Tuesday, Memorial of St. Pius X, pope
(Judges 6)
The frank dialogue between Gideon and the Lord sounds like the script of a twentieth century play. When God assures Gideon that He is with His people, Gideon retorts cynically, if you are with us then why have we suffered so much humiliation? Actually the passage from the book of Judges read yesterday at Mass provides the reason for the lack of Israelite success. The Israelites have been unfaithful to their Covenant with God. Compromising their integrity as a people, they become easy prey to enemies.
Gideon may be talking a bit casually to God because he is not sure if the stranger before him is really the Lord. He asks for a sign which is soon given in the form of fire consuming Gideon’s sacrificial food offering. Then Gideon begins to wonder if he will have to suffer for his casualness, but God reassures him that he will be fine.
We may long to have a casual conversation with the Lord like Gideon. Why do we doubt its possibility? St. Paul will tell us that we see God face-to-face in Jesus Christ. He is present to us in the Eucharist where many around the world today are finding great solace in dialoguing with him in adoration. When we encounter him in such a way, we are likely to hear him encourage us, as he does Gideon in the reading, to take up a challenge like defending those whose plight is precarious.
Homilette for Monday, August 20, 2007
Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church
(Matthew 19)
A team of psychologists recently analyzed data of surveys given to college students over the last twenty years. They report that there is an increasing amount of narcissism among American youth. Although a positive self image is desirable, the psychologists claim that narcissism, which is an exaggerated self-image, often results in social pathology. Difficulty forming meaningful relationships, materialism, and greater likelihood of infidelity, substance abuse, and violence are all associated with narcissism. Is it any wonder then that there are few vocations today to the priesthood and religious life?
The young man in the gospel demonstrates a bit of narcissism. He appears both sincere and good-hearted as he confronts Jesus. No doubt he keeps all the commandments as he says. But eternal life for the Gospel of Matthew, and even more for the Gospel of John, means to follow Jesus. For this earnest young man at least following Jesus will require dispossessing himself of his riches to walk at Jesus’ side. But, of course, it seems too great a sacrifice for the person because he loves his riches.
Jesus’ words should test all of us. Although most of us do not have to sell all that we have for the sake of the poor, each of us is called to follow Jesus. This means listening to his words and dialoguing with him in prayer. It also includes acting with intentionality and generosity in whatever he asks of us personally. Is it hard? Maybe, but we must not forget that we are after the same goal of the rich young man. We too seek eternal life.
(Matthew 19)
A team of psychologists recently analyzed data of surveys given to college students over the last twenty years. They report that there is an increasing amount of narcissism among American youth. Although a positive self image is desirable, the psychologists claim that narcissism, which is an exaggerated self-image, often results in social pathology. Difficulty forming meaningful relationships, materialism, and greater likelihood of infidelity, substance abuse, and violence are all associated with narcissism. Is it any wonder then that there are few vocations today to the priesthood and religious life?
The young man in the gospel demonstrates a bit of narcissism. He appears both sincere and good-hearted as he confronts Jesus. No doubt he keeps all the commandments as he says. But eternal life for the Gospel of Matthew, and even more for the Gospel of John, means to follow Jesus. For this earnest young man at least following Jesus will require dispossessing himself of his riches to walk at Jesus’ side. But, of course, it seems too great a sacrifice for the person because he loves his riches.
Jesus’ words should test all of us. Although most of us do not have to sell all that we have for the sake of the poor, each of us is called to follow Jesus. This means listening to his words and dialoguing with him in prayer. It also includes acting with intentionality and generosity in whatever he asks of us personally. Is it hard? Maybe, but we must not forget that we are after the same goal of the rich young man. We too seek eternal life.
Homilette for Friday, August 17, 2007
Friday, XIX Week of Ordinary Time
(Matthew 19)
A generation ago a Protestant theologian stirred up controversy by writing a book on the sexuality of Jesus. He said that Jesus likely had a wife because marriage has always been highly valued in Jewish culture and nowhere do the gospels say that he was not married. In fact, the theologian argued that since most Jews in the first century married, the gospel writers just assumed that readers understood that Jesus was also married. Of course, the best-selling The Da Vinci Code created a much greater uproar by supposing Mary Magdalene to be Jesus’ wife.
Careful scholars, however, point to today’s gospel as a powerful argument against the likelihood that Jesus had a wife. When he talks about men renouncing marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of God, he most likely has himself in mind. After all, no one was more committed to establishing that Kingdom than he. It is also telling that when Jesus is confronted by his mother and other family members, nothing is said about a wife being with them.
Of course, just because Jesus was celibate, not all workers of the Kingdom must be so. Priests, for example, might be allowed to marry. This seems to have been the general practice in the first millennium of Christianity and perhaps it will resume at some point in the third. We have all heard several reasonable arguments to change the practice. Yet celibacy is an invaluable counter-sign in a world that greatly exaggerates sexuality. Priests and religious vowing to forego a wife or husband and family tell the world that there is a value more important than personal satisfaction. Indeed, their living the vow with integrity and happiness indicates that God’s Kingdom will exceed all human desires.
(Matthew 19)
A generation ago a Protestant theologian stirred up controversy by writing a book on the sexuality of Jesus. He said that Jesus likely had a wife because marriage has always been highly valued in Jewish culture and nowhere do the gospels say that he was not married. In fact, the theologian argued that since most Jews in the first century married, the gospel writers just assumed that readers understood that Jesus was also married. Of course, the best-selling The Da Vinci Code created a much greater uproar by supposing Mary Magdalene to be Jesus’ wife.
Careful scholars, however, point to today’s gospel as a powerful argument against the likelihood that Jesus had a wife. When he talks about men renouncing marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of God, he most likely has himself in mind. After all, no one was more committed to establishing that Kingdom than he. It is also telling that when Jesus is confronted by his mother and other family members, nothing is said about a wife being with them.
Of course, just because Jesus was celibate, not all workers of the Kingdom must be so. Priests, for example, might be allowed to marry. This seems to have been the general practice in the first millennium of Christianity and perhaps it will resume at some point in the third. We have all heard several reasonable arguments to change the practice. Yet celibacy is an invaluable counter-sign in a world that greatly exaggerates sexuality. Priests and religious vowing to forego a wife or husband and family tell the world that there is a value more important than personal satisfaction. Indeed, their living the vow with integrity and happiness indicates that God’s Kingdom will exceed all human desires.
Homilette for thursday, August 16, 2007
Thursday, XIX Week of Ordinary Time
(Joshua 3 and Matthew 18)
Thanks to Cecil B. De Mille most people know how the Bible depicts the Red Sea splitting in two so that the Israelites might escape the Egyptian charioteers. Few, however, are perhaps aware of the Jordan River parting so the God’s Chosen Ones might enter the Promised Land. The first reading today from the Book of Joshua tells this second story. The responsorial psalm also refers to it. This same psalm is part of the Liturgy of the Hours for Easter Sunday evening which helps us understand the meaning of the event in the Church’s eyes.
The Church reads the Old Testament as foretelling the person and mission of Jesus Christ. Theologians call such a reading typology. The story of the Ark of the Covenant leading the Israelites through the Jordan, for example, is a type for Christ’s bringing his followers into Paradise. Jesus is for us the Holy of Holies whose death and resurrection make it possible for us to transverse the otherwise impassible gulf between earth and heaven.
If Jesus facilitates the crossing, then what must we do? Our role in our own salvation is both nothing and everything. All that is required is that we believe in Jesus by imitating his ways. The gospel demonstrates the paradox of this challenge. You would think it would be nothing for the servant whose master has just written off his large debt to forgive the small debt of a fellow servant. But no, the servant – no doubt thinking “this is a different case” – punishes his counterpart. Likewise, just as Christ has opened the way to our salvation, so we should willingly assist others through.
(Joshua 3 and Matthew 18)
Thanks to Cecil B. De Mille most people know how the Bible depicts the Red Sea splitting in two so that the Israelites might escape the Egyptian charioteers. Few, however, are perhaps aware of the Jordan River parting so the God’s Chosen Ones might enter the Promised Land. The first reading today from the Book of Joshua tells this second story. The responsorial psalm also refers to it. This same psalm is part of the Liturgy of the Hours for Easter Sunday evening which helps us understand the meaning of the event in the Church’s eyes.
The Church reads the Old Testament as foretelling the person and mission of Jesus Christ. Theologians call such a reading typology. The story of the Ark of the Covenant leading the Israelites through the Jordan, for example, is a type for Christ’s bringing his followers into Paradise. Jesus is for us the Holy of Holies whose death and resurrection make it possible for us to transverse the otherwise impassible gulf between earth and heaven.
If Jesus facilitates the crossing, then what must we do? Our role in our own salvation is both nothing and everything. All that is required is that we believe in Jesus by imitating his ways. The gospel demonstrates the paradox of this challenge. You would think it would be nothing for the servant whose master has just written off his large debt to forgive the small debt of a fellow servant. But no, the servant – no doubt thinking “this is a different case” – punishes his counterpart. Likewise, just as Christ has opened the way to our salvation, so we should willingly assist others through.
Homilette for August 15, 2007
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(I Corinthians 15 and Luke 1)
Fr. Raymond E. Brown, a biblical scholar, was very concerned about ecumenical relations. He often reassured Protestants that what the Catholic Church claims about Mary is usually what it claims about all Christians although she was especially privileged. For example, the Church’s doctrine that Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven is essentially no different from what all faithful Christians will experience at the end of time. The reading from First Corinthians hints at this. Christ was raised as the first fruits of God’s redemption. The “proper order” that St. Paul mentions would have Mary, the mother of Christ, being raised after him but before other women and men.
Our bodies’ destiny of glory gives added reason for us to treat them well. St. Paul in the same letter to the Corinthians presents the primary reason. They are temples of the Holy Spirit that must not be profaned by lewd conduct. We should supplement the prescription for proper body treatment with the avoidance of excessive food and drink. While we’re at it, we might also seriously say that our bodies require exercise, rest, and a balanced diet.
We have heard the recent report of how having overweight friends sends one a message that it is all right to pile on the pounds. Of course, the resolution of this problem is not to cut ties with fat people but to model for one another healthy eating habits. One more thing: if we do tend to emulate our friends, we might make friends with the saints, especially Mary. Just following her in today’s gospel is an inspiration. She quickly goes to visit her relative Elizabeth when she hears of her unexpected pregnancy. She praises God for all the good that happens to her. And she announces the good news of salvation. Could anyone imagine a better person to have as a friend?
(I Corinthians 15 and Luke 1)
Fr. Raymond E. Brown, a biblical scholar, was very concerned about ecumenical relations. He often reassured Protestants that what the Catholic Church claims about Mary is usually what it claims about all Christians although she was especially privileged. For example, the Church’s doctrine that Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven is essentially no different from what all faithful Christians will experience at the end of time. The reading from First Corinthians hints at this. Christ was raised as the first fruits of God’s redemption. The “proper order” that St. Paul mentions would have Mary, the mother of Christ, being raised after him but before other women and men.
Our bodies’ destiny of glory gives added reason for us to treat them well. St. Paul in the same letter to the Corinthians presents the primary reason. They are temples of the Holy Spirit that must not be profaned by lewd conduct. We should supplement the prescription for proper body treatment with the avoidance of excessive food and drink. While we’re at it, we might also seriously say that our bodies require exercise, rest, and a balanced diet.
We have heard the recent report of how having overweight friends sends one a message that it is all right to pile on the pounds. Of course, the resolution of this problem is not to cut ties with fat people but to model for one another healthy eating habits. One more thing: if we do tend to emulate our friends, we might make friends with the saints, especially Mary. Just following her in today’s gospel is an inspiration. She quickly goes to visit her relative Elizabeth when she hears of her unexpected pregnancy. She praises God for all the good that happens to her. And she announces the good news of salvation. Could anyone imagine a better person to have as a friend?
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