HOMILY 21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE “B” August 25, 202

 HOMILY     21^ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME   CYCLE “B”                   August 25, 2024

 

          “Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”

          What is this hard saying?   Well, just four verses earlier Jesus states: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

          This is presumably the saying that the disciples found hard to accept.  Now it is important for us to understand why they found it hard to accept.  On it’s face it could be that these disciples misunderstand Jesus by taking His statement too literally.  ¿Are they repulsed by the idea of physically eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking Jesus’ blood?  Are they misunderstanding Jesus as advocating cannibalism?

          I think that solution lets us off the hook too easily.  Because you see, WE know that Jesus is not advocating cannibalism.  We know that Jesus is speaking figuratively, or better, sacramentally.  We know that Jesus gives us His flesh under the form of bread, and His blood under the form of wine.  Thus we know that this hard statement is not about cannibalism.

          But the disciples of Jesus’ day were His followers, his disciples, just like we are disciples of Jesus.   And they were not literalist dummies.  Jesus was always speaking poetically, symbolically.  Just a few verses before this they understood perfectly well that Jesus was speaking figuratively.  When Jesus instructed them: Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life,...."    The disciples responded: “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"  [John 6:27-28] They understood well that Jesus was not talking about physical food, but rather about doing the works of God.  

          So then, why did they get so upset that they turn away and abandoned Jesus?  It was not because they misunderstood Jesus in some literalistic repugnance to cannibalism, but rather something else.      

They understood all too well what Jesus was really talking about, and it was because they understood that they left Jesus.  Not because they misunderstood.

          For the “hard saying” they reacted to was what we heard last week “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

          What is Jesus talking about?   How should we understand Him? 

          “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”  This is a statement about very deep closeness, about very intense union, about intimacy.  It is about being known deeply and completely by the Lord, and knowing Jesus closely.  For to eat something is to become one with it.  When we eat food it becomes a part of us.  In this case, in the Eucharist, as St. Augustine pointed out long ago, we become part of what we eat.  We become part of the Body of Christ.  The Life of Christ is in us.  That is intimate.

          And intimacy is scary.   Anyone else here find intimacy a bit scary?  It is threatening because intimacy makes us vulnerable.  You cannot be intimate in a suit of armor.  Genuine intimacy is also a lot of work.  To truly be intimate with someone you have to share your hopes, your dreams, your fears, your desires, your likes and dislikes, your very being.  You have to argue and laugh and cry and speak profoundly about who you are. 

          Genuine intimacy is difficult.  And yet that is what Jesus is talking about: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”   This is about intimate union, a deep personal closeness.  This is about love.   

 (Here is where it gets a bit dicey).  

          St. Paul, in our second reading today tells us: “For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church,” - that is the gathering of Christ’s people - “because we are members of his body.”    St. Paul is talking here about a close and intimate union between Jesus and His people, who are all members of one and the same body. 

          Then St. Paul goes on to quote the Book of Genesis, and says: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”    St. Paul then makes this outrageous comment on the quote from Genesis: “This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and (His people) the church.”

          St. Paul is boldly using the image of marriage, and indeed even of sexual union, to try to capture this mystery of the intimacy that we are called to with Christ.  

          As the man and wife are joined and become one flesh, so we take Jesus into us, eat His flesh and drink His blood, so that His life is within us, and we become no longer two, but one body in Him.  That is intimate. 

 

          That is pretty radical.  That is powerful.  And it is scary.  It demands a great deal of us, just as deep intimacy with any other human demands a great deal of us; in terms of honesty, in terms of being vulnerable, in terms of dependability and loyalty, in terms of commitment.  To eat Jesus’ flesh and drink His blood demands an absolute and thorough commitment from us, the same kind of commitment Jesus makes in giving us Himself.  It is to remain in Him and He in us.  That is POWERFUL.

           Commitment precludes options.  We belong to Christ now and He to us.  Commitment defines who we are: people who live in and for Christ.

          And a lot of us have a problem with such heavy-duty commitment.  So did those early disciples we hear about in today’s Gospel.  They weren’t just confused and so left Jesus over a misunderstanding.  No.  Rather they understood Him all too well, and so they are a challenge to us.  We are now presented with this invitation to radical intimacy with The Lord.   We too are tempted to pull back and walk away. 

          Jesus’ question today is also addressed to us: “Do you also want to leave?”    //

The price of staying is steep.  The demand of committed discipleship is high.  But it is the only way to the fullness of life. 

          We answer with Simon Peter: “Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.   We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Amen.

Homily 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle B August 18, 2024

 Homily 20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time    Cycle B   August 18, 2024

As you just heard from the Gospel, we are still in the Johannine “Bread Of Life” discourse; so I will again preach on the SECOND reading today. 

Perhaps we can find something of interest and of worth in the reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.   Let’s see.

Paul tells us: “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish person but as wise, … 

There are PLENTY of foolish persons around us.  And sometimes they are US.  The Orthodox Study Bible translates this as: “See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, …” 

There are still almost 3 months till the national election, and we are already witnessing much foolishness.  In the midst of all this it is difficult to walk circumspectly, that is, walk carefully, with deliberation, consciousness, and care, choosing our words and actions and even our feelings carefully.

It is way too easy to get caught up in the furor and the shouting and the crazy, lame-brained accusations back and forth, and walk with arrogance, conceit, scorn for others, and in general, not walk circumspectly, not wisely, but foolishly.

So, St. Paul tells us today: “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making most of the opportunity, because the days are evil.”   This was written nearly 2,000 years ago, but still very apropos today. 

“Therefore” Paul continues “do not continue in ignorance,” or in the New Revised Standard Version “do not be foolish”, “but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.”

This is important.  The will of the Lord is not always obvious.  Many people who have an agenda will try to tell you what the Will of the Lord is.  So, you have to be careful and try to discern. 

Paul tells us, “do not get drunk on wine,” because medicating your angst and worry with alcohol, or sex, or drugs, or frenetic activity, or buying lots of stuff, or some other distraction is not going to help. 

Rather, what Paul recommends is rather interesting.  Paul says: “but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…”    Have you ever addressed another person in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs?  I mean, if your spouse or neighbor or even your pastor started addressing you in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, would you not find that rather bizarre?  I think I would.  So I recommend you just say Paul was being a bit overly enthusiastic in that particular recommendation.

But his next recommendation is spot on: “singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
St Paul is right on in instructing us that the antidote and cure for all the stupid carping and griping and complaining and blaming and name-calling and anger and anxiety and bad juju is gratitude.  Much better is “singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.

That is not easy.  But it is true wisdom. 

 Take to heart Paul’s warning today: “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil.”

But we have the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of gratitude: “…singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.”

 Now let us continue to give thanks in the Eucharist.  AMEN. 

HOMILY Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle B August 11, 2024

 HOMILY   Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time   Cycle B    August 11, 2024

The Jews said: “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?  Do we not know his father and mother?”  

First of all, in the Gospel of John the phrase “the Jews” refers specifically to the party of Jews that were in opposition to Jesus and Jesus’ followers.  At the time John wrote his Gospel it was 60 years after the Resurrection, and the division between Jews who followed Jesus verses the other Jews had hardened and become toxic.  It is NOT what we mean when we say “Jews”.  After all, the Apostles, all the earliest disciples, Mary, and Jesus Himself were all Jews, and still are.  So, when you read or hear the Gospel of John, you have to mentally translate the phrase, “the Jews”, to “those who opposed Jesus.”  

And those who were opposed to Jesus, especially among the scribes and the pharisees, said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?  Do we not know his father and mother?”

Of course, in the simplest terms, they were correct.  Jesus was known as the son of Joseph.  And people certainly knew Joseph and Mary.  Thus, on the most basic, literal level, those opposed to Jesus, were correct. 

But they were also totally wrong, because their understanding was way too limited, too short-sighted, too surface and superficial.  And this is a warning for us.  We must not only see on the surface, but to truly understand, and thus respond correctly, we must see deeper, much deeper.

Jesus said to them: “Stop murmuring among yourselves.  No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, …” 

Ever hear any murmuring?   Every murmur yourself?   Ever moan, complain, criticize, badmouth, murmur?   Seems that there is lots of murmuring these days. 

Those opposed to Jesus, the so-called “Jews”, murmur and complain and moan and groan because they only see the surface.   They have no idea of what is really going on, and more importantly, who Jesus really is.  They are confused, feel left out, and are angry.

To see more deeply, more truly, more really, is a gift.  Jesus tells us:  “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him (or her) on the last day.”  

Faith in Jesus is a gift that the Father wants everyone of us to have.  God offers this gift of faith to you, and to everyone.  Jesus assures us: “Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.”  So to really see, you first have to listen.  And that requires patience, inner quiet, and attention.  We listen to the Father, learn from Him, and come to His Son Jesus. 

There is no one way to do this.  I suspect this is individual and even unique for each person.  But the result is the same, which is faith in the Son of God.  And Jesus solemnly assures us: “Amen, Amen I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

SO, What do you see?  How deeply into reality can you see?  Growing in the spiritual life is the ability to see more deeply. 

When you see a homeless person on the street:  do you see something to be avoided?   A threat?   A person in need?   A fellow human being?   An object of compassion?    An opportunity to help?  What do you see?    Can you see several things at once? 

Those opposed to Jesus, “the Jews,” were not seeing Jesus as He truly is.  They saw, but only the surface: “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?”   They were not wrong, but they were way too limited.  They missed what was really important, indeed critical, and remained only on the surface. 

To believe is another way of seeing.  Jesus in the Gospel today says, “I am the Bread of Life.”   What an odd statement.  What does He mean?  Can you see Jesus as the “Bread of Life”???

When you see the bread and wine consecrated and shared, do you see only bread and wine?  Can you see in the sharing and communing the Body of Christ?  Maybe not every time you come to church.  But at least once-in-a-while?  So that the memory of seeing more deeply can hold you over on the days you really just don’t see it?

We strive to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit so that we can let go of our blindness, our seeing only on the surface, and see more deeply into the reality of what is really going on, what is really happening here.   To see Who is really and truly present. 

And when we can overcome our fear, overcome our blindness, then we will truly know what Jesus solemnly tells us today: “Amen, Amen I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”

And that is wonderful.  That is Good News.   AMEN.

 

Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time Cycle B August 4, 2024

 Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time   Cycle B    August 4, 2024

 There is a very old saying, going all the way back to ancient Roman times: “Clothes make the man.”   Now we would say, "Clothes make the person."  And this staying has been around so long because there is truth in that statement. 

So, do you like to dress up?   Every Sunday for Mass I dress up.  What do you think of my vesture???  [show vestment]   

It used to be that everyone dressed up for Sunday Mass.  Which I rather like.  I just cannot imagine myself going to Sunday Mass in a T-shirt, shorts and flip flops.  It just would not feel right.  But that’s me. 

In our Second reading today from St. Paul to the Ephesians he tells us: “be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self….”   “the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.” 

Paul’s image of putting on the new self is one of putting on clothes.  

The New Revised Standard Version makes this clearer.   It translates this passage as: “clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”  

This clothing with the new self is not just a temporary wearing of a fancy outfit, but really a very radical change.  Paul declares to us: “you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds;..”  The desires that motivate us when we do not follow Christ lead to futility, to emptiness, to meaninglessness.  And it is not hard to see that all around us.

So, Paul urges us: “You should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.” 

 To live this life of righteousness and holiness of truth is not stuffy, / nor stuck up, / nor feeling superior to others:  those are the ways of the Gentiles that Paul tells us to take off.

Rather, to put on the new self is to put on the works of the Holy Spirit: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.

To wear these virtues is what St Paul means when he urges us to “Put on Christ”.    So, I urge you to dress up.  Not physically, but spiritually, to “clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

You will feel like a million!  

AMEN. 

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle B July 28, 2024

 Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time   Cycle B   July 28, 2024

In the Gospel we just heard; “One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to Jesus, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” 

Who is this boy, and what is he doing wandering around with five barley loaves and two fish?  Well, it just so happens that through a special revelation by means of my imagination, I have some information about this otherwise anonymous young man.  It turns out that his name was Zebulon, but he went by the nickname, Zuba.  He was 14 years old, and he was something of a hustler and a go-getter.  You could more politely say that he had an enterprising spirit.  He would be at home in Austin.

Zuba could see the large crowds that Jesus was drawing.  And he quickly figured out that a lot of these people would not plan ahead, and would find themselves hungry, with no access to food.  And Zuba saw this was his opportunity.   So, he gathered the very little money he had, and went and bought the five barley loaves and two fish, with the intention of selling them at inflated prices to the hungry crowd following Jesus, and so turn a handsome profit.  He hoped that he would make enough to buy a new pair of sandals, which he badly needed. 

That was his plan.  But then he met Jesus, and his plans all fell apart. 

Because, Jesus saw him.  Not just noticed Zuba, but really saw him.  And Zuba felt himself known for the very first time.  Known in his strengths and known in his weaknesses.  Known in his hopes and dreams, and known in his fears and shortcomings.  Known to the deepest depths of his being, and still accepted, still loved. 

 The feeling surprised Zuba, and he felt both comforted and also made ill-at-ease, all at the same time. 

At first, of course, Zuba wanted to sell his loaves and fish to Jesus, and at an inflated price.  But once he got into the presence of Jesus the greediness that Zuba felt began to feel hard, and oppressive, and not very good.  And when Jesus looked at Zuba, and then Jesus pointed His hand to all the hungry people sitting all around, Zuba sighed, and gritted his teeth to strengthen himself, and then let go of his greed and reluctantly, but freely, handed over his dream of a new pair of sandals by giving, without charge, the five barley loaves and two fish to Jesus.    //

My fellow Christians, that boy with the two fish and the five barley loaves is really you.  Each of us has talents, gifts, resources, wealth, money, possessions, positions and privileges, that we naturally want to use and maximize to our own benefit.  Probably not for a new pair of sandals, but for possessions and privilege and power and security. 

But then, if we are blessed, if we are fortunate, we meet the Risen Lord.  And the Lord looks at all the hunger around us; hunger for food, for education, for meaning and purpose, for a sense of worth, for love.  And we are challenged to hand over our five loaves and two fish, in whatever form that is, whether it is money / or expertise / or time to listen to someone hurting, so that taken up by Jesus, Who gives thanks for these small gifts, and can make them enough to fill the hungers of a hurting world. 

//   Later, after all had eaten and were well satisfied, Zuba felt great joy that it was his five loaves and two fish that Jesus had used to feed all the people.  Zuba felt full, not merely with bread and fish, but with purpose, and meaning, and deep deep gratitude.  Zuba knew who he was.

He was a person for others, just as Jesus is for others.  And that gave Zuba purpose in life, a sense of meaning, and deep satisfaction.  //

And when all the left over bread was collected, and twelve wicker baskets were stuffed with fragments, the Apostle Andrew found Zuba and gave him one of the baskets full of bread to take back to his family and share with them.   And Zuba thought it was a very good day indeed. 

HOMILY Fifteenth Sunday of Ord. Time Cycle B 07/14/2024

 HOMILY     Fifteenth Sunday of Ord. Time   Cycle B        07/14/2024

          In last week’s Gospel Jesus had a considerable setback.  You will remember He went to where He was raised, to His native place, and basically He flopped.  The people rejected Him, and took offense at Him, and we are told “He was amazed at their lack of faith.”  That is where last week’s Gospel left us.  Kind of a downer.

Now if Jesus were like me, and fortunately for us all He is NOT, following this rejection and failure He would have gone off for a while and been depressed, sad, angry, bitter, and generally in a bad mood.  Because that is how I handle rejection and failure, and even minor snubs.  And perhaps some of you also react in that way to being snubbed, rejected or ridiculed. 

But Jesus reacts differently.  The very next line in the Gospel is: “Jesus went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching.”  Jesus is undaunted by the failure, and continues with His mission.  In fact, in today’s Gospel, Jesus ramps up His efforts.  Our Gospel opens with “Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave the authority over unclean spirits.”  In other words, instead of being disappointed or hampered by His disastrous reception in His native place, Jesus expands His efforts to proclaim the Kingdom of God by sending out the twelve Apostles, two by two, to scale up the proclamation of the Good News. 

It was, in my opinion, a rather bold move.  Unhindered, Jesus doubles down on His mission.

Jesus instructs the Twelve to travel light, to be free from encumbrances.  He tells them: “take nothing for the journey but a walking stick – no food, no sack, no money in their belts.  They were, however,      to wear sandals but not a second tunic.”   In other words, to travel light.  Something that, as I am now packing to move, I can assure you is not easy to do.

Then Mark states: “So they went off and preached repentance.”     //   I find it interesting that they preached repentance.  That is, if you remember, the same message of John the Baptist.  REPENT!   This was obviously before the Resurrection, and so the Good News of Christ’s triumph over sin and over death could not yet be preached.  The twelve disciples preached repentance, not yet the message of salvation. 

My fellow Christians, there is a lesson in this Gospel for us.  Like the Twelve, we too are sent.  At the conclusion of every Mass we are sent forth to proclaim the Good News of God’s victory in Jesus Christ, and we are to do it by how we live our lives as well as by our words.

We will face opposition, disbelief, rejection and just plain lack of interest.  We have many opportunities to become discouraged.  But like Jesus we need to keep going.

We are sent to preach by our lives not only the message of repentance, but even more so the message of God’s love for every one of us in Jesus, that offers us victory over sin, and victory even over death.  That is GOOD NEWS!

So when you go out from Mass, and are sent to carry the message to the whole world, to your family, your class room, your workplace, your neighborhood, to the civic forum, to all the places and aspects of your life, don’t proclaim bad news.  Rather proclaim the GOOD NEWS of God’s love for everyone of us in Jesus Christ, that promises us victory over sin, victory even over death itself.     AMEN. 

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE “B” July 7, 2024

 FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME    CYCLE “B”                           July 7, 2024

 

So what do you think – or better, feel - about the readings today?  …           I find them to be pretty gloomy, beset with difficulties and problems and opposition. 

          In the first reading the new prophet Ezekiel gets the unwelcome but realistic news that “Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you.”   **  How’d you like that to be your audience, especially as your message is accusatory and challenging?  This was definitely going to be a challenge to sell the Lord’s message.

          In the second reading St Paul describes his problems, difficulties and shortcomings.   And then he concludes “Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”   Kind of, well, perverse. 

          And in the Gospel Jesus is questioned: ”Where did this man get all this?”  Jeus is sneered at: “Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?”    And Jesus is rejected: “And they took offense at him.”  

          You would think that Jesus would have known what to expect from His fellow townsfolk, who apparently were pretty narrow-minded and bigoted, as can happen in some small towns. 

          But it still stung.  The Gospel states: “He was amazed at their lack of faith.”  Jesus was so badly shaken that we are told: “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.”    //

          ….   Our psalm response today was well chosen: “our souls are more than sated with the mockery of the arrogant, with the contempt of the proud.” 

          “The mockery of the arrogant, with the contempt of the proud.”  Sounds like some of our politicians and public officials. 
          What are we to make of this gloomy mess of today’s readings? 

          First of all, the Gospel is not fluff.  The Good News of the Gospel is strong and vibrant and forceful enough, not just to make nice over minor problems and difficulties, but rather the Gospel is powerful enough to confront the truly difficult and even horrific realities of life: of sexual abuse, drugs, murder, racial prejudice and injustice, war and genocide.  The Gospel is strong stuff, and not for sissies.  Ezekiel, Paul and Jesus each had to face tough, difficult, horrific realities.  But by God’s power they succeeded.               So can we.

          The victory of love over death was not easily won.  But Christ has triumphed.  For each of us, like for St. Paul, it is still a struggle, and it is not a sham fight.  To master our own unruly and destructive urges and appetites, to harness and control our pride and selfishness, to speak the truth when it is unwanted and to work for justice in the face of injustice, are all dangerous, scary and hard. 

And secondly, the Gospel is liberating.  It is freeing.  It is life-giving.  St. Paul tells us, “for when I am weak, then I am strong.”   Another of those Christian paradoxes, for God delights in turning human expectations upside down. 

          There is much in the world, in our own communities and families and our own hearts that tries to weigh us down, deflate our spirits, and bring us low.  But the power of the Gospel is stronger.  Way stronger.  So that when we are hurting and down, we can even say with St Paul, “for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”    AMEN. 

HOMILY Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time Cycle B June 30, 2024 At UCC

 HOMILY    Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time     Cycle B     June 30, 2024    At UCC

 

St Mark arranges the story in today’s Gospel so that he is telling us not just about a particular incident in Jesus’ life and career, but also Mark is teaching us about OUR relationship with Jesus as well.

          Jesus heads off to go to the house of a synagogue official named Jarius, who is worried over his seriously sick daughter.   Jesus agrees to accompany Jarius to his home in order to heal the girl.  On the way they meet messengers who report the sad news that the girl has already died. 

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

          I believe that through this Gospel Jesus addresses His message of hope not only to the synagogue official Jarius, but also to every one of us here.   “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” 

Jesus urges, indeed commands us, to let go of fear and to have confident faith in Him, because He has overcome sin and overcome death.

“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”  is a message we need to hear over and over again.

          What Jesus does in raising the little girl physically is a sign or instruction of what Jesus does for each of us spiritually.  

          When we are wounded by sin, even when we are spiritually dead, and God’s life and joy are no longer in us, Jesus can raise us up.  Jesus longs to raise us up.  Jesus wants to raise us up out of guilt, out of despair, out of shame, out of the dead end of sin, and restore us to life in the Holy Spirit, the life of the children of God, which is our deepest and truest nature.  //

          At the end of the Gospel passage Jesus makes a rather odd statement.  We read: “He … said that she should be given something to eat.”

          The order of Jesus to give her something to eat is not only a practical concern for the little girl, who probably had not eaten for several days, but is also a reference to the meal that Jesus provides us, which is the Eucharist. 

          Jesus is hinting at the fullness of returning to health, which is to participate fully in the life of the community, the summit of which is to join in the Eucharist.  That is, of course, what we are doing right now.

          Today Jesus says to each one of us, what He said so long ago to Jarius the synagogue official: “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”   

God bless!  

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle B June 22, 2024

 12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time  Cycle B               June 22, 2024

 

Our Gospel presents us with the scene of a near shipwreck.  The disciples and Jesus get caught in a violent squall.  Waves break over the boat so that it was already filling up.   The wind is blowing like crazy and the disciples have no control of the ship. The disciples are in a desperate situation.  AND THEY ARE SCARED!   //

Ever been in a shipwreck?   Maybe a literal shipwreck.  But also perhaps a metaphorical shipwreck:  Some health disaster.  Marital problems with stormy relationships and even crashing of the marriage?  Or a business failure or your company collapsed?  Or you were laid off unexpectedly?  Or you were the victim of violent crime, or in a car wreck, or a child overdosed on drugs, or caught at a mass shooting, or an earthquake or tornado, or some other situation where everything went to hell and it was a disaster?   

Life is sometimes a shipwreck.  In the worse case scenario of a disaster or shipwreck, you die.  People die in tragedies all the time.

Jesus’ life was a shipwreck.  Misunderstood, rejected, falsely accused, convicted in a kangaroo court on trumped up charges, brutally beaten and horribly executed.  That’s a hell of a shipwreck. 

As we look around, if you pay attention to the news at all, the whole world seems to be a giant shipwreck: war in Ukraine, terrible violence in Jesus’ own homeland of Palestine, genocide again in Darfur, mass shootings and violence in our own state and city, and an upcoming national election that induces dread and fear.  The potential for shipwreck is all around us. 

What keeps us going in such a situation?  If you don’t want to stop up your ears and firmly shut your eyes and pretend that everything is OK by distracting yourself with lots of silliness and entertainments, or alcohol or drugs or sex, then I believe we need to look to the Gospels and to Jesus. 

He is our Savior.  It is from this mess of shipwrecks that we want to be saved.  It is for the fullness of life and joy that we want to be saved.  He is our Savior.

 

In our second reading today St. Paul makes an unusual claim:  “The love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all, therefore, all have died.”

          The NRSV translation states it more clearly than our translation: “For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.”

“one has died for all; therefore all have died.”   That is an odd statement.  What does Paul mean?

My limited understanding is this:  Jesus totally and freely gave His life for us, holding absolutely nothing back.  I do not understand why His death was necessary or required, or why Jesus could not have saved us in a less painful and awful way, but none-the-less Jesus did give all He was, to the last drop of His blood, for us.  And by that total self-gift He achieved for us the freedom of having already died.

We have all spiritually died in Him.  And once you have died, you don’t fear death anymore.  It has no more hold on you.                      

 “For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.”   We have the assurance of Eternal Life.  We can start to let go of our fear of physical death.  And by letting go of that fear we gain not only freedom from fear, but also the freedom to live as the children of God:  that is, the life of people who are loved and who are free to be authentic and real, no matter what is going on.   

 

When the disciples in the boat panicked, freaked out and woke Jesus and cried, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  Jesus asked them in turn, “Why are you terrified?  Do you not yet have faith?”  

Today Jesus calls every one of us to not be terrified.  To let go of fear.  To have faith.  He is our Savior.     God bless. 

Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time Cycle B June 16, 2024

 Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time   Cycle B     June 16, 2024

Do you like rhetorical questions?  …  We have a lot of University type people here, being so close to the prestigious University of Texas, so I am going to assume that most of you like, appreciate, or at least are comfortable with rhetorical questions.  

That is good because in today’s Gospel Jesus asks a rhetorical question.  “He said, ‘To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it?”   A wonderful rhetorical question. 

Now if I had heard this question without knowing the parable, I probably would have chosen some large, grandiose, impressive, terribly dramatic and important image as a comparison of the Kingdom of God.  Isn’t that what you would expect, something magnificent and impressive and divine??

But Jesus gives a surprising answer, which is of course, the mustard seed.  The Kingdom of God, presumably something enormously grandiose and of the utmost crucial significance, is ….. like a mustard seed?  ¿ A tiny, insignificant, barely visible, mustard seed? 

Jesus admits that it is the smallest of seeds.   And because it is so small it seems insignificant and of little or no value.  And left just to itself, the mustard seed is pretty inconsequential and of little worth. 

But, “once it is sown”, … “once it is sown”, it then “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.” 

The important factor here is that little phrase, “once it is sown”.   Without being sown, that is, planted in the earth, it remains tiny and insignificant.  But once it is planted in the earth, and watered, and cultivated, “it springs up and become the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”

But it first has to be sown.  It has to be planted.  Otherwise it remains just a tiny, teenee, insignificant seed.  //

 

Brothers and Sisters, you and I have been given one of those mustard seeds.  Those tiny, little, insignificant seeds.  It is the gift of faith.  The gift of faith when given to us is small.  It is even tiny.  It is almost nothing.  Certainly not big and showy and impressive.

If you do nothing with that seed it remains insignificant, a nothing.  But if you take that seed and sow it, you plant it, and water it with prayer, and fertilize it with self-control, and tend it with generosity and care of others, that faith will grow.  It will develop and blossom, and your faith will do good things, and other people will be blessed by it. 

If you take the faith that you have, even if it is pretty insignificant and tiny, and you put it into practice, you let it guide you, and you start prioritizing your time according to your little bit of faith, then it will grow. 

Then you will have the faith to reach out, to start offering shade and rest to those who are weary and tired and ready to give up.  And as your faith is used it will grow and become a beautiful plant that harbors life and harmony. 

And then Kingdom of God will truly be within you.   AMEN. 

Homily Sixth Sunday of Easter May 5, 2024

 Sixth Sunday of Easter    May 5, 2024            Homily

The Scriptures today, among other themes, contain the theme of CHOOSING, or CHOICE. 

Making choices is something we do all the time.  Mostly small choices.   Regular or decaf?   Vanilla or chocolate?  ABC, NBC or CBS news?  *  Making choices can be fun.  Or it can be difficult, even painful, especially if the consequences of choosing are serious. 

For the most important choices of life, for our eternal relationship with God, who does the choosing?   Naturally we think that we make the choice.  But that is not so.  Our Gospel today clearly has Jesus declare: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.”

Our relationship with Jesus Christ is not a choice we made.  Rather Jesus chose YOU.  And ME.  We have been chosen by The Lord to be His Disciples.  As Jesus says in the Gospel today: “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.”  

So, if you think that you chose Jesus, and chose to be a follow Christ, get over it. 

You have been chosen, and you have not been chosen because of your stellar character, nor your moral uprightness, nor your good looks, nor any quality of yourself, but because Jesus Christ chose you to go and bear fruit that will last.  You have been chosen to do something, to accomplish something, to “go and bear fruit that will remain.”

How you respond to being chosen is up to you, but Christ Jesus does the choosing, not us.

Well, who gets chosen?  The morally upright?  The good people?  Those with the right spiritual pedigree?  Nope. 

TWO                    TWO                    TWO                    May 5, 2024

 

In our first reading today St Peter and some fellow disciples go to the house of Cornelius, who is NOT Jewish, but a Gentile.  One of those others, the pagans.  One of “them.” 

Peter is urged in a vision to go there, and once there, Peter preaches, and the Holy Spirit comes down on all who were listening, and the pagans begin to glorify God and exult in tongues.  And our Scripture reading states: “The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit would have been poured out on the Gentiles also.”  Why were they astounded?  Because the Holy Spirit was choosing people that they would never have considered, much less chosen.  But the Holy Spirit is not confined to our criteria, our likes and dis-likes. 

The Holy Spirit is very independent, and frankly, a little contrarian. 

Those that are chosen by the Holy Spirit may very well not be the ones we would have picked.  The uncircumcised pagans didn’t follow all the rules, they had many gods, they ate pork, they didn’t know the law, they spoke a different language.  They were different. 

None-the-less, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word, and the gentiles began speaking in tongues and glorifying God.  //

We do not decide who gets chosen.  It may be immigrants.  It may be Q-Anon devotees.  It may be Aggies.  Whatever, it is the Holy Spirit, not us, who chooses. 

 

Finally, how are we to respond when we are chosen?  Should we feel good about ourselves?  Smugly wait for our redemption?  Let everyone else know that we are among the favored chosen?    Of course not.

THREE                THREE                THREE                        April 05, 2024

 

Jesus tells us what we are to do.  “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, …”  If you are indeed chosen then you have been given a commission, an appointment, a job to do.  Namely, “to go and bear fruit that will remain..” 

The fruits of the Holy Spirit, according to St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians are: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-3).   This is the fruit that remains.  That is what we are to produce.  So be fruitful!

 

And then Jesus sums up the whole reality of being chosen in a succinct statement: “This I command you: love one another.”  That is the essence of being chosen.  Love one another.   AMEN.