Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 12:1-4; Mark 5:21-43)

During the nineteen sixties an Episcopalian priest wrote a book of prayers entitled Are You Running with me Jesus?  He had a vibrant ministry which required the Lord’s help.  So he asked for assurance that Christ was at his side.  Today’s reading from the Letter to the Hebrews also pictures the Christian running through life as if in a race.

The Letter focuses first on eternal life, the prize for winning.  But like in the great city marathons – New York or Berlin – all who finish the race receive the prize.  The letter also mentions Jesus going before the pack.  He leads all in the right direction and sets the pace of the race.  Without him runners would not be able to show their best.  Indeed, some would lose the way.

We too might pray, ´Are you running with me …?  We believe that he leads us, but at times we need reassurance.  Knowing that he runs with us, we achieve part of our reward from the very start.

Homilette for January 3, 2008

Thursday, The Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus

(Luke 2:21-24)

“What’s in a name?” an infatuated Juliet asks the handsome Romeo. At first, the two mistakenly believe very little substance resides in a name. But they come to learn there is really much at stake. For their love to mature they must accept who they are and make the necessary sacrifices to overcome the difficulties their identities create.

We reserve much import for the name “Jesus.” I remember being admonished as a boy of six or seven for suggesting that our family name its new dog “Jesus.” In fact, however, it was a popular name for men in biblical times as it is today in Hispanic cultures. “Jesus” means “Yahweh saves.” Certainly, it is an apt name for the Christ who, as God’s agent, saves humans from folly. He does this basically in two ways: by imparting wisdom through his teachings and by bestowing grace through his death and resurrection so that we might practice what we have learned. Because of Jesus we can live in freedom and look forward to heaven.

But providing the literal meaning of a name hardly tells enough about it. It certainly does not reveal why the name “Jesus” is “most holy” as we proclaim on this feast day. For this we must look deeper. Perhaps a telling use of the name late in Luke’s gospel will satisfy our need to know more about the name “Jesus.” Only one person in the four gospels dares to call Jesus by his name alone, without any titles or formalities. This person is not his mother or one of his disciples. It is the so-called good thief. On the cross he calls out to the Lord, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). The direct appeal, of course, incurs no reprimand. Quite the contrary, Jesus seems to award the criminal’s boldness. “This day,” the Lord tells him, “you will be with me in Paradise.”

The name “Jesus” is most holy because when we call it out in faith, God listens. We can be dying sinners, but as long as we repentantly ask Jesus’ mercy, we can depend upon it. To be sure, it is not a magic formula. It is the last, best hope of a contrite heart.

Homilette for January 1, 2008

The Octave Day of Christmas: the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

(Luke 2:16-21)

We call the first month of the year January after Janus, the pagan god of gates or doors. Statues of Janus have two heads like a door has two sides -- one looking backward and the other forward. Certainly in January we look in these two directions. We repeatedly refer to the old year, sometimes mistakenly writing it on checks. But as the month moves along, we think more of the possibilities lying in the year just begun.

The last verse of the gospel reading today similarly looks backward and forward. It says that Mary’s child “was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel...” The word of God spoken in the past has thus been fulfilled. The name Jesus, of course, means God saves. In the rest of the gospel we will hear how Jesus fulfills the destiny related in his name.

Preachers sometimes chide listeners, “Put Christ back into Christmas.” If this call means nothing else, it reminds us that we are to look both backward and forward when contemplating Jesus in the manger. He, like all babies, has delighted us with his soft flesh and warm blood. In the future he will reveal his glory as the son of God with his triumph over sin and death.