SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

25 JULY 2021

 

          In last Sunday’s Gospel, Saint Mark recorded that Jesus took the twelve to a deserted place so they could rest from their labors and continue to be taught by him.  However, they encountered a vast crowd waiting for them.  Instead of telling them that they needed a well-deserved rest, the Good Shepherd was moved to pity, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  He gave of himself to them and taught them, as he would give his life entirely for the salvation of all on the cross.

            Today, Saint John picks up the story.  Not only does Jesus teach them with his words.  He feeds the hungry crowd with a miracle recorded in all four Gospels.  We need to remember that the Synoptic Gospel authors (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) record the institution of the Eucharist in their account of the Last Supper.  Saint John does not include the institution narrative in his account of the Last Supper.  He records Jesus humbling himself to wash the feet of his Apostles.  The Eucharistic implications of the feeding of the five thousands are in this account.

            Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee, as Moses had led his people through the Red Sea.  Jesus goes up the mountain, as Moses had gone up Mount Sinai.  The Feast of Passover is near.  Jesus is the new Passover, the Lamb of God whose blood will free us from the slavery of sin and death.  Just as only God could feed the Israelites in the desert with manna, no mere human could feed this vast crowd.  Jesus asks Philip if he knows where they can buy food, because Philip is from that area.  He responds that there is not enough money to buy such a huge crowd even a little food for them to eat.  Andrew points to a boy carrying five barley loaves and two fish – not enough to feed such a large crowd.  Jesus instructs them to have the people recline on the grass, reminiscent of the Garden of Eden.  That grass is in contrast to the thorns and thistles that Adam and Eve encountered when they were expelled from the Garden.  We are reminded of the words of Psalm 23 that assure us that the Good Shepherd will lead us to green pastures.

            Then Jesus does what the Synoptic Gospel authors say that he does at the Last Supper.  He takes bread, gives thanks to his Father, breaks, and gives it to them as they are reclining, the position of free people at a banquet.  He also gives as much of the fish as they want.  The Greek word for fish (ichtys) is an acronym for “Jesus Christ Savior, Son of God.”  John leaves no doubt that Jesus Christ is the new manna come down from heaven to nourish his disciples until the end of time.  That is why his disciples collect twelve wicker baskets with fragments to speak of the fragmented Christian communities gathered together at the end of time.

            The crowds do not understand the implications of what they have just experienced.  They want to make Jesus their king, so that he can continue to provide free meals for them.  So, Jesus withdraws again to the mountain alone.  His mission is not to draw attention to himself.  He will wait until life returns to normal to explain this sign to the crowds.

            That is what he will do for us during the next three Sundays.  The Bread of Life discourse will invite us to reflect more deeply on the Eucharist as the source and summit of our lives of faith.  This three week reflection is even more important this year, since we were unable to gather in person to celebrate the Eucharist during the pandemic.  It is wonderful to sense the enthusiasm of so many people as we gather in person now to be fed by the Lord’s presence in the Eucharist.  These next three weeks will deepen our understanding of the Eucharist as we continue to walk in faith together through the thorns and thistles of our world.

 

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

18 JULY 2021

 

          Jeremiah criticizes kings and prophets who are too intent on taking care of their own needs and ignoring those of the people.  Using the image of shepherds, who gave themselves completely to the care of their flocks, Jeremiah promises that God will raise up shepherds who will care for their people.  That shepherd will be the ideal king, a righteous shoot to David.

            Saint Mark sees Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of that prophecy.  Last Sunday, Jesus sent out the twelve to proclaim his divine authority to those who will hear them.  Today, they report to Jesus all that they had done and taught.  Modeling the pattern of healthy ministry, Jesus invites the workers to take time to rest in a deserted place.  In that place of rest, he will instruct them about his identity and his shared mission with them. 

            However, he finds a vast crowd waiting in that deserted place.  Jesus, the Good Shepherd, takes pity on them.  His pity is a deeply felt gut reaction to their plight.  He sees that they are like sheep without a shepherd.  Instead of complaining about being robbed of a well-deserved rest, he tends to their needs and teaches them.  He gives himself to them, as he will give his entire life to all in his death on the cross.

            In his pity for the crowd, the Good Shepherd teaches us how to be compassionate.  First, he sees their need.  We need a compassionate eye to see the needs of people we encounter.  For example, we are stopped at a traffic light on Indiana 23 to see a panhandler holding a crudely made sign asking for money.  It is easy to pretend that we do not notice.   Instead, we can at least look the person in the eye and have compassion.  Whether we give the person a gift card stored in the glove compartment or even a portion of the groceries we just bought at Martin’s, at least we can see that the person is human and have compassion.

            Once we see the suffering of another person, we can express our compassionate heart.  When Jesus has pity for the crowd, it is not just an emotion of feeling sorry for them.  The English word “compassion” comes from the Latin words:  cum passio (to suffer with).  If we have true compassion for others, we are willing to enter into their pain and suffering.

            With a compassionate heart, we can re-vision another reality for the suffering person.  The compassion of Jesus allows him to see the potential for this hungry crowd to become part of the Kingdom of God in their midst.  In 1958, a six-year-old African-American girl named Ruby Bridges was escorted every day by Federal marshals to a court-ordered school.  Each day, she passed hecklers at the schoolyard gate who shouted horrible things.  One day, Ruby appeared to be talking to the crowd.  When asked by her psychologist what she was saying, she said, “I wasn’t talking to them.  I was praying for them.  They need praying for.  That’s what God would want me to do.”  At the age of 6, she had a vision.

            Finally, we can turn our compassionate hearts into action.  Jesus not only teaches the crowd.  He feeds 4,000 of them with five loaves and two fish.  When we turn our compassion into action, we can live in a confessional way.  We can confess that God is the only one with power to turn our lives and the lives of others around.  Mother Theresa was asked how she could keep on caring for the poor in Calcutta when there were so many of them.  She answered, “All I can do, all any of us can do, is the best we can, for the most we can, for as long as we can.”

            Saint Paul expresses his vision to the Ephesians that the divisions between Gentile and Jewish converts within the Body of Christ could be healed.  His vision endures for us.  We too can begin to heal the many divisions within our society and our Church by regarding others with compassion, especially those with whom we disagree and those who feel alienated.

 

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

11 JULY 2021

 

          In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is rejected by his hometown, because he is too ordinary for them.  Instead of withdrawing, he imitates the persistence of the Prophet Amos.  Amos ignores the order of the priest of Bethel, Amaziah, and continues to challenge the northern kingdom of Israel in their ignoring the poor and vulnerable.  Jesus doubles down after his rejection and sends the Twelve to preach repentance as the first step to being part of the Kingdom of God.

            His instructions are clear.  Having given them authority over unclean spirits, he sends them out in groups of two.  Their message is urgent, and they are to take nothing for the journey except a walking stick.  They do not need food, or a sack, or money, because they are to depend on the hospitality of those who receive them.  They should wear sandals, because the wearing of sandals is a metaphor for discipleship.  They do not need a second tunic, because a second tunic is a sign of wealth.  Like Amos, they are not working for payment, but giving their message free of charge.  If they are rejected, they need to shake the dust from their feet and move on, without taking that rejection personally.  Jesus himself gave that example when rejected in Nazareth.

            A few years ago, I joined a group of cyclists on a pilgrimage from Canterbury in England to Rome.  After a very difficult climb up the Alps into Italy, we thought we had it made.  But when we got to Lucca, thieves had stolen three of our bikes.  We took our supply van to Florence and bought replacement bikes.  On Sunday, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, we rode into Saint Peter’s Square in Rome as Pope Francis was celebrating Mass.  After receiving his blessing and praying the Angelus with him, we went to the convent, where my sister had parked the van.  There we discovered that thieves had broken into the van and had stolen everything.  We were completely devastated and defeated.  We had to walk to the closest H & M Store to buy one set of clothes to last through the end of the week.  We bought sandals at a local pharmacy. 

But on the next day, we experienced the hospitality Jesus describes in the Gospel. The sacristan at Saint Peter’s trusted my story and allowed us to celebrate Mass in one of the chapels, even though I was dressed in ill-fitting H&M trousers and a pastel shirt. After spending the entire day at the American Embassy getting replacement passports, a gracious American guide took us through the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.  Friends of Paolo Carozza hosted us in a wonderful meal that evening.  As we spent the final few days in Rome without any belongings, we were able to shake off the dust of anger and resentment from our feet.  We came to realize that thieves could not steal what was most valuable – our companionship with one another.  We now speak of that stripping away of possessions as a gift which opened our eyes to what was most important – the Lord’s presence in those 1,200 miles and the bonds that held us together.

We are just emerging from this pandemic, which has robbed us of so much.  Many have suffered from the virus itself.  Family members have had to grieve the loss of their loved ones.  All of us have been isolated and lost the freedoms that we took for granted.  We have endured the divisions and arguments about wearing masks, social distancing, and the directives of the County Health Department.  However, we are emerging as the community of the Church.  It has been a gift to welcome parishioners back to Mass in person and to see the joy and excitement of coming together again.  The Lord speaks to us in his Word and assures us that he has given us authority over the unclean spirits of our day.  He feeds us with the Eucharist to proclaim with our lives that the Kingdom of God is in our midst.  Heeding his call to repent from sin ourselves, we invite others to do the same.

 

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

4 JULY 2021

 

          When Jesus returns to his native place, he encounters astonishment.  The locals have heard of his wisdom and the mighty deeds wrought by his hands.  They are amazed that he has attracted disciples who have left everything to follow him.  However, their astonishment is not one of pride.  Instead, their astonishment is driven by unbelief.  The residents of Nazareth had known him all his life.  They had seen him working with his father as an ordinary carpenter.  They know his family in a tightly knit community that does not have language to distinguish between siblings and cousins.  In a culture which names a man as a son of his father, they sneer at him and call him the son of Mary.  They know that Mary had conceived him before she was formally married to Joseph.  They refuse to believe that one so great could come from among those who are so wretched.  He is far too ordinary for them. 

            We tend to judge the people of Nazareth harshly.  But, we resemble the folks in Nazareth more than we think.  Unlike them, we have the advantage of the Scriptures that proclaim Jesus Christ is the Son of God who is capable of such wisdom and mighty deeds.  At Christmas, we celebrate the Mystery of the Incarnation, of God taking on our ordinary human flesh. 

            But like those folks in the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus Christ might be too familiar to us.  We tend to put the truth about him into our own narrow categories.  Today we celebrate our freedom as Americans.  We are grateful for our freedoms and many blessings.  But, we can take our freedom and comfortable standard of life for granted.  Those of us who have traveled or lived in third world countries know how privileged we are.  But, we can put our citizenship first and forget our responsibility to the poor and vulnerable of our world.  With modern technology, it is easy to become the rich man ignoring Lazarus starving at our doorsteps.  In our divided country, we can put membership in a political party first and view our discipleship from that narrow lens.  We can become so alienated from those with whom we disagree that we cannot see the presence of Christ in them.  It becomes more difficult to see the daily miracles (or signs of the Lord’s presence) in our narrow vision of faith.  Jesus can become too ordinary in our daily experience.

            Jesus understands the fate of being in the long line of prophets.  Like Ezekiel, he and his words will be rejected, even though he is the Incarnate Word of God.  Saint Paul understands this dynamic.  In his ministry of evangelizing the Gentiles, he has experienced his share of suffering and rejection.  But he also knows his successes.  In writing to the Corinthians, he makes it clear that the fruit of his ministry is up to God, not him.  His “thorn in the flesh” has helped him to see this truth more clearly in his ministry.  Saint Paul does not tell what his “thorn in the flesh” is.  Some speculate that it may have been a painful physical defect.  Others wonder whether it might be a persistent habit that he cannot break.  Whatever it is, he prayed constantly that the Lord would remove the thorn from his flesh.  When the Lord does not remove it, he realizes that God’s grace allows the Lord’s power to dwell more powerfully within him.

            Every one of us has a “thorn in the flesh” – some weakness that causes great pain. Like Saint Paul, we may beg the Lord to remove it.  When he does not, we can understand our call to evangelize more clearly.  Our thorn tells us that the Lord does not expect success from us.  He expects faithfulness.  We can manifest how extraordinary is the ordinary indwelling of the Son of God in our midst by our words and actions.  That is the mission of evangelization.  Once we embrace our thorns, we see the opportunity for divine grace to enter, transform, and manifest to others God’s incredible love and power now, in our hometown of Granger.

 

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

27 JUNE 2021

 

          Today’s Gospel follows the Gospel from last Sunday.  Jesus and his disciples had been caught in one of those violent storms on the Sea of Galilee coming from the Golan Heights.  The disciples woke Jesus from his deep sleep in the stern of the boat.  They asked why he did not care that they were perishing.  He immediately rebuked the storm, as he had rebuked demons.  He calmed the sea, as he had calmed those who had been possessed by demons.  In this action, he revealed to them that he is the Son of God.  But he also rebuked them for their fear.  It was their fear that caused them to lose faith.

            Jesus and his disciples now reach the other shore of the Sea.  Jairus, an important and well-known synagogue official, expresses his faith that Jesus can cure his twelve-year-old daughter, who is at the point of death.  As Jesus goes with him, a large crowd presses upon him.  They are obviously curious about what he will do.  In that crowd is an unnamed woman from the lower class.  She has been suffering from a painful flow of blood for twelve years.  Even worse, that flow of blood has made her ritually unclean and unable to conceive a child.  Isolated from everyone who avoids her ritual uncleanliness, she is literally a walking dead person.  Showing incredible faith in Jesus, she reaches out to touch his clothes.  She is healed immediately, but is startled when Jesus asks who touched him.  Instead of scolding her for performing an unclean ritual act of touching him, he praises her for her faith and tells her to go in peace.

            When Jesus reaches the house of Jairus, he finds that his daughter has died.  The crowd laughs at him for saying that she is sleeping.  But he ignores them and enters the house with Peter, James, and John.  Just as his true nature will be revealed to them in the Transfiguration, he reveals that he is the Son of God by ignoring the purity laws and touches the dead girl and brings her back to life.  Even though they are astounded by these miracles, they will not fully grasp God’s love until the Father will raise Jesus from the dead.

            We often think that hate is the opposite of love.  However, the Gospels remind us that fear keeps us from responding to the love of God in faith.  Fear of drowning kept the disciples from trusting that Jesus was present to them in the midst of the raging storm.  Fear sets in when this unnamed woman is asked to reveal that she had dared to touch Jesus.  Fear causes those mourning the death of Jairus’ daughter to lose faith that Jesus could save her.

            Jesus says these same words to us.  We often waver in our faith when we are overtaken by fear.  Saint Paul addresses a fear that many of us have about embracing stewardship as a way of life.  He writes to the Church of Corinth, whose members are blessed with many material blessings.  He argues that their surplus of treasure can compensate for the needs of others.  He asks them to be generous to the gracious act he is undertaking.  His gracious act involves taking up a collection for the Church of Jerusalem, both impoverished and persecuted.  He reminds them that the Macedonians had been extremely generous, despite their limited amount of wealth.  He tells them that the reason for giving is rooted in the incredible gift of Jesus Christ, whose gracious act caused him to empty himself of being rich to be poor, taking on our human nature.

We can be hesitant to give ourselves as stewards of time, talent, and treasure, because we fear that giving away those realities will deplete all we have.  Like the woman afflicted with the hemorrhage, we can approach Jesus with the confidence that he will provide for our needs.  Like Jairus, we can trust that the one who raised his daughter can raise us from death through his resurrection.  Like the disciples in the boat, we can learn that the Lord is with us in the roughest of times, inviting us to imitate his calm confidence in the love of his Father. 

 

TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

20 JUNE 2021

 

          The Book of Job is an extended parable that addresses the mystery of human suffering.  At the beginning of the Book, God brags to Satan about Job’s faithfulness.  Satan responds, “Of course he is a faithful servant.  He has everything – good health, a large family, and great wealth.  Take those away, and let’s see how faithful he is.”  God allows Satan to take away everything.  Job loses his family, his wealth, and his health.  His wife leaves him, advising him to curse God and die.  Then his three friends arrive to “comfort” him.  Convinced that human suffering is a punishment for sin, they urge him to admit his sinfulness and accept this punishment.  Even though Job is a sinner, he senses that this solution is too simple.  Job is hardly patient and complains bitterly throughout the entire book.  But he never abandons his faith in God.  Finally, God addresses him and asks a series of rhetorical questions.  Our first reading gives one of those questions.  God asks Job if he understands the mystery of creation.  Like a loving parent, God delivers creation from the womb and wraps the created world in swaddling bands as a gift.

            The Book of Job does not give a definitive answer to the mystery of human suffering.  But just as Job does not understand why God allows people to suffer, neither can he understand God’s creative and beautiful love.  God addresses Job out of the storm.  God dwells in the whirlwinds and tempests of life.  God had been present to Job in the midst of his terrible storm.

            In today’s Gospel, Jesus is asleep in the stern of the boat.  Violent squalls happen on the Sea of Galilee, as strong winds from the Golan Heights cause dangerous waves.  Jesus remains asleep in the midst of this storm.  The disciples wake him and ask, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  When he awakens, he rebukes the wind just as he has been rebuking demons.  He demands that the sea be quiet and still, as he has demanded the demons to be quiet.  At his command, the wind ceases, and there is a great calm.  He reveals himself as the Son of God.

            Jesus is present to his disciples in the midst of their dangerous storm, as God has been present to Job in his storms.  He remains peaceful and assured in the face of terror, death, and destruction.  He will maintain that same attitude when he is betrayed and crucified as a common criminal.  He will trust in his Father’s power to raise him from the dead.  He is warning his disciples that they too will be tossed about in the boat that will become the Church.  They will need to be steadfast in their faith.  They will need to trust him in all times and circumstances.

            As his disciples today, we are crossing the sea of life in the “Barque of Peter,” as the Church is sometimes called.  This Barque has been threatened by storms for centuries.  We are just emerging from two of those storms – the clergy sexual abuse scandal and the pandemic.  As individuals, each of us crosses our own bodies of water as we transition from one situation in life to another.  We who are fathers can speak of the transitions we have made to let go of our own needs to be more attentive to the needs of those who depend on us.  We also know the violent storms that have threatened us in these transitions.  Today’s Gospel answers the question of whether the Lord is present in those difficult times.  The answer is “yes.”

            Saint Paul assures the Corinthians that he can face violent opposition because the love of Christ impels him.  That same love of Christ impels us, holds us together, helps us to hold fast to our faith in the most violent of times, and allows us to press forward.  Saint Teresa of Avila expresses her trust that the Lord is present in the midst of the many storms in her life in the sixteenth century.  She replaces turbulence and unknowing with stillness.  “Let nothing disturb you.  Let nothing upset you.  Everything changes.  God alone is unchanging.  With patience all things are possible.  Whoever has God lacks nothing.  God alone is enough.”

 

THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

6 JUNE 2021

 

On the final night of their captivity in Egypt, Moses had instructed his people to slaughter a lamb and eat its roasted flesh, along with cups of wine, bitter herbs, and other symbolic foods.  The ritual eating of this lamb prepared them for their Passover from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Land promised by God to their ancestors.  Then he told them to smear its blood on the lintels of their homes.  The angel of death passed over their homes.  The blood signified that these inhabitants belonged to the family of God.  In today’s first reading from the Book of Exodus, Moses seals the Covenant between God and his Chosen People at Mount Sinai.  He splashes the blood of the sacrificed bulls on the Altar.  They are now his blood family.  Then he sprinkles the blood on the people, signifying their blood relationship with one another.  (For those of you who cringed at Deacon Lou’s enthusiastic sprinkling of Holy Water during the Easter Season, you should be glad that you were not at Mount Sinai!)

            On the final night of his earthly life, Jesus instructs his disciples to prepare the Passover meal in an upper room reserved for them.  As the meal progresses, Jesus deepens the meaning of the ancient Passover ritual.  He will become the Passover Lamb, sacrificed out of love.  He will give his body, his entire self, as an active remembrance of freeing his people from slavery to sin and death to freedom in the kingdom of God.  He will seal the New Covenant with his blood, forming a family bonded by the blood that speaks of his life.

            We are his blood family in our world today.  Whenever the Lord invites us to eat his Body and drink his Blood at Mass, he is renewing his commitment to us.  He freely gives himself to us in the Eucharist, even though none of us deserves it.

            As his blood family, we renew our commitment to the Lord Jesus.  In sending the two disciples into Jerusalem to arrange for the Passover Meal, he tells them to meet a man carrying a water jar.  Men never carried water jars in the ancient world.  That was the task of women.  This detail is important.  In the Incarnation, Jesus had entered the ordinary water of our humanity to draw us into his divinity.  When we receive the ordinary bread and wine that has been transformed into his Body and Blood, we embrace our commitment to him who has committed himself to us.  We open ourselves to be transformed into his divinity.

As his blood family, we celebrate our commitment to one another.  At Mount Sinai, the people responded to Moses by answering, “All that the Lord has said, we will heed and do.”  Reflecting on those words, Saint Augustine explained that Holy Communion is both a gift and a task.  “’The Body of Christ,’ you are told, and you answer ‘Amen.’  Be members then of the Body of Christ so that your Amen may be true!  Why is this mystery accomplished with bread? … Consider that the bread is not made of one grain, but of many.  During the time of exorcism (before Baptism), you were, so to say, in the mill.  When you were baptized, you were wetted with water.  Then the Holy Spirit came into you like the fire that bakes the dough.  Be then what you see and receive what you are.”

On this Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we reflect on the mystery of the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of our lives of faith.  Through our baptisms, the Lord has formed us from many different grains into one Body.  Nourished by his real presence in the Eucharist, we are given the task of renewing the blood bonds with the Lord and with each other.  Nourished by the Eucharist, we can bring new life to our parish, damaged by the pandemic in this last year and a half.