Greetings, Church fans! Below is the text of the homily. As always, you can pick up the whole Mass on the livestream on our Facebook page or just the homily on our YouTube Channel.
I was struck by something the Holy Father said recently:
“Lent is not a time for useless sermons, but for recognizing that our lowly ashes are loved by God. It is a time of grace; a time for letting God gaze upon us with love and in this way change our lives.”
Actually, it was the great social commentator, George Burns, who said,
“The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.”
He may have had Jesus’ first sermon in mind when he said this. It’s a pretty short message in three parts:
1. “This is the time of fulfillment.
2. The kingdom of God is at hand.
3. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
This three part structure has pretty much been the norm for homiletics ever since. You may recall that the Holy Father always tries to leave us with “three words” in any of his addresses or sermons. So let’s look at each of these briefly.
1. It is a heady thing to realize that we are, in fact, living in the time of fulfillment. There are two aspects to what Jesus was talking about. First, Christ proclaims and the Church affirms that all Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. Second, all previous sacrifices, whether to establish covenants, to forgive sins, to remember or to give thanks, were fulfilled in the one perfect sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. This truly is the time of fulfillment.
2. Precisely because this is the time of fulfillment, the Kingdom is at hand, both temporally and practically. Too often we look for God in the exotic and mysterious. But to be Catholic is to believe that through the sacraments, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, there is no part of our life, even our worst parts, to which God is not present.
3. The gospel or “Good News” is that because of his sacrifice on the Cross and because that is so immediately accessible to us in the sacraments, the price for our sins has been paid. The only possible (and necessary) response is gratitude. Belief in the forgiveness of sins leads us to turn away from those very sins and live in the fullness of grace with Christ and each other.
This Lent, may we live as people of fulfillment who embrace the Kingdom and return to grace.
Let us recognize that our lowly ashes are loved by God. Let us allow God gaze upon us with love and in this way change our lives.
1. “This is the time of fulfillment.
2. The kingdom of God is at hand.
3. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”