Homily for Thursday, 1 September 2016– Ferial

Thursday of the 22nd week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: 1 Corinthians 3:18-23; Psalm 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6; Luke 5:1-11

This homily was given at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish,  St. Margaret Mary Church, Rochester, NY.

What do our readings today say to us about wisdom? Might it seem that St. Paul especially, in our first reading from his first letter to the Corinthians, takes a negative view of wisdom?

Is it so wrong of us to seek to be wise; to gain knowledge, even of what is not particularly spiritual or sacred (we could say, of what is secular)? I think that the issue for St. Paul is not so much about wisdom as about acknowledging God as the source of all wisdom, whether of the so-called sacred or secular. Our key to interpreting St. Paul’s words is in his last line we hear today: “All belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.” Through Christ we belong to God. All wisdom and all knowledge belong to God. Our Eucharistic celebration here; our ability to give thanks to God for “all that is good” in our lives and in our world belongs to God and is God’s gift to us.

We gather here at varying points of acknowledging and living our belonging to God; of witnessing by our lives our thanksgiving to God for “all that is good,” in the words we will pray shortly in our Eucharistic Prayer. We are on a kind of journey. In Luke’s Gospel from which we hear today we meet St. Peter and Jesus’ other apostles and disciples, and “the crowd” who are on the same journey as we are. And Jesus meets us along this journey.

St. Peter becomes the spokesperson for everybody besides Jesus in our Gospel. He is our spokesperson. And I think we would be correct to suggest that St. Peter does not exactly strike us as wise. Yet Jesus chooses Peter, sometimes the weakest and most foolish of the apostles, at best a humble fisherman, to speak for everybody else; to speak for us.

Jesus finds St. Peter on a journey. And the first response of St. Peter to his encounter with Jesus is one of trust: “At your command I will lower the nets.” But then, at the great catch of fish, Peter’s trust in Jesus quickly changes into a sense of his own powerlessness and sinfulnes: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

Fortunately for St. Peter and for us, Jesus does not do as Peter says. God stays with us along our journey until we are able to do as Jesus’ apostles do: “They [leave] everything and follow him.” At this moment, the apostles, led by Peter, James, and John, not only trust in God or acknowledge their powerlessness or sinfulness, but are able to give themselves entirely to God in Jesus Christ, who has given us all wisdom and all goodness. At this moment, the journey is no longer about Peter, James, John, or us, but about God.

So we find ourselves, at some point along the same journey as Jesus’ apostles and everybody who has ever lived: From trust to a sense of our own sinfulness, powerlessness, and lack of wisdom apart from God, to being able to give our all to our God to whom we belong, the source of “all that is good,” when we are able to leave “everything and follow him.”  

Homily for Thursday, 3 September 2015– Memorial of St. Gregory the Great

Thursday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Colossians 1:9-14; Psalm 98:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6; Luke 5:1-11

What are some of the emotions and images that run through our Gospel reading today, from Luke? Luke’s Gospel gives us today a lively account of Jesus’ call of his first Apostles, the fishermen Peter, James, and John.

We begin with emptiness: An empty boat “belonging to Simon” that Jesus enters while “the fishermen” are on shore “washing their nets; the empty nets of the fishermen after a long, fruitless night of fishing. This emptiness is filled: Jesus enters Simon’s boat. From this waterborne “pulpit” Jesus teaches the crowds, filling them with the Word of God. Jesus asks Simon Peter, James, and John to “put out into deep water and lower [their] nets for a catch.” And their nets, too, are filled, with a miraculous catch of fish.

We begin with a wide range of emotions; perhaps everyday distractions. What were the crowds thinking when they arrived at the shore of the Lake of Gennesaret to listen to Jesus? What were their concerns, both material and spiritual? Did they have questions for Jesus about their faith? Were they simply trying to make an honorable living; trying to care for their family and other loved ones? Peter, James, and John feel deep frustration: “We have worked hard all night and have caught nothing.” But this Jesus is not a complete stranger to the fishermen; Simon Peter calls Jesus “Master.” And so Simon takes Jesus up on his invitation to “put out into the deep.” And he, James, and John are rewarded with a great catch of fish. For a moment, this miracle only increases their fear; their insecurity; their sense of their own weakness. “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man,” Simon Peter says to Jesus. But this fear gives way to a trust in Jesus almost as astonishing as the initial catch of fish: “They left everything and followed” Jesus.

Do these vivid shifts in images and emotions not seem to be a lot for us to absorb in a short episode of our Gospel? And yet I think the liveliness of our Gospel reading shows us something of who we are as human; as Christian disciples. We are alive, and our experience of Jesus Christ in the Word of God; in our Eucharist; in our love for one another and works of kindness and justice makes us all the more alive.

This brings us to the heart of our Gospel reading today. Jesus says “to Simon: ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.’” This saying is especially strange in the original Greek of Luke’s Gospel. Jesus’ words to Peter are closer in meaning to “from now on you will be catching people who are alive.”

Only if we are alive can we experience the images and emotions the people in Jesus’ time; Jesus’ first Apostles did: Concerns of everyday life; fear; insecurity; the effects of our human weakness and sin; all this giving way to trust; to following Jesus without reserve. And because we are alive; because we are human Jesus calls us, too, to trust; to put aside fear enough to work with him in his mission; to be fishers of others who are as alive as we are.

Homily for Wednesday, 5 November 2014– Ferial

Wednesday of the 31st week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Philippians 2:12-18; Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14; Luke 14:25-33

Jesus could not be saying in today’s Gospel reading that we are to hate everything and everyone other than God if we are to be his disciples, could he?

“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Surely this cannot be what Jesus meant, unless he was contradicting the rest of Scripture and even his own teaching: Love God and love neighbor; honor especially mother and father… Jesus would not have demanded that we renounce all relationships with family and loved ones in order to be his disciples. He would not have demanded that we put our lives in danger purposely. So what is Jesus saying?

Jesus’ words could be a simple invitation to us to examine our priorities. Who or what is most important to us as disciples of Jesus Christ? If our priorities are in the right order, from lowest to highest importance they might look something like this: Material possessions; relationships with one another; relationships with loved ones and close friends; household and family relationships; God. The word we hear as “hate” in today’s Gospel reading could originally have meant anything from to love or enjoy less than something or someone else to literally hate and try to destroy.

But I think Jesus is asking more of us here than to examine whether God is our greatest priority. Otherwise Jesus would not have spoken with such force, even for his time, as “hate ‘father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even [your] own life.’” There is a sharp sense of self-denial to what Jesus asks of us in order to be his disciples. The focus of our Gospel reading today, I think, is this: “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

In the time of Jesus and the Gospel writers, families and loved ones were often divided by some members choosing to follow Jesus and others not. This would likely have been distressing for those who had accepted to leave their families behind; who had accepted the risk of ridicule from their closest loved ones; who had accepted even the risk to their own lives to follow Jesus.

What are the crosses we are asked to bear to be Jesus’ disciples? How are we being called to self-denial? For some of us, our crosses may be attachment to money, possessions, sin, bad habits, or whatever is keeping us from strengthening our relationship with God. We may be called to self-denial by devoting more time to prayer, or to ministry or mission in our parish and communities. For some of us, our cross may be to risk misunderstanding, division, or ridicule, perhaps in our families to commit to Christian discipleship. For some in our world, even today, to be a Christian is to risk their lives.

We are all called to self-denial in ways large and small every day. We pray here in this celebration for the strength for discipleship; to take up our crosses daily as needed and to “follow after” Jesus Christ.

Homily for Tuesday, 9 September 2014– Memorial of St. Peter Claver

Tuesday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11; Psalm 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a, 9b; Luke 6:12-19

How does becoming Christian change who we are?

St. Paul is at his angry best in our first reading today from 1 Corinthians. Of all the churches to whom Paul wrote and served and brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Corinthians were the most troublesome. In St. Paul’s time, Corinth was a thriving double port city, a business hub in the center of the Roman Empire. Many Corinthians thought themselves to be self-sufficient. They were entitled, even, and this culture of entitlement spilled over to the baptized Christians in Corinth. Even worse, wealthy Corinthian Christians were bringing lawsuits against one another over petty disagreements. And so St. Paul confronts them with this reminder: “Now you have had yourselves washed; you were sanctified; you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” In other words, your Christian baptism has changed who you are. Live up to your dignity as a people “washed… sanctified… justified.”

Becoming Christian, a member of the Body of Jesus Christ; of the Church changes us profoundly and forever. Being chosen as Jesus twelve closest friends changed the first Apostles, of whose calling we hear in our Gospel reading today. They were no longer just Simon Peter, “Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the Son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.” No, now they were Apostles. By having been chosen by Jesus to be Apostles, who they were was changed profoundly and forever.

St. Peter Claver, whose feast we celebrate today, is known for having baptized thousands of African slaves in Cartagena, which is now in Colombia. In Christian baptism, the identity of these slaves was changed profoundly and forever. Slavery of non-Christians in Peter Claver’s time was accepted if not promoted; slavery of Christians was unconscionable. Peter Claver exposed the deep injustice of the slave trade by bringing the Gospel and baptism to the slaves of Cartagena. But this is not why the ministry among the slaves made so many, even among St. Peter Claver’s brother Jesuits, angry with him. Yes, baptism of the slaves of Cartagena changed who they were, profoundly and forever. The slaves became Christians, and so legally had to be freed.

But, more importantly, St. Peter Claver also brought to question how being Christian had changed the slave traders and traffickers; how being Christian had changed those who promoted the slave trade, knowing it was wrong; how being Christian had changed slave owners; how being Christian had changed all of us.

Our readings today and the example of St. Peter Claver are an invitation and a reminder to us: How has being Christian, professing the faith we do, change who we are? We are changed by our becoming Christian; by our baptism; by our continued profession of our faith, profoundly and forever.

Homily for Friday, 4 July 2014– Ferial

Friday of the 13th week in Ordinary Time 

Independence Day (USA)

Readings of the day: Amos 8:4-6, 9-12; Psalm 119:2, 12, 20, 30, 40, 131; Matthew 9:9-13

“One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God,” we pray in our Responsorial Psalm. On this Fourth of July, what is the word “that comes forth from the mouth of God” to our ears and our hearts? How are we living by the word of God, both as individuals and as a nation? How are we being called to live better than we do by the word of God?

Jesus invites us all, whether rich or poor; powerful or not, to one mission: “Follow me.” This command to Matthew and then to all of us in our Gospel today, I think, does not mean, “Follow the way of money, social influence, military might; build an increasingly powerful nation at all costs… and then follow me.” No, Jesus says simply, “Follow me.” Following Jesus is our first priority as Jesus’ disciples.

While being as powerful and influential a nation as is the United States of America is not in itself wrong, we are invited especially today in this country to ask to what end our nation’s power and influence is directed. Is it directed toward power and influence for its own sake; toward living “by bread alone”; by power alone; by influence alone; by military might alone? Or is it directed toward the well-being of those most in need, in our world and right in our own country; in our own city; in our own communities; in our own parish? Are our hearts and ears directed toward hearing and living first “by the word of God”?

The word of God by which we are called to live is the word of a God who is “divinely obsessed” in a sense with the needs of the least well-off; a God whose priority; whose “preferential option” is “for the poor.” This God; our God calls rich and poor alike, us as individuals and as “one nation under God,” to share this same divine obsession. This obsession; this divine priority runs counter to an obsession with power, influence, and military might; to an obsession with ideological divisions that have marred our great nation and distract us from our one God-given mission.

This mission is the same mission given to the people of Israel whom the prophet Amos admonishes in our first reading: If you oppress those in need; if you are obsessed with building your own power and influence at all costs, your relationship with God will be broken. This is the same mission given to the Pharisees in our Gospel: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”

This mission is the same mission that Jesus gives to the tax collector-turned-apostle Matthew and now to us, as individuals and as a nation: “Follow me.” Live first so that those in greatest need may also live “by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”

Homily for Saturday, 7 June 2014‒ Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Readings of the day: Acts 28:16-20, 30-31; Psalm 11:4, 5, 7; John 21:20-25

Have any of us ever found ourselves eager for explanations about difficult questions raised by our faith; eager for answers; eager for certainty? How many of us have ever found ourselves so eager for explanations; for answers; for certainty that we become distracted from the essential goal of our Christian faith: Following Jesus, and so becoming more like Jesus our Lord?

I do not mean to be overly critical in asking these questions, but only to invite us to reflect deeply on our life of faith. Even the best Christians, I think, sometimes become burdened in our questions; our quest for explanations, answers, and certainty so that we can become distracted from what Jesus asks of Peter and of us in today’s Gospel reading: “Follow me.”

St. Peter, Jesus’ choice as leader of the first Apostles, becomes distracted from the essential goal of our faith, following Jesus, in our Gospel reading today from John. As Jesus’ passion and death approaches, Peter searches for answers to the most difficult questions: Who will betray Jesus? Will the beloved disciple, the one who reclines against Jesus at the Last Supper, “remain until” Jesus comes again? In light of these questions, Jesus brings Peter back to focus on what is most important: “What concern is it of yours? You follow me.”

On the one hand, I think Peter deserves a lot of credit for asking the questions he asks; for admitting here and at many points in our Gospels when he does not understand; when he is afraid; when he is in need of forgiveness; when he is every bit the frail human being that we are, nonetheless chosen by God’s grace to follow Jesus. On the other hand, like us Peter sometimes needs to be reminded by Jesus of this essential goal of our faith: “You follow me.”

And so we, like Peter, are invited on the one hand to seek less certainty and answers and explanations to our most perplexing questions and to accept some measure of uncertainty; ambiguity; unanswered or unanswerable questions of our faith this side of eternal life. Yet, on the other hand, we are invited to keep asking questions of God in prayer; of one another; of the Church. We are invited to be faithful apostles like St. Peter; people who question honestly and freely, as long as, with God’s grace, we maintain the essential focus of our faith to which Jesus draws Peter and draws us: “Follow me.”