Is the Pope Catholic?

Homily for Ordinary Time – 26th Sunday Year B 2015

Numbers 11:25-29 James 5:1-6 Mark 9:38-43,45,47-48

Introduction

“Is the Pope Catholic?” That's a dramatic way of saying, "Yes, of course."  If I were to ask you if you are going to see the Saints game today, being the diehard fans you are, most of you would probably say: "Is the Pope Catholic?"

The visit of Pope Francis is certainly a source of joy and pride for many Catholics.  But this joy is not universal.  Some people are really having difficulty with some of the things that Pope Francis is teaching, especially his message of mercy, compassion and inclusion, wondering if he is Catholic.

Scripture and Theology

Like Pope Francis, Jesus was not always universally understood or well received, because of what he taught.  In today’s gospel, for example, John informs Jesus that someone who is not part of their group is out there driving out demons in the name of Jesus.  John even says that they tried to stop this man.

But instead of receiving kudos from Jesus for stopping an impostor, Jesus says: “Do not prevent him.”  According to Jesus God can work even through those who are outside their circle.  “For whoever is not against us is for us,” Jesus says.

I doubt that this teaching was well received by John and his fellow disciples, who probably thought that only they, the inner circle, could do God’s work.

We can surely relate with how the disciples felt.  When I was in grade school, my sister and I used to compete at doing well in school.  One year, when I was top of my class, to my great delight she did not do too well.  But when we brought home our report cards, mum gave gifts to both of us for doing well.  Like the elder brother of the Prodigal son, I was dismayed and thought, "How unfair!"

As I grew older I came to understand my mother's lesson which is also Jesus' lesson: none of us has exclusive rights to God’s grace and love.

Moses, in today's first reading has a similar lesson for Joshua.  Joshua wants to stop two men, who had not officially received the Spirit of God, from prophesying.  But like Jesus, Moses does not presume to limit God’s power.  In fact he wishes that all the people had God’s spirit so that they would speak in God’s name.

And so, Pope Francis is in very good company.  The Pope continues in the great tradition of Moses and Jesus, when he teaches that God’s love and grace are at work even beyond our small inner circle.

Christian Life

I know that American Catholics have a robust tradition of being independent-minded.  How should we handle what is for some of us a difficult situation?

We might be tempted to reject and abandon the Pope, like the disciples who left Jesus when he taught about the Eucharist.  We might be tempted to be like the Catholic congressman who boycotted the Pope's address to Congress.  We might be tempted to write off the Pope, so that if he were to cross Lake Pontchartrain by walking on water, we would say "The pope can't swim."

As faithful sons and daughters of Christ's Church, this cannot be our attitude.  Rejecting the vicar of Christ and his message is not an option.  Rather we must make every effort to wrestle with and try to understand even what sometimes seems like a tough message from the new sheriff in town.  Let me offer three suggestions that might help us to do this.

My first suggestion is that we get the Pope's teaching directly from the horse's mouth.  When we get it second hand through the secular news media, it is almost always already distorted.  If you have been listening to the news pundits, you would think that Pope Francis is a registered Democrat, while Pope Benedict is a member of the Tea-party movement.  And after Pope Francis spoke to Congress, he was claimed and criticised by both sides.  The left painted him as breaking with Catholic teaching on abortion, clearly ignoring what he actually said: “The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development”?  The right on the other hand said that the Pope was against business, even though the Pope actually said: “Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world.”

In this age when we have Catholic TV and radio, the Vatican website, we have no excuse for receiving the Pope’ teaching regurgitated for us by MSNBC or Fox News, the Huffington Post or the Drudge Report, who do not share our faith.  With a little effort on our part, we can find the authentic teaching of the Pope, a teaching that is truly Catholic, and has been taught by Popes for 2000 years.

My second suggestion is that we read and hear the Pope's teaching without ideological blinders.  We are first Catholic, before we are Republican or Democrat, Conservative or Progressive, Black or White, American or Ugandan.  When we read and hear his message through these ideological prisms, we get only part of the picture.  But if we read and hear the Pope with Catholic eyes and ears, we see that what the Pope teaches is not really new.  Perhaps some things were not always emphasised with the same passion or highlighted by the media in the same way; but everything he teaches is right there in the Bible and in the Catechism.

Let me give three examples:

1.    His teaching on welcoming immigrants, helping the poor and serving the most vulnerable has earned Pope Francis the name of socialist, even communist.  But  the Pope is only teaching a theme that is repeated over and over again in both the Old and New Testaments.  How could he not teach what Jesus says so clearly in Matthew 25? "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me."

2.    The Pope has also come in for some harsh criticism for his plea that we care for the environment.  But he is only teaching the message of Genesis, which calls for a responsible stewardship of the earth’s resources, a use which only cultivates but also preserves.  Moreover, he is concerned for the poor countries who are already facing the effects of bad stewardship. 

3.    The Pope has also been accused of being too cosy with Muslims and people of other religions.  But like Jesus in today's gospel, he makes the distinction between those who are against us and those who are not.  He rightly condemns Islamic extremism and terrorism, without making the common mistake of assuming that all Muslims are terrorists.

We must not see the Pope's teaching in terms of the "either . . . or" mentality of ideologies, but rather in the venerable Catholic tradition of "both . . . and."

My third suggestion is that we allow ourselves to be taught by the Pope, whom the Spirit uses to teach us in both old and new ways.  The saying goes that if you are green you can still grow; but if you are ripe, you can only rot.  Like the prophets of old, each of whom had a unique message from God, all our popes have had special messages for us, as does Pope Francis.  For example:

·        He has taught us that being pro-life requires that we fight against abortion, but also against all other dangers to life: euthanasia, suicide, the death penalty, unjust war and even poverty.

·        Pope Francis has also passionately taught us that while family and marriage are indispensable to society, we must like Jesus seek out and find ways to help those who are in difficult situations: those whose marriages have broken down, single-parent families, people with same-sex attraction.  Like Jesus, the Pope wants the Church to be, not only a Teacher and Judge, but also a Mother and Physician.

Can we allow the Pope, to teach us something new?

Conclusion

Last Thursday, as I watched the Pope address Congress, like Speaker Boehner, I could not stop tearing up and was really proud to be a Catholic.  For there I saw my papá, my father (that is what Pope means) standing before the world's most powerful people.  And despite his heavy accent, despite his unfamiliarity with the English language, he confidently preached the gospel in its fullness and breadth!

I believe that I was able to wrestle with and yet understand the message of Pope Francis, because I followed the three suggestions that I have just offered you.  First, getting his message directly from the horse's mouth, second doing so without ideological filters, and third and perhaps most important of all, listening to him with the ears of a child listening to and learning from his papá.

That's how I know, that like Pope Benedict, Pope John Paul II and others before each in their own way, Pope Francis is Catholic!

Who is Jesus to us and who are we to him?

Homily for Ordinary Time – 24th Sunday Year B 2015

Isaiah 50:5-9; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35

Introduction

“Who do people say that I am?”  That's what Jesus asks his disciples.

There's a story about a priest, who had just taken up an assignment as pastor and he wanted to know what the parishioners thought about him.  One day, while at the neighbourhood convenience store, he saw some parishioners.  He asked them to tell him honestly how he was doing as their pastor.  One of the ladies then gave it to him straight: that he was impatient, unavailable, gave long boring homilies and did not have the best altar-side manners.  Naturally, the priest was quite disappointed to hear that this what people were thinking about him.

But as he was leaving, another parishioner who had overheard the whole conversation, pulled him aside and tried to console him saying: "Father, don't pay attention to that woman; she doesn't know what she is saying.  She only repeats what she hears other people saying."

Scripture and Theology

Fortunately for Jesus, when he asks what people say about him, the answers are quite flattering.  Some thought that he was John the Baptist, others that he was Elijah, and others still thought that he was one of the Old Testament prophets.  To be compared with the prophets was quite an honour; for prophets were held in high regard.

And yet as flattering as calling Jesus a prophet is, this answer is not accurate.  Yes, he teaches the Word of God like the prophets did; he condemns sinful life like the prophets Amos and Hosea did; and he gives hope for the future like the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah did.  Even Islam, for example, also honours Jesus with his mother Mary.  In fact, with Abraham and Moses, Jesus is considered to be one of the prophets who preceded Mohammed, the last prophet.

Jesus is far more than a prophet.  That is why he turns to the disciples, who should know him better, and asks: "But who do you say that I am?" Peter gives a much better answer when he says: "You are the Christ.”  Jesus is not simply a prophet; he is the Christ, who comes to save human beings from eternal death.

But even the Twelve disciples don't fully understand what it means that Jesus is the Christ.  They are excited to learn that their Master was not just another rabbi; he was the Messiah, the Saviour of the world!  And as part of his inner circle, perhaps they would now be moving into a palace, getting important jobs, power and wealth.  What a great future awaited them!

But then Jesus pours cold water on these hopes.  He explains that as the Christ, he "must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days."  This is too much for Peter to stomach.  A suffering Christ does not fit his perception of the Messiah.  So he tries to persuade Jesus to abandon this path of suffering.  That is why Jesus is rather stern with Peter and in front of everybody tells him off: “Get behind me, Satan.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”  And so even though Peter's answer, that Jesus is the Christ, improved upon the idea that Jesus was a prophet, he still does not understand fully who Jesus really is. 

Christian Life

Now before we turn up our noses at Peter and the others for not understanding fully who Jesus was, we must think about what answer we would give, if Jesus asked us: "But you, you Catholics of today, who do you say that I am?"

The Jews looked to their history in the Old Testament, to understand who Jesus was; that is why they said that he was a prophet.  Today, we might fall back on the figures of our culture, to understand who Jesus is.

• Who do people today say that Jesus is?  Reading some of the secular media today, you would think that Jesus was just a superhero like Superman or Batman or Spiderman.  After all, don't the gospels speak about him as working miracles and fighting against the Evil one?  He brings people back to life; he heals the sick and he feeds crowds with free food.

• Who do people today say that Jesus is?  When you hear what some people about Jesus on Television and radio, you would think that he was just another wise teacher like Ghandi or Confucius or any of our celebrity TV presenters today such as Dr. Phil.

• Who do people today say that Jesus is?  Unfortunately some people still think that Jesus is the bogeyman, the one who is coming to condemn them and punish them for every wrong they have done.

These answers are not entirely wrong; they contain some truth about Jesus.

·        Yes, Jesus is a kind of superhero.  After all he is not just a human being; he is also God, who cares for and protects the world.

·        Yes, Jesus is a great teacher.  Consider all his great parables, his sermons and his parting words at the Last Supper!

·        Yes, Jesus like the bogeyman must be respected, even feared.  When we reject his teaching, such as when we fail to care for others or when we scandalize the little ones in their faith, he promises that his punishment will be as swift as it will be sure.

But we cannot reduce Jesus to any one of these answers.  All of them fail to give us the whole picture.

It is like the story of the six blind men who came upon an elephant and tried to figure out what this animal was.

• The FIRST blind man happened to touch the elephant's broad side; he concluded that the Elephant is like a wall!

• The SECOND, felt the round, smooth and sharp tusk; he concluded that the Elephant is like a spear!

• The THIRD blind man happened to touch the long trunk; he concluded that the Elephant is like a snake!

• The FOURTH blind man felt the knee and said: "the Elephant is like a tree!”

• The FIFTH, who chanced to touch the ear cried out: "the Elephant is like a fan!"

• The SIXTH blind man happened to seize the swinging tail and said: “the Elephant is like a rope!”

Unfortunately, because they each had only a limited angle of the animal, none of them really described what an elephant truly is.

Conclusion

Who do we say that Jesus is?  A superhero?  A great teacher?  The bogeyman?

We have to realize that whatever answers we give, like the six blind men, like the crowds who followed Jesus, even like Peter, they don't truly describe Jesus.  We must turn to the answer Jesus himself gave us in the gospel and one we shall profess shortly in the Creed.  He is the Christ, sent from God, born of a virgin, rejected by the religious leaders; he is one who suffered, died on the cross, rose on the third day and ascended to heaven, where he sits at the right hand of the Father for eternity.  He is what stands between us and eternal hell.

And yet, as important as saying who Jesus is, perhaps equally important is the question: "Who does Jesus say that I am?"  And for this second question, Jesus also suggests an answer.  He says: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."

Is that who Jesus is to us? Is that who we are to Jesus?

Speak Lord, your servant is listening

Homily for Ordinary Time – 23^rd Sunday Year B 2015

Isaiah 35:4-7; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37

Introduction

How do Catholics with hearing and speech impediments go to confession?  Without being able to speak, how do they express their sorrow?  Without being able to hear how do they understand that God has forgiven them?

It goes without saying, that not having use of any of our senses causes very practical difficulties not just in our daily life but also in our spiritual lives.

Scripture and Theology

That is why in the Bible, curing the blind, the deaf, the mute was always a great sign of God's favour.

In our first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, he is writing to the Jewish people who are in exile.  They have given up hope because what God had promised them, that they would be a prosperous nation, has been withdrawn; they are now an enslaved people.  Isaiah tries to lift up their spirits, to give them a message of hope, that their liberation is around the corner.  And how will they know that their liberation has arrived?  Isaiah says at that time: ". . . the eyes of the blind [will] be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, the tongue of the mute will sing."

These images made sense for them.  They understood that people who cannot hear and speak, are often cut off from basic forms of communication and conversation, which help to form relationships and friendships.  Even worse, they are often wrongly assumed to be less intelligent, since they are not able to show their intelligence in the usual ways.  And so they could certainly imagine the joy of a blind woman who sees the beautiful flowers for the first time, or a deaf mother hearing the first sounds from her baby and a mute husband saying "I love you" to his wife for the very first time. 

But the Prophet Isaiah was only making a promise.  Jesus fulfils that promise.  Throughout the gospels we hear Jesus healing people of their blindness, deafness and muteness.  In today's gospel we have Jesus heal "a deaf man who had a speech impediment."  We heard that the man begun to speak plainly immediately.  We can imagine the joy of this man, when he went back home to his family and heard their voices for the first time and spoke to them for the very first time.  And so, this miracle must have meant a lot for this man and his family.

Without taking away from the joy of this man, we have to realize that his miracle is not really about him.  In Matthew Chapter 12 Jesus says that his miracles are signs that the Kingdom of God is at hand, just like Isaiah had prophesied.  Also, at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, when John the Baptist sends messengers to ask Jesus if he is the Messiah, this is how Jesus responds: “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Lk. 7:22).

And so, the healing of the deaf man with the speech impediment is part of this wider plan of God.  God is revealing his love and power to men and women in this very miracle of Jesus.  Beyond its physical meaning, the miracle also has a spiritual meaning, for those who saw it and for us read about it.

Like this man has had his hearing and speech restored, Jesus has come to restore spiritual hearing and speech to us.  Before becoming Christians, we are deaf and dumb.  When we become Christians in baptism, our inner hearing and speech is restored.  In fact there is an optional part of the Rite of Baptism that signifies this new hearing and speaking of the baptized person.  It is called the ephphetha rite, the word Jesus used in the gospel to open the man’s ears and speech.  In this rite, the priest touches the ears and mouth of the child or adult being baptized and prays that the Lord will touch "your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father."

Christian Life

As baptised people, you and I not only have full use of our physical hearing and speech, but we also our spiritual hearing and speech faculties.  Unfortunately, sometimes we don't hear well what God has to say to us, much less are able to speak it.  The nature of our hearing deficit is different for each of us.  I have three friends with some varying degrees of hearing impairment.

The first one, a seventy-five old lady, has lost much of her hearing and so she uses a hearing aid.  This device has various settings, one for the phone, one for ordinary conversation, and the lowest volume, she reserves that for her husband.

How do you and I use the hearing aids that God has given us in Word and Sacraments?  These hearing aids are there for the taking; it is up to us to use them well and calibrate them according to our needs.  For example, we come to Mass to maintain our communion with God and with his Church; when we break that communion by sin, we can use the aid of confession to restore it; when we are sick, we can be strengthened and healed by the the Sacrament of the Sick, and in God's Word, he has something to say just about every aspect of our lives.

My second friend is an older gentleman, who has lost some hearing in one ear.  But like a stubborn mule, he refuses to get a hearing aid.  So when they go out to dinner, his wife often sits on the side of the good ear, if they are to have any meaningful conversation.  But I have occasionally also observed her sitting on the side of the bad ear, when she wants some quiet.

Don't we sometimes like my friend refuse to approach some of the sacraments, because we are happy with the half that we already have?  Yes, you come to Church on Sunday and you say your private prayers, but when is the last time you made an examination of conscience and went to confession?  Yes you have a good family life, but have you explored getting an annulment so that you can have your marriage blessed by the Sacrament of Matrimony?

My third friend is a teenager.  Her hearing works just fine.  But often she will tell her mother, "Mom, I hear you, but I am not listening."

Like this teenager, there is nothing stopping us from hearing and listening to what God has to say.  And there is plenty that he has to say to us, especially in the world that we live in today.

·        We hear about all the violence in the world, wars in the many countries, violent crime in our cities, and the recent spate of unprovoked attacks against police officers; but are we listening to God's message of peace, reconciliation and non-violence?

·        This past week we have heard Pope Francis reminding us to take advantage of God's mercy, even widening the possibilities for those who have committed the sin of abortion to be forgiven?  But are we listening?

Conclusion

There is a special ministry to the deaf and mute Catholics at Blessed Seelos Parish (not the Shrine) in the Bywater area of New Orleans.  Not only do they have Mass with the homily translated to them using sign language, but they also join in the prayers and the singing using sign language.  And for confession, when they come to a priest like me who does not use sign language, they will usually come with a list of sins written on a piece of paper or they will check off from a list of commandments, the sins that they have committed.  After they have signed the act of contrition, the priest will read the formula of absolution from a piece of paper as the penitent follows along.

Not even their physical deafness and muteness will stop these Catholics from approaching the sacraments to take care of their spiritual needs.  What about us who have full hearing and speech, what is stopping us?