Homily Fourteenth Sunday Year B

Reading 1: Ezekiel was given a difficult task by God. He was called to be a prophet, a spokesperson, for God’s words. He was sent to speak this word to the Chosen People in exile for their infidelity to their covenant with God. God called them rebels like their ancestors. The difficult task was to speak God’s word to a people, who will reject the message because of the hardness of their hearts.

 

The role of the prophet is to speak God’s words, not to force them to accept or act on that word. Many of the prophets of the Old Testament suffered because they faithfully relayed God’s message but were rejected, persecuted and even killed, because the people did not want to hear the message of the Lord. It is only afterwards, when the message was fulfilled, that later generations would acknowledge the person as truly a prophet of God.

 

Like those in Ezekiel’s time, we don’t always like to hear the words spoken prophetically to us. At times, they are encouraging. But at other times they are words calling us to repent and return to the Lord. Even though God knows we may reject his word, God will still speak his word to us. The power of the word of God was expressed by Jesus. He said that he would not judge us, but his word would. Did we hear it, received it and acted on it or did we reject it? Even Isaiah reflected the same message about the power of God’s word. He said, it is like rain. It falls on the good and the bad. But it will not return to me empty.

 

Gospel: Last Sunday we reflected on the faith of the woman, who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and was healed. We followed that with the faith of Jairus, who heard the testimony of the woman and put his trust in Jesus in spite of the message about the death of his daughter.  Because of this trust and faith, he witnessed the restoration to life in his daughter.

 

Today, we heard the lack of faith of the people of Nazareth in the person of Jesus. Like Ezekiel, Jesus is also a prophet. He had been sent by God to proclaim a message of forgiveness of sins and salvation to the world. As he said, he came to set captives free, preach Glad tidings to the poor and heal the sick.

When Jesus returned to his home town of Nazareth, maybe for some R & R with his disciples, he was asked to share a word in the synagogue on the Sabbath. He shared what God had done for him at the time of his baptism and what God was doing through him in signs and wonders.

 

Their first response was a sense of wonder. “Where did he get all this?” Then they turned to question his identity, which is a theme in Mark’s Gospel: Who is Jesus? They knew him growing up; they knew his family; they knew him as a carpenter.  Their questions led to doubt and rejection. They could not and would not accept that he was anything other than their past knowledge of him. They could not accept that God had chosen him to speak his words. As a result, they refused to believe in him or to be open to any ministry, even when a few people were healed. Their minds were made up and closed. This saddened Jesus, because of their lack of faith and openness.

 

How open are we to the Word of God? Do we box God in by accepting what we want to hear and reject what we don’t want to hear?  Have we settled into a comfort zone in our relationship with God? Is our faith in Jesus active or static?

 

Reading 2: Paul was a prophet, who also was rejected, persecuted and eventually killed, because he spoke God’s message to a people, who did not want to hear it. Here, Paul is dealing with a personal issue which affects his mission as a prophet. Though he had received many spiritual experiences, revelations and visions, he suffered from what he calls a thorn in the flesh. We don’t know what it was. He indicated he had a speech impediment; he had other physical ailments as well.

 

It could be he was haunted by his past persecution of the followers of the Way. But whatever it was, it seemed to hamper his work as a prophet. Yet God used this situation to teach Paul a valuable lesson. In his weakness and imperfections, God can still work. His grace is sufficient, transforming weaknesses into power. Paul came to the point of embracing his weaknesses and circumstances and use them for the sake of Christ and the furthering of the Kingdom. 

“Truly ‘a faithful friend is the medicine of life.’ (Ecclus.6­:16) Truly ‘a faithful friend is a strong defense.’ (Ib. 14) For what will not a genuine friend perform? What pleasure will he not afford? what benefit? what security? Though you should name infinite treasures, none of them is comparable to a genuine friend. And first let us speak of the great delight of friendship itself. A friend rejoices at seeing his friend, and expands with joy. He is knit to him with a union of soul that affords unspeakable pleasure. And if he only calls him to remembrance, he is roused in mind, and transported. (St. John Chrysostom, 1 Thessalonica)

 

If you have such a friend, you are indeed blessed with a spiritual treasure beyond measure. And if you are a friend to another, you are doubly blessed. God desires us to have such friends as companions on our spiritual journey. Such a person affirms, supports, corrects in love and seeks our best. That person is one you can depend upon in good times and bad. There are a variety of examples for us to reflect on: David and Jonathan, Basil and Gregory, Francis and Claire, Therese of Avila and John of the Cross. There are many husband and wives who are friends first and lovers second. Their love flows from their intimate friendship. Before you seek such a friend, be a friend.

Fourteenth Sunday Gospel Year B

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. 

Jesus retuned to Nazareth, possibly to visit him mother Mary.

 When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished.  

Being a faithful observant of the Covenant, Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. People had heard about him and so he was asked to teach after the readings from the scriptures.

We don’t know from Mark what he taught, but whatever he said, astonished the people. No one has taught like this before. He taught with authority not quoting other Rabbis. 

They said, “Where did this man get all this?  What kind of wisdom has been given him?   What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!  Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?  And are not his sisters here with us?”  And they took offense at him. 

Their astonishment turned quickly to questioning, doubting and taking offense at a home town son having spoken so well.

They could not accept that he was of God. They knew him as one like them. They knew his background and his extended family. Was he not merely a carpenter by trade?  Calling him the son of Mary and not of Joseph may have been a slur against him? 

When they indicate his “brothers and sisters” these were probably cousins in his extended family. For we believe Mary had no other children.

They were trying to box him in and, in a sense, to try to control and harness him.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

It saddened Jesus to feel the rejection by his own townspeople and extended family. But he knew historically that this was the life of a prophet.

What saddened most was that, though he wanted to minister God’s love to them through signs and wonders, he could not because of their lack of faith. Only a few were open to his ministry. But seeing this did not change the closed mindset of the people.

Do we at times have a lack of faith in the person of Jesus Christ?

Do we sometimes put him in a box of our own making?  

“If friendship with a human person increases my growth potential, what are we to say about friendship with Jesus? There is no comparison. Jesus offers me such magnificent opportunities for growth. The more I am aware of Jesus' tremendous and personal love for me, the more secure I feel in developing my real self.” (Fr. Edward Carter, SJ)

 

The growth in this friendship with Jesus is the growth of intimacy and love. It is not a mutual growth, for Jesus loves me with an agape love, unconditional and perfect. While my friendship with him may initially begin in a limited way, it has the potential of deepening and becoming truly other focused. In fact, Jesus invites us to enter into the deeper response to his love. He asked Peter three times if he loved him. Jesus was eliciting from him a greater desire to respond to the love the Friend and Lord showed him. So it is true with us. Jesus through his love and friendship draws the best out of us, not for his sake but for ours. 

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you” (John 15:13-16).

 

All real, human friendships are founded on the prime friendship, between Jesus and ourselves. Even knowing our weaknesses and sinfulness, he chooses us to be his friends, to be one with him. It is based on his unconditional love for us. While we can’t love him in the same way, our love for him establishes a bond between us. This bond, on our part, is broken by sin. On his part, he still loves us in spite of our sins. He is indeed a true friend. He accepts us as we are here and now. My role is to grow in this friendship by doing that which pleases him out of love. 

 

 

Humility is like a pair of scales; the lower one side falls, the higher rises the other. Let us humble ourselves like the Blessed Virgin and we shall be exalted. (St. John Vianney)

 

St. Paul wrote in his Letter to the Philippians, “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). A few verses later, he gave the humility of Jesus for us to imitate. This confirmed the teaching of Jesus himself. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves” (Matthew 11:29). It was the example taught to us by Mary’s response to the greatest privilege a woman could receive, to be the Mother of the Messiah. Her humble response: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). The more we tip the scale of our life with humility, the more we will rise in holiness. Be humble before the Lord like the tax collector and the Lord will exalt you in his presence. 

 

He who is truly humble never thinks that any injustice is made of him. We should be ashamed of ourselves when we resent having anything said or done against us. It is a terrible thing to see our Creator bearing such great insults from His creatures while we are so resentful for the least harsh words spoken to us. Nothing bothers the soul that is united to God and she does not worry whether she is esteemed or not; nor if good or bad is said of her; in fact, she prefers dishonor and trials to honors and pleasure. (St. Teresa of Avila)

 

To grow in the virtue of humility is a process that doesn’t come easy. We are self-protective and anything said against us leads to a response. It is hard for us to let what is said and done become water off a duck’s back. Yet, when we can reach that point we are imitating Jesus in his supreme act of humility. He was the God/Man who was abused and yet he did not retaliate. He chose to suffer abuse, so that we may learn from him how to respond in a much less situations. As long as we know who we are as a son or daughter of God, what does it matter what people say or do. It will not affect our eternal salvation. But our eye for eye and tooth for tooth mentality may affect our eternity. 

Homily: Thirteenth Sunday Year B

Reading 1: God created life; he didn’t make death. He created us in his own image and likeness to live forever. When he breathed life into man and woman he gave them of his spirit, the immortal soul.  As a result, we will live forever. We are meant by God’s design to live forever with him in praise of his glory.

 

All that God created was good.  But as the reading said, “by the envy of the devil, death entered the world.”  Because the devil by his own choice was separated from God, so he wanted to separate man and woman from God. Death came from sin. The death the writer is reflecting on is not so much as physical death but spiritual death. Because of sin we will all physically die.

 

But God’s plan was not to be thwarted by the entrance of sin into creation. God in his mercy promised a Savior who would crushed the head of the evil one. That promised was fulfilled by the Son of God becoming Man. In faith we believe that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the lasting power of sin has been destroyed. We have been redeemed and reconciled. To die in sin means to be eternally separated from God and to experience the second death which is permanent. To die in Christ is to live with him forever in eternal peace.

 

Gospel: Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life, life to the fullest.” Extended illness is debilitating to life to the fullest. Physical death ends physical life. Jesus restores both the woman with this particular illness and the young girl to a more satisfying experience of physical life in anticipation of the fullness of life he desires for them and us.

 

Both Jairus and the woman saw Jesus as one who is empowered by God to heal the sick.  Initially, Jairus did not see Jesus as one who could restore physical life after death occurs. His daughter was dying. He sought her healing. The woman believed that Jesus could heal her, if she merely touched his robe. But her healing in not just for her. Jesus calls her to publicly attest to the power of God, restoring her to a fuller experience of life. This public witness was for the sake of Jairus.

 

When Jairus is told his daughter has died and it was no longer necessary for Jesus to do anything, Jesus challenged him to believe and trust in God’s plan. Her death was to serve a greater purpose than her healing would.

 

Jesus goes with Jairus, whose level of faith is being tested. The woman believed that if she would touch his garment, she would be healed. As Jairus trusted in the words of Jesus, he was about to see a greater manifestation of the power of God. Jesus raised his daughter back to physical life. Jesus is the Lord of life. But the physical healing of the woman and the physical restoration of the girl both pointed to the greater mystery of life with God forever in glory. The bondage of the woman and the loss of life of the girl, served the purpose of evil one.  Their restoration served the purpose of God.

 

Both experiences occur to draw us to the person who is the source of life. The greater miracle and sign of God’s love is our eternal salvation and eternal union with God in the fullness of life.

 

Reading 2: To be a disciple of Jesus, accepting him as Lord of one’s life and empowered and led through the anointing of the Spirit, one sees things differently. We see that all belongs to God and that we are stewards of the gifts God has blessed us with. One who is filled with the Spirit is a generous person.

 

We have become rich in Christ, whether we have much or little.  Trusting in the word of God that he is a generous giver, a disciple seeks what does God want him/her to do when an opportunity to financially help anther presents itself. The person does not give beyond one’s means, but ingratitude to God for what he/she has be given, knowing that God will care for the person in turn.

 

The faith community in Jerusalem was undergoing economic difficulties. Paul is asking the Gentile believers to take up a collection to help them. They are to do so not out of obligation but out of gratitude to what God has done for them. 

That the virtue of humility consists in the knowledge of certain truths, I had already recognized. These truths are: that I am nothing, that I can do nothing but sin, that I depend on God for everything--for existence, conservation, movement, and grace. What is more, I am most happy in my dependence on God, and I prefer to depend entirely on God rather than on myself. (St. Anthony Mary Claret)

 

His awareness of his nothingness was not an attempt to discredit himself as a son of God, who has been abundantly blessed. Rather, it was recognizing the eternal truth that without God he would not exist; he would not be sustained; he would not be redeemed; he would not be sanctified; he would not have the hope of eternal life. The more he recognized his total dependence upon God for everything, the less time he had to get distracted by what others or the world wanted him to focus on. The same is true for us. If we live in the truth, we will not be distracted by the lies of the world and of the evil one, which try to flatter us or degrade us for their purpose.

  

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Gospel B

When Jesus had crossed again (in the boat) to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live." 

· It is obvious the girl is dying and to Jairus Jesus is his last hope. He must have heard or seen the power of Jesus already.  Do we sometimes wait until the last moment before calling upon Jesus?

He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him. There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. 

· Mark often times interrupts one story and inserts another that is connected.

· Her hemorrhage made her ritually unclean according to the belief of the Jewish people who followed the Law. That meant she could not go into the Temple without first be ritually washed.

She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." 

                   She too had “heard” about Jesus. In her unworthiness she sought just  

                   to touch his garments            

! Even the act of touching Jesus’ garment would technically make Jesus ritually unclean.

! It is not enough to be in the presence of Jesus or even to touch him. The faith of the woman made the difference.

Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction." 

! Why did Jesus make a such a scene? Was it because he wanted the woman to publicly attest to the healing she had received from God? Do we give such a witness when Jesus moves in our lives? The healing was not for the woman only, but as will see, for the crowd but especially for Jairus.

While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" 

! Imagine that you were the father of the girl and received such a message, what would you feel at the moment?

Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." 

      In other words, recall the healing of the woman and have the same 

      faith.

! Where and when has Jesus said the same thing to you?

He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 

! Why do you think Jesus did this? He is not looking for the approval of the crowd. He only wants to do the work of his Father.

When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. 

! Here Mark contrasts the faith of the woman who was healed and the people pressing upon Jesus as well as the faith of Jairus against the lack of faith of the weeping crowd.

He took along the child's father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. (At that) they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat. 

! It was not the faith of the child that brought the healing but the faith of the parents. What does this say to you?

! How strong is your faith in the person and power of Jesus in times of difficulties?

! What is God asking of you as you reflect on this passage?

 

"Humility isn't thinking little of self; it isn't thinking of self at all."

 

The focus of humility is the other, not ourselves. The focus of pride, the vice opposed to the virtue of humility, is self. What did the serpent say to Eve and Adam that opened up the flood gates of sin in the world? Don’t focus on God, who commands you to be yourself as dependent creatures. Focus on yourselves and the desire to know good and evil. Thus, you will be equal to God. On the other hand, what was the humility of Jesus? When tempted he focused on his obedience to the Father and not on the temptations of the Father of lies. Jesus was not thinking about himself but about the Father. In our struggles when we think of the Father and not on ourselves we are growing in humility. Humble yourself in the eyes of God by focusing on who he is and what he has done.

"If you ask me what is the most important virtue, I would say humility. If you would ask me what is second, I would say humility. If you ask me which is third, I would say humility. As often as I am asked, I would say humility." (St. Augustine)

 

Reflecting on this, one would wonder why would St. Augustine placed humility higher than love. Doesn’t St. Paul tell us to seek the greater gift which is love? Humility is a virtue that enables us to see ourselves as we are in the eyes of God, nothing more, nothing less. It is in this way that we can love God and others for their sakes and not ours. Humility gives us the correct lens to look at life. It doesn’t distort life or others in anyway, but enables us to see through the eyes of God: Him, others and ourselves. We see and embrace reality as is. We live in the truth.

"How necessary it is to cultivate a spirit of joy. It is a psycho­logical truth that the physical acts of reverence and devotion make one feel devout. The courteous gesture increases one's respect for others. To act lovingly is to begin to feel loving, and certainly to act joyfully brings joy to others which in turn makes one feel joyful. I believe we are called to the duty of delight" (Dorothy Day).

 

To be joyful is a choice, just as to be gloomy is a choice. The joy of the world revolves around the pleasures of the world. The joy that God offers us revolves around the truth that sets us free. What is that truth? To know that we are loved for who we are! We see that joy, many times, in the relationship between engaged couples preparing for marriage. Their joy is manifested in their mutual love. Knowing that I am loved by God and that I love God should bring forth within me a joy that delights me and witnesses to others. 

“God rejoices.  Not because the problems of the world have been solved, not because all human pain and suffering have come to an end, nor because thousands of people have been converted and are now praising him for his goodness.  No, God rejoices because one of his children who was lost has been found.  What I am called to is to enter into that joy.  It is God's joy, not the joy that the world offers.  It is the joy that comes from seeing a child walk home amid all the destruction, devastation, and anguish of the world” (Henri Nouwen).

 

Jesus said that there is more joy in heaven when one sinner repents. Just think about it. Every time we recognize our sinfulness and return to the Lord with a repentant heart, the saints and angels rejoice with God. And when we so repent and return to the Lord, we too have a new sense of joy and freedom. Parents, I think, experiences a sense of this heavenly joy when they see their children move away from destructive habits. So, if we want God to rejoice in us, put aside sin and return to the Lord; put aside sin and share in his own divine life. 

 

Homily: Twelfth Sunday Year B

Reading 1: Job was once rich, comfortable, respected, blessed. Then he lost everything, became an object of mockery, afflicted with physical problems.  His friends said it was because of some sin of Job. But Job maintained his innocence. He wanted to know why God had done all this to him, since he was innocent. He wanted God to give an account of himself to Job. The creature confronting the Creator, the pot it’s maker, the finite against the infinite.

God’s response was profound and simple. Remember who I am and who you are. Where were you, God says, when I created the universe and calmed the power of the stormy sea? In all the questions God put before Job, Job had no answers. He finally realizes that God is God and that in his humanity he understood so little of all reality.

Have we been so arrogant or audacious before God? Have we ever been angry with God and demanded to know why such and such was happening in our life? Have we ever reversed roles, thinking we had a right to demand from God answers? Sometimes we forget who we really are in relationship to God and who God is to us.

At the end Job repents of his arrogance and lack of understanding. He submitted to the will of God without the need of further understanding.

Gospel: Though the apostles heard Jesus’ teachings and saw the many signs and wonders, they still did not know who Jesus really was. They were committed to him as disciples. They followed and learned from him, but they could walk away at any time, as some did. Up to that point he was not the Lord of their life, the center of their existence.

So when they experienced a moment of test, they showed they were more concerned about their own safety rather than him; they did not believe that as long as he was with them, he would care for them in all circumstances. They panic as the storm worsened. “Do you not care that we are perishing?” Their focus was on themselves, not on Jesus. 

How many times have we experienced various storms in our lives and have felt that Jesus was asleep or that he was not concerned? Like the Apostles, we fail to remember that God is always with us for a purpose. God is always aware of what is happening in our lives. In those difficult moments, we are called to trust that God has a plan that we don’t understand. It is a time to entrust our lives to God, who is the source of all things.  

Reading 2: Paul provides us with the central mystery of our faith and its consequences in our lives. Christ died for all to remove our alienation from God as a result of sin. Because of his death and resurrection, we are a new creation. The old things—that which led us into sin—have passed away and the new life of relationship with Christ is present in us. As a result, love of Christ for what he has done for us should motivate all we do and are.

The way we look at things should have changed.  In other words, a conversion of heart and mind and way of life should have taken place. Before I may have seen and known Jesus as an historical figure, as someone others have told me about, as one among many.  Now, after all he has done for and in me, do I know him as the Lord and Savior of my life? Do I live for myself or do I live for Christ, who gave his life that I may live? Are we compelled by the love of God for us to respond with love?

God never forces his love upon us. He loves us and waits for our response. We can receive as little or as much of his love as we are open to him.

 

“Let the brothers ever avoid appearing gloomy, sad, and clouded, like the hypocrites; but let one ever be found joyous in the Lord, amiable, gracious” (St. Francis of Assisi).

 

No one wants to be associated with people who are always negative, unhappy and going through life with a sense of drudgery. We enjoy, rather, being with people who evidence a “joie de vive”, the joy of life. Isn’t that true? Look at the people you prefer to be around. Vinegar doesn’t attract, but honey does. If we want to be a witness for Jesus, witness his joy and see the difference it will make, both in you and in others. As Jesus said, let your good deeds shine before others so that they may give glory to God. Let it begin with a sincere smile in your heart and on your face.

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary: Gospel B

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to them, "Let us cross to the other side." Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was.

· Do we invite Jesus into the everyday events of our lives? Do we consciously ask Jesus to go with us to different experiences?

       ● How responsive are we to the lead of Jesus when he invites us to follow him without telling us the details?

And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"

        Do we feel that Jesus is not there when we need him the most?

● Do you think that the disciples tried to take care of the situation first like most of us? Then when we can’t handle it, we turn and ask help. Why do we wait so long before asking Jesus for help?

He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!" The wind ceased and there was great calm. 

● Like his dealing with demons within people, Jesus speaks a word of command and even the winds and seas obey. What does this say about Jesus? 

Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" 

● How strong is our faith in times of crises?

● If we are aware that Jesus is with us at all times, even if he seems to be “silent”, do we think that he will let anything harm us with eternal consequences?

● Recall the times in the past we knew Jesus was present with us, but we still panic in the midst of some major difficulty.

They were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?" 

● What do we learn from this passage that we can incorporate into our relationship with Jesus?

● What is Jesus saying to us as we reflect on this passage?

● Will we act differently next time?

 

 

“Joy is the certain sign that life has achieved its goal”. (Henri Bergson)

 

What is the goal of our life? Why do we exist? We have been created, as we once learned, “to know, love and serve the Lord and be happy with him forever.” This joy doesn’t begin in heaven. Our joy begins in the present moment and continues as we know, love and serve the Lord. Doing the will of the Father brought great joy to Jesus in the present moment. But Jesus’ joy was also focused on him glorifying the Father and experiencing the glory of the Father once more. So too should joy be for us, doing the will of the Father in the present moment. Joy in the present moment will become joy in the eternal moment, where we will experience the glory of God. God is the God of joy, not of sadness.

“The trouble with many people is that they have got just enough religion to make them miserable. If there is not joy in religion, you have got a leak in your religion” (Billy Sunday).

 

Unfortunately, this is true for many people. Religion is an obligation, not a joy. Jesus identified the religious practice of the Pharisees as a matter of keeping the law externally, but there was emptiness within. They lacked joy.  He could say the same thing about some of us. When we go to pray, is there a sense of joy in being in the Lord’s presence or is there a heaviness in our hearts? George Bernanos once wrote: “Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.” When we are in God’s presence how can we not have a joyful heart! He is the I AM, our Creator, sustainer, redeemer, sanctifier, our anointer. Knowing this, Paul tells us to “Rejoice always in the Lord.” Start now by smiling as you recall God's love and presence in this moment.

  

“Joy is essential to the spiritual life. Whatever we may think of or say about God, when we are not joyful, our thoughts and words cannot bear fruit. Jesus reveals to us God’s love so that his joy may become ours and that our joy may become complete. Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing—sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death—can take that love away.   “Joy is not the same as happiness. We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be there because it comes from the knowledge of God’s love for us. . .  Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us” (Henri Nouwen).   How joyful a person are you? How joyful are the people around you? Why is it that there is joy, for the most part, between people who are engaged before marriage? They are in love and know that they are loved. They can’t hide their joy. Should that same realization motivate our lives? Joy is the fruit of love. When we love and are loved, then that reality brings us a sense of joy and fulfillment. For the reason of my joy is the reality of God’s love for me. Human beings may disappoint me, but God’s love is steadfast. “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

 

 

Homily Eleventh Sunday Year B

Reading 1: In the first reading the prophet Ezekiel is proclaiming words of comfort to a people in exile. They are shattered. Their former greatness as a nation has been destroyed. They see themselves as nobodies with no leader, no direction, no hope. Ezekiel says in this and all situations God is their hope. God is going to do something new. He will restore them. God will transfer his people from a kingdom of oppression, poverty and misery to a kingdom of justice, prosperity and peace of mind.

 According to the laws of botany, you don’t expect to top off a tender shot from the crest of a great tree and expect it to become a great tree in turn. And yet from the worse scenario Ezekiel says that God is going to bring about a new and mightier kingdom, one that will last forever. This is the future messianic Kingdom which will proclaim the presence, the power and the plan of God. What seems impossible in the limited sight of human beings is possible for God, who is the beginning and end of all good things. The shoot here refers to God’s faithful remnants who remained steadfast in the midst of adversity and who in turn formed the nucleus of Israel after the exile.

It was out of these faithful remnants that God’s Anointed would emerge. The twig is figurative of the future Messiah. Isaiah touched on the same image in referring to the future Messiah when he says a shoot shall rise from the stump of Jesse. This Davidic figure will bring protection and prosperity to the “birds” who live on his branches. And all the other trees around this noble tree will know that the Lord is God because of the figure. Ezekiel is proclaiming a way forward for ancient Israel, a way that preserves some continuity with the old way of life — it is a twig from the top of a current tree. But a way that imagines something new as well. A new location. A new tree. New branches. Where Babylon had brought low its royal captive, God would raise up a mighty tree offering shelter for all kinds of bird and wild animal.

It is God’s direct intervention and initiative that is emphasized. God takes, sets, breaks off, plants, brings low, makes high, dries up, and makes flourish. God controls the action in the whole process. The tree will grow and produce fruit, but even these actions are under the watchful attention of God.

Gospel: Mark gives us two of the many parables of Jesus. Both deal with the fruitfulness of the seed.  In the first parable, even though the farmer scatters the seed on the land, he doesn’t produce the fruit. He can prepare the soil; he can cultivate the plant but its growth comes about by the providential plan of God in the appropriate time. So it will be with the kingdom of God, which is the Church that Jesus initially established with a small group of disciples. In spite of the human dimension of the Church, which at times has hindered its growth, the divine dimension under the guidance of the Holy Spirit has brought fruitfulness over the centuries.

In the second parable, small as the mustard seed is, it develops into a tree. Though the mustard tree generally averages only nine to twelve feet in height, it has a wide expanse and provides a nesting place for birds. Just as the tree welcomes the birds, so is God’s kingdom welcoming and open to many.

Jesus teaches something quite radical through these parables. He teaches that God’s Kingdom though begun in dishonor and ignominy, namely his death on the cross as a condemned criminal, will reach its fulfilment in a way that defies human expectations.

 Ezekiel reminds us through the symbol of the shoot that we must learn to not to lose hope in the face of adversity; we must learn to live the fallow time deeply and humbly. Jesus similarly challenges us to work for the coming of the Kingdom even if the desired result is not yet in sight.

Reading 2: Paul reminds us that as members of the Kingdom of God in the present moment, our home is not here, but with the Lord. Because of this mystery and truth, we live now in faith, hope and love, even though we do not see the fullness of the Kingdom yet in our lives. Our faith is in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Our hope is in his promise to be with us always and to bring us into the fullness of his eternal life. Love is to be our way of life, choosing to do all things out of love of Christ. For we know that one day at the end of our earthly existence, God will judge us. What kind of disciples have we been? What have we done to bring forth his kingdom by our words and deeds? How have we embraced his Word? Our eternal salvation will depend on the way we live in the present moment.

James A. Garfield, prior to serving as President of the United States, was president of Hiram College in Ohio. One day a father asked Garfield if there were a short-cut whereby his son could get through college in less than the usual four years. He wanted his son to get on with making money.

The college president gave this reply,

“Of course there is a way; it all depends on what you want your boy to do. When God wants to grow an oak tree, he takes 100 years. When he wants to make a squash, he only takes two months.”

 

What is our vision, what is God’s vision for us? Are we in this journey for the long haul or for the easiest?

 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God remains for ever” (Isaiah 40:8) While the word of God endures forever, because it is God’s word and thus true, will that word bear fruit in our lives? We hear the word of God with our ears, but do we hear it in our hearts? For his word to bear God’s desired effects in our lives, we have to reflect on it, digest it and act on it. Otherwise God’s word remains his and not ours. Whether we allow his word to transform us or not, it will bear fruit with or without us. God said his word would not return to him void. Jesus said that he will not judge us, but we will be judged by his word. Remember this the next time you hear God’s word.

 "Of one thing I am sure. Complaining is self-perpetuating and counterproductive. Whenever I express my complaints in the hope of evoking pity and receiving the satisfaction I so much desire, the result is always the opposite of what I tried to get. A complainer is hard to live with, and very few people know how to respond to the complaints made by a self-rejecting person. The tragedy is that, often, the complaint, once expressed, leads to that which is most feared: further rejection....Joy and resentment cannot coexist" (Henri Nouwen).

Do we find this true in our experience? We have all fallen into this trap of the Father of lies. It is easy to complain than to be silent. There may be reason to complain. Yet, it doesn't solve anything. It is one thing to identify something that is wrong and another to complain. One is productive and proactive, while the other is negative and destructive. To complain is not a virtue. To seek a solution is.

Eleventh Sunday Gospel B

Jesus said to the crowds:

“This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit,

first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”

· Jesus teaches using the experiences of the people of his day. They planted and farmed. So, they could relate to his teachings. 

· Underlying this is the role of God in the process. The seed was not created by the farmer. The land was not created by the farmer. The sun and the rain were not created by the farmer. He plants and tends but it the providential work of God that is manifested.

· Jesus says that the Kingdom of God will grow the same way. God has planted the desire in the hearts of people for something more. Those who proclaim and share the Good News of God’s love are those who touch the core of the hearer’s heart. The fruit is the response of the hearer.

 He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a  mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”

· Like the mustard seed which is small and seemingly insignificant, the Kingdom of God will such at the beginning. But through the grace of God in the working of those who proclaim the truth of salvation and in the hearers, the Church will spread far and wide and many will be part of it.

· The question we need to ask ourselves is what is our part in this mysterious growth? First, we are the hearers who benefit from the outreach and ministry of others. But we are also called to give to others what we have received. This is also the process of the growth. We can’t just be satisfied to receive; we must be fruitful by passing on the Good News. 

With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private. 

 “The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior, who will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, who will sing joyfully because of you, as on festival days” (Zephaniah 3:17-18)

 

How often we need to remind ourselves that the Lord delights in us. Why does he delight in us? He sees what we do not see. He sees us as someone he freely chose to create in his own image and likeness. He sees our goodness. He sees us as someone he freely chose to give his life, so that we can share in his life. He sees us as someone he desires to dwell with him forever. In other words, God delights in us because, as Love, he loves us and wants us to be truly happy, not just here but eternally.  He delights in us because he sees what no one else can see, the fullness of our potential. He delights in helping us achieve that potential for our sake. That potential is our destiny: to be one with him eternally. As he delights in us so we should delight in him.

“Solitude is listening to the voice that calls you the Beloved. It is being alone with the One who says, ‘You are my Beloved, I want to be with you. Don’t go running around, don’t start to prove to everybody that you’re beloved. You are already beloved.’ That is what God says to us. Solitude is the place where we go in order to hear the truth about ourselves. It asks us to let go of the other ways of proving, which are a lot more satisfying. The voice that calls us the beloved is not the voice that satisfies the senses. That’s what the whole mystical life is about; it is beyond feelings and beyond thoughts.” (Henri Nouwen)

 

Are we afraid of solitude, because we are afraid to hear the truth about ourselves? We are quick to believe the lie that we are not loved; we are a failure. It is the lie that has controlled us for years. And so we run, hoping that the inner voice of the Beloved will be blocked. But each time we stop and be still, we hear the truth once more. We are like the person in the poem, The Hound of Heaven. We feel hounded and so we run, until finally when we can’t run any longer we stop to face that voice. We cry out “Why are you chasing me?” We hear the truth once more: “I love you. Come into the silence and learn the meaning of my love.” Enter into the silence of solitude. 

"This sacred bread when eaten is not changed into our substance, but rather changes us into itself" (St. Augustine). Later, Pope St. Leo the Great would say the same thing: "The effect of our sharing in the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what we receive."

Here is another aspect of the mystery of the Eucharist. The regular food we eat is changed into us, becomes part of us. But when we eat the Body and Blood of Jesus, we are the ones changed. We share in his own divine life. What is changed through transubstantiation, now transforms us, enabling us to be one with God. That is why Paul said: "I live now, not I, but Christ Jesus in me."

The human eye does not see the change in substance of the bread and wine into the Body of Blood of Jesus. The eyes of faith proclaims the mystery. So the human eye does not see the transformation occurring within us through the reception of the Body and Blood of Jesus. But the eyes of faith do. Our response is to continue to live in and with Jesus, so that this transformation can be completed in death.

Jesus promised to be within us and to be with us. Jesus fulfills the promise to be with us in his Eucharistic presence in the Tabernacle. This is the new Holy of Holies in the New Meeting Tent. In the Old Testament, God chose to be present with his Chosen People through the sign of his Shekina glory. In the New Testament, God chooses to be present with us through the sacramental presence of his Body and Blood. A revelation and a mystery to be embraced in faith and love, unworthy as we are to be so gifted! How often do we spend time with Jesus in the Tabernacle? He is there for us, because he loves us, desiring to remain with us. How strong is our desire to be with him? This is a foreshadowing of being with him in his presence eternally. 

Homily Feast of Corpus Christi Year B

 

Reading 1: God has revealed to Moses the conditions of the Covenant that he will enter into with the Chosen People. These conditions are the Commandments and their ramifications. These conditions reflect a way of life God is calling the people to exhibit. The people’s response was straightforward: “We will do everything that the Lord has told us.” Yes. Amen. We accept and dedicate ourselves to this way of life.

 

In those days Covenants were sealed with the sign of blood. The blood was a symbol of the life of the animal sacrificed. So Moses makes a sacrifice to God and uses the blood of the sacrificed animal to ratify and close the agreement, the Covenant. He splashed the blood on the altar which represents God. He again reads the commands of the Lord to the people, so that they knew what they were agreeing to. Again, they responded: “All that the Lord has said, we will do and heed.” Then Moses sprinkled the blood on them.  Moses then said: “This is the blood that seals the covenant between you and God.

 

In baptism we became sons and daughters of God, entering into a covenant with God. That covenant was sealed not with the blood of an animal, but with the blood of Christ on the cross. By his suffering and death, we were saved and set free from the bonds of sin. Each time we celebrate the Eucharist, we renew that covenant again through the blood of Christ. Our profession of faith is akin to the response of the people to Moses.

 

Gospel: The Last Supper was the Passover Meal for Jesus and his apostles. It connected the observant Jew with the Exodus event, when God delivered his people from the bondage of Egyptian slavery. They were to eat a roasted lamb, sprinkle its blood on the lintel of their doors. Seeing the blood, the angel of death passed over their homes.

 

Every year at Passover, the people would remind themselves through the ritual Passover meal of the mighty deeds of God, saving their ancestors and them. In this meal they renewed in the present moment their covenant with God.

 

Knowing that he was the new Passover Lamb, Jesus says “Take this bread and eat of it, for it is my Body.” “Take this cup for it is the Blood of the New Covenant, I am establishing with you.” This new Passover meal was anticipating the sacrifice of his life for the salvation of the world on the cross the next day.

Jesus’ final words to the Apostles was “Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”  According to the Passover meal, there were four cups of wine consumed. When Jesus said, “This is my blood of the covenant”, it was the third cup of wine. They did not drink the fourth cup because this Passover meal would not be completed until the final moments of Jesus’ life on the cross.

 

At the end of his agony on the cross, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “I thirst”. St. John tells us: “There was a jar there, full of common wine. They stuck a sponge soaked in this wine on some hyssop and raised it to his lips. When Jesus took the win, he said, ‘Now it is finished.’ Then he bowed his head, and delivered over his spirit.” This was the fourth cup of wine. What was finished was this New Passover Meal and sacrifice. Like the Apostles were told, so are we: “Do this in memory of me.”

 

In faith we believe that when the words of Jesus are said at the time of the consecration are said, bread is changed substantially into the Body of Christ and wine is changed substantially into the Blood of Christ. What we eat and drink is the real Body and Blood of Jesus, not a symbol or representation. He told us this in the sixth chapter of John. “My body is real food and my blood real drink. If you eat my body and drink my blood, you shall live forever.” This is the sacrifice of thanksgiving we now make to God for Jesus’ gift of salvation.

 

It is also a meal in which we have communion with God. He remains in us and we in him. He renews the gift of his divine life which we received in Baptism, so that when we die we may die sharing in his divine life eternally.

 

Reading 2: The author of Hebrews reminds us of the greater significance of the blood of Christ, shed upon the cross, in comparison to the blood of animals offered in the Old Covenant. First of all, we recognize that God choose to become man, so that his blood, as the God/Man may be the perfect sacrifice to the Father. The blood of the animals signified external purification not the internal reconciliation from sin and its effects.

 

The blood of Jesus offered on the cross for our redemption purifies our conscience of sin. This first purification takes place in baptism. But like the OT people, we have broken our baptismal covenant by not observing the commands of the Lord and not living a way of holiness, for we too have sinned. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, our sins are once more forgiven through the death and resurrection of Jesus. In receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus in Eucharist, we profess: “Say the word and my soul shall be healed.”  Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ does not heal the sins that separate us from God but those that cool our relationship. 

Jesus promised to be with us and within us. He fulfills this double promise in the gift of the Eucharist. Jesus, in giving us his Body and Blood, shares his very life with us. This was the intent of the parable of the vine and the branches. He remains in us and we in him. In the words of St Paul: “I live now, not I, but Christ in me.” A revelation and a mystery to be embraced in faith and love, unworthy as we are to be so gifted! How aware of we of this communion when we receive him? How aware are we that this sharing in his life lasts longer than a few minutes? We share in his life—this communion—as long as we remain free from serious sin. Right now are you sharing in his life? Aware of that will that help us deal with sin differently? 

FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI: GOSPEL REFLECTIONS B

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?" 

The Passover was the most sacred event in the life of the Chosen people, since it marked the deliverance of God’s people from their bondage in Egypt. But it was a past event that was celebrated each year. For the covenanted Israelites the Passover Meal was a way of making present what God had and was doing in their lives this year.

Though the Passover lamb was sacrificed at the temple, each family was to eat the traditional Passover meal at home as a renewal of their covenant with God.

He sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?"' Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there."

How did Jesus know? This is another example of the exercise of the gift of Word of Knowledge by Jesus in his humanity. Recall the time that Jesus told Peter to go fishing and the first fish he caught he would find in its mouth the coin sufficient to pay the temple tax. Or the time Jesus told the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well that she had been married five times and the man she was living with was not her husband. This same gift has been given to each of us. We need to be open and act on the lead of the Holy Spirit

The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover. While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body."

        In recalling this event the Gospel writer is also alluding to the feeding of the crowd through the multiplication of bread. There Jesus did the same gestures: took, blessed, broke and gave it.

In the midst of the traditional Passover Meal Jesus establishes the new covenant. He fulfills the promise he made in John 6. That promise was to give his Body to us for food and his Blood for drink.

Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.

In the Old Testament, the various covenants that God made with his people were sealed by the sign of blood. The night of the first Passover, the people took the blood of the slain lamb and smeared it on their doorposts. As a result the angel of death passed over their homes and spared the first-born within.

Jesus is anticipating his sacrifice on the cross the next day in which he will shed his blood for the salvation of the world. He is the new Passover Lamb who gave his life that we may have life to the fullest.

Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." 

Recall that Jesus refused to drink the wine on the soaked hyssop when it was offered to him on the cross.   

Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives

With what attitude do we approach the Eucharist?

Do I recognize in faith that in our celebrating the Eucharist we too are making present today what Jesus did at the Last Supper and on Calvary?  Is there a sense of awe and wonder or a sense of déjà vu?

What is God asking us to do this week to respond to this gift of His Body and Blood?  

When Jesus first revealed that he would give us his Body and Blood to eat and drink, some of his disciples found this teaching too hard to accept. Jesus went to the core of their difficulty. “Does this shake your faith in me?” Reason doesn’t lead us to acceptance of the Eucharist as truly Jesus. Only faith enable us to see beyond the visible to the reality. But it is faith in the person of Jesus who revealed the mystery. Peter stated it well. His many personal encounters with Jesus enabled him to say. “We have believed, and we recognize that you are the Christ, the Son of God.” (John 6:70). In other words, Peter accepted the words of Jesus, because of who Jesus is, even though he didn’t understand.

 

Because of our faith in the Risen Lord, we believe in what he taught and did. Our faith, like Peter’s, is based on our personal encounters with Jesus. If Jesus can change water into wine and raise the dead to life, why can’t he change bread and wine into his own Body and Blood. After all, he is true God and true Man. Faith is not subject to personal interpretation. It accepts the truth spoken because of the  person who speaks this truth.