Homily: Twenty-seventh Sunday Year A

 

Reading 1: The relationship between God and the Chosen People of Israel. God gave Israel the land of promise, provided for its needs, protected them from their enemies, established a covenant with them. What did the people do in turn? They broke the covenant, while expecting God to be faithful. They acted unjustly towards one another, but expected God to show compassion and mercy to them.

 

Instead of the fruit of love, there was violence and bloodshed. Instead of a heart relationship with God, they gave lip service. They trusted in others rather than God. Instead of the fruit of friendship and obedience, right relationship and respect, they only produced the sour grapes of rebellion, hardness of heart, a double standard, trusting in political alliances rather than in the covenant. What was the consequences of their actions? Their enemies overcame them; they were exiled; they lost their inheritance promised them.

 

What is our reality as a nation? We began as a nation under God, recognizing the Ten Commandments as the foundation of our own laws, seeking what is right and just. Now, God is taken out of the public sector and even attack in the private conscience of the individual. We have double standards. We are not guided by the Ten Commandments or the natural Law, but human laws are enacted justifying attack on the fundamental rights of individuals to life, liberty and happiness.

 

Gospel: Jesus expands on the parable of Isaiah. Jesus uses the same example of a vineyard to show things had not changed even in his own day. The vineyard is the People of God from whom God is looking for a response to his generous blessings. Prophet after prophet had been sent. The religious leaders rejected them. God then sent his Son with the same prophetic message: repentance and salvation. But Jesus indicates they will kill even the Son.

 

Not knowing that Jesus was applying this parable to the religious leaders of his day, they foretold their own end. Isaiah said that God would let his vineyard be overgrown. What does Jesus say to his contemporaries?  They knew the truth but failed to see themselves as the ones who continue to reject the message of God.  As a result, God will make a new covenant with a new people.

 

Look what God has done for us over the short time of this country. Look how we have responded. God is not looking for just a minimal response, but a response of sincere acknowledgment and gratitude. God knows we can’t equate his many blessings, just as a child can’t equate what the parents have done. There is a difference between the response from the heart that is true and a mere external response that is given half-heartedly.

 

Reading 2: This brings us back to the real focus: God and our relationship with him. There is much anxiety today in the world and in the lives of people. Fear from the pandemic. Loss of jobs and economic difficulties. Rising cost of living. Threat of violence and terrorism. Political infighting. Rising tensions between races. Conflict globally.

 

What is Paul’s answer?  “Have no anxiety, but pray with thanksgiving.”  Look for his peace and his ways. In this way, in the end, not only will we have the peace of God but the God of peace will be with us.

 

In place of anxiety, think about what is true, honorable, just, pure and lovely.  Anxiety will only breathe fear and distress. Thinking about what is God’s will and being in his will brings about a sense of peace and his providential care and love.

"Our life is full of brokenness--broken relationships, broken promises, broken expectations. How can we live with that brokenness without becoming bitter and resentful except by returning again and again to God's faithful presence in our lives" (Henri Nowen).

this brokenness comes as a result of sin, original and personal--our own and others. Throughout the history of salvation, as found in the scriptures, is the constant theme of the Chosen People breaking their covenanted relationship with God. At the same time, we see the parallel theme of God's fidelity to h is promises. In each instance, it is God's intervention that reconciles and restores this relationship, only to be broken again by a later generation.

We came into existence not in relationship with God. In his mercy, the death and resurrection of Jesus was applied to us, when we were baptized. We were adopted as sons and daughters. But how often  have we, like our spiritual ancestors, broken our covenant? How often has God restored us to himself? Only God can heal our brokenness.  We should be more upset with our broken promises to God then the broken promises of others to us. 

Twenty-seventh Sunday Ordinary  Gospel: A

Jesus said: "Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants   to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. 

· Jesus is sharing with them how the prophets God sent to Israel were treated.

Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.' They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 

· Jesus is the Son sent by the Father. Jesus is the Son rejected by the leaders.

· This is another prediction of his own, violent death at the hands of the leaders.

What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?" They answered  him, "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times." 

· Jesus allowed them to judge their own actions.

· Recall what the prophet Nathan did in confronting David over the death of Uriah and the taking of his wife as David’s own to cover up the conception of their child. He asked his opinion and David gave the judgment against himself without knowing it.

Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes'? 

· Jesus is quoting one of the psalms. He is the stone rejected by the leaders and yet he will be the foundation stone of the Kingdom of God.

Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. 

· How has God blessed us? How have we responded to the blessings of God? Are we following the Lord’s plan or ours? Have we heard and acted on the word of God or rejected it? 

"We should take as a maxim never to be surprised at current difficulties, no more than at a passing breeze, because with a little patience we shall see them disappear. Time changes everything" (St Vincent de Paul).

Difficulties are part of the human journey. They are the consequences of Original Sin. These are the "thorns and thistles: spoken of after the Fall. They come and go. But what is constant is the fidelity of God.

As God never abandoned fallen humanity after the Fall, so God will not abandon us in the times of difficulties. His love is from age to age, person to person. The difficulties of life may be temptations to turn away from God. But the grace that i offered to us during these trying times is gives to draw us closer to God. Will our difficulties overcome us or will we, with the strength provided by God, turn lemons to lemonade? 

"The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares." (Henri Nouwen)

To have such a friend is a blessing. But doesn't God do this for us in those times? Even though he is silent, that doesn't mean he is not there. It is his steadfast presence that sustains us more than anything else.  This was true for Jesus on the cross. In the midst of his pain and suffering for our sake, Jesus was sustained by the invisible presence of his loving Father. In faith, he knew this and in faith he embraced it.

We are never completely alone. We are always in the presence of our loving Father who gives us the needed grace for the moment. Believe and embrace.

Homily Twenty-sixth Sunday Year A

 

Reading 1: This reading is a parallel to last Sunday’s first reading. Today, God gives an example of application of the prophetic word: “My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts. Today’s reading needs to be seen in the context of the covenant relationship between God and his people--God and each individual.

 

Even though a person lives a virtuous life, if he falls into serious sins, remains unrepentant and physically dies unrepentant and alienated from God, he will be spiritually dead eternally. From a human perspective this is unfair. But God is merely in justice confirming the decision of the heart at the moment of death.

 

On the other hand, if a sinful person repents, turns back to God sincerely and then physically dies, being in right relationship with God at the moment of death, he will be eternally with God.

 

We cannot begin to comprehend the reality of sin in relationship to God. Nor can we comprehend the reality of mercy in the face of our sinfulness. If God would render strict justice, without any mercy, there would be no hope for us. Without his loving mercy his justice would be everlasting alienation for us.

 

Seen in this light, is God being unfair or are we being unfair, wanting mercy when we refused it during our life time? At the moment of death, it is the time for judgment and justice.

 

Gospel: As the first reading compares two persons’ response to God’s covenanted love differently, so Jesus uses a similar comparison. It centers on embracing or not embracing the will of God in one’s life. While the one son externally agreed to do the will of the Father, in reality he refused to follow through. The other son initially and verbally refused, but later repented and did what the Father wanted or expected.

 

Jesus’ applies the comparison to the self-righteous among the chosen people, namely some of the religious leaders, who refused to accept him as the one sent from the Father as Messiah, even though they heard his teachings, confirmed by signs and wonders.  In contrast, he points to public sinners, who were looked down upon by the self-righteous, even when the former repented and turned back to God.

 

Are we like the elder son, who externally go through the motions of relationship with God, but internally we are living a sinful life? Or are we the one, who though have sinned, have repented and now are trying to live in relationship with God, trying to love as God calls us to love, trying to be obedient to the will of God even in difficult situations?

 

In both examples, physical death with eventually and inevitably occurr. Will we die in the grace-life of God or will we die alienated by choice from God? In each case will the judgment of God be unfair or will our choice be the real decider?

 

In his First Letter, St. Peter says that Jesus delays his second coming to give us a chance to repent, but we cannot presume on his mercy.  And as James says while it is day we should act for the night will surely come.

 

Reading 2: Because of our covenant relationship with God, entered in and sealed in the water of Baptism, we are called to live a different way of life. The key is “have among you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.” What is this attitude? We are called to embrace obediently and freely the will of the Father, even if it means the cross in our life.

 

The cross comes in many forms, but it is to be approached out of love of God. Jesus was so in love with the Father that he said “yes” in all things. Paul identifies this love that we should have. “Do nothing out of selfishness or pride; but regard others as more important, looking to the greater good of others.” It is a service of love. Living this way, embracing our daily crosses this way, will enable us to die in the embrace of the Father like Jesus. The Father, in turn, will raise us up to eternal glory with him. 

"I must yield myself into His arms. I shall not know very often the way He wishes me to go. It may be only one step at a time, and then darkness again; or I may be taken swiftly and surely and openly along a clear road. That is His business, not mine, only I must be prepared to be able to follow always the meaning of what He wants of me. 

"If I am faithful and loyal and full of trust, things will gradually settle themselves, and I shall at last be able to look back and understand the significance and purpose of many things that at first appeared accidental, and even in opposition to the end I considered God had in view for me.

"It is the divine tenderness stooping to poor muddled humanity and making it transfigured with God's own glory. The advance, then, whether consciously grasped or not, is in due proportion to the purity and fidelity of the soul, purity in its act of cleansing fidelity in its subjection to the promptings of the Holy Spirit" (Fr. Bede Jarrett).

The more I can uproot sin in my life, the more I will be able to attentively respond to the lead of the Holy Spirit. He is the one leading me to a greater intimacy with God. The Spirit knows me as I am and knows the best way to the Father. In the process he cleanses the sinful obstacles that weigh me down and distract me from reaching the heights of life with God. It is not always easy to discern the move of the Spirit nor to always follow the lead of the Spirit. But there is no other way to the Father.

"Humility and charity are the master chords that all other virtues depend upon. The one is the lowest, the other the highest. The preservation of the entire edifice depends on the foundation and the roof. If the heart keeps itself directed in the exercise of these, no difficulty will be encountered in the others. These are the mothers of virtue, the others follow them as the chicks do their mother" (St. Padre Pio).

What is humility? It is the virtue of seeing myself as God sees me, no more, no less. It is described by St. Paul in these words: "I am who I am by the grace of God."  It is the foundation because it is the truth, based on the revelation that I have been created by God, sustained by God, gifted by God and destined for God. The foundation of my life is God. This is humility.

On the other hand, charity is the roof because my purpose in life is to be with God for all eternity. God is love. As St. John says: "Let us love one another. For love is of God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love, does not know God. For God is love...No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us."

My life is to be one of truth and love, living in the truth and acting in love.

 Is our identity in our being or our doing? Many people would answer the latter. But the fact is my fundamental identity is in my being and not in my accomplishments. Who am I? I am a child of God, created in his image, redeemed by the blood of Christ, adopted as a son or daughter, and filled with the Holy Spirit. In all of this, I have accomplished nothing. If I embrace this truth, then whatever I accomplish should flow from this foundation. Whether I accomplish a lot or little, whether I am acclaimed by others or rejected, my identity is still in tact.

On the contrary, when my identity is determined by my doing and accomplishments, then I leave myself controlled by these externals. If I am successful and popular, then I am "fulfilled". But if I am not successful or even unhappy in spite of my accomplishments, then I see myself as a failure. Something remains missing in my life.

My true identity is God-given. I am who I am in the eyes of God, nothing more, nothing less. How I see myself; how others see me; how I think others see me--is not the true me. God sees me as his son or daughter and that is who I truly am. If I accept this mystery, then I can be at peace. But if I do not see myself thus, then my life will be an endless search, leading ultimately nowhere.

"Charity is that with which no man is lost, and without which no man is saved....Peace and union are the most necessary of all things for men who live in common, and nothing serves so well to establish and maintain these as the forbearing charity whereby we put up with one another's defects....On the last day, when the general examination takes place, there will be no question at all on the text of Aristotle, the aphorisms of Hippocrates, or the paragraphs of Justinian. Charity will be the whole syllabus" (St. Robert Bellarmine).

As Jesus has made clear, the only thing that ultimately matters is love. It is not just human, emotional love, but love that reflects God, who is love. As God's love focuses on the other, so our love is to focus on the other. Because God is perfect, his love is perfect. Not so with us. We are imperfect and thus our love will be imperfect. But did we tried to love as God has loved us? That will be the question God will ask us on the day of judgment. And it will flow from a previous question: Who do you say I am? For if Jesus is the Lord of our lives, then we will love as he has loved. 

 

Homily: Twenty-fifth Sunday Year A

Reading 1: This reading speaks of an obvious mystery. Have you ever wondered, can God forgive me of my sins after all I have done? How could God forgive the terrorists or the abortionists or the serial murderers? The answers are beyond me. God’s ways and God’s thoughts are beyond our understanding. At the same time, we are to seek him and to call to him, even though we cannot begin to comprehend the plan of God, the love of God, the infinite mercy and forgiveness of God.

He chooses the foolish and confounds the wise; the weak to confound the strong. Of all the nations of the earth he chose Israel to be his chosen people. Of the seven sons of Jesse, he chose David, the youngest. He chose to become man. He chose to be born in a stable in Bethlehem, the least of the town of Judah. He chose to save us from our sins through the cross. We cannot make logical sense of God’s ways, because they flow not from the human process but the divine process of his loving being. 

We are told by the prophet to seek the Lord; call to him; turn away from sin and turn back to God who is generous in forgiving. This word, generous, is key to the Gospel.

Gospel: Human beings demand justice towards themselves when it is to their advantage versus God’s extravagant mercy, which is given to all. It is good to be just versus unjust, but better to be merciful and generous.

 

Last week we heard the response of Jesus to Peter: forgive not 7 x 7 but 70x70. We are to both receive and acknowledge God’s mercy as well as extend mercy. Last Sunday the master forgave the larger debt of his servant, but the servant would not show the same mercy to another servant who owed him a much smaller fraction.

Here the invitation to work in the field is a grace/gift and the wage was a gift. Yes, the workers responded. But the gift was from the owner to the others was complained against because they saw that they were owed more than the one who work less. 

God’s ways are mysterious. He is just and merciful. We judge according to human standards of justice or expectations. He who does more should receive more. Salvation is not something we earn or gain, but a gift we receive from the bounteous goodness of God.

 In Jesus’time, the Pharisees and Scribes could not understand or accept that pubic sinners, such as prostitutes and tax collectors, could be saved. These Jewish religious leaders could not accept that pagan believers could be saved without becoming circumcised and following the Mosaic Laws.

On the human side, people who worked longer and harder should be paid more than someone who worked only one hour. From God’s perspective salvation is a gift from him. He determines the rules, if you will. God’s ways are not our ways. If he wishes to grant salvation to the thief on the cross at the last moment of his life, who am I to object. He received the mercy of God as I received the mercy of God. We can’t be presumptuous over God’s mercy and forgiveness. We have to be willing to respond at the moment.

We want mercy for ourselves but not others. What the men who worked all day wanted was justice and they got justice. Had they rejoiced in the mercy shown to others, they would have received mercy as well. Do we want to be judged with the blind scale of justice or by the generous scale of God’s mercy? The measure with which we measure will be measured back to us. 

Reading 2: Paul was so in love and so committed to Jesus as the Lord of his life that he desired to die and be with his Lord. What he wanted to do was to please Jesus whether in life or in death. He did not fear death, but saw it as the final moment before seeing and being with Jesus eternally. At the same time, he knew that if he continued to live, he would be doing what God wanted him to do, namely to proclaim the Good News of salvation to others. Whether he lived or died he belonged to Christ. All he wanted was to be and do the will of Jesus. 

His final statement is a haunting challenge for us. Conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of God. Live as Jesus has called us to live. Have we gotten there yet? Am I conscious of magnifying Christ in my body, so that whether I live or die, it makes no difference, as long as I am glorifying Christ?

 "Be constantly committed to prayer or reading of the Scriptures; by  praying,  you speak to God; in reading, God speaks to you" (St. Cyprian).

These two gifts have sustained many saints in their journey to God. They form the ebb and flow of dialogue with God. We would not think of going long without food and drink and thus physically dehydrating. Why would we not expect spiritual dehydration, if we starve ourselves from prayer and reading of the Scriptures? Food and drink are daily priorities. Should not prayer and the Scriptures be also? The former provides for our temporal reality; but the latter provides for our eternal reality. We can't use the excuse of time. It is the very thing God gives  us so that we can grow in our relationship with him.

 Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time: Gospel A

Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.' So they went off. (And) he went out again around noon, and around three o'clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o'clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' 

They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.' When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.' When those who had started about five o'clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, 'These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat.' 

· Have we ever felt that God’s ways are unfair?  Or is it that God sees things differently than we do?

· Instead of thinking about money, substitute grace. If no one earns grace,--it is freely given by God to whomever he chooses-- does it make any difference who gets what?

· Or look at it from the point of view of eternal life, which is also a gift from God. If God chooses to give the repentant thief on the cross eternal life does that take away anything from the same gift to us? Being a disciple for many years or being a disciple for a short time, God chooses to give eternal life freely to both. Their equality comes not from what they did but from what God freely gave them.

· What is their real complaint? They got what was agreed to at the beginning of the day.  They figured that if the owner was going to be generous towards those who worked less, he should be more generous with those who worked longer. Human standards vs Divine standards.

He said to one of them in reply, 'My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? (Or) am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? 

· How does Christ’s words challenge the world’s understanding of justice (and maybe yours)?

Are you envious because I am generous?' Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last." 

· Is there envy or jealousy in our hearts over what God seemingly does for others? His blessing to them in comparison to his blessings to us?

· How grateful are we for the generosity of God whose gifts are gratuitous?

"Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day....You don't think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking." (Henri Nouwen) 

God has gifted us with natural ability to think and to will. We can chose to think positively or negatively. Accordingly, our life will be directed. Just as we train our bodies through discipline, so we train our mind. This is what St. Paul meant when he said that we should take captive our thoughts. We may not be able to prevent what comes into our mind, but we can choose what we will do with these thoughts. A good see produces good fruit, whereas a bad see does not.

So, if I want to have a realistic but joyful outlook on life, then I must choose to do so and act accordingly. It doesn't happen overnight. But with practice this will become my frame of reference through which I view life. This is the joy that God wants for us.

"Had there been no cross, Christ could not  have been crucified. Had there been no cross, life itself could not have been nailed to the tree. And if life had not been nailed to it there would be no streams of immortality pouring from Christ's side, blood and water for the world's cleansing. The legal bond of our sin would not be canceled, we should not have attained our freedom, we should not h ave enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life and the gates of paradise would not stand open. Had there been no cross, death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled" (St. Andrew of Crete).

The cross, in a sense, is neutral. What human beings do with it determines how it is looked upon. Men have used the cross to punish others through a cruel, painful, inhuman, slow death. It was a way of stripping the person of all dignity. But Jesus embraced this form of death in order to transform the cross, for those who believe in him, into a sign of victory. The same instrument, two different results.

Therefore, with St. Paul we can proclaim: "May I never boast of anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ! Through it, the world has been crucified to me and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14).

There are other reasons why we sometimes find it hard to receive love from another. One reason is that we question the other person's motive. What's the catch, we ask ourselves? Can a person, who has been loved, not be free to love without any ulterior motives?

As a spiritual father, I find this blockage in the beginning of many relationships. People are afraid to trust the genuineness of authentic, Christ-like love. They have been hurt before. What will be different now? Usually, being persistent in acts of love and care eventually opens at least a crack in this armor of resistance.

Another reason may be the fear of being indebted to the other. If I receive something from another, I will be obliged to reciprocate in some way. Such is the thinking of one who is afraid to be loved. But love does not oblige. Love frees. God loves us freely and waits for us to embrace love freely.

One reason many people struggle with receiving love is due to a lie implanted in their brain when they were young. That lie is that one must earn love. How many people go through life thinking this way! How many never fully experience true love because they never seem to do enough to earn it!

 

 No one told them love was a gift freely given, not a prize to earn and attain. Because of this rooted misconception they feel like a failure in life. It is like the carrot on a stick in front of the donkey. As hard as the donkey tries, it never reaches the carrot. Real love seems as elusive to this person.

 

Receiving love seems too easy to them. There must be a gimmick. Yet, God freely loves us asking nothing in return. For God knows that once we allow love to make a difference in our life, we will want to respond to love with love. The only cost to true, received love is to give love. Love must be like a flowing river not a stagnant pool. 

Homily: Twenty-fourth Sunday Year A

 

Reading 1: Listen to the first statement: “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” Many times we have an eye for an eye mentality. We are commanded by God to forgive the sins of others, so that our own sins may be forgiven. We pray in the Our Father, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

 

Anger is a spiritual cancer more deadly than any physical cancer. Hate and vengeance poison our whole system and leads to eternal death.

 

However, how often do we nourish anger against others, while expecting God to forgive us our sins. What is missing? Remember your last days. Remember we will face God in judgment. Remember we will die and our eternity will be determined by our actions. Refusal to forgive another tells God not to forgive us. Sometimes, we make vows that need to be broken and undone through true repentance and forgiveness.

 

Gospel: Unmerited mercy is a free gift, which needs to be responded to with mercy in turn. The ungrateful servant forgot this. He demanded justice, when he himself was given mercy. He refused mercy to an equal after having been graced with mercy by a higher person. In this he sealed his fate.

 

There is a story about a woman in hell, who complained that she should not be there, because she had done many good deeds in her life. God was merciful. He lowered a rope for her to grab on to. As she did and began to be pulled up, others in hell grabbed on to the same rope, slowing her accent. In her desperation she began to kick and push each one off the rope. It was hers. And all of a sudden the rope broke and she fell back into hell. God said: “The reason you are in hell is because when mercy was shown you, you refused mercy to others in your lifetime.”

 

God has been merciful to each of us. We have sinned gravely against God many times. We can never pay back our debt to God for turning away from him and embracing our sins. Yet God in his infinite mercy has chosen to forgive us. Having received and continuing to receive his mercy and forgiveness, how can we refuse to forgive another, whose sin against us cannot be compared to our sins against God?

 

Let the words of Jesus burn in our hearts and minds. “My Father will do to you the same, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.” It is not that you forget what the other has done, but you remember more what God has done for you. You choose not to nurture anger and un-forgiveness in your heart. Instead, you focus more on gratitude to God for his mercy.

 

Reading 2: Would we act any different if the reality of the Lordship of God over us was central in our thinking? Adam and Eve failed to remember that God was the source of their lives. They made themselves the beginning and the end. They were more focus on what would pleased them. They were falsely told that they would be equal to God and no longer under God.

 

Paul reminds us of the truth. None of lives for ourselves. If we live for the Lord and if we die, we die for the Lord. We belong to the Lord. We came from the Lord. We are destined to return to the Lord. From the time of our birth to the time of our death, we sin. Yet Jesus in his great mercy has saved us through his death and resurrection. He has reconciled us to the Father. We belong to God. We are eternally indebted to God.

 

Does our present life reflect this truth? To what extent is Jesus the Lord of our conscious life? He is our Lord by virtue of our creation.  We belong to him. He is our Lord by virtue of our redemption from the eternal effects of sin. We belong to him. He is our Lord because in Baptism he adopted us as his sons and daughters, sharing his own divine life with us. We belong to him. Have we embraced fully this reality? Or are we still falling for the lie of Satan, seeking to be independent of God, to be our own master? 

To be human is to be loved and to love. Is it easier for us to give love to another than to receive love? For the most of us that is true. Why?  Maybe we have been rejected and the pain is too severe, blocking us from trusting again? To receive love would make us vulnerable to another. Our defense mechanisms automatically seek to protect us. As a result, we may never experience real love.

 

Not only do we respond this way with others, but we even do this with God. God is love and seeks to pour his love upon us in a lavish way, but we are afraid to accept this love. I remember ministering to a young girl who was sitting in a fetal position and crying. I told her that God loves her. She responded with some anger in her voice: “Love hurts.” She had confused human “love” with God’s love.

 

The very thing we long for at the very depth of our being is the very thing we reject. But God is bigger than us. He is persistent in his love. He doesn’t walk away but keeps calling us by name, as he knocks at the door of our heart. He would want to force his way in, but he doesn’t. He respects our free will. He waits for us to open up to his love sometime in our life-time. Not to open up would mean eternal emptiness and nothingness. 

Twenty-fourth Sunday Gospel A

Then Peter approaching asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?" 

· Peter thinks he is generous by saying “seven times,” since the religious standard of those days was three. 

Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 

· What is demanded of a disciple of Christ is limitless forgiveness. The obvious reason is that is how God treats us. If God treated us the way we would want to treat others, what will our life be like?

· Which is harder: to receive forgiveness or to give forgiveness?

· Does forgiveness depend on who the person is or what was done?

That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.

· Compare this to God’s generous mercy to you.  Look at what you have done in your life and look at what God has done in response. Is there any comparison?

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. 

· Have I in the past refused to forgive others even though God has forgiven me much more? Why the double standard?

· Have others refused to forgive me when God has forgiven them?

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’  Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. 

· Earlier the person experienced the mercy of God. Now he receives the justice of God. Do we want God’s mercy or his justice?

So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” 

· How have you experienced God’s forgiveness in your life? How have you responded to his forgiveness?

· Notice Jesus specifies the source of the forgiveness: “from the heart.” This means that it is true, sincere, and total.

· How should our life be impacted in the future as a result of this teaching?

 

How often we find ourselves or hear others complaining against God when they experience sufferings at the hands of others or some calamity happens in their lives. In their minds God should have protected them, if he is a loving God. “God, what did I do to deserve this cross?”

 

How often have we sinned against God in different ways? Does God punish us each time? Do we deserve punishment? St. Augustine said: “God may well reply, ‘what you are suffering is not damnation but correction.’” God is not angry with you. He loves you and is concerned about your eternal life.  We read in Proverbs 3:12: ‘He chastises every son whom he loves.” 

 

We deserve punishment for our sins, but he chastises and purifies us through the events of life, those we have no control of. If he didn’t out of love, we would not be ready for eternal life with him. So instead of complaining, which changes nothing, we need to embrace the present moment of chastisement in gratitude for God’s love and mercy. 

There are so many mysteries revealed by God for our good. The Eucharist is one of those mysteries, revealed to us by Jesus, so that we can share in God’s divine life. Jesus termed it “Bread come down from heaven”. Earthly elements, made by human hands—bread and wine—become by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the sacred words of Jesus and by the plan of the Father the Body and Blood of Jesus, the heavenly food sustaining us on a pilgrimage to eternity.

 

Like the other mysteries of God, faith is the only path to acceptance without fully understanding the reality before us. Tertullian once said, “I believe it because it is unbelievable.”

 

Faith frees us to consume the Lamb of God. Unlike ordinary food, which when eaten become part of us, when we partake of Body and Blood of Jesus, we become part of the Body of Jesus. We are united to and in him in a sacramental, mysterious way.

 

St Augustine explained it thus. “My friends, these realities are called sacraments because in them one thing is seen, while another is grasped. What is seen is a mere physical likeness; what is grasped bears spiritual fruit.” In another place he says: “If we receive the Eucharist worthily, we become what we receive.”  It is his life in us that transforms us.  What a mystery! 

 

That we have been redeemed, reconciled and saved from the eternal consequences of our sins is a mystery revealed to us by God. How else would we know that the death of the Son of Man by crucifixion was to this end? Imperfect as we are, we could not save ourselves by any human sacrifice, even if we gave up our lives. Only the sacrifice of a perfect person, God become Man, could become our justification.

 

Jesus, though sinless, took upon himself the sins of the world, so that through his death of expiation, he might nail them to the cross. He paid the price in full. His death for our salvation; his suffering for our freedom! What pleased the Father was not the death oh his beloved Son. Rather, it was the choice of Jesus to do the will of the Father out of filial love, even it meant giving his life so we could have eternal life.

 

So what should our response be for such a great gift?  “Stand firm, and do not be willing to be again held by the yoke of servitude. (Galatians 5:1)

Homily: Twenty-third Sunday Year A

 

Reading 1: What is the issue of this reading? It is obedience to God in all things, even in regards to one another. But this obedience is based on a relationship. God appointed the prophet as a watchman for the community, a sentry to stand guard and to warn the community when an enemy was approaching. The prophet was called to speak the word of God, no matter how hard or unpleasant it was.

 

The people of Israel had turned away from God. The prophet was sent by God to expose their sin and to call them to repentance and conversion. If the prophet failed to do this, he would suffer the same consequences as the people: die in their sins. If he did what God commanded, he would be spared because of his obedience to God. Obedience to God above all things, even rejection by others.

 

Because of our relationship with God, we need to do what he tells us to do. “When you hear me say something to you in your heart.”

 

Gospel: Notice what the Lord is saying to us. How do you deal with someone who has sinned against you? With someone who has hurt you by saying things which are not true? Our natural, normal reaction, because of our sinful nature, is revenge, retaliation, hate, or un-forgiveness.  But what did Jesus say it should be for one who is his follower?  It is forgiveness and reconciliation on your part.  And we do it in love and obedience to God.

 

Yes, we are to bring to light what was done for the sake of healing and reconciliation. If the other doesn’t want to be reconciled, then forgive, love and let the other be. You can’t change the other, but we can change ourselves and not allow the sin of the other to lead me to sin or leave me in sin.

 

This is the call of being a disciple of Jesus. He is calling us into a new way of life. Only with my relationship with Jesus are we able to seek to be like this. Our fallen, human nature wants to act in one way, but as sons and daughters of God, we are called to act differently, to act from our spiritual, redeemed nature. For we are a new creation as a result of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

 

The first reading reminded us what will happen, if we are not obedient to God’s word in correcting others. Here, we are reminded of our solidarity with one another in the Body of Christ. Jesus concludes by emphasizing the reality of being members of the community of believers. Not only are we to pray individually but also as a group with the realization that God is present in our midst.

Reading 2: This reading gives us the underlying attitude which we must have in sharing the word of God with another or in dealing with hurts to us caused by others. It is not to be said in judgment or condemnation, but in love. This is the debt we owe to one another. God has loved us unconditionally. We owe to others the same love. Why? We are brothers and sisters in the Lord.

 

In reality, we can never pay back our debt of love to God. But we can show our desire to repay love with love by the way we treat one another, especially, in the area of forgiveness.  As others have hurt us, so we have hurt others. We can’t change those past hurts. But we can choose not to become embittered by hurt and instead to become free by forgiveness and love.

 

The first reading reminds us to be obedient to the word of God by acting on it. The Gospel reminds us to forgive as God has forgiven us. The second reading reminds us that all must be done in love. 

In becoming Man, the Son of God, the Word, reveals the mystery of God’s love, plan and power. Just as the mystery of the Trinity (three divine persons in the One God) is difficult to grasp with our limited, rational mind, so the hypostatic union of two distinct natures in the one person, Jesus, the Christ, is accepted only in faith. Along with this mystery is another one. Mary conceived Jesus, not through natural human relationship, but through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. “For nothing is impossible for God.”

 

As fully God and fully Man, there was nothing lacking in either nature. Though He did not cling to his divinity, as St Paul tells us, he remained in union with the Father and the Spirit. As God, Jesus was equal to Father and Spirit. As Man, he chose to be dependent upon them. Existing before time, he lived in time. Though he was led by the Holy Spirit, he experienced the emotions and pains of his human nature. He was like us in all things except sin.

 

Only a person of faith can embrace this mystery of God. Without faith, it is foolishness. With St. Thomas we profess: “My Lord and my God”! 

Twenty-Third Sunday A Gospel    

Then Peter approaching asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?" 

· Peter thinks he is generous by saying “seven times,” since the religious standard of those days was three. 

Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 

· What is demanded of a disciple of Christ is limitless forgiveness. The obvious reason is that is how God treats us. If God treated us the way we would want to treat others, what will our life be like?

· Which is harder: to receive forgiveness or to give forgiveness?

· Does forgiveness depend on who the person is or what was done?

That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.

· Compare this to God’s generous mercy to you.  Look at what you have done in your life and look at what God has done in response. Is there any comparison?

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. 

· Have I in the past refused to forgive others even though God has forgiven me much more? Why the double standard?

· Have others refused to forgive me when God has forgiven them?

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. 

· Earlier the person experienced the mercy of God. Now he receives the justice of God. Do we want God’s mercy or his justice?

So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” 

· How have you experienced God’s forgiveness in your life? How have you responded to his forgiveness?

· Notice Jesus specifies the source of the forgiveness: “from the heart.” This means that it is true, sincere, and total.

· How should our life be impacted in the future as a result of this teaching?

 

What is the central mystery of God, from which all the other mysteries flow? Is it not the mystery of the Trinity, one God but three equal and distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? We cannot begin to wrap our minds around this revelation, no matter how much we try to rationally understand it. Even in heaven it will still be a mystery that can only be acknowledged and responded to with sung praise and perfect adoration.

 

There with the Heavenly inhabitants we will sing: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come...You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power” (Revelations 4:8, 11)

 

We will be able to see God in all of his glory and all of our questions concerning the mystery of his being will become irrelevant and insignificant.   Only Amen will be sufficient. So be it. Let this be the longing within us that compels us on our journey to the One in three, the Source of our existence.

Lord, we long to be with you and to sing your praises, as we bask in your glory.