Wednesday, VI Week
(Acts 17)
Jerome Murphy-O’Connor may be the greatest living Dominican Scripture scholar. He is also one of the world’s experts on Paul, the Apostle. A few years ago he published a book which he called Paul: His Story. The work tries to fill in the gaps about the life of Paul from what is suggested in the letters of Paul, from the Acts of the Apostles, and from what is known about the geography and history of Paul’s time. Fr. Murphy-O’Connor distinguishes his “story” from historical fiction because he does not try to put words into Paul’s mouth. Rather, he surmises what Paul must have felt and thought when, for example, he had the vision – recorded in Acts -- of first being invited to preach in Europe by the Macedonian.
We might pursue Murphy-O’Connor’s method in considering the reading from Acts today. Some of us have had the fortune of visiting Athens and seeing the Parthenon. All of us have seen pictures of the majestic buildings that represent beauty and wisdom. Of course, Paul is speaking at the Aereopagus, but that place – wherever it is -- likely inspires the same sense of high culture. We can see Paul clearing his throat preparing to use all his rhetorical power and logic to move his sophisticated audience. And the result is catastrophic! Not only do the people not respond favorably; they laugh at Paul. They dismiss him saying in effect, “That’s interesting, but tell us about it at another time.”
But Paul seems to have made one convert -- himself. He will never preach so pretentiously again. When he preaches to the Corinthians, according to his first letter to them, he doesn’t use any sophisticated language. No, he only presents to them Christ crucified which is enough, however, to convince them. Is it enough for us? Can we accept the crucified as our Lord and God? Perhaps it sounds only romantic to do so. But let’s try to be real about the consequences of accepting the crucified Lord. It means standing ready to suffer injury for his sake so that we might experience the glory of his resurrection. Is it enough for us?
Homilette for Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Wednesday, VI Week
(Acts 17)
Jerome Murphy-O’Connor may be the greatest living Dominican Scripture scholar. He is also one of the world’s experts on Paul, the Apostle. A few years ago he published a book which he called Paul: His Story. The work tries to fill in the gaps about the life of Paul from what is suggested in the letters of Paul, from the Acts of the Apostles, and from what is known about the geography and history of Paul’s time. Fr. Murphy-O’Connor distinguishes his “story” from historical fiction because he does not try to put words into Paul’s mouth. Rather, he surmises what Paul must have felt and thought when, for example, he had the vision – recorded in Acts -- of first being invited to preach in Europe by the Macedonian.
We might pursue Murphy-O’Connor’s method in considering the reading from Acts today. Some of us have had the fortune of visiting Athens and seeing the Parthenon. All of us have seen pictures of the majestic buildings that represent beauty and wisdom. Of course, Paul is speaking at the Aereopagus, but that structure – what it was -- likely inspired the same sense of high culture. We can see Paul clearing his throat preparing to use all his rhetorical power and logic to move his sophisticated audience. And the result is catastrophic! Not only do the people not respond favorably; they laugh at Paul. They dismiss him saying in effect, “That’s interesting, but tell us about it at another time.”
But Paul seems to have been converted by the experience. When he preaches to the Corinthians, according to his first letter to them, he doesn’t use any sophisticated language. No, he only presents to them Christ crucified which is enough, however, to convince them. Is it enough for us? Can we accept the crucified as our Lord and God? Perhaps it sounds only romantic to do so. But let’s try to be real about the consequences of accepting the crucified Lord. It means standing ready to suffer injury for his sake so that we might experience the glory of his resurrection. Is it enough for us?
(Acts 17)
Jerome Murphy-O’Connor may be the greatest living Dominican Scripture scholar. He is also one of the world’s experts on Paul, the Apostle. A few years ago he published a book which he called Paul: His Story. The work tries to fill in the gaps about the life of Paul from what is suggested in the letters of Paul, from the Acts of the Apostles, and from what is known about the geography and history of Paul’s time. Fr. Murphy-O’Connor distinguishes his “story” from historical fiction because he does not try to put words into Paul’s mouth. Rather, he surmises what Paul must have felt and thought when, for example, he had the vision – recorded in Acts -- of first being invited to preach in Europe by the Macedonian.
We might pursue Murphy-O’Connor’s method in considering the reading from Acts today. Some of us have had the fortune of visiting Athens and seeing the Parthenon. All of us have seen pictures of the majestic buildings that represent beauty and wisdom. Of course, Paul is speaking at the Aereopagus, but that structure – what it was -- likely inspired the same sense of high culture. We can see Paul clearing his throat preparing to use all his rhetorical power and logic to move his sophisticated audience. And the result is catastrophic! Not only do the people not respond favorably; they laugh at Paul. They dismiss him saying in effect, “That’s interesting, but tell us about it at another time.”
But Paul seems to have been converted by the experience. When he preaches to the Corinthians, according to his first letter to them, he doesn’t use any sophisticated language. No, he only presents to them Christ crucified which is enough, however, to convince them. Is it enough for us? Can we accept the crucified as our Lord and God? Perhaps it sounds only romantic to do so. But let’s try to be real about the consequences of accepting the crucified Lord. It means standing ready to suffer injury for his sake so that we might experience the glory of his resurrection. Is it enough for us?
Homilette for Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Tuesday, VI Week
(John 16)
If you are scratching your head over what Jesus means in the gospel today, you are in good company. It is said that St. Augustine avoided the passage as very difficult. But this doesn’t mean that scholars today are left without an opinion.
First, it should be noted that the word convict is somewhat literal and does not fit well with each object. It would be better to say that the Holy Spirit Advocate proves the world regarding sin, righteousness, and condemnation. Not that the world will ever note its mistakes, however. Rather, the Spirit will act in the minds of Christian disciples to relate to them the truth about Jesus.
The first error of the world which the Spirit brings to light is the sin of refusing to believe in Jesus. The perpetrators of this sin are more than those Jews who put Jesus to death. They include people who refused to believe in him after he worked many signs and those who still today refuse to believe after being told about Jesus’ resurrection.
The error of righteousness concerns the Jews’ putting Jesus to death for claiming to be God’s son. The power of the Spirit which we can sense within us shows that Jesus has indeed gone to God and so is as righteous as he said. If he weren’t, then how could Christian disciples have the Holy Spirit? On the other hand, those who executed Jesus have proven to be the ones in the dark.
The final error regards condemnation. The Spirit’s presence to the disciples, once again, shows that Jesus, whom the world condemned, has been the righteous one all along. On the other hand, Satan, the prince of the world, is proven guilty. We should explain how Satan, the guilty one, still seems at liberty to ensnare humans. The gospel would answer that he has no power over the true believer. Regarding others, it would say that his limited power will last until Jesus returns in glory.
Jesus’ statement here is not meant as mental gymnastics for his listeners. Rather, it is intended to give us a profound desire to experience the full sense of the Holy Spirit. The renewal of the Spirit’s presence on Pentecost should reaffirm our faith by showing the sin of disbelief. It should further move us to imitate Jesus, the righteous one. Finally, it should strengthen our resolve not to submit to Satan, who has already been condemned of untruth.
(John 16)
If you are scratching your head over what Jesus means in the gospel today, you are in good company. It is said that St. Augustine avoided the passage as very difficult. But this doesn’t mean that scholars today are left without an opinion.
First, it should be noted that the word convict is somewhat literal and does not fit well with each object. It would be better to say that the Holy Spirit Advocate proves the world regarding sin, righteousness, and condemnation. Not that the world will ever note its mistakes, however. Rather, the Spirit will act in the minds of Christian disciples to relate to them the truth about Jesus.
The first error of the world which the Spirit brings to light is the sin of refusing to believe in Jesus. The perpetrators of this sin are more than those Jews who put Jesus to death. They include people who refused to believe in him after he worked many signs and those who still today refuse to believe after being told about Jesus’ resurrection.
The error of righteousness concerns the Jews’ putting Jesus to death for claiming to be God’s son. The power of the Spirit which we can sense within us shows that Jesus has indeed gone to God and so is as righteous as he said. If he weren’t, then how could Christian disciples have the Holy Spirit? On the other hand, those who executed Jesus have proven to be the ones in the dark.
The final error regards condemnation. The Spirit’s presence to the disciples, once again, shows that Jesus, whom the world condemned, has been the righteous one all along. On the other hand, Satan, the prince of the world, is proven guilty. We should explain how Satan, the guilty one, still seems at liberty to ensnare humans. The gospel would answer that he has no power over the true believer. Regarding others, it would say that his limited power will last until Jesus returns in glory.
Jesus’ statement here is not meant as mental gymnastics for his listeners. Rather, it is intended to give us a profound desire to experience the full sense of the Holy Spirit. The renewal of the Spirit’s presence on Pentecost should reaffirm our faith by showing the sin of disbelief. It should further move us to imitate Jesus, the righteous one. Finally, it should strengthen our resolve not to submit to Satan, who has already been condemned of untruth.
Homilette for Monday, May 14, 2007
Feast of St. Matthias, May 14
(Acts 1)
It is not so important that Matthias is chosen to be an apostle but to be one of the Twelve. Apostles are plentiful in the Early Church. Paul becomes known as “the Apostle” because of his zeal to go out and preach the gospel. But the Twelve is an exclusive club with strong symbolic meaning.
Jesus evidently wants to have a core group of disciples who would become the main proponents of his teaching. His choice of twelve is no accident but represents the number of tribes of ancient Israel. Jesus sees his teaching as a reconstitution of the Jewish faith. For good reason then the Church calls itself as the New Israel.
Of course, being the New Israel means our assuming significant responsibility. Israel is the people whom God has chosen to be, as one Bible translation puts it, “peculiarly his own.” We are to stand out in society as Florence Nightingales of care, George Washingtons of honesty, and Dominic Guzmans of self-control. In his apostolic journey to Brazil, Pope Benedict is exhorting the bishops to teach the people in these ways.
(Acts 1)
It is not so important that Matthias is chosen to be an apostle but to be one of the Twelve. Apostles are plentiful in the Early Church. Paul becomes known as “the Apostle” because of his zeal to go out and preach the gospel. But the Twelve is an exclusive club with strong symbolic meaning.
Jesus evidently wants to have a core group of disciples who would become the main proponents of his teaching. His choice of twelve is no accident but represents the number of tribes of ancient Israel. Jesus sees his teaching as a reconstitution of the Jewish faith. For good reason then the Church calls itself as the New Israel.
Of course, being the New Israel means our assuming significant responsibility. Israel is the people whom God has chosen to be, as one Bible translation puts it, “peculiarly his own.” We are to stand out in society as Florence Nightingales of care, George Washingtons of honesty, and Dominic Guzmans of self-control. In his apostolic journey to Brazil, Pope Benedict is exhorting the bishops to teach the people in these ways.
Homilette for Saturday, May 12, 2007
Saturday, V Easter
(Acts 16)
A novel describes faith moving a woman beyond her comfort zone. Her in-laws are borderline Alzheimer’s patients. They live in a care facility so many miles from the woman’s home that she seldom sees them. But her new-found faith admonishes her that she could give them more attention. So every week she begins to take the long drive to visit them.
The Holy Spirit in the reading from Acts today seems to be moving Paul and Timothy out of their comfort zone as well. The two apostles have been on a bandwagon in Asia Minor. Their preaching and good example plant the faith in town after town. Still the world lies ahead of them with southeastern Europe the next step. The vision of the Macedonian calling Paul and company to a sea voyage to his continent certainly appears to be a sign from the Spirit.
The Acts of the Apostles takes a curious turn at this point. All of a sudden it shifts from “they” to “we.” It says, “When he had seen the vision, we sought passage to Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.” No certain explanation can be given for this shift. Did Luke, the author, come into Paul’s company at this time? Perhaps Luke just found the “we” in some source material about Paul and left it in his own account? In any case, we can take the “we” of Acts as a call to come out of our comfort zones to put our faith into action.
(Acts 16)
A novel describes faith moving a woman beyond her comfort zone. Her in-laws are borderline Alzheimer’s patients. They live in a care facility so many miles from the woman’s home that she seldom sees them. But her new-found faith admonishes her that she could give them more attention. So every week she begins to take the long drive to visit them.
The Holy Spirit in the reading from Acts today seems to be moving Paul and Timothy out of their comfort zone as well. The two apostles have been on a bandwagon in Asia Minor. Their preaching and good example plant the faith in town after town. Still the world lies ahead of them with southeastern Europe the next step. The vision of the Macedonian calling Paul and company to a sea voyage to his continent certainly appears to be a sign from the Spirit.
The Acts of the Apostles takes a curious turn at this point. All of a sudden it shifts from “they” to “we.” It says, “When he had seen the vision, we sought passage to Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.” No certain explanation can be given for this shift. Did Luke, the author, come into Paul’s company at this time? Perhaps Luke just found the “we” in some source material about Paul and left it in his own account? In any case, we can take the “we” of Acts as a call to come out of our comfort zones to put our faith into action.
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