Homily for Feast of the Chair of St. Peter 2022

Peter: strengthen your brethren

1 Peter 5:1-4; Ps 22; Matthew 16:13-19

Introduction

A question I often get asked by Catholics is, “Do you like Pope Francis?”  This question makes me mad because it seems out of place.  It would be like asking do I like my father or mother?  I want to reply that it is a stupid question, but I usually hide my annoyance and instead explain who the Pope is for Catholics.

As well intentioned as this question often is, it is rather borne out of a culture of celebrity where we like this pop star or that football player.  It is borne out of a culture of partisan politics, where we like this leader and not the other one.

But when it comes to the Pope, at least for Catholics, his job is not to be liked or not liked.  As we heard in the gospel, his job is to be the rock upon which Jesus is building his Church.  His job is to strengthen his brothers and sisters.  And he does this, whether he is liked or not liked.

Scripture and Tradition

That is why today we celebrate a special feast called, the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter.  It should be obvious that we are not celebrating a piece of furniture, but rather the office it represents.  When I was growing up, there was a chair at home, that was dad’s chair.  And if we knew what was good for us, we children never ever placed our little bottoms on it.  That chair was a sign of his authority as our father.  Every bishop in the world has also a special chair in the cathedral, called a cathedra, which only sits upon.  It is a symbol of his authority over that local church.  As the successor of St. Peter, the Pope also has a chair, a cathedra, which represents the authority of the Pope over the Church.

Where do Peter and his successor get this authority? We have just heard Jesus in today’s gospel, telling Peter: “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it” (Mt. 16:18).  Peter and his successors have since then been the rock upon which the Catholic Church has been built, with Peter and his successors being the source of unity for the Church.  I, from Uganda and you from here can both call ourselves Catholics because Peter, the Holy Father is our rock.  Jesus further affirmed Peter’s leadership by saying: “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt. 16:19).

Was Peter the smartest of them all?  Probably not.  Was he the most pious of them all?  Probably not.  In fact, on the night before the Lord died, Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him and yet still gave him authority over the Church.  The Lord said: “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers” (Lk. 22:31-32).  That is why even today the Pope continues to strengthen his brother bishops and the whole church, when they are attacked or when they go astray.  In fact, in today’s first reading Peter does exactly that, advising his fellow presbyters.

A third place the Lord gives authority to Peter in the gospels is after his resurrection.  Three times he asks Peter, “Do you love me”?  And three times Peter responds that he loves the Lord, in a way cancelling the three times he denied the Lord.  And Jesus tells him: “Feed my lambs. . .. Tend my sheep. . .. Feed my sheep” (Jn. 21:15-17).

We see Peter doing exactly that in the New Testament, playing the role of leader of the apostles.  He presides over the election of Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot.  He speaks on behalf of all before the Sanhedrin and on the day of Pentecost.  That is why Herod Agrippa wants to kill him, and by removing the head of the Church, he would deal a mortal blow to the Early Church.

Christian Application and Conclusion

It is a pity that some Catholics today, even bishops and priests, reject the authority of Peter in the Holy Father.  There were those who did not like Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI. And there are now those who don’t like Pope Francis.  But again, Popes are not there to be liked, but to lead and guide us to heaven.  Those who reject their authority are like Protestants, finding their own personal authority to guide them.  They fail to follow the example of St. Paul, who was called specially by Jesus to be an apostle, but who still submitted himself, even his differences, to Peter, head of the Church.

May today’s feast of the Chair of St. Peter, be a reminder that Jesus did not leave us orphans.  He left us Peter to captain the ship that takes us to heaven.  How many Peters have guided you in your life?  In my twenty-four years of the priesthood, I have counted on the guidance of three great men who have occupied of the Chair of Peter: John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and now Francis. In their different styles and personality, with different emphasis and focus, they have continued to captain the boat called the Church and preach the same gospel of Jesus Christ.  The only boat that I am willing to sail on through the rough waters of the sea that leads to heaven, is the one, which the successor of Peter captains.  The only teaching of Jesus that I will listen to, is that which comes, from the man who occupies the Chair of St. Peter.

Homily Ordinary 7C: Giving without expecting anything in return

Homily for 7^th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2022

 1 Samuel 26:2,7-9,12-13,22-23; 1 Corinthians 15:45-49; Luke 6:27-38

Introduction

"Love your enemies."  What a tall order!  Loving is difficult by itself, even loving those who are close to us: parents and children, spouses and siblings, family and friends.  But now, Jesus is asking us to love our enemies.  Is that even possible?

In our world today “to love” means having good feelings towards someone, especially someone who makes us happy.  It is this kind of feelings that popular love songs sing about; it is this kind of passion that the magazines write about; it is this kind of delight that we see in movies.  But this is not the love that Jesus is talking about, since it focuses only on what is in it for me.  I give love, because I expect something in return.

One of my favourite TV shows is The Big Bang Theory. In one episode, Sheldon is informed by his neighbour Penny that she has gotten him a gift, which he will find under the Christmas tree.  Now while most of us would be happy to receive a gift, Sheldon complains that this gift is an obligation, since now he has to give her something in return.  To compound things, since he does not yet know what she has given him, he does not know what kind of gift of equal value to give her back.  He is so disturbed that when he goes shopping, he buys all kinds of gifts and hides them in his room, so that later when she gives him his gift, after seeing what it is, he will then run back to his room to pick the right gift that matches hers.

Later in the episode, he finds out that the gift was a napkin, with which Leonard Nimoy, his childhood hero, had wiped his mouth, a priceless gift.  Sheldon is overcome with emotion, and he rushes into his bedroom, to give her all the gifts he had bought, instead of just one.  But even then, he thinks they are not enough to match her gift.  So, he gives her one more gift, something he rarely does, a hug.

Aren’t we all in some way like Sheldon, in that we think of gift-giving as being a commercial transaction, a quid pro quo, I give you this, you give me that.  That is why with this mindset it is difficult for us to understand why would should love our enemies, people who can never give us anything in return, or worse people whose only return gift is grief and suffering.

Scripture and Theology

But like he taught in the Beatitudes in last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus is reversing our worldview, teaching us to see things through the eyes of God, not the eyes of man.

And so, the kind of love Jesus is talking about, the kind of love he asks to extend to our enemies is defined by St. Thomas Aquinas, "willing the good of the other."  Notice something different here; to love is to will the good of the other person, not myself.  This kind of love has nothing to do with how I feel or what benefit I receive from the interaction; this love focuses on the good of the other person.

But wherever could one ever find such love, such self-less love, that is concerned about others, without expecting anything in return!

Well, Jesus does not ask of us what he has not done himself.  We see this selfless love of God who created us in love, sharing his life with us, and expecting really nothing from us, except do his will.  And even when we failed to do his will, he continued to love us in this selfless manner by sending his Son as our Saviour instead of destroying us like we deserved.  We have to look no farther than the Cross, to see what true Christian love means.  That is why Jesus can ask the same thing of his followers. Like he loved us his enemies, he asks us to love our enemies.

But how do we love our enemies?  How do we will the good of our enemies?  Jesus gives us three possible ways to do this:  "do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."  In other words, you can will the good of your enemies by doing something good for them, blessing or wishing them well, and thirdly by praying, interceding for them before God.

And then Jesus gives examples of how one can do this, how he did this:

·        “To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well”, exactly what Jesus did during his agony and passion.

·        “and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic,” he was stripped naked during his agony and crucifixion.

·        “Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back”; on the Cross Jesus gave all of himself.

But there is one more element about loving enemies that Jesus gives his followers.  By asking them to love their enemies, Jesus is challenging the disciples to go the extra mile, going above and beyond ordinary expectations.

·        He says: “For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners love those who love them”

·        “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.”

·        “If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners . . .”

Essentially Jesus is showing that the kind of love expected of his disciples cannot be the quid pro quo type of love in the world; it must be greater because Christians have God's grace to help do a little heavier lifting.  That is why together with faith and hope, love is a theological virtue, a direct infusion of grace from God.  It is only with God's grace that we can even attempt to love our enemies, to treat them better than the ordinary fairness found even among sinners.  That is why Jesus says: “love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back.” If at all we expect something in return for our love, it cannot be something in this world, but something from God.  That is why he says if you love in this way, “then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Christian Life and Conclusion

So we have seen what love means, willing the good of others, even our enemies.  But who are these “our enemies”?  Jesus does not give us examples, like he does when asked “who is my neighbour?” in the Story of the Good Samaritan.  But that same story can teach us about who our enemies are.  If you remember in that story, the injured Jewish man and the Samaritan traveller were supposed to be enemies due to ethnicity.  And yet, it was not his fellow Jews, the priest and the Levite, who loved the injured man, but his enemy, the foreigner, the Samaritan.

Another example of loving one’s enemy is found in our first reading from the book of Samuel.  We heard that Saul saw David as a threat and was jealous of him, and mistrusted him. Saul pursued David to destroy him, but it is David who gained the upper hand and had the opportunity to kill Saul. And yet David was not consumed with the desire for revenge. David did not harm Saul. David loved his enemy.

Today our enemies take many forms.  Like David was for Saul, our enemy can be someone we know: a co-worker who took our promotion, a boss who is not very nice to us, a spouse from whom you are divorced, a sibling you haven't talked to in years perhaps over mom's estate.  Jesus is not asking you to invite them to your next birthday party; he is asking you to do good to them, to bless them and to pray for them.

Like the Jewish victim was to the Good Samaritan, someone can be our enemy by virtue of belonging to a different group, such as a different race (Black or White), a different religion (Mormon or Muslim), a different nationality (Mexican or American), a different political party (Democrat or Republican).  Jesus is not asking you to agree with their culture, religion, ideology.  He is simply asking you to do good to them, to bless them and to pray for them.

Let us remember that when we sin, we are God's enemies.  But he treats us with generous mercy.  Should we not do the same to those who sin against us?  Should we not respond like Sheldon when he realizes that some gifts are priceless?

Homilia Ordinario 7C: Dar sin esperar nada a cambio

 Homilía 7º Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario Año C 2022

 1 Samuel 26:2,7-9,12-13,22-23; 1 Corinthians 15:45-49; Luke 6:27-38

Introducción

"Amen a sus enemigos." ¡Qué tarea tan difícil! Amar es difícil en sí mismo, incluso amar a aquellos que están cerca de nosotros: padres e hijos, cónyuges y hermanos, familiares y amigos. Pero ahora, Jesús nos pide que amemos a nuestros enemigos. ¿Es eso posible?

En nuestro mundo “amar” significa tener buenos sentimientos hacia alguien, especialmente alguien que nos hace felices. Es este tipo de sentimientos los que cantan las canciones populares de amor; es sobre este tipo de pasión sobre la que escriben las revistas; es este tipo de deleite lo que vemos en las películas. Pero este no es el amor del que habla Jesús, ya que se enfoca solo en lo que hay en él para mí. Doy amor, porque espero algo a cambio.

Uno de mis programas de televisión favoritos es The Big Bang Theory (no se si lo han visto). En un episodio, su vecina Penny le informa a Sheldon que le ha comprado un regalo, que recibirá el día de Navidad. Mientras que la mayoría de nosotros estaría feliz de recibir un regalo, Sheldon se queja de que este regalo es una obligación, ya que ahora tiene que darle a Penny algo a cambio de igual valor. Él está tan perturbado que cuando va de compras, compra todo tipo de regalos y los esconde en su habitación, para que luego cuando Penny le dé su regalo, después de ver de qué se trata, él luego volverá a su habitación para recoger el regalo adecuado que coincida con el de ella.

Más adelante en el episodio, descubre que el regalo que ella le dio fue una servilleta con la que Leonard Nimoy, su héroe de la infancia, se había limpiado la boca. Para Sheldon, este es un regalo invaluable.  Él está emocionado con gratitud, y corre a su habitación para darle todos los regalos que había comprado, en lugar de solo uno. Pero entonces, él piensa que no son suficientes para igualar su regalo. Por eso, él le da un regalo más, algo que nunca hace, un abrazo.

¿No somos de alguna manera como Sheldon, en el sentido de que pensamos en la entrega de regalos como una transacción comercial, un quid pro quo, “te doy esto, me das aquello”? Es por eso que con esta mentalidad es difícil para nosotros entender por qué deberíamos amar a nuestros enemigos, personas que nunca pueden darnos nada a cambio, o peor aún, personas cuyo único regalo a cambio es el dolor y el sufrimiento.

Escritura y teología

Pero como enseñó en las Bienaventuranzas en el evangelio del domingo pasado, Jesús está invirtiendo nuestra cosmovisión, enseñándonos a ver las cosas a través de los ojos de Dios, no a través de los ojos humanos.

Y así, el tipo de amor del que habla Jesús, el tipo de amor que pide extender a nuestros enemigos, lo define Santo Tomás de Aquino, "queriendo el bien del otro". Noten algo diferente aquí; amar es querer el bien del otro, no el mío propio. Este tipo de amor no tiene nada que ver con cómo me siento o qué beneficio recibo de la interacción; este amor se enfoca en el bien de la otra persona.

¡Pero donde sea que uno pueda encontrar tal amor, tal amor desinteresado, que se preocupa por los demás, sin esperar nada a cambio!

Bien, Jesús no nos pide lo que él mismo no ha hecho. Vemos este amor desinteresado de Dios que nos creó en el amor, compartiendo su vida con nosotros y esperando realmente nada de nosotros, excepto hacer su voluntad. E cuando fallamos en hacer su voluntad, él continuó amándonos de esta manera desinteresada al enviar a su Hijo como nuestro Salvador en lugar de destruirnos como lo merecíamos. No tenemos que mirar más allá de la Cruz, para ver lo que significa el verdadero amor. Por eso Jesús puede pedir lo mismo a sus seguidores. Como nos amó sus enemigos, tenemos que amar a nuestros enemigos.

Pero, ¿cómo amamos a nuestros enemigos? ¿Cómo deseamos el bien de nuestros enemigos? Jesús nos da tres caminos posibles para hacer esto: "hagan el bien a los que los aborrecen, bendigan a quienes los maldicen y oren por quienes los difaman". En otras palabras, pueden desear el bien de tus enemigos haciendo algo bueno por ellos, bendiciéndolos o deseándoles bien, y en tercer lugar orando, intercediendo por ellos ante Dios.

Y luego Jesús da ejemplos de cómo uno puede hacer esto, cómo hizo esto:

·        “Al que te golpee en una mejilla, preséntale la otra,” exactamente lo que hizo Jesús durante su agonía y pasión.

·        “al que te quite el manto, déjalo llevarse también la túnica”; Él fue despojado durante su agonía y crucifixión.

·        “Al que te pida, dale; y al que se lleve lo tuyo, no se lo reclames”; en la Cruz Jesús se dio todo de sí mismo.

Pero hay un elemento más acerca de amar a los enemigos que Jesús da a sus seguidores. Al pedirles que amen a sus enemigos, Jesús está desafiando a los discípulos a hacer un esfuerzo adicional, yendo más allá de las expectativas ordinarias.

·        Él dice: “porque si aman sólo a los que los aman, ¿qué hacen de extraordinario?”

·        “Si hacen el bien sólo a los que les hacen el bien, ¿qué tiene de extraordinario? Lo mismo hacen los pecadores.”

·        “Si prestan solamente cuando esperan cobrar, ¿qué hacen de extraordinario? También los pecadores prestan a otros pecadores, con la intención de cobrárselo después.”

Esencialmente, Jesús está mostrando que el tipo de amor que se espera de sus discípulos no puede ser el tipo de amor quid pro quo del mundo; debe ser mayor porque los cristianos tienen la gracia de Dios para ayudar a hacer un trabajo un poco más pesado. Por eso, junto con la fe y la esperanza, el amor es una virtud teologal, una infusión directa de la gracia de Dios. Es solo con la gracia de Dios que podemos incluso intentar amar a nuestros enemigos, tratarlos mejor que la justicia ordinaria que se encuentra incluso entre los pecadores.

Por eso Jesús dice: “Ustedes, en cambio, amen a sus enemigos, hagan el bien y presten sin esperar recompensa.” Si esperamos algo a cambio de nuestro amor, no puede ser algo de este mundo, sino algo de Dios. Por eso Jesús dice que si amen de esta manera, “Así tendrán un gran premio y serán hijos del Altísimo, porque él es bueno hasta con los malos y los ingratos. Sean misericordiosos, como su Padre es misericordioso.”

Vida cristiana y conclusión

Así hemos visto lo que significa el amor, querer el bien de los demás, incluso de nuestros enemigos. Pero, ¿quiénes son estos “enemigos nuestros”? Jesús no nos da ejemplos, como lo hace cuando se le pregunta “¿quién es mi prójimo?” en la Historia del Buen Samaritano. Pero esa misma historia puede enseñarnos sobre quiénes son nuestros enemigos. Si recuerdan en esa historia, se suponía que el hombre judío herido y el viajero samaritano eran enemigos debido a su origen étnico. Y, sin embargo, no eran sus hermanos judíos, el sacerdote y el levita, quienes amaban al herido, sino su enemigo, el extranjero, el samaritano.

Otro ejemplo del enemigo se encuentra en nuestra primera lectura del libro de Samuel. Allí escuchamos que Saúl vio a David como una amenaza y estaba celoso de él y desconfiaba de él. Saúl persiguió a David para destruirlo, pero es David quien ganó la partida y tuvo la oportunidad de matar a Saúl. Y, sin embargo, David no estaba consumido por el deseo de venganza. David no le hizo daño a Saúl. David amaba a su enemigo, lo deseaba el bien.

Hoy nuestros enemigos toman muchas formas. Como David lo fue para Saúl, nuestro enemigo puede ser alguien que conocemos: un compañero de trabajo que toma nuestro ascenso, un jefe que no es muy amable con nosotros, un cónyuge del que está divorciado, un hermano con el que no ha hablado en años quizás sobre la herencia de mamá. Jesús no le está pidiendo que los invite a su próxima fiesta de cumpleaños; le pide que les haga bien, que los bendigas y oren por ellos.

Como la víctima judía lo fue para el buen samaritano, alguien puede ser nuestro enemigo en virtud de pertenecer a un grupo diferente, como una raza diferente (negro o blanco), una religión diferente (mormona o musulmana), una nacionalidad diferente (mexicana o estadounidense), un partido político diferente (demócrata o republicano). Jesús no le está pidiendo que esté de acuerdo con su cultura, religión, ideología. Simplemente le está pidiendo que les haga el bien, que los bendiga y ore por ellos.

Recordemos que nosotros también, cuando pecamos, somos enemigos de Dios. Pero él nos trata con misericordia y bondad. ¿No deberíamos hacer lo mismo con los que pecan contra nosotros?  ¿No deberíamos responder como Sheldon cuando se da cuenta de que algunos regalos no tienen precio?

Homily Ordinary 6C: Who do you trust? God or the world?

 Homily for 6^th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2022

Jeremiah 17:5-8; 1 Corinthians 15:12,16-20; Luke 6: 17,20-26

Introduction

Whom do you trust?  This question has been brought into sharp relief in the past two years as we have navigated our way through the COVID pandemic.  We live in a world where competing interests claim our trust.  Do we listen to institutional authority like the department public health and established scholars or to the voices opposing them?  Do we listen to our priests, bishops and the Holy Father, or do we listen to other voices that have set themselves up as alternative holders of tradition?  Whom do we trust?

If this question is important where our material welfare on earth is concerned, it is even more important where our spiritual welfare is concerned.

Scripture and Theology

Fortunately, we can turn to the Scriptures, to our reading from Jeremiah for a good answer.  Jeremiah says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD.”  And then he adds: “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD.”  Is Jeremiah saying we cannot trust our parents, our teachers, our priests, our leaders?  No.  What he is warning us against is placing our trust in human beings in those things where we should trust God.  Where do we find our inner strength, our ultimate fulfilment?  For both Jeremiah one's ultimate trust, strength and fulfilment cannot come from human things, from worldly things, but from God.  Trust in human things like riches, satisfaction, laughter and praise cannot satisfy us.  What satisfies us truly comes from God, even if trusting in God means suffering through poverty, hunger, tears and persecution.

Jeremiah goes on to explain the difference between these two approaches using two examples.  Those who trust in human beings and human things are “like a barren bush in the desert” that does not get any nutrients.  There is no nourishment from that arid ground.  But those who trust in the Lord are “like a tree planted beside the waters” whose roots go into the water and receive nourishment, receive what gives them life, even during a drought.

It is the same trust in God as opposed to trust in human beings, that allows us to understand what Jesus taught in the sermon on the Beatitudes that we just heard.  Jesus reversed the fortunes of those who experience these four forms of suffering:

• Poverty: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours."
• Hunger: "Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied."
• Tears: "Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh."
• Persecution: "Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.  Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven."

Jesus is inviting us to trust in God, who turns what human beings see as curses, into blessings.  And just in case, they did not understand his message, in this version of the Beatitudes from the gospel of Luke, he takes four things that human beings would normally consider to be blessings and calls them woes or curses.

• Riches: "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation."
• Satisfaction: "Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry."
• Laughter: "Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep."
• Praise: "Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way."

Jesus is turning things upside down, by saying that poverty, hunger, tears and persecution bring about blessings, happiness and a reward in heaven.  Jesus is Jesus reversing the fortunes of those who possess riches, satisfaction, laughter and praise and turning them into woes or curses.  These reversals can only be understood and accepted by those who trust in the Lord and not in human things.

This teaching was strange not just for us, but perhaps even for the Jewish people to whom Jesus preached.  For when Moses taught them from a mountain like Jesus was doing here, had given the people of Israel a different set of values.  In Deuteronomy he had essentially told them that if they obeyed the Lord, they would receive material blessings:

Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out (Deut. 28:3-6).

But now Jesus, the new Moses, if you like, the new Sheriff in town is saying that what brings you blessing are not these material successes, but reliance on God.

And so, Jesus is not condemning riches, satisfaction, laughter and praise in themselves; nor is he extolling poverty, hunger, weeping and persecution in themselves.  That would not make sense.  What he is condemning is the complete reliance on passing things of the flesh, and the complete avoidance, at all costs, of those sufferings that come about because of being his disciples.

Christian Life

This reversal of values preached to the people of his time is also particularly relevant for us today.  In the past two to three hundred years especially, man has achieved some great things: discovered penicillin and other medicines that have cured many diseases, flight technology that makes it possible to travel from New Orleans to Los Angeles without people trying to shoot at you, computers that have changed the way we communicate and the amount of knowledge at our disposal.  But perhaps this material success has come at a cost; for like Jeremiah warned, we trust, we find strength only in human efforts, not in God.

That is why even today we must try to seek our blessing from Jesus' four beatitudes of poverty, hunger, weeping and persecution rather than from the four corresponding curses of riches, satisfaction, laughter and praise.

For while possession of material riches can console us on this side of heaven, it is a willingness to do without that assures us that "the kingdom of God is yours." A businessperson or employee, for example, who because they treasure the values of God rather than the values of the world, will take a smaller profit or a smaller pay-check, when they could take a bigger one but an immoral one.

In the second beatitude and its corresponding curse, the Lord also invites us to substitute present satisfaction with present hunger, so that in the future, we can be satisfied.  We must not settle for passing things, but must seek our fulfilment in the higher things of God.  The Catholic practices of fasting and abstinence are examples of present hunger that will bring future satisfaction in the Kingdom.

The third beatitude about weeping and its corresponding curse about laughing remind us that our current state of sadness or joy is not permanent and in fact will be reversed.  Many Christians undergoes suffering of all kinds, in the sure hope after the example of Jesus' own suffering and death, they will be blessed.

And the final beatitude and curse about personal reputation reminds us that it is better to have a bad name among people because of being and doing good, rather than a good name because of being and doing bad.  I have found the recent popes, especially Benedict XVI and Francis, as perfect models of this beatitude; for rather than run in a popularity contest, they simply do God's work, and are reviled for it.

Conclusion

Finally, as with all things, Jesus did not teach, what he himself did not undergo.  He was poor, having nowhere to lay his head.  He was hungry, fasting for 40 days in the desert.  He wept not only for Lazarus his friend, but especially during the Passion.  And he was called names.  And now he sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven.  May we follow his example so as to have his destiny.

Homily Ordinary 5C: God's grace, cleansing and commissioning

 Homily for 5^th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2022

 Isaiah 6:1-2a,3-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11

Introduction

The death and funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005 was a great media event.  Even in my remote village of Uganda, where I was pastor, we followed everything both on Radio Maria and on EWTN television via satellite.  In fact, on the day of the funeral itself, an hour before the funeral in Rome we celebrated a Mass for his soul, and then we set up the TV in church and followed the funeral Mass.

At the end of it, one of my parishioners came to me rather disturbed.  He had heard that the Holy Father, before he died, had asked for prayers for his soul.  “Why does the pope need prayers,” he asked? “I thought he was a holy man.  If he needs prayers, what hope is there for us ordinary Christians?”

I don’t remember what I told him exactly, but I think I must have assured him that the pope too was a mortal human being, an imperfect Christian, subject to temptation and sin like everybody else.  That is why he also needed prayers.

But perhaps I should have referred my parishioner to our readings of today, which remind us that the men God calls for his ministry, are often not perfect men.  In fact, often they are sinners.  But with God’s grace, they can be his instruments.

Scripture and Theology

We heard the prophet Isaiah declare: "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips."  How did he know this?  No human being, by his own power, can realize his own sinfulness.  Isaiah does so only by the grace of God.  Think of our first parents Adam and Eve; after they had sinned, the weight of what they had done began to dawn on them only "When they heard the sound of the LORD God walking about in the garden" (Gen. 3:8); that is when they hid from the Lord.  Isaiah too came to this realization of his sinfulness, during his vision in the Temple, when the Lord came upon him.

Similarly in the gospel, Simon the fisherman declares: "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man."  But even he says this only after an encounter with Jesus Christ, after the Lord has worked on him as it were, after Jesus has demonstrated his power by the miraculous catch of the fish. Simon was able to accomplish that fete only after following the instructions of Jesus to throw into the deep water.

And so, for both men, Isaiah and Simon, the first step is that God entered their lives and brought them to a realization of their unworthiness.

The second step was cleansing.  In the case of Isaiah, after finding out that he was a man of unclean lips, we heard that "Then one of the seraphim [that is an angel] flew to me, holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it, and said, 'See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.'"  This image of cleansing clearly shows that before Isaiah could take up his mission from God, he had to be prepared.

In the case of Simon, Jesus cleansed him with these words: "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."  These words together with the interaction that Jesus had with Simon and the others, especially with the miraculous catch of fish, led them to become changed men.  Of course, Jesus did not force himself upon him; Simon was free to reject or accept this infusion of grace.  Simon could, like any self-respecting fisherman, have refused to listen to the directives of carpenter; what does a carpenter know about fishing?  But he cooperated with this graced moment, allowing the Lord to work on him through the miraculous catch, and allow him to see himself in a new light.

Now that they have been cleansed, the third step for Isaiah and Simon is that they are given and accept a mission from God.  Isaiah tells us that after his lips were cleansed he "heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send?  Who will go for us?'"  And he replied: "Here I am send me!"  Because his lips had now been cleansed, he could now carry out the work of speaking God's word as a prophet.

Simon and his three colleagues similarly accepted the invitation by Jesus for them to become fishers of men.  For "When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him."  And they were his closest friends, witnesses to all Jesus said and did, especially his death and resurrection, and would eventually be charged with passing on this Good News to the rest of the world.

Christian Life

The Lord has not stopped calling people in this way.  He continues to call men and women, who are imperfect, to be his messengers, to do his work.  But he also continues to clean their lips by sending his grace upon them.

Like his predecessor Simon Peter, that is what Pope Francis has kept reminding us.  You might recall an interview he gave several years ago when he was asked: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” And in what has now become a famous answer, he said: "I do not know what might be the most fitting description....  but the best summary, the one that comes more from the inside and I feel most true is this: I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.”

Similarly, for Pope Benedict, the very first words he said publicly in St. Peter’s square as pope were the following: “After the great Pope John Paul II, the Cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord.  The fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with inadequate instruments comforts me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.”

If the last three popes have acknowledged that they are sinners in need of prayer, inadequate instruments at the Lord’s service, how much more should the rest of us, priests and deacons, married men and women, recognize our sinfulness and our unworthiness.  But we must also recognize that despite this sinfulness, despite this unworthiness, strengthened by his grace, the Lord will use as for his work

For those of called to a life of marriage and family, you probably realize how inadequate you are. After the honeymoon of romantic feelings dies down and the task of building the marriage bond and raising helpless babies into adults begins, then you realize “I don’t know what the heck I am doing!”  I now look back at my own parents and realize, they really didn’t know what they were doing.  But try they did and I think I came out alright, somehow.  You too must like Isaiah, Simon Peter, Pope Benedict and others, entrust yourselves to the Lord, especially by prayer and by learning from him and his church what your responsibilities are.  You don’t give up because you are unworthy; you strive to make yourself worthier with his help.

Imagine you were the owner of a company, you were falsely imprisoned and your employees had abandoned you; on your release and exoneration, would you hire back that bunch of losers?  Is that not what Jesus did after the resurrection?  He took back the Eleven Apostles, who had abandoned him at his hour of suffering, one of whom, Simon, had even denied him not once, not twice, but three times.  The only one that he did not receive back is Judas Iscariot, not because his crime had been more heinous, but because unlike the Eleven, Judas refused to repent and return to the Lord, so that he might work on him a little more, to lead him to repentance, and cleanse him with his grace like he did with the others.

Conclusion

I would like to leave you with one final image, the image of a used car.  Many of us can never afford a brand-new car and buy used ones.  It seems that God too, in choosing vehicles to use for his ministry, he prefers the human equivalent of used cars.  Like used cars which are often dented, broken, and in need of repair, he chooses imperfect men and women, in need of repair and cleansing.  But then, like an experienced driver, after closely examining them, he painstakingly works on them, perhaps gives them an oil change, a flush of the fluids and a new coat of paint, and then he puts back on the road.  Can we allow God to make some repairs on us, perhaps give us a new coat of grace, a new infusion of faith, and a flush of our sins, and so renew us to go and do his work?

Homily Ordinary 4C: Preaching the gospel in season and out of season

 Homily for 4^th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2022

Jeremiah 1:4-5,17-19; 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Luke 4:21-30

Introduction

Today's gospel picks up where we left off last Sunday, when Jesus gave a sermon in his home synagogue of Nazareth.  And as we just heard, they did not receive him well.  The people ". . . rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong."

I have been a priest now for nearly twenty-four years, but thankfully, I have never been run out of town, or been lynched because of my homily, at least not yet.  Is it perhaps because I am not teaching the truth as Jesus taught?  I hope not.

So, what did Jesus say that really ticked off the people of Nazareth, his own townspeople that they wanted to lynch him?

Scripture and Theology

Actually, the initial reaction to Jesus' sermon seems to have been quite good.  After he said, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing" we heard that "all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth."  It is like when parishioners come to the priest after Mass and say, "great homily Father" or "good job Father", even when you did not preach.

The difficulty arose when the people engaged Jesus further about his homily, just like parishioners might ask the priest a few follow up questions about his homily.  During this follow-up Jesus made two points that apparently insulted them.

The first hint of trouble was when they asked: "Isn't this the son of Joseph?"  They asked this question because "familiarity that breeds contempt."  They were wondering, where does Joseph's boy come off trying to teach us?  How come this local boy, whom we so coming up, perhaps whose diapers we changed, is now claiming to be God's messenger?  They presumed to know him and so presumed that he had nothing to offer that was of value.

In response Jesus pointed out the contempt behind their familiarity with him. He told them: "Surely you will quote me this proverb, 'Physician, cure yourself,' and say, 'Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.'"  In the few last weeks we have seen Jesus preaching and performing miracles all over the place, especially in Capernaum, a town about 40 miles north east of Nazareth.  And surely the word must have circled back to his home town, where perhaps people are incredulous that the carpenter's son could amount to anything like they are hearing about him, and wonder why he has not done the same at home.  And that is why Jesus tells them what is now a famous saying: "Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place."

But surely being a local boy is not enough to rile them up so much that they want to kill him.  It is what he says after, that ignites their anger.  To make his point that "no prophet is accepted in his own native place", Jesus quotes two examples from their history, from the Old Testament, where the prophet, like him, did not work miracles among his own people, but did so among foreigners.

The first example comes from the time of the prophet Elijah, when during a three-and-half-year famine, he was sent, not to the widows in Israel, but to a widow in the pagan city of Zarephath in the pagan land of Sidon.  You might recall that we read that reading last November (1 Kgs 17:10-16).  Elijah asked this widow to make him some dinner from her very last supply of flour and oil, which she did.  And then because of her selfless generosity, miraculously, "She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry."  Jesus brings up this incident to teach them that just like Israel’s wickedness led God to confer his blessings not on them but on a foreigner, Jesus too might be led to perform his miracles elsewhere.

But Jesus was not finished.  He then gave the example of Elisha, the prophet who succeeded Elijah.  He said: "Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."  Again the point is the same: the prophet performed a miracle for a foreigner, a pagan, but not his own people, because they were so sinful.

I hope you can begin to understand the fury of the people of Nazareth, because with these examples from their past, Jesus was kind of insulting them.

1.    They must have thought: "How dare he drudge up their terrible past of sin and infidelity to God?"  It would be like a preacher today dredging up the low points of our Church's history: the Inquisition, the Crusades and the sexual abuse scandal or low points from this country's history, such as the slavery and the Jim Crow period.  Nobody wants to be reminded about the morally low points in their past, and neither did the people of Nazareth.

2.    But to add insult to injury Jesus is suggesting that not only were their ancestors sinful, but that now the people of Nazareth are acting in much the same way.  Again it would be like someone not only bringing up things from the past but also suggesting that people today are no better.

3.    And thirdly, how dare Jesus compare them, the People of God, unfavourably with the pagans, with foreigners, who come off better in these examples of the past, and even today?

In short, the people reacted with fury, not just because their local boy was presuming to preach to them, but especially because he was challenging them in a very pointed way.

Christian Life

What about today's prophets, especially those to whom Jesus entrusted the ministry of preaching?  How are they received?  How do we receive them?

Although I have never been run out of town for my homilies, I have come close to it, especially at election time, when people of one party accost me, verbally of course, for apparently promoting the other party, and people of the other party also accuse me of promoting the party of their opponents; and yet they are all hearing the same homily.  Outside election time, they may also push back, if like Jesus, I challenge something they really like in a pointed manner.

But my worries about my bodily health pale in comparison to the rampart attacks on my bosses, the bishops and the Popes.  Whatever they say, they are attacked by one faction or other in the Church, especially by the faction whom a particular message afflicts directly, since the job of a preacher is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

Pope Benedict XVI, for example, was often stridently attacked for consistently reminding us about the "dictatorship of relativism."  By that phrase he was reminding Catholics and the world, to reject a thinking that prizes opinions over objective truth, a truth to be found only in Jesus Christ.  And guess who attacked him most, it was those who rejected eternal truths, like the inherent value of life, from natural conception to natural death.  If they could, they would have driven him off the cliff of the hill, and some did try to do so metaphorically.

And then we come to the current Pope Francis, who also has a particularly consistent message that asks the Church to do as we heard Jesus declare in last Sunday's gospel: "to bring glad tidings to the poor. . . . to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free . . ." essentially, to go to the peripheries, to the most vulnerable in society.  He also reminds us like Jesus did to the people of Nazareth, that God sometimes sends his blessings to those who are not like us like foreigners and immigrants, those who belong to a different religion such as Muslims.  And there are no prizes for guessing those who counter-attack him most; it is those who have closed their eyes and ears to the cries of the poor.  And just like one faction did for Pope Benedict, another faction today vehemently want to push him over the cliff, both literally and metaphorically.

Conclusion

All preachers, indeed all Christians, are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, not only in preaching the Good News, but also in accepting the often-fierce responses to their preaching.  Sometimes they are able to escape the attack like Jesus did at Nazareth, when he walked through the crowds, at and other times they don't and with Jesus suffer crucifixion or some other suffering like Jeremiah.

As for us the people of God, may we never be like the lynching mob of Nazareth, but rather the people of Capernaum who received Jesus warmly; and may we pray for our leaders that they heed the instructions St. Paul gave to Timothy his successor: to "preach the word,. . . convince, rebuke, and exhort . . .," in season and out of season (2 Tim. 4:2).

Homily Ordinary 3C: Going back to the sources

 Homily for 3^rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2022

Nehemiah 8:2-6,8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Introduction

The catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina remains forever etched in the minds of many New Orleanians and for others in our area, the more recent Hurricane Ida.  I bring up these tragic events because they have some similarities with what is happening in our first reading today.  What is a person of faith to do after a disaster?

Scripture and Theology

The book of Nehemiah, from which our reading comes tells the story of the restoration of the Jewish nation after their exile in Babylon, when they returned home and found a total devastation of their homeland. This story is told by the books of Nehemiah and of Ezra, the two principal figures behind this restoration.

·        First, much like the hurricanes destroyed our area, the Jewish people returned to find their Holy City of Jerusalem destroyed by its conquerors.

·        Second, their sacred temple was destroyed, much like our secular temple the Superdome was left in tatters after Katrina.

·        Thirdly, the walls of the Jerusalem were also destroyed, again like our levees that had been breached.

·        Most of all, it was not just the physical structures that were in ruins, but also the spirit of the community, what it meant to be a Jew was no longer there, much like the spirit of New Orleans was lost. 

And so, these two men, Nehemiah a lay man who served as the political leader, and Ezra, the priest who served as the religious leader, worked to restore the nation, restoring both the physical structures and the spiritual identity of the nation. 

But how did they do it?  How did they restore the nation?  While for us New Orleans, what helped restore our spirit was our great food, our music, and the return of our beloved Football team, the Saints, for the people of Judah, they turned to the Bible.  Yes, they read the Word of God.  They chose to go back to the Book of the Law that described who they were and what their obligations to God were.  We heard that everybody assembled to hear the priest Ezra read the Word of God, "men, women, and those children old enough to understand."  And how long was this reading?  "He read out of the book from daybreak till midday."  Do you realize how good you have it, that my homilies are only ten minutes long, and that you are sitting, not standing in the sun for the Mass which also lasts no more than an hour.

But why go back to read an old book, to read those old instructions?  Every nation worth its name has its founding principles.  For example, when the founding Fathers of the United States of America founded the nation in 1776, they laid down certain fundamental principles to guide the nation.  These principles are written in the Constitution.  Of course to this original document have been added over the years other foundational principles.  For example, in 1865 the thirteenth amendment was enacted to abolish slavery and in 1920 the nineteenth amendment expanded voting rights to women.  The Constitution is very sacred to Americans, because it lays out what it means to be an American nation.

That too is the reason why when Nehemiah and Ezra wanted to rebuild their nation, they turned to the Source, the Law of God as given to them in the Bible.  For while they could build all the physical structures they needed, without a spiritual foundation, they would not be a Holy people of God again. 

The initial reaction of the people to the reading was very powerful.  We heard that "all the people, their hands raised high, answered, 'Amen, amen!'" essentially agreeing with what Ezra had just read, since Amen means, "let it be so."  But in addition, "all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law."  Perhaps they were touched when they heard, some perhaps for the very first time, who they were, how much God had loved them, how much he cared about them, how all he asked was for them to be faithful to him, to follow his laws and dictates.  For they had been in exile and perhaps thought that God had gone back on his promises.  The Book of the Law renews their hope.

Similarly, today's gospel also tells us about the power of God's word.  Luke begins his gospel by explaining why he is writing down these things. After admitting that others have written gospels, he writes: "I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received."  Luke wants this man Theophilus, probably a Roman official or a prominent person of the time, to whom he dedicates his writings, to know the foundations of the Church in the life of Jesus Christ.

Today's gospel went on also to describe the beginning of Jesus' ministry. When asked to do the reading and preach at the synagogue on the Sabbath he reads from the prophet Isaiah, which says: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."  Jesus then borrows these words of Isaiah, which the prophet had used to give hope to the exiled people of Israel to introduce himself and his mission.  And then he concludes: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Christian Life

My friends, a few years ago Pope Francis asked the Church to celebrate today’s Sunday, the Third Sunday of the Year, as the Word of God Sunday.  Like Nehemiah and Ezra, he would like to us be reminded of our founding document, our founding principles, our origin story.  We must learn to appreciate God’s Word, something which we Catholics are not often known to do.

I am reminded of a story about a priest visiting a Catholic family – in a parish far, far away.  And while visiting the family posed a question to him.  He then asked for their family Bible so that he could refer them to a passage that would answer their question.  When they handed him the big old bible, on opening it, some reading glasses fell out.  That is when the dad blurted out: "I have been looking for those glasses for more than a year now."

Do we read our Bible often enough?  Do we go back to it, to be fed by God’s Word and inspired for action by it?  St. Paul writing to his protégé Timothy tells him:  "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  Do we equip ourselves for good work by turning to Scripture?

And yet as Catholics, we don’t read Scripture in an individualistic manner.  We read the Bible within and with the Church.  We are helped to understand it by both our forerunners in the faith and by those who have carried on the Tradition of the Church.  While the Protestant only reads his Bible, the Catholic reads both the Bible and the Catechism which helps him or her understand what he is reading, in the same way the deacon Philip helped the Ethiopian eunuch understand what he was reading.

Also, as Catholics our reading of Scripture is complemented by the Eucharist.  What we hear with our ears, that the Lord Jesus Christ died and rose for our salvation, we actually experience when we celebrate the Eucharist, the memorial of his death and resurrection.  That is why our Mass has both the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  Word and Sacrament go hand in hand.

Conclusion

I will leave you with God’s Word itself. How could we forget the injunction of the Letter to the Hebrews which says:

Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart (Heb. 4:12).

But we will give the Last Word to God himself who through the mouth of Isaiah tells us:

So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11).

May God’s Word be the force that convicts and moves us to action.  And may all we do find its beginning and end in God’s Word.