Revenge cannot be the Christian way

Homily for the 7^th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A 2014

LV 19:1-2, 17-18, 1 COR 3:16-23, MT 5:38-48

Introduction

Mahatma Ghandi once said: “An eye-for-eye and a tooth-for-tooth would lead to a world full of blind and toothless people.”  Actually Jesus had already taught this message in the Bible, in the gospel passage that we have just heard.

Scripture and Theology

Starting with last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus said that he had come, not to destroy but to fulfil the old law of Moses and the Prophets.  In last Sunday’s passage, he improved upon the laws against killing, adultery, divorce and false oaths.  In today’s passage, he improves the law dealing with those who hurt us.  He says: “You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.  But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.”

Moses had instructed the people to take “life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”  By this instruction Moses was not promoting revenge, but ensuring that justice was proportional, given our human inclination to go overboard in retaliation.  And so this law meant that when someone committed a crime, he was to be punished only in proportion to his crime and not more.  If he took someone’s eye, only one eye of his should be taken, and not two.  This law promoted strict justice.

But Jesus is not satisfied with this kind of justice.  He raises the bar for Christians asking them not to claim the eye or tooth which according to the Law of Moses was their due.  And to show how serious his teaching is he gives some extreme examples of how to do this:

·        Turning your left cheek as well, when one strikes your right cheek.

·        Handing over your jacket as well, when a mugger demands your shirt.

·        Going an extra mile, when only one is demanded of you.

·        And lending to those who wish to borrow from you.

For Jesus wants Christians to deal with their enemies in a different way.  “You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.”  Once again he is raising the bar for Christians, demanding more from them.  This is his argument.

·        “For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?”

·        And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?”

Perhaps if Jesus were preaching today he would say: “If you love only those who love you, how different are you from terrorists or murderers?  They too love each other and only each other.”  Jesus thus challenges his followers to go beyond the common standards of tax-collectors and pagans, of terrorists and murderers.

But why should Christians be held to a much higher standard?  It is because, Jesus says, that Christians are to be perfect “just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  The model of perfect behaviour is no longer the Jewish law, or what is considered normal behaviour for the secular world, represented in the gospel by the tax-collectors and pagans.  The model of perfection is God the Father and Jesus Christ himself.

For God’s way of dealing with us is surely not the way of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”  For when God punishes us for our sins, his punishment is nowhere near what we truly deserve.  He does not take an eye, when we have taken an eye or a tooth when we have taken a tooth.  In fact, often he simply wipes the slate clean and gives us a fresh start, a second chance, after we have confessed our sins and reformed our lives.

Moreover, he does not treat us as people normally treat enemies.  For when we sin, especially when we sin seriously, we break our friendship with him and by definition we become his enemies.  But he does not abandon us; rather he tries to draw us back into friendship with him.  He even sent his Son down to earth, to bring us back to him.  And the Son himself, while suffering on the cross, prays for his persecutors, saying that they know not what they are doing.  In fact it could be said that rather than take a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, Jesus gives his life, he gives his eye and he gives his tooth, so that we who have chosen to be his enemies might be saved.

Christian Life

Jesus is calling you and me to be perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect; to imitate him in exercising mercy rather than revenge.  Unfortunately, sometimes we fail to do this, especially when we confuse justice and vengeance.

Justice requires that the wrong-doer is punished sufficiently.  In fact in our Act of Contrition we say: “I detest my sins because of thy just punishment.” Just punishment serves four purposes: to repair the damage done by someone; to reform and convert the wrong-doer from evil to good; to deter others who might be thinking about committing crime and to protect society.  When punishment is sought simply for the sake of revenge it is following the much lower standard of of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; that is not the teaching of Jesus.

Unfortunately such an attitude of vengeance seems to be behind the widespread support for the death penalty in this country.  Although Catholic teaching allows for the use of the death penalty as a last resort to protect people, the same teaching recognises that the situations in which it is necessary to execute somebody are very rare, if not non-existent in today’s world.  Unlike just punishment, the death penalty does not repair the damage done by the criminal, does not reform the criminal, does not seem to deter potential criminals.  All it seems to do is to take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and a life for a life.

Recently the governor of the state of Washington suspended the use of the death penalty, replacing it with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.  He has chosen to protect society in a non-vengeful way.  It is ironic that the states with the largest numbers of Catholics and Christians also seem to have the greatest support for the death penalty.  And yet as Christians and especially as Catholics, we must promote life, from birth to death, innocent life and as Jesus teaches us today, the life of our enemies.  Why do we who Jesus holds to a higher standard allow ourselves to be dragged down into the culture of death that fills our society?  How can we expect to create a culture of life, when we promote, allow or even rejoice at the death of another human being?

Conclusion

There is no doubt that message of Jesus in today’s gospel is a tall order.  For the human instinct to seek revenge, to get even, to destroy bad people is very strong.  Even when you and I watch a movie, the natural tendency is for us to root for the good guys.  We want the bad guys to get their just desserts.

But again, Jesus never promised that the Christian way would be an easy one.  In fact he said that those who chose to follow him would have to take the narrow path and travel along it carrying their daily crosses.  But he promised that those who would seek the perfection of the Father in this more difficult way would also be rewarded with everlasting life.  Jesus’ way is not easy, but is better.

As we seek justice, law and order, as we deal with those who hurt us, may we be better than the tax-collectors and pagans of our time; may our justice be tempered with mercy and may our love always include even our enemies.

The computer and the Typewriter: the new law in the old

Homily for 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A 2014

Sirach 15:15-20; 1 Corinthians 2:6-10; Matthew 5:17-37

Introduction

The development of the typewriter into the computer is a great example of the old being fulfilled in the new.  But before I go on to explain their similarities, let me first explain to those who were born in the 90s and after, what a typewriter is.

It was this heavy clunky machine used to type letters and other documents.  The older typewriters did not use electricity, so you had to strike those keys hard, if you wanted your work to be legible.  Moreover, if you made a mistake, you had to go back and cover the mistake with liquid paper and type over again.  Also, just to be clear, the type-writer did not do email, internet, facebook or twitter.

Today, we use computers to do everything the type-writer did and more.  Perhaps the only similarity between the two machines is the keyboard, which has essentially remained the same.  For example, I learned how to touch type on a typewriter in the early ‘90s, a skill that has continued to serve me well when I use a computer today.  But clearly the computer is superior machine, which has taken what is good in the typewriter and improved it by leaps and bounds.

Scripture and Theology

In today’s readings, Jesus says: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.  I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”  Like the computer does not abolish but fulfils the functions of the typewriter, Jesus has come to improve and bring to fulfilment what God had revealed to his people in the Law and the Prophets.  He assures his followers that “until heaven and earth pass away,” that is, until the end of the world as we know it, “not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law.”  In other words, the law will not be destroyed but will continue to be improved to serve God’s work.

And so, Jesus provides a model for preserving the old in the new and building the new upon the old.  He gives a few concrete examples of these developments such as the commandments forbidding killing, adultery, divorce and false oaths.

The fifth commandment says: “You shall not kill.”  But Jesus takes this law against physical killing to a higher level. For him “whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment . . . and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.”  And so, for Jesus, killing goes beyond the physical to include our thoughts and words of anger.

The same applies to the 6^th commandment which said: “You shall not commit adultery.” For Jesus, however, “everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  Once again he goes beyond the physical to the thoughts and words that come before the physical sin.

In both the case of killing and adultery, the thoughts and words often lead to sin.

·        For example, how often on today’s streets people are killed over a silly argument; how often anger divides families and friends forever.

·        Even with adultery; thoughts of lust and flirtatious words, sometimes quite innocent at first, will lead to pre-marital and extra-marital relations.

And before these thoughts and words are sinful or are the cause of sin, let us nip them in the bud.  In the case of anger, he suggests that people who are angry with each other should settle the matter peacefully before going to the court.  And as for thoughts of lust, he uses of the image of cutting off the offending limb; for it is better to lose a limb than the whole body.  In other words it is better perhaps to cut out those sources of lust, such as the internet, television and movies, than set oneself on the road to sinning in this way.

And so, following the lead of Jesus, at the beginning of Mass we confess not only “what I have done and what I have failed to do,” but we also confess those sins of our thoughts and words.  For without abolishing the Ten Commandments Jesus has set a much higher bar of morality for Christians.  He has taken the old commandments and improved them, by giving them new meanings and even expanding them to apply to new situations, so that we can grow deeper in our relationship with God.  What Jesus has done is similar to the computer, which takes on all the functions of the old typewriter and adds more, making those work and life more effective.

Christian Life

How do we deal with the old and the new in our lives?  There are two extremes.  Like the Pharisees, we might be tempted to reject the new and keep only the old.  On the other hand we might be tempted to reject everything old and keep only the new.  Jesus avoids both extremes by preserving old values in new ways.

As a Church, for example, we have certainly grown in the past two thousand years.  The Holy Spirit has helped us preserve the old tradition in new ways.

·        While we still value preserving and preaching the faith, we no longer force it down people’s throats via crusades and inquisitions.

·        While we still value obedience to legitimate authorities, we no longer teach that slavery or capital punishment is acceptable.

·        While we still celebrate the Lord’s Supper as he commanded us, we do it a little differently than the Church of the fifth century, the tenth century and the fifteenth century.  Some of you remember when the Mass was all in Latin, without much Scripture and hardly involving the congregation.

But the most important change we have to deal with is in our own personal lives. If we believe in what Jesus has to teach us in today’s gospel, we should also believe that personal growth and conversion is possible, both for ourselves and for others.  We should continue to listen to God’s voice every day and hear what he wants us to change and improve in our lives.

·        Perhaps when we were younger, although our priorities were well-intentioned, they were also mistaken.  Perhaps we hung with the wrong crowd, engaged in questionable and immoral activities and did not pray.   Perhaps our attitude to others, to the poor, to other races, reflecting the customs of the time needs to catch up with the message of the gospel.

·        Hope is not all lost.  We can change, we can improve, we can grow.  We can raise our game, like Jesus does to the Law and Prophets, and add that to our Christian way of life, improving and fulfilling our previous way of life.

Conclusion

Jesus wants us to go beyond the comforts of the law, which draws clear boundaries of what we should or should not do.  Merely following the law is easy; but Jesus never claims to make our lives easy.  He calls us to a challenging way of life where what matters most of all is not the law, but friendship with God.  Friendship is not built on the narrow boundaries of the law which is fixed; friendship is built on love which keeps growing and growing and exploring new ways of loving.

Like we have taken the typewriter and developed it into a desktop, laptop, netbook, tablet computer, smartphone and only God knows what else we shall come up with, let us also take the laws of God and the Church and expand them into all kinds of good works and possibilities, for the glory of God and for his people.  Jesus is calling us to love God and our neighbour in all ways: in my thoughts, in my words, in what I do and in what I refrain from doing.

Agents of change in the world

Homily for 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A 2014

Isa 58:7-10 • 1 Cor 2:1-5 • Matthew 5:13-16

Introduction

A little over two weeks ago, we experienced very cold weather in New Orleans with roads having to be closed due to snow and ice.  In fact, some said, “Hell has frozen over.”  I then learned that the Transportation Department was using salt to remove the ice from the roads.  Apparently through some chemical reaction the salt not only melts the ice, but also it keeps the water from freezing further.

Scripture and Theology

Jesus was probably not thinking about using salt in this way when he told his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth.”  He was probably thinking of the other more common uses of salt as an antiseptic, a preservative and seasoning.

·        In the absence of modern medicine, salt is the best antiseptic; for it kills germs.  In ancient times, people cleaned chicken with salt to prevent salmonella.  Salt was also the only thing available to clean a wound; in fact even when I was growing up, my mother used it on me, despite my loud screams.  But today I gargle with salt to cure my sore-throat.

·        Secondly, salt is a preservative.  Again in the absence of fridges and freezers, the only way to preserve meat or fish was to salt or smoke them.  Salt draws out the moisture and decomposition does not take place.

·        The third use of salt is as seasoning.  Salt brings out the flavour in food.  For people without the wealth of spices that we have here in New Orleans, unless they add salt, the food is very insipid and bland, as anyone on a salt-free diet would testify.

And so, with this image Jesus tells his followers to have these qualities of salt:

·        Antiseptic, as they fight evil in the world.

·        Preservative, as they safeguard the good from corruption.

·        Seasoning, as they add zest and joy to the world.

·        And I might add, like salt de-ices the roads, Christians might be good thawing agents, defusing tensions in the world.

But Jesus is not satisfied just with the image of salt; he also uses the image of light, telling his followers: “You are the light of the world.”  At the time of Jesus having light, especially at night could not be taken for granted.  Homes in ancient Palestine, like homes in most pre-industrial societies, generally had one room with no windows and only a door.  When the door was closed, the house would be pitch black.  The only light source was a small oil lamp.  The only way the lamp would illuminate the whole room was if it was placed on a stand or ledge above everybody’s head, to avoid anybody blocking the light.  Without light, nobody could do anything productive: no guests, no reading, no socialising, no work, perhaps only sleeping.

And so Jesus is calling on his followers once again to be the source of light and warmth to the world.  He tells them: “your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

Christian Life

Although we live in different times, times in which doctors tell us to eat less salt and times in which we take having light for granted, these images of salt and light can still speak to us today.  Being the salt of the earth and light of the world means being agents of good in the world.  We Christians are tasked with turning this world into the Kingdom of God.  This is the world which God created and wants to restore to himself. He has hired us Christians, to bring this about.

There is a hesitation among some Christians, to do this, to speak up, to stand up and be counted.  Sometimes this is because we Christians have been told to shut up, that we have no business bringing religion into the public square.  And sometimes we choose to be quiet, since we don’t want to rattle the cages, make waves, rain on the parade with our Christian faith.

But what Jesus is asking us to do is not rattle the cages, make waves or rain on anyone’s parade.  In fact Christians who speak up or act in this way indeed need to shut up.  You have probably heard about the Christian group that has made it their business to protest military funerals.  You probably also remember the Christian pastor in Florida whose view of Christian evangelization is burning the Muslim holy book, the Koran.  That is not what Jesus means when he says you are the salt of the earth.  Rather, apart from the very exceptional cases, we can be the salt of the earth with charity and civility, rather than with confrontation and conflict.  That is like when I cooked last week and put too much salt in the food, making it inedible and having to throw it out.  I learnt that salt does its job best when it is mixed entirely in the food in the right amount: not too little to leave the food bland and not too much to cause my guests a heart-attack right there at table.

Some people also think that when Jesus says “you are the salt of the earth,” he means that they have to wear religion on their sleeve.  They think it means that you have to flaunt your devotion, with ostentatious displays of piety, religious objects, or severe penitential exercises, like salt sprinkled on salad rather than thoroughly mixed in the food.

But when Jesus asks us to be like a city set on a hilltop, he is not asking us show off our devotion, but rather to be witnesses and good examples, a beacon drawing others into our community of faith.  We do not need to speak or say much; our lives alone should draw people to us, because they see the peace and tranquillity that comes from being a firm believer in the Lord.  We should stand out in the crowd, not because we are showing off, but because our ordinary, day-to-day Christian life shines forth for others to see.

The reason I became a priest was probably not because a priest suggested it to me, but rather because I saw and admired many good priests whose lives reflected the light of Christ.  Perhaps the reason people become Christians is also because of our good example.  Ghandi is quoted as saying that he liked Christ, but did not like Christians, because they did not live as Christ taught.

With so much bad publicity of the Church in the world, some of it rightly deserved, perhaps it is time for Christians to step up to the plate and be the city built on the hilltop for the world to see.  Perhaps rather than put up billboards that threaten hell-fire, our right-living should be the advertisement for the faith.  At the height of the sex-abuse scandal by priests I made a conscious decision to always be dressed as a priest wherever I went, as my small way of being a light for the world.  And I soon found out that whether I was in Walgreens picking up some Aspirin or in Winn-Dixie buying a bottle of port wine, people were always pleased to see a priest and often stopped me to speak about their lives and their faith.

An even more effective way to be the salt of the earth and light of the world is what Isaiah tells us to do in the first reading.

Share your bread with the hungry,

shelter the oppressed and the homeless;

clothe the naked when you see them,

and do not turn your back on your own.

Conclusion

Did you notice the last one?  It said: “Do not turn your back on your own”: family, friends, co-workers and neighbours.  They too need our witness.  May our good deeds be a far more eloquent sermon than the words of the best preacher; and may they make us the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Consecrated Life – a continued blessing for the Church

Homily for the Presentation of Our Lord Year A 2014

MAL 3:1-4, HEB 2:14-18, LK 2:22-40

Introduction

This weekend is February 2^nd and it means different things to different people.

·        For many, February 2^nd is Groundhog day, when the groundhog emerges from his winter hideout, and predicts how soon Spring will come.  Given the recent weather, we probably know what the groundhog is going to say.

·        This year, February 2^nd is also Superbowl Sunday – (leading me to wonder why conclude that you must be the 25 people in New Orleans who either don’t like football or like me don’t know much about it).

·        In the Church February 2^nd is the feast of the Presentation of Our Lord; this year because it falls on a Sunday, we get to celebrate this great feast.

Scripture and Theology

In the hierarchy of feasts, the Presentation of Our Lord does not rank as high as Christmas or Easter.  But it is still important, because this feast marks the occasion when 40 days after the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary presented him in the Temple.  Every Jewish family was required to dedicate or consecrate their first-born child to God, recognising that God is the source of all life.

This ritual was interesting. The parents sacrificed a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons in the temple.  As very religious people, they wanted to give God the best thing they had; what better gift to give God than their first-born child?  But sacrificing a child would be inhuman; and so God gave them a way out; he let the pair of turtledoves or young pigeons substitute or ransom the child.  These birds were the sign of the great gift the parents wanted to give the Lord.  And so, vicariously through the sacrifice, the child was presented and dedicated to God.

Perhaps Mary and Joseph wanted to sneak into the Temple, do the ritual and get back home to Nazareth.  But things turned out to be a little dramatic.  Simeon and Anna, happened to be at Temple; and they let the cat out of the bag. Simeon a righteous and virtuous man, and Anna a widow and Prophetess revealed to all present, that this child was special, that this child himself was God.

·        Simeon blessed and thanked God for allowing him to live long enough to see the child that would bring salvation to the whole world: “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel,” he called him.

·        Anna for her part gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

Mary and Joseph were intending to present the child to God, but now, through the inspired mouths of Simeon and Anna, God presented the child to the world.

Christian Life

In 1997, Pope John Paul II instituted a day of prayer for women and men in consecrated life, in other words, religious sisters and brothers. This day is often marked in association with the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2nd.  For what consecrated people do – the monks and nuns, religious brothers and sisters – is exactly what Mary and Joseph did with Jesus when they presented him to the Lord.  These men and women also give their lives to God.

Of course all Christians give themselves to God.  We priests and deacons give themselves to God as ministers to parishioners.  You lay people give yourselves to God by living out the faith fully in your families and in the world.  But consecrated people do so in a very radical way, giving up literally everything to follow Christ.  The Church has always had people like this in one form or another.

·        In the very early centuries, you had the virgins and ascetics; but most of them lived this life privately as individuals.

·        It is St. Anthony of Egypt, who heard the words of Jesus to the rich young man in Matthew 19:21: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  Anthony did exactly that, giving up everything and going into the desert to live in absolute poverty; he soon attracted a few followers, and therefore gave birth to the first religious congregation.

·        Anthony would be followed in this way of life by others like St. Benedict, the Father of today’s Benedictine monks and nuns; by St. Francis and St. Dominic several centuries later, the ones who gave us our current Franciscan and Dominican brothers and sisters.

·        There are so many congregations of religious men and women today, that there is even a somewhat irreverent joke that goes: “Even the Holy Spirit does not know how many religious men and women there are.”

We might wonder: what kind of people become monks and nuns?

1.    What kind of people give up their lives to live in poverty – meaning that they don’t own anything personally; everything belongs to the community?

2.    What kind of people give up having the love and physical intimacy of a husband or wife and give up having children of their own too?

3.    What kind of people give up their lives to live in total obedience to their superior, someone who else tells them what God wants them to do?

Yes, such people exist, even in our world today.  These are the people who love God in a very uncompromising way.  They are willing to give God, not just two turtledoves or two pigeons, but their whole lives.  Sr. Mary Agnes is a good friend of mine.  Just before New Year’s Day I visited her and her community and she told that this year, she will be making 67 years as a nun, exactly how old my mother is.  Sr. Mary Agnes has lived in the same house for all these years, praying five times a day, every day for the needs of the Church and the world.

On this feast of consecration, let me suggest two pieces of homework for us.

The first piece of homework is to ask ourselves this question: Have I considered if God is calling me to give my life to him as a religious brother or religious sister?  Might I have what it takes to love in this very radical way?  Or, do you know somebody whom you think God is calling to this challenging, but fulfilling life of total self-gift for others?  Why not speak to someone: a priest, a nun, a brother or even just call the Archdiocese.  Is God calling you or someone else?  Such a vocation is a terrible thing to waste.

The second piece of homework is one of gratitude to those who live this way of life.  I know my life would very different, without the many good nuns and brothers.  I myself would not even be here, were it not for the nuns back in Kenya who raised my mother and gave her an education, when her father died.  I would not be here, were it not for the religious brothers who took me into their school, despite the fact that my mother could not afford to pay the tuition.  To become a priest and to live as a priest I have been inspired by the holy example of many nuns and brothers, who I have been fortunate to know. I am sure you also know some nuns and brothers who have influenced you; what about giving them a call tonight and saying thank you to them?  Or if you don’t know any, perhaps the next time you see a nun you could say, “Thank you for giving yourself to God.”

Conclusion

May the light of Christ, who was revealed to the world by Simeon and Anna, shine forth through our lives.  May this light shine especially through the lives of those who follow the Lord faithfully, especially the consecrated men and women, who give their lives to him totally and may there be more and more of them.