Friday, XV Week of Ordinary Time
(Matthew 12)
Nine years ago Pope John Paul II wrote an apostolic letter entitled, “The Lord’s Day.” In it the pope tried to awaken Catholics to the glory of reserving one day a week for prayer, family, and renewal. He also challenged the secularizing idea of “weekend” which stretches a day for giving thanks in beloved company into two days or more of fulfilling personal ambitions. The letter is vintage John Paul: intensely human, reflective, and holy.
In the Gospel reading today Jesus provides us with his own reflection on the Sabbath. Of course, for him it is the very end of the week, not its beginning. As in Orthodox Jewish communities today, the Sabbath in Jesus’ time is rigorously regulated: no cooking, no walking beyond what amounts to a kilometer, no jumping or handclapping. Historians tell us that in Israel before the Babylonian Exile the Sabbath observance was more relaxed and enjoyable. This is Jesus’ take as he responds to the complaints of the Pharisees that his disciples are not Sabbath observant.
Do we feel a twinge of guilt when we stop at Wal-Mart or go to the office for a few hours on Sunday evening? It would not necessarily be unhealthy if we did. It is not that such actions are sinful in themselves. Jesus argues for the necessity of similar deeds by his disciples. But still we should not let Sunday go by without giving primary consideration to Jesus. He is, after all, the “Lord of the Sabbath.”
Homilette for Thursday, July 19, 2007
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.
(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.
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