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ARCHIVE II
MONSIGNOR FRANZINELLI'S HOMILIES & REFLECTIONS
April - July 2000
|| A Prayer
||
God Did Not Make Death
Corpus Christi || A Mystery and
Fact - The Ascension || A Legacy of our
Holy Father's Example
A Strong Call for Repentance
|| The Victory
that Conquers the World... ||
Christ has Truly Risen from
the Dead
A PRAYER
Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, July 16, 2000
by Monsignor Benjamin Franzinelli
The Second Reading is special today.
It is a prayer. In the prayer, St. Paul systematically explains God’s purpose for the
world; the prayer outlines our purpose in the world which is to freely give glory to God.
Recall the little catechism answer to the question, "Why did God make you?" -
God made me to love Him, obey Him, serve Him here, and to be with Him in Heaven. We are
God’s possession. We don’t belong to ourselves or anyone else. All of creation,
visible and invisible, belongs to God. For He made us to His own image - He placed His
spirit, His life! Every human, God made to His image and likeness with the freedom to
choose to follow His plan.
The plan of God is that we freely acknowledge Him, give Him praise and thanksgiving.
Listen to His counsel, His direction - so that with the example of His Son, Jesus and the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, we would be able to achieve the purpose of our lives.
The prayer continues to say that
The Commandments were given for our welfare, so that with the fear of the Lord, we may
always find His mercy and compassion.
So we call God, our "Father" - through Jesus Christ - we are offered adoption to
be His children. In simple words - to be like His own son to Him. When we stray, in our
pride, our weakness is to want to go it alone without His help. Our bent is to want to be
God, that we don’t need him, but rather want to make our own rules and willfully
ignore, blaspheme and harden our hearts to Him. Yet he comes after us, like the good
shepherd, to heal and to save us from these pitfalls of disobedience.
Nevertheless, God is glorified by
His love and mercy for all of us, both for those who acknowledge Him and even those who
ignore, blaspheme and harden their hearts to Him. His mercy is forever and for every human
made to his image and likeness. It is through Christ we have the forgiveness of our sins;
His mercy, His compassion.
With that as a background, let us respond now to the lesson of the Gospel. For those who
hear His Son, and reflect on his Son, Jesus, God has chosen you to represent His Son in
the world - giving glory and praise to the Father. He calls us first to be instructed in
the faith, so that when you conduct your lives and speak to others, you will truly and
accurately represent him.
The world out there is not
hospitable. It is not easy to be committed to God and trust that God will always take care
of us. We know too well the dangers of being without a "backup plan", without
insurance against the happenings of life. But Jesus says that in order to be his
missionaries, to allow God’s power to work through us, we must trust in God and
depend on one another, as we would a brother, sister, mother or father or best friend . It
is not an easy task. This Gospel is a challenge to trust in God’s constant care.
Don’t be afraid to evangelize but be cautious of innovators. Stay with the traditions
of the Roman Catholic Church, the teachings of our Holy Father, his Bishops and their
pastors of the people of God.
GOD DID NOT MAKE DEATH
by Monsignor Benjamin J. Franzinelli
Sunday, July 2, 2000
THE BOOK OF WISDOM assures us that God did not make
death. In His own image He made us, that we might have life to the full. Only sin can cut
us short.
St. Paul teaches us of our responsibility as Christians.
Your abundance should supply the needs of the less fortunate - if you have more than
enough to live on. Don't want for what you don't need. Always seek to serve the needs of
others; your needs shall always be met.
Our Gospel speaks to us of Our Lord's saving miracles -
raising the daughter of the official and healing the aging woman - all to demonstrate His
power over death and sin. Faith in the power of God to heal, heals us. So reach out to Him
- touch Him!
CORPUS CHRISTI
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
by Monsignor Benjamin J. Franzinelli
Sunday, June 25, 2000
We shall never exhaust (this) mystery of the
Eucharist. It is the real presence of Christ, in person, under the forms of bread
and wine, given to us freely by way of food and drink. The Eucharist does for our
spiritual life, what material food does for sustaining our bodily life. It restores our
strength and courage, increases our faith and hope and gives us delight - a good feeling.
"My flesh is meat indeed, my blood drink
indeed." When we unite ourselves with Christ in Eucharist, he lets us feel Him, eat
Him and embrace Him. He welds us together in Communion (where) we are One with Him and
with one another. We are One Body - One Church. Together we have shared at the same
table, eating and drinking, renewing our covenant relationship with God at the sacrificial
banquet of His Body and Blood. The Eucharist makes the Church.
The human mind is truly limited to comprehending the
depth and breath of this Mystery of the reality of God’s presence with us, in us and
who works through us! At Mass when the priest speaks the words of Jesus - "this is my
body...this is my blood" - try to make them your own. Give your own body and your
blood as an offering to the Father in heaven, in union with Christ. Then say the
"Lord’s Prayer" in your heart and from your heart: "Our Father, who
are in heaven...thy will be done...give us this day your bread from heaven..."
One of the great tragedies in the practice of our religion, our relationship - our
covenant relationship with God - is the tendency to be satisfied with just going to Sunday
Mass - and being present for the institutional ritual. No matter how beautiful the liturgy
of the music, the ambiance, the setting - if you do not enter into the mystery of a
personal relationship with God, the spirit of religion is not there!
Sometimes we are in danger of making a mockery of the
Eucharist. Yes, we need ritual and it should be beautiful and in a beautiful setting, but
our ritual must lead us to the spirit - the experience of relationship with God!
Otherwise, it will lose its force, its effectiveness to help us live out the covenant, the
promise we made at baptism, confirmation and all the sacraments, to love God and our
neighbor - trying to be Christ to others!
Remember who you are and the agreement, which Christ makes with us in the sacraments we
receive, especially and particularly the Eucharist. He gives us Himself totally in the
mystery of the Eucharist - His body, blood, soul and divinity! From the cross, He gives us
his Mother as well to be our Mother.
Our part is to believe - (meaning) faith in who Jesus is and His promise to us and our
promise to Him.
A MYSTERY AND FACT:
THE ASCENSION
by Monsignor Benjamin J. Franzinelli
Ascension of Our Lord, June 1, 2000
The Ascension of our Lord to heaven
is both mystery and fact. A mystery of faith and a fact of life. The mystery
of our faith is that we believe that God exists and we do proclaim the realities of our
faith in the "Our Father" - all that has been taught to us by the
One sent by God, Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus Christ, in turn, proved that He was indeed sent by God and is God today,
yesterday and forever. He is the 2nd person of the Blessed Trinity, come to us
"in the flesh" to reveal the Father and reconcile us to the Father.
He taught us about the Father and the love of the Father for each of us and all
creation. Jesus promised that if we were to follow His teachings and His
commandments of love, our reward would be peace, happiness and eternal life amd that we
would never die "dead" but would prepare a place for each of us so that where he
was we would also be.
The wonders He performed and awesome happenings which followed Him - by His life,
death and resurrection - proved who He was and the Truth of His teachings.
Having risen from the dead, he proved that He was alive by being seen by many, especially
His disciples with whom He ate and drank. Jesus entrusted to them His message for
all peoples to hear, learn and follow. He promised them a Paraclete - the Holy
Spirit to confirm, strengthen and encourage them to continue His mission
As He had told them that He was not of this world, shortly after His resurrection from the
dead, He ascended and returned to the Father. He had completed the task of providing
us the means of saving ourselves and all of humanity from self destruction, as well as all
of creation.
He left us the testimony of His life, and by His life and sacrifice paid the price for the
forgiveness of our sins. Though he returned to the Father, the Spirit of God,
His spirit remained with us on earth.
He established the Church on Peter that through Peter and His chosen, that we who believe
would keep His memory, receive His gifts, and find strength and courage in His promise of
compassion and the forgiveness of our sins. A hope for all humanity, throughout the
world, so that man might believe and have peace and salvation.
The fact of life is that our loved One has gone. Christ no longer is to be
seen or touched, but we as His followers who claim to love God are called to continue His
memory and the purpose of His mission to work and make sacrifices for others (first, for
yourself and then for others) for your own and their conversion and deliverance from evil.
This experience should be easy for us to understand - it is like when someone you
love, who has been very good to you, dies and is gone from you. Do you not remember
them, both in word and deed? Are you not disposed to imitate the good they have done
for you?!
The Spirit of God is with us who remember and believe. Our Lord's promise is "I
shall never abandon you", "I shall be with you til the end of time."
What shall be our response? Shall you stand there looking up, waiting for another
sign or shall you say, "Here I am Lord, I've come to do your will?"
What did the angel say to those disciples looking up in the air, but: why are you
standing there doing nothing. Get smacking - there's work to be done, souls to be
saved.
That is what the Ascension means; now it is up to you and I. WAKE UP!
The Spirit of God is with us, confirmed within us by our baptism and the sacraments we
have received and shall continue to be received as gift for the purpose of saving yourself
and others.
We have the legacy of our Holy Father's example. He has traveled the world over
in pilgrimage to the four corners of this earth to embrace peoples of every race, creed
and nation. Pope John Paul II has given you and the world an example. To be
Catholic and Christian means to be like him.
Let me share this with you. I have just returned from a pilgrimage to
Fatima. We have the models given us by our children saints and in recent days, the
beatification of the visionaries of Fatima - Francisco and Jacinta Marto. Their
testimonies challenge our lives and faith with a true desire to follow the example
and model of these privileged children. They seemed only to think of converting sinners
and saving souls and of consoling Our Lord and Blessed Mother. Their hearts were
inflamed with love of Jesus and Mary - loving all peoples so that they, too, may come to
know and be united to God.
Jesus calls us to love each other as he loves us. Our natural inclination is to
love those who love us. But Jesus calls us to go beyond this. God asks us to
act toward one another as God acts toward each and all of us, at all times and in every
place. We are sons and daughters of the same Father and, also acknowledging
shamefully that we have not behaved as members of the same family!
Our response to today's gospel and scripture readings should be a prayer on our lips,
in our hearts, acknowledging our Lord's mercy toward each of us personally and all of us
as brothers and sisters despite the fact that we have not heard him.
The first principle of God's love for us is in the forgiveness of our sins - he
forgives our sins even before we ask him. So where do we start to show our desire to
love one another as he has loved us? By our forgiveness of one another, not once but
as often as we need to be forgiven. That does not mean acceptance of
wrongdoing, inappropriate behavior or mediocrity. Do not reject the wrongdoer,
but try offering fraternal correction - not threats, but rather extend your genuine
friendship and love without condoning the evil.
Above all, remember, to be Catholic means to be universal in our acceptance and love
of all peoples. Remember, too, that the roots of bigotry are generalizations,
condescension, and exclusion. All people are children of a merciful and forgiving
God who shows no partiality. Ask God in your prayer this morning for the grace that
will help you to fulfill his command "to love one another as I have loved you."
A STRONG CALL FOR REPENTENCE
by Monsignor Benjamin J. Franzinelli
May 7, 2000, Third Sunday of Easter
The first reading describes what St. Peter preached to the people 2000 years ago. It
is reminiscent of what our Holy Father has been telling us this year. The opportunities
given, in this jubilee year to repent , make a new beginning, so that our sins of
ignorance may not prevail and continue. Ignorance! Know your sins, humbly repent
and receive the forgiveness God has promised in this Jubilee Year.
The 2nd reading, St. John reminds us that, "if anyone should sin, we
have Jesus Christ; he has given his apostles the power to forgive the sins of the faithful
who believe in him; who want to know him, hear him. He is our advocate - our
lawyer!
In the Gospel, what more proof do we need to believe, how many more miracles do we
need? The miracle at Fatima cannot be denied! Stop and think - are we
any less obstinate than the Jews of 2000 years ago or in Peter’s time?
Our Lord wants us to know him better, and know ourselves better so that with our eyes
and minds opened we can seek repentance and have a new life. Repentance and the
forgiveness of our sins is the reason why Christ came, why he taught us how to live and
proved who the teacher was - God himself, in the flesh.
However if you are not a sinner, if you have not sinned, you don’t need Jesus
Christ. You don’t need to repent, you don’t need His Church, nor the
sacraments which are God’s help, love and mercy.
Perhaps the worst sin of our times is the denial of sin. We deny responsibility for
our acts...it is never my fault: perhaps a genetic defect, a chemical imbalance, or
dysfunctional environment; peer pressure. Or everything is relative. I really have done
nothing wrong, I did not commit a sin. We admit no standards and want no standards.
No principles. The ten commandments are compromised with our own interpretations. We
practice a smorgasbord morality, picking and choosing what is comfortable. We mistake
feelings for conscience. If we don’t feel bad it’s not a sin. If we feel good
about doing something then it is alright with God.
The only sins are those who have a victim. If no one is bleeding , if no one is
hurting, no sin. Gossip, blasphemy, cursing, are not seen as sin. Neither is alcohol
and/or drug abuses.
Promiscuity in dress are not sexual sins, or any sexual license - they are not
sins. Nor are we responsible for the sensual sins our promiscuity may evoke in
others.
We never hear about sins of omission or presumption in confession. I don’t really
need to go to confession for those things. I have no sins.
The more we recognize our basic sinfulness, the more we realize we need to
repent. In order to do this, we need lots of humility.
Pray for humility and true repentance - try to know yourself, make practical
resolutions for change. Give yourselves the opportunity for deeper awareness of God’s
mercy and forgiveness in this Jubilee Year. Set your lives straight in the new
millennium. Does it have to get worse before it gets better or can we get
better before it gets worse?
A particular phrase from Saint John's Letter, the second reading on this Sunday, has
caught my attention, "...the victory that conquers the world is our faith..."
In light of the Gospel scene of St. Thomas' unbelief, should we not examine our
faith? Perhaps we are as incredulous as he and more!
Today's reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes the faith of the early
Christians - they were of one mind and heart. Entrusting all to the Lord, they
bonded themselves as a community sharing all their possessions - their security was in
their trust and love for one another. They were convinced of the resurrection of
Christ, in His teachings, in God's promise and in His divine mercy. It was not easy
for them to entrust everything to God and Church. IT WAS THEIR FAITH.
And there is more to what our faith should be than just in the event described in the
first part of this morning's Gospel. Jesus not only gave the power to forgive sins
to his apostles and their successors, the ordained priests of the Church, He gave them the
power TO JUDGE whether their sins are to be forgiven or not. In other words, we
can't go directly to God. We must go to those to whom He has entrusted the power to
judge over sin. THIS power to forgive sin is awesome!
The power granted by Christ to His successors - Peter and the apostles, His Church is
to extend His mercy without limit. Our faith is that the Lord, our merciful
Jesus, who is present with us in the Church continues to forgive, reconcile and heal
through the Church. Do we believe in the forgiveness of sins through the
Church? We DO believe!
Yet the more important dimension of our faith is our personal understanding
of what that faith in God's divine mercy includes. What believing in the life,
passion, death and resurrection of Christ means and should be and what it
encompasses. It goes beyond the forgiveness of our sins and the good works of the
Christian community of faith. The real test of our faith is and comes from
SUFFERING.
Remember: God became man to show us what it is. Despite His goodness, He
was rebuffed, ignored, misunderstood and doubted - even by those closest to Him.
Despite His miracles, He still was challenged and abused. His disciples witnessed
first hand His suffering, His work, His teaching and claims to be the Messiah - One sent
by God. He demonstrated how sincerely he did not wish to suffer and die and instead,
He accepted the will of His Father.
It was for this purpose He had been born for us. What does it mean to have
Faith? Our Faith is measured by the trust we have in His Divine Mercy.
Our Faith is in our endurance to still be good in the face of adversity. Still
believing despite suffering, hardship, deep loss, and affliction. The
disciples of Christ had a hard time of it, and so do we. It's not easy - without
prayer and the sacraments we easily can loose our faith and be weakened.
We may think and even believe that divine mercy is merely in a forgiving God; a
healing God, a giving God - delivering us from pain and guilt, giving us another chance;
but in truth, it is IN THE VICTORY OF SUFFERING CROSSES, that we ourselves have
borne and are bearing. Faith in His Divine Mercy, is to believe that His mercy is in
our suffering because it purifies our lives, our minds and hearts - delivering us from
habits of sin and healing us.
This is not easy to believe that God's mercy is in our suffering and adversity.
No one wants to suffer or have problems. It wasn't easy for the early disciples to
believe even though they witnessed that Christ rose from the dead and His resurrection.
God's gift of Faith demands nurturing, demands constant renewal and practice to survive in
the world we live in.
The Word of God, the sacraments and habits of prayer makes our faith
and develops it for...
"The VICTORY that conquers the world is FAITH"...ALLELUIA!
Today we celebrate the foundation stone of our faith. Emphatically marked by the
words of St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 15: ... "If there is not resurrection of the dead, then neither has
Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty (too) is our
preaching; empty, too, your faith...For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ
been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your
sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished...But now Christ has
been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep."...
Christ HAS risen from the dead! Alleluia, He is truly Risen! Alleluia,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
As we reflect on this 2000th anniversary of the events commemorated, we are
dramatically reminded of them in this millennium jubilee celebrated today. We are
witnesses that God truly exists and that Jesus Christ, was and is and continues the same
yesterday, today and forever.
As it was 2000 years ago, at the scene of the happenings reported by the women in the
gospel and the disciples of Christ, the question remains for our generation:
"Do we believe?" If we do, then why are we so half-hearted and apathetic,
slow and sluggish in our faith response? Where is our excitement, our enthusiasm,
our vibrant spirit?
There is a newness in the air. Today we are making new beginnings; a new
chance to begin again with greater confidence and enthusiasm. Resurrection means to
be raised up to a new life. The past is prologue. Christ is alive!
"I believe in Jesus Christ....conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born
of the Virgin Mary...He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was
buried...On the third day he rose again..." JOIN ME, now, as I recall the
recent jubilee pilgrimage of our Holy Father, John Paul II to the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
He followed the path of salvation history, as narrated in the Apostles' Creed:
FROM Nazareth, where Jesus was conceived of the Virgin Mary by the power of the
Holy Spirit, TO Jerusalem, where he "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
crucified, died and was buried". There, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
the Pope knelt before the place of His burial: "Behold, the place where they
laid him". He recalled that the tomb is empty. Our Holy Father bent down
and kissed the stone where Christ had been laid. It was his silent witness to the
central event of human history: the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! For
almost two thousand years the empty tomb has borne witness to the victory of Life over
death. With every Christian soul who believes on this memorial day of Our Lord's
Resurrection - we are joined together to remember that event and where it took place.
"Christ is risen! Raised from the dead - he will never die
again; death no longer has power over him". HE IS the Lord of Life, victorious
over death; HE IS the source of everlasting life!
On that occasion and today, the 2000th anniversary of His Death and Resurrection, may
the Father of Mercies strengthen our desire for unity and peace among all who have
received the gift of new life through the saving waters of Baptism.
At the dawn of a new millennium, Christians can and ought to look to the future with
steadfast trust in the glorious power of the Risen Lord, the One who makes all things new.
Today, let us renew our profession of faith in the Risen Lord. Can we doubt
that in the power of the Spirit of Life, we will be given the strength to overcome our
divisions and to work together to build a future of reconciliation, unity and peace?
Here, as in no other place on earth, we hear the Lord say once again to his
disciples: "Do not fear; I have overcome the world!"
ALLELUIA! He is Risen...He is truly
Risen! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA!
[ Special Commentary ] [ May 2004 Homilies and Investiture into Ecclesiastical Order ] [ Homilies 2002 ] [ Monsignor Franzinelli's spiritual writings, Aug - Dec 2001 ] [ Archives Spiritual Director Reflections Jun-Jul 2001 ] [ Archives Spiritual Director's Reflections Mar-Apr 2001 ] [ Msgr Archives Aug-Oct 00 ] [ Msgr Archives, Apr-Jul 00 ]
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