Homily Christ the King - Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom

Homily for Christ the King Sunday Year C 2016

2 Samuel 5:1-3, Colossians 1:12-20 and Luke 23:35-43

Introduction

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  With these words the Good thief, crucified together with Jesus, sees something in him, which others had failed to see.  That Jesus is not only the Christ, the Messiah, but also a King.

But what kind of King is Jesus?  Is he the tyrant king like bad King George whom the USA kicked out to become a republic?  Or is he like the ceremonial European royalty of today whose power is just a tad more than that of our Prom King and Queen, the King of Rex and Endymion, the King of Rock and Roll.

Scripture and Theology

The three readings of today suggest what kind of King Jesus Christ is.

The Kingship of Jesus has its origins with King David about whom we read in the first reading.  Actually although Saul was in fact the first King of Israel, as we heard in the reading, it was David who did all the fighting, even killing Goliath the Philistine.  And so after Saul died, the elders of the Twelve tribes come to David and asked him to be their shepherd, commander and King, presenting their request as the will of God.  And after David agreed to do so, they anointed him king, anointing with oil being the official way of making someone a king, just like inauguration is the way the President of this country takes office.

As king, David did a pretty good job.  Perhaps his most important contribution was to unite the Twelve tribes of Israel into one nation, under one God.  His son Solomon would continue David's work, and would in fact build the Temple, the central place of worshipping God.  Unfortunately things changed after Solomon.

·        Solomon's sons, however split the Kingdom into two, the southern Kingdom of Judah and the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

·        And 250 years later, the Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians, with the people being dispersed, never to return home till today.

·        Then about 150 years later still, the Southern Kingdom of Judah was also conquered by the Babylonians and sent into exile.

The Kingdom of David was now no more.  Had God given up on his people?  Certainly not.  For God kept sending them prophets like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, to give them hope that the Kingdom of David would be restored.  The Christ, the Messiah, would establish a completely new type of Kingdom.

That is where Jesus comes into the picture.  St. Paul in the second reading describes beautifully this new kingship of Jesus Christ, into whose kingdom God has transferred us after delivering us from the power of darkness.  It is in this kingdom where "we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."  Moreover, this kingdom of Jesus is not just recovering the territory over which David was King; he is not even just king of the earth; he is also King of heaven.  This is because Jesus "is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible . . . ."  His Kingdom is a great improvement on that of David in its scope.

And now to the gospel passage.  Why choose this passage of Jesus on the cross for the feast of Christ the King?  Why not some other passage that shows Christ in his glory?  This is the Church's way of telling us that the Kingdom of Jesus comes about, not by war and fighting, but by humble sacrifice.  We heard that the soldiers nailed a sign above his head saying: “This is the King of the Jews,” the words whose Latin initials, INRI (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum) we have on all our crosses and crucifixes.  They did so to mock him, "hey, look here is someone claiming to be a king, but is being executed like a common criminal in the most shameful, most painful way."  How ironic; usually kings execute people; now the King of the Universe is himself executed.

But the Good Thief sees through all this paradox and realizes that Jesus is God, and he is a King of a much greater Kingdom than that of the Romans.  After telling off his fellow criminal for insulting the Son of God, he makes his own request: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

And so all three readings have told us that like King David, Jesus has come to reunite the people of God, but this time he is reuniting all the earth and indeed heaven as well. Moreover, his kingship is not one of military or political power, but one spiritual power that comes from the sacrifice of the cross.

Christian Life

It is this kingship that we celebrate today, as we end the liturgical year.  The Kingship of Christ is not that of the tyrant with too much power nor that of a ceremonial king with hardly any power.  He has just enough power to do good, to offer a sacrifice that saves all humankind.  In fact the Preface of today, that is the prayer the priest says before we sing the "Holy, Holy, Holy" will praise God the Father, for anointing Jesus Christ an eternal priest and King of all Creation, King of "an eternal and universal kingdom, a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace."

Although we sometimes, think of God's Kingdom as being only other worldly, actually the Kingdom starts right here on earth and will be fulfilled on the other side.  And so the take-away for us from today's feast and its readings is that Jesus' Kingdom is both "already here" and at the same time it is "not yet."

·        That is why Jesus set up the Church, to help him establish that kingdom.

·        That is why we are Christians, the minions of Jesus in establishing the Kingdom here on earth, so that it will be complete in heaven.

·        That is why as Christians we have one eye on the things of earth, and another eye on the things of heaven.  For example, during this Jubilee year of Mercy we have carried out the seven corporal works of mercy: feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked and welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick and the prisoner, and burying the dead.  At the same time we have not neglected the seven spiritual works of mercy: instructing the ignorant and counselling the doubtful, admonishing sinners and bearing patiently those who wrong us, forgiving offenses and consoling the afflicted, and again praying for the living and the dead.

The Kingdom of Jesus is not going to build itself; Jesus has laid the foundation, done the heavy lifting and now wants us to carry on the work, and with God's grace bring the Kingdom to fruition in heaven.  We must bring to bear on the Kingdom of God, the fruits we have received from the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Conclusion

And so, while we share the fears and hopes, the sorrows and joys of our fellow citizens of this world, as true followers of Jesus we must remember that we are in this world, but we are not of this world.  This message is perhaps what we need to heal the bruises and divisions of this past election cycle.  Both the losers and victors must remember that Jesus Christ is still King of the Universe.  For at the end of time, although we are all invited into the heavenly kingdom of Jesus Christ, admission will require that we have been faithful to all his teachings, while on this side of that Kingdom, while in the construction phase.

But since as weak human beings we are imperfect in fulfilling Jesus' commands, let us make the prayer of the Good Thief, our own daily prayer, asking: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  We can then harbour the hope that the Lord will respond to us like he did to the Good Thief: "Amen, I say to you, [today] you will be with me in Paradise.”

Post-election Reflection

What is a priest to do?

I just cannot win.  Before the election, quoting Pope Francis, I preached that Catholics should study the issues, pray about them and vote according to their conscience and I was lambasted by my conservative friends for encouraging people to vote for Clinton.  Now after the election when I say that Catholics should stop attacking people for how they voted in conscience, I am lambasted by my liberal friends for defending those who voted for Trump.  I just cannot win.

And when, like I did before the election, I insist that the platforms of both parties do not conform fully to Catholic teaching, both sides of the ideological divide cry foul.  They believe that their man/woman is practically a saint; how dare I impugn his/her message!  I just cannot win.

It is at times like this that I have existential doubt as to my mission as a priest, of course not because I cannot win.  Rather, I have made it my life’s mission, at least intellectually, to almost never operate out of a binary framework, when dealing with contingent things.  The binary framework sees either black or white literary and metaphorically, either good or evil, rather than discerning shades of "more or less;" after all we are dealing with contingent things.

During this election cycle, I suggested that Catholics were stuck between a rock and a hard place, because both platforms departed from Catholic teaching in serious ways.  For me, it was not a choice between a good and a bad candidate, a good and bad platform.  At first I spoke in terms of a choice of the lesser of two evils, in a manner of speaking, but my moral theology colleague reminded me that Catholics can never choose evil.   In other words, despite their imperfection, a Catholic should choose what he or she saw as the better of the two seriously flawed platforms.  And so, I would agree that at election time, when the choice is between two candidates, after studying and praying over the issues, a Catholic is faced with a binary situation, in which he or she has to make a choice in conscience.

But apart from the actual choice in the booth, it seems clear to me that both platforms need to be put under greater scrutiny, to see how much they conform to the will of Christ as channelled through Church teaching.  And now after the election, the platform of the winner, which he intends to put into action, need even more thorough scrutiny.  I suspect that the Catholic Bishops Conference had two drafts of their congratulatory letter, for whichever candidate won.  While the contents of the two letters were probably the same, that middle paragraph that described the issues of contention between the Church and the candidate, was different.

My left-leaning friends seem by and large resigned to the fact that the Democrat platform differs from Catholic teaching in many ways; they usually want Catholic teaching to be changed to fit their ideology.  My right-leaning friends, however, seem to equate their candidate’s platform with orthodox Catholic teaching; if there is a lack of concordance between the two, it is the Catholic teaching that is heretical – it does not need to change – it has never been Catholic teaching.  In fact often the words orthodox and conservative are used as synonyms.  That is why any suggestion before the election that people choose according to their conscience was met with resistance, because it suggested that there could be any other morally right choice besides the conservative one.  That is why any suggestion that now after the election we have to dialogue with the newly elected leaders on any issue meets with consternation – what is there to dialogue about, they ask?

If in the past the Catholic priests and bishops have had some difficulty in convincing their left-leaning flock that many aspects of the Democrat platform, e.g. on abortion, marriage were at odds with Catholic teaching, now they have an even greater challenge in convincing their right-leaning ones that many aspects of the Republican platform, e.g. on immigration, refugees, capital punishment are similarly at odds with Catholic teaching.  I say this because of my own personal experience of pushback and that of my fellow priests this past week.  Several of us were called liberals for not speaking about abortion and for mentioning the "c" word, not "Clinton," but "conscience" on the Sunday before elections.  But I guess since Pope Francis has been called the same or worse, I am in good company.

Belonging in the same company as the Pope, however, does not ease my existential crisis!  My crisis remains because these sentiments are not coming from extremists such as those you find on lifesitenews.com or churchmilitant.com, but from ordinary, faithful, church-going Catholics – your lectors, ministers of communion, ushers and members of sodalities.  I have to wonder if are we experiencing in the Church the wider revolt of the rank and file against their leaders like we have seen in the US Republican Party and the UK Labour Party?

As I continue pondering my existential crisis, a practical question remains however.  What should I preach this first Sunday after the election?  Should I just say nothing about the elephant in the room (no pun intended) and just stick to the Scripture readings?  I am sure that my homiletics colleague would probably disagree because homilies are supposed to speak to the people's current situation and not about some pie in the sky.

What is a priest to do?

Homily for Dedication of Lateran Basilica – November 9, 2016

 Flowing from a healed Church into a broken world

Introduction

Preaching about the dedication of St. John's Lateran Basilica is daunting enough on the day after any election, almost impossible after this election. That is why, I must say I have always considered Fr. Nile, our Director of Liturgy, a good friend, that is, until he assigned me to preach today.

How do you preach about some big old church building in Rome when the bigger elephant in the room is the just concluded one-of-a-kind election?

And yet perhaps the very mystery that we celebrate today, the mystery of the Church, can help us all refocus on who we are as the Body of Christ.

Scripture and Theology

Any time we dedicate a church, or like today celebrate the anniversary of its dedication, what we are really celebrating is us, the Church with the big "C."  As the Preface of today's Mass will proclaim, God sanctifies "the Church, the Bride of Christ, foreshadowed in visible buildings."  That is why St. Paul tells the Corinthians and us too: "You are God’s building . . . the [holy] temple of God." This building Paul is constructing, so that "the Spirit of God dwells in you."

The Spirit of God was doubtless absent from the Jerusalem temple, which had been turned into a marketplace for livestock and financial services.  Not that selling doves and sheep to be used for sacrifice was evil. Neither was it a sin to provide worshippers the service of exchanging their pagan coins for suitable temple money.  But for God's sake literally, Jesus is abhorred that these profane activities are taking place in his Father's House, the visible symbol of God's people, the place where they should focus on worshipping God.

That is why Ezekiel's vision has the water flowing out of the temple into the profane world, rather than from the profane world into the temple.

·        The water flowing from the temple made fresh the salt waters of the sea.

·        The water gave life to living creatures, providing an abundance of fish.

·        It even gave life to trees, to bear fresh fruit and leaves for medicine.

The temple was the source of life for the profane world and not vice versa.

Similarly, today's church buildings, because of the worship that takes place in them, must continue being symbols of God's positive influence on the world, an influence provided by the people of God that gather in them and then flow out, like the temple water, back into the world.  St. John Lateran, the Pope's Cathedral is that symbol for the universal Church,  St.  Louis Cathedral, for the Church of New Orleans, and our parish churches for our parochial communities.

Christian Life

The divisiveness, acrimony and frankly pagan ways of this election cycle are a clear message that even more life-giving water must flow from the Church, the Body of Christ, into society to bring life, fresh fruits and healing.

When Pope Francis was asked what advice he had for American Catholics during this election that placed them between a rock and a hard place, he gave a two-part answer.  First, he advised Americans to "study the issues, pray and decide in conscience" – pretty standard moral theology principles.  In the second part, however, he diagnosed the root causes of the situation.  He said:

When a country has two, three or four candidates who are unsatisfactory, it means that the political life of that country is perhaps overly politicized but lacking in a political culture. . . . People belong to one party or another party or even a third, but for emotional reasons, without thinking clearly about the fundamentals, the proposals.

And then he concluded: "One of the tasks of the Church . . . is to teach people to develop a political culture."

Conclusion

These words of Pope Francis should be for us a summons to action.  We, God's Temple, must, by our word and by our example, provide the nourishment that can create a truly Christian political culture in the world today. 

But to do that, we must first cleanse inside our own temple and only then hope to cleanse the outside world.  I offer three suggestions.

1.    Let civility in discourse ring in the Body of Christ and so be the fresh water flowing into salty sea of acrimony, vitriol and ad hominem attacks.

2.    Let unity in diversity ring in the Body of Christ and so be the water that provides life to a people divided on racial, social and religious grounds.

3.    Let fidelity to Christ ring in the Body of Christ, so that in the words of one Cardinal Bergolio, we may live more fully by the criteria that the Lord commands rather than by the criteria of the world and so bring his life-giving message in its fullness to a world of darkness and death.

And finally, we must remember that we cannot this do at all, without praying to and getting the grace of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.

Homily 32nd Sunday: What happens to us after we die, depends on what we do before we die?

Homily for 32^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2016

2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14, 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5 and Luke 20:27-38

Introduction

"What happens to us after we die?"  This is an important question that all human beings wonder about.  But perhaps during this election week, the question at the forefront of our minds instead is: "who should I vote for?"  I would like to suggest that in fact the two questions are somewhat related and I will try to show how.

The question of the after-life often receives one of two kinds of answers.

·        On the one hand, some hold that nothing happens after we die; this life is it.  After death there is nothing, zilch, nada!

·        On the other hand, others hold that there is life after death, but they don't agree on exactly what kind of life.  For example, some eastern religions believe in re-incarnation, with us coming back as plants or animals.

Fortunately, today's readings provide an answer to this question, an answer that not only tells us that there is life after death, but also what kind of life it is, and that what happens to us after we die, depends on what we do before we die.

Scripture and Theology

Both the gospel and the first reading teach us this message using the example of seven brothers and one woman: a wife and her seven husbands in one case, a mother and her seven sons in the other.

The setting of the gospel is an argument between Jesus and the Sadducees. The Sadducees were a group of temple priests who believed that only the first five books of the Bible were the Word of God; and since those books did not say anything about the resurrection, there must not be any life after death.

And so, they set before Jesus a situation of seven brothers who, one after another, married the same woman.  Following the law of Moses, they married her to raise up descendants for their deceased brothers, who had died childless. Perhaps also, they married the widow to support her financially and socially.

The Sadducees use this scenario to trap Jesus with this apparently difficult question: “Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?”  They think that they have placed Jesus between a rock and a hard place.

·        If he says that she will be the wife of all seven brothers, that is ridiculous; since even in polygamy, men married multiple women and not vice versa.

·        His only alternative is to cave in and agree that there is no life after death.

But like a good debater, Jesus escapes the dilemma by demolishing the wrong assumptions on which 

their question is based.  They assume that life after death is exactly like life here on earth.  But Jesus corrects that view and shows that the resurrected life is entirely different from the kind of life we have here on earth.

·        In this life we die, like the seven brothers and the woman did.  And that is why in this life, we need to marry and beget children, so as to replace those who die and continue to propagate the human race.  Death and marriage are part of the human condition here on earth.

·        But life on the other side is quite different.  In that life, we don't die anymore; and that is why we don’t need to marry and beget children.  Those seven brothers and their wife, after death, had no more need for descendants; for they had reached the highest form of life, where, as St. John tells us, we shall be like God and we shall see him as he really is.

Clearly in this debate, Jesus is ahead: Jesus – 1, Sadducees - nil.  But wishing to score another point, he goes ahead to quote from Exodus, a book the Sadducees believed in.  He reminds them that when Moses met God at the burning bush, Moses called him, "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," using the present rather than past tense, to show that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, although they had died centuries earlier, were in fact still alive on the other side.  Jesus – 2, Sadducees – 0.

The first reading from the book of Maccabees gives us another set of seven brothers and their mother.  They too, by their willingness to die rather than break the law of God, also teach us this something about the afterlife.  What they did is similar to what our military men and women, police officers and first responders do every day, putting their lives on the line, for the nation, peace, life, law and order.  As for the seven brothers and their mother, what motivates their courage and sacrifice is much greater and more valuable.  The words of the eldest brother sum up what they believe.  He says: “You are depriving us of this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever.”

And so, what happens to us after we die?  Well it depends; if we have lived virtuous lives like these seven brothers, we can like them, hope to live with God forever.  We can hope to live the kind of life that has no more death, the kind of life where the love of wife and husband will be raised to a much higher level, so that it can be shared with more than just one person in the communion of saints.

Christian Life

Unfortunately, this teaching of Jesus, might be too distant for some of us.

·        Why should I think about death, that may not come for years down the road, when right now I have more urgent issues like work and bills, family and children to be concerned about?

·        Why should I think about the resurrection of the dead, whose timing even Jesus confessed not to know, when the future of our country is at stake during these elections?

And yet, like the Lord's prayer says, "your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."  What we do here on earth affects what happens to us in the after-life!

During a recent interview, Pope Francis was asked by an American journalist, what advice he would give to American Catholics about this rather difficult election.  And this is what Pope Francis said:

You pose me a question where you describe a difficult choice, because, according to you, you have difficulty in one [candidate] and you have difficulty in the other. In electoral campaigns, I never say a word. The people are sovereign. I'll just say [this] a word: Study the proposals well, pray and choose in conscience.

The Catholic bishops of this country, including our own Archbishop Aymond, have essentially told us the same thing, giving us a list of important issues for us to study, pray and decide.

Of course not all Catholics have welcomed this guidance of the Church, suggesting that it is too general.  They say: "why don't the bishops and priests be more direct and tell us who to vote?"  When people ask me this question, what they often want me to do is to preach the particular decision that they have reached by their prayer and study in conscience.

But because I must be a father to all rather than merely a hero to some, my role as a minister of Christ is to form consciences, not to replace them with my own conscience, much less that of other Catholics.  Catholic ministers form consciences by our preaching the issues all year long, not just at election time.

Conclusion

The reason we must each follow our conscience is because when we get to the other side, we shall each stand before the Lord alone, to give an account of our decisions.  Nobody, not your political tribe, not your family and friends, and especially not your priest will answer for your decision.

Because we are dual citizens of earth and heaven, it is only by carrying out faithfully our citizenship here on earth, can we hope to secure our citizenship in heaven.  May God guide our consciences now and always.

Homily 31st Sunday: The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost

Homily for 31^st Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2016

Wisdom 11:22-12:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2 and Luke 19:1-10 

Introduction

One of the accusations levied against Jesus by the Pharisees was that he ate and drank with tax-collectors and sinners (Mt. 9:11).  And this accusation was not entirely without foundation.  If you recall in last Sunday's gospel, Jesus praised the tax-collector rather than the Pharisee.  And in today's gospel he is hanging out with the chief tax-collector, Zacchaeus.  Jesus must have a good reason for behaving in this way.  And the reason is this: "I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Mt. 9: 13); at the top of this list of sinners were the tax-collectors.

Scripture and Theology

Tax-collectors were automatically considered sinners by virtue of their occupation.  This was because they were collecting taxes for the Romans, the foreign occupying power,– much like during the colonial days in this country of taxation without representation. Moreover, many tax-collectors were corrupt, collecting more than was required and keeping the difference for themselves, or simply asking for and taking bribes.  But Zacchaeus was not just a tax-collector; he was a chief tax-collector.  If an ordinary tax-collector was considered a crook, a chief tax-collector was probably twice as crooked, since he was at the top of the corrupt food chain, stealing the most money, receiving the biggest bribes.

And yet, it is to this man's house, that Jesus invites himself saying: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” You can probably imagine the collective gasp of the disciples and the Jewish leaders asking themselves: "What is Jesus doing?  Does he not realize that this man is public and notorious sinner?"  Just imagine today, if your pastor or the bishop were to invite himself for Christmas dinner at the home of a notorious drug dealer, who gets wealthy on a product that destroys the lives of thousands of people; or for Thanksgiving at the home of the local mafia chief, who bleeds small businessmen dry through threats, extortion and murder; or for Easter at the home of the guy who owns several strip clubs on Bourbon Street.  That would be a serious scandal?

But like with everything he does, Jesus intentionally visits Zacchaeus to teach his followers a good lesson: that he has come to seek and save what was lost.  And moreover, in this particular incident, he provides us with a model of reconciliation, showing what the sinner must do to get back into  God's good graces.  This story shows us the three steps needed to achieve reconciliation with God: Contrition, Confession and Penance.

(1) Contrition is being sorry for one's sins and desiring to leave behind a life of sin; that is always the first step towards reconciliation with God.  Zacchaeus is clearly sorry and wishes to leave his life of sin behind.  Like with many people, his contrition does not come about fully developed and perfect; it started from a mere curiosity, to see this great rabbi from Nazareth, about whom he had heard many good things.  In fact his curiosity gets the better of him, so that he throws away all the dignity of a powerful government official and climbs a sycamore tree like a teenage boy looking for mangoes.  This seed of curiosity will grow into full blown contrition and sorrow for his sins, when he meets Jesus.

(2) Confession is the next step in the process of reconciliation.  Confession is naming our sins, not because God needs to hear them, but because we need to hear them and then leave them behind.  Zacchaeus confesses that he has extorted people, perhaps by charging more tax than was required.  In fact, that is why he willing to pay back four times what he extorted; for the law of Moses says: "When someone steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for the one ox, and four sheep for the one sheep" (Ex. 21:37).

(3) Penance: this is the third step on the journey of reconciliation.  Penance is concrete act, which demonstrates externally the sorrow and contrition inside us.  The purpose of penance is not only to repair the damage we have caused, but also to give us some practical help to remain on the path of righteousness.  That is why Zacchaeus not only offers to make reparation, by paying back those he has cheated four times what he stole, but also he is ready to give half of his possessions to the poor.  Giving back to those he stole is certainly required by justice.  But why give half of his possessions to the poor?

Remember the story of the rich young man in the gospel?  He asked Jesus what he should do “to gain eternal life” and Jesus’ answer was: “Keep the commandments!”  And when the young man insisted that surely there must be more that he could do, Jesus told him “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  While Jesus wanted this man to put his money where his mouth was, Zacchaeus simply volunteers to do so.  This is his way of showing that he has turned a new leaf in his life; and the first order of business of that new life is almsgiving, a concrete act of charity, in which he shares with the less fortunate.

Fortunately for Zacchaeus his contrition, confession and offer to do penance is not in vain: Jesus reconciles him to God.  Jesus does this in two ways:

First, Jesus invites himself to the house of Zacchaeus.  Even today, sharing a meal with somebody, having someone over at your house, is a sign of friendship and communion.  By inviting himself to the house of Zacchaeus, entering under his roof and breaking bread with him Jesus is welcoming him back into communion.  Zacchaeus realizes that he has just been forgiven and that is why he quickly comes down from the tree and receives Jesus at his house. 

An even better of reconciliation are the magic words of absolution that Jesus says: “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham."  Zacchaeus is now back in the good graces of God.

Christian Life

Like Zacchaeus, you and I are also sinners.  Like Zacchaeus, the Lord invites himself to enter under our roof and be in communion with us.  Can we learn something from the example of Zacchaeus to get rid of our sinful life?

Like Zacchaeus we start by responding to God's grace, which coming to us in many different ways, moves us to regret our sin and wish to leave it behind.  Perhaps we hear a homily that convicts us, or a friend says something to us about our behaviour, or we just come to a point and say, "I must stop this."

This sorrow for our sins then leads us to confession, where we name our sins framing in our own words, the kinds of things that offend God and our neighbour and we admit that we have done them.

The priest then gives us a penance to do, sometimes a prayer to say, or a bible passage to read, or an action to perform like an offering, works of mercy, service of neighbour, self-denial and sacrifices.  These penances are not primarily meant to be punishment, since there is no punishment adequate to offending God, except eternal death itself.  But these penances, like they did for Zacchaeus serve the purpose of repairing the damage we have done as well as the purpose of keeping us on the straight and narrow path of righteousness.

At the end of this process, the priest says to us: "I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."  And like Zacchaeus we are allowed back into communion with God.

Conclusion

But these words are not said just to you and me; they are said to many others, even the worst sinners.  For as Jesus says to them also:  “Today salvation has come to this house because this man [this woman] too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

Homilia de Domingo 30 Año C 2016: Humildad en el templo y fuera del templo,

Homilía para Domingo 30 de TO Año C 2016

Eclesiástico (Sirácide) 35, 12-17. 20-22; 2 Tm 4, 6-8. 16-18; Lc 18, 9-14

Introducción

"Todo el que se enaltece será humillado, y el que se humilla será enaltecido." Jesús concluye la parábola de hoy con estas palabras, palabras que también había dicho antes en el mismo Evangelio, cuando hablaba cómo sentarse en un banquete. Al repetir estas palabras, parece que Jesús quiere que sus discípulos se pongan realmente el mensaje de evitar el orgullo y en su lugar adoptar la humildad.

Escritura y Teología

Y así Jesús explica este punto de la parábola, invirtiendo las expectativas del santo y del pecador. En la parábola, el piadoso fariseo es el hombre malo, mientras que el publicano obviamente un pecador es el héroe de la historia, que se fue a su casa justificado, es decir, teniendo una relación correcta con Dios.

Para entender esta parábola, debemos darnos cuenta de que aquel tiempo, el fariseo era la típica persona buena, honorable y ejemplar.

• Los fariseos eran conocidos por ser gente santa, porque observaban la ley de Moisés de forma muy estricta. Cuando este fariseo particula, dijo: "Yo no soy como los demás hombres: ladrones, injustos y adúlteros," decía la verdad.
•  Incluso, él pagaba el diezmo de todos sus ingresos al templo, otro signo de fidelidad.
•  Sobre todo este fariseo hacía un esfuerzo adicional, ayunaba dos veces por semana, y no sólo unas pocas veces al año, como fue requerido.

Sin duda, el fariseo era un buen hombre.

El publicano por el contrario era un personaje bastante desagradable.

• No lo hizo ayuno, ni dar un diezmo de su dinero para el templo.
•  Por el contrario, fue el recaudador de impuestos; pocas personas aman el recaudador de impuestos, y mucho menos los recaudadores que recogen dinero para un gobierno extranjero como los Romanos!
• Además, muchos publicanos eran deshonestos, cobrando más de lo que se necesitaba, con la diferencia por sí mismos, y también aceptaban sobornos.

Sin equívoco, el publicano era un hombre malo.

¿Por qué entonces Jesús cambia las cosas al revés, alabando al publicano y no el fariseo, soportando el pecador para la imitación y no el santo?

Lucas da una pista al principio del pasaje, cuando dice: "Jesús dijo esta parábola sobre algunos que se tenían por justos y despreciaban a los demás.”

• Jesús no culpa del fariseo por su virtud, sino por su orgullo. El fariseo pensaba que la salvación vino de la mera observación de la ley, en lugar de tener una relación con Dios. Es por eso que cuando vino a orar, recuerda a Dios acerca de su propia santidad, por si acaso Dios no había podido notar sus buenas obras! Él dice: "Dios, tu debes estar profundamente agradecido de que tienes alguien como yo (y no hay muchos de nosotros), alguien que es tan fiel en el seguimiento de los mandamientos." Este orgullo, Jesús condena.
•  Por otro lado, Jesús no alaba el publicano por su vida pecaminosa, pero por su humildad en la conversión. Al darse cuenta de su pecado, este hombre vino a Dios en completa humildad. Cuando vino a orar, se puso de pie a cierta distancia, y ni siquiera a levantar los ojos al cielo. Más bien, se golpeaba el pecho llorando: "Dios mío, apiádate de mí, que soy un pecador."  Él era muy consciente de su pecado; era consciente de que sin Dios no es nada; que realmente necesitaba a Dios en su vida. Es por eso que se acerca a Dios pidiendo por él para restablecer su relación perdonándole.

Y así, la razón por que el publicano debe ser admirado más que el fariseo es, "Todo el que se enaltece será humillado, y el que se humilla será enaltecido."

La vida cristiana

Es claro entonces que la humildad más bien que de orgullo es el camino del cristiano. Afortunadamente, la Iglesia ha tratado de promover la humildad, tanto dentro del nuestro templo como fuera.

Para nosotros los cristianos, nuestro templo es nuestro culto y la liturgia, que sigue el tipo de oración del publicano y no del fariseo.

• Es por eso que empezamos la misa con el rito penitencial, en el que no sólo confesamos que somos pecadores, pero también pidamos a Dios por misericordia. De hecho, en la oración "Yo confieso", imitamos el publicano al golpear nuestro pecho tres veces diciendo: "por mi culpa, por mi culpa, por mi gran culpa."
•  Más adelante, en la misa, justo antes de recibir la comunión, de nuevo admitimos nuestra indignidad diciendo: "Señor, no soy digno de que entres en mi casa, pero una palabra tuya bastará para sanarme."
•  También existe la famosa Oración de Jesús, que se utiliza sobre todo en el cristianismo oriental que dice: "Señor Jesucristo, Hijo de Dios, ten misericordia de mí, pecador." Esta oración se dice varias veces para resaltar una y otra vez nuestra indignidad esencial antes de Dios.

Pero nuestra humildad debe ir más allá de las palabras de nuestra oración. Por eso, la Iglesia también promueve la humildad fuera del templo, en nuestra vida diaria.  Es por ello que la enseñanza social católica da preferencia a los humildes y pobres. Como hemos escuchado en el salmo responsorial, "El Señor no está lejos de sus fieles y levanta a las almas abatidas.”  El Señor escucha el grito de los pobres.

¿Quiénes son estos pobres del Señor, cuyo grito oye, cuyo grito debemos escuchar? Estos son los no nacidos y los niños, los enfermos y los ancianos, los deprimidos y los suicidios, los hambrientos y los sedientos, los sin techo y los extranjeros, los prisioneros y los condenados, los oprimidos y los cautivos, los refugiados y los inmigrantes, las viudas y los huérfanos, y por supuesto los pecadores. No es de extrañar que en el documento de los obispos para formar las conciencias de los católicos para la elección, estos son algunos de los temas que los obispos presenten a nuestra consideración. Como el Señor escucha el grito de todos los pobres, de los no nacidos a los moribundos y todo en el medio, también mostramos nuestra humildad cuando hacemos el mismo.

Conclusión

Por último, esta doble propuesta de la Iglesia para vivir la humildad, en la oración humilde y en el alcance a los humildes, debemos traducir en nuestra vida personal.

• Y así, cuando cada uno de nosotros venimos al templo, oramos con la humildad del publicano, poniéndonos ante la misericordia de Dios? Una forma particular de hacerlo es ir a confesarse al menos una vez al año, el requisito mínimo de la Iglesia. Porque en la confesión, examinamos nuestras conciencias, para ver la salud de nuestra relación con Dios y el prójimo.  Y cuando buscamos de lo que carece de alguna manera, nos acercamos a Dios a quien el sacerdote representa y decimos las palabras del publicano: "Dios mío, apiádate de mí, que soy un pecador.”  Por eso, cuando se le preguntó Papa Francisco quién era, él dijo, "esencialmente soy un pecador."
• Aún más importante es nuestra actitud fuera del templo, en nuestra vida diaria. Oímos el grito de los pobres, cualquier clase que sean, o como el fariseo despreciamos ellos? Nuestra humildad debe expresarse no sólo delante al Señor, porque él es Dios, sino también ante nuestros hermanos y hermanas. Porque el que se enaltece (ante Dios y ante sus prójimos) será humillado, y el que se humilla (ante Dios y ante sus prójimos), será enaltecido."

Homily 30th Ordinary Sunday: Be merciful to me O Lord, I am a sinful man!

Homily for 30^th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C 2016

Sirach 35:12-14, 2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18 and Luke 18:9-14

Introduction

"Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."  Jesus concludes today's parable with these words, words he had also said earlier in the same gospel, when speaking about how to seat oneself at a banquet.  By repeating these words, it seems like Jesus wants his disciples to really get the message about avoiding pride and instead adopting humility.

Scripture and Theology

And so Jesus makes this point in the parable, by reversing the roles and expectations of saint and sinner. The apparently saintly Pharisee comes off badly, while the obviously sinful tax-collector is the hero of the story, who went home justified, in other words, having a right relationship with God.

To understand this parable, we must realize that at the time of Jesus, the Pharisee was the stereotype of a good, honourable and exemplary person.

·        Pharisees were known to be holy people, because they observed the Law of Moses very strictly.  When this particular Pharisee said: “I am not like the rest of humanity – greedy, dishonest, adulterous,” that was really true.

·        He even paid tithes, that is, 10% on all his income, to the temple, another sign of fidelity.

·        To top it off, this Pharisee even went the extra mile, fasting twice a week, when he was required to fast perhaps only a couple of times a year.

Hands down, the Pharisee was a good man, a boy scout, as we might say today.

The tax-collector on the other hand is quite a disagreeable character.

·        He didn't fast at all, nor did he give 10% of his money to the temple.

·        On the contrary, he was collecting taxes; few people like tax-collectors, much less those collecting money for a foreign power like the Romans!

·        Besides, many tax-collectors were dishonest, charging more than was required, pocketing the difference for themselves, and taking bribes.

Make no mistake about it; the tax-collector was a bad man.

Why then does Jesus turn things upside down, praising the tax-collector and not the Pharisee, holding up the sinner for imitation and not the saint?

Luke gives a clue at the beginning of the passage, when he says: "Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else."

·        Jesus does not fault the Pharisee for his virtue, but for his pride.  The Pharisee thought that salvation came from merely observing the law rather than from having a relationship with God.  That is why when he came to pray, he came to remind God about his own holiness, just in case God had failed to notice his good deeds!  “God, you should be deeply grateful that you have someone like me (and there are not many of us), someone who is so faithful in following your commands,” he says!  It is that pride and self-conceitedness that Jesus condemns.

·        On the other hand, Jesus does not praise the tax-collector for his sinful life, but for his humility in conversion.  On realizing his sin, this man came to God in complete humility.  When he came to pray, he stood off at a distance, and would not even raise his eyes to heaven.  Rather, he beat his breast praying: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”  He was keenly aware of his sinfulness; he was aware that without God he is nothing; he really needed God in his life.  That is why he comes to God begging for him to re-establish their relationship by forgiving him.

And so, the reason the repentant tax-collector is to be admired more than the righteous Pharisee is because, “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Christian Life

Clearly then humility rather than pride is the way of the Christian.  Fortunately the Church has tried to promote humility both inside and outside our temple.

For us Christians, our temple is our worship and liturgy, which tries to promote the kind of prayer of the tax-collector, rather than that of the Pharisee. 

·        That is why we begin mass with the penitential rite, in which we not only confess that we are sinners, but we also ask God for mercy.  In fact, in the “I confess”, we imitate the tax-collector by beating our chest three times saying, "through my fault, through my fault, though my most grievous fault."

·        Later in the Mass, just before we receive communion, again we admit our unworthiness saying: "Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed."

·        There is also the famous Jesus Prayer, used mostly in Eastern Christianity which says: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."  This prayer is said repeatedly to highlight over and over again our essential unworthiness before God.

But our humility must go beyond words of our prayer.  That is why the Church also promotes humility outside the temple, in our day to day life.  That is why Catholic Social teaching gives a preference to the humble and lowly.  As we heard in the Responsorial Psalm, "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.  The Lord hears the cry of the poor."

Who are these poor of the Lord, whose cry he hears, whose cry we must hear?  These are the unborn and children, the sick and the elderly, the depressed and the suicidal, the hungry and thirsty, the homeless and the stranger, the prisoner and the condemned, the oppressed and the captive, the refugee and the immigrant, the widow and the orphan, and of course the sinner.  It is no wonder that the bishops' document forming the consciences of Catholics for the election, presents these issues for our consideration. We are asked to show our humility by hearing the cry of the poor, from the unborn to the dying and all in between.

Conclusion

Finally, this twofold approach of the Church, of humble prayer and outreach to the lowly, we must translate into our own personal lives.

·        And so, when we each come to the temple, do we pray with the humility of the tax-collector, placing ourselves before God's mercy?  One particular way to do this is to go to confession at least once a year, the minimum requirement of the Church.  For in confession, we examine our consciences, check the health of our relationship with God and our neighbour, and on finding it lacking in some way, we come to God whom the priest represents and paraphrasing the words of the tax-collector we say: "Forgive me Father for I have sinned."  That is why when Pope Francis was asked who he was, he said, “essentially I am a sinner.”

·        Even more important is our attitude outside the temple, in our daily lives.  Do we hear the cry of the poor around us, whatever kind they might be, or do we, like the Pharisee look down upon them with contempt?  Our humility must be expressed not only before the Lord, because he is God, but also before our fellow man.  For whoever exalts himself (before God and before his fellow man) will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself (before God and before his fellow man) will be exalted.”