Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Jeremiah 15:10;16-21)
St. Teresa of Avila, the mystic-reformer of the sixteenth century, once complained to God of the mistreatment she was experiencing. God responded, “This is how I treat my friends, Teresa.” The saint replied, “Well, then, no wonder you have so few!” Teresa echoes Jeremiah’s sentiments in the first reading today.
Jeremiah has faithfully and selflessly served the Lord. He has performed bizarre activities like burying his rotting loincloth so that God’s message might get through to hard-hearted Judah. Yet the only recognition he receives is condemnation. So Jeremiah protests that God compensates him for all his efforts with what sounds like semi-torturous water-boarding. He says, “You have become for me a treacherous brook whose waters do not abide!”
At times people will misconstrue our best efforts like Judah misjudges Jeremiah’s. When we do something out of love for others, we will hear people questioning our motives, “What’s in it for her?” It is critical that at such times we do not become bitter or, if we have turned antagonistic, that we quickly check ourselves. We would be wise to remember the Lord’s promise to Jeremiah, “...I am with you, to deliver and rescue you.”
Homilete for Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Memorial of St. Martha
(John 11:19-27)
In the Gospel of John, Martha seems to be the same kind of go-getter that we see in the Gospel of Luke. We remember how she chides Jesus there for allowing her sister to sit at his feet while she busies herself with the chores of entertaining. Here she starts on the same critical tone as she reminds Jesus that Lazarus would not have died if he had been there. Then she expresses a degree of faith in Jesus by saying that God would give him anything that he asks. Jesus helps her to see that he is more than a healer and holy man. He is “...the resurrection and the life.” Of course, Jesus eventually raises Lazarus from the dead.
We may ask why Martha is considered a saint. Is it just because she expresses belief in Jesus? No, there is more to it than that. Saints are both intercessors and models. Martha petitions the Lord on behalf of her brother as a faith-filled intercessor. In doing so, she shows us how to pray. We do not need half-dollar words to pray, but we have to see Jesus as a friend who can help us. Let us refer to him first in any situation of distress and then figure out what we might do to alleviate the need.
(John 11:19-27)
In the Gospel of John, Martha seems to be the same kind of go-getter that we see in the Gospel of Luke. We remember how she chides Jesus there for allowing her sister to sit at his feet while she busies herself with the chores of entertaining. Here she starts on the same critical tone as she reminds Jesus that Lazarus would not have died if he had been there. Then she expresses a degree of faith in Jesus by saying that God would give him anything that he asks. Jesus helps her to see that he is more than a healer and holy man. He is “...the resurrection and the life.” Of course, Jesus eventually raises Lazarus from the dead.
We may ask why Martha is considered a saint. Is it just because she expresses belief in Jesus? No, there is more to it than that. Saints are both intercessors and models. Martha petitions the Lord on behalf of her brother as a faith-filled intercessor. In doing so, she shows us how to pray. We do not need half-dollar words to pray, but we have to see Jesus as a friend who can help us. Let us refer to him first in any situation of distress and then figure out what we might do to alleviate the need.
Homilette for Monday, July 28, 2008
Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Matthew 13:31-35)
The parable section in Matthew’s gospel challenges astute readers. In it Jesus says that the comparisons or parables he uses are intended to confuse listeners. Yet we hear the parables as expressive images invoking wonder for God’s Kingdom. The paradox may be explained by observing that believers take the parables as true revelation of God’s love while skeptics only find them indicative of Jesus as a creative preacher.
Still we must struggle at times to understand the parables which are by nature open to different interpretations. The parable of the yeast, for example, may be heard as an indication of how a small infusion of grace can reap great blessing or as a mode of expressing God’s ability to transfer a defect into an instrument of His glory. An example of the latter interpretation is a priest who confesses that he spent much of his youth in egotistic pursuits. Then he converted his ways and felt God’s call. Now as pastor of a small church, he specializes in youth ministry.
Jesus’ parables do reveal him as a mesmerizing preacher. But this is only one aspect of his multiform identity. He is also recognized as a prodigious healer. We can easily expound on the list of characteristics. Most significantly, Jesus is the God who humbled himself to become our brother and savior.
(Matthew 13:31-35)
The parable section in Matthew’s gospel challenges astute readers. In it Jesus says that the comparisons or parables he uses are intended to confuse listeners. Yet we hear the parables as expressive images invoking wonder for God’s Kingdom. The paradox may be explained by observing that believers take the parables as true revelation of God’s love while skeptics only find them indicative of Jesus as a creative preacher.
Still we must struggle at times to understand the parables which are by nature open to different interpretations. The parable of the yeast, for example, may be heard as an indication of how a small infusion of grace can reap great blessing or as a mode of expressing God’s ability to transfer a defect into an instrument of His glory. An example of the latter interpretation is a priest who confesses that he spent much of his youth in egotistic pursuits. Then he converted his ways and felt God’s call. Now as pastor of a small church, he specializes in youth ministry.
Jesus’ parables do reveal him as a mesmerizing preacher. But this is only one aspect of his multiform identity. He is also recognized as a prodigious healer. We can easily expound on the list of characteristics. Most significantly, Jesus is the God who humbled himself to become our brother and savior.
Homilette for Friday, July 25, 2008
Feast of St. James, Apostle
(Matthew 20:20-28)
According to the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, St. James is one of Jesus’ first and most intimate disciples. Along with Peter and John, James accompanies Jesus to the mountaintop of transfiguration and to his place of agony in Gethsemane. He is also featured with John as the one of the brothers who (or, as we have it today, whose mother) make the pretentious bid for the seats of highest honor in Jesus’ kingdom. The Acts of the Apostles features James as the first of the twelve to be martyred. Despite these Scriptural references, Europe remembers St. James more as a legend than as a biblical figure. He is said to have visited Spain where, since the early Middle Ages, pilgrims have traveled to his supposed tomb in the city of Compostela.
A pilgrimage symbolizes the Christian journey to God. The destination of life’s pilgrimage is the heavenly city where the faithful find relaxation in the Lord. Pilgrims enjoy moments of companionship with one another and the hospitality of local people along the way. These experiences anticipate the end of the journey. We may have never been on a full-blown pilgrimage, but perhaps we have participated in a procession, which is a mini-pilgrimage. Processions, we remember, are filled with distractions – people greeting one another or complaining how their feet ache! -- even as they recite the rosary.
So we should not be too surprised at the shameless request of James and John’s mother as Jesus is finishing his journey to Jerusalem. She is part of a bigger movement given to a bit of recklessness. As we walk with the Lord on life’s journey, let us ask him to forgive our sins and to help us control inordinate desires. Like the mother of James and John let us boldly make our request.
(Matthew 20:20-28)
According to the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, St. James is one of Jesus’ first and most intimate disciples. Along with Peter and John, James accompanies Jesus to the mountaintop of transfiguration and to his place of agony in Gethsemane. He is also featured with John as the one of the brothers who (or, as we have it today, whose mother) make the pretentious bid for the seats of highest honor in Jesus’ kingdom. The Acts of the Apostles features James as the first of the twelve to be martyred. Despite these Scriptural references, Europe remembers St. James more as a legend than as a biblical figure. He is said to have visited Spain where, since the early Middle Ages, pilgrims have traveled to his supposed tomb in the city of Compostela.
A pilgrimage symbolizes the Christian journey to God. The destination of life’s pilgrimage is the heavenly city where the faithful find relaxation in the Lord. Pilgrims enjoy moments of companionship with one another and the hospitality of local people along the way. These experiences anticipate the end of the journey. We may have never been on a full-blown pilgrimage, but perhaps we have participated in a procession, which is a mini-pilgrimage. Processions, we remember, are filled with distractions – people greeting one another or complaining how their feet ache! -- even as they recite the rosary.
So we should not be too surprised at the shameless request of James and John’s mother as Jesus is finishing his journey to Jerusalem. She is part of a bigger movement given to a bit of recklessness. As we walk with the Lord on life’s journey, let us ask him to forgive our sins and to help us control inordinate desires. Like the mother of James and John let us boldly make our request.
Homilette for Thursday, July 24, 2008
Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Matthew 13:10-17)
Flannery O’Connor has been called the greatest American Catholic novelist. Yet her novels are seldom about Catholics. Rather they concern the working of grace in often very peculiar country Protestants. Once she was asked why she wrote about such strange characters. She answered that when people are near deaf, you have to shout at them.
Jesus responds similarly to the question, “Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?” We need such on-the-money stories to wake us up to God’s goodness. The parables tell us that God is so generous he will pay laborers who only work an hour a full day’s wage and that God’s kingdom is such a treasure that it is worth selling all we have to attain it. But in a world with so many diversions – from home entertainment systems to iPhones – Jesus’ message still does not always get through.
Some people see parables as make believe. Since they do not bring immediate gratification, they are not worth pondering, much less pursuing. But Jesus’ parables have been validated by Jesus’ own experience. He became the seed that dies in order to produce abundant life when he gave himself on the cross. He became the man who searches for the lost sheep when he ate with sinners and succored the poor. Because of Jesus’ life witness the parables not only entertain us, they also move us to follow him.
(Matthew 13:10-17)
Flannery O’Connor has been called the greatest American Catholic novelist. Yet her novels are seldom about Catholics. Rather they concern the working of grace in often very peculiar country Protestants. Once she was asked why she wrote about such strange characters. She answered that when people are near deaf, you have to shout at them.
Jesus responds similarly to the question, “Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?” We need such on-the-money stories to wake us up to God’s goodness. The parables tell us that God is so generous he will pay laborers who only work an hour a full day’s wage and that God’s kingdom is such a treasure that it is worth selling all we have to attain it. But in a world with so many diversions – from home entertainment systems to iPhones – Jesus’ message still does not always get through.
Some people see parables as make believe. Since they do not bring immediate gratification, they are not worth pondering, much less pursuing. But Jesus’ parables have been validated by Jesus’ own experience. He became the seed that dies in order to produce abundant life when he gave himself on the cross. He became the man who searches for the lost sheep when he ate with sinners and succored the poor. Because of Jesus’ life witness the parables not only entertain us, they also move us to follow him.
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