Who gets under my skin?

Homily

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time B2

25 August 2024

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

Who gets under my skin?

I once played golf with a guy who wanted to shock me right off the bat.  On the first tee, he cursed God, then turned to me and said - Father, did that bother you?  Of course I said it did, very much so.  Then he yelled out for all to hear - Good! Get used to it!  It was his shocking way of saying everyone had permission to be themselves, even playing with a priest, and that he and I could tease each other.  Still, his approach got under my skin.  I'll never forget it.

There was a wrestler, my archnemesis in high school, that god under my mom's skin.  We will just call him LS.  I know you're not supposed to hate anyone, but to love and pray for your enemies, but I hope the Lord lets my mom slide on this one.  LS was so cocky.  He used to taunt me every match, and my mom hated him. She showed up once for my match with LS in the midst of her chemotherapy treatments when she had zero immunity, and was supposed to avoid crowds.  LS was definitely under her skin.

I have a lot of pet peeves.  Do you?  I can't stand people who sit on countertops or tables!  Why would somebody but their buttocks, from whence bad things come out, on surfaces where food is served?  I don't get it, and it gets under my skin.

Who gets under your skin?

Ladies, did St. Paul get under your skin today?  He said not once, but twice, that wives should be subordinate to their husbands.  To modern sensibilities, this can be quite insulting.  Yet it's not nearly the most offensive thing St. Paul says; in other place, he says women should be plain, quiet and out of the way.  Still, the most offensive thing he says in Ephesians 5 is toward husbands, who are told they cannot treat their wives or families as property, nor can they use them.  Husbands must bathe their families in the sacrifice of their own bodies, as Christ loves his bride the Church.  Guys, did St. Paul get under your skin?

You might recognize that our kicker, Harrison Butker, gave essentially the same speech at Benedictine College for graduation this May.  Boy did Harrison get under people's skin!  I'm not sure a graduation speech was the right time to talk about marriage, but he did, and boy did he make people mad!  Why?

It's because he reminded us that marriage is the most important thing in life, and unless we are good at marriage we will die.  Guess what?  He was right, and we know it.  At almost every funeral, when I ask people what the ultimate meaning of life is, the answer is family!  Mother Teresa says that if you want to save the world, go home and love your family!  That's all Harrison was saying.  We enter into life by promising to lay down our lives for each other.  It's our greatest accomplishment, serving the good and mission of our families.  Yet because of our addictions to privacy and choice, we are tempted to cancel anyone who dares point 

Will I cancel Jesus, because he says the same thing in John 6.  Unless you marry me, and unless you feed on me and we are faithful to each other in the Eucharist, you will die.  Jesus takes the original sacrament of marriage given to our first parents Adam and Even, and elevates it into the ultimate sacrament, the gift of his body and blood, through which we enter into a nuptial one flesh union with Christ.  The Eucharist is the ultimate sacrament of eternal life.  Jesus says unless you marry me here, and feed on me, you will die.

It's the most challenging, offensive and disgusting thing anyone has ever said.  Jesus says it in love, because he can't stand the thought of losing you to death.  He speaks it as your spouse, who wants to subordinate his life to your good.  He speaks it so that your decision today to say 'Amen' or to cancel him, is a matter of life and death.

He speaks it because He is the one who most desperately wants to get under your skin. 

+mj

Will we show up and go through it together?

Homily

Funeral Mass for Courtney Hartman Anderson

22 August 2024

Thursday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time B2

Queenship of Mary

AMDG

Will I show up for my family?

It's a question we all have to answer.  Life can be incredibly hard, especially at a time like this.  People have to go through hell.  It's part of the human experience.  Things can be incredibly unfair, so much so that it threatens our faith.  Yet life is still too good to be true, and worth fighting for.  

We're in control of almost nothing.  There is a time for everything, even suffering and death, and we're not in control.  Except for one thing.  Will I show up for my family?

I want to be a part of Courtney's family. I hear she was passionate about her family, and her teams.  Thank God she's a Jayhawk!  As a fan you have to go through the ups and downs, the wins and losses, the pain and the glory, the good times and the bad.  If you're a true fan you'll keep showing up.  

The day of Courtney's funeral we celebrate the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We crown her today, not because she is privileged royalty, but because she showed up for us. She said yes like Courtney to being a mother, so that Jesus could take our flesh and go through it with us.  We honor her most of all because she showed up for the hardest thing anyone is asked to do in this life, to be there when a child dies.  Steve and Courtney did this for Liesl.  Randy and Kathy do this today.  We're all so sorry things have to be this way, for reasons we can't yet control or understand.

I was so touched hearing how Courtney tenaciously showed up for Liesl's friends after her passing.  There's something good and beautiful worth living and fighting for, and that's what Courtney did.

Courtney showed up for her life, and for that we give thanks and celebrate her spirit, her joy and courage.  When I got to know her just for ten minutes, I could tell she had an ornery Hartman streak in here.  If the priest visiting meant it was time to give up, she would just rather than I get out.  She fought for every last second of her life, beautifully and courageously, sharing in the passion of our Lord to the end.  

Our faith can be summarized in two things.  Will I show up for my family - that's the Incarnation - us being fully present to each other in the moment.  Jesus showed up for us his family, and invites us to do the same.  Then he showed us the way - that's the Paschal Mystery.  That it is precisely through the crucible of suffering and death that new life is born.  This is our faith - if we suffer and die together, we live in confidence that we will live forever.  

Two things - will I show up, and will we go through it together, no matter what?

Courtney showed up and went through it, with love. We honor her be promising to show up for each other, and to go through whatever life may bring, together.

+mj  

How long should Mass last?

Homily

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time B2

18 August 2024

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

How long should Mass last?

Most every Catholic has a very strong opinion on this question, and remarkably, there is great consensus.  The best Mass is the fastest Mass!  It's probably where Catholics are most united!  Mass should only be 45 minutes, and never under any circumstance more than an hour. Everybody remembers their fastest Mass ever, and what priest said it.

I know well the legendary status of Fr. Short Storey just a mile and a half to the south of us here at St. Ann, at our daughter parish Cure of Ars.  Fr. Storey is a classmate of mine. We're ordained only 30 seconds apart.  I have nothing but support, praise and thanks for the awesome work he does.  Yet he is best known for his short homilies, and quick Masses.   People love him for that.  One time I bet him that he couldn't finish a wedding Mass with 22 attendants in 43 minutes, which was his goal.  I lost the bet.

Still, is the fastest Mass really the best Mass?  How long should Mass take?

I'll give you a clue from today's Gospel.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will love for how long?   That's right, not 45 minutes, but forever.

What's the longest meal you've ever savored?  Not the shortest, but the longest?  It's a critical question.  Mine was a Mass that took all day.  It was in Denver, CO when I was 19 years old, a World Youth Day Mass with St. John Paul II.  I reported for this Mass at 5am, and went through security at 7am for a noon Mass.  I was on stage with the choir, so I arrived especially early, but not as early as the other million people, who had camped all night for a vigil anticipation of this special meal with the Pope.  

The unofficial procession started with John Paul II flying over the crowd in a helicopter.  We should try an aerial procession here at St. Ann sometime!  The Mass lasted from noon to 3pm.  It took four hours to get home afterwards.  What was so special about the food that was being served, that I waited all day to get it, and loved every minute of it?

When we really crave something life-giving, or when we are truly in love, time doesn't matter. We stop looking at our watches.

I could have stayed at that Mass with John Paul II forever.  It was truly a foretaste of heaven, which is what Jesus says the Mass is.  To see the Catholic Church, Christ's bride, gathered from every corner of the world, a million of God's beloved children unified and eager to consummate her life with Christ her bridegroom, was something I can never unsee.  I know immediately that this food was the sole hope of the world.  I knew for sure  that this food was worth giving my entire life to.  I never wanted that Mass to end, and I still don't.

I could celebrate Mass forever.  That's the point. That's how long Mass is supposed to lsat.

Most of our families started with our mom and dad sitting down to dinner, their first date, and staying a lot longer than they imagined.  A couple newly in love loses track of time, the food giving way sacramentally to the deeper reality of a relationship and conversation.  For those in love, time is nothing.  Love perseveres, and waits, and endures all things!

What brings us life more than anything else?  It's when we eat in such a way that we wish the meal would never end.  Jesus says whoever feeds on me remains in me.  He invites us to 'trogein' on him - to chew or gnaw on him, and to swish his blood in our mouths, to savor this moment, and to linger in it.  This is not a meal to throw down or a drink to be gulped. Mass is not take-out, nor grab and go.  We know we are truly in love with God and each other, when we stop looking at our watches, and no one wants to leave.

Now I get it.  I'm not an idealist, lost in fantasy and lacking common sense.  I know that if Masses here lasted all day, you would all end up at Cure.  The Eucharist is also our engine of evangelization. An authentic, compelling and personal celebration of the Mass that serves the real life of your family need not take longer than an hour.  So when we've done what we need to do, you will hear Ite Missa est.  Mass is done, so get out of here and do your job!

Still, it would be a waste to believe that the fastest Mass is the best Mass.  With all due apologies to those who own fast food restaurants, too much fast food will kill us.  That's exactly what Jesus says.  If you eat just fast food, you will still die, and sooner rather than later.  Only the one who gnaws on my flesh remains in me. We will lose track of time together, and so passover through this meal to the gift of eternal life.  

So now you know how long Mass is supposed to last - forever!

+mj

What should I give my mom?

Homily

Solemnity of the Assumption

Thursday 19OT B2

15 August 2024

St. Ann Church Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

What do I get my mom?

No gifts for mom really seem adequate.  I guess it depends on what she likes, what's meaningful to her, and what her love language is - quality time, acts of service, actual gifts, or physical touch.  Maybe a combination of the above.  Still, nothing seems adequate to express appreciation for the very gift of one's life.  Whether it's Mother's Day, her birthday, your birthday, or Christmas .  . . is anyone good at giving gifts to mom?

My mom Yvonne always wanted me to do my best. She believed in my best.  I still feel badly for the ways that I let her down, when I got scared and lost faith and didn't do my best, whether in school, or wrestling, or just life, and for the times I didn't stay in touch.  I especially feel badly for the times I wasn't there when my mom was going through a rough time.  I wasn't always there with the gift of my presence or time.  I regret that very much. 

What did I get right?  Well, I was good at picking green beans, much better than my sibling.  I think that mattered to my mom - that I cared enough to do a great job picking green beans. She could count on me.

She could also count on me to be on time for prayer.  As we started school at St. Ann today, I remember fondly that my family always started our school day with prayer.  At 7:55am in the morning, without fail, every day, exactly thirty minutes before school, we said the Apostle's Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be together. Then out the door we went for the 10 minute walk to school.

It was the greatest offense in my family to be late for prayer. If you don't believe me, ask my brother Norman.  But late for prayer I never was.  I always gave my best there.

Maybe that's the best gift I can still give my mother, who has passed on.

It's a question for Jesus, to be sure.  Jesus knows how to give gifts.  The gift of his presence in the Eucharist, the complete gift of himself in the sacrament of his body and blood, is the purest of graces.  There can be no greater gift that him accompanying us so humbly, so beautifully, so perfectly, no matter what we have to go through.  His presence is his present, to His mom and us, and for that we are here always at Mass, to give ultimate thanks.

Regarding His mom, the four special graces She received from Her Son correspond to the four dogmas of our faith regarding Mary, and entail four holy days of obligation.  Why must be celebrate and honor Mary?  Because through Her we learn something essential about Jesus and about ourselves, truths essential for our salvation.

So we show up for her Immaculate Conception on December 8th, her perpetual virginity expressed in the miraculous birth at Christmas, for her title as Mother of God on January 1st, and today, the Solemnity of Her Assumption.  Today we celebrate that the pattern of our being raised from the dead follows the Resurrection of Jesus, and that His Mother, His closest disciple and highest member of our Church, is the first to fully participate in this new and eternal life through her Assumption Body and Soul into heaven.

I can't give the body of my mom a private one-way first class rocket launch into Heaven, as Jesus gave His mom in Her assumption.  But I can always be on time to pray that He will raise my dear mom on the last day.  I can always show up for Mass, that I can give the grace of my own participation in this saving sacrifice that is infinitely pleasing to Our Father in heaven, may help my mom arrive safely where our Blessed Mother has gone before in Her glorious Assumption.

I can always be on time for Mass and pray for my mom.  Maybe that's the best gift I can always give her.  Still don't know what to get your mom?  Remember to pray for your mother!

+mj

Who should pay?

Homily

Monday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time B2

+Jane Frances de Chantal

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village, KS

AMDG 

Who should pay?   This question comes up a lot everyday, whether you're looking at your taxes, as Jesus was in today's Gospel, or looking at your budget and responsibilities.  

Normally, the person who is blessed with much is tasked with the responsibility to be generous, and to use his means to care for others.  The one who is responsible for the relationship is the one who pays.

Jesus rightfully says that since He is a Son of God, that church should be free, and that he has a right to be in the temple without paying.  Yet because his greater responsibility is to establish the new temple in His body, by getting Himself killed, he robs a fish who apparently didn't need money, and pays the temple tax.

The Gospel is sometimes very simple to understand.  Today it's about picking your battles, and having bigger fish to fry, so to speak!

+mj

What is my superfood?

Homily

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time B2

11 August 2024

St. Ann Catholic Church - Prairie Village, KS

AMDG

What is my superfood?

Take care how you answer this question, especially if you're a priest!  Many people assume priests are very lonely, and even more hungry, so people often want to know my favorite food so they can show affection and support.  I made the mistake in my first parish of saying pie was my favorite food, and I gained 20 pounds in 3 years!  I made the mistake of telling people my favorite drink when I was in Topeka, and I ended up with a lifetime supply of something that is not healthy for me!

During my 30 day retreat, when I was fasting and trying to be attentive to the word of the Lord, I ate mostly spinach.  And it worked!  I didn't exactly turned into the legendary character Popeye, but on this superfood I remained strong for 30 days.  Not 40 mind you, like Elijah in the first reading, but 30.  I'll take it!

I think my superfood now is tomatoes.  I can't get enough of tomatoes, and I feel refreshed and sharp every time I eat them. I don't know what nutrients are in a tomato, and I don't care.  I just know it's a superfood for me.

How about you?  How would you answer the question - what's my superfood?

I was asked my favorite food by a 2nd grader once, and I told them pizza.  I think pizza is up there among the greatest foods of all time!  Yet I was ashamed by this 2nd grader, who asked me this pivotal question. Shouldn't your superfood be the Eucharist?

Oof.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood  has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.  Eat any other food, and you will still die, but whoever eats this food will live forever.

Wow. Talk about a superfood.  The 2nd grader nailed me.  Since that pivotal question, I'll never make the same mistake again.

If I am going to fulfill the purpose of my life, to become like God and grow perfect in faith, hope and love, I need to be drawn by God into a relationship where He can both teach and feed me.  I am a unity of body and soul, and my body needs a superfood and my mind a super-teaching, and my will and heart a super-courage, a super-compassion, a super-charity.  I receive all these at Mass, at the Eucharist. Jesus promises that it is here, and only here, that I will learn how to trust to the end, hope to the end, and love to the end.

Here is a superfood that is meant to last longer than 40 days, but is meant to last forever.

In John 6, we are in the middle of Jesus most challenging and annoying sermon.  The dude can preach, and he cuts us by his words all the time.  But never quite like this.  What if I was to tell you that I was born from heaven, and that unless you knaw on my flesh like a piece of jerky and drink my blood, you're a dead man?  Jesus says nothing less.  What if I told you I was from another dimension? What if I cut off my arm and told you to bite into it? What if I showed up with a pint of my blood and told you to drink it?  How many of you would remain.  Jesus says nothing less in John Chapter 6.

How many of us believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist?  The answer is easy.  None of us do, unless the Father draws us by faith into a relationship where He can teach and feed us.

It's Jesus who asks you the question today - what is your superfood?

+mj

Is it who it is?

Homily

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time B2

4 August 2024

St. Ann Catholic Church, Prairie Village

AMDG

Is it who it is?

Jesus in today's Gospel is trying to change the mindset into a new way of thinking.  St. Paul talks about his metanoia, this changing of the mind.  He says we have to stop thinking from our bellies, from our flesh, and the unruly appetites that destroy a person surely headed toward death and destruction.  He says the new man thinks from the spirit of the mind

Jesus is trying to redirect the minds of those who came looking for another sign from him - you who are thinking from your bellies will never stop grumbling, or demanding signs, or asking is it what it is?  Amen I say to you - you are not thinking from the renewal of your mind, which would have you ask a new question - is it who it is?

My poor mother had the hardest time getting dinner on the table for a family of eight every night.  We didn't have much.  My mom was a master at stretching a dollar to feed us.  She cut coupons like crazy, and if there were limits on the quantities of food that you could purchase on sale, she would give each of her six kids a list and send us to the store, with coupons in hand.  I was always mortified that the $20 she gave me wouldn't be enough for the entire cart of groceries I was responsible for getting.  But my mom was good. She was so good.  There was always money left over, like the superabundant feeding of the $5,000, mom stretched a little a long way. She was so good she was asked to stop shopping at our local IGA.  I'm not kidding.

Yet what did we do when dinner was served?  We grumbled like the Israelites.  I missed my first football practice as a freshman because I wouldn't eat my peas.  My dad stuck up for my mom, and all the love she put into dinner, and grounded me when I spit the peas into the backyard after I had been asked to eat at least one bite.  Because I was so focused on what I was eating, I lost track that my mom had put her heart and soul into that meal.  I didn't ask the more important question - who is for dinner.

The word 'manna' literally means 'what is it?' It's the question the Israelites asked in response to the mysterious gift of bread from heaven that rained upon them.  It was the wrong question, then, just as it is the wrong question now as you and I once again approach the Eucharist.  Jesus teaches that it is God himself who gives us bread from heaven, and it is God's deepest desires to feed us unto eternal life through the bread of life.  In response to the question - is it what it is - Jesus says 'I am the bread of life. The most essential question as I approach food is this - is it who it is?

It is the most natural human experience to have the needs of our body and soul met together through the breaking of bread, through the sharing of a meal.  You know you are doing dinner right when everyone is grateful for the food, but the conversation is even better.  It is why we have to give thanks at every meal, especially at this meal of the Eucharist that means 'thanksgiving' because the food we share is a sacrament of our relationship with the One who wants to deliver new and full and everlasting life through the gift of His Body and Blood.

This is how we see the sign of the Eucharist - by answering the question - is it who it is?