Homily for Friday, 18 July 2014– Ferial

Friday of the 15th week in Ordinary Time

Optional Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis

Readings of the day: Isaiah 38:1-6; Responsorial Canticle: Isaiah 38:10, 11, 12abcd, 16; Matthew 12:1-8

Have any of us ever acted in a way we knew was against a rule? Rules, laws, commandments, and guidelines are meant to establish and maintain social order. Ideally, in the case of our Church’s laws, they are meant to bring us closer to God. Laws or rules, then, are not meant to be broken without good reason. And yet, in the Gospel reading today, does not Jesus quite boldly condone his disciples’ breaking of the law not to work on the Sabbath? Clearly, the Pharisees take exception to Jesus’ permissive attitude toward his disciples’ picking of “heads of grain” and eating them on the Sabbath.

The Pharisees’ main responsibility during the time of Jesus was to defend and interpret the Jewish Law, the Law of Moses. Most Pharisees were just people. They were even considered to be a more liberal group of Jewish leaders than the priests who administered the Temple in Jerusalem. Here, though, some Pharisees criticize Jesus for allowing his disciples to break the Sabbath.

Jesus’ response to the Pharisees’ criticism is a humanitarian one: Are there not exceptions to the Sabbath in times of human need, such as hunger? The punch line of Jesus’ argument against the Pharisees is memorable: “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” When David “and his companions were hungry,” David broke the law against feeding themselves from “the bread of the offering” on the Sabbath. The priests of the Temple in Jesus’ time were routinely exempt by their service from the Sabbath rule against work.

Jesus breaks the rule against “unlawful” work on the Sabbath, but for good reason: Jesus himself is “Lord of the Sabbath.” Jesus’ reason for breaking this rule and allowing his disciples to do the same is not so much because he is God as because he is human. Jesus understands intimately what it means to be human; to experience the urgent need for food, both physical and spiritual. In this context of his intimate knowledge of human need; of his full humanity, Jesus shows us that urgent human need can be an exception to important rules, in this case that of the Sabbath fast from work.

Neither Jesus nor our Gospel reading condone disregard for laws, rules, or commandments, whether civil or of the Church. Rules are generally meant to be kept, although there are exceptions that we are occasionally called to discern thoughtfully and prayerfully. Will breaking a rule lead us and others closer or farther away from God (as is usually, but not always, the case)? Would breaking a rule, in exceptional cases, better satisfy an urgent human need than obeying it? Who or what rules over us: God or a rule or law? 

Laws like the Sabbath fast are meant to draw us to God. And yet these laws, we are reminded in today’s Gospel reading, are not gods. Jesus Christ, Son of Man and Son of God, “is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Homily for Thursday, 17 July 2014– Ferial

Thursday of the 15th week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19; Psalm 102:13-14ab, 15, 16-18, 19-21; Matthew 11:28-30

When we think of God, do we think of a God who is up in heaven; who rules over us and all creation from afar; who is powerful, or do we think primarily of a God who is with us; who cares for us; who is merciful toward us, especially in times of need?

In a beautiful way, our readings today speak of our God who is both powerful creator and ruler over creation (and over us) and who cares for and is with us always.

Both our first reading, from Isaiah, and our Psalm today take the form of laments, or complaints. Old Testament laments often begin with the reasons why God is to be trusted to deliver the people from whatever afflicts them. In the case of Isaiah, the prophet has prophesied that the people of Israel will be exiled from their homeland. Israel will be reprimanded for having made alliances with more powerful nations around it in an attempt to ward off invasion and exile, and therefore not having trusted first in God to deliver and to sustain Israel.

And so Isaiah prays the hymn we hear today; a lament in which Isaiah recognizes that God is at once powerful‒ God will allow Israel to suffer exile for its trust in neighboring nations over God, but also has power to bring Israel back from exile after a time‒ and as caring; merciful; ever-present to the people. Isaiah’s hymn, his lament to God, on the one hand speaks of God the ruler; the judge over creation: “When your judgment dawns upon the earth, the world’s inhabitants learn justice.” On the other hand, Isaiah appeals to the merciful; ever-present God. Isaiah describes God in maternal images. By God’s mercy, when we are at our most powerless, even “the land of shades gives birth.”

On the one hand, God is like a mother to us, who in the words of our Psalm “will arise and have mercy on” us, God’s people. The merciful; present; caring God hears “the prayer of the destitute,” while on the other hand the same God abides over us “forever”; looks “down from his holy height” with power and majesty.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus also takes up the image of God as both powerful and merciful; majestic ruler from afar and ever-present to lift our burdens. Jesus’ image of God is that of yoked oxen. We are invited to become yoked with Jesus who, as divine and human, lends us God’s strength (compared to that of oxen) and yet is “meek and humble of heart”; merciful; with us always; like us in all but sin.

When we think of God, then, is God more the strong, majestic ruler and judge from on high or the God who is intimately with us; the God of mercy? In truth, our God in whom we trust and to whom we pray is both the powerful ruler and judge from on high and the merciful God who is with us always.

Homily for Wednesday, 16 July 2014– Ferial

Wednesday of the 15th week in Ordinary Time

Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Readings of the day: Isaiah 10:5-7, 13b-16; Psalm 94:5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 14-15; Matthew 11:25-27

Who among us admires people who are self-starters; people who are independent; intelligent; wise; perhaps people from humble origins who become wealthy or famous?

To admire or to be such a person is all right, and yet our readings today remind us that even so-called self-starters; the most independent, intelligent, wise people we know, owe their independence; their intelligence; their wisdom to God. Nations that are independent, prosperous, and secure like our own ultimately owe their independence, prosperity, and security to God. Prosperity and security are not, then, an absolute right or an excuse to oppress other nations or to deny their right to the prosperity; the security; the peace and independence we enjoy, as still happens far too often in our world today.

In our first reading today, from the prophet Isaiah, Assyria has made precisely this mistake of believing itself to be invincible; of having divine right to the occupation and military control of neighboring nations, in this case Israel, which had separated from and become enemies with Judah. The Kingdom of Judah has, against Isaiah’s repeated warnings, allied itself with Assyria against Israel in this kind of Biblical civil war. And yet Assyria’s greed for power and autonomy goes too far. Assyria fails to recognize that she is only an instrument of God to punish Judah for trusting in powers other than God; for making alliances with foreign powers like Assyria. And so, as we hear today, God through Isaiah reserves one of the harshest rebukes in the Book of Isaiah for Assyria. Judah, the kingdom of David’s line, will be chastised, but will ultimately survive by God’s grace, Isaiah says.

Much more gently than Isaiah, Jesus also reminds us that all glory; all prosperity; all wisdom; all goodness ultimately come from God. We are instruments of God, no matter how wise; how prosperous; how good we are as individuals or as a nation. How often have we seen how a child trusts in its parents to provide what it needs to survive and to thrive? We are invited to trust in God in the same way as a child trusts in its parents; in those responsible for its care. Only God will never fail those who trust him; will never “abandon his inheritance,” as our Psalm today acknowledges. This is why Jesus prays in thanksgiving in our Gospel today: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”

Even if we consider ourselves to be independent; intelligent; wise; self-starters, we are invited to childlike trust in God who gives us “everything that is good”; who reveals to us what we need to survive and to thrive. If we trust in God in this way, God will not disappoint us.

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?   

Homily for Monday, 14 July 2014– Ferial

Monday of the 15th week in Ordinary Time 

Readings of the day: Isaiah 1:10-17; Psalm 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21, 23; Matthew 10:34-11:1

Is it possible that God would ever abandon us altogether; that God would ever refuse to listen to our prayers; that God would “bring not peace but the sword”?

These are harsh; almost threatening words we hear in our readings today. Perhaps those among us who have ever experienced serious illness, division within families, difficulty making ends meet, or otherwise times in which God felt distant from you may be able to relate to the kind of God who seems to be presented in our readings. For any of us who are in such situations, I keep you especially in prayer; any of us for whom any words of consolation and promises of prayer seem inadequate.

Our readings today, I believe, are not addressed to those who are already experiencing hardship. They are addressed to those who have the means to alleviate the suffering of others and do not do so. For such people, worshiping God is not enough. We are invited to keep in mind the connection between right worship and right and socially just practice of the faith. One cannot exist without the other.

Yes, to gather here to worship God is important (you will not hear me or any other priest, I do not think, say otherwise). And yet our worship means little to nothing if it does not impel us to love and to serve one another in the name of the God we worship. As Isaiah says, “Make justice your aim: redress the wronged; hear the orphan’s plea; defend the widow.” To “the wronged,” the orphan, and the widow, we might add in our own time those estranged from the Church for whatever reason; those whose faith in God is weak and who need our kindness and encouragement; the elderly; the unborn; those experiencing crisis pregnancies; the unemployed or underemployed; migrants and refugees; the homeless; the sick; the poor… Our worship depends on the depth of our defense of the dignity of these people, and our service of those most in need lends strength to our worship.

Peace in our world and in our communities depends on how well we understand and put into practice the connection between our worship and our service; love of God and love of neighbor.

We have among us many people who are very generous; kind; loving, and then also gather for our celebration of the Eucharist daily or almost daily. I think we here at St. Kateri are generally in good shape. We connect the importance of right worship and right practice well, which makes these readings especially harsh in our context and difficult for me to preach on here.

And yet we are constantly invited to mindfulness of those most in need of our Christian service; the service demanded of us who worship our God. May this, our Eucharist, impel us to continue and strengthen our love for and our service toward one another in God’s name.