The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day)
(Wisdom 3:1-9; Romans 5:5-11; John 6:37-40)
Mark Twain once said about the Bible, “Most people are bothered about the verses that they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” He meant that the word of God challenges us to assist others more and please ourselves less than we likely do. The consequences for not meeting those challenges, the Bible warns, are not at all reassuring.
And so we have All Souls Day to pray for the many people who had difficulty getting beyond pleasing themselves. They were not necessarily big sinners but people like most of us here, I am afraid, who could not pass up the opportunity to share a bit of gossip or to watch television rather than visit the lonely. Catholics have long placed these souls in Purgatory, a state not described in the Bible but logically deduced from squaring the prevalence of sin with belief in a merciful God.
We may have grown up thinking that Purgatory is punishment for venial sins. As far as one is prevented from enjoying what she comes to want more than anything else, there may be frustration to the point of pain involved in Purgatory. But the Eastern Church, what Pope John Paul II was fond of calling Christianity’s other lung, probably is closer to the mark when it sees Purgatory as a time of purification. In Purgatory we will work out our selfishness like a mother living in misery picks lice out of her children’s hair so that we might enter the presence of God without a blush of embarrassment. Our prayers today beseech God to expedite the process.
Homilette for Friday, October 30, 2009
Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
(Romans 9:1-5; Luke 14: 1-6)
The Scripture scholar Fr. Raymond Brown posed the question, if Paul had any children, would he have raised them as Jewish Christians? Some might think not since Paul aggressively taught that Christians were dead to the Jewish law. Brown himself, however, believed that he would have. The reading from Romans today indicates why.
Obviously Paul retains a tremendous respect for Judaism. After all, he notes, God has bestowed numerous blessings on its adherents. Paul names the traditional seven and then adds one more that we will readily appreciate. The seven blessings are: 1) adoption as children of God; 2) the presence of God both in the desert and in the Temple; 3) the covenants made to the patriarchs and especially to Moses; 4) the law by which God expressed His holy will; 5) the cult which was free of barbarisms like human sacrifice; 6) the promises that Israel will become a great nation; and 7) the patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- whose adherence to God won for their descendants the promise of salvation.
The final blessing on Israel is Jesus himself in whom the whole world is reconciled. If there were no other reason to be grateful for the Jews, we would do so because our savior springs from their seed. But there are many other reasons. The Jewish people have given to the world a rich cultural heritage and many of the greatest minds in history. More importantly, they have struggled with no little success to be a beacon of moral integrity following God’s eternal law and not their whims or base nature. We see their morality reaching its perfection in Jesus and his followers, but again the Jews have given us Jesus.
(Romans 9:1-5; Luke 14: 1-6)
The Scripture scholar Fr. Raymond Brown posed the question, if Paul had any children, would he have raised them as Jewish Christians? Some might think not since Paul aggressively taught that Christians were dead to the Jewish law. Brown himself, however, believed that he would have. The reading from Romans today indicates why.
Obviously Paul retains a tremendous respect for Judaism. After all, he notes, God has bestowed numerous blessings on its adherents. Paul names the traditional seven and then adds one more that we will readily appreciate. The seven blessings are: 1) adoption as children of God; 2) the presence of God both in the desert and in the Temple; 3) the covenants made to the patriarchs and especially to Moses; 4) the law by which God expressed His holy will; 5) the cult which was free of barbarisms like human sacrifice; 6) the promises that Israel will become a great nation; and 7) the patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- whose adherence to God won for their descendants the promise of salvation.
The final blessing on Israel is Jesus himself in whom the whole world is reconciled. If there were no other reason to be grateful for the Jews, we would do so because our savior springs from their seed. But there are many other reasons. The Jewish people have given to the world a rich cultural heritage and many of the greatest minds in history. More importantly, they have struggled with no little success to be a beacon of moral integrity following God’s eternal law and not their whims or base nature. We see their morality reaching its perfection in Jesus and his followers, but again the Jews have given us Jesus.
Homilette for Thrusday, October 29, 2009
Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
(Romans 8:31b-39; Luke 13:31-35)
A frustrated Illinois state official named James Shields once challenged Abraham Lincoln to a duel. Lincoln had criticized Shields in a local newspaper, and the latter felt he had to defend his honor. Having the right to choose the dueling weapons, Lincoln called for cavalry swords thinking he might intimidate his diminutive opponent before the duel began. Besides, Lincoln knew that there was less possibility of either being killed with sabers than with pistols. The strategy worked. When Shields realized that he had little chance of prevailing over the six foot four inch Lincoln, he accepted the future president’s explanation that the criticism was never meant to defame the state official’s character.
In today’s gospel Jesus is challenged to a duel of sorts. The Pharisees tell Jesus that Herod wants to kill him. No doubt Herod resents Jesus because he, like John the Baptist, preaches repentance and reform which Herod needs as much as any scoundrel in history. We can easily imagine that Jesus would like to confront Herod. John is Jesus’ kinsman and may have been his mentor whom Herod has murdered with impunity. Evidently Jesus does not fear Herod since he mentions that he will accomplish his purpose. But, unlike Lincoln, he avoids the duel altogether. His rule is always to do his Father’s will and not his own. Jesus knows that God is leading him away from Herod’s territory to Jerusalem where he will give his life for the world’s salvation.
Abraham Lincoln shows us how to use our wits to save face and perhaps life when challenged directly. But Jesus gives a more valuable lesson. He exemplifies subservience to God’s will as we face all life’s challenges. No matter how great our desire to react, no matter how much of our ego or self-image is on line, we should follow the Lord’s, not our own, will.
(Romans 8:31b-39; Luke 13:31-35)
A frustrated Illinois state official named James Shields once challenged Abraham Lincoln to a duel. Lincoln had criticized Shields in a local newspaper, and the latter felt he had to defend his honor. Having the right to choose the dueling weapons, Lincoln called for cavalry swords thinking he might intimidate his diminutive opponent before the duel began. Besides, Lincoln knew that there was less possibility of either being killed with sabers than with pistols. The strategy worked. When Shields realized that he had little chance of prevailing over the six foot four inch Lincoln, he accepted the future president’s explanation that the criticism was never meant to defame the state official’s character.
In today’s gospel Jesus is challenged to a duel of sorts. The Pharisees tell Jesus that Herod wants to kill him. No doubt Herod resents Jesus because he, like John the Baptist, preaches repentance and reform which Herod needs as much as any scoundrel in history. We can easily imagine that Jesus would like to confront Herod. John is Jesus’ kinsman and may have been his mentor whom Herod has murdered with impunity. Evidently Jesus does not fear Herod since he mentions that he will accomplish his purpose. But, unlike Lincoln, he avoids the duel altogether. His rule is always to do his Father’s will and not his own. Jesus knows that God is leading him away from Herod’s territory to Jerusalem where he will give his life for the world’s salvation.
Abraham Lincoln shows us how to use our wits to save face and perhaps life when challenged directly. But Jesus gives a more valuable lesson. He exemplifies subservience to God’s will as we face all life’s challenges. No matter how great our desire to react, no matter how much of our ego or self-image is on line, we should follow the Lord’s, not our own, will.
Homilette for Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, apostles
(Ephesians2:19-22; Luke 6:12-16)
The title “Jude, the Obscure,” belongs to a novel written by Thomas Hardy, but it might describe one of the two apostles whom we celebrate today. Besides his appearance on the lists of apostles given by Luke, Jude’s (or, more accurately, not the traitorous Judas’) name is mentioned in the Gospel according to John as the apostle who asks Jesus why he well reveal himself to the apostles and not to the world (John 14:22). It is not likely that this apostle wrote the New Testament letter that bears the same name.
Simon’s story is a bit thicker than that of Jude although all that we know of him comes from the distinction the evangelists make between him and Simon Peter. Luke says that he is known as “a Zealot,” meaning that he is passionate about fulfilling the Jewish law. Nevertheless, we should not think of him as a member of the revolutionary band that is known as Zealots a generation after Jesus. In Matthew and Mark, the same Simon is designated “the Cananean” which actually stems from the Aramaic equivalent of the Greek word zelotes.
The first three evangelists are clear that Jesus intentionally chooses only twelve men to form his inner group of disciples. They also show that the men come from different backgrounds -- fishermen and a tax collector, for example. The fact that Simon is a zealot about the law and Matthew (or Levi) is of a profession that downplays the Law’s authority further indicates that Jesus intends that his followers bridge their differences for the project he is establishing. What we should find here is that Jesus’ presentation of the Kingdom of God is neither ersatz nor haphazard. He has a plan which encompasses fulfilling the prophetic hope of the reunification of the twelve tribes of Israel. Inclusion of non-Jews into the Kingdom is not excluded by Jesus, but it begins only with the inauguration of the Church after Pentecost.
(Ephesians2:19-22; Luke 6:12-16)
The title “Jude, the Obscure,” belongs to a novel written by Thomas Hardy, but it might describe one of the two apostles whom we celebrate today. Besides his appearance on the lists of apostles given by Luke, Jude’s (or, more accurately, not the traitorous Judas’) name is mentioned in the Gospel according to John as the apostle who asks Jesus why he well reveal himself to the apostles and not to the world (John 14:22). It is not likely that this apostle wrote the New Testament letter that bears the same name.
Simon’s story is a bit thicker than that of Jude although all that we know of him comes from the distinction the evangelists make between him and Simon Peter. Luke says that he is known as “a Zealot,” meaning that he is passionate about fulfilling the Jewish law. Nevertheless, we should not think of him as a member of the revolutionary band that is known as Zealots a generation after Jesus. In Matthew and Mark, the same Simon is designated “the Cananean” which actually stems from the Aramaic equivalent of the Greek word zelotes.
The first three evangelists are clear that Jesus intentionally chooses only twelve men to form his inner group of disciples. They also show that the men come from different backgrounds -- fishermen and a tax collector, for example. The fact that Simon is a zealot about the law and Matthew (or Levi) is of a profession that downplays the Law’s authority further indicates that Jesus intends that his followers bridge their differences for the project he is establishing. What we should find here is that Jesus’ presentation of the Kingdom of God is neither ersatz nor haphazard. He has a plan which encompasses fulfilling the prophetic hope of the reunification of the twelve tribes of Israel. Inclusion of non-Jews into the Kingdom is not excluded by Jesus, but it begins only with the inauguration of the Church after Pentecost.
Homilette for Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
(Romans 8:18-25; Luke 13:18-21)
In Robert Duvall’s film “The Apostle” a slick evangelist preacher with an eye for other women kills the man who is having an affair with his wife and then flees the law. He experiences true conversion and begins to preach again but in a much humbler mode. The redemption reaches a climax when the preacher courts another woman whom he is tempted to seduce. But now the man no longer fools himself and resists the sin.
Duvall’s apostle perfectly illustrates the spiritual renewal of which St. Paul writes to the Romans. The redeemed person can no longer live by the flesh and yet his/her body groans with desire. Fortunately God’s Spirit, now within the redeemed, triumphs. Paul indicates the dynamics of the Spirit’s victory. It fills the convert with hope for the recreation of all nature, what we see as the reward of heaven.
We experience our nature at odds with the Spirit in different ways. When we desire to make a cruel remark to someone who offends us, we experience a duel between sin and righteousness. When we are inclined to lie to escape a tax or a fine, we undergo the same war within. At such moments it is helpful to recall that our everlasting life is at stake.
(Romans 8:18-25; Luke 13:18-21)
In Robert Duvall’s film “The Apostle” a slick evangelist preacher with an eye for other women kills the man who is having an affair with his wife and then flees the law. He experiences true conversion and begins to preach again but in a much humbler mode. The redemption reaches a climax when the preacher courts another woman whom he is tempted to seduce. But now the man no longer fools himself and resists the sin.
Duvall’s apostle perfectly illustrates the spiritual renewal of which St. Paul writes to the Romans. The redeemed person can no longer live by the flesh and yet his/her body groans with desire. Fortunately God’s Spirit, now within the redeemed, triumphs. Paul indicates the dynamics of the Spirit’s victory. It fills the convert with hope for the recreation of all nature, what we see as the reward of heaven.
We experience our nature at odds with the Spirit in different ways. When we desire to make a cruel remark to someone who offends us, we experience a duel between sin and righteousness. When we are inclined to lie to escape a tax or a fine, we undergo the same war within. At such moments it is helpful to recall that our everlasting life is at stake.
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