August 5th, 2012
For many people one of the big concerns these days is the hot dry weather we’ve been having. In so many areas of the country farmers are in danger of losing their crops, especially their corn crops. We are warned of high food prices in the coming months. Human hunger is a world-wide blight. Millions of men, women and children live on the verge of starvation. Sad to say we can become immune to pictures of children with swollen bellies and thin limbs that we often see on TV ads begging for funds to feed the hungry of the world.
Today’s scripture is all about food. Our first reading tells of the wonder of the manna from heaven. Despite their grumbling and complaining God feeds these desperate refugees from Egypt with manna and quail to show God’s power and presence among them. This was the food that sustained them during their journey to the land of promise. In the Gospels Jesus tells us we do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. He tells us that our lives we be judged by how we provided food for those who were hungry and drink for those who were thirsty.
Last week’s gospel told of Jesus feeding the crowd of 5000 with five barley loaves and two fish. Word of this wonder spread through the countryside and others came looking for food. They demanded a sign from Jesus so that they may see it and believe in him. Their problem was that they could not see beyond the sign of bread to the reality of the One who gave it to them. Jesus called them to move beyond food that perishes. He offers them food that endures for eternal life. Later on he would make a promise: “he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, lives in me and I live in him and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Jesus makes the powerful statement, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in my will never be thirsty.” During this Mass we’ll hear the wonderful words of Jesus, “Take and eat, this is my body, take and drink, this is my blood.” This is the great mystery of our faith. Bread is more than bread and wine is more than wine, they are the body and blood of Jesus, not a symbol but a reality. This is his great gift to each of us, himself as our food and sustenance.
Jesus gave himself to us as a gift. Unfortunately many have come to see Holy Communion as a reward. The message is, ‘if you do this or that,’ ‘if you keep these rules and regulations,’ ‘if you avoid this or that,’ in other words ‘if you behave’ you may come to Communion. But take a look at those who were present as the Last Supper: Peter, who would deny he even knew Jesus, Judas who betrayed Jesus and all the others who would abandon him when things began to fall apart. Sinners all, yet these were the first to receive this gift.
We come to Holy Communion not because we are holy or worthy, if fact we admit we are not worthy. We come to Holy Communion because we are weak and needy. Our daily bread is the nourishment we need to see us through our stress filled days and nights. Our daily bread is meant to give us the strength we need, the patience and understanding we need, the fidelity we need to see us through another day.
Our daily bread to meant to satisfy the many hungers we all have: the hunger for purpose and meaning as we wonder what’s it all about, the hunger for healing and forgiveness, the hunger for true and life giving relationships, the hunger for peace in our families, the hunger for the courage and patience we need as we cope with our failing health, the hunger for a deep trust in the God’s love us in spite of our failings.
May we never lose trust in the gracious promise of Jesus, “whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
| Posted in Homily |
July 29th, 2012
Anyone who ever met Jesus was given the chance to change. This was true even at the end of his life when we have the reaction of the two thieves who were crucified with him. One recognized Jesus as an innocent man undeserving of such a cruel death. The other man saw Jesus as just another convict. Calvary transformed the life and death of one and left the other unchanged.
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July 22nd, 2012
Just a few thoughts on our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Christian community in Ephesus. This community was made up of Jewish and Gentile men and woman. Those Jewish men and women who came to believe Jesus as the Messiah still held on to their conviction that they were special to God above all other people. Some strongly resisted the acceptance of Gentiles into the community. These people were known as Judaizers. They insisted that Gentiles be circumcised and keep Jewish dietary laws. This mentality caused a certain tension in the community. Paul had to battle this narrow minded attitude throughout his whole life. Justification, a person’s relationship with God comes through the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, not from following the Law. Justification is a gift not an earned reward.
So we hear Paul telling the Ephesians; “Now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both Jews and Gentiles into one and had broken down the dividing wall, that is the hostility between us. So Jesus Christ came and proclaimed peace to you who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.”
We would have to be blind not to see the hostility, the resentments, and the divisions that separate people one from another, in politics, in neighbourhoods, in places of work and in our church. There is such a lack of civility in political discourse. There is so much resentment toward newcomers to the country. ‘They’re taking over the neighbourhood.’ There is a fear of the stranger and the different. The ordinary person has a helpless anger toward the captains of finance who manipulate markets, make fortunes while most ordinary people struggle to keep their heads above water. We’ve seen that anger expressed in the Occupy Movements, the 99% movement over the past years. Cutbacks in social, welfare and pensions funds cause great anxiety in a lot of good people of limited means. There is a widening divide between the haves and the have-not’s. As the saying goes, the rich get richer and the poor get babies. We must know by now that bigger prisons will not silence the guns on our streets.
We have divisions in the church. There are some bishops, priests and people who want to go back to the good old days and others who say, no way Jose. Some want to put the brakes on and others want to step on the gas.
We are all good people. We are convinced in the rightness of our convictions, whether they are political, theological or ideological. But we are missing something. We are missing the grace to see in the person with whom we disagree a brother or sister loved by God our Father before the world began. We fail to recognize in the other a person Jesus’ love even unto death, even death on the cross. We ignore the truth that the person we may be belittling or dismissing as a person sanctified by the Holy Spirit just as we were.
I think we should all hear Paul’s plea to the Ephesians for peace and understanding in their community and work to bring that peace to our own communities, whether they be local, civic, national or church. We have all been brought near to each other by the blood of Christ, his sacrifice we celebrate at this Eucharist and this is why we should treat our brothers and sisters, of whatever faith, whatever nationality, whatever social standing, with respect and love. To quote St.Paul, “Say only the good things people need to hear, things that will really help them.”
July 15th, 2012
For some people the big news over the past weeks was the discovery of the God particle. Scientists have been working for years and spending billions of dollars to isolate this particle. Back in 1964 a physicist named Peter Higgs wrote an article about a theoretically massive particle of the bosonic type that could be responsible for giving or causing mass not only to itself but to all matter in the universe. Another physicist named this particle the “God Particle” because it is so central to the state of physics today and so crucial to our final understanding of the structure of matter. Actually this great venture has nothing to do with God. Scientists were looking for the basic particle that explains so many things in creation.
July 8th, 2012
I’ve often said that we are all “mistake making beings”. There is that saying, “I’m not the person I want to be but thank God I’m not the person I used to be.” Hopefully we are all striving to be someone better than we are. But it’s a struggle.
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