Sunday, July 18, 2021

If you want to continue receiving homilettes by email, please send me your name and email address.  (If you have already done so, there is no need to repeat.)  I have been having difficulty adopting another mailing service.  However, Google seems to be sending the homilettes out for the time being at least.  When it stops, I will send out the homilettes to all whose email addresses if the email service problem is not resolved by then. Thank you for your readership.  cm

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY, July 18, 2021

(Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34)

There is a trend among the young that worries Catholic bishops. Young people very often do not want to identify with religion. No matter that they are baptized, they do not want to consider themselves Catholics or members of any community of faith. On surveys asking about their religious preference, they respond “none.”  For this reason, these young people are referred to as the “nones”.  Nones say that there are no absolute rules to determine right and wrong. Rather, common sense and science will guide them through difficult situations.  Sex before marriage seems good to them as also a constant change of jobs simply to make more money.

The nones are not the only ones alarming Church leaders. A small but determined group consists of progressive Catholics completely disillusioned with the hierarchy. They can no longer put up with Church leaders for various reasons: years ago largely overlooking sexual abuse, today refusing to ordain women and to allow priests who have married to celebrate the Eucharist; prohibiting the divorced and remarried from receiving Holy Communion. This rebel group forms its own Eucharistic communities with an unauthorized clergy.

In the words of today's gospel the nones and the rebellious are like "sheep without a shepherd." Unlike the people in the gospel, neither group is looking for a pastor. Nevertheless, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, seeks them out. He is concerned about everyone so he or she doesn't come to ruin. He does not want young people to lose their souls in the pursuit of pleasure and money. Noir does he want the rebellious to remain bitter for not having things according to their way of thinking.

Rather Jesus wants to lead both groups to peace. Today's reading from Ephesians calls Jesus "our peace." He is our peace because he has called all people to a common pasture that gives life. That is the true good of human life which ends in divine life. Hispanics, Europeans, Blacks and Asians thrive together in this pasture. Of course, many choose not to enter Jesus' pasture. Nevertheless, most of humanity admires him and, to a point, emulates him for having given his life for the love of others.

In the gospel Jesus first shows compassion by taking his weary apostles to a quiet place. He shows it again when he sees people walking around like they are lost. He does not delay teaching them. We want to ask him in prayer to help our lost today. He always has more ways to solve problems than you can imagine. We never want to lose faith in his almighty will.

More than this, we should continue with our commitments so that groups alienated from the Church see their fruits. First of all, we must not imitate their mistakes by abandoning the traditions of the Church. Sometimes we find widowed people cohabiting instead of marrying so that they do not lose the income of their dead spouses. Such action defies both divine and state law. Likewise, let us continue with our charitable works. Today it is not necessarily the priests who remind others of Jesus. Missionaries of Charity and the members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul are the ones who enable them to see the Lord at work.

As the Letter to the Ephesians calls Christ "our peace", the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading calls him "’our justice.’" Jesus is the justice that makes us brothers and sisters to one another. He is the justice that takes from disillusioned progressives the bitterness that prevents them from nourishing themselves on the Lord’s true pasture. He is the justice that transforms "nones" into its committed followers. Jesus is our peace and justice.

Friday, July 16, 2021

If you want to continue receiving homilettes by email, please send me your name and email address.  (If you have already done so, there is no need to repeat.)  I have been having difficulty adopting another mailing service.  However, Google seems to be sending them out for the time being at least.  If and when it stops, I will send out the homilettes to all who send me their addresses if the email service problem is not worked  by then. Thank you for your readership.  cm 

(Optional) Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

(Exodus 11:1—12:14; Matthew 12:1-8)

The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel invites a reflection on the scapular.  It is said, without historical documentation, that Mary gave the scapular to St. Simon Stock, a general of the Carmelite Order.  Scapulars were first used by members of ancient religious orders as a piece of clothing, an additional layer to protect one from the cold. 

After a while, the scapular on a symbolic value.  It was equated with the yoke and even the cross of Christ which one bears with great efficacy.  With the founding of the mendicant orders in the thirteenth century, a smaller scapular made of the same cloth and color as the whole habit was given to members of the “third order.” These devotees did not live in community but practiced the spirituality which the scapular represented.  By the sixteenth century the scapular became diminutive – no more than two inches squared. 

Sometimes claims were made that wearers of the scapular would never go to hell.  Such was the cIaim made by Carmelites about their brown scapular.  It is said that Our Lady promised that wearers of the scapular until death would be admitted to heaven on the first Saturday after dying.  However, the claim presumes that the person wearing the scapular would lead a life in accordance with the ideals of the Order.  (To say that the mere wearing a scapular assures eternal life would mock the gospels.)  In this sense the scapular is not like the blood of lamb which painted on lintels protected the children of Israel from the scourge of death.  That blood prefigured the blood of Christ shed on the cross which does bring salvation to all who accept him and his revelation fully.

Thursday, July 15, 2021

If you want to continue receiving homilettes by email, please send me your name and email address.  (If you have already done so, there is no need to repeat.)  I have been having difficulty adopting another mailing service.  However, Google seems to be sending them out for the time being at least.  If and when it stops, I will send out the homilettes to all who send me their addresses if the email service problem is not worked  by then. Thank you for your readership.  cm

Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

(Exodus 3:13-20; Matthew 11:28-30)

St. Bonaventure was an accomplished Franciscans and churchmen.  His long tenure as General Minister earned him the reputation of second founder of the Order.  He also was a master theologian in Paris and a cardinal of the Church.  He became a major figure in the Council of Lyon during which he died.  His genius produced many volumes, one of which was entitled Journey of the Mind into God.  In today’s first reading God comes out of Himself, as it were, to enter the human journey.

God reveals His name to Moses.  Names, for sure, are important.  They give one standing in society and help one know her/himself.  The Book of Exodus may be called the “Book of Names” because it begins by saying “the names of the sons of Israel.”  God’s revealing His name to Moses is like giving him a calling card.  He will remember God more readily and can more easily seek God’s help.

God has done better than give us His name and promise to help.  He sent us His Son. Jesus shares our lot so that we might share his glory.  But we cannot do this except by his grace.  Because we need this help, we should call upon Jesus’ name always.

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

 If you want to continue receiving homilettes by email, please send my your name and email address.  Of course, if you have already done so, there is no need to repeat.  I have been having difficulty adopting another mailing service.  However, Google seems to be sending them out for the time being at least.  Thank you for your readership.  

Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, virgin

(Exodus 3:1-6.9-12; Matthew 11:29-27)

Moses sounds like other prophets when, called by God, he tries to evade responsibility.  Feeling incapable of carrying out the Lord’s mission, he asks the Lord, “’Who am I that I should go to Pharoah…?’” God gives Moses an identity no doubt unanticipated in his question.  Moses is the one whom “’I will be with…’” Assured of God’s presence, how could he not try to carry out the mission?

God also went with St. Kateri Tekakwitha, whom we remember today.  She was persecuted by her Iroquois tribe when she became a Christian.  From her native village in what is now upper New York state, she walked two hundred miles to a Christian, native community near Montreal.  As a demonstration of God’s presence to her, she spent her four remaining years living an exemplary Christian life.  Like Moses as well, many marvelous deeds accredited to her.

Let us not doubt that God goes with us as well.  We carry him close to our hearts when we pray regularly.  There is no need of shame to ask for the gifts we need to serve him well. More patience, more humility, more understanding – whatever we find lacking in ourselves.  We just have to pray for these virtues sincerely and wait to receive them.

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

If you want to continue receiving homilettes by email, please send my your name and email address.  Of course, if you have already done so, there is no need to repeat.  I have been having difficulty adopting another mailing service.  However, Google seems to be sending them out for the time being at least.  Thank you for your readership.  

 Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Exodus 2:1-15a; Matthew 11:20-24)

The Book of Exodus might be called “the Book of Moses.”  He is the book’s central human figure.  Moses is not only a bigger-than-life personality; he is also a charismatic leader.  Today’s first reading indicates the sources of his leadership basic qualities.

It might be said that Moses has leadership in his genes.  He is the physical son of an unnamed Levite man and woman.  Levi was one of two brothers who led the ten others to take revenge on the Shechemites for raping their sister Dinah.  But Moses was not foremost a violent man.  He was raised by his stepmother, Pharoah’s daughter, who took compassion on the baby whom she found in the river.  She knew that he was one of the Hebrew children condemned by her father.  Moses possessed, as well, a sense of justice and an inclination to act on it.  When he saw the Egyptian overlord abuse the Hebrew worker, he responded carefully and decisively.  He was also inclined to find out the truth of a situation.  Finding two Hebrews fighting, he investigated by asking questions.

Moses might write on his CV that he came from ordinary but strong stock, that he possessed both compassion and justice, and that he acted after ascertaining the truth.  It is no wonder then why God chose and formed him to lead His people.  We should see in him a prototype for Christ.  Moses was a man worthy of teaching us God’s Law, that is His gracious will for us.