Sunday Homily 11-20-11, Christ the King
Readings: Ezekiel, 34, 11-17, I will look after and tend my sheep; Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want; 1 Corinthians 15, 20-28, Christ has been raised from the dead; Matthew 25, 31-46, The last judgement, He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Ezekiel: I've mentioned how Ezekiel is one of the Big 3 Prophets, #3 after Isaiah & Jeremiah. I also mentioned e how he lived smack dab in the middle of one of the two or three biggest tragedies of the Jewish people, the Babylonian captivity, from say 600 to 550 BCE. He was there.
In American history we can look back and identify special presidential leaders, Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt. They came forward in crisis times.
Ezekiel was this type of leader in Jewish history. He saw what had happened to other Jews of the the northern province of Israel (Jerusalem is in the southern province of Judah) after they had been carted off as slaves after a defeat by the Assyrians. They intermarried and simply disappeared in the DNA of the middle east.
Ezekiel is in Babylon and is determined that his community would not lose its identity. He did three things to help maintain the spirit of the community: he emphasized 1. observance of the Sabbath, 2. kosher diet, and 3. circumcision.
Eventually after ca. 50 years the community still was a cohesive unit and it returned to rebuild Jerusalem, at least most of them. The Jews are one of the few peoples to be defeated and scattered, and still return to their original homeland. They remained there until the Romans defeated them in 70 C.E., returning when? 1948, after the Holocaust.
Today's reading comes to us from an Ezekiel captive in Babylon, and has Ezekiel promising the people a return, a brighter day after the captivity. He uses the figure of speach, I will. But I is Yahweh.
Giving Thanks & Giving Back
Occasionally we have a story that is so good it deserves to be repeated, like the Christmas story. This event took place 2 or 3 years ago. Some of you will remember it, but it is a lesson worth remembering.
It happened like this.
The community had adopted a family for Advent, a mother with 3 little kids and a baby on the way. Beth Robinson had coordinated our adoption of the family and we were collecting clothing, food, and money. It was our response to Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as our response to how blessed we are and have been this year.
After the Mass everyone was standing around having coffee and pastries. Beth was there when a young boy, 6 or 7 years old, came up and said he would like to help the family. All he had was a dollar and he would like to give it to the family. Beth accepted it graciously.
The boy is one of ours. You know who it is? Dillon. The son of Bobbi Whitley, and Tony & Jo’s grandson. The brother of Hunter & Audrey. He is not with us this morning because he is a Boy Scout on a weekend camping trip. He will be back & he knows I am telling the story.
Dillon is a model for me and he exemplifies the two themes I would like to touch this morning, what we have to be thankful for and how we respond to the Matthew story about feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty.
My belief is that the greatest prayer is gratitude. I am grateful that living in our country we have this feast, my favorite. It pulls me back over the past year and gets me questioning, ‘What is my greatest blessing or joy or gift?’ Rosemary & I even make a list.
Our response is easy, try to give back. This is why we renovated Rita’s house a week ago. It is why we have put together for the community a simple plan for Advent, call it A Gift a Sunday. I will explain the idea at the end of Mass and welcome any helpful ideas.
Two observations about our gospel about the sheep & goats. Actually, lefties like myself & goats don't do well here.
1. Beware of either/or spirituality. We are both. The temptation, of course: I am a goat & lost. We are all goats.
2. Beware of letting fear enter your spirit and trying to do it all, feed, give drink, clothe, visit the imprisoned, and on & on. Try moderation seasoned with gratitude.
What is your blessing of the year? How are you giving back?
Picture 1: Mass begins
Picture 2: John working out with Ray & Jon
Picture 3: Froebes, Richard & Morgan & Monica
Picture 4: Butterlies, Jim & Denise, Kara & James III
Picture 5: Buddy with his dad, Randolph
Picture 6: Brooklyn thanks everyone for welcoming her and accepts her baptism tree
