Why do we need faith? Because the world is much bigger than we are. We encounter mysteries and joys and sorrows and challenges every day. We keep trying to make sense of it all though it does not seem to fit together.           

          The truth of our human life is that we need faith to truly live. We have come to discover that behind this big, mysterious world there is a God who loves us into being. To love something is to give it life. God loves us, so we live. We live in his heart. We live in this world. We have been given tremendous opportunities to share in life and thus make it known to others. Faith in God, by its very nature makes us witnesses to life, goodness, beauty and truth.           

          We see things as they really are. We see ourselves as we really are. We see God for who He truly is. We see creation as a gift given to us to enjoy and protect. We see ourselves as sinners, broken and unable to find lasting joy without the intervention of God in our lives. Lastly, we see God as real, true and visible in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is raised form the dead. This is as real as it gets.         

            If faith gives us life, why is faith so difficult at times? Faith is not something like a beating heart. Faith is not something that works in us without our awareness. To have faith means to be consciously aware that we are not alone. Faith is not just about me. It is about a total surrender of all that we are to a God who loves us. Jesus makes that very clear in his preaching. God loves his people and seeks to be intimately involved in the lives of his people every day. In Jesus Christ, we see that the Father has sent his Son who is so close to us that he truly experiences our deepest fear, death. By the power of God, Father Son and Holy Spirit, we recognize that Jesus is truly and physically raised today.           

          Many in our world, which is broken and devastated by sin, tell us that Jesus Christ is not life. He is an illusion or quaint legend or even a fairy tale. Jesus is in the past. He is not real now. They want us to accept that real life is power, money, sex, pleasure or celebrity. It is about my enjoyment. We must compromise and accept these things if we want to get along on the world.           

          In faith, we know this to be a bold-faced lie! Jesus Christ is alive. He is real and present to us right now. We see his love in our friends, our families, and even strangers. We see his personal love present especially in his Church, through the preaching of the Word of God and most importantly in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood, the Holy  Eucharist.                

         The Risen Lord answers our prayers. He reaches out to us in love through the Holy Spirit. He suffered for us so that we could know peace. He died for us so that we could really live and love. He holds us in life as the most cherished possessions of his Sacred Heart.          

           The Church is full of life this morning with the beautiful flowers and the lush plants, the bright colors, Easter bonnets and children who cannot wait to get home and get some Easter candy. But all of these pale in front of the real LIVING ONE we see and hear and will soon touch and taste, Jesus Christ.            

          We are a people of life because we are a people who belong to Jesus Christ and live through him. We are a people who know deep in our hearts, that the Baptism we have received has brought us to life. We come as the Church to stand as witnesses to one another to the love and life given to us by God to share. As we receive that living bred of our Resurrected Lord,  let us go forth as the Apostles, living witnesses with a living faith in our Risen Lord. Alleluia.

           If there is one word that we could use to sum up the celebration tonight, the word would be LIFE. It is life that makes all things possible. In death, possibilities stop. We know that death for us can bring darkness, fear and despair. There is nothing to look forward to.  Everything we are doing tonight speaks of LIFE. Blessing the Easter fire, we recognize the gift that fire is which makes life possible. Fire purifies, warms and brightens. It is that light which we carried into Church tonight. It is that light which has illumines for us the beautiful flowers and vestments. It makes it possible for us to sing hymns that bring beauty into the air. When Christ died, the world became dark, but tonight, with the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the world is flooded with life and light.                

          In the readings from Sacred Scripture, we hear that God speaks and things happen. Every word from God is a blessing, not a curse. Every Word of God brings LIFE. We believe that the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ, who died on Good Friday is now alive. HE is real, true, living, loving and saving. We do not say that Jesus was, rather we affirm with faith that Jesus IS ALIVE.              

           We human beings are by nature seekers. We do not look for ends, but beginnings; we do not want to give up, but try again. We do not seek death, we seek life. Several men and women here tonight have growing on knowing and living their faith in Jesus Christ. It is true that we are mortals and that we will suffer. It is true that our lives will have crosses and it will seem unfair at times. We can never deny the cross, but we come in faith to fully proclaim that if we face our crosses with courage and are led with the love that God desires to pour into our hearts through prayer, we will truly live.                  

          Dear Elect and Candidates, the life which you enter into tonight through the living waters of baptism and your profession of faith offer you more hope than you can ever imagine. Jesus Christ conquered sin and death through the power of his self-giving love on the cross. He held nothing back for us so that we will know that we do not have to hold anything back from him. When we give everything to him, then we receive graces beyond measure. The light of faith which is consecrated in Baptism produces in us the courage to hope and ultimately leads to the fire of love present in the Holy Eucharist, the Bread of Life.                      Jesus Christ still teaches us today that life is about living. It is about being present ad paying attention to the presence of God in the world and in the hearts of each other. That is why the two men at the tomb asked the women that question: Why do you seek the living among the dead?             The resurrected and glorified life that Christ offers us is too much for the world to handle or even imagine. That is why much of the world today does not believe in Christ or his resurrection. Tonight, we celebrate in faith that the Resurrection is not only possible, it is historically and  truly real. It is all that we have and it is truly all that we need.                      I congratulate all of you who are entering this new life in Christ tonight and I give thanks to God for his goodness that still moves in the world. As our Risen Lord once said, “You have chosen the better part and you will not be denied it.” You have chosen Jesus Christ, who is life. May the Lord who has begun this good work in you bring it to completion in the joy of Heaven.

            One of the more popular television shows is the series “CSI.” It is about investigating crimes to determine the culprits and the motives. The investigators look at all the evidence, and then beneath the surface of things to discover the truth. One of the things that makes the series so popular are the many mysterious twists and turns the investigations take before the truth is found. 

            What would happen is the CSI detectives and forensic experts showed up on Calvary that Good Friday? At first glance, there is no crime. It is an open and shut case. Jesus of Nazareth was accused and found guilty of claiming to be God and making himself king. This execution was carried out by the Romans at the requests of the Jewish authorities and the mob gathered around the so-called trial. But is that the whole truth? Does it all add up? If someone were a thorough investigator, he or she would soon discover that there is more there than what meets the eye.         

        When the records are examined, it is true that Jesus does not defend himself against the charges. He does not appear bitter or defensive. He does not blame anyone else. He simply speaks the simple truth. It is this: God has sent his Son into the world to show his love for it and for his desire that the world be healed from all that afflicts it, namely sin, hatred, division and death. Jesus is a witness to this by what he says and does. There are no ulterior motives or secret conspiracies. There is no fomenting of political revolution. He has come to bring an abundant life to a world devastated by sin and death.

             When the people demanded justice, Jesus preached mercy. When some people demanded special treatment, he treated all people, rich and poor alike with respect and dignity. When the people thought they knew all they needed to know about God, He came to reveal the truth about a loving God. The angrier they became, the more he loved; the more they attacked, the more he forgave; the more they shouted, the quieter he became.          

       While it appears that the physical cause of Jesus’ death was crucifixion and asphyxiation, deeper investigation reveals that the real cause was love. Jesus came to show us that the only true answer to the mystery of suffering and death is love. It came to be that the only way he could teach this to people was to die out of love for the people to whom he was sent, the entire human race.    

          The death of Jesus was not something to done to please God the Father or settle the score for human sin. The Father says time and time again that “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The Father loves the Son deeply.          

          The death of Christ was for us and by us. We are ultimately responsible for Calvary. When we face suffering, our first response is often to lash out, seek vengeance and cause pain to others. Some of us may even believe the statement, “If I am unhappy, then EVERYONE is going to be unhappy!” That response never works. It never brings peace and in the end it will destroy us.            

           On this Good Friday, the Son of God is who became man, has seen the suffering with his own eyes, the woman caught in adultery, the death of his friend Lazarus, the crippled man at the pool of Bethsaida. He heard with his own ears the human shouts, “Son of David have pity on me!”             If one were to ask Jesus what he would do about this, he would not speak in word but in action. His answer is to suffer in love for us. It was our anger over our sins and suffering that drove us to nail him to the cross. Jesus responded not just by suffering for them and with them, but to love them until his final breath. That Spirit he gave up on Calvary is destined to descend upon usso that we too may follow his example. The answer to evil is love- a self-emptying, agonizing, life-giving love.           

            The evidence of this is our faith and the faith of all who have come before us, down to Mary and John and the other women at the foot of the cross. We cannot escape the cross. All our anger, indignation, shouting and violence will not lighten our burden one bit. It will only increase it.             The cross shows us the true divinity of Christ. Only God will suffer innocently unto death for the guilty. Only God would patiently endure injustice to show his mercy. Only God can destroy hatred by love.         

              Jesus has given us the true path and if we honestly investigate the case, the evidence is overwhelming. St. Paul said it clearly: Jesus died for sinners, you and me because he loved us and desired everlasting life for us. We must die to ourselves, not simply because we are guilty or because it is a matter of justice. We must do it because we love God before all else and we recognize him alone as the true path to life and freedom in this world and the next. Case Closed.

     Jesus teaches us that God at the very center of his love is unconditional Love that serves his people. He knows us before we are born. HE has given us every goft to help us live joyfully with him in this life and the next. We have chosen at times to reject this lasting love and service and focus on ourselves. We tend to believe in self-service, serving only ourselves and our wants and desires. We have cut ourselves off from God and have changed the garden of our souls into a desert. We can find our souls to be dry, dusty lands with no hope of a gentle rain to relive them.

     As a God who serves, the Father looks into our hearts and sees our doubts, anxieties and fears. He hears our cries for help and chooses to do something about it. He sends his only Son, Jesus Christ, to show us how to serve in love. St. John shows us that first Jesus us IN his body. He washes us, cleanses us making us beautiful and pleasing to the Father and worthy to come into the Father’s presence. Before he will bow his head in death on the cross, tonight God bows down humbly and wrpas a towel around his waist to serve us. He offers us consolation, love, hope and peace.

     After Christ has served us, he now serves us HIS VERY SELF. He first refreshes our bodies and now through the gift of His Body and Blood, he is going to revive our souls. The Son of God who once fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish now offers to us his Body and Blood, under the humble appearances of bread and wine, to revive our hearts and bodies. He reveals to us that when we eat his Body and drink his Blood, we receive LIFE itself. This life is not a passing one, but an everlasting one.

     When Jesus speaks those saving words, “This is my Body,” “This is my Blood”, he opens up his heart to a world devastated by the famine of sin, death and despair. He has lived our abandonment and isolation. He knows our true hunger and thirst and it is in THIS HOUR that he does something that changes things forever.

     By making this gift of Himself  for the whole world, he makes it spossible for divine grace to flow in our hearts again. God desires that our souls be luscious gardens, places of awesome beauty, where we can walk with the Lordand share our lives with him, free of all the obstacles caused by our sins. For this reason, JESUS’ HOUR has never ceased. The Eucharist restores our spiritual beauty and enables us to show that beauty to those who have know the ravages of pain, ugliness and fear.

     By the institution of the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the salvation of the world is revealed in the world to this day. Jesus hour has not passed. IT IS NOW! His hour continues in the Church when, in the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ chooses men to be united with as unique servants to continue his saving mission. Priests are to feed Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church by both Word and Sacrament. The priests, whose lived are consecrated for selfless love are to teach others how to serve Christ by serving one another.

     Tonight, after the celebration of the Eucharist, we are invited by the Lord to keep watch with him as we await his coming crucifixion and death. St. Luke tells us that Jesus admonished Peter, James and John for not waiting up with him during his Hour. May we spend some quiet time with him tonight and thank him for giving us his Body and Blood to give us real life. Let us ask him to water and enliven our hearts hardened by sin and life’s crosses. Let us allow him to teach us how to better love those around us.

     Finally, let us remember that the Hour of Christ, which we relive tonight, lasts a lot longer than 60 minutes. It lasts a lifetime and will ultimately lead us to everlasting life with Jesus in paradise.

               From the beginning of time, God has known we have trouble following directions. When God created us, there are parts of ourselves that needed to be put together. The assembly included learning right from wrong, good from evil, service from being served. It also included learning how to love God and others, and to be loved by God and others. We were given the plan for everlasting happiness, follow God and do his will. He has given us Moses, the Law and the prophets to help us figure out how to stay close to him and to be happy.              As we see in the Old Testament, the Israelites had trouble following directions and instead chose many times to “eyeball” life rather than listen to God who is life. God the Father saw that we need more than a set of directions or rules to stay close to him, so he sends us his own Son. God has chosen to fulfill his divine plan by sending us someone we could watch, observe, hear and follow. It is going to take more than a set of directions to get us to heaven; it is going to take someone who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Jesus Christ.             Jesus, the Son of God came into this world as a little baby this day, born of his Mother Mary, poor, cold, wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger. The presence of a child helps people shape their minds, hearts and actions. Parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles learn selflessness, sacrifice and commitment to help the little persons be as happy as they can be. Children show us the meaning of happiness. One of the great things about babies is their laugh. Their little eyes brighten up and they giggle. That simple little action melts hearts. 

           God has seen enough of human tears, so now he sends us his Son so that he can hear the human race laugh again. Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary to teach us how to laugh, be joyful, forgive, show mercy and compassion again. He does it first by his neediness as a new born child. After Jesus grows in wisdom, age and grace, he will continue to teach us through his preaching of the Kingdom, and he will ultimately show us by his death on the cross and resurrection.     

          Of all the things Jesus gives us this Holy Day, the most important Gift is his love. Life is a school of love and while we have directions such as the Golden Rule, the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes, what we really need is someone we can model. We need help to learn how to love. And God the Son has become a little child in order to do just that:  by looking to the needs of others before ourselves, by helping the poor, the sick, the elderly, and the isolated. We know that the best gift we can receive from another is not material, but rather a smile, a hug, or even a simple thank you.             

            We often see the infant Jesus in the manger with his arms outstretched, urging us to pick him up, hold him close, kiss him and love him. This simple action has great meaning: if we love Christ and build our lives around him, he will teach us that we are not alone. We need someone to love and someone to love us. God does not just show us how to love, he loves us first! He loves us completely. Why else would his Son take on our human nature. God’s love opens up doors. It does not close them. He loves in us, through us and in that simple action he makes life truly worthwhile. 

           Through the birth of Jesus Christ, God has now shown us love. We can now see in Jesus Christ, God with a human face, a human smile, a human heart. We can feel the embrace of Christ through our daily prayer. We also meet this personal, incarnate love every time we receive his Body and Blood at Mass. Jesus Christ is the best Gift God has ever given to the human race because he gives us himself. He came to us with no assembly required. We do not need to fear him or life itself. All we need to do is love him, follow him, serve him and allow him to truly love us and shape us into the true images of him that he created us to be.

   The prayer group I desired to start would be called The Confraternity for Priestly Renewal  or CPR for short. this was not an attempt on my part to be snarky, but rather a realization that the Hearts of priests need to be renewed everyday if they are to be faithful and effective servants of the Gospel. Without prayer, we are useless.

          I also knew that God offers his renewing Holy Spirit to each priest according to his talents and his role in the plan of God, but I believe that even though priests are diverse and unique men, there are three things every priest needs to be the true servant God has made them to be. The first is a deep love for Jesus Christ and for the people he has sent him to serve, wherever they are. Second, a strong attachment and committment to daily prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours and the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Third a love and devotion to the communion of Saints, particularly the Mother of God and St. Joseph. In my humble opinion, although I realize that many of the brethren may disagree with some, these are the three non-negotiables that are to be at the root of the life of every priest.

    So everyday I list a particular priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and his current assignment, so that people can every day think about a different priest and ask God through the Prayer of priestly renewal and a decade of the rosary to help him in his struggles and joys to grow in the love of God and be an even more effective witness to Jesus Christ through his priestly ministry. Several people have taken me up on this, but I hope to get even more involved.

          Soon I hope to bring to some parishes that will use them the prayer for renewal, some single decade rosaries and even some 24 ounce plastic cups with the CPR Logo on it for people to remember their priests every day. We wil see how it goes.

Pray for Priests, a decade a day, and please support sacred Heart Radio.

Things I have been doing:

1. Taping copying and giving away copies of my Sunday homilies on CD, around 3,000 presently at my count.

2. Making  and giving away 1813 full rosaries with medals and prayer cards, as well as 270 single decade car rosaries for my ECCE Sacerdos project

3. Starting and maintaining www.eccesacerdos.com : a website offering daily prayers for priest of the Archdiocese  of Cincinnati for priestly renewal.

4. Hopefully completing soon soon a rosary CD in a one and two volume set- the two volume set also containing Litanies of the Church.

5. Also to appear soon, a video series entitled “God Alone is Enough” on living out and teaching the Catholic faith, as well as teaching on the basics of Catholic prayer.

6. Taught two summer courses: a Four day course on Marian spirituality for the Athenaeum of Ohio as well as a one day workshop entitled “Blessed Beads: History and theology of the Rosary.”

   I am sure that I have probably left some things out, but as you can tell, I have not spent my summer eating chocolate Bon-Bons and watching All my Children. I am still trying to get the exact number of copies I need for my STL so I can send the Final draft to Rome.

Now on to the rest…