FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

16 JULY 2023

 

          The crowd on the shore listening to Jesus tell this parable from the boat would have understood the dynamics of this parable.  They were Palestinian farmers who worked the fertile fields around the Sea of Galilee.  They would have identified with the a farmer sowing his seed.  But as they listened, Jesus would have surprised them and widened their understanding of how God works in their midst.

            No Palestinian farmer would have flung seed so freely.  They know how expensive the seed is and would carefully sow it only on rich soil.  However, God sows his word freely and generously and with great joy.  God spreads his extravagant love  everywhere, knowing that some will accept it and others will reject it.  God sows with anticipation that even those who reject the word or ignore it can have a change of heart and become open to his gracious love.           As precious as seed may have been at that time, God’s word is even more precious.  In telling this parable, Jesus echoes the words of the prophet Isaiah, who compares God’s word to rain that waters the earth and makes it fertile and fruitful.  Isaiah speaks to his people in exile and tells them that God has forgiven their infidelity.  Words have consequences.  Like rain that falls from the heaven, God’s word forgives and returns them to their homeland.  God’s word is active.  The first chapter of Genesis reminds us that God created everything by speaking his word.

            God’s word has incredible power.  But its effect depends on the openness of those who hear it.  Palestinian farmers knew that seed fallen on paths had no chance.  The ground was too hard.  Seed that fell on rocky ground may have sprouted at first, but could not endure due to the lack of good soil.  The seed that fell on thorns showed signs of growth.  But in time, it was choked off and withered.  Palestinian farmers knew that seed sown on rich soil would have a good chance of producing fruit.  They would have hoped for a yield of tenfold.  But they would have been amazed at a yield of a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.

            By the time Saint Matthew wrote this Gospel, those who read it would have experienced the reality of this parable.  They would have known those who rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the beginning.  They would have been saddened when others abandoned the Gospel and their hope for the kingdom of heaven because of persecution.  Loved embraced the Gospel at first.  But, consumed by their desires for wealth and prosperity, they left the community of the Church and pursued more comfortable ways of life.  However, those who opened their hearts and minds and souls to the Gospel would have already understood its power to transform them.

            Jesus speaks this parable directly to us, who gather to hear the Word of God.  Each of us has experienced these four reactions to God’s Word in our individual lives.  We may come to Mass with anger and resentment.  If our hearts remain hardened and we hold on to that bitterness when we leave Mass, the Word has no effect.  Sometimes, difficult problems cause us to wonder whether God is in our midst or not, and the power of the Word withers.  At other times, we are so busy climbing the ladder of success or working to provide a lot of stuff that we do not devote time to experience the Lord’s presence in our families.  There are even other times when we become like that rich soil and allow the word of God to take hold of us and transform us.      

            Saint Paul points out that we already have the first fruits of the Spirit.  Those first fruits of the Spirit are given through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The Word of God can allow those first fruits to grow and flourish, even as creation groans with eager expectation.

 

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

9 JULY 2023

 

          Today’s passage from the Gospel of Saint Matthew comes at the end of a chapter filled with doubt and disbelief.  At the beginning of the chapter, John the Baptist sends a message through his disciples to ask if Jesus is the Messiah.  Or should he look for someone else.  His  question is remarkable, especially given the fact that John had leapt in his mother’s womb at the Visitation.  John had baptized Jesus in the Jordan and pointed to him as the Messiah.  In his dark place in a cell, facing execution, John has his doubts.  Jesus responds by telling his disciples to look around to see the signs.  Blind people are regaining their sight.  The lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.

            Jesus then praises John the Baptist, in the face of his doubts.  He points out how fickle people can be.  First, they criticize John for his austerity.  Then they accuse Jesus of being a drunkard and eating and drinking.  The villages of Chorazin and Bethsaida see the signs and refuse to believe in him.  They are proud, arrogant, and self-absorbed.  They may be considered the “wise and learned.”  But they refuse to believe.  So, Jesus gives credit to “little ones,” who put their faith in him.  The “little ones” are the people of the land.  The religious leaders have written them off, because they accuse them of being incapable of living the demands of the law, which is like a yoke bearing them down.  Jesus invites us, his disciples today, to be the little ones and bear his easy yoke and his light burden.

            We became his disciples when we passed through the waters of Baptism.  Saint Paul insists that we are no longer in the flesh.  In other words, we no longer have a human nature that is centered on ourselves.  We are in the spirit, where our human nature is centered on God.  If we live our baptismal promises, if we remain in the spirit, then we can take the yoke of Jesus Christ and learn from him.  We who are disciples have our share of yokes which we carry that make life burdensome.  Yokes come in different sizes and weights.  They can be as heavy as bearing a serious illness or suffering through a difficult breakup.  Yokes can include working in a job that is oppressive or grieving the loss of a loved ones.  The yoke of Jesus was hardly easy or light.  The yoke of the cross caused horrible pain, suffering, and death.  And yet his death was not the end, because the yoke was broken by his resurrection.  In accepting his yoke, we do not shoulder our burdens alone.  We are yoked to him, much as a beast of burden is yoked to another animal to make the task of bearing a heavy plow or wagon much easier.

            Jesus says that he is meek and humble of heart.  We tend to think of the word “meek” in negative terms.  In those negative terms, a meek person becomes a weak individual who cannot stand on his or her two feet.  That is not what Jesus means.  Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah when he comes down the Mount of Olives on Palm Sunday riding on the back of a donkey.  He does not enter Jerusalem as a fierce warrior on the back of a powerful horse.  He enters with humility and peace.  He is meek in the sense that he acts out of a controlled power.  He is obedient and open to the Father’s will.  He is not easily provoked.

            As the Lord’s “little ones,” we too can imitate his meekness.  We can discern the Lord’s will for us as we continue to live our baptismal promises and remain open to what the Lord has in store for us, no matter how old or how young we may be.  Like Martin Luther King, we can use non-violent means to stand up to hate, hostility, and division.  We can continue to get to know Jesus better in our daily lives.  When we know Jesus better, then we know what it means to be meek.  We can accept his yoke as we continue to bear our own yokes and burdens.

 

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

2 JULY 2023

 

          Saint Paul reminds us today of the critical importance of our baptism.  Most of us were baptized as infants.  Parents and sponsors made baptismal promises for us, renouncing three times the power of the evil one and professing faith three times in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Some of you were baptized as teens or adults, making those promises on your own.  No matter what were the circumstances, we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.  We entered into the waters of baptism as Christ was buried into his tomb.  We emerged one with Christ to live a new life with him.  As baptized Christians, we must think of ourselves as dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.

            In the course of these last few Sundays, we have been listening to the Gospel of Saint Matthew to follow Jesus forming his first disciples.  Through his teaching and miracles, he has been revealing that the kingdom of heaven has arrived.  He chooses twelve of his disciples to be apostles and sends them out to proclaim this message.  He tells them to do what he has been doing:  cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and drive out demons.

            He sends us out to proclaim the same message.  He teaches us in the Word proclaimed at every Mass.  We can deepen our understanding of his Word through the offerings of our parish adult faith formation and appreciate the richness of Catholic doctrine and social teaching.   We can evangelize when we attend to the sick.  We can raise those who have lost all hope to new life.  We can welcome back those who have been pushed out of our community.  We can bridge those divisions in our culture that cause demons great joy.

            However, Jesus warns the twelve that their message will not always be accepted.  In fact, they will most likely be rejected.  He gives us the same warning.  When we make efforts to share our faith, especially with members of our families who are alienated from or angry with the Church, we might face rejection.  When we speak from the richness of Catholic doctrine and social teaching, we are confronted with a deep polarization.  Too many cling to their political positions.  But Jesus assures us that he is with us and will not abandon us.

            In today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges us to put him first in all our relationships.  Ironically, we enjoy a much more profound relationship with members of our own family if we put our relationship with him first.  Rooted in that relationship, we do not have to perform dramatic actions to be recognized as his disciples. He tells us that we can proclaim the kingdom of heaven by doing something as simple as giving a cup of cold water to one of his little ones. 

Our small acts of kindness can make a dramatic difference today.  We can give a smile to someone who is discouraged.  We can listen to someone with whom we disagree.  We can show authentic love to someone who insists on pursuing a life style that contradicts what our faith professes.  In our church, Ministers of Hospitality open the doors and welcome all who come to join us at Mass.  Even an action as simple as moving to the center of the pew when someone is trying to find a seat can make a difference.

Through the centuries, disciples of Jesus Christ have proclaimed the presence of the kingdom of heaven in dramatic ways.  Some of them are portrayed on our triumphant arch.  Saint Gianni Mola gave her life so that her child could have life.  Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions planted the seed of faith in Uganda by refusing to cooperate with a brutal tribal chief.  Saint Angela Merici founded a religious order to serve the needs of the marginalized.  Blessed Basil Moreau founded the Holy Cross congregation that continues to serve the Church today.  We make a difference in quiet ways by engaging in simple acts of charity.

 

TWELFH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

25 JUNE 2023

 

          God called the prophet Jeremiah to speak the truth to his people.  Jeremiah tells them that they must reform their ways and return to the Covenant.  If they do not, Gentiles will destroy their beloved city of Jerusalem.  No one wants to hear this message.  They do not see any need to change their ways.  They insist that God will save them again, just as he had done two centuries before when an Assyrian army was ravaged by disease and retreated from their attack.  They argue that God will protect them again as long as they continue to offer sacrifices in the Temple.  They accuse Jeremiah of being a traitor and turn against him.  They denounce him on every side.  Jeremiah bears insult and allows shame to cover his face.  He maintains his confidence that he is doing what God wants him to do.  He is totally dependent on God, convinced that God will vindicate him.

We see a similar dynamic in today’s Gospel.  Jesus has been proclaiming that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  As the Incarnate Word of God dwelling in our midst, he has been showing what the unconditional love of God looks like to his disciples.  Now he sends them out to proclaim that love to others.  He knows that authentic prophets like Jeremiah were rejected for telling the truth about God’s authentic love.  So, Jesus warns his disciples that in proclaiming the message of love, not everyone will accept it.  He knows that those guilty of failing to love will feel resentment and will refuse to be confronted.  That will happen to him when he is rejected and crucified.  It will happen to his disciples whom he is sending out.  They will not be protected from all harm just because they are Christians.  Jesus tells them three times that they should not be afraid.  He will be with them, no matter what happens. 

            The Lord sends us from this Mass to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is in our midst.  We proclaim the truth about God’s love by the way we live and speak.  In our society, God does not matter to a lot of people.  Instead of confining God to a temple, as people did in Jeremiah’s time, many confine God to the realm of personal sentiment.  They are entitled to their personal beliefs.  Our physical lives may not be threatened like the earliest disciples or as Christians in Nigeria continue to have their lives threatened.  But we live in a time of deep divisions and animosity.  When we Catholics speak out on matters of social justice and public policies, we can be met with hostility.  We are told that faith has no place in the public square.

            Jesus tells us what he tells his first disciples.  Do not be afraid!  We may be rejected by others for living our faith.  But as disciples, we must also embrace the cross of Jesus Christ.  Our crosses come in many shapes and sizes.  We might bear the cross of losing our health.  A loved one might die suddenly and unexpectedly.  An accident can change the course of our lives in a moment.  A breakup in a close relationship can cause great pain. 

            The prospect of rejection and of carrying heavy crosses can cause us to fear.  But we can face rejection and crosses in life, because Jesus assures us that we are much more important than two sparrows that fall to the ground.  The Lord knows everything, even how many hairs are on our head.  God is fully aware that we are subject to harm.  Even in the worst times when we do not feel his presence, he is with us.  Jesus trusted that the Father was with him when he hung in agony and shame on the cross.  We must maintain total dependence on God.  The Father will vindicate us, as he vindicated his only begotten Son.

                 

 

 

ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

18 JUNE 2023

 

          In the first reading from the Book of Exodus, Moses tells the Israelites that God has been intimately involved in their lives and in their history.  God freed them from their slavery in Egypt and brought them through the waters of the Red Sea.  At Mount Sinai, God entered into a special covenant relationship with him.  God chose this insignificant group of people out of love.  Moses uses a beautiful image to explain how God forms them into a covenant of love.  Mother eagles bear their babies on their wings.  As they soar in the sky, they drop them and swoop down to catch them until they learn to fly on their own.  Like a mother eagle, God has been leading them through the desert, teaching them how to behave as free people.  They drop many times in their lessons.  But God is patient.  Moses tells them that they are God’s special possession, dearer to him than all other people on the earth.  God has made them a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.  They did not earn a covenant relationship.  They have often failed to hearken to God’s voice and keep the commandments.  But God remains faithful to them.

            Jesus, the Word made flesh dwelling in our midst, demonstrates the same intimate involvement with his people.  He has been announcing that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  His heart is moved with pity, because they have been neglected by their religious leaders.  He selects some of his disciples to continue his saving work.  Instead of forming an efficient search committee to look for the most qualified candidates, he chooses twelve of his disciples and sends them out to proclaim the presence of this kingdom.  The ones chosen are insignificant people with no apparent qualifications.  Most of them are fishermen.  One is a tax collector who worked for the Romans.  Another is a Zealot, whose party is dedicated to driving out the Romans, sometimes with force.  Jesus gives them authority over unclean spirits.  Despite their lack of any kind of qualification, all of them eventually choose to remain his apostles, except for Judas Iscariot.  They become the foundation for the building of Christ’s Church.

            The Lord has called each of us to become his disciples when we passed through the waters of Baptism.  None of us have any specific qualifications for being his disciples.  Saint Paul makes that point when he says that the Lord reconciled us to the Father when he died for us sinners.  As reconciled people standing on the foundation of the Apostles, we are called to live that reconciling love and extend it to others.  At Mass, he speaks to us, his disciples in the Word.  He feeds us with his Body and Blood and sends us out to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and to invite others to be part of it.

            We who are fathers share a unique calling to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  Most of you are physical fathers with biological children.  Some of us are spiritual fathers, with lots of children given to us as fathers of this parish.  We really do not have any specific qualities for being fathers.  But Jesus Christ loves us and has shown what his special relationship with the Father looks like.  None of us are perfect, and we have all failed to reflect the Father’s love in our vocations.  But the Lord reminds us today that we too must show compassion to those who depend on us.  We can cure the sick, especially those who suffer with the sickness of not being loved.  We can renew our efforts to die to ourselves so that we can share the Lord’s rising with our children.  We can reconcile those who are alienated in any way.  We can drive out the demons of division, jealousy, and hatred.  We have received our vocation without cost.  Without cost, we can give our love generously.  

 

THE MOST  HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

11 JUNE 2023

 

          In Saint John’s Gospel, Jesus has just fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish.  Like all seven of Jesus’ signs (or miracles) in John’s Gospel, this sign is intended to draw participants into a fuller understanding of the true identity of Jesus.  That happened when Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana.  His disciples accepted the invitation to draw closer to him and trust that he could transform the ordinary water of their human nature into the divine wine of God’s love.  It also happened to the Samaritan woman at the well.  She understood that he was the Christ who could satisfy her thirst for eternal life.  She came to understand that he was not talking about satisfying physical thirst.  So, she left her jar at the well and became the first evangelist, telling her neighbors that the long-awaited Christ had arrived.

            However, this does not happen with the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  Instead of accepting the sign as an invitation to know the truth about Jesus, the crowds want to make Jesus a king.  They want a Jewish Caesar who would give them free meals for the rest of their lives.  When Jesus withdraws from them, they continue to seek him out.  Then, Jesus tells the truth.  Just as God has sent manna to their ancestors in the desert, so the Father has sent him.  In the mystery of the Incarnation, Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven.  As the living bread and the Word made flesh who dwells among them, Jesus will continue to be present to them as food and drink.

            He shocks them by insisting that they will eat his flesh and drink his blood.  They know that the Torah forbids the eating of flesh and blood together, because blood is a sacred sign of life.  Then he doubles down on his statement by saying that they will not have life within them unless they eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood.  The Greek word for “eat” implies the gnawing on or crunching on, which brings their horror to a new level.

            He uses this word for “eat” deliberately.  His physical body will be gnawed apart and crunched by his horrific suffering and death on the cross.  But his brutally beaten body will be raised from the dead transformed.  That transformed body will be restored to heaven in the Ascension.  We share that life that the Father shares with his Son when we are baptized.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, we who eat his flesh receive the totality of his being – body, blood, soul, and divinity.  We who drink his Blood receive his complete life force. 

            Saint Paul expresses this Mystery.  The cup of blessing that we bless is a participation in the blood of Christ.  His sacrifice on the cross is made present as we remember it.  The bread that we break is a participation in the body of Christ.  As Saint Augustine reminds us, we become what we eat.  Every time we worthily receive the Body and Blood of Christ, the Lord forms us more completely into who we became at Baptism:  The Body of Christ sent into the world.

            Saint Thomas Aquinas helps us to understand the Eucharistic presence.  We taste and see the appearance of bread and wine.  When the priest prays the Eucharistic Prayer, the appearance of bread remains the same.  But through the power of the Holy Spirit, its essence is transformed into the Body of Christ.  The ordinary wine is transformed into the Blood of Christ.  We who eat his Body and drink his Blood share in his sacrificial love.  The Eucharist nourishes us to die to ourselves in ways that are sometimes very difficult and demanding.  But the Lord assures us that our dying with him is not the end.  We who eat this bread will share in his rising and live forever.

 

 

THE MOST  HOLY TRINITY

4 JUNE 2023

 

          What we heard in today’s Gospel is the end of a long conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.  Nicodemus is a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jerusalem ruling body.  He is intrigued about Jesus and has many questions to ask.  He comes at night, because he does not want the other members of the Sanhedrin to know of his interest in this teacher from Galilee.

            This conversation follows the account of Jesus driving out the money changers in the Temple.  This action rendered Temple sacrifice obsolete.  The sacrifices of animals and first fruits of the earth are no longer needed.  So, people want signs to establish his authority.

            By the time this Gospel was written, the Romans had destroyed the temple in Jerusalem.  Earlier, they had destroyed the physical temple of Jesus’ body on the cross and laid him in a tomb.  But the Father had raised Jesus from the dead.  In the Ascension, the transformed body of Jesus had returned to the right hand of the Father. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was sent to the Apostles and formed them into the Body of Christ, the Church.

            This last part of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus contains the Paschal Mystery.  God so loved the world that he gave his only Son in the Mystery of the Incarnation.  He gave his only Son so that those who believe in him may have eternal life.  The Mystery of the Incarnation does not end in the death of Jesus.  It continues through the Mystery of the Resurrection and is made present through the Holy Spirit in the Sacramental life of the Church. 

            We have celebrated the fullness of the Paschal Mystery in the Sacred Paschal Triduum, surrounded by forty days of Lent and fifty days of Easter.  Today, we reflect on the Trinitarian nature of God.  There is one God in three distinct persons.  It is a mystery which we cannot understand.  But the absolute love of the Trinity draws us to a deeper love in our world.

            That is why Saint Paul challenges the members of the Corinthian Church to live their baptismal promises.  They had been incorporated into the Mystery of the Trinity when they were baptized.  Now, they need to mend their ways and stop arguing with one another and bragging about who is holier.  They need to encourage one another, even in their differences.  They have many varying opinions about any number of topics.  But they must agree on the essence of their faith:  they are one Body in Christ.  If they work at living in peace, the God of love and peace will be with them.

            Saint Paul gives us the same advice.  As the Triune Godhead draws us to share a more perfect love, we can do a better job of imitating the oneness of the Trinity in the midst of our distinct differences.  Saint Paul tells the Corinthians to greet one another with a holy kiss.  We do that when we offer one another the Sign of Peace at Mass before the Communion procession.  Like the Corinthians, we have disagreements and deep difference of opinion on any number of issues.  We disagree in politics.  We can be jealous of what others have.  Young people are tempted to bully others to get their way.  It is easy to ignore those with whom we disagree and put them down.  In exchanging the Sign of Peace (the holy kiss), we express our intention do what we can to reconcile what divides us.  We can be kind to someone we do not like.  We can speak with someone who has a different opinion.  Brothers and sisters can stop arguing with one another.  We who are the members of Saint Pius will never fully imitate the love shared in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.  But if we are willing to mend our ways and encourage one another, we can make more of a difference than we think.