Friday, June 19, 2015

"DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE."


Homily for June 20th, 2015: Matthew 6:24-34.

          “Do not worry about your life,” Jesus says, nor about what you will eat, drink, and wear. In Jesus’ day Galilee, where he spoke those words, was relatively prosperous. Were he speaking in a region of dire poverty, like many places in the Third World today, his words would seem heartless, and he would have spoken differently. The Greek word translated “worry” really means “be concerned about,” or “be preoccupied with.”

          Jesus uses examples from nature to encourage trust in God’s care. The people who first heard Jesus’ words lived close to nature. When he spoke about the birds, they knew how hard birds work. A collection of photos of birds’ nests that landed in my e-mail box recently showed intricate constructions that must have required weeks to build.

          Jesus goes on to speak about the beauty of nature, exemplified by wildflowers. His hearers did not live, like so many today, in concrete jungles. They looked out daily on God’s handiwork. Jesus’ conclusion: “If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry  …”

          Here is what a man of science says about worry. Dr. Charles H. Mayo, one of the founders of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota: “Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, the whole nervous system. I have never known a man who died from overwork, but many who died from doubt.”

What is the cure for worry? I know none better than the message of an evangelical hymn:

Cast your eyes upon Jesus / Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim / In the light of His glory and grace

Oh soul are you weary and troubled? / No light in the darkness to see
There's light for a look at the Savior / And life more abundant and free

His words shall not fail you, He promised / Believe Him and all will be well
Then go to a world that is dying / His perfect salvation to tell.

 

Thursday, June 18, 2015

TREASURE IN HEAVEN


Homily for June 19th, 2015: Matthew 6:19-23.

          At a fund raising dinner for St. Louis University many years ago, the principal speaker was the then Chancellor of the university, Fr. Paul Reinert SJ. “They say you can’t take it with you,” he told the crowd. “But you can send it ahead.” The roar of laughter from the more than five hundred people attending went on for a full minute at least.

          Laugh if you like, but this is what Jesus tells us in today’s gospel. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroy, nor thieves break in and steal.”  

          A man of great wealth said once: “Whoever thinks that having a ton of money will make you happy has obviously never had a ton of money.” Jesus speaks about thieves who break in and steal. People of great wealth today have to worry about much more than thieves. If they have children they must hire guards to prevent kidnapping. They cannot keep fixed and regular hours, lest they themselves be waylaid and harmed. They must constantly worry about servants and other employees ripping them off and harming them financially or in other ways.

          “Store up treasures in heaven,” Jesus says. Heavenly treatures cannot be lost. And you will be happy both in this life, and in the life to come. How do we store up treasures in heaven? By doing good to others; by putting God first, others second, and ourselves last; by letting no day pass without spending some time at least with God in prayer. And we don’t need to wait for heaven to receive a reward. People who try to do those things are happy here and now – no exceptions!

Our life here on earth is sometimes compared to the weaving of a tapestry. It is woven from the back. Those working on it cannot see the pattern, or only dimly. That is because the pattern is visible only from the front.

One day, however, when the Lord calls us home, we’ll see the tapestry from the front. What looks to us now like a tangle of loose ends will be something wonderful. “How beautiful!” we’ll say. And then we’ll ask: “Did I do all that?” And the Lord God will answer: “Well, you did some of it. I did the rest.”

 

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

"WHY ARE YOU TERRIFIED?"


Homily for June 21st, 2015, 12th Sunday in Ordinary time, Year B: Mark 4:35-41.
AIM: To deepen the hearers' faith.
The gospel reading today begins: AOn that day, as evening drew on ...@ The day, in Mark=s description, had begun with Jesus teaching people by the lake shore. To avoid being overwhelmed by the crowd, and so that the people could all see and hear him, Jesus got into a boat and put out a short distance from shore. Standing or seated in the boat, he told several parables, including the familiar story of the sower and the seed. Mark concludes this section by indicating, in the passage immediately preceding today=s gospel reading, that what he has just recorded was typical of Jesus= teaching.  ABy means of many such parables he taught them the message in a way they could understand. To them he spoke only by way of parable, while he kept explaining things privately to his disciples@ (4:33f). What follows was intended by Mark as a continuation of Jesus= private explanation to his disciples: in deeds this time rather than in words.
These explanatory deeds begin, as we have just heard, with Jesus sound asleep in the boat, in the middle of a storm B the only place in the four gospels, incidentally, where we see Jesus sleeping. It was the sleep of exhaustion after a busy day. But it was also the tranquil rest of the only man in that boat who had no reason for fear amid the elemental forces of nature.
Though the disciples were experienced seamen, Mark says nothing about any measure to ensure the safety of the vessel and her crew. Instead these seasoned fishermen turn in panic to their sleeping master, who unlike them was no sailor, with the reproachful question: ATeacher, do you not care that we are perishing?@
Without a word of reply, Jesus acts. In language identical to that already used in chapter one of his gospel to describe a healing at Capernaum (1:25), Mark writes: AHe rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, >Quiet!  Be still!=@ Jesus has already shown that he has power over illness. Now he shows that he rules wind and wave as well. Repeatedly the scriptures of Jesus= people ascribe this power to God alone. 
Mark says the same in the gospel: Jesus Awoke up, rebuked the wind ... The wind ceased and there was great calm.@  It was more than the stillness of nature.  There was an eerie calm in the boat as well, as Jesus= disciples looked at each other in amazement, each formulating the same question: AWho then is this whom even wind and sea obey?@ Remember: their scriptures told them that only God could do what they had just seen Jesus do.
The first to break the silence is Jesus. In this story which consists almost entirely of questions, it is now his turn. AWhy are you terrified?@ Jesus asks. ADo you not yet have faith?@ Mark wants us, his readers, to hear Jesus putting these questions not only to his friends in that boat, but to all his friends, ourselves included. 
From the earliest times Christians have compared the Church to a ship. Like the ark, which rescued Noah and his family from the great flood, the Church preserves us from the flood of danger and evil in the world. Time and again, however, our ship is buffeted by storms. Whenever storms assault the Church, it is easy to think that the Lord is absent B or at least indifferent. Like those first friends of Jesus in the storm on the lake, we cry out in fear. At the proper time B which is God’s time, not ours B the Lord banishes the danger, and with it our cause for fear. Having done so, he challenges us with the insistent question: AWhy are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?@
The answering question of Jesus= disciples, AWho then is this whom even wind and sea obey?@ is a pre-Easter question. Jesus friends in that boat had not yet seen the risen Lord. We, who here encounter the risen Lord in his holy word, and in the sacrament of his body and blood, have an advantage over the men in that boat. We know him better than they did. This man, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary, is our elder brother, and our best friend. Yet he is also God=s Son. If Jesus could demand faith of those friends of his in the boat, who knew him only as one like themselves, how much more can he demand this same faith B trust B of us who also know him as one unlike ourselves. 

ADo you not yet have faith?@ Jesus asks us. What better response could we give than the cry of another friend of Jesus in this gospel according to Mark: ALord, I believe. Help my unbelief.@  (Mark 9:4) 

 

                                                                                  

THE LORD'S PRAYER


Homily for June 18th, 2015: Matthew 6:7-15.

          With his gift of the Lord’s Prayer, the only prayer Jesus ever gave us, he offers us a pattern for all our prayer, especially private prayer. “Father,” Jesus begins. When we begin like that, we are acknowledging that we can’t make it on our own. From infancy to old age we are dependent on Another: the One whom Jesus addressed with the intimate word, Abba – akin to “Daddy” in English.

Three petitions follow, having to with our heavenly Father himself. “Hallowed be thy name” is the first. It means “may your name be kept holy.” God’s name is kept holy when we speak it with faith, not as a magical word to get his attention, or to con him into giving us what we want. We couldn’t do that even if we wanted to, for God acts in sovereign freedom.

          “Thy kingdom come” is a petition for the coming of God’s rule over us and the whole world. We are unhappy, and frustrated, because the world, and too often our own personal lives as well, do not reflect God’s rule. “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” extends this petition. In heaven God’s will is done immediately, and gladly.

          Four petitions follow which have to do not just with own needs, but also with those of our brothers and sisters in God’s family: for bread, forgiveness, deliverance from temptation, and victory over evil.

          Here is a suggestion which can help you to appreciate the Lord’s Prayer more deeply. Rather than just rattling it off, as Catholics mostly do, take at least five or ten minutes to pray it slowly, phrase by phrase, even word by word. Start with the opening word: “Our.” Ponder the full meaning of that word. Pray that you may be mindful not only of your own needs, but also of the needs of others -- your brothers and sisters. That could be your whole prayer for five or ten minutes. Move on the next day to the word “Father,” and on the day following pray over the words “Hallowed be thy name.” Practiced faithfully, and with patience, this way of praying the one prayer Jesus has given us will help you realize that the words are not just a pious formula. Rightly prayed, they bring you close to Him who tells us in John’s gospel: “All this I tell you that my joy may be yours, and your joy may be complete” (15:11).

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

PRAYER, ALMS-GIVING FASTING


Homily for June 17th, 2015: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18.

          Continuing his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading about almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Traditionally associated with Lent, these religious practices are spiritually profitable at all times – provided (and this condition is essential) that they are done for God, and not to gain recognition and praise from others. The Roman stoic philosopher, Seneca, a contemporary of Jesus, makes the same point when he writes: “Whoever wants to publicize his virtue labors not for virtue but for glory.” Jesus says the same with his thrice repeated statement, “they have received their reward.” The reward he is referring to is human recognition and glory – and beyond that nothing. To receive a reward from God (and Jesus never tells us to be indifferent to rewards, provided they come from God) our good deeds must be quiet, if possible anonymous. Then, Jesus says, “your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”

          Similarly with prayer. Jesus is speaking here not about public worship; he himself took part in such worship in the Temple and in synagogues. He is speaking about private prayer when he says: “When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.” The 4th century bishop of Milan, St. Ambrose, explains that Jesus is not talking about “a room with four walls separating you physically from others, but the room that is within you, where your thoughts are shut up, the place that contains your feelings. This room of prayer is with you at all times, wherever you go it is a secret place, and what happens there is witnessed by God alone.” (On Cain and Abel B 1:34)

          Fasting too should be secret, Jesus says. We fast for two reasons. First, to strengthen our wills. Voluntarily denying ourselves food and drink that we may legitimately enjoy helps us to say no to pleasures that God’s law forbids. And the sacrifice which fasting requires strengthens our prayer for the things, people, and causes for which we pray. When we fast, the Lord who sees in secret recognizes that the intentions for which we pray are so important to us that we are willing to forego hunger and thirst that they may be granted.

Monday, June 15, 2015

"BE PERFECT."

Homily for June 16th, 2015” Matthew 5:43-48
        That’s a pretty high standard, isn’t it? Which of us can be perfect – especially if the standard of perfection is the Lord God himself? The only honest answer to that question is: none of us! 
        Here, and throughout the Sermon on the Mount, from which today’s gospel reading is taken, Jesus is plugging up the loopholes in the law. He tells us that the commandment, “You shall not commit adultery,” forbids even lustful thoughts; that “You shall not kill,” prohibits even angry words and thoughts. 
       Jesus is making it impossible for us to suppose that, by our good deeds and attempts to fulfill God’s law, we can establish a claim on God. We never have a claim on God. God has a claim on us. And it is an absolute claim.
         Does this mean there is no reward for our attempts to be faithful to the Lord? Of course not. Jesus speaks often of rewards. He wants us to understand, however, that people with an entitlement mentality will never be satisfied with their reward. That’s the point of Jesus’ story about the laborers in the vineyard, all paid the same, though some had worked only an hour.
       “They all get the same,” a wonderful old German Sister said when this story was read out in a community conference. She was pretty burned up about it. We should be burned up about it. If not, either we are not listening; or the story is so familiar that we don’t feel its sharp edge.
       That story, with its seemingly unjust conclusion, makes sense only if we ask: Who, at the end of the day, was happy? and who was unhappy? Clearly, the only happy workers were those who had worked but one hour. They knew the deserved little. They were bowled over to receive a full day’s pay.
       Appeal, Jesus is saying, not to what you think you deserve; appeal instead to the Lord’s generosity. Learn to stand before Him saying the words of the hymn, “Rock of ages” (hardly known to Catholics, but a favorite of our Protestant brothers): “Nothing in my hand I bring / Simply to your cross I cling.”
        Jesus’ command to “be perfect” would be discouraging, but for a vital truth we must never forget. What is impossible for us is not impossible for God.
      That was the angel Gabriel’s message to a teenaged Jewish girl, bowled over by the news that she was to be the mother of God’s Son: “Nothing is impossible for God.” (Luke 1:37).





Sunday, June 14, 2015

"NOW IS THE ACCEPTABLE TIME."


Homily for June 16th, 2015: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10.

          “We beg you not to receive the grace of God in vain,” we heard in our first reading. “Grace” is the biblical word for God’s love, which includes the help we need to follow him. Grace is not something we can earn. It is a free gift. To be useful, however, we must accept and use what God gives us, out of sheer generosity. Refusing to do so is what Paul calls “receiving the grace of God in vain.”

          How do we do this? Most often, probably, through procrastination. ‘I’ll get to that tomorrow,’ we think. ‘Right now I’m more concerned with . . .’ my own affairs, plans, whatever. In Jesus’ parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus, who lies unnoticed at the rich man’s gate, the rich man, after his death, asks Abraham to send someone to his still living brothers, lest they too experience the torment the rich man is undergoing. Abraham’s response to this seemingly reasonable request sounds callous: “Let them read Moses and the prophets.” That was Jesus’ way of telling his hearers, ourselves included, that present circumstances are always enough for us to believe in God and serve him.
           Most of us, most of the time, live and work in circumstances that are less than ideal. Confronted with our modest achievements, we plead that they are a consequence of our limited opportunities. When things change and we get into better circumstances, we shall be able to accomplish so much more. That is an illusion.

          The golden opportunities that beckon on the other side of the horizon will never arrive if we are not using the opportunities, however limited, that are before us right now. It is here and now, in the present moment (the only time we ever have) that we are called to faith in God, and to generous service of God and others — and not somewhere else, tomorrow, when everything changes at the touch of some magic wand and our lives cease to be drab and become wonderful.   

          That is what Paul is telling us with his simple but powerful words: “Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!”