Good Shepherd Sunday

A good shepherd walks up front,

and his sheep willingly run after him.

(Jn.10:4) 

Good Shepherd Sunday

Fourth Sunday of Easter, April 29, 2012

Acts 4:8-12       I John 3:1-2       John 10:11-18

First reading from Acts

Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said: "Leaders of the people and elders: if we are being questioned today about a good deed done to a cripple, and how he was made well, then you and all the people of Israel should know that this man stands here before you, completely well by the power of the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth who you crucified and God raised from the dead. Jesus is the one of whom Scripture says, `The stone rejected by you, the builders, has become the cornerstone.’[1] Salvation is to be found through Him alone; for there is no other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved."

The Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

Alleluia, alleluia.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Glory to you, Lord.

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because the hired hand works for pay, and he has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. As the Father knows me, so I know the Father. And I am willing to die for my sheep.

I have other sheep that don’t belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again. No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back again. For the Father has given me this right.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
----------------

Introduction

Good Shepherd - a favorite theme

The fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday. The gospel for that Sunday in all three liturgical cycles of A, B and C is from the 10^th chapter of John, which through 15 verses lists the qualities of a Good Shepherd. That chapter no doubt helped to make the Good Shepherd theme a favorite in Christian tradition.

A favorite psalm of ours declares, "The lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” (Ps. 21) A favorite parable of ours has a shepherd going in search of a lost sheep, and when found, hoists it on his shoulders and carries it safely home. (Lk. 15:4-6) A favorite Basilica of ours (St. Peter’s in Rome) in its the lofty heights has written in gold mosaic letters six feet tall the risen Lord’s command to Peter to shepherd his lambs and sheep. (Jn. 21: 15-17).  A favorite Pope of ours (John XXIII) on the day of his `coronation,’ Nov. 4^th 1958, in his homily told his flock that his pontificate would be inspired by the example of “Jesus, the Good Shepherd who came not to be served but to serve.”

A litany of the qualities of a good shepherd

John’s 10^th chapter has Jesus listing the qualities of a good shepherd.  He leads the sheep: “I am the good shepherd. I call my sheep by their own name and they hear me. I walk up front, and my sheep willingly run after me.”  He feeds the sheep:  “I am the good shepherd.  “I lead my sheep into green pastures and feed them.” (Jn. 10:9). He protects the sheep: “I am the good shepherd. Unlike the hired hand who runs away when he sees the wolf coming, I stick by my sheep and protect them and lay down my life for them.” (Jn. 10:11-13)  He knows the sheep: “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me.” (Jn. 10: 14-15)

All the Sundays of the year have three different Alleluia verses to announce the gospel (one for each of the three liturgical cycles). Good Shepherd Sunday, however, has only one Alleluia verse, which it repeats every cycle: "Alleluia! Alleluia! I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me.” That `knowing of the sheep’ is not purely intellectual; rather it has warm emotional overtones: a good shepherd lovingly knows his sheep, and his sheep, in turn, lovingly know him.

A good shepherd knows what’s not greatly important.

“I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me,” says Jesus. What is it that a good shepherd knows about his sheep? First of all, he knows what’s not greatly important to his sheep. That requires not only perception but also honesty on the part of the shepherd. A good shepherd knows, for example, that most of his sheep are not terribly concerned about a celibate priesthood. He knows that 71% percent of them now favor (or at least are not soundly opposed to) married priests. What’s more, he knows that an increasing number of his sheep are open even to women priests.

He knows also that most of his sheep no longer agonize over contraception or divorce and remarriage or sacramental confession, as they used to agonize about these issues in times past. He knows also that an ever-increasing number of his sheep are no longer conflicted about their homosexuality but accept themselves, even though the institutional church does not. A good shepherd knows all these things, and doesn’t pretend not to know

Fr. Boulad knows what’s not greatly important.

Father Henri Boulad (b.1931) is an Egyptian Lebanese Jesuit of the Melkite rite, rector of the Jesuit school in Cairo, regional superior of the Jesuits in Egypt, professor of theology, and publisher of some 30 books in 15 languages.  In 2007 this highly qualified Jesuit priest wrote a personal, private and lengthy letter to Pope Benedict (which in its entirety can be found on the Internet).  In the letter Fr. Boulad shows himself to be a good shepherd who knows what’s not greatly important to the sheep. He writes:

In the matter of morality and ethics, the injunctions of the Magisterium,[2] repeated ad nauseam on marriage, contraception, abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, clerical celibacy, divorce and remarriage, etc. touch nobody [do not touch the sheep] and only engender weariness and indifference in them.  All these moral and pastoral problems deserve more than preemptory declarations.  They deserve an approach that is pastoral, sociological, psychological and humane -- an approach that is more in keeping with the Gospel.

The culture of pretense

“I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me,” says Jesus. What is it that a good shepherd knows about his sheep? He knows that many of them have either solved many of these matters for themselves, or don't know what the problem is, or simply don’t care much, one way or the other. A good shepherd might not like these facts, but they’re there, and he doesn’t pretend that they’re not there.

The former auxiliary bishop of Detroit, Thomas Gumbleton, is a good shepherd who refuses to blend into `a culture of pretense.’ In a letter to the America magazine he wrote, "I can vouch for the fact that very many bishops share the same conviction [that not every contraceptive act is intrinsically evil]. However, sadly enough, fewer and fewer are willing to say this publicly. [3]”  Such a culture of pretense is neither honest nor healthy. What’s more, it’s not good for our Catholic faith; at the end of the day it can set us wondering whether we are also `pretending’ when we raise Bread on high at Mass, and proclaim it is the very body of Christ. (It all hangs together.)

A good shepherd knows what indeed is important.

On the other hand, a good shepherd knows what indeed is important to his sheep. In these days as the nation tries to pull itself out of an economic depression, a good shepherd knows his sheep are worried about getting or keeping a job, paying the mortgage, affording health insurance, educating their kids, replacing an old car or wash-machine, etc. And in the more spiritual realm of human life, a good shepherd knows that some of his sheep are afflicted with addictions of various sorts, or are battling a serious illness, or are beset with deep grief over a recently deceased loved one, etc.

A good shepherd who knew his sheep

Upon the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Angelo Roncalli, the Patriarch of Venice, was elected pope and took the name of John XXIII. In his homily on the day of his coronation, Nov. 4, 1958, the new Pope told the gathered crowd gathered in St. Peter’s: “People have different ideas about what the new pope should be: diplomat, scholar, statesman. Your new pope has in mind St. John's example of the Jesus, the Good Shepherd who came “not to be served but to serve.” (Mk. 10:45)The next day, Good John went forth to shepherd his flock; off through elaborate Vatican portals he sped to visit prisoners in a Roman jail and to console aging priests in nursing homes.

Through his very short term of shepherding the Church (1958-1963) Good Pope John lovingly knew his sheep, and the sheep, in turn, lovingly knew him. He walked up front, and the whole Church willingly ran after him. And when John lay dying on June 3, 1963, and the papal sacristan Van Lierde was about to anoint the dying Pope, John spoke for the last time: “I had the great grace to be born into a Christian family, modest and poor, but with the fear of the Lord. My time on earth is drawing to a close.” And then the dying Pope prayed, “Ut omnes unum sint.” “That all might be one.” (Jn. 17:21) His dying prayer reflected the aspiration of Jesus the Good Shepherd who said: “I have other sheep that don’t belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.” (Jn. 10:16) After praying “Ut omnes unum sint,” Good Pope John breathed his last at 7:49 p.m., June 3, 1963.

A sheep who lovingly knew the good shepherd

When John lay dying, the whole world was there kneeling at his bedside, and among them was Australian writer Morris L. West (1916-1999), famous especially for his books The Devil’s Advocate and The Shoes of the Fisherman. Though West was and always remained a Catholic, his various writings contained an amount of criticism of the Church, and the Church was not always pleased with him. He was, however, a sheep who lovingly knew the good shepherd, Pope John. In a little volume entitled A View from the Ridge he writes,

I believe I can say with certainty that I remained in communion with the Church even when the Church itself excluded me, and I remain there still, principally because of the presence of John XXIII, the Good Shepherd, whom I never met, though I did meet his predecessor and his successor. Goodness went out from this man to me. I acknowledged it then. I acknowledge it again. We had had a surfeit of princes and politicians and theologians – even of conventional saints. We needed a man who spoke the language of the heart. We had John too briefly.

Conclusion

All are shepherds.

An old ecclesiology simply viewed shepherds as hierarchy, and sheep as laity. Life isn’t so clear-cut. Sometimes we all are sheep who have to be shepherded, and sometimes we all are shepherds who have to shepherd someone. Good Shepherd Sunday is not only about popes, bishops and priests; it’s about all of us who sooner or later are called to shepherd others by walking up front, by leading them into green pastures, by protecting them from hungry wolves, and by lovingly knowing them.

---

[1]  Psalm 119, verse22

[2] The church’s teaching authority

[3] In a letter to America magazine, November 20, 1963, 

No homily

Thomas: Doubting Scoundrel or Doubting Saint?

 

By Caravaggio (1573–1610) painted in 1603

The risen Lord said to doubting Thomas:

 “Give me your hand and put it into my side." (Jn20: 27).

Thomas: Doubting Scoundrel or Doubting Saint?

April 15, 2012, Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 4:32-35         1 John 5:1-6       John 20:19-31

The first reading from Acts

The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all. There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.

The Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

Alleluia, alleluia

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Glory to you, Lord.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When He had said this, He showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

One of the Twelve, Thomas (called the Twin), was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail-marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."

Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “"Peace be with you." Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Give me your hand and put it into my side. Stop your doubting, and believe!” Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus did many other wonderful signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
----------------

Introduction

The yearly scolding

This Second Sunday of Easter is always Doubting Thomas Sunday. The lectionary assigns three different gospel readings for every Sunday of the year (one for each of the three liturgical cycles of A, B and C). The Second Sunday of Easter, however, is an exception: it has one and the same gospel of the Doubting Thomas assigned to all three cycles. That’s to make sure the scolding dished out to Thomas is yearly dished out to the doubting faithful: “You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (Jn. 20:27-29)

Scolding doubting Thomas

Tradition (following the lead of scripture) has been tough on Thomas; it has given him his other name: Doubting Thomas.  In his Easter evening appearance Jesus shows his wounded hands and side to the gathered disciples. Thomas, who is out about town, is not present. When he returns, he tells the others he won’t believe that the Lord is risen unless he gets the same assurance they received. (Jn. 20:24-25) He gets his assurance a week later: the risen Lord appears again, and says to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Give me your hand and put it into my side.” Then the risen Lord scolds doubting Thomas saying, “You believe because you see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Whose scolding is this?

Since Jesus is now ascended into heaven and there are no more post-resurrection appearances, wouldn’t it be convenient now to tell the people, “Don’t be like doubting Thomas who needs to see for himself! Believe, because we say so. Blessed are those who believe even though they haven’t seen.” At the end of the day, we wonder whose scolding is this, in the first place.  Is this the scolding of the Jesus? Or is it the scolding of the early Church, which is afraid of doubters, and which put these words into the mouth of Jesus?!

In praise of doubting Thomas

On Doubting Thomas Sunday there is a temptation for preachers to scold the doubters among us. It therefore comes as a surprise (and also a relief to all of us who are doubters) to hear something in praise of doubting Thomas. In praise of those who don’t believe until they can see for themselves, as Thomas didn’t believe until he saw for himself. Instead of scolding doubting Thomas (who wants `hands-on-proof’), the risen Lord offers to meet his conditions: He says to Thomas: “Give me your hand and put it into my side. Stop your doubting and believe!” (Jn20: 27) 

Look at what happened when Thomas saw for himself the risen Lord: he cried out, “My Lord and my God!” (Jn. 20:28) And that’s the high point of John’s Gospel. No one else offers such devotion or names Jesus as God.

Attraction to doubting Thomas

One gentleman of the cloth confesses a sneaking attraction to Thomas the doubter - a man who needed to see for himself. He writes

Perhaps because I’ve often found myself in Christian communities where no one voices doubt or struggle, I am reluctant to dismiss Thomas as a villain. At my evangelical college, we didn’t talk about our fears or failures because we thought others would judge us as unspiritual. I’ve watched people struggling alone with deep questions of faith because they were afraid of how others might react to their doubts. Doubt and uncertainty frighten us. That’s why we reject Thomas -- he dares to bring doubt into our lives of faith.

A long line of doubting Thomases

Seattle's Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen (b.1921-) is a doubting Thomas, who dares to bring doubt into our lives of faith. A great advocate for the poor and ignored, he implicitly called into doubt the Church’s stance on such issues as artificial contraception and homosexuality. In a letter he publicly defended the rights of gays and lesbians, and he permitted a homosexual group called Dignity to hold its own Mass in his cathedral. “They're Catholics too,” he explained. "They need a place to pray.” He paid for his doubting Thomas stance. Some people in Seattle grumbled greatly at his views and managed to have Rome strip him of some of his episcopal authority, because “his lack of clarity about homosexuality had confused the faithful.”

Bishop Kenneth Untener of Saginaw (1937- 2004) was also a doubting Thomas, who dared to bring doubt into our lives of faith. 1993 was the 25^th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical letter Humanae vitae (1968), which reaffirmed the Church's stand against artificial birth control. Bishop Untener implicitly called into doubt the Church’s stand against artificial birth control, when he invited the Church to use the anniversary as an occasion to start a new, honest and open discussion on birth control. His invitation was turned down.
Retired auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit. Thomas John Gumbleton (b. 1930), is also a doubting Thomas, who dares to bring doubt into our lives of faith. He also implicitly calls into doubt the Church’s stance on birth control. In a letter to America magazine (Nov. 20, 1963,) he wrote, "I can vouch for the fact that very many bishops share the same conviction (that not every contraceptive act is intrinsically evil). However, sadly enough, fewer and fewer are willing to say this publicly.” And Bishop Gumbleton implicitly calls into doubt Pope John Paul II’s definitive stand against the ordination of women, when he says, “Priestesses will inevitably come. Already, female parochial administrators are proving their competency and laying the groundwork for the ordination of women.” Gumbleton also paid for his doubting Thomas stance: when he (still in good health) petitioned Rome for permission to stay on as bishop beyond his 75^th year, the canonical age for retirement (often waived for a good reason) his petition was refused with e-mail speed.

Conclusion

Doubting scoundrel or doubting saint?

After all these centuries, it’s time to rehabilitate Thomas. He is not the traditional doubting scoundrel depicted by the early Church (which wants to keep the faithful believing, even though the risen Lord is no longer in their midst). Rather Thomas is a doubting saint. He doubts that his Lord has risen from the dead and has appeared to the disciples in the upper room. And he works hard at clearing up his doubt: "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail-marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." (Jn. 20:25) And he is rewarded for his efforts: at the high point of John’s Gospel Thomas exclaims, “My Lord and my God!” (Jn. 20:28)

Rolling away the Stone

“Mary Magdalene saw the stone had been rolled

 away from the entrance of the tomb.” (Jn. 20:1)

Rolling away the Stone

Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012

Acts 10:34, 37-43 Colossians 3:1-4 John 20:1-9

The first reading from Acts

Peter proceeded to speak: “You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached. You know about Jesus of Nazareth, how God poured out on Him the Holy Spirit and power. He went everywhere doing good and healing all who were under the power of the Devil. We are witnesses of all that He did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But God raised Him from the dead on the third day and caused Him to appear, not to all the people, but only to us who are the witnesses chosen by God in advance. We ate and drank with Him after he rose from the dead. And He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that He is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”

The word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

Alleluia, alleluia.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Glory to you, Lord.

On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone had been rolled away from the entrance of the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put Him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first. He bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. It was not lying with the burial cloths but was rolled up by itself. Then the other disciple, who had arrived at the tomb first, also went in. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand the Scripture which said He must rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back home.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
-------------------

Introduction

Nietzsche's murdered God

German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900) is famous for his strange but intriguing declaration that “God is Dead."  In his work The Madman, he places the expression in the mouth of a demented man who declares:

 God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed Him. How shall we (murderers of all murderers) comfort ourselves? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has known has bled to death under our knives. Who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to cleanse ourselves?

God murdered by Nazis

Nietzsche was right: man has the awesome power to murder God. On November 9^th 1938, the Nazis murdered God, as they rampaged through Germany and in one night destroyed 7000 Jewish businesses and torched 191 synagogues. That night goes down in history as Krystallnacht (Night of the Shattered Crystal), and it marks the beginning in earnest of the Holo-caust. By the time Nazis had accomplished their `final solution of the Jewish problem,’ they had murdered six million Jews. The most prominent fatality of the Holocaust, however, was God Himself! Activist and author Elie Weisel is the Holocaust’s most well-know Jewish survivor. In a little volume entitled Night he recounts his first evening in the concentration camp of Buchenwald, when  he saw the bodies of little children going up in smoke from the crematories. He writes:

That was the night which murdered my God and my soul, and turned my dreams into dust. Never shall I forget it, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never!

God murdered by 9/11/2001

Again, Nietzsche was right: man has the awesome power to murder God. On September 11^th 2001 radical Islamists drove two 747s into the Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan. It was a day New Yorkers and all Americans will never forget, even if they were condemned “to live as long as God Himself.” It took ten months of utterly grim labor at ground zero to haul away 2,000,000 tons of debris, 1600 identified bodies and 20,000 body parts. Again, the most prominent fatality of 9/11 was God Himself! One New Yorker, a security guard who lost more than thirty friends that day, said of that horrific event:

It was utterly barbaric the way their lives were taken. So I look at God now as a barbarian and I probably always will. My old God was murdered that day, and I don’t know how to bring Him back to life.

God murdered by the tsunami of 3/11/2011

Not only man but also nature has the awesome power to murder God. One year ago on March 11^th 2011, a 9.0 magnitude undersea earthquake occurred off the eastern coast of Japan.  It caused a tsunami of over-whelming statistics: 27,000 people dead or missing. 318,000 people left homeless, and the cost of 306 billion dollars to haul away millions of tons of debris and to rebuild. Ominously topping those horrific statistics were the crippled nuclear reactors in Fukushima Prefecture. The cost in human grief, physical pain, deep despair, irreparable loss and ominous fear of radiation is overwhelming.
That tsunami did, indeed, murder God for Austin Kenny.  In an article entitled God, Allah & the Tsunami Disaster he unambiguously declares his atheism. And what’s more, he openly expresses a thought which even we believers at times are tempted to entertain down deep within ourselves, especially in the tsunami moment of our own lives. Kenny writes:

Where was God when the tsunami hit? He was where he always was, in the imaginations of those who believe in him. He exists nowhere else. He can neither help nor hinder us. We have nothing to thank him for, nor do we have anything to blame him for. We are simply on our own!

A `saintly sinner’ who rolled away the stone

Nietzsche was right: man has the awesome power to murder God. But man also has the awesome power to raise God up from the dead. Fr. Mychal Judge (May 11, 1933-Sept. 11, 2001) had such awesome power. He was a priest of the Franciscan Order and beloved chaplain of the NYC Fire Department. On the apocalyptic day of 9/11 chaplain Judge rushed to ground zero, where he became the first recorded fatality of that infamous day. He had taken off his helmet to give the last rites to a dying fireman when suddenly a mass of debris came crushing down upon him. He died there on the spot, and his body was carried off by his fellow firefighters to nearby Episcopal St. Paul Chapel at 209 Broadway. There it was reverently laid on an altar. That solemn drama of Fr. Judge’s last moments crowned a life of extraordinary unselfishness.

New Yorkers knew much more about Fr. Judge than just about his heroic death on 9/11. They had often experienced his playful character -- his legendary knack for story-telling and for bursting into old Irish standards at the drop of a hat. They experienced his great gift for making people feel as though they were the only ones in the room, and his bartender's knack of bringing strangers together. New Yorkers were amazed at Judge’s encyclopedic memory for people’s names, birthdays and passions, and were well-aware of his deep compassion for the City’s needy and forgotten.

But New Yorkers also knew Fr. Judge’s darker side.  He was a recovering alcoholic who comforted alcoholics, assuring them they were not evil people. He’d tell them: “Look you’re not a bad person; you just have a disease that makes you think you’re bad.” Despite some raised eyebrows, he opened the doors of the well-known Church of St. Francis of Assisi on 31^st Street in Upper Manhattan to Dignity, an organization for gay Catholics. He told the raised eyebrows, “They too need a place to pray.”And then to top it off, people saw him, clothed in his Franciscan habit, march quietly and dignifiedly in the first gay-inclusive St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City.

On September 15, 2001Cardinal Edward Egan presided at his funeral, in St. Francis of Assisi Church. The Mass was attended by a sea of 3,000 people. In that immense crowd were former President Bill Clinton and New York Senator Hillary Clinton. And when a memorial service was later held in the Anglican chapel of the Good Shepherd Chapel on Ninth Ave, cops, firefighters, lawyers, priests, nuns, homeless people, rock-and-rollers, recovering alcoholics, local politicians and middle age couples from the suburbs came flocking from every direction.

New Yorkers came flocking to celebrate a `saintly sinner’ who, by his utterly unselfish life and then by his heroic death on 9/11, raised God from the dead for them. New Yorkers came flocking to celebrate a 'saintly sinner' who rolled away the stone before the tomb of God, murdered quite soundly for them on 9/11. 

Austin Kenny declares that “We are on our own,” whether it be on the occasion of the overwhelming tsunami of March 11, 2011, or the horrific attack on the World Trade Center  on September 11, 2001. At the other end of the spectrum stands a `saintly sinner’ who, by his remarkably unselfish life and then his sacrificial death on 9/11, reassured New Yorkers that they are not on their own.

Conclusion

Rolling away the stone

Words fall short on Easter Morn. A homily which pretends `to prove’ that Jesus truly rose from the dead are never brilliantly successful. More successful in engendering Easter faith is the yearly return of the robin rolling away the stone before the tomb of winter, announcing the arrival of spring, and building her nest according to blueprint built within in her. More successful in engendering Easter faith is a vibrant parish rolling away the stone before the tomb of God, and making Him come alive with living Liturgy and living Word. More successful in engendering Easter faith is a `sinful saint’ like Mychal Judge who by his selfless living and heroic dying rolled away the huge stone before the tomb of God (soundly murdered on 9/11), and reassured New Yorkers that they were “not on their own.”

Words fall short on Easter Morn. At the end of the day, there is only one good word for Easter: Alleluia!  `Alleluia’ is an unintelligible exclamation -  a kind of ecstatic babble - which wells up in our hearts because of nesting robins, vibrant parishes and `saintly sinners’ like Mychal Judge.