Will I show up to confession?

Homily

2nd Sunday of Easter

Divine Mercy Sunday

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village

27 April 2025

AMDG

Will I show up to confession?

I know, I know.  Lent is over. The penitential season of Lent has passed over into the graces of Easter, through which we rise with Christ to newness of life.  Still, if we are paying attention , we will notice that the best confessions are not Lenten ones, but Easter ones.

It is the Risen Christ who appears to the scared apostles who is eager to forgive.  The Risen Christ of Easter comes not for revenge, but to show the greatness of the Divine Mercy.  Peace be with you!  I come not for revenge, but for forgiveness.  Then He breathes on them and asks them to be instruments of this divine mercy.  This all happens not during Lent, but in the new days of Easter!

Then we have Thomas' confession. You might notice that he forgets to confess missing Mass on the first day of the Lord's resurrection.  But he doesn't make the same mistake twice.  He shows up on the 8th day of recreation, and confesses that he's scared, and he has doubts.  So do I, Thomas!  Thanks for being my hero and for confessing on my behalf.  I'm not from Missouri, but I'm a show-me kind of guy.  I know believing is seeing, not seeing is believing, but I'm just to scared to believe.  Lord, help my unbelief.

Thomas' Easter confession is received within the embrace of divine mercy.  If you don't trust that there is a love stronger than death, then feel for yourself.  I feel so blessed that Pope Francis, the icon of the Risen Christ, fought like hell to let us see one last time that there is a love stronger than death, as he went through the square on Easter Monday.  Pope John Paul did the same exactly 20 years ago, as he appeared at the window overlooking the square, even though he was completely paralyzed and unable to talk, so that we could see his wounds and feel them, and sense his trust in the divine mercy that begets eternal life.  

What heroes are in our midst, who allow me to place my doubts in a love stronger than death within the wounds of Christ as manifested in his beloved disciples and in his vicars the Holy Fathers of our faith.

I have only to move myself behind the closed door of the confessional, and beg for the mercy to heal my doubts, to confess like Thomas eventually did, so that I can proclaim, even at the cost of my own life, the truth of the Resurrection!

What's my last word?

Homily

Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection 

20 April 2025

St. Ann Parish Prairie Village    

AMDG

If you've been following my pivotal questions during this Triduum, you'll notice they're all ultimate questions tied to the unique liturgical actions of these ultimate holy days.

Holy Thursday - What's your never - tied to the washing of feet.

Good Friday - How would you give your last kiss - tied to the veneration of the cross.

Now to Easter Sunday - What's my last word - tied to the renewal of my baptismal promises.

If I could say only one word for the rest of my life, what would be my final word?

I bet you can guess what mine is.  Risen!  Risen!  Risen!  Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.  He is risen just as He said!  Alleluia! Alleluia!

That's my word, tonight and forever.  Risen! On this word, and on this word alone, I am happy to bet everything I am and all that I ever will be.

Tonight I witness to you that this word -  Risen -is the most mysterious, dramatic, profound and TRUE word that has ever been spoken or could ever be spoken in all of human history.  Tonight I sing this word - Risen - in liturgical concert with the angels, the saints, and yes, the martyrs who died for the truth of this word even today, including Fr. Arul Carasala who died in the line of fire two weeks ago, betting his life on this word - Risen.  Today, I shout into the darkness that threatens so much and so many that this word - Risen - is the one thing I know to be true out of everything I know to be true.  

Risen - that's my word - now and forever.  What's yours

Today my prayer is that you too will dare to shout into the world a word that is your destiny to proclaim.  Today my prayer is that each of us and all of us, led by our catechumens and candidates, and the great risk of faith they speak tonight, will get off the couch!  Today is no time for a virtual Easter.  To hell with that.  I pray that in this Church today there is no sideline, no bench, no bystanders!

You have my answer.  I dare you to proclaim yours!

Why this word for me?  Because without it, even the most heartfelt words of love I ever say, words first spoken by Jesus - this is my body broken for you - lose their power. Without the word Risen even the greatest sign of love I have ever known, the cross on which I gave the most passionate kiss of my life Friday afternoon, is powerless in the face of death.  St. Paul said it best - unless Jesus is Risen, all of us here are just a bunch of pathetic losers.

But I don't profess this word tonight because I need it to be true.  My conviction about the empty tomb of Jesus is not a vain wish that justifies my life or helps numb me to the sting of death.  No, this word is the fruit of being a real disciple of Jesus.  Jesus never invites you to a wishful faith. That's weak sauce!  No, he invites me to follow Him first to the cross to verify whether there is a love strong as death.  I pray my discipleship has been a courageous one, filtered through the cross of Jesus where I have learned from Him how to face reality, fear nothing and avoid nothing.

My conviction comes from the times I have actually dared to be a a real Christian, and I'll be damned if Jesus wasn't right  - literally!  Every time I die to sin and to myself for love of Him, I lay hold of a new, different and powerful life that does not fade. Every time I suffer and die with Him, I also rise with Him.  

The paschal mystery - the passover mystery.  It's real people!  It's the only thing that ultimately works, every time!

Jesus Christ is Risen!  He is truly Risen!  Shame on me if this is ever something I have to pretend to be true, instead of something that as a disciple, through the risk of faith, I have discovered to be true.  On this truth - not this wish - but this truth - I am happy to bet everything that I am and ever will be.  Not because I need to, not because I'm afraid not to, but because I want to.

My word is Risen!  You've got next!

You're invited shortly to beat me or to join me.  If you dare join, renew your baptismal promises on Easter Sunday.  If you join, please don't do anything cheap or easy or pitiable.  This is conviction Sunday - the word means 'with victory'.  As our profession goes so goes our participation in the greatest victory of all time!  So let's decide with sharp minds, and pure hearts and courageous wills.

So I propose to you now a word that has rocked the history of the world, and changed forever the meaning of life and the destiny of man more than any other, to be the word of your life.  On this most holy moment set apart precisely for your risk of faith, I invite you to say the most mysterious, dramatic, profound and yes true word that has ever been or could ever be spoken.

Risen!  Jesus Christ is Risen!  He is Risen from the dead, just as He said.  Alleluia! Alleluia!

+mj  

How would I spend my last kiss?

Homily

Good Friday of the Lord's Passion

17 April 2025

St. Ann Church Prairie Village

AMDG

Who's the best kisser here today?  Is it you? Is it me?

Welcome to the Church's annual smackdown, her ultimate kissing contest.

What if I had only one kiss left to give?

Would I give it now?

Would I give it here?

I can tell you for sure how I would NOT spend my last kiss - on the kiss cam!  I hate the kiss cam.  I don't go to sporting events for PDA.  The inventor of the kiss cam should be canceled.  I don't care if everyone but me loves it.  I live in perpetual fear that some cameral operator far far away would think it funny to zoom in on a priest during the kiss cam.  So whenever it comes on, I make a beeline for the beer line.  The kiss cam - it's a hard no for me.

Yet I do have within me one passionate kiss.  I do have an expression of adoration that is ultimate within me.  How will I use the last kiss of my life?  Will I spend it now?  Will I spend it here?

The last kiss in today's Passion story is that of Judas.  It's the kiss of betrayal.  It's the kiss of death.  You just participated in the drama.  Jesus is dead, and you killed him.  You kissed him.  That's where the story is. That's where the story could end - his and yours.

Yet what if you have one kiss left?  Would you spend it now?  Would you spend it here?

The Good Friday liturgy is famous for its liturgical kiss.  When you approach the crucifix in just a few minutes, you get to choose what your kiss means.  Will it be the most passionate kiss of your life?  Will it be the kiss of betrayal, the kiss of death, and where your story will end.  Or will it be a passionate kiss of devotion for a love that dares to die, and where you story truly begins?

The story of God's love for you, and your response, turns on the axis of the cross.  There's an ultimate decision to be made.  The axis of the cross that we hold in veneration can only mean two thing.  It's either the final defeat of love, or the precise place where new and eternal life begins.  

So what if you only had one kiss left to give?  Would you give it now? Would you give it here?

+mj