Homily for Wednesday, 27 May 2015– Ferial

Wednesday of the 8th week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Sirach 36:1, 4-5a, 10-17; Psalm 79:8, 9, 11, 13; Mark 10:32-45

This homily was given at Bethany House, a shelter for homeless women and children and a ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Rochester, NY.

Have any of us ever loved in a way that defies logic; understanding; explanation? Have we ever loved somebody so deeply and yet said or done something, maybe even well-meaning, at the wrong place or the wrong time?

This, I think, is the experience of Jesus’ Apostles James and John in our Gospel reading today. It is clear from Mark’s Gospel that Jesus’ disciples love him. But they become especially confused in their love for Jesus as Jesus is about to complete his journey to Jerusalem. Today’s Gospel reading describes Jesus’ disciples as both “amazed” and “afraid.”

What were the disciples thinking and feeling as Jesus neared Jerusalem? Perhaps they were “amazed” at his teaching; his works of mercy; of healing; his miracles that they had witnessed while accompanying Jesus in his public life. But might they have asked themselves, “What good will our Lord’s going to Jerusalem bring? We believe he is our hoped-for Messiah. We love him. He has many friends, but also many enemies. Will his life be in danger in Jerusalem?”

And then Jesus confirms the worst fears of his disciples: In Jerusalem he will be mocked, spit upon, scourged, and put to death. It is no wonder that Jesus’ disciples are “afraid”! In their fear the Apostles James and John make a request of Jesus that, on the one hand, sounds extremely self- serving. “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left,” James and John ask Jesus. On the other hand, we could understand James’ and John’s request for a share in Jesus’ glory as well-meaning. James and John love Jesus. They have been with him throughout his public life and ministry. They are now faced with the prospect of his death in Jerusalem. Their request for a share in Jesus’ heavenly glory, then, is borne out of fear and confusion. Might they be speaking the words that Jesus’ other disciples are all feeling? They are “amazed” and yet “afraid.”

Jesus recognizes that his disciples love him and one another. He corrects James and John, and any disciple who sees in following Jesus an opportunity for personal glory or power over others. “You know that” the “rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them… But it shall not be so among you,” Jesus says to his disciples.

But even this correction is gentle. By it Jesus refines the love his disciples have for him and one another. Their love has one well-meaning goal: A share in Jesus’ own eternal glory. But their love; our love is in need of refinement to accept a share in Jesus’ cross if we are to have a share in his resurrection.

I have confidence that we, like Jesus’ first disciples, love Jesus and one another. And yet are we willing to accept in faith Jesus’ refinement of our love so that our love continues to grow, to be ever more other-serving and God-serving than self-serving; to accept our both share in Christ’s suffering; his cross and in his resurrection; his glory that we are promised? If we are willing to accept this and to pray for this, then Jesus will purify; perfect our love for him and for one another in the way he did for and with his first disciples.

Homily for Wednesday, 22 April 2015– Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

Readings of the day: Acts 8:1b-8; Psalm 66:1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a; John 6:35-40

Has anybody ever experienced somebody who is joyful, even when this person is experiencing great suffering or distress?

Ever since my first time serving as a Basilian in Cali, Colombia, seven years ago, the Easter season has brought to my mind many experiences there of people who showed great joy amid the suffering and distress of deep poverty. My first Palm Sunday in Colombia was especially moving. We Basilians were carrying bundles of palm branches we had cut through the poorest neighborhood of the parish we serve in Cali. Along the way, children left their shelters (often made of scrap metal or even cardboard) three; four; five; six at a time to embrace us and greet us with bright smiles. These children showed so much joy and gratitude for the service of the Basilians in their neighbourhood; their parish. This remains one of my most moving moments of my life as a Basilian: Great joy amid such great distress; suffering; poverty!

I see similar joy amid suffering and distress when I minister with the poor in our own inner city of Rochester: House of Mercy, Bethany House with the Sisters of St. Joseph… On Easter Sunday at Sanctuary Village, a tent city relocated to a loading dock, over one hundred fifty people, most homeless, joined us in worship with lively song to greet our risen Lord. How beautiful, this joy amid homelessness; poverty; hunger! I also see this joy amid suffering when I visit the sick in hospitals and homes; when I anoint the sick with blessed oil.

This joy amid suffering; distress; persecution is the experience of the people in our first reading today, from the Acts of the Apostles. The persecution led by Saul (who would later be converted and become the great St. Paul) had “scattered” all but the Apostles “throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.” Facing persecution, the Apostles do not give up their ministry. We hear in Acts especially of the ministry of the Apostle Philip: Preaching, healing the sick and those with “unclean spirits.” And we hear of how the people responded to Philip’s ministry in Samaria: “There was great joy in that city.”

The people of Samaria recognized the presence of Christ risen in the Apostles, even amid great suffering; distress; persecution. They recognized and hoped in the presence of the Lord who says in John’s Gospel to us today: “I am the bread of life… This is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” They recognized and hoped in the signs of eternal life that were already with them in the Apostles’ loving service. Our Psalm response today was the song of these people, even amid their suffering: “Let all the earth cry out to God with joy”!

And the risen Christ invites us to make this song our own, by serving especially amid those who suffer; who are sick; dying; homeless; displaced; persecuted. Many of us know already, I am confident, how, when we serve with joy, we receive joy, even from people who suffer; people in distress; people whose only gift (but what a gift!) to us is joy.