SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

28 JULY 2024

 

          Ever since we returned to the Scripture readings assigned on Sundays in Ordinary Time, we have been hearing from Mark’s Gospel about the early ministry of Jesus in Galilee.  He has announced that he is the promised Messiah and has taught that the kingdom of God is at hand.  He has worked miracles to show people the beginnings of that kingdom.  He has been rejected by his hometown folks in Nazareth and worried his blood family about his behavior.  However, he has broadened the definition of family and has invited anyone who is willing to do the will of the Father to become part of a new family.  Many have accepted his invitation and joined that new family.  He has chosen twelve of those disciples and sent them out on mission.

            Last Sunday, he tried to take his apostles to a deserted place to allow them to rest.  However, the vast crowd had gathered there, and his heart was filled with pity for them.  He knew that they are hungering for the truth.  Instead of sending them away, he took time to nourish their hunger for the truth by teaching them.

            Today, we depart from the Gospel of Mark and listen to the Gospel of John.  John picks up where Mark left off.  John is very careful to connect what Jesus is about to do with what Moses had done many centuries before.  Moses had led the large crowd of people through the waters of the Red Sea.  Jesus has just crossed the waters of the Sea of Galilee.  Moses led his people to a deserted place and had gone up the mountain to commune with God.  Jesus finds a large crowd in a deserted place, and goes up a mountain to sit down and teach his disciples.  The large crowd who had followed Moses were hungry and needed food.  There was no food in the desert. Jesus realizes that his crowd is hungry and needs to eat.  He asks Philip, who is from nearby Bethsaida, if he knows a place where they can buy food.  Moses then announces that the Lord will feed them with manna, so they will not starve.

            Jesus chooses to work this most remarkable of all his miracles at Passover, when his contemporaries would celebrate the miracle of the Exodus from Egypt.  Philip replies that they do not have enough money to buy food for such a huge crowd in Bethsaida.  Andrew points out that there is a boy here who have five barley loaves and two fish, not enough to feed so many.  Just as Elisha defies the obstacles in the first reading by feeding 100 people from 20 loaves of bread, Jesus takes the loaves, gives thanks, and distributes the loaves and fish to everyone.  There are twelve baskets left over.  Jesus withdraws when they want to make him king.  He does not work this miracle to get their attention.  He works it to help them understand that he is the bread come down from heaven to feed everyone.  We will hear his Eucharistic theology at Mass during the next few Sundays.

            The Lord feeds us today with the miracle of his real presence in the Eucharist.  But, as we are nourished and sent from this church to do the Lord’s work in our day, we tend to have the same obstacles.  Like Philip, we wonder if we are in the right place.  Like Andrew, we worry that we don’t have enough money to meet so many needs.  We cannot imagine how we can meet the needs of so many with what we have.  But Jesus can change our hearts.  He will take care of the feeding.  We just have to do the preparation.  The word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving”.  As we express our gratitude for the Lord’s real presence, we can take another look at what we have been given and express a deeper gratitude by sharing our many gifts with others.

            Saint Paul says it all when he writes to the Ephesians.  In celebrating this Eucharist, we can be more intent on practicing the virtues of humility, gentleness, and patience.  We become what we consume:  The Body of Christ committed to gratitude and humble service.

 

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

21 JULY 2024

 

          In ancient Israel, the image for leadership was that of a shepherd tending sheep.  David himself had been a shepherd before being anointed as king.  He knew from his own experience the importance of being present to his flock.  He led them to pastures and refreshing water.  He protected them from wolves and thieves.  Shepherds sometimes gave their lives for their sheep.

            In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah is very critical of the leaders of his people.  They had not been good shepherds.  They separated themselves from the people entrusted to their care.  They were so busy caring for their own needs that they neglected the needs of their people.  They had not taught them about the Covenant and had not warned them of the ways they had departed from the Covenant.  They had not cared for the vulnerable, poor and weak of their day.  As a result, Jeremiah warns that the sheep will be scattered.  That is exactly what happened when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and scattered God’s people in exile.  In the deserted places of their exile, they would learn of the gentle care of God, the true shepherd.  Jeremiah promises that God will raise up a righteous shoot from the house of David.  That shepherd will reign and govern wisely.  He will do what is just and right in the land.

            Saint Mark sees this prophecy fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus has announced that he is the promised Messiah.  He has traveled through Galilee proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has arrived in him.  He has taught about that kingdom and worked miracles to show people the truth.  He has cured the sick and wounded.  He has healed the broken hearted.  He has called people to become disciples.  He has sent twelve of them on mission to extend his ministry.

            Today, they return from their mission and report all that had happened when they exercised ministry in his name.  They had been sent out as fellow shepherds, and now they are exhausted.  So, Jesus invites them to go to a deserted place to rest for a while.  God had taken their ancestors into a deserted place for forty years after they had been freed from slavery in Egypt.  There, God tested them and provided a place of solitude.  Jesus himself had spent forty days in a deserted place before beginning his public ministry.  In that deserted place, solitude and rest helped him to come understand his Father’s will for him.  Unlike his ancestors, Jesus resisted the temptations of the devil and remained faithful to his mission.

            However, when they reach the place that should have been deserted, they find a vast crowd waiting for them.  Despite his exhaustion and desire to be alone with his apostles, Jesus has pity on the people, because they are like sheep without a shepherd.  In his heartfelt compassion, he teaches them and cares for them instead of scattering them.

            Behaving as the Good Shepherd promised by the prophet Jeremiah, Jesus models for his apostles and us what healthy Christian ministry looks like.  The Lord has called all of us to be faithful disciples.  In whatever vocation he has called us, we sent from this Mass to be good shepherds.  By the way, your good shepherd has abandoned you and is spending the weekend in Indianapolis.  You are stuck with me!  We who are priests and religious and lay ministers need to be active in ministering to the needs of the people entrusted to our care.  The same is true for husbands, wives, and parents.  We must allow our hearts to show compassion on those who need us.  But we must also come off by ourselves to a deserted place to root our activity in prayer.

            Today, Jesus feeds the sheep with his word.  Next Sunday, he will feed the assembled multitude with five loaves and two fish.  He does this for us at every Mass.  He feeds us with his word, and then feeds us with his Body and Blood in the Eucharist.  The Good Shepherd is with us and graces us with the courage to lead as he leads us.

 

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

14 JULY 2024

 

          As we have been listening to the Gospel of Saint Mark, he has been describing the early ministry of Jesus in Galilee.  Jesus has proclaimed that he is the promised Messiah, and that the kingdom of God is at hand.  He has been preaching and teaching about the kingdom.  He has worked miracles as signs of the presence of the kingdom.  And yet, people in his hometown of Nazareth and even within his own family have rejected him.  They cannot believe in him, because he is too ordinary. 

            However, he has attracted many who have begun to believe in him and have become his disciples.  They form his new family:  those who are willing to do the will of his Father.  Of those disciples, he has chosen twelve to become his Apostles.  He has chosen them not because they have any particular skills, but because they have faith in him.  They will become the foundation of the new Israel, as the old Israel was composed of twelve tribes.

            Today, he sends them on a trial mission, a boot camp of sorts.  He gives them authority over unclean spirits and tells them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick.  They will not need food or a sack or money.  They must rely on their own resources and trust in the Father’s all sufficient providence.  They will be free of distractions, so that they can accept hospitality.  They can preach out of conviction.  He warns them that not everyone will accept their message.  When they encounter opposition, as he himself has done, they should shake the dust off their feet.  In other words, they need to treat those who attack them with love, as Jesus would do from the cross: “Father, forgive them.  They know not what they do.”

            They go off, two by two, preaching repentance.  Repentance is more than changing moral behavior.  It involves a complete turning toward him.  Despite their lack of experience, they do pretty well in their boot camp.  They drive out demons and anoint with oil many of those who are sick and cured them.  They are doing what they had been observing Jesus did in Galilee.

            Much later, Saul of Tarsus would become Saint Paul the Apostle when he would encounter the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and repent of his intention to attack the Church.  After his conversion, he would follow the instructions given to the other Apostles and spread the good news throughout the area, including the residents of Ephesus.  He writes to the Ephesians to remind them of their identity in Christ.  He tells them, “In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory.”

            In writing to them, he is also writing to us, the members of the Church of Saint Matthew in South Bend.  He reminds us that we have been chosen as disciples of Jesus Christ.  We exist for the glory of God and are called to focus on our role of witnessing to our identity in Christ.  We are sent from this Mass to do what Jesus sent the Apostles to do:  to trust in his authority and power.  We too do not need a lot of stuff.  We have to respond to his message of repentance and make him the center of our lives.  In witnessing to the Gospel, we will not always be accepted.  Like Amos, the prophet, we will be rejected when we have the courage to speak the truth.  Like Jesus, we will have to carry the heavy cross of not being understood or accepted by those who disagree with us.  Jesus insists that life is not about us.  Life is about loving people who do not love us back.  That is the Paschal Mystery.  If we are willing to embrace our identity in Jesus Christ, we can die to ourselves.  When we know that life is not about us, but about our identity with Jesus Christ, we can share in his rising. 

 

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

7 JULY 2024

 

          Jesus returns home today with his disciples.  The hometown folks have heard of the incredible things he has done in Galilee.  He has preached and taught crowds.  He has driven out demons, healed the sick, and even raised a twelve-year old dead girl from the dead.  He has fed hundreds of people with five loaves and two fishes.  When he gets up in the local synagogue to teach on the sabbath, the local people are astonished at his wisdom.

            And yet, they refuse to believe in him.  They know his background and cannot imagine such an ordinary and familiar person speaking and doing what he is saying and doing.  They want to know where he gets all of this.  They ask what kind of wisdom has been given to him.  He had not attended the professional schools in Jerusalem.  They cannot fathom how such mighty deeds could have come from his hands.  The locals know him as a simple carpenter – a laborer who cuts wood and stone and metals.   Instead of speaking of Jesus as being the son of his father, they identify him as the son of his mother.  They may be using this title as a slur, because they know that he was conceived before Joseph and Mary were married.  They know him as one of the cousins of their extended family.  Because he is so ordinary, they take offense at him.  They reject him and cannot believe in the extraordinary ordinariness of the Son of God.

            Jesus reacts with amazement at their lack of faith.  He cannot work any miracles in his hometown.  He knows that miracles do not cause people to believe, especially when they have hardened hearts.  Miracles help people who are open to God’s works to deepen their faith.  This will not happen in Nazareth, because Jesus shares the fate of all authentic prophets in Israel.

            Ezekiel is an authentic prophet.  He had survived the destruction of Jerusalem hundreds of years before Jesus and is living in exile.  He speaks the truth to his people.  He tells them that their deportation is their own fault.  They had wandered far from living their part of the Covenant God had given them through Moses at Mount Sinai.  They will reject him, just as the people of Nazareth reject Jesus, because their hearts are hardened.  Ezekiel will later urge them to soften their hardened hearts and allow God to reform them and return them to their homeland.

            Unlike his hometown relatives, the new family Jesus has created will continue to travel with him and increase their faith in him as the Son of God, the promised messiah, who will eventually defeat the power of sin and death in a way no one could ever have expected.  They will spread the good news that the Son of God had come as an ordinary human person.

            On the road to Damascus, Saul the Pharisee would eventually be converted and become one of his family.  As Saint Paul, he tells the Corinthians that he had been sent by the risen Christ to proclaim the truth about him.  He acknowledges that he is a vulnerable human being who has suffered greatly for proclaiming the good news.  He even admits that he has a “thorn in the flesh,” a condition that causes him great pain.  He does not tell us what that thorn is, whether it is a physical, emotional, or spiritual problem, or even a persistent weakness that he cannot shake.  His prayers that the Lord remove his thorn have been unheeded.  Instead, he has found that power is made perfect in weakness.  In other words, the thorn allows him to realize that God is accomplishing good works in Paul.

            We are all ordinary, limited people.  All of us have thorns in our flesh.  Yet, the Lord is calling us to recognize his risen presence in ordinary people around us who speak the truth.  He opens our eyes to the ways he works through doctors and nurses and all who serve in this hospital.  He can allow the thorns of our illnesses to recognize the ways he can heal us.  He is inviting us to be prophetic in the same way.