Homily for Sunday, 5 July 2015

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Ezekiel 2:2-5; Psalm 123:1-2, 2, 3-4; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6

This homily was given at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Parish, Annunciation Church, Rochester, NY.

When have we recognized, or failed to recognize, the presence of God in our midst? How are we called to be changed; transformed by God to recognize better the presence of God among us?

These are key questions to ask ourselves when we examine our consciences. Are not many if not most of us familiar with the practice of examination of conscience? An honest examination of conscience is a valuable way to prepare to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation. Examination of conscience can be not only excellent preparation for reconciliation, but it is a practice I encourage us to take up daily. To make an examination of conscience is not only to recognize when we have sinned or done wrong, although this is part of it. It is primarily, I think, or recognition of moments when God has been present in our lives; in our encounters with one another; in prayer; in worship. It is, first and foremost, a profound act of trust in God’s mercy.

We pray in our Psalm response today: “Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.” What is God’s mercy? Do not many of us; many Catholics; many Christians have a sense of God’s mercy as something we plead for when we have done wrong; when we feel guilty. How many of us have made a confession like this when celebrating reconciliation: “Father, forgive me for I have sinned. I did x twice and y five times and z ten times”? This kind of confession of a list of sins in number and in kind is well and good. I do not wish to criticize anybody who has made this kind of confession. We are meant to confess all serious sins and the number of times we commit them. I have made the “number-and-kind” confession myself. But God’s mercy; our trust in God’s mercy is so much more than this.

What is God’s mercy, then? What does it mean for us to trust in God’s mercy? For me, to trust in God’s mercy means first to be as aware as we are able of God’s presence in our lives through prayer; through works of service; through people we encounter; through worship. God’s mercy; God’s presence in our lives can and often does convict us of sin. God did precisely this through the prophets of the Old Testament. Prophets like Ezekiel in our first reading were sent to urge the people of Israel to repent from sin; to recognize their sin, their unfaithfulness to God and their injustice toward the most vulnerable of their own people. But they would only recognize their sin if they first recognized that God was not out to punish them; that our God is a God of mercy who loves us and wants us to love God and one another above all else.

Yes, God describes the people of Israel to Ezekiel as “rebels… hard of face and obstinate of heart.” But even in these harsh words there is hope for the people of Israel. God would not have sent Ezekiel or many other prophets to the ancient Israelites if there were no hope for them to repent; to turn away from sin and once again renew their trust in and faithfulness to God. This is God’s mercy at its heart: God hopes in us. God has created us as all-good. Sin is not of God but is our willful choice not to love as God loves us; not to act with God’s mercy and justice toward one another; not to act for peace; for one another’s good; the good and unity of our families; our friendships; of the Church.

God’s mercy can and does convict us of sin and urge us to repent. God’s mercy works this way through the prophet Ezekiel. God laments to Ezekiel that the people of Israel have become “rebels… hard of face and obstinate of heart”; that the future of their nation is at stake if they do not turn to God and away from sin. Yet God maintains hope that at least “they shall know that a prophet has been among them.” The people of Israel will have encountered the presence; the mercy of God, “whether they heed or resist.”

God’s mercy works in a similar way in our Gospel reading from Mark God’s mercy convicts of their sin those who do not repent and believe in Jesus; those who belittle him as “the carpenter, the son of Mary.” Jesus returns to “his native place… to teach in the synagogue” of his hometown. We would expect that many would have recognized and rejoiced in Jesus’ presence in his hometown. And probably many did. After all, by this point Jesus had become famous for his miracles; his healing the sick; his regard for the poor; his preaching and teaching. But enough people in Jesus’ hometown synagogue dismiss him as a mere “carpenter” so that Jesus “was not able to perform any mighty deed” in “his native place.” There, in Jesus’ home, “he was amazed at their lack of faith.”

But all is not lost with this bleak ending to Jesus’ visit home. Can we imagine that, if nobody there had faith in Jesus as God in their midst; if everybody had dismissed Jesus in his hometown, there would have been no Christian faith to hand on for over two thousand years. We would not be here if enough people who first encountered Jesus had not recognized him as God; had not been willing to be changed; transformed; healed; forgiven by him. Even in our Gospel reading we hear of “a few sick people” upon whom Jesus laid his hands to heal them. This is God’s mercy at work the day of Jesus’ visit home; this is God’s mercy at work among us now.

God’s mercy convicts of sin; convicts us when our faith is lacking; urges us to repentance. But God’s mercy works in so many other ways. God’s mercy keeps us steadfast; forms our conscience when we know we are acting rightly and justly. God’s mercy also keeps us humble: We recognize that we need God; God’s mercy; God’s grace to live as God has created us, for love of God and of one another.

Perhaps nobody in our Scriptures knew the reach of God’s mercy more deeply than St. Paul. By God’s mercy, St. Paul had experienced conversion from being a persecutor to an apostle, preacher, and builder of our faith. The same mercy of God kept St. Paul steadfast in his faith; in the knowledge that his works; the Gospel of Christ he preached were right. This same mercy of God kept St. Paul humble and yet confident in his mission (yes, it is possible to be both humble and confident!). St. Paul is able to endure times of seeming ineffectiveness in proclaiming and spreading our Christian faith. Especially in Corinth, a rich, independent, and stubborn community that was particularly troublesome to St. Paul, he is able to endure while being humbled by this “thorn in the flesh.” Because of God’s mercy, St. Paul has the boldness to proclaim to the Corinthians what would be beyond our logic without God’s mercy: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

By God’s mercy we, like St. Paul, find strength when we are at our weakest. By God’s mercy we are able to proclaim and spread Christ’s Gospel confidently yet humbly. In mercy God convicts us of sin; urges us to repentance; makes us better able to confess when we have sinned; transforms us; heals us. By God’s mercy we are able to show one another mercy. By God’s mercy we are able to recognize the presence of God in our midst.