Homily for Tuesday, 12 July 2016– Ferial

Tuesday of the 15th week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Isaiah 7:1-9; Psalm 48:2-3a, 3b-4, 5-6, 7-8; Matthew 11:20-24

This homily was given at the chapel of Kateri House Women's Residence of St. Joseph's College, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.

How many of us have been faced with situations of extreme sorrow or devastation, or know somebody who has faced a situation like this with seemingly superhuman courage and faith? Maybe the situation was the loss of a home or employment, or other economic hardship. Maybe it was the serious illness or death of a family member or other loved one. Maybe, closer to the situation of today’s reading from the prophet Isaiah, some of us know people who have been forced to leave their homelands because of war or persecution.

Please pardon my loose Charles Dickens reference here, but today we are presented in our readings with the tale of three cities. The two towns in our Gospel reading from Matthew, Chorazin and Bethsaida, do not remain courageous and faithful and so are chastised by Jesus. And in one city, Jerusalem, in Isaiah, at least a few, a “faithful remnant,” face one invasion after another by neighbouring nations, and then deportation and exile, with great courage and faith in God.

I am not sure anybody really knows why Jesus scolds Chorazin and Bethsaida, two tiny fishing villages of his time, so harshly in Matthew’s Gospel. Nobody knows what circumstances they may have been facing that led them to turn away from Jesus and his message. All we have today as witness to this event is a small plaque next to the ruins of Chorazin (this according to a humorous story by my brother Basilian priest, Fr. Thomas Rosica of Salt and Light Television in Toronto, of whom some of us may have heard). The plaque reads, “Welcome to Chorazin. This is the village that Jesus cursed.”

Jerusalem of Isaiah’s time is faced with the weak leadership of Ahaz, the king of Judah, roughly the southernmost third of Israel including Jerusalem. Instead of trusting in the one God of Israel, our God, Ahaz had made alliances with neighbouring nations, including agreements to allow worship of their gods in Judah, in an attempt to stave off Judah’s invasion and destruction. We know that ultimately Judah and the rest of Israel are invaded and overtaken anyway.

But Isaiah gives us, in the name of one of his sons, Shear-jashub, meaning “a remnant shall return,” a clue of how this time of invasion, deportation, and exile will end. “A remnant shall return.” Most of Israel’s exiles would become comfortable in exile and never return home. Yet a small group would return to rebuild Jerusalem and Israel.

This remnant would need the prophet Isaiah’s encouragement to face the devastating destruction of their homeland once they had returned. Isaiah encourages this remnant people by pleading with them: “Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint… Stand firm in faith” because this awful situation is temporary. Before God “it shall not stand.”

Could these be timely words of encouragement for us or for anybody we know who is dealing with extreme sorrow; devastation; even despair? These could be timely words to bring to prayer for all people who especially need our prayers and our encouragement today.

Homily for Tuesday, 15 July 2014– Memorial of St. Bonaventure

Tuesday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Isaiah 7:1-9; Psalm 48:2-3a, 3b-4, 5-6, 7-8; Matthew 11:20-24

Which are some cities we know that have notable or maybe even humourous nicknames or reputations? Paris is the City of Light; Rome the Eternal City; New York the Big Apple; New Orleans the Big Easy. Las Vegas is Sin City: “Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” I have served as a Basilian in Colombia, whose capital, Bogotá, the third-highest-altitude national capital city in the world at about ten thousand feet, is said to be “2 600 metres closer to the heavens.” My native city of Edmonton is nicknamed “City of Champions” for its proud history in professional sports. We live here in Rochester, the Flour or Flower City, depending on whom we ask.

Our Gospel reading today speaks of two small Galilean fishing towns, Chorazin and Bethsaida, which had gained a bad reputation by Jesus’ time. Why they earned Jesus’ condemnation is not exactly known. The Gospel of Matthew only says that, although that “most of” Jesus’ “mighty deeds had been done” there, Chorazin and Bethsaida “had not repented.” And so Jesus condemns these towns for their lack of faith; lack of repentance in response to his miracles.

Once a bad reputation is acquired, it is hard to shake off. Today, Chorazin and Bethsaida are archaeological sites. At the entrance to one of one of the archaeological digs at Chorazin, Israel’s Department of Tourism plaque reads: “Welcome to Chorazin. This is the town that Jesus cursed.”

How two little fishing towns earned a reputation as the towns “that Jesus cursed” is unclear, except that they had a chance to witness Jesus’ miracles and the very presence and power of the Son of God among them had little effect on how they were living; how they failed to believe in Jesus; how they failed to repent. Sodom and Gomorrah, two larger and more infamous cities destroyed in the Old Testament, had not had the same opportunity to witness Jesus at work, and yet Jesus says that if they had had this chance, they would have repented and believed in him.

We as Christians have a chance to build a reputation for ourselves. We have known God’s presence among us in the Eucharist; in the other sacraments of the Church; in one another. In light of this, what will our reputation be as Christian faithful?

I doubt that we will ever have a plaque outside our city or parish that says “this is the place that Jesus cursed.” We might say of ourselves instead: Welcome to St. Kateri Parish. This is the community that Jesus has blessed. This is the community founded on love, responsibility, and service. This is a community of God’s people; a faithful and generous people; a people who cares for the disadvantaged; the suffering; the alienated; a people living in unity and charity.

What will our reputation be? We do not have Jesus performing miracles before our very eyes, but we still have a choice to make. Jesus is present among us nonetheless. How might we respond in faith as sisters and brothers in Christ?