Friday, July 10, 2026

 

Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Hosea 14:2-10; Matthew 10:16-23)

In Robert Frost’s memorable poem, “Tree at my Window,” the poet compares a tree to himself.  He says that like the tree he sees in a storm, he tosses and turns in his sleep.  But as the tree, moored to the earth, does not fall, he survives his restless nights.  In today’s reading from the prophet Hosea compares the people of Israel to different trees.

Unmoored from idols and connected to God, Israel is as strong and fragrant as a Lebanon cedar.  The people are gloriously fruitful like an olive tree.  Also, like the protection the cedar and the cypress provide, they raise grain to nourish themselves. 

Like Israel, we must rid ourselves of idols so that we might thrive like a redwood or a giant oak.  Idols, of course, include more than metals objects some think of as bringing them good luck.  Idols are what we wrongly consider as sources of full happiness.  They can be sports teams, rock stars, perhaps our cars or our telephones.  We must acknowledge the Lord as the source of all good things and duly give Him thanks and praise.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 44:1.9-13; Mark 11:11-26)

Poets use objective correlatives as ways of describing with images of nature the mind’s inner-working.  For example, when Robert Frost describes watching the woods fill up with snow, he means to tell the reader about his contemplating the eeriness of death.  The evangelist Mark presents an objective correlative in the passage today about the fig tree that does not bear fruit. 

Jesus disappointment with the fig tree anticipates the disgust he will feel when he enters the Temple.  Because the Temple has not fostered a holy people, it is doomed.  The money changers are only the tip of the iceberg. More reproachable are the priests who control the business and profit handsomely from it.  As Jesus curses the fig tree, he will throw out the money changers.  And as he cleans up the Temple, he will perfect the Temple sacrifices with his own death on the cross.

As Jesus expresses revulsion for those who misuse the Temple, he will not tolerate those who exploit Christianity.  Over-zealous crusaders and inquisitors may come to mind, but we should examine our own lives for this evil.  We may go to church just to put ourselves in someone’s favorable light.  We may find in our piety a cause for pride when the righteousness God seeks is humility and compassion. There is need for all of us to orient ourselves properly so that we never incite the Lord’s wrath.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” writes poet Robert Frost discerning the direction he should take in life.  One road, he says, “bent in the undergrowth” as if it was so well traveled that one might lose oneself on it.  He took the other one because, he claims, it seemed less worn.  Is that second trail the road of life, which Moses exhorts the Israelites to follow in today’s first reading and which Jesus delineates in the gospel?

Moses also refers to a choice.  He exhorts the Israelites to choose wisely in what may be called a fork in the road ahead.  One prong will lead them to life and prosperity through love of God and compliance with His commandments.  The other will bring them to dissolution through self-indulgence and injustice.  Jesus explicates what God desires of humans: that they deny themselves for His sake.  He too mentions a choice.  One can gain the whole world and be imprisoned in it.  Or she can lose everything that she has and find herself in the company of Jesus, the resurrected one.

Lent is a period of grace to reflect on the choices which the readings today propose.  We are to spare ourselves of comfort so that we can focus on Jesus.  He gave up everything so that we might choose life with him.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Wednesday of the Third Week in Lent

(Deuteronomy 4:1.5-9; Matthew 5:17-19)

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” Robert Frost wrote at the beginning of a famous poem.  We might change “wall” to “law” and come up with a similar truth.  Laws(like walls) can obstruct the good as well as serve it.  For example, privacy laws can make clerical visits in hospitals problematic.  It seems that the apostle Paul had little use for law. He wrote the Letters to the Galatians and the Romans refuting the need for Christians to be circumcised as the Jewish Law prescribes.

Still laws are necessary.  They guide us in the pursuit of the good.  Without some laws, at least, we would likely make repeated mistakes and hurt people in the process.  We also need laws to protect us from the unscrupulous who would not allow common respect for others inhibit their desires.  In the readings today both Moses and Jesus extol the Law which God has given to the Israelites.  Moses believes that there are no statutes and decrees more just than those contained in Israel’s Law.  Jesus finds the same Law binding until all things come to pass.  Then how can Paul dismiss it so forcefully?  And why do we not practice that Law today?  

The Ten Commandments have always served as a guide to morality and still bind Christians.  It is true, however, that the ritualistic parts of the Law have lost their force because with Jesus’ death and resurrection all things indeed have come to pass.  Finally, we should not understand Paul as rejecting the Law completely but as saying that alone the Law has proven ineffectual at producing the righteousness of salvation.  For that, he says, we need the grace of Christ.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Monday of the Third Week of Lent

(II Kings 5:1-15ab; Luke 4:24-30)

In “Death of the Hired Hand” poet Robert Frost tells the story of a shiftless, old farmhand.  The character is an almost complete failure, but he has one remarkable quality – he knows how to pitch hay.  The poet explains how some people defeat their purpose by standing on the hay they mean to pitch.  The old farmhand, however, knows better.

Two characters in the first reading stand on, as it were, the hay they mean to pitch.  Both the king of Israel and Naaman, the Syrian general, make themselves obstacles to what they wish to accomplish.  They worry about not being able to do something when all that is necessary is that they trust in God.  One wants to shout at the first: “No, king of Israel, you are not a god with power over life and death.  Your God, however, has exactly that power.  Ask him to heal the leper.” And to the general: “No, Naaman, you cannot be cleansed in the waters of your own land.  Do what the prophet of God tells you, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”

Rather than put our trust in God we often fret over challenges confronting us.  We too need to be reminded that we are not gods, that our resources cannot resolve every problem.  We too must trust the God of Israel, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He can and will save us when we turn first to Him for help.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

(Ephesians 4:1-6; Luke 12:54-59)

In his poem “The White-Tailed Hornet,” Robert Frost observes that humans do well to compare themselves with higher beings. If they do not, he predicts that they will suffer one catastrophe after another. Frost’s lines are worth remembering: “As long on earth/ As our comparisons were stoutly upward/ With gods and angels, we were men at least,/ But little lower than the gods and angels./ But once comparisons were yielded downward,/ Once we began to see our images/ Reflected in the mud and even dust./ ‘Twas disillusion upon disillusion.” The passage from the Letter to the Ephesians today bears a similar wisdom and elegance.

Ephesians urges its readers “to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received.” It claims that they have been chosen by God to be members of God’s family. As God’s children then, they are to live not only peacefully as if the absence of quarrelling was all that matters, but in such unity that all strive to have a like mind and heart based on truth. It is a tall order, but it can be accomplished with God’s grace which is “over all and through all and in all.”

Anger is a definite roadblock to peace and unity. We must get over our outrage with what others appear to say and do. In place of it, we should pray for the supposed opposition and then try to dialogue with it.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 44:1.9-13; Mark 11:11-26)

Poets use objective correlatives as ways of describing the mind’s inner-working. For example, when Robert Frost describes watching the woods fill up with snow, he means to tell the reader about his contemplating the eeriness of death.

The evangelist Mark presents an objective correlative in the passage today about the fig tree that does not bear fruit. Jesus curses its sterility as a sign of disgust with the Temple which he will enter shortly. Because the Temple has not fostered a holy people, it is doomed. The money changers are only the tip of the iceberg. More dangerous, the priests control the business and profit handsomely from it. As Jesus curses the fig tree, he will throw the money changers out of the Temple. And as he cleans up the Temple, he will perfect the Temple sacrifices with his own death on the cross.

Of course, we should not think of Jesus as anti-environmental for cursing the fig tree. Throughout the gospel Jesus is at home in nature. He retreats from the crowds to the mountains. He spends time by the sea. He even pacifies stormy weather. St. Paul will acknowledge that Jesus redeems the natural world as he saves humankind.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest

(Hebrews 10:32-39; Mark 4:26-34)

Robert Frost writes in his poem “For Once, Then, Something”:

“Once, when trying with chin against a well-curb,
I discerned, as I thought, beyond the picture,
Through the picture, a something white, uncertain,
Something more of the depths—and then I lost it.”

He might be describing Jesus’ use of parables in the gospel today. As insightful as Frost or even Shakespeare, Jesus mentions a peasant scattering seeds or a mustard seed to give us a glimpse of God’s Kingdom. However, when we attempt to dwell on the image asking questions like, “Is the Kingdom the land or the harvest?” we are likely to let go of the revelation just as Frost loses sight of the thing he sees at the bottom of the well.

Something similar may be said of St. Thomas Aquinas whom we celebrate today. The theologian gave us a view of God more complete than and almost as perceptive as anyone’s in history. In his Summa Theologiae Scripture and philosophy hung together for a moment dissolving doubt in awe. However, its fullness disappeared in time fractured by the incessant queries of modernity. Yet it remains worthwhile to attempt revisioning what Aquinas wrote that we might once again glimpse God in glorious splendor.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Wednesday of the Third Week in Lent

(Deuteronomy 4:1.5-9; Matthew 5:17-19)

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” Robert Frost wrote at the beginning of a famous poem. We might change “wall” to “law” and come up with a similar truth. Laws(like walls) can obstruct the good as well as serve it. For example, privacy laws can make clerical visits in hospitals problematic. It seems that the apostle Paul had little use for law. He wrote the Letters to the Galatians and the Romans refuting the need for Christians to be circumcised as the Jewish Law prescribes.

Still laws are necessary. They guide us in the pursuit of the good. Without some laws, at least, we would likely make repeated mistakes and hurt people in the process. We also need laws to protect us from the unscrupulous who would not allow common respect for others inhibit their desires. In the readings today both Moses and Jesus extol the Law which God has given to the Israelites. Moses believes that there are no statutes and decrees more just than those contained in Israel’s Law. Jesus finds the same Law binding until all things come to pass. Then how can Paul dismiss it so forcefully? And why do we not practice that Law today?

The Ten Commandments have always served as a guide to morality and still bind Christians. It is true, however, that the ritualistic parts of the Law have lost their force because with Jesus’ death and resurrection all things indeed have come to pass. Finally, we should not understand Paul as rejecting the Law completely but as saying that alone the Law has proven ineffectual at producing the righteousness of salvation. For that, he says, we need the grace of Christ.

Homilette for Friday, April 10, 2009

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

(Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; John 18:1-19:42)

A woman confides that she cherishes her Catholic faith but cannot marry in the Church the man she is living with. His refusal to rid himself of vices has convinced her that he does not care about her very much. An elderly gentleman cannot confide anything because Alzheimer’s has deteriorated his mind. At one time he was a ready conversationalist. Now he sits mumbling his name, mostly passive to every question asked of him.

These two as well as the soldier who pierced Jesus’ side, the eyewitness who testifies to the blood and water flowing from Jesus’ side, and the rest of us “’look upon him whom they have pierced.’” All hopefully see more than a man who has suffered a cruel death and more than a martyr who has given his life in testimony to what he believed. All hopefully recognize the son of God Himself completely innocent of wrong-doing yet suffering in obedience to his Father so that the world may have access to eternal life.

Robert Frost wrote, “As long on earth/ As our comparisons were stoutly upward/ With gods and angels, we were men at least,/ But little lower than the gods and angels.” When we fix our eyes on Jesus crucified, we keep our comparison upward. As worthy as we may consider ourselves and as good as others may think of us, we know that in truth we are nowhere near as innocent as he. We even have to acknowledge that our sins, like the soldier’s lance, have contributed to his ordeal. Confessing our sinfulness and admitting our complicity, we become beneficiaries of the grace which the blood and water signify. This grace assures the woman that she can do what is necessary to live with integrity. It strengthens the caregivers of the gentleman with Alzheimer’s to respect his human dignity. And it provides us the spiritual strength to bear our own crosses. This grace finally leads all who accept it to eternal life.

Homilette for Friday, June 1, 2007

Friday, VIII Ordinary (St. Justin Martyr)

(Mark 11)

An “objective correlative” is a literary device to describe the workings of the mind. An example of an objective correlative is the woods on a snowy evening in Robert Frost’s famous poem. The woods filling up with snow are the cold and bleek events of life which the sleigh rider means to contemplate.

In the gospel Mark presents us an objective correlative in the fig tree that does not bear fruit. Jesus curses its sterility as a sign of his disgust with the Temple which he enters next. It is not only the money changers who bother Jesus. It is also that the Temple is not allowing adequate worship of God. As he curses the fig tree, he throws out the money changers. As he throws out the money changers, the Temple will be symbolically destroyed with his death on the cross.

We should see Jesus’ action as a sign of what will happen to us if we do not produce good fruit. God has been most generous to us with his endowment of the Holy Spirit. It cannot be for nothing. Rather, we must serve Him by caring for the weak and encouraging the righteous.

Homilette for Monday, March 12, 2007

Monday Week 3

(2 Kings)

In one of his poems Robert Frost writes about a farmer who knows how to throw hay. The farmer points out how some men try to pick up hay that they are standing on. In this way they themselves get in the way of what they want to accomplish.

Two characters in the first reading have that same problem. Both the king of Israel and Naaman, the Syrian general, make themselves their own enemies. They worry about not being able to do something when all that is necessary is that they trust someone else. No, king of Israel, you are not a god with power over life and death. Your God, however, has exactly that power. Ask him to heal the leper. No, Naaman, you cannot be cleansed in the waters of your own land. Do what the prophet of God tells you and you will be healed of your leprosy.

Rather than put our trust in God we sometimes worry and fret over our problems. We also are not gods. Our resources also cannot resolve every problem we face. We too must trust the God of Israel, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He can and will save us. Let’s ask him for help.