Author: Fr. Leo

Here is the text. As always, you can see the video of homily on our YouTube site here. The whole Mass is on our Facebook page here.

We begin with the blessing of the palms and the commemoration of Christ’s Triumphal entry into Jerusalem and then all of a sudden, we are reading the Passion of Mark.  In less than 15 minutes we go from

Palm Sunday, more properly known as “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion” really lends itself to a kind of liturgical whiplash.

       “Hosannah to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 

       to “My God!  My God!  Why have you abandoned me?!”

       From the palm which is a symbol of victory

       To the Cross, an instrument of execution.

How are we to make sense of it all?

In order to do so, we need a good understanding of what it means to be redeemed by Christ by his suffering and death on the Cross. 

First, what does it mean to be redeemed?

       In the time of Christ, right up to the end of the middle of the 19^th century, the idea of “debt bondage” was a rather common practice.

       Briefly stated, if you ran up a personal debt that you could not pay, then you could be sentenced by the civil courts to be sold into slavery to your creditor until such time as your debt was paid. 

We see this elsewhere in the scriptures in the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35. Remember the scene?

       “That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.

       When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt.”

       Later, in Europe, this practice continued right up until the middle of the 19^th century with a system of debtors prisons. Your sentence depended on the amount you owed and you were not released until your debt was paid to the last penny.

       Federal debtors prisons were outlawed in the United States in 1833 and in England in 1867.  But they still exist in certain parts of the world.

       But even today we will use the phrase, “Paying your debt to society” when referring to those serving time for criminal offenses. 

So it was in the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus. Of course, the Romans, being very efficient, documented everything.

       So let’s say you owed a debt you could not pay, your creditor brought you before the magistrate, you were convicted. 

       One of the first things they did was draw up the legal document on parchment or papyrus recording the nature of your offense, the details, and what it would take to redeem your debt.  This document was known as your mandate or “mandatum.”  It might look a little like this:

       [Hold up the Mandatum}

Then, you were led off by the bailiff and cast into bondage. How could you get out of the situation?  How could you be redeemed and set free?

There were three ways that you could be redeemed:

       1. You could spend the proscribed amount of time in bondage.

       2. You could shorten this time by paying in blood and submitting to torture. Of course, if your creditor didn’t like you, or the prison was a bit overcrowded, they might do this to you anyway, just to move things along. Or, 

       3. If you had a rich uncle or other friends or relatives, they could pay your debt for you and you would be released. 

       Now, let’s take this little scenario and apply it to the situation of fallen humanity.

With the disobedience of humanity in the fall, SIN entered the world. 

       Humanity flexed its infantile moral muscles and asserted its independence from the Creator.

       Humanity, of course, was perfectly free to do so, but such independence from God comes at a price.

       As St. Paul and many others has surmised, this price for original and all sin…is suffering and death.

        Even the casual observer of the human condition can see that this is true in this life, as it is in the next.

       Who of us has not suffered because of our own carelessness or sins

       or the carelessness or sins of another,

              sometimes with fatal consequences?

       Sin is real.

       And death is real.

Like the man in debtors’ prison, humanity found ourselves owing a debt we could and cannot pay, eternal in its magnitude.

       1. Thus by our sin, we found ourselves sentenced to a debt bondage for eternity.

       2. Suffering in this life and the next in separation from God.

       3.  Unless…unless someone with the means could pay that debt for us.

Enter Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Mary, Son of God,

       Who by taking on a human nature, was able to pay the debt of suffering and death which is the price of sin.

       Who by his divine nature had the means to do so.  

Jesus, the Christ, who by his suffering and death on the Cross, redeemed a fallen humanity and reconciled all creation to the Father.

“Christ paid a debt he didn’t owe, because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.” 

The price for our sins has been paid.  And we are free.

Now, the liturgical whiplash of Palm Sunday makes sense.

By his suffering and death on the Cross that Christ paid the price for our sin. We are redeemed in the blood of Christ. 

       In the Roman Empire, your debt was paid, by time, by suffering or by anorther, they took your mandatum and wrote on it in big red letters.  REDEMPTUS EST, ‘He or she is redeemed.”

       And you carried it around with you.

       So that if someone should challenge you, “Say, aren’t you the guy that welched on your debt to Wally?”

       You could whip out your mandatum, show it to them and say, “I have been redeemed.” 

You know, we each have a mandatum. It looks like this:

       [Show baptism certificate.]

It’s called your baptism certificate, and it reads like this:

       [Read baptism certificate.]

It is now the Cross, not the palm that is the ultimate symbol of victory

       The palm spoke only of earthly victory in battle.

       The Cross stands as witness and speaks for all eternity of the sacrifice which won for us the victory over sin and death.

       We are redeemed in the blood of Christ.

Hey, Friends! There is a lot in this homily which is not in the synopsis below. To get the whole talk, check it out either on our YouTube channel here or the whole Mass on our Facebook Page here.

The Gospel of John is a lot like a big bowl of steaming Irish stew. You can see that there is some yummy goodness in there, but it is not until you actual start to stir it up that all sorts of  hidden delights come to the surface. So it is with this week’s gospel passage where Jesus is speaking with Nicodemus. There are four different ingredients, but the broth that holds them together is belief in the Son of Man.

The first ingredient is a teaching on his Passion (3:14,15). Why must the Son of Man be lifted up like the serpent in the desert?  “So that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

The second is the classic John 3:16-17. God loved the world so much he gave his only son.  Why?  “So that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” 

The third ingredient shows us that Jesus came to save us, not to condemn us. How do we avoid condemnation?  “Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned.” This seems harsh at first glance, but we must acknowledge that God does not do violence to us. Belief cannot be forced. So strangely enough, self-inflicted condemnation does happen. It’s a sad thing to realize that God does not condemn anyone to hell. Everyone in hell has freely chosen to be there. He goes on to explain this. There are those who simply choose the darkness over the light so that their sins may not come to light. This may be due to pride, stubbornness, or any number of things.

The final ingredient is an encouragement for us who believe in Jesus to live in the light of the truth.  He comes preaching the Kingdom, but more importantly he comes preaching himself. It is belief in Jesus that is our ticket to the Kingdom; by whom we are saved from condemnation; and with whom we enter into eternal, unapproachable light.

[Deacon Mick gave a good one today. As always you can check out the whole Mass here. And hey, I’ve also learned how to post just the homilies on YouTube. You can do that here.

The readings today

address the sickness and suffering of people that

filled a typical day in the life of Jesus. 

In one degree or another,

sickness and suffering are universal experiences.

And never so much as in today’s world.

You might say suffering is very democratic (with a small ‘d”). 

It doesn’t come only to the selfish;

it doesn’t come only to the sinful;

it doesn’t come only to people who are evil. 

It comes to the young and to the old,

to the wise and to the foolish,

to saints and to sinners.

Our first reading today

from the Old Testament Book of Job

is sometimes called “Job’s Lament.” 

He says,

“My pain is more than I can bear. 

I can’t sleep at night. 

I shall not see happiness again.” 

Job’s lament

is a cry we all feel within ourselves when

we became seriously ill or

when someone we love becomes ill or dies.

When we read in the Scriptures about

individuals speaking with God

and their mystical experiences,

we may or may not be able to relate to that, but

we can all connect to human suffering. 

Maybe our hurt is not physical but emotional

like a marriage in distress or a friends betrayal

or being bullied in school. 

When we feel pain,

regardless of the source,

we want to join Job and say.

“I shall never see happiness again/“

Into this world of suffering and pain comes Jesus. 

In today’s Gospel reading,

the lord heals Simon’s mother-in-law and then

people with all sorts of illnesses. 

In fact,

he heals so many people that

the Lord has to find time alone in the desert for prayer.

Some people are healed physically and others

are healed spiritually by the power of Jesus’ teaching. 

Jesus sees that

the deepest healing we all need is spiritual. 

That’s why the Lord moves on to preach in another town.

People are healed spiritually

when they are given the strength to accept their condition in life,

even to make their suffering a place of strength,

depth and compassion for others. 

That’s a powerful, healing grace because

suffering can make us bitter, isolated, and self-absorbed. 

It’s a sign of the touch of Christ

when our suffering gives us depth of understanding,

spiritual strength and compassion for others.

Now, this may sound like ambo rhetoric

until we see it happen in human lives

as people in the deepest suffering become like Christ. 

In their suffering,

they see a deep truth about the world. 

They see that

ours is not the perfect world and

we are not the perfect people

portrayed in television advertising.

They see that life

is not filled with happy endings as in the movies. 

Through suffering we experience the fragility of life

and see what is important

and how we all need the grace and redemption of Christ.

When people unite their suffering,

which is always a sign of our broken world,

with the cross of Christ,

they make their own pain

an occasion for spiritual victory for themselves

and for others.

SO – It’s in this context that

we can best understand

the Sacrament of Healing,

the Sacrament of the Sick,

the Anointing of the Sick. 

This is the sacrament that

for centuries was given to people who were seriously ill. 

Eventually, it became limited to those who were dying

and then used to be called the last anointing

or the “Extreme Unction”  or last rites. 

But the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick

is meant to be a sacrament of spiritual healing, strength and peace. 

And so the Church has restored it

as a sacrament not just for those at the point of death

but for all those who are seriously ill.

It can also be administered to those over 55 years of age. 

I guess they feel we are so close to death after that age that

we should not take any chances.

But seriously,

as in all  the sacraments,

the Lord Jesus is present in this sacrament

at a time in our life when we need him very much. 

When we are seriously ill,

we are challenged in our faith. 

We need the special help of God’s grace

in this time of anxiety so that

we will not be broken in spirit, or feel isolated and alone.

The Anointing of the Sick

gives us the courage and grace

to hold to our faith in the face of this challenge. 

It helps us see that

when we think we are alone, we are not. 

It helps us see that when our body is weak,

our soul can be strong. 

It provides healing that

is sometimes physical, sometimes emotional and always spiritual.

When we feel that

no one could possibly understand what we are going through,

Jesus joins us in our suffering

and turns a moment of desperation

into a moment of conversion.

My brothers and sisters,

don’t wait until a loved one is expiring

or lapsing into unconsciousness

to call a priest. 

When someone is seriously ill,

he or she needs this sacrament

when they can hear the words of the prayers

and make those prayers their own. 

Illness can be frightening. 

The Anointing of the Sick assures us that

Jesus is with us. 

He is there to protect us

from the doubts and anxiety that plagued Job. 

He is there to give us

the courage and grace to journey with him

and even,

even to make our illness an instrument of salvation

to ourselves and to others so that

whatever illness may do to our body,

Jesus, through the Sacrament of the Sick

will bring clarity, peace and dignity to our soul.

[Hey, Church fans! How do you know the faith you were taught was not made up by some guy named Ned in the Middle Ages? Your answer is below.

Don’t forget, you can always see the homily on our parish Facebook page by clicking here. ]

     When I am doing lectio divina, my meditations will often fall to the more obscure references in a particular scripture passage. For example, in today’s gospel, we are told that Jesus “taught with authority and not like their scribes.”         Which begs the question—how did the scribes teach? One gets the impression that they were a bit mealy-mouthed. They probably had lots of footnotes. 

       Jesus is different. He does not cite any sources. Rather, he comes preaching himself and the Kingdom. As the Incarnate Word of God, he IS the primary source of revelation. There is no higher authority.

       The expulsion of the demon, done by his own authority, further drives the point home. He appeals to no one. As the divine second person of the Holy Trinity Jesus teaches and preaches and heals and expels demons

       …on his own authority. 

       The people in the synagogue, including his disciples, don’t realize this yet of course. That will come later. In the meantime, they are left to wonder, “What is this all about?”

       To Mark’s mind, it is all about the authority of Christ over all things “in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.” (Phil 2:10)

       So here is a question for you.

       Did that authority of Christ end with his ascension into heaven? 

       The obvious answer is, “No.”

       At Pentecost, Christ passed on this same authority to St. Peter and the apostles and to their successors, the bishops. Thus, the Church teaches and sanctifies and governs with the same authority of Christ.

       Why is this so important?

       Well, let me ask you another question.  It’s one you may have even asked yourself at one time.  I know I did, when I was about 15.  The question is this:

       “How do you know?

       How do you know that the faith that you have been taught is authentic – that it is the same faith taught by the Apostle Peter, by the Apostle Paul? 

       How do you know it just wasn’t MADE UP in the middle ages by some guy named Ned Jones, or in the 19^th century by some fellow named Joe Smith?

       What is your guarantee?

       As a believing Christian, it is imperative that you know that your faith is authentic.

So how would you go about getting that certainty?

       If I were you, I would want to get as close to the source as possible. 

       I would try to find out if the very Church that Christ founded was still around,

       and once found them,

              and I would want to make sure that they had                                     some very good safeguards in place

              to make sure that what they taught today is                                  exactly what was taught then;

       Because if they did, they would be the only ones who would have the authority to authentically teach and tell their own story.

       These would be the present day witnesses to the Risen Christ.

       You deserve that kind of certainty…

And here you have it.

       My dear friends in Christ in St. Patrick’s Parish and those who are watching on the livestream or the recorded wherever you are.

       You are indeed sitting in the midst of or watching the local expression of the very community founded by Christ.

       For us in the Roman Catholic Church, we trace our faith in a direct line all the back to the Apostles Peter and Paul, authentic witnesses of the resurrection.

       Paul, whose life was changed forever when  encountered the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus and soon began to proclaim the very Faith he was persecuting,

       Who went to Arabia, back to Damascus, then to Jerusalem, where he his teaching was affirmed by the Apostles,

       then on four missionary journeys throughout the Mediterranean, and finally taken as a prisoner to Rome, where he witnessed to the faith, even under house arrest.

       And where, in the persecution of Nero, he was beheaded, outside the city at Tre Fontane, and where his grave is located under the high altar of the Basilica that bears his name.

       Peter, who was with Christ from the beginning, who recognized him as the Messiah, who walked out across the water to Christ in the raging storm, who denied him three times and was three times restored.

       Who at Pentecost received the Holy Spirit and proclaimed the risen Christ to the crowd with such conviction that 3000 were added that day.

       Who healed the crippled man on the steps of the Temple.

       Who led the Church in Antioch and then the Church in Rome for 25 years.

       Who in the persecution of 64 AD was cast into the Mamertine Prison and then crucified upside down on the spine of the Circus of Nero at the foot of the Vatican Hillside and was buried in a simple grave in the necropolis nearby.

       Where today, the Basilica that bears his name is built so that the high altar is directly over his simple grave.

       St. Peter, the Vicar of Christ, whose authority was passed to his successor Linus,

       and Linus to Cletus,

              and Cletus to Clement

and so on, in an unbroken line of apostolic succession,

       to a man named Francis, the 265th direct successor          to the Apostle Peter,

              whose first task is to hold and teach the Catholic Faith, whole and entire, without corruption

       who second task, in communion with the bishops

              the successors of the apostles,

       is to interpret and proclaim that Faith in the modern world.

       So what’s our guarantee here in 99504?

       Well, here in the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau, we have an archbishop named Andrew Bellisario, who was appointed by the very same Francis, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ,

       Before he came to us, he was subjected to a process of scrutiny that lasted almost a year and a half.

       In due time, the personal representative of the Holy Father, the Papal Nuncio, came to Anchorage for the installation.

       And before Archbishop Bellisario was installed, the question was asked of him, “Do you have the Papal Mandate?”

       What the heck is the papal mandate?

       Simply put, it is a letter from the Holy Father, to the people of the Archdiocese stating without question that the man who currently holds the office of Archbishop of Anchorage-Juneau holds and teaches the same faith the Church has held and taught and preserved since Christ founded it. 

       The Nuncio held up the letter from the Holy Father for all to see.

       If you would like, you can go to the Archbishop’s office and take a look at it. 

       This papal mandate is your guarantee that the faith you have received as a Catholic in 99504 in 2021 is the same faith as the apostle Paul, as the apostle Peter.

Jesus taught with authority. 

       The Church teaches with the same authority.

              The Apostolic Succession is our guarantee that                    the witness we have received is true. 

       May our lives reflect that truth.