Friday, January 23, 2015

"HE IS OUT OF HIS MIND."


Homily for January 24th, 2015: Mark 3:20-21.

          No sooner has word got out that Jesus has come to their town than crowds storm the house where he is staying in such numbers that it was “impossible even to eat,” Mark tells us. Even more shocking is the reaction of his family: “When his relatives hear of this they set out to seize him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’” People are still saying that of Jesus Christ and of those determined to follow him. Here are three examples.

          A man married for well over twenty years tells a priest: “Father, my wife is so sensitive. For the whole of our marriage, I’ve been walking on eggshells, always afraid that I’ll say or do something that will upset her. It’s driving me nuts.” Further conversation discloses that there is another woman in the picture who understands, supports, and affirms him. “I’ve thought about getting a divorce and marrying her,” he says. “But then I think of the children – and of the promises I made when we married. So I’ve decided to stay married and tough it out. All my buddies tell me I’m out of my mind.”

          Then there is the girl at college who discovers that she is pregnant. The man responsible, and all her girlfriends, tell her to get an abortion. At first terrified that her parents will find out, she finally screws up courage to tell them. “You’re still our daughter,” they say. “You mustn’t kill the child you’re carrying. We all make mistakes. We’re going to help you – with the birth and by caring for your baby afterwards.” When other members of the family find out about this they’re outraged. “Are you out of your mind?” they ask. “An abortion may not be cheap. But it’s nothing compared with the expense of raising a child no one wants. And think of the embarrassment when everyone finds out.” The child is a girl, three years old now. Everybody loves her.

          Finally there is the young man who tells his parents he wants to go to seminary – or it could be his sister (the only other sibling in the family) wanting to enter a convent. This time it’s the parents who are outraged. “You need to marry, have children,” they say. “And we want grandchildren who will have Dad’s name. You’re throwing your life away. Are you out of your mind?”
          None of the people in these examples are out of their minds. Rather, through faithfulness to the Lord, supported by much prayer, they have developed the mind of Christ.           
         Think about that. More important: pray about it.        

Thursday, January 22, 2015

TO BE WITH HIM, AND TO BE SENT FORTH


Homily for January 23rd, 2015: Mark 3:13-19.  

          Jesus “appointed Twelve,” our gospel has just told us, “whom he also named Apostles.” Why twelve? Because God’s people was composed of twelve tribes. Jesus was establishing a new people of God. The twelve men Jesus chose were already disciples: men who followed Jesus and learned from him. An apostle is more: someone who receives a commission or sending to speak and act for another. Indeed the word apostle means ‘one who is sent’ – like an ambassador, sent to abroad to represent his country, and especially the head of state who sends him.

He chose them, Mark tells us, “that they might be with him and [that] he might send them forth.” There seems to be a contradiction there. How could they be with Jesus while at the same time being sent forth into the world? This seeming contradiction is the tension of the whole Christian life. It is the tension between the vertical and the horizontal; between our duty towards God and our duty toward others – between transcendence (vertical) and immanence (horizontal).

Ideally there is no conflict between the vertical and the horizontal. The first (our relationship with God) is the support of the second (our duty toward others). And the second (service of others) is the active expression of the first. Prayer and our whole relationship with God make it possible for us to have something to give to others. And active, self-sacrificing love of others is the expression and proof of genuine love of God.

Jesus’ life was the perfect combination of the vertical and the horizontal; of total consecration to his heavenly Father, combined with unrestricted service of others. That was why his earthly life ended where the vertical and horizontal intersect: on the cross. Note: I said Jesus’ earthly life. Beyond that his heavenly and eternal life continued. Raised on the third day through the power of God’s holy Spirit from the tomb where his heart-broken friends had laid him, Jesus started appearing to his initially frightened but then overjoyed friends to inspire and empower them to live as he lived: totally devoted to his heavenly Father, yet totally at the service of others. That is why we are here: to worship and adore our crucified but risen Lord, and to receive his power to live as he lived: at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal: devoted and consecrated to him while serving others by sharing with them the love he pours out on us through his Holy Spirit.                          

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

CHOOSE LIFE! [Sunday homily]


Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. 
AIM: To show by testimony from those involved the harm which abortion inflicts.
 
          Some time ago a doctor-friend of mine asked me: “Why is there so much bitterness in Washington today? It didn’t used to be that way.” He was right. The bitterness is new. I told my friend that what caused the bitterness was the 1973 decision of our Supreme court in Roe v. Wade, overturning laws in every one of our states protecting the unborn. That decision has poisoned our political life. It has divided our people like no other Supreme Court decision since the Dred Scott case of 1857, which said that a black person “whose ancestors were sold as slaves” had no rights under the Constitution.
          The Roe v. Wade decision was handed down thirty-nine years ago yesterday. Lies and fraud were used to obtain the decision. The woman in whose name the original suit was brought now says she was deceived. She is now unreservedly pro-life. The late Dr. Bernard Nathanson, once Director of the largest abortion clinic in the country, in NYC, who presided over at last 60,000 abortions, including one on his own child, and who helped found the National Abortion Rights Action League, wrote in his book Aborting America about one of the lies he and his friends used to overturn laws protecting the unborn. "How many deaths were we talking about when abortion was illegal?... It was always ‘5,000 to 10,000 a year.’ I confess that I knew the figures were totally false" (p.193). For most of his life Dr. Nathanson described himself as a Jewish atheist. He received Catholic baptism in 1996. He died on February 21st, 2011, having been an ardent advocate for life for at least two decades.
          Because a man has little credibility on this issue, and a priest none at all, I’d like to step aside so that we can listen to a woman’s testimony. I have taken it from the website of Priests for Life.  Here is her story in her own words:                         
          “I couldn't believe it when I got the news. I knew it was true, but I DID NOT want to think about it. Wrong time. Wrong place. Absolutely the wrong person. I was pregnant by a man I didn't love and I didn't know who to tell and where to go and was feeling very alone.
          “My boyfriend Robert was repulsed by my unexpected pregnancy. We had been talking about marriage for quite some time. When I told him that we were going to have a baby, he responded with a coldness that shocked me. ‘Take care of it,’ he told me, ‘I don't want to be bothered with it.’
          “Any love I had for him died right there. Things were already falling apart in my life, and it was absolutely the wrong time for me to be pregnant. My mother was back in Pennsylvania. I had had to move out of my apartment and I was temporarily living with my aunt. I really didn't know where to turn.
          “I was 25 and a nurse in a regional health facility in Oregon. I remember my pre-natal development class. I certainly knew my child was alive and very real. I asked my sister what to do, and she told me the same thing as my boyfriend. A few day's later, Robert's mother sat me down in her kitchen and told me point-blank, ‘Get an abortion.’
          “I felt abandoned, as if I was some sort of bad person; as if I had got pregnant all by myself and ought to be ashamed. But I didn't want people handing me a quick solution that would haunt me later. Somehow I also got the feeling that my family wanted an easy solution for themselves – even if it was at my expense. People offered me help with a price tag: they wanted me to end my child's life.
          “There was one person who did listen to me, though: I had read a bulletin
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insert that told about a pregnancy help center in a neighboring town. I went to see them. They gave me a follow-up pregnancy test and one of the ladies there talked to me about where I could find help. I asked about adoption information, because I was thinking about that for a time, and the woman connected me with Catholic Charities. Later on, I changed my mind and decided to raise my daughter myself. The important thing is that I had the support to do this. I was going to figure it out. No matter what it would take, I was going to make it work.
          “Funny thing is that after I decided that, I met many people in the community who were willing to help. A local family let me come over to their house and use their swimming pool. (It was a hot summer). Something I would like to say to other women who are facing pressure for an abortion is that if you just decide to hang in there and tell people that you need help, there are a lot of supportive people.
          “The ironic thing about all this is that my daughter Julie is now the apple of everyone's eye. She looks just like Robert, and when he takes her on holidays, he reminds us all of that fact! Robert's family loves her, too. Robert's mother, who had told me to end her life, now spoils her with cookies and dolls and loves to write stories for her. One thing bothers me when everyone fawns over her at Robert's house. I still can't reconcile that with the fact that they all pushed me so hard to destroy her when she was in my womb. Is love so selfish that people only give it when they ‘feel like it’? I just don't know. What I do know is that many people in my family and in Robert's family have had a big change of heart about Julie being in the world. I'm SO glad I didn't let their ‘well-intentioned’ advice get to me!
          “Why the switch? I am so sick and tired of hearing the ‘pro-abortion’ slogans that basically called for the death of my daughter. I knew enough to stay strong when I was pressured to kill her, but I can't help thinking of other unwed mothers who buckle in to the pressure. I've drawn a few conclusions from all this: Pro-choice? Sure seems like a lot of people who don't want to be ‘caught’ push abortion! Guys who make love to a woman and then reject her when she turns out pregnant – I think that's going on a lot, and that a lot of guys are hiding behind the ‘pro-choice’ line when it comes to taking responsibility. Many of my friends who have had abortions are really bitter at men. I think I know where they're coming from. Anyway, I'm glad I stood up for life for my daughter.”
          Here is another story. It’s about a woman facing an unusually difficult pregnancy. It comes from a Lutheran Pastor, Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, former President of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, which has its headquarters here in St. Louis. He writes about a woman named Pam and her husband Bob. More than 24 years ago, they were serving as Protestant missionaries in the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in contaminated food or drink. She went into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before the doctors discovered she was pregnant.
Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. Pam said the doctors didn't think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of fetal tissue.
While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband: If you will give us a son, we’ll name him Timothy and we’ll make him a preacher. Pam spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy August 14, 1987. Pam’s youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father’s ministry in the Philippines. He also plays football. Pam’s son is Tim Tebow.
The University of Florida’s star quarterback became the first sophomore in history to win college football’s highest award, the Heisman Trophy. His current role as quarterback of the Denver Broncos has provided an incredible platform for Christian witness. As a result, he is being called The Mile-High Messiah.
Tim’s notoriety and the family’s inspiring story have given Pam numerous opportunities to speak on behalf of women’s centers across the country. Pam Tebow believes that every little baby you save matters.
          The stories of these two women speak far more powerfully than any priest can about this painful subject. I ask you to pray in this Mass — and in this week especially — that hearts and minds may be changed. Pray that women in difficult circumstances may receive the support, help, and the courage they need to make a choice they that will bring them not pain, shame, and guilt, but one that will bring to them and others pride, joy, happiness and deep inner peace — the choice for life.
 
A correspondent commented by e-mail:


 
January 21 at 10:45am

 
 
  


Life is precious and  all of God's children are created for a purpose! When my mom was pregnant with me, she had just had my sister (who was premature) and she had juvenile diabetes. The doctors and even some of my family wanted her to abort me but she refused and even though I was three months premature and very ill, here I am at 38 years-old and going strong! We are all meant to be, only God chooses to call us home!


CHOOSE LIFE!


Homily for January 22nd, 2015. CHOOSE LIFE!

            On this day 1973, just 42 years ago, our country’s Supreme Court, which in the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857 declared that African Americans were not citizens and thus could not claim any rights under our Constitution, declared that unborn babies were not persons and could be killed at will. The Court did this by overturning as unconstitutional all state laws protecting the life of the unborn. Those laws had been passed by overwhelmingly Protestant state legislatures, not a few of them openly anti-Catholic. The bishops of our land have asked us to pray annually on this date, therefore, that legal protection for the unborn may be restored in our country; and to offer prayers of penance and reparation for this ongoing terrible crime, which to date has taken the lives of close to 60 million pre-born babies.          

You may hear people claiming that Pope Francis has decided to de-emphasize our opposition to abortion. Do not believe them. Speaking in Rome on Sept. 20th, 2013 to an international congress of Catholic doctors, Pope Francis said: “Every unborn child, condemned unjustly to being aborted, has the face of the Lord, who before being born, and then when he was just born, experienced the rejection of the world. And every elderly person, even if he/she is sick or at the end of his/her days, bears in him/herself the face of Christ. They cannot be discarded!” You cannot speak more clearly than that.

While we pray that legal protection will once again be extended to children still in the womb, we must realize that laws are of little use unless they enjoy wide support. The first thing necessary, therefore, is to change hearts and minds. To do this we must be known as people of compassion. This means showing compassion and support for women in unwanted pregnancies. To tell such women that there is a quick fix – just get rid of the baby – is cruel and not compassionate. Years and even decades later women who choose abortion – often under pressure from selfish, irresponsible men – are still experiencing grief and pain.

Up until our Civil War we tolerated an evil no less cruel than abortion today: slavery. Today we are ashamed of slavery. When our people become as ashamed of the killing of the unborn as we now are of slavery, the battle for the defense of life will be over. That is what we pray for in this Mass.

 

 

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

"THEY WATCHED HIM CLOSELY."


Homily for January 21st, 2015. Mark 3:1-6.

          Rabbis in Jesus’ day said that it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath, if the illness was life-threatening. Saving a life took precedence over the command to refrain from work on the Sabbath. The life of the man with the withered hand, whom we have just heard about in the gospel, was not in danger. The healings recounted by Mark in the first two chapters of his gospel have brought Jesus the reputation of a powerful healer. The man with the withered hand is probably well known to the local community. It is no wonder therefore, that the people in the synagogue watch Jesus closely to see whether he heal this man on the Sabbath – “so that they might accuse him,” Mark explains. Jesus has just begun his 3-year public ministry. But already there are signs of the hostility which will bring him to the cross.

          Jesus knew what his critics were up to. The gospel writers tell us often about his ability to read minds. So Jesus takes the initiative. “Come up here before us,” Jesus says to the man with the withered hand. With the man standing before him, Jesus challenges his critics by asking: “It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save a life rather than to destroy it?” To which those watching give no answer. But of course. Any answer they give will land them in difficulties. If they say that healing on the Sabbath is lawful, they will have no grounds for criticizing Jesus. If they call Sabbath healing unlawful, they will discredit themselves with the multitudes flocking to see Jesus and experience his healing power. Telling the man to stretch out his deformed hand, Jesus heals him at once.

          Jesus’ critics are infuriated. They meet at once with the friends of the puppet ruler, Herod, who serves at the pleasure of the Roman rulers of the land, to see how they can rid themselves of Jesus by putting him to death.

          None of this remains unknown to Jesus. He continues his course nonetheless. Nothing can stop him from doing what is pleasing to God, rather than man. He asks us to do the same.

 

 

Monday, January 19, 2015

"THE SON OF MAN IS LORD EVEN OF THE SABBATH."


Homily for January 20th, 2015: Mark 2:23-28.

          “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day,” is the third of the Ten Commandments. We find the Commandments twice in the Old Testament: in the 20th chapter of Exodus, and in the 5th chapter of Deuteronomy. Both versions say that we keep the sabbath  holy by refraining from work. Exodus says that the Sabbath rest commemorates God’s resting on the seventh day after creating the world and everything in it in six days. Deuteronomy doesn’t mention God resting; but it spells out in greater detail what Exodus says more briefly: that the Sabbath rest is for all, domestic animals as well as humans, masters and slaves alike: “for you were once slaves in Egypt.”

          By Jesus’ day there was an enormous collection of rabbinical interpretation of this commandment, distinguishing between forms of work that were lawful on the Sabbath, and those which were unlawful. The controversy continues in Judaism today. Orthodox Jews walk to the synagogue because they consider driving a car a form of work. Reform Jews reject this rigorism.    

          In today’s gospel reading some rigorists criticize Jesus’ disciples for picking heads of grain on the Sabbath, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grains. Jesus appeals to a precedent in the Jewish Scriptures, when David took bread offered to God, and which only Jewish priests might eat, ate it himself and offered it to his companions. The precedent was weak: David had not violated the Sabbath rest, though what he had done was unlawful.  

          Crucial is the final sentence of our reading: “The Son of Man [a title for Jesus himself] is lord even of the Sabbath.” Jesus never abrogated any of God’s laws. But he made charity the highest law of all. That is why he healed on the Sabbath, for instance. And that is why Pope Francis, celebrating the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in a prison on the first Holy Thursday after his election disregarded the liturgical law which says that only the feet of baptized men should be washed, in order to wash also the feet of some Muslim women. The highest law of all is charity.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

A QUESTON ABOUT FASTING.


Homily for January 19th, 2015: Mark 2:18-22.

          To understand the question about fasting in today’s gospel we must know that for Jesus’ people fasting was a way of mourning. It was also a way of expressing sorrow for sin. Still today observant Jews fast on the Day of Atonement, to express sorrow for the sins they have committed in the past year. The people who ask Jesus why his disciples do not fast are aware that John the Baptist has taught his disciples to fast. He did so because repentance was central in the Baptist’s preaching.

          Responding to the question about why Jesus has not taught his disciples to fast, he replies simply that as long as he is with them, fasting is inappropriate. This is a time not for mourning, Jesus says, but for joy. God has come to earth in human form. Taking up a theme which is frequent in the Old Testament, Jesus refers to himself as the bridegroom. Israel’s prophets said repeatedly that despite the sins of God’s people, God would not always remain estranged from them. He was going to invite them to a joyful banquet, a symbol of unity between God and humans. (See Isaiah 25.)

          This invitation is renewed every time Mass is celebrated. Despite our unworthiness God uses us priests to extend his invitation: “Everything is ready; come to the feast.” God, the host at this banquet, longs to have you with him. He wants to fill you with his goodness, his power, his purity, his love. 

          He cannot fill you unless you come.

          He cannot fill you unless you are empty.

He cannot fill you unless you confess your need, which means acknowledging your unworthiness.

          How often have you heard this invitation before? How often will you hear it again? One day you will hear it for the last time. Then you will receive another invitation: to appear before your divine Master, your King, your Creator, your ever loving Lord. Will you encounter him as a stern judge, before whom you shrink in fear? Or will it be an encounter with a familiar, dearly loved friend? Think about it. Even more importantly – pray about it.