"Greater than I" - 6th Sunday of Easter Homily

Thanks be to God and by His grace.

Since last Sunday, I've been to Hawaii and back.

A little jet lagged this morning.

I'm trying not to talk so loud.

give myself more of a headache.

But it was amazing trip.

Friends of mine, who is a young married couple, she works, she's in the Navy, works at Pearl Harbor.

And he grew up in Hawaii.

They showed me an incredible week.

Went to the beach every day.

Went snorkeling for the first time.

It was a blast.

Golf.

Took it as much Hawaiian cuisine and culture as I could.

I ate fruit all week.

You'd be proud of me.

Good for the year.

Some things about the history and geography I guess I didn't, wasn't expecting.

You fly to Hawaii, that long flight.

It was actually really smooth, but it's so long and it's like literally halfway across the world.

You're going halfway around the world, flying there.

And so, also the history though, in World War II, Hawaii was a pivotal place for the United States.

And there are remnants of World War II still in Hawaii.

My buddy and I were on the beach one day and he said, yeah, there's a World War II plane still buried in the sea, about a half mile offshore.

I'm like, what?

What is this, Lost?

What am I showing my life in here?

But we remember, obviously, not just World War II, tomorrow, remember all the service men and women, Memorial Day, have given their lives for our country, dedicating their lives to

something greater than themselves.

I know it's a cliche, but it's a beautiful one.

We hear all the time.

It's a beautiful mantra of our society and our country.

I don't know if Jesus started it, but he used it in this gospel, talking about the Father is greater than Him.

If you love me, you have a choice, and I'm going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

There'll be a beautiful and helpful attitude whenever we lose a loved one who's gone home to God.

He's gone home to the Father, going to a place, more of a state of being, Heaven, where everything is greater than them.

That's Heaven.

And if we really love them, we'd rejoice that they're there.

And the overwhelming experience, overwhelming, not all, but most people were happy that I went to Hawaii.

Father Vincent probably not so much, because he had to take all the work.

But the experience I had day after day, after hour, just being something greater than me.

Taken in the beauty, the natural beauty, the perfect climate.

Sorry for your weather last week, not really.

But everything I experienced was greater than me.

was just in awe.

And that's Hawaii.

As beautiful as it is, imagine Heaven.

Like I say, they're married couples.

You think your spouse is attractive.

Wait till you see God.

Heaven.

whole experience there, it's all about something greater than ourselves.

And it celebrates those who live their life on earth for something greater than themselves.

You know, it starts in the home.

Serving your spouse, your kids, community, parish, church, different causes.

That's what we should be about as Christians, something greater than ourselves.

Because our leader, Jesus Christ, it started with Him.

As great as He is, as great as He was to the apostles on earth, He said, the Father is greater than I.

So every breath He took on earth.

It was for something greater than himself.

The Father sent Him, the Father is greater than Him, so His whole life on earth was about something greater than Himself.

The Father's will is paramount for Jesus, it should be paramount for us.

Especially if we want to be included in that group in Heaven.

And our experiences, I often will notice in my own experience and for others, that the greatest experience we have is just that.

We're not focused on ourselves.

That can lead to like a hellish experience.

Thinking that we're greater than others, or we're serving ourselves, but we come out of that, in that heavenly realm.

That's where we experience great fulfillment.

and happiness and peace.

It's again following Jesus.

So we reflect on generations of men and women in our country.

And what was the motivation?

What was the fulfillment for them?

It was that act of coming out of yourself and being about something greater than you.

That is seriously fulfilling.

Brings serious satisfaction and serious good results for our country.

So I think it's hard, Memorial Day, the theme of it is Christian.

Honoring their sacrifices, but remembering them and their example and their attitude and their sacrifice.

It's very Christian.

I'm in our altar, says, in remembrance of me.

We memorialize every Sunday, every Mass.

We remember Jesus.

It's very Jewish.

This is the fulfillment of the Jewish Passover.

So this Judeo-Christian tradition we have in our country, it really kind of comes together with something like Memorial Day.

I think our generation today, it's very uplifting and inspiring to see so many of our young people, are about this to serve something greater than themselves.

We just need to find them the right causes to serve.

And thankfully, we have so many in our community, in our parish.

So many things greater than ourselves to take in and to be a part and to serve.

Hopefully we're inspired by our patriotic heroes and our main hero, Jesus Christ.

His whole life, every breath he took was to serve someone greater than himself.