Put on Christ - Weekday Homily Video

On April 15, 2019, the world watched as flames tore through Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. For hours it seemed nothing could survive. Yet amid the smoke, firefighters and few daring cathedral staff formed a human chain to rescue what could not be replaced: the Crown of Thorns, relics of saints, the Blessed Sacrament. Reuters, the newspaer later reported that 90 percent of the cathedral’s treasures were saved because, in the moment of crisis, people knew instinctively what mattered most. When the fire subsided, a golden cross still hung above the altar, gleaming through the ashes. 

That image is what Paul is talking about in Colossians in the first reading today. “Seek what is above, not what is on earth.” Not because the earth is worthless, but because in the fire, we learn to recognize what endures. 

Seeking What Is of God

Something similar happened in 2011, after the dreadful tsunami in Japan. Whole towns were destroyed. Later once the waters receded Volunteers collected thousands of water-damaged photographs, of weddings, family reunions, graduations, and began painstakingly restoring them. The New York Times reported how people lined up, not for money or furniture, but for the chance to see a loved one’s face reappear on paper. They weren’t clinging to objects; they were clinging to memory, relationship, and identity. That is what Paul calls us to: not the wardrobe of greed, anger, and lies that fade, but the clothing of compassion, humility, and love that endure. 

The Old Testament gives us a similar picture in the book of the prophet Zechariah. In chapter 3, Zechariah has a vision of Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, dressed in filthy garments. The Lord says: “Remove the filthy garments from him… See, I have taken your guilt away, and I will clothe you in festal apparel” (Zech 3:4). It is not a lesson about clothing styles, it is about God stripping away guilt and shame and giving a new identity. 

And yet we often miss the point. A friend once told me about buying a fine new suit for a wedding but forgetting to remove the price tag. All evening people praised how elegant he looked, while the tag dangled from his back for everyone to see. He laughed later, saying, “I thought I looked perfect until someone showed me what I had overlooked.” Isn’t that just like us? We polish the outside carefully, but often carry hidden stains of envy, pride, or resentment within, things far more noticeable to God than to others. 

Put on Christ

Paul tells us to strip all that away. Not to patch the old, but to put on something new, something we did not make for ourselves: Christ. The cross shining through Notre-Dame’s ashes, the family photos rescued from Japan’s mud, the garments exchanged in Zechariah’s vision, all remind us that what is above is not distant, but decisive. It is Christ in us, reshaping how we see the world, what we value, what we carry forward. 

So here is the question presses on us today: If the fire alarm of life went off tonight, what would you reach for first? The grudges, the possessions, the applause? Or the treasures that cannot burn, faith, mercy, love, Christ Himself? Because when all else crumbles, Christ remains. And Paul’s invitation is clear: Put on the new self, put on Christ. 

• Today’s Readings
  
  
• Father Boby's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
  
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