Sunday Homily, June 9, 2017, 14th Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Says Harper, "Welcome in, Everybody."
Readings:
Zacheriah 9, 9-10, He shall proclaim peace to the nations.
Psalm 145, I will praise your name forever, my king and my God.
Here it is again, The Terrific Line: "The Lord is gracious & merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love." Watch for it.
Romans 8, 9, 11-13, You are not in the flesh, you are in the spirit. (?)
Matthew 11, 25-30, All creation is groaning in labor pains.
Likewise, Gil, too, says, "Come on in, Folks."
Zechariah: Zechariah is the 11th of the 12 Minor Prophets and lived just when the Hebrews were released from the 70 year long Babylonian Captivity, in other words around 555 B.C. He is in Jerusalem and encourages the people to rebuild the temple.
He is called a minor prophet only because his little work has simply 14 chapters, unlike the Big 3, Isaiah, Jeremiah, & Ezekiel, who have many chapters, in fact 66 for Isaiah.
He was a favorite of the N.T. writers because he is rich in messiah predictions. Today we have one of those visions. You might picture how this message is coming across. The people have been crushed, they have been slaves in Babylon, and the Jerusalem they have returned to is nothing but disaster.
Tori, what happened to your tooth? Are you a rich girl now?
The Lord is Gracious and Merciful, never gets Angry, and is abounding in Love
I was asking myself, how did this line come to say so much to me about the nature of our God. Here is what I found.
I can tell you the time of day it first hit me, a sunny morning. I can tell you exactly where I was, Nairobi, Kenya, in the little chapel of a house run by a small group of American religious teaching brothers.
Zoe, did you snatch Tori's tooth? You got beautiful teeth.
It was my second year working in East Africa. I was taking a day off at this American brothers’ place because it was just around the corner from a really nice arboretum and because they were Americans. The Jesuits in Nairobi were mostly Indians with a few Quebecois. I liked to hang out once in a while with fellow Americans.
So why at this time and place? Two reasons.
Emma, just seeing you & your mom here today makes my day.
One, education and Jesuit formation. I had some good, progressive professors when I studied theology in Toronto, like David Michael Stanley in New Testament.
Secondly, people who showed me compassion and sensitivity, intellectual curiosity and acceptance, like the novice master, Tony Mangiaracina, about whom I talked once. He is the priest I told you I saw cigarette smoke coming out of his desk drawer when I went in to get permission to drink water for that month.
The Offertory Gang, Paul & Carrie & Diane.
Another priest I never have talked about is the assistant novice master, Bobby Rimes, another of the numerous New Orleans guys who made up our province.
Three reasons why Bobby influenced me to perceive the significance of the line, The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry, and is abounding in love.
Where did you get that megawatt smile, Olivia? It lights up the room.
First, he was disappointed but accepting of his assignment to be assistance novice master. Bobby really wanted to be a missionary like Francis Xavier. He wanted to be The Best. Assistance novice master was not very romantic. He did not ever complain, but simply shared he would prefer to be in the missions.
And here I, never dreamed of going to the missions, I end up in East Africa. I did not yearn to work in the missions because I did not like the cultural imperialism I read about, which played a role in my getting asked to leave.
You, too, Ben, your personality warms the whole room.
Secondly, Bobby was an excellent athlete and probably could have been a pitcher in the big leagues. Wow, could he pitch. I got to know this athleticism up close & personal because the second 3 years I spent in Grand Coteau, the noviciate, I spent many afternoons in titanic 2 on 2 handball games. I never won a game, though we came oh so close numerous times.
I had a partner who was quite strong. He was one of those who did 10 one armed pushups. He was Mexican from Juarez. Bobby, he probably could have asked one of the nuns from the Sacred Heart Academy down the street. We never won a game in three years, but it was so fun and moving.
So good to have you back, Leo. The place is not right without you.
Thirdly, Bobby was always a friend, supportive and accepting. He had every gift, not only a great athlete, but really a nice looking guy.
Because of the influence of Bobby Rimes, somehow or other, I suddenly saw that The Lord is gracious and merciful, never gets angry, and is abounding in love.
How does the line strike you?
