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Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2013/12/06 at 12:00 AM

 • Although Advent is at its heart a penitential season – as evidenced by our use of the color violet – celebrating this great Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception with great rejoicing is in perfect keeping with this season.

• Advent is our annual time to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord, to divest our souls of all that is not of Him so as to make room for our dear Lord’s coming: both His arrival as man in the Nativity, and ultimately His second coming at the end of time.

• And today’s feast commemorates the marvelous and singular preparation our Lord completed in the soul of His august mother so that she would be ready to receive Him into her very womb.

• Specifically, from the very first moment of her conception, our Lady’s soul was preserved free from any trace of sin so that she might be worthy to be the Theotokos, the Mother of God – a living tabernacle of God’s holy presence.

• Not only did our Lady preserve her spotless, sinless nature throughout the entirety of her life on earth, but she also increased in holiness throughout the course of her life such that she attained a level of holiness that far surpasses that of any creature living before her or after her. No saint can or ever will challenge our Lady’s degree of holiness.

• So as we continue our dutiful preparations for the coming of this Lord in this beautiful season of Advent, it is most appropriate for us to pause on this feast, and to consider and even celebrate the all-pure one whose child Christ is.

• It is most appropriate for us to turn our hearts and minds upon her who is the fairest honor of our race, to contemplate her beauty, and to do our best to imitate her sinless holiness in every way.

• Indeed, she is the one who is as white as snow, more beautiful than the sun, full of grace, and blessed above all women (Roman Breviary).

• As we all know, the goal of every Christian soul is to attain the salvation won and promised to us through our Lord’s redemptive acts on the cross. But while we will not fully realize this goal until we die, it is possible to begin enjoying a foretaste of the Heavenly banquet even now.

• In Heaven we will be perfectly united with the Godhead as we enjoy the Beatific Vision for eternity. But that union with God that is perfected in Heaven can begin in earnest even now. The great mystics of the Church point out for us the way to this mystical union.

• From these saints we know that there are two essential conditions for achieving this mystical union with God now. Firstly, we must learn to detach ourselves from everything that is not of God. There can be nothing that we will that goes against the will of God.

• It is for this reason that we must divest ourselves of any attachments that impede or hinder our love for God in even the slightest way.

• Secondly, we must allow our own human will to be moved only by the will of God. The Holy Spirit and the inspirations He provides must be the sole cause of our actions.

• We see both of these conditions perfectly fulfilled in the life of Mary. Never was she attracted to anything but God and His most holy and adorable will in all her life.

• Indeed, our Lady was so completely focused on God and His will that she was only moved by the impulse of the Holy Spirit throughout the entire course of Her life – so much so that Mary is known as the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, the one most intimate with Him.• Our Lady perfectly and fully corresponded to the will of God in all things and in every circumstance, even in the smallest details, throughout her earthly life, and it is for this reason that of all the marvelous creatures our Lord has created, she is the most marvelous; she is the most holy.

• But while our Lady was created to give herself fully to God and has always done so, she does not draw away from giving herself to us, too, sinful and unworthy though we may be.

• As the Refuge of Sinners and the Help of Christians, Mary is always quick to shower her maternal aids upon us.

• She is joyful in helping us overcome our faults and failings, inducing us to repentance when necessary, and spurring us on to holiness of life through the practice of virtue.

• She is the faithful and true mother who never forgets her children, but who is always attentive to their needs, ready to listen to their complaints, to soothe their woes, and to calm their fears.

• So in all things we should be willing to entrust our cares to the one our Father in Heaven entrusted His only begotten Son.

• My dear brothers and sisters, on this most glorious feast day, let us all turn with supreme confidence to the Holy and Immaculate One. Let us pray that through her maternal intercessions we may learn to overcome all earthly attachments that keep us from loving her Son as fully as we should.

• Let us hope that by entrusting ourselves fully to her, our spotless and sinless Lady will help us to be fully prepared for our Lord when He comes to meet us.

• O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Copyright 2011 Rev. Timothy Reid, Pastor of St. Ann Church, Charlotte, NC

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Catholic Prayers by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2013/08/23 at 12:00 AM

 • One of the great riches that I discovered within the Catholic faith when I converted was the vast number of ancient and beautiful prayers that are part of our liturgical and spiritual heritage as Catholics.

• In my early days as a Catholic a friend of mine gave me a book of Catholic prayers and devotions that is full of such things, and it’s a book that I use every single day.

• Those of you who come to daily Mass may see me carrying it around. It’s a little blue book with tattered edges that is obviously very well used.

And I’m sure many of you who are a little older than me still have an old daily Missal somewhere that has a few holy cards tucked within it and that bears the marks of daily use.

• Growing up as a Protestant, we had very few such formal prayers. When we wanted to pray,we usually made up a prayer on the spot, which is beautiful way to express the deepest desires and longings of our heart to our Lord and is certainly a wonderful way to pray.

• But what I like about the ancient and traditional prayers of our Catholic faith is that they, too, express the desires and longings of our heart, while at the same time conveying our theological beliefs as well.

• In fact there’s an old expression in the Catholic faith: lex orandi lex credendi, which means “the law of prayer is the law of belief.” In other words, if you want to know what we believe as Catholics, just read our prayers, because our prayers are expressive of our theology.

• One of my favorite prayers in our Catholic faith is the Salve Regina, the “Hail Holy Queen”, because it’s a beautiful expression of whom we believe Mary to be and the powerful intercessory role she plays in our lives.

• And the last line of the prayer is my favorite: “Pray for us, most Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.”

• The promises of Christ, of course, are endless joy and peace in Heaven, and in this prayer we are asking Mary to help us reach this most important goal of salvation.

• Now as Catholics we believe that salvation is a free gift from God that Christ procured for us through His suffering, death and resurrection. Salvation is not something we earn by our own merits. Salvation is a gift of grace that we receive, and with which we must cooperate.

• The primary way that we receive our Lord’s saving grace is through the seven sacraments of our Church. The 7 sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Marriage, and Holy Orders, are vehicles of God’s saving grace.

• In considering salvation sometimes our Protestant and Evangelical friends are fond of asking us: are you saved? The answer for us Catholics is actually YES! We were saved at our baptism. And we are saved every time worthily receive one of the sacraments!

• The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that Christ Himself is at work in the sacraments, and that they do not depend on the holiness of the minister or of the recipient.

• “From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.” (CCC #1128)

• Now that last point is so important! While the sacraments convey grace simply by being performed correctly, if we want to receive the full benefit of grace, we must be properly disposed to receive the sacraments.

• And our readings today give us the key to how we properly dispose ourselves so that the grace of the sacraments will bear fruit in our lives.

• The Gospel today speaks of the authority of Christ. As Jesus speaks in the synagogue in Capernaum, the Jews are astonished at the authority that Christ shows in His teachings, and even the unclean spirit in the possessed man is subject to His authority.

• In the first reading we are told of the importance of listening to the Lord, and the responsorial psalm encourages us not to harden our hearts when we hear the Lord’s voice.

• The point that is made in all of these readings is that we must open our hearts to the Lord. In humility we must be willing to submit ourselves to His authority and try to live according to His will. This humble submission to Christ is the key to being properly disposed to Him.

• The responsorial psalm we have today is Psalm 95, which is known as the Invitatory Psalm. In other words it is a psalm by which God invites us. In particular, our Lord is inviting us into a life of grace.

• Catholic clergy and religious are required to pray a collection of psalms and prayers every day known as the Liturgy of the Hours; Psalm 95 is the first psalm that we pray every day.

• Psalm 95 is a simple reminder of Who God Is, what He’s done for us, and how we should respond to His generosity. As such, it is a great preparation for the day.

• Psalm 95 tells us to be joyful and grateful before the Lord. It calls us to humbly bow in worship before the Lord, and most importantly it encourages us to listen to Him, to submit ourselves to Him, and to open our hearts before Him.

• Doing these things – following the prescriptions of this psalm – is the very best ways that we can dispose ourselves to receive the grace of the sacraments!

• Specifically, if we want the sacraments to bear fruit in our lives, we must be willing to accept the authority of Christ and His teachings. There is a certain obedience that is required of us.

• Simply put, we cannot expect that the grace of the sacraments will be efficacious in our lives if we choose to live in a way that is contrary to the teachings of Christ as expressed in Sacred Scripture and in the constant teaching tradition of the Church.

• And so if you are living in a way that goes against Church teaching, such as through an illicit relationship, the use of contraception, or even through the failure to forgive someone who has hurt you, as your pastor I beg you to stop because you’re missing out on God’s grace.

• God desires to save each and every one of us from our sins, but He will never force Himself upon us. And if we obstinately cling to our grave sins, then we cannot cling to our Lord’s saving grace that comes to us through the sacraments.

• That being said, obedience alone is not enough to be fully disposed for the grace of the sacraments. As Psalm 95 tells us, we must also be thankful and joyful.

• When we go to receive the sacraments, most especially Holy Communion, we must strive to be recollected and conscientious. We must strive to approach the altar with praise and thanksgiving, with full knowledge that when we receive the Eucharist, we are receiving the gift of salvation: Jesus Christ Himself under the appearance of bread and wine.

• My dear friends, the Catechism teaches us that the sacraments are necessary for salvation (cf. #1129). With this in mind let us try to properly dispose ourselves for receiving them through humble obedience and a joyful sense of gratitude.

• And in this process, let us commend ourselves to the prayers of our heavenly mother, Mary: “Pray for us Most Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.”

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Passions by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2013/07/26 at 12:00 AM

• The great mendicant, St. Dominic, once said that “A man who governs his passions is master of the world. We must either command them, or be commanded by them. It is better to be a hammer than an anvil.”

• When it comes to the spiritual life, our passions are the intensely powerful feelings or desires that lead us into sin, particularly the capital sins of lust, anger, greed, and envy.

• When we give free reign to our passions, we fall prey to concupiscence, hedonism, unbridled pleasure-seeking, and in the worst cases, hatred.

• Thus, St. Dominic’s point is well taken, for all of us from time to time have felt the turbulent waves of sinful inclinations rise and crash within ourselves.

• Sometimes it can feel like our passions – particularly those that inflame our lower appetites – are tyrants that must be obeyed. Emotions, especially when they are strong, can lead us to say and do all sorts of things that we know are wrong and sinful.

• Thus, it is so very important that every man of God learn how to govern his passions so as not to be a slave to them, for it is not God’s will that we be at the mercy of our emotions and passions, but rather that we learn self-control and restraint so that we may protect ourselves from sin.

• Truly, my friends, in our day and age, I cannot stress enough to you how important it is to guard ourselves from sin. Sin not only distorts and perverts our true selves, but it offends God. Moreover, as St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).

• Thus, as true followers of Christ, we must be willing to endure all types of suffering and punishments rather than commit sin, for the sufferings of this world are only temporary, but the suffering that we will have to endure for our un-repented mortal sins is eternal.

• There is a hell, my friends, and it would do us good to try to avoid it! This requires that we fight. While God’s grace is constantly trying to pull upward, our passions and sinful inclinations drag us downward, and thus we must be vigilant in fighting these passions.

• Our second reading from the Letter of St. James talks about what falling prey to our sinful passions can do to us, while the first reading from the Book of Wisdom gives us an example of how sin can harden our hearts and blind us to truth and goodness.

• St. James tells us that “where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.” He then asks: “Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?”

• The point St. James is making is that if we fail to fight against our sinful passions and inclinations, we will lose our inner peace, making us vulnerable to falling even deeper into sin.

• Rather than sating our desires, giving in to our passions, my friends, simply inflames them all the more. And when the sins we commit are mortal, it robs us of our interior peace because our Lord, Who entered our souls at baptism, flees from us until we make a good confession and are absolved from our sins.

• Further, the more we give into our sinful passions and inclinations, the less able we are to see the Truth and act in accord with it. Sin hardens our hearts, and if we fail to fight the sin in our life, our hearts will harden to the point that we begin to hate that which is good and holy.

• We see a very clear example of this in the first reading from the Book of Wisdom. This reading tells the story of wicked men who wish to cause suffering to a just man. While this passage is often understood to be a prophecy of Jesus’ passion and death, it shows us clearly how sin can devastate us morally.

• The wicked men mentioned in this passage want to harm the just man because he is just. They know of his innocence and goodness, but their sins have hardened their hearts to such a degree that the just man’s very presence is a reproach to them.

• While it is a very normal human feeling not to like some people, if we actually hate another person and wish them harm, then there is something seriously wrong with us, namely, that we have given in to our sinful passions to such a degree that we are now mastered by them.

• The good news is that it is never God’s will that we persist in our sinfulness. As the Divine Physician, He is capable of healing us and restoring us to full spiritual health. But in order for this to happen, we must align our wills with His most holy will.

• Last week I mentioned that if we suffer from a weak will, we can strengthen our wills through fasting and penances. Every time we choose, out of love for God, to voluntarily deny ourselves something we desire, our wills grow stronger, rendering us more capable of saying no to our passions and sinful desires as they arise.

• But there is an even more fundamental step we must take first if we truly wish to strengthen our wills and protect ourselves from sin, and this we read about in today’s Gospel. It is this: we must learn to be humble and charitable.

• In the Gospel today Jesus says to the 12 apostles: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Then taking a child and embracing him, Jesus tells the 12 that they must be ready to receive such a child in His name.

• In these words and actions of Jesus, we see these two virtues humility and charity extolled.

• St. John Vianney once said that: “Humility is to the various virtues what the chain is in a rosary. Take away the chain and the beads are scattered; remove humility, and all virtues vanish.”

• Thus, humility is the root of every other virtue. Humility nourishes our soul and makes us capable of receiving God’s grace so that the virtues can take root and grow in our souls.

• Moreover, humility helps us to see how truly weak we are, and thus it induces us to seek our Lord’s strength and protection all the more when we’re bombarded by temptation.

• Charity, on the other hand, is the form of all the virtues. Whereas humility prepares us to receive the other virtues, charity helps to perfect the other virtues within us.

• Because charity is the most important and most powerful of all virtues, the more we grow in charity, the more the other virtues naturally grow within us as well, including the virtues of temperance, chastity, and meekness, which help us to control our passions.

• The more we grow in humility, the more we see God and ourselves as we truly are. The more we grow in charity, the more we love God for Who He Is. The more that we know God and love God, the more we want to serve Him and avoid offending Him.

• My dear friends, let us learn to turn away from sin by strengthening ourselves against our passions and sinful inclinations through growing in the virtues of humility and charity.

• Let us avoid sin at all cost, not only because sin has the power to distort and destroy our souls, but also out of our love for God, Whom we should love above all things.

Copyright 2009 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

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Major Threat to Life

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2013/07/19 at 12:00 AM

While there are many topics that can be included under the banner of “threats to life,” there are two right now that stand out as the most dangerous to our society: abortion and same-sex unions.

Of course when it comes to abortion, it’s very easy to see why this is a threat to life. The good news is that an increasing number of Americans believe that abortion is wrong in every circumstance, and abortions are decreasing in our country.

Some states like our own are now enacting stricter abortion laws, and many abortion mills in the U.S. are experiencing financial difficulties. These are all reasons for us to be optimistic.

But the war on abortion is far from over, and as a Pro-Life community we must keep up the pressure through programs such as 40 Days for Life and by voting only for pro-life politicians.

Why same-sex unions are a threat to life, however, is not as easy to understand. And sadly, Americans are increasingly relaxing their attitudes toward this grave evil.

Before I go any further on this topic, I want to make it absolutely clear that the Church makes a distinction between those who suffer from same-sex attraction and homosexual acts. Certainly the Church teaches us to love the sinner yet hate the sin.

Experiencing same sex attraction is a disorder, but it’s not a sin. To be sure, there are many types of disordered attractions that humanity is subject to. But acting on this disordered attraction and engaging in homosexual activity is always gravely sinful.

Same sex unions are a threat to life because they change and pervert the very act by which new life is created. And they are a threat to our society because they undermines God’s plan for the family, which is the very building block of our society.

As Catholics we know that all human life is sacred because we are created in Gods’ image and likeness, and thus the act by which life is created is also sacred and is not to be misused.

When we use our free will to misuse the gift of procreation, we rob ourselves and others of our God-given human dignity. We become less than who we are called to be.

You see, the conjugal act is sacred and holy only when directed towards its purposes established by God: first, for the procreation and education of children, and second for mutual up building in love of a married couple joined together in a permanent covenantal relationship. Any conjugal act that is not open to these two purposes is intrinsically evil.

The very first chapter of the Bibles teaches us that: “God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27). God did not make them male and male, but male and female.

Thus, this passage teaches us that there is a necessary complementarity that must exist in the marital union, a complementarity that can only exist between a male and female.

The next verse continues: “God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply.’” Because they lack the complementarity necessary for true union, homosexual unions are not fertile and cannot multiply, and therefore they can never be open to the gift of life.

To the contrary, homosexual unions distort the marital act, destroying the procreative aspect of it as well as the unitive good, for love not rooted in Truth is not authentic love.

By legalizing same sex unions, we are not only consenting to grave sin as a society, but we are also changing the God-given nature of marriage. Salvation history teaches us that when we willfully turn away from God’s will, we set ourselves up for disaster.

Therefore, contrary to all the rhetoric we hear from the media, banning same sex unions is not a discriminatory act. It’s preventing the legalization of evil. It’s not a matter of denying someone happiness; it’s a matter of trying to save souls.

While I could talk for hours on the evils of abortion and same-sex unions, there is one evil that underlies and makes possible an acceptance of both abortion and same sex unions, and thus, it’s important to address this topic too. This root evil that has produced the rotten fruits of abortion and same sex unions is contraception.

Again, as with abortion and same sex unions, I have no intention of judging or condemning anyone who is caught up in this sin or has been in the past.

I know that many of you here right now are probably a bit uncomfortable. Well, I’ll tell you a secret: I’m uncomfortable too! Honestly, I don’t like talking about these topics. But considering the state of our society today, I can’t not talk about these things.

So I stand here today as both your spiritual father and your brother in Christ – as someone who loves you. And because I love you, I want you to have a fuller understanding of why these issues are evil so that you can make a more informed decision about them.

As I’ve said so many times before, truth is objective. It’s real and independent of us whether we like it or not. We don’t determine truth for ourselves. It simply is. And part of cooperating with God’s salvific grace is conforming our lives to Him Who is Truth!

In the parable of the landowner and tenants, Jesus tells us today of the consequences awaiting those who refuse to follow God’s will, and who instead do violence to those who represent Him: they do not inherit the Kingdom of God.

As Catholics, we are blessed that the fullness of truth has been revealed for us in Jesus Christ, who has enshrined this fullness of truth in the teachings of His Catholic Church.

As for contraception, we know that it is evil because it willfully sterilizes the marital act. By willfully eliminating the possibility of procreation, it distorts the purpose of the marital act.

By its nature marital love is meant to be fruitful and boundless. It’s like an intimate language in which spouses speak to one another and say: “I give myself to you fully.” When couples use contraception, it’s as if they are lying to each other when they engage in marital intimacy.

By contracepting we make the conjugal act something less than it was intended to be, and we take God out of the picture. This is why the Church teaches that using contraception is intrinsically evil and gravely sinful.

In essence contraception makes couples the arbiters of God’s plan for life rather than the servants of that plan. It’s an inherently selfish act and a refusal to accept the responsibilities that come with marital love. It’s a refusal of the fullness of marital love.

More than anything else, it is the widespread acceptance of contraception in western society that has led to the ill-begotten belief that the marital act can be about something other than the procreation of children. This is a terrible lie that has led to terrible consequences for us.

Pope Paul VI predicted that with the widespread use of contraception, there would be a general increase in promiscuity, adultery, and illegitimate births, as well as an increased divorce rate and the eventual acceptance and proliferation of abortion. Sadly, he was right.

This is because contraception teaches us that we can engage in the conjugal act without love and responsibility. It teaches us that we can use each other for our own gratification without consequence. This same mindset of using the conjugal act for our own selfish ends is now leading to an acceptance of same sex unions.

My brothers and sisters, look around at our society. We are drowning in an ocean of disordered sexuality. Every form of sexual perversion and impropriety is readily accepted and defended in our society as long as the people involved are consenting adults.

But we are mocking that which is sacred in God’s eyes. We mock God Himself. And it’s time that we Catholics fully embrace our faith and say “ENOUGH!” It’s high time that we rise up, speak out, and defend our society from these evils that are afflicting us.

I know that having children can be a scary proposition, and it’s often because of this that people turn to abortion and birth control. I also understand that embracing a life of celibate chastity can be lonely, which may lead those with same sex attractions to sinful unions.

But please remember that you will never find the peace and freedom we all desire apart from God’s will. And engaging in these evils is never part of God’s will for any of us.

Let us pray today for the courage not only to follow God’s will in all of these matters, but also to speak up and make these truths known

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Marital Commitment

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2013/06/14 at 12:00 AM

• Both the reading and the Gospel today come from St. John the Beloved Disciple.  And both of these readings focus on love, reminding us that as the children of God, we are called to love one another just as God – Who Is Love Itself – has loved us.

• Indeed, love is one of those topics that we cannot over-emphasize in the Church because our Lord teaches us that the greatest commandment is to love. We are called first to love our Lord above all things, and then to love one another as we love ourselves.

• Love comes in many forms: there is the charitable love that exists between friends and neighbors, the nurturing love that exists between parents and children, the fraternal love that exists between siblings, and, of course, there is the life-giving love that exists between a man and his wife.

• While I could give homilies on any of these forms of love, I want to focus today on this last type of love: marital love, because in many ways this is the most important form of love that we exercise with one another.

• Marriage forms the basis of family life, and families are the building blocks of any human society. For better or worse, marriage is public; it’s not just a private arrangement between two people, and therefore the success or failure of a marriage has an impact on society as  a whole.

• Therefore, it’s important that we all be invested in protecting the institution of marriage, which is very sadly under attack today. It’s also important that we live out our marriages in conformity with God’s laws. But to do this, we must understand what marriage is all about.

• If you look at the documents of Vatican II (Gaudium et Spes) and Canon Law, you’ll find that marriage is the intimate, exclusive, indissoluble communion of life and love entered into by a man and woman. God designed this sacrament for the procreation and education of children and for the purpose of the spouses own good.

• “Marriage is a holy mystery, a symbol of Christ’s love for the Church.” It is a vehicle for  holiness! Marriage is not simply a social institution; it also has religious implications. Specifically, marriage is a conduit for God’s grace to flow to a couple and to their children.

• So marriage has both natural and supernatural dimensions, and both must be recognized.

• Thus, for Christians, marriages are actually triangular relationships: husband – wife – and God. All three are necessary to make a marriage work. And in living out a marriage, all three parties must be respected. All three must be willing to love.

• Furthermore, the love that is shared in a marriage is a particular type of love: a covenantal love, which requires an exchange of one’s whole self. A man gives himself fully to his wife, and a wife gives herself fully to her husband in a mutual embrace of love and fidelity.

• And this covenantal love that is shared in marriage is intimate, exclusive, indissoluble, and hopefully fruitful through a growth in holiness and the bearing and education of children.

• So the whole purpose for the covenant of marriage is growth in holiness and the bearing and education of kids. Sadly, one thing that our modern western society refuses to acknowledge is that marriage is fundamentally oriented toward the creation of life.

• We know this not just from revelation, but also from natural law. This is where Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body is indispensable. Pope John Paul has taught us that our bodies are designed to be in union with another body.

• Because the male body and the female body are complementary and actually “fit” together, we know we are called – in the very depths of our being – to give ourselves fully to another and to receive another fully unto ourselves.

• But even more than that, by creating man as male and female and calling us to be one flesh, God has stamped within our bodies an image of the reality that He desires to be one flesh with us. That’s why you often hear the Church being called the Bride of Christ!

• This is because we are called to be one flesh with God, as well as with our spouses!

• This one flesh union is meant to help us grow in communion with one another and with God, and thereby grow in holiness. But it’s this one-flesh union that also brings about children.

• Because the marital act is the one way that we participate with God in creating life, we know that the marital act is sacred. And it’s from this sense of sacredness that all of the Church’s sexual teachings are derived.

• Because it is so sacred, the conjugal act is not something we can just enter into as we please and with whom we please. It’s not simple recreation.

• On the contrary, it’s an action that carries serious responsibilities, and thus it should only be entered into by people who have accepted and vowed to live out these responsibilities: namely a man and a woman who are married to each other.

• You see, the primary purpose of marriage is the procreation of children, and the secondary purpose of marriage is the intimate, exclusive, and indissoluble unity of the couple.

• These fundamental purposes are most perfectly realized in the marital act. Thus, neither purpose should ever be divorced from the marital act because doing so distorts the purpose of the act and breaks down the marriage.

• This is why contraception is intrinsically evil and gravely sinful. Contraception and sterilization willfully undermine the marital act by suppressing or destroying one’s fertility. Contraception divorces the procreative purpose of marriage from the marital act.

• By eliminating the possibility of procreation, we severely limit the love of the act because we take away part of that gift of self that is fundamental to the act, for by its nature marital love is meant to be fruitful and boundless.

• Understanding that marriage is fundamentally oriented toward the creation of new life also helps us to understand why same-sex unions are wrong. By their very nature these types of unions can never be procreative, and therefore they can never be a true marriage.

• Because same-sex unions lack the fundamental complementarity that makes the procreative and unitive purposes of marriage possible, because same-sex unions are contrary to the natural law, and because same-sex unions close the conjugal act to life, the Church has always taught these unions are gravely sinful.

• Now I realize that the subject of same-sex unions is a very sensitive issue, and I am not here to condemn or upset anyone. I’m simply here to let you know what the Church teaches.

• Specifically, the Church is very clear that people who struggle with same-sex attraction are not to be discriminated against, but rather are to be supported, treated with compassion, and encouraged to live a life of celibacy. This is very important to remember.

• The Church condemns the sin, not the sinner. But She also recognizes and speaks the truth about the sinful nature of homosexual acts. Speaking this way is nothing more than true compassion combined with a frank recognition of the disordered nature of these acts.

• There is currently a movement in our country to legalize same-sex marriages in many states. So let’s be clear about something: the Church’s opposition to recognizing gay marriage is not a matter of the Church being prejudiced, unloving, or homophobic. It’s a matter of the Church speaking the truth. And speaking the truth is an act of love.

• The Catholic Church opposes homosexual acts because they are intrinsically disordered, and they abuse our human nature. Homosexual acts make us less than who God is calling us to be. And legalizing same-sex marriage will weaken an already damaged understanding of marriage in our society.

• In the Gospel today Jesus tells us that: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” And this notion of self-sacrifice is at the very heart of marital love. In fact, by dying on the cross, Jesus shows us that sacrifice is the very essence of love.

• If we are to be truly loving, we have to die to self. There is no other way to love. And in today’s world, that often means that we must sacrifice our own feelings and desires in order to love as God calls us to love.

• As we now prepare ourselves to become one flesh with our Lord by receiving Him in the Eucharist, let us pray that all married people will grow in their sacrificial love for their spouses and children.

• And let us pray as well that all people will grow in a greater understanding and respect for the sacrament of marriage, for the good of our society, and for the good of our souls.

Copyright 2009 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

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Sacred Heart

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2013/06/07 at 12:00 AM

One of the most beautiful devotional representations of our Lord is His Sacred Heart. We’re  blessed here at St. Ann’s to have a beautiful statue of the Sacred Heart as well as a stained glass window with this image.

In our window Jesus is revealing His Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. What I love most about images of the Sacred Heart is that they show our Lord’s heart with flames, a sign of His burning love for us.

St. Mary Margaret received several apparitions of our Lord, through which she was given a greater understanding of the infinite and burning love our Lord has for mankind. In one
apparition she even saw our Lord’s heart on fire with love for mankind.

Jesus asked St. Mary Margaret to make up for the coldness and ingratitude of mankind by receiving Holy Communion in reparation for sin, especially on the first Friday of every month  for nine consecutive months.

It was from these apparitions that we now have the First Friday devotion that is so popular and important in our Church.

For those who do receive Holy Communion in reparation for sins on 9 consecutive first Fridays, our Lord promises that they will receive the grace of final repentance, and that they will not die without receiving the Sacraments.

Even though God’s love for us should be perfectly clear from reading Scripture and from any study of salvation history, perhaps this is a truth that we too easily lose sight of.

But our Lord’s heart does indeed burn for us, so much does He love us. I sometimes wonder if we truly understood the depth of God’s love for us, if we would die of love – especially as we consider how sinful and undeserving we are of His love.

Sadly, human history shows that humanity is often unresponsive and even callous to God’s love, which was His complaint to St. Mary Margaret. Even though His love is completely sacrificial and open to all people regardless of race, nationality, or creed, so many turn away from Him.

It is particularly sad because God’s great desire is that all of us share eternally in His love in the glory of Heaven. It is for this reason that our Lord became one of us and died for us.

Indeed, the Father has created us for living with the Trinity eternally in a union of love.

While God’s love is for all people, our Lord had a chosen people: the Israelites, who were given a special role in salvation history. It was to this people that Jesus came and first revealed Himself as Lord.

This is why in the Gospel today our Lord tells the Canaanite woman, a Gentile foreigner, that He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It was later with St. Paul that the Gospel was spread to the Gentiles, something we hear about today in the second reading.

But since the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection, our Lord has a new people whom He calls

His very own: it is the people who love Him in return and who seek to be united to Him.

Our first reading from the Prophet Isaiah speaks about foreigners and their relationship to God. Of course God desires that none of us be foreigners, but that we all be His people as He has created us to be.

But even though all men are created in God’s image and likeness, we must recognize that we are born separated from God in the darkness of original sin. We are all spiritual gentiles and foreigners at birth because of original sin.

But baptism changes all that, for it is only through baptism that we are fully reconciled to God and made His children, His chosen people. • Once we become His children through baptism, we are strangers and sojourners no longer. As St. Paul writes to the people of Ephesus, we become “fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God.” (Eph 2:19)

And so all of us have the capacity to be God’s chosen people, to be members of His family through baptism. For being God’s chosen people is not a matter of belonging to a certain race or class of people. Being God’s chosen people is simply a matter of choosing Him.
Indeed, the only people who are truly foreign to God are those who alienate themselves from Him through sin. It is sin and sin alone that separates us from God.

And so we must be vigilant to root out sin from our lives, even those small venial sins that we think no one sees, for choosing to sin is always a choosing against God rather than for Him.

All sin makes us – at least to some degree – a foreigner in God’s eyes. And, of course, if our sin is mortal, it not only damages our relationship with God, but it completely severs it and puts us in danger of going to hell.

It is for this reason that Isaiah tells us to “observe what is right, do what is just.” To be God’s chosen people, to be His children, we must do our best to constantly choose Him and His will above all else. We must seek to keep His commandments by doing what is right and just.

Alas, our broken human nature is fickle, is it not? Despite our genuine love for God, all of us from time to time turn away from Him through sin. None of us – save our Lady – has lived or ever will live a perfectly sinless life.
Of course our Lord knows this, which is why He gives us the Sacrament of Reconciliation by which we can be made whole from the destruction wrought in our souls through our sinfulness. His burning and infinite love cannot help but forgive the sins of His repentant children.
But in addition to cultivating repentance and making use of the confessional as needed, the Gospel teaches us today that there is something else we must do if we wish to be a member of God’s chosen people rather than a foreigner: we must have faith.

In our Gospel today we have the rather strange story of Jesus calling a Canaanite woman a dog. It’s easy to wonder why our Lord would ever refer to anyone in such an insulting manner.

But Jesus did this in order to elicit faith from this woman. He wants to know if she really does believe in Him, if she really believes He is the Lord. And she passes the test. Not even an insult from Jesus can deter her from Him. And it is at that moment that Jesus commends her for her great faith and heals her daughter.
In healing the daughter of a Gentile, Jesus proves that He was ultimately here on earth to bring salvation to all people, not just the Jews.
But this Gospel also shows us the power of an undeterred faith! Having faith in our Lord, a faith that believes confidently in our Lord’s omnipotence, mercy, and compassion, is proof positive of our love for God – and is therefore one of the best ways we can respond to His love.

Ultimately, believing in God’s love for us is an act of faith (cf. 1 Jn 4), and loving God by having faith in Him is how we are most closely united to Him.

St. John of the Cross teaches us that: “even in this life faith gives us God, covered, it is true, with a veil but nonetheless God Himself” (Collected Works St. 12:4).

My brothers and sisters, our Lord’s most Sacred Heart is burning with love for all of us. It’s a burning that cannot be quenched even by our ingratitude and callousness.

Let us repay His love by practicing the virtue of faith, trusting confidently that He can and will do everything necessary to help us on our path to salvation.

Let us return His love, as well, by gratefully patterning our lives after Him: loving all people generously and without reserve, and by living our Catholic faith without compromise.

Copyright 2011 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

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Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2013/05/31 at 12:00 AM

• In looking for a word to describe what happens to the bread and wine at Mass as they are consecrated into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, St. Thomas Aquinas created the word transubstantiation.

• The first part of the word, trans, means to change or cross over. The latter part of the word, substantiation, is the Latin word for substance. St. Thomas, of course, understood substance in the philosophical sense used by Aristotle.

• If you’ve ever studied metaphysics, you know that Aristotle said that all things are made up of substance and accidents. The accidental qualities of a thing are what can be perceived with our physical senses: color, texture, taste, smell, etc.

• Substance, on the other hand, is the metaphysical quality that makes a thing what it is. For example, our altar here at St. Ann’s is different from the altars at St. Vincent’s, St. Patrick’s, or St. Gabe’s.

• But even though they look vastly different, we all know and recognize an altar when we see one. Aquinas and Aristotle would say that these particular pieces of furniture possess a certain “altarness” if you will. That is the substance of this furniture.

• Some of you may be wondering why I am giving you a metaphysics lesson today at Mass. It is because we cannot fully appreciate what we as a church are celebrating today without a little metaphysics.

• Today is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. It is Corpus Christi! Thus, today is the day we celebrate and give God thanks for the great gift of the Eucharist.

• Here at Mass ordinary bread and wine are brought forward and placed on the altar. Then during the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest prays that the Holy Spirit will come down upon the gifts. This is known as the epiclesis – and you will hear the bells ring once to signal this.

• From there we enter into the most important and solemn moment of the Mass. Jesus Christ, through the priest, utters the words of institution: “Take this, all of you, and eat it: this is my body which will be given up for you.”

• And “Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.” And again, bells ring to signify what is happening.

• Through these words the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. The substance of the bread and wine change, but not the accidental properties. That’s why St. Thomas used the word transubstantiation – because only the substance changes.

• So even though the bread still looks and tastes like bread, and even though the wine still looks and tastes like wine, they are no longer bread and wine, but really and truly the Body and Blood of Christ.

• As Christ makes abundantly clear in the Gospel today, the bread and wine are not symbols of His body and blood. He says: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven,” and “the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

• And again Christ says: “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”

• This is not magical, it’s metaphysical – and it certainly is miraculous. And it is a tremendous gift that we should never take for granted, but rather we should constantly give God thanks and praise for the gift of the Eucharist.• Moreover, if we truly believe that the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, then we should also take great care to receive Holy Communion worthily.

• Of course this means that we should never receive Holy Communion when we suspect that we may be in a state of mortal sin or if we know in our conscience that we are living our lives in a way that is contrary to God’s commandments or the Church’s teachings.

• Receiving Holy Communion worthily also means that we should do our best to be prayerful, recollected, and reverent when we come up to receive. As you kneel at the altar rail to receive our Lord, think about Who it is that you are receiving! It is the Lord!

• He loves you so much that not only does He come to you, but He allows Himself to be bread and wine to be consumed by you, and so we are called to receive Him as a bride receives her bridegroom!

• But, my friends, even beyond ensuring that we understand what the Eucharist is and that we receive Holy Communion reverently and in a state of grace, today’s feast calls us to a change that is analogous to the change that takes place at the consecration.

• As the bread and wine and changed at the consecration and cease to be what they were before, so too must be allow ourselves to be changed as we participate in the Mass and receive Holy Communion.

• When we come to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we must allow ourselves to be offered up with Christ, identifying ourselves with His sacrifice. We must see ourselves in the bread and wine as they are offered up.

• The old man of sin that reigns within all of us must die so that we can put on the new man of grace and virtue. While we will still look and sound like we always have on the outside, on the inside we must be completely renewed. There must be a sort of spiritual transubstantiation that takes place within us.

• In the Mass, my friends, we are called to unite our hearts and minds and wills with that of Jesus as He offers Himself to the Father for our sakes.

• And the better that we identify ourselves with Christ’s sacrifice and allow ourselves to be offered up with Him, the more the old man of sin within us dies, the more efficacious Mass becomes for us – and the more we grow in a holiness that better disposes us to handle our daily tasks and duties, as well as our crosses.

• As we honor our Lord’s Body and Blood today, let us give thanks to God for this most efficacious of gifts.

• And let us earnestly seek to unite ourselves ever more closely to our Eucharistic Lord as He offers Himself up in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass so that we may become more like Him whom we worship.

Copyright 2011 by Reverend Timothy Reid, Pastor of St. Ann Catholic Church, Charlotte, NC

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Pentecost

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2013/05/16 at 12:00 AM

• With our Lord’s Ascension into Heaven last week, we were given a promise – a promise that is, perhaps, the most important promise ever made to humanity. I’m speaking, of course, of the promise our Lord made to send us the Holy Spirit.

• Today, we see this promise fulfilled in our midst as we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost! Today we commemorate that moment when the Holy Spirit descended as tongues of fire upon our Lady and the apostles gathered in prayer in the Upper Room.

• And we who are heirs to the faith of the apostles and members of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic church, have received this same Spirit, too: first when we were baptized, and then again at our Confirmation.

• While perhaps it didn’t seem as dramatic as the original Pentecost, what the Holy Spirit does within us is no less dramatic than what happened to Mary and the apostles.

• In those very sublime sacramental moments when the Holy Spirit enters into our souls, our souls are changed eternally – shaped more into an image of Christ – so we might, indeed, be made worthy of the Lord’s promise of eternal life.

• Indeed, the waters of baptism, by which the Holy Spirit first enters into our souls, have the power to quench the very fires of hell within us and to unleash within us the same living waters our Lord promised to the woman at the well.

• The Holy Spirit is known by many names and titles: the Consoler, the Advocate, the Paraclete, and the Sanctifier, among others. But His primary purpose is to make us holy so that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

• While it is the Father who creates us and sustains us in being, and while it is the Son who suffered and died for us in order to redeem us, it is the Holy Spirit who works to sanctify us and make us holy.

• As anyone who has earnestly sought holiness can attest, holiness can be elusive, especially when we consider how easily we slip into sin. That’s precisely why the Holy Spirit is so important in our lives.

• It is the Spirit who guides us, helps us discern, and inspires us. It is the Spirit who prays within us. It is the Spirit who dwells within us with His 7 gifts of wisdom, counsel, knowledge, understanding, piety, courage and fear of the Lord.

• It is the Holy Spirit, who is the source of all holiness, who first awakens faith within us. He helps us to grow in spiritual freedom, and He restores the divine likeness within us that was lost by our sin.

• In short, it is the Spirit who shapes and conditions our souls. He re‐patterns them into an image of the Divine and thus makes us holy so that we might be saved when our earthly lives come to an end. And that’s the whole point of our life on earth!

• So many times when a person dies we naturally console ourselves with comments like: “Well, I know he is in a better place now.”

• And while that may be true, especially if the person lived a good and holy life, going to Heaven after we die is not something we should ever presume upon.

• While dying is a certainly a prerequisite for going to Heaven, my friends, we have to do more than just die to get to Heaven!• As I mentioned last Sunday, our salvation is a gift from God, but it’s not something that we sit around and wait for. Our salvation is something we participate in and work out over the entire course of our lives.

• It’s not something we can earn, for it is indeed a free gift, but we must cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit in our souls if we wish to be saved.

• God the Father created us out of love; He created us for Himself. When He saw us reject Him through sin, He sent the Son to redeem us.

• This Jesus did by becoming man and by His Paschal Mystery. By His suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus made salvation a possibility for mankind. And the Holy Spirit, as the Sanctifier, works within us to prepare us in holiness so that we might receive this gift of salvation.

• So while Jesus has made salvation a possibility for us by redeeming us, it is the Holy Spirit who enables to participate in the work of redemption for our own salvation and the salvation of other souls as well.

• Moreover, while the Holy Spirit fills the whole universe, St. Basil the Great teaches that He only acts in the souls of those who are worthy. In other words, He acts in the souls of those who are habitually in a state of grace.

• For when we fall into moral sin, we evict the Holy Spirit from our souls. And He will only return after we have made a good confession and received absolution.

• In this process of restoring us to grace, whether it be through baptism or reconciliation, the Holy Spirit restores our original beauty that we forfeited by our sinfulness, freeing us from sin and death, making us children of God and heirs to an eternal inheritance.

• God created us in love, and He created us in His own image and likeness. Therefore we are created with beauty. But we mar, distort, and destroy that beauty by our sinfulness. And through the grace of the sacraments, the Holy Spirits works to restore our God‐ given beauty.

• And so today, above all else, must be a day of great gratitude for us. As we gather to honor the Holy Spirit, we must first and foremost thank Him for the work He does within us so that we might be saved.

• But in addition to being a day of gratitude, today is also a day of commissioning for us, for the Holy Spirit works to make us holy not simply so that we might be saved, but also that we might lead others in the path of salvation.

• The history of the Church is filled with examples of the Holy Spirit working in and through people we now call saints.

• The Spirit has guided many holy men and women to witness to the Faith with their very lives, to found religious orders, and to teach and explain the doctrines of Catholicism so that others might be saved.

• It was the Holy Spirit that led St. Augustine to conversion and inspired his teachings that the Church still relies upon today. It was the Holy Spirit that gave St. Paul the courage to preach the truth of Christ in the midst of terrible sufferings and persecutions, even to the point of death.

• In our modern world it was the Holy Spirit who inspired Blessed Mother Teresa to found a religious order to care for the poorest of the poor, so that they, too, might know Christ.

• And it was the Holy Spirit who nurtured and stirred the young heart of St. Therese to teach the Church how to love.

• The saints, whom we love, venerate, and look up to, were simply people who allowed the Holy Spirit into their lives, and who tried to live by His promptings. And because of their works and examples, many other souls have been saved.

• My brothers and sisters, receive the Holy Spirit. Receive Him in mind and heart. Allow Him to transform you, to comfort you, and to sanctify you. And allow Him to use you to inspire others to holiness. We have nothing to lose, and only Heaven to gain.

Copyright 2011 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC


Ascension of the Lord

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2013/05/08 at 12:00 AM

• The Cathedral Basilica of St. Mark in Venice is one of the architectural and artistic marvels of the Western world. The current church, which is actually the third on the site, was consecrated in 1094.

• Since that time it has been known as the Chiesa d’Oro, the “Church of Gold,” a reference to all of the gold mosaics that adorn the walls and ceilings of this magnificent structure.

• The church is built with five domes, and in the central dome of the church is a gigantic mosaic of our Lord’s Ascension into Heaven. In this image Jesus is clothed in gold as a sign of His absolute power and His transcendence of the natural order.

• He is shown amidst a beautiful blue field filled with stars, and angels, our Lady, and the apostles surround him. Below our Lady and the apostles are allegorical representations of the virtues and beatitudes.

• The sense one gets from looking upon this monumental work of art is of Christ’s power over sin and death. He is radiant in glory, and there can be no doubt that of His kingdom there will be no end.

• What I love about this mosaic and its depiction of Christ is that it inspires you to serve Him. He is majestic and awesome, and yet He does not appear as someone to fear. Rather, Jesus appears completely loving and loveable in this image.

• My own experience of looking upon this mosaic is that it generated within me a greater desire to worship Jesus. It made me want to be like Jesus, to grow in virtue and holiness. Ultimately, it made me want to go to Heaven!

• That’s really the whole point of today’s feast, is it not: the hope of going to Heaven?

• With our Lord’s Ascension into Heaven, we are now celebrating the final act of our Lord’s

Paschal Mystery.

• Since Holy Thursday night when our Lord’s suffering began, the Church has immersed

Herself in Christ’s Paschal Mystery, which is the mystery of our redemption.

• Through His suffering, death on the cross, resurrection, and ascension into Heaven, Jesus has

redeemed us and made salvation possible. He has opened up for us the way to Heaven.

• Today we witness our Lord passing through the veil separating heaven and earth. He does

this not to obscure Himself from us, not to abandon us, but rather to prepare a place for us in

Heaven and to inspire within us a greater desire to be with united to Him.

• In His Ascension Jesus gives us a foretaste of what awaits us who believe in Him. The

Ascension is a foreshadowing of that divine life to which we are all called and for which we

were all made.

• Thus, in this Mass we give thanks to our Lord, and we render unto Him worship and praise

for providing us an opportunity to be saved, despite our manifest sinfulness.

• But my dear brothers and sisters, as we meditate upon our Lord’s Paschal Mystery, it is not

enough for us to be passive by-standers, simply meditating upon all that our Lord did to

make salvation possible for us.

• Salvation is not something we just sit around and wait for. Our salvation is something we

participate in and work out over the course of our lives.

• Thus, as baptized Christians we are called to enter into the Paschal Mystery – to which we

were first introduced when we were baptized.• When we are baptized, we are baptized into our Lord’s death and resurrection, and thus we are called to participate in our Lord’s redemptive works, which continue to be carried out in history through His Body, the Church.

• When we unite our sufferings in life with the sufferings of our Savior, when we carry our crosses out of love, and when we die to self through fasting and penance so that we might grow in virtue and holiness in imitation of our Lord, we die with Christ and share in His Paschal Mystery.

• And we rise with Christ and share in His Paschal Mystery, as well, through mental prayer and by receiving the Sacraments worthily, which give us a foretaste of Heaven.

• As today’s feast reminds us, death never has the final word for those who love Christ! We know by faith that there is an eternal reward for those who follow Christ faithfully, a reward that is the central object of our hope.

• It is this hope that St. Paul speaks of in his Letter to the Ephesians, when he prays that “the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe.”

• This hope is the hope of rising eternally with our Lord to the glory of Heaven, where we will behold Him face-to-face forever and ever in an all-consuming embrace of love.

• Today’s feast solidifies our hope and points the way. It reminds us that our true home is in Heaven where we will reign with Christ. But there is a caveat: to reign with Christ, we must first suffer with Him.

• The Paschal Mystery teaches us that there can be no Easter Sunday and Ascension without a Good Friday first.

• And so, if we are to be His true disciples, we must be willing to suffer and die to ourselves during our earthly life, bearing patiently with ourselves and those who hurt us, embracing our crosses with love, prayerfully trusting in our Lord’s mercy and confidently hoping in rising again, all with an eye toward glorifying God.

• For this is the way that we fulfill the will of God in our lives. It is the way that we prepare ourselves for Heaven. It is the way that we unite ourselves to our Lord now so that we can be united with Him eternally.

• My dear brothers and sisters, the Ascension shows us once again that our Lord is omnipotent. He is all-powerful. He is not bound by the material world; He is not even bound by sin or death.

• Let us all make the choice to serve our all-powerful Lord with great love and devotion. Let us serve Him by entering with Him into the Paschal Mystery, trusting that at the end of our earthly lives, our hopes will be fulfilled and we will reign with Him forever in Heaven.

Copyright 2011 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

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Easter Sunday

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2013/03/30 at 12:00 AM
  • Today we read the marvelous story from St. Matthew’s Gospel of our Lord appearing to Mary Magdalene after His resurrection.
  • From this version of the post‐resurrection events, it seems that St. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary with her were the first to see the risen Lord.
  • Perhaps there is some consolation to be found in this thought that, despite the terrible sins of her life, our Lord found Mary Magdalene worthy of such a great honor, for this privilege proves our Lord’s deep mercy and love for even the most sinful among us.
  • However, this Gospel and the question of to whom our Lord first appeared has raised considerable speculation over the centuries, for the Scriptures do not record our Lord’s resurrection in detail.
  • From today’s Gospel we can only deduce that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were up early on Easter Sunday, found the tomb empty, and then our Lord appeared to them.
  • Conspicuously absent from all of the Post‐Resurrection narratives is the very person who was most closely united to Jesus during His life on earth: His Mother Mary.
  • Indeed, the very last we hear of Mary is at the crucifixion, when in His final act of filial solicitude, our Lord lovingly places her within the care of St. John, the disciple He loved most, and the only one to stay with Him throughout the entirety of His terrible Passion.
  • Our Catholic Tradition gives us some answers as to what happened to our Lady after Jesus died. We know that she was present as Jesus was taken down from the cross, and that she lovingly held her dead Son in her arms before He was prepared for burial.
  • We know from the Book of Acts that after Jesus ascended into Heaven, Mary was with the 11 apostles in prayer, and it is a traditional belief, as well, that Mary was present for the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
  • We know, too, that Mary spent the remainder of her life in the care of St. John, and that when the course of her earthly life was over, Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven, where she was reunited with Jesus and crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth.
  • But beyond these details, we know very little of what happened to our Lady after Jesus’ death.
  • In one of his weekly audiences in 1997, Pope John Paul II took up the issue of our Lord’s resurrection appearances, stating that, although Scripture is silent on the issue, it is wholly reasonable to believe that the Virgin Mary was the first to see her risen Son.
  • He stated that: “The unique and special nature of the presence of the Virgin at Calvary, and her perfect union with the Son in his suffering on the Cross, seem to postulate a very particular participation on her part in the mystery of the Resurrection.”
  • Pope John Paul II believed that the Blessed Virgin Mary: “was probably also a privileged witness to the Resurrection of Christ, in this way completing her participation in all the essential moments of the paschal mystery.”
  • He went on to conclude with a most important point: “Embracing the risen Jesus, Mary is, in addition, a sign and anticipation of humanity, which hopes to reach its fulfillment in the resurrection of the dead.”
  • In other words, we see in the Blessed Virgin Mary our hopes for resurrection fulfilled. We see in revealed in the mysteries of her life, most especially her Assumption into Heaven, the salvation possible for us all.
  • The favors granted by God to our Lady offer proof of His goodness and mercy, and they show us what is possible for mankind: namely, the perfection of our human nature so that we may be fully and eternally united with our Lord in the glory of Heaven.
  • This is what our Lord makes possible for us through His death and resurrection, which we honor and celebrate today. And we know that this is possible, for we see how our Lord has already carried this out in the life of His Immaculate Mother.
  • For the past three days we have been recalling our Lord’s Paschal Mystery: how He suffered for us and because of us, dying a most ignoble death on the cross, and being buried in the tomb.
  • But it is not simply bare historical facts that we recall each Easter. Easter is our annual celebration of the spiritual reality made possible by Christ’s Paschal Mystery!
  • Out of love for sinful man, Christ slept the sleep of death so that we might rise with Him to new life. He went into the darkness of Hell so that we might be enlightened by His grace.
  • And He took on the bondage of sin so that we might experience the true freedom of the sons and daughters of God. This is what we celebrate today; this is what we believe
  • And in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we see our Lord’s Easter promises to humanity fulfilled. [It is for this reason that our stained glass windows depicting the Resurrection and the Assumption of Mary are placed directly opposite one another!]
  • Because she remained united with Christ throughout her life, most especially as He suffered and died on the cross, Mary now enjoys eternal life. As such, Mary is our constant reminder of the eternal blessings possible for those who believe in Christ.
  • My dear brothers and sisters, in His resurrection from the dead today, Jesus makes good on the promises to grant new and eternal life to all who believe in Him.
  • With Mary as our model, let us make good on the promises we made to Jesus at our baptism by always remaining faithful to Him in this life. In doing so, let us trust that He will grant us eternal blessedness in the life to come.

Copyright 2011 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC