"The Place of the Way: Here" | Palm Sunday (Fr. Mike's Homily) #sundayhomily

Summary

Fr. Mike in his Palm Sunday homily explores the profound importance of gratitude and embracing the journey of life amidst uncertainties. He reflects on how many of us delay experiencing joy and peace until we've reached a specific outcome or destination. However, Jesus taught us to give thanks even in the midst of trials and betrayal, symbolizing true faith and presence. Drawing inspiration from Tekashi Nagai, a Nagasaki survivor, Fr. Mike emphasizes the significance of offering gratitude in ordinary moments, which prepares us for extraordinary challenges. The homily encourages listeners to appreciate each day and challenge as a divine gift, reminding them that the journey itself, not the destination, is the true place of spiritual growth and transformation.

Highlights

• Jesus gave thanks in the midst of his betrayal and upcoming suffering—a powerful example of faith and presence. 🙏
• Many of us put off joy and peace, aiming for a future 'done' moment. Fr. Mike encourages us to cherish the present instead. 🌟
• Tekashi Nagai’s ability to express gratitude during World War II’s aftermath is deeply moving and inspiring. 💔
• The practice of daily thanksgiving helps fortify our capacity to face extraordinary challenges with grace. 🔥
• The Japanese word 'Aragato', meaning 'Thank you', beautifully signifies appreciation of things that come with difficulty. 💬

Key Takeaways

• Embrace gratitude in every moment, just as Jesus did during his greatest trials. 🙏
• We often delay happiness and peace by focusing on the destination rather than the journey itself. Turn your focus to the present! 🌟
• Living a life of thanksgiving, even in ordinary moments, can prepare us for much tougher times. 💪
• Tekashi Nagai's story is a powerful reminder of how gratitude can transform suffering into a deeper understanding and acceptance. 🌸
• Each day and moment is a rare, invaluable gift that shouldn’t be overlooked - acknowledge it with heartfelt 'thank yous'. 🎁

Overview

Fr. Mike's Palm Sunday homily, 'The Place of the Way: Here', challenges us to rethink how we approach gratitude in our lives. Often, people wait until they've reached a certain milestone or completion of a task to truly experience thankfulness and peace. However, Fr. Mike breaks this notion by illustrating how Jesus gave thanks even during his most trying time - the night of betrayal. This choice illuminates deeper insights into what it means to live 'in the moment' with unwavering faith and presence.

Using the story of Tekashi Nagai, a faithful Catholic and Nagasaki survivor, Fr. Mike paints a vivid picture of a life transformed by gratitude. Despite facing immense personal loss and distraction, Nagai consistently chose to appreciate every moment, ordinary or painful, marking his life as extraordinary. His life tells us that true grace lies in thanking life’s inherent challenges and seeing them as opportunities for spiritual growth and intimacy with God.

The homily profoundly calls attention to our daily lives, urging us to give thanks not just when we’ve achieved something, but as we journey through life’s ups and downs. By focusing on gratitude now rather than later, we learn to appreciate the 'here and now'—the true 'place of the way'. As Fr. Mike passionately conveys, each breath and heartbeat is a testament to undefeated grace, inviting us to acknowledge life's beauty amid its difficulties.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction: Journey of Easter The chapter 'Introduction: Journey of Easter' highlights the personal and profound nature of the Easter story. It addresses the common experience of spiritual momentum during Lent, which sometimes feels dissipated once Easter arrives. The narrative invites readers to engage with the Easter story in a way that is transformative, emphasizing that this encounter is meant to be personal and life-changing.
• 00:30 - 02:00: Two Types of People: Living for 'Done' The chapter discusses two types of people when it comes to their approach to life. The focus is on individuals who live for getting things 'done.' This mentality and lifestyle are explored, highlighting how some people prioritize completion and achievement in their daily lives.
• 02:00 - 03:30: The Place of the Way: Being Present In this chapter, the author discusses the turmoil and anxiety they experience before accomplishing a task or reaching a conclusion. They describe themselves as being unpleasant and internally distressed before reaching any decision, meeting, or event, particularly noting their discomfort before getting to the airport gate. The author expresses a strong preference for the state of completion or 'done', where peace and certainty reside, compared to the uncertainty of ongoing processes or pending tasks. This reflects a struggle with being present and managing pre-event anxiety.
• 03:30 - 05:30: Jesus’ Example of Gratitude The chapter 'Jesus’ Example of Gratitude' discusses the anxiety and stress associated with completing a project. It highlights the feeling of being out of control until the project is completed and the tendency for individuals to be self-preoccupied during such times. The chapter reflects on the idea that people often wait until they finish a task to feel in control or satisfied.
• 05:30 - 10:00: The Story of Tekashi Nagai The chapter titled 'The Story of Tekashi Nagai' reflects on the theme of postponing joy and peace until a goal is achieved. The narrator conveys that this behavior leads to delaying life itself, highlighting a pattern of putting off satisfaction until certain conditions are met. The context is the season of Lent, specifically on Palm Sunday, which is not merely a period of self-denial or self-discipline but a time of training or asceticism. The emphasis is on the journey and preparation during this period.
• 10:00 - 13:00: Blessed Solanus Casey’s Wisdom The chapter discusses the spiritual training that aims to transform individuals to become more like Jesus, particularly during the period leading up to Easter. It emphasizes various symbolic 'places of the way' including the desert, crossroads, valley, home, and dead ends, each representing different spiritual challenges and growth opportunities. It suggests that through these experiences, believers are led by the Lord to a deeper understanding and embodiment of their faith.
• 13:00 - 14:30: Understanding 'Thank You' in Japanese This chapter emphasizes the significance of understanding the phrase 'Thank You' in Japanese, not just as a language concept but as a profound life lesson. It highlights the importance of appreciation in life's journey, comparing it with spiritual and existential ways of being, akin to living like Jesus. It suggests that 'Thank You' represents a crucial part of the journey for those seeking fulfillment, marking it as life on the way, and underscores the power of gratitude in personal growth and completion.
• 14:30 - 16:00: Conclusion: Embracing the Present The conclusion chapter emphasizes the importance of being present in the moment, drawing inspiration from the teachings of Jesus. It reflects on the journey of understanding and embracing the 'now' rather than constantly striving to be elsewhere. The speaker shares a personal experience of repeatedly contemplating the words of Jesus over the past two to three years, highlighting the impact of these reflections on their daily life. The chapter encourages readers to find value in the journey itself rather than focusing solely on the destination, aligning with spiritual insights and mindfulness practices.

"The Place of the Way: Here" | Palm Sunday (Fr. Mike's Homily) #sundayhomily Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 ever had a great Lent where you feel like you've got some spiritual momentum and all of a sudden you hit Easter and it just seems like sometimes that it can all slip through our fingers what if this Easter was was different as we tell the story of Easter uh we invite you to journey with us in each of these accounts of the risen Lord we will discover that it's personal it's particular and it's profound this Easter can be a transformational moment in your life god bless you
• 00:30 - 01:00 [Music] so um I would say this i would say that uh for the most part when it comes to just life when it comes to how uh what kind of person you know sometimes you have these two kinds of people in this world um I'm a person who I'm someone who who likes uh who kind of lives for done what
• 01:00 - 01:30 I mean by that is talk to me before I'm done and I'm I'm the worst person to talk to like before I get to the gate in an airport like I'm the worst before the talk I no I'm not helpful to be around uh before before I get an answer if I'm I'm struggling with a question before that I I'm unpleasant before the meeting before the conversation before the thing I'm I'm I'm kind of internally mess because I live for done i live I really like done and the reason is because I think before the meeting I get I get nervous like I'm not sure how it's going to go before the
• 01:30 - 02:00 project gets done I I'm anxious because I'm uncertain how the of the outcome when there's work to get done I get stressed because there's still so much to do and and and often times I'm self preoccupied like okay how well am I going to do or even that sense of until I'm done I'm not in control because if I'm out of control because I have to make the result just so like you know I don't know if that makes any sense but I I just realize that I and maybe a lot of us we wait like we wait until we're done or we wait until we're there and so what
• 02:00 - 02:30 I find myself doing is I find myself putting off a lot of joy until I'm there i find myself putting off a lot of peace until I'm done and I found myself in some ways putting off life until I until I get there you know this whole Lent here we are on Palm Sunday this whole Lent we've been we've been training right because the season of Lent we know the season of Lent's not just a time of self-denial it's not just time of self-discipline it's a time of aceticism a cesus means training and so
• 02:30 - 03:00 we're training to become like Jesus we want in this week and up to next week with Easter we want to be the kind of people that we weren't at the beginning of this right we want to be trained to be more and more like Jesus and so we've what have we done we we've we've entered into that place of training right the place of the way that dojo the place of the way has been silenced we entered into the desert the place of the way was the crossroads the place of the way was the valley the place of the way was home last week we realized the place of the way was the dead ends that the Lord leads us to but
• 03:00 - 03:30 I'd say this this Sunday this is the final place of the way and I think it's maybe the most profound maybe the most crucial place of the way especially for those of us who want to just be there right for those of us who want to just be done the most important place of the way is here for those of us who just want to be done the most important place of the way is life on the way that I would say this i would say to be like Jesus if we want to really truly
• 03:30 - 04:00 look like Jesus want to have our our focus like Jesus we especially again if you're like me and you just want to be there the place of the way is here if I just want to be done the place of the way is actually on the way you know so for the last couple years I'm literally for the last maybe two or three years every day I've been struck by something maybe sometimes a couple times a day I'm struck by something Jesus said i just been turning it over and over in my mind like virtually every day and there's something that Jesus
• 04:00 - 04:30 does that so few of us who just want to be done right who just want to be there um he does something that we rarely do we hear it at every mass and you're going to hear it in a little bit we say on the night he was betrayed he himself took bread and giving you thanks he said the blessing and gave it to his disciples the thing that's been striking me every day for over two
• 04:30 - 05:00 years is that line and giving you thanks that he took the chalice and giving you thanks and I pause on this and ask the question okay when does Jesus seize the opportunity to give thanks like what's the context for Jesus giving thanks the context is on the night he was betrayed he took the bread said the bless giving thanks that I realized that that for myself like I want to give thanks i totally I I want to make thanksgiving a a vital part of
• 05:00 - 05:30 my life i want to make it a regular part of my life but I realize that when I want to give thanks I want to give thanks when I get what I want right that kind of makes sense you get what you want you give thanks i want to give thanks when I'm not worried anymore i want to give thanks when I'm not stressed out anymore i want to I want to give thanks when I'm done right when when when the work is finished the task is finished i want to give thanks after the end i want to give thanks when things are all better when I'm healed I want to give thanks that when I'm answered I want to
• 05:30 - 06:00 give thanks that when I'm rested I want to give thanks when I'm calm i want to give thanks when things are complete i want to give thanks when I'm there question when does Jesus give thanks jesus gives thanks in the midst of He gives thanks in the middle of the worst moment of his entire life jesus give thanks as he enters into the worst pain of his life jesus give thanks as he enters into the worst suffering jesus gives thanks on the night he was betrayed in the midst of betrayal in the
• 06:00 - 06:30 midst of denial in the midst of being abandoned and in some ways you realize that the depths of Jesus's passion haven't even started yet basically he has everything left to do and here in this place Jesus gives thanks and this is the truth this is the crucial part of the way not there but here the crucial part of the way is not when we're done the crucial part of the way is on the way in the midst right here and the question we
• 06:30 - 07:00 have to ask is can I live here that if I'm like Jesus can I can I stay can I remain here now the question to ask is can I stand in the middle of it all and thank God before it's over can I stand in the middle of everything and thank God before I'm done the question is can I thank God here you know this whole Lent we've been following that uh Japanese Catholic man Tekashi Nagai and and if you read a
• 07:00 - 07:30 story hear his story i know so many people have listened and said "I've been so inspired by Tekashi Nagai he's moved my heart so much but you realize that he's a very ordinary person he's just a very ordinary Catholic basically there's nothing overtly remarkable about his accomplishments yeah he was a great doctor radiologist and yes he sacrificed himself to save people's lives but he would have said he's just doing his job yeah he had a great relationship he loved his wife Madori and he loved their two kids but again if you asked him he'd just say "No this is just what a husband does this is just what a father does." And yes he survived Nagasaki he survived
• 07:30 - 08:00 the the atomic bomb but so did other people so the question is like why him why is this man so inspiring and I think the reason one of the many reasons is because even though he was like us he's pulled in so many different directions even he talks about this in bells for Nagasaki in the book a song for Nagasaki he talks about how how distracted he was how how he wrestled with being distracted that when he was at home he was constantly torn back to he wanted to go to work and when he was at work he wanted to be home but he battled that out and he fought to be
• 08:00 - 08:30 right here that that he actually fought for that by giving thanks here in fact one of his sayings was for all that has been thanks for all that will be yes and he tried to live that every day again he just like us he was distracted he he wanted to be there he wanted to be done but okay for all that has been thanks for all that will be yes and the remarkable thing is that by choosing or trying to give thanks in
• 08:30 - 09:00 ordinary moments that paved the way for him to be able to give thanks in extraordinary moments in for for him to basically just give thanks when things were very very normal it made it possible for him to give thanks when things were completely out of the ordinary in fact there's this moment in his book where when he finds his wife's Madori his wife Madori's body among the ruins of their home and it says this it says that he
• 09:00 - 09:30 could see he found her body the ashes of her body the ruins of her body the remains of her body it said he could see that she died in the kitchen that she loved sobbing he picked up a heat buckled pale and knelt to gather her bones what was that dull glint among the powdered bones of her right hand though the beads were melted into a blob the chain and cross identified it as the rosary that he had seen slipping through her fingers so often and he bowed his head and sobbed dearest God thank you
• 09:30 - 10:00 for allowing her to die praying mother of sorrows thank you for being with faithful Madori at the hour of her death and as he carefully scooped the bones into the pale he murmured "Ah gracious Jesus our savior you once sweat blood and bore the heavy cross for your crucifixion and now you have shed peaceful light on the mystery of suffering and death on Madori's and on my own." And he concluded that whole pray by prayer by saying "Lord receive
• 10:00 - 10:30 her with my gratitude." that he could give thanks while his heart was breaking that he could thank God in the midst of his sobs and that's why his life is extraordinary this is why his life was extraordinary that he saw and he recognized God here he recognized God on the way and in recognizing God he was able to give thanks before he was healed he was able to give thanks while he was
• 10:30 - 11:00 weeping he was able to give thanks before he got there he's able to give thanks right here reminds me in fact of of the wisdom of a man named blessed Solanus Casey solanus Casey once said he said "Give thanks ahead of time." Again especially for us for you and me who want to be there who want to be done Casey no give God thanks ahead of time we realize we don't have to wait that we can thank God here we can thank
• 11:00 - 11:30 God on the way that even even in the midst of the challenge even in the midst of the pain in the difficulty this is what Tekashi said tekashi he he said this he said "Each day is a gift." He said "I give thanks even for the pain." Remember he was dying of leukemia i give thanks for the pain because it reminds me that I'm alive to love each day is a gift i give thanks even for the pain because it reminds me that I'm alive to love
• 11:30 - 12:00 and it reminds us of too of Jesus that Jesus is a Jesus in this moment on the night he was betrayed what does he do ahead of time he gives thanks what's he do in the midst of his passion he gives thanks what does Jesus do while he's on the way he give thanks and this is the last thing I think it's profound that um the phrase thank you in Tekashi
• 12:00 - 12:30 Nagai's Japanese language is the word aragato you might know that word aragato it means thank you but in fact doing some research on this and in fact it says in the in the book uh the song for Nagasaki it says that aragato is more than just casual like thanks or even more than just a casual thank you that the word aragato comes from two Japanese characters that put together mean this came into existence with
• 12:30 - 13:00 difficulty that's what aragato means thank you means this came into existence with difficulty so Akashi says everyday is a gift why because basically Argato acknowledges and recognizes the giftedness of this moment essentially it's saying if you say argato to someone you're saying what you've done is rare what you're saying is it didn't
• 13:00 - 13:30 have to happen you're saying it was not owed and I want to honor that every time we say thank you every time we say that like Tekashi would say that argato it is this came into existence with difficulty it was not owed to me it was rare and I want to honor that and that's us that's where we find ourselves today on this Palm Sunday on this day that we walk with Jesus through his passion we recognize that each day each moment each breath and
• 13:30 - 14:00 each heartbeat all of it is undeserved that what Jesus has done for us it didn't have to happen and yet here we are here we are receiving God's grace and this came into existence with difficulty new life that you and I have in Jesus that came into existence with difficulty therefore I would say this i would say like
• 14:00 - 14:30 Jesus we've got we give God thanks ahead of time because of this like Jesus we give God thanks in the midst like Jesus we give God thanks before that we're before we're there like Jesus we give God thanks on the way and like Jesus we give God thanks right here because the place of the way is here
• 14:30 - 15:00 [Music]