Sunday Homily, October 20, 2019, 29th Ordinary Time

Readings: Acts of the Apostles 6, 1-7; Psalm 33, Lord, let your Mercy be upon Us, as we place our Trust in You; 1 Peter 2, 4-9; John 14, 1-12 

 

Sixth Sunday of Easter – Intro to the Reading

 Because we have been reading from Acts and Peter’s First Letter for the past several weeks I thought today I would focus on John’s Gospel.  It is very different from Matthew, Mark and Luke, better known as the Synoptic Gospels.  They were written earlier than John, and their style is more story or history.  Both Matthew and Luke start their gospels with an account of the birth of Jesus, Mark begins when John the Baptist baptizes Jesus as an adult at the Jordan.  St. John begins his gospel with the cryptic phrase “ in the beginning was the word and the word was God and the word was with God”.  John’s community was a group that had been evicted from the Jewish faith.  Thus in this gospel there is a great deal of animosity between Jesus and “the Jews”.  A few weeks ago I mentioned that one of the features of John’s gospel was to show that each of the major Jewish feasts have been reinterpreted by Jesus.  There is another way to look at the gospel.  The first part can be described as the Book of Signs, where Jesus does a whole lot of miracles.  The second half is the Book of Glory.  It is from Chapter 13 to the end.  But chapters 13 to 17 are the Last Supper and there are long monologues from Jesus to his disciples.  Incidentally John does not refer to them as apostles but always as disciples.  Four chapters are dedicated to the Last Supper.  Our reading today is taken from this section of the gospel.  And some of these chapters are repetitions. It suggests that the gospel has been reworked and added to by later writers, because the theme of not abandoning the disciples in today’s reading comes up again, almost word for word, two chapters later.  If there is anything, which becomes clear in the discussion during the last supper, it is that the disciples just do not understand Jesus’ mission. 

 

Homily

This past Sunday at Notre Dame College, during the graduation ceremonies, the Laetare Medal (“Truth is mighty, and it shall prevail.”) was presented to Sr. Mary Scullion and Joan McConnon for their work with Project H.O.M.E., which they both started some 30 years ago in Philadelphia.  During her acceptance speech, Sr. Mary made the following comment, which seemed to me to fit perfectly with what I wanted to talk about this morning.  She said, “our faith doesn’t give us answers, it gives us courage”. 

 Each of our readings today focus in one-way or another on the early Church.  We have just read from St. John’s Gospel Jesus trying to assure his disciples that even though He is going away, He isn’t going to be far away! 

 In the Acts of the Apostles we hear of early success as the community expands beyond Jerusalem to Samaria and Peter and John being sent to that little community to strengthen them with the Holy Spirit.

 
 

Finally in our reading from the Letter of Peter, Peter is writing to another little community, which needs encouragement.  They are surrounded by non-Christians and are feeling insecure in their faith.

 You would think that having been around for over 2,000 years these feelings of abandonment, weakness and the need for encouragement would be long gone – and yet I feel exactly as those early communities and those disciples felt, so long ago.

 

When Vatican II was held, there was a great sense of excitement.  It was said at the time that Pope John XXIII threw open the windows of the church and the Holy Spirit was able to get back in again.  There was a great sense of renewal and fresh new life in the church. 

 In recent times, with the huge exodus of Catholics from the church, that group who has left would make up the second largest church in America if they were together.  The decline of vocations to the priesthood, the shame and disgrace of the pedophile scandal, and with the current mighty efforts to undo much of what was done at the Second Vatican Council.  The church’s refusal to even consider discussing having women ordained priests, I feel that the Holy Spirit must have gone away again.

 This is why today’s readings are important for me.  I need to be reminded that in spite of all of this, the Holy Spirit is very much alive.  He is present in the hundreds of small faith communities such as ours, which are being formed all over the country.  In two weeks time in Detroit, over 40 of those communities will be gathering as the American Catholic Council to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Vatican II.  These little communities are led by the Spirit. They are celebrating God’s presence in their midst.  They are doing what we do each week.  Come together, listen to God’s Word, break bread together and reach out to those in need, whether it is the CCAC, the Plano Homes, MyFriend's House, Habitat for Humanity or the people in Tuscaloosa, AL whom you heard about last week.

 It is all of these things, which convince me that we are not abandoned.  The Holy Spirit is very present here in our community and in all of those other communities today.  That presence of the Holy Spirit may not give us the answers, but does give us the courage to follow Jesus’ command to love.

 
Picture 1:   Mass begins

Picture 2:   Offertory with Charlotte & Geri

Picture 3:   Communion Helpers

Picture 4:   Communion  

Picture 5:   Leo with his buddy, Richard

Readings:  Jeremiah 20, 7-9; Psalm 63; Romans 12, 1-2; Matthew 16, 21-27

Jeremiah: One of the 3 great prophets, called the "broken hearted prophet,' because he had a heart rending life predicting punishment of death and destruction for the Hebrews for their sinful ways. 

He wrote from Jerusalem ca. 600 B.C. and his predictions came true when Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem in 588 B.C., defeated the Hebrews, and took them off to Babylon-Baghdad as prisoners.  Jeremiah wore a wooden yoke as a visual aid to his message.  He may have been ultimately killed by the Hebrews.

Deny Yourself, Take up Your Cross, and Follow Me

This simple little line from Matthew can be very tricky.  It can be approached healthily or in a less than healthy way.  I can witness to the latter in my own life.  I have already described how as a young Jesuit I was expected to do penance and deny myself in various ways, like the practice of using little whips to scourge our backs and little chains with points to wear around our thighs.  This was supposed to bring me closer to God.

I can laugh at this now, but I am humbled at how easily I can be programed.  When I read this line and others like it in the Bible and remember my experiences with such spirituality, I pick up the scent of an ancient philosophy that still influences a lot of religious activity which is not spiritually so sane.  The philosophy: dualism. 

The idea is simple.  Reality comes in pairs, hot & cold, rich & poor, order & chaos, and, in particular for this discussion, body & soul or flesh & spirit or mind & matter.  So far so good. 

The trouble enters with a judgment about the flesh & spirit.  Specifically, flesh is bad, spirit is superior.  Consequently, so that my spirit may reach an elevated plane of purity & perfection, and ultimately closer union with God, I attempt to control the flesh by disregarding the body's existence & appetites, ultimately aiming to live without it.  How about that!

There is a healthy, in fact, a rich approach to the line.  But first a couple of facts.  Dualism is identified as far back as 1000 years B.C. and came out of Zoroastrianism, a religion that worshiped one god and believed in an afterlife.  Did it come from Egypt as so much did at that time?  No, from  Persia, the area we call Iran today.  Zoroastrianism was widespread until Muhammad arrived on the scene around 650 and established Islam.  Through the ages lots of people picked up on dualism, for example, Plato, Augustine, Descartes.

I have two stories about people who healthily acted out self denial.

First, a girl I know who when she was 11 years old thought that she would like to join a swimming team here in Plano. She tried out, more than once, failing each time.  Undaunted, she practiced.  When she was 12 she not only got on the team, but she won the state championship in her age bracket. 

She continued to swim through grade school and into high school, practicing 2 hours early in the morning before class and two hours after school.  She even went to Providence College on a swim scholarship.  This girl, Megan, whom I love tremendously could have slept in two more hours every morning when she was in high school, she could have come home after school and watched TV.  It would have been easier.  This is healthy self denial and because of it she is a girl more alive, more whole, more fully alive with a vibrant spirit.  She is now the mother of Liam, who was our Baby Jesus in the Christmas drama, and the daughter of Rob & Beth.

Saturday we celebrated with a parade in Parker another girl like Megan, Nastia, home from the Olympics.

The second person is Thomas McGowan, 50 years old.  You might have read about him in the paper a few weeks ago.  He was just released from prison after spending half of his life there for a crime he did not commit.  The Innocence Project obtained permission to run a DNA match & he was exonerated. 

I came to know more about him through an old friend and classmate of mine, Tony Levatino, who in his retirement works at the Holy Trinity Center, the outreach arm of Holy Trinity Parish, just like ours.  Tony got familiar with him because his sister works at Holy Trinity and happened to talk with her.  Turns out he could not find a job.  Tony had a connection with the Anatole Hotel and got him hired.

Besides being moved by what Tony was able to accomplish, I was also moved whenTony said Thomas was an excellent man, cheerful, without anger, not wanting to blame anyone.  He accepted his fate while hoping for exoneration.  He was peaceful.  Thomas was a man who denied himself and took up a cross.

These two people have both denied themselves.   Megan strove to achieve, Thomas accepted.

How & why do you deny yourself?

AUDIO:  http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-08-31.mp3

Readings:  Isaiah 61, 1-2, 10-11, He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken hearted; Psalm, The Magnificat, My soul rejoices in my God; 1 Thessalonians 5, 16-24, Rejoice always; John 1, 6-8, 19-28, John the Baptist, I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the lord. (John the Baptist was using the words from Isaiah 40, 3, last week's Isaiah reading put to music by Handel in his Messiah, which we heard)  Beautiful readings. 

Isaiah, a reminder.

This is Isaiah III speaking to the Jewish people after their return from the Babylonian Captivity, around 550 before Christ.  A beautiful reading full of consolation.

 

To catch today's homily, please click on the video (17 min.).  Jamie Rose describes her work with CASA:

 

Picture 1:    Candle Lighting with Sienna & Brian & Erin

Picture 2:    Jamie talking about CASA

Picture 3:    Noah

Picture 4:    Offertory with Kathy & Bill

Picture 5:    Leo walking up the ramp

Picture 6:    He makes it, first time ever

Readings:

Wisdom   18, 6-9,  The night of the Passover was known.

Psalm 33,  Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Hebrews 11, 1-2, 8-19,   Faith is the realization of what is hoped for.

Luke 12, 32-48,  You must be prepared for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

(Less than amiable readings this week.)

 

Say Genevieve and John, "Welcome in Everybody."

 

 

Observations on the book of Wisdom:

What:  Exploration of the meaning and value of wisdom.  The author is the first to express a hope for immortality, a Greek concept.

 Who:  A Greek Jew who wrote probably in Alexandria, Egypt.

 

An observation on Hebrews:  one of the most difficult books in the Bible.

 

 

Just watch how good I can walk.

 

 

Watch out for the Beauty

As you may imagine, I am not comfortable at all with the tenor of our readings this morning.   Do you really think our God is a mean master sneaking around looking to snatch us when we have messed up? 

No way.    Instead, I would suggest our God is a God of gifts.  We are challenged to be alert, yes,  & watch out for the beautiful gift of the moment.  And there are many each day. 

Let me exemplify with three stories from Iowa and the Ragbrai bike rally.

 

 

If there is a candle lighting Olympic category, sign up our man, Cole.
 

 

 

Firstly, on the third or fourth night of our week we pulled into a scenic hilly town called Centerville.  Our group of about 25 was invited by a couple to camp in their front and back yards. 

I arrived about 4:00 and immediately went out to get something to eat.  I returned and found the hosts, Terry and Kevin, had produced a huge spread in their driveway, hamburgers, brats, cookies, and two gallons of vanilla ice cream with, of course, chocolate sauce.  I could not believe my eyes.

 

 

Camping in the shady yard of a beautiful Victorian two story. 

 

 

I was most touched and thanked them over & over.  This hospitality was a norm and it never ceased to catch me unaware and to touch me.  Our God is a God of Gifts.

Secondly, the Air Force.  Every year I see Air Force men & women in these marvelous blue & white bike outfits with big, upright wings on their back.  I remember other years when we had 50 or 60.  This year there were ca. 115, according to one guy I asked.  

 

 

The Air Force, not only riding, all 120 plus of them, but helping anyone who came up with a flat, a dropped chain, or an accident.   They were everywhere and I told them I was really proud of them.  Sign up next year, Ryan, Chebino.

 

The men and women not only rode the 500 miles, they also stopped to help bikers who had a flat or who had dropped their chain.  And, of course, they patched bikers up who had scratches & bruises.  Likewise, they can phone in for an ambulance, of which I saw a bunch.  I would see them all along the road.  I am so proud of these Air Force people.  Our God is a God of Gifts.     

Likewise, David, himself stopped once and patched up a girl he saw fall down.

 

 

Oh, my gosh, where did I put my bike?   A typical scene in every town we entered.  

 

 

Thirdly, on the second day coming out of Shenandoah and heading toward Creston, going up a hill, I spot a three wheel bike with two people.  One person is a woman in, say, her thirties.   Next to her was an older man, slender with white hair.  She is pedaling.

On the back of the tricycle there was a hand written sign.  “My father is 81 years old and he has stage 4 cancer.  This is his first Ragbrai.”   Wow.  Talk about being moved. 

 

 

Does life get better than this?? 

 

 

This was only part of the story.  A guy had ridden past this dad & daughter, had dropped his bike up the hill, run back down, and was pushing the three wheeler up the hill.   Further up the hill I saw another guy had dropped his bike on the shoulder, and he, too, was running down to help push. 

Our God is a God of Gifts.

 

 

And you were hoping to get through this town in how many minutes?  And you still have not reached the town square.

 

 

Because of many of these & many other similar moments, when I finally arrived at the marvelous, mighty Mississippi, I just had tears streaming down my cheeks. 

Our God is a God of Gifts.

What are yours today?

 

Our God is a God of the Gift of cuddly grandmothers for lovely girls like Zoe.

 

 

Readings: Ezekiel 33, 7-9; Psalm 95, If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts; Romans 13, 8-10; Matthew 18, 15-20. 

23^rd  Sunday – Intro to Readings , Fr. Tony

 I would like to say a few words, not about the three readings today, but about the part of the Mass they occupy, the Liturgy of the Word.

 As I have mentioned previously, each of the sacraments has a pattern, Scripture Readings followed by an Action.  It is reminiscent of the creation story, God said and something happened.  Let there be light, and there was light!  And so in our Mass, we have a Liturgy of the Word, when we listen to God speaking to us through the Sacred Scriptures and then our response to that word is the Liturgy of the Eucharist, when we offer our gifts of bread and wine in Thanksgiving.

 

Last Sunday we heard a bit about the celebration in Detroit of the 50^th anniversary of Vatican 2.  One of the major changes, which came out of the council, was a reemphasis on the Scriptures.  Recall that prior to this time, Catholics were pretty much discouraged from reading the Bible.  Its purpose in most catholic homes was as a place to record baptisms, first communions etc.  Remember that before Vatican 2 you could miss the entire liturgy of the Word and still be on time for mass!!  Of course they were read in Latin, so it didn’t really matter anyway, you had no idea what was being read unless you had your own missal and were diligently following in it. 

 The reason Vatican 2 was able to move so quickly with the refocus on the Scriptures was because of a new encouragement  on Catholic scripture scholarship, which was started by Leo XIII and continued, by Pope Pius X, XI and the XII when he issued his encyclical in 1943 on Biblical Studies. 

 

 It may be helpful for us to understand how a Jewish person would hear God’s word – not as a message to be analyzed but as listening to God speaking directly to them.  Here is what Isaiah had to say about it

 “Yet just as from the heavens, the rain and snow come down And do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, Giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats.  So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it.”  (Is 55: 10-11)

So, when we celebrate the Liturgy of the Word, and hear God’s Word proclaimed, we need to remember that it is God speaking directly to us. 

 

 Homily

 Today’s gospel reading from St. Matthew would appear at first glance to be a simple lesson on conflict resolution.  But I think there is much more to this reading.  If we step back a little and take a broader view of the reading in its setting in the gospel we will see that it follows a very short but powerful account of the good shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to go and find the lost sheep.  Then following our reading, which you will hear next Sunday is the story about the importance of forgiveness, not just 7 times as Peter suggests but 70 times 7!!  So I think this little reading today isn’t as simple as it first appears.  Plus I believe that the Church wants us to consider all of our readings today, I see them all connected, for a change!

 

The first reading from Ezekiel puts forth an interesting concept.  If the prophet, or in this case us, have heard God’s Word, and do nothing about it, in other words if we don’t try to reach out with God’s Word, then we are responsible for those around us!!  In other words, we can’t keep it to ourselves!  Paul, in the second reading tells us what that message is: “love one another”.  I feel that the Responsorial Psalm repeats this message with its response “if today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts”.  It is so easy at times to simply say “forget it” I am done trying, I am done with whatever, they have gone too far.  And yet we must remember, 70 times 7.

 So, this stuff isn’t easy!  But back to today’s gospel, and the closing lines, “where two or three are gathered”.  That’s us!  Our liturgy of the Word has been us, listening to God speaking to us.  We are two or three gathered, listening to God and now we will respond with our gifts of bread and wine.  And I believe that we can also ask for God’s help in living lives of love and forgiveness.  Remember again Matthew’s comment “anything for which you pray shall be granted”!  

 

Picture 1:    Tony beginning

Picture 2:    Kevin with his parents, Connie & John

Picture 3:    Communion helpers, Nancy, Jan, Patricia, & Sandra

Picture 4:    Ryan

Picture 5:    Leo with Alison

 

 Readings:  

 Ezekiel, 2, 2-5, Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you.

Psalm 123, Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

2 Corinthians 12, 7-10 A thorn in the flesh was given to me to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.

Mark 5, 21-43, A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.

 

More Observations on Ezekiel (June 17 we also had Ezekiel)

Who:  Ezekiel is one of the Big 3 prophets.  Why?  48 chapters.  The other 2: Isaiah & Jeremiah.  These 3 have lots of chapters & material.

Ezekiel was born into the priest class.  He later was considered a prophet.  He got The Call from God.  When he was about 25 he was swept up in the Babylonian captivity, around 590. 

When: It covers the period of the Captivity, 600-550 before Christ, which Ezekiel lived personally.  But the work is composed toward the end of the Captivity, around 550.  This is Ezekiel’s material, but it has been saved and edited by his fellow priests.

Message:

1. Ezekiel criticizes the people and warns them that their bad ways will be punished, for example, by being defeated and led into slavery and the Captivity.
2. He promises comfort and a brighter future for the captive people, especially envisioning a restored temple (which then lasted until when?  The year 70, when the Romans finally destroyed the temple & the priestly cast ceased to function, to this day).
3. An amusing vision: The Dry Bones, chapter 37.

  Today’s selection:   Ezekiel gets The Call or invitation from God to go tell the Israelite people that God sees what is going on.  Which means, tell them they are behaving horribly and they will pay dearly for their misbehavior. 

2 Corinthians observations -(2)

1.  This second letter to Corinth is often called the severe or tearful letter.  Paul was upset with the Corinth, Greece community because of what he thought were false prophets undermining his authority.  These people could have simply been people who disagreed with him.  At points you can almost hear Paul playing his violin & singing 'Poor Paul.'

2.  He talks here about a thorn in his flesh.  So, what is that?  People have speculated for centuries.  Could it have been he was OCD (obsessive compulsive), bi-polar (mood swings from manic & dramatic to depressed), a sexual addiction, epilepsy, or something else?  Is there evidence in his writing for any of this?  Maybe. No way to really diagnose.  The patient has been dead for a few years.

Sources: Good News Bible, New Interpreter’s Study Bible, St. Louis U. Liturgy Studies, Wikipedia

 

Jack & Sophia

Ever seen a Prophet?

Friday I received a call from an old friend in Baton Rouge.  Since my class reunion with my S.J. buddies, I have been longing to reconnect with other old friends especially in the New Orleans area where I lived and worked in the early 70’s. 

My friend’s name is Lucy and she is a St. Joseph sister.  I knew her and her community really well when I was director of a spiritual center at Grand Coteau, near Opelousas, a couple of hours up the river from New Orleans. 

In those days Lucy and the St. Joseph sisters were spiritually and psychologically healthy nuns working to make the Catholic community even better along the lines set up by Vatican II. 

I lost track of them when I went to Tanzania & Kenya, only finally making contact again with Lucy on Friday.  I had to search all around for her phone number, and then when I called she was out of town. 

I found out that their headquarters on Mirabeau Ave. in N.O., where I gave some retreats & said Masses was wiped out by Katrina and they have relocated in Baton Rouge.  I was stunned.



I thought about Lucy & her sisters when I was looking at these readings about Ezekiel & Jesus’ roles as prophets.  I would like to talk about 3 nuns who were & are prophet like people for me. 

I have become aware in the past couple of weeks how rich has been my experience with so many women of this caliber.

Remember, first, prophets do 3 things.  They criticize the evils of their times, they promise God will punish, and they offer consolation for reform.  A side effect of their criticism is the hatred of the people they are criticizing. 



I consider this pretty Old Testament.  New Testament prophets don’t promise God will punish.  Most of us don’t believe that any more.  Katrina was not a punishment from God.

First, there is a sister Marian.  A doctor, from around Denver, a Medical Missionary of Mary.  We are about the age.   She had been working in Tanzania since before I first came in contact with her around 1980.   She is there this morning.

Marian & her community not only work in Tanzania, a poor country, but she normally works in the most remote places you can reach.  No tourists visit.  One of her specialties since I departed Tanzania is AIDS & HIV patients. 

Another sister about my age working in Tanzania is Anita, a Maryknoll.  She & her sisters work to empower the females of the villages.  Do not imagine the men of the village always like this.  These sisters, too, live in remote places and in utter simplicity, like the Medical Missionaries of Mary.  The simplicity of their living often shamed me as a Jesuit.



Then, there was one special nun who worked on my spiritual renewal team, a Sister of Africa.  Hanny was her name.  She was not American, but Dutch & lived in Holland during the Nazi occupation.

She was about 10-11 years old during the occupation. Her family lived on a small farm & they successfully hid a Jewish family during the war.  Hanny used to courier messages on her bike, holding them in her mouth. 

One time she rode up to a German check point with her German shepherd dog.  The guard came out and shot her dog dead.  When I knew Hanny she had accepted this and was marvelously peaceful. 

I talk about these nuns today for two reasons.  First, they have been models of courage, service, and prophetic vision for me.  I am blessed by their presence in my life.

Secondly, the American nuns, as you probably know, are enduring a lot of criticism from the Vatican.  Their leadership team here in the States is getting what prophetic voices get, rejection.  Rome ought to be ashamed of themselves. 

Finally, if you want to see something touching, Google Nuns on the Bus.  This was a June bus tour by nuns appealing Congress for more rather than less support for the poorest of the poor.

These are just a few of the heroic religious women I have known in my life.  I am in touch with Marian, out of touch with Anita, and Rosemary & I visited Hanny a few years ago in Holland, where she now lives in retirement.  Lucy has opened a door for me to reconnect with a number of the sisters I knew and have lost contact with in Louisiana.   I even suggested that we might have a reunion and she was all for it. 

Wonder where the prophetic people are today?  Check out the religious sisters as a starter.

Who is the prophet person in your life?