I had the JOY of baptizing 13 babies and toddlers this afternoon. It was SO incredible! I wish I recorded my homily which I did without notes. If we include my daughter's baptism, I have to date been blessed to administer the Sacrament of Baptism 14 times.
Today is the Feast of St. Claire. I assisted at Mass with a visiting priest. After I read the Gospel, I turned to Father, and he motioned me to do the homily. I had a few moments to prepare. After a brief prayer to the Holy Spirit, I spoke the following.
The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come, Lord Jesus!" Maranatha! The Church is the Bride of Christ. Jesus is the Bridegroom.
Today is the Feast of St. Claire. I recently visited the Poor Claire Nuns Convent. One of my friends from high school entered this Order.
I remember looking at one of the Sisters [who was the porter] who was in the Order for 40 years. As I left, I just stared at her smiling. She was soooooo beautiful. She would have been in her early sixties or mid-sixties. She had the beauty of a woman who gave herself totally to God in prayer. Like today's Gospel, she left all to follow Christ.
We, too, are called to follow Christ in a most radical way-- in matrimony, in the blessed single life, and even as priests and nuns. We must encourage vocations to the priesthood and religious life. They don't grow on trees, brothers and sisters. We, the People of God, the Church, need to support those who have left father and mother and lands.
In the Middle East, there are Christians who have left father and mother and lands for the sake of Christ. They are persecuted and even martyred for Him. We must pray for the persecuted and the oppressed there. Some ways to help them include praying and contributing funds to assist them. Another way is to tell people about what is happening there.
So whether it's the Poor Claire nuns, or persecuted Christians, or us who have given up all to follow Christ, let us leave all to follow Him. The Church is the Bride of Christ.
"And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life."
My wife said while there were instances of substance here but that two areas of
improvement are (a) making the better connection of the major points in
the homily and (b) saying more details about St. Claire's life.
She also thought somehow St. Claire was involved with my diaconate vocation.
St. Claire, friend of St. Francis the Deacon, pray for us.
This was my third homily, but it was my first impromptu homily where I only had less than 20 minutes to prepare.
The priest asked me if I would be interested in giving it on the spot. I said yes and told him that I needed to develop the skill of an impromptu homily.
I'm sure there will be many more times where I have little time to prepare and not use notes.
Aug. 1, 2014
Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori
First Friday of the Month
On Sunday, July 20, 2014, I returned to my boyhood parish "where it all began".
Here, I returned to give thanks to God in Holy Mass and was blessed to give the homily. I also wanted to say thank you to the parish.
The Gospel was on the parable of the mustard seed. This was VERY fitting for me since this is where a seed was planted in me.
My son recorded my homily. The first few minutes were cut off so I just pasted the text of the homily below.
Thank you, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Milpitas, California!
Homily #2 (12:30pm Mass)
Deacon Dennis’s Homily: 16th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Kingdom of God is Like a Seed
(Mt. 13)
As a married
deacon, I have kids. A few months ago,
we were eating apples at the family table.
I cut one of the apples with a knife and showed them a seed inside. I said slowly, “The kingdom of heaven is like
this apple seed.” Their eyes were wide
open. I had them touch the seed and
said, “It is really small now, but later it becomes a BIG apple tree.” The kingdom of God is like a seed.
My name is
Deacon Dennis, and I am visiting you today.
You see, St. John’s parish was my first parish when I was a teenager and
a youth. I happily returned to the
practice of my Catholic faith here as a teen.
That was in 1987, around 25 years ago.
Like that apple seed that I used for the kids, St. John’s is where the
seeds of the Kingdom of God were planted, took root and were nourished. I live in Vallejo, and I am assigned to St.
Catherine’s parish there. But I am here today
to give thanks to God and to remember my roots.
And I give thanks to God for the gift of you, the parishioners of St.
John the Baptist parish church.
I was
ordained only three weeks ago. It was
here at this parish that the seeds of being a permanent deacon and also being
married were planted, like today’s Gospel.
In a particular way, my thoughts turn to the youth and young adults
present here today. My thoughts also
turn to parents, but let me address the youth and young adults first. It is to you, dear young people, that the
words from the Gospel this afternoon are especially directed. Do not be afraid to follow Christ! Do not be afraid to share your Faith, even
when it is unpopular. Do not be afraid
to give your lives totally to Him—in matrimony, in the blessed single life, as
a priest, brother or sister. As the
Second Reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans reminds us, “The Spirit
comes to the aid of our weakness.”
Let
the seed that has been planted in you, especially in your Baptism, take root in
your soul with the help of the Spirit at Confirmation. At Baptism, faith, hope and love were planted,
and Confirmation strengthens this grace.
But this seed of faith needs to be watered and nourished. And for us the seed is watered with the Sacraments,
especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation (Confession). It starts small, but when it is full-grown,
it becomes the large part of fulfilling God’s plan to redeem the world and
God’s mission for each one of us.
But how does
one plant seeds? Well, there are two
ways. The first is through witness and
example. As I teenager, I remember the St.
John’s parish Deacon Eugene O’Sullivan and his wife Lois who planted
seeds. They planted seeds through action
without many words. In fact, I don’t
remember anything that was said between us.
I do remember holding the candle as an altar server for Deacon
O’Sullivan (right here 25 years ago). I
remember how he placed his hand on the Book of Gospels so that he wouldn’t lose
his place. I remember his suspenders and
reading glasses. I remember Lois who sat
in that pew right over there. She always
closed her eyes when the Word of God was being read. I could see her from my chair as an altar
server. (Oh, don’t worry, she wasn’t
asleep. Oh no. She would open her eyes during the
Responsorial Psalm.) They planted seeds
through their witness and action.
In addition
to action, the kingdom of God comes through words, too. I remember Edgar and Lulu Villanueva who
planted seeds in my heart from the Legion of Mary. One day, when I was 16, Bro. Edgar spoke to
me and somehow the issue about deacons and matrimony came up. I told him that I was attracted to this way
of life and that I wanted to serve God as a married man. He simply affirmed me and said “yes.” And it was that simple. Lulu would
teach the youth prayers of the holy rosary.
They planted the seeds of the kingdom through their words. It takes someone from the parish to simply
ask, “Hey, have you ever thought about this or that” to a young person seeking
God’s will for them. I know three young
girls who entered a convent just this year alone. Remember, vocations to priesthood and
religious life have to be nurtured. They
don’t grow on trees! It comes from you,
God’s holy people. Just as
Jesus announced the Kingdom of God through parables and miracles, we His Church
plant seeds of the Kingdom through words and actions.
And in my
final story to illustrate the Gospel, brothers and sisters in Christ, I turn to
those of us who are parents. Or those
who in some way are entrusted with youth.
How can parents concretely plant seeds of the Kingdom of God? Well, parents are the “principal and primary
educators of their children” (Catechism #1653) in the Faith. They are the first teachers of handing on the
Gospel to their children.
One concrete
way to plant seeds is to teach them prayers from their earliest years. I remember my mom teaching me night prayer
when I was 5 years old to me and my sister, Michelle. It felt odd kneeling and making the Sign of
the Cross. And we chuckled. But we were still taught to pray,
“Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the
Lord my soul to keep. Watch me all
through the night. And wake me with the
morning light.” I remember how my mom
would take me to Mass even though sometimes I didn’t want to go. But she still brought us to Mass. I remember my dad taking me to CCD even
though I didn’t want to go. (In fact, in
my 5th grade CCD class, I disrupted the class as much as I
could. And here I am a teacher and
catechist now.) But he still brought me
to CCD to learn about God. The point,
dear parents and even godparents, is to bring your children to Sunday Mass and
CCD. It starts by planting seeds.
And for older parents whose children may have
left the faith for whatever reason, first pray and then use words and actions
to invite them back home to the Church and the table of the Lord. Let them know that something is missing when
they are not present at Sunday Mass.
Words and
actions—these are ways for all of us to plant the seeds of the kingdom. Jesus announced the Kingdom of God this
way—through parables and miracles, through words and deeds. Ponder this during the third luminous mystery
of the holy rosary where Jesus’s announces the Kingdom through parables and
miracles. The Second Vatican Council
taught in Lumen Gentium, “This gathering [around Jesus Christ who is the
Kingdom of God in person] is the Church which is “on earth the seed and
beginning of that kingdom” (no. 5).
So whether
it’s clergy like Deacon Eugene and his wife Lois through their witness, or parishioners
like Edgar and Lulu through their words, or parents like my Mom and Dad who
planted seeds, or St. John’s parish as a community, or even now by my showing
my kids the apple seed, the Kingdom of God is already present in seed form.
“The kingdom
of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when
full-grown it is the largest of plants.”
APA Citation:
Purificacion, Dennis (2014). "Homily #2: The Kingdom of God is Like a Seed (Mt. 13)" (Milpitas, CA: St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, July 20, 2014) from www.marysdeacon.blogspot.com blogged on Aug. 6, 2014.
Today, I was blessed to give a homily and Benediction for cloistered nuns. One of the nuns was someone I knew from high school. I was an altar boy at Our Lady of Peace Church in Santa Clara, and she attended daily Mass, too. I will post as much as I can later.
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