Homily Thirty-first Sunday Year B

 

Reading 1: When we talk about our relationship to God, what words best express that reality? Fear and Love: two seemingly strong opposites. We began our reading with the words, Fear the Lord and then we heard, Love the Lord.  Scripture speaks of fear of the Lord as the beginning of one’s relationship to God and love as the end of that relationship. But it is not fear from our normal understanding but fear in sense of awe and reverence before the Lord, who is God.

 

Because of this awe due to the Lord, we are urged to keep the commands of the Lord out of our love for God in response to his love for us.

 

Years ago someone reflected on a person’s maturation throughout life and applied to our spiritual journey, which depends on the reason and purpose of each of our decisions. He said that our initial reason for acting is usually fear of punishment. Then we act out of hope of a reward. Then we learn to do things out of obligation. Then we make decisions based on wanting to be accepted by others. Then we come to the point of making decisions out of our free choice. Finally, he said that the ultimate and highest motivation for our decision becomes love.

 

When God revealed his Commands to his people with the expectation of them being obeyed, the people did so for the most part out of fear of punishment, out of hope of reward, out of obligation, etc. He desired them to do it out of love. “Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, etc.”

 

Reading 2: The reading identifies three roles that Jesus, out of love for us, has taken on. He is our Intercessor, our High Priest and our Savior. He chose to be each simply out of love of the Father and out of love for us. Seated at the right hand of the Father, he now intercedes for us as we journey to the Father. What he intercedes for is us to be eternally with God in glory.

 

As High Priest, he offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sake. In so doing he became our Lord and Savior, reconciling us to the Father and to one another. This is how much he has shown his immense love for us.

 

Gospel: Jesus perfectly lived in his humanity the love of God. His response to the Scribe was not just pious words but the reality he lived.  Love of God primarily and subsequently love of others were the hallmarks of Jesus’ life.  As such, Jesus has become the pattern for each of us as we seek to be his disciples and live in love.

 

The Scribe could be each of us. We come to Jesus seeking the truth, desiring to be faithful to God. In asking his question the Scribe is a lawyer, who is aware of the many additional commands of the Law that were imposed as an obligation upon people. He was seeking simplification.

 

The answer Jesus gave him was the very prayer called the Shema each covenanted Jew recited several times a day. The Scribe acknowledges that Jesus spoke the truth. In turn, Jesus affirms the Scribe with one difference. To know the right answer is the first step. Now, it was important that the Scribe live in the truth, not by saying the words only but by choosing to love God and others out of love.

 

To know the truth with understanding shows that we are not far from the Kingdom of God. To live the truth with conviction and commitment is to be in the Kingdom of God. To be not far from the Kingdom of God is different from being actually in the Kingdom of God. It is the difference between eternally not being in God’s presence and eternally being with the Lord. The difference is determined by the reality of our love of God and others.

 “In the difficulties which are placed before me, why should I not act like a donkey? When one speaks ill of him – the donkey says nothing. When he is mistreated – he says nothing. When he is forgotten – he says nothing. When no food is given him – he says nothing. When he is made to advance – he says nothing. When he is despised – he says nothing. When he is overburdened – he says nothing. The true servant of God must do likewise, and say with David: “Before Thee I have become like a beast of burden.”  Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez (1533-1617)

 

A Saint is one who has learned to curb the human passions and responses that will not befit one who is trying to be holy like God is holy. These passions and responses have one focus, self. The Saint has another focus, the Other. In my human passions and responses have I satisfied God or myself? Dying to self is very hard, unless one is in love with someone greater. Dying to self is to allow myself to be striped of anything and everything that is not pleasing to God. Jesus, the Son of God, was ill-treated in his life but did not retaliate. In this way he shows us how we are to follow in his footsteps into glory.

 Thirty-first Sunday Gospel B

One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well Jesus had answered them, asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" 

· Most of the times the scribes question Jesus, not because they are looking for answers, but to trap Jesus. However, as we will see, this scribe probably is seeking the truth from Jesus.

· The reason he asked this question was that the rabbis had indicated there were as many as 613 commandments that the people were to follow. How often, as human beings, we complicate things when God makes things so simple?

Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 

· What did Jesus do? He took the first three commandments of the 10 that reflect our relationship with God and said the first commandment is to love God totally with our whole being. Then he took the other seven commandments of the 10 that focus on our relationship with others and said that we must love others.

· Later Jesus will simplify things even further by saying: “I give you a new commandment: Love (God and others) as I have loved you.”

· Love is the great commandment. Everything can be boiled down to this one command.

The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.' And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." 

· What was the wisdom Jesus showed that impressed the scribe? He simplified things without compromising truth, while others complicated them.

· How simplified or complicated is our life? How can we simplify it?

And when Jesus saw that (he) answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." 

· To know the truth puts one not far from the kingdom. However, one does not embrace the kingdom until one acts upon the truth and lives it as best as possible.

· We know the truth. How well are we living the “two” commandments, that are in reality one. Is love of God and others the motive underlying everything we do?

And no one dared to ask him any more questions. 

· This week what can we do to put this teaching into practice?

 “Just as the mere memory of fire, doesn’t seem warm to the body, so also faith, without love doesn’t produce the light of knowledge in the soul.” St. Maximus the Confesssor (+662)

 

Love is the primary key to the fullness of life and the fullness of relationship. It is this love between ourselves and God that enables us to believe the truths of revelation without fully appreciating all that is contained within. Because of the love of a child for the parent, the child believes what the parent says because the parent said it. Later, the adult child realizes why the parent said what they did. That is why God, who loves us first, calls us to love in return, so that we can accept what he teaches us, because he is who he is. As we grow in love, we will be better able to see the gradual flowering of his revelation with new understanding.

 “It is because of faith that we exchange the present for the future. “St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1577-1622)

 

The present we see and experience. The future we do not see. Because of the promises of Jesus, we believe that we are not meant to live on earth forever, but to live with God eternally. This present life is one of sight. Life beyond the grave is a life of love and peace. As we live in the present moment, our faith is in the words of Jesus. “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.^”  (John 14:3) Believing in Jesus, I want to exchange the present away from the Lord for the future with the Lord.

 “Arise my soul, and review your deeds which have preceded from you. Scrutinize them closely, and shed the rain of your tears, declaring openly to Christ your thoughts and deeds, so that you may be justified.” St. Andrew of Crete (650-740)

 

Our deeds are our many sins over a life time. Like the sand on the shore, too many to begin to count. Our tears flow from a contrite and humble heart, deeply repentant. Our justification comes from the death and resurrection of Jesus, Our Savior, who took upon himself all our sins. Our deeds are our own. Our tears are ours, moved by the grace of God. Our justification is totally from Christ. We are the recipients and benefactors of his righteousness on our behalf. The desire to sin no more is ours by grace. The decision to repent and move on in the new life from God is ours by grace. But the justification is responded to with the grace of gratitude and firm amendment of heart.

 "Christian perfection consists in three things: praying heroically, working heroically, and suffering heroically. St. Anthony Claret (1807-1870)

What does this mean or look like? I think that St. Paul summarized this way of living in these words. "And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." "Heroically" is not meant to be understood from the aspect of quantity but quality. It is not the time we spend in prayer, or work or suffering, but the focus of our prayer, work or suffering. Some saints were called by God to greater prayer, work and suffering. However, most saints lived ordinary lives, doing ordinary things in an extraordinary way, namely, living a life in union with Jesus. That is the road for most of us.

 

Homily Thirtieth Sunday Year B

Reading 1: The prophet Jeremiah’s earlier words from the Lord to the Chosen People was repent and return to the Lord. If they did not repent, then they would be overcome by their enemies and sent into exile for seventy years. The people did not heed the word of the Lord and suffered the consequences of their rejection of the Covenant. In exile, they recognize that their chastisement was the result of their sins and the sins of their leaders against God.

 

In our first reading, Jeremiah now gives the people in exile a word of hope. He tells them what was to come, how they are to respond and why was it to happen. What was to come? God would deliver them from exile and return them to the Promised Land, no matter how scattered, broken or scattered they were. As God led their ancestors from bondage in Egypt to the Promise Land, he will do the same for them. Why was it to happen? God is a father to his people. He has covenanted himself to them and them to him. The God who showed his power in chastisement is the God who will show his power in restoration. What seems impossible to them is possible to God. What should their response be? Shout with joy, exalt, proclaim and acknowledge what God has and was doing.

 

How can we apply this to us today? Jesus delivered us from the bondage of sin once for all ant that grace is present to us, when we fall again and again. We are called to repent and return to the Lord. Why would he so love us? We are his, we belong to him by virtue of creation, redemption and adoption. What shall our response be? We are called, not only to praise and give thanks, but make a firm decision to remain faithful to our heavenly Father.

 

These are the facts but what is the reality in our life? What has been our past history? What is our reality today?

 

Gospel: The background of our Gospel today is the spiritual blindness of the Apostles. Jesus revealed to them that he was the expected Messiah who would suffer a cruel death but rise again. Their response was summed up by Peter. This was not their understanding of the Messiah. They were thinking of their power and authority which they would exercise in the kingdom Jesus would restore. Last Sunday, Jesus shared that the Messiah has come to lay down his life, to serve not to be served.

 

In today’s reading, a man recognized his physical blindness, but he had spiritual insight. He believed that Jesus could heal him and would heal him. He professed Jesus as the Son of David, the Messiah. He remained resolute in spite of the negative reactions of the crowd. He trusted in the4 word of Jesus, “what do you want me to do for you?”  His faith, acceptance, openness and trust in Jesus opened him to the healing he desired. His spiritual insight led to his physical sight, which led to his physical and spiritual commitment to Jesus. He followed him. He became a disciple. He didn’t receive the gift of physical sight and just walked away. His encounter with Jesus would not allow him to be the same after as before. If it did, he would not be grateful. To be touched by Jesus means that one become more committed to him. To be more committed means we become more aware of other areas of spiritual blindness within for Jesus to heal.

 

What are our areas of spiritual blindness? Do we really believe that Jesus can free us? Do we call upon him with conviction and hope? Do we do what he asks us to do? Are we so trusting in him that nothing else matters?

 

Reading 2: The Son was called by the Father to be the Priest/Victim for our sake. He was called to embrace the cross, to give his life as an offering in reparation for our sins, so that we could live with God forever. What was Jesus’ response? Obedience even to death by crucifixion.  Why? He knew the Father’s love and he loved the Father and loved us. It was this bond of love that enable Jesus to embraced the role of victim for our sake. He is our justification and righteousness. Through his loving obedience he sets us an example.

 

“Our union in heaven will depend upon our communion with God on earth.” St. Luigi Guanella (1842-1915)

 

If we kept this in mind throughout our day, reminding ourselves of the truth of this statement, then how would we live each day? Would we ask ourselves often how does what I am doing or saying affect my eternal salvation?  Yes, we will fall short many times. But the very awareness of this reality will bring us back to the right track. As Paul attests: “In him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)

 Thirtieth Sunday Gospel B

They came to Jericho. 

· Jericho is located about fifteen miles northeast of Jerusalem, five miles west of the Jordan River, and six miles north of the Dead Sea. It is the last major city before climbing up to Jerusalem.

And as Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. 

· It was not uncommon in those days for beggars to be on the main roadways begging for help.

· Imagine yourself being Bartimaeus. Try to feel what he may have felt at the moment.

On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." 

· What is unusual about his statement? He is physically blind, but he has the spiritual insight to recognize Jesus as the son of David, the one promised to come. Imagine his faith expectancy.

· In your spiritual blindness cry out to Jesus from your heart. Imagine your faith expectancy.

And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. 

· How many times have others tried to prevent us from both recognizing Jesus and coming to him in our own journey?

·

But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me." 

· How persistent have we been in crying out to Jesus in our times of our own spiritual blindness?

· Like him we cannot stop crying out from our inner need.

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, he is calling you." He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 

· When Jesus calls us out of our spiritual blind state, how quickly do we respond?

· Imagine the scene and yourself being Bartimaeus.

Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" 

· Be still and listen to Jesus say the same thing to you.

The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." 

· What do you want from Jesus? What is the spiritual blindness that you want to be freed from? What is that area of sin that keeps you away from him?

Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. 

· Do you believe that Jesus wants to do the same for you here and now? What is needed on your part?

· What is the process that we see in this story which is the way Jesus wants to work in our lives as well?

· How can you respond to Jesus this week that reflects the meaning of this passage?

 “There is no evil to be faced that Christ does not face with us. There is no enemy that Christ has not already conquered. There is no cross to bear that Christ has not already borne for us, and does not now bear with us. And on the far side of every cross we find the newness of life in the Holy Spirit, that new life which will reach its fulfillment in the resurrection. This is our faith. This is our witness before the world.” St. John Paul II (1920-2005)

 

No matter the situation, in the darkest dungeons of the soul, on the loneliest deserted island, or in the whirlwind of the business of life, Jesus is there with us. That is his promise in the Scriptures. This is a consistent word in the Scriptures. “Be not afraid. I am with you.” Only with the eyes of faith and love can we see the truth of his presence. Without these eyes, we experience the blindness that comes from darkness. In all the experiences of life we are called to walk by faith and not by sight. This faith is like the night-vision device that enables one to see clearly in the dark. With Jesus, as the song states, “You’ll never walk alone.”

 “I appeal therefore first to you, my brethren, who, having committed crimes refuse penance! You, I say, who are timid after being shameless, who are bashful after sinning! You who are not ashamed to sin, but are ashamed to confess! You who bring to God a polluted soul and a profane body, as if, because God is silent, he does not know! Hear what the Lord has done, and then what he has said.” St. Pacian of Barcelona (310-391)

 

The Scriptures are clear about what the Lord thinks when we come into his presence with blemished lives without repentance. The words of Jesus to the religious leaders of his day could be equally applied to some who enter Church on Sunday. “Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me.’” (Matthew 15:7-9) Yes, the Church is a place for both saints and sinners, saints who know they are sinners; sinners, who wish to return to the Lord, seeking forgiveness.  But it is the hypocrisy of those who are unrepentant sinners appearing to be saints, which offends the Lord. Come into his presence with contrite and humble hearts and he will raise you up.

 “If we have offended the Lord, let us not increase grief upon grief, doubting His forgiveness; if we have reviled His holiness and justice, let us at least honor His mercy; and while the whole world sings of His goodness, would our heart be the only one hesitating to pay Him this praise?” St. Joseph Cafasso (1811-1860)

 

The classic sin of Judas was not that he betrayed Jesus for money, but that he failed to remember the Master’s many teachings and signs of forgiveness and mercy. The beautiful witness of Peter is, after he denied Jesus to protect his own life, he wept, when Jesus’ gaze of mercy met his. He not only repented but he professed his love for Jesus three times for having denied him three times. Judas’ rejection of the grace of mercy saddened Jesus. Peter’ acceptance, gladdened Jesus. It was the grace of his crucifixion bearing fruit in Peter as it did in the Good Thief. We will sin. But will we remain in sin, because we don’t feel God can or will forgive us, because of what we did? Or will we sincerely repent? The sooner we do, the sooner will the angels rejoice.

 “It is not by our own power, not by our own conduct, but by the will of God that we are sanctified.” St. Ignatius of Antioch

 

That we be holy as the Lord is holy is the will of God. This holiness is a grace from God. Holiness is the path designed for us by God from all eternity. Our role is to embrace the will of God, to cooperate with the grace of God and to walk on the path to holiness. Our role is to die to the self, the old person, still alive in us after regeneration in Baptism. The grace of adoption in which we share in the life of God doesn’t make us immediately perfect. That perfection comes at the end of life, after having put to death the consequences of sin and after having the mind of Christ more and more. The way of the Lord is purification, transformation, glorification and ultimately union with God.

 

Homily Twenty-ninth Sunday Year B

 

Reading 1: Isaiah, centuries before Jesus, led by the Spirit, prophesied about the future Servant of God, who would suffer for others. This Servant of God would do so by giving his life as an offering for sin. Through his sufferings he will justify many and their guilt he shall bear. Thus, the will of God will be accomplished through him.

Without knowing the fuller implications of his prophetic message, Isaiah was preparing the Chosen People for God’s plan to redeem the world through his Son, Jesus. His very name Jesus, means one who saves his people from their sins. As the Messiah, the Christ, did the great work of salvation by freely embracing death on the cross at the hands of others in total obedience to the Father.

As God is beyond our comprehension and as all that God does is beyond our understanding, so his will to become man and give his life for our life is beyond our comprehension.  He chose to be our justification for our choice of sin, for our rejection of the gift of sharing in God’s divine life. God could have chosen other options, but he chose this great sign of his infinite love to restore us to his divine life.

Take a few moments to reflect of this great sign of love Christ shows us. It is for my sins that he gave his life so that I could live in him, free from the bondage of sin in eternity.

Gospel: Picking up the Suffering Servant theme in Isaiah, Jesus defines is own ministry and that of his disciples. It is ministry of contradiction, a ministry of service. It is an attitude which goes against the desires and expectations of what people experience and are taught. Power and authority over others is the way of life of the world we live in. The more power over others one exercises, the more important the person is in the eyes of others and more the person is emulated. So the world thinks.

Jesus talks about real power through an attitude and a life of service to others.  He is not just advocating any service but ultimate service, namely, giving one’s life for the other. We see this in a person like Mother Theresa of Calcutta. But we also see in the lives of many, unsung heroes, who placed others’ needs before their own. We see this in a person who donates a kidney, so that another can a possibility of a healthy life.

But Jesus is not talking only about extraordinary acts of service but the day to day opportunities we have to imitate him in little ways of serving out of love, out of gratitude, out of response to him for what he has done for us. It is the little way of St. Therese of Liseux. She chose to do all things out of love for the other, no matter what it was.

To lord it over another is to be self-focus. To serve another is to be other focus. Service is an aspect of love, a manifestation of love. You can have service without love. Can you have love without service? Jesus is calling for an attitude of the heart and way of life that he himself patterned for us. Though he was the Son of God, though he was the Lord, he went out of his way for others. As Paul says in Philippians: “He emptied himself and was obedient even to the death of the cross.”

 

Reading 2: What is the focus of this reading? Though he was God, the Incarnate Word, Jesus, suffered in his humanity. Though he was sinless, he became sin by taking on our sins. He is our Mediator and intercessor. It is through him that we can approach the infinite God for mercy and the forgiveness of our sins.

We are taught two things in the reading. Because of who Jesus is and what he has done for our sake, we are to remain faithful to our acknowledgment of him as Lord and Savior and confidently go through him to the Father of mercies.

 

“Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?” St. Gerard Majella (1726-1755)

 

We search for peace outside of ourselves, because we do not find peace within, due to our sins. But no created person or thing externally can fill the chasm within. Jesus gave us the answer to our quest. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” (John 14:27) What is this peace? It comes from a right relationship with God. Where there is serious sin, our relationship is severed. When this relationship is restored, then the peace which is a quality of our oneness with God is present. Rest in this peace, for it is the peace that will be eternal.

 Twenty-Ninth Sunday Gospel B

· The passage that precedes this in Mark’s Gospel is Jesus’ second prediction of his upcoming passion and death on the cross.

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." He replied, "What do you wish (me) to do for you?" They answered him, "Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left." 

· Does this sound like one up-manship to you? Does our prayer to Jesus sound similar at times? Are we more focus on ourselves than on Jesus and others at times?

Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" 

· Jesus reminds them of what he just said about his upcoming passion and death. In other words, can you drink of the cup of suffering I am about to experience? Are you willing to embrace the cross of suffering?

· Jesus offers each of us the same invitation: to join him in the mystery of his passion and death. How do we understand and respond to this invitation?

They said to him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared." 

· Jesus is predicting their future sharing in his suffering and death. James was beheaded and John was persecuted. We can’t avoid the cross. It is part of our journey to eternal life.

When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. 

· Why do you think they were indignant? Was it because they were thinking of the same thing but were upset that James and John beat them in the asking?

· When was the last time we became indignant at the way others act, especially when it makes us look bad?

Jesus summoned them and said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." 

· What does having a servant’s heart mean to you?

· What kind of a servant are you in your family setting? In the Church? In the community?

· To what extent are you willing to give your life for the sake of others, not literally, but figuratively, by thinking of what is best for others rather than what is best for you? How easy or hard is this to do daily? What are the consequences?

· What needs to be rectified in our relationship with Jesus and the faith community, if we are going to embrace the cross in our own lives?

· What application in our daily life this week will we make from this reflection?

 

“We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials.” St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

 

These trials, at times, are in our lives to purify us and bring us into a deeper union with the sufferings of Jesus for our sake. We don’t have to ask for trials, but be willing to accept and embrace the trials that come. Listen to the words of St. Peter. “In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7) Stand firm and keep your eyes on the suffering of Jesus.

 

 “Prayer is difficult because it is opposed by our old self. It is also difficult because the evil one resists a praying man with all his might. To the devil, prayer is the foretaste of death, though of course he is already dead spiritually. However, prayer strikes him again, and that is why he resists it in every way. Even saints find prayer difficult at times, even though you’d think that they would only be comforted by it. Indeed, prayer brings with it a great comfort, not only to a righteous person, but also to a sinner.” St.Barsanuphaius of Optina (+545)

 

The distractions in prayer can be from the devil. He doesn’t want us to be in communication with God or to be in God’s presence. He attacks us not directly but through our imagination and senses. What we have to do is take the darts he flings at us and turn them as gifts to God. In other words, transform the distractions into prayer, focusing our thoughts not away from God but totally to God and for God. Holiness is not a freedom from distractions. It is a life of knowing how to turn something sour into something sweet and pleasing to the Lord. If you struggle with this, know that you are in good company with the Saints.

 

“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” Pope Saint John XXIII (1881-1963)

 

The difference between the spiritually successful person and the one who is not is a positive attitude. If we focus on our fears, we will not have hope. If we look at our frustrations, we will continue to be frustrated. If we are convinced that we are failures, then we will not be able to achieve anything. The negative thinking trap is so easy to fall and stay in. However, if we approach life with a positive but realistic attitude, then the possibilities are as endless as the universe. The difference is whether we focus on the mud after a storm or the blue sky.

 

 “What great profit you gain from God when you are generous! You give a coin and receive a kingdom; you give bread from wheat and receive the Bread of Life; you give a transitory good and receive an everlasting one. You will receive it back, a hundred times more than you offered.” St. Thomas of Villanova (1486-1555)

 

St. Paul reminds us, “What do you possess that you have not received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7) Everything we have has been given to us. Even what we worked for comes from abilities and talents received from God. Knowing this enables us to approach situations from God’s perspective. We give because we have been given. The more I give in gratitude and out of a debt to God, the more I will receive in return. In another place St. Paul tells us, “For God loves a cheerful giver.

Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8) With so little, we gain so much.

 

 Homily Twenty-eight Sunday Year B

 

Reading 1: What is the spiritual wisdom that the author is talking about? It is a gift of the Holy Spirit enabling one to perceive things as God does, namely as they really are. He asked for wisdom so that he may make the right judgment and choice. He wants to value what is truly good and lasting and ultimately beneficial to him in his relationship with God.

 

When we are limited to ourselves and to our human wisdom, our view is limited and blurred by many circumstances, feelings, memories, experiences. These color our perception. But to see with the insight of God a given situation as it is here and now is to have the best information to make the right decision. Wisdom is a gift of God that I must be open to and seek after. The Psalmist says that the fear of or awe before God is the beginning of wisdom.

 

To be able to see as God sees I must first approach God as he is with awe, praise, glory and thanksgiving that is due him. This wisdom comes to the extent there is a right relationship with God.

 

Reading 2: The wisdom of God is not hidden from us. It is revealed to us in the Word of God. The Word of God is given to guide, reveal, nurture, correct and judge us. Jesus said: “I will not judge you, but my word will.” Isaiah said that the Word of God is like rain that comes down from the heavens. It will not return void. It will do the will of him who sent it.”

 

How do we listen and respond to the Word of God? We will have to give an account as to our reception and response to the Ore who revealed his word to us. To receive the Word of God we need to pray for the gift of wisdom and then act on his Word accordingly.

 

Gospel: What was the one thing lacking? Jesus here identifies it as a lack. In another encounter when Martha confronted Jesus about her sister Mary not helping her in the household chores, Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better part. What was lacking by the young man and what was chosen by Mary? Jesus, as the Lord of one’s life! This is the wisdom of the first reading: to see what is essential and important from God’s perspective and to prudentially act on it.

 

Keeping the commandments can be a mere external obligation or it can flow from a relationship with God. The Israelites in the desert, though they were told the commandments and entered into a covenant relationship with God, that relationship was not internal but external.

 

The young man was doing the right thing, keeping the commandments. But when challenged by Jesus to root this doing with being in a conscious, committed relationship with Jesus as a disciple, he couldn’t. There was a block, his dependency on his possessions. He couldn’t totally depend upon Jesus.  He failed to realized what was impossible to him was possible through the grace of God. Matthew, the tax collector, made a different choice.

 

The question that the Gospel proposes to us is have we sought what is God’s plan for us, what is the wisdom of God? Have we chosen the better part? Is Jesus really the Lord of our lives? Are we following him totally or conveniently? Do we have to totally abandon all or make Jesus the center of all?

 

When Jesus is the center of my life, the other things do not have the same impact or importance in my life. Whether they are there or not is not the important question. Rather whether Jesus is truly the Lord of my life is at the heart of the Gospel message. To be a disciple was not enough. That was the first step. To fall in love with Jesus is; life itself is not as important. I step aside for the other and in the process become more complete and fulfilled.

 “God has created me to do him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission; I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I have a part in a great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.” St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

 

Each of us has a calling in life, which I need to embrace, so that God can use me to fulfill his eternal plan. Whether my role is significant like the heart of the body or unseen like the muscles in the toe, I have been so designed, called and empowered by God to make a difference. No one else can do the job I have been given by God, nor am I called to do the job of another. But if I don’t fulfill my purpose, then something will be missing in the grand scheme. Lord, give me the grace to be and do what you have in mind for me.

 TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY GOSPE B

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, 

· This action shows his respect and reverence for Jesus. He was not worshipping Jesus because, obviously, he saw Jesus as a good man.

and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 

· The man wanted to know what were Jesus’ thoughts on the necessary requirements to enter heaven.

Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 

· Why so you think Jesus answered this way?

You know the commandments: 'You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.'" He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth." 

· How well do we keep the same commandments?

· Since these basically deal with our relationship with others, where do we fail in those relationships vis a vis love?

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to (the) poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." 

· The young man seems to want more than a minimal commitment, so Jesus challenges him to become a disciple by totally depending on the Master and not on his own possessions.

· We may not be called to sell everything, but we are called to become dedicated disciples. How well have we responded to the call of discipleship?

At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. 

· What keeps us from following Jesus as a disciple?

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" 

· Is it wealth or its keeping it for ourselves that is at stake here?

The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through (the) eye of (a) needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." 

· What does this say to you? Salvation comes not from works but from the grace and favor of God to which we respond.

Peter began to say to him, "We have given up everything and followed you."  Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. 

· What is God asking of you as you reflect on this passage? How will you respond in a practical way?

 “Keep your heart in peace and let nothing trouble you, not even your faults. You must humble yourself and amend them peacefully, without being discouraged or cast down, for God's dwelling is in peace.” St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690)

 

To become discouraged or cast down is to focus on self in a pity-party, which changes nothing and makes changes difficult. God knows our faults and gives us the grace to work on our faults, while at the same time keeping our eyes on him and his merciful love. For our peace is found not in ourselves, but in our relationship with Christ, who is the Prince of Peace. His peace is not a feeling but a realization in faith of being one with God, even in our struggles. We need to learn how to rest in the arms of the Father, who cares and comforts his own. There we will find rest and peace.

 

“Particularly I admire two virtues rare in our days:  a profound humility and immense charity.” St. Anne Thérèse Guérin  (1798-1856)

 

Without humility our charity may be ostentatious and self-serving. Without love our humility may be superficial. The two go hand and hand and support one another. The charity I am called to show is enabled by the grace of God and not out of my worth. The truth of humility flows from the reality that I am like a donkey going where Jesus leads, doing what he indicates. The one who sees and judges my humility and my charity is God. It is for him that I embrace humility and I show charity.

 “Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)

 

What is the most necessary place to start? Relationship with God. Any other starting point will end in failure. But once I have this as the foundation of who I am and what I can become and do, then everything is possible in Christ. For in Christ I can do all things, with Christ I can become the potential I, and for Christ fulfill all expectations. What would be impossible alone is not impossible with God in me. On my own I can’t save myself. But Christ in me is my salvation. On my own I can’t reach agape love, but Christ’s love in me perfects my love. Alone I can’t overcome the sinful tendencies within me. But in Christ I have the strength to be victorious. The impossible becomes possible because of Jesus in and with me.

 

“He who desires to consecrate himself to God must, in the first place, trample under his feet, all regard for what others will say of him. O my God, why do we not ask what Jesus Christ or His holy Mother, will think of our conduct?”  St Francis Borgia (1510-1572)

Sometimes we are more concern about what others think or say of us, than are we what God thinks of us. What others think of us is their opinion and may or may not be true. But in the bigger picture of things, it really doesn’t matter, not in eternity.  On the other hand, what God thinks of us is important. Either he sees us as one striving to be in relationship with him or one who has separated oneself from Him. What he sees us to be at the time of our death will make an eternal difference in our life. Be concern more about being in right relationship with God than being pleasing to others.

 

Homily Twenty-seventh Sunday Year B

 

Reading 1: What we heard in the first reading were some important truths of revelation. 1. God created man and woman. God created us in his own image. 2 The difference between man and animals was that non were suitable or equal to him. Man was superior since he gave them names. 3. There is a complimentary relationship between man and women, symbolized by taking a rib from his side and forming Eve. 4. Man and women united in marriage are not to be living beings separated from one another. They are one according to the plan of God. 5. The goal of marriage is not cohabitation, not even love, but union, the two becoming one, symbolized by the gift of love. From the beginning they were to love one another and to be open to the gift of life. 6. Their existence, their union with one another is to be complete with their union with God individually and together, not just here on earth but eternally with God. 7. As God formed man from the clay of the earth and breathed life into him, so he formed various animals from the clay of earth., but each was different. The life he breathed into them was not the same as he did for man. 8 Man could see his own reflection and commonality with the woman, who was like him in all things.

 

By the way we live, are we reflecting the plan of God? Though individually unique, do we treat the other with the respect and dignity they deserve as beloved by God? In marriage, is our love other focused or self-centered?  Is our love open to life?

 

Gospel: We can see a connection with the first reading. In the first reading we heard the plan of God from the beginning. God created man and woman to be one. In the Gospel we see the plan of human beings allowing an accommodation due to the hardness of their hearts

 

Jesus reiterates God’s plan publicly and privately. The key is what God has joined together, no human law can override that. Privately, Jesus the consequences of the human law that permits divorce regardless of what God has sealed. A divorce that ignores the seal of God is adultery.

 

Jesus refocuses the question not on negativity—is it lawful to divorce—but on God, who is the origin of their relationship. How did God intend this union of man and woman? He intended that the two should become one, not for a short period but until death separates them. The key phrase is “what God has joined together, human beings have no right to separate.

 

Then Jesus teaches how important it is to embrace the plan of God, not what is pleasing to man. To embrace the plan of God in marriage is to have the humble, trusting attitude of the child. There is an innocence of a child who can go up to a stranger without fear or concern. Whereas as adults we are fearful and untrusting. To embrace the reality of the hardships in a marriage takes a trust in God as a child trust its parents.

 

What was missing in the thinking of the Pharisees was the focus Jesus came to restore, namely the centrality of God in our lives, not just personally but also in the relationship between husband and wife. Marriage is a fundamental unit of society.

 

From the beginning God brought forth man and woman to be one in and with him. From the beginning man and woman because of sin separated themselves from God first and then from one another as a result. Jesus came to restore the right order between human beings and God as well as between human beings themselves.  

 

Reading 2 The second reading reminds us that the Son of God became man. In doing so, for a little while he was like us in all things, except sin. The reason for his Incarnation, taking on our human existence, is so that he could give his life on the cross for our salvation.

 

Though he was the Creator of all things, he chose to embrace the suffering and cruel death on the cross to show us how we are to embrace our sufferings. After the fall of Adam and Eve, suffering has been part of the human existence. But Jesus shows us how to embrace our sufferings so that united to his it becomes redemptive. In such a way our suffering will have a purpose beyond itself. Through our sufferings united to Jesus we become perfected for the eternal life with God.

 

“Our weakness is such that, if the guardian angels had not been given to us, we could not resist the many and powerful attacks of the evil spirits. For this purpose, we have need of a higher nature…. That is why God has taken the spirits out from among his treasures, and has given through them an aid to human weakness, so that this divine assistance might help us against the powers of this world of darkness to attain the heritage of salvation.” Saint Hilary of Poitiers (+368)

 

How wise is our God to provide each of us with a guardian angel to be by our side each step of our journey! Being in the presence of God they know God’s plan for us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their (guardian angels) watchful care and intercession. ‘Besides each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.’ Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God.” (CCC 336) We need to become more aware of the presence of our guardian angel and in faith interact with this care-giver on a regular basis. This is the will of God.

 Twenty-seventh Sunday Gospel B

The Pharisees approached and asked Jesus, "Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" They were testing him.  

· They were testing him to show that he was not a true Rabbi in the understanding of the Pharisees about what is lawful and what was not.

He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?" 

· Knowing that they were trying to find fault with his teachings, Jesus poses a question to their question. Why? To get them to state their position first, then he would give his position, so that the people could judge the truth.

They replied, "Moses permitted him to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her." But Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (and be joined to his wife), and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate." 

· What did Jesus do? He showed that they claim to based their teachings on the Word of God, in fact, they had based their teachings on the interpretation of the Word rather than the Word itself.

· Where do we do the same in our lives?

· What is the central statement of Jesus’ teaching upon which our understanding of the sacredness of marriage hinges?  The fact that if a marriage is sealed before God in reality, then it is forever. But if in fact a marriage was not sealed before God then there is no bond before God.

In the house the disciples again questioned him about this. 

· Remember the disciples are not learned like the Pharisees and therefore they too accepted the interpretation of the Pharisees and others.

He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." 

· Divorce is not the issue but a marriage with another person after a divorce in which the marriage is sealed sacramentally before God.

· Again, what is the underlying assumption? There is a marriage in fact before God. If there is, then Jesus says that no other marriage can be recognize before God unless death of the former partner has occurred.

And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them. 

· How does this reflection of Jesus on the role of children connect with Jesus’ teaching on the sacredness of marriage?

 

"I want to try to make you understand, by a very simple comparison, how much Jesus loves those souls, even imperfect ones, who entrust themselves to Him. Imagine that a father has two children who have been naughty and disobedient; and that when he comes to punish them, he sees one who trembles and runs away from him in terror, knowing in his heart that he deserves to be punished; and that his brother, instead, throws himself into his father’s arms, telling him that he’s sorry he has displeased him, he loves him, and to prove it he will be good from now on. Now i that child asks his father to punish him with a kiss, I believe that the happy father’s heart will not be able to resist his son’s filial trust, since he knows his sincerity and love. Yet he also knows that his son will fall into the same faults again, but he is always ready to forgive him if his son always appeals to his heart." St Terese of Lisieux (1873-1897)

We make something easy very difficult. No matter what we do, the Father will never stop loving us. We can’t earn his love, but we can trust in his love. While we don’t deserve his love, he desires to give it to us freely, if we open ourselves to it. It takes less energy to yield to God’s love than to run away from it. And yet what do we do at times?