Bishop Bambera’s Homilies 2024

HOMILY
Mass of the Holy Spirit – University of Scranton
Isaiah 61: 1-3, 6, 8-9; Ephesians 4:1-6; Luke 18:9-14
September 5, 2024

Dotting the coastline of Ghana in Western Africa, on what is historically known as the continent’s “Gold Coast,” you will find castles that were initially built as trading centers for the country’s large deposits of gold, petroleum, oil and timber. Centuries ago, however, they tragically evolved into “slave castles,” that served as the final stopping point for slaves from lands across the continent. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, slaves were loaded onto ships at these castles to cross the Atlantic Ocean, never to return to their homeland again.

Two years ago, while visiting Ghana to meet with the families of about a dozen priests and religious sisters from the Diocese of Sunyani who are working in many of our parishes while they do graduate studies here at the University of Scranton and other Catholic universities in our area, I visited the infamous Cape Coast Castle, not far from Accra, the capital city of Ghana.

For all that we experienced at the “slave castle,” one area will be forever seared into my mind and heart. We were taken into a room – a dungeon for lack of a better term – about the size of the Moskovitz auditorium in the Student Center. It was hewn out of rock, with no windows, no place to sit, nothing. Its floor was worn smooth by the feet of countless numbers of people who passed through its walls. We were told that it would hold close to a thousand people at one time, jammed together with no light, no fresh air, and no access to any facilities to take care of their needs. Food would be thrown into the space from an opening in the ceiling falling into the filth on the floor – but food, nonetheless. Many slaves would die once they were placed in the space. Most would get sick. They were intentionally weakened so that they wouldn’t have the strength to escape.

As bad as that experience proved to be, what we were shown next during our tour of the castle was far more unsettling – at least for me as a Christian. Built on the very top of that dungeon, presumably by chance, was the chapel that served the leadership of the castle. Every Sunday morning on their way to pray, worshippers would walk right by that opening in the ceiling of the dungeon that I mentioned a moment ago through which food was tossed to the slaves. They’d hear the cries of those below who were suffering to the point of death. And then these self-righteous souls would enter the church, sing praise to God, and leave, feeling quite pleased with themselves and justified by their noble expressions of faith.

I suspect that what bothers you most about what I just shared is the same as what bothers me: the obvious disconnect between what those worshippers professed as Christians and how they chose to live – the disconnect between where and how they – and we – believe we best encounter God: in a hymnal in Church or in the lives of one another, all of whom are made in the image and likeness of God.

Today’s gospel captures well Jesus’ perspective on this disconnect. Let’s look at it again. It has a lot to say to us about human nature – about our world during these turbulent times – our attitudes about ourselves and about God.

We encounter two very different individuals in the parable that Jesus shared. The first was a Pharisee – a religious leader of the day and age – who should have known better – but didn’t. God was his to manage. From his perspective, all he needed to do was to say his prayers louder than the next and fulfill a host of incidental laws and rules and regulations – and he was suddenly far more righteous than everyone else.

The other – a tax collector – a simple, humble soul – knew who he was. For all of his imperfections, he recognized his need for God’s sustaining help in his life. He understood that the greatest commandment that he could follow was to love his neighbor – to treat his neighbor with mercy, with compassion, with justice and with care. … While he was humble enough to admit that he often failed, he understood that it was in the respect that he showed for his neighbor – whomever that neighbor happened to be – that he would encounter God.

I’m sure for many of you, this gospel might seem like an unusual passage to share at the beginning of an academic year and during a Mass in which we invoke the presence of Holy Spirit in our lives. But to what end do we call down the power of God’s Holy Spirit? To give us the wisdom that we need to pass one class or another? Fair enough! To what end to we ask the Spirit’s presence in our lives? To justify our own self-designed lifestyle – or to seek God’s sustaining grace to help us navigate life with a true sense of hope and peace?

Saint Paul puts that question into a bit of perspective in our second reading from his letter to the Church at Ephesus. “Live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

In short, the scriptures today call us to live our lives of faith with integrity! … Jesus calls us to give the beliefs that we profess a life through the power of the Holy Spirit whom we call down upon this gathering today. … And he reminds us time and again – as he did in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector – that it’s not enough for us to simply profess our beliefs with empty words. At some point, we have to walk the talk and live what we profess.

You have the opportunity to respond to Jesus’ invitation more than you might imagine. … You are surrounded by fellow students who, with you, understand at your core the significance of the values for which Jesus gave his life. For sure, we are all distracted from those values by countless numbers of things. But you know them nonetheless – and to one degree or another they factored into your decision to pursue a Catholic Jesuit education. So continue to embrace the mission of this university and the many opportunities that are given to you to serve in the spirit of the gospel and to work for justice and peace.

These are great days for all of you. Cherish every moment that you have during this time of your life. Trust the power of the Spirit in your lives and let God lead you in ways that you may not have even imagined possible a few years ago. … Just look at me! I’m living proof of what I’ve just shared. I went off to the University of Pittsburgh to become a dentist – got involved in campus ministry – and came back a priest!

And in these days – these crazy and challenging and polarized times – this challenging election year – recognize that you have been given a treasure in your relationship with Jesus. Nurture it. Care for it. And allow it to bring you meaning, purpose and fulfillment, wherever life takes you on your journey.

Pope Francis captured all that’s going on in your lives best as he reflected with young men and women like yourselves about finding a way forward in life and living the gospel with integrity. “If you want to be first, you need to stand in line, be last and serve,” the pope said. “Jesus’ teaching ran counter to what the disciples and most other people then and today think,” he said. “The value of a person no longer depends on the role they have, the work they do, or the amount of money they have in the bank. No, it does not depend on this. Greatness and success in God’s eyes are measured differently: They are measured by service. Not on what someone has, but on what someone gives.”

So, open your hearts to the Spirit of God – seek to live your faith with integrity – give of yourselves in service of one another – and know God’s peace, come what may in your lives!

HOMILY
La Festa Mass – September 1, 2024
22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time B

Buona Festa! Welcome to our Cathedral! What a wonderful gathering this is as we join together in this sacred place to celebrate our Italian heritage. I say “our” Italian heritage, regardless of our ethnic backgrounds, because all of us have been shaped by the contributions of the Italian American community to the fabric of life in northeastern Pennsylvania.

After Mass, as you’re walking around courthouse square checking out all of the incredible food vendors, if you’re inquisitive and have the opportunity to chat with some of the chefs to inquire about why they prepare certain foods the way they do, I suspect that they may not give you a response that’s all that precise. So when you ask why they use one special ingredient or another in their sauce or why they cure your soppressata for longer than most people, chances are, you might hear something like this: “My grandfather always did it that way” – or – if they’re really honest, they might say “I have no idea. But it’s what my parents and their parents did – and I’m not about to tamper with success. Capisce?”

It’s fair to say that sometimes we get so accustomed to routine that we forget – or worse – have never even taken the time to ask why we do the things we do in the first place – whether it be regarding traditions in our families – in our churches – or in our communities. We just do them because we always have! … So, on Christmas Eve, why do we make all of those different fish dishes – or more precisely for some of you – seven? Because your grandmother did? That’s as good as any reason. Even Wikipedia doesn’t have one clear explanation for the precise number of fishes! … How about what we do here this morning. Why did you bless yourself with holy water when you walked into the Cathedral today? Because it’s what you always do? Fair enough. But we actually bless ourselves as a reminder of our Baptism when water was poured upon us “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” … Yet so often we fail to understand why we do what we do – even as Christians.

Today’s gospel from Saint Mark is a case in point. It illustrates an area of sharp disagreement between Jesus and the Pharisees about the nature of devotion to God. Jesus criticized the Pharisees’ scrupulous adherence to rules regarding handwashing, cleaning pots and all sorts of other ritual practices and laws because in so doing, the Pharisees had reduced the practice of religion to externals that they didn’t even understand. Religion for them had become a set of meaningless rules and regulations, rituals and customs. And why was Jesus so critical of this approach? Because in focusing on such meaningless things, the Pharisees lost the point of authentic worship and faith. For them, I was easier to fulfill an empty ritual than to embrace and live the spirit of the gospel rooted in the great commandment – to love God and our neighbor as ourselves.

Jesus’ objection to the actions of the Pharisees was that they put all of their energy into the wrong activities. They were more concerned with creating an outward appearance of holiness while they neglected the real work of God. And from Jesus’ perspective, if all they sought to do was to convince the world around them that they were righteous, pious and holier than the next person, then they had missed the heart of what an authentic relationship with God demanded.

The message of the scriptures today, my friends, is that faith and action go hand in hand. While there are many challenges to our faith in the world today, the gospel response is timeless. It’s message calls us to pattern our lives on the example of Jesus … to grow in our relationship with God in an authentic and intimate manner … and then to feed the hungry, heal the sick, comfort the broken hearted, and love selflessly and generously as Jesus loved us from the cross.

As I look around the Cathedral today, it is so evident to me that in the midst of joy and celebration, there is a deep sense of gratitude in your hearts, isn’t there? …. Gratitude for the organizers and workers of La Festa who made these days possible. …. And gratitude for those who truly helped to make this moment of prayer and all that we celebrate this day possible – the parents, grandparents and great-grandparents of so, so many of us who came to this land decades ago with a love for their Italian heritage, respect for our country and a lively faith in God.

They stand as examples to us today because in addition to the traditions of their homeland that they passed on to their children and grandchildren, they also devoutly embraced the faith of our Church. But unlike the Pharisees in the gospel today, they understood that at the heart of the practice of their religion was the responsibility to give their faith a life. And so, they built community among themselves. They shared from their bounty and even from their poverty. And they served – especially those most in deed – just like the Lord whom they worshipped.

Every one of us in this Cathedral is here today because somebody loved us and fed us and forgave us and passed on to us their faith in God. We will honor them best – and ultimately the Lord Jesus whom they loved – by embracing the faith passed on to us and giving it life through our love and service of one another.