"HE IS OUT OF HIS MIND."

Homily for January 20th, 2018: 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 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.          

DAVID'S MAGNANIMITY

Homily for January 19^th, 2018: 1 Sam. 24:3-21.                                          

          King Saul had ample reason to be grateful to David. His harp playing soothed the old king’s anger and jealousy. David’s victory over Goliath, and over the Philistines on many other occasions, saved Israel from shame and defeat. But Saul’s relationship with David was a mixture of love and hatred. Over time, hatred gained the upper hand. Saul became increasingly jealous of the young man, and enraged that his son and heir, Jonathan, became David’s intimate friend. More than once Saul warned Jonathan that he would never inherit the throne, as long as David remained alive. 

          At the beginning of today’s first reading Saul has assembled a large army to hunt down and kill David. Aware of his father’s plans, Jonathan has been able, more than once, to warn David, and allow him to escape. Now David and his men have taken refuge in a cave. When Saul enters to relieve himself, he does not realize that they are there. “Here’s your chance,” David’s men signal to him when they see the old king entering. Unwilling to capture, let alone kill, the king, David stealthily cuts off part of Saul’s cloak. When his men make a move to fall upon the old man, David  restrains them.

Only after Saul has left the cave, does David emerge holding up part of Saul’s cloak and call out to him from a distance: “Is this not yours, O King!” Saul looks down and sees that, in fact, his garment has been torn. Deeply ashamed that the man he is trying to kill has had him in his power, yet never harmed him, Saul is so shaken that he responds, amid tears: “You are in the right rather than I; you have treated me generously, while I have done you harm. … Now I know that you shall surely be king.”

Tomorrow’s first reading recounts the death in battle of both Saul and his son Jonathan. David mourns for both, but especially for his beloved Jonathan. “I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother! Most dear have you been to me; more precious have I held love for you than love for women.”

The way is open for Israel’s greatest king to claim the throne. By his generosity to Saul he has shown himself a man of moral greatness, yet also, as we shall see, he remains a sinner like all of us.  

"SAUL WAS JEALOUS OF DAVID."

Homily for January 18^th, 2018: 1 Sam. 18:6-9; 19:1-7.       

          When Saul and David return, after David’s slaying of the Philistine giant, Goliath, they are met by women cheering this great victory, dancing for joy and singing: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Saul, we heard in the first reading, was “very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought: ‘They give David ten thousands, but only thousands to me. All that remains for him is the kingship.’ And from that day on, Saul was jealous of David.”

          Despite his jealousy, Saul does not permit David to return to his father in Bethlehem. He retains David to play the harp for him, because of the music’s soothing effect. One day, while David is playing the harp, Saul bursts out in a rage and twice throws a Javelin at David. Both times David is able to save his life by dodging the weapon, which becomes implanted in the wall. This incident, which is omitted from our reading for the sake of brevity, shows the violence of the king’s anger, the fruit of his jealousy.

          Omitted too is the story of David’s pact of friendship with Saul’s son Jonathan, which Jonathan seals by taking off his tunic and cloak and giving them to David. The love between the two is genuine and deep. It is a happy contrast to Saul’s envy and hatred, which the biblical account ascribes to an “evil spirit of the Lord” overcoming the king.

          By means of what we would call today “shuttle diplomacy” Jonathan is able to pacify his father, at least for a time, by reminding the king of David’s bravery and the great service he has done for Saul and his people, by killing Goliath and fighting off the Philistines.

          The jealousy which inflicts Saul is one of the capital sins, so-called because they cause other sins – in Saul’s case his attempts to kill David. Jealousy is the one sin which brings its own punishment with it. For when we give way to jealousy we are miserable. What is the remedy for such dark thoughts? Gratitude! If we are thanking God daily and even hourly for all the things we do have, we will find that, over time, fretting over the things that others have, and we do not, disappears – to be replaced by the joy over the good things God bestows on us, so much more than we deserve.

 

» 01/23/2014 12:08 VATICAN Pope: gossip, the offspring of jealousy and envy, "the devil’s weapons" that destroy the community "When a Christian community suffers - some of its members - from envy, jealousy it becomes divided: one against the other. This is a powerful poison. It is the poison that we find on the first page of the Bible with Cain". Vatican City ( AsiaNews) - Jealousy and envy create bitterness in those who subject to them and they generate gossip". "Gossip divides the community, it destroys the community. They are the weapons of the devil". These were the words of Pope Francis today during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta , in which he asked to pray that these evils are not sown in Christian communities. Vatican Radio reports that the Pope was reflecting on the passage of the Bible that tells of the victory of the Israelites over the Philistines thanks to the courage of the young David. The joy of victory soon turned to sadness and jealousy of King Saul, when faced with the women who praise David for killing Goliath. Thus, "the great victory begins to transform itself into a defeat in the heart of the King". As was the case with Cain, the "worm of jealousy and envy" insinuates itself. And like Cain and Abel, the king decides to kill David. "This is what jealousy does to our hearts, it is an evil restlessness, which can not tolerate that a brother or sister has something that I have not ." Saul , "instead of praising God for this victory as the women of Israel did, prefers to withdraw into himself, grow bitter" and "boil his feelings in a broth of bitterness". "Jealousy leads to murder. Envy leads to murder. This was the very door, the door of envy, through which the devil entered the world. The Bible says: 'Evil came into this world through the devil's envy'. Jealousy and envy open the door to all sorts of evil. They also divide the community. When a Christian community suffers - some of its members - from envy, jealousy it becomes divided: one against the other. This is a powerful poison. It is the poison that we find on the first page of the Bible with Cain". In the heart of a person affected by jealousy and envy "two very clear things" happen.  First, bitterness. "The envious person , the jealous person is a bitter person: they can not sing, they can not praise, they do not know what joy is, they are always looking at what the other person has that I have not'. And this leads to bitterness, bitterness that spreads over the whole community. These are sowers of bitterness. Secondly jealousy and envy lead to gossip. Because this person cannot stand that the other has something, the solution to the problem is to drag them down, so that I can be a littler higher up. And the tool to do this is gossip. If you look closely you will always find that behind every rumor lies jealousy and envy. Gossip divides the community, destroys the community. They are the devil's weapons". "How many beautiful Christian communities" were doing quite well when, suddenly the worm of jealousy and envy insinuated itself into one of the members and, with this, sadness, resentment of hearts and gossip. "A person who is under the influence of envy and jealousy kills ," as the apostle John says : "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer ." And "the envious , the jealous , begins to hate his brother". "Today, in this Mass - concluded the Pope - we pray for our Christian communities , so that the seed of jealousy is not sown among us, so that envy does not take root in our heart, in the heart of our communities, and so we can move ahead with the praise of the Lord , praising the Lord with joy. This is a great grace , the grace not to fall into sadness, resentment, jealousy and envy .

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"DAVID OVERCAME THE PHILISTINE WITH A SLING AND A STONE."

Homily for January 17^th, 2018: 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51.

           Samuel’s anointing of the teen-aged David as Israel’s king, which we heard about yesterday, was private. Afterwards David returns to looking after his father’s sheep. Saul, though rejected by the Lord for disobedience, remains king of Israel. But he falls into what we would call today a deep depression. The Bible says that “he was tormented by an evil spirit sent by the Lord” (16:14). His servants suggest that listening to harp music will soothe him. One of them reports that the youngest son of Jesse plays the harp. So they send for David, whose music cheers the old king so much that Saul becomes very fond of him and makes him his armor bearer (16:21). As we shall hear later, it is, on Saul’s side, a love-hate relationship

          This is the prelude to the story of the encounter between David and the Philistine giant, Goliath, described in today’s first reading. For forty days, the text says, Goliath taunts the Israelites to send him a warrior to settle their differences in single combat.

          Young David, still tending his father’s sheep, hears about Goliath’s challenge when David’s father sends him to the Israelite army with provisions for his older brothers, who have volunteered for service under Saul. “I’ll fight this giant Philistine,” David says. Saul and those with him say that is impossible: David won’t last five minutes against such a mighty opponent. David tells the king that he has personally killed lions and bears who threatened his father’s sheep. “The Lord, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.”

          After Goliath has taunted David, saying he will make him mince meat “for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field,” David responds: “You come against me with sword and spear, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts.” In minutes the conflict is over. David launches a stone from his sling shot, hitting Goliath on the forehead, knocking him unconscious, and allowing David to finish off the giant with the latter’s own huge sword.

          The story contrasts human power with the power of God. In reliance on Him, the story tells us, we can do all things, even the humanly impossible. 

CHOOSE LIFE!

January 21st, 2018: 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 45 years ago last Thursday. 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 21^st, 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 the 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 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 on this homily by e-mail:

		Janet Greaves 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!

 

"THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD RUSHED UPON DAVID."

Homily for January 16^th, 2018: 1 Samuel 16:1-13.

          “How long will you grieve for Saul?” the Lord asks the prophet Samuel. We heard yesterday about God rejecting Saul for failing to obey the Lord’s command, and for fabricating a dishonest excuse when confronted with his disobedience. God now tells Samuel to go to Bethlehem, to anoint as Saul’s replacement one of the sons of a man named Jesse.

          Samuel fears for his life – understandably. Should Saul get wind of what is afoot, he will have Samuel killed for treason. To cover his tracks, Samuel is instructed to take a heifer with him and say that he has come to offer sacrifice. When Samuel enters Bethlehem, it is the elders of the city who are terrified. Word of how Samuel has dealt with Saul has spread. What fate has he in store for us, the elders of Bethlehem wonder.

          Samuel reassures them. His coming is peaceful, he says. He has come to offer sacrifice to God. He invites Jesse and his sons to join him. The first son is an impressive tall man named Eliab. Surely, Lord, this must be the one you have chosen, Samuel tells God. No, not him, the Lord replies. This is repeated for six more of Jesse’s children. Each time God tells Samuel: No, not him.

          “Are these all the sons you have?” Samuel asks Jesse. “There is still the youngest,” Jesse replies. “He is tending the sheep.” Send for him, Samuel tells Jesse. We cannot begin the sacrificial banquet until he is here. When he appears, “a young man handsome to behold and making a splendid appearance,” the Lord tells Samuel: “He’s the one. Anoint him.” Samuel anoints the young man, in the midst of his brothers. Then comes the wonderful sentence: “From that day on, the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David.”

          What does all this tell us? First, it shows once again, that God is the God of surprises. He chooses this handsome adolescent over his seven older brothers. And in the words about the Lord’s Spirit “rushing” upon David, we hear a hint of great things ahead. God has taken possession of this teenager.

He did the same for each one of us, at our baptism and confirmation. We can be happy only if we live as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, possessed for all time by his heavenly Father – and ours.

"OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE."

Homily for January 15^th, 2018: 1 Samuel 15:16-23.

          The first reading on Saturday told about Samuel anointing Saul as Israel’s first king. He did so privately. Only later did Samuel present Saul to the people as their king, so that they could pledge loyalty to him. The background of today’s reading is the Lord’s command to Saul to make war against the Amalekites, to punish them for attacking God’s people after they were delivered from slavery to the Egyptians. Saul was to see to it that his soldiers did not take the Amelikites’ domestic animals as spoils of war.  They were all to be killed, which in the thought world of the Bible meant that they were given to God.

          Saul proves himself a weak leader. Disobeying the Lord’s command, he allows his men to spare the animals. When Samuel rebukes the king for disobedience, Saul defends himself by saying that the men have only taken the animals so that they could use them for sacrifice. This was a lie. The animals had been taken for the soldiers’ own use. A king stronger than Saul, and more faithful to the Lord, would have been able to enforce the Lord’s command. 

          The prophet Samuel castigates the king for his shabby and untruthful defense. You have disobeyed the Lord’s command, Samuel tells Saul. You say the animals were taken for sacrifice. But “obedience is better than sacrifice,” Samuel says, adding: “Because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he, too, has rejected you as ruler.” Translated into modern terms, Samuel was saying: obedience to God and to his moral law is more important than prayers.

          Some years ago one of the Godfather films ended with a dramatic scene vividly illustrating this lesson. The Godfather is standing, with other members of his family, at a font  where a priest is baptizing the Godfather’s infant grandson, using the old Latin prayers. Repeatedly we hear the words per vitam aeternam – “for eternal life.” The camera cuts away to show people being killed all over the city on the orders of the man standing piously at the font saying his Amens to these prayers for eternal life.

          God is not mocked. All the prayers and rosaries and Masses in the world cannot expunge the guilt of deliberate disobedience to God’s laws.