Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Matthew 8:18-22)
Normally the Christian tradition gives high priority to burying corpses. Entombment not only renders homage to the memory of a dead person but also regards as sacred the shell that enveloped the very breath of the Creator. We should be shocked then when Jesus demands that his disciple abandon his dying father to follow him.
Jesus’ radical order indicates the urgency of his mission. His disciples must learn as much as possible before he is given over to be crucified. Empowered by the grace of his cross, they will advance his project. But first the lessons of the Kingdom must be taught and faith in him must be secured. There is no time to look for a place to rest. He will teach his disciples on the road. There can be no delay to tie up loose ends at home, even to bury a parent. Others who do not yet see the kingdom on the horizon can attend to those matters.
We might compare what is happening in this gospel to triage – the method of selecting patients for medical treatment in time of calamity. Not everyone who is injured can be treated. The practitioners must decide who is beyond hope, who is to be given immediate help, and who might wait for assistance. The dying are forsaken, not out of negligence but out of necessity. The first treated are not the most severely wounded but the ones who with limited attention might assist in the care of the others. Then all the able-bodied treat those who are more severely wounded. Jesus, of course, is the divine physician overseeing the project. We are his disciple-assistants caring for one another as he directs us.
Homilette for Friday, June 27, 2008
Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
(Matthew 8:1-4)
We often think of pariah as describing the untouchables of the Indian caste system. The actual term, however, is dalit. Dalits are considered as not having been formed from any of the body parts of a Hindu divinity. Dalits include leather workers, street cleaners, landless peasants, and a host of other humble professions. Discrimination against dalits has largely disappeared in urban areas and in the public sphere. It still exists, however, in rural areas of India where Dalits may be blocked from eating places and water sources.
In the gospel Jesus meets a “dalit” of his time and place. Lepers were so feared among ancient Jews that they were banished from populated areas and had to wear a bell to warn others of their presence in rural places. Yet Jesus shows no fear of the leper who encounters him as he descends the mountain after delivering his famous sermon. Showing what it means to treat others as he would be treated, he touches the untouchable and cures him of leprosy.
And the dalits of contemporary times, who are they? Twenty years ago people were often afraid to touch AIDS patients. In some locales today the undocumented may be resented with the animus felt for dalits in rural India. Alzheimer patients and, often enough, elderly living in nursing homes suffer such neglect that they may feel as if they lacked any relationship to divinity. Like Jesus we must remember to treat all these groups as we wish to be treated.
(Matthew 8:1-4)
We often think of pariah as describing the untouchables of the Indian caste system. The actual term, however, is dalit. Dalits are considered as not having been formed from any of the body parts of a Hindu divinity. Dalits include leather workers, street cleaners, landless peasants, and a host of other humble professions. Discrimination against dalits has largely disappeared in urban areas and in the public sphere. It still exists, however, in rural areas of India where Dalits may be blocked from eating places and water sources.
In the gospel Jesus meets a “dalit” of his time and place. Lepers were so feared among ancient Jews that they were banished from populated areas and had to wear a bell to warn others of their presence in rural places. Yet Jesus shows no fear of the leper who encounters him as he descends the mountain after delivering his famous sermon. Showing what it means to treat others as he would be treated, he touches the untouchable and cures him of leprosy.
And the dalits of contemporary times, who are they? Twenty years ago people were often afraid to touch AIDS patients. In some locales today the undocumented may be resented with the animus felt for dalits in rural India. Alzheimer patients and, often enough, elderly living in nursing homes suffer such neglect that they may feel as if they lacked any relationship to divinity. Like Jesus we must remember to treat all these groups as we wish to be treated.
Homilette for Thursday, June 26, 2008
Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
(II Kings 24:8-17; Matthew 7:21-29)
A few years ago a man owning a two hundred year-old house in New England visited Rome. He was bragging a bit about his historic home in the States when he realized that many of the buildings in Rome went back five hundred years!
In the gospel today Jesus names the condition for a house to remain standing for hundreds of years. He says that it must be built upon rock and not upon sand. Of course, he is not concerned about buildings but about people. He means to tell us that if we seek fulfillment in eternal life -- or a fulfilling regular life for that matter -- then we should base our actions upon his words. Doing all that he commands in the Sermon on the Mount, which he completes in today’s reading, will assure his necessary assistance in weathering any storm.
The first reading offers a demonstration of what Jesus is getting at. The dynasty to which Jehoiachin belongs falls because of lack of attention to the word of God. As the reading says, Jehoiachin and his forbears “did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Interestingly, dynasties are frequently called “houses” probably because the accumulated wealth is passed along from ancestor to descendant as if it were stored in a house. Anyway, if dynasties are to survive, just as if individuals are to find fulfillment, their inheritors must practice God’s justice.
(II Kings 24:8-17; Matthew 7:21-29)
A few years ago a man owning a two hundred year-old house in New England visited Rome. He was bragging a bit about his historic home in the States when he realized that many of the buildings in Rome went back five hundred years!
In the gospel today Jesus names the condition for a house to remain standing for hundreds of years. He says that it must be built upon rock and not upon sand. Of course, he is not concerned about buildings but about people. He means to tell us that if we seek fulfillment in eternal life -- or a fulfilling regular life for that matter -- then we should base our actions upon his words. Doing all that he commands in the Sermon on the Mount, which he completes in today’s reading, will assure his necessary assistance in weathering any storm.
The first reading offers a demonstration of what Jesus is getting at. The dynasty to which Jehoiachin belongs falls because of lack of attention to the word of God. As the reading says, Jehoiachin and his forbears “did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Interestingly, dynasties are frequently called “houses” probably because the accumulated wealth is passed along from ancestor to descendant as if it were stored in a house. Anyway, if dynasties are to survive, just as if individuals are to find fulfillment, their inheritors must practice God’s justice.
Homilette for Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
(Matthew 7:15-20)
Where Jesus says “beware of false prophets” today, we might change a bit to “false profits.” Many people, especially those with little marginal income, are spending their money wastefully hoping to strike it rich or to live high off the hog while neglecting their responsibilities. A recent support shows the credit card debt has nearly quadrupled since 1989; that the poor spend a much greater portion than the rich on state lotteries; and that usury is thriving.
Fiscal imprudence may not seem to have much to do with the gospel, yet that is due to a fault in our vision. First of all, it indicates where people place their hearts. Our treasure, of course, should be sought first in doing God’s will and not in vacation homes, luxury sports cars, or gourmet dining. In exactly the same way buying multiple lottery tickets or running up large credit bills will undermine today’s gospel mandate to produce good fruit.
American excess has a disturbing social aspect as well. Becoming a society of spendthrifts and not savers, of egotists concerned about ourselves today and not altruists with an eye out for future generations weakens our social ties and impossibly burdens future generations. As a people, we want to give glory and thanks to God by exhibiting mutual concern and by modeling righteousness to one another and handing it on as a legacy to future generations.
(Matthew 7:15-20)
Where Jesus says “beware of false prophets” today, we might change a bit to “false profits.” Many people, especially those with little marginal income, are spending their money wastefully hoping to strike it rich or to live high off the hog while neglecting their responsibilities. A recent support shows the credit card debt has nearly quadrupled since 1989; that the poor spend a much greater portion than the rich on state lotteries; and that usury is thriving.
Fiscal imprudence may not seem to have much to do with the gospel, yet that is due to a fault in our vision. First of all, it indicates where people place their hearts. Our treasure, of course, should be sought first in doing God’s will and not in vacation homes, luxury sports cars, or gourmet dining. In exactly the same way buying multiple lottery tickets or running up large credit bills will undermine today’s gospel mandate to produce good fruit.
American excess has a disturbing social aspect as well. Becoming a society of spendthrifts and not savers, of egotists concerned about ourselves today and not altruists with an eye out for future generations weakens our social ties and impossibly burdens future generations. As a people, we want to give glory and thanks to God by exhibiting mutual concern and by modeling righteousness to one another and handing it on as a legacy to future generations.
Homilette for Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist
(Luke 1:57-66;80)
Pope Benedict XVI writes that his whole village celebrated his ordination to the priesthood. The festivities were so grand, he says, that in the midst of them the future pope had to remind himself repeatedly, “This is not for you, Joseph; this is not for you.” Who was it for, then? Of course, the people were giving glory to Christ and expressing their gratitude for the ministry of his Church.
The Church along with the gospel writers portrays John the Baptist with humility similar to that of Benedict XVI. The Church has selected June 24 for the feast of John’s birth because it is around the day when the sun’s light in the northern hemisphere begins to decrease, just as John says in the fourth gospel, “(Jesus) must increase; I must decrease.” In the gospel passage we read today, Elizabeth and Zechariah insist that “John” is their baby’s name. “John” means “Yahweh has shown favor.” God favors not only the aged parents in having their first child but all Israel and, indeed, the whole world for the one whom John will announce. As Zechariah proclaims in his famous canticle, John will go before the Lord Jesus to prepare his ways.
We are wise to be humble like the young, future Pope Benedict and like John the Baptist. No matter how intelligent, rich, or beautiful we may be, we are not as indispensable as we think. We are not even capable of a truly good deed without the gift of grace. And that grace comes from Jesus Christ who has, indeed, saved every one of us.
(Luke 1:57-66;80)
Pope Benedict XVI writes that his whole village celebrated his ordination to the priesthood. The festivities were so grand, he says, that in the midst of them the future pope had to remind himself repeatedly, “This is not for you, Joseph; this is not for you.” Who was it for, then? Of course, the people were giving glory to Christ and expressing their gratitude for the ministry of his Church.
The Church along with the gospel writers portrays John the Baptist with humility similar to that of Benedict XVI. The Church has selected June 24 for the feast of John’s birth because it is around the day when the sun’s light in the northern hemisphere begins to decrease, just as John says in the fourth gospel, “(Jesus) must increase; I must decrease.” In the gospel passage we read today, Elizabeth and Zechariah insist that “John” is their baby’s name. “John” means “Yahweh has shown favor.” God favors not only the aged parents in having their first child but all Israel and, indeed, the whole world for the one whom John will announce. As Zechariah proclaims in his famous canticle, John will go before the Lord Jesus to prepare his ways.
We are wise to be humble like the young, future Pope Benedict and like John the Baptist. No matter how intelligent, rich, or beautiful we may be, we are not as indispensable as we think. We are not even capable of a truly good deed without the gift of grace. And that grace comes from Jesus Christ who has, indeed, saved every one of us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)