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!