SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

29 JULY 2018

          When we hear about this miracle of Jesus feeding 5,000 people with five barley loaves and two fish, our reaction might be:  “Wow, what an incredible event that happened over 2,000 years ago!  All those hungry people were fortunate to have been fed!”  But that is not the reason why Saint John recorded this sign in his Gospel.  He wrote it so that we can deepen our faith in Lord’s presence at this Mass.

            Just as a large crowd gathered around Jesus after he crossed the Sea of Galilee, so he gathers all of us (from east to west, as the Third Eucharistic Prayer proclaims) in this church for this Mass.  Just ancient people saw mountain as places where the divine touched the human, so we encounter the Lord on this “mountain”.  Teachers in the ancient world spoke from a seated positon.  Jesus has just spoken to us in his Word.  Just as he understood the hunger of all those people for meaning in their lives, he knows that we come to this church with many hungers, and he helps us to understand better what can fulfill those hungers.  Through his Word, he warns us against putting all our energies into those passing solutions which will never satisfy our deepest hungers.  Just as the Jewish Passover was near, so we are entering into the Memorial of the Lord’s Passover from death into life.  That is why the Lamb of the New Passover is pictured in the mosaic on the front of our Altar.

            When he decides to satisfy the physical hunger of the vast crowd, he asks for help from Phillip and Andrew.  Phillip sees it as impossible.  Andrew points out a boy who has brought five barley loaves and two fish.  But he doubts if the boy’s box lunch could make much of a difference with so many hungry people.  Jesus invites the vast crowd to recline on the grass.  Reclining in the ancient world was a posture for those sharing a meal together.  Instead of having them find a seat among thorns and thistles (the result of Adam and Eve’s sin and their being expelled from the Garden of Eden), he invites them to sit on grass, a sign of the new Eden he will bring through his new Passover.  He takes the five barley loaves and two fish and gives thanks to the Father.  Then he distributes the food to satisfy the hunger of everyone who had gathered there.  Once they have had their fill, the disciples gather twelve wicker baskets with fragments left over from the five loaves and two fish. 

            In just a few minutes, people will bring up a gold paten filled with hosts made from unleavened bread, along with some wine.  The priest will take those gifts.  In the Eucharistic Prayer, he will praise the Father for the sacrifice of Jesus made present as we remember.  During the singing of the Lamb of God, we will break the consecrated host and place the rest of the hosts into ciboria.  Along with the extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, we will distribute them to the assembly.  We will take the remaining fragments for the sick and homebound, and we will place the rest of the consecrated hosts in the tabernacle.

            Those who were fed on that mountain were so impressed that they wanted to make Jesus a king.  They did not understand that this physical feeding was a sign of the more profound feeding that would occur at every Mass celebrated throughout the world after the Pascal Mystery had been completed.  Jesus withdrew to draw attention away from him.  At the end of Mass, he will send us forth to proclaim the Mystery we have received and behave as members of his Body.  That is why he feeds us with his Body and Blood.  Our reception of this Eucharist increases our trust that he can transform our meager efforts and our limited resources into powerful witnesses to the Kingdom of God.  We can make a difference, not because of our own efforts, but because he feeds us with the bread from heaven and the cup of eternal life.

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

22 JULY 2018

          The prophet Jeremiah speaks to his people, who have been scattered when the Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem.  Jeremiah gives the reason for their difficult condition.  Those charged with leadership have failed them.  Jeremiah calls them shepherds.  Instead of watching over their flock, protecting it, keeping it together, and caring for the injured or the sick, they were too taking care of themselves.  Knowing his people’s discouragement, Jeremiah promises that God himself will gather the remaining members of his people and care for them.  Even though the last remaining descendant of King David has been killed by the Babylonians, Jeremiah promises that God will raise up a righteous shoot to David who will govern wisely and do what is just and right in the land. 

            We see Jeremiah’s promises fulfilled in today’s Gospel.  Jesus is a descendant of David.  Those seeking his help often cry out and address him as “the son of David.”  Jesus is also the only begotten Son of God, revealing his identity through his miracles.  As the promised shepherd of Jeremiah, he had sent his apostles on mission to proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom.  They have returned and are telling Jesus about their successes and failures.

            Jesus listens, even though he is mourning the execution of his cousin, John the Baptist.  So, he gets into a boat with them and crosses the Sea of Galilee to a deserted place to get some rest.  Moses had led their ancestors through the Red Sea to a deserted place, where they rested from years of slavery in Egypt to allow God to teach them how to behave as free people.  Now, the Good Shepherd takes his tired apostles to a place where they can rest and learn from him.  However, a vast crowd waits for them in that deserted place.  Jesus is moved with pity for them, because they are lost and scattered.  He sets aside his own grief about the death of his cousin, as well as his own exhaustion from his ministry, and teaches them.  The Incarnate Word of God speaks God’s word to them.  When he realizes that they had not brought any provisions with them, he feeds 5,000 of them with five loaves and two fish.

            On this Sabbath day of rest, we have just heard the Lord speaking to us.  In just a few minutes, he will feed us with his Body and Blood.  Beginning next Sunday, we will switch from the Gospel of Mark to the Gospel of John to hear the “Bread of Life” discourse for the next five Sundays.  In listening to the Lord and sharing in the Eucharist, we can reflect on the dynamics of being disciples.  We need to trust that the Good Shepherd heals those wounds which cause us to be broken and scattered.  We need to work hard to meet the needs of others who depend on us.  But, we also need to rest, to take time to spend quality time in intimacy with the Lord.

            We too are “apostles,” in the sense that we are sent to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.  Thanks to the writings of our last three popes, we are becoming more aware that each of us has a role in sharing our relationship with Jesus Christ with others.  The popes have called our role the “New Evangelization.”  That is especially true of those of us who are called to be “shepherds.”  We are shepherds as priests, religious, and parents.  We are moved with pity toward so many who are lost or scattered. Without pushing them or putting guilt trips on them, we can make new efforts to reach out to the “nones”– those who respond that they have no religion when asked.  As a parish, we are putting together a five year strategic plan to explore ways in which we can be more effective in our role of evangelizing, and especially of reaching those who call themselves “nones” and meet their needs.  The Good Shepherd provides a good model for us.  We rest on the Sabbath to listen to the Lord and to have him feed us in the Eucharist.  Then he sends us beyond these stone walls as living stones formed as Church.

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

15 JULY 2018

          Last Sunday, Saint Mark told us about Jesus returning home to Nazareth.  The locals had heard of his success in preaching the kingdom of God.  They even knew that he had raised a twelve-year-old girl from the dead.  But, they could not believe in him.  They knew him too well.  They could not see beyond their own mediocrity.  The Incarnation made no sense to them.

            Instead of fretting over his rejection or plotting to get even with his homeys, Jesus shakes the dust of rejection off his feet and continues his mission.  He has already chosen the twelve who are willing to put more faith in him that his human family. They may not understand fully the Incarnation any more than his homeys do.  But, he trusts them enough to proclaim the kingdom of God.  He sends them out to drive out unclean spirits and cure those who were sick. 

            We are like the Twelve in more ways than we suspect.  Like them, we do not have professional qualifications to confront demons or cure the sick.  Except for Simon Peter, James, and John, we know very little about the rest of the Twelve (aside from Judas, of course).  Like them, we do not always understand the ways in which Jesus works in our midst.  But, he sends us as apostles (“those sent out”) from this Church every Sunday to confront the demons of our world and to evangelize the culture in which we live.

            Jesus sends the twelve out, not as isolated individuals, but in pairs.  Together, they can support one another.  They will learn how to live together in community, sharing the positive bonds that hold them together and facing the challenges that might tear them apart.  The same is true for us.  We gather at this Mass, not as isolated individuals, but as a community of believers.  The Lord speaks to us, just as he spoke to the twelve.  Through our sharing in the Eucharist, he strengthens our common bonds.  In admitting our brokenness and facing our sins that cause conflict and division, we can confront the demons of our culture in humility.  We can proclaim the kingdom of God without arrogance or judgment to a broken world that needs healing.

            The Lord tells the twelve that they do not need anything for their journey – only a walking stick.  They do not need food, a sack, or money in their belts.  They need to learn to trust in God and in the basic goodness of people, not on their own resources and resourcefulness.  The same is true for us.  We don’t need to rely on money or power or lots of things.  Ironically, those are part of the demons we need to confront.  Our culture teaches us that wealth, resources, power, and control over other people are the most important realities in life.  Nothing else matters.  However, in the last few weeks, we received an insight into what is most important.  The attention of the world was on those twelve Thai soccer players and their coach.  What mattered most was the effort to save their lives.  We mourned the loss of the brave diver who drowned trying to rescue them.  The parents forgave the coach for putting their sons at risk.  Parents throughout the world hugged their children in appreciation for the gift of their children.  We rejoiced when they were saved.  Those lives mattered, not wealth and power and control.

            Finally, the Lord knows that not everyone will accept his message.  He knows that the twelve will suffer the same fate as he would suffer.  He tells them to shake the dust from their feet, as he has just done, and continue their mission.  The same is true for us.  We will not always find a warm welcome and a ready embrace of the message we try to bring.  When that happens, we cannot become bitter, angry, and pessimistic.  We must move on and trust in the Lord’s presence in our efforts to live and proclaim the Gospel.  Through God’s grace, we have been successful in building this beautiful church.  Now, more than ever, the Lord sends us out to be Church, to share the beauty of the kingdom of God with those whose lives we encounter.

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

8 JULY 2018

          Biblical prophets have never filled out application forms to get the job of being a prophet.  Most were like the prophet Ezekiel, sent to speak the truth in God’s name to his own people who had rebelled against him.  God frankly admits that those who will hear Ezekiel’s word are hard of face and obstinate of heart.  They will refuse to listen and reject him.  The success of Ezekiel’s mission will not be determined by how many people listen and respond.  The success will be determined by Ezekiel’s faithfulness in speaking the truth in God’s name.

            Jesus Christ not only speaks the truth in God’s name.  He is the eternal Word Made Flesh, Incarnate by the power of the Holy Spirit and having taken flesh in the womb of Mary, the Mother of God.  Yet, when he returns home after proclaiming the Kingdom of God and bringing back a twelve year old girl from the dead, his homeys reject him!  Even though they may be astonished by the words he speaks in their synagogue, he is too ordinary for them to put their faith in him.  They know him too well.  He is an ordinary carpenter in the same social class as they are.  They call him the son of Mary.  They may be raising questions about the legitimacy of his birth.  Or they may be insulting him in avoiding the custom of calling a man the son of his father.  Instead of believing in him as the Son of God, they believe only in their own mediocrity.  They cannot imagine God working through this person whom they had known since his birth.

            In truth, none of us applies to be a prophet.  We think of prophets as weird figures from the Bible or professional Church people today.  However, all of us were called to be prophets when we were baptized.  When babies emerge from the font, the priest (or deacon) anoints them with Chrism and says:  You are now a priest, a prophet, and a king.  We share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, because we are called to pray and offer ourselves as sacrifice out of love.  We share in the kingship of Jesus Christ in the kingdom of God.  We are prophets, sent to speak the truth in the name of Jesus Christ.

            Speaking the truth in the name of Jesus Christ is not easy, because we sometimes have to speak the truth to those who do not want to hear it.  Spouses and family members of those trapped in addictions know the angry denials when they try to speak the truth.  Parents know rejection when their teenage children do not want to hear the restrictions placed on their freedom.  We priests hear negative comments when we say something in the homily that people do not want to hear or when we make decisions that people reject.  Prophets understand that success is not measured by whether or not people listen to them.  Success is measured by being faithful to the person of Jesus Christ, incarnate in a world that prefers for God to be distant.

            However, prophets have to learn how to speak the truth with love, not with arrogance, judgment, or condemnation.  Saint Paul learned that lesson as he was rejected by his own people, just as Jesus was rejected by his own family in Nazareth.  Saint Paul may have had much to brag about, especially with his extensive travels, his mystical experiences with Jesus Christ, and the many converts he made with Gentiles.  But he did not see himself as being superior to any of them.  Instead, he boasts of a “thorn in the flesh.” We do not know what his “thorn in the flesh” was.  It could have been a physical affliction, a moral failing, and even some kind of debilitating condition.  Whatever it was, Paul hated it and begged God to remove it.  When God did not remove his “thorn in the flesh”, he realized that God’s power is made perfect in weakness.  It kept him humble.  Each of us has a “thorn in the flesh.”  We need to be aware of our “thorn in the flesh” when we speak the truth to someone else.  It keeps us humble.  It reminds us that God is in charge.  It is God working through us, whether we are successful or not.

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

1 JULY 2018

          Last week, a 14 year old parishioner was killed in a senseless accident.  He was a well-liked and respected young man connected with many others through our parish and sports.  The outpouring of support and love for Nolan’s family was incredible.  But, his death raised many questions about our trust in God’s providence.  Many asked the question:  was his death part of God’s plan?  Even if it was not part of God’s plan, why did a loving God allow it?

            The first reading from the Book of Wisdom gives us some guidance in answering these questions.  The Book of Wisdom states very clearly that “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.”  The author reminds us of the truth found in the Book of Genesis.  God created us in his image.  God intended us to be imperishable.  Death was caused by the envy of the devil and by the disobedience of our first parents.  They believed his lies and separated themselves from God.  And that is what death is:  a separation not caused by God, but by our sinful rejection of God.

            The two miracles in today’s Gospel reveal God’s plan to destroy death in the person of his Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ.  Whenever Jesus teaches by the sea in Mark’s Gospel, he reveals something about himself to the large crowds gathered to listen.  Both miracles involve women.  One is a daughter of an upper class and influential synagogue leader.  The other is an anonymous woman without resources.  In both cases, the number twelve is significant.  The daughter of Jairus is twelve years old.  The woman has been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years.  Both women represent God’s people:  the twelve tribes of Israel.  In both cases, there is the pain of separation.  The twelve year old girl is separated from her family by physical death.  The woman is separated from society, because the flow of blood makes her ritually impure and excluded from society.  In both cases, the situation is hopeless.  The daughter has died.  The woman has exhausted her finances trying to find a cure.

            Jesus marches boldly into both situations, where he encounters a deep faith.  Jairus trusts that Jesus can save his daughter by laying his hands on her.  The woman trusts that that the one she had heard about can save her.  In both situations, Jesus moves beyond the restrictions of the Law of Moses and shows that it has been fulfilled.  Jesus risks ritual impurity by touching the woman with hemorrhages and by touching the body of a dead person.  In raising the girl from the dead, Jesus prefigures his own victory over death in the resurrection.  In healing the woman, he shows the power of his death and resurrection to free us from the separation that comes from sin.

            Jesus gives strict orders that no one should know about raising the girl from the dead, because the miracle will only draw attention to himself.  The miracle will make sense after his own death and resurrection to those who have come to believe in him.  Then he orders them to give her something to eat.

            We are among those who have come to believe in him.  We will eat and drink at this Mass, where the mystery of his death and resurrection is made present here.  Like Jairus and the woman with the hemorrhage, we believe that Jesus Christ has destroyed the power of sin and death.  We entered into the dying of Christ in the waters of Baptism.  We emerged one with him when we came out of the watery font.  We trust that our union with him will not be destroyed by physical death.  We trust that our life will be changed at the end of our earthly life, not ended.  Our task is to remain connected with the person of Jesus Christ and live our baptismal promises.  This is the message that grieving people need to hear.  It is the message all of us need to hear, because we all live in the shadow of death.

THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

24 JUNE 2018

          John the Baptist was born into a family associated with priesthood.  Elizabeth, his mother, was a descendent of Aaron, the first priest.  Zechariah, his father, was a priest associated with worship in the Temple.  Zechariah had been chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense.  As he was performing his priestly duties, the angel of the Lord announced that he and his wife would give birth to a son.  Zechariah refused to believe that he and his wife could conceive, because they were really old.  Rendered speechless for his unbelief, Zechariah must have reflected on his experience during his wife’s pregnancy.

            Because of the family connection with priesthood and temple worship, his neighbors presume that John would follow in his parents’ footsteps and be named after his father.  But, Elizabeth objects.  She insists that he be named “John,” which means “the Lord has shown favor.”  To echo what he had heard from the angel, Zechariah takes a tablet and writes, “John is his name.”  His tongue is loosened as he proclaims the greatness of God.  That Canticle of Zechariah is omitted in today’s Gospel reading.  But we pray it at Morning Prayer, and we will sing it as the hymn of thanksgiving at this Mass.  His neighbors quickly understand that there has been some kind of divine intervention.  They are amazed, yet fearful:  common human responses to an encounter with God.  They gossip among themselves about what role this child will have.

            Saint Luke says that the child grew and became strong in spirit.  As an adult, John does not go to the Temple in Jerusalem.  King Herod is in the process of rebuilding that Temple on a grand scale, bringing with the reconstruction a host of abuses and corrupt practices.  Instead, John goes to the desert, that wilderness long associated with the liberation of his ancestors from slavery in Egypt.  The desert had been for his ancestors a place of protection and testing.  It was in the desert that they encountered God at Mount Sinai.  It was in the desert that death could come quickly if people were not careful.

            In the desert, on the banks of the Jordan River, John the Baptist would invite people to undergo a baptism of repentance, expressing their desire to change their ways.  In the desert, John the Baptist would point to Jesus, the Lamb of God, who would give his life in sacrifice, not on the Altar in the Temple, but on a hill of execution outside the city.  In the waters of the Jordan, John would baptize his cousin and witness the voice from the heavens announcing that this is God’s beloved Son, in whom the Father is well pleased.  In the desert, John the Baptist would condemn Herod for marrying the wife of his brother Philip.  In response, Herod locked him up and eventually beheaded him.

            In the liturgical calendar of the Church, we normally celebrate the feast of a Saint on the day that the Saint died and was reborn into eternity.  That is not true with John the Baptist.  We also celebrate his birth, his nativity.  The only two other nativities that we celebrate are the birth of Mary, the Mother of God, on September 8, and the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25.  We celebrate the Baptist’s birth soon after the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.  We celebrate the Savior’s birth soon after the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.  The placement of these feasts reminds us of the role of John the Baptist.  He must decrease, so Christ can increase.

            That is our role also.  Our lives of faith must point away from ourselves toward Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is present in the good times and the bad times of our lives.  When things go badly, we depend on the Lord to walk with us.  If things go well and we are successful, it is because of the presence of Christ.  In decreasing ourselves, Christ can increase.

ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

17 JUNE 2018

          The prophet Ezekiel writes to his people who are in exile in Babylon.  Although he is honest with them that their infidelity to the Covenant caused the destruction of their beloved Jerusalem and the Temple, he also wants to encourage them.  They have given up and presume that they will never return to their homeland.  However, he uses the image of a mighty cedar to give them hope.  The mighty cedar represents Zedekiah, the corrupt and powerful king who had dominated the scene before the exile.  But he was gone.  The Lord has made low the high tree.  Now, the Lord will take a tender shoot off the top of the tree, who is Jehoiachin, the king’s nephew.  The Lord will transplant Jehoiachin and the remnant of his people back to Jerusalem.  The Lord will lift high the lowly tree and rebuild his people.  God’s plan is to restore his people from exile.  But it is also God’s plan to establish a future messianic kingdom.

            We see the fulfillment of this prophecy in Jesus Christ.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses two other images from nature to help us to understand the kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God is not a place.  Rather, the kingdom of God is what happens when God is totally in charge of life.  The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seeds and then watches the plants emerge from the ground and are eventually brought to the harvest.  The kingdom of God is also like a mustard seed, the smallest of the seeds on the earth, which eventually grows into the largest of plants.  In both cases, the growth occurs beyond human control.

            The earliest disciples of Jesus needed to hear these parables, because they were becoming discouraged.  They had embraced the person of Jesus Christ.  But their communities were small and being persecuted.  These parables instilled courage in them and gave them hope.

            These parables also give us hope.  We live in a world filled with violence, hatred, division, injustice, and fear.  Our eyes are drawn to the big cedars of our world – the powerful, the wealthy, and the famous.  The parables draw our eyes away from them and point to the ways in which God tends to begin small and grown his kingdom gradually.  C.S. Lewis said that God took on human flesh in a dusty outpost on the fringes of the Roman Empire.  Jesus snuck in behind “enemy lines” and was executed for his efforts.  But, because of the resurrection, many other disciples took heart and started small.  Saint Francis heard the Lord speaking to him in a tiny chapel in Assisi.  He founded the Franciscans, and order that has served the Church for many centuries.  Charles Lwanga (on our triumphal arch) refused to give up his faith.  For that refusal, he was executed.  Those who killed him thought they were done with him.  On his feast day last week, a million Africans gathered at the shrine of the martyrs in Uganda to celebrate their faith.  Mother Theresa (also pictured on our triumphal arch) began picking up dying people and orphans on the streets of Calcutta.  Today, the sisters of her religious order attend to the most desperate people throughout the world.  Many people have planted seeds and trusted that God would work through their initial efforts to make the kingdom of God more visible.

            Saint Paul was another one of those people who stared small.  He encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, and the seed was planted.  Through his efforts, the Gospel spread to the gentiles.  He reminds us that our efforts will please the Lord while we are at home with our bodies.  He encourages us to trust that our smallest acts of kindness and feeble attempts to love will make a difference.  Today, we fathers especially need to hear this message.  It is easy to get discouraged.  It is tempting to think that our sacrifices are in vain.  We wonder how we can make a difference in a world full of towering cedars.  Keep planting those seeds.  Even if you don’t see results, even if your children rebel against you, don’t lose hope.  God will do the rest!