Sunday Homily 8-14-11, 20th Ordinary Time
Readings: Isaiah 56, 6-7; Psalm 67, O God, let all the Nations praise You; Romans 11, 13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15, 21-28
Isaiah:
1. Author: This is Isaiah III, the one who writes after the Babylonian Captivity, therefore, probably in Jerusalem after 550 B.C., more or less.
2. Today’s message: this selection is used to support the gospel, a message of inclusion of all peoples. His house will be open to all.
Romans: For months we have been using as our second reading Paul's letter to the Romans. I have not mentioned it or even included in the homilies for two reasons:
- It is not related to the other two readings. The Gospel & the first reading attempt to follow a theme. The second reading continues the same book week after week and if it relates it is accidental. Romans will be with us another 4 Sundays into mid-September.
- It is dense. I really don’t like it, except in a few sections. 7 letters are considered written by Paul who wrote this one probably around 55 A.D., while he was in Corinth, Greece, and in anticipation of a visit to Rome. Some scholars consider it his masterpiece, but it is often difficult to understand.
The Assumption
Often I mention that a line from the readings is one of my favorites, or a certain passage, maybe from Isaiah, is a favorite. Today I cannot say the Matthew passage is a favorite. In fact, I do not like the way Jesus insults the Canaanite woman. A dog! No way!
For maybe two days I thought about talking about this, but I could not find what I was looking for. Like, was this Matthew, not Jesus, speaking? And why? I searched all my resources. I even phoned my ace in a jamb, my friend, fellow ex-Jesuit, and excellent scripture scholar, Francis Vanderwall. He admitted he had not a clue.
So, I am going to cop out. I want to talk on a much more favorite topic, the Assumption.
Tomorrow the Catholic Church celebrates one of the big feast days, the Assumption of Mary into heaven. The meaning: Mary, after she finished her time on earth, was taken bodily into heaven. I would like to make 4 observations.
1. The history of the belief. The idea that Mary was taken up bodily into heaven got going by at least the 5th century. People thought that she was rewarded for her role in redemption by this action on God's part.
2. The history of the declaration. Really fascinating. In November, 1950, Pius XII declared this event to be a dogma of the Catholic Church, that is, you have to believe it if you are a Catholic. It was the first and only doctrine declared under papal infallibility, a doctrine proclaimed by Pius IX in 1870.
The story behind both of these dates is quite revealing. 1870 is the date of Italian unification. Up to this time there was no united peninsula, no Italy like today. There were at least three big parts: north, south, and right in the middle the Papal States.
The people wanted those states to be part of the whole. Pius IX was adamantly against ceding an inch of papal property. When the people won the property deal, Pius withdrew into the Vatican, declared himself a prisoner of the Vatican, appealed to France who did not help him, and finally declared that what he said as pope on faith & morals was infallible, despite the advice of the majority of his consulters. Sort of 'And I'll show you!' action.
In 1950 the Second World War was finished and the world was stunned into shock by the revelation of the Holocaust. Pius XII himself was downcast by the Holocaust. Moreover, he was getting heat because he did not stand up more strenuously to Hitler. He had been Vatican ambassador to Germany during the build up of the Third Reich, so he knew the atmosphere well. On top of that, there was evidence that at least one senior Vatican official was complicit in sending Jews to the death camps.
Pius XII might have experienced some shame. In the face of the brutality of the Holocaust, Pius decided to make a dramatic statement to show the sacredness of the human person, body included, by declaring the assumption of Mary's body into heaven a dogma.
3. The basis in Scripture for the doctrine. There is none. What is taking place here, is that Pius is articulating what has been considered a belief for centuries. People have believed this for, say, 10-15 centuries. Therefore, it took place. There is a weakness here, of course. What can be asserted a fact without evidence, can be discarded without evidence.
4. The Assumption in my life. 53 years ago tomorrow I walked into the Jesuit novitiate in Grand Coteau, LA. 30 of us entered more or less together. Two of my classmates are still Jesuits.
On that day 50 years ago my life took a 180 degree turn from being a typical bratty teen- ager to a monk. From days spent with friends, cars, and radios, I entered a world of silence, meditation, physical work, and study. Feast days were eagerly anticipated and the Assumption was one of the big ones. The date is still big with Jesuits and it brings back fond memories. It comes at a convenient time at the end of the summer and before the school year.
I still celebrate August 15, not at all with the same belief pattern that I had when I entered the Jesuits August 15, 1958, 18 years old just out of high school. I celebrate because of a fondness for Mary and a fondness for my years as a Jesuit.
The Assumption is celebrated tomorrow. What do you think about it? What do you believe?
Picture 1: Celebration
Picture 2: Communion
Picture 3: Cliff
Picture 4: Emma
Picture 5: Leo
Picture 6: Wedding of Victoria Looney (an old friend since her childhood) & David Cline
Picture 7: Wedding at the gazeebo, Plano City Park