Homily for Monday, 26 August 2019

Readings of the day: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8b-10; Psalm 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a, 9b; Matthew 23:13-22

Monday of the 21st week in Ordinary Time

This homily was given at St. James Church, Vernon, BC, Canada.

Do we not hear quite a contrast between our readings today from 1 Thessalonians and our Psalm, on one hand, and our Gospel from Matthew on the other hand? Do we not find comfort in St. Paul’s first words of his first letter to the Thessalonians: “We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers”?

And is our Psalm not similarly comforting: “For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory”? Our Psalm is the 149th of 150 of the Psalms in our Bible. The last three Psalms in the Biblical Book of Psalms, numbers 148, 149, and 150, make up a set known as the “Hillel” Psalms. If we think of a Hebrew word that sounds similar to “Hillel,” maybe we would think of “Hallelujah,” which literally means “Praise be to God.” And so our Psalm today begins, “Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful.”

This sounds a lot like what we do well already. Certainly, those of us who gather for Mass at 8:00 am daily here at St. James do so with a sense of joy. But it takes a particular amount of commitment anyway to gather here every day (for many of us), rain, snow, or shine, for Mass, to offer our praise to God “in the assembly of the faithful.”

So I think St. Paul’s words to the Thessalonians or the words of the Psalmist could very well be addressed to us. But then what should we make of the Gospel reading we hear today. Jesus’ seeming harshness in our Gospel today is startling: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven”!

I suppose we could focus our attention on the more consoling, gracious words of 1 Thessalonians or our Psalm, or interpret Jesus in our Gospel as directing his harshest criticism at the religious leaders of his time. Jesus’ excoriation of the Pharisees and scribes in Matthew is certainly challenging for me to hear as an ordained minister of the Church: Am I serving the Church with purity of heart? For the times when I or any leader in our Church, ordained or non-ordained, allows ego to take priority over leading us, the baptized faithful, to salvation, I ask for our forgiveness. I ask for our prayers for our leaders, in the Church and in public office in our civil society, that by God’s grace we will serve the betterment of the Church and our civil society.

But I do not think that we should simply put aside Jesus’ words in Matthew’s Gospel today as if they were directed at only religious leaders, or all leaders, in Jesus’ time or ours. Please let me say again: I have great confidence that our devotion to our faith and often-daily Eucharist is strong; it is eminently praiseworthy. So I think the words of praise to the faith communities of the Psalmist’s and St. Paul’s time apply to us here at St. James and in so many places all over the world.

Yet what is our ultimate motivation for all our devotions; our prayers; our gathering for Mass nearly every day, many of us? Do we speak and act for justice; toward bringing every one of the baptized faithful closer to God and God’s saving grace? Do we seek to reconcile divisions in our world, within our Church; within our own relationships, and do we pray for this reconciliation? If so, we rightly and with purity of heart may “sing to the LORD a new song,” a song of “praise in the assembly of the faithful” that God will hear and that will help to bring us to salvation.

Homily for Friday, 7 February 2014– Ferial

Friday of the 4th week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Sirach 47:2-11; Psalm 18:31, 47, 50, 51; Mark 6:14-29

Have you ever admired a public leader, whether in civil society or in the Church? What qualities did you most admire in this person?

Today our readings present us with two kings, David and Herod. For most of our first reading, from Sirach, David’s qualities are glowingly praised. In contrast, Mark’s Gospel says little to nothing good about Herod as he recounts Herod’s beheading of John the Baptist. I have thought occasionally whether or not David was as good a ruler as he is presented in some parts of the Bible, and whether or not Herod was as evil as he is often depicted.

Amid Sirach’s generous praise for David, one verse especially stands out for me. Sirach says of David: “The LORD forgave him his sins.”

Without this verse, the praise for David in the rest of our first reading would seem excessive: David the conqueror of Goliath and all of Israel’s enemies; David the king with “tens of thousands” of admirers; David the nation’s leader in worship; David who could do no wrong.

We know, not least from our daily Mass readings of the last several days, that David was not that good. He sinned… and repented of his sin frequently. David is set apart because of his willingness to recognize his own sometimes significant sins and to ask forgiveness from God for what he has done wrong. In this way, David sets an example for us of sincerity and trust in God’s forgiveness.

In this, David contrasts with Herod, who is too insecure to trust God to uphold his leadership and to forgive him his sins. Herod is not totally evil, since Mark’s Gospel says that he was, to a point, receptive to John the Baptist’s message. But his insecurity gives way to fear of the repentance that John asks of him; fear in place of trust in God. This fear drives Herod to kill John, and even then he comes to fear that Jesus will challenge his kingship.

Our readings today invite us first to trust in God’s forgiveness for the times in which we have sinned and second, to ask ourselves the question: Whom we admire in a public leader and why?

No leader; none of us is perfect. But just as we are invited to trust in God’s forgiveness, I ask: Are there any leaders you know in our households; our families; our Church; our society who have perhaps done wrong, even significantly, and yet been sincere, open to and trusting in God’s forgiveness and strength to guide their leadership?

Perhaps we are or will be called one day to forgiveness of our leaders who ask us for pardon with a sincere heart. Perhaps some of us are or will one day be called to be a leader after David: repentant, sincere, trusting in God’s forgiveness and strength to guide our leadership.