Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Exodus 14:5-18; Matthew 12:28-32
People are foolish not to seek a sign of good faith before they place their trust in a stranger. What bank would loan someone money without the person having collateral? Indeed, who would be allowed past the security gate at any public airport without producing identification? Then why, we should ask, is Jesus so upset when the scribes and Pharisees ask him for a sign in today´s gospel?
The answer must be that Jesus has already cured many people and expelled many demons as signs of his legitimacy. Not only that but the scribes and Pharisees can judge from Jesus´ preaching that he is not an impostor, but a true prophet and sage. It is time for them to dismiss their doubts and heed Jesus´ message. Of course, following Jesus will exact some sacrifice, and adopting a sceptical stance toward him will always seem easier.
People today look toward us Christians for a sign that Jesus is really divine. Not only in countries where Christians are a small minority but increasingly in Western countries where Christianity is losing ground to agnosticism and indifference, non-believers and doubters look toward professed Christians to live the love that Jesus preached. We might argue like Jesus does in the gospel that they will never be convinced. But it seems even more in line with Jesus’ teaching that we make more effort to live in solidarity with the poor and to foster an atmosphere of sincere care for one another in our parish communities. Such actions will not only attract others to faith in Jesus but also make us more coherent in our following of him.
Homilette for Friday, July 17, 2009
Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Exodus 11:10-12:14; Matthew 12:1-8)
We cannot sufficiently appreciate Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address unless we consider its context. Lincoln gave the speech just a few months after the famous Battle of Gettysburg. It was the deadliest battle of the Civil War and had no clear victor. But it did mark a turning of the tide. Lee’s Army of Virginia was forced to retreat. The Confederacy was on the defensive. It was mostly a matter of time before it surrendered. Lincoln used his opportunity to speak on the bloody battlefield to describe what the war meant – a sacrifice whose purpose was no less than the second founding of the American nation. This time, however, the Union would be true to its first principle that all men and women are created equal.
In order to appreciate the gift of the Eucharist we likewise need to understand its context. Jesus instituted it while following the ancient tradition of a Passover supper, described in the first reading. At the original Passover, taken in Egypt where the Hebrews were treated as slaves, each Hebrew household ate a roasted lamb, the blood of which was spread over the household’s portals. This blood was understood as the cause of the angel of death´s passing over their dwellings while decimating their Egyptian masters.
During the course of the Passover meal he celebrated with his friends, Jesus pronounced a new meaning to the feast. It would mark his death and resurrection. He was the lamb that was to be literally slain the next day at his crucifixion. His blood would also have a saving effect. Christians do not reject the Jewish celebration of Passover today as somehow irreverent to Christ. Indeed, we are grateful for it as a key to understanding the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection. It marks our passing over from the slavery of sin to freedom in Christ’s Spirit and from subjugation by death to the hope of everlasting life.
(Exodus 11:10-12:14; Matthew 12:1-8)
We cannot sufficiently appreciate Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address unless we consider its context. Lincoln gave the speech just a few months after the famous Battle of Gettysburg. It was the deadliest battle of the Civil War and had no clear victor. But it did mark a turning of the tide. Lee’s Army of Virginia was forced to retreat. The Confederacy was on the defensive. It was mostly a matter of time before it surrendered. Lincoln used his opportunity to speak on the bloody battlefield to describe what the war meant – a sacrifice whose purpose was no less than the second founding of the American nation. This time, however, the Union would be true to its first principle that all men and women are created equal.
In order to appreciate the gift of the Eucharist we likewise need to understand its context. Jesus instituted it while following the ancient tradition of a Passover supper, described in the first reading. At the original Passover, taken in Egypt where the Hebrews were treated as slaves, each Hebrew household ate a roasted lamb, the blood of which was spread over the household’s portals. This blood was understood as the cause of the angel of death´s passing over their dwellings while decimating their Egyptian masters.
During the course of the Passover meal he celebrated with his friends, Jesus pronounced a new meaning to the feast. It would mark his death and resurrection. He was the lamb that was to be literally slain the next day at his crucifixion. His blood would also have a saving effect. Christians do not reject the Jewish celebration of Passover today as somehow irreverent to Christ. Indeed, we are grateful for it as a key to understanding the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection. It marks our passing over from the slavery of sin to freedom in Christ’s Spirit and from subjugation by death to the hope of everlasting life.
Homilette for Thursday, July 16, 2009
Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Exodus 3:13-30; Matthew 11:28-30)
For good reason people do not want to be slaves. African slaves in America often experienced cruel brutality along with arduous labor. Contemporary slavery exploits women and children who become sex objects for rapacious men.
But what if a so-called slavery offers a greater freedom than that of being one’s own master? Might it not then be acceptable? Might we not want to submit ourselves to it? In mind here is not just free will to do what we believe is right but the ability to act with perfection in every situation. This freedom would be the equivalent to act in daily life with the grace of a Nadia Comaneci on the parallel bars or of Van Cliburn at the piano.
In the gospel today Jesus offers such a slavery. He invites us to exchange our inclination to sin for an attachment to himself. He does not use the term “slavery,” of course, but speaks of a “yoke.” In biblical language, however, a yoke -- which fastened oxen together for work in the fields -- is considered a metaphor for slavery. Jesus wants us to leave our sinfulness behind in order to make a firm commitment to him. He will then send us his Holy Spirit to bring us to grace-filled perfection.
(Exodus 3:13-30; Matthew 11:28-30)
For good reason people do not want to be slaves. African slaves in America often experienced cruel brutality along with arduous labor. Contemporary slavery exploits women and children who become sex objects for rapacious men.
But what if a so-called slavery offers a greater freedom than that of being one’s own master? Might it not then be acceptable? Might we not want to submit ourselves to it? In mind here is not just free will to do what we believe is right but the ability to act with perfection in every situation. This freedom would be the equivalent to act in daily life with the grace of a Nadia Comaneci on the parallel bars or of Van Cliburn at the piano.
In the gospel today Jesus offers such a slavery. He invites us to exchange our inclination to sin for an attachment to himself. He does not use the term “slavery,” of course, but speaks of a “yoke.” In biblical language, however, a yoke -- which fastened oxen together for work in the fields -- is considered a metaphor for slavery. Jesus wants us to leave our sinfulness behind in order to make a firm commitment to him. He will then send us his Holy Spirit to bring us to grace-filled perfection.
Homilette for Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Exodus 3:1-6.9-12; Matthew 11:25-27)
The world was shocked a few weeks ago by the crash of an airliner into the Atlantic off the coast of Brazil. More than 200 lives were lost in an instant. Why, people ask, did it happen? As terrible as that disaster was, there are certainly other even more perplexing calamities taking place all the time. Why, we might as well ask, does humanity continue to suffer so much from poverty, disease, natural calamity, and war?
We believers put the question another way. Why does God permit so much evil? If God is as good and as powerful as we claim, why does He not halt the violence, end the disease, and stem the disaster? These are ancient questions that resist definitive answers. But there are multiple attestations in Scripture showing how God takes note of human precariousness and acts to relieve its conditions. In today’s reading from Exodus we hear of God coming to the rescue of Israel trapped in an intolerably unjust situation.
God not only will deliver the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt but will also form them into a people that conform to His ways. Looking back on the history of Israel, we Christians will recognize that the Israelites’ unique covenant 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 in time His son, the Christ, to save humanity. But salvation does not end suffering, on this earth at least. Evil is no weed easy to uproot. Still victory belongs to those who conform themselves to Christ. He will relocate them in a new world where war, disease, and disaster are void.
(Exodus 3:1-6.9-12; Matthew 11:25-27)
The world was shocked a few weeks ago by the crash of an airliner into the Atlantic off the coast of Brazil. More than 200 lives were lost in an instant. Why, people ask, did it happen? As terrible as that disaster was, there are certainly other even more perplexing calamities taking place all the time. Why, we might as well ask, does humanity continue to suffer so much from poverty, disease, natural calamity, and war?
We believers put the question another way. Why does God permit so much evil? If God is as good and as powerful as we claim, why does He not halt the violence, end the disease, and stem the disaster? These are ancient questions that resist definitive answers. But there are multiple attestations in Scripture showing how God takes note of human precariousness and acts to relieve its conditions. In today’s reading from Exodus we hear of God coming to the rescue of Israel trapped in an intolerably unjust situation.
God not only will deliver the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt but will also form them into a people that conform to His ways. Looking back on the history of Israel, we Christians will recognize that the Israelites’ unique covenant 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 in time His son, the Christ, to save humanity. But salvation does not end suffering, on this earth at least. Evil is no weed easy to uproot. Still victory belongs to those who conform themselves to Christ. He will relocate them in a new world where war, disease, and disaster are void.
Homilette for Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Memorial of Blessed Kateri Tekawitha, virgin
(Exodus 2:1-15a; Matthew 11:20-24)
We rightly say that God is all-forgiving. But we should not think this means that He automatically forgives all our sins! Rather, we can rest assured that God forgives all the sins that we sincerely repent of. If there is an unforgiveable sin, it is that which inherently precludes asking pardon like, perhaps, one’s preempting the action of the Holy Spirit by solemn oath. This is to say that if we somehow make a pact with the devil like the famous case of Dr. Faust. It should be added that we cannot judge who is forgiven and is not. Scripture reminds us that only God can scrutinize the human heart for sincere repentance.
In today’s gospel Jesus manifests the necessity of responding to God with repentance. The mighty deeds he performs are indications of God’s presence in him. They are not meant just to impress us but to summon reform within us. Something like those people on television who receive absolutely free a brand new home are expected not just to care for it but to show care to others, we who witness Jesus’ mighty deeds in the graciousness of those around us are expected to live earnestly our faith in God. Evidently many in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum after witnessing Jesus’ cures and exorcisms refuse to take up his message of reform. Now he warns them that they will pay for their apathy. We want to take care that we do much better than they.
(Exodus 2:1-15a; Matthew 11:20-24)
We rightly say that God is all-forgiving. But we should not think this means that He automatically forgives all our sins! Rather, we can rest assured that God forgives all the sins that we sincerely repent of. If there is an unforgiveable sin, it is that which inherently precludes asking pardon like, perhaps, one’s preempting the action of the Holy Spirit by solemn oath. This is to say that if we somehow make a pact with the devil like the famous case of Dr. Faust. It should be added that we cannot judge who is forgiven and is not. Scripture reminds us that only God can scrutinize the human heart for sincere repentance.
In today’s gospel Jesus manifests the necessity of responding to God with repentance. The mighty deeds he performs are indications of God’s presence in him. They are not meant just to impress us but to summon reform within us. Something like those people on television who receive absolutely free a brand new home are expected not just to care for it but to show care to others, we who witness Jesus’ mighty deeds in the graciousness of those around us are expected to live earnestly our faith in God. Evidently many in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum after witnessing Jesus’ cures and exorcisms refuse to take up his message of reform. Now he warns them that they will pay for their apathy. We want to take care that we do much better than they.
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