Father Denny Dempsey

Trinity Sunday May 18, 2008

John 3:16-18  Even non-Christians know the message communicated when they see a banner reading “JOHN 3:16” hanging over the railing at a baseball or football game. In this, possibly the most quoted verse of the entire New Testament, is contained very core of both Jesus’ identity and mission. Verse 17 continues this beautiful straight-forward statement of Jesus’ mission. Not so verse 18, however, which opens the door to controversy regarding scriptural interpretation on two fronts. Is it sufficient to merely believe to avoid eternal condemnation? Are all people who do not believe in Jesus automatically condemned? The Catholic Church would respond “NO” to both of those questions. The reasoning is stated most clearly in paragraphs 14 through 16 of the “Dogmatic Constitution on the Church” promulgated during the Second Vatican Council on November 21, 1964. We believe Christians will be judged not merely on belief (which can be understood as merely intellectual assent) but on faith (which is a response of the whole person to God). We also believe that God’s judgment will not hold people responsible to a belief structure with which they are not familiar or have never heard in a convincing way. Individuals will be judged according to how they have followed what they believe about God and God’s will. Whether or not they know Jesus Christ personally, it will be his grace which allows them to enter into eternal glory.

Pentecost Sunday May 11, 2008

John 20:19-23 Notice that Jesus breathes on the disciples as Ezekiel had breathed over the dead bones…the breath of God is the Spirit. The bestowal of the Spirit is given as part of being sent out. The Christian life has two principle dynamics: the inward dynamic of receiving God into one’s life (receiving the gifts, receiving the strength of the Eucharist, etc.) and the outward dynamic of going out and putting the gifts into practice (witnessing, serving, etc.). While Baptism celebrates the first dynamic, Confirmation focuses on the second. These two dynamics are renewed weekly in the Mass. We receive forgiveness of sins, the guidance of God’s word, the strength of the Eucharist, and the support of the community. Then we are sent out to “love and serve the Lord”.

Ascension of the Lord May 4, 2008

Matthew 28:16-20  Mark indicates that the Ascension took place while the apostles were in Jerusalem (Mk. 16:19). Luke places it near Bethany in his gospel (24:50-53) and on the Mount of Olives (on the eastern slope of which Bethany is located) in Acts of the Apostles (1:12). Here Matthew situates the event on a mountain in Galilee. At the beginning of his gospel, Matthew rearranged Jesus’ genealogy (1:1-17, compare to the longer and very different version in Luke 3:23-38) by multiples of seven to emphasize that Jesus was the perfection of the faith of Abraham, the kingship of David, and the Word of God which was made accessible to all Jews through the educational programs developed during the Babylonian Captivity. Here at the end of his gospel, Luke again rearranges his information for theological purposes, connecting the Ascension to the prefiguring of the glory of Jesus as witnessed by three of the apostles at the mountain of Transfiguration (Luke 17:1). Now all the apostles would see his glory. Unlike the command to three apostles at the earlier event (17:9), they would not be silenced in sharing what they witnessed with the whole world. Jesus’ final words, as he departs from their sight, are the best summary of our mission as his disciples and the perfect ending to the gospel. Matthew did not write merely to impart understanding and faith in the heart of the reader. These closing words drive us to get out and be about the work of God.

*Seventh Sunday of Easter May 4, 2008

* In most Catholic parishes the readings and celebration of this Sunday will be those for the Ascension. 

John 17:1-11a  All the major themes of John’s gospel are included in this statement of Jesus: the identity of Jesus as Son of God from before the world began, his coming into the world and the reason for which he was sent, the unity of the Son with the Father, Jesus’ personal love for his followers, their call to carry on his mission in the world without being “of the world”, Jesus’ promise to abide forever through his Church. Jesus begins this statement saying that “the hour has come”. Recall Jesus’ response to Mary’s petition during the wedding at Cana that his “hour” had “not yet come”. So much of how a person’s life unfolds, for good or bad, results from choices of words spoken and actions committed that take place in a matter of minutes…and with which one will live for his/her life. A presidential candidate’s hopes are dashed when he lets out a two-second “whoop”. A passerby dives into murky dark waters where a car has submerged and saves the occupant’s life. Jesus had been revealing God’s love with every moment of his life, but the next few hours would be the most decisive of his entire life. In that “hour” he won the victory over sin for billions of people throughout history.

Sixth Sunday of Easter April 27, 2008

John 14:15-21  The Greek word “paraclete” literally means “one who calls out for another” and could be translated as spokesman, mediator, intercessor, comforter, or a defense counselor. Here it is translated as “advocate”. For whom will the Holy Spirit be the advocate? In 1 John 2:1 Jesus is called the Advocate before the Father for any person who sins. The Holy Spirit’s role as Advocate as expressed in the Gospel of John is different. Jesus will continue to be the Advocate for sinners in the “court” of our heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit will be an Advocate for Jesus for Christians. In verse 26 we are told that the Holy Spirit Advocate will teach and remind us of all that Jesus had done and spoken. Likewise, in John 15:26 Jesus says the Advocate testify to him. But the Holy Spirit then becomes the Advocate for Christians for their support and defense against the challenges they will face for living the faith. Mark 13:11(also Matthew 10:19-20 and Luke 12:11-12) indicate that the Holy Spirit will speak for Christians and give them the words to say when they are brought before civil authorities for being followers of Christ. The Holy Spirit will not come merely for a visit but will remain forever, continuing to speak the truth of Jesus to us and through us. No moment would show so clearly the convergence of these two dynamics as the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost followed by their proclamation of Jesus to thousands of people in the streets of Jerusalem that same day.

Fifth Sunday of Easter A April 20, 2008

John 14:1-12 Here at the Last Supper the hearts of Jesus’ disciples are understandably troubled. It was no secret that the Jewish authorities had been looking for a way to squelch the preaching and ministry of Jesus. Jesus had created a lot of friction with them by clearing animal sellers and money changers from the temple area claiming the space for his preaching during the busy days leading up to the celebration of the Passover. They sensed that things were about to come to a head. Now Jesus speaks of going away. The phrase “I am the way, the truth and the life”, so full of meaning for post-resurrection Christians, did not satisfy the disciples that day. They had not yet grasped the message of Jesus’ divinity and oneness with the Father, the central teachings of the Gospel of John.

Fourth Sunday of Easter A April 13, 2008

John 10:1-10  We are more familiar with the concept of Jesus being the Good Shepherd, as he will say in the verse following this selection. What is the point of Jesus referring to himself as “the gate” through which the sheep enter and leave the pen? This has an affinity to Jesus’ saying at the Last Supper (John 14:6), “I am the WAY, the truth and the life.” There is a bit different focus, however, for Jesus refers to false shepherds who try to steal the sheep, to get to them without going through Jesus the gate. Who were the false shepherds to whom Jesus refers? What was going on in the Church at the time John wrote his gospel? John says in 20:31 that he wrote his gospel that people “might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God”. From the very first sentence and throughout the gospel, John emphasizes the divinity of Jesus. Most certainly, there were people promoting a belief in Jesus as a good man, a prophet of God, but not divine. Some years earlier, Paul had warned in his letters about preachers following him proclaiming a different gospel, promoting their own agenda. There have preachers in the intervening centuries who used the gospel to serve and promote themselves rather than the other way around. The age in which John wrote his gospel certainly had its share. Jesus, Son of God, is both the Shepherd and the gate.

Third Sunday of Easter A April 6, 2008

Luke 24:13-35 In the first letter of Peter, from which today’s second reading is taken, reference is made to Mark who wrote the first gospel as a member of Peter’s ministerial team. Luke was on Paul’s ministerial team. There was contact between the two teams. Mark, for one, associated with both groups from time to time. Luke had a copy of Mark’s gospel when he wrote his gospel and copied large sections of it, rewriting to put the language into a more refined style of Greek. Luke also added material not included in Mark’s gospel. This text is a good example. Mark 16:12-13 very briefly mentions the appearance of Jesus to two disciples on the way to the country. Luke fills out the account. In doing so, he mentions the name of Cleopas, one of the two disciples going to Emmaus. The majority of people who pass through the gospel accounts are not named, so it is logical to assume that, when named, their names mean something to the readers. Was Cleopas a member of Paul’s team? Had the people to whom the gospel was initially addressed heard his personal testimony of the appearance of Jesus on that Easter day?

This is one of three post-resurrection appearances of Jesus mentioned in the gospels in which those to whom he appeared could not identify him by either visual or voice recognition. They knew it was Jesus by what he said and did. May our personal testimony to Jesus, in the long line of Christians including Cleopas who have dedicated their lives to proclaiming the message, make the same Jesus present by what we say and do.

Divine Mercy Sunday March 30, 2008

John 20:19-31 In this, the original conclusion, we are told why the author wrote the gospel: “ that you may believe… and through this belief have life”. Backing up to the exchange between Jesus and Thomas, Jesus pronounces a blessing on all who believe without the need of actually seeing Jesus…everyone who reads the gospel and accepts its message. Personally, I think Thomas, rather than going down in history as “the doubter” could be considered a wonderful role model for young people in particular. Thomas was strong. This is the fellow who, when Jesus returned to the Jerusalem area to attend to Lazarus, said to the others, “Let us go to die with him.” It would have been easier for him to go along with the crowd. Instead he stood firm in the face of a lot of pressure from his friends. When he did come to believe, he was just as strong. While the other disciples remained in the more familiar cultures of the Mediterranean region, Thomas went to bring the word to India. Thomas is Didymus, the “twin”. The author of the gospel wasn’t just pointing this out as an instruction in word derivation. Thomas had a twin…anyone who needs that extra bit of evidence to say “yes” to Jesus but, once professed, lives that faith with conviction.

Palm-Passion Sunday March 16, 2008

Gospel of the Procession - Matthew 21:1-11 From the ridge of the Mount of Olives one can look directly across the Kidron Valley at the Temple of Jerusalem and the city behind it. Some wonder why Jesus didn’t ride a horse instead of a donkey. Donkeys were less expensive, harder working, and easier to care for than horses. Jesus had probably never ridden a horse in his life. It is doubtful that anyone in Bethphage even owned one. Certainly a horse seems more regal to us, but it doesn’t appear that people in the crowd thought less of Jesus because of his mount. Those more knowledgeable of scripture prophesies may have recalled Zechariah 9:9, “Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you, a just savior is he, meek and riding on an ass.” The time of confrontation had come. Many of the people, perhaps most of the apostles, saw the moment as political, believing that the Messiah would inaugurate a new era of Jewish independence and freedom from Rome. It was for that reason James and John (Mark 10:35) had approached Jesus asking for the places of honor in that kingdom…and for the same reason the other apostles had gotten upset with them for doing so. It was for that reason that the apostles had argued among themselves who was the greatest (Mark 9:33-34). It was likely for that reason Judas betrayed Jesus when he realized that the kingdom was not going to be anything like what he had imagined. It gives us pause to consider why we follow Jesus. Is it for personal gain, bestowal of favors in this world, or something more profound which enables us to follow him as our king no matter what the personal cost?

Fifth Sunday of Lent A March 9, 2008

John 11:1-45  We don’t know the original connection between Jesus and the family of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. The gospels don’t tell us if they were related to Jesus, friends of the family, or people he had met during a visit to Jerusalem in his younger days. It is clear from the gospels, however, that they had “adopted” Jesus as part of their family and that he was a frequent guest at their place whenever he was in the area of Jerusalem. Bethany was a good location for Jesus to get away from the crowds of the city, situated a couple miles east of the temple of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley, up and over the crest of the Mount of Olives. Before reaching the crest, Jesus liked to stop at an olive grove called the Garden of Gethsemane where he could look across at the Jerusalem temple and pray. When news of Lazarus’ illness reaches Jesus, he and his disciples were a couple days’ journey away on the east side of the Jordan River, an area outside the jurisdiction of the Jewish authorities who were searching for a way to convict Jesus and have him put to death. Should he go back into their territory? Thomas expresses the danger of doing so when he suggests the apostles should go back with Jesus “to die with him”. Jesus does return, but why did he wait? Given the number of days necessary for the journey and the timing of Lazarus’ death, Jesus would not have gotten to Bethany before the death of Lazarus anyway. Perhaps Jesus knew that the Pharisees, who were aware of his friendship with Lazarus, would be keeping an eye out for Jesus to return to Bethany but would have ended their vigil when Lazarus died. It is also possible that Jesus was simply giving time for word of Lazarus’ death to spread, thus making more dramatic the news of his subsequently being raised by Jesus. Lazarus became a celebrity in the weeks following his return to life. Hundreds of people went out from Jerusalem to see him and hear his testimony about Jesus. There was even a plot to kill Lazarus (John 12:10) because of the strength of his testimony to Jesus. Can you imagine Lazarus, who had already died, being afraid of a death threat? What a grace for us to not be afraid of death, to be so strong in faith that we even welcome challenges as opportunities to give testimony to what we believe.

Fourth Sunday of Lent A March 2, 2008

John 9:1-41 (the cure of the blind man sent to the Pool of Siloam) As part of his plan to fortify Jerusalem against a possible siege by the Assyrians in 701 B.C., King Hezekiah had a 1/3 mile-long tunnel cut through solid rock to channel water from Gihon Springs, which was outside the city walls, within the city. Access to the springs was covered over with boulders to prevent enemies from poisoning the water supply. The terminus of Hezekiah’s tunnel was the newly constructed Pool of Siloam, still used today as the source of drinking water in the poor Arab neighborhood which surrounds the pool.

Jesus once again heals on the Sabbath, a fact which terribly upset the Pharisees.  Their problem with Jesus, however, was not that he had done unnecessary work on the Sabbath. They were concerned about something far more significant…something Jesus was indicating about himself without giving them words upon which to convict him.  Genesis 2:3 recounts that God rested on the seventh day, but the Pharisees reasoned that God never really rested since, if God did so, creation would cease to function. Therefore, they believed that God worked every day.  The Sabbath was created for man to rest and acknowledge dependence on the work of God rather than our own human labors.  Jesus' healing on the Sabbath was not merely breaking a Sabbath law.  He was sending them a signal of his divinity…a signal which they, being more theologically astute than most of their Jewish counterparts, caught and for which Jesus was eventually condemned. Note how the testimony of the blind man becomes stronger with each passing conversation. So it is with us as we give testimony to our faith. May we be strengthened in faith by sharing our testimony through our words and actions.

Third Sunday of Lent A February 24, 2008

John 4:5-42 (Jesus converses with the Sasmaritan woman at the well)  Jacob had purchased land on the outskirts of Shechem (Genesis 3:19), probably the same town identified in this reading as Sychar. The well was dug to provide water for Jacob’s herds. Jacob and sons moved their sheep around, apparently free to graze in uncultivated areas in the hills. To avoid conflict over water rights, however, Jacob had purchased the plot of land and dug the well. Women generally came out to the well to draw water in the morning before the heat of the day set in. The woman goes out at midday to avoid contact with the other women who looked down on her for what they considered a sinful life. She maintains a tough defensive exterior with Jesus at first, undoubtedly built up from dealing with the inevitable harsh and judgmental talk of the village women. Jesus gradually softens her with “life-giving waters” to the point that she initiates contact with her neighbors to tell them about Jesus.  She is converted from sinner to evangelizer, her history trandformed from cause for shame to opportunity for forgiveness and blessing.  She was refreshed with life-giving water, and Jesus was "fed" by the joy of bringing her from darkness into the full light of God's kingdom.

Second Sunday of Lent A February 17, 2008

Matthew 17:1-9 What was the “high mountain” in this account of the Transfiguration? There are three notable mountains in the region. Mt. Tabor is a cone-shaped mountain rising over 1,800 feet from the plain of Esdraelon, about 10 miles SW of the Sea of Galilee and 8 miles SE of Nazareth. Mt. Carmel is about 30 miles away on the western end of that same plain. Overlooking the Mediterranean, Carmel was the mountain where Elijah lived in a cave and sought God’s guidance. Mt. Hermon, about 60 miles NE of the Sea of Galilee, is the highest mountain in the region. Snow melt from Mt. Hermon constitutes the headwaters of the Jordan River. Jesus and his disciples got away a few times to the region of Caesarea Philippi at the base of the mountain. On which mountain did the transfiguration take place? The exact location was less important than the relationship between that mountain and Moses going up on Mt. Sinai to be one with God. Jesus called two sets of fishermen brothers, all good friends, as his first disciples. Three of them - Peter, James and John – always get the call to accompany Jesus at special moments such as this. What happened to poor Andrew? I’m guessing he was the sort of solid individual whom Jesus could trust to keep the rest of the group on target while Jesus went off with the others…the sort of man who served wherever needed and didn’t get jealous of his brother and friends.

First Sunday of Lent A February 10, 2008

Matthew 4:1-11 The Temptation in the Desert  Temptations to satisfy one’s physical hungers, to acquire possessions and power, to be acclaimed and admired…such are the basic groups of the temptations that test every person. But were they really temptations in Jesus’ case? Temptations seem to have three dimensions. The first is the invitation given. That is certainly present. The second is the attraction felt. Being human, Jesus did experience an attraction to the temptations, but his resistance was extremely strong based on both his divine identity as well as his dedication of his humanity to God. Jesus has just completed a forty-day retreat. Our resistance to temptation is stronger when we dedicate ourselves to God and immerse ourselves in prayer. A third dimension is whether or not a temptation is morally wrong. Generally we consider temptation in such a context, but one could be tempted to do a good deed, to give money to someone in need, to take a job that brings less income but makes a greater impact on society. Bottom line…temptation is a test in which we must choose between options. We pray that God not lead us into tests we are incapable of passing, but tests become opportunities to choose and do God’s will.