Thursday, XIV Week of Ordinary Time
(Genesis 44-45)
The appeal of Joseph’s lies in its parallel to the gospel and also its mirror image of a perennial human situation. Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son. Out of jealousy his brothers try to kill him. But God spares him so that he might grant them sustenance in Egypt. The Christ story follows the same course. Jesus, God’s only begotten son, is crucified because of our sins. God, however, intervenes; He raises Jesus from the dead to bring us salvation.
Many years ago a popular song sounded a similar note of betrayal between loved ones. “You always hurt the one you love,” the lyrics read, “the one you should not hurt at all.” In a world marked by human failure our first and often most grieved victims are the very people we share bread with. Perhaps we utter harsh words or belittle a significant effort of a loved one. Our misdeed results in the fracture of a relationship which we need for stability like a sailing ship needs ballast.
But the song ends on a happy note. The narrator can tell her loved one that she loves him most of all. Just so, Joseph is reconciled to his brothers and God adopts us into His family with the forgiveness of our sins. The result is not “natural.” It requires God’s grace and our acceptance of the divine initiative. But the result does manifest the glory of being human.
Homilette for Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot
(Matthew 10)
After a pontificate as successful as John Paul II’s, it was surprising that the next pope did not choose the name John Paul III. But Cardinal Ratzinger chose the name Benedict because he wanted to remind Europe of its Christian heritage. St. Benedict, whom we remember today, founded the monastic movement that Christianized much of Europe. Benedictine monks not only evangelized Europe’s native tribes but also educated their leaders with the knowledge of the Greco-Roman civilization.
In the gospel Jesus sends his apostles out two-by-two to proclaim the Kingdom of God. To be sure, this sending is limited to Jewish locales because the disciples’ instructions are not yet complete. After Jesus rises from the dead, he will send the same group except, of course, Judas on a mission with greater scope and responsibility. He will direct them to the ends of the earth with the task of forming all people into one community through Baptism. In time that mission was enthusiastically taken up by Benedictine monks.
Now Europe needs to relearn the message. People there often resist the Gospel because they think that they might have heaven on earth through their own efforts. Science has staved off death. Technology has brought bubbly forms of life. Why believe in anything, they ask, beyond your favorite football team? The Christian and classical traditions that the followers of St. Benedict have long maintained do not evade an answer. We believe in the promises of God made in Jesus Christ because there is more to life than fun and more to death than the grave.
(Matthew 10)
After a pontificate as successful as John Paul II’s, it was surprising that the next pope did not choose the name John Paul III. But Cardinal Ratzinger chose the name Benedict because he wanted to remind Europe of its Christian heritage. St. Benedict, whom we remember today, founded the monastic movement that Christianized much of Europe. Benedictine monks not only evangelized Europe’s native tribes but also educated their leaders with the knowledge of the Greco-Roman civilization.
In the gospel Jesus sends his apostles out two-by-two to proclaim the Kingdom of God. To be sure, this sending is limited to Jewish locales because the disciples’ instructions are not yet complete. After Jesus rises from the dead, he will send the same group except, of course, Judas on a mission with greater scope and responsibility. He will direct them to the ends of the earth with the task of forming all people into one community through Baptism. In time that mission was enthusiastically taken up by Benedictine monks.
Now Europe needs to relearn the message. People there often resist the Gospel because they think that they might have heaven on earth through their own efforts. Science has staved off death. Technology has brought bubbly forms of life. Why believe in anything, they ask, beyond your favorite football team? The Christian and classical traditions that the followers of St. Benedict have long maintained do not evade an answer. We believe in the promises of God made in Jesus Christ because there is more to life than fun and more to death than the grave.
Homilette for Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Tuesday, XIV Week, Ordinary Time
(Genesis 32)
The family struggled for days with the decision. Their husband and father was suffering from heart failure. He had been placed on a ventilator, but the medical team wanted to remove it. Without the machine he would probably die within hours. Would they authorize the removal? The decision was excruciating. They accepted the medical wisdom that there was no reasonable hope for recovery, but they did not want to hasten his death. It was like struggling with God.
Medical technology often leaves families wondering about God’s will. Are they opposing His will when they choose to terminate sophisticated life support? Or is not allowing nature to take its course really fighting God? The struggle is enigmatic, soul-wrenching, and family-dividing. The story of Jacob’s wrestling in the night describes a similarly exasperating experience. His combatant is first identified as a man than as God. Which is he? Jacob seems to get the better of the man but then is seriously wounded. Who conquers whom? Jacob demands a blessing, but does he get it?
Still Jacob’s struggle turns out satisfactorily. If he is injured, he is also wiser for the experience. He is given the name Israel indicating a close relationship with God. Not apparent in the reading today but certainly part of the larger context, Jacob-Israel can now confidently have the dreaded reunion with his brother Esau, whom he swindled. So the decision to let go of a loved one when medical evidence leaves no reasonable hope makes us better people. We reaffirm our belief that God’s care for our loved ones extends beyond death. Also, we turn our lives over to His care as we accept the dreaded responsibilities associated with death.
(Genesis 32)
The family struggled for days with the decision. Their husband and father was suffering from heart failure. He had been placed on a ventilator, but the medical team wanted to remove it. Without the machine he would probably die within hours. Would they authorize the removal? The decision was excruciating. They accepted the medical wisdom that there was no reasonable hope for recovery, but they did not want to hasten his death. It was like struggling with God.
Medical technology often leaves families wondering about God’s will. Are they opposing His will when they choose to terminate sophisticated life support? Or is not allowing nature to take its course really fighting God? The struggle is enigmatic, soul-wrenching, and family-dividing. The story of Jacob’s wrestling in the night describes a similarly exasperating experience. His combatant is first identified as a man than as God. Which is he? Jacob seems to get the better of the man but then is seriously wounded. Who conquers whom? Jacob demands a blessing, but does he get it?
Still Jacob’s struggle turns out satisfactorily. If he is injured, he is also wiser for the experience. He is given the name Israel indicating a close relationship with God. Not apparent in the reading today but certainly part of the larger context, Jacob-Israel can now confidently have the dreaded reunion with his brother Esau, whom he swindled. So the decision to let go of a loved one when medical evidence leaves no reasonable hope makes us better people. We reaffirm our belief that God’s care for our loved ones extends beyond death. Also, we turn our lives over to His care as we accept the dreaded responsibilities associated with death.
Homilette for Monday, July 9, 2007
Monday XIV Week of Ordinary Time
(Genesis 28)
Lutheran congregations are often named “Bethel.” In the reading from Genesis today we hear why. Bethel means the “abode (or house) of God.” Certainly God resides in the people who come together in His name and, by extension, God is found in the building where they meet.
At Bethel the Lord promises Jacob that in his “descendents all the nations of the earth shall find blessing.” We see this prophecy doubly fulfilled. First, the Jewish people have brought blessing to the whole earth for the Scriptures that they have handed down through the centuries, for their wisdom in the arts and the sciences (which is really quite remarkable), and most of all for bringing to fruition the promise of Jesus Christ. As the Gospel of John says, “Salvation is from the Jews.”
We see a second blessing that surpasses the first in the spiritual descendants of Jacob. We Christians have been largely grafted into Judaism to become the greater and more efficacious branch of God’s people. It is mainly through us that the world knows Christ, its creator and redeemer. This claim sounds pretentious because we know many Christians who hardly live up to the name. Nevertheless, it is our calling as well as our faith. Because we are Christian, we are called to make Christ’s love known to the world.
(Genesis 28)
Lutheran congregations are often named “Bethel.” In the reading from Genesis today we hear why. Bethel means the “abode (or house) of God.” Certainly God resides in the people who come together in His name and, by extension, God is found in the building where they meet.
At Bethel the Lord promises Jacob that in his “descendents all the nations of the earth shall find blessing.” We see this prophecy doubly fulfilled. First, the Jewish people have brought blessing to the whole earth for the Scriptures that they have handed down through the centuries, for their wisdom in the arts and the sciences (which is really quite remarkable), and most of all for bringing to fruition the promise of Jesus Christ. As the Gospel of John says, “Salvation is from the Jews.”
We see a second blessing that surpasses the first in the spiritual descendants of Jacob. We Christians have been largely grafted into Judaism to become the greater and more efficacious branch of God’s people. It is mainly through us that the world knows Christ, its creator and redeemer. This claim sounds pretentious because we know many Christians who hardly live up to the name. Nevertheless, it is our calling as well as our faith. Because we are Christian, we are called to make Christ’s love known to the world.
Homilette for Friday, July 6, 2007
Friday, XIII Week of Ordinary Time
(Matthew 9)
The famous psychiatrist-writer Scott Peck once began a presentation by speaking about one of the most important events of the twentieth century occurring in Akron, Ohio, during the 1930s. The audience wondered if they heard the man correctly. They thought, “What famous event ever took place in Akron, Ohio?” Soon Peck explained. He was referring to the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, an organization that has enabled millions of people to overcome a killing disease.
People attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings have a distinct advantage over most of the population. They know that they are sick; therefore, they seek the help they need to overcome their debility. Unfortunately most people are in denial about sickness. Of course, not everyone is an alcoholic, but each of us has some sickness, some inclination toward sin. Jesus tells the Pharisees in the gospel today that unless we can acknowledge ourselves as sinners, we cannot share in the Kingdom of God that he is bringing about.
Being alcoholic threatens one’s physical as well as spiritual life. Sometimes we downplay its seriousness by speaking of work-a-holism and even chocla-holism as comparable weaknesses. However, alcoholics have the blessing of a recognizable illness that they might treat by, as they say, “giving themselves over to a higher power.” We do well if everyday we give ourselves to God by similarly living disciplined, prayerful lives that seek the support of others.
(Matthew 9)
The famous psychiatrist-writer Scott Peck once began a presentation by speaking about one of the most important events of the twentieth century occurring in Akron, Ohio, during the 1930s. The audience wondered if they heard the man correctly. They thought, “What famous event ever took place in Akron, Ohio?” Soon Peck explained. He was referring to the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, an organization that has enabled millions of people to overcome a killing disease.
People attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings have a distinct advantage over most of the population. They know that they are sick; therefore, they seek the help they need to overcome their debility. Unfortunately most people are in denial about sickness. Of course, not everyone is an alcoholic, but each of us has some sickness, some inclination toward sin. Jesus tells the Pharisees in the gospel today that unless we can acknowledge ourselves as sinners, we cannot share in the Kingdom of God that he is bringing about.
Being alcoholic threatens one’s physical as well as spiritual life. Sometimes we downplay its seriousness by speaking of work-a-holism and even chocla-holism as comparable weaknesses. However, alcoholics have the blessing of a recognizable illness that they might treat by, as they say, “giving themselves over to a higher power.” We do well if everyday we give ourselves to God by similarly living disciplined, prayerful lives that seek the support of others.
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