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.

 

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

30 JUNE 2024

 

            We meet a woman who comes to encounter Jesus.  She has been suffering for twelve years from a flow of blood that makes her ritually impure.  Not only does she experience physical pain.  But, she is also isolated from the community.  In desperation, she approaches Jesus and touches his cloak.  When the woman’s flow of blood dries up, Jesus perceives that power had flowed out of him.  He asks who had touched him, which causes her to tremble with fear.  He praises her for her great faith, heals her physical pain, and restores her as a healthy daughter to the community.  The 20^th century French philosopher Simone Weil said, “It is grace that forms a void inside of us, and it is also grace that fills that void.”  Jesus becomes aware of the grace that forms a void inside of him.  The grace of his love fills the void in the woman.

            Twenty-three years ago, I encountered the Lord in this parish, the Body of Christ.  Other than any mental deficiencies, there was no physical pain.  There was no desperation that brought me here.  Instead, it was the assignment given to me by Bishop D’Arcy.  I was carrying the void of leaving Saint Jude Parish in Fort Wayne, where I had been a pastor for thirteen years.  I approached the risen Christ present in the members of this parish with trembling and fear.  The Congregation of Holy Cross had founded Saint Pius X.  Holy Cross priests had served it from the beginning.  I came as a diocesan priest to try to fill big shoes.  The Bishop’s instructions caused even more fear and trembling.  He described this parish as a rapidly growing congregation that had already outgrown its physical structures.  He gave me the task of being open to the grace that created the void of leaving one parish to be open to the grace to fill the void of the task ahead.

            As time went on, that grace filled the void.  That grace eventually gave a strong staff that guided and worked with me in this new role.  That grace provided many gifted parishioners who were willing to provide advice and guidance.  That grace opened me to extremely generous people who began to take steps in embracing stewardship as a way of life.  Over the last twenty-three years, that grace has allowed me to be part of a vital and growing community of people, who are the Body of Christ.  I have been involved in people’s lives in their joys, triumphs, and tragedies.  It is impossible to count the many times we have worked together in baptisms, funerals, weddings, and the celebration of the Lord’s presence in the Eucharist.  The void has been filled with overflowing love and involvement in the lives of so many people.

            Now it is time for me to trust the grace of a new void both for you and for me.  It is time for new leadership at Saint Pius, and you are graced with the gift of a competent new pastor.  You are stuck with same Parochial Vicar.  You are graced with the gift of an incredibly talented staff.  When pastors leave, the new pastor clearly sees all the faults, weaknesses, and sins of his predecessor.  Michael Heintz knows all of these realities already.  He will simply move on.

            For me, a new void is being created in retirement.  But I am confident that the Lord will fill this new void with his grace.  Jesus leaves the woman whom he has restored to health to continue his journey to the home of Jairus.  He ignores the message that his daughter has died.  He enters the house with Peter, James, and John and brings her back to life.  He says to her, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”  He brings her back from the dead to foreshadow his own death and resurrection.  He will arise from his tomb to assure all of his disciples that they will rise with him if they share in his dying.  It is the Paschal Mystery.  I trust that Mystery as I leave the void of my pastorate here and trust the Lord to fill the void with his grace.

           

 

TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

23 JUNE 2024

 

          For the past few Sundays, Saint Mark has described the early ministry of Jesus in Galilee.  Jesus has been preaching, teaching, telling parables, and working miracles.  He has announced that the Kingdom of God is in their midst.  In working miracles, especially in driving out demons from possessed people, he has demonstrated in action what he has proclaimed in words.  He has also faced criticism from his family, who heard that he was out of his mind.  He widened the definition of family by inviting anyone who is willing to do the work of his Father to become mother and father and brother and sister to him.

            Today, those who want to be part of that family stand on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  They enter the boat with him and begin to cross the water.  On the other shore, they will learn how to be his disciples in the next stage of his ministry.  As they head to the other shore, they run into one of those violent storms typical of the Sea of Galilee.  As the waves are breaking over the boat, they are afraid that they will be drowned.  To their dismay, Jesus is asleep on a cushion in the stern.  So, they take the first step in becoming authentic disciples.  Disciples in this first stage ask questions:  “Do you not care that we are perishing?” They address him as “teacher,” because they want him to summon God to calm the storm.  When he awakens, he rebukes the wind and  commands it to be quiet and be still, as he had rebuked the demons so many times.  Once the wind ceased, and there is great calm, he does not answer their question.

            Instead, he makes it clear that he has power over the storm as the Son of God.  He does not give trite answers to explain the individual storms of their lives.  He responds to their question in the same way God had responded to Job’s questions in the first reading.  He asks them two questions:  “Why are you terrified?”  “Do you not have faith?”

            As we take steps in learning how to be authentic disciples, we ask the same questions.  All of us endure various storms that cause fear.  Storms can be very personal.  They can arise when we have failed at some task in life – in school or in business or in personal relationships.  We experience financial hardship, illness, injury, and death.  Other storms are communal.  We continue to endure terrible wars, the polarization in our country, and the Covid-19 Pandemic.  They have rocked us to the core.  Instead of dispelling them, Jesus meets us in the storm, as he meets those in the boat with him.  He raises more questions about our lives and invites us to enter into dialogue with him through prayer and spiritual discernment.

            As members of the Body of Christ, we are in this boat we call “the Church.”  In this boat, Jesus invites us to deepen our faith in him, as he deepens the faith of those disciples in the boat of today’s Gospel.  They are filled with great awe and ask one another:  “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”  Saint Paul knows this awe and deep faith when he writes his second letter to the Corinthians.  He tells them that the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection is at the heart of everything he does.  Because Jesus died for all, we can all endure death.  Like Jesus, if we die to ourselves, we can rise to live with him.  Once we have been convinced of this mystery, we can be transformed and become new creations in Christ.

            Because of his encounter with Jesus Christ, Saint Paul is able to let go of many negative things in his past life.  Those disciples in the boat would eventually learn that they too can be transformed after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We can be transformed as we grow in faith and deepen our trust in the Lord Jesus.  At times, he may seem to be asleep in our boat.  But he is not.  He is present in the worst of our storms.  He is simply inviting us to trust him even more as we are tossed about in the many storms of life.

 ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

16 JUNE 2024

 

          In his second letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul defends his ministry.  After he had left, critics have stood up to debate his authority.  They have criticized his preaching.  They have dismissed his abilities and trashed his reputation.  In response, he points to Jesus, crucified and risen.  Just as Jesus was criticized and rejected, Saint Paul faces the same treatment.  Like Jesus, he is sustained by the same power of the Father, giving hope.  He walks by faith, not by sight.

            In this letter, he uses three metaphors.  First, he describes his physical body as a tent.  While the Lord may dwell in a huge mansion in heaven, Paul’s tired and weary body is more like a tent.  It is temporary, not permanent.  His second metaphor is that of clothing.  He has put on Christ when he was baptized.  In his travels, that clothing has been torn and worn out by those who reject his message.  So, Paul longs for a new body, a “new set of clothes” given by Christ to those who die with him.  Finally, Paul uses the metaphor of “home.”  As Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul has been confident in his strong relationship with the Lord.  But, he longs for a home where he will see the Lord face to face.  Once he has died, he will see face to face the Savior he has loved.  For Paul, this is the profound joy of the Gospel.  This hope has sustained him through all the troubles of his ministry.

            In the Gospel, Jesus also uses metaphors to give his disciples hope.  He tells parables that are agricultural.  The first connects the Kingdom with a reality understood by his rural listeners.  The Kingdom is like a seed planted in the earth.  It has already been planted in their midst.  Even though his disciples must work to cultivate the kingdom, it continues to grow on its own.  As the kingdom will continue to grow and yields its fruit, it becomes more visible, like the blade, the ear, and then the full grain.  The kingdom of God will continue to grow in human history, until the grain is ripe and ready for the final judgment at the end of time.  It is God’s work, not ours.

            The second metaphor is that of a mustard seed.  The mustard seed is tiny annual that has been sown into the ground.  In the first century, farmers would have recognized its medicinal properties.  Despite its tiny size, it puts forth large branches.  In this parable, Jesus assures his small band of disciples, as insignificant as they may be, that they will continue to grow and become a powerful sign of the Kingdom of God.  In fact, the growth of the Kingdom will attract converts from every nation to become like birds dwelling in its shade.

            When Saint Mark wrote his Gospel, these parables provided hope for its first readers.  They were being persecuted for their faith in Christ and found his passion and death difficult to understand.  His parables did for them what Saint Paul’s metaphors did for him.  No matter how much opposition they faced, no matter how many difficulties they endured, the Risen Lord remained with them and continued to remind them of the Kingdom already in their midst.

            The parables of Jesus and Saint Paul’s metaphors remind us that the Kingdom of God is in our midst, even when life becomes difficult, and tragedies and losses make us wonder whether the Lord is in our lives.  They speak to us fathers on Father’s Day.  They encourage us to persevere in our vocation, even when we do not see results.  They remind us that the Lord can continue to work through us, if our children rebel and hurt us.  They remind us that the Lord can still work through us, even when we fail.  One of the surest signs of the Kingdom of God is the Lord’s mercy when we need it.  These parables and metaphors speak to all of us disciples of  Jesus Christ.  We can see more clearly the presence of the Kingdom when our weary bodies (our tents) and our tattered clothing (our baptismal garments) seem to be unraveling.  We have a home waiting for us, when the Lord comes to gather us and allow us to see him face to face.