Homily THANKSGIVING Nov 22, 2023

 Homily   THANKSGIVING    Nov 22, 2023

 When I was a child, which was a long time ago, we did not have AI, nor cell phones, nor the internet, nor computers, not even color TV!   But we did have something that seems less prevalent now, and that is “magic words.”   Anyone here old enough to remember the magic words?     PLEASE and THANK YOU. 

This evening we anticipate the celebration of THANKSGIVING.  And part of what we are celebrating is the attitude of gratitude and consideration that lies behind those magic words.  It is good to be grateful and to give thanks.  More, it is a mature and more fully human attitude to be grateful and to give thanks for all the blessings and good things in our lives: for health, for freedom, for our faith, and for all the relationships and good things in our lives. 

And it would be sufficient and adequate to celebrate Thanksgiving if we stopped right there.  But I am not going to stop there, because as Christians we are called to go farther; because of the example of Jesus.

In the Gospel we just heard, it says Jesus proclaimed, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth….”   Other translations, like the New Revised Standard version, put it this way: “At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth..”   

In the Bible, praising and thanking are very close together, two sides of the same coin.  So in this passage Jesus is really being grateful.  Jesus is THANKING the Father. 

Now when is Jesus doing this thanking, and what is Jesus thankful for?  Well, the passage begins, “At that time….”  What time is that?  Very curiously it is immediately after Jesus lambasts towns where Jesus preached, and ….   Nothing.  The people did not respond.  They did not repent.  They did not listen to Jesus.  They were too damn busy and pre-occupied with many things, and they did not respond to Jesus.  The Gospel states: “Then Jesus began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent, “Woe to you Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsiada!  For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, (notorious pagan cities) they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I tell you, on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you.  And you, Capernaum, will be exalted heaven?? No, you will be brought down to Hades…  and so on.

Obviously, Jesus is upset, frustrated, disappointed and angry.  (¿Ever been there?)   He preached in these towns, worked miracles, told His best parables, and……   nothing.  He was a flop.  The people did not respond.

So what does Jesus do?  ….   He thanks the Father.  Out of failure and disappointment, Jesus says our Gospel today.  “At that time Jesus said: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”  And then Jesus invites all the weary and those heavily burdened to follow Him. 

My point is that Jesus gives thanks not only in response to good things and things going right in His life, but Jesus even gives thanks for disappointments, failures, and flops. 

This peculiar attitude – to give thanks even in failure – is the CORE of Sacrifice:  it’s inner dynamic and meaning.

This is what Jesus did His entire life, and Jesus’ giving thanks culminated on the night before He died. 

          Jesus had Supper for the last time with His disciples.  Jesus knew very well what was about to happen to Him.  He would be betrayed by one of His own.  All His followers and friends would abandon Him.  He would be falsely accused, condemned in a kangaroo court, slapped, beaten, scourged, spit on, and nailed to a cross to be left to die in agony and infamy. 

Jesus knew.  He knew exactly what was going to happen.  And what does Jesus do?  He gives His followers a way to remember Him.  Jesus took bread and did what?  He gave thanks. …  Jesus took the cup of wine, and giving thanks, He said the blessing.   In the face of His total defeat and ignominious death, Jesus gave thanks.  … Not just for the physical bread and wine, but for his WHOLE self, given for and to US. //

Sisters and brothers, it is good to give thanks for the good things in our lives.  That sort of basic gratitude should be common to all people regardless of their religion or if they have no religion at all.

But the followers of Christ are empowered to do more, to live out of gratitude even in the face of failure and persecution.  That is what eucharist is about. 

The word eucharist means “to give thanks.”  That is what we are gathered here to celebrate.  We give thanks for the good, the boring, and the bad.   For ALL of it.  That is what we are called to live.

 Happy Thanksgiving! 

 

HOMILY for Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. Nov 12, 202

 HOMILY for Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time.  Nov 12, 2023  

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of attending the Court of Honor for Tyler Giesler   EAGLE badge.

Any Eagle Scouts with us today??     I never made it that far.   I was a little too anti-establishment back in those days. 

In any case,    ..   Boy Scout motto????:  BE PREPARED!

I mention all this because that brief motto could be the motto for our Gospel today.  BE PREPARED!

Jesus tells us a rather odd story about ten young ladies who were, what we would today call bridesmaids, but what he calls virgins.  They are waiting for the groom and the bridal party to show up at the banqueting hall. 

Five of them apparently were Scouts and were prepared by bringing extra oil with them, and five foolishly did not think ahead, and brought no oil with them.

The groom finally arrives.  Those whose lights were shining went into the feast, and the others got left out in the dark.

What are we to make of this odd story???  …

Well, how is your oil supply?  …  The point is not really about oil however, it is about keeping your light shining.  It is all about LIGHT.  Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus told us; “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”    

Remember that?   It’s not the oil that is important, but rather the light.  This is about being prepared to keep your light shining brightly.

This is, I believe, about actively looking for opportunities and occasions to do good and so let your light shine.

Opportunities to do good are all around us.  For example, let’s say you are driving in rush hour traffic and the cars are backed up at the stop light.  Some person is trying to make a left hand turn out of side street.  So instead of pulling up immediately behind the car in front of you and blocking the cross street, you stop to let the other person out, since you are not going anywhere anyway.  Your light just shone.

Or you ride one of the ubiquitous scooters around campus.  You arrive at your destination.  Instead of leaving the scooter in the middle of the sidewalk where it is an obstacle to people in wheelchairs, or on crutches, or pushing a baby buggy, instead you put the scooter off to the side, leaving the sidewalk clear.  Your light just shone.

You take time to call a relative or neighbor who is lonely.  You offer assistance to a co-worker who is having a bad day.  You smile at a person panhandling on the street.  You say “Thank You” when it isn’t expected.  In each case your light just shone. 

When the opportunity presents itself, when the long delayed groom finally arrives, be prepared to let your light shine.

Jesus tells us today: “Therefore, stay awake,…”   Stay awake to the opportunities and possibilities of doing good, of helping others, of making your light shine. 

And then the Lord will surely say, “I know you.”    AMEN.

HOMILY Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time CYCLE A November 5, 2023

 HOMILY   Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time   CYCLE A   November 5, 2023

I have found these readings for this Sunday difficult to preach on.  In the first reading from the Prophet Malachi, God lambasts the priests for failing to do their duty.   God addresses the priests: “I, therefore, have made you contemptible and base before all the people, since you do not keep my ways…”  

And in the Gospel today we hear Jesus criticize the Pharisees: “For they preach but they do not practice.  They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.”  And so on. 

These are perfect reading to rail and preach against the vice of CLERICALISM.  However, I am not motivated to do that.  Not that clericalism is not a major problem today in the church.  

Pope Francis frequently and fervently rails against the problem of clericalism in today’s church.   Just recently Pope Francis said: “Clericalism is a whip, it is a scourge, it is a form of worldliness that defiles and damages the face of the Lord’s bride,” the church.   The pope said. “It enslaves God’s holy and faithful people.”

Pope Francis described as “a scandal” the scene of young priests going into ecclesiastical tailor shops in Rome “trying on cassocks and hats or albs with lace.”  And more and more you see priests and nuns wanting to look more and more UNLIKE regular lay people, seeking to be distinctive in dress and appearance, not for service, but to stand out. 

And while clericalism is a contagious vice that also affects lay people, who want to put “Father” on a pedestal and keep him distant so that his teaching or the witness of his life does not touch them, none-the-less, clericalism is not, I am happy to say, a prevalent nor a very serious vice in this particular congregation.  Do you agree??  

So today instead let us address our Psalm response.  I don’t pay much attention to preaching on the Psalms.  Do you like the psalms?   Do you ever use them for prayer?   The psalms were Jesus’ prayer book, and the psalms form the basis of the Liturgy of the Hours which is the Church’s official prayer outside of the Sacraments. 

Our Psalm response today is simple, and yet profound.  “In you, Lord, I have found my peace.”      This is, I believe, peace of mind and of heart and of soul; Peace with who you are; and also peace with who you wish you could have been but weren’t.  And never will be.

This is Peace with what you have done, what you have accomplished, all the good and strong and right things you have done; and also peace with all the things you regret doing, or regret saying, or regret feeling and believing. 

This is peace with all that you left undone, the words and statements you wish you hadn’t left silent and unsaid, and also all the things you wish you could have done but never had the time, the energy, the skill, the resources to do. 

This peace heals all regrets, and that is wonderful.  Because this peace is based on the firm foundation of the Lord’s love for us, just as we are. 

“In you, Lord, I have found my peace.”    Simple, but profound.

“In you, Lord, I have found my peace.”      AMEN.