Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Matthew 8:28-34)
The townspeople of the gospel passage today seem like ingrates after Jesus relieves them of a public menace. They beg Jesus to leave their territory because he has cast out demons from two men who threatened travelers. But the townspeople, who are pagan, may be just unsure of who Jesus is. Obviously he has supernatural power, but will he use it for good or for evil? They will take no chances.
Much of Matthew’s gospel probes the question, who is Jesus? His words calm storms and heal people of lifelong illnesses. He teaches with a new ethic based on purity of heart that calls prostitutes and swindlers sinners to righteousness. Jews as well as pagans wonder about the nature of Jesus’ authority. In the end the aristocracy of Jerusalem condemns him to death as an enemy of the people. However, a pagan soldier seeing his gracious suffering pronounces the ultimate judgment, “Truly, this was the son of God.”
Many today wonder not so much about Jesus but about the legacy he has left. They question whether Christians truly live the righteousness that Jesus taught. Although Christian virtue is predominantly manifest, there is always evidence of coexistent vice. By daily pursuing the good, we assure the world that Jesus was truly the son of God who graces his followers.
Homilette for Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Matthew 8:23-27)
Tiger Woods’ won the U.S. Open a few weeks ago with unswerving concentration. While his opponent occasionally frolicked with the crowd, Woods walked the nineteen-hole playoff with head down and attention fixed on the game.
As steadfast as Tiger Woods’ concentration is, it hardly matches the self-control Jesus exhibits in the gospel today. He sleeps through a gale as if it were a gentle breeze fostering slumber. In doing so, he means to teach his disciples the preliminaries of a missionary journey.
The group is crossing the sea to pagan territory. They will land, as we shall see tomorrow, in the land of the Gadarenes. Trust in the Lord’s dominion over any and all evil will allow them to successfully sow the seeds of the Kingdom. As we enter pagan land, which our society often approximates, we need to develop similar trust in the Lord. Professing faith in the Lord as the source and goal of our lives, we will do more than vanquish sneers. We will enable our associates to likewise sense the wonders of God’s love.
(Matthew 8:23-27)
Tiger Woods’ won the U.S. Open a few weeks ago with unswerving concentration. While his opponent occasionally frolicked with the crowd, Woods walked the nineteen-hole playoff with head down and attention fixed on the game.
As steadfast as Tiger Woods’ concentration is, it hardly matches the self-control Jesus exhibits in the gospel today. He sleeps through a gale as if it were a gentle breeze fostering slumber. In doing so, he means to teach his disciples the preliminaries of a missionary journey.
The group is crossing the sea to pagan territory. They will land, as we shall see tomorrow, in the land of the Gadarenes. Trust in the Lord’s dominion over any and all evil will allow them to successfully sow the seeds of the Kingdom. As we enter pagan land, which our society often approximates, we need to develop similar trust in the Lord. Professing faith in the Lord as the source and goal of our lives, we will do more than vanquish sneers. We will enable our associates to likewise sense the wonders of God’s love.
Homilette for Monday, June 30, 2008
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.
(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.
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