It is not good for man; it is not good for anyone to be alone. In the figurative and poetic language of Genesis we hear of how God made man from the dust of the earth and placed him in this wondrous garden. God created all the plants, birds and animals on earth and the man named each one, which gave him a relationship to what he named. But when all was said and done there was still no helpmate suitable for man. Surrounded by all these animals there was still no one to whom man could relate. He was still alone and God knew this was not good. So Genesis poetically tells of how God cast man into a deep sleep, took out one of his ribs and formed woman and brought her to the man.
I saw a plaque that told why God chose Adam’s rib. Not from his feet to be beneath him, nor from his head to be above him, but from his side to be his equal, close to his arm to be protected and close his heart to be loved.
We are all meant to be in some form of relationship, it is not good for anyone to be alone. The inner life of God is a life of relationships between Father, Son and Spirit. God’s works of creation are all in relationship one with the other. The vastness of outer space and the vastness of inner space all involve relationships, whether they be galaxies or protons. We humans are in relationship to all that shares Earth with us; the earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth and what we do to the Earth we do to ourselves. Everything is inter-connected, every person is inter-connected. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Homily’ Category
Homily – October 7
Sunday, October 7th, 2012God’s Work Must Truly Be Our Own
Sunday, September 30th, 2012There is a joke that asks the question, ’why is a round church better than a square church?’ The answer is, ’so no one can corner God.’ That’s what today’s scriptures are all about, the wrongness of our tendency to corner God’s love and truth.
I’ve used this example many times of someone singing the praises of someone else, how good and generous they are and then they blow it by saying, ‘and you know, they’re not even Catholics.’ As if Catholics have a corner on goodness, thoughtfulness and care for others. A young man, probably enthusiastically sincere, complained to Moses that Eldad and Medad were prophesying in the camp and they should be stopped. Moses knows better. Prophecy, the carrying of God’s message of love and peace to the world is not the special task of only a few people. Moses’ wish was that all the people of the Lord were prophets.
We find the same situation in the gospel. John complains to Jesus, “we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to stop them.” John may have been a bit of a control freak, we’re the only ones who can do the works of Jesus. Jesus sets John straight when he tells him, “do not stop him, for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us.” God does not confine the gifts of his spirit to authorized channels only. Bishops and priests are not the only channels of God’s truth and love to our world. Scripture tells us that the spirit breathes where it wills, inside and outside the church. Who would doubt that the spirit of God worked in the life and actions of a man like Ghandi?
All truly good works come from and lead back to God. In today’s gospel Jesus is letting us know that anyone doing a good and mighty deed need not have official credentials. The true credential for doing good is our being just who we are, created and loved by a God who is able to work mightily through anyone of us. Perhaps the test for one doing good is God’s inclusiveness. Peter knew this. “Any person of any nationality who does what is right is acceptable to God.” Selectivity or exclusion were not elements in the way Jesus did things. John, who has asked the question about who belongs and who does not, receives an essential teaching concerning the mission of Jesus, all are welcome to do the works of God as God chooses them to do them. All truly good works come from and lead back to God. Not only must God’s truth be spread through all of God’s people; it may also be spread by those who are “not of our company,” those good and wonderful people who are not even Catholics nor Christian.
The fact that many of our young people no longer come to Mass is a sadness. Their Catholic faith seems to have no impact on the way they lives their lives, it has no attraction for them at all.
But consider this, the missionary works of many religious communities could not happen if it were not for so many young women and men of college age and beyond who willingly volunteer one or two or three years of their lives working in the developing countries of the world. Where would we Passionists be without the generous support of our Passionist Volunteers who work with us in Honduras and Jamaica? They embrace the fundamental works of the church; they bring the love, the healing and the reality of God’s love for each of us by serving their brothers and sisters who are less blessed by this world’s blessings. God’s work is their work as the try to bring about Christ’s kingdom of justice, love and truth.
Think of the number of young men and women, many of them estranged from the church who are involved in environmental and ecological issues as they work for the healing of Earth and the integrity of creation. Think of the young men and women still involved in the Occupy Movement protesting the thievery and corruption of the financial institutions that run our lives. The words of St. James are so true in our day when we hear of the manipulation of markets and mortgages and the many Ponzi schemes that preyed on people’s greed, when we hear of golden handshakes given to financial executives who should be receiving jail sentences. “The wages of those who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord.”
Scripture describes the kingdom of God as a kingdom of light and truth, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, light and truth. This is the kingdom whose arrival we pray for every day, the kingdom come. As we continue to celebrate this Mass we pray for all those good people who work to bring about the kingdom of God on earth, be they inside or outside the camp. And may each of us remember that God’s work must truly be our own.
Homily – September 23
Sunday, September 23rd, 2012We can better understand our first reading from the Book of Wisdom if we put it into context. The common thinking of the time was that what we see is all there is, there is nothing beyond it. The author of this book tells us the thinking of the times was along these lines: “short and sorrowful is our life and there is no remedy when life comes to an end and no one has been known to return from Hades. For we were born by mere chance and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been. Our name will be forgotten in time and no one will remember our works, our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud… for our allotted time is the passing of a shadow and there is no return from death…. Come then let us enjoy the good things that exist and make use of creation to the full… let us take costly wine and perfumes and let no flower of spring pass us by… let none of us fail to share in our revelry and everywhere let us leave signs of our enjoyment because this is our portion and this is our lot.” (more…)
Lord, heal your wounded church
Sunday, September 16th, 2012In this famous scene from Caesarea Philippi when Jesus asks the disciples, “who do people say I am,” they give him many answers; John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But Jesus really wants to know, ‘who am I to you?’ In today’s gospel we have the simple answer, “you are the Christ.”
In Matthew’s telling of this same event we hear Peter saying, “you are the Christ the Son of the living God.” Jesus goes on to tell Peter he didn’t come to such an insight on his own, God himself revealed this truth to Peter. Peter was happy to accept this insight into Jesus but he colored it with his own idea of the Christ, the Messiah. Peter’s Messiah was to be the one who was to deliver the Jewish people from the oppressive Romans. Peter’s Messiah would be a victorious liberator. When Jesus starts to tell Peter and the others what the total reality of being Messiah would entail, “the son of man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised,” things changed.
Peter couldn’t cope with this at all; this is not the way things were to work out. Peter tells Jesus, “Far be it for you Lord, this must never happen to you.” That’s when Jesus called Peter “Satan” and a stumbling block. In Matthew’s telling of this event Jesus calls Peter a rock, a rock on which he would build his church, his community. In today’s gospel Peter is a stumbling block.
I think Jesus had his tongue in his cheek when he called Peter a rock. He knew Peter inside and out. He chooses this dedicated but fickle man to lead the church. We know that the church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ. Through the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit Jesus watches over his church, a church he entrusted to men who possess all the strengths and weaknesses found in human beings.
It’s not easy to be a Catholic these days. It’s certainly not easy being a priest these days. It was easy to be a Catholic in the glory days of Second Vatican Council led by the good Pope John. Those were days of great dreams and promises. It was easy to be a Catholic in the early days of the young, vibrant Pope John Paul 11 and bask in the impact he had on the world scene.
In those days we shared in Peter’s concept of Jesus as Messiah, the deliverer, the conqueror, the church victorious.
Now we are more in the time Jesus spoke of when he described how the son of man would be handed over, scourged, mocked, belittled and brought low. Today Christ in his church is beset with scandals and troubles. The churches in Ireland, in Belgium, Germany and other countries are shamed by the crimes committed against innocent children by priests and religious.
We are embarrassed and angry as we learn of the concerted efforts of our bishops to cover up these crimes and move criminals to new parishes so as to keep a lid on the crimes and protect the reputation of the church. In the States we see bishops and diocesan bureaucrats brought to trial for their failure to protect the innocent children and their cover-up of the crimes of priests.
There is something we must all remember and hang on to in these painful times. The people are the church. Christ is the head of the church and we are its members. As St. Paul tells us, “when one member suffers we all suffer, when one member glories, we all glory.” Today we are a suffering, embarrassed church. Today we are one with the ridiculed and humiliated Christ. Today we must stay with the church; we do not abandon Christ as the Apostles did in their time of testing. We have the witness of the resurrection, the witness of the victorious Christ.
This isn’t the first time the leadership has failed the church. This isn’t the first time our church has been rocked by scandal. But in every age the church has been saved by the deep faith and fidelity of the people inspired by saintly men and women like Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila and many others. As we continue this Mass we pray for our wounded Church, we pray for our wounded selves and ask Christ to heal all our wounds and restore us to fidelity.
Homily – September 9
Sunday, September 9th, 2012Isaiah told of a future time when a liberated people would see the wonderful works of God. ”the eyes of the blind shall be open, the ears of the deaf unstopped, the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.” Throughout his ministry Jesus could say, “this day these very words are fulfilled in your sight.” (more…)
Founded by St. Paul of the Cross, every Passionist takes a special vow to spend his or her energies in promoting remembrance of the sufferings of Jesus, the memory of the Cross, and reflection of the meaning of the Cross for the world.
