Monday, March 9, 2026

 

Monday of the Third Week of Lent

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

It may seem odd, but Jesus is speaking to us when he preaches repentance.  We know that it is a vital message for drug dealers, Internet trawlers, and the porn industry.  But we may not think that it applies to ordinary sinners like you and me.  After all, our contempt, lustful suspicions, dismissive remarks, and slothful habits don’t do much harm, do they?

In today’s gospel when Jesus does not perform a wonderwork for his compatriots of Nazareth, they show no interest in his call to reform.  He tries to open their eyes with stories of the prophets of old.  Still they pay him no heed.  He warns that rejection will cause him to reach out to others as did Elijah and Elisha.  Jesus’ scenario will be realized after his death and resurrection.  Having been mostly spurned by the Jewish nation, Jesus’ apostles will turn to Gentiles with his message. 

Hopefully, we are doing better than the Nazoreans in listening to Jesus.  Heeding his call to reform this Lent, we look for the good in others, pray to keep our chastity, and get on top of our work.  Lent was not meant to be easy, but the struggle will bring us closer to the One near whom we want to be.

Monday, October 13, 2025

 

Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

(Romans 1:1-7; Luke 11:29-32)

Jesus says in today’s gospel that his generation “seeks a sign.” He means that it wants Jesus to prove his identity.  In today’s world he would provide a driver’s license, a telephone number, or his birthday.  These are the signs our society uses to verify that one is who he or she says.

Jesus calls the generation “evil” because it refuses to repent after he preaches to them.  His sign then is his preaching the mercy of God at which humans are to acknowledge their sins and be forgiven.  The city of Nineveh did exactly that when Jonah preached repentance.

That a generation refuses to repent should not surprise us.  Most everyone has trouble admitting that she or he has acted wrongly.  People make excuses for their failures to avoid being criticized and chastised.  We should note, however, that God loves a repentant sinner.  Any shame we may incur for sinning is more than compensated for by God’s mercy.  But we must trust that God loves us enough to want to see us correct our ways.

Sunday, March 23, 2025

 

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

(Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9)

As always during Lent, the readings today spark our interest. The first is the famous story of Moses' initial encounter with the Lord God. Curiously, God speaks to his chosen liberator from a bush that burns without being consumed. The Gospel sounds like the daily news. It reports two catastrophes as if they happened yesterday. What is not clear is how these readings interrelate, as is always the case at Sunday Mass.

To resolve this question, we must extend our perspective to next Sunday's Gospel. This contains the touching parable of the "prodigal son."  The story highlights the compassionate father who graciously receives back the son who abandoned him. The father certainly represents God. Some may think that this compassion is so improbable that the God it supposedly describes is but a figment of imagination. That's what Freud thought. However, we know that God truly exists when He identifies Himself to Moses as "I am."  He is not a myth like the gods of the Egyptians or the Greeks. Nor is His mercy fictitious as His intention to rescue His people indicates.

This is interesting, but what does it have to do with today's gospel? In the gospel, Jesus uses catastrophes to call the world to repentance. He speaks of the northern Galileans in the report of Pilate mixing the blood of his victims with that of animals. Then he mentions the inhabitants of Jerusalem in southern Israel crushed by the collapse of a tower. North and south: in other words, the whole world. Jesus is insisting that everyone change their ways to conform to God's. If they don't, he warns, they will be lost.

The reason for repentance is not to appease an irate God. Rather, it is the opposite. As Jesus makes clear in the parable of the Prodigal Son, we should return to God because He is kind and merciful. He wants to help us achieve true happiness. God’s motive here is like the mother who forbade her daughter from running around with a group of wild friends. The mother doesn't care if her daughter resents her judgment. She just wants her to have a happy life. Thus, God wants us to repent for our own good.

Sometimes we have difficulty recognizing our sins. As if we were near-sighted, we can't see other sins than the most obvious ones, like missing Mass or viewing pornography. Somehow, we must go beyond obligations and prohibitions in our examination of conscience. We might ask ourselves if we are generous both in the judgments of our peers and in our donations to the needy. We might question whether our prayers are merely repeating words or if they communicate to God our actual fears and hopes.

Lent is to prepare us to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection with renewed minds and hearts. This renewal seems incomplete without a good confession of sins. In it, we strive to achieve what Pope Saint John Paul II called "purification of memory." This experience of truth and repentance, along with the reparation of any debts owed and the absolution of the confessor, calms our anxiety. We can go forward at peace with God and with neighbor. In a world burdened by sin, we can live anew as brothers and sisters of Christ carrying out the will of the Father.

Monday, December 1`2, 2022

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

(Zechariah 2:14-17; Luke 1:26-38)

Humans do not initiate Christian repentance.  It is a divine undertaking.  For this reason, both John the Baptist and Jesus preached, "The Kingdom of God is near," before calling people to repent. They urged people to seize the opportunity to meet God on good terms.  This dynamic was also at play at Tepeyac with the Virgin of Guadalupe.

When the Virgen met the indigenous Juan Diego, she introduced herself as the “mother of God.” She represented God to Mexico’s native people.  After Juan Diego carried out her orders, his tilma showed her image, and the Spanish bishop of Mexico recognized the Virgin’s glory.  More significantly, the event resulted in the massive conversion of the Mexican people.

We have heard John the Baptist’s call on the Second Sunday of Advent.  Now is the time to repent.  We may be reluctant to accept the invitation.  When the world goes to celebrate, should we go to confession?  Yes, we should.  The whole point of Jesus’ coming was to save us from sin and death.  The process will be completed with the Easter events.  Let us repent and believe, the sooner the better.

Monday, January 11, 2021

 Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 1:1-6; Mark 1:14-20)

The four gospels are read almost entirely at mass on weekdays every year.  Today’s gospel begins the reading of the Gospel according to Mark.  When it is finished sometime in late spring, Matthew’s gospel will be started.  Finally, Luke’s gospel is read for most of the fall.  John’s gospel is reserved for the Easter season.  Selections from all four gospels are read during Lent, Advent, and Christmas. 

In today’s gospel Jesus is seen preaching, “’Repent, and believe in the Gospel.’” This sounds like a relatively easy command to fulfill.  It isn’t.  Mark will illustrate what it means in the very next scene.  Jesus calls first Peter and Andrew and then James and John to follow him.  They must suddenly leave livelihood in the first case and family in the second to “’believe in the Gospel.’”

Men hear such a radical call today when they know that it is time to stop looking at pornography.  Women sense the same call when they realize that they should stop dressing seductively.  These are hard commands to follow.  Something inside our brains tells us that salacious pictures and promiscuous dress will satisfy our needs.  But the Lord knows better than where our true interests lie.

Friday, December 11, 2020

 Friday of the Second Week of Advent

(Isaiah 48:17-19; Matthew 11:16-19)

For those who do not want to exercise, there is always an excuse.  On a weekday, they say they need to get to work.  On a weekend, they say they need their rest.  In today’s gospel Jesus makes known two excuses his generation uses for not repenting of sin.  He says they are like fickle children who always want to have their way.

In Matthew’s gospel both John the Baptist and Jesus preach the exact same message.  They tell the people, “’Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.’”  It has been said that conversion (another word for repentance) is what the Christian life is all about.  People must repent continually to reach the perfection of children of God.  However, their reluctance to do is made manifest in the excuses they give.  In today’s gospel, the excuse is that the preacher is either a reprobate or an ascetic.  In either case they indicate that he is unreliable to follow.

We make such excuses for not repenting at our own peril.  As today’s first reading indicates, we lose when we follow our whims rather than repent of our faults.  It often hurts to change our ways.  But once it is done, our joy should eclipse any pleasure that we gave up.  Now is as good a time as ever to change our ways.  True, Advent is not as penitential as Lent.  Nevertheless, we can hear during these four weeks both John and Jesus calling us to repent.

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Kings 18:41-46; Matthew 5:20-26)

Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” explains the meaning of his call to repentance.  In the previous chapter of Matthew’s gospel Jesus preaches, “’Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”  Today’s gospel passage continues to describe what that exhortation entails.

Repentance is more than a public sinner’s changing his ways.  It is more than an average person’s not cursing her adversary.  It is everyone’s letting go of any animosity felt toward neighbors.  Put simply, repentance is a conversion of heart.  Jesus challenges his disciples to forsake the desire for revenge when they are offended.  He calls them to reject dismissing a person whom they find irritating.  Rather they are to seek to know, understand, and to love everyone, especially problematic people. 

We all want to be esteemed.  When someone offends or ignores us, we naturally feel hurt.  We are probably too civil to strike back physically.  Rather, we will say hard words about the person.  More likely, we will harbor demeaning thoughts about him or her.  This is not the way of a follower of Christ.  We must repent.  If we look deeper into the person than her bravado, we will find a child of God also longing for recognition.  As an image of ourselves then, we can understand and love her.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Thursday in the Octave of Easter

(Acts 3:11-26; Luke 24:35-48)

There is an old joke about a messenger reporting to the apostles news of Jesus’ resurrection. The messenger first announced that the Lord indeed rose from the dead. Then the messenger continued that he wanted to speak to them about what happened in the garden on Thursday night. Luke’s gospel does not mention the disciples fleeing Jesus when he is arrested; nevertheless there is a sense in which their meeting Jesus after the resurrection is not pure pleasure.

The resurrection account we hear today establishes that Jesus rose from the dead in body as well as soul. He offers his flesh and bones, to be touched if desired, as proof that his disciples are not imagining his presence. Then he bites into a piece of fish as further evidence. The disciples can rejoice that their leader has returned. Now comes the hard part. The Scriptures, which foretold Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection, also predicted that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name. As the chief witnesses to the wonders of the resurrection, the disciples inherit the responsibility of fulfilling this prophecy.

It is a formidable task for at least two reasons. First, the disciples must reform their lives in perfect conformity with the gospel. Dom Helder Camara once warned confirmed Christians, “Your lives may be the only gospel your sisters and brothers will ever read.” Second, many will resist the call to change their ways and will react violently against those who preach the need to do so. We, likewise, can be sure that just in living the gospel we will incur hostility at times.

Homilette for January 14, 2008

Monday of the First Week of Ordinary Time

(Mark 1:14-20)

In a recent book evaluating the great Catholics theologians of the twentieth century, the author reserves the highest praise for the Canadian Jesuit Bernard Lonergan. Fr. Lonergan’s Method in Theology not only contains keen theological insights; it also answers modern philosophy’s challenges to the theological enterprise. For Lonergan the concept of conversion that Jesus has in mind when he calls for repentance in the gospel today is as basic to writing theology as it is to living the Christian life.

We might hear the call to repentance as meant for other people. After all, we are already in church when the gospel passage is read. But, as Bernard Lonergan would say, conversion or repentance is a life-long process that every person must strive for in order to experience the Kingdom of God. All of us continually have to examine the principles by which we live, ask ourselves where we fail to measure up to the standards that God has set, ask forgiveness for any harm that living by the old principles has caused, and then amend our lives to incorporate the gospel. As extended as this list is, true conversion is even more challenging because it means going against established routine. But, of course, the happiness of the Kingdom provides the necessary incentive and the Spirit of Jesus, the extraordinary means to take up the quest.

To achieve full repentance religious have formed the habit of frequent participation in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They seriously look at their lives once a month or even once a week. They note where they have strayed from the gospel values that they have learned. And they confess these sins with the firm resolve not to fall again. This practice is not the reserve for those who have vowed themselves to a religious community. It is the model for all Christians who take their faith seriously.

Homilette for Friday, October 5, 2007

Friday, XXVI Week of Ordinary Time

(Baruch 1:15-22, Luke 10:13-16)

In the Gospel Jesus laments that the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida have not repented. In the reading from Baruch the people demonstrate the repentance he expects. He wants sinners to recognize that they have erred not in judgment but in heart. Repentance is based on memory. The Babylonian Jews recall God’s goodness: how He led their ancestors out of captivity in Egypt and gave them the Law to live as a free people. To be precise the Book of Deuteronomy records how Moses set before the people a blessing if they follow the ways of God and a curse if they pursued their hearts’ whims and fancies. Now the people recognized how they chose the latter and have paid dearly for their sins.

Our society also has wandered from God’s ways with similarly disastrous results. Preachers typically bemoan how present times do not measure up to former ones, but how else is one to see the degeneration in morals cast before the public? True, our society is not expressly Christian, but Jewish-Christian values and traditions ground Western civilization.

The other day a newspaper article told of Hollywood possibly prohibiting all smoking in pictures that youth might see. This sounds like a sensible restriction, but it is only ironic with all the sexual promiscuity that Hollywood projects. Immoral sexual gratification creates much more serious personal and social problems. But few are willing to curb its public expression. More than protect youth from the dangers of smoking, we should guard them from sexual licentiousness.

Homilette for Thursday, August 2, 2007

Thursday, XVII Week of Ordinary Time

(Matthew 13)

We might call the significance of the two parables in today’s gospel “a matter of emphasis.” Jesus emphasizes the bad fish and the new teaching. The good fish caught in the net of judgment will be put into buckets, and the bad ones thrown away; that is, and here is the emphasis, the bad will be thrown into a fiery furnace with wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus more subtly emphasizes the new teaching brought out from the storeroom of wisdom. Rather than give the expected order of old and new, he deliberately places “the new” before “the old.”

The new teaching is the kingdom of heaven which now has come through Jesus’ presence. It brings joy, peace, and happiness to those who repent of their sins and believe in its presence. The old teaching – the Law and its commandments – has not been suspended but our concern goes beyond keeping its statues. The bad fish are those who never repent, that is, never look at their faults, ask forgiveness, and struggle to live Jesus’ new righteousness of love of enemy.

Once again Jesus is challenging the sensibilities of modern humans. Today we like to think that we can do bad things and get away with it. Many have no problem with telling a lie or absenting themselves from Mass on Sundays as long as they in some way help the poor. Jesus is indicating that there is a problem. He would agree with the ancient Greek moralists who said, “First, do no evil.” Likewise, many today have trouble saying, “I’m sorry.” Jesus would want us to do so every time we err. It is part of what he intends when he tells us to repent.

Homilette for Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Wednesday, I Lent

(Jonah 3 and Luke 11)

The other day the news reported that someone has petitioned Congress to award posthumous citizenship to Anne Frank. She was the Jewish girl whose diary moved the world to condemn the Holocaust. Before her family’s hiding place in Holland was discovered, her father had requested relatives in the United States to seek his family’s admittance. Since the request was denied, supporters of the Congressional petition say that granting her citizenship would be a sign of repentance of complicity in the Holocaust. Critics of the measure argue that it would be a cheap gesture since it requires no sacrifice on the part of the American people.

Other good reasons are being put forward on both sides of this debate. It will be interesting to see how it is played out. But for now we can note how it illustrates the call for repentance of the Scripture readings today. Jonah announces God’s wrath with Nineveh’s evil ways, and the people repent. The author emphasizes how it is a sincere, communal effort. Not only the people but the king and even the animals of the city fast and change heart. In the gospel Jesus calls his generation “evil,” but it refuses to repent of its sins as Nineveh does.

We too must repent of our sins, not just symbolically but wholeheartedly. This means that we don’t just say we are sorry or we don’t just go to confession. No, these would be empty gestures if they are not accompanied by a sincere attempt to change our sinful ways. A young woman once confessed of having sex with her boyfriend. “Are you going to promise not to have sex with him again?” the priest asked her. “No,” she answered, she couldn’t promise that. Then, she couldn’t receive absolution. Just so, unless we promise with all our heart to stop taking God’s name in vain or talking about others, we have not really repented of our sins.