Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Feast of Saint Mark, evangelist

(1 Peter 5:5b-14; Mark 16:15-20)

St. Mark’s gospel is the shortest of the four and in all probability the first written.  Its Greek is rustic, and its text is full of primary emotions.  But none of these factors make it so compelling.  More than anything Mark’s gospel conveys urgency because it justifies the suffering of discipleship.

After Peter intuits Jesus’ identity as Messiah, Jesus gives a warning to those who will accept him as such.  Since he will suffer for the sake of God’s kingdom, they must prepare themselves for the same.  Jesus does not tolerate any pretension of glory among them.  Rather he tells them that the one who will be first must serve the rest until the end.  The passion narrative in Mark does not spare Jesus any pain or cruelty.  He is tortured, ridiculed, and lingers on the cross more in Mark than in any other gospel.  His followers can expect similar mistreatment.

With few exceptions Christians experience suffering even martyrdom in greater numbers today than ever.  But in truth few of us are likely to be tortured physically.  However, we may be belittled or even ostracized for making Sunday worship a priority or for defending refugees and life in the womb.  As readers of Mark’s gospel, we should welcome such opportunities to follow our Lord and Savior.

Monday, November 20, 2017

Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(I Maccabees 1:10-15.41-43.54-57.62-63; Luke 18:35-43)

Faith is sometimes said to be another way of seeing.  Rather than perceiving color, faith finds spiritual lights.  Faith is aware of a God who loves humans.  It accepts the promise of resurrection of the body and eternal life.  In the gospel today faith enables the blind man to recognize Jesus as the “Son of David,” the long-awaited Savior.  This faith would have saved the blind man even if Jesus did not bless him with physical sight.

Determination characterizes the blind man almost as much as his faith.  When the people rebuke him for calling out, he does it all the louder.  Because of his insistence, Jesus notices him.  It might be asked whether the blind man is more interested in attracting attention to himself than in being cured.  Jesus, however, finds him sincere when he grants his request. 

The blind man immediately follows Jesus.  He literally becomes Jesus’ disciple.  We can take him as a model disciple.  His faith, determination, and sincerity before the Lord show us how to better follow Jesus.

Homilette for Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 10:38-42)

Giving a talk to Missionaries of Charity, the congregation Mother Teresa founded, will likely humble any priest aware of what is going on. The sisters place a chair in the center of the room for the priest and then sit on the floor around him. No doubt they see themselves as taking the posture of Mary listening to Jesus in the gospel today.

In the passage Jesus acts prophetically in a number of ways. First, he visits a woman’s home and then he allows a woman to sit at his feet. Rabbis do not take such liberties in biblical days for obvious reasons. But Jesus is in no way constrained by social customs neither to associate with women nor to have one in the position of his disciple. Indeed, he wants women must hear the gospel as well as men.

The great fourteenth century theologian Meister Eckhart saw Martha as Jesus’ disciple even more than Mary. He taught that where Mary only listens to the word of God as it comes from Jesus, Martha puts that word into practice by serving others. It’s a novel interpretation of the gospel but one which reinforces the idea that women as well as men express discipleship of Jesus in different ways.

Homilette for Wedenday, May 28, 2008

Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

(Mark 10:32-45)

The gospel describes the disciples as “amazed” and some of them as “afraid” as Jesus sets his sights on Jerusalem. These are probably the many men and women who accompanied Jesus in a kind of traveling school of discipleship. They are, no doubt, traumatized because they know that nothing but ill awaits Jesus in the center of Jewish triumphalism. We might be amazed as well at the obtuseness of the Twelve disciples who make up Jesus’ closest confidantes. As Jesus is facing the supreme crisis, at least two of them have the brazenness to jockey for the highest positions of glory.

We may also be amazed at what some fellow Catholics are doing. Teens, once confirmed, often leave church behind. Catholic mothers have live-in lovers. Veteran Catholics blithely miss Sunday Mass to recreate with the family. “Have the commandments been changed?” we may wonder.

Jesus would answer, “No.” There is no justification for such practices. When he calls his disciples to serve one another, Jesus intends that all of us sacrifice individual autonomy to achieve divine authenticity. That is, rather than doing what pleases us personally, we are to imitate Jesus’ service for others’ salvation. It is a hard message for many, but it is the only way to true glory.

Homilette for Decembe 25, 2007

Christmas Day

(Lk 2: 15-20)

Christmas may be fulfilling or disillusioning depending on how we respond to the occasion. God provides us a golden opportunity. With the supreme gesture of goodwill, He sends His son to us. What are we going to make of it? In the gospel this morning we find three groups of people all reacting differently to God’s offer. The shepherds hear the favorable news, investigate the claim, and recognize their savior. They represent the people who really do appreciate the value of God’s gift. They are much like us at mass this morning. We know that our Savior has come and we must follow him by letting go of our own troubles to serve others. We will do this for awhile and perhaps make it through New Year’s without becoming overly perturbed. But then, we will be sorely tempted to cuss the old man driving slowly or the young woman speeding between job and family.

The second group we meet in the gospel passage are those whom the shepherds tell of all that they have heard and seen. These people are said to be amazed by what they are told. But this, even in biblical times, means little. Many in the Gospel are amazed by Jesus’ miracles but fail to respond with true discipleship. Their faith has little root like, perhaps, the majority of people celebrating Christmas. They buy and buy, party and party. But somehow the motive behind the celebration gets lost. Is it not telling that on the day after Christmas radio stations stop playing Christmas carols, department store decor changes, and tinseled trees wind up in empty lots? Christ, the prince of peace, the savior of the world, has precious little practical effect on this lot.

The third group in the Gospel story is actually just one person. Mary is said to reflect on the events of Jesus’ birth in her heart. She is the model Christian who not only hears but also meditates on the word of God. In Luke’s gospel she also is pictured as putting that word into action. We find people like Mary running to Elizabeth when the angel tells her that her cousin is pregnant. She gives us a model of how to live out our discipleship of Christ. The young bachelor who teaches catechism even though the majority of catechists are married women with children is acting on God’s word. Also, the elderly woman who on Sundays cooks for her family, listens to the problems of her neighbors, and prepares the monitions and intercessory prayers for Mass clings to God’s word like Mary.