Homilies

Cursillo at St. Basil Seminary, October 7, 2007

JESUS RAISES THE WIDOW'S SON (2) (LUKE 7:11-16)

My dear friends:

How do we react when we see or hear of a misfortune happening to others, be it
death, sickness, loss of a job or any kind of failure or embarrassing situation?

First Possible reaction:
- Some people react with indifference. "Who cares?" Am I my brother's
keeper?", said Cain. Instead of looking at people and seeing them and feeling
with them, we look through them, as if they didn't exist. How would you feel if
people ignored you and looked through you as if you did not exist, as if it made
no difference whether you are dead or alive? God is not pleased with such
attitude. If you were the only person on earth, Jesus would have come from
heaven, just the same, to save you by His Divine Blood! You certainly are of much
more value than a clear glass through which people look, as if it was not there.
We imagine most of the people in Jerusalem, on the first Good Friday, when
Jesus passed through their streets carrying His cross. How many of them took
note of His plight?

2 - The second type of reaction to the misfortune of others is taking note and
expressing sympathy, but with detachment. We express, but we don't impress.
We say, "we are sorry"; but, frankly, do we feel sorry? In the back of our mind, we
are glad it didn't happen to us. (Arabic funny saying, Allah yirxamu w yebqiina.
Mliix til3it fii w ma til3it fiina). How would you feel if people were watching and
taking note of your sorrow, but were not feeling with you? Imagine the Blessed
Virgin standing on the feet of the Cross crying and saying, as in the popular
hymn: “I am the sad mother and there is no one to console me…”

3 - Sometimes, and this is much better, we feel sorry; but we feel it externally.
Our sorrow, though very sincere, is not reaching far enough. There is again an
Arabic saying: "Live charcoal burns only where it falls." (Ljamra ma btexro' gair
mawda3ha.) We are not holding with our hand the live charcoal, so we don't feel
the pain of the loss.

Jesus, a mere stranger passing by, could have looked with indifference, not even
interested in asking who the dead man was. Instead, being the merciful and the
Lover of Mankind, He did much more. He felt deeply with those afflicted. He
looked at the bereaved mother and at the dead young man, her only child, and
He almost cried. He was moved. “He had pity on her,” says the Gospel. The
Greek word (Evsplangnisthi) means more than pity; it says: He was moved inside,
He was deeply affected. By the way, may I respectfully suggest that the translation
that we read in our official Gospel Book (Alleluia Press) minimizes Jesus’ reaction.
We heard: “The Lord, seeing her, was sorry for her.” He, in fact was much more
than just “sorry.” He was deeply moved inside. As the “Good News” Bible puts it:
“When the Lord saw her, His heart was filled with pity for her, and He said to her,
‘Don’t cry.”

4 - The fourth and best way to react to people's misfortunes, is as Our Lord
did, not only taking note as a spectator; nor feeling with, which is sympathy, but
feeling within, which is empathy. Sympathy or compassion (from the Greek:
Syn=with & pathia=feeling, and the Latin: Cum=with & passio=deep feeling, as in
passion) Empathy instead is feeling within oneself. En-pathia (in Greek:
En=inside, within, and pathos=deep feeling). We not only feel sorry, but we
express our sorrow sincerely; we feel deeply inside, and it shows. Then, “I am
sorry” is not an intellectual statement, but a gut feeling which affects our physical
being deep inside. This feeling shows externally; then it reinforces the inside
feeling and creates a bridge between the hearts. Sympathy may sound like
condescension; empathy is identification with the person with whom we share the
feeling.

One most rewarding Pastoral experience happened to me when I was Pastor in
Lawrence, about 25 years ago. That was at the wake of a young man, 19 years
old. After conducting the short funeral service, I looked to the young man's father
and mother; and my tears were flowing over. I didn't have to say anything. I
heard many good comments about it later on. What happened that evening
brought me closer to the hearts of my parishioners. When you sincerely feel with
the people and feel it inside, it shows and it heals the wounded hearts.

5 - Better yet than just feeling with, or feeling within, is to do something to alleviate
the pain which we are witnessing. Sometimes this is possible; but most of the
time, it is not. If we can, we should not only feel sympathy and empathy, and
express our feelings sincerely; but we should try to do something about it.

Jesus is the Emmanuel "God with us". He shares all our emotions; He was one like
unto us in everything without sin. Showing empathy is a noble and humane feeling
that is not alien to our Lord, the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Lover of
Mankind. And He wasn't satisfied to show empathy. He did something about it. He
told the mother "Do not weep". Then he touched the stretcher. The bearers
stopped. He told the young man: "Young man, I tell you, rise up". And the young
man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

If we identify with Jesus, then we fill our batteries with His compassion and we pour
it in return on those who need it. We don't only feel sorry, we are moved with
empathy and we do something about it. [[I once received $50.00 from a
parishioner "for the starving people in Africa". That was an unsolicited, yet very
thoughtful act of empathy with our hungry brothers of Sudan... I doubled it (big
deal!) and I handed it to Archbishop Antaki when I saw him that year at Rabweh,
Lebanon, during our Melkite Synod. That was no more an empty feeling of pity.
That was doing something about it.]]

How many people cross our way, who are hungry and thirsty physically or
emotionally. How many are spiritually dead. We are invited to reflect the
compassion and empathy of Christ on them. "Lord. make me an instrument of
Your peace!"... This day should not pass without giving us an occasion to show
sympathy and empathy to someone who is in need. Let us feel with and let us
alleviate human misery as we can.

We heard as a conclusion to last Sunday's Gospel, and it is worth repeating: "Be
merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful!" Our mercy and compassion will
help create a better world to live in, a world impregnated with love.

* * * * *

Waterford, CT – July 29, 2007
Day of the Annual Festival

Matthew 14:22-34

“Courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid,” says Jesus.

Once in awhile, in our life as individuals or as a family or as a community, we get
in trouble; and it seems that God leaves us alone, and allows us to try our own
strength.

What happens if God leaves us alone? We read in Psalm 103, at the daily Vesper
Service: “You hide your face and they cringe, you suspend their breath and they
die and return to their dust. You send forth your breath and they live: you renew
the face of the earth..” (Psalm 103/104:29-30)

In today’s reading, according to St. Matthew, Jesus was up on the mountain
praying alone, while the boat of His Disciples was far in the lake, tossed about by
the waves, because the wind was blowing against it.

At that moment, the Disciples needed Him most. “In the dark night we miss the full
moon,” says an Arabic proverb. So, Jesus comes to His Disciples walking on the
water. He appeared like a phantom. In fact they were terrified. They thought it was
a ghost and they screamed with fear. He comes to help them; but He terrifies
them.

Jesus reassured them: “Courage! He said. It is I. Do not be afraid.”

They felt like being in a magic world. They didn’t know what to make of it. Peter
who loved venture tells Him. “Lord, if it is really you, order me to come out on the
water to you.”

“Come,” answered Jesus. So Peter proceeded toward Jesus; and he almost made
it. Hurray! But, the moment he stopped looking at Jesus and was drawn by the
sight of the surrounding and threatening water, he started to sink down. “Save
me, Lord,” he cried.

At once, Jesus reached out and grabbed his hand.and said: “What little faith you
have. Why did you doubt?” and they kept walking on the water and jumped into
the boat. And the wind died down. This incident brings to mind an old verse:
“If the stars and the moon would doubt
They would fade out.”

Without Jesus, there is the storm. With Jesus there is calm and safety.
Without Jesus, there is doubt. With Jesus, there is surety.

If one is drowning, he may get nervous and drown down the one who is trying to
save him or her. The safest way to receive help is surrender “Sometimes, “Who is
afraid to die dies of fear.” Who is drowning and gets hysterical pulls down the one
who is trying to save him. “Courage, it is I, says the Lord.” And He leads us to
safety.

What do we do when we are surrounded by a raging storm? Do we look at the
waters and at the swirling wind? or do we rather fix our eyes on Jesus?
Of course, “help yourself and heaven will help you,” says a French proverb. (Aide-
toi, le ciel t’aidera.” But keep your eyes up. “I lift up my eyes to the mountains,
where help will come to me. My help is from the Lord who made heaven and
earth.” (Psalm 120/121:1-2)

Did you hear the old story of the atheist, maybe Madeleine O’Hare, debating a
Catholic priest? Sha said to him: “Reverend, if we are in a ship wreak, and I swim
and you pray. Who will be saved?”

The priest, reportedly, answered: “You swim and swim, and swim and swim. I swim
and pray and swim and pray. I have a better chance to be saved before you, M’
ame.”

Praying before our “business meetings such as the Parish Council is a very good
practice, regardless of the objection of some members who claim: “We are here to
carry business and not to pray.” . . . .

Praying at the beginning of any project helps bringing it to better results. Morning
prayer is the best guarantee of a joyful and successful day . . .
There are two kinds of people who greet the morning light. Some joyfully exclaim:
Good morning, Lord.” Others, half asleep, half heartedly complain: Good Lord!
Morning?

So, have a good day. Enjoy yourselves in the sight of the Lord. This beautiful
celebration of the Divine Liturgy is the best preparation for a very enjoyable day
as a loving family under God’s paternal eyes.

“If God is with us, nothing can prevail against us. For the love of God has set us
free.”

* * * * *

St. Jude Church, Miami, FL, July 15, 2007

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matthew 5:
14)

Before I say few words about the Gospel of the day, I am very pleased to make
two short remarks of good news especially to our dear Parish of St. Jude in Miami.

The first good news, if you haven’t heard it yet, is the elevation of our dear Father
Gabi, Monsignor Ghanoum, by our Beloved Patriarch, His Beatitude Gregorios III
Laham, to the dignity of Great Archimandrite of Antioch and Patriarchal Exarch of
Mexico with administrative powers for the Eparchy of all Mexico. This new title
gives him also the right to wear the crown and the staff as I am wearing here and
as all our Mlkite bishops do. Congratulations, dear Fr. Gabi. 3a qbaalha la a3la!

The other good news that you certainly are aware of is that we had last week, in
my opinion, the greatest Melkite Convention so far, under the leadership of our
Patriarch Gregorios III and our Shepherd Archbishop Cyril, with people coming
from all over the United States. In that great and memorable event, we have
prayed together, studied together and enjoyed each other's company and the
company of our Lord who promised that "Anytime two or three are gathered in my
name, I am in the midst of them."

I imagine our Lord Himself telling us on that glorious event, as we heard it again in
the Gospel of the day: "You are the light of the world."

We should notice, by the way, that Christ, in that portion of the Sermon on the
Mount, does not tell only His 12 Apostles or His 70 Disciples that they are “the
light of the world.” He told everyone present who was listening to him with faith,
and He tells everyone present here and now: “You are the light of the world.”
Everyone of you here present, Gabi, Marie, Sam, Sandra, Tom, Jamil, Nicola, etal,
all of you, by the fact that you are listening to Him with faith, “you are the light of
the world.” And the Lord continues, "So, let your light shine, so that they see
your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven." Now, frankly, we
should ask ourselves: How much are we the light of the world and how much we
are letting our light shine? How much does the moon shine? As much as it is
exposed to the sun, or more precisely as much as it shows to us the portion of it
which is exposed to the sun. The moon has no light of its own. The side of the
moon facing the sun is bright; but the side which is not facing the sun is dark and
frozen.

This is the great challenge that we face: How much we are shining the light of
Christ around us? As much as we are turning our face toward Christ. What is the
difference between us Christians and the non-Christians? We sing: “All of you
who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” If there is no difference
between us baptized and the non-baptized, then our baptism is in vain our title of
Christian is a false label. Let us face it: If I hold a flash light, and you don't hold a
flash light; and if your light is as shining as mine, or my light as dim as yours, what
is the use of my flash light?

Once upon a time, in the good old days before the invention of electricity, there
was a gas lamp in the middle of the public square, in a small town. Around
midnight, a drunk man walks through it, like a mosquito hitting a light bulb. He
brakes the lamp and the light goes out. On the morning of the following day, the
judge asked him, “Why did you do it?” He answered: "I did not see it. Why did you
leave the light in the dark?"

Of course, what is the use of a light, if you have no eyes to see? On the other
hand, if the light bulb is not lit, it is as good as no light at all.

We are challenged to do better, if we are Christians. If we don't do better, our
Christianity is going to waste. Our Melkite poet Nasiif el Yaaziji wrote:
"Wa qullu man laa kaira minhu yurtaja
In 3aaca aw maata 3ala xaddin siwa!"
Translation: “Anyone who does nothing good, then it makes no difference, if
he/she is dead or alive.”

May the sparks of faith and joy and love which touched our hearts during the
Convention and also during this Divine Liturgy communicate faith and joy and
love to your family and your neighborhood, and may our Lord Jesus Christ
continue to direct our lives in every good deed and make us His moons, shining
His light through our good deeds Let the face of Christ show on our face. Let the
non-Christians, or the nominal Christians see the face of Christ in us. Maybe this
is the only Gospel they will ever read. Yes, indeed, you, Peter, Paul, Nancy, Jim
and John, you are the living Gospel. You probably are the only Gospel many
people will ever read.

Some examples of shining the light of Christ:

* Attend church on Sunday faithfully. This will keep your faith strong, and will
strengthen the faith in your community.

* Give the good example to your children.

* Decide about your priorities. Where is your treasure, there is your heart ...

* Forgive and don't keep grudge.

* Refill your battery by attending the Divine Liturgy at least on Sunday as a bare
minimum.

* See in others the image of Christ, and show them the image of Christ in you...

* * * * *

(John 4:5-42)

St. Joseph, Lawrence, MA 5/6/07

“If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you ‘give me a drink,’ you
would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:
10)

Today’s Gospel is full with contrast between the heavenly and the earthly
reality. The Samaritan woman comes to draw physical water, an earthly
purpose. Jesus presents her with spiritual water, heavenly response. The
Samaritan woman was seeking to quench her physical thirst. Jesus offers
her the spiritual drink to quench her spiritual needs. Jesus says to her:
"Everyone who drinks this (physical) water will be thirsty again; but whoever
drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will
become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (2:13-15)

The woman asks Jesus about the material place for true worship; is it
Mount Gerizim in Samaria or the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem? Jesus
draws her attention to the spiritual dimension of worship. "God is Spirit,
and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth." By the way,
this may explain, although it does not excuse, why the Christian world at
large has not shown the proper concern about the Holy Land, about the
Holy Sepulcher of Christ and the Church of the Resurrection and about the
other Holy Places, as compared to the Moslems and the Jews. Most of all,
the original inhabitants of the Holy Land have suffered from this lack of
concern. For better or worse, many Christians think with St. Paul: “For here
we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:
14)

Jesus asks the Samaritan woman to bring her husband. She admits that
she has no husband. The one with whom she was living was not her
husband. There was the difference between a physical relationship and the
spiritual one sanctioned according to God’s plan.

The disciples offered Jesus material food. "Rabbi, eat." (2:31) Jesus
replied about His spiritual food, "I have food to eat of which you do not
know." (4:32) "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish
His work. (4:34) Later on, when the crowd came to Him, Jesus reproached
them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you
saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for
food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the
Son of Man will give you. For on Him, the Father, God, has set His seal.”
(John 6:26-28)

The disciples looked at the harvest, the material grain which was due in
four months. Jesus drew their attention to the spiritual harvest already ripe
to be gathered joyfully. (2:35)

The task of our Christian religion is to emphasize the spiritual meaning of
our words and of our lives. We are made of flesh and blood; we have to
take care of this body which is mortal; but St. Paul reminds us: “We know
that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building
from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven.” (2
Corinthians 5:1)

When we come to church, we are reminded at the beginning of the Liturgy
of the faithful: “Let us lay aside all earthly cares, that we may welcome the
King of all.” A little later, the priest turns to the people and invites them:
"Let us lift up our hearts!" And the people answers: “We lift them up to the
Lord.” These two invitations should not go unnoticed. Every time we
attend the Divine Liturgy and we hear this invitation, “Let us lay aside all
earthly care… Let us lift up our hearts…” and we respond to it sincerely, we
are carried up from the earthly plan to the heavenly. "Our citizenship is in
heaven," writes St. Paul, “and from it we also await a savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20)

The Lord said: "I am the light of the world." He also said to His disciples:
"You are the light of the world." Of course, He was talking of the spiritual
and moral light.

In our family, in our business, in our relationships, in the sweet and sour of
life, it makes a great difference if we look down or if we look up.

"Two men looked out from their prison's bars
The one saw mud, the other stars."

Although our personality is one (hopefully!), there are two tendencies which
pull us in opposite directions and threaten sometimes to tear us apart.
These are the two poles of our reality called respectively in the Scriptures:
the flesh and the spirit. According to St. Paul who addresses us in his
Epistle to the Romans, we (hopefully!) "live not according to the flesh, but
according to the spirit. Those who live according to the flesh are intent on
the things of the flesh, those who live according to the spirit, on the things of
the spirit. The tendency of the flesh is toward death, but that of the spirit
toward life and peace. The flesh in its tendency is at enmity with God."
(Romans 8:4-7)

The worst we can do is to draw religion to our lower level and so to deprive
ourselves from the benefit of religion altogether. A Latin proverb says:
Corruptio optimi pessima", which means the corruption of the best is the
worst corruption. This is what we do when we forget about the higher
meaning of religion and stick to the earthly level. Here are some examples:

The marriage celebration in church is the occasion of asking God's
blessings over the couple joined to each other forever by the loving power
of God. However, we see some people concerned about the external
ceremony and about the wedding reception more than about the necessary
preparation for the marriage itself. Man and woman are attracted to each
other and want to unite body and soul in order to form a family. God
blesses this human love and elevates it to the level of mystery, or
sacrament. Husband and wife represent Christ the bridegroom and His
bride, the Church.

In baptism, the social aspects sometimes blind the spiritual aspects.
Sometimes people attach more importance to the reception following
baptism than to the religious ceremony itself. Many people take a short cut
directly to the house or the banquet hall instead of coming to church for the
real thing. Here are striking examples of "the tail wagging the dog!" What is
more important the mysterious effect of the crowning ceremony and of the
mysterious rebirth through baptism or the social gathering which expresses
our gratitude to God for His abundant blessings? When we chose a
godfather or a godmother for our baby at baptism, how many times we give
priority to human considerations and forget altogether what we are doing?
A godfather or godmother are supposed to be exemplary Christian who set
the example to the newly baptized. I cannot sponsor a new member into a
society if I am not myself a member in good standing in that society.

Here is another example of the "two levels" of interest which separate the
flesh from the spirit: We lovingly assure material food and clothing and
social necessities and
education to our children? How much are we concerned about their
religious education? Parents who have registered their children in the
Sunday School, and of course, the teachers who volunteer to teach them
and who take time to attend special meetings and courses to enable
themselves to teach well, are to be commended for setting their priority on
the spiritual rather than on the material level.

When young men or women think of a career. How many think of becoming
a teacher, an engineer, a medical doctor, a lawyer, a business man or
woman, etc.? Are we willing to give a chance to becoming a priest or a
religious? Why should God come second in our consideration? To serve
God full time is the best way to fulfill our life and assure our happiness for
time and eternity. I wouldn't exchange the service of the Lord for any other
job in the world!

In summery, are we looking up most of the time or looking down? With
Jesus or without Jesus, that makes the greatest difference. Let us invite
Jesus into our hearts as the Samaritan people urged Him to stay with
them. And He stayed two days. That made the difference between time
and eternity.

The Kondakion of the day sums it up beautifully. This is what the Greek
word Kondakion means, putting it together as in a nutshell:

"The Samaritan woman came to the well with faith and saw you the Master
of Wisdom: You satisfied the thirst of her soul, and she inherited the
kingdom of heaven forever."

As the Samaritan woman, may we all encounter with faith and with love
Jesus our Lord, the Master of wisdom and the Father of Lights. Let Him
satisfy the thirst of our souls and make us inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Amen.

* * * * *

Christ has risen! Truly risen!

Before I explain how Easter is a new creation, I would like to correct myself,
if I may, and say more exactly that PASKHA is a new creation. Easter and
PASKHA mean the same thing in the English secular dictionary and in the
mind of many Christians. Besides, you may say with Shakespeare:
"What is in a name?
That what we call a rose
By any other name will smell as sweet."

However the feast of Easter was before Christianity. It was the feast of
Ishtar, the pagan goddess of love and fertility. It came at the beginning of
the spring to honor that false divinity which exalts purely human values as
separated from the true God Whom we adore. The symbol of Ishtar is the
Easter Bunny. So, in my opinion, the Easter Bunny is not only a wrong
symbol of Christ's Resurrection; but it is a wrong competition distracting us
from the beautiful reality of the Resurrection. PASCHA, instead, is the
Greek word for Passover (Pesekh in Hebrew; FesseH, in
Arabic, written Facka in Legga Lebnaaniyyi (cf. Elyagoodnews Website).
This brings to mind a similar word in Arabic: Fashkha, a step, a pace or a
passage.) In fact, Pesekh, passover, means passage, transition through
the Red Sea, from the mainland Egypt into Sinai and the Promised Land,
from slavery to freedom, from death to life. It is also the passage of the
angel of death, sparing all those who were marked - redeemed - by the
blood of the Paschal Lamb who is
for us Christ, the Messiah, "the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of
the world."

So, I wish you all a very "Happy Paskha!"

Paskha, the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ is called in our Eastern
tradition "the Great Feast" (Al 3iid Al Qabiir), and in our liturgical hymns
"the king and master of all days, the Feast of Feasts and the Season of
Seasons," (8th Ode of the Paschal Canon) as if to say "better than the
best." The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus is the greatest event in history.
Yet, more important than His Rising from the tomb is His rising and
growing in our hearts.

As I said in my introduction above – and it is worth repeating -- Paskha is
the religious name for Easter. It means "Passage". This word, Paskha,
brings to mind the Arabic word from the same Semitic root: "Fashkha", i.e.
a wide step. Christ's Resurrection is a "Passage" or a "Giant Step" from
slavery to freedom, from poverty to the Promised Land of Plenty, from
death to life, from hatred and resentment to forgiveness and love.
Originally, the word "Easter" was the secular/pagan name for the Feast of
Spring antedating Christianity. The ideal situation is when we rectify and
baptize our secular reality, adding to it the spiritual dimension. Happy
Easter! This is our human wish. Blessed Pascha! is the spiritual yearning
of our heart. Christ is Risen! Truly Risen! This is the expression of our
faith and hope in the Risen Lord who brought us from slavery to freedom
and death to life.

May our Risen Savior transform the daily reality of our life into the
splendid spectrum of His divine love.

"I shut the door of yesterday and threw the key away.
Tomorrow holds no fear for me, for Christ is Risen today."

* * * * *