by telling stories with his Australian accent.

I remember reading this opening story in his book “Rediscovering Catholicism”

when it first came out 18 years ago

and I trembled at the possibility of that situation ever happening.

Who would have guessed that the “mystery flu” would indeed come along.

The moment I heard the news last December that 5 people died in China of

     an unknown virus I thought of Matthew Kelly’s story and I trembled again.

And here we are 3 months later in a worldwide crisis situation ...

similar to the one described.

There’s many ways to look at what’s happening.

There’s certainly a physical dimension to this ...

with 1.7 Million people becoming sick and 107,000 people dying worldwide.

And there’s definitely a mental dimension to this ...

with millions of people being confined to their homes,

unable to work and earn a living and unable to visit family and friends.

I wonder ... do you also see a spiritual dimension to this?

You’re viewing this Sacred Liturgy from outside rather than inside your Church.

That’s a great big difference for many, many people.

Certainly, God wants us to be together as faith family inside of our Church.

So why do you suppose He’s allowing this to happen?

Listen again to Matthew Kelly’s suggestion at the end of his opening story:

“I wonder, is that what God wants to say (to us)?

“My Son died for you! Does it mean nothing?”

Don’t you know how much I care?”

Does God care for us?

Well, He offered up His Son, His only Son, whom He loved ... to death ...

and He did that so that each and every one of us ... could have life ...

not just life here on earth ... but eternal life with Him in Heaven!

He did this out of love for us ...

What kind of love?      infinite ...  unconditional ...  everlasting love!

And what does He want?

He just wants us to accept his incredible gift ...

to never forget the immensity of His Love ...

          and to love Him and others in return.  

There are people watching today that would never think of missing Mass.

and sadly there’s a growing number of people who never think of attending Mass.

They’re there ...

in our families ... in our schools ... in our work places ... in our communities ...

people ... all kinds of people who have forgotten about the love of God for them.

Could it be ... that God is allowing this pandemic to take place ... so that we ...

like the Prodigal Son who suffered by wandering away from his Father ...

will come to our senses ... and return to Him ...

not to be punished ... but to reclaim our dignity as His children ...

and be able to experience His love ... now ... and forever.

Today, we celebrate the greatest victory of all time ...

the victory we never want to forget ...

the victory over sin and death!

The whole world was sick with sin ...

with many destined for eternal death ...

until Jesus, the one man with the pure blood,

gave up His blood ... for the treatment of us all.

Jesus, the God-Man, gave up his body and blood to secure our remedy

and then rose from the tomb alive ...

to show us that He lives on ... as the All-Powerful Son of God ...

fully committed to guiding us to the Father’s House in Heaven.

The story of Jesus is indeed a true story ... a true story with a very happy ending!

Happy Easter!