Thursday, XV of Ordinary Time
(Genesis 3)
Most people these days seem to be on a “first-name basis.” Perhaps some seniors are jarred when telephone sales reps use their first names as if they were card-playing buddies. But the younger generation generally finds such familiarity unremarkable. So some of us at least may have a hard time understanding what a concession God is granting to Moses when He reveals His name “I am who am.” However, let us think of it as God’s revealing His cellular number. Now Moses and the Israelites can reach God for assistance at any time.
Perhaps more important than the name, therefore, is what God’s granting His name indicates -- God cares about His people intensely. In the Old Testament He focuses attention on Israel, the Chosen People. He will use them to bring the whole human race together. But time after time Israel fails to respond to God’s directives. Eventually, however, a descendant of Israel will obediently carry out God’s purpose. This, of course, is Jesus, the son of Mary.
It is said that “I am who am” reveals the essence of God, i.e., the source of all being. Jesus will show beyond any doubt that being is not a passive or indifferent at its source but both passionate and compassionate. Through Jesus God will break down the stubbornness and hatred that keep humans from Him and from one another. In Jesus God will reach out to all – especially the lowliest of people -- to make them one with Him.
Homilette for Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Wednesday, XV Week of Ordinary Time
(Exodus 3)
Most Americans are horrified by the war in Iraq. We increasingly think that it is high time the United States extract itself from the deadly situation. We are so sickened by the inter-tribal murdering that we put at the back of our minds the larger question: why is there such mammoth evil in the world? As terrible as the Iraqi situation is, there certainly have been and probably are still other wars wrecking more casualties. And war is only the bloodiest of evil. Why, as well, do poverty, disease, and natural calamity take such grand tolls of life?
Why, indeed? We believers put the question this way: Why does God permit so much evil? If God is good and all-powerful as we claim, why does He not halt the violence, end the disease, and stem the disaster? These are philosophical questions that resist answering in any definitive way. But we have multiple attestations in Scripture that God takes note of human precariousness and acts to relieve the conditions. In today’s reading from Exodus we hear of God coming to the rescue of Israel trapped in an intolerable situation.
God not only will deliver the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt; He will also form them into a people that know His mind and heart. Looking back on the history of Israel, we Christians will say that the Israelites’ unique relationship with God will not be enough to stem the tide of evil. A more powerful solution will be required. This will be God’s sending His son, the Christ, to save humanity. But the salvation will not be the end of suffering on this earth, at least. Evil is no simple weed to be readily uprooted. Still victory belongs to those who conform themselves to Christ. He will secure them on a new earth where war, disease, and disaster are void.
(Exodus 3)
Most Americans are horrified by the war in Iraq. We increasingly think that it is high time the United States extract itself from the deadly situation. We are so sickened by the inter-tribal murdering that we put at the back of our minds the larger question: why is there such mammoth evil in the world? As terrible as the Iraqi situation is, there certainly have been and probably are still other wars wrecking more casualties. And war is only the bloodiest of evil. Why, as well, do poverty, disease, and natural calamity take such grand tolls of life?
Why, indeed? We believers put the question this way: Why does God permit so much evil? If God is good and all-powerful as we claim, why does He not halt the violence, end the disease, and stem the disaster? These are philosophical questions that resist answering in any definitive way. But we have multiple attestations in Scripture that God takes note of human precariousness and acts to relieve the conditions. In today’s reading from Exodus we hear of God coming to the rescue of Israel trapped in an intolerable situation.
God not only will deliver the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt; He will also form them into a people that know His mind and heart. Looking back on the history of Israel, we Christians will say that the Israelites’ unique relationship with God will not be enough to stem the tide of evil. A more powerful solution will be required. This will be God’s sending His son, the Christ, to save humanity. But the salvation will not be the end of suffering on this earth, at least. Evil is no simple weed to be readily uprooted. Still victory belongs to those who conform themselves to Christ. He will secure them on a new earth where war, disease, and disaster are void.
Homilette for Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Tuesday, XV Week of Ordinary Time
(Matthew 11)
When Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia after his long exile in the United States, he warmly greeted everyone he met. Some people were scandalized that he could treat as friends former members of the Communist Party which was responsible for the gulags. But the ever wise author corrected his critics. “The line between good and evil,” he said, “is not drawn between nations or parties, but through every human heart.”
As this anecdote about Solzhenitsyn indicates, no group is so completely good that it is not tainted with bias. Furthermore, no individual is so guiltless that she may think herself without need to reform. In the gospel Jesus condemns self-satisfied people who think of themselves as good enough so that they need not bother changing their ways. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum are Jewish towns where Jesus has preached repentance as preparation for the Kingdom of God. He has even worked signs in these places demonstrating that indeed the Kingdom is at hand. But the people have not changed their ways. Instead, they likely think keeping a kosher kitchen is enough to assure God’s favor. They may also see their seeming not so as bad as their neighbors as sufficient grounds for receiving God.
We Catholic Christians must not make the same mistakes. We must not fall back on our baptisms or even that we come to daily Mass to resist Jesus’ call to conversion. Yes, grace has put us on our way to God. But there are still obstacles in our way. We must recognize our will to have things our own way, our snubbing our noses as others, and the rest of our failings. Then, we need to ask God’s mercy and accept His grace to change.
(Matthew 11)
When Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia after his long exile in the United States, he warmly greeted everyone he met. Some people were scandalized that he could treat as friends former members of the Communist Party which was responsible for the gulags. But the ever wise author corrected his critics. “The line between good and evil,” he said, “is not drawn between nations or parties, but through every human heart.”
As this anecdote about Solzhenitsyn indicates, no group is so completely good that it is not tainted with bias. Furthermore, no individual is so guiltless that she may think herself without need to reform. In the gospel Jesus condemns self-satisfied people who think of themselves as good enough so that they need not bother changing their ways. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum are Jewish towns where Jesus has preached repentance as preparation for the Kingdom of God. He has even worked signs in these places demonstrating that indeed the Kingdom is at hand. But the people have not changed their ways. Instead, they likely think keeping a kosher kitchen is enough to assure God’s favor. They may also see their seeming not so as bad as their neighbors as sufficient grounds for receiving God.
We Catholic Christians must not make the same mistakes. We must not fall back on our baptisms or even that we come to daily Mass to resist Jesus’ call to conversion. Yes, grace has put us on our way to God. But there are still obstacles in our way. We must recognize our will to have things our own way, our snubbing our noses as others, and the rest of our failings. Then, we need to ask God’s mercy and accept His grace to change.
Homilette for Monday, July 16, 2007
Monday, XV Week of Ordinary Time
(Matthew 10-11)
Saturday morning a Spanish radio program broadcasted an essay by a fifteen year-old girl. The girl told how she was in a controversy with her mother because she no longer wanted to be a Catholic. She said that she would like to become a Buddhist because Buddhism is a religion of peace and contemplation. She also commented that she her mother does not practice the Catholicism she preaches. She said that her mother does not go to church but only sets up little altars to saints about the house. The essay concluded with the teen saying that she will remain a Catholic for three more years to keep peace in her house. When she becomes eighteen, however, she promised to join the religion of her choice.
Of course, the saga of the youngster saddens us. Christianity does not have any vitality for the young girl. She is not moved by the story of Jesus whose compassion, joy, and story-telling will draw the heart of anyone who objectively hears about him. But her mother does not show her Christ by making him a priority of her life through attending Mass and, it is possible to infer, by imitating his virtue. However, the blame cannot rest solely with this woman. Surely others – perhaps a crabby priest or maybe some sanctimonious relatives – kept her from interiorizing the story of Jesus.
Today’s gospel both predicts such conflicts between children and their parents and indicates how the children may be influenced to follow Jesus. When youth hear about Jesus’ love, be it through preachers or apostles or through righteous men and women, they cannot but rebel against their parents when those parents lead selfish, spiteful lives. On the other hand, when parents practice the Christianity they preach, their children come to know Jesus in all his wonder and become grateful to their parents with all their hearts.
(Matthew 10-11)
Saturday morning a Spanish radio program broadcasted an essay by a fifteen year-old girl. The girl told how she was in a controversy with her mother because she no longer wanted to be a Catholic. She said that she would like to become a Buddhist because Buddhism is a religion of peace and contemplation. She also commented that she her mother does not practice the Catholicism she preaches. She said that her mother does not go to church but only sets up little altars to saints about the house. The essay concluded with the teen saying that she will remain a Catholic for three more years to keep peace in her house. When she becomes eighteen, however, she promised to join the religion of her choice.
Of course, the saga of the youngster saddens us. Christianity does not have any vitality for the young girl. She is not moved by the story of Jesus whose compassion, joy, and story-telling will draw the heart of anyone who objectively hears about him. But her mother does not show her Christ by making him a priority of her life through attending Mass and, it is possible to infer, by imitating his virtue. However, the blame cannot rest solely with this woman. Surely others – perhaps a crabby priest or maybe some sanctimonious relatives – kept her from interiorizing the story of Jesus.
Today’s gospel both predicts such conflicts between children and their parents and indicates how the children may be influenced to follow Jesus. When youth hear about Jesus’ love, be it through preachers or apostles or through righteous men and women, they cannot but rebel against their parents when those parents lead selfish, spiteful lives. On the other hand, when parents practice the Christianity they preach, their children come to know Jesus in all his wonder and become grateful to their parents with all their hearts.
Homilette for Friday, July 13, 2007
Friday, XIV Week of Ordinary time
(Matthew 10)
Everyday after school the boys bicycled to the park for football practice. They left their bicycles around the water fountain to scrimmage on the open field a hundred yards away. One day they returned to the fountain to find a number of their bicycles missing. “How could someone steal my bicycle?” a naïve victim asked. He was learning the hard way how the world works.
In the gospel Jesus tells his apostles to look out for how the world works. He says that he is sending them as sheep among wolves. People will try to take advantage of them because they preach goodness and forgiveness. But he assures them that they are not defenseless. As a shield against swindlers they have shrewdness. As an ally against liars they have the Holy Spirit. But it is also critical that the apostles do not become like their adversaries. Jesus insists that they remain as “simple as doves.” They are not to use force, treachery, or bribes to spread the Gospel.
Perhaps we don’t see ourselves as apostles. Still, in our homes we have the obligation to teach our children the faith. How do we respond, then, when they say, “I don’t want to go to church because mass is boring”? What do we do when they tell us, “It’s o.k. to have sex with your girlfriend as long as you do it ‘responsibly’”? Like Jesus says, we must be shrewd and simple. William O'Malley, a Jesuit high school teacher, advises parents to inform their teenagers that Sunday Mass is part of the price they pay for living at home. Similarly, they might say that sex before marriage is always irresponsible because it pretends to show a profound, permanent affection that just isn’t there.
(Matthew 10)
Everyday after school the boys bicycled to the park for football practice. They left their bicycles around the water fountain to scrimmage on the open field a hundred yards away. One day they returned to the fountain to find a number of their bicycles missing. “How could someone steal my bicycle?” a naïve victim asked. He was learning the hard way how the world works.
In the gospel Jesus tells his apostles to look out for how the world works. He says that he is sending them as sheep among wolves. People will try to take advantage of them because they preach goodness and forgiveness. But he assures them that they are not defenseless. As a shield against swindlers they have shrewdness. As an ally against liars they have the Holy Spirit. But it is also critical that the apostles do not become like their adversaries. Jesus insists that they remain as “simple as doves.” They are not to use force, treachery, or bribes to spread the Gospel.
Perhaps we don’t see ourselves as apostles. Still, in our homes we have the obligation to teach our children the faith. How do we respond, then, when they say, “I don’t want to go to church because mass is boring”? What do we do when they tell us, “It’s o.k. to have sex with your girlfriend as long as you do it ‘responsibly’”? Like Jesus says, we must be shrewd and simple. William O'Malley, a Jesuit high school teacher, advises parents to inform their teenagers that Sunday Mass is part of the price they pay for living at home. Similarly, they might say that sex before marriage is always irresponsible because it pretends to show a profound, permanent affection that just isn’t there.
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