Sunday, June 27, 2021

 Dear Reader, if you receive these homilettes by email, you may find the service stopped in July.  As I understand an instruction from Google, its Burnfeeder program will no longer support the service.  You can always find the homilettes on the blog site: https://cbmdominicanpreacher.blogspot.com/ . Perhaps if you send me your email address, I could send the homilettes in a mass email.  You may send your email address to cmeleop@yahoo.com. When I ascertain that the service is no longer functioning, I will start sending them to you personally.

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, June 27, 2021

(Wisdom 1:13-15.2: 23-24; II Corinthians 8:7.9.13-15; Mark 5:21-43)

Almost every Wednesday people fill St. Peter's Square at ten in the morning. They come to see Pope Francis. They listen to his teaching and receive his blessing. Then they then try to take a selfie with him.  If they can get close to him, they try to touch his hand. We can think of people acting something like this with Jesus at the beginning of today's gospel.

Jesus is drawing attention to himself. He talks about the long-awaited Kingdom of God and how it gradually appears like wheat sown in the field. Then Jairus, the head of the synagogue, comes to ask for a favor. His daughter is seriously ill; wouldn't Jesus come with him to touch her? Jairo has put his faith in Jesus like the many women fighting abortion today. Just as Jairo wants his daughter to live, so these women recognize in hidden fetuses images of God that are worth saving.

On the way to Jairo's house, Jesus meets another person who puts his faith in him. A woman with hemorrhages believes that Jesus’ mere touch will heal her condition. However, she does not expect Jesus to touch her.  Rather than that, she looks for an opportunity to touch him. When it comes, she seizes it and, in fact, experiences healing. No longer will she remain hidden in the crowd.  When Jesus asks who touched him, she tells what happened. The Letter of James says that faith without works is dead. Here the woman does not fail to act on her faith. Another comparison can be made with women working to end abortion. They also act on faith, in their case to save babies lives.

Unfortunately, the women who ask pregnant mothers to give birth to their children are not always successful. Perhaps in nine out of ten cases the women’s hearts are found so distorted that they continue to procure an abortion. The valiant women trying to save babies have to believe that God will provide them with eternal life. It is one of the greatest tests of our Christian faith: to believe that God will raise the dead to eternal life. As Jesus takes the hand of the girl in the gospel to raise her from the sleep of death, on the last day he will raise those who have been faithful to him.

The first reading says that death did not originate with God but with the devil. We can expand this concept by saying that the culture of death originated with the devil. He tempted Eve and Adam with the promise of making them like gods. The result was death for them and for the rest of humanity. Today the devil tempts people with pleasure.  The results are millions of abortions, suicides, and wasted lives. Pope Saint John Paul II asked that we transform the culture of death into one of life. Our efforts will consist not only of campaigns against abortion but also of new ways of living.

First and foremost, like Jairus, we will live looking for Jesus. We will find him and really touch him in the Eucharist. With his support we can live valuing every human being from conception. As the girl receives the hand of Jesus, we will take the hands of all kinds of people in friendship. Finally, like the woman with hemorrhages, we will act on behalf of life. We will speak the truth about the culture of death and how it is for us to transform it into one of life. It is up to us to form a culture of life.

Sunday, July 4, 2021

 FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY, July 4, 2021

(Ezekiel 2:2-5; II Corinthians 12:7b-10; Mark 6:1-6)

The woman feels rejected. She is president of a parish sodality responsible for various tasks. But it seems to her that she cannot count on anyone for help. Members of the sodality only give her excuses. One says she doesn't have time. Another says she is going on vacation. The woman wonders if she would have to do all the work herself. We see Jesus feeling a similar rejection in today’s gospel.

Jesus has been touching people with his words wherever he has preached. They like his way of explaining the Kingdom of God with parables. When Jesus asks them to repent, they take it seriously. But no sooner than he arrives in Nazareth, his own town, that the welcome goes sour.  Although his neighbors hear his words, they do not respond to his teachings. Rather they wonder where he got his bright ideas. They treat him like a fast-talking salesman; that is, fascinating to listen to but untrustworthy of their confidence.

Of course, Jesus is not the first prophet who has experienced the rejection of the people. In the first reading Ezekiel faces a similar predicament. The Israelites are to be defeated because they have neglected the Law. The Lord sends Ezekiel to give them one final chance. They may be saved from the Babylonian army if they submit to God's will. Ezekiel will show with symbols such as a morsel of bread and a demitasse of water that they do not have much time. But people will not listen to him.

Sometimes we wonder if something similar is not happening in our society. Today we Americans celebrate Independence Day. We thank God for the benefits that freedom brings. We have the rights to participate in the selection of our rulers, to own property, and to speak freely. However, these rights carry responsibilities that we often forget. In a current phenomenon called the "culture of cancellation", one can see the abuse of freedom of speech. The reputations and well-being of honest people are being ruined by lies and half-truths made on social media. What else is this but an advanced type of gossip that has destroyed people's good names for millennia? It is true that we have the freedom of speech, but this freedom must be linked with the responsibility to say what we believe to be true.

In the second reading Paul speaks of "a thorn stuck in (his) his flesh." Because he doesn't describe the affliction more, we have to intuit its nature. It can be a doctrinal error like the need to be circumcised to be a Christian. It may be the inability to preach well as Paul himself admits in this Second Letter to the Corinthians. Although he has prayed to the Lord to remove this test, he only receives the answer that no, it is better that he keep fighting. The Lord says that in this way the Lord will reveal his glory. Here we see the key to overcoming the sense of being rejected or canceled. We must develop our relationship with Christ to accomplish two goals. First of all, we want Christ to grant us the grace not only to speak but also to live the truth. Second, when we are persecuted for speaking the truth as best we know it, we want Christ to strengthen us.

The national anthem of the United States tells of the American flag on top of a fortress. Despite several ships unloading their cannons against the fortress through the night, the flag could be seen at dawn. The fortress remained in American hands! This story can represent our hopes when we feel rejected. By our prayers to the Lord, we hope not to be defeated by criticism. Rather, by the same prayers, we hope to go on saying and living the truth.