Saturday, January 28, 2017

"BLESSED ARE THE POOR."


Homily or Jan. 29th, 2017: 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.  Mt 5:1-12a
AIM: To show that the Beatitudes are Jesus= recipe for happiness.     
 
Back around 1950, when things cost far less than they do today, a ten-year-old boy entered a crowded neighborhood coffee shop and sat down at the only vacant table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him and a menu.
AHow much is an ice cream sundae?@ the boy asked.
AFifty cents,@ the waitress told him.
The boy pulled out the coins in his pocket and counted them.
AWell, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?@ he asked.
Other people were waiting to be served, and the waitress was growing impatient. AThirty-five cents,@ she replied brusquely. 
The little boy counted the coins in his palm again. AI=ll have plain ice cream,@ he told her. A few minutes later the waitress brought the ice cream, plopped the check on the table, and said: APay up front, son.@
The boy ate the ice cream, paid the cashier, and walked out. When the waitress returned to the table to wipe it down, she started to cry. There, placed neatly beside the empty ice cream dish, were two nickels and five pennies. The boy had had enough money for the sundae. But he couldn=t order it, because he had to leave the waitress a tip.    
I=d like you to reflect on two questions. What kind of parents do you suppose that boy had? And how would you rate his chances of happiness in adult life? About his parents there is no need to speculate. We can be certain that they were generous, kind, courteous, and compassionate. What about that little boy=s chances of happiness as an adult? I would rate them not just high but very high.
I base that prediction on Jesus= words in our gospel reading: ABlessed are the poor in spirit.@ The word translated Ablessed@ in this passage means Ahappy.@  The nine lapidary sayings in this reading are Jesus= recipe for happiness. How different they are from society=s recipe!
Where Jesus says, ABlessed are the poor in spirit,@ society today says, ABlessed are the rich.@ Where Jesus says, ABlessed are they who mourn,@ society says, ABlessed are those who know how to have fun.@ Where Jesus says, ABlessed are the meek,@ society says ABlessed are the smart.@ Where Jesus says, ABlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,@ society says, AIf you want to be happy, eat and drink well C live it up.@ Where Jesus says, ABlessed are the merciful,@ society tells us, ABlessed are the powerful.@ Where Jesus says, ABlessed are the pure in heart,@ society says, AHappiness is being slim, attractive, and young.@ (I have some rather personal objections to that one.) Where Jesus says, ABlessed are the peacemakers,@ society says, ABlessed are those who know how to fight for their rights.@ Where Jesus says, ABlessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,@ society says, ABe sure you get a good lawyer.@
We call these sayings of Jesus the Beatitudes. Whatever else we can say about them, one thing is certain: they are counter-cultural. They contradict just about everything our culture tells us. There is no way we can accept these teachings of Jesus, and at the same time accept all the values of the society in which we live. Does that mean we must opt out of society? Not at all. It does mean, however, that if we are serious about being Jesus= disciples, we must try to live by standards that are different from those of many people around us C even though many of them are good people. 
Nor can we choose among the Beatitudes, selecting the one that best suits us personally. The Beatitudes are not descriptions of nine different people. They are nine snapshots of one happy person: happy because he or she lives a life centered on God. 
The Beatitudes challenge us. They summon us to put God first in our lives.  To the extent that we do that, or at least try to do that, and keep on trying despite our many failures and the discouragement our failures cause, we discover that a life centered on God is a happy life. It is a fulfilled life. And it is a life that brings true peace. Why? Because God is the only source there is of true happiness, of fulfilment, and genuine peace. To all those who respond to this challenge, Jesus says: ARejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.@ 

Only in heaven? No, the reward Jesus promises begins here on earth. That=s why I could say that a ten-year-old boy=s tip to an overworked waitress who hadn=t treated him all that well was the predictor of a happy life. Will there be times later on, in that boy=s adult life, when his generosity is taken advantage of? Probably.  When it is, will he decide to abandon generosity and start looking after Number One? I hope not. 

Generosity doesn=t make us poor. It makes us rich. Winston Churchill was not a notably religious man; but he said once: AWe make a living by what we get; but we make a life by what we give.@ Jesus Christ says it best: AGive and it shall be given to you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over, will they pour into the fold of your garment. For the measure you measure with will be measured back to you.@ (Lk 6:38) 

Is living by the Beatitudes easy? If you think it is, you probably haven=t tried very hard, or at least not very long. Is living by the Beatitudes beyond human  powers? It is. To live as Jesus tells us to live in these nine sayings we need a power greater than our own. That is why we are here. To be strengthened, uplifted, shaken up, and set ablaze with joy unbounded by the love that will never let us go.

Friday, January 27, 2017

"WHY ARE YOU TERRIFIED?"


Homily for January 28th, 2017: Mark 4:35-41.
Jesus is sound asleep in a boat, in the middle of a storm B the only place in the four gospels, incidentally, where we find Jesus sleeping. It was the sleep of exhaustion after a busy day of healing and teaching. 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, 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. AHe rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, >Quiet!  Be still!=@
Repeatedly the scriptures of Jesus= people ascribe the power over wind and wave to God alone. 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 look 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?@
ADo you not yet have faith?@ Jesus asks. 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) 

Thursday, January 26, 2017

"HE SPOKE ONLY IN PARABLES."


Homily for January 27th, 2017: Mark 24: 26-34.

“Without parables [Jesus] did not speak to them,” Mark tells us. Why do you suppose Jesus chose parables as his favorite form of teaching? Well, who doesn’t like a good story? Stories have a universal appeal: to young children, but also to adults. But there is another reason why Jesus chose to teach through stories. Because stories are much easier to understand than abstract explanations. In his book, Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI writes: “Every teacher who wants to communicate new knowledge to his listeners naturally makes constant use of example or parable. ... By means of parable he brings something distant within their reach so that, using the parable as a bridge, they can arrive at what was previously unknown.”  

Moreover, stories have a way of grabbing not only our attention but our emotions. The second book of Samuel tells about David’s great sin: adultery with the wife of one of his generals. While his troops are in the field fighting for him, David is lounging around his palace in Jerusalem. From the roof he sees a woman bathing one day. He sends for her and has relations with her. God sends the prophet Nathan to David to rebuke him. Nathan does so by telling the king a story about a rich man who is unwilling to sacrifice a lamb from his vast flocks to feed a visitor. Instead he steals a lamb from a poor man who is keeping the animal as a pet. In anger David cries out: “The man who has done this deserves death.” David is convicted out of his own mouth. “You are the man!” Nathan tells him. (2 Sam. 12:1-6)

Today’s gospel contains two parables. The first tells us that God’s kingdom is like seed that a farmer sows in the ground. It grows secretly. Most of God’s work is like that. We grow discouraged because our efforts to build and grow God’s kingdom seem to bear so little fruit – or none at all. Unknown to us, however, and unseen, God is powerfully at work. One day – if not in this world, then at least in the next – we shall witness the result of this secret growth: fruit as astonishing as the enormous bush that grows from the tiniest of seeds.

Teach us then, good Lord, to trust always in you: to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to look for any reward, but that of knowing that we do your will. All this we ask in the name of your dear Son, who died that we might live; and who now lives with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. 

    

 

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

"BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT."


4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A.  Mt 5:1-12a
AIM:  To show that the Beatitudes are Jesus= recipe for happiness.  
 
Back around 1950, when things cost far less than they do today, a ten-year-old boy entered a crowded neighborhood coffee shop and sat down at the only vacant table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him and a menu.
AHow much is an ice cream sundae?@ the boy asked.
AFifty cents,@ the waitress told him.
The boy pulled out the coins in his pocket and counted them.
AWell, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?@ he asked.
Other people were waiting to be served, and the waitress was growing impatient. AThirty-five cents,@ she replied brusquely. 
The little boy counted the coins in his palm again. AI=ll have plain ice cream,@ he told her. A few minutes later the waitress brought the ice cream, plopped the check on the table, and said: APay up front, son.@
The boy ate the ice cream, paid the cashier, and walked out. When the waitress returned to the table to wipe it down, she started to cry. There, placed neatly beside the empty ice cream dish, were two nickels and five pennies. The boy had had enough money for the sundae. But he couldn=t order it, because he had to leave the waitress a tip.    
I=d like you to reflect on two questions. What kind of parents do you suppose that boy had? And how would you rate his chances of happiness in adult life? About his parents there is no need to speculate. We can be certain that they were generous, kind, courteous, and compassionate. What about that little boy=s chances of happiness as an adult? I would rate them not just high but very high.
I base that prediction on Jesus= words in our gospel reading: ABlessed are the poor in spirit.@ The word translated Ablessed@ in this passage means Ahappy.@  The nine lapidary sayings in this reading are Jesus= recipe for happiness. How different they are from society=s recipe!
Where Jesus says, ABlessed are the poor in spirit,@ society today says, ABlessed are the rich.@ Where Jesus says, ABlessed are they who mourn,@ society says, ABlessed are those who know how to have fun.@ Where Jesus says, ABlessed are the meek,@ society says ABlessed are the smart.@ Where Jesus says, ABlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,@ society says, AIf you want to be happy, eat and drink well C live it up.@ Where Jesus says, ABlessed are the merciful,@ society tells us, ABlessed are the powerful.@ Where Jesus says, ABlessed are the pure in heart,@ society says, AHappiness is being slim, attractive, and young.@ (I have some rather personal objections to that one.) Where Jesus says, ABlessed are the peacemakers,@ society says, ABlessed are those who know how to fight for their rights.@ Where Jesus says, ABlessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,@ society says, ABe sure you get a good lawyer.@
We call these sayings of Jesus the Beatitudes. Whatever else we can say about them, one thing is certain: they are counter-cultural. They contradict just about everything our culture tells us. There is no way we can accept these teachings of Jesus, and at the same time accept all the values of the society in which we live. Does that mean we must opt out of society? Not at all. It does mean, however, that if we are serious about being Jesus= disciples, we must try to live by standards that are different from those of many people around us C even though many of them are good people.   
Nor can we choose among the Beatitudes, selecting the one that best suits us personally. The Beatitudes are not descriptions of nine different people. They are nine snapshots of one happy person: happy because he or she lives a life centered on God. 
The Beatitudes challenge us. They summon us to put God first in our lives.  To the extent that we do that, or at least try to do that, and keep on trying despite our many failures and the discouragement our failures cause, we discover that a life centered on God is a happy life. It is a fulfilled life. And it is a life that brings true peace. Why? Because God is the only source there is of true happiness, of fulfilment, and genuine peace. To all those who respond to this challenge, Jesus says: ARejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.@ 

Only in heaven? No, the reward Jesus promises begins here on earth. That=s why I could say that a ten-year-old boy=s tip to an overworked waitress who hadn=t treated him all that well was the predictor of a happy life. Will there be times later on, in that boy=s adult life, when his generosity is taken advantage of? Probably.  When it is, will he decide to abandon generosity and start looking after Number One? I hope not. 

Generosity doesn=t make us poor. It makes us rich. Winston Churchill was not a notably religious man; but he said once: AWe make a living by what we get; but we make a life by what we give.@ Jesus Christ says it best: AGive and it shall be given to you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over, will they pour into the fold of your garment. For the measure you measure with will be measured back to you.@ (Lk 6:38) 

Is living by the Beatitudes easy? If you think it is, you probably haven=t tried very hard, or at least not very long. Is living by the Beatitudes beyond human  powers? It is. To live as Jesus tells us to live in these nine sayings we need a power greater than our own. That is why we are here. To be strengthened, uplifted, shaken up, and set ablaze with joy unbounded by the love that will never let us go.

"TO THE ONE WHO HAS, MORE WILL BE GIVEN."


Homily for January 26th, 2017: Mark 4:21-25.

          The short sayings which Mark gives us in today’s gospel immediately follow the parable of the sower and the seed. Much of the seed the farmer in that story sows never comes to fruition. The parable describes the Church’s work in every generation: we fail again and again. Despite all these failures, however, some of the seed we sow falls on good ground, puts down roots, and produces not only an abundant harvest, but a super-abundant one. Jesus told the story as an antidote to discouragement.  

          In today’s brief reading Jesus continues to speak about the good news of the gospel. It is like light, he says, set on a stand at the entrance to a house for all who enter to see. Jesus is telling us that the light of God’s truth is given to us, like all God’s gifts, to be shared. If we don’t share the Lord’s gifts, we lose them. We can’t keep them unless we give them away.

          How do we share the light of God’s truth? We do so first of all and always by the way we live. St. Francis of Assisi used to say: “Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary use words.” People must be able to see that we live by higher standards than those of the world around us, with its emphasis on getting rather than giving; and on repaying injuries according to the slogan, ‘Don’t get mad, get even!’

          Jesus’ final saying seems to terribly unfair: “To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Jesus is saying that if we truly walk by the light of God’s truth, sharing that light with others – at least by the way we live, when necessary and when possible with words as well – we shall receive more light. But if we keep the light of God’s truth for ourselves, we shall gradually lose that light until we find ourselves walking in darkness.

          Remembering how the Holy Spirit came to Jesus’ friends at the first Pentecost, in the bright light of fiery flames, we pray in this Mass: “Lord, send us your Holy Spirit. Help us to be messengers of your Spirit’s light to others.”

 

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

"WHY ARE YOU PERSECUTING ME?"


Homily for January 25th, 2017: Acts of the Apostles 22: 3-16.

          “Why are you persecuting me?” the voice from heaven asks the zealous defender of his Jewish faith, Saul, as he approaches Damascus. He is armed with letters from the religious authorities in Jerusalem authorizing him to track down and arrest members of this heretical sect who follow and worship a mere man, Jesus of Nazareth.

“Persecuting me?” Persecuting “my Church,” we could understand. But“me”? The words that Paul heard from heaven that day are the origin of his teaching that the Church is Christ’s body. What does that mean? Simply this. Since his return to his Father’s right hand in heaven, Jesus has no body on earth but ours. We are hands, arms, feet, eyes, ears, and voice for Jesus Christ. What a tremendous responsibility! But a tremendous opportunity a well.

Paul’s conversion is yet another of the Lord’s surprises. Which of us would have chosen an arch persecutor of the Church to be the first great missionary of the gospel to those outside the Jewish world in which Jesus was born, nourished and died?

Unlike Jesus’ other apostles, Paul was not an eyewitness to Jesus’ deeds and teaching. There is no evidence that Paul ever saw Jesus. In time, however, Paul became convinced that he had seen the risen Lord there outside Damascus. Here is what Paul writes in his first Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15.

“I handed on to you first of all what I myself received, that Christ died for us in accordance with the Scriptures, rose on the third day; that he was seen by Cephas [Peter], then by the Twelve. After that he was seen by five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Next he was seen by James; then by all the apostles. Last of all he was seen by me, as one born out of the normal course.” And then, remembering the man he had been before he saw the risen Lord, Paul adds: “I am the least of the apostles; in fact, because I persecuted the church of God, I am not worthy of the name. But by God’s grace, I am what I am.” (verses 3-10)

As we celebrate Paul’s conversion today, we pray that like him, we too may give ourselves completely to the Lord. And we pray too that one day we may hear the Lord speaking to us tenderly, and with great love: “Well one, good and faithful servant. Enter into your master’s joy.”

Monday, January 23, 2017

JESUS' TRUE FAMILY


Homily for January 24th, 2017: Mark 31-35.

          “The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house,” we heard at the start of today’s gospel. His brothers? The Church has always believed and taught that Jesus had no siblings. His mother Mary had only one child; which is why she is called “ever virgin.” Why, some people ask? Others ask, what difference does it make? It makes all the difference. Here’s why.

          Having given herself completely to God, when she told the angel Gabriel, “I am the servant of the Lord – be it done to me as you say,” it was impossible that Mary could give herself completely to a human husband. That is why Mary is “ever virgin.” The Greek word used by Mark and translated “brothers” was used in biblical times to designate not only siblings, but other relatives as well.

          More significant are the words Jesus directs to those sitting with him in the house: “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus widens his family circle to include all those who try to do his will – ourselves included.

          That too, friends, is part of the gospel. That is the good news.