Thursday, August 16, 2018

Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ezekiel 12:1-12, Matthew 18:21-19:1)

Exile is a terrible experience.  We only have to review the situations of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan to appreciate exile’s horrors.  The foreign cultures they inhabit lack familiar institutions that might provide some solace.  They have trouble finding jobs which leads to their exploitation as slave labor. They are also exceptionally vulnerable to new diseases and to swindlers’ deceptions. 

In the reading from Ezekiel today God wants the prophet to show the Jerusalemites that they are headed on a course of exile.  Ezekiel is to act as a person uprooted from his native place to awaken the people that their sins are bringing them to ruin.  The hope is that the people will reform their lives so that God might spare them the trauma of exile.  Sadly, however, they will refuse to repent.

We see Jesus as bringing us out of the exile that sin has caused.  Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the garden was the prototype of exile from which Jesus has rescued us.  He brought us to the “Kingdom of heaven,” not yet heaven but on the way there.  This state is not so much a physical place as it is a renewed relationship with God in which we experience the peace of Christ.  Acquiring the relationship, we will forgive others their offenses against us, as the gospel today recommends, because we have come to realize how gracious God is to us.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, priest and martyr

(Ezekiel 12:1-12; Matthew 18:21-19:1)

Love is at the center of the gospel, but not any kind of love.  No, Jesus testifies to God’s forgiving love by his cross and resurrection.  Humans have always sinned against God, particularly by their injustice to one another.  Jesus came as the just human who never sinned.  In fact, his goodness extended to the giving of himself completely for the sake of humanity.  God raised Jesus from the dead as an acknowledgement that the myriad offenses which humans have committed have been forgiven.  Those who give themselves to Jesus are re-created, dead to sin and alive with his goodness.

The followers of Christ in turn must exhibit the same forgiving love of God by forgiving one another.  The parable of today’s gospel illustrates that human forgiveness of one another is a mere shadow of God’s forgiveness, yet some refuse to do so.  They hold others to strict account for everything done to them like the airline which charges for everything from allowing baggage to providing water. The first debtor having been forgiven a huge sum should have been more than willing to forgive his own debtor of a trivial amount.  His refusal to do it shows that he is not in the company of Jesus, that he remains outside the new creation.

Often enough we are asked to forgive a debt of another that in no way is trivial.  Perhaps a drunk driver killed our child.  The person sobers up and begs our forgiveness.  We do not feel at all like saying, even in our prayer, I forgive that one.  In this case, let’s pray for the grace to be more like Jesus, to say, “My love for you, my God, surpasses my abhorrence for what has been done to me.”

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ezekiel 12:1-12, Matthew 18:21-19:1)

Exile is a terrible experience. We only have to review the situations of the hostages in Darfur or of the other thirty-odd million refugees and displaced persons in the world today to see what horrors people in exile live. The foreign cultures they inhabit lack familiar institutions that might provide some solace. They have trouble finding jobs which leads to their exploitation as slave labor. They are also exceptionally vulnerable to new diseases and to swindlers’ deceptions.

In the reading from Ezekiel today God wants the prophet to show the Jerusalemites that they are headed on a course of exile. Ezekiel is to act as a person uprooted from his native place to awaken the people that their sins are bringing them to ruin. The hope is that the people will reform their lives so God might spare them the trauma of exilic life. Sadly, however, they will refuse to repent.

We see Jesus as bringing us out of the exile that sin has caused. Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the garden was the prototype of exile from which Jesus has rescued us. He brought us to the Kingdom of God (or “of heaven” as Matthew’s gospel consistently calls it). This state is not so much a physical place as it is a renewed relationship with God in which we experience the fullness of peace. Acquiring the relationship, we will forgive others their offenses against us, as the gospel today recommends, because we realize how gracious God has been to us.

Homilette for Thursday, August 13, 2009

Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Joshua 3:7-10a.11.13-17; Matthew 18:21-19:1)

Thanks to Cecil B. De Mille most people know that the Bible depicts the Red Sea splitting in two so that the Israelites might escape the Egyptian charioteers. Few, however, are aware of the Jordan River parting so the God’s Chosen Ones might enter the Promised Land. The first reading today from the Book of Joshua tells this second story. The responsorial psalm also refers to it. This same psalm is part of the Liturgy of the Hours for Easter Sunday evening which helps us understand the meaning of the event in Christian eyes.

The Church reads the Old Testament as foretelling the person and mission of Jesus Christ. Theologians call such a reading typology. The story of the Ark of the Covenant leading the Israelites through the Jordan is a type for Christ’s bringing his followers into the fullness of God’s kingdom. Jesus is for us the Holy of Holies whose death and resurrection make it possible for us to transverse the otherwise impassible gulf between earth and heaven.

If Jesus facilitates the crossing, then what must we do? Our role in our salvation is both nothing and everything. All that is required of us is to believe in Jesus by following his commands. The gospel demonstrates the paradox of this challenge. You would think it would be nothing for the servant whose master has just written off his large debt to forgive the small debt of a fellow servant. But no, the servant – probably thinking “this is a different case” – punishes his counterpart. We must not do likewise; rather we are to open our hearts to those who genuinely ask forgiveness just as Christ has opened the way to our salvation.

Homilette for Thursday, August 14, 2008

Memorial of Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, priest and martyr

(Ezekiel 12:1-12, Matthew 18:21-19:1)

Exile is a terrible experience. We only have to review the situations of the hostages in Darfur or of the other thirty-six million refugees and displaced persons in the world today to see what horrors people in exile live. The foreign cultures they inhabit lack familiar institutions that might provide some solace. They have trouble finding jobs which leads to their exploitation as slave labor. They are also exceptionally vulnerable to new diseases and to swindlers’ deceptions.

In the reading from Ezekiel today God wants the prophet to show the Jerusalemites that they are headed on a course of exile. Ezekiel is to act as a person uprooted from his native place to awaken the people that their sins are bringing them to ruin. The hope is that the people will reform their lives so God might spare them the trauma of exilic life. Sadly, however, they will refuse to repent.

We see Jesus as bringing us out of the exile that sin has caused. Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the garden was the prototype of exile from which Jesus has rescued us. He brought us to the Kingdom of God (or of heaven as Matthew’s gospel consistently calls it). This state is not so much a physical place as it is a renewed relationship with God in which we experience the fullness of peace. Acquiring the relationship, we will forgive others their offenses against us, as the gospel today recommends, because we realize how gracious God has been to us.