Master, I want to see

Homily for Ordinary Time – 30th Sunday Year B 2015

Jeremiah 31:7-9, Hebrews 5:1-6, Mark 10:46-52

Introduction

"What do you want me to do for you?" That's what Jesus asks Bartimaeus, the blind man. If I were Bartimaeus, I might have said: "Lord, why are asking the obvious - of course I want to be healed; I want to get my eyesight back."

But Bartimaeus is more polite; all he says is: "Master, I want to see."

Scripture and Theology

What Bartimaeus wants is something that we who are sighted, take for granted.  He wants to enjoy the beauty of the flowers and paintings, the breath-taking scenery of the lake or mountains, and most of all his pretty wife and sweet children.  Imagine if you and I could not see these things?

But this gospel story is more than just about Bartimaeus and his recovery of sight.  It is also a story about the even more serious blindness of the disciples.  In fact today's gospel story in chapter 10, ends a section of Mark's gospel which began in chapter 8 with the healing of another blind man.  Sandwiched between these healing stories, Mark portrays the disciples as being blind to the message of Jesus.  These are the stories we have been hearing in the gospels of the past few Sundays.

·        Do you remember last Sunday's gospel, when James and John wanted a favour from the Lord?  Jesus asked them virtually the same question he asked Bartimaeus today: "What do you wish me to do for you?"  Do you remember their answer?  It wasn’t, “we want to see,” or “give us wisdom,” or “give us faith”.  No, they asked for power, to sit at his right and at his left in his kingdom.

·        Then two Sundays ago, we heard how the disciples could not see why giving up material things was necessary for entering the Kingdom.  Jesus had to tell them: "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God."

·        Three Sundays ago, Jesus had to rebuke the disciples for stopping the  children from coming to him, just like they try to stop Bartimaeus from asking him for help.  He had to remind them that: “whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”

·        And finally, four Sundays ago, the disciples were blind to the fact that God's power can work even beyond their small circle.  When they tried to prevent someone from driving out demons in Jesus’ name, because he did not belong to their group, Jesus told them: "Do not prevent him.”

We could go on and on; but it is clear that the disciples, time and again are failing to get the message of Jesus.  They are as blind as Bartimaeus or even worse.  Perhaps they were blinded from seeing what Jesus was teaching them by their previous religious upbringing or their culture.  But unlike Bartimaeus, they were they did not even know that they were blind.

Fortunately for them, in healing Bartimaeus, Jesus kills two birds with one stone.  He restores physical sight to a suffering man; but he also points out the blindness of the disciples that needs healing.  Even without their asking, he begins to heal them of their blindness.  Jesus continues to teach them and to slowly open their eyes to the Good News.

Christian Life

What about us, the disciples of today?  How well do we see the message of Jesus?

Let me suggest that we too could suffer from a spiritual blindness whose symptoms and causes are similar to those of physical blindness.

·        One kind, blurred vision is often caused by cataracts.  People with cataracts often describe their vision as being like looking through a dirty windshield of a car.  Everything they see is clouded and blurred.

·        The other kind of blindness is tunnel vision, often caused by glaucoma.  People with glaucoma start by losing peripheral vision, so that all they see are the objects close to the centre of the field of view.  Such limited vision is also caused by wearing blinders, the kind which horses wear to keep them from being distracted or spooked by the crowds at a race track.

In our society today, we have no shortage of cataracts or dirty windshields to cloud our seeing the full message of Jesus.  We have no shortage of glaucoma or blinders to limit our embracing the full teaching of Jesus.

A common cause of blurred vision and tunnel vision are our political persuasions. Don't we sometimes let our ideological orientations cloud our vision of the gospel?  Don't we sometimes let our worldviews narrow the field through which we receive the gospel?

For example, when Pope Francis reminded us of "our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development," what did we see and what did we understand him to say?

·        If our sight is clouded by right-wing cataracts or blinders, we might fail to see that the Pope was teaching that even the life of the poor and the condemned prisoner, is still worth defending.  Yes it might be life that is not innocent or virtuous; but still it is God-given life, which only he can take.

·        If on the other hand, our poor sight comes from having left-wing cataracts or blinders, then we might fail to see that the Pope was teaching that even the life of the unborn and the elderly is still worth defending.  Such life might be just developing for the unborn or coming to the end of its earthly journey for the elderly; but it is inherently God-given life.

Like the disciples we need our spiritual eyesight healed.  Only then, can we see the teaching of Jesus in its fullness and in its wideness.

Conclusion

In the first reading Jeremiah prophesied that through the Messiah, God would restore his people to their glory and that the blind would recover their sight.  Jesus fulfils this prophecy in several miracles, including the one of Bartimaeus.  But more importantly Jesus heals the blindness of the disciples by continually opening the Scriptures and teaching them new things.

What happens after Jesus heals the blind?

·        In the case of the disciples, after the resurrection, now that they can see, they believe and become passionate preachers of the gospel.

·        In case of Bartimaeus, after Jesus heals him and sends him away, Bartimaeus follows Jesus on the road to Jerusalem; he is no longer the blind beggar sitting by the roadside, but a follower.

In our case, we too must ask for spiritual healing from the Lord.  And then with clearer spiritual vision, we can follow Jesus to God's Kingdom in heaven.  Once there, as the First Letter of St. John tells us, “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”  But until then, we must each keep asking: “Lord, I want to see.” "Master, I want to see."  "Jesus, I want to see."

TOP TEN THINGS POPE FRANCIS REMINDED US ON HIS VISIT TO THE USA

Trading fake pearls for genuine ones in heaven

Homily for Ordinary Time – 28th Sunday Year B 2015

Wisdom 7:7-11; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30

Introduction

"Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" That’s what the man in the gospel asks Jesus.

Such questions about achieving results are quite common today in business, physical health and even in school.  For example my students at the Seminary will often ask me: “Teacher, (but they don’t say Good Teacher), what must I do to get an ‘A’ in your course?” Of course I tell them to study hard, to listen attentively in class and also to write me a check with many zeros.

Scripture and Theology

For the man in the gospel, it is not an "A" that he wants; he wants to get into heaven.  But it seems that he has not been listening; for Jesus has already been speaking about eternal life and how to get it.  I would like to group the many answers of Jesus into three categories: belief, sacraments, morality.

First, believing in Jesus is important for gaining admission to the Kingdom.

·        That is what Jesus says as he begins his ministry: "The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mk. 1:15, Mt. 3:2).

·        That is what John’s gospel says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).

·        That is what Jesus says to the repentant thief crucified with him: “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk. 23:43).

After believing, the second requirement for eternal life is the sacraments

·        In John 3:5, Jesus tells Nicodemus who already believes in him, that he also needs to receive baptism “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”

·        And in John 6:54, Jesus he speaks about the need for receiving the Eucharist: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”

Besides belief and the sacraments, the third condition for entering eternal life, is a moral life lived according to the example and teaching of Jesus.  In fact, it is on this third requirement that Jesus spends most of his time teaching.

·        To the disciples Jesus says that if anyone wants eternal life: “he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk. 9:23).

·        To those who want to be among the Blessed in heaven Jesus suggests various ways in what we call the Beatitudes (Mt. 5:3-12).

·        And in Matthew 25, it is to those who have cared for the hungry and thirsty, the sick and prisoner, the naked and the strangers, that the King on the day of Judgement will say: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

And so, if the man had been listening attentively, he would have got his answer: that getting into heaven requires belief, the sacraments and especially good works.  Apparently this man was actually doing quite well.  “Teacher, all of these [ten commandments] I have observed from my youth," he tells Jesus.

But for Jesus just observing the commandments is not enough; he wants more.  And so he tells the man: "You are lacking in one thing.  Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." 

But why this extra requirement?  Is Jesus not moving the goal posts?  Why should the man dispose of his hard-earned wealth?

This action of selling off his possessions and giving the money to the poor opens the door to heaven for the man in two main ways.

First, divesting himself of what he has frees him from dependence on passing things and allows him to depend on God.  Having material things can sometimes stop us from allowing God to work in our lives.  Because we can satisfy all our material needs, we may fail to see our spiritual needs.  A good example of this unhealthy attachment to material things is the Ring in the movie Lord of the Rings.  The Ring is a great obsession and obstruction; all those who try to acquire it and retain it for themselves end up badly.  Similarly clinging to and depending only on our wealth can stop Christians from getting on the path that leads to heaven.  That's why Jesus asks the man to dispose of his wealth.

Second, Jesus asks him to give the proceeds to the poor, to write a check with many zeros, not to Jesus like me, but to the poor.  How does this action help him get to heaven?  In giving to the poor, it is like the man is giving them a loan.  But being poor, they will never be able to pay it back.  Fortunately, God, who hears the cry of the poor, has co-signed the loan.  And he will pay back both the principal and a generous interest in the form of eternal life.

Christian Life

Pope Francis has spoken a lot about caring for the poor.  Some of us are disturbed that he speaks so much about this.  But the Pope is doing nothing that Jesus himself did not do.  While Jesus also taught about the need for belief and prayer, most of his teaching was about how we treat each other; he wanted a life detached from worldly goods, that shares these goods with the needy.

I am reminded of story about five-year old Suzy and her pearls.  With her very own money that she saved all year long, she bought her very own plastic pearl necklace. She really loved those pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bath. The pearls weren’t real, being plastic and all, but it didn’t matter to her. She had bought them herself!

Suzy had a very loving father. One day he said, “Sweetheart, do you love me?”

“Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you,” she replied with a beaming smile. 

“Then give me your pearls,” he asked.

“Not my pearls! You can have my toy horse,” Suzy said.

“That’s okay, Honey. Daddy loves you.” And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, Suzy’s father asked again, “Do you love me?”

“Daddy, you know I love you,” she said.

“Then give me your pearls.”

“Not my pearls. You can have my baby doll,” she offered.

“That’s okay. Daddy loves you.” And as always, he gave her a gentle kiss.

This happened over and over again, and Suzy wondered anxiously, “If he loves me, why does he want to take away something I love?”  Eventually one day, Suzy nervously and teary-eyed walked up to her father and held out her fake pearl necklace. “Here, Daddy. This is for you,” she said.

The father reached out with one hand to take the imitation pearl necklace and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to his daughter. He had had them all the time, but was waiting for her to give up the fake pearls she had, so he might give her the genuine thing.

Conclusion

When you and I ask Jesus: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"  What imitation pearls might he ask us to give up so that he might give us the genuine item, eternal life?  Wealth, family, knowledge, power, health, beauty, football?

Marriage is a spousal, complementary, lifelong commitment of equal partners

Homily for Ordinary Time – 27th Sunday Year B 2015

Genesis 2:18-24; Hebrews 2:9-11; Mark 10:2-16

Introduction

The story is told of Hernando Cortés, the Spanish Conquistador, who arrived with his army on the shores of what is now Mexico.  Even though he had more advanced weapons, compared to the Aztecs his army was rather small.

And so, legend has it that after his men got ashore, Cortés told them to burn the ships that brought them from Spain. In doing this, he wanted his men to understand fully that their only options were to win or die – there would be no retreat, no plan B. Knowing that their options were life or death, the Spanish army would fight with more determination and commitment.

Scripture and Theology

Commitment is the message of today's readings, particularly commitment in marriage. 

"It is not good for the man to be alone," God says in Genesis.  "I will make a suitable partner for him."  From the very beginning, God wanted man and woman to be companions committed to each other.  According to God’s plan, the journey of life, with its ups and downs, must be travelled with a lifelong, equal partner.  That is why, as someone put it, woman was created in this way:

The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.

God expects man and woman, therefore, to live in mutual love, caring for and supporting each other as equal companions, in a lifetime commitment.

These two partners, man and woman, are different sexes so that they can complement each other.  That is why Genesis said: "A man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh."  The man and woman don't bring half and half, so as to make one; but in a different kind of mathematics, they each bring 1 plus 1, to make one flesh.  They bring to the table of marriage, the whole of themselves, different but complete and full.

An experience with some married friends recently provided a window into this unique commitment of marriage.  I was at a reception when this lady announced that she had to leave early, to go and give her husband his dinner. I asked her why?  Could he not make dinner for himself?  He has hands and can cook - I know that because I have eaten some of his cooking and it was good.  But she insisted that she had been away from home for most of the day; she just had to go and take care of her husband, that man for whom she left her father and mother and to whom she clings for the rest of her life.

When asked about marriage and divorce in the gospel, Jesus does not have to reinvent the wheel; he simply repeats what we just heard from Genesis. In the very nature of man and woman, God wished them to have a lifetime committed relationship of love.  Jesus says that Moses allowed divorce, only because of the hardness of their hearts; it was a temporary fix for an imperfect situation.  Now that God has revealed himself fully in Jesus Christ, things are different.  “. . . what God has joined together [in marriage], no human being must separate."

Christian Life

And yet separation and divorce are part of us today.  Nearly 50% of marriages in general and 30% of Catholic marriages end up in divorce.  These are painful situations for all involved, spouses, children, even friends.  I know this pain, since my parents separated when I was only six years old.  These are some of the themes that the Catholic bishops of the world are discussing in Rome, starting this Sunday at the Synod on the family.

During last year's Synod on the same topic, many of us were disturbed by what we heard on the media.  This year, if we want to understand what is really going on, we must bypass Fox News and MSNBC and go straight to the horse's mouth, the Vatican website or the bishop's website.  We will hear two consistent messages about family and marriage: commitment and care of families.

First, commitment is the cornerstone of marriage and family, as we have just heard in both Genesis and the teaching of Jesus.  Pope Francis spoke so passionately about this commitment during his visit to Philadelphia, to the world meeting of families.  Pope Francis reminds us that such lifelong commitment of a man and woman only when think beyond our own desires and wants and when we bring God into the picture.

But the Pope also warns that such lifelong commitment in marriage struggles to survive in a culture like ours that prefers making provisional, temporary choices. 

·        For example, our throwaway culture does not have keepsakes from childhood or precious heirlooms from grandma; we prefer selfies and the disposable and we just buy more and more.  How can we live lifelong commitment?

·        In a culture that adores only the useful and immediate, we throw away the elderly because we don't see them as useful anymore; we throw away babies in the womb and ignore the poor and vulnerable, because they interfere with our lives.  How can we live lifelong commitment?

Despite these obstacles, Pope Francis asks us not to be afraid to make life commitments, commitments like marriage or the priesthood or religious life, that take up our entire life.  This is the first message that the Synod of Bishops will keep reminding us.

The second message we shall hear from the Bishops is that the Church cares for the sad situation of marriages and families that are in trouble.  That is why the Church has different ways to help these situations.

1.    There are programs before marriage, like the “Day for the Engaged,” and Pre-Cana programs, to help couples to understand the lifetime commitment that marriage is and burn all their other ships before the wedding day.

2.    There are also programs for the marriage itself, like Marriage Encounter, in which couples attempt to discover or re-discover their commitment.

3.    And then in those unfortunate situations of break-up, the Church attempts to deal with each situation accordingly.  In some cases a temporary separation is proposed.  In other cases, we have the process of annulment, which Pope Francis recently streamlined.  This process is not Catholic divorce; it simply tries to find out if the basic elements of marriage, such as freedom where absent from the get-go.  This annulment process does not end a  marriage; it only declares that the marriage commitment was never there in the first place.

And so the Church teaches lifelong commitment as it also cares for disturbed marriages and families.

Conclusion

We are fortunate to have among us many exemplary couples who have been married for 40, 50, even 60 years. One thing that all of them often say is that it was not always easy; there were ups and downs.  But what kept them going was the realization that marriage was a lifelong commitment.

Such couples deserve our admiration and appreciation for their lifelong commitment; but what kind of gift can you give them on their anniversary?  Certainly not more socks or sweaters or mugs - they have enough!  Let me suggest something else.  There is a department in the Vatican called the "Office of Papal Charities."  One of the things they do is issue Papal Blessing parchments.  Why not acquire such a gift and have the Pope bless mum and dad, grandma and grandpa or that older couple that you know? In this way, their example of lifelong commitment will inspire your own commitment, whether it is in marriage or something else.