Amen

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This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we considered those executed alongside him – the two thieves. Today we conclude our study and consider 

“Amen, I say to you” is the sixth time Luke has used this phrase and the only one addressed to one person.  It is also the last of the emphatic “today” pronouncements. Like the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame in Jesus’ parable of the great banquet (14:21), the thief would feast with Jesus that day in paradise. Like Lazarus who died at the rich man’s fate (16:19-31), the thief would experience the blessing of God’s mercy.

St Paul wrote:

For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life (1 Cor 15:16-22)

In Luke’s own way, the promise to the penitent thief reflects this same idea.  Others taunted Jesus, mocking him with challenges to save himself, so with fitting irony his last words to another human being are an assurance of salvation. Jesus’ ministry has been focused on the widow, the tax collector, the outcast, the foreigner, the poor and destitute, and any number of monikers for those people on the margins of life. Jesus began the ministry proclaiming “good news to the poor” and “the release of captives” (4:18) – and he ended the ministry by extending an assurance of blessing to one of the wretched.

“…today you will be with me in Paradise” The promise is that the criminal would be “with Jesus” in paradise. Jesus’ close association with sinners and tax collectors that was part of his life, is also part of his death and his life beyond death. The word “paradise” (originally from Persia) meant “garden,” “park” or “forest”. The Greek paradeisos was used in the LXX for the “garden” in Eden, the idyllic place in the beginning where the humans walked and talked with God. Isaiah presents the “garden/paradise” of Eden as part of the future salvation (53:3). 

Later, some groups within Judaism considered paradise to be the place where the righteous went after death. Paul considered paradise to be in the “third heaven” (2Cor 12:4). Revelation has the tree of life in the “paradise of God” (2:7). In later chapters the tree of life seems to be located in the new Jerusalem that has come down from heaven (22:2,14,19). 

Perhaps as with basileia, we should think of paradeisos as something other than just a place –  perhaps as a restored relationship with God. 

Image credit: Stained glass window at the Annunciation Melkite Catholic Cathedral in Roslindale, Massachusetts, depicting Christ the King in the regalia of a Byzantine emperor CC-BY-SA 3.0; January 2009 photo by John Stephen Dwyer

The List

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Note: seems that I did not post last Sunday’s homily…. so here it is.

Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch (Mal 3:19)

That brings back memories of growing up in the South. I would sneak off to summer tent revivals and listen to the pastors preach up a holy firestorm of hell and damnation. There was such passion, rhythm, and vitality. It was a preaching that left no doubt that the end was near, and time to get right with God.

We may not know when the end of time is coming, but we know the end of the Liturgical Year is upon us when the readings are ever more apocalyptic, reminding us to “get right with God. We know that in our hearts, but the ever practical mind sighs and adds as another thing on our growing list of things to do. We are a people beset with things to do.  Good, holy and true things; necessary things – obligatory things, things we promised. We continually review the checklist. Earlier parents were thinking of all the steps necessary to prepare, organize and get a household of young children off to Mass. Check, we got the family here. Now the goal is to try to be fully present at Mass. Our heart reaches up to God at the same time as our mind keeps interrupting with a list of all the things we have to do before the end of the weekend. We are busy people and that is just in the “now.”  But folks, what about the list more suited to the readings of the end time? What about your “bucket list?” That list of things you want to do before the end of your earthly time.

Years ago HBO produced a documentary: “Last Letters Home: Voices of American Troops from the Battlefields of Iraq.”  The show featured letters written by soldiers to their families – written as it were, in the end of days. Some were letters to be opened “just in case.” Others were just part of a regular series of letters that happened to be the last letter. Those were the days when most of us heard about wars and the rumors of war; they were thrust into the middle of what, some days, seemed like the end of days. But in such times, the mind gives way to the wisdom of the heart. 

Many of the letters contained insights when soldiers discovered within them a depth of love and gratitude heretofore unknown. What is remarkable about the individual letters, or the series of letters, is the increasing depth of their thoughts – the revelation of the beauty of the inner temple built by God’s grace. These letters expressed the soldiers’ love of family members, love of God, and their hope for healing and redemption.  In the midst of war, nation rising against nation, and among all their struggles, as the gospel says, I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking .  Their letters speak of that Spirit-given wisdom. It was their bucket list. And it is a list – not of what they wanted to do, see or enjoy – but a list, an expression of what they wanted to be, to become.

I was privileged to meet Ed Dils of Parkersburg, WVa. He was the father-in-law of my business partner. In Christmas 1944, Ed was with the US Army on the front line of the Battle of the Bulge. It was a critical juncture in the war when the entire strength of the German army was amassed against a thin and thinning US front line. Without the aid of the US Army Air Corp because of the weather, the onslaught of German tanks and artillery were frightful. Shells burst through the forest, exploding and raining down shrapnel, burning branches and logs, and death. Surely the end was near. Like the soldiers of every war, this moment brought Ed Dils to the depth of his being. There on the battlefield of the Belgian forest, Ed wrote his bucket list.  

  1. To be more tolerant, but at the same time more firm in my convictions of right & wrong.
  2. To do all in my power to hold fast my belief in the God-given goodness of human nature.
  3. To keep aglow my faith in the future, the hope for a brighter tomorrow … even when all may seem hopeless
  4. To be ever mindful of my many blessings – helping others to see theirs.
  5. To be neighbor and to love my neighbor no matter how difficult at times it may be.
  6. To be ever grateful for my family and my wife.
  7. To accept cheerfully and willingly the hard things that come, but not to assume a passive attitude and maintain my drive to bring about the good and worthwhile.
  8. To realize faults and human frailty in myself and others, but to try to respond with helpful compassion
  9. To be proud of my accomplishments, yet humble in my thoughts and beliefs. 
  10. To keep myself physically, morally, and spiritually worthy 
  11. To integrate into my being – “All things happen for good to those who love GOD.”

Ed carried that list in his pocket every day of his life for the next 65 years until his death in 2010.  The list gave evidence of having been opened and unfolded many times, its edges and creases worn, frayed and torn in places. Clearly he consulted his list of who he wanted to be, to become. And although he likely never checked off a single item in his own mind, he fulfilled his bucket list before the end of his life. He became a beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He quietly went about his life, spreading hope, love, compassion, and joy. If you needed help in life, everyone knew you could go to see Ed Dils.  And everyone went to Ed Dils.

He was humble, tolerant, hopeful, mindful, grateful, aglow with faith, and held that what he was before God, he was that and no more. By the grace of God, he became a saint in his own time.

He prepared for life, the end of life and the life to come.

Not by doing, but by being aware of who he was, what he was becoming, and who God was calling him to be.

In the midst of our busy lives and complicated lives, with our to-do lists and the wonderment of how it will ever get done, the end times are indeed coming. These last days are upon us… So.. what is on your bucket list?

May the grace of God lead you to know who you are, what you are becoming, and give you to the wisdom to know who God is calling you to be.

The Presentation of Mary

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The Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple recalls – according to the apocryphal gospels, the day on which Mary, while still a child, was brought to the temple in Jerusalem to be offered to God. The Church wants to emphasize not so much the historical event in itself, of which there is no trace in the Gospels, but the total gift that Mary made of herself, by listening: “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and observe it” (Lk. 11:28). This experience prepared the young girl from Nazareth to become the “temple of the Son of God”.

The celebration of this feast dates back to the 6th century in the East with the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary the New built by the Emperor Justinian I near the ruins of the temple in Jerusalem. There is evidence that various monasteries in Italy celebrated the feast in the 9th century. It was not until the 15th century that it was included in the Roman Missal.

From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Sermo 25, 7-8: PL 46, 937-938)
She who believed by faith, conceived by faith 

Stretching out his hand over his disciples, the Lord Christ declared: Here are my mother and my brothers; anyone who does the will of my Father who sent me is my brother and sister and my mother. I would urge you to ponder these words. Did the Virgin Mary, who believed by faith and conceived by faith, who was the chosen one from whom our Savior was born among men, who was created by Christ before Christ was created in her—did she not do the will of the Father? Indeed the blessed Mary certainly did the Father ’s will, and so it was for her a greater thing to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been his mother, and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood. Hers was the happiness of first bearing in her womb him whom she would obey as her master. 

Now listen and see if the words of Scripture do not agree with what I have said. The Lord was passing by and crowds were following him. His miracles gave proof of divine power, and a woman cried out: Happy is the womb that bore you, blessed is that womb! But the Lord, not wishing people to seek happiness in a purely physical relationship, replied: More blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Mary heard God’s word and kept it, and so she is blessed. She kept God’s truth in her mind, a nobler thing than carrying his body in her womb. The truth and the body were both Christ: he was kept in Mary’s mind insofar as he is truth, he was carried in her womb insofar as he is man; but what is kept in the mind is of a higher order than what is carried in the womb. 

The Virgin Mary is both holy and blessed, and yet the Church is greater than she. Mary is a part of the Church, a member of the Church, a holy, an eminent—the most eminent— member, but still only a member of the entire body. The body undoubtedly is greater than she, one of its members. This body has the Lord for its head, and the head and body together make up the whole Christ. In other words, our head is divine—our head is God. 

Now, beloved, give me your whole attention, for you also are members of Christ; you also are the body of Christ. Consider how you yourselves can be among those of whom the Lord said: Here are my mother and my brothers. Do you wonder how you can be the mother of Christ? He himself said: Whoever hears and fulfills the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and my sister and my mother. As for our being the brothers and sisters of Christ, we can understand this because although there is only one inheritance and Christ is the only Son, his mercy would not allow him to remain alone. It was his wish that we too should be heirs of the Father, and co-heirs with himself. Now having said that all of you are brothers of Christ, shall I not dare to call you his mother? Much less would I dare to deny his own words. Tell me how Mary became the mother of Christ, if it was not by giving birth to the members of Christ? You, to whom I am speaking, are the members of Christ. Of whom were you born? “Of Mother Church,” I hear the reply of your hearts. You became sons of this mother at your baptism, you came to birth then as members of Christ. Now you in your turn must draw to the font of baptism as many as you possibly can. You became sons when you were born there yourselves, and now by bringing others to birth in the same way, you have it in your power to become the mothers of Christ.

Image credit: Courtesy of Vatican News | CC-BY 4.0

The Penitent Thief

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This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we explored those people and leaders who mocked and condemned Jesus. Today we consider those executed alongside him – the two thieves – an account only in the Gospel of Luke

While one of the criminals, already crucified, began to revile “Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” The word “revile” is eblasphēmei, literally “blaspheme.” It is then we hear the words from the one we know as “the penitent thief.”  Luke does not describe the criminal in such terms. His crime is never described and his penitence is conveyed only by his acknowledgement of his guilt and Jesus’ innocence, and his request that Jesus remember him.

The other criminal reprimanded the other, saying “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? 41 And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.”  The criminal adds his own proclamation of innocence to those of Pilate, Herod and later the centurion at the foot of the cross. He also fulfills Jesus’ instructions in 17:3 – “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” 

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Match Day

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It is that time of year when medical and dental schools announce “matches” for residency programs. Back in the day (1970s) is apparently wasn’t so much of a production – at least according to my sister who became a doctor in the 1970s. Of course, “signing day” was not a big thing at high schools when student scholarships were announced. Things change and it is good to celebrate.

The United States Naval Academy has its own version. It was called Service Selection Night when 1st class midshipmen (seniors) went by class rank and picked their first assignment following graduation and commissioning. My classmates were worried that there would not be any “slots” open for flight school or that a particular ship home-ported in Pearl Harbor, San Diego, Norfolk etc. It was a exciting. In case you were wondering, the nuclear surface and submariners had to be interviewed by Admiral Rickover well before this so we already knew our first assignments.

Today was Service Selection Day at USNA. It is somewhat the same but also different in many ways. Upon graduation and commissioning in May 2026, the Class of 2026 assignments (for the 1,012 graduates) are:

205 Surface Warfare Officer
221 Naval Aviation (pilot)
158 Submarines
39 Naval Flight Officer (NFO)
32 Navy SEALs
26 Various Cyber Specialties
16 EOD
11 Intelligence
10 Medical Corp
10 Supply Corp
8 Information Technolgy
5 Civil Engineering Corp
3 Oceanography
1 Aviation Maintenance

185 Marine Ground
72 Marine Aviation
10 Marine Cyber Warfare

Good luck and all the best.



Standing against the Messiah

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This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we considered Jesus’ famous words: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” Today we explore those people and leaders who formed “an unholy alliance” against Jesus: those who mocked him and those who condemned him.

The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God.” Luke pictures the majority of the people (laos) don’t mock Jesus (contrary to Mark’s description); they are simply watching. Executions were popular functions and doubtless many attended this one. But it was the rulers, not the people, who mocked (cf. Ps. 22:6–8). The leaders sneer (v. 35; lit. “look down their noses” or “thumbed their noses”) and the soldiers mock (v. 36) and one criminal blasphemes (v. 39). They all say the same thing: “Save yourself” – essentially the same temptations of the devil in Luke 4 – avoid the pain and suffering of the cross. Culpepper notes that “The irony here is that Luke underscores both Jesus’ real identity and the true meaning of his death. Jesus was hailed as the Savior at his birth (2:11); as the Son of Man, he had come to seek and save the lost (19:10). But just as he had taught that those who lost their lives for his sake would save them (9:24), so now he must lost his life so that they might be saved.

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The Hard Choice

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This day in history – November 19, 1943.

The submarine Sculpin (SS-191) was heavily damaged by the Japanese destroyer Yamagumo north of Truk in the Caroline Islands. Though he has time to escape the boat before it sinks, Captain John P. Cromwell, the commander of the submarine squadron of which Sculpin was a part, chose to go down with the boat rather than face interrogation during his capture that might force him to reveal his knowledge of U.S. Central Pacific strategy and plans.

Captain Cromwell had detailed knowledge of Operation Galvanic (Tarawa), Operation Hailstone *Truk and the Gilbert and Marshall Islands) and the fact that the U.S. had broken the Imperial Japanese Navy coded message traffic (JN-25) more broadly known as ULTRA.

Sculpin was on her ninth war patrol. After engaging a convoy, she was subjected to multiple depth-charge attacks. The damage caused her to surface where she engaged Yamagumo with her deck guns – to no avail. With her captain killed in action as well as others, the surviving senior officer ordered Sculpin abandoned and scuttled. Before he opened the vents, he informed Captain Cromwell. Because of his top secret knowledge, he elected to go down with submarine.

For Captain Cromwell’s selfless sacrifice, he received a posthumous Medal of Honor.

The 42 survivors were picked up by Yamagumo and were POWs for the remainder of the was, liberated in September 1945. Sadly, while being transported to Japan, 21 of the sailors were lost when the cargo ship carrying them was sunk by the USS Sailfish. The survivors were used as slave labor in the Ashio Copper mines in Japan.

Father, forgive them

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This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we explored Luke’s sparse description of crucifixion and pointed to the scriptural evidence regarding the location of the execution. In today’s post, we consider Jesus’ famous words: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

Based solely on ancient manuscript evidence, these words are missing in a number of early and diverse writings. Some scholars conclude that these words were probably a later addition. Yet, the internal evidence of Luke’s writings would support this forgiving prayer of Jesus. As Culpepper (Luke, 455) notes:

The prayer is consistent with both Luke’s characterization of Jesus and Luke’s style. Jesus has prayed to God as “Father” repeatedly in Luke (10:21; 11:2; 22:42; 23:46), and Jesus has taught his followers to forgive (5:20-24; 6:27-29; 7:47-49; 17:3-4). Indeed, Jesus’ prayer here echoes the petition for forgiveness in the model prayer (11:4). It is more likely that Jesus died a model death, praying for those who were killing him — and this motif was repeated in the death of Stephen (Acts 7:60), the first Christian martyr — than that a scribe later composed the prayer for Jesus imitating Luke’s style and theme.

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Crucifixion

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This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we covered some background on the solemnity, the titular use of “king” as applied to Jesus and an exploration of Luke’s use of the phrase “the kingdom of God.” Today, we take a look at Luke’s sparse description of the crucifixion and its location.

In verses just prior to our gospel reading, Jesus addresses the women as representatives of the nation: “daughters of Jerusalem” (Is 37:22; Mic 1:8; Zeph 3:14; Zech 9:9). Jesus notes that they weep for the wrong thing: “weep for yourselves and for your children.” This is because Jesus’ rejection means judgment for the nation (Luke 13:34; 19:41-44; 21:20-21). The tragedy, Jesus says, is not his death but the nation’s failure to choose deliverance, life and forgiveness. And that tragedy plays out on Golgotha.

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus and two criminals are delivered to their earthly fate. 

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Spiritual Integrity Under Pressure

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The first reading for today is from the First Book of Maccabees. It is an account of the time of persecution of the people of Jerusalem during the time they were ruled by Antiochus IV of the Seleucid Kingdom, a now distant descendant of the empire built by Alexander the Great. Tired of the revolts and troubles, Antiochus decided to first try to lure them into a different culture by enticing the young and old with the mystery of philosophy, worldly allures, access to the gymnasium where the elite met and deals were made, and a world of customs and value hitherto unknown. Antiochus wanted them to center their lives on something other than the Temple and the Covenant with God.

It worked for a while. People “abandoned the holy covenant; they allied themselves with the Gentiles and sold themselves to wrongdoing…[they began offering sacrifices] to idols and profaned the sabbath.” Having made inroads, Antiochus then ordered that all the people of Jerusalem should be unified in custom, language, and worship. At this point Antiochus introduced pagan worship into the very heart of the Temple, the Holy of Holies – and then began to systematically destroy the signs and symbols of the Jewish faith. “Terrible affliction was upon Israel.”

History is filled with different kinds of rulers, kings, dictators, and monarchs whose rule covers the gamut of dominion from persuasion to persecution. With one hand they offer the people something desired, be it moral or mundane. With the other hand, they offer the questionable. Rarely do they offer blatantly wrong. It is more likely that the heat is slowly turned up so that the people never sense the change in temperature until it is too late. The waters around them are already boiling.

What about “we the people”?  In the age of the Maccabees there were those who joined Antiochus’ agenda. There were those who remained silent. There were others who stood firm in their ancient faith of Abraham and they suffered mightily for their stand.  Maccabees reveal the range of circumstances that surround us in the realm of political decrees, cultural temptations, moral compromises, or the quiet drift away from what we once held to be true. It is a story of all ages: spiritual integrity under pressure. 

Our times are no different. Some of us join an other-than-Christ-centered agenda. Some remain silent. Others stand firm and speak from their faith. What is the issue, the agenda, the topic that you sense is wrong or headed in the wrong direction? Something in that quiet drift away from what you held to be true. Are you silent? Waiting for more information?

What issue do you find yourself apart from the Church and you think, “those bishops should stay out of politics?” Might this be a sign that you have joined an agenda different from the Church?

The Maccabees remind us: fidelity to God is not always easy.  But what is always easy is prayer.  As the gospel reminds us, the Lord is always asking: “What do you want me to do for you?”  Our response should always be “Lord, please let me see.”

Like our ancestors in faith, we live in the realm of political decrees, cultural temptations, moral compromises, and the quiet drift away from what we once held to be true. “Lord, please let me see.” Pray for the Wisdom to discern God’s desire and your call to action. When external forces demand conformity, stand firm in the grace and Wisdom of God.

Image Credit: “Healing the Blind Man” | Václav Mánes | 1832 | National Gallery Prague | PD-US