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LATIN - YEAR B

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OT I – B (1)
AUG 15th ONE PAGE SYNOPSIS OF ASSUMPTION DAY HOMILY (L-18) We honor Mary, venerate her, express our love for her and never worship her. Why do we honor Mary: 1) Mary herself gives the most important reason in  her “Magnificat:” “All generations (ages) will call me blessed because the “The Mighty One has done great things for me” a) by choosing  Mary as the mother of Jesus  b) by filling her with His Holy Spirit twice, namely at the Annunciation and at Pentecost, c) by making her  “full of grace,” the paragon or embodiment of all virtues, d) by allowing her to become the most active participant with Christ, her Son, in our Redemption, by suffering in mind what Jesus suffered in body. 2) Mary is our Heavenly Mother.  Jesus gave us his Mother as our Mother from the cross: “Woman, behold your son.” … “Behold your mother” (John 19: 26-27). 3) Mary is the supreme model of all virtues and hence our role model, especially holiness of life (“full of grace”), obedience to the will of God (“fiat”) and true humility (“Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me as you have said”). Reasons why we believe in the dogma of Assumption:  Pope Pius XII in the papal document Munificentimus Deus gives four reasons why we believe in the Dogma of Assumption of Mary. 1) The uninterrupted tradition about Mary’s death and Assumption starting from the first century. 2) The belief expressed in all the ancient liturgies of the Church. 3) The negative evidence of the absence and veneration of a tomb of Mary while most of the apostles have their tombs. 4) The possibility of bodily assumption warranted in the Old Testament in the cases of Enoch (Gen. 5:24), perhaps Moses (Deut. 34:5), and especially Elijah (II Kg. 2:1).5) The theological reasons: a) The degeneration of the body after death is the consequence of “original sin,” and Mary, as “immaculately conceived,” is exempted from the post-mortem decay of the body.  b) As receiver of the fullness of grace and holiness because she is mother of Jesus and co-redeemer with Him, Mary’s place is with her son, God’s Son Jesus, the Redeemer, in the abode of holiness, Heaven. Life messages: 1) As Mary’s Assumption was a reward for a holy life, this feast invites us to keep our bodies pure and holy.  Paul gives three additional reasons: a) our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, b) our body parts are the members of Christ’s Body, and c) our bodies are to be glorified on the day of the Last Judgment. 2)   We are given an assurance of hope in our resurrection and a source of inspiration during moments of despair and temptations. 3)   We receive a message of total liberation from all our bondages: impure, unjust and uncharitable thoughts, desires, words and actions, addiction to evil habits, drugs, alcohol and gambling, pornography and sexual aberrations.   Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Revelation 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab; I Cor 15:20-27; Luke 1:39-56) Anecdote: # 1: Taj Mahal: The Taj Mahal has been described as a “love song in marble.” Completed in 1645, the magnificent marble mausoleum was built by Shah Jahan, India’s Mogul emperor, in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal (="the chosen one of the palace"). Her maiden name was   Princess Arjumand. Shah Jahan loved her deeply, calling her his "Taj Mahal," meaning "The Pearl of the Palace.” But Princess Mumtaz Mahal died giving birth to their fourteenth child, and the emperor was inconsolable. So, he summoned a great architect from Persia to build the Taj Mahal, telling him that it must be "the one perfect memorial in the world." Seventeen years were needed to build this enchanting edifice of gleaming white marble embroidered with flashing jewels. It is an enduring monument to love that still inspires tourists, artists and writers from all over the world. This beautiful love story gives us some idea of how much God must have loved Mary, the mother of Jesus. Today’s feast of her Assumption into Heaven is proof of this. By raising her from the dead and taking her into Heaven – body and soul – God demonstrated His undying love for Mary. Like Shah Jahan, God could not bear the death of His beloved. However, God could do what no Indian emperor could do – raise His beloved from the dead and restore her to life even more beautiful than before. Moreover, God didn’t have to build a Taj Mahal to memorialize Mary. Her glorified body is itself a magnificent temple of the Holy Spirit. 
(Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds). # 2: Carl Jung on the Assumption: It was in 1950, that the famed Lutheran Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, an influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology, remarked that the Papal announcement of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, in 1950, was "the most important religious event since the Reformation." (Storr, p. 324). The Assumption means that, along with the glorified masculine body of Jesus in Heaven, there is also a glorified feminine body of his mother, Mary.  According to Jung, "bodily reception of the Virgin into Heaven" (Ibid.) meant that "the Heavenly bride was united with the Bridegroom," (Ibid., p. 322) which union "signifies the hieros gamos" [the sacred marriage], (Ibid.) Acknowledging that the Assumption "is vouched for neither in Scripture nor in the tradition of the first five centuries of the Christian Church," Jung observes that:  "the Papal declaration made a reality of what had long been condoned.  This irrevocable step beyond the confines of historical Christianity is the strongest proof of the autonomy of archetypal images." (Storr, p. 297). Jung remarks that “the Protestant standpoint . . . is obviously out of touch with the tremendous archetypal happenings in the psyche of the individual and the masses, and with the symbols which are intended to compensate the truly apocalyptic world situation today." (Ibid., pp. 322-323) Jung added: “Protestantism has obviously not given sufficient attention to the signs of the times which point to the equality of women.  But this equality requires to be metaphysically anchored in the figure of a 'divine' woman. . .. The feminine, like the masculine, demands an equally personal representation.” (Ibid., p. 325)   [Quotes from : Jung, C. G.  Modern Man in Search of a Soul; translated by W. S. Dell and C. F. Baynes. (Princeton, New Jersey: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers, San Diego. 1933); and Storr, Anthony (Ed.).  The Essential Jung. (Princeton University Press, 1983).] # 3: Like is attracted to like. Such attraction continues to take place every day, even though we may not always be aware of it. People who have similar likes, interests, and goals are drawn to one another. This is the reason why there are fraternities and sororities, why there are country club people, Rotarians, Masons, Knights of Columbus, Knights of Peter Claver, and Daughters of the American Revolution. They all have things in common which draw them together. That is why we also have the Ku Klux Klan, street gangs and the Mafia. Like is attracted to like. Ever notice how children follow along after their mothers? From one room to another, they tag along. And the more they are near their mothers, the more they become like them. They begin thinking, acting, and being like their mothers. We all have in common a very special mother we are honoring today. We have been drawn here together to honor Mary, the mother of Jesus, and our mother too, as we recall Mary's Assumption into Heaven. If like is attracted to like, does that mean we try to emulate her virtues and imitate her by learning more about her, by honoring her and by celebrating her feasts? (Fr. Jack Dorsel) Introduction: The Feast of the Assumption is one of the most important feasts of our Lady.  Catholics believe in the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven. We believe that when her earthly life was finished, Mary was taken up, body and soul, into Heavenly glory, where the Lord exalted her as Queen of Heaven. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 966).  The Assumption is the feast of Mary’s total liberation from death and decay, the consequences of original sin.  It is also the remembrance of the day when the Church gave official recognition to the centuries-old belief of Christians about the Assumption of their Heavenly mother.  In the Orthodox Church, the koimesis, or dormitio ("falling asleep"), of the Virgin began to be commemorated on August 15 in the 6th century.  The observance gradually spread to the West, where it became known as the feast of the Assumption.  By the 13th century, the belief had been accepted by most Catholic theologians, and it was a popular subject with Renaissance and Baroque painters.  It was on November 1, 1950, that, through the Apostolic Constitution Munificentimus Deus, Pope Pius XII officially declared the Assumption as a Dogma of Catholic faith.  On this important feast day, we try to answer two questions: 1) What is meant by "Assumption?"  2) Why do we believe in Mary’s Assumption into Heaven, despite the fact that there is no reference to it in the Bible?  “Assumption” means that after her death, Mary was taken into Heaven, both body and soul, as a reward for her sacrificial cooperation in the Divine plan of Salvation.  “On this feast day, let us thank the Lord for the gift of the Mother, and let us pray to Mary to help us find the right path every day” (Pope Benedict XVI). Gospel exegesis: Scripture on Mary’s death and Assumption.   Although there is no direct reference to Mary’s death and Assumption in the New Testament, two cases of assumption are mentioned in the Old Testament, namely, those of Enoch (Genesis 5: 24) and  Elijah (2 Kings 2:1). These references support the possibility of Mary’s Assumption. The possibility of bodily assumption is also indirectly suggested by Matthew 27: 52-53 and I Cor. 15: 23-24.  In his official declaration of the dogma, the Pope Pius XII also cites the scriptural verses Ps 131:8, Cant 3:6, Rv 12, Is 61:13 and Cant 8:5. “Although the New Testament does not explicitly affirm Mary’s Assumption, it offers a basis for it because it strongly emphasized the Blessed Virgin’s perfect union with Jesus’ destiny. This union, which is manifested, from the time of the Savior’s miraculous conception, in the Mother’s participation in her Son’s mission and especially in her association with his Redemptive sacrifice, cannot fail to require a continuation after death. Perfectly united with the life and saving work of Jesus, Mary shares His Heavenly destiny in body and soul. There are, thus, passages in Scripture that resonate with the Assumption, even though they do not spell it out”. (Pope St. John Paul II; quoted by Jimmy Akin, “The Assumption of Mary: 12 things to Know and Share” Blog, August 15, 2017). (A)Tradition on Mary’s Assumption: The first trace of belief in the Virgin’s Assumption can be found in the apocryphal accounts entitled Transitus Mariae [Latin, “The Crossing Over of Mary”], whose origin dates to the second and third centuries. These are popular and sometimes romanticized depictions, which in this case, however, pick up an intuition of faith on the part of God’s People. (Pope St. John Paul II). The fact of Mary’s death is generally accepted by the Church Fathers and theologians and is expressly affirmed in the liturgy of the Church.  Origen (died AD 253), St. Jerome (died AD 419) and St. Augustine (died AD 430), among others, argue that Mary’s death was not a punishment for sin, but only the result of her being a descendant of Adam and Eve. (B) Papal teaching: In May 1946, with the Encyclical Deiparae Virginis Mariae, Pius XII called for a broad consultation, inquiring among the Bishops and, through them, among the clergy and the People of God as to the possibility and opportuneness of defining the bodily assumption of Mary as a dogma of faith. The result was extremely positive: only six answers out of 1,181 showed any reservations about the revealed character of this truth. (Pope St. John Paul II). When Pope Pius XII made the proclamation on November 1, 1950, he put into words a belief held by the faithful for over 1500 years. ‘Way back in AD 325, the Council of Nicaea spoke of the Assumption of Mary. Writing in AD 457, the Bishop of Jerusalem said that when Mary’s tomb was opened, it was "found empty. The apostles judged her body had been taken into heaven.” Pope Pius XII based his declaration of the Assumption on both tradition and theology.  The uninterrupted tradition in the Eastern Churches starting from the first century, the apocryphal first century book, Transitus Mariae, and the writings of the early Fathers of the Church, such as St. Gregory and St. John Damascene, supported and promoted the popular belief in the Assumption of Mary.  There is a tomb at the foot of the Mt. of Olives where ancient tradition says that Mary was laid. But there is nothing inside. There are no relics, as with the other saints. This is acceptable negative evidence of Mary’s Assumption.  Besides, credible apparitions of Mary, though not recorded in the New Testament, have been recorded from the 3rd century till today. In his decree on the Dogma of the Assumption, Pope Pius XII gives four theological reasons to support this traditional belief. #1: The degeneration or decay of the body after death is the result of original sin.  However, since, through a special intervention of God, Mary was born without original sin, it is not proper that God would permit her body to degenerate in the tomb. #2: Since Mary was given the fullness of grace, Heaven is the proper place for this sinless mother of Jesus. #3: Mary was our co-redeemer, or fellow-redeemer, with Christ in a unique sense.  Hence, her rightful place is with Christ our redeemer in heavenly glory. (The term co-redeemer or co-redemptrix means "cooperator with the Redeemer.” This is what St. Paul meant when he said "We are God's co-workers" I Cor. 3:9.). Hence, it is “fitting” that she should be given the full effects of the Redemption, the glorification of the soul and the body. #4: In the Old Testament, we read that the prophet Elijah was taken into heaven in a fiery chariot.  Thus, it appears natural and possible that the mother of Jesus would also be taken into Heaven.   Scripture readings of the day explained: The first and third readings are about women and God’s creative, redemptive and salvific action through them.  The Book of Revelation, written in symbolic language familiar to the early Christians, was meant to encourage them and bolster their Faith during times of persecution.  In the first reading, the author of Revelation probably did not have Mary of Nazareth in mind when he described the “woman” in this narrative.  He uses the “woman” as a symbol for the nation and people, Israel.  She is pictured as giving birth, as Israel brought forth the Messiah through its pains. The woman is also symbolic of the Church, and the woman’s offspring represents the way the Church brings Christ into the world.  The dragon represents the world's resistance to Christ and the truths that the Church proclaims.  As Mary is the mother of Christ and of the Church, the passage has indirect reference to Mary. ((According Fr. Reginald Fuller (Center for Liturgy) there are three possibilities: 1. She is the old Israel, the nation from whom the Messiah came. Much in this passage suggests the old Israel waiting for the birth of the Messiah. The Old Testament background suggests this (see Isaiah 66:7). According to this view, the seer is taking up and partly Christianizing earlier pictures of Israel waiting for the coming of the Messiah. 2. The woman is the Church, the new Israel, the mother of the faithful. This is supported by 12:17, which speaks of other children belonging to the woman who “keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus.” 3. The woman with the Blessed Virgin Mary: An interpretation popular among medieval expositors and revived in a somewhat more sophisticated form in recent Catholic exegesis (and clearly accepted by the choice of this passage for this feast) equates the woman with the Blessed Virgin Mary. Probably there is no need to choose between these three interpretations. For Mary is the daughter of Zion, the quintessential expression of the old Israel as the community of faith and obedience awaiting the coming of the Messiah, the community in which the Messiah is born. But she is also the quintessential expression of the new Israel (the Church), of those who “believe” and are justified on the grounds of their faith, of those who obey his word and who suffer for the testimony of Jesus)) (Navarre Bible Commentary: The description of the woman indicates her heavenly glory, and the twelve stars of her victorious crown symbolize the people of God—the twelve patriarchs (cf. Gen 37:9) and the twelve apostles. And so, independently of the chronological aspects of the text, the Church sees in this heavenly woman the Blessed Virgin, "taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords (cf. Rev 19:16) and conqueror of sin and death” (Lumen Gentium 59). The second reading, taken from I Corinthians, is Paul’s defense of the resurrection of the dead, an apt selection on the feast of our Heavenly Mother’s Assumption into Heaven.  In the Magnificat, the song of Mary given in today’s Gospel, Mary acknowledges that “the Almighty has done great things” for her. Besides honoring her as Jesus’ mother, God has blessed her with the gift of bodily Assumption.  God, who has "lifted up" His "lowly servant" Mary, lifts up all the lowly, not only because they are faithful, but also because God is faithful to the promise of Divine mercy.  Thus, the feast of the Assumption celebrates the mercy of God or the victory of God’s mercy as expressed in Mary’s Magnificat. Life messages: #1: Mary’s Assumption gives us the assurance and hope of our own resurrection and assumption into Heaven on the day of our Last Judgment. It is a sign to us that someday, through God’s grace and our good life, we, too, will join the Blessed Mother in giving glory to God. It points the way for all followers of Christ who imitate Mary’s fidelity and obedience to God’s will.                                                                                      #2: Since Mary’s Assumption was a reward for her saintly life, this feast reminds us that we, too, must be pure and holy in body and soul, since our bodies will be glorified on the day of our resurrection.  St. Paul tells us that our bodies are the temples of God because the Holy Spirit dwells within us.  He also reminds us that our bodies are members (parts) of the Body of Christ. #3: This feast also gives us the message of total liberation.  Jesus tells us in John 8:34 that everyone who sins is a slave of sin, and St. Paul reminds us (Gal. 5:1), that, since Christ has set us free, we should be slaves of sin no more.  Thus, the Assumption encourages us to work with God to be liberated from the bondage of evil: from impure, unjust and uncharitable thoughts and habits, and from the bonds of jealousy, envy and hatred. #4: Finally, it is always an inspiring thought in our moments of temptation and despair to remember that we have a powerful heavenly Mother, constantly interceding for us before her son, Jesus, in Heaven. The feast of Mary’s Assumption challenges us to imitate her self-sacrificing love, her indestructible Faith and her perfect obedience. Therefore, on this feast day of our heavenly Mother, let us offer ourselves on the altar and pray for her special care and loving protection in helping us lead a purer and holier life. JOKES OF THE WEEK 1) Miss Holycheek, the Catholic Sunday school teacher, had just finished explaining the feast of the Assumption to her class.  "Now," she said, "let all those children who want to go to Heaven to see their Heavenly Mother raise their hands." All the children raised their hands except little Marie in the front row.  "Don't you want to go to Heaven, Marie?" asked Miss Holycheek. "I can't," said Marie tearfully. "My mother told me to come straight home after Sunday school   2) God is walking around Heaven one day and notices a number of people on the heavenly streets who shouldn't be there.  He finds St. Peter at the gate and says to him, "Peter, you've been remiss in your duties. You're letting in the wrong sort of people." "Don't blame me, Lord," replies Peter.  "I turn them away just like you said to. Then they go around to the back door and Jesus’ mother lets them in."   Spiritual practices dedicated to Mary: Mary Ford-Grabowsky in Spiritual Writings on Mary: Annotated and Explained offers these spiritual practices dedicated to Mary:
  • "Begin any kind of activity with a prayer to Jesus through Mary: a meal, a task of work, an exam, an athletic event, a doctor's appointment, a difficult meeting, and each time you leave the house or return.
  • "Set time aside to listen to songs, chants, or classical compositions written about Mary. Try chanting yourself.
  • "Create your own Mary mantra, a Mary prayer composed of only a few words, such as 'Mary, Mother of us all, give me strength' (or wisdom, patience, generosity — whatever spiritual gift you need in the moment.) Also, 'Mary, be with my friend (add name). Or simply, 'I love you,' or 'Thank you.' The possibilities are endless.
  • "Honor Mary as the Mother of God by meditating on her words, virtues, and actions; and by contemplating what is great about her.
  • "Perform acts of love for her without expectations of praise or a reward."
Websites of the week 1)      http://ncronline.org/(National Catholic Reporter) 2)      http://www.liguorian.org/ (Ligurian magazine online) 3)      http://www.catholicdigest.com/current_issue.html (Catholic Digest) 4)Pope Francis on Assumption: http://www.stbridgeteastfalls.org/pope-francis-homily-for-the-assumption/                                         10-Additional anecdotes   1) “Why do they minimize your beauty?" A charming story is told of the nineteenth century Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes fame. Contemporary artists were anxious for her to describe the woman she had seen in the grotto. So, one after the other, they showed her the most famous pictures of Mary. The young Bernadette was shown the beautiful Madonnas done by Murillo, Da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, El Greco, etc. To each she shook her head in disappointment. To their surprise, she said, "The lady looks like none of these paintings." To herself she said, "My mother, why do they minimize your beauty?" (Fr. James)   2) The “bowing Procession:” In a small town in the hills surrounding Rome, the Feast of the Assumption is celebrated with what’s called the "bowing procession." From one end of the town, the townspeople process, carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary. From the other end of the town, another group of townspeople march into town, carrying a statue of Jesus. Mary’s Son comes to rendezvous with His Mother. In front of the parish Church, the two groups meet. A ton of flowers decorates the church. Jesus and His Mother solemnly bow to each other. The villagers carry the statues of Mary and her Son side by side into the Church. It’s God the Son leading his Mother to her throne in heaven.   3) Body, soul or both: Today’s feast also shows us that God values our bodies. They are not only important to Him – they are sacred! There are two extremes of thought in regard to our bodies. One considers the body as our number one treasure. Ads and commercials usually feature people with exceptional looks. To be successful, accepted, and loved, they tell us, depends upon how we look. We are to watch our weight, keep in shape, and smell just right. If we don’t pamper our bodies and treat them royally, we’ll be social, business, and sexual flops. Nobody will want us around. As for the importance of our soul and our spiritual life? Forget it! They consider such things nonexistent and absurd. The other extreme of thought about the body is to look upon it as merely a machine for us to operate in this world. Its value is only its usefulness. To enhance it with cosmetics and perfume, to dress it up and make it look attractive, to diet, exercise, and look at it in the mirror - all that is not only a waste of time, but sinful. The soul and its spiritual condition are all that is important for us. We are to think of our body only when necessity requires. But God is telling us on this feast of the Assumption that to Him, both are important - our body and our soul. They are both to be valued, and they are to be given the attention and honor due them. (Fr. Jack Dorsel)   4) “God helps those who help themselves.” If you are watching television and want a dish of ice cream, you aren’t going to have any unless you get up, go to the kitchen and scoop it up yourself. If you are in a movie theater and decide you want some popcorn, you aren’t going to get any unless you go to the lobby and buy it. Or are you one of those people who have someone waiting on them hand and foot? Are you one of those capable people, by that I mean one who is not an invalid, who expect to be waited on when they want something? Well, if you are, I’ve got some shocking news for you. That sort of thing is not going to work with God. I’m sure you’ve heard this one before: “God helps those who help themselves.” By that is meant not the selfish and self-centered. What is meant by “God helps those who help themselves,” is that, for those who try to do their duty, who try to help others, who try to live the teachings of Christ, God will take it from there and perfect the results of their efforts, if not here, at least in the next life. The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, spent her earthly life trying to carry out the will of God. Her Son crowned her efforts by drawing her into Heaven with himself and perfecting her body into the likeness of his. Thus, we say, Mary was assumed into heaven. (Fr. Jack Dorsel)   5) “Why did you go to Church today?” someone might ask us. “This isn’t Sunday, its only Wednesday.” “It’s a holy day of obligation. The feast of the Assumption,” we answer. “Oh,” the person says, and might add, “What’s that?” Most Catholics won’t be questioned about today’s feast. Many Catholics might not even remember it. But you and I do. We have come to Mass to celebrate it. And we know why we are here. Mary, the Mother of God, was assumed body and soul into heaven by her Son Jesus Christ where she was crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth.  (Fr. Jack Dorsel)   6) “WHY ME?” Ever ask yourself that question? Or voice it to someone else. Why me? Why did this happen to me? If and when we ever do say “Why me?” is it not usually in regard to something very unpleasant that has happened to us? “Why is it that my car had to be the one to find the nail in the road? I’ve had my motel reservations for four months and when I get there, they can’t find my name in the computer. And why, after three weeks of dry, sunny, wonderful weather, did it have to pick my vacation week to rain? Why does the worst always happen to me?” Have you ever thought of saying “Why me?” when something really good happens to you? When the love of your life loves you back, when you get a raise in salary, when the bathing suit you bought five years ago still fits you perfectly, or when the cat goes outside to throw up instead of using your living room rug? “Why me? Why should such wonderful things happen to me? Why am I being treated so well?” That is just what Mary is probably asking God today. “Why is it I am the one you have taken up into Heaven body and soul with such great glory?” (Fr. Jack Dorsel)   7) “I'm talking to your mother." There is an old story about a workman on scaffolding high above the nave of a cathedral who looked down and saw a woman praying before a statue of Mary. As a joke, the workman whispered, "Woman, this is Jesus." The woman ignored him. The workman whispered again, more loudly: "Woman, this is Jesus." Again, the woman ignored him. Finally, he said aloud, "Woman, don't you hear me? This is Jesus." At this point the woman looked up at the crucifix and said, "Be still now, Jesus, I'm talking to your mother." (Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu).   8) Chair-lift to Eggstocke Mountain. In Braunwald, Switzerland, there is, or at least was, a chair-lift that can make even the bravest person a bit weak-kneed. This lift is called the Sesselbahn. It is a system of overhead cables attached to high supports built into the rocky slopes of the Eggstocke Mountain. On these cables, chairs are hung which are electrically caused to slide up the cables carrying provisions and people to the Ortstock Haus on the top. Two chairs hang side by side. They are similar to ordinary metal ones with a kind of sunshade over them. There is no protection of any kind, just two chairs dangling in the air with only a narrow footrest, no sides or backs other than a couple of bars. The person with nerve enough to get into one of these chairs is, in the words of the article, “swung up over fearsome abysses and up the face of a mighty rock precipice by invisible power.” Sounds like a risky ride. But many people have gotten into those chairs and made it safely to the top and down again. No accidents were ever reported. But it seems to me that to ride the Sesselbahn chair-lift is to have great faith in a manmade device. Probably we trust manmade things more than we trust in God. What do you think? Today we celebrate the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. Mary allowed herself and her life to rest completely in the hands of God. She did what she thought He wanted her to do, and she trusted that He would take her through to the end and bring her out safe and sound. We could say she got into one of God’s chairs, let God accompany her in the one next to hers, and up they went - all the way over and through the dangers of life and into Heaven. That takes great Faith. (Fr. Jack Dorsel).   9)    Stretch out your frying pan: Two men went fishing.     One man was an experienced fisherman; the other wasn't.     Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh.     Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back. The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing this man waste good fish.     "Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?" he asked. The inexperienced fisherman replied, "I only have a small frying pan." Sometimes, like that fisherman, we throw back the big plans, big dreams, big ideas, and big opportunities that God sends us, because our faith is too small.  We laugh at that fisherman who didn't figure out that all he needed was a bigger frying pan; yet how ready are we to increase the size of our faith? God has big hopes for us - Assumption-sized hopes. Seeing how His hopes for the Blessed Virgin Mary were so wonderfully fulfilled should help increase our Faith.    It should stretch out our frying pan. As the angel Gabriel said to Mary long before her glorious Assumption, "nothing is impossible to God" (Lk 1:37). [Frying pan story adapted from Hot Illustrations, copyright 2001, Youth Specialties, Inc.] (E- Priest).   10) Mary Is Our Star of Hope: In pre-Christian times, the pagan religions of ancient Greece and Rome had a very interesting insight into the human soul.     Some of their myths described how great heroes from past ages used to do battle with the gods, either physically or through a contest of wits.     And when a human being won such a battle, their reward would be to avoid death and hell (there was no belief in heaven) by being turned into a constellation of stars in the night sky.    By becoming a constellation, they achieved a kind of immortality, because the divine stars, so they thought, never change. In that way, they also would inspire and guide future generations, because the stars were used to guide ocean navigation before the invention of the compass.     This charming ancient sentiment was purely mythological and legendary, but it appealed to artists and poets for many centuries. It seemed to be in harmony with a basic human instinct: the instinct for Heaven, and they felt the need for help to get there. When Christianity came around, this image from pagan poetry found its true fulfillment.     The Blessed Virgin Mary, a human being just like you and me, conquered evil, with the help of God's grace, through her humility and obedience, undoing the ancient sin of Eve. And God rewarded her by assuming her, lifting her, into Heaven. And from Heaven, she is an inspiration and guide for us who are still traveling through the troubled waters of life on earth. And so, from very early times, the Church began to call Mary, the "Star of the Sea", "Stella Maris" [STELL-uh MAHR-eess] in Latin. (Adapted from Pope Benedict XVI). (E- Priest).   HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS on Aug 15, 2013   Dear Brothers and Sisters! At the end of its Constitution on the Church, the Second Vatican Council left us a very beautiful meditation on Mary Most Holy. Let me just recall the words referring to the mystery we celebrate today: “the immaculate Virgin preserved free from all stain of original sin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things” (no. 59). Then towards the end, there is: “the Mother of Jesus in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven is the image and the beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise, she shines forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come” (no. 68). In the light of this most beautiful image of our Mother, we are able to see the message of the Biblical readings that we have just heard. We can focus on three key words: struggle, resurrection, hope. The passage from Revelation presents the vision of the struggle between the woman and the dragon. The figure of the woman, representing the Church, is, on the one hand, glorious and triumphant and yet, on the other, still in travail. And the Church is like that: if in Heaven she is already associated in some way with the glory of her Lord, in history she continually lives through the trials and challenges which the conflict between God and the evil one, the perennial enemy, brings. And in the struggle which the disciples must confront – all of us, all the disciples of Jesus, we must face this struggle - Mary does not leave them alone: the Mother of Christ and of the Church is always with us. She walks with us always, she is with us. And in a way, Mary shares this dual condition. She has of course already entered, once and for all, into Heavenly glory. But this does not mean that she is distant or detached from us; rather Mary accompanies us, struggles with us, sustains Christians in their fight against the forces of evil. Prayer with Mary, especially the Rosary – but listen carefully: The Rosary. Do you pray the Rosary every day? But I’m not sure you do [the people shout “Yes!”] … Really? Well, prayer with Mary, especially the Rosary, has this “suffering” dimension, that is of struggle, a sustaining prayer in the battle against the evil one and his accomplices. The Rosary also sustains us in the battle. The second reading speaks to us of resurrection. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, insists that being Christian means believing that Christ is truly risen from the dead. Our whole Faith is based upon this fundamental truth which is not an idea but an event. Even the mystery of Mary’s Assumption body and soul is fully inscribed in the resurrection of Christ. The Mother’s humanity is “attracted” by the Son in his own passage from death to life. Once and for all, Jesus entered into eternal life with all the humanity he had drawn from Mary; and she, the Mother, who followed him faithfully throughout her life, followed him with her heart, and entered with him into eternal life which we also call Heaven, paradise, the Father’s house. Mary also experienced the martyrdom of the Cross: the martyrdom of her heart, the martyrdom of her soul. She lived her Son’s Passion to the depths of her soul. She was fully united to Him in his death, and so she was given the gift of resurrection. Christ is the first fruits from the dead and Mary is the first of the redeemed, the first of “those who are in Christ”. She is our Mother, but we can also say that she is our representative, our sister, our eldest sister, she is the first of the redeemed, who has arrived in Heaven. The Gospel suggests to us the third word: hope. Hope is the virtue of those who, experiencing conflict – the struggle between life and death, good and evil – believe in the Resurrection of Christ, in the victory of love. We heard the Song of Mary, the Magnificat: it is the song of Hope, it is the song of the People of God walking through history. It is the song many saints, men and women, some famous, and very many others unknown to us but known to God: mums, dads, catechists, missionaries, priests, sisters, young people, even children and grandparents: these have faced the struggle of life while carrying in their heart the hope of the little and the humble. Mary says: “My souls glorifies the Lord” – today, the Church too sings this in every part of the world. This song is particularly strong in places where the Body of Christ is suffering the Passion. For us Christians, wherever the Cross is, there is hope, always. If there is no hope, we are not Christian. That is why I like to say: do not allow yourselves to be robbed of hope. May we not be robbed of hope, because this strength is a grace, a gift from God which carries us forward with our eyes fixed on Heaven. And Mary is always there, near those communities, our brothers and sisters, she accompanies them, suffers with them, and sings the Magnificat of hope with them. Dear Brothers and Sisters, with all our heart let us too unite ourselves to this song of patience and victory, of struggle and joy, that unites the triumphant Church with the pilgrim one, earth with Heaven, and that joins our lives to the eternity towards which we journey. Amen. (L/18)   (Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Home (L. S. P.), 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604, USA)   
OT I – B (2)
OT I – B (2)
One-page summary of Christ the King Sunday Homily Central theme: This Sunday, at the end of Church’s liturgical year, the readings describe the enthronement of the victorious Christ as King in Heaven in all His glory. Instituting this Feast of Christ, the King in 1925, Pope Pius XI proclaimed: “Pax Christi in regno Christi” (the peace of Christ in the reign of Christ). This means that we live in the peace of Christ when we surrender our lives to him every day, accept him as our God, Savior and King and allow him to rule our lives. Scripture lessons summarized: The first reading, taken from the book of Daniel, speaks of the mysterious Son of Man (with whom Jesus would later identify himself), coming on the clouds, glorified by God and given dominion that will last forever.  Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 93), proclaims, “The Lord is King,” celebrating the God of Israel as King over all creation.  In the second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation, the risen Christ comes amid the clouds as the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last of all things.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus asserts before Pilate that he is a king and clarifies that that his kingdom “does not belong to this world.”  He rules as King by serving others rather than by dominating them; his authority is rooted in truth, not in physical force, and his Kingdom, the reign of God, is based on the Beatitudes. Jesus has come to bear witness to the truth: about God and His love for us, about Himself as the Son of God and about us as the children of God.  There are plenty of texts proving the kingship of Jesus both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament of the Bible. (See the Exegesis). Life Messages: 1) We need to accept Christ the King as our Lord, King and Savior and surrender our lives to him. We surrender our lives to Jesus every day when we give priority to his teaching in our daily choices, especially in moral decisions. We should not exclude Christ our King from any area of our personal or family lives.  In other words, Christ must be in full charge of our lives, and we must give him sovereign power over our bodies, our thoughts, our heart and our will. 2) We need to be serving disciples of a serving King. Jesus declared that he came not to be served but to serve and showed us the spirit of service by washing of the feet of his disciples. We become Jesus’ followers when we recognize his presence in everyone, especially the poor, the sick, the outcast and the marginalized in the society and render humble and loving service to Jesus in each of them. 3) We need to accept Jesus Christ as the King of love. Jesus came to proclaim to all of us the Good News of God’s love and salvation, gave us his new commandment of love: “Love one another as I have loved you,” and demonstrated that love by dying for us sinners. We accept Jesus as our King of love when we love others as Jesus loved, unconditionally, sacrificially and with agape love. CHRIST THE KING (Dn 7:13-14; Rv 1:5-8; Jn 18:33b-37) Homily starter anecdotes: #1: Christ has conquered, Christ now rules: In the middle of St Peter’s square in Rome, there stands a great obelisk. It about four and half thousand years old and it originally stood in the temple of the sun in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis. But it was bought to Rome by the dreadful Emperor Caligula and it was set right in the middle of Circus of Nero, equally dreadful, that was on the Vatican hill. It was in that Circus that St Peter was martyred, and the obelisk may well have been the last thing on this Earth that Peter saw. On top of the obelisk there now stands a cross. In ancient times there was a gold ball representing, of course, the sun. Now there is a cross however, the cross of Christ, and on the pedestal of the obelisk there are two inscriptions. The first of them in Latin, “Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat”, which translated means, Christ has conquered, Christ now rules, Christ now reigns supreme. The other inscription, “The Lion of Judah has conquered”. So here we have the language of victory. Christianity has triumphed by the power of the cross and triumphed even over even the greatest power that the ancient world had known, the Roman Empire, and here in the middle of St Peter’s square stands the obelisk bearing those triumphant inscriptions. (Mark Coleridge Archbishop of Brisbane) #2: “Long live Christ the King!” In the 1920s, a totalitarian regime gained control of Mexico and tried to suppress the Church. To resist the regime, many Christians took up the cry, "Viva Cristo Rey!” (“Long live Christ the King!”) They called themselves "Cristeros." The most famous Cristero was a young Jesuit priest named Padre Miguel Pro. Using various disguises, Padre Pro ministered to the people of Mexico City. Finally the government arrested him and sentenced him to public execution on November 23, 1927. The president of Mexico (Plutarco Calles) thought that Padre Pro would beg for mercy, so he invited the press to the execution. Padre Pro did not plead for his life, but instead knelt holding a crucifix. When he finished his prayer, he kissed the crucifix and stood up. Holding the crucifix in his right hand, he extended his arms and shouted, "Viva Cristo Rey!" (“Long live Christ the King!”) At that moment the soldiers fired. The journalists took pictures; if you look up "Padre Pro" or "Saint Miguel Pro" on the Internet, you can see that picture. (Fr. Phil Bloom). #3: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” St. Thomas More is the patron saint of lawyers and politicians, among others. He was a brilliant lawyer and diplomat in 16th century England. His patriotism and loyalty to the throne attracted the attention of King Henry VIII who made him Lord Chancellor of England.  What Henry VIII did not know was that Thomas More’s first loyalty was to Christ, the King of kings. When Henry VIII decided to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon, marry Anne Boleyn and make himself head of the Church of England, More thought this was not right. Rather than approve what he believed to be against the Divine will, he resigned from his prestigious and wealthy position as Lord Chancellor and lived a life of poverty. Since he would not give his support to the king, Thomas More was arrested, convicted of treason, imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1534 and beheaded in July of the following year. On his way to public execution, More encouraged the people to remain steadfast in the Faith. His last recorded words were: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” For More, it was not simply enough to confess Christ privately in the safety of his heart and home; he believed one must also confess Christ in one’s business and professional life as well as in the laws and policies that govern society. (Fr. Munacci). # 4: On His Majesty’s Service: Polycarp, the second century bishop of Smyrna, was brought before the Roman authorities and told to curse Christ and he would be released.  He replied, "Eighty-six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my King, Jesus Christ, Who saved me?"  The Roman officer replied, "Unless you change your mind, I will have you burnt." But Polycarp said, "You threaten a fire that burns for an hour, and after a while is quenched; for you are ignorant of the judgment to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly.  Do what you wish."  # 5: A king with a big difference: Charles Colson, former legal counsel to Richard Nixon and later founder of the Christian Prison Fellowship, says it like this: "All the kings and queens I have known in history sent their people out to die for them. I only know one King Who decided to die for his people." 30 additional anecdotes are uploaded in my website http://frtonyshomilies.com/ Introduction: In the Church’s calendar, Christ the King is the parallel of the Super Bowl trophy or the Final Four in college basketball or the last game of the World Series. The Church’s liturgical year concludes with this feast of Christ the King, instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to celebrate the Jubilee Year and the 16th centenary of the Council of Nicaea.  Instituting this feast, Pope Pius XI proclaimed: “Pax Christi in regno Christi” (“The peace of Christ in the reign of Christ”).  This feast was established and proclaimed by the Pope to reassert the sovereignty of Christ and the Church over all forms of government and to remind Christians of the fidelity and loyalty they owed to Christ, Who by his Incarnation and sacrificial death on the cross had made them both adopted children of God and future citizens and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven.  The Feast was also a reminder to the totalitarian governments of Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin that Jesus Christ is the only Sovereign King. Christ is our spiritual King and Ruler who rules by truth and love. We declare our loyalty to him by the quality of our Christian commitment, expressed in our serving of others with sacrificial and forgiving love, and by our solidarity with the poor. Although emperors and kings with real ruling power exist today only in history books, we nevertheless honor Christ as the King of the Universe and the King of our hearts by allowing him to take control of our lives.  In thousands of human hearts all over the world, Jesus still reigns as King.  The Cross is his throne and the Sermon on the Mount, his rule of law.   His citizens need obey only one major law: “Love God with all your being, and love others as I have loved you.”  His love is selfless, compassionate, forgiving, and unconditional.  He is a King with a saving and liberating mission: freeing us from all types of bondage, enabling us to live peacefully and happily on earth, and promising us an inheritance in the eternal life of heaven. This Sunday, at the end of Church’s liturgical year, the readings describe the enthronement of the victorious Christ as King in Heaven in all His glory. The first reading, taken from the book of Daniel, tells of the mysterious Son of Man (with whom Jesus would later identify himself), coming on the clouds, glorified by God, and given dominion that will last forever.  Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 93), proclaims, “The Lord is King,” celebrating the God of Israel as the King over all creation.  In the second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation, the risen Christ comes amid the clouds as the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last of all things.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus asserts before Pilate that he is a king and clarifies that that his kingdom “does not belong to this world.”  He rules as King by serving others rather than by dominating them; his authority is rooted in truth, not in physical force, and his Kingdom, the reign of God, is based on the beatitudes. First reading: Daniel 7:13-14, explained: The apocalyptic Book of Daniel came to prominence during a bitter persecution of the Jews in the second century BC, where it bolstered the Faith of the beleaguered chosen people of God.  The book rises from the sixth century BC, during the Captivity of the Jews in Babylon (the Exile). Today’s selection from Daniel expresses well the Jewish understanding of the Kingship of God and that of the Promised Messiah.  It describes the mysterious “Son of Man” (with whom Jesus would later identify himself), as coming on the clouds, glorified by God and given the dominion that will last forever.  In his vision, Daniel saw God seated on a Throne, with millions of people serving Him.  Into His presence there came a human figure, "one like a Son of Man,” to whom were given (v.14) "dominion and glory and kingship, that all should serve him... his kingship is one which shall never be destroyed."  He would be the King of kings and the Lord of glory and His Kingdom would last forever.  The New Testament proves that Jesus is this long-awaited King of the Jews.  Second reading: Revelation 1:5-8, explained: The New Testament Book of Revelation has the same apocalyptic character as the Book of Daniel, although that element is not very evident in today's short selection.  Its readers were being persecuted, and the author wanted to bolster their Faith. To the description of Jesus given here, we can apply what was said above about the Son of Man and His commission from the Ancient One.  Today’s reading from the Book of Revelation also explains how the risen Christ will come amid the clouds as the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last of all things.  In its apocalyptic style, the Book of Revelation describes how Jesus has become our King by freeing us from our sins by His Blood (and so from the ruler of darkness), and by blessing all of us to be priests for his God and Father -- all because he loves us.  Today’s reading concludes by stating that Christ the King is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, that is, the A and the Z, the beginning and the end of our lives and of all life.  Alpha and Omega are the first and the last letters of the alphabet in Greek, the original language of this book.  Giving Jesus the Alpha title reminds us of the first theme John’s Gospel that Jesus is the Word of God, pre-existing with the Father before all creation.  To call Jesus the Omega is to say that he will be in charge at the end of the world.  The four passages refer to the supreme Kingship of Christ who founded a Kingdom for us, where He has made us priests dedicated to the service of God his Father.  He will come a second time to judge all men. Gospel exegesis: The Biblical basis of the feast: A) Old Testament texts: The title "Christ the King" has its roots both in Scripture and in the whole theology of the Kingdom of God.   In most of the Messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel, Christ the Messiah is represented as a King.  B) New Testament texts: a) In the Annunciation, recorded in Lk 13:2-33, we read: “The Lord God will make him a King, as his ancestor David was, and He will be the King of the descendants of Jacob forever and His Kingdom will never end."  In fact, the Kingdom of God is the center of Jesus’ teaching and the phrase "Kingdom of God" occurs in the Gospels 122 times, of which 90 instances are uses by Jesus.  b) The Magi from the Far East came to Jerusalem and asked the question: (Mt. 2:2) “Where is the baby born to be the King of the Jews?  We saw his star… and we have come to worship him."  c) During the royal reception given to Jesus on Palm Sunday, the Jews shouted: (Lk 19:38) “God bless the King, who comes in the name of the Lord."  d) During the trial of Jesus described in today’s Gospel, Pilate asked the question:  (Jn 18:33):  “Are you the king of the Jews?"  Jesus replied: “You say that I am a king.  I was born and came into this world for this one purpose, to bear witness to the Truth."   e) The signboard hung over Jesus’ head on the cross read: “Jesus the Nazarene, king of the Jews."  f) Before his Ascension into Heaven, Jesus declared: (Mt. 28:18): “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.”  g) Finally, in Matthew 25:31, we read that Christ the King will come in glory to judge us on the day of the Last Judgment. Jesus’ clarification of his kingship before Pilate during his trial: The Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy for claiming to be God, and they wanted him to die by the most shameful and painful death, Roman execution.  Hence, they brought Jesus before Pilate the Roman governor and accused Jesus of causing sedition against the Roman Empire and Caesar. "We found this man inciting our people to revolt, opposing payment of the tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be Christ, a king" (Lk 23:2).  Today’s Gospel presents the first part of the trial conducted by Pilate who questions Jesus about his kingship.  In his dialogue with Pilate, Jesus implies that Pilate does not understand the spiritual or transcendent nature of Jesus’ kingship (“My Kingdom does not belong to this world”).  Jesus admits that he is a king but declares that his Kingdom is not of this world.  Neither his present nor his future reign operates according to the world’s criteria of power and dominance.  Jesus’ Kingdom, the reign of God, is based on the beatitudes, and he rules through loving service rather than through domination.  His authority is rooted in truth, not in physical force.  Jesus also claims that he has come to bear witness to the truth about a larger and eternal Kingdom.  Jesus has come to bear witness to the truth: about God and His love, about us and about whom we are called to be.   What is the Kingdom of God? What is the Kingdom of Christ the King? Here is a beautiful explanation given by Gerald Darring (St. Louis University: Center for Liturgy): The Kingdom of God is a space. It exists in every home where parents and children love each other. It exists in every region and country that cares for its weak and vulnerable. It exists in every parish that reaches out to the needy. The Kingdom of God is a time. It happens whenever someone feeds a hungry person, or shelters a homeless person, or shows care to a neglected person. It happens whenever we overturn an unjust law, or correct an injustice, or avert a war. It happens whenever people join in the struggle to overcome poverty, to erase ignorance, to pass on the Faith. The Kingdom of God is in the past (in the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth); it is in the present (in the work of the Church and in the efforts of many others to create a world of goodness and justice); it is in the future (reaching its completion in the age to come). The Kingdom of God is a condition. Its symptoms are love, justice, and peace. Jesus Christ is king! We pray today that God may free all the world to rejoice in His peace, to glory in His justice, to live in His love. Life Messages: 1) We need to assess our commitment to Christ the King today.  As we celebrate the Kingship of Christ today, let us remember the truth that He is not our King if we do not listen to him, love him, serve him, and follow him.  We belong to his Kingdom only when we try to walk with him, when we try to live our lives fully in the spirit of the Gospel and when that Gospel spirit penetrates every facet of our living.  If Christ is really King of my life, he must be King of every part of my life, and I must let him reign in all parts of my life.  We become Christ the King’s subjects when we sincerely respond to his loving invitation: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart" (Matthew 11:29).  By cultivating in our lives the gentle and humble mind of Christ, we show others that Jesus Christ is in indeed our King and that he is in charge of our lives. 2) We need to give Jesus control over our lives.  Today’s Feast of Christ the King reminds us of the great truth that Christ must be in charge of our lives, that we must give him sovereign power over our bodies, our thoughts, our heart and our will.  In every moral decision we face, there’s a choice between Christ the King and Barabbas, and the one who seeks to live in Christ's Kingdom is the one who says, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”  Let us ask ourselves the question, "What does Jesus, my King, want me to do or say in this situation?"  Are we praying each day that our King will give us the right words to say to the people we meet that day, words that will make us true ambassadors of Jesus?  Does our home life as well as the way we conduct ourselves with our friends come under the Kingship of Jesus?  Or do we try to please ourselves rather than him? 3) We need to follow Christ the King’s lesson of humble service to the truth. Christ has come to serve and to be of service to others.  Hence, we are called to his service - service to the truth.  In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus saying that the reason for his coming – the reason that he was born – was to “bear witness” to the truth.  The truth to which Jesus bears witness by His Life and which he teaches us is that God, His Father, is also our loving and forgiving Father, so we are all His children, forming one body.  Hence, whatever we do for His children, and our sisters and brothers, we do for Him.  So we are called to be a people who reach out to embrace the enemy and the stranger, a people who are called to glory in diversity, a people who will endlessly forgive, a people who will reach out in compassion to the poor and to the marginalized sectors of our society, a people who will support one another in prayer, a people who will realize that we are called not to be served, but to serve.  In other words, servant-leadership is the model that Christ the King has given us. “For the Christian, ‘to reign is to serve Him,’ particularly when serving ‘the poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the image of her poor and suffering founder’” (CCC #786). 4) We need to obey the law of love of Christ the King.  Citizens of Christ’s kingdom are expected to observe only one major law--the law of love.  "Love God with your whole heart and love your neighbor as yourself.”  "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."  Jesus expects a higher degree of love from His followers: “Love one another as I have loved you.”  On this great Feast of Christ, the King, let us resolve to give him the central place in our lives and promise to obey his commandment of love by sharing what we have with all his needy children. JOKE OF THE WEEK #1: Christ is in charge: Susan C. Kimber, in a book called Christian Woman, shares a funny piece of advice she received from her little son: "Tired of struggling with my strong-willed little son, Thomas, I looked him in the eye and asked a question I felt sure would bring him in line: 'Thomas, who is in charge here?'  Not missing a beat, he replied, ‘Jesus is, and not you mom.’ "  #2: Co-pilot Christ the king: Many people love bumper sticker theology.  Bumper stickers may not always have the soundest theological statements, but they generally at least have the ability to make you think.  One such, “God is my Co-pilot," has also been found on Church signs, where the theology is just as much fun and sometimes sounder.  In this case, the Church sign says, "If Christ the King is your Co-Pilot, change seats." # 3: "Right near the end!" Once a priest was giving a homily and as he went on, he became more animated. He made a sweeping gesture - and accidentally knocked his papers from the pulpit. He scrambled to pick them up, then asked, "Now, where was I?" A voice from the congregation responded, "Right near the end!" Well, we are at the end - not of the homily, but of the liturgical year # 4: The most famous man who ever lived: One day a kindergarten teacher nun said to the class of 5-year-olds, "I'll give $2 to the child who can tell me who was the most famous man who ever lived." An Irish boy put his hand up and said, "It was St. Patrick. "The teacher said, "Sorry Sean, that's not correct." Then a Scottish boy put his hand up and said, "It was St. Andrew." The teacher replied, "I'm sorry, Hamish, that's not right either. "Finally, a Jewish boy raised his hand and said, "It was Jesus Christ." The teacher said, "That's absolutely right, Marvin, come up here and I'll give you the $2." As the teacher was giving Marvin his money, she said, "You know Marvin, you being Jewish, I was very surprised you said Jesus Christ." Marvin replied, "Yeah. In my heart I knew it was Moses, but business is business..."   (Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604.)  
OT II – B (1)
OT II – B (1)

OCT 18: WORLD MISSION SUNDAY - 2015

Anecdote: # 1: “I have no other plan.” S.D. Gordon has a beautiful story about

the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. When the grand welcome ceremony was

over, the Archangel Gabriel approached Jesus to resolve  his doubts. He said, “I

know that only very few in Palestine are aware of the great work of human

salvation you have accomplished through your suffering, death and Resurrection.

But the whole world should know and appreciate it and become your disciples,

acknowledging you as their Lord and Savior. What is your plan of action?”  Jesus

answered, “I have told all my Apostles to tell other people about me and preach

my message through their lives. That’s all.” “Suppose they don’t do that,” Gabriel

responded. “What’s your Plan B?” Jesus replied, “I have no other plan; I am

counting on them.” On this World Mission Sunday, the Church reminds us that

Jesus is counting on each one of us to make him known loved and accepted by

others around us.

# 2: "We Wanted To Be Like Them" A striking story tells about one remote area

in western Sudan. Expatriate missionaries, especially priests, Brothers and

Sisters, had labored there for many years with few visible results. Then

expatriate lay missionaries -- married and single -- came to that area and soon

many Sudanese people become Catholics. A Sudanese elder explained: "When

we saw the priests and Sisters living separately and alone we didn't want to be

like them. But when we saw Catholic families -- men, women and children --

living happily together, we wanted to be like them." In our family-oriented African

society, married missionary couples with children have a powerful and unique

witness and credibility. (Fr. Joseph G. Healey, M.M., a Maryknoll missionary)

# 3:  "God Is Like a Large Baobab Tree" One day my pickup truck broke down

on the road from Maswa to Bariadi in western Tanzania. After I had waited for a

half hour a big Coca-Cola truck came by and the driver named Musa kindly

towed my vehicle to the next town -- a common occurrence of friendship and

mutual help on our poor dirt roads. Part of the time I sat in his big cab and we

talked about, of all things, religion. Musa was a Muslim who belonged to the

Nyamwezi Ethnic Group from Tabora. In commenting on the tensions between

Christians and Muslims in Tanzania he told me: "There is only one God. God is

like one large tree with different branches that represent the different religions of

Islam, Christianity, African Religion and so forth. These branches are part of the

same family of God so we should work together." Simply put, Musa taught me an

African metaphor of world religions and interreligious dialogue. (Fr. Healey).

Introduction: Over one billion Catholics all over the world observe today as

the 89th World Mission Sunday. This annual observance was instituted 89 years

ago in 1926 by a Papal decree issued by Pope Pius XI. Every year since then,

the universal Church has dedicated the month of October to reflection on and

prayer for the missions. On World Mission Sunday, Catholics gather to celebrate

the Eucharist and to contribute to a collection for the work of evangelization

3

around the world. This annual celebration gives us a chance to reflect on the

importance of mission work for the life of the Church. It reminds us that we are

one with the Church around the world and that we are all committed to carrying

on the mission of Christ, however different our situations may be. The greatest

missionary challenge that we face at home is a secular and consumerist culture

in which God is not important, moral values are relative and institutional religions

are unnecessary.

The Holy Fathers’ Mission Sunday messages: It is because of the

modern challenges to evangelization that, in his World Mission Sunday Message

2003, Pope St. John Paul II  called on the Church to become “more

contemplative, holy, and missionary-oriented, grounding its work on fervent

prayer.” Pope Benedict XVI, in his 2006 message, stressed the importance of

Christian charity in action as the keynote of evangelization.   "All the Churches for

all the World" was the Pope’s theme for World Mission Sunday, 2007. Pope

Benedict encouraged the sending of missionaries from Church communities

which have a large number of vocations to serve those communities of the West

which experience a shortage of vocations.  In 2008, the Pope encouraged

everyone “to take renewed awareness of the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel”

in this Pauline Year, following the example and imbibing the missionary zeal of

St. Paul, the greatest missionary of all times.  In 2009, the Pope clarified that the

“the goal of the Church's mission was to illumine all peoples with the light of the

Gospel as they journey through history towards God.” He asked all Christians to

redouble their commitment to participate in the missionary activity that is an

essential component of the life of the Church. Pope Francis, in his first World

Mission Sunday message (2013), challenged us to proclaim courageously and in

every situation the Gospel of Christ, a message of hope, reconciliation and

communion, a proclamation of God's closeness, His mercy and His salvation,

and a proclamation that the power of God’s love is able to overcome the

darkness of evil and guide us on the path of goodness. In the light of the

conclusion of the Year of Faith, the Pope offers his thoughts about Faith: the

necessity of sharing it, some roadblocks missionary efforts can encounter, and

the importance of generously responding to the missionary call of the Holy Spirit.

In his 2014 Mission Sunday message, Pope Francis challenges the Church to

become a welcoming home, a mother for all peoples and the source of rebirth for

our world through the intercession of Mary, the model of humble and joyful

evangelization. In his 2015 message Pope Francis says, “The Church’s mission

is faced by the challenge of meeting the needs of all people to return to their

roots and to protect the values of their respective cultures. This means knowing

and respecting other traditions and philosophical systems, and realizing that all

peoples and cultures have the right to be helped from within their own traditions

to enter into the mystery of God’s wisdom and to accept the Gospel of Jesus,

who is light and transforming strength for all cultures.”

The missionary Church: The Church, according to Vatican Council II, is

"missionary" in her very nature because her founder, Jesus Christ, was the first

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missionary.   God the Father sent God the Son into the world with a message.

 This message, called the Gospel or the "Good News," is explicitly stated in John

3:16: “For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that

everyone who believes in him may not die, but have eternal life.”  John further

clarifies Jesus' message in his epistle: “God sent his only Son into the world, so

that we might live through him."(I Jn 4: 9).  St. Paul writes to Timothy about the

Church’s mission: “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the

knowledge of the truth.” (I Tim. 2:4). Thus, the evangelizing mission of the

Church is essentially the announcement of God's love, mercy, forgiveness and

salvation as these are revealed to mankind through the life, death, and

Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Gospels show us how Jesus

demonstrated this all-embracing and unconditional love of God by his life,

suffering, death, and Resurrection.

 Why should we preach? Jesus, the first missionary, made a permanent

arrangement for inviting all men throughout the ages to share God’s love and

salvation:  "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the

Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to

observe everything I have commanded you." (Mt 28:19).  This is why the Council

Fathers of the Second Vatican Council declared that the Church of Christ “is

missionary in its origin and nature.”  Hence, it follows that the mission of the

Church is the mission of every member of the Church, and is not reserved for the

priests, the religious, and the active missionaries alone.    Thus, every Christian

is a missionary with a message to share -- the message of God’s love, liberation,

and eternal salvation.

How are we to accomplish this goal?   The most powerful means of fulfilling

this goal is by living a truly   Christian life -- a life filled with love, mercy, kindness,

compassion and a forgiving spirit.   Mr. Gandhi used to say:   “My life is my

message."  He often challenged the Christian missionaries to observe the

“apostolate of the rose."   A rose doesn’t preach. It simply radiates its

fragrance and attracts every one to it by its irresistible beauty.   Hence, the most

important thing is not the Gospel we preach, but the life we live.  This is how the

early Christians evangelized.   Their Gentile neighbors used to say:  “See how

these Christians love one another."   The Christ they recognized and accepted

was the Christ who lived in each Christian.

Prayer is the second means of missionary work.  Jesus said: “Without me you

can do nothing” (John 15: 5). Therefore, prayer is necessary for anyone who

wishes to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.   In his message for World Mission

Sunday, 2004, Pope St. John Paul II stressed the fact that the Holy Spirit would

help us to become witnesses of Christ only in an atmosphere of prayer.  Since

missionaries are weak human beings and since witnessing to Christ through life

is not easy, we need to support them by our prayers. In his message for 2007,

Pope Benedict reminds us, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few", the

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Lord said; "pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his

harvest" (Lk 10: 2).

All missionary efforts also require financial support because the love of God can

often be explained to the poor only by providing them with food and means of

livelihood.  The sick can experience the healing power of Jesus only through the

dedicated service of doctors, nurses, and health care workers.   Hospitals and

nursing homes require funding.  The use of expensive modern media of

communication is often necessary to bring Christ’s message of love and

liberation more effectively to non-Christians in the modern world.

Hence, on this Mission Sunday, let us learn to appreciate our missionary

obligation and support the Church’s missionary activities by leading transparent

Christian lives, by fervent prayers, and by generous donations. Pope Benedict

XVI concluded his 2006 Mission Sunday message thus: “May the Virgin Mary,

who collaborated actively in the beginning of the Church's mission with her

presence beneath the Cross and her prayers in the Upper Room, sustain their

action and help believers in Christ to be ever more capable of true love, so that

they become sources of living water in a spiritually thirsting world.”

JOKE OF THE DAY

# 1: 3) 97% of the world has heard of Coca-Cola

72% of the world has seen a can of Coca-Cola

51% of the world has tasted a can of Coca-Cola

Coke has only been around 111 years (2015).

If God had given the task of world evangelization to the Coke company it would

probably be done by now.

# 2:  Did Jesus Christ Ever Kill a Lion? A story is told about a missionary who

went to a remote area in Northern Tanzania to proclaim the Gospel among the

Maasai tribes who were warriors.  One day he was explaining to a group of

adults the saving activity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He told how Jesus is

the Savior and Redeemer of all humankind. When he finished, a Maasai elder

slowly stood up and said to the missionary: "You have spoken well, but I want to

learn more about this great person Jesus Christ. Now I have three questions

about Jesus. First, did he ever kill a lion? Second, how many cows did he have?

Third, how many wives and children did he have?"

# 3: Rescue mission to Egypt: Nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother what

he had learned in Sunday school. “Well, Mom,” he reported, “our teacher told us

how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the

Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he ordered his engineers to

build a pontoon bridge, and all the people walked across safely. He used his

walkie-talkie to radio headquarters to call in an air strike. They sent in bombers to

blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.

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"Now, Joey, is that REALLY what your teacher taught you?" his mother asked.

“Well, no, Mom,” Joey admitted, “but if I told it the way the teacher did, you'd

never believe it!”

#3: Religion is a good thing, as long as it’s in small doses. A family lived off the

alley behind my first church. There were three floors to their row house, each

floor inhabited by a different generation. The grandparents, who were members

of the church, lived on the ground floor. Next floor up was their son and daughter-

in-law, and the grandchildren’s bedrooms were at the top. One day, the

grandfather beckoned me to the back fence. “I’m worried about my grandson,” he

said. “What’s the problem?” I asked. He said, “When he gets up in the morning,

he reads the Bible before he does anything else. Every time he sits at the kitchen

table, he insists on saying grace. Now he’s talking about joining a prayer group

with his girlfriend.” Walter,” I said, “what’s the problem?” “Don’t get me wrong,

Reverend,” he said. “Religion is a good thing, as long as it’s in small doses. I’m

worried my grandson is becoming an extremist.” I admit it was hard to

sympathize with my neighbor. So far, no member of my family has been lost to

such radical behavior. Neither has a child of mine wandered off to the Temple for

three days. But it’s important to remember that religious commitments can divide

a family. [William G. Carter, Praying for a Whole New World, CSS Publishing

# 5: The hell broke loose: Mark Twain used to tell a joke that he put a dog and a

cat in a cage together as an experiment, to see if they could get along. They did.

So he put in a bird, pig and goat. They, too, got along fine after a few

adjustments. Then he put in a Baptist, a Presbyterian, and a Catholic, and hell

Additional anecdotes: 1) "You're not a white man; you're Jesus.”  A

touching story is told of a British missionary priest who lived   in a remote part of

Tanzania.  He lived alone, a single white man among his African flock, speaking

their language.  One day a British government official arrived on a tour of the

area. The Tanzanian children ran out to welcome the visitor. They entertained

the official by clapping, singing and dancing.  After the official left, the children

excitedly told the missionary priest, "We saw a white man! We saw a white

man!"   Some of the children said that the visitor was the first foreigner they had

ever seen. The priest was amazed and exclaimed, "But I'm a white man. I'm a

foreigner. But I've been living here with you all these years."   One of the children

said, "You're not a white man; you're Jesus, you are our Father."  Mission

Sunday reminds us that transparent Christian life, as lived by this missionary,

radiating the real presence of Jesus within, is the mission of every Christian.

(Joseph G. Healey, M.M).

2)  "Athanasius Evangelized Me With a Cup of Tea" : One day Bishop

Christopher Mwoleka came to our house in Nyabihanga Village in Rulenge,

7

Tanzania on an unexpected visit. My good friend Athanasius and I hurriedly

prepared tea for the villagers who came to greet the bishop. We started with two

full thermoses, but then several other visitors came and soon we had finished all

the tea. I wondered what I would do if another person came. Just then one of our

neighbors arrived to say hello. As I started to apologize for not having any more

tea, Athanasius spontaneously picked up his own cup of tea and politely handed

it to the visitor. It was a simple gesture of sharing, but for me a profound act of

love and beauty. By his example Athanasius had evangelized me. (Joseph G.

3) Americans give $700 million per year to mission agencies. However, they pay

as much for pet food every 52 days. A person must overeat by at least $1.50

worth of food per month to maintain one excess pound of flesh. Yet $1.50 per

month is more than what 90 percent of all Christians in America give to missions.

If the average missions' supporter is only five pounds overweight, it means he

spends (to his own hurt) at least five times as much as he gives for missions. If

he were to choose simple food (as well as not overeat), he could give ten times

as much as he does to missions and not modify his standard of living in any other

way!  [Ralph Winter of the William Carey Library, 1705 North Sterra Bonita

Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91104, in Leadership, IV,4,p. 64. ]

 4) Mary Moffatt Livingstone:  Sometimes marriage to a great leader comes with

a special price for his wife. Such was the case for Mary Moffatt Livingstone, wife

of Dr. David Livingstone, perhaps the most celebrated missionary in the Western

world. Mary was born in Africa; she was the daughter of Robert Moffatt, the

missionary who inspired Livingstone to go to Africa. The Livingstones were

married in Africa in 1845, but the years that followed were difficult for Mary.

Finally, she and their six children returned to England so she could recuperate as

Livingstone plunged deeper into the African interior. Unfortunately, even in

England Mary lived in near poverty. The hardships and long separations took

their toll on Mrs. Livingstone, who died when she was just forty-two.

OT II – B (2)
OT II – B (2)

SYNOPSIS OF OT II SUNDAY [B] Homily Jn 1:35-42 (L/18)

Introduction: The main theme of today’s Scripture readings is Divine vocation – that everyone is called by God to be a witness for Christ by doing something for others with his or her life, using his or her unique gifts and blessings. Hence, today’s readings remind us of our personal and corporate call to become witnesses for Jesus, the Lamb of God, by leading lives of holiness and purity.

Scripture lessons summasrized:  The first reading describes how Yahweh called Nike Air Zoom Structure 18 Vs 20 Samuel to His service and how the boy Samuel responded to Him, saying, “Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening.” Hence, God blessed him in the mission entrusted to him, and Samuel became an illustrious figure, ranking with Moses and David as a man of God.  In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 40), the psalmist sings, “Behold, I come to do Your will,”  indicating   that his vocation is to obey, to do what God commands him to do. In the second reading, St. Paul explains to the Corinthians that their Divine call is a call to holiness.  Hence, they need to keep their bodies pure and souls holy because by Baptism they have become parts of Christ’s Body and the temples of the Holy Spirit.  In the Gospel, John the Baptist claims that his vocation is to introduce Jesus to two of his disciples as the “Lamb of God,” suggesting Jesus’vocation to become a sacrificial lamb to atone for our sins. The disciples followed Jesus to his residence, accepting his invitation to “come and see.”  They stayed with him that day.  Then Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus, introducing Jesus to him as the Messiah.  Thus, today’s Gospel also describes the call or vocation of the first apostles and challenges us to invite others to Christ by our Christian witnessing.

Life messages: 1) Our Christian vocation is to live and die like the Lamb of God.  (A) We live like the Lamb of God: 1) by leading pure, innocent, humble, selfless lives, obeying Christ’s commandment of love; 2) by appreciating the loving providence and protecting care of the Good Shepherd in his Church;  3) by partaking of the Body and Blood of the Good Shepherd in the Holy Eucharist and deriving spiritual strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the Sacraments.  (B) We are called to die like the Lamb of God: a) by sharing sacrificially our blessings of health, wealth and talents with others in the family, parish and community; b) by bearing witness to Christ in our illness, pain and suffering through our graceful acceptance of all of it; c) by offering our sufferings for God’s glory, as penance for our sins and for the conversion of sinners.

 

2) Our call is to bear witness to the Lamb of God.  Doing this requires a personal experience of Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We get this personal of experience of Jesus in our daily lives through the meditative reading and study of the Bible, through personal and family prayers and through our active participation in the Eucharistic celebration. Once we have experienced the personal presence of Jesus in our daily lives, we will start sharing with others the Good News of love, peace, justice, tolerance, mercy and forgiveness preached and lived by Jesus.

OT II [B] : I Sam 3:3b-10, 19; I Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20; Jn 1:35-42

Anecdote: 1: “Eureka, Eureka.”  According to legend, the ruler Hieros II asked the Greek philosopher Archimedes to find a method for determining whether a crown was made of pure gold or of gold mixed with silver.  One day when Archimedes stepped into his bath and noticed that the water rose as he sat down, he ran out of the house naked shouting, "Eureka! Eureka!" (= "I have found it!")  The method to determine whether or not a crown was pure gold, discovered by Archimedes in his bathtub, was to compare its weight to its volume.  If one had one pound of gold and one pound of silver and submerged them in water, the silver would make the water rise higher than the gold, because it is less dense than gold, and therefore larger in volume, displacing more water.  Archimedes compared the volume of water displaced by the suspect crown with that displaced by a pure gold crown of equal weight.  Archimedes did not "find" this truth by searching after it -- although he might have spent days thinking about a solution to the problem.  His "find" came as an unexpected surprise.  He had probably noticed the water in the bathtub rising hundreds of times before, but its significance didn't "click" in his brain until that "eureka" moment.  Today’s Gospel describes how John discovered Jesus as the Lamb of God and how Andrew, Simon, and Nathaniel discovered him as the “Promised Messiah” quite unexpectedly.  Jesus was their "Eureka."

# 2: A lamb on the roof: In the city of Werden, Germany, there stands a Catholic Church with a lamb carved out of stone and placed on its roof. It was said that when the Church was being built, a stone-carving mason fell from a high scaffold. His co-workers rushed down, expecting to find him dead. But to their surprise and joy, he was alive and only slightly injured. How did he survive? A flock of sheep was passing beneath the tower at that time, and he landed on top of a lamb. The lamb broke his fall and was crushed to death, but the man was saved. To commemorate that miraculous escape, he carved a lamb in stone and placed it on the tower, in gratitude for the lamb that saved his life. Today we are here at this Liturgy to remember and salute another Lamb who died a cruel death to save mankind. In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist introduces Jesus as the  “Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.”

3) “I asked 300,000 to support me, but only 140 to affirm Jesus.” Former President Jimmy Carter is not shy about sharing the Faith. He and wife Rosalynn have been on numerous faith-sharing missions in America and overseas. In his book Living Faith, Jimmy Carter recounts a humbling experience. He says that when he was preparing to run for governor a second time, he was invited to speak to a Christian men's group about his activities as a Christian witness. In preparation for that talk, he took account of the witnessing he had done. He added up the times when he had shared the faith with other people, one-on-one, and they had made commitments to Christ. The total number came to 140. But then, said Carter, "The Lord must have been looking over my shoulder because immediately I remembered my 1966 political campaign when Rosalynn and I had traveled the state and had shaken hands with 300,000 Georgians, extolling my good points, and asking them to vote for me. I had asked 300,000 to support me, but only 140 to affirm Jesus. The terrible difference in those numbers brought me to my knees."

Introduction: Today’s theme is Divine vocation.  Everyone is called by God to be something, to do something for others with his life and with his unique gifts. Hence, today’s readings remind us of our personal and corporate call to become witnesses for the Lamb of God and to lead lives of holiness and purity.  We are told that each of us, as a Christian, is personally called to discipleship, which demands an ongoing response of commitment.  The first reading describes how Yahweh called Samuel to His service. The boy Samuel responded to God promptly, as instructed by his master and mentor, Eli, saying, “Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening.” Hence, God blessed him in the mission entrusted to him, and Samuel became an illustrious figure, ranking with Moses and David as a man of God.  In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 40), the psalmist sings, “Behold, I come to do Your will,” voicing his recognition that his vocation has called him to obey God’s command, that is, to do His will. In the second reading, we listen to St. Paul speaking to us, too, as he reminds his readers that they have a Divine call, a call to holiness.  He argues that Christians need to keep their bodies pure and their souls holy because in Baptism they have become parts of Christ’s Body and the temples of the Holy Spirit.  In the Gospel, John the Baptist introduces Jesus to two of his disciples as the,“Lamb of God.”  They follow Jesus to His residence, accepting his call to “come and see,”going with Him and staying with Him that day. Then Andrew brings his brother, Simon, to Jesus, introducing Jesus to him as the Messiah.  Thus, today’s Gospel describes the call of the first apostles.

The first reading explained, : The book of Samuel begins with a long narrative of what we might call ancient Israel's middle history.  Moses, Aaron, and Joshua were gone from the scene.  The period of rule by Judges had begun (at about 1000 BC).  The first chapter describes how Samuel was born to a long-barren couple by Divine intervention.  They dedicated him in his early childhood to God's service in the Temple at Shiloh, as an apprentice to the priest Eli.  The boy's duties included attendance during the night near "the Ark of God," a most sacred cult object and a place of unique Divine presence among the people.  God called Samuel one night and Samuel thought it was his master Eli. Twice God called, twice Samuel went to Eli and twice Eli told him to go back to sleep.  The third time God called and Samuel went to Eli, the old priest realized what was going on, and told Samuel, "Next time, say, 'Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening.’”  The threefold repetition of God's call Golden Goose Deluxe Brand Sale indicates genuine experience rather than hallucination.  Eli knew the proper response for all God's followers: "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening."  Only those willing to carry out the Lord's wishes will be able to hear God calling -- even in the middle of the night.  Though Eli had served God faithfully, it was Samuel whom God called.  Samuel became an illustrious figure, ranking with Moses and David as a man of God.  The lesson for us is that God often calls ordinary people, including the young, to serve within the community.  Consequently, we all need guidance in discerning and responding to His will.  Our lives as God's followers revolve around seeking, finding and responding to God’s calls.  Listening to the call of God is to hear, understand, and accept it in word and action.  Is God calling me today for a special mission?  What is He saying to me?  Am I really listening?

The second reading erxplaioned, :  The letter is addressed to all members of the Church at Corinth.  Corinth was a bawdy seaport in cosmopolitan Greece and the center of intellectual ferment.  The vices of every seaport, plus the philosophical ferment of ancient Greece, were all  part of these peoples' lives, and gave rise, in part, to the need for this letter.  One of the greatest besetting sins of the pagan port-town of Corinth was prostitution.  A few Christians even tried to justify prostitution as part of the Christian liberty which Paul had preached to them.  Corinth was a difficult place to preach a new doctrine and a new morality, but Paul had dared to preach both, provoking intense controversy. The pagan Corinthians believed that the soul of man was the important part and the body a mere piece of matter.  They looked on the body as a   matter of instincts to be fulfilled, including the sex instinct.  Therefore, they argued, one ought to let the desires of the body have their way. Some of the Christian Corinthians had apparently picked up these pagan ideas. So Paul reminded them that they were "sanctified and called to be holy" like all who call on the name of Jesus.  Just as God called Samuel and Jesus called his apostles, the Corinthian Christians were called to lead a life of holiness.  Paul’s argument runs like this:  since God's Spirit dwells in us, we have become temples of God and consequently our bodies are sacred.  In addition, Christ gave his life in order that man might be redeemed, body and soul.  Hence, a man's body is not his own to do with as he likes; it is Christ's, and a man must use it, not for the satisfaction of his lusts, but for the glory of Christ.

Gospel Exegesis: John the Baptizer’s selfless witnessing: John's Gospel presents John the Baptist as a self-effacing figure whose role is preeminently one of witnessing.  Instead of building up his own following, John selflessly directed his disciples to Jesus.  John the Baptist gave testimony to Jesus by pointing Him out as the Lamb of God (vv 29, 36); Andrew called him the Messiah (v 41), and Nathaniel called Jesus Rabbi, Son of God, and King of Israel (v 49).  Jesus completed the epiphany, declaring Himself the Son of Man (v 51).  In the Synoptic gospels, Jesus called the disciples away from their fishing boats to follow him (Matt 4:18-22, et al.).  But in the Fourth Gospel, they went to Him at John's direction rather than in response to Jesus' call.  Instead of leaving their boats, they left John. On the second day of Jesus’ public ministry, John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the Jews as the “Lamb of God.” (Jn 1:29). He repeated the name on the third day in introducing Jesus to two of his own disciples as described in today’s Gospel.

The Lamb of God: This is the most meaningful title given to Jesus in the Bible.  It is used 29 times in the book of Revelation.  It sums up the love, the sacrifice and the triumph of Christ.  John’s introduction might have brought five pictures of the “lamb” to the minds of his Jewish listeners.  1) The Lamb of Atonement (Lv 16:20-22).  A lamb was brought to the Temple on the Day of Atonement (“Yom Kippur”).  Placing his hands over its head, the high priest transferred all the sins of his people to the lamb.  It was then sent into the wilderness (as the lamb who takes away the sins of the Jews) to be killed by some wild animal.  2) The Lamb of Daily Atonement (Ex 29:38-42; Nm 28:1-8).  This was the lamb sacrificed on the “Black Altar” of the Temple every morning and evening to atone for the sins of the Jews.  3) The Paschal Lamb (Ex 12:11ss.).  The Paschal Lamb’s blood saved the firstborn of the Jewish families in Egypt from the “Angel of destruction.” The event was memorialized yearly in the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb at Passover. 4) The Lamb of the Prophets, an image portraying one who, by his sacrifice, would redeem his people: “The gentle lamb led to the slaughterhouse” (Jer 11:19), “like a lamb to the slaughter” (Is 53:7).  Both, as we know, refer to the sufferings and sacrificial death of Christ.  5) The Lamb of the Conquerors.  The picture of a horned lamb on the Jewish flag at the time of the Maccabaean Liberation War was used as a sign of conquering majesty and power.  The great Jewish conquerors like Samuel, David and Solomon were described by the ancient Jewish historians as “horned lambs.”

Christ as Lamb of God is a title familiar to us.  In the Eucharist, at "the    breaking of the bread," we proclaim what the Baptist said, in word or song.  Our traditional   “fractional anthem” is the Agnus Dei – “Lamb of God, who take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us/grant us peace.”  In this prayer, we give expression to our deepest understanding of the identity and purpose of Jesus Christ as our Lamb and Lord.  Because of his life of love and sacrifice, we believe and affirm that he is the one who came and continues to come into a broken world to take our sins upon himself.

Stages in God’s call: In the opening verses of today’s Gospel, John points out to his disciples that the One who is passing by is the “Lamb of God.”  Two of John’s disciples follow Jesus who turns and asks them what they are seeking.  Somewhat confused, they ask Jesus where he is staying.  Jesus does not tell them. Instead, he invites them to “come and see.”  For each of us, belief in Jesus develops in stages, which John appears to be describing.  First, we respond to testimony given by others.  Then, having "seen" where Jesus dwells - within believers, as individuals and as community - we move to commitment based on our own experience of the risen Lord.  Finally, our conversion is completed when we become witnesses for Jesus.  In Andrew's case, his conversion reveals his belief in Jesus as the Messiah.  He then brings his brother Peter to Christ.  Jesus looks at Simon and says, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called 'Cephas' or 'Peter.'” Cephas is the Aramaic word for "rock” while the Greek word for rock is "Petros."  This kind of name-change has precedents in the Old Testament (Gn 17:5, 32:28).  Such name-changes indicate the beginning of a new life—a new purpose—a new relationship with God. Simon's new life in Christ is symbolized by his new name, "Peter," conferred by the Master.  The evangelist sets out a challenging pattern for evangelization.  The first people to be evangelized preached Jesus in their turn to relatives, friends, and even to strangers.  We, too, must find and grow in Faith through our grace-assisted lifelong seeking of God's will, as we come to God through Jesus, whom we find in the local Christian community.

Life Messages: 1) Our Christian call is to live and die like the Lamb of God.  (A) We live like a lamb: 1) by leading pure, innocent, humble, selfless lives, obeying Christ’s commandment of love; 2) by appreciating the loving providence and protecting care of the Good Shepherd in his Church; 3) by partaking of the Body and Blood of the Good Shepherd in the Holy Eucharist and deriving spiritual strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the Sacraments.  (B) We die like a sacrificial lamb: 1) by sharing our blessings of health, wealth and talents with others in the family, parish and community; 2) by bearing witness to Christ in our illness, pain and suffering; 3) by offering our suffering for the salvation of souls and as reparation for our sins and those of others.

2) Our call is to rebuild broken lives. Like the missionary call of Samuel and the apostles, we too are called.  Our call is to rebuild broken lives, reconciling them to God's love and justice through Christ Jesus, our Lamb and Lord. A. Through Baptism into the Body of Christ, we are empowered and enabled by the Holy Spirit to free the oppressed. B. Through the love of the Lamb of God, we are called to better the lot and improve the broken spirit of all who have been exiled from the possibility of hope, exiled from God's righteousness or burdened by the yoke of spiritual, social, economic, and political dislocation. C. In other words, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the glorified Lamb, we are called to empower the human spirit with a sense of identity and purpose.

3) Our call is to bear witness to the Lamb of God.  Today's Gospel reminds us that being a disciple of Jesus means that we are to grow in faith and become witnesses for him. A. Bearing witness to Christ is an active rather than a passive enterprise.  Knowing Jesus is a matter of experience.  One could know the Wales Kits 2014 Catechism of the Catholic Church, all 700 pages of it, by heart, and still not know Jesus. B. Bearing witness to Christ, then, demands that we should have personal and first-hand experience of Jesus.  1. We get this personal of experience of Jesus in our daily lives – through the meditative reading and study of the Bible, through personal and family prayers and through the Sacraments, especially by participation in the Eucharistic celebration. 2. Once we have experienced the personal presence of Jesus in our daily lives, we will start sharing with others the Good News of love, peace, justice, tolerance, mercy and forgiveness preached and lived by Jesus.  C. The essence of our witness-bearing is to state what we have seen, heard, experienced and believed, and then to invite others to "come and see."  Other people will see Jesus in our lives when we love, forgive and spend time doing good. D. A dynamic and living experience of Jesus will also enable us to invite and encourage people to come and participate in our Church activities.

JOKES OF THE WEEK

1)  A little boy was listening to a long and excessively boring sermon in Church on vocation to priesthood and religious life. Suddenly the red sanctuary lamp caught his eye. Tugging his father's sleeve, he said, "Daddy, when the light turns green can we go home?"

2) A Catholic boy and a Jewish boy were talking and the Catholic boy said, "My priest knows more than your rabbi." The Jewish boy said, "Of course he does! That is because you tell him everything in confession."

3)  The son-in-law’s testimony: A rich Jewish business man named Raymond went to meet Ben, his new son-in-law to be.  He said to Ben, "So, tell me, Ben, my boy, what you do?" "I study the Theology," Ben replied. "But Ben, you are going to marry my daughter! How are you going to feed and house her?" “No problem," says Ben, "I study Theology, and it says God will provide." "But you will have children; how will you educate them?" asked Raymond. "No problem," says Ben, "I study Theology, and it says God will provide." When Raymond returned home, his wife anxiously asked him what Ben was like. "Well," said Raymond, "he's a lovely boy. I only just met him, and he already thinks I'm God." (Source:Jewish Jokes)

4)  Worse pastors: At morning Mass, the pastor announced to the congregation that the bishop had just appointed him to another parish.  After the Mass, a woman came up to him and expressed her dismay at his leaving.  "Oh, I'm sure the bishop will send you someone who's far better than I am."  The pastor tried to console her. "No," the woman replied, "that won't happen, and that can't happen." "Why not?" asked the priest, unable to resist the temptation to hear a compliment in the superlative about himself. "Because,” the woman said, “I’ve seen five pastors now in this parish, and each new pastor was worse than the last."

OT II – B (3)
OT II – B (3)
Ordinary Time: Second Sunday Ready! At your Service! A “call narrative” is the appropriate term to speak of our readings today.  In the Old Testament passage we hear of God’s call to the young boy Samuel; the Gospel describes the invitation of Jesus to Andrew and Simon.  All three individuals respond with generosity, following an unexpected invitation to serve the Lord and his people. Samuel’s Background.  Samuel was the son of Hannah and Elkanah.  According to Jewish tradition, Samuel was about twelve years old when he received his prophetic call during a revelation at night.  He was staying in the temple of Jerusalem, near the ark of God, which symbolized God’s presence.  The elderly priest Eli was also staying in the temple. As narrated in the first reading, Samuel did not recognize the voice of Yahweh who was calling him.  That Samuel failed a second time to recognize the voice of the Lord demonstrates his unpreparedness to follow God’s call.  Only on the third attempt, with assistance from Eli, does Samuel recognize Yahweh’s voice.  He describes himself as God’s servant; he professes his readiness to serve the Lord; he dedicates his entire life to God as a prophet. God’s Initiative.  An important lesson that can be learned from these “call narratives” is that it is always God who acts first.  It was God who called Samuel to service as a prophet; it was Jesus who called Andrew and Peter to be his disciples.  Recall the words of Jesus: “You did not choose me; no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last” (Jn 15:16).  Yes, God calls, but we must respond by finding out who God is and what he is asking of us. Role of Others.  Notice that the boy Samuel needed another (Eli) to help him recognize God’s voice.  Andrew and Peter came to know Jesus through the instrumentality of John the Baptist.  Fortunately, all three listened to God’s voice that came to them through another.  This same dynamic is true for us; often it is through the words and example of others that we more clearly recognize how God is leading us.  We should seek those relationships that will expose us to people who can help us recognize God’s presence and action in our lives. Human Limitations.  Our scripture readings today also describe God’s invitation to three individuals who were not prepared for the call.  Samuel was only a young boy asleep in the temple when the call came.  Andrew and Peter were followers of John the Baptist, who then pointed them to Jesus, the Lamb of God.  We, too, accepting our limitations, are called to serve the Lord in a variety of ways. Generous Response.  Samuel had the humility to listen to God’s voice and respond: “Here I am.  You called me….  Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”  The two disciples, Andrew and Peter, are engaged by Jesus; he asks them: “What are you looking for?”  They respond: “Rabbi, where do you stay?”  Jesus responds with an invitation: “Come and see.”  And, Andrew and Peter begin to walk the path of discipleship.  We ask ourselves: Has someone pointed us toward Jesus Christ, and have we had enough courage to go to see where Jesus lives? Challenges.  The “call narratives” of Samuel and of Andrew and Peter present us several challenging invitations.  Do we take time to listen to God’s voice in daily life and in the Word of God (Scriptures)?  Are we instruments that help lead others to discover and encounter Jesus?  Do we often pray the words of today’s responsorial psalm: “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will”? Prepared by: James H. Kroeger, MM (E-mail:)
OT III – B (1)
OT III – B (1)

SYNOPSIS OF O.T. III SUNDAY HOMILY :  MK 1:14-20

Introduction:   The three readings today underline the absolute necessity for us of repentance and a prompt response to God’s call.

Scripture lessons: The first reading tells us how God had to deal with the disobedient, fleeing prophet Jonah to turn him around (convert him), so that, repenting, he would go to Nineveh to preach repentance there.  The wicked people of Nineveh, however, accepted Jonah as God’s prophet at once, and promptly Golden Goose Ball Star Sneakers responded to God’s call for repentance as Jonah preached it.  In the second reading, Paul urges the Christian community in Corinth to lose no time in accepting the message of the Gospel and in renewing their lives with repentance because Jesus’ second coming may occur at any moment.  Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus came to Galilee and began preaching, challenging people to “repent andbelieve in the Gospel.” Just as John did, Jesus also called for repentance, meaning a change in one's mind or in the direction of one’s life, setting new priorities. Repentance also means hating sin, not just being sorry for the consequences of one’s sins. Believing in the Gospel demands from the hearers a resolution to take Jesus’ words seriously, to translate them into action and to put trust in Jesus’ authority. Jesus preached the Gospel, or Good News, that God is a loving, forgiving, caring and merciful Father Who wants to liberate us and save us from our sins through His son Jesus.  By describing the call of Jesus' first disciples, Andrew, Peter, James and John, today’s Gospel also emphasizes how we, sinners, are to respond to God’s call with total commitment by abandoning our accustomed style of sinful life. Jesus started his public ministry immediately after John the Baptist was arrested. According to Mark, Jesus selected four fishermen, Andrew and his brother Peter with James and his brother John, right from their fishing boats. Jesus wanted these ordinary, hard-working people as assistants for his ministry because they would be very responsive and generous instruments in the hands of God.

 

Life messages: 1) We need to appreciate our call to become Christ’s disciples: Every one of us is called by God, both individually, and collectively as a parish community, to continue Jesus’ mission of preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom and healing the sick. 2) We are called individually to a way of life or vocation: – a religious commitment (priest, deacon, missionary, religious Sister or Brother, marriage partner or single person), plus a particular occupation rising from our talents (medicine, law, teaching, healing, writing, art, music, building and carpentry, home-making, child-rearing ….).  Our own unique vocation should enable us to become what God wants us to be.  As St. Francis Sales puts it, we are expected to bloom where we are planted. 3) Our call, of course, begins with our Baptism and the other Sacraments of Initiation. It is strengthened through the years with the Eucharist and Reconciliation, healed and consoled by Anointing and, for those so called, made manifest in the sacraments of Matrimony or Holy Orders. The amazing truth is that God is relentless in calling us back to Himself even when we stray away from Him. 4) Let us be thankful to God for His Divine grace of calling us to be members of the true Church. Let us remember that it is our vocation in life as Christians to transmit Christ’s Light through our living, radiating Jesus’ unconditional love, mercy, forgiveness and humble service to all in our society.

 

OT III [B]  Jon 3:1-5, 10; I Cor 7:29-31; Mk 1: 14-20

 

Anecdote: # 1: The management forgives you: J. Edwin Orr, a professor of Church history has described the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the Protestant Welsh Revivals of the nineteenth century, which resulted in realmetanoia.  As people sought to be filled with the Spirit, they did all they could to confess their wrongdoings and to make restitution.  But this created serious problems for the shipyards along the coast of Wales.  Over the years workers had stolen all kinds of things, from wheelbarrows to hammers.  However, as people sought to be right with God, they started to return what they had taken, with the result that soon the shipyards of Wales were overwhelmed with returned property.  There were such huge piles of returned tools that several of the yards put up signs that read, "If you have been led by God to return what you have stolen, please know that the management forgives you and wishes you to keep what you have taken."  In today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges each one of us to revive our lives with a true spirit of repentance.

# 2: Bigotry and the Church’s universal mission:  Bigotry creates the gaping chasm between God’s universal vision and the often myopic and selective insight of believers. Bigotry decides that certain people are better than others and Chile Kits Pes 2013 worthier of attention, while it Nike Free Flyknit 4.0 writes off others as valueless and not worth the effort. Bigotry went to the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Jesse Owens, a black American track and field athlete won four gold medals, but the leader of the host country refused to acknowledge him. Until 1954, bigotry relegated immigrants to this country to places like Ellis Island. Many remained there for months; many were unsympathetically deported. Bigotry has gone to the voting polls several times since 1954 to further limit the rights and freedoms of immigrants. Bigotry organized and executed the systematic annihilation of six million Europeans whose beliefs and traditions were considered a threat to racial purity. Bigotry rounded up and forcibly detained Asian-American citizens during World War II. Bigotry denied women in the U.S. the right to vote until 1921. Bigotry walked the streets of Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965 when advocates of civil rights were clubbed and tear-gassed by police and stoned and beaten with bottles by opponents of integration. Despite these instances of its presence (and there are countless others), bigotry is such an ugly word, that, while we readily recognize it in others, few of us are willing to consider it as a possible, personal flaw. Perhaps if we were to ask ourselves a few pointed questions. . . Do I consider anyone or any group as a lost cause and therefore beyond the scope of my ministry as a Christian? Are there people of a certain race or ethnic group I’d rather not have as neighbors? In-laws? Bosses? When ethic jokes are told, do I laugh as loudly as anyone else? What if the experience of Jonah were to be contemporized... If a call went out for a modern-day Jonah to be dispatched to [any of “countries [currently] ranked in the top 10 for extreme persecution of Christians … North Korea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Iraq [Ancient Assyria], Iran, Yemen, Eritrea …” where “nearly 215 million Christians face high persecution…” (Open Doors USA), and  where, “between the years 2005-2015, an estimated 900,000 Christians were martyred – an average of 90,000 Christians each year” (The Center for the Study of Global Christianity)]   with the duty of preaching repentance and conversion to Islamic extremists there, would I volunteer for the job? Would I think it a worthwhile endeavor? Would I put off my trip, or would I labor with the sense of urgency which Paul describes in today’s second reading? Would I rejoice if my mission were successful? Do I truly believe the reign of God and the Good News of salvation are for all without exception? Are there discrepancies between God’s concerns and my own? Jonah, Paul and Mark challenge this gathered assembly to consider these questions today and to deal with any discrepancies we may discover. (Patricia Datchuck Sánchez; relevant 2017 material appears in [ ] above; M. L. Park).

# 3: Deep-sea fishing: How many of you have ever been deep-sea fishing? I was shocked to learn that more than 2.4 million people participated in this sport last year, resulting in retail sales of almost $2.4 billion dollars and a total economic impact of almost $4.5 billion dollars. Deep-sea fishing provides jobs for nearly 55,000 people. You may be asking what deep-sea fishing has to do with the Church. You are going to see over the next four weeks that deep-sea fishing is a picture of the deep-soul fishing we are to be about as Church. "As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, 'Follow Me, and, I will make you fishers of men.'" (Mark 1:16-17). That one statement tells us what our primary business is as Church, both corporately and as followers of Jesus individually. If you are a follower of Jesus, I want you to understand that every day Jesus Christ wants fishermen-disciples to launch out into the sea of humanity and go deep-soul fishing, because the Church's primary business, and so the Christian's primary business, is the fishing business, and no matter what else we do or how well we do it, if we ever get out of the fishing business, we are out of business. Your neighborhood is a lake full of fish. Your office is a lake full of fish. Your school is a lake full of fish. When Jesus said, "I will make you fishers of men,” He was saying, “I will take you, with your personality, your background, your testimony, your influence and I will use you to catch men and women and boys and girls and bring them into my family.”

Introduction:  God’s call to discipleship, with the response of repentance, conversion and renewal of life expected from us, is the main theme of today’s readings.  No matter to what life, work or ministry God calls us, He first calls us to conversion, to reform, to repentance -- to continually becoming new people.  Those who are constantly being reformed by the Spirit will be able to follow, as true disciples, wherever God leads.  All three readings today underline the absolute necessity of such repentance and ready response to God’s call.  The first reading tells us how the prophet Jonah’s response when God called him and told him to go to Nineveh was to take ship immediately for the furthest point he could get to in the opposite direction from Nineveh!  Why? We don’t know. Perhaps he was scared. Or perhaps it was because he hated the Gentile people of Nineveh and thought that they were not worthy of God's gracious mercy. In any case, Jonah ran away. God had to halt Jonah in his flight and give him three days’ “down time” in the belly of that great fish before the prophet was ready to accept the Lord God’s “second chance” and go to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh.  Far from being hostile, however, the people and the King of Nineveh, promptly responded to God’s word as preached by His prophet, repenting in sackcloth with a fast  -- just on the chance that the Lord God “might” spare them.  In the second reading, Paul urged the community in Corinth, and us, to lose no time accepting the message of the Gospel because Jesus’second coming could occur at any time.  Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus entered Galilee and began preaching. Like John, Jesus also called for repentance.  But Jesus added the Good News that the Kingdom of God was at hand. It still is, for where Jesus is, there is the Kingdom of God. Then Jesus called on his listeners to believe in the Gospel or the Good News of God’s love, mercy and salvation. When Jesus invited Simon and Andrew and James and John to join him and help in his preaching and healing ministry, they promptly accepted his call, for discipleship is the only complete response a believer can make to that proclamation and invitation. The two greatest aspects of discipleship in Mark are being with Jesus andsharing in his mission. Disciples are invited to be with Jesus on a great spiritual journey and to share in Jesus’ mission of proclaiming God’s Kingdom in word and deed. In describing the call of Jesus' first disciples, today's Gospel also emphasizes how we, sinners, are to respond to Him with total commitment, abandoning our accustomed attitudes and styles of life to follow Him in thought, word and deed.

First reading explained, : The first reading shows us that we should respond promptly to God’s call for repentance.  The Book of Jonah was written in Palestine around the 5th century BC, after the Babylonian exile. Some of the Jews were quite nationalistic, filled with a smug sense of their superiority over all other nations. Like Jonah, they wished God would destroy the nations they perceived as His enemies.  For Jonah, the Ninevites were terrible people doing terrible things.  The story of Jonah was intended to rebuke the Palestinians’ smallness of vision, and to teach them that God had care for other peoples besides themselves.  The first two chapters describe how God responded to Jonah’s flight from His call and the mission He had assigned the prophet: He allowed him to experience a deadly storm followed by an excruciating experience in the belly of a whale.  At God’s second call to preach repentance in Nineveh, Jonah obeyed – and he was disappointed to see the ready response of that evil city to God’s message of repentance and a change of life! Jonah had not even finished the first day of his preaching journey before the people had totally turned around – doing visible penance while asking and hoping for God’s love, reconciliation and forgiveness.  Contrary to Jonah’s expectations, the pagan peoples of the city "believed in God" and "renounced their evil behavior".  But perhaps the greater change, the more radical turnabout, happened in Jonah himself.  Jonah had been an arrogant, bigoted, narrow-minded prophet.  But he finally realized that God’s love is not limited – God’s forgiveness is not to be contained – God’s offer of salvation is for all –and we’d best not thwart it.

(Lessons taught by Jonah story: Not an historic account, but a didactic fiction, i.e. a story told in order to educate, the Jonah narrative had a double lessonfor the inhabitants of Judah. First, in sending the main character of the story to foreign, pagan, Nineveh, the universality of God’s saving purpose was underscored. Second, in the bigoted persona of Jonah, the parochial and nationalistic Judahites were to recognize a caricature of themselves and to accept the challenge to broaden their concerns in order to bring them into line with those of God. Moreover, the value and quality of spirit attributed to the Ninevites was intended to awaken in the people of Judah an attitude of respect for and acceptance of others, who were often regarded as sub-human or as animals (dogs, swine). Notice that when Jonah preached his short message, the Ninevites believed God (v. 5). Conversion in Nineveh was effected, not by prophetic eloquence (“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed!?!”) but by God’s power. ) .

Second Reading explained, : The second reading also urges us to be converted and to accept the“Good News’ preached by Jesus. Thinking that the end was near and the second coming of Jesus would happen soon, Paul preferred that no one get married and that slaves not try to gain their freedom (1 Cor 7:8, 17-24). But the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World makes clear that it is precisely through engagement with the concerns of the world that Jesus’ followers are to exercise their discipleship. Saint Paul had to be strict and detailed in his moral teaching to the Christians in Corinth because Corinth was a bawdy seaport with a typical seaport's set of ethics and some very bizarre philosophical ideas.  Hence, Paul spent  on marriage and sexual morality.  He told the Corinthians to live in total freedom and detachment because nothing they had, whether things or personal attachments, was permanent, and everything could disappear at a moment's notice.  Whether life is very good or very bad, nothing lasts except the fundamental values of truth and love, of freedom and justice. In the end, it is who and Whose we are, not what we have that counts.  Hence, let us ask to have the freedom to follow the call of God and to be ready to go wherever Jesus is asking us to go.

Gospel Exegesis: Invitation to repentance: It is highly likely that Jesus and the four followers he summoned here were not strangers.  Even if they had not personally met each other before this time, they were aware of each other's aspirations and objectives.  Jesus used exactly the same words John the Baptist had used:  “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”  The Greek word used “metanoeo” means to change one's mind or direction.  Repentance means that we make a complete change of direction in our lives.  This involves a radical conversion (metanoia), a change of direction and priorities in our lives.  For Jesus, repentance is not merely saying, "I'm sorry," but also promising, “I will change my life." Real repentance means that a man has come, not only to be sorry for the consequences of his sin, but to hate sin itself.  We often think of repentance as feeling guilty, but it is really a change of mind or direction -- seeing things from a different perspective.  Once we begin to see things rightly, it might follow that we will feel bad about having seen them wrongly for so long.  But repentance starts with the new vision rather than the guilt feelings.  By true repentance we are giving up control of our lives and throwing our sinful lives on the mercy of God.  We are inviting God to do what we can't do ourselves -- namely to raise the dead -- to change and recreate us.  "Repent" is used in the Golden Goose Deluxe Brand Portugal present tense -- "Keep on repenting!"  "Continually be repentant!"  This means that repentance must be the ongoing life of the people in the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of God is the theme of Jesus’ preaching. This Kingdom is any society where God’s will is done as it is done in Heaven. Hence, a person who does the will of God perfectly is already in the Kingdom of God.  Matthew, as a devout Jew, consistently uses the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven" while Mark, a Gentile convert, uses the phrase "Kingdom of God," without any scruples about using God's name.  We probably shouldn't interpret the "Kingdom of God" as Heaven where God rules.   In telling us that the Kingdom has come near, Jesus is telling us that we can dwell in this Kingdom now, provided we repent or turn away from the idols that crowd our lives and do the will of God as it is done in Heaven, thus allowing God to reign in our lives.

Believe in the “Gospel” or “Good News.”  It was preeminently “Good News” that Jesus came to bring to men.  The Good News is that God is our loving and forgiving Father and not a punishing judge, and that He wants to save us through His son Jesus.  So St. Paul calls it the Good News of truth (Gal 2:5; Col 1:5), Good News of hope (Col 1:23), , Good News of God's promise of salvation (Eph 1:13, 3:6), Good News of peace with God and man (Eph 6:15) and Good News of immortality (2Tim 1:10).  To believe in the Good News simply means to take Jesus at his word, to believe that God is the kind of God that Jesus has told us about, to believe that God so loves the world that He will make any sacrifice to bring us back to Himself.  To believe in the “Good News” involves a total commitment – the investing of one's whole self in God without any guarantees or preconditions.

The call of the apostles: “The evangelists were not precise chroniclers of Jesus’ words and works. Adidas Hoodie

OT III – B (2)
OT III – B (2)
All Souls’ Day (November 2, 2018) Homily: All Souls’ Day is a day specially set apart that we may remember and pray for our dear ones who have gone for their eternal reward and who are currently in a state of ongoing purification. Ancient belief supported by Church tradition: People of all religions have believed in the immortality of the soul and have prayed for the dead: 1)  The Jews, for example, believed that there was a place of temporary bondage from which the souls of the dead would receive their final release. The Jewish catechism Talmud states that prayers for the dead will help to bring greater rewards and blessings to them. Prayer for the souls of the departed is retained by Orthodox Jews today, who recite a prayer known as the Mourner’s Kaddish for eleven months after the death of a loved one so that he/she may be purified. 2) First century practice:  Jesus and the apostles shared this belief and passed it on to the early Church. “Remember us who have gone before you, in your prayers,” is a petition often found inscribed on the walls of the Roman catacombs (Lumen Gentium-50). 3) The liturgies of the Mass in various rites dating from the early centuries of the Church include “Prayers for the Dead.” 4) The early Fathers of the Church encouraged this practice. Tertullian (A.D. 160-240) wrote about the anniversary Masses for the dead, advising widows to pray for their husbands. St. Augustine remarked that he used to pray for his deceased mother, remembering her request: "When I die, bury me anywhere you like, but remember to pray for me at the altar" (St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Book 9, Chapter 11, Section 27).   5) The Synods of Nicaea, Florence and Trent encouraged the offering of prayers for the dead, citing Scriptural evidences to prove that there is a place or state of purification for those who die with venial sins on their souls.   Theological reasoning: According to Revelation 21:27: “nothing unclean shall enter Heaven.” Holy Scripture (Proverbs 24:16) also teaches that even "the just sin seven times a day.” Since it would be contrary to the mercy of God to punish such souls with venial sins in Hell, they are seen as entering a place or state of purification, called Purgatory, which combines God’s justice with His mercy. This teaching is also contained in the doctrine of the Communion of Saints.   Biblical evidence: 1) II Maccabees, 12:46 is the main Biblical text incorporating the Jewish belief in the necessity of prayer and sacrifice for the dead. The passage (II Maccabees 12:39-46), describes how Judas, the military commander, “took up a collection from all his men, totaling about four pounds of silver and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering” (II Mc 12:43). The narrator continues, "If he had not believed that the dead would be raised, it would have been foolish and useless to pray for them.”   2) St. Paul seems to have shared this traditional Jewish belief. At the death of his supporter Onesiphorus, he prayed: “May the Lord grant him mercy on that Day” (II Timothy: 1:18). Other pertinent Bible texts: Matthew 12:32, I Corinthians, 3:15, Zechariah 13:19, Sirach 7:33.     The Church’s teaching: The Church's official teaching on Purgatory is plain and simple. There is a place or state of purification called Purgatory, where souls undergoing purification can be helped by the prayers of the faithful (Council of Trent). Some modern theologians suggest that the fire of Purgatory is an intense, transforming encounter with Jesus Christ and his fire of love. They also speak of Purgatory as an "instant” purification immediately after death, varying in intensity from soul to soul, depending on the state of each individual.   How do we help the “holy souls”? The Catechism of the Catholic Church recommends prayer for the dead in conjunction with the offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and also encourages "almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead" (CCC #1032).  Let us not forget to pray for our dear departed, have Masses offered for them, visit their graves, and make daily sacrifices for them. God can foresee and apply the merits of our prayers, penances and works of charity, done even years after their death, for our departed dear ones, in favor of our deceased dear ones, at the moment of their deaths. ALL SOULS’ DAY:  Wis 3:1-9; Rom 5:5-11; Jn 6:37-40 Introduction: This is a day specially set apart that we may remember and pray for our dear ones who have gone to their eternal reward, and who are currently in a state or process of ongoing purification. As a part of our annual celebration of the Christian doctrine of the Communion of Saints, yesterday we celebrated All Saints Day, the Church Triumphant, today is All Souls Day, the Church Suffering, and tomorrow should be All of Us, the Church Militant, thus completing the Communion of Saints.   Ancient tradition:  From time immemorial, people of all religions have believed in the immortality of the soul, and have prayed for the dead. The Jews, for example, believed that there was a place of temporary bondage from which the souls of the dead would receive their final release. The Jewish Talmud states that prayers for the dead will help to bring greater rewards and blessings to them. Since Jesus in no way contradicted this ancient belief, the efficacy of prayers for those who have died was incorporated by the infant Church in its teachings and practice. Evidence suggests that the belief dates back to the first century of the Church. “Remember us who have gone before you, in your prayers,” is a petition often found inscribed on the walls of the Roman catacombs (Lumen Gentium 50). In addition, Mass liturgies dating from these early centuries of the Church include “Prayers for the Dead.” Some of the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament, like the Acts of Paul and Thecla and the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity (both written during the second century), refer to the Christian practice of praying for the dead. Praying for the deceased members of the family as part of their family night prayers was also an ancient practice of oriental Christians. The early Fathers of the Church encouraged this practice which they believed had been inherited from the Apostles.   Church Fathers: Tertullian (A.D. 160-240) wrote about the anniversary Masses for the dead, advising widows to pray for their husbands. St. Augustine remarked that he used to pray for his deceased mother, remembering her request: "When I die, bury me anywhere you like, but remember to pray for me at the altar” (St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Book 9, Chapter 11, Section 27). St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386), in one of his many catechetical discourses, explained how at Mass both the living and dead are remembered, and how the Eucharistic Sacrifice of our Lord is of benefit to sinners, living and dead. St. Ambrose (d. 397) preached, "We have loved them during life; let us not abandon them in death, until we have conducted them by our prayers into the House of the Lord." St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) stated, "Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them." Pope St. Gregory (d. 604) said, "Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them." The words Trinity and Incarnation aren’t in Scripture either, yet those doctrines are clearly taught in it. Likewise, Scripture teaches that Purgatory exists, even if it doesn’t use that word. According to the New Catholic Catechism: “All who die in God’s grace and friendship but imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven.”   Logical belief, supported by Synods. Purgatory, essentially, is seen in our belief in two realities: First, that there will be a purification of believers prior to entering Heaven and second that the prayers and Masses of the faithful are sure to benefit those in the state of purification. We know that we are not perfect enough for Heaven and not wicked enough for Hell. So, there must be a middle state of purification. The observance of All Souls Day is based on the theological premise that some of those who have departed from this world, have not been perfectly cleansed from venial sin, or have not fully atoned for their past transgressions. Hence, the Catholic Church teaches that not everyone who dies in God's grace is immediately ready for the Beatific Vision, that is, the direct experience of God and His perfect nature in Heaven. So, they must be purified of "lesser faults" and the temporal punishment due to sin in a place or state of purification. The Catholic teaching on Purgatory essentially requires belief in two realities: 1, that there will be a purification of believers prior to entering Heaven, and 2, that the prayers and Masses of the faithful in some way benefit those in the state of purification. The Synods of Florence and Trent encouraged the offering of prayers for the dead, citing Scriptural evidence to prove that there is a place or state of purification for those who die with venial sins on their souls. According to Revelation 21:27, “Nothing unclean shall enter Heaven” (cfr.  also Is 35:8 and Wis 7:25). Holy Scripture teaches that even "the just sin seven times a day" (Proverbs 24:16).  Since it would be contrary to the mercy of God to punish such souls in Hell, they are seen as entering a place or state of purification, Purgatory, which combines God’s justice with His mercy. This teaching is also contained in the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. The Catholic Church understands the Communion of Saints as a relationship of love joining the faithful, living and departed. The Saints, both in Heaven and in Purgatory, pray for us, and we pray both to the Saints in Heaven for their intercession, and for those in Purgatory, that they may swiftly enter the Beatific Vision. Thus, death is no barrier to prayerful communion with the dead. We lovingly remember them and thank God for their eternal reward. These souls can experience the love of Christ who frees them from their imperfections. As the Second Vatican Council repeats, “fully conscious of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the pilgrim Church from the very first ages of the Christian religion has cultivated with great piety the memory of the dead” (Lumen Gentium, n. 50). Said Pope St. John Paul II: "Before we enter into God’s kingdom, every trace of sin within us must be eliminated, every imperfection in our soul must be corrected." (CCC #1030-1032).  Biblical evidence: 1) II Maccabees, 12:46 is the main Biblical text incorporating the Jewish belief in the necessity of prayer and sacrifice for the dead. The passage (II Maccabees 12:39-46), describes how Judas, the military commander, discovered that those of his men who had died in a particular battle had been wearing forbidden pagan amulets. His men at once "begged that the sin committed might be fully blotted out" (2 Mc 12:42). Judas then “took up a collection from all his men, totaling about four pounds of silver and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering” (2 Mc 12:43). The narrator continues, ”If he had not believed that the dead would be raised, it would have been foolish and useless to pray for them; whereas, if he had had in view the splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout. This was why he had this atonement sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin" (2 Mc 12:44-46). These verses so clearly illustrate the existence of Purgatory that, at the time of the Reformation, Protestants had to cut the books of the Maccabees out of their Bibles in order to avoid accepting the doctrine. Not only can we show that prayer for the souls of the departed was practiced by the Jews of the time of the Maccabees, but it has even been retained by Orthodox Jews today, who recite a prayer known as the Mourner’s Kaddish for eleven months after the death of a loved one so that the loved one may be purified. 2) St. Paul seems to have shared this traditional Jewish belief. At the death of his supporter Onesiphorus, he prayed: “May the Lord grant him mercy on that Day” (II Timothy: 1:18). 3) Matthew 12:32 hints at the possibility of sins being forgiven after death, "in the age to come," when Jesus refers to the impossibility of forgiveness of sins against the Holy Spirit. St. Augustine and St. Gregory interpret this phrase, "in the age to come,” as a reference to Purgatory. Jesus' statement that certain sins "will not be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come," at least suggests a purging of the soul after death. Pope St. Gregory (d. 604) stated, "As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire.” The Council of Lyons (1274) likewise affirmed this interpretation of our Lord's teaching. 4) In I Corinthians, 3:15, St. Paul speaks of a "test by fire" after death to prove the worth of our work in this world: "But if your work is burnt up, then you will lose it; but you yourself will be saved, as if you had escaped through the fire.” Several of the early Church Fathers considered this a reference to a process of purification after death. 5) Zechariah 13:19 “And I will test the third that survives and will purify them as silver is purified by fire." The Jewish School of Rabbi Shammai interpreted this passage as a purification of the soul through God's mercy and goodness, preparing it for eternal life. The Fathers of the Church interpret the statement as a reference to Purgatory. 6) Sirach 7:33 "Withhold not your kindness from the dead" The Jewish rabbis used to interpret this passage as imploring God to cleanse the souls of the deceased. The Church’s teaching: The Church's official teaching on Purgatory is plain and simple. There is a place or state of purification called Purgatory, where souls undergoing purification can be helped by the prayers of the faithful (Council of Trent). In Lumen Gentium (50-52), Purgatory is seen in the broader context of salvation and heaven. Vatican II's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church asserts, "This sacred council accepts loyally the venerable Faith of our ancestors in the living communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of Heaven or who are yet being purified after their death; and it proposes again the decrees of the Second Council of Nicaea, of the Council of Florence, and of the Council of Trent" (No. 51). The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Purgatory as the “final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (CCC #1031). “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death, they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven” (CCC #1030). “Hope does not disappoint,” says St. Paul in today’s second reading. Purgatory is a good-news, bad-news situation for those who are there. The good news is: You are on the way to salvation. The bad news is: You have to suffer temporarily as you prepare for the presence of God. But it is very different from the pain of hell. Purgatory is suffering, but not torment. “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them,” says today’s first reading. Purgatory is an invention of our God of great mercy, who never wants to give up on us. “And this is the will of the One who sent me,” says Jesus in the Gospel, “that I should not lose anything of what He gave me, but that I should raise it on the Last Day.” Modern interpretations: Some modern theologians suggest that the fire of Purgatory is an intense, transforming encounter with Jesus Christ and his fire of love. They also speak of Purgatory as an "instant” purification immediately after death, varying in intensity from soul to soul, depending on the state of each individual. According to this view, the refining fire of Purgatory is only a relic of medieval imagery. It is actually the fire of Divine love. It may, in fact, be a form of "blazing enlightenment" which penetrates and perfects our very being. God can anticipate and apply the merits of our present and future prayers for the dead, in favor of the souls we pray for, at the time of their purification. Pope Benedict considers Purgatory as an “existential state” and, hence, it is not necessarily accurate to speak of a location or duration of Purgatory. According to Pope Benedict XVI, "the souls that are aware of the immense love and perfect justice of God consequently suffer for not having responded correctly and perfectly to that love." It is the suffering of the holy souls. He continues that Purgatory is thus “the fringe of heaven, a state where heaven's eternal light has a refining effect on the “holy souls” (not 'poor souls'), who are held in the arms of Divine Mercy.”  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dWf_BtITG1Y . How do we help the “holy souls”? The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC #1032) recommends prayer for the dead in conjunction with the offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Mirae caritatis (1902), states, "The grace of mutual love among the living, strengthened and increased by the Sacrament of the Eucharist, flows, especially by virtue of the Sacrifice [of the Mass], to all who belong to the Communion of Saints. The Vatican Council II affirmed, "This sacred council accepts loyally the venerable Faith of our ancestors in the living communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of Heaven or who are yet being purified after their death..." (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) No. 51). The Catechism asserts, "From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic Sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God" (CCC #1032). In the same item, the Catechism also encourages "almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead." All these prayerful acts are to be conducted as matters of Faith and not as something magical. The greatest act is to offer Mass for the dead, because in this One Sacrifice, the merits of our Lord Jesus are applied to the dead. Hence, this reconciling offering of the Lord is the greatest and most perfect prayer, which we can offer for the dead in their state of purification. Every member of the Communion of Saints is remembered and prayed for in every Mass. There is a Mexican saying that we die three deaths: the first when our bodies die, the second when our bodies are lowered into the earth out of sight, and the third when our loved ones forget us. Let us not forget to pray for our dear departed, have Masses offered for them, visit their graves, and make daily sacrifices for them. God can foresee and apply the merits of our prayers, penances and works of charity, done even years after their death for our departed dear ones, in favor of our deceased dear ones, at the moment of their deaths. However, if indeed the departed soul has been purified and now rests in God's presence in Heaven, then those prayers and sacrifices offered benefit the other souls in purgatory through the love and mercy of God. Let us raise this prayer to God: “God of infinite mercy, we entrust to Your immense goodness all those who have left this world for eternity, where You wait for all humanity, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ Your Son, Who died as a ransom for our sins. Look not, O Lord, on our poverty, our suffering, our human weakness, when we appear before You to be judged for joy or for condemnation. Look upon us with mercy, born of the tenderness of Your heart, and help us to walk in the ways of complete purification. Let none of Your children be lost in the eternal fire, where there can be no repentance. We entrust to You, O Lord, the souls of our beloved dead, of those who have died without the comfort of the sacraments, or who have not had an opportunity to repent, even at the end of their lives. May none of them be afraid to meet You, after their earthly pilgrimage, but may they always hope to be welcomed in the embrace of Your infinite mercy. May our Sister, corporal death find us always vigilant in prayer and filled with the goodness done in the course of our short or long lives. Lord, may no earthly thing ever separate us from You, but may everyone and everything support us with a burning desire to rest peacefully and eternally in You. Amen.” (Fr Antonio Rungi, Passionist, Prayer for the Dead). (from Pope Francis’ Angelus message on Nov 2, 2014). Testimony by Fr. Paddy: When I was young, the devotion to the Holy Souls was very popular. People offered Masses for the Holy Souls. On All Souls Day each Priest offered three Masses, people came in great numbers for the Masses and they visited the Church often during the day to gain indulgences by their prayers. Even today relatives have Mass offered for their loved ones on their anniversary, birthday, Christmas and Easter. Sadly, however, prayer for the Holy Souls is not as popular as in times past. If I were to ask what is the best thing you can do for a loved one who has died what would you say? A funeral to talk about them? A nice grave and headstone? A tree, plant or a beautiful flower? Have a wonderful reception?  Yes all those things are nice. But the best gift is prayer because that is the only thing that can help them on their journey to the Lord. I have put at the end of my will, “Please don’t spend time talking about me, spend time praying for me.” For it is a holy and wholesome thing to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sin. (Oct 30, 2009) (sacredheartparish@xtra.co.nz)  On Dad’s Shoulders: In Kohima, Nagaland, there is a War cemetery where the allied soldiers who died during the War are buried. On the door of the Cemetery it is written, “Tell them that we gave our today for your tomorrow.” Like the soldiers of World War II, the memory of our near and dear ones is a reminder that we need to be grateful to them because what we are today is mainly due to their efforts and sacrifices. A Scottish poet has written, “If I have done anything in life, it is because I was able to stand on the shoulders of my dad.” (Elias Dias in Divine Stories for Families; quoted by Fr. Botelho). “And this is where they left their clothes.” A child was walking through a cemetery one day with his granddad. Puzzled by the gravestones he asked his granddad. His granddad said, “These people were living in those houses. Then God called them and now they’re living in God’s house.” The boy said, “And this is where they left their clothes.” What better way could we explain passing from this life to the next? (Fr. Jack McArdle). “I will be seeing you soon!” One day a priest was preparing a group of children for the First Communion. He wanted to know how much the kids understood the Church’s teaching on Final Judgment. He asked one of the little boys, “What will God say on Judgment day to those who have led a very good life on earth?” Without any hesitation the boy replied, “Come and enter Heaven and live with me.” The priest asked a second boy, “What will the Lord say to those who have lived a very bad life?” The boy said, “You cannot come to Heaven. You will have to go to Hell.” Then the priest went on: “Now what will God say to those who are not good enough to enter heaven at once nor bad enough to go to Hell?” After a pause a little girl put up her hand and said, “God will say, ‘I will be seeing you soon!’” (Elias Dias in Divine Stories for Families) L/18
OT III – B (3)
OT III – B (3)

OT III [B] Sunday: 

Introduction: The three readings today underline our absolute need of repentance and our immediate need for a prompt response to God’s call.  

Scripture lessons: The first reading tells us how God had to deal with the disobedient, fleeing prophet Jonah to turn him around (convert him), so that, repenting, he would go to Nineveh to preach repentance there.  The wicked people of Nineveh, however, accepted Jonah as God’s prophet at once, and promptly responded to God’s call for repentance as Jonah preached it.  In the second reading, Paul urges the Christian community in Corinth to lose no time in accepting the message of the Gospel and in renewing their lives with repentance because Jesus’ second coming may occur at any moment.  Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus came to Galilee and began preaching, challenging people to “repent and believe in the Gospel.” Just as John did, Jesus also called for repentance, meaning a change in one's mind or in the direction of one’s life and setting new priorities. Repentance also means hating sin itself, not just being sorry for the consequences of one’s sins. Believing in the Gospel demands from the hearers a resolution to take Jesus’ words seriously, to translate them into action, and to put trust in Jesus’ authority. Jesus preached the Gospel, or Good News, that God is a loving, forgiving, caring and merciful Father Who wants to liberate us and save us from our sins through His son Jesus.  By describing the call of Jesus' first disciples, Andrew, Peter, James, and John, today’s Gospel also emphasizes how we, sinners, are to respond to God’s call with total commitment by abandoning our accustomed style of sinful life. Jesus started his public ministry immediately after John the Baptist was arrested. According to Mark, Jesus selected four fishermen, Andrew and his brother Peter with James and his brother John, right from their fishing boats. Jesus wanted these ordinary, hard-working people as assistants for his ministry because they would be very responsive and generous instruments in the hands of God.

 Life messages: 1) We need to appreciate our call to become Christ’s disciples: Every one of us is called by God, both individually, and collectively as a parish community, to continue Jesus’ mission of preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom and healing the sick. 2) We are called individually to a way of life or vocation: – a religious commitment (priest, deacon, missionary, religious Sister or Brother, marriage partner, or single person), plus a particular occupation rising from our talents (medicine, law, teaching, healing, writing, art, music, building and carpentry, homemaking, child-rearing ….).  Our own unique vocation should enable us to become what God wants us to be.  As St. Francis Sales puts it, we are expected to bloom where we are planted. 3) Our call, of course, begins with our Baptism and the other Sacraments of Initiation. It is strengthened through the years with the Eucharist and Reconciliation, healed and consoled by Anointing and, for those so called, made manifest in the sacraments of Matrimony or Holy Orders. The amazing truth is that God is relentless in calling us back to Himself even when we stray away from Him. 4) Let us be thankful to God for His Divine grace of calling us to be members of the true Church. Let us remember that it is our vocation in life as Christians to transmit Christ’s Light through our living, radiating Jesus’ unconditional love, mercy, forgiveness, and humble service to all in our society.

OT III [B] (Jan 24, 2021) Jon 3:1-5, 10; I Cor 7:29-31; Mk 1: 14-20 

Homily starter anecdotes: # 1: The management forgives you: J. Edwin Orr, a professor of Church history has described the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the Protestant Welsh Revivals of the nineteenth century, which resulted for many in real metanoia.  As people sought to be filled with the Spirit, they did all they could to confess their wrongdoings and to make restitution.  But this created serious problems for the shipyards along the coast of Wales.  Over the years, workers had “appropriated,” or “borrowed,”  all kinds of things, from wheelbarrows to hammers.  However, as people sought to be right with God, they understood that they had actually stolen all these things from their shipyards, so they started to return all they had taken, with the result that soon the shipyards of Wales were overwhelmed with returned property.  There were such huge piles of returned tools that several of the yards put up signs that read, "If you have been led by God to return what you have stolen, please know that the management forgives you and wishes you to keep what you have taken." -- In today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges each one of us to revive our life with a true spirit of repentance.  

# 2: Bigotry and the Church’s universal mission:  Bigotry creates the gaping chasm between God’s universal vision and the often myopic and selective insight of believers. Bigotry decides that certain people are better than others and worthier of attention, while it writes off others as valueless and not worth the effort. Bigotry went to the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Jesse Owens, a black American track and field athlete won four gold medals, but the leader of the host country refused to acknowledge him. Until 1954, bigotry relegated immigrants to the United States of America to places like Ellis Island. Many remained there for months; many were unsympathetically deported. Bigotry has gone to the voting polls several times since 1954 to further limit the rights and freedoms of immigrants. Bigotry organized and executed the systematic annihilation of six million Europeans whose beliefs and traditions were considered a threat to racial purity. Bigotry rounded up and forcibly detained Asian-American citizens during World War II. Bigotry denied women in the U.S. the right to vote until 1921. Bigotry walked the streets of Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965 when advocates of civil rights were clubbed and tear-gassed by police and stoned and beaten with bottles by opponents of integration. Despite these instances of its presence (and there are countless others), bigotry is such an ugly word, that, while we readily recognize it in others, few of us are willing to consider it as a possible, personal flaw. Perhaps if we were to ask ourselves a few pointed questions. . . Do I consider anyone or any group as a lost cause and therefore beyond the scope of my ministry as a Christian? Are there people of a certain race or ethnic group I’d rather not have as neighbors? In-laws? Bosses? When ethic jokes are told, do I laugh as loudly as anyone else? What if the experience of Jonah were to be contemporized... If a call went out for a modern-day Jonah to be dispatched to [any of “countries [currently] ranked in the top 10 for extreme persecution of Christians … North Korea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Iraq [Ancient Assyria], Iran, Yemen, Eritrea …” where “nearly 215 million Christians face high persecution…” (Open Doors USA), and  where, “between the years 2005-2015, an estimated 900,000 Christians were martyred – an average of 90,000 Christians each year” (The Center for the Study of Global Christianity)]   with the duty of preaching repentance and conversion to Islamic extremists there, would I volunteer for the job? Would I think it a worthwhile endeavor? Would I put off my trip, or would I labor with the sense of urgency which Paul describes in today’s second reading? Would I rejoice if my mission were successful? Do I truly believe the reign of God and the Good News of salvation are for all, without exception? Are there discrepancies between God’s concerns and my own? Jonah, Paul, and Mark challenge each of us gathered in this assembly to consider these questions today and to deal with any discrepancies we may discover. (Sanchez Files)

# 3: Deep-sea fishing: How many of you have ever been deep-sea fishing? I was shocked to learn that more than 2.4 million people participated in this sport last year, resulting in retail sales of almost $2.4 billion dollars and a total economic impact of almost $4.5 billion dollars. Deep-sea fishing provides jobs for nearly 55,000 people. You may be asking what deep-sea fishing has to do with the Church. You are going to see over the next four weeks that deep-sea fishing is a picture of the deep-soul fishing we are to be about as Church. "As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, 'Follow Me, and, I will make you fishers of men.'" (Mark 1:16-17). That one statement tells us what our primary business is as Church, both corporately and as followers of Jesus individually. If you are a follower of Jesus, I want you to understand that every day Jesus Christ wants fishermen-disciples to launch out into the sea of humanity and go deep-soul fishing, because the Church's primary business, and so the Christian's primary business, is the fishing business. No matter what else we do or how well we do it, if we ever get out of the fishing business, we are out of business. Your neighborhood is a lake full of fish. Your office is a lake full of fish. Your school is a lake full of fish. When Jesus said, "I will make you fishers of men,” He was saying, “I will take you, with your personality, your background, your testimony, your influence, and I will use you to catch men, women, boys, and  girls and bring them into My family.”

Introduction:  God’s call to discipleship, with the response of repentance, conversion, and renewal of life expected from each of us, is the main theme of today’s readings.  No matter to what life, work, or ministry God calls us, He first calls us to conversion, to reform, to repentance – to the process of continually becoming new people.  Those who are constantly being reformed by the Spirit will be able to follow, as true disciples, wherever God leads.  All three readings today underline the absolute necessity of such repentance and ready response to God’s call.  

Scripture readings summarized: The first reading tells us  about the prophet Jonah, whose response when God first called him and told him to go to Nineveh was to take ship immediately for the furthest point he could get to in the opposite direction!  Why? We don’t know. Perhaps he was scared. Or perhaps it was because he hated the Gentile people of Nineveh and thought that they were not worthy of God's gracious mercy. In any case, Jonah ran away. God had to halt Jonah in his flight, then give him a three-day “time-out” in the belly of that great fish, before the prophet was ready to accept the Lord God’s “second chance” to obey Him and go to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh.  Far from being hostile, however, the people and the King of Nineveh, promptly responded to God’s word as preached by His prophet, repenting in sackcloth with a fast  -- just on the outside chance that the Lord God ”might” spare them! In the second reading, Paul urges the community in Corinth, and us, to lose no time accepting the message of the Gospel because Jesus’ second coming may  occur at any time.  Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus entered Galilee and began preaching. Like John, Jesus also called for repentance.  But Jesus added the Good News that the Kingdom of God was at hand. It still is, for where Jesus is, there is the Kingdom of God. Then Jesus called on his listeners to believe in the Gospel or the Good News of God’s love, mercy and salvation. When Jesus invited Simon, Andrew, James, and John to join him and help in his preaching and healing ministry, they promptly accepted his call, for discipleship is the only complete response a believer can make to that proclamation and invitation. The two greatest aspects of discipleship in Mark are being with Jesus and sharing in his mission. Disciples are invited to be with Jesus on a great spiritual journey and to share in Jesus’ mission of proclaiming God’s Kingdom in word and deed. In describing the call of Jesus' first disciples, today's Gospel also emphasizes how we, sinners, are to respond to Him with total commitment, abandoning our accustomed attitudes and styles of life to follow Him in thought, word, and deed.  

First reading, Jonah 3:1-5 explained: The first reading shows us that we should respond promptly to God’s call for repentance.  Our passage comes from the beginning of the second part (Jonah 3-4), where Jonah finally obeyed the Lord God by preaching of repentance to the Ninevites. The call to repentance delivered by Jonah to the people of Nineveh demanded they make a radical change in their manner of living. Jesus makes the same demand of us in today’s Gospel: “Repent and believe  in the Gospel.” The Book of Jonah was written in Palestine around the 5th century BC, after the Babylonian exile. Some of the Jews were strongly nationalistic, filled with a smug sense of their superiority over all other nations. Like Jonah, they wished God would destroy the nations they perceived as His enemies.  For Jonah, the Ninevites were terrible people doing terrible things.  The city was notorious for its lack of morals and the idolatrous, decadent life-style of its inhabitants. The story of Jonah was intended to rebuke the Palestinians’ smallness of vision, and to teach them that God had care for other peoples besides themselves.  Reading (Jonah 3:1-5, 10) we have a condensed version of the “Jonah story,” which helps us keep our focus on the workings of the Lord. The Lord “calls” and “sends” Jonah to warn the Ninevites about their need to repent and reform their lives before it is too late. The Ninevites believed the Lord’s message and responded immediately in penitential fashion, thus softening their hearts to receive God’s mercy. The first two chapters describe how God responded to Jonah’s flight from His call and the mission He had assigned the prophet: He allowed him to experience a deadly storm followed by an excruciating experience in the belly of a whale.  At God’s second call to preach repentance in Nineveh, Jonah obeyed – but he was disappointed to see the ready response of that evil city to God’s message of repentance and a change of life! Jonah had not even finished the first day of his preaching journey before the people had totally turned around – doing visible penance while asking and hoping for God’s love, reconciliation and forgiveness.  Contrary to Jonah’s expectations, the pagan peoples of the city "believed in God" and "renounced their evil behavior".  But perhaps the greater change, the more radical turnabout, happened in Jonah himself.  Jonah had been an arrogant, bigoted, narrow-minded prophet.  But he finally realized that God’s love is not limited – God’s forgiveness is not to be contained – God’s offer of salvation is for all – and we’d best not thwart it.

[Lessons taught by Jonah story: Not an historic account, but a didactic fiction, i.e., a story told in order to educate, the Jonah narrative had a double lesson for the inhabitants of Judah. First, in sending the main character of the story to foreign, pagan, Nineveh, the universality of God’s saving purpose was underscored. Second, in the bigoted persona of Jonah, the parochial and nationalistic Judahites were to recognize a caricature of themselves and to accept the challenge to broaden their concerns in order to bring them into line with God’s Will. Moreover, the value and quality of spirit attributed to the Ninevites was intended to awaken in the people of Judah an attitude of respect for and acceptance of others, who were often regarded as sub-human or as animals (dogs, swine). We notice that, when Jonah preached his short message, the Ninevites believed God (v. 5). Conversion in Nineveh was effected, not by prophetic eloquence (“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed!?!”) but by God’s power. http://www.ncrpub.org)] .

Second Reading, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 explained: The second reading also urges us to be converted and to accept the “Good News’ preached by Jesus. Thinking that the end was near and the second coming of Jesus would happen soon, Paul preferred that no one get married and that slaves not try to gain their freedom (1 Cor 7:8, 17-24). But the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World makes clear that it is precisely through engagement with the concerns of the world that Jesus’ followers are to exercise their discipleship. Saint Paul had to be strict and detailed in his moral teaching to the Christians in Corinth because Corinth was a bawdy seaport with a typical seaport's set of ethics and some very bizarre philosophical ideas.  Hence, Paul spent all of chapter 7 on marriage and sexual morality.  He told the Corinthians to live in total freedom and detachment because nothing they had, whether things or personal attachments, was permanent, and everything could disappear at a moment's notice.  Whether life is very good or very bad, nothing lasts except the fundamental values of truth and love, of freedom and justice. In the end, it is who and Whose we are, not what we have that counts.  Hence, let us ask to have the freedom to follow the call of God and to be ready to go at once wherever Jesus is asking us to go.  

Gospel exegesis:  "The time is fulfilled.” The meaning of this verse hinges on the Greek word used for ‘time’: “The time is fulfilled…” There are two different words in Greek for ‘time’, and they carry very different meanings. Mark does not use the word ‘chronos’ for ‘time’ here; ‘chronos’ indicates a moment in historical time, a date on the calendar, an hour in the day…Instead, he uses the word ‘kairos’, which still means ‘time’ but is more to do with the eternal quality inherent in any given moment. So Jesus does not announce the historical moment in time when the kingdom of God came to earth. Instead, he is alerting us to the possibility of encountering the kingdom of God at any given moment in historical time, if we repent and believe.

Invitation to repentance: Some Bible scholars believe that after his baptism, Jesus became a disciple of John, preaching his message of repentance and baptizing others (see Jn 3:22). Over the course of time, Jesus began to discover a new ministry for himself. According to Mark, Jesus embarked upon it after John was arrested (Mk 1:14).It is highly likely that Jesus and the four followers he summoned here were not strangers.  Even if they had not personally met each other before this time, they were aware of each other's aspirations and objectives.  Jesus used exactly the same words John the Baptist had used:  “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”  The Greek word used “metanoeo” means to change one's mind or direction.  But Jesus must have used the Hebrew shûbh, or its Aramaic equivalent, which means to turn around 180 degrees, to reorient one’s whole attitude toward Yhwh in the face of his coming kingdom. It therefore includes within it the demand for faith. Thus, repentance means that we make a complete change of direction in our lives.  This involves a radical conversion (metanoia), a change of direction and priorities in our lives. The mark of genuine repentance is not a sense of guilt, but a sense of sorrow, of regret for having taken a wrong turn.  For Jesus, repentance is not merely saying, "I'm sorry," but also promising, “I will change my life." Real repentance means that a man has come, not only to be sorry for the consequences of his sin, but to hate sin itself.  We often think of repentance as feeling guilty, but it is really a change of mind or direction -- seeing things from a different perspective.  Once we begin to see things rightly, it might follow that we will feel bad about having seen them wrongly for so long.  But repentance starts with the new vision rather than the guilt feelings.  By true repentance we are giving up control of our lives and throwing our sinful lives on the mercy of God.  We are inviting God to do what we can't do ourselves -- namely to raise the dead -- to change and recreate us.  "Repent" is used in the present tense -- "Keep on repenting!"  "Continually be repentant!"  This means that repentance must be the ongoing life of the people in the Kingdom. 

The Kingdom of God is the theme of Jesus’ preaching. This Kingdom is any society where God’s will is done as it is done in Heaven. Hence, a person who does the will of God perfectly is already in the Kingdom of God. Being in the Kingdom offers us a new healing and freeing access to God, already to be tasted in Jesus’ own ministry. Matthew, as a devout Jew, consistently uses the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven," while Mark, writing for Gentile converts, uses the phrase "Kingdom of God," without any scruples about using God's name.  We probably shouldn't interpret the "Kingdom of God" as Heaven where God rules.   In telling us that the Kingdom has come near, Jesus is telling us that we can dwell in this Kingdom now, provided we repent or turn away from the idols that crowd our lives and do the will of God as it is done in Heaven, thus allowing God to reign in our lives.  

Believe in the “Gospel” or “Good News.”  It was preeminently “Good News” that Jesus came to bring to men.  The Good News is that God is our loving and forgiving Father and not a punishing judge, and that He wants to save us through His son Jesus.  So St. Paul calls it the Good News of truth (Gal 2:5; Col 1:5), Good News of hope (Col 1:23), , Good News of God's promise of salvation (Eph 1:13, 3:6), Good News of peace with God and man (Eph 6:1), and Good News of immortality (2Tim 1:10).  To believe in the Good News simply means to take Jesus at his word, to believe that God is the kind of God that Jesus has told us about,  and to believe that God so loves the world that He will make any sacrifice to bring us back to Himself.  To believe in the “Good News” involves a total commitment – the investing of one's whole self in God without any guarantees or preconditions. 

The call of the apostles: “The evangelists were not precise chroniclers of Jesus’ words and works. Rather each inspired writer, with his own personal talents and sources, has taken the oral tradition preserved within his community and has shaped a Gospel according to his own Christological and soteriological insights, and in keeping with the pastoral situation and concerns of his readers. For this reason, the same events, e.g., Jesus’ calling of his disciples, have been presented somewhat differently by each of the evangelists.” (http://www.ncrpub.org). Just like Matthew’s, Mark’s account of this call is very brief.  Jesus calls two pairs of brothers – Andrew and Peter, James and John – inviting them to become his disciples.  The men respond immediately, leaving their nets, their boats, and their father “in the boat along with the hired men, (1:20),” to follow Jesus. These fishermen immediately accept Jesus’ invitation to use their skills to “fish for people.” Abandoning their nets is a way of speaking of what must be left behind when one embraces radical discipleship.  Usually rabbinical students sought out their teachers and attached themselves to them.  However, Jesus, as rabbi, takes the initiative and calls some probably less-than-ideal candidates to be his students.  The disciples were simple fishermen with no great background.  In Cicero's ranking of occupations (De Off 1.150-51), owners of cultivated land appear first and fishermen last.  What Jesus needs are ordinary folk who will give Him themselves.  What Christ needs is not our ability, but our availability.  What Jesus teaches His disciples is not a course of study, but a way of life to follow.  Hence, Jesus offers these men the opportunity to observe him at close range on a daily basis.  Perhaps Peter, Andrew, James, and John fundamentally misunderstood the call and believed it to be the way out of their poverty and powerlessness. Here was a call to a new life in which they would have power and authority and would be respected by everyone as a result.  

Call to make fishers of men:     There is a similar passage in Jeremiah 16:16 – “I am now sending for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall catch them”.  In the ancient world fishing was a metaphor for two distinct activities: judgment and teaching.  “Fishing for people” meant bringing them to justice by dragging them out of their hiding places and setting them before the judge.  And “fishing” was also used of teaching people, of the process of leading them from ignorance to wisdom.  Both cases involve a radical change of environment, a break with a former way of life and entrance upon a new way of life.  We are the fish, and what God promises us, who are dragged out of the water in the nets to die, is a Resurrection, a new life, a new family, a new future, all under God's control, all within the Kingdom of Heaven, which has come near in Jesus.  We have very little control over our own lives, but as fish caught in the net of God's love, we can trust that we are under God's control.  We have to believe that being captured by God's love, that responding to the command to repent and die to self, that being raised to a new life by God, is not only right for us, but is a message we need to share with the entire world.  The disciples will be trained to do precisely what Jesus is doing right now:  proclaiming the Kingdom, recruiting people for it, and drawing them into a community that experiences God's reign. 

Life messages: 1) Let us appreciate our call to be Christ’s disciples: Every one of us is called by God, both individually and collectively.  The mission of preaching, teaching, and healing which Jesus began in Galilee is now the responsibility of the Church.  Our own unique vocation and our relationship with the risen Lord are the same as that of the universal Church.  Be we religious, priests, married or single people, we are all called, and in this call we become what God wants us to be.  The call, of course, begins with our Baptism and the other Sacraments of Initiation,  is strengthened throughout the years with the Eucharist and Reconciliation, healed and consoled by Anointing, and (for those so called), made manifest in Matrimony, or Holy Orders.  God is relentless in calling us back to Himself, even when we stray away from Him. Perhaps, God is asking us to see His hand in unexpected changes, reminding us that we are a pilgrim people who cannot be settled down into comfortable routine! Even when the changes are, apparently, not for the better, how we deal with them is what matters.

2) Let us be thankful to God for His Divine grace of calling us to be members of the true Church. Let us make personal efforts to see in her the Light of Christ and to grow in holiness, learning the truths that are revealed through the Church and receiving her Sacraments.  Let us be shining lights in the world as Christ was and make a personal effort to bring others to the truth and the light, so that they may rejoice with us in the Mystical Body of Christ, the invisible Kingdom of God. 

3) God is constantly calling each one of us to repent, to confess our sins, to do penance, and to amend our lives. I cannot receive communion if I have sinned mortally, without first confessing my sins and receiving absolution in the Sacrament of Penance (Confession) (CCC #1415). If I do receive communion while not in the state of grace, I have committed a sin of irreligion called a sacrilege which is a very serious offense against the 1st Commandment (CCC #2120). Is God calling me right now to respond to His call to repent by seeking out a priest and making a good confession?

JOKE OF THE WEEK: 1) Good News and Bad News: An old man visits his doctor and after thorough examination the doctor tells him: "I have good news and bad news; what would you like to hear first?” Patient: "Well, let me have the bad news first." Doctor: "You have cancer.  I estimate that you have about two years left."  Patient: "Oh no!  That's just awful!  In two years my life will be over!  What kind of good news could you probably tell me, after this?"  Doctor: "You also have Alzheimer's.  In about three months you are going to forget everything I told you."

2) Jonah and the whale: There was this Christian lady that had to do a lot of traveling for her business, so she did a lot of flying. But flying made her nervous so she always took her Bible along with her to read, and it helped relax her. One time she was sitting next to a man. When he saw her pull out her Bible he gave a little chuckle and went back to what he was doing.
After a while he turned to her and asked, "You don't really believe all that stuff in there do you?"
The lady replied "Of course I do! It is the Bible."
He said, "Well what about that guy that was swallowed by that whale?"
She replied "Oh, Jonah. Yes, I believe that; it is in the Bible. The Bible says Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and I believe it. And if it had said that Jonah had swallowed the whale, I would believe that too!"
He asked "Well, how do you suppose he survived all that time inside the whale?"
The lady said "Well I don't really know. I guess when I get to Heaven I will ask him." "What if he isn't in Heaven?" the man asked sarcastically.
"Then you can ask him when you reach the Hell," replied the lady. 

3) The best prayer I ever heard was: "Lord, please make me the kind of person my dog thinks I am." 4) A young boy wanted to go down to the lake to fish, and his mother asked him to take his little sister with him. He said, "Mom, don't make me take her with me. The last time she came with me, I didn't catch a single fish." The mother said, "I'll talk to her, and I promise this time she won't make any noise." The boy said, "Mom, it wasn't the noise. She ate all my bait!"

(Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence (L. S. P.), 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604, USA)

OT IV – B (1)
OT IV – B (1)

Synopsis of  OT IV Sunday Homily on Mark 1:21-28

introduction: The common theme of today’s readings is Divine authority as exercised in this world by the prophets of the Old Testament in their messages, by the apostles (including St. Paul), in their writings and teaching in the New Testament, and by Jesus in his teaching and healing ministry.

Scripture lessons: Today’s first reading tells us that a true prophet speaks with authority because it is God Who speaks through him.  After the Babylonian exile, the Jewish priests began to interpret the words of Moses given in the first reading, namely, "a prophet like me," as referring to one individual, the expected Messiah.    This passage is chosen for today’s first reading because it refers to Jesus, the "preacher with authority," mentioned in today's Gospel. In the second reading, St. Paul exercises his God-given authority as the Apostle to the Gentiles to teach people in Corinth that marriage is a holy state ordained by God and that it is a life-long partnership according to the teaching of the Lord. In today’s Gospel, Mark describes one sample Sabbath day of Jesus’ public life.  Jesus joins in public worship in the synagogue as a practicing Jew, heals the sick, drives out evil spirits and prays privately.  People immediately noticed that Jesus spoke with authority and healed with Divine power. Jesus explained the Scriptures with complete confidence, and when questioned by people, he answered with authority.  Jesus used his real (authentic) Divine authority to teach, empower, liberate, and heal others. The evil spirit mentioned in today’s Gospel recognized Jesus as the Messiah and acknowledged him as such.  Jesus commanded the evil spirit harshly, using strong words and tones: "Be quiet! Come out of him!"  This was another reason Jesus developed a reputation for Saucony Grid 9000 Premium 3 Dots speaking with authority.

Life Messages: 1) We need to approach Jesus for liberation:  Jesus did not use his authority and Divine power to rule and control people. He came to make people free.  Hence, let us approach Jesus with trusting Faith so that he may free us from the evil spirits that keep us from praying and that prevent us from loving others and sharing our blessings with others.  Jesus also frees us from all the “evil spirits” of fear, jealousy, envy, addictions, compulsions, selfishness, anger, resentment and hostility.  May he free us from all those spirits which make us deaf, dumb, blind, lame and paralyzed, physically and spiritually.

2) We need to use our God-given authority to build up lives.  So many people with authority have made a lasting impression on our lives either for good or bad.  Perhaps it was a grandparent, an uncle, or a parent, who loved us and cared for us.  Perhaps it was a Sunday school teacher who encouraged us in our Faith and exerted a positive impact on our lives.  Perhaps we remember the kindness as well as the firm discipline that a schoolteacher gave us.  Teachers are powerful because they change and mold lives. Hence, let us all become good teachers like Jesus and use our authority to form young lives in the right way.

OT IV [B]  Dt 18:15-20; I Cor 7:32-35; Mk 1:21-28

Anecdote: # 1: God sends His prophets all the time: For example, when Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, proclaimed the freedom of all the slaves in the United States, his was the voice of a prophet. When Lincoln’s contemporary, Susan B. Anthony pioneered the suffrage movement that eventually led to the passage of the 19th Amendment (1920) and gave women the right to vote, hers was the voice of a prophet. When Pope Leo XIII delivered his encyclical entitled On the Condition of the Working Man and called upon Christians to attend to unjust labor laws and practices, his was the voice of a prophet. Similarly, when Cardinal Leo-Josef Suenens of Belgium stood up at the end of the first session of Vatican II and urged the council to examine not only the mystery of the Church in itself but also the Church’s relationship to and responsibility for the world at large, his was the voice of a prophet. Rachel Carson’s book entitled Silent Spring (1962) was prophetic in that it summoned the world to an awareness of the dangers of environmental pollution. When Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu drew the world’s attention to the dangers and injustices of apartheid, his was the voice of a prophet as were so many others in this century alone, e.g., Dorothy Day, St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Teilhard de Chardin, Leonardo Boff, Jon Sobrino and the Latin Kd Trey 5 Iii Red American Bishops who raised their voices first at Medellin, Colombia (1968) and then at Puebla, Mexico (1979) to affirm the Church as “an instrument of liberation, an agent of social justice and a defender of the poor and the oppressed.” These prophets tried to bring the reality of the sacred into every sphere of the human experience.  In today’s liturgical readings, we are called upon to allow the prophetic messages of Moses, Paul, Mark and Jesus to penetrate our consciences and claim them for God. Moreover, we are challenged to continue to listen to the prophets among us, and to exercise the ministry of prophecy for our contemporaries in our words, works and manner of living. (Patricia Datchuck Sánchez).

# 2: Who would deny that our century is possessed of an evil spirit? Jesus' world was a demon-haunted world. Men and women in the ancient world believed in demons. Demons for them were intensely real. The first century world was one of pain and suffering. There was no relief from pain. It was a world of natural disasters that took a heavy toll on life. Disease, even the slightest illness, could be fatal. There was a high rate of infant mortality. Life expectancy was in the middle forties. Because they had no idea of the causes of natural disaster, calamity, or disease, the people associated them with demons. It is difficult for our modern world to realize the power and influence that demons had upon first century human life. But when it comes to evil and demons, is there that much difference between the first and twenty-first centuries? We cannot dismiss evil as a first century phenomenon. It operates as an active force in our world as well as in our souls. In one lifetime we have witnessed the Holocaust of World War II, the Jewish holocaust, genocide in Cambodia and in Jonestown, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, child abuse in America, Branch Davidians, the bombings at New York's Twin Towers and Oklahoma City. Boko Haram and ISIS atrocities. Who would deny that our century is possessed of an evil spirit?

# 3: Jesus taught and acted with authority: Kenneth L. Woodward, writing in Newsweek magazine, gives us a glimpse of what Christ's coming meant to the world. He Parajumpers Desert Jacket writes, "Whether we like it or not, Christ's life radically changed human culture throughout the world . . . Before Jesus came, the world was ruled by the 'might makes right' theory. But Jesus' teaching about humility and turning the other cheek redefined our views of human character, of war, of masculinity. Jesus' commitment to the poor, to women and children opened the way for civil rights and equality for women. Marriages became more equitable. Also, it was a common practice in Roman families to kill female babies. Sociologist Rodney Stark notes that evidence exists that among at least 600 ancient Roman families, less than a dozen had more than one daughter. But Christians valued the life of all people, whether male or female, and prohibited the killing of any children." (“2000 Years of Jesus," March 29, 1999, p. 55.). But the revolution is not complete. We still live in a pre-Christian world. There is still too much hatred, too much violence, too much debasement of human dignity. If you are comfortable in Jesus' presence, you simply do not see him as he really is.

#4: “Show him yer papers!” "There is an old story about some linemen who were busy putting up telephone poles through a farmer's fields. The farmer ordered them off his land, whereupon they showed him a paper giving them the right to plant poles wherever they pleased. Not long afterward a big and vicious bull charged the linemen. The old farmer sat on a nearby fence and yelled: 'Show him yer papers, darn ye, show him yer papers!'" To many Christians, Jesus' authority is only a paper authority. His word is something we study for inspiration, but we really don't believe that what Jesus teaches applies to our situation. For many of us, Jesus' authority doesn't extend to putting a marriage or a family back together. It doesn't mean curing an addiction or healing a character flaw. Maybe 2,000 years ago he had authority, but not today.

Introduction: The common theme of today’s readings is Divine authority exercised by the prophets of the Old Testament in their messages, by the apostles (including St. Paul), in their writings and teaching in the New Testament, and by Jesus in his teaching and healing ministry.

Scripture lessons summarized: Today’s first reading tells us that a true prophet speaks with authority because it is God Who speaks through him.  After the Babylonian exile, the Jewish priests began to interpret the words of Moses given in the first reading, namely, "a prophet like me," as referring to one individual, the expected Messiah.    This passage is chosen for today’s first reading because it refers to Jesus, the "preacher with authority," mentioned in today's Gospel. In the second reading, St. Paul exercises his God-given authority as the Apostle to the Gentiles to teach people in Corinth that marriage is a holy state ordained by God and that it is a life-long partnership according to the teaching of the Lord. In today’s Gospel, Mark describes one sample Sabbath day of Jesus’ public life.  Jesus joins in public worship in the synagogue as a practicing Jew, heals the sick, drives out evil spirits and prays privately.  People immediately noticed that Jesus spoke with authority and healed with Divine power. Jesus explained the Scriptures with complete confidence, and when questioned by people, he answered with authority.  Jesus used his real (authentic) Divine authority to teach, empower, liberate, and heal others. The evil spirit mentioned in today’s Gospel recognized Jesus as the Messiah and acknowledged him as such.  Jesus commanded the evil spirit harshly, using strong words and tones: "Be quiet! Come out of him!"  This was another reason Jesus developed a reputation for speaking with authority.

First reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20, explained. Moses was about to die.  The Chosen People were terrified because they were about to lose the person who had been successfully leading them through the wilderness toward the Promised Land.  They were also going to lose a prophet who had been keeping them informed of Yahweh's will. When he died, how would they find out what God wanted of them? God answered the question by promising Moses that He would heed the people’s request and “raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin, and … put My words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him.” Jesus is the prophet foretold by Moses in today’s First Reading (Acts 3:22). He has authority over Heaven and earth (Daniel 7:14, 27; Revelation 12:10).  Moses had set up a theocratic society for the Israelites as he had been instructed to do by God.  This society had various officers to regulate the civil and religious life of the people, e.g., judges, kings, priests and prophets.  Today’s reading tells us that a true prophet would speak with authority because it would be God Who spoke through him.  The text was first seen as promising that there would be a line of prophets to interpret previous revelations by God and to add some new ones for each generation.  After the return from the Babylonian exile (c. 538 B. C.), the Jewish priests began to interpret this text of Deuteronomy as referring to one individual, namely the Messiah who was to come.  The New Testament followed this interpretation and saw these words of dying Moses, "a prophet like me," verified in Christ (Acts 3:22; 7:37).  These verses therefore, have been chosen for today's first reading because they refer to Jesus, the "preacher with authority," mentioned in today's Gospel.

Second reading: 1 Corinthians 7:32-35, explained.  St. Paul and most of the early Christians believed, or strongly hoped, that the end of this world and the second coming of Christ were imminent.  For this reason, many Christians in Corinth thought they should not enter into marriage, lest marriage should interfere with their whole-hearted service of God in preparation for the second coming of Jesus.  As a good Jew, Paul presumed a different set of circumstances always demanded a different prophet with a different word.  Hence, St. Paul exercised his God-given authority as the Apostle to the Gentiles to teach people that marriage is a holy state ordained by God and that it is a life-long partnership according to the teaching of the Lord (see Mt. 5:32; 19:3-9).  Further, Paul recommended a life of virginity to the non-married only if they felt they could live such a life.  The advantage of celibacy, as Paul explained, was that   celibates would have the freedom to serve God fully with the fewest earthly cares and worries.

Gospel Exegesis: Worship and teaching in the synagogues: In Jesus’ time there were synagogues in Palestine in every city and town of any importance, and, outside Palestine, wherever the Jewish community was large enough. “Synagogues were primarily houses of instruction; the synagogue service was comprised of three elements, prayer, the readings of Scripture and an exposition of it. Administered by the laity, and geared to the day-to-day catechesis of the people, the synagogues of ancient Judah may have been an even more influential factor in Jewish life than the Temple. By law, wherever there were ten Jewish families, there had to be a synagogue. Neighborhood gathering places, the synagogues were vital to the Faith life of the community. Therefore, if a person had a message to preach, the synagogue was an obvious choice of venue. There, Jesus gained a hearing; following his example, his disciples would do the same after his death and Resurrection.” (Patricia Datchuck Sanchez files).  The synagogue consisted mainly of a rectangular room built in such a way that those attending were facing Jerusalem when seated.  There was a rostrum or pulpit from which Sacred Scripture was read and explained. It was here that Jesus showed his authority to teach (Navarre Bible Commentary).

The authority of Jesus:  Today’s Gospel passage begins and ends with comments about Jesus’ authority as a teacher (1:21-22 and 1:27-28).  He spoke like Moses, telling people directly what God had to say. In between is an exorcism (1:23-26), pointing out a connection between Jesus' teachings and his supernatural authority.  Moreover, this is the first miracle in Jesus’ ministry as Mark recounts it. The episode appears immediately following the call of the disciples.  Jesus' authority is also the main theme in the collection of stories (2:1–-3:6), which support the authority of Jesus when he teaches people about God's compassion in forgiving their sins. In his Gospel, Mark repeatedly returns to the theme that Jesus’ teaching with authority brought him followers, and Jesus’ healing with Divine power liberated people from illness and demonic possession. The Catholic and Apostolic Church derives her teaching authority from her founder Jesus.

Teaching with authority:  There was a local synagogue in every Jewish settlement of more than ten families.  The synagogue was a place of instruction and Sabbath prayers.  The synagogue service consisted of three parts –  prayer, the reading of God's word, and the exposition of it made by anyone who wished to do so. In this chapter Mark tells us that in the local synagogue Jesus taught with authority.  This means that Jesus explained the Scriptures with complete confidence, and when questioned by people he answered with authority.  Jesus spoke relying on no one beyond himself; he cited no supporting human authorities or experts.  Mark also records the impact Jesus had on those who heard him.  We are told how amazed people were at the authority with which he preached.  Jesus also showed his power and authority by curing the sick and granting forgiveness to people.

Exorcising with Divine authority:  In the synagogue, there was a man who was troubled by an unclean spirit.  Everyone in the ancient Biblical world feared evil spirits and believed in demonic possession.  People believed that demons or “unclean spirits” living inside the people caused leprosy, lameness, paralysis, etc.   Even in the twenty-first century, we still believe in the existence of unclean spirits.  How else can we explain the sudden explosions of anger that occur, the suicidal impulses, the intense jealousies, wild sexual fantasies, or overwhelming feelings of depression?  We, as human beings, are keenly aware of these unclean spirits.  We often wonder where the “unclean thoughts” come from and why we can’t rid ourselves of them. Victory over the unclean spirit, as the devil is usually described, is a clear sign that God's salvation has come: by overcoming the Evil One, Jesus shows that He is the Messiah, the Savior, more powerful than the demons. The demoniac cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? “What does Jesus have to do with these unclean spirits that live in each one of us?  The answer we find in the Gospel is equally true today: Jesus came to destroy the unclean spirits living inside of us.  That is one of the reasons why Jesus came to earth in the first place and one of the reasons why he continues his presence in our lives.  Jesus came to drive out those unclean spirits within us, to wash them away, to cleanse our lives of them.  Let us put ourselves under his authority and he will liberate us.  The evil spirit in today’s Gospel recognized Jesus as the Messiah and acknowledged him as such.  Jesus commanded the evil spirit harshly, using strong words and tones: "Be quiet! Come out of him!"  This was one of the reasons why Jesus developed a reputation for speaking with authority. Today, we are challenged to believe that Jesus continues to exercise the power to rout evil in all of its ugly disguises and manifestations, viz., in poverty, Adidas Climacool Boat Lace sickness, greed, hatred, indifference, over-indulgence, etc., using us and our ministry.

Life Messages: 1) Let us approach Jesus for liberation:  Jesus did not use his authority and Divine power to rule and control people. He came to set people free.  Hence, let us approach Jesus with trusting Faith so that he may free us from the evil spirits that keep us from praying and prevent us from loving and sharing our blessings with others, as well as from all the “evil spirits” of fear, compulsions, selfishness, anger, resentment and hostility.  "I have come that they may have life, life in abundance" (Jn 10:10). So Jesus should be a source of liberation for us.  May Jesus free us from all those spirits which make us deaf, dumb, blind, lame and paralyzed, physically and spiritually. Through Word and Sacrament, Jesus brings that power to us and says the same words to the demons in our life, "Be gone!"  -- not just once but as often as we need to hear them, until finally, we are free from these demons entirely. Christ has power over any demon, so whether those demons be addictions, heartaches, secret sins --whatever our chains may be-- Christ can set us free and longs to do so.

2) We need to use our God-given authority to build up lives.  No doubt we can think back to people who have made a lasting impression on our lives – either for good or bad.  Perhaps it was a grandparent, an uncle, or a parent, who loved us and cared for us.  Perhaps it was a Sunday school teacher who encouraged us in our faith and exerted a positive impact on our lives.  Perhaps we remember the kindness as well as the firm discipline that a schoolteacher gave us.  On the other hand, there may be people in our past whom we remember with pain and discomfort.   Are children learning something from us as parents that will stand them in good stead for the future? We want our children to grow into strong, wise, confident, capable, mature adults.  But we want more than that.  We want them to grow in their Faith, to accept Jesus as their Lord and personal Savior.  We want children to see in us the love of Jesus and how our Christian Faith affects our lives.  A good question for parents, teachers and all of us is:  "In what way am I helping the children I know grow in wonder at Jesus and his love for them?” When God's Word and God's ways are taught and spoken about with authority – with conviction – our children (and others) will see with amazement God's love for them in His Son Jesus.

3) We need teachers who know how to use their authority properly: Teachers are powerful because they change lives. They have within their grasp the power over young lives to hurt them terribly or heal them wonderfully. Most of us are deeply and forever indebted to some caring teacher in our past. Some people never get over the damage done to them by some cruel or uncaring teacher. So today, when we hear that Jesus entered the synagogue at Capernaum and began to teach, we need to take note: Jesus was a teacher. They never called him “Reverend,” or “Father,” or “Priest.” They called him “Rabbi,” which means “teacher.” Let us all become good teachers and use our authority to form young lives in the right way.

 

JOKES OF THE WEEK: 1) Authority to forgive sins: A dirty and drunken wino who was passing a Catholic Church one day, noticed a sign on the door that said:  "Confessions Being Heard."    Since he had not been to confession for a long time, he staggered into the church, knelt down in the confessional and began to confess his sins.  Unfortunately, his breath was so foul that the priest who was hearing confessions couldn't stand it and decided to cut things short.  "Look," he said to the wino.  "Have you murdered anybody lately?" "Nope," the wino replied. "O.K. then," the priest told him.  "I am going to say the prayer of absolution.”  Slightly puzzled, the wino staggered out of the confessional and as he was walking down the steps of the church steps, saw a fellow wino who was going into the church.  "You going to confession?"  The first wino asked. "Yep," said the second wino. "Don't waste your time," the first wino said.  "He ain't hearing nothing today except murder cases."

2) Whose authority? Jesus’ or your denomination’s? I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off.  So I ran over and said, "Stop!  Don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. "Well, there's so much to live for." "Like what?" "Well, are you religious?" "Yes." "Me too!  Are you Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist?" "Christian." "Me, too!  Are you Catholic or Protestant?" "Protestant." "Me, too!  Are you Episcopalian or Baptist? ”Baptist." "Wow, me, too!  Are you Church of God or Church of the Christ?" "Church of God!" "Me, too!  Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God!" "Me, too!  Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?" He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!" I said, "Die, heretic," and pushed him off.

3) You may have heard about the preacher who asked one elderly lady how it was with her soul. "Oh," she replied, "the old devil has been giving me a rough time." Immediately her husband protested. "Now hold on," he said, "she's not too easy to live with herself."

4) The new nurse asked the psychiatric doctor, "Is that man really sick?" "He surely is," answered the doctor gravely. "I don't know of a more serious set of complications. For forty years he has suffered agonies from imaginitis, scarecoma, apprehendicitis, and general fearosis of living!"

OT V – B (1)
OT V – B (1)
SYNOPSIS OF O.T. V [B] (Feb 4) HOMILY on Mk 1: 29-39  Introduction: Today’s readings challenge us to avoid Job’s pessimistic and cynical view of life as a chain of pain and sufferings and to accept life with hope and optimism as a precious gift from God, using it to do good for others and spending our time, talents and lives for others as Jesus did and as St. Paul did. Scripture lessons: While the Gospel presents Jesus enthusiastically living out his Sabbath day of preaching and healing ministry, the first reading details Job’s attitude in striking contrast: Job complains of the tedium and futility of life and the miseries of human existence. But eventually Job surrenders himself, his suffering, his work and everything he had had and lost to the greater wisdom of God (Job 42:1-6).  In today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 147), the Psalmist sings praises to God because He is busy full-time in gathering Israel from their captivity, in healing the broken hearted and bandaging their wounds, in controlling the universe, in sustaining the lowly and in punishing the wicked. The second reading reveals Paul to us as a true and dynamic follower of Jesus, ready to do something extra for his Lord by preaching the Gospel without recompense or remuneration and obeying the Lord like a slave.  Pointing out the spontaneous response of Peter’s mother-in-law after she had been healed by Jesus, today’s Gospel teaches us that true discipleship means getting involved in giving selfless service to others.  During the Sabbath day, Jesus took part in the synagogue worship, taught with authority, exorcised a demon, healed Simon’s mother-in-law and, after sundown, “cured many who were sick with various diseases, and drove out many demons.” Thus, Jesus spent himself and most of his time ministering to the needs of others, giving healing, forgiveness and a new beginning to many. Yet, Jesus rose early the next morning and went off "to a deserted place" to pray, in order to assess his work before God his Father and to recharge his spiritual batteries. Life messages: 1) We need to be instruments for Jesus’ healing work.  Bringing healing and wholeness is Jesus’ ministry even today.  We all need healing of our minds, our memories and our broken relationships.  But Jesus now uses counselors, doctors, friends or even strangers in his healing ministry.    Let us ask for the ordinary healing we need in our own lives.  When we are healed, let us not forget to thank Jesus for his goodness, mercy, and compassion by turning to serve others.  Our own healing process is completed only when we are ready to help others in their needs and to focus on things outside ourselves.  Let us also be instruments for Jesus’ healing by visiting the sick and praying for their healing.  But let us remember that we need the Lord’s strength not only to make ourselves and others well, but to make us and others whole.  2)We need to live for others as Jesus did: Jesus was a man for others, sharing what he had with others.  In his life there was time for prayer, time for healing and time for reconciliation.  Let us take up this challenge by sharing love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness with others.  Instead of considering life as dull and boring, let us live our lives as Jesus did, full of dynamism and zeal for the glory of God. OT V (Feb 4) Job 7:1-4, 6-7; I Cor 9:16-19, 22-23; Mk 1: 29-39 Anecdotes: # 1: “A Million Little Pieces:” The controversial best seller which was later proved to be a “fake-memoir” of the recovering addict hero, James Frey, begins with a challenging anecdote as its preface: The Young Man came to the Old Man seeking counsel. “I broke something, Old Man.”  “How badly is it broken?” “Into a million little pieces.”  “I’m afraid I can’t help you.” “Why not?”  “There is nothing I can do.” “Why can’t it be fixed?” “Because it’s broken beyond repair.  It’s in a million little pieces.” Doesn't that sound like what Job says in chapter 7: 1-4, 6-7 in today’s first reading when his life was broken into a million little pieces?  But today’s Gospel (Mark 1:29-39), gives us the assurance and proof that nothing in our lives is beyond repair for Jesus, the healing savior. # 2: Stop blaming others and start doing good: There is an old and funny little anecdote that goes something like this. An elderly man who was quite ill said to his wife, "You know, Sarah, you’ve always been with me – through the good and the bad.  Like the time I lost my job – you were right there by my side.  And when the war came, and I enlisted – you became a nurse so that you could be with me.  Then I was wounded, and you were there, Sarah, right by my side.  Then the Depression hit, and we had nothing – but you were there with me.  And now here I am, sick as a dog, and, as always, you’re right beside me.  You know something, Sarah -- you’re a jinx! You always bring me bad luck!” There is a part of us that is tempted to look for somebody to blame for all the things that go wrong in our lives.  More often than not, we blame the very people we once looked up to for an answer.  Today’s first reading from the book of Job is a futile attempt to answer the perennial question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” The Gospel shows us how Jesus spent himself in alleviating the pain and suffering around Galilee by his preaching and healing ministry rather than by pondering on universal solutions for the problem of worldwide evil.  # 3 Experience the healing touch of God.  Most of us are familiar with Lourdes, the Catholic shrine in southern France built at the place where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a saintly young woman named Bernadette a century and a half ago.  Pilgrims today continue to throng to the shrine, hoping to be cured of their ailments.  Over the decades, thousands have left behind their crutches and braces as silent witnesses to the Lord’s power to make them well. This sort of thing is, of course, nothing new.  Sites of holy apparitions and miraculous healings ranging from Lourdes (France), Fatima (Portugal), Guadalupe (Mexico) and Medjugorje (Yugoslavia), to the holy sites in our own land, have drawn pilgrims from all countries throughout the ages. These seekers have made their way to sacred temples, grottoes, and hillsides in the hope of finding healing and strength. Some dismiss such journeys of Faith as childish piety, inappropriate in an age of therapeutic advances such as our own.  But healing is an essential element of the Gospel message.  Surely, Jesus, whose Sabbath day of preaching and healing ministry is described in today’s Gospel, will not disappoint us today when we are assembled around the altar seeking his power, healing and favor in our own lives. Introduction: The readings today challenge us to go courageously beyond people’s expectations by doing good as Jesus did, instead of brooding over all the pain and suffering in the world that we cannot end. They invite us to explore the importance of work in our lives and to learn a lesson in work ethics from Job, Paul and Jesus.  While the Gospel presents Jesus enthusiastically living out his Sabbath day of missionary work, the first reading details Job’s attitude in striking contrast: in the midst of his long suffering, Job speaks of the tedium and futility of life.  Job's words describe the miseries of human existence. Eventually, Job arrived at a place in his life where, in trust and in Faith, he surrendered himself, his suffering, his work and everything he had had and lost to the greater wisdom of God (Job 42:1-6). The second reading, on the other hand, reveals Paul as a true and dynamic follower of Jesus, ready to do something extra for his Lord. Paul’s conviction about the Good News and his commitment to Christ were so intense that preaching the Gospel had become a compulsion for him. Knowing that he had been called to do more than just “preach” the Gospel, he resolved to preach it without recompense.  Pointing out the spontaneous response of Peter’s mother-in-law after she had been healed by Jesus – “…the fever left her and she waited on them” (Mark 1:31)"-- today’s Gospel teaches us that true discipleship means getting involved in giving selfless service to others. Jesus’ first day of public ministry at Capernaum was a Sabbath day.  During the day, he had taken part in the synagogue worship, taught with authority, exorcised a demon and healed Simon’s mother-in-law.  After all that, when the sun had set, he “cured many who were sick with various diseases, and drove out many demons.” Thus, Jesus spent himself and most of his time ministering to the needs of others, bringing healing, forgiveness and a new beginning to many. Yet, he was well aware that even the most important work had to be continually refueled and evaluated before God his Father.  Hence, Jesus rose early the next morning and went off "to a deserted place" to pray in order to assess his work for his Father’s glory and to recharge his spiritual batteries. First Reading, Job 7:1-4, 6-7, explained: The book of Job is a long didactic poem intended to refute the ancient Jewish belief that God rewards the good and punishes the wicked in this life. The book describes God’s permitting Satan to test the commitment of His servant Job.  A prosperous and God-fearing man, Job suddenly experienced the successive, catastrophic losses of wealth, family and health. The only explanation the author offers for God’s permitting the innocent Job to suffer these losses is that He had allowed Satan to test Job’s trusting commitment and fidelity to God, even under extreme pressure. Only in the light of Christ's sufferings and cruel execution, can we see the value of suffering in this life.   Job’s detailed account of the miseries of human existence contrasts with Jesus’ work of healing as described in the Gospel.  In Job’s account, he claims that the entire human condition is sad and hopeless, and he compares himself to a farm laborer who is  forced to do degrading work for wages that barely keep him alive and who yearns for relief from the scorching sun.  There is no peace, Job says, even in sleep!  Instead, there is only a restless expectation of a return to toil at dawn.  But continued suffering, monotony and isolation make Job aware of the emptiness of life without God and the hope of ultimate union with God.  We learn from this reading that God listens to every human cry, even to the anger and dismay of the lament. We also learn that there is no struggle so great, no suffering so intense that it cannot be surrendered with confidence into God’s capable, powerful hands. Of course, Job is right.  Left to our own resources, we cannot escape the ultimate meaninglessness of life.  Fleeting joys are obliterated by suffering and inevitable death.  We are reassured by Faith, however that God gives life a purpose.  He permits pain in order to serve His saving will and to teach us appreciate His gift of Life to the full.  The Good News we proclaim is that, through the death and Resurrection of Jesus, God has joined us to Himself, now and forever.  Job eventually realizes that those who choose to give themselves to God will find that life has meaning.  Modern psychology teaches us that it is only our totally free actions that bring us real fulfillment in life.  If our life is filled with drudgery and our days are without hope, it may be because we have never dared go beyond the security of other people's approval and acceptance. Jesus shows us that we can reach perfection only by allowing the risk of suffering into our lives, and submitting ourselves to God’ Wisdom and His loving Will in all things. Second Reading, , explained: Corinth was a center of philosophical and religious ferment, filled with new and bizarre ideas.  There were many in Corinth who considered Christianity to be merely one of many cults, this one initiated by a Jewish teacher named Jesus of Nazareth.  They also knew that Paul was a former persecutor of Christians. So, in Chapter Nine of this letter Paul explained his authorization to preach the Good News of Jesus to the Corinthians.  He exercised his authority modestly, making himself "a slave to all" and affirming that he had “no reason to boast.”  His preaching ministry went beyond what Jesus demanded.  First, Paul made no use of his Gospel-given right to accept support from the community.  He gave up rights and privileges, which he had the right to claim, in order to give himself fully to the spreading of the Gospel.  He was determined to be seen as free from any desire for personal praise or gain. Paul emphasized that giving up his legitimate rights for the sake of a higher ideal gave him true freedom.  He could remain respectful of others but never patronizing.  Like Jeremiah, Paul saw his preaching not merely as a job but as a divine commission, a vocation. He also knew that he by accepting poverty for the Gospel’s sake, he also had a share in the blessing of the Gospel.  Paul thus encouraged his Corinthian converts to be ready always to forgo their own rights when the spiritual welfare of a neighbor was at stake.  Paul’s freedom to serve was rooted in the free choices he had made as a preacher of the Gospel.  The purpose of his ministry was not to gain personal profit, but to draw people closer to God. Gospel Exegesis:  Unrestricted preaching and healing ministry of Jesus: Capernaum was a small port town located on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, mostly serving fisherman and the fishing industry.  The Sea of Galilee (or the Lake of Tiberius, or the Lake of Gennesaret), is a freshwater lake, 13 miles long at its longest, and 8 miles wide at its widest, with a maximum depth of a hundred and fifty feet. It is surrounded by small mountains.  In the section of Mark's Gospel, we read for today, we find the description of a typical Sabbath day in the ministry of Jesus.  Having attended the synagogue service, Jesus exorcised a demon and eased the fever of Simon’s mother-in-law.  After sundown of that same day, he "cured many who were sick with various diseases, and drove out many demons."  Whether the people whom Jesus healed were really possessed by the devil or not, they were mentally disturbed, and they were fully healed. Jesus worked miracles as signs that God’s healing love was at work in the world. His disciples were excited at seeing their master becoming a local hero and attracting huge crowds, like John the Baptist.  They felt that this would increase their reputation and prosperity.  So, when they found Jesus the next day, very early in the morning, at prayer in a deserted place, they suggested that he return to the place where he had been so successful.  Jesus’ answer, "Let us move on to the neighboring villages, so that I may proclaim the Good News there also,” shows that his mission had an entirely different objective from the one his disciples expected.   Jesus gave importance to preaching and teaching: Jesus had no interest in being the center of attraction, of being popular, or of being “successful.”  He simply wanted to be where he could tend to the needs of the people to whom he had come in order to bring spiritual salvation and blessing to them and to all people.  That is why, for the remaining two years of his life, Jesus went from town to town preaching the Kingdom of God.  Traveling to neighboring villages and throughout the whole of Galilee (and beyond), Jesus remained continually on the move so that everyone could benefit from his saving words and works. He used his energies to bring healing and wholeness into the lives of the people.  Jesus' purpose was to teach, to serve, to give, and to share.  Since nobody can be saved who has not first believed (Mark 16:16), it is the first task of priests, as co-workers of the bishops, to preach the Gospel of God to all men (2 Corinthians 11:7). In the Church of God, all of us should listen devoutly to the preaching of the Gospel, and we all should feel a responsibility to spread the Gospel by our words and actions.  It is the responsibility of the hierarchy of the Church to teach the Gospel authentically--on the authority of Christ.  By leaving the relative safety and security of Capernaum and going to other towns and villages, Jesus risked opposition and even death.  It is precisely by going beyond what people expected of him that Jesus accomplished his saving mission.  If, as Christ’s disciples, we are tempted to use only a part of our gifts, we may hesitate to take risks for Christ, lest this create problems for us.  Jesus shows us that we reach perfection only by allowing the element of risk into our lives. Jesus recharged his spiritual batteries every day: Jesus was convinced that if he were going to spend himself for others by his preaching and healing ministry, he would repeatedly have to summon spiritual reinforcements.  He knew that he could not live without prayer, because his teaching and healing ministry drained him of power. For example, after describing how the woman who had touched Jesus’ garment was instantly healed, Mark remarks: “Jesus knew that power had gone out of him” (5:30).  The “deserted place” to which Jesus went to pray was not actually a desert. Rather, it was a place where he he could be free from distractions -- a place where he could give himself unreservedly to prayer.  He went there, not so much to escape the pressures of life, as to refresh himself for further service. Jesus' prayer is a prayer of perfect praise and thanksgiving to the Father; it is a prayer of petition for himself and for us; and it also a model for the prayer of His disciples. Our daily activities also drain us of our spiritual power and vitality.  Our mission of bearing witness to God requires spiritual energy which comes to us through daily anointing by the Holy Spirit.  Hence, we, too, need to be recharged spiritually and rejuvenated every day by prayer – listening to God and talking to Him. Life messages: 1) We need to be instruments for the exercise of Jesus’ healing power.  Bringing healing and wholenessis Jesus’ ministry even today, He continues it through the Church and through the Christians. In the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, the Church prays for spiritual and physical healing, forgiveness of sins, and comfort for those who are suffering from illness. We all need the healing of our minds, our memories and our broken relationships.  Jesus now uses counselors, doctors, friends or even strangers in his healing ministry.   Let us look at today's Gospel and identify with the mother-in-law of Peter.  Let us ask for the ordinary healing we need in our own lives.  When we are healed, let us not forget to thank Jesus for his goodness, mercy, and compassion toward us by our own turning to serve others.  Our own healing process is completed only when we are ready to help others in their needs and to focus on things outside ourselves. The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes 7:39 instructs us: “Be not slow to visit the sick; because by these things you shall be confirmed in love.”  Let us also be instruments for the exercise of Jesus’ healing power by visiting the sick and praying for their healing. But let us remember that we need the Lord’s strength, not only to make ourselves and others well, but to make ourselves and others whole. 2) We need to live for others as Jesus did: Jesus was a man for others, sharing what he had with others.  In his life there was time for prayer, time for healing and time for reconciliation.  Let us take up this challenge by sharing love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness with others.  Instead of considering life as dull and boring let us live our lives as Jesus did, full of dynamism and zeal for the glory of God. JOKE OF THE WEEK: 1) Humor in our healing ministry: “Laugh and the world laughs with you.”  “Laughter is music of the spheres, language of the gods.”  And it's fine medicine.  Laughter exercises the face, shoulders, diaphragm, and abdomen.  The breathing deepens, the heart rate rises, and the blood is more oxygenated.  Endorphins are released, pain thresholds are raised, and some studies suggest that even immune systems are boosted.  Norman Cousins, in Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient, tried laughter therapy, and found that ten minutes of hearty laughter could give him two hours of pain-free sleep. When you laugh, others laugh too.  Laughter is a contagious, highly effective, totally organic medicine.  It has no side effects, and no one is allergic to it.  Did you have your dose of laughter today?  Jesus may have burst into hearty laughter when he watched Zacchaeus climb down from the sycamore tree. Perhaps he also had at least a mischievous smile when Peter started sinking in his attempt to walk on water.  Then why don’t we too have a hearty laugh in the worshipping community in the real presence of our Lord? 2) Humor in the preaching ministry:  After the Sunday Mass a little boy told the pastor, "When I grow up, I'm going to give you some money." "Well, thank you," the pastor replied, "but why?" "Because my daddy says you're one of the poorest preachers we've ever had." 3) Humor at Sunday collection: During the last Sunday service that the visiting pastor was to spend at the church he had served for some months, his hat was passed around for goodwill, farewell offering. When it returned to the pastor, it was empty. The pastor didn’t flinch. He raised the hat to Heaven. "I thank you, Lord, that I got my hat back from this congregation." 4) Humor at the liturgy: A very innovative liturgy director, a young lady, danced the offertory procession in 'attractive' costumes and playing the banjo. The bishop was presiding on this occasion of the pastor's golden jubilee Mass. As the "dancer" approached the altar the bishop whispered to the pastor: "If she asked for your head on a platter, she'd have it!"
OT V – B (2)
OT V – B (2)

NOVEMBER 1,  ALL SAINTS DAY 

One-page synopsis: The feast and its objectives: All baptized Christians who have died and are now with God in glory are considered saints. All Saints Day is intended to honor the memory of countless unknown and uncanonized saints who have no feast days. Today we thank God for giving ordinary men and women a share in His holiness and Heavenly glory as a reward for their Faith. This feast is observed to teach us to honor the saints, both by imitating their lives and by seeking their intercession for us before Christ, the only mediator between God and man (I Tim. 2:5). The Church reminds us today that God's call for holiness is universal, that all of us are called to live in His love and to make His love real in the lives of those around us. Holiness is related to the word wholesomeness. We grow in holiness when we live wholesome lives of integrity truth, justice, charity, mercy and compassion, sharing our blessings with others.

Reasons why we honor the saints: 1- The saints put their trust in Christ and lived heroic lives of Faith. St. Paul asks us to serve and honor such noble souls. In his Epistles to the Corinthians, to Philip and to Timothy, he advises Christians to welcome, serve and honor those who have put their trust in Jesus. The saints enjoy Heavenly bliss as a reward for their Faith in Jesus. Hence, they deserve our veneration of them. 2- The saints are our role models. They teach us by their lives that Christ’s holy life of love, mercy and unconditional forgiveness can be lived by ordinary people from all walks of life and at all times.

3- The saints are our Heavenly mediators who intercede for us before Jesus, the only mediator between God and us. (Jas 5:16-18, Ex 32:13, Jer 15:1, Rv 8:3-4,). 4- The saints are the instruments that God uses to work miracles at present, just as He used the staff of Moses (Ex), the bones of the prophet Elisha (2Kgs 13:21), the towel of Paul (Acts: 19:12) and the shadow of Peter (Acts 5:15) to work miracles. Life messages:  1) We need to accept the challenge to become saints. Jesus exhorts us: “Be made perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect” (Mt 5:48). St. Augustine asked: "If she and he can become saints, why can't I?" (Si iste et ista, cur non ego?). 2) We can take the short cuts practiced by three Teresas: i) St. Teresa of Avila: Recharge your spiritual batteries every day by prayer, namely, listening to God and talking to Him ii) St. Therese of Lisieux: Convert every action into prayer by offering it to God for His glory and for the salvation of souls and by doing God’s will to the best of one’s ability. iii) St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa): Do ordinary things with great love.  All Saints Day (Nov 1, 2018): Rev 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 Jn 3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12a Anecdotes: 1) A pumpkin story: "What is it like to be a Christian saint?" "It is like being a Halloween pumpkin. God picks you from the field, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you. Then he cuts off the top and scoops out the yucky stuff. He removes the pulp of impurity and injustice and seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light of holiness inside you to shine for the entire world to see." This is the Christian idea behind the carved pumpkins during the Halloween season. 2) Diversity of Saints One thing that strikes you first about the Saints is their diversity. It would be very difficult to find one pattern of holiness, one way of following Christ. There is Thomas Aquinas, the towering intellectual, and John Vianney (the Curé d'Ars), who barely made it through the seminary. There is Vincent de Paul, a saint in the city, and there is Antony who found sanctity in the harshness and loneliness of the desert. There is Bernard kneeling on the hard stones of Clairvaux in penance for his sins, and there is Hildegard of Bingen singing and throwing flowers, madly in love with God. There is Albertus Magnus, the quirky scientist, half-philosopher and half-wizard, and there is Gerard Manley Hopkins, the gentle poet. There is Peter, the hard-nosed and no-nonsense fisherman, and there is Edith Stein, secretary to Edmund Husserl and colleague to Martin Heidegger, the most famous philosopher of the twentieth century. There is Joan of Arc, leading armies into war, and there is Francis of Assisi, the peacenik who would never hurt an animal. There is the grave and serious Jerome, and there is Philip Neri, whose spirituality was based on laughter. How do we explain this diversity? God is an artist, and artists love to change their styles. The saints are God's masterpieces, and He never tires of painting them in different colors, different styles, and different compositions. What does this mean for us? It means we should not try to imitate any one Saint exactly. Look to them all, study their unique holiness, but then find that specific color God wants to bear through you. St. Catherine of Siena was right: "Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire."  (Fr. Robert Barren). The feast and its objectives: The feast gives us an occasion to thank God for having invited so many of our ancestors to join the company of the saints. May our reflection on the heroic lives of the saints and the imitation of their lifestyle enable us to hear from our Lord the words of grand welcome to eternal bliss: "Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joys of your master" (Mt 25:21). Today is also a day for us to pray to the saints, both the canonized and the uncanonized, asking them to pray on our behalf that we may live our lives in faithfulness like theirs, and so receive the same reward. All baptized Christians who have died and are now with God in glory are considered saints. All Saints Day is a day on which we thank God for giving ordinary men and women a share in His holiness and Heavenly glory as a reward for their Faith. In fact, we celebrate the feast of each canonized saint on a particular day of the year. But there are countless other saints and martyrs, men, women and children united with God in Heavenly glory, whose feasts we do not celebrate. Among these would be our own parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters who were heroic women and men of Faith. All Saints Day is intended to honor their memory. Hence, today's feast can be called the feast of the Unknown Saint, in line with the tradition of the “Unknown Soldier.” According to Pope Urban IV, All Saints' Day is also intended to supply any deficiencies in our celebration of feast of saints during the year. In addition, the feast is observed to teach us to honor the saints, both by imitating their lives and by seeking their intercession for us before Christ, the only mediator between God and man (I Tim. 2:5). Today, the Church reminds us that God's call for holiness is universal and that all of us are called to live in His love and to make His love real in the lives of those around us. Holiness is related to the word wholesomeness. We show holiness when we live lives of integrity and truth, that is, wholesome and integrated lives in which we are close to others while being close to God. Halloween and All Saints' Day. All Saints Day is a universal Christian feast honoring all Christian saints – known and unknown. The feast is celebrated by the Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican churches. “Halloween,” celebrated in the United States, England, Ireland and France on the eve of the Day of All Saints, got its name from “All Hallows Eve” or the vigil of All Saints Day. The Celtic people, who lived in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and northern France before the Christian era, believed that their god of death (Samhain) would allow the souls of the dead to return to their homes for a festal visit on this day. People also believed that ghosts, witches, goblins and elves came to harm the people, particularly those who had inflicted harm on them in this life. The Druid priests built a huge bonfire of sacred oak branches and offered animal and even human sacrifice to protect people from marauding evil spirits on the eve of Samhain feast. This belief led to the ritual practice of wandering about in the dark dressed in costumes indicating ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, fairies and demons. But some historians believe that the pumpkin-carving and trick-or-treating are recent customs, reminiscent of Irish harvest festivals, brought to the United States by Catholic immigrants from Ireland and `  England. Historical note: A common commemoration of the saints, especially the martyrs, appeared in various areas throughout the Church after the legalization of Christianity in A.D. 313. The primary reason for establishing a common feast day was the desire to honor the great number of Christians martyred during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian (284-305). In the East, the city of Edessa celebrated this feast on May 13; the Syrians, on the Friday after Easter; and the city of Antioch, on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Both St. Ephrem (d. 373) and St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) attest to this feast day in their preaching. The earliest observance of the holiday was recorded in the early fourth-century. But it did not get cemented until the early seventh century under Pope Boniface IV, who consecrated Rome’s Pantheon to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs on May 13 in 609 AD (www.diffen.com). Pope Gregory IV made All Saints’ a holy day in the mid-eighth century and moved it to November 1. Some observe All Saints’ Day by leaving offering of flowers to dead relatives. Others light candles in remembrance and visit the graves of deceased relatives. Reasons why we honor the saints: 1- The saints put their trust in Christ and lived heroic lives of Faith. St. Paul asks us to serve and honor such noble souls. In his Epistles to the Corinthians, to Philip and to Timothy, he advises Christians to welcome, serve and honor those who have put their trust in Jesus. The saints enjoy Heavenly bliss as a reward for their Faith in Jesus. Hence, they deserve our veneration. 2- The saints are our role models. They teach us by their lives that Christ’s holy life of unconditional love, mercy, and forgiveness can be lived by ordinary people, of all walks of life and at all times. 3- The saints are our heavenly mediators who intercede for us before Jesus, the only mediator between God and us. (Jas 5:16-18, Ex 32:13, Jer 15:1, Rv 8:3-4). 4- The saints are the instruments that God uses to work miracles at present, just as He used the staff of Moses (Exodus), the bones of the prophet Elisha (II Kgs 13:21), the towel of Paul (Acts: 19:12) and the shadow of Peter (Acts 5:15) to work miracles. For Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and to some extent, the Anglicans, “All Saints Day” is a day, not only to remember the saints and to thank God for them, but also to pray for their help.  It is, as well, a day to glorify Jesus Christ, who by his holy life and death has made the saints holy. This feast offers a challenge to each one of us: anybody can become a saint, regardless of his or her age, lifestyle or living conditions. St. Augustine accepted this challenge when he asked the question: "If others can become saints, why can't I?" (Si iste et ista, cur non         ego?). Today’s Scripture: The first reading, taken from the Book of Revelation, speaks of John’s vision of saints in their Heavenly glory: "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands" (Rev 7:9). All Saints Day reminds us that we are called to be a part of that vast multitude of holy ones whose numbers are so great they cannot be counted. Offering us the Beatitudes in today’s Gospel, the Church reminds us that all the saints whose feasts we celebrate today walked the hard and narrow path of the Beatitudes to arrive at their Heavenly bliss. The Beatitudes are God’s commandments expressed in positive terms. They go far beyond what is required by the Ten Commandments, and they are a true and reliable recipe for sainthood. (Poverty of spirit is knowing our need for God. Mourning is embracing the inevitable sufferings of life and alleviating the sorrows of others. Meekness is docility to God’s will and gentleness and patience with others, even in the face of sufferings, disappointments, and insults. Hunger for justice is the longing to see everyone enjoy the peace, happiness, justice, and healing promised by Christ. We obtain mercy by extending it to others. Purity of heart is that right intention or sincerity that puts God first and judges everything else in relationship to God. Real peace is reached when enemies become trustworthy friends. Suffering for doing what is right is accompanied by deep happiness even now.) http://www.frnick.com/homilies/doctrinal_outlines As the second reading suggests, saints are people who have responded generously to the love God has showered on them. St. John tells us that to be “saints” means to be “children of God”—and then he adds: “so we are”! Life messages: Life messages:  1) We need to accept the challenge to become saints. Jesus exhorts us: “Be made perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect” (Mt 5:48). St. Augustine asked: "If she and he can become saints, why can't I?" (Si iste et ista, cur non ego?). On the feast of All Saints, the Church invites and challenges us to walk the walk of the saints and not just talk the talk: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven" (Mt 7:21). 2) 2) We can take the short cuts practiced by three Teresas: i) St. Teresa of Avila: Recharge your spiritual batteries every day by prayer, namely, listening to God and talking to Him ii) St. Therese of Lisieux: Convert every action into prayer by offering it to God for His glory and for the salvation of souls and by doing God’s will to the best of one’s ability. iii) St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa): Do ordinary things with great love.  Life messages: 1) On the feast of All Saints, the Church invites and challenges us to walk the walk of the saints and not just talk the talk: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven" (Mt 7:21). 2) The feast gives us an occasion to thank God for having invited so many of our ancestors to join the company of the saints. May our reflection on the heroic lives of the saints and the imitation of their lifestyle enable us to hear from our Lord the words of grand welcome to eternal bliss: "Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joys of your master" (Mt 25:21). 3) Today is also a day for us to pray to the saints, both the canonized and the uncanonized, asking them to pray on our behalf that we may live our lives in faithfulness like theirs, and so receive the same reward. Joke of the week: “Both of us are Halloween!”: Two little neighbor girls about the same age, one Christian and one Jewish, were constant companions. After one Easter holiday, the grandfather of the Christian girl asked her what her friend had received for Easter. The girl looked at her grandfather in surprise, and said, "But Grandpa, you should know that Becky is Jewish and she wouldn't get anything for Easter." Then she went on to explain patiently, "You see, I'm Easter and she's Passover. I'm Christmas and she's Hanukkah." Then with a big smile, she added, "but I'm really glad that both of us are Halloween." [Buddy Westbrook in Loyal Jones: The Preacher’s Joke Book (Little Rock, Arkansas: August House, 1989), p. 26.] Websites of the week
  • Oscar Romero film in YouTube: Story of a modern martyr
 18 Additional anecdotes:  
  1. Pekapoo puppy: William Hinson recalls the time when his children were younger and one child's pet died. Dr. Hinson says that he practiced "replacement therapy." When one pet died it was replaced by another pet. One time his youngest daughter Cathy's cat died. Together they went to find another pet. Cathy selected a tiny peekapoo puppy. When they got home Dr. Hinson agreed to build a doghouse for the new pet to live in. "The only kind of dog I knew very much about was a really big bird dog," he recalls, "so when I built the doghouse, I built a very large house." In fact the house was too large for the small dog. The size of the doghouse scared the little peekapoo puppy. No matter what they did the little dog would not go near the doghouse. In disgust, Dr. Hinson went inside, and sat down in the den while his daughter, Cathy, stood outside crying over her dad's impatience and the refusal of her puppy to cooperate. After a while, Cathy got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the doghouse herself. When she crawled into it something wonderful happened. That little puppy trotted right in beside her and stretched out on the doghouse floor. Before too long the dog was taking a nap. All the shadows now stood still for him, and all the fear was taken out of the darkness, because the one whom he loved and trusted had preceded him into that dark and frightening place. It no longer caused him fear. [William H. Hinson. Triumphant Living in Turbulent Times (Nashville: Dimensions for Living, 1993), pp. 119-120.] There's a lesson here for us. We can surrender our wills to God's will, knowing that God loves us. Wherever He leads us, He will be with us. We don't have to enter dark doghouses alone. Saints trust in God and God alone. Saints submit their will to God's will.
  2) “Never forget what this cross means:" When Margaret Helminski was seven, she received a gift from her grandmother. It was a tiny cross on a wisp of gold chain, so fine its weight was barely perceptible. "Never forget what this cross means," her grandmother said as she fastened it carefully around Margaret's neck. Over the years, Margaret says, that cross became a part of her, like the lone freckle on her left cheek. She could look at herself in the mirror and not even see it. As a graduate psychology student, Margaret took a job tutoring at a school for emotionally disturbed children. Suddenly surrounded by children who expressed their displeasure by kicking, biting, and screaming, she was terrified, though determined not to let it show. On her first night there, the head counselor said that three of the boys had asked to escort her to dinner. Alone! How would she handle it if all three decided to act out at once? She swallowed hard. She desperately needed this job so she fought back the panic and walked with her charges to the dining hall. They passed through the cafeteria line as tantrums and fights erupted around them. Fortunately none of her boys exhibited any kind of behavioral outburst. They made their way to a table in the center of the busy cafeteria and the boys took their seats. Margaret picked up her fork and was about to take the first bite when she noticed that all three boys were staring at her. "What's the matter?" she asked. Aren't you going to ask a blessing?" asked eight-year-old Peter. "I didn't think I was supposed to," she responded. "This is a state school, isn't it?" "Yes," said David, his blue eyes brimming, "but you wear a cross." Her grandmother's words surged to the surface of her memory. "Never forget what this cross means," her grandmother said. "We thought that meant something," said Roman, clearly disappointed. "It does. Thank you for reminding me," Margaret said, as she bowed her head, no longer afraid. [Catholic Digest (Feb. 92), p. 64] Margaret learned something about sainthood that day. Saints trust in God and God alone for their ultimate security. Saints submit their will to the will of God. Saints stand firm and witness to their faith.   3) Is your definition of a saint a nice person who abides by all the rules? Francis of Assisi bears the title of Saint but according to Mark Galli, in an article in Christianity Today, Francis wasn't always a nice guy to be around. For example, he had this thing about money: his friars were not to touch it. And he did not mean the "You can touch money but just don't let it grip your heart" stuff. One day a worshiper at the Church of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, Francis's headquarters, left a coin as an offering at the base of the sanctuary cross. This was a common offering of gratitude to God in that day, but when one of Francis' friars saw the money, disturbed by its presence at the cross, or perhaps knowing Francis's revulsion of money he tossed it over to a window sill. When Francis learned the friar had touched money, he did not take the errant brother aside, explain his point of view, and then hug him so as to be sure there were no hard feelings. Instead, Francis rebuked and upbraided the brother. He then commanded him to lift the money from the window sill with his lips, find a pile of donkey dung outside, and with his lips place the coin in the pile. Was that nice? How could a saint be so nasty? Is he an exception to the larger guild of saints? Actually, when compared to the hundreds of stories of saints that can be culled from the Bible and Church history, Francis was merely fulfilling his job description. ["Saint Nasty," Christianity Today (June 17, 1996), pp. 25-28.]   4) Sainthood is not for weaklings! A traveler reported a sign on the wall of a restaurant in Wyoming, "If you find your steak tough, walk out quietly. This is no place for weaklings." Sainthood is not for weaklings! [John Bardsley. Quote is from Emphasis (Nov/Dec 1993), p. 21.] Felix Adler put it like this: "The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light. [Quoted in Daily Guideposts (1996).] Saints are people we look up to. They are people of integrity who will stand their ground regardless of the standard the world may set.   5) Saints are people of integrity: Though his name might not be well known today, in 1972 and 1973 Stan Smith was known throughout the world for being the best of the best in the world of tennis. But many of those who knew of his athletic prowess were unaware that Stan Smith was also a Christian, a gracious, friendly man, and a person of integrity. Stan Smith was good friends with another man of great character and integrity, Arthur Ashe. One year, Arthur and Stan were competing against one another in the World Champion of Tennis competition. The winner would gain instant fame and a great deal of money. The two men were well matched in skill, and the score was tied at match point. Arthur hit a very tricky drop shot that just barely cleared the net. To the crowd's amazement, Stan caught the shot and returned it in time, winning the game. But the umpires were not convinced that Stan had hit a legitimate shot. If the ball were "up," still in play, then Stan won the match. But if the ball had bounced twice before Stan reached it, then his hit was illegitimate, and Arthur won the match. The angle and nature of the shot made it almost impossible to see it clearly. Review of the videotape didn't provide a conclusive answer. Neither the umpire, nor Arthur Ashe had a clear view of the ball. According to the rules of tennis, the umpire asked Stan if the ball had been up when he hit it. He replied that it had been. Stan won. A minor controversy arose over this matter, and Arthur Ashe was asked many times why he had not contested the call in some way. Arthur answered, "If Stan says it was up, it was up." He believed in the integrity of his friend so much that he trusted his honesty in a close situation. [Bob Briner, Lambs Among Wolves (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), p.124-126.] As far as I know Stan Smith is not a candidate for sainthood. But he did bear one of the characteristics. His words and his actions were one. Sainthood is a lifestyle. 6) Monumental statues of West Point Military Academy: West Point Military Academy just up the Hudson River from New York City, has a beautiful campus. The style of architecture is military Gothic, the grounds are well-groomed and immaculate, and the views of the Hudson River valley can be breathtaking, especially during autumn, when the leaves are changing color. Among the most impressive aspects of the campus decoration are the monumental bronze statues of famous West Point graduates. All the great American generals are there, in one form or another: McArthur, Eisenhower, Grant... The statues are placed in conspicuous locations, and each hero is depicted in uniform, in a posture that expresses his greatness. They serve as a constant reminder to the young cadets that they are called to greatness, to self-sacrifice, to do worthwhile deeds of valor for the sake of their homeland. For us Catholic Christians, our heroes are not military or political. Rather, they are those who have done great deeds of valor for the sake of our eternal homeland: The Kingdom of Christ, the Church. They have not necessarily received exceptional natural talent from God, developing and using that talent energetically, responsibly, and courageously, as military and political heroes have. Rather, they are the ones who have let God tend the garden of their souls, as the First Reading puts it. They welcomed God's grace through the Sacraments, prayer, and obedience to God's will, as explained by the Church, and a well-formed conscience. And as a result, truly supernatural virtues took root, grew, and bore fruit in their lives. And this is why images of the saints abound in Catholic churches and homes, just as those bronze statues decorate West Point. Keeping the saints in mind, studying and contemplating their example, can give direction, hope, and energy to our lives, just as the statues of great generals do for the West Point Cadets. (E- Priest)

7) Julius Caesar and St Ignatius Loyola: Julius Caesar, the founder of the Roman Empire, history's most expansive and longest-lasting Empire, was a selfish, dissipated, mediocre government bureaucrat until he was 40 years-old. At that time he was stationed in Spain. One day he was walking across the city center to his offices and he noticed a statue of Alexander the Great, the young Macedonian who had single-handedly conquered and ruled the entire Near East, from Greece to Turkey to Palestine to Egypt to Arabia to Afghanistan, all the way to India, before he was 33-years-old. For some reason, seeing the noble statue of that amazing man on that particular day made Julius Caesar think about what little he had done with his own life. And it was the beginning of his incomparable military and political career, one that helped forge the civilization we still enjoy. He needed an ideal to strive for, and he found it in Alexander that Great. As human beings, we all need an ideal to strive for; otherwise our lives stay mediocre. As Christians, following Christ is our ideal, and the saints are the ones who show us how to follow Christ. St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, began his remarkably fruitful spiritual journey while he was stuck in bed recovering from a second surgery following a cannonball wound. He had nothing to do but read, and the only books in the house were a biography of Christ and the Lives of the Saints. As he read, the thought came to him: "If St. Francis and St. Dominic did it, why can't I?" And thus was born one of the most influential saints who ever walked the earth. He discovered God's plan for him by studying the lives of the saints. We can do the same. (E- Priest).

  8) “How can I blaspheme my king who saved me?" St.  Polycarp lived about 200 years after the Christian church was founded. Polycarp was Bishop of the Church at Smyrna (in present-day Turkey). Persecution broke out in Smyrna, and many Christians were fed to the wild beasts in the arena. The bloodthirsty crowd would not be satisfied until they had killed the leader of the Christian Church and sent a search party to find him. Polycarp was brought before the Roman authorities and told to curse Christ and he would be released. He replied, "Eighty-six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my king who saved me?" The Roman officer replied, "Unless you change your mind, I will have you burnt alive." But Polycarp said, "You threaten a fire that burns for an hour, and after a while is quenched; for you are ignorant of the judgement to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly. Do what you wish." It was as much a day of victory as it was a day of tragedy. Polycarp illustrated the power of knowing Jesus, intimately enough to follow Him into the flames. As Jesus said, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"   9) “A saint is somebody that the light shines through.” Here is a children’s story. The pastor was explaining the pictures of his Church’s stained glass windows to the third graders. The first stained window is really red, the next window is really blue, the next window is really green, and the next window is really yellow. The sun has come up in the south and wonderful light is coming through these four windows. The pastor says, “This first window with all the reds is dedicated to St. Matthew and it has a picture of St. Matthew on it. The second window with all the blues is dedicated to St. Mark and it has a picture of St. Mark, the second of our Gospels. The third window with all the greens is dedicated to St. Luke and has a picture of St. Luke on it. The fourth window with all the yellows is dedicated to St. John and has a picture of St. John in it. All the windows are so beautiful, especially with the sunlight shining through them.” And one of the little girls says, “Do you know what a saint is?” “Yes,” replied the pastor. “A saint is somebody that the light shines through.” Yes, the light of God shines through the lives of the saints. It is not your light that is shining; it is the light of God shining through your lives. The windows sparkle and inspire your lives. . (Rabbi Edward F. Markquart).   10) Saints inspire us to become better Christians: Their lives inspire you and lift you up to be better people. A saint doesn’t say, “I want you to be a Christian. I am going to try to subtly force you to be a Christian. I am going to drag you to Church today.” No. By the nature of their lives, these saints inspire you to be holy. Let me explain by means of a famous example from the lives of Dr. David Livingston and Henry Stanley. Dr. David Livingston was a famous missionary in Africa and he had been there in the heart of Africa and had disappeared into the jungles. Henry Stanley went on a search for Dr. Livingston after he had long disappeared. Henry Stanley, after a lengthy search, finally found Dr. Livingston and gave us a famous line from history. “Dr. Livingston, I presume?” The two men lived together for three months and sometime after that Henry Stanley wrote his memoirs and he said: “Dr. Livingston made me a Christian, and he didn’t even know he was doing it. He inspired me and didn’t even try to.” Saints inspire you to live a life of holiness. (Rabbi Edward F. Markquart). 11) "But that's the man you could be." A story is told of a traveling portrait painter who stopped in a small village hoping to get some business. The town drunk -- ragged, dirty and unshaved -- came along. He wanted his portrait done and the artist complied. He worked painstakingly for a long time, painting not what he saw but what he envisioned beneath that disheveled exterior. Finally, he presented the painting to his customer. "That's not me," he shouted. The artist gently laid his hand on the man's shoulder and replied, "But that's the man you could be." Today’s feast remind us that we all can become saints. St. Augustine asked: “ If he and she can, why can’t I?” (Al Carino).   12) Little Way of the Little Flower: St. Therese was a young, sickly Carmelite contemplative. She was the apple of her father's eye but when she obtained permission to enter the convent at the age of 15, he happily brought her there. As a contemplative, she did not do anything extraordinary. Like the rest, she followed the daily and ordinary routine of the monastery. But there was something special in her. She did the ordinary in an extraordinary way. How? By doing them out of a single motive -- love for God -- and whatever she did, she presented to her Beloved as little flower offerings. She called her way of doing little things out of love for God her "Little Way." She died of tuberculosis, September 30, 1897, at the age of 24. She was beatified April 29, 1923 and canonized a saint May 17, 1925, just 28 years after her death, by Pope Pius XI. In 1927 he named her co-patron of the missions with St. Francis Xavier. In 1998, Pope St. John Paul II added one more title, Doctor of the Church, and two years later made her patroness of the 2000 Jubilee Year celebrations, because of her writings on her "Little Way," that is, the doing of the ordinary in an extraordinary way. (Wikipedia). To be this kind of a saint, we do not have to do anything extraordinary. Rather, we just do ordinary things. But what is asked of us is to do these ordinary things in an extraordinary way -- for love of God. (Al Carino). 12) Halloween is the ultimate holiday of "pretending." On Halloween we dress up and "pretend" to be someone or something other than ourselves. On Halloween we "pretend" to believe that the people jumping out at us and scaring us in the "haunted houses" we paid $25 to get into are monsters and zombies. On Halloween we happily "pretend" that the scariest stuff in life are those things that "go bump in the night." On Halloween we revel in "pretend" bumps instead of bumping into the terrifying realities of evil and cruelty that appear on any street, in any office, at any school, in broad daylight, on any given day - and that's just a rundown of the terrors of the last two weeks. The day after "All Hallows Eve" is known in the liturgical calendar as "All Saints Day." "All Saints" is a celebration and commemoration of those who were never about pretense, but who devoted their lives to expressing true faithfulness and genuine piety. The Church lives, not by the majesty of its beliefs but by the manifestation of its manifold witness through the magnificence of its "Communion of Saints." (Fr. Kayala).   13) In their footsteps:  St Jerome says in his writings that as a boy he and his friends used to play in the catacombs. Centuries after St Jerome, Roman boys still played in the catacombs. One day a group of boys was wandering through the maze of tunnels. Suddenly their only flashlight gave out. The boys were trapped in total darkness with no idea of the way out. They were on the verge of panic when one boy felt a smooth groove in the rock floor of the tunnel. It turned out to be a path that had been worn smooth by the feet of thousands of Christians in the days of the Roman persecutions. The boys followed in the footsteps of these saints of old and found their way out of the darkness into sunlight and safety. (Mark Link in  Sunday Homilies; quote by Fr. Kayala).   14) All that is necessary to be a saint is …:  Thomas Merton was one of the most influential American Catholic authors of the twentieth century. Shortly after he was converted to Catholicism in the late 1930s, Thomas Merton was walking down the streets of New York with a friend, Robert Lax. Lax was Jewish, and he asked Thomas what he wanted to be, now that he was Catholic. “I don’t know.” Merton replied, adding simply that he wanted to be a good Catholic. Lax stopped him in his tracks. “What you should say,” he told him, “is that you want to be a saint!” Merton was dumbfounded. “How do you expect me to be a saint?” Merton asked him. Lax said: “All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one. Don’t you believe that God will make you what He created you to be, if you consent to let him do it? All you have is to desire it.” Thomas Merton knew his friend was right. (John Payappilly in The Table of the Word; quoted by Fr. Kayala).   15) God’s Noblest Creation –The Saints: In the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, under the commanding mosaic of Christ in glory, are six pillars. Atop each is a statue of a Saint. There, side-by-side, are the figures of a queen (St. Elizabeth), a vagrant (St. Benedict Joseph Labre), a cook (St Zita), a doorman (St. Conrad), a Mystic (St Gemma), and a parish priest (St John Vianney). For some of them, the road to holiness was easy, for others very hard. Some saints had gifts of great natural talent; others seemed devoid of it. Some saints were fiery, others gentle. Some were gregarious, others loners. There are old saints (such as St. Anthony of the Desert, who lived to be 105) and young saints (such as Aloysius Gonzaga and Maria Goretti). There were brilliant saints (such as Thomas Aquinas) and dense saints (such as Joseph Cupertino). There were tough saints (such as Teresa of Avila) and emotional saints (such as Therese of Lisieux). There were innocent saints (such as Dominic Savio) and reformed sinners who became saints (such as Augustine). There are also saints who did not always agree with each other, such as Jerome and Augustine, who had a running battle of words for years. Nevertheless, the saints belong together. They all responded to God’s invitation to sainthood commemorated in today’s liturgy. (Harold Buetow in God Still Speaks –Listen!; quoted by Fr.     Botelho).   16) Street sweeper can become a saint, how? Six months before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a group of students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia on October 26, 1967. Part of his “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?” speech is the tale of the street sweeper. It is inspiration that regardless of what we do we should always aspire to be the best we can at what we do. It is the secret of living saintly lives as well. “If it falls to your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music ... Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the host of Heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.” (Martin Luther King) L/17 17) Saint in heaven saving his child: “Her husband had died a few years before, and she had a young son who was born just before his father’s death. One day when her son was at a neighbor’s house, she suddenly sensed her husband was speaking to her. He seemed to be telling her that their son was drowning in a swimming pool. She ran next door to the neighbor’s and found her son drowning in the pool, exactly as she sensed her husband telling her. She pulled her son out of the pool, just in time to save his life. Why does this story move us so deeply? A story about a child’s life being saved is certainly moving, but this story contains something more. A dead father is still there for his child, at the moment when he is needed most.” (From Healing the Greatest Hurt page 144 by Matthew & Denis Linn and Sheila Fabricant and published by Paulist Press). 18) Contacting extraterrestrials: For some time now, scientists have been sending signals into the cosmos, hoping for a response from some intelligent being on some lost planet. The Church has always maintained a dialogue with the inhabitants of another world — the saints. That is what we proclaim when we say, “I believe in the communion of the saints.” Even if inhabitants outside of the solar system existed, communication with them would be impossible, because between the question and the answer, millions of years would pass. Here, though, the answer is immediate because there is a common center of communication and encounter, and that is the risen Christ. (Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, Vatican) “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle B (No 58) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters
OT V – B (3)
OT V – B (3)

Introduction: Today’s readings challenge us to avoid Job’s pessimistic and desperate view of life as a chain of pain and sufferings and to accept life with hope and optimism as a precious gift from God, using it to do good for others and spending our time, talents and lives for others as Jesus did and as St. Paul did.

 Scripture lessons: While the Gospel presents Jesus enthusiastically living out his Sabbath day of preaching and healing ministry, the first reading details Job’s frustrations in striking contrast: Job complains of the tedium and futility of life and the miseries of human existence. But eventually, his eyes opened by God,  Job surrenders himself, his suffering, his work and everything he had had and lost to God’s greater wisdom (Job 42:1-6).  Job’s miseries also marked the condition of the people who came to Jesus for healing. Jesus overturns the human condition, bringing hope and healing -- then and now. The second reading reveals Paul to us as a true, dynamic follower of Jesus, moved as Jesus was by concern for the lost which led him to preach the Gospel without cost to the people, and to serve them as their slave with Jesus’ love and fidelity. Pointing out the spontaneous response of Peter’s mother-in-law after she had been healed by Jesus, today’s Gospel teaches us that true discipleship means giving selfless, loving service to others. Mark shows us a typical Sabbath day in Jesus’ ministry: taking part in the synagogue worship, teaching with authority, exorcising a demon, healing Simon’s mother-in-law and, after sundown, curing “many who were sick with various diseases, and [driving] out many demons” – a full day and evening of selfless ministry. Yet, Jesus rises early the next morning and goes off "to a deserted place" to pray, in order to assess his work before God his Father and to recharge his spiritual batteries.  

Life messages: 1) We need to be instruments for Jesus’ healing work.  Bringing healing and wholeness is Jesus’ ministry even today.  We all need healing for our minds, our memories, and our broken relationships, and now Jesus is also using counselors, doctors, friends, or even strangers in his healing ministry.    Let us ask for the ordinary healing we need in our own lives.  When we are healed, let us not forget to thank Jesus for his goodness, mercy, and compassion by turning to serve others.  Our own healing process is completed only when we are ready to help others in their needs and to focus on things outside ourselves.  Let us also be instruments for Jesus’ healing by visiting the sick and praying for their healing.  But let us remember that we need the Lord’s strength not only to make ourselves and others well, but to make us and others whole.  2) We need to live for others as Jesus did: Jesus was a man for others, sharing what he had with others.  In his life there was time for prayer, time for healing, and time for reconciliation.  Let us take up this challenge by sharing love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness with others.  Instead of considering life as dull and pointless, let us live our lives as Jesus did, full of dynamism and zeal for the glory of God.

OT V [B] (Feb 7) Jb 7:1-4, 6-7; I Cor 9:16-19, 22-23; Mk 1:29-39 

Homily starter anecdotes: # 1: “A Million Little Pieces:” This controversial best seller (which was later proved to be a “fake-memoir” of the recovering addict hero, James Frey), begins with a challenging anecdote as its preface: The Young Man came to the Old Man seeking counsel. “I broke something, Old Man.”  “How badly is it broken?” “Into a million little pieces.”  “I’m afraid I can’t help you.” “Why not?”  “There is nothing I can do.” “Why can’t it be fixed?” “Because it’s broken beyond repair.  It’s in a million little pieces.” Doesn't that sound like what Job says in chapter 7: 1-4, 6-7 in today’s first reading when his life was broken into a million little pieces?  But today’s Gospel (Mark 1:29-39), gives us the assurance and proof that nothing in our lives is beyond repair for Jesus, the healing Savior. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).

# 2: Stop blaming others and start doing good: There is an old and funny little anecdote that goes something like this. An elderly man who was quite ill said to his wife, "You know, Sarah, you’ve always been with me – through the good and the bad.  Like the time I lost my job – you were right there by my side.  And when the war came, and I enlisted – you became a nurse so that you could be with me.  Then I was wounded, and you were there, Sarah, right by my side.  Then the Depression hit, and we had nothing – but you were there with me.  And now here I am, sick as a dog, and, as always, you’re right beside me.  You know something, Sarah -- you’re a jinx! You always bring me bad luck!” There is a part of us that is tempted to look for somebody else to blame for all the things that go wrong in our lives.  More often than not, we blame the very people we once looked up to for an answer.  Today’s first reading from the book of Job is a futile attempt to answer the perennial question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” The Gospel shows us how Jesus spent himself in alleviating the pain and suffering around Galilee by his preaching and healing ministry rather than by pondering on universal solutions for the problem of worldwide evil. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/). 

# 3 Experience the healing touch of God.  Most of us are familiar with Lourdes, the Catholic shrine in southern France built at the place where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a young girl, St. Bernadette Soubirous, in 1858.  Pilgrims today continue to throng to our Blessed Mother’s shrine, hoping to be cured of their ailments.  Over the decades, thousands have left behind their crutches and braces as silent witnesses to the Lord’s power to make them well. This sort of thing is, of course, nothing new.  Sites of holy apparitions and miraculous healings ranging from Lourdes (France), Fatima (Portugal), Guadalupe (Mexico) and Medjugorje (Yugoslavia; [not yet authenticated by the Church]), to the holy sites in our own land, have drawn pilgrims from all countries throughout the ages. These seekers have made their way to sacred temples, grottoes, and hillsides in the hope of finding healing and strength. Some dismiss such journeys of Faith as childish piety, inappropriate in an age of therapeutic advances such as our own.  But healing is an essential element of the Gospel message.  Surely, Jesus, whose Sabbath day of preaching and healing ministry is described in today’s Gospel, will not disappoint us today when we are assembled around the altar seeking his power, healing, and favor in our own lives. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/). 

Introduction: The readings today challenge us to go courageously beyond people’s expectations by doing good as Jesus did, instead of brooding over all the pain and suffering in the world that we cannot end. They invite us to explore the importance of work in our lives and to learn a lesson about work and its motives from Job, Paul, and Jesus.  While the Gospel presents Jesus enthusiastically living out his Sabbath day of missionary work, the first reading details Job’s attitude in striking contrast: in the midst of his long suffering, Job speaks of the tedium and futility of life, and he describe the miseries of human existence. Eventually, Job arrived at a place in his life where, in trust and in Faith, he finally surrendered himself, his undeserved  but essential suffering, his work, and everything he had had and lost to the greater wisdom of God (Job 42:1-6). The second reading, on the other hand, reveals Paul as a true and dynamic follower of Jesus, ready to do something extra for his Lord. Paul’s conviction about the Good News and his commitment to Christ were so intense that preaching the Gospel had become a compulsion for him. Knowing that he had been called to do more than just “preach” the Gospel, he resolved to preach it without recompense.  Pointing out the spontaneous response of Peter’s mother-in-law after she had been healed by Jesus – “…the fever left her and she waited on them” (Mark 1:31)"-- today’s Gospel teaches us that true discipleship means getting involved in giving selfless service to others. Jesus’ first day of public ministry at Capernaum was a Sabbath day.  During the day, he had taken part in the synagogue worship, taught with authority, exorcised a demon and healed Simon’s mother-in-law.  After all that, when the sun had set, he “cured many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons.” Thus, Jesus spent himself and most of his time ministering to the needs of others, bringing healing, forgiveness, and a new beginning to many. Yet, he was well aware that even the most important work had to be continually refueled and evaluated before God his Father.  Hence, Jesus rose very early the next morning and went off "to a deserted place" to pray in order to assess his work for his Father’s glory and to recharge his spiritual batteries.  

First Reading, Job 7:1-4, 6-7 explained: The book of Job is a long didactic poem intended to refute the ancient Jewish belief that God rewards the good and punishes the wicked in this life. The book describes God’s permitting Satan to test the commitment of His servant Job.  A prosperous and God-fearing man, Job suddenly experienced the successive, catastrophic losses of wealth, family, and health. The only explanation the author offers for God’s permitting the innocent Job to suffer these losses is that He had allowed Satan to test Job’s trusting commitment and fidelity to God, even under extreme pressure, and Job had passed the tests. Only in the light of Christ's sufferings and cruel execution, can we see the value of suffering in this life.   Job’s detailed account of the miseries of human existence contrasts with Jesus’ work of healing as described in the Gospel.  Job’s account claims that the entire human condition is sad and hopeless, and he compares  himself to a farm laborer who is  forced to do degrading work for wages that barely keep him alive and who yearns for relief from the scorching sun.  There is no peace, Job says, even in sleep!  Instead, there is only a restless expectation of a return to toil at dawn.  But continued suffering, monotony, and isolation make Job aware of the emptiness of life without God and the hope of ultimate union with God.  We learn from this reading that God listens to every human cry, even to the anger and dismay of the lament. We also learn that there is no struggle so great, no suffering so intense that it cannot be surrendered with confidence into God’s capable, powerful hands.

Of course, Job is right.  Left to our own resources, we cannot escape the ultimate meaninglessness of life.  Fleeting joys are obliterated by suffering and inevitable death.  We are reassured by Faith, however that God gives life a purpose.  He permits pain to serve His saving will and to teach us appreciate His gift of Life to the full.  The Good News we proclaim is that, through the death and Resurrection of Jesus, God has joined us to Himself, now and forever.  Job eventually realizes that those who choose to give themselves to God will find that life has meaning.  Modern psychology teaches us that it is only our totally free actions that bring us real fulfillment in life.  If our life is filled with drudgery and our days are without hope, it may be because we have never dared go beyond the security of other people's approval and acceptance.  Jesus shows us that we can reach perfection only by allowing the risk of suffering into our lives, and submitting ourselves to God’ Wisdom and His loving Will in all things.

Second Reading, 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23 explained: Corinth was a center of philosophical and religious ferment, filled with new and bizarre ideas.  There were many in Corinth who considered Christianity to be merely one of many cults, this one initiated by a Jewish teacher named Jesus of Nazareth.  They also knew that Paul was a former persecutor of Christians. So, in Chapter Nine of this letter Paul explained his authorization to preach the Good News of Jesus to the Corinthians.  He exercised his authority modestly, making himself "a slave to all" and affirming that he had “no reason to boast.”  His preaching ministry went beyond what Jesus demanded.  First, Paul made no use of his Gospel-given right to accept support from the community.  He gave up rights and privileges, which he had the right to claim, in order to give himself fully to the spreading of the Gospel.  He was determined to be seen as free from any desire for personal praise or gain. Paul emphasized that giving up his legitimate rights for the sake of a higher ideal gave him true freedom.  He could remain respectful of others but never patronizing.  Like Jeremiah, Paul saw his preaching not merely as a job but as a Divine commission, a vocation. He also knew that, by accepting poverty for the Gospel’s sake, he also had a share in the blessing of the Gospel.  Paul thus encouraged his Corinthian converts to be ready always to forgo their own rights when the spiritual welfare of a neighbor was at stake.  Paul’s freedom to serve was rooted in the free choices he had made as a preacher of the Gospel.  The purpose of his ministry was not to gain personal profit, but to draw people closer to God.

Gospel exegesis:  Unrestricted preaching and healing ministry of Jesus: Capernaum was a small port town located on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, mostly serving fisherman and the fishing industry.  The Sea of Galilee (or the Lake of Tiberius, or the Lake of Gennesaret), is a freshwater lake, 13 miles long at its longest, and 8 miles wide at its widest, with a maximum depth of one  hundred fifty feet. It is surrounded by small mountains.  In the section of Mark's Gospel, we read for today, we find the description of a typical Sabbath day in the ministry of Jesus.  Having attended the synagogue service, Jesus exorcised a demon and ended the fever of Simon’s mother-in-law.  After sundown of that same day, he "cured many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons."  Whether the people whom Jesus healed were really possessed by the devil or not, they were mentally disturbed, and they were fully healed. Jesus worked miracles as signs that God’s healing love was at work in the world, and Divine validation of Jesus’ authority to preach. His disciples were excited at seeing their Master becoming a local hero and attracting huge crowds, as John the Baptist had done.  They felt that this would increase their reputation and prosperity.  So, when they found Jesus the next day, very early in the morning, at prayer in a deserted place, they suggested that he return to the place where he had been so successful.  Jesus’ answer, "Let us move on to the neighboring villages, so that I may proclaim the Good News there also; for this purpose, have I come!” told them that Jesus’ mission had an entirely different objective from the one they had expected. 

Jesus priority was His obedience to His Heavenly Father. In his preaching and teaching, therefore, Jesus’ only interest was to reach the people who flocked to listen to His preaching and teaching of the Truth, the Word of God and, so, to bring them to conversion. For Jesus, that was “success, -- not gaining popularity or winning the  patronage of the religious or political power-holders.  He came to the world to minister to the needs of the shepherdless sheep of the Lord God’s Flock, Israel,  by bringing them and all peoples spiritual salvation and blessing .  That is why, for the remaining two years of his life, Jesus went from town to town preaching the Kingdom of God.  Traveling to neighboring villages and throughout the whole of Galilee (and beyond), Jesus remained continually on the move so that everyone could benefit from his saving words and works. He used his energies to bring healing and wholeness into the lives of the people.  Jesus' purpose was to love, to teach, to serve, and to give them Life by sharing their lives.  Since nobody can be saved who has not first believed (Mark 16:16), it is the first task of priests, as co-workers of the bishops, the successors of the Apostles, to preach the Gospel of God to all men (2 Cor 11:7). In the Church of God, all of us should listen devoutly to the preaching of the Gospel, and we all should feel a responsibility to spread the Gospel by our words and actions.  It is the responsibility of the hierarchy of the Church to teach the Gospel authentically--on the authority of Christ.  By leaving the relative safety and security of Capernaum and going to other towns and villages in obedience to His Father’s mandate,  Jesus risked opposition and even death.  It is precisely by going beyond what people expected of him that Jesus accomplished his saving mission.  If we, as Christ’s disciples, are tempted to use only a part of our gifts in serving Him in our brothers and sisters, we may hesitate to take risks for Christ, lest this creates problems for us.  Jesus shows us that we reach perfection only by allowing the element of risk into our obedient, surrendered lives.

Jesus recharged his spiritual batteries every day: Jesus was convinced that if he were going to spend himself for others by his preaching and healing ministry, he would repeatedly have to summon spiritual reinforcements.  He knew that he could not live without prayer, because his teaching and healing ministry drained him of power. For example, after describing how the woman who had touched Jesus’ garment was instantly healed, Mark remarks: “Jesus knew that power had gone out of him” (5:30).  The “deserted place” to which Jesus went to pray was not actually a desert. Rather, it was a place where he he could be free from distractions -- a place where he could give himself unreservedly to prayer.  He went there, not so much to escape the pressures of life, as to refresh himself for further service. Jesus' prayer is a prayer of perfect praise and thanksgiving to the Father; it is a prayer of petition for himself and for us; and it also a model for the prayer of His disciples. Our daily activities also drain us of our spiritual power and vitality.  Our mission of bearing witness to God requires spiritual energy which comes to us through daily anointing by the Holy Spirit.  Hence, we, too, need to be recharged spiritually and rejuvenated every day by prayer – listening to God and talking to Him. 

Life messages: 1) We need to be instruments for the exercise of Jesus’ healing power.  Bringing healing and wholeness is Jesus’ ministry even today. He continues it through the Church and through the Christians. In the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, the Church prays for spiritual and physical healing, forgiveness of sins, and comfort for those who are suffering from illness. We all need the healing of our minds, our memories,  and our broken relationships.  Jesus now uses counselors, doctors, friends, or even strangers in his healing ministry.   Let us look at today's Gospel and identify with the mother-in-law of Peter.  Let us ask for the ordinary healing we need in our own lives.  When we are healed, let us not forget to thank Jesus for his goodness, mercy, and compassion toward us by our own turning to serve others.  Our own healing process is completed only when we are ready to help others in their needs and to focus on things outside ourselves. The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes 7:39 instructs us: “Be not slow to visit the sick; because by these things you shall be confirmed in love.”  Let us also be instruments for the exercise of Jesus’ healing power by visiting the sick and praying for their healing. But let us remember that we need the Lord’s strength, not only to make ourselves and others well, but to make ourselves and others whole.   

2) We need to live for others as Jesus did: Jesus the son of God was a man for others, sharing  who he was and what he had with others.  In his life there was time for prayer, time for healing, time for rest, and time for reconciliation.  Let us take up this challenge by sharing love, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness with others.  Instead of considering life as dull and boring let us live our lives as Jesus did, full of dynamism and zeal for the glory of God.

JOKES OF THE WEEK: 1) Humor in our healing ministry: “Laugh and the world laughs with you.”  “Laughter is music of the spheres, language of the gods.”  And it's fine medicine.  Laughter exercises the face, shoulders, diaphragm, and abdomen.  The breathing deepens, the heart rate rises, and the blood is more oxygenated.  Endorphins are released, pain thresholds are raised, and some studies suggest that even immune systems are boosted.  Norman Cousins, in Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient, tried laughter therapy, and found that ten minutes of hearty laughter could give him two hours of pain-free sleep. When you laugh, others laugh too.  Laughter is a contagious, highly effective, totally organic medicine.  It has no side effects, and no one is allergic to it.  Did you have your dose of laughter today?  Jesus may have burst into hearty laughter when he watched Zacchaeus climb down from the sycamore tree. Perhaps he also had at least a compassionate smile when he reached out to grab Peter’s reaching hand as the Apostle began to sink in his attempt to walk on water, forgetting the Master in his sudden fear.  Then why don’t we too have a hearty laugh in the worshipping community in the real presence of our Lord?

2) Humor in the preaching ministry:  After the Sunday Mass a little boy told the pastor, "When I grow up, I'm going to give you some money." "Well, thank you," the pastor replied, "but why?" "Because my daddy says you're one of the poorest preachers we've ever had."

3) Humor at Sunday collection: During the last Sunday service that the visiting pastor was to spend at the Church he had served for some months, his hat was passed around for goodwill, farewell offering. When it returned to the pastor, it was empty. The pastor didn’t flinch. He raised the hat to Heaven. "I thank you, Lord, that I got my hat back from this congregation."4) Humor at the liturgy: A very innovative liturgy director, a young lady, danced the offertory procession in 'attractive' costumes and playing the banjo. The bishop was presiding on this occasion of the pastor's golden jubilee Mass. As the "dancer" approached the altar the bishop whispered to the pastor: "If she asked for your head on a platter, she'd have it!"

(Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence (L. S. P.), 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604, USA)

OT VI – B (1)
OT VI – B (1)

Synopsis of OT VI [B] Homily on Mark 1: 40-45 Introduction: All three readings today teach us that we are called to become pure and holy. But we don’t become holy by some ritual observances. We become holy by confessing our sins to God and offering our lives for God’s glory and by sharing God’s love with everyone around us without discriminating against anyone on the basis of color, race, culture, religion, life style or social status. Scripture lessons:  The word Vayikra (the Hebrew name of the Book of Leviticus) means that God called Moses and His chosen people to holiness and purity.  That is why the first reading teaches the theme of freedom from bodily and ritual impurity as a sign of internal holiness.  This freedom is symbolized by the precautions against contracting leprosy given in the first reading and the healing of the leper described in the Gospel.  The first reading shows the ancient Jewish attitude toward leprosy and gives the rules for the segregation of lepers.  This provides a background for Jesus' healing of a leper.  In today's Responsorial Psalm (Ps 32), the psalmist says:  “I confessed my faults to the LORD, and You took away my guilt." He teaches us that we become holy by confessing our sins and being reconciled with God every day. The psalm serves as a mini-treatise on reconciliation, covering the meaning of the spiritual leprosy of sin and showing how we are forgiven by a sacramental encounter with God.  “I turn to You, Lord, in times of trouble, and You fill me with the joy of salvation."  In today’s second reading, St. Paul exhorts us to become holy by doing “everything for the glory of God” and by showing sensitivity toward others who are different from us, rather than passing judgment on them.  Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus heals a leper, liberating him both from the disease of leprosy and from the unjust and inhuman social isolation and ostracism to which the lepers were subjected.

Life messages: 1) We need to trust in the mercy of a forgiving God who assures us that our sins are forgiven and that we are clean.  We are forgiven and made spiritually clean from the spiritual leprosy of sins when we repent of our sins because God is a God of love Who waits patiently for us.  The only condition required of us is that we ask for forgiveness with a repentant heart.  We are sure to hear His words of absolution, "Very well-- your sins are forgiven, and you are clean," echoed in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.   2) We need to tear down the walls that separate us from others and build bridges of loving relationship. Jesus calls every one of us to demolish the walls that separate us from each other and to welcome the outcasts and the untouchables of society.   These include homosexuals, AIDS victims, alcoholics, drug addicts and marginalized groups -  the divorced, the unmarried-single mothers, migrant workers and the mentally ill.  God's loving hand must reach out to them through us.   Jesus wants us to touch their lives.    Let us re-examine the barriers we have created and approach God with a heart that is ready to welcome the outcasts in our society.

OT VI [B]) Lv 13:1-2, 44-46; I Cor 10:31--11:1; Mk 1:40-45  

Anecdote: # 1: St. Francis of Assisi and the leper: Today’s Scripture lessons teach us that the sick and the maimed are not to be objects of scorn, but potential reservoirs of God's mercy for us.  St. Francis of Assisi, for instance, understood this.  At one time in his life, he had a terrible fear of lepers.  Then one day when he was out for a walk, he heard the warning bell that lepers were required to ring in the Middle Ages.  When a leper emerged from a clump of trees, St. Francis saw that he was horribly disfigured.  Half of his nose had been eaten away; his hands were stubs without fingers and his lips were oozing white pus.  Instead of giving in to his fears, Francis ran forward, embraced the leper and kissed him.  Francis’ life was never the same after that episode.  He had found a new relationship with God, a new sensitivity to others and a new energy for his ministry.

# 2:  The healing touch of Jesus repeated by St. Damien of Molokai: 85,000 people who gathered in a football stadium in Brussels, to celebrate the centenary of Blessed Damien the, leper priest (beatified by Pope St, John Paul II, in 1995). Father Damien had lived for sixteen years in a remote corner of one of the remotest islands in the Pacific. He worked with lepers and, like Jesus in today's Gospel, word spread about him far and near. He was written about in newspapers from England to Australia. The day of our gathering was a national holiday in Belgium. The king and queen attended. The whole country was en fete. And all for one man who spent sixteen years working at the back of beyond, but working in Jesus' name, and doing his work. It coincided - with the centenary of the birth of Adolf Hitler; and there were no celebrations. [Blessed Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI, October 11, 2009; his feast day is celebrated May 10th. (Encyclopaedia Britannica on-line).]   There is a beautiful song by Marilla Ness called "He Touched Me." It has a haunting melody, and the words are powerful and moving. "He touched me and oh, the joy that fills my soul; something happened: now I know: he touched me, and made me whole." Today’s Gospel describes how the healing touch of Jesus made a leper whole.

# 3: Segregation--past and present: In India, the low caste people were untouchables for high caste Hindus. Until the Civil Rights Movement, African-American heritage was such a social disability in the U. S. that white shopkeepers would slap a black customer’s change on the counter to keep from touching his/her hands. In some restaurants, dishes or glasses used by blacks would be broken immediately after they had finished eating.  If a black swam in a public pool, it would immediately be closed, drained, and disinfected.  Even in some of our Catholic parishes, black parishioners had to wait until all the white parishioners had received the Eucharist before presenting themselves at the altar for Communion.  The issue, however, is not only a matter of race.  It's a question of all   people in our society who are "different" from us.  Our modern society ostracizes the gays, the lesbians, the AIDS victims, the alcoholics, the drug addicts.  We tend to marginalize the divorced, the cohabiting, the unemployed single mothers, Gypsies, the homeless, migrant workers and asylum seekers. People with AIDS also report that they don't get touched as much as they used to before they became HIV positive.  Church workers and volunteers tend to steer clear of teenagers.  It's hard to get people to work among them.  Their awkward stage of development makes a lot of us uncomfortable.  Their music, their dress, their attitudes and thoughts are viewed as alien. But such attitudes are unchristian. They have no place among Jesus’ disciples, as He teaches us today by touching a leper with affection and healing him with compassion. We must open our hearts and minds to those outside the pale of society if we are going to truly follow Jesus.

Introduction: All three readings today contain the Christian teaching on the need for social acceptance even when people are different from us.  They also tell us that it is purity or holiness of soul coming from God that cleanses our lives.  In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Book of Leviticus is known by its first word, Vayikra (ויקרא), meaning "and he called".    The wordVayikra means that God called Moses and His chosen people to holiness and purity.  That is why the first reading teaches the theme of freedom from bodily and ritual impurity as a sign of internal holiness.  This freedom is symbolized by the precautions against contracting leprosy given in the first reading and the healing of the leper described in the Gospel.  The first reading shows the ancient Jewish attitude toward leprosy and the rules for segregating lepers.  This provides a background for Jesus' healing of a leper.  In today's Responsorial Psalm (Ps 32), the psalmist exhorts us to rejoice in the Lord because He purifies us from our sins:   “I confessed my faults to the LORD, and You took away my guilt." The psalm serves as a mini-treatise on reconciliation, covering the meaning of the spiritual leprosy of sin and showing how we are forgiven by a sacramental encounter with God.  “I turn to You, Lord, in times of trouble, and You fill me with the joy of salvation."  Intoday’s second reading, St. Paul exhorts us to testify to our healing from the leprosy of sin by living changed lives, expressed in our doing “everything for the glory of God” and for the salvation of others. Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus heals a leper, liberating him both from the disease of leprosy and from the unjust and inhuman social isolation and ostracism to which the lepers were subjected.

First reading, , explained: The first reading gives us the background of the sad state of lepers in first-century Palestinian society.  The Book of Leviticus contains laws that teach the Israelites that they should always keep themselves in a state of legal purity, or external sanctity, as a sign of their intimate union with the Lord.  The first reading deals with very ancient rules and customs.  It was the duty of the priests to decide whether a man was infected with leprosy and whether he was healed.  Once the priest had examined a patient and declared him a leper, the afflicted person had to live in isolation, away from the dwelling-places of healthy people, in order to prevent the spread of the dreaded disease.  In other words, victims of leprosy were segregated from the community on two counts: (1) fear of contagion and (2) fear of the ritualistic uncleanness which resulted from contact with the diseased. Since it was believed that an illness like leprosy resulted from corrupted morals and not from bacteria or viruses, a healing that was spiritually rather than physically oriented was sought. However, some medical historians argue that true leprosy entered Palestine after the first century, and other conditions, like psoriasis, eczema, ringworm, boils, impetigo, acne, ulcers, rashes or dandruff rashes may have been considered as leprosy in Christ’s days. That may have been why many “lepers” were healed by native medicine.   Hence, it is likely that the Hebrew word sara'at and Greek lepra, which are translated as "leprosy," do not always describe true leprosy or Hansen's disease.

Second reading:  1 Corinthians 10:31-11, explained: Saint Paul worked hard to teach the young Christian community of Corinth to find the truths that would separate and protect them from the diverse religious beliefs and pagan rituals practiced by their still-pagan neighbors.  There were, for instance, pagan temples in Corinth in which animals were sacrificed to the gods, after which a large portion of the meat which had been offered was sold in the market.  Corinthian Christians were sometimes invited out to dinner by their pagan friends who might offer them the choice meat that had previously been used in pagan sacrifices.  Both Jewish and Gentile Christians had scruples about the eating of such meat because that would be a participation in the sacrifice honoring pagan gods, a declaration in deed that those gods were real and that worshipping them had value for the Christians.  Paul's general answer was that since "the earth and all that is in it is the property of the Lord" a Christian could lawfully eat any meat placed before him, and he need not be concerned as to its origin.  But if the use of this lawful freedom should scandalize a weaker brother who would think that his fellow Christian was intending to honor the pagan gods, then the Christian should deny himself this freedom.  Paul calls each of us to follow our own conscience carefully, without condemning others or trying to change their behavior.  “I try to please all in any way I can by seeking not my own advantage.”  We, too, must follow Paul's and Jesus' example, responding with sensitivity toward others who are different from us, rather than by passing judgment on them.  The glory of God is served when God’s people serve one another and live in loving unity.

Gospel Exegesis: Why did Jesus become “angry” and issue a “stern warning?” Most translations say that Jesus was"moved with pity" when he saw the leper who approached him.  But some modern Bible scholars tell us that there are ancient manuscripts that indicate that Jesus was "angry” or even “indignant” when he was confronted by this leper, and that after healing him Jesus spoke sternly to him about showing himself to a priest. A background study reveals that Jesus was not angered by the leper but by the social and religious conditions of the day.  There may have been two reasons for this:  1) Jesus could have been angered by the unjust and inhuman social isolation and ostracism to which the lepers were subjected.  In Jesus’ day, a leper had no right either to medical care or to other kinds of help from the community.  In addition, the Book of Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 demanded that lepers wear the tattered clothes and uncombed, uncut hair of mourners (Note, Harper Collins Study Bible, p. 172).  When meeting any "sound" person a leper had to cover his mouth with one hand and shout out a warning of his/her own "unclean" condition. Lepers were taken away from their families and forced to live in leper colonies or in caves outside the city.   Anyone suspected of having contracted leprosy was to be taken before a priest for examination. According to historians, in some cities Jews were massacred at the mere mention of the plague being in the area, even before it had actually arrived.” (René Girard, The Scapegoat). The rabbinic sayings compare the cure of leprosy to raising the dead.  Thus, it would be no wonder if Jesus were angry about conventions that forced the leper to live like an animal, without rights or privileges. 2) Jesus could have been angered by the blasphemous religious explanation of the day that all leprosy was God’s punishment for grave sins. Jesus was also angry at the way lepers were treated as cursed creatures by the Jewish religion which sanctioned such inhuman treatment for lepers.  Lepers were not only considered physically loathsome but were looked upon as persistent sinners. Even if the lepers were cured, they had to submit to a ritual cleansing and purging of sin before they would be re-admitted to society.  Jesus might well have been revoltedby the whole notion that lepers were sinners beyond God’s embrace. That might be precisely why He healed the leper by “stretching out his hand, touching” the legally untouchable. By instructing the healed leper to go and show himself to the priest, Jesus may have been challenging the religious authorities to see that God’s healing grace is available to anyone who asks.

Jesus’ identification with the leper: According to some Fathers of the Church, one reason Jesus promptly responded to the leper's cry in today's Gospel story, ignoring the Mosaic Law prohibiting touching a leper and thus becoming ritually unclean, is that Jesus identified himself with the man's condition.  Jesus dramatically identified himself with the sufferer in the total rejection and isolation waiting for him. The irony here is that Jesus risked becoming “unclean” Himself in order to make the leper clean.  Just as he stretched out his hand to the leper and touched him and made him whole, Jesus stretched out his hands on the cross to make us whole.  He touched the leper thus bridging the gap between what is clean and what is unclean, identifying himself with all lepers, with all who are ritually or socially unclean and isolated and with all of us sinners who are spiritually unclean and have no way to change our condition except through His sacrifice and mercy.  Thus, He became “unclean” in the eyes of the law that we might be made clean. He allowed himself to be rejected by his family and people so that those who are separated from God might return to him and be healed.

A story about how we judge others as acceptable or not in the community: This is a story about how we treat others on the basis of appearance – both real and supposed.  In our society, looks aren't everything. They are the only thing!  No wonder if we get feelings of inferiority, looking at all those young, attractive and trim models and superstars in magazines and on TV commercials. As a result, we make rash judgments with far-reaching consequences, making people outcasts in the society.  For example, who can live down an accusation of child abuse?  Who can really live a normal life in the community if he or she is known to be HIV positive?  Who can really walk about as one of us in this age of the war against terrorism if he/she comes from the wrong ethnic group, wears the wrong clothes, or has the wrong skin-color?  In today’s Gospel incident, Jesus challenges us to accept others unconditionally as our own brothers and sisters.  (Our media gave little attention to those Catholic high-school girls who wore head-scarves in support of their innocent Muslim friends after Sept. 11, 2001).  Jesus reaches out to touch us in this very Eucharistic celebration, making us whole and restoring our relationship with him and with one another.  Then he grants us a share in his Divine life through the Holy Communion. Healed and graced by Jesus, we, like the leper are each compelled to tell our story, making public the good news that God saves sinners and welcomes them home.

Life messages: 1) We need to trust in the mercy of a forgiving God who assures us that our sins are forgiven and that we are clean.  We are forgiven and made spiritually clean from the spiritual leprosy of sins when we repent of our sins.  This is because God is a God of love who waits patiently for us.  No matter how many sins we have committed or how badly we have behaved, we know God forgives us.  The only condition required of us is that we ask for forgiveness with a repentant heart.  We need only kneel before him and ask him, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean" We are sure to hear his words of absolution, "Very well-- your sins are forgiven, and you are clean" echoed in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  

2) We need to tear down the walls that separate us from others and build bridges of loving relationship. Jesus calls every one of us to demolish the walls that separate us from each other and to welcome the outcasts and the untouchables of society.   These include homosexuals, AIDS victims, alcoholics, drug-addicts and marginalized groups such as the divorced, the unmarried, single mothers, migrant workers and the mentally ill.  God's loving hand must reach out to them through us.   Jesus wants us to touch their lives.  Let us pass beyond the narrow circles of our friends and peers and try to relate to those who may be outside the bounds of propriety.   Let us re-examine the barriers we have created and approach God with a heart that is ready to welcome the outcasts in our society.  Remember the old African-American children’s song reminding us that there is room for everyone in God's Kingdom: "All God's creatures got a place in the choir, some sing low and some sing higher.  Some sing out loud on a telephone wire and some just clap their hands or paws or anything they've got."

JOKE OF THE WEEK

#1. Jesus in disguise? A leper goes into a bar, sits down and says to the bartender, "Look, before I order, I'd like you to know that I'm aware of how my appearance affects some people, and I'll fully understand it if you refuse to serve me."  The bartender says, "No, sir, I am a professional, and you are my customer.  It is my pleasure to serve you.  What would you like?" "A shot of whiskey, if it's not too much trouble." "Coming right up, sir."  The bartender pours the drink, then goes to the area behind the bar, ostensibly to wash some glasses, but the leper can hear him puking his guts out.  When the bartender returns a few minutes later, wiping the corner of his mouth with a rag, the leper says, "Look, I told you I would understand.  You didn't have to go through that for my sake!"  The bartender replied, "I know that, sir, and I would like to assure you that I would have had no trouble, but for the last three minutes or so, the drunk next to you has been hugging you as if he was St. Francis of Assisi and you were Jesus in disguise."

# 2: A pastor had a dread of getting leprosy. He had read that the early signs are loss of feeling in the limbs, and was always pinching his legs, and if it hurt, he was reassured. On one occasion at a dinner with the parishioners he reached under the table and pinched his leg. He couldn't feel a thing.  He pinched it again - harder this time. Still no sensation. The pastor visibly blanched and blurted out, " Oh, no! I've got leprosy!" A young lady sitting next to him asked: "But how do you know?" "Well, one of the early signs is loss of feeling in the leg. I've just pinched my leg twice and I didn't feel a thing!" The young lady remarked, "It was my leg you were pinching, pastor."

OT IX – B (1)
OT IX – B (1)

SYNOPSIS: OT XIX [B] (AUGUST 9) HOMILY ON JOHN 6:41-51 (L/15)

Introduction: We are living in a world where people of all races and creeds hunger more for spiritual sustenance than for physical food. In response to the spiritual hunger of people in his own day, Jesus proclaims himself to be “the Bread of Life that came down from Heaven." Scripture lessons: The first reading describes the physical and spiritual hungers experienced by the prophet Elijah. The Bread of Life Jesus speaks about is prefigured in this reading by the miraculous food with which the angel nourished the Prophet Elijah in the desert while he was fleeing from the soldiers of Queen Jezebel. After being nourished by the Lord, Elijah was strengthened for the long journey of forty days to Mount Horeb where God instructed him to continue his prophetic work.

The second reading presents Christ Jesus, the “Bread of Life,” as a “sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.” Paul reminds the Ephesian Christians that, instead of seeking satisfaction in anger, slander, bitterness and malice, they are to nourish one another with compassion, kindness and mutual forgiveness.

Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum on his return there after his miraculous feeding of the five thousand. During the discourse, Jesus reveals himself as the true “Bread of Life that came down from Heaven,” to give life to the world. Jesus proclaims himself as the new and perfect manna, the Incarnate Son of God literally "come down from Heaven." This means that the Holy Eucharist actually gives us a share of eternal life while we are still on earth. But some of Jesus' followers turned away when he explained the source of his mysterious power and his Heavenly origin.

Life messages: 1) Let us accept the challenge to become bread and drink for others: "You are what you eat?" Let us recognize that Jesus whom we consume in the Holy Eucharist is actually God Who assimilates us into His being. Then, from Sunday to Saturday we will grow into Jesus, as Jesus grows in us, our lives will be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we will become more like Jesus. Thus, we shall share in the joyous and challenging life of being the Body of Christ for the world – Bread for a hungry world, and Drink for those who thirst for justice, peace, fullness of life, and even eternal life. In other words, the Eucharist challenges us to sacrifice ourselves for others, as Christ has done for all of us. # 2: Let us appreciate Christ’s presence in the Holy Eucharist: Since the Holy Eucharist is "the Body and Blood, together with the soul and Divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ,” the Sacrament a) increases our intimate union with Christ; b) preserves, increases, and renews the Sanctifying Grace we received at Baptism; c) cleanses us of past sin and preserves us from future sins; d) strengthens the theological virtue of Charity in us, thus enabling us to be separated from our disordered attachments and to be rooted in Christ; and e) unites us more deeply with the mystery of the Church. OT XIX [B] (August 2) I Kings 19:4-8, Ephesians 4:30--5:2, Jn 6:41-51 Anecdotes: # 1: Marching caterpillars: You may know the famous story of Jean Henri Fabre, the French naturalist, and his processional caterpillars. He encountered some of these interesting creatures one day while walking in the woods. They were marching in a long unbroken line front to back, front to back. What would happen if he made a complete ring with these worms? Would they break their circle or not? So, Fabre captured enough caterpillars to encircle the rim of a flowerpot. He linked them nose to posterior and started them walking in the closed circle. For days they turned like a perpetual merry-go-round. Although food was near at hand and accessible, the caterpillars starved to death on an endless march to nowhere. That seems to be the story of many people today. They are on a march that leads to nowhere. We need to stop for a moment, and sit down in the presence of Jesus and receive him as the Bread of our spiritual life. # 2: Starving to death in the midst of plenty of food: During the winter of 1610, the population of British immigrants to Jamestown, in the U.S. (the Pilgrims) went from about 500 people to about 60. While disease and American-Indians took some lives, most of the settlers simply starved. There were plentiful supplies of fish, oysters, frogs, fowl, and deer all around them. But these settlers from the city were not accustomed to obtaining food from the land. Hence, they starved! [Cullen, Joseph P. "James' Towne," American History Illustrated (October, 1972).] We sometimes act the same way. God comes to us continually in the Person of the Holy Spirit to guide us. As a loving Father, God awaits the opportunity to meet our needs, but we are not accustomed to receiving things from His loving hand. In today’s Gospel, Jesus promises to give us spiritual food. It is up to us to receive the Heavenly Bread. # 3: He died arguing with them that the canisters were empty. John Krakauer wrote a book entitled Into Thin Air, the story of an expedition to Mount Everest during the spring of 1996 which resulted in a great loss of life. One of the most unfortunate stories was about a young man named Andy Harris, who was one of the expedition leaders. He had stayed at the peak past the deadline that the leaders themselves had set, and as he was coming down, he was in dire need of oxygen. He radioed his problem to the base camp telling them what he needed and told them that he had come upon a cache of oxygen canisters left by some of the other climbers, but they were all empty. The problem was they were not empty - they were absolutely full, but because his brain was already so starved for oxygen and he wasn't thinking clearly, he died arguing with them that the canisters were empty when in reality they were full. The problem was that the lack of what he needed so disoriented his thinking that, even though he was literally surrounded by what he needed, he never took advantage of it. The very life that he needed he held in his hand. He just didn't take it. What oxygen is to the body the Bread of Life is to the soul. Without that Bread, we will never satisfy our real spiritual hunger which is why every day we need to feed on the Bread of the word of God. Introduction: We are living in a world where people of all races and creeds hunger more for spiritual sustenance than for physical food. In response to the spiritual hunger of people in his own day, Jesus, in today’s Gospel passage from John 6, proclaims himself to be “the Bread of Life that came down from heaven.” It is through Jesus, the bread of life, that we have access to the Divine life during our earthly pilgrimage to God. The sixth chapter of the Gospel of John which contains Jesus' teaching on the Eucharist begins with Jesus’ miraculous feeding of his five thousand hungry listeners in a deserted place to satisfy their bodily hunger. Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum on his return there after his miraculous feeding of the five thousand. During the discourse, Jesus reveals himself as the true “Bread of Life that came down from Heaven,” to give life to the world. "Manna" was God’s gift rained down "from Heaven" upon the Israelites to prolong their earthly life. Jesus proclaims himself as the new and perfect manna, as the Incarnate Son of God, literally "come down from Heaven." This means that the Bread we consume in the Eucharist is more than just a guarantee that one day we'll have eternal life. It actually gives us a share of that eternal life while we are still on earth. But some of those who had just witnessed Jesus’ ability to supply them with earthly food turned away when he explained the source of his mysterious power and his Heavenly origin. The first reading describes the physical and spiritual hungers experienced by the prophet Elijah. In this reading, the Bread of Life Jesus speaks about is prefigured by the miraculous food with which the angel nourished the Prophet Elijah in the desert while he was fleeing from the soldiers of Queen Jezebel. After being nourished by the Lord, Elijah was strengthened for the long journey of forty days to Mount Horeb where God had given Moses the Ten Commandments. The second reading presents Christ Jesus, the “Bread of Life,” as a “sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.” Paul reminds the Ephesian Christians that, instead of seeking satisfaction in anger, slander, bitterness and malice, they are to nourish one another with compassion, kindness and mutual forgiveness. It is Faith that strengthens us to live in this way, doing the right thing in our relationships with others, in a world filled with terror and violence and in a Church marked by betrayal and disillusionment. First reading, 1 Kings 19:4-8: King Ahab of Israel married a pagan queen, Jezebel, who imported pagan worship into Israel. The prophet Elijah challenged 450 of the pagan god Baal’s prophets, defeated them in a public sacrifice-contest and killed all of them. The furious Queen Jezebel sent soldiers to kill the prophet. Today’s first reading expresses Elijah’s discouragement and frustration as he fled for his life. Collapsed in the only available shade, Elijah fell into a sleep of exhaustion while awaiting release through a speedy death. God heard His prophet’s prayer and sent an angel to feed him and strengthen him in his flight. The miraculous food provided by God sustained him through a 40-day pilgrimage to Horeb (Mount Sinai), where Elijah would be commissioned again as God’s prophet to carry on the struggle and to anoint his successor. Like Elijah, all of us learn to recognize our weakness and frailty, and are able to experience God’s empowering grace which is capable of transforming our powerlessness and discouragement. The lectionary compares God’s strengthening of his prophet by the miraculously-provided food with His strengthening of us in our pilgrimage to Heaven by the Bread from Heaven, namely, the Holy Eucharist.

Second Reading, Ephesians 4:30-5:2: The second reading contains St. Paul’s practical advice for peaceful, communal Christian living among former enemies, namely, the now-converted Jews and the converted Gentiles. Paul reminds the Ephesian Christians that their discipleship must be guided by the virtues of compassion and forgiveness, avoiding “bitterness, fury, shouting and reviling which would grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” That is how they should offer their lives as sacrifices pleasing to God, just as Jesus, “the Bread from Heaven,” offered himself as a “sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.” It is Faith that strengthens us to live this way, doing the right thing in our relationships with others, in a world filled with terror and violence and in a Church marked by betrayal and disillusionment. Exegesis: Jesus’ unique claims: Jesus makes a series of unique claims in today’s gospel passage: 1) “I am the Living Bread that came down from Heaven.” 2)”I am the Bread of Life.” 3) “The Bread that I will give is My Flesh for the life of the world.” 4)“No one can come to me unless the Father Who sent me draw him.” 5)“I will raise him on the last day.” 6) “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God.” In short, Christ Jesus reveals himself as God and as the “Bread of Life from Heaven,” sent by the Father for our salvation.

Jesus’ claims challenged: Jesus’ Jewish listeners could hardly contain themselves when Jesus claimed to be the "Bread of Life" (v. 35) who "came down from Heaven" (v. 38). They thought they knew his father and mother (v. 42), and saw him as just another hometown boy – a carpenter by profession without any formal training in Mosaic Laws and Jewish Scriptures. They could remember when he had moved from Nazareth to Capernaum with a band of unknown disciples, mostly fishermen. Hence, they came to the natural conclusion: “either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse" (C. S. Lewis).

The complaint launched: In today's portion of the lengthy Bread of Life discourse (49 of Chapter Six's 71 verses), John re-emphasizes the similarities and contrasts between the old "manna in the wilderness" experience and this new notion of a “Bread of Life” that is directly tied to Jesus. In verse 41, John’s noting of the Jewish identity of the "complaining" crowd recalls for us their own unique history. Those listening to Jesus began to "murmur" against Jesus and his gifts of Heavenly Bread even as the ancient Israelites began to "murmur" or "complain" against Moses -- first out of hunger (Exodus 16:2,7,12), then against the monotony of the manna diet (Numbers 11:4-6). Like the Israelites, we, too, complain when God fails to meet our expectations.

Jesus’ response: Jesus knew that the Jews were upset about his explanation that the multiplication of bread and fish signified that he himself was the Heavenly Bread that gives eternal Life. Jesus challenged the Jews to take a journey of Faith by seeing him, not as the son of Joseph, but as the one who came down from Heaven. Saying, "No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me ..." Jesus told his listeners, and tells us, that everyone who has become his follower has done so because God the Father has called him or her to Jesus. It is an act of God that has brought us to follow the way of Jesus. Faith is a gift. To follow Jesus is to live by Faith; to believe means to make those necessary changes to one's lifestyle that being a believer demands. Then Jesus offered the ultimate reassurance to every one of us who believes: "I will raise him up on the last day" (cf. vv.39, 40, 44, 54). This persistent theme serves to remind the reader/listener that only Jesus, the true Bread of Life, can impart the gift of eternal Life to the faithful. Faith in practice: "Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me." Here Jesus clarifies that listening to God, and learning from God are key factors in our seeking Jesus and in our growing into strong believers and faithful servants of Jesus. The Good News is that God is willing to be present in our midst and to teach us. Jesus asserts this point quoting Scripture, "And they shall be taught by God." The Holy Eucharist foreshadowed: Jesus’ dialogue with the Jews no longer deals with manna, but with his very person: the revealer who brings us God's salvation. Although John’s Chapter 6 has no direct reference to the Holy Eucharist, Jesus’ words remind us of the centrality of the Eucharist as the primary source of our spiritual nourishment. Jesus knows quite well that we need both spiritual and physical food for life’s journey. He offers both to us. Thus, the meal that we share at the Eucharistic table provides the food for this journey (“viaticum”). Furthermore, He tells us that this Bread from Heaven is His Flesh, given for the life of the world. The Jews, as well as Jesus’ disciples, understood that he was speaking literally when he said that His Body was food. This statement appeared to some as outrageous and impossible. Jesus, however, insisted that His words must be accepted literally, and that His Father would draw men to accept them.

The bread from heaven is also the word of God: In the Bible, bread appears several times as an image of wisdom, or Divine revelation: Isaiah says "You who have no money, come, receive bread and eat" (55:1-3); Proverbs invites everyone, "Come, eat of my bread"(9:1-6), and Sirach says, "Whoever fears the Lord and holds to the law will obtain wisdom... She will feed him with the bread of learning."(15:1-3). This should make a lot of sense to us, because we read books and watch movies and television to learn about life (hopefully) and to increase our knowledge. In the same way, we need to read, reflect and pray over the Word of God privately so that it can nourish our souls and be our true "soul food".

Life messages: 1) We need to eat the living bread from Heaven and be one with Jesus: Jesus wants us to eat him because he IS Bread. "You are what you eat?" Jesus is Bread and he wants us to eat his Flesh. Thus, we bring him into the core of our being. He is ready to come into our lives, regardless of who we have been, or how unqualified we feel. Let us live the life of Faith ... making changes so that he becomes the staple food of our spiritual life, not a side dish. Let us be people who recognize that Jesus, whom we consume, is actually God Who assimilates us into His being. Then, from Sunday to Saturday we will grow into Jesus, as he grows in us, our lives will be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we will become more like him. Thus, we shall share in the joyous and challenging life of being the Body of Christ for the world – Bread for a hungry world, and Drink for those who thirst for justice, peace, fullness of life, and even eternal life. # 2: We need to accept the “Real Presence” of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist as an inspiring challenge. Based on sound tradition and the centuries-long teaching of the Magisterium, the Roman Catholic Church has consistently held fast to the belief in the Real Presence. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the other sacraments as the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all sacraments tend." In this most blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist "the Body and Blood, together with the soul and Divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ, is truly, really, and substantially contained" (CCC #1374). The Fathers of the Church explain that, while ordinary food is assimilated into man, the very opposite takes place in Holy Communion. Here man is assimilated into the Bread of Life. Hence, let us learn to receive Jesus, really present in the Eucharist, with due reverence, true repentance, proper preparation and grateful hearts. Let us remember that Holy Communion a) increases our intimate union with Christ; b) preserves, increases, and renews the Sanctifying Grace received at Baptism; c) cleanses us from past sin and preserves us from future sins; d) strengthens the theological virtue of Charity, thus enabling us to be separated from our disordered attachments and to be rooted in Christ; and e) unites us more deeply to the mystery of the Church. 3) We need to appreciate God’s love for us expressed in the Holy Eucharist. Pope John Paul II taught: “The Eucharist is the Sacrament of the Presence of Christ, who gives himself to us because he loves us. He loves each one of us in a unique and personal way in our practical daily lives: in our families, among our friends, at study and work, in rest and relaxation. He loves us when he fills our days with freshness, and also when, in times of suffering, he allows trials to weigh upon us: even in the most severe trials, he lets us hear his voice. To celebrate the Eucharist, ‘to eat his Flesh and drink his Blood,’ means to accept the wisdom of the Cross and the path of service. It means that we signal our willingness to sacrifice ourselves for others, as Christ has done” Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia (Holy Thursday, April 17, 2003). 4) We are participating in Christ in the Eucharistic celebration: The "Sacrifice of the Altar" is our participation in the entirety of Christ – his life, his ministry, his crucifixion and death for our sins, his Resurrection, and his Ascension to Heaven. We unite with him by offering our lives to him so that he ministers to the world through us. We sacrifice our will when and where it interferes with his, which results in our being raised up to new life as we follow Christ to Heaven. Every Catholic Mass accomplishes this by providing us with our Savior's Body and Blood, crucified and Risen, here and now, in the form of edible food. As Pope St. John Paul II pointed out in Ecclesia de Eucharistia, "The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic banquet of Mass is 'the source and summit of the Christian life'." Jokes of the week: # 1: Pastor’s bread of life: President Woodrow Wilson’s father was a preacher who eked out a meager living. One day, when he was riding his horse, he stopped to chat with a member of his parish. “That’s a handsome looking animal you have there,” said the latter admiringly. “But why is that your horse is so big and strong and you are so thin?” “Perhaps,” replied Wilson, “it is because I feed the horse and the congregation feeds me.” #: 2: “I am going to be a preacher:” After his return from church one Sunday a small boy said, "You know what, Mommy? I'm going to be a preacher when I grow up." "That's fine," said his mother, "but what made you decide to be a preacher?" "Well," said the boy thoughtfully. "Since I have to go to Church every Sunday anyway, I think it would be more fun to stand up and yell than to sit still and listen." # 3: Pope Franicis’ jokes: 1) VIPTdtEvr40?rel=0 2) ?v=lzGBhewlOEU USEFUL WEBSITES 1) Faith Magazine: 2) The Daily Motivator: 3) Vatican on Michael Voris’ views: ?v=kTZlHLtkPc8

OT X – B (1)
OT X – B (1)
Synopsis of OT X  homily on Gen 3. 9:15; II Cor 4:13--5:1; Mk 3:20-35 Introduction: The readings for today, the Tenth Sunday [B] in Ordinary Time, give the name “sin” to our offenses against God. When we sin -- violate God’s Commandments -- we distance ourselves from Him; when we refuse, or fear, to admit our sins, we deny ourselves God’s freely offered pardon and forgiveness. Scripture lessons: In describing Adam and Eve’s first sin, disobedience, our first reading, taken from Genesis, explains the beginning of evil in the world with its destructive results. The loving relationship joining man to God is destroyed, and the relationship of mutual love between Adam and Eve is weakened. Their default to a “blame game” allowed each to avoid taking personal responsibility for their joint choice. In the second reading, Paul declares to the Corinthians that the many adversities of his missionary work were God’s plan for his spiritual growth; his sufferings, offered with Jesus for the Salvation of the world, would result a glorious reward for him and for all believers who did the same. Today’s Gospel passage reveals how Jesus himself was misunderstood by his own relatives and was criticized, slandered and rejected by the Sanhedrin-led scribes and Pharisees. His sufferings for us give us courage and his offer of healing, strength and forgiveness, so that we can do as he did when we face unfair treatment and criticism in our lives. Life messages: 1) Today’s Scriptures challenge us to face rejection with prophetic courage and optimism. Very often our friends, families, or childhood companions fail to listen to us and refuse to accept the words of grace, love and encouragement that we offer to them because they are too familiar with us.  But we have to face such rejection with prophetic courage because by our Baptism we are called to be prophets like Jesus, sharing his prophetic mission. As prophets, our task is to speak the truth and oppose the evils in our society without condoning or encouraging sinful behavior even in our dear ones. 2) We need to have the courage of our convictions: Modern “liberal-minded” people may find genuine Christians’ belief in and practice of Christ’s ideas and ideals crazy too. Hence, what is needed in a Christian is the courage of his or her convictions based on the authority of Jesus as God and the truth of his doctrines. 3) We need to live as members of God’s family:  Let us remember that by Baptism we become the children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus and members of the Heavenly family of the Triune God. Hence, let us observe our obligations of treating others with love and respect and of sharing our love with them in corporal and spiritual works of mercy. We are also His disciples, and so are obliged to be hearers as well as doers of the word of God. Let us keep our souls daily cleansed and filled with the Spirit of God, leaving no space for the evil spirit to enter our souls. OT X (B)  Gen 3. 9:15; II Cor 4:13--5:1; Mk 3:20-35 (L/18) Introduction: The readings for today, the Tenth Sunday [B] in Ordinary Time, give the name “sin” to our offenses against God. When we sin -- violate His Commandments -- we distance ourselves from Him; when we refuse, or fear, to admit our sins, we deny ourselves God’s freely offered pardon and forgiveness. In describing Adam and Eve’s first sin, disobedience, our first reading, taken from Genesis, explains the beginning of evil in the world with its destructive results. The loving relationship joining man to God is destroyed, and the relationship of mutual love between Adam and Eve is weakened. Their default to a “blame game” allowed each to avoid taking personal responsibility for their joint choice. In the second reading, Paul declares to the Corinthians that the many adversities of his missionary work were God’s plan for his spiritual growth; his sufferings, offered with Jesus for the Salvation of the world, would result a glorious reward for him and for all believers who did the same. Today’s Gospel passage reveals how Jesus himself was misunderstood by his own relatives and was criticized, slandered and rejected by the Sanhedrin-led scribes and Pharisees. His sufferings for us give us courage and his offer of healing, strength and forgiveness, so that we can do as he did when we face unfair treatment and criticism in our lives. Anecdotes: 1) “What’s in a name? and “Whatever Became of Sin?” Among William Shakespeare’s prolific contributions to English literature, there are literally thousands of memorable lines that continue to be quoted because of their eloquence and timeless significance. One of these is the famous line, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet” (Romeo and Juliet, act 2, sc.2, l.43). I would paraphrase it, what’s in a name? That which we call sin, by any other name would still be sin! There appears to be a tendency in contemporary society to disregard or minimize sin or to call it by another name. Similarly, there is a tendency to ignore evil. The sense of shame regarding sin was renamed and the so-called “guilt complex” have become public enemy number one. In today’s readings, Yahweh God in Genesis, St. Paul, and Jesus call sin a sin. (Patricia Sanchez) 2) “Whatever Became of Sin? “In his study of the subject, entitled, “Whatever Became of Sin? psychiatrist Karl Menninger stated that although sin was once a strong word, which described an ominous aspect of every human being’s life, life-plan and life-style, the word, along with the notion of sin has all but disappeared. The reality of sin, however, has not disappeared; it has simply been renamed. Sin may masquerade under several aliases, but it remains, nonetheless, what it is. For example, the sins of Auschwitz and Buchenwald, the sins of Vietnam, Bosnia and Rwanda have been hidden behind an acclaimed patriotism or other ideologies. Soldiers, who have systematically gang-raped and slaughtered helpless women have claimed justification for their actions due to the exigencies of war and their “moral obligation” to obey their superiors. Other heinous sins have been dismissed by excusing their perpetrators on ground of temporary insanity, or a troubled youth, or emotional instability. Some sins have been paraded under the guise of freedom of choice, ignorance, and aggressive or self-destructive behavior. Menninger suggested that one of the reasons that sin is not recognized and named for what it is may be due to the fact that the major responsibility for identifying and dealing with misbehavior has been taken over by the State. Much of what is really sin is now called crime, and actions which are blatantly immoral, are now labeled illegal. Murder, robbery, treason, adultery and lying have become defined as criminal acts with prescribed punishments. Because of this shift in responsibility, the consequences of sin have become depersonalized and the reality of sin as a breach in the relationship with God and with others has been overlooked. The readings for today’s liturgy invite the gathered assembly to take a hard look at sin, to call it by name and to take back our responsibility for it. Similarly, we are challenged to look evil in the eye and, without blinking, own it for the reality that it is. 3) Don’t allow rejection to derail your dreams: Brilliant British theologian G.K. Chesterton could not read until he was eight years old. A teacher said if his head were opened they would probably find a lump of fat where there was supposed to be a brain. That teacher was wrong. Einstein’s parents were informed by a teacher that he would never amount to anything.  Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was rejected by seven publishers. Richard Bach got twenty rejection slips before Jonathan Livingston Seagull was published. Dr. Seuss, one of the most popular children’s authors of all time, got more than two dozen rejection slips before The Cat in the Hat made it to print. Ruth Graham felt an uncontrollable urge to run out of the meeting the first time she heard Billy Graham preach. She was not convinced of his preaching ability. She was put off by his preaching style. Billy had to improve his preaching before Ruth would become his wife. Today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus encountered rejection with prophetic courage. 4) Preachers rejected: Ezekiel and Jesus. Ezekiel was called to be both priest and prophet to God’s people during the most devastating time in their history. Six short years after he began preaching to Israel in the year 593 B.C., the holy city of Jerusalem was captured and destroyed, and just about every last person in Israel was carried off in chains to exile in Babylon. What is worse, Ezekiel saw it coming and told people. He told them it was God's way of punishing them for being so thick-skulled and hard-hearted (3.7). Predictably, they refused to listen. This was the good news according to Ezekiel! This was the hand God asked this preacher to play! The chosen people didn't believe him, of course, even when the Babylonians started setting fire to their homes and hacking down the carved pillars in their beautiful temple. They stubbornly denied the truth about themselves the whole time they were being dragged off, kicking and screaming to Babylon. And it was not until there, years later, with no Temple in which to offer sacrifice and no other sacred rituals permitted to them, that they began meeting in Ezekiel's house (8.1), where this bug-eyed prophet also learned how to become their priest. Softened up by the experience of desolation they could no longer deny, they began, for the first time, to listen to this old friend who had never given up on them and who reminded them of the God Who had no intention of giving up on them either. Today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus, the real Messiah, was rejected by his relatives and slandered by the Sanhedrin observers. The first reading: Gen 3:9-15, explained: The Genesis account explains the causes of human shame and sin, asserts the sovereignty of the one God over all creation, and expresses the superiority of the worship of that God over rival religions.  “Each of the three punishments given to the snake, the woman, the man, has a double aspect, one affecting the individual and the other affecting a basic relationship. The snake previously stood upright, enjoyed a reputation for being shrewder than other creatures, and could converse with human beings as in vv. 1–5. It must now move on its belly, is more cursed than any creature, and inspires revulsion in human beings (v. 15). I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at His heel. In Christian tradition, the snake was identified with the devil (Wis 2:24; Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9; 20:2), whose eventual defeat seemed implied in the verse. Because “the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8), the passage was understood as the first promise of a redeemer for fallen humankind, the Protoevagelium. Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. A.D. 130–200), in his Against Heresies 5.21.1, followed by several other Fathers of the Church, interpreted the verse as referring to Christ, and cited Gal 3:19 and 4:4 to support the reference. Another interpretive translation is ipsa, “she,” and is reflected in Jerome’s Vulgate. “She” was thought to refer to Mary, the mother of the messiah.  In Christian art, Mary is sometimes depicted with her foot on the head of the serpent.” (USCCB commentary). Historically, this has elements of an early explanation of the very common human fear of snakes. Theologically, it reminds us of the early rivalry between worshipers of Yahweh and worshipers of Baal. The cult of Baal included sacred prostitution as a fertility rite, of which the serpent was an apt symbol. So, the shame that the couple feels over having been deceived by the representative of Baal is a caution to Yahweh's faithful: “Don't mess with the religion of Baal or you will be shamed.”   The second reading (II Cor 4. 13-5) explained: In spite of the unfair criticism leveled against him and his gospel ministry by some Corinthian Christians, Paul is optimistic about his future and that of his critics, waiting for “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” When Paul left for other mission venues, the Corinthian community was so flourishing that it got rather wild, and Paul wrote his first letter to them to correct some abuses. He promised another visit but changed his plans. This earned him serious criticism and ridicule from some Corinthians, so his second letter to them is somewhat defensive. He asserts his authority as an apostle (always in issue, given his late conversion), and seizes their criticism of his inconsistency to write a magnificent salute to the fidelity of God.  Like the Psalmist, Paul clearly proclaims his Faith, affirming Life within himself despite death (2 Cor 4:10–11) and the Life-giving effect of his experience upon the Church (2 Cor 4:12, 14–15).  Paul imagines God presenting him and them to Jesus at the Parousia and the judgment. In a series of contrasts Paul explains the extent of his Faith in Life. Life is not only already present and revealing itself (2 Cor 4:8–11, 16) but will outlast his experience of affliction and dying: this Life is eternal (2 Cor 4:17–18). Paul is still speaking of himself personally, but he assumes his Faith and attitude will be shared by all Christians.  The renewal already taking place, even in Paul’s dying, is a share in the Life of Jesus, but this is recognized only by Faith (2 Cor 4:13, 18; 2 Cor 5:7). (USCCB commentary).   Gospel exegesis: The context: The well-loved carpenter turned crazy preacher? Putting evil in its place and naming sin for what it is, Jesus reminds us in today’s Gospel, that sin and evil must be confronted whether it is in ourselves, our relatives, our friends or our enemies.   The first part of today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus’ relatives and fellow-villagers wrongly judged him as out of his mind and consequently tried to take him by force back to Nazareth to do his safe and secure job as a good carpenter. That is why Jesus remarked, “A man's enemies will be the members of his own household.” (Matthew 10:36). There were four reasons why Jesus’ people thought he was mad and attempted to dissuade him from his preaching and healing mission. First, Jesus had abandoned his safe and secure job as a much-needed village carpenter with steady income to become a wandering preacher with no residence or steady income. Second, Jesus had chosen a band of fishermen with no political or social influence, a hated tax-collector and a fanatic zealot as his disciples. Third, Jesus had begun to criticize the power lobby - the scribes and Pharisees - in the Jewish religious headquarters, Jerusalem, labeling them hypocrites. Jesus’ relatives might really have been afraid that Jesus would be arrested, and they would be persecuted with him for criticizing those in power.  Fourth, Jesus had silently claimed to be the long-awaited Messiah and had worked miracles to support his claim. The Sanhedrin slander refuted: The second part of today’s Gospel passage gives Jesus’ crushing reply to the slander propagated by the observers sent from the Sanhedrin, that Jesus expelled devils using the assistance of the leader of devils. Jesus refutes the false allegation raised against him by the Sanhedrin scribes with three counter-arguments and a warning: 1) A house divided against itself will perish, and a country engaged in civil war will be ruined. Hence, Satan will not fight against Satan by helping Jesus to expel his coworkers. 2) If Jesus is collaborating with Satan to exorcise minor demons, then the Jewish exorcists are doing the same. 3) Jesus claims that he is using the power of his Heavenly Father to evict devils just as a strong man guards a house and its possessions from the thief. 4) Finally, Jesus gives a crushing blow to his accusers, warning them that by telling blatant lies they are blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and, hence, their sins are unforgivable. "Who are my mother and my brothers?" The context: As Jesus became a strong critic of the Jewish religious authorities, his mother and cousins came to take him to Nazareth by force, perhaps because they feared that Jesus would be arrested and put to death.   Today’s Gospel episode seems to suggest that Jesus ignored the request of his mother and close relatives who had traveled a long distance to talk to him. But everyone in the audience knew that Jesus loved his mother and had taken care of her for thirty years. Besides, Jesus’ plain answer, “Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother” was actually a compliment to his mother who had always listened to the word of God and obeyed it. Jesus was declaring, “Blessed are those who hear and keep the word of God as she is faithfully doing" (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 58).   Jesus was also using the occasion to teach the congregation a new lesson about their relationship with God. Being a disciple of Jesus, or a Christian, is first and foremost a relationship – a relationship of love and unity with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and with all who belong to God as His children.  Jesus has changed the order of relationships and shows us here that true kinship is not just a matter of flesh and blood.  God’s gracious gift to us is His adoption of us as His sons and daughters.  This gift enables us to recognize all those who belong to Christ as our brothers and sisters.  Our adoption as sons and daughters of God transforms all our relationships and requires a new order of loyalty to God and His kingdom.  “Everyone who does the will of the Father, that is to say, who obeys Him, is a brother or sister of Christ, because he is like Him who fulfilled the will of His Father.  But he who not only obeys but converts others, begets Christ in them, and thus becomes like the Mother of Christ" ("Commentary on St. Matthew", 12:49-50.)

Did Jesus have brothers and sisters? Catholic Church teaches that Jesus did not have blood brothers and sisters. The problem arises because we read in Mark about the crowd asking, "Isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary, a brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters our neighbors here?" (Mk 6:3). A similar reference occurs earlier in Mk 3:31 — "His mother and brothers arrived...." At first hearing, the words seem to state that Jesus did indeed have blood brothers and sisters. But the Greek word adelphos, was used to describe brothers not born of the same parents, like a half-brother or step-brother. The word also described other relationships like cousins, nephews, etc. For example, in Genesis 13:8 and 14:14-16, the word adelphos was used to describe the relationship between Abraham and his nephew Lot and the relation between Laban and his nephew Jacob. In the Gospel, Mary of Clopas is called "the sister" of Mary, the Mother of Jesus where sister means only a cousin.  In Hebrew and Aramaic languages, no special word existed for cousin, nephew, half-brother, or step-brother. So, they used the word brother in all these cases. The Greek translation of the Hebrew texts used the word adelphos. In addition, other Gospel passages clarify these relationships between James, Joses, Judas, and Simon.  James the Less and Joses were the sons of Mary the wife of Clopas (Mk 15:40, Jn 19:25), and James the Less was also identified as "the son of Alphaeus" (Lk 6:15), a synonym of “Clopas." James the Greater and John were the sons of Zebedee with a mother other than our Blessed Mother Mary (Mt 20:20ff). After the birth of our Lord, although the Gospels do not give us many details of Jesus’ childhood, no mention is made of Mary and Joseph ever having other children. Never does it refer to the "sons of Mary" or "a son of Mary," but only the son of Mary. By this time, St. Joseph has died. Since Jesus, the first-born, had no "blood brother," when He was hanging on the cross, He entrusted Mary to the care of St. John, the Beloved Disciple. Interestingly, the Orthodox Churches solve this problem over brothers and sisters by speculating that St. Joseph was an elderly widower who had other children before he married Mary. The earliest explanation of who the brothers and sisters were, found in the second-century document known as The Protoevagelium of James, is that they were stepbrothers through Joseph. According to this document, Joseph was an elderly widower who agreed to become the guardian of Mary, a consecrated virgin. Being elderly and already having children, he was not seeking to raise a new family and so was an appropriate guardian for a virgin. This theory is consistent with Joseph’s apparent death before the ministry of Jesus. It is the standard explanation in Eastern Christendom of who the brethren of Christ are. Shortly before the year 400, St. Jerome began to popularize the view that the brethren of Christ were cousins, and this view became common in the West. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church has faithfully taught that Mary gave birth only   to Jesus, whom she had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Life messages: 1) Today’s Scriptures challenge us to face rejection with prophetic courage and optimism. Very often our friends, families, or childhood companions fail to listen to us and refuse to accept the words of grace, love and encouragement that we offer to them because they are too familiar with us.  Hence, they are unable to see us as God's appointed instruments, the agents of God's healing and saving grace. But we have to face such rejection with prophetic courage because by our Baptism we are called to be prophets like Jesus, sharing his prophetic mission. As prophets, our task is to speak the truth and oppose the evils in our society without condoning or encouraging sinful behavior even in our dear ones. Let us also acknowledge, appreciate and encourage the prophets of our time who stand for truth and justice in our society with the wisdom of God in their heads, the power of the Holy Spirit in their words and the courage of God in their actions. 2) We need to have the courage of our convictions: Modern “liberal-minded” people may find genuine Christians’ belief in and practice of Christ’s ideas and ideals crazy too. Hence, what is needed in a Christian is the courage of his or her convictions based on the authority of Jesus as God and the truth of his doctrines. Many saints, following Christ's example, have been taken for madmen--but they were mad with love, mad with love for Jesus Christ. 2) We need to fill our minds with the Holy Spirit:  Jesus teaches that we can be influenced by the evil spirit if we listen to him and follow him. Hence, we have to keep our souls daily cleansed and filled with the Spirit of God, leaving no space for the evil spirit to enter our souls. 3) We need to live as members of God’s family:  Let us remember that by Baptism we become the children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus and members of the Heavenly family of the Triune God. Hence, let us observe our obligations of treating others with love and respect and of sharing our love with them in corporal and spiritual works of mercy. We are also His disciples, and so are obliged to be hearers as well as doers of the word of God.  Joke of the Week: Rejection at the Pearly Gate, too: A cab driver reaches the Pearly Gates and announces his presence to St. Peter, who looks him up in his Big Book. Upon reading the entry for the cabby, St. Peter invites him to grab a silk robe and a golden staff and to proceed into Heaven. A preacher is next in line behind the cabby and has been watching these proceedings with interest. He announces himself to St. Peter. Upon scanning the preacher's entry in the Big Book, St. Peter furrows his brow and says, "Okay, we'll let you in, but take that cotton robe and wooden staff." The preacher is astonished and replies, "But I am a man of the cloth. You gave that cab driver a gold staff and a silk robe. Surely, I rate higher than a cabby." St. Peter responded matter-of-factly: "Here we are interested in results. When you preached, people slept. When the cabby drove his taxi, people prayed."   4 Additional anecdotes: 1) Rejection hurts: Arnold Palmer played his last Master’s Tournament in 2002. Palmer, who won the Master’s in 1958, 1960, 1962, and 1964, had seen his game slip away with age and his stardom fade with the rise of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. A reporter asked Palmer, “Why did you do it? Why did you quit?” To which Palmer replied, “I didn’t want to get the letter that former champions Ford, Brewer, and Casper have already received asking them to step down.” Whether it’s that girl in elementary school who looked at you in disdain when you offered her a Valentine card, or the boss that suggests you are not included in the company’s new plans, rejection hurts. It causes pain. Yet, Jesus faced rejection heroically and said it’s going to happen and we will be wise to live with it, for “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.” There is some rejection that’s worth the cost. 2) “The World’s Strongest Man” Macho men always want to brag about how strong they are. Some boys on a school playground were bragging. Johnny said, “My dad has a list of all the men he can beat up—and all your dads are on his list!” Later that afternoon a knock came on Johnny’s house and his dad answered the door. A big angry man said, “Are you Johnny’s dad?” He said, “I am.” “Well Johnny told my son said you have a list of men you think you can beat up, and my name is on it.” Johnny’s dad said, “That’s right.” The big guy started rolling up his sleeves and said, “Well, I don’t think you can beat me up. What are you going to do about it?” Johnny’s dad said, “I’ll mark you off my list.” Guys are always bragging about who’s the strongest. Since 1977 there has been a televised event called “The World’s Strongest Man.” Most of the winners have come from Finland, Iceland, and Eastern Europe. These guys are required to perform amazing feats of strength like pulling a Boeing 747 with their teeth. These aren’t body-builders; they are bulked up dudes. One of the competitors from Iceland, who is nicknamed Thor, stands 6’9” and weighs 435 pounds. No six-pack abs on these guys, they go for the full keg! So, who do you think was the strongest man in the Bible? Are you thinking of the book of Judges and the guy with long hair who could kill a lion with his bare hands? Samson was pretty strong, but after he got a haircut in the devil’s barbershop, he lost his strength. In our passage today, Jesus is going to talk about a strong man; then He’s going to mention a stronger man. Jesus claims that God his Father is “The World’s Strongest Man” who would protect us from the evil one. (Rev. David Duke). 3) A house divided against itself cannot stand." On June 16, 1858 more than 1,000 delegates met in the Springfield, Illinois, for the Republican State Convention, and they chose Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for the U.S. Senate, running against Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. That evening Lincoln delivered this address to his Republican colleagues and the main focus of his remarks were on the issue of slavery: “Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention. If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, NOT ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed. ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand." "A house divided against itself cannot stand.’" That's a powerful sentence! Did Abraham Lincoln come up with that phrase all by himself? No. Well, where did he get it? That’s right … he was quoting Jesus and the quote is from today’s Gospel where Jesus gives a crushing blow to the Scribes who accused Jesus of collaborating with Beelzebub for his exorcisms.

4) ‘United We Stand Divided We Fall’: I read about a Church that had grown to the point of needing a new building. After the building was completed, a disagreement arose about which side of the auditorium they should put the piano. Words were exchanged, tempers flared, and the Church ultimately split. The side that “won” kept the building, but they no longer needed the extra seating and could not afford to pay the mortgage … so they had to sell it. (Tim Seevers, in The Pleasant Viewer June 2000). And I also have read about another Church down in Texas where folks go so mad at each other that the Church split and then they fought over the property. Each group filed lawsuits against the other group. During a hearing, it was discovered that the conflict had begun years before at a church dinner (pause) when an elder was served a smaller piece of ham than the child seated next to him. (Jim Belcher, 10/12/09 Sermoncentral.com article). L/18

(Prepared by: Fr. Anthony. Kadavil, St. John the Baptist Church, P. O. Box 417, Grand Bay, AL  36541, USA)  
OT XI – B (1)
OT XI – B (1)
Introduction: Today’s readings are about the birth and growth of the reign or rule of God (Kingdom of God), in human lives and about the gigantic growth of the Church from very humble beginnings.  Both growths are slow and mysterious, guided by the power of the Holy Spirit. Scripture lessons: The first reading, taken from Ez 17:22-24, is a Messianic prophecy. Ezekiel tells us how the Lord God of Israel will send a descendant of King David to Israel as His Messiah and the Savior of the world. In contrast with the parable of tiny the mustard seed in today’s Gospel, Ezekiel sees the Messiah originating in a royal family (lofty Cedar, David). In the second reading, St. Paul teaches the Corinthian Christians that they are to please God by doing His will (thus advancing the growth of God’s Kingdom and of His rule in their lives), so that they may be amply rewarded in the final judgment. In today’s Gospel, Jesus compares the growth of the Kingdom of God to the germination of a wheat seed and that of a tiny mustard seed. Both have very small beginnings. The wheat seeds, by gradual but steady growth, yield a bumper crop for the farmer. In the same way, the life principle in a tiny mustard seed enables it to grow into a large bush. The reign of God in human hearts and the growth of the Church in the world also have small beginnings. But the Source of all life, God the Holy Spirit, gives to both a steady, persistent and gigantic growth. The first reading: Ez 17:22-24, explained. In this reading, Ezekiel prophesies the better days coming for the Chosen People, when Yahweh will take back His people once more and dwell in their midst forever. The Lord God tells the people, through the prophet, that He will take His exiled people from Babylon and replant them in Israel, the land of their fathers.  Today's extract is also a Messianic prophecy in which God says that he will raise up a descendant–a sprig from the lofty cedar, David, who will, nevertheless, be the glory of Israel. As Jesus describes the ordinary mustard shrub, grown into a size large enough so that “the birds of the air can make nests in its branches,” his words echo a similar description found in the first reading (Ez 17:22-23). In Ezekiel’s text, it is the tiny sprig that grows into a new, branched, fruit-bearing majestic cedar, far greater than the tree from which it was taken, in which “every kind of bird will live,” an image used both here and in other Old Testament texts (see Ps 104:12; Ez 31:6; Dn 4:9-21), to suggest the future inclusion of the Gentile nations in God’s eternal plan. Jesus’ use of a mustard plant for origin of the resulting Kingdom instead of a great cedar suggests both the humble beginnings for the great power that is to come and its welcome of the “little ones” of the Lord as its members and rulers.  Mark’s community would have recognized the mustard plant as appropriate for Jesus’ own earthly ministry. The Messiah came as an itinerant teacher/rabbi who gathered a few ordinary people to be his disciples. Jesus’ incarnational presence was like that of a mustard plant, not an imposing cedar. He was not a Messiah of towering strength with great political, financial and military power. Yet the Divinely ordained growth of that small beginning resulted in the same kind of exponential growth and presence—inviting all the “birds of the air” to make their nests within its branches. The second reading (2 Cor 5:6-10), explained:  St Paul tells the Corinthian Christians that his constant desire and motive in his earthly life is, and in his Heavenly life will be, to please God. In this, Paul wants them to imitate him in striving to please Christ is that everyone must “appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil” (v. 10). What we believe about the future should affect our lives today. The knowledge that Paul possessed an eternal house in Heaven allowed him to have a positive attitude toward life's adversities. Paul's cheerfulness stems in part from knowing that as long as we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. Death for him is not an enemy but a friend. This is because death, or being away from the body, means being at home with the Lord (v. 8). For Paul, to “live by Faith” is to walk in the realm of Faith. [“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).] Paul teaches that the Divine judgment is a certainty, not an option. Nor is this judgment to be taken lightly. Paul's intention is to remind the Corinthians that all those who serve Christ will have to give an account of what they have accomplished for the Lord, not of how they have increased their own reputation (5:12). Even the Corinthians are not exempt from this Divine scrutiny and assessment. How will we be judged? According to Paul, we are to receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. It is not clear here whether this judgment will occur at death or at the Parousia. Paul does not say, one way or the other. Gospel Exegesis: The context: Jesus' disciples were feeling discouraged. Sure, crowds were gathering to hear their teacher, but there was little evidence of progress and a lot of evidence of resistance. Jesus had been talking about the Kingdom of God, the time when God's reign would be manifest upon the earth, and people would live in conformity to God's will. It was apparent that it wasn't happening then. It would be even more difficult at the conclusion of Jesus' ministry for his disciples to believe that the Kingdom of God had come any closer to being a reality. They would be a small, discouraged group of fugitives without a leader. Now was the time to provide them with a message that would give them hope in times of discouragement and sustain them in the face of future persecution. Hence, Jesus told them the parable of the mustard seed. His words have a message, not only for his original disciples, but for us as well. The first parable concludes with an allusion to Joel 4:13; the harvest is the Day of Judgment The Kingdom parables or seed parables: The Kingdom of God for Pharisees was reached by the exact observance of the Mosaic Law. The Zealots saw the Kingdom as a political state established by force of arms with God as supreme ruler. The Essenes despairing of the society of their day imagined it as heralding the end of the world, and so they withdrew to Qumran and elsewhere, in the Dead Sea wilderness, to await the coming of the Kingdom. Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God as God’s rule in human lives begun here on earth and completed in Heaven. The Kingdom Jesus speaks of is not the afterlife but an expression of how God wants the world to be and live. Jesus’ “Kingdom parables” in today’s Gospel point to the Kingdom as a Divine act rather than a human accomplishment. They call on man to be patient with the delay of the Kingdom in coming. They are called “Kingdom parables” because they announce, “the Kingdom of God is like . . .” After the parable of the sower in the fourth chapter of Mark comes the parable of the harvest (4:26-29). Here, Jesus describes the farmer planting the seed and harvesting the crop, but not even knowing how the seed secretly sprouts and grows. The third parable in this chapter is the parable of the mustard seed (4:30-32). The consistent factors in all three parables of response in Mark 4 are: the word of God is like a seed; God alone can give the growth; and great growth is possible in God's Kingdom. We are called to do what we can do -- plant and nurture. God will do what only God can do -- produce the growth. In the second and third parables, the comparisons Jesus makes are startling in their simplicity. The kingdom of God, the great future presence of the Divine, is likened to a small seed, a dried up kernel of potential. But the actual development from seed to stalk to ripened grain all occurs outside any influence by the sower. The grain’s growth occurs “by itself” without any observable cause. Clearly, God’s providential power ordains the growth of seeds into harvestable crops, both in Leviticus and here in Jesus’ parable. This Divinely ordered growth gradually brings the small seeds to fully ripened grain heads, ready for harvest. The Kingdom that grows to full fruition under God’s power will be ready for its completion and fulfillment at the moment determined by God for judgment. Parable of the mustard seed: The Parable of the Mustard Seed was taught in rhetorical hyperbole because the largest of mustard plants, even under ideal conditions, can grow only to a height of about 15 feet. A tree, whose large branches offer a sanctuary for birds, was a familiar Old Testament symbol for a mighty Kingdom, which would give shelter to the nations. The tiny mustard seed, growing to be a tree, symbolizes Jesus’ offer of refuge and life in God’s Kingdom. Here, Jesus uses a shrub coming from a tiny seed (Jn 12: 24)) to represent Kingdom growth, consistent with other tree/Kingdom references (Ez 17:23 and Dn 4:11-21). While the first Kingdom parable (vv 26-29) is found only in Mark, the second comparison Jesus makes concerning the Kingdom, the parable of the mustard seed, is found also in Matthew 13:31-32, Luke 13:18-19, and the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas (20). The picture painted in the Parable of the Mustard Seed by Jesus is of the humble beginnings of the Church experiencing an explosive rate of growth. While growth itself was the primary focus of the first seed parable, the mustard seed comparison emphasizes the contrast between tiny beginnings and tremendous endings. The mustard seed was proverbially used to describe something of minuscule proportions (see Matthew 17:20), in first century culture. Likewise, the resulting mustard plant was well-known as a large, fast-growing herbaceous shrub, and one that could be quite invasive if left unchecked in the garden (see Pliny, Natural History, 19, 170-171). Birds are naturally attracted to the taste of the mustard seed. Matthew identifies the birds of the air as "the wicked one" (http://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/bible.show/sVerseID/23544/eVerseID/23544 Mt 13:4, 19). Mark connects them with “Satan”(Mk 4: 4, 15), and Luke links them to "the devil" (http://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/bible.show/sVerseID/25251/eVerseID/25251l (Lk 8:5, 12). These "birds," demons led by "the prince of the power of the air" (http://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/bible.show/sVerseID/29232/eVerseID/29232 (Eph 2:2), have continually tried to infiltrate the Church. Upon the unsuspecting early Church, Satan moved quickly to implant his agents in it to teach false doctrine while appearing to be true Christians. The mystery of growth: Only Mark records the parable of the seed’s growth. Using the mini-parables of the growth of wheat seeds and mustard seeds in the field, Jesus explains the nature of the growth of the Kingdom of God or rule of God in human beings and human societies. In the case of both wheat and mustard seeds, the initial growth is slow, mysterious and unnoticeable. But within days a leafy shoot will emerge, and within months a mature plant with numerous braches and leaves, flowers and fruits will be produced. The growth is silent and slow but steady, using power from the seed in the beginning and transforming absorbed water and minerals in the later stages. Growth doesn't take place because of our understandings or manipulations.  It is God's initiative that brings forth growth. We need to be patient and not give up, because sometimes growth takes longer than we expect. God works in ways we don't understand Mysterious but steady growth of the Kingdom of God: Jesus explains that the kingdom of God grows this way in human souls. The Kingdom of God is the growth of God’s rule in human hearts that occurs when man does the will of God and surrenders his life to God. The seed of Faith lies dormant within each of us. When we permit him to nurture it with tender loving care, it grows miraculously into gigantic proportions. The growth is slow and microscopic in the beginning. But this seed grows by using the power of the Holy Spirit, given to us through the word of God, the Mass, the Sacraments and prayer. Finally, God’s rule in the human heart transforms individuals and communities into God’s people doing His will in His kingdom. The message of the parable: is quite simple and direct. The reign of God will grow to its fullness, despite all obstacles. Those who accept Jesus as their God and Savior will accept his rule in all areas of their lives, with the help of the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. The Church of Jesus Christ had a tiny beginning in the work of an obscure teacher and a pitifully small group of ordinary people. But one of the proofs of the Divine origin of the Church of Christ is its growth from such a very humble beginnings. No wonder the Church has become the greatest of all shrubs, the world-wide Church that welcomes people of all races and nations into her folds, celebrating the marvel of growth! A parable of encouragement: The parable of the mustard seed is a word of encouragement for us. Things might not be what you and I want them to be, but there is still hope. God works in mysterious ways. God is still with us even when our efforts are frustrated, because He is the source of growth. Growth often starts out small like a mustard seed and then blossoms into something huge. The second thing these words of Jesus do is to remind us that while we are called to do something, we are not called to do everything. We scatter the seed, but the growth is up to God. The same process works in the Christian life. We practice daily prayer and Bible reading. We find ways to be of service to others. We pledge money and time to the Church and charitable purposes. We join the people of God at the altar regularly. These are some of the seeds that God uses to mold and shape our lives in love, peace and hope. But the shaping happens at God's own pace and as we are able to cooperate with Him. Life messages:   1) We need to cooperate in the growth of God’s Kingdom: The Kingdom of God is the growth of God’s rule in human hearts that occurs when man does the will of God and surrenders his life to God. The seed of Faith lies dormant within each of us. When we permit the Holy Spirit to nurture it with TLC (tender loving care), it grows miraculously into gigantic proportions. The growth is slow and microscopic in the beginning. But the seed grows by using the power of the Holy Spirit, given to us through the word of God, the Mass, the Sacraments and prayer. As we learn God’s will from His words and try to put these words into practice, we participate in the growth of God’s Kingdom on earth, a growth which will be completed in our Heavenly life.  But since we need the special anointing of the Holy Spirit to be doers of the word of God, let us offer our lives before God every day, asking for this special anointing. 2) We need not get discouraged: Since the acceptance God’s rule by human beings is a very slow process, there is the danger of discouragement and hopelessness among preachers, evangelizers and believers. The conviction that growth of the Kingdom of God is the work of the Holy Spirit with our humble cooperation should make us optimistic in continuing our work of witnessing. We should continue sowing tiny seeds in the form of words of love, acts of encouragement, deeds of charity, mercy and forgiveness.
OT XIII – B (1)
OT XIII – B (1)
Synopsis of OT XIII [B] Homily on Mk 5: 21-43 Introduction: Today’s readings speak of the gift of life, both physical and spiritual, that God has given us. They urge and challenge us to be grateful for our health in body and soul and to use God’s gifts of life and health responsibly. Scripture lessons: The first reading, taken from the Book of Wisdom, tells us that God gave us life and health and that it was the jealousy of the Satan that produced illness and death. The reading also suggests that the goal of our lives on earth is to know, to love, and to serve God here with perfect health in body and soul, and to share God’s immortal life forever. In the second reading, St. Paul asks the Corinthian Christian community to show to their Jewish brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, living in poverty and sickness, the kindness and compassion which Jesus expressed in his healing ministry. Paul asked the Corinthians to be generous in their contributions to a fund being collected for their suffering brothers and sisters.    The generosity of Jesus is the central theme here also, because Paul describes Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection as “the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Today’s Gospel describes two of our Lord's miracles, the healing of a woman who suffered from a chronic bleeding disease and the returning of the dead daughter of Jairus to life.    These healings teach us that Jesus willed life, and willed full life for all God’s children.  The two healings also reveal Jesus as a generous, kind and compassionate God Who wills that men should live their wholesome lives fully. They also give us further proof of the Divine power and the Infinite mercy of our Savior. These miracles were worked by Jesus as reward for the trusting Faith of a synagogue ruler and of a woman with a hemorrhage. Although the Faith of the ruler might have been defective, and the woman’s Faith might have been a bit superstitious, Jesus amply rewarded the Faith they had by granting them health and life.   Life messages: # 1: We need to accept God’s call to health, wholeness and holiness.  Jesus accepts us as we are.  Hence, let us bring before him our bodily illnesses and spiritual wounds and ask for his healing touch.  As Christians, we believe that Jesus continues to heal us through his instruments in the medical profession like doctors, nurses and medical technicians. Hence, when we go to a doctor, we need to offer a prayer to Christ The Divine Healer, that we may choose the right doctor, and that he or she will make the correct diagnosis, prescribe the correct treatment and give us the right medicine. Let us not forget the truth, that Christ still works wonders of healing.  Let us also thank God for the great gift of health and use it for helping those who are sick. #2: We need to continue the healing mission of the Church: As members of the Church, we are not excused from our vocation to be healers.  We do our share of Christ’s healing mission by visiting the sick, by praying for their healing, and by boosting their morale with our loving presence, words of encouragement and inspiration. Thus, we may enable them to experience the compassion of Jesus the healer.   O.T. XIII [B]: Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24; 2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mk 5:21-43 Anecdote # 1:  “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”Ann Jillian, a three-time Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actress and singer, is an American actress born to Roman Catholic Lithuanian immigrant parents. Since 1985, she has added motivational speaking to her impressive list of credits, addressing business, medical, professional and women's groups with her own unique blend of humor and inspiration. Her prowess extends from the world’s concert halls, to feature film and the Broadway stage.  She has starred in over 25 TV movies and made hundreds of other TV appearances. Her TV movie, The Ann Jillian Story, which recounts her victory over breast cancer, was the #1 film of that TV season, but, more important, it delivered Ann's message about the hopeful side of breast cancer to its millions of viewers.  It was in 1985 that the then 35-year-old actress made headlines when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. On her way to the hospital to check the nature of the growth which she had noticed, she stopped at St. Francis de Sales Church and read the inscription on the door. “The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.” She went into the Church and prayed for the strength to accept her ordeal.  The radiant trust in God and peace of mind she maintained before and after the surgery (double mastectomy), was big news in the media and a great inspiration for all cancer patients. She trusted in Jesus’ words given in today’s Gospel, “Do not be afraid; just have Faith.” Actually, this phrase is repeated in the Bible 365 times. # 2: Each patient carries his own doctor inside himself: The great missionary physician, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, said it simply and realistically, "Each patient carries his own doctor inside himself. They come to us [physicians] not knowing that truth. We are best when we give the doctor who resides within each patient a chance to work." Are you giving the "doctor who resides" within you the chance to work? Are you giving the "doctor who resides" within your spouse, your child, your significant other, the chance to work? Here is a little self-administered test from a study by Dr. Carl Simonton. Answer these questions, yes or no. Do you have a tendency to hold resentment? Yes or no. Would you rather carry a grudge than forgive? Yes or no. Would you rather cry in self-pity than invite a friend out for dinner? Yes or no. Do you have a problem developing and maintaining long-term relationships? Yes or no. Do you have a low self-image? Yes or no. If you answer with more "yeses," by Dr. Simonton's test study, you are not giving the "doctor who resides within" you the best chance to work. A "yes" means you are most vulnerable to illness. (Adapted from Bruce Larson, There is a Lot More to Health Than Not Being Sick, pp. 138-139.)   #3: Widow of Dr. Martin Luther King:  The whole world was saddened when Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. died in a medical clinic in Mexico. What was she doing in Mexico? It's simple. Doctors in the United States had told her they could do no more for her. The clinic in Mexico offered hope. That hope may have been an illusion, but who can blame her? We'll do anything for hope. Ask someone who has been in chronic pain and has discovered that even the finest medical professionals don't have a clue about how to stop their pain. Many of these sufferers will go to any lengths to find someone who can give them relief. Wouldn't you? The woman with chronic hemorrhage in today’s first Gospel story, comes to Jesus with trusting Faith. She has heard that this is the physician she has been looking for. Introduction: Today’s readings speak of the gift of life, both physical and spiritual, that God has given us. They urge and challenge us to be grateful for our health in body and soul and to use God’s gifts of life and health responsibly. Scripture Lessons: The first reading, taken from the Book of Wisdom, tells us that God gave us life and health, and that it was the jealousy of Satan which produced illness and death. The reading also suggests that the goal of our lives on earth is to know, to love, and to serve God here with perfect health in body and soul, and to share God’s immortal life forever. In the second reading, St. Paul asks the Corinthian Christian community to show to their impoverished, suffering Jewish brothers and sisters in Jerusalem the kindness and compassion which Jesus expressed in his healing ministry. Paul asked the Corinthians to be generous in their contributions to a fund being collected for these suffering brothers and sisters.  The generosity of Jesus is the central theme here also, because Paul describes Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection as “the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Today’s Gospel describes two of our Lord's miracles, the healing of a woman who suffered from a chronic bleeding disease and the returning of the dead daughter of Jairus to life.   These healings teach us that Jesus wills life, full life, for all God’s children.  The two healings also reveal Jesus as a generous, kind and compassionate God who wills that men should live their wholesome lives fully. They also give us further proof of the Divine power and the Infinite mercy of our Savior. These miracles were worked by Jesus as reward for the trusting Faith of a synagogue ruler and of a woman with a hemorrhage. Although the Faith of the ruler may have been defective, and the woman’s Faith may have been a bit superstitious, Jesus amply rewarded the Faith they had by granting them health and life.   The first reading, Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24, complements the Gospel theme by explaining the origins of evil and death in the world.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus revives a dead girl and cures a woman of her chronic illness. We ask the perennial question: "How can a good God permit evils like poverty, AIDS, holocausts, random, mass shootings and terrorist attacks?” Today’s passage from the Book of Wisdom defends the goodness of God, stating, “God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living" (Wis 1:13).  Our God is a God of life. His will for us is that we should have more abundant life.  The truth that man's real destiny is an unending life with God is stated for the first time in the Old Testament in the Book of Wisdom: “For righteousness is immortal.  God created man for incorruption, and made him in the image of His own eternity” (Wis 1:15, 2:23).  This means that the goal of our lives is to know, to love and to serve God here, and to share God’s life forever. In the second reading, (2 Corinthians 8:7,9,13-15), Paul addresses the Christians in Corinth, rich in the spiritual gifts (prophecy, healing, speaking in tongues, etc. See chapters 12-14 of 1 Corinthians).  While complimenting them on their material and spiritual prosperity, Saint Paul asks them to come to the financial aid of a destitute Christian congregation in Palestine.  Paul has already sent alms from Macedonia and Galatia to the poor in Jerusalem, and he takes this occasion to ask the Gentile converts in Corinth, both to show their solidarity and union with their Jewish brethren, and to practice the virtue of charity as the Macedonians have done.  Paul's first concern is with the welfare of those whom the Church has taken as its responsibility. He also appeals to the example of Jesus. For Jesus, indescribably rich as Son of God, emptied himself when he assumed human life and accepted death, for our sake.   Exegesis: The context: In today's Gospel we have what is often called a "Markan sandwich". One story is encased or sandwiched between the beginning and end of another. Here, we have an unusual combination of two miracle stories, one contained within the other – a healing, and a restoration of life.  The story of the woman with the flow of blood interrupts and is sandwiched in between the two parts of the account of Jairus and his daughter. These miracles were worked by Jesus as rewards for the trusting Faith of a synagogue ruler and of a woman with a hemorrhage. Though the ruler may have trusted Jesus out of desperation and the woman’s Faith may have been a bit superstitious, even their perhaps defective Faith was amply rewarded. The parallels: The stories have several common features.  One woman is 12 years old, and the other has suffered for 12 years.  Both are called “daughter,” and both are in need of physical healing.  The girl’s father is encouraged to have Faith, and the older woman is praised for her Faith.  The two stories illustrate Jesus’ power over both chronic illness and death. In each healing, Jesus shows his marvelous generosity by giving the recipients life and salvation in addition to physical healing. The faith-experiences of Jairus and the sick woman: 1) Jairus: As the ruler of the synagogue, Jairus was a well-respected man in the local Jewish community.  He was the administrative head of the synagogue, the president of the board of elders and the one responsible for the conduct of the services.  He probably shared in the Pharisees’ prejudice that Jesus was a heretic and a wandering preacher to be avoided. If so, the urgency of his need and the helplessness of the situation prompted him to forget his position, to swallow his pride and prejudice and to seek help from Jesus the wandering wonder-worker. 2) The woman with a hemorrhage: The account tells of a woman who came to Jesus with expectant Faith as a last resort, after trying every other cure known in her day.  The Mosaic Law (Lv 15:25-27) declared her unclean and shut her off from the worship of God and the fellowship of her friends.  That may be why she decided to try to touch the tassels of Jesus' garment secretly. Jesus, like every other Jew, wore an outer robe with four tassels on it, one at each corner--the badge of a devout Jew as prescribed (Nm15:38-40).  The Faith that was rewarded: The woman’s boldness in touching Jesus' garment -- which, according to the Law, made Jesus unclean -- could have angered him. Further, because her “chronic bleeding disease” rendered her ritually unclean, any contact she had with others in the crowd, made them also ritually unclean as well.  But her Faith in the healing power of Jesus was so strong that she risked breaking all the social rules to seek what she believed He could do for her. By affectionately calling her "daughter," Jesus established a relationship with her and gave her the assurance that she was healed:   “Daughter, your Faith has saved you.  Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”  In addition, she gained a personal relationship with Jesus as a member of his family (3:35).  By trusting in the power of God and doing His will, she was not only physically cured but was also fully restored to a normal religious and social life.  It was her deep Faith in Jesus - symbolized by her touching the tassel of his garment - that was a major factor in her healing. The Faith that brought back life from death: As Jesus sent the woman to her house, Jairus received the shocking news of the death of his daughter.  But Jesus insisted on going to Jairus’ house and consoled the father saying, "Do not be afraid; only have Faith."  The phrase, "Do not be afraid,” appears in the Bible 366 times.  Those who greeted Jairus at his home were professional mourners who wailed, beat their breasts, tore their hair, and rent their garments.  There were also flute players who played funeral dirges.  The crowd told Jairus: "Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the teacher any further?" (35). But Jesus assured the crowd: "The child is not dead but sleeping," meaning that the girl's death was only temporary, and she would wake up at his call.  Jesus took the parents of the little girl with only Peter, James and John into the room, took the child by the hand and said to her, “'Talitha koum,' which means, 'Little girl, get up!’”  Those who had laughed Jesus to scorn must have been greatly amazed when they realized Jesus' power. Life messages: # 1: We need to accept God’s call to health, wholeness and holiness.  Jesus accepts us as we are.  Hence, let us bring before him our bodily illnesses and spiritual wounds and ask for his healing touch.  We should pray for healing which will give us health in every aspect of our lives – not just in our bodies – so that we may function in perfect harmony with people around us and with the environment. As Christians, we believe that Jesus continues to heal us through his instruments in the medical profession, like doctors, nurses and medical technicians. Hence, when we go to a doctor, we need to offer a prayer to Christ, the Divine Healer, that we may choose the right doctor, and that s/he may make the correct diagnosis, prescribe the correct treatment and give us the right medicine. Let us not forget the truth that, over, above and beyond the ability and skill of the greatest human healer, Christ still works wonders of healing.  Let us also thank God for the great gift of health and use it for helping those who are sick. #2: We need to continue the healing mission of the Church: As members of the Church, we are not excused from our vocation to be healers.  When a friend of ours is terminally ill, the skill of the doctors and their advanced medical tools often become powerless.  What the patient needs in such a situation is our care, concern and prayerful presence, enabling them to experience through us the love, compassion and mercy of Jesus. We do our share of Christ’s healing mission by visiting the sick, by praying for their healing and by boosting their morale through our loving presence, encouragement and inspiration.    #3: We need to have trusting Faith in the mercy and Divine power of Jesus:  The primary condition for the effectiveness of our prayer is our Faith in the goodness and mercy of God. Such a Faith is possible only if we remain related to God through prayer, the Sacraments, and a meditative study of the Bible.  Every day we should say a fervent prayer of thanksgiving to God for the gift of active Faith. Let us keep in mind this wise piece of advice given by St. Ignatius of Loyola: “We must work as if everything depends on us, but we must pray as if everything depends on God.”  JOKES OF THE WEEK # 1: Healed by laughter:  "A cheerful heart is good medicine" (Proverbs 17:22).  In the 1300's, surgeon Henri de Mondeville reportedly told jokes to his patients in the recovery room.  Laughter exercises the face, shoulders, diaphragm, and abdomen.  When the breathing deepens, the heart rate rises, and the blood takes up and transports more oxygen. Endorphins are released, pain thresholds are raised, and some studies suggest that even our immune systems are boosted.  When we laugh, others laugh too. Laughter is a contagious, highly effective, non-prescription medicine. It has no side effects, and no one is allergic to it. Have we had our dose of laughter today? We can use the tool of humor to induce laughter for our health, healing and general sense of well-being.  We can even spend time in daily practicing our laughing out loud – maybe by smiling first, then leaning into a giggle, and then in outright belly laughs!   # 2: A deaf man, a blind man and a disabled man heard a rumor that God had come down to a Church in the village to heal the sick.  They all went to find out if it was true. God signed to the deaf man, "Can I help you, son?" The man signed back that he would be so happy if he could hear again.  God touched the man and suddenly he could hear. God then touched the blind man and he was able to see. The third man was sitting in his wheelchair with his mouth wide open in amazement.  God looked at the man and asked him what he wanted. The man drew back and yelled, "Don't lay one finger on me! I'm on disability!" # 3: A pastor joke:  One Sunday at Mass as the priest was giving his homily, a little baby in the front row suddenly started crying loudly.  The mother did her best to pacify the child, but nothing worked. So finally, she got up and started to walk down the aisle to take the baby into the cry room.  The priest stopped his preaching, and very compassionately called out to the mother, "That's OK! You don't have to leave. The child isn't disturbing me." The young woman turned around and said, "No, pardon me Father, but you're disturbing my child!" (Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, chaplain, Sacred Heart Home, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604, USA)    
OT XIV – B (1)
OT XIV – B (1)

SYNOPSIS: OT XIV [B] (July 7) HOMILY ON MARK 6: 1-6 (L-15)

Introduction: Today’s readings introduce Jesus as a prophet and explain how prophets and other messengers from God inevitably suffer rejection. The readings challenge us to face rejection and hardship with prophetic courage.

Scripture lessons:   The first reading, taken from the book of the prophet Ezekiel, tells us about his call from God to be a prophet. Yahweh warns Ezekiel that he is being sent to obstinate and rebellious Israelites in exile in Babylon. Hence, as God’s prophet, he will have to face rejection and persecution for giving God’s message. The reading gives us the warning that as Christians who accept the call of Jesus and seek to follow him, we also may face indifference and hostility, contempt and scorn, weakness, hardship and persecution, insults and rejection.  In the second reading, St. Paul gives us the same warning from his experience that not only the prophets, but the apostles and missionaries also will have to encounter hardships and rejection in their preaching mission. Paul confesses that God has given him a share in Christ’s suffering – a chronic illness which gave him pain, a "thorn in the flesh," so that he might rely on God’s grace and might glory in the power of a strengthening God.  The apostle invites us to rise above our own weakness and disability, cooperate with the grace of God and preach the word of God by word and example as Paul did.  Today's Gospel passage, , shows us that many people of Jesus' hometown ofNazareth did not accept him as a prophet because they knew him and his family too well. They knew that he was a carpenter with no schooling in Mosaic Law and knew that he could not be the promised Messiah who would come from Bethlehem as a descendant of David’s royal family. Besides, they were angry when Jesus  not only did not work any miracles in Nazareth, but chided them with prophetic courage for their lack of faith and warned that he would go to other people to do his preaching and healing ministry.

Life messages: Today’s Scriptures challenge us to face rejection with prophetic courage and optimism. Very often our friends, families, or childhood companions fail to listen to us and refuse to accept the words of grace, love and encouragement that we offer to them because they are too familiar with us.  Hence, they are unable to see us as God's appointed instruments, the agents of God's healing and saving grace. But we have to face such rejection with prophetic courage because by our Baptism we are called to be prophets like Jesus, sharing his prophetic mission. As prophets, our task is to speak the truth and oppose the evils in our society without condoning or encouraging sinful behavior even in our dear ones. Let us also acknowledge, appreciate and encourage the prophets of our time who stand for truth and justice in our society with the wisdom of God in their heads, the power of the Holy Spirit in their words and the courage of God in their actions.

OT XIV [B] (July 5) Ez 2: 2-5; II Cor 12: 7-10; Mark 6: 1-6

Anecdotes: # 1: Rev. Deacon Prophet: There is a funny story about a bishop who was interviewing a senior seminarian before his ordination as deacon, and asked him where he would like to be assigned as a deacon for pastoral training. The seminarian said, somewhat boldly, "Oh, my bishop, anywhere but New Canaan!" "Why not there," the bishop asked? "You know," the seminarian answered, "That’s my hometown -- and we all know that ‘a prophet is not without honor except in his native place.’” The bishop replied, "Don't worry my friend! Nobody in your hometown is going to confuse you with a prophet."

# 2: Don’t allow rejection to derail your dreams: Brilliant British Theologian G.K. Chesterton could not read until he was eight years old. A teacher said if his head were opened they would probably find a lump of fat where there was supposed to be a brain. That teacher was wrong. Einstein’s parents were informed by a teacher that he would never amount to anything.  Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was rejected by seven publishers. Richard Bach got twenty rejection slips before Jonathan Livingston Seagull was published. Dr. Seuss, one of the most popular children’s authors of all time, got more than two dozen rejection slips before The Cat in the Hat made it to print. Ruth Graham felt an uncontrollable urge to run out of the meeting the first time she heard Billy Graham preach. She was not convinced of his preaching ability. She was put off by his preaching style. Billy had to improve his preaching before Ruth would become his wife. Today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus encountered rejection with prophetic courage.

# 3: Good news to the poor! But are we poor? Mother Teresa thinks so. There was a beautiful article about her in Timemagazine. She was asked about the materialism of the West. "The more you have, the more you are occupied," she contends. "But the less you have the freer you are. Poverty for us is a freedom. It is a joyful freedom. There is no television here, no this, no that. This is the only fan in the whole house...and it is for the guests. But we are happy. "I find the rich poorer," she continues. "Sometimes they are lonelier inside...The hunger for love is much more difficult to fill than the hunger for bread...The real poor know what is joy." When asked about her plans for the future, she replied, "I just take one day. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not come. We have only today to love Jesus." Is there anyone in this Church as rich as Mother Teresa?

Introduction:  Today’s readings introduce Jesus as a prophet and explain how prophets and other messengers from God inevitably suffer rejection. The readings challenge us to face rejection and hardship with prophetic courage. The first reading, taken from the book of the prophet Ezekiel, tells us about his call from God to be a prophet. Yahweh warns Ezekiel that he is being sent to obstinate and rebellious Israelites in exile in Babylon. Hence, as God’s prophet, he will have  to face rejection and persecution for giving God’s message. The reading gives us the warning that as Christians who accept the call of Jesus and seek to follow him, we also may face indifference and hostility, contempt and scorn, weakness, hardship and persecution, insults and rejection.  In the second reading, St. Paul gives us the same warning from his experience that not only the prophets, but the apostles and missionaries also, will have to encounter hardships and rejection in their preaching mission. Paul confesses that God gave him a share in Christ’s suffering – a chronic illness which gave him pain, a  "thorn in the flesh" –  so that he might rely on God’s grace and might glory in the power of a strengthening God.  Paul invites us to rise above our own weakness and disability, cooperate with the grace of God and preach the word of God by word and example as the apostle did.  Today's Gospel passage, (), shows how many people of Jesus' hometown Nazareth did not accept him as a prophet because they knew him and his family. They knew that he was a carpenter with no schooling in Mosaic Law and that he could not be the promised Messiah who would come from Bethlehem as a descendant of David’s royal family. Besides, they were angry when Jesus did not work any miracles in Nazareth, chided them with prophetic courage for their lack of faith and warned that he would go to other people to do his preaching and healing ministry.

First reading, : Today's reading from Ezekiel captures the same experience in the career of the prophet Ezekiel, who lived about 600 years before Jesus. Ezekiel is warned by God that, though he has been called by Yahweh and sent with a message to the people of Israel, they will almost certainly refuse to hear and accept his message. God is angry about the rebelliousness of the people to whom he is sending his prophet. Ezekiel was the first person called to become a prophet while the people were in Exile in Babylon. While the false prophets were consoling people, saying that the Exile was soon to end and they'd be going home to a newly prosperous Jerusalem soon, Ezekiel resolutely foretold the further destruction of Jerusalem. No wonder he was hated and rejected by the people! Those who accept the call of God and seek to follow Him may face indifference and hostility, contempt and scorn, weakness, hardship and persecution, insults and rejection.

Second Reading, : In today’s selection, Paul frankly admits the fact he had learned by trial and error, that he couldn't preach the Gospel on the basis of his own strength and talent. Rather, the weaker he became, the more room he left for the Spirit of God to work through him. In the midst of a conflict with the Corinthian Christian community, Paul tells about two of his deepest spiritual experiences. In one he had an ecstatic theophany when he received an exceptional revelation. In the other, he fervently prayed to have the unidentified cause of great suffering removed, but was given instead the reassurance that God's grace would be sufficient for his every need. Paul’s opponents within the Corinthian community presumed that an authentic apostle would be vindicated by heavenly visitation and a miraculous healing. Instead, Paul discovered positive value in his pain. He understood that suffering, accepted as God’s gift, produces patience, sensitivity and compassion and a genuine appreciation of life's blessings. Hence, Paul declares that the weaknesses which continue to mark his life as an apostle represent the effective working of the power of the crucified Christ in his ministry.  Paul was content with weaknesses and hardships for the sake of Christ; we, too, find God’s grace sufficient for our needs, for Christ’s power dwells in us in our weakness, and in weakness we are truly strong.

Exegesis: The context: It was natural that Jesus should visit his hometown, Nazareth, as a rabbi with a band of his disciples. On the Sabbath day he went to the local synagogue. In the synagogue there was no definite person to give the address. Any distinguished stranger present who had a message to give might be asked by the ruler of the synagogue to speak. Since Jesus’ fame as a preacher and miracle worker in other places of Galilee had reached Nazareth, he was invited to read from the Prophets and explain the text. During his “Inaugural Address” or “Mission Statement,” Jesus took upon himself the identity of a prophet, different from the image of a miracle worker that people wished to see.  As other faithful prophets of Israel had done, Jesus, too, held  people accountable for their selfishness, their faithlessness to God, their lack of justice and mercy (Mi 6:6-8), and their sinfulness.

The adverse reaction: The first reaction of the people in the synagogue to Jesus' words was one of astonishment. Luke says they were "amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips." But Mark says that they asked one another: “Where did this man get all this? They knew him only as a carpenter from a poor family, with no formal training in Mosaic Law. Certainly they thought he had gone far beyond what one of his status as a humble carpenter should go. (One of the dreams of Martin Luther King was that people "would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character"). Jesus’ neighbors did not expect him, “the carpenter’s son,” to be skilled in interpreting the Scriptures.  They also could not understand how a mere carpenter could be their political Messiah who would liberate them from Roman rule and reestablish the Davidic kingdom of power and glory. The local townsfolk also objected that Jesus had no distinguished lineage. He is identified as “the son of Mary” (v. 3) rather than the traditional “son of Joseph” (“Bar Joseph”) title. Such a reference could be seen as an insult because men in that culture were identified by who their fathers were (see John 1:45). Jesus responded: “No prophet is accepted in his native place.” Those who accept the call of God and seek to follow Him may face indifference and hostility, contempt and scorn, weakness, hardship and persecution, insults and rejection.

Life messages: 1) Let us face rejection with prophetic courage and optimism. The story of Jesus' rejection in his own town is a story that we can identify with, because it is a story that has happened to most of us. We might have experienced the pain of rejection caused by hurts, wounds, betrayal, divorce, abandonment, violated trust, trauma, neglect or various forms of abuse. What about rejection by those closest to us? Often our friends, families, or childhood companions fail to listen to, and refuse to accept, the words of grace, love and encouragement that we offer to them, because they are too familiar with us.  Hence, they are unable to see us as God's appointed instruments, the agents of God's healing and saving grace. Let us check also the other side of the coin. How often do we discount God’s agents through prejudice?  How often do we fail to see God’s image in them because of our own hardheartedness?  We must realize that God's power is always available to transform even the most unlikely people.

2) We need to handle rejection in the right spirit: a) We can handle rejection with respect – respect for ourselves and respect for others. Our first reaction to rejection is often anger – anger at ourselves for assuming we deserve what we got and bitterness toward others who perpetuate the rejection. In the face of rejection, we will be wise to follow the advice of St. Paul who said, “Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down on your anger.” b) We need to avoid self-defeating assumptions. One rejection need not be an indictment on one’s life. Rejection is not synonymous with continuous failure. c) We need to avoid magnifying the rejection. Rejection need not be a forecast of our future, and it must not become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Rejection in the past need not be a predictor of rejection in the future. d) We need to avoid allowing rejection to derail our dreams and instead to keep coming back. e) We need to learn from our rejections. We are not perfect, and we do not always get it right, but we need to keep coming back until we do get it right. Every rejection can be a lesson if we stay open to new possibilities and new opportunities. What can I do differently? How can I improve? What needs can I meet? These are the questions we need to ask if we are to prevent a trouble from going to waste.

3)  Let us acknowledge the prophets of God’s goodness in our midst. God is present giving us his message through our nearest and dearest and our neighbors and coworkers. Since God uses them as His prophets to convey His message to us, it is our duty to acknowledge and honor them. Let us express our appreciation today for our families – spouses for each other, parents and children for each other.  A word of appreciation for the lady who cooks the dinner, for the neighbor who is always ready to share our happiness and sorrow, for the friends who have given us time, support and attention during a recent bereavement or a tragedy in our  life – all are our proper responses to God’s messengers of love and light. Let us not take for granted the presence of God among us as evidenced by the goodness shown by family and friends. Let us also recognize God’s direction, help and support in our lives through His words in the Bible and through the advice and examples of others.

4) We must have the prophetic courage of our convictions.  By our Baptism, God   calls us to be prophets like Jesus, sharing his prophetic mission.  The task of a prophet is to speak God’s truth.   We must never be afraid of this call.   We may rely on   Jesus to supply us with the courage to oppose the many evils in our society.  By legalizing abortion in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the killing of over thirty million unborn children in forty-two years and it is tolerating the brutal execution of 4400 defenseless lives every day by abortion.  Our television and movie conglomerates, which are supported by the tax money of millions of citizens, systematically poison the minds of the young as well as the old by the excessive importance given to perverted sex and unnecessary violence. Many well-known corporate sponsors support more than 75,000 U. S. websites of pornographic material, thus enabling the destructive behavior of perverts and sex abusers.  Our society tells youngsters thatpromiscuous sex, drugs and alcohol are means by which they express their individuality.   It is here that our country needs Christians with the prophetic courage of their convictions to fight against such moral evils.

5) We need to speak the truth of Christ with love, never being hypocritical or disrespectful.  We must never remain silent in the face of evil for fear of being thought "politically incorrect."   Jesus was not against conflict if it promoted truth. He taught us to give respect and freedom without condoning or encouraging sinful behavior. Love does not tolerate destructive behavior but, nevertheless, it sometimes causes pain--just as a surgeon must sometimes hurt in order to heal. We can be kind, charitable, and honest and forgiving as we speak forth our own convictions as Jesus did in the synagogue.

Jokes of the week: # 1: Rejection resulting in the resignation: There was a feud between the Pastor and the Choir Director of a Southern Baptist parish. The first hint of trouble came when the Pastor preached on Dedicating oneself to serviceand the Choir Director chose to sing: "I Shall Not Be Moved". Trying to believe it was a coincidence, the Pastor put the incident behind him. The next Sunday he preached on Giving. Afterwards, the choir squirmed as the director led them in the hymn:"Jesus Paid It All" By this time, the Pastor was losing his temper. Sunday morning attendance swelled as the tension between the two began public. A large crowd showed up the next week to hear his sermon on the Sin of Gossiping. Would you believe the Choir Director selected: "I Love To Tell the Story"? There was no turning back. The following Sunday the Pastor told the congregation that unless something changed he was considering resignation. The entire church gasped when the Choir Director led them in: “Why Not Tonight?” Truthfully, no one was surprised when the Pastor resigned a week later, explaining that Jesus had led him there and Jesus was leading him away. The Choir Director could not resist singing: "What a Friend We Have In Jesus."

# 2: Rejection at the Pearly Gate, too: A cab driver reaches the Pearly Gates and announces his presence to St. Peter, who looks him up in his Big Book. Upon reading the entry for the cabby, St. Peter invites him to grab a silk robe and a golden staff and to proceed into Heaven. A preacher is next in line behind the cabby and has been watching these proceedings with interest. He announces himself to St. Peter. Upon scanning the preacher's entry in the Big Book, St. Peter furrows his brow and says, "Okay, we'll let you in, but take that cotton robe and wooden staff." The preacher is astonished and replies, "But I am a man of the cloth. You gave that cab driver a gold staff and a silk robe. Surely, I rate higher than a cabby." St. Peter responded matter-of-factly: "Here we are interested in results. When you preached, people slept. When the cabby drove his taxi, people prayed."

OT XIV – B (2)
OT XIV – B (2)
SYNOPSIS: OT XIV [B] HOMILY ON MARK 6:1-6 Introduction: Today’s readings introduce Jesus as a prophet and explain how prophets and other messengers from God inevitably suffer rejection. The readings challenge us to face rejection and hardship with prophetic courage. Scripture lessons summarized: The first reading, taken from the book of the prophet Ezekiel, tells us about his call from God to be a prophet. Yahweh warns Ezekiel that he is being sent to obstinate and rebellious Israelites in exile in Babylon. Hence, as God’s prophet, he will have to face rejection and persecution for giving God’s message. The reading gives us the warning that, as Christians who accept the call of Jesus and seek to follow him, we also may face indifference and hostility, contempt and scorn, weakness, hardship and persecution, insults and rejection.  In the second reading, St. Paul gives us the same warning from his experience that not only the prophets, but the apostles and missionaries also will have to encounter hardships and rejection in their preaching mission. Paul confesses that God has given him a share in Christ’s suffering – a chronic illness which gives him pain, a "thorn in the flesh" -- so that he might rely on God’s grace and might glory in the power of a strengthening God.  The apostle invites us to rise above our own weakness and disability, cooperate with the grace of God and preach the word of God by word and example as Paul did.  Today's Gospel passage, Mark 6:1-6, shows us that many people of Jesus' hometown of Nazareth did not accept him as a prophet because they “knew” him and his family too well. They knew that he was a carpenter with no schooling in Mosaic Law and knew that he could not be the promised Messiah who would come from Bethlehem as a descendant of David’s royal family. Besides, they were angry when Jesus not only did not work any miracles in Nazareth but chided them with prophetic courage for their lack of Faith and warned that he would go to other people to do his preaching and healing ministry.    Life messages: Today’s Scriptures challenge us to face rejection with prophetic courage and optimism. 1)Very often our friends, families, or childhood companions fail to listen to us and refuse to accept the words of grace, love and encouragement that we offer to them because they are too familiar with us.  Hence, they are unable to see us as God's appointed instruments, the agents of God's healing and saving grace. But we have to face such rejection with prophetic courage because by our Baptism we are called to be prophets like Jesus, sharing his prophetic mission.  As prophets, our task is to speak the truth and oppose the evils in our society without condoning or encouraging sinful behavior even in our dear ones. 2) Let us also acknowledge, appreciate and encourage the prophets of our time who stand for truth and justice in our society with the wisdom of God in their heads, the power of the Holy Spirit in their words and the courage and love of Jesus in their actions. OT XIV [B] : Ez 2:2-5; II Cor 12:7-10; Mk 6:1-6   Anecdotes: # 1: Rev. Deacon Prophet: There is a funny story about a bishop who was interviewing a senior seminarian before his ordination as deacon. The bishop asked him where he would like to be assigned as a deacon for pastoral training. The seminarian said, somewhat boldly, "Oh, my bishop, anywhere but New Canaan!" "Why not there," the bishop asked? "You know," the seminarian answered, "That’s my hometown -- and we all know that ‘a prophet is not without honor except in his native place.’” The bishop replied, "Don't worry my friend! Nobody in your hometown is going to confuse you with a prophet."   # 2: Don’t allow rejection to derail your dreams: The annals of human history are replete with case after case of good people being rejected by those who knew them best. Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four and could not read until age nine. He was described by his schoolmaster as, “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift in his foolish dreams.” Thomas Edison’s teachers advised his parents to keep him home from school, stating that he was “too stupid to learn anything.” In his autobiography, Charles Darwin wrote, “I was considered by all my masters and my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect.” Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor who complained that he was lacking in creative ideas. Brilliant British Theologian G.K. Chesterton could not read until he was eight years old. A teacher said if his head were opened they would probably find a lump of fat where there was supposed to be a brain. Beethoven, for example, had a rather awkward playing style and preferred to work at his own compositions rather than play the classical artists of his day. Disapproving of his technique, his teacher called him “hopeless as a composer.” Socrates was written off as “an immoral corruptor of youth.” Ruth Graham felt an uncontrollable urge to run out of the meeting the first time she heard Billy Graham preach. Billy had to improve his preaching before Ruth would become his wife. Obviously, all of these people lived to contradict their naysayers and so excelled in their respective fields as to become a surprise to those who thought they knew them. So also, Jesus. So also, Paul. So also, Ezekiel. Each of the readings for today’s liturgy challenges the human propensity for labeling and limiting and invites believers to begin to look at God, the world and one another with more open eyes and more receptive hearts. Today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus encountered rejection with prophetic courage. (Adapted from Sanchez files) # 3: Rejection hurts: Arnold Palmer played his last Master’s Tournament in 2002. Palmer, who won the Master’s in 1958, 1960, 1962, and 1964, had seen his game slip away with age and his stardom fade with the rise of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. A reporter asked Palmer, “Why did you do it? Why did you quit?” To which Palmer replied, “I didn’t want to get the letter that former champions Ford, Brewer, and Casper have already received asking them to step down.” Whether it’s that girl in elementary school who looked at you in disdain when you offered her a Valentine card, or the boss that suggests you are not included in the company’s new plans, rejection hurts. It causes pain. Yet, Jesus said it’s going to happen and we will be wise to live with it, for “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” There is some rejection that’s worth the cost. Introduction:  Today’s readings introduce Jesus as a prophet and explain how prophets and other messengers from God inevitably suffer rejection. The readings challenge us to face rejection and hardship with prophetic courage. The first reading, taken from the book of the prophet Ezekiel, tells us about his call from God to be a prophet. Yahweh warns Ezekiel that he is being sent to obstinate and rebellious Israelites in exile in Babylon. Hence, as God’s prophet, he will have to face rejection and persecution for giving God’s message. The reading gives us the warning that, as Christians who accept the call of Jesus and seek to follow him, we also may face indifference and hostility, contempt and scorn, weakness, hardship and persecution, insults and rejection.  In the second reading, St. Paul gives us the same warning from his experience that not only the prophets, but the apostles and missionaries also, will have to encounter hardships and rejection in their preaching mission. Paul confesses that God has given him a share in Christ’s suffering – a chronic illness which causes him pain, a “thorn in the flesh" –  so that he may rely on God’s grace and may glory in the power of a strengthening God.  Paul invites us to rise above our own weakness and disability, cooperate with the grace of God and preach the word of God by word and example as the apostle did.  Today's Gospel passage, (Mark 6:1-6), shows how many people of Jesus' hometown Nazareth did not accept him as a prophet because they “knew” him and his family. They knew that he was a carpenter with no schooling in Mosaic Law and that he could not be the promised Messiah who would come from Bethlehem as a descendant of David’s royal family. Besides, they were angry when Jesus did not work any miracles in Nazareth, chided them with prophetic courage for their lack of Faith and warned that he would go to other people to do his preaching and healing ministry.    First reading, Ezekiel 2:2-5, explained: Today's reading from Ezekiel captures the same experience in the career of the prophet Ezekiel, who lived about 600 years before Jesus. Ezekiel is warned by God that, though he has been called by Yahweh and sent with a message to the people of Israel, they will almost certainly refuse to hear and accept his message. God is angry about the rebelliousness of the people to whom He is sending His prophet. Ezekiel was the first person called to become a prophet while the people were in Exile in Babylon. While the false prophets were consoling people, saying that the Exile was soon to end and they'd be going home to a newly prosperous Jerusalem soon, Ezekiel resolutely foretold the further destruction of Jerusalem. No wonder he was hated and rejected by the people! Those who accept the call of God and seek to follow Him may face indifference and hostility, contempt and scorn, weakness, hardship and persecution, insults and rejection.   Second Reading, 2 Cor 12:7-10, explained: In today’s selection, Paul frankly admits the fact he had learned by trial and error, that he couldn't preach the Gospel on the basis of his own strength and talent. Rather, the weaker he became, the more room he left for the Spirit of God to work through him. In the midst of a conflict with the Corinthian Christian community, Paul tells about two of his deepest spiritual experiences. In one he had an ecstatic theophany when he received an exceptional revelation. In the other, he fervently prayed to have the unidentified cause of great suffering removed but was given instead the reassurance that God's grace would be sufficient for his every need. Paul’s opponents within the Corinthian community presumed that an authentic apostle would be vindicated by Heavenly visitation and a miraculous healing. Instead, Paul discovered positive value in his pain. He understood that suffering, accepted as God’s gift, produces patience, sensitivity and compassion and a genuine appreciation of life's blessings. Hence, Paul declares that the weaknesses which continue to mark his life as an apostle represent the effective working of the power of the crucified Christ in his ministry.  Paul was content with weaknesses and hardships for the sake of Christ; we, too, find God’s grace sufficient for our needs, for Christ’s power dwells in us in our weakness, and in weakness we are truly strong. Gospel Exegesis: The context: It was natural that Jesus should visit his hometown, Nazareth, as a rabbi with a band of his disciples. On the Sabbath day, he went to the local synagogue. In the synagogue there was no definite person to give the address. Any distinguished stranger present who had a message to give might be asked by the ruler of the synagogue to speak. Since Jesus’ fame as a preacher and miracle worker in other places of Galilee had reached Nazareth, he was invited to read from the Prophets and explain the text. During his “Inaugural Address” or “Mission Statement,” Jesus took upon himself the identity of a prophet, different from the image of a miracle worker that people wished to see.  As other faithful prophets of Israel had done, Jesus, too, held people accountable for their selfishness, their faithlessness to God, and their lack of justice and mercy (Mi 6:6-8), and their sinfulness.   The adverse reaction: The first reaction of the people in the synagogue to Jesus' words was one of astonishment. Luke says they were "amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips." But Mark says that they asked one another: “Where did this man get all this? They knew him only as a carpenter from a poor family, with no formal training in Mosaic Law. Certainly, they thought he had gone far beyond what one of his status as a humble carpenter should go. (One of the dreams of Martin Luther King was that people "would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character"). Jesus’ neighbors did not expect him, “the carpenter’s son,” to be skilled in interpreting the Scriptures.  They also could not understand how a mere carpenter could be their political Messiah who would liberate them from Roman rule and reestablish the Davidic kingdom of power and glory. The local townsfolk also objected that Jesus had no distinguished lineage. He is identified as “the son of Mary” (v. 3) rather than the traditional “son of Joseph” (“Bar Joseph”) title. Such a reference could be seen as an insult because men in that culture were identified by who their fathers were (see John 1:45). Jesus responded: “No prophet is accepted in his native place.” Those who accept the call of God and seek to follow Him may face indifference and hostility, contempt and scorn, weakness, hardship and persecution, insults and rejection. Life messages: 1) Let us face rejection with prophetic courage and optimism. The story of Jesus' rejection in his own town is a story that we can identify with, because it is a story that has happened to most of us. We might have experienced the pain of rejection caused by hurts, wounds, betrayal, divorce, abandonment, violated trust, trauma, neglect or various forms of abuse. What about rejection by those closest to us? Often our friends, families, or childhood companions fail to listen to, and refuse to accept, the words of grace, love and encouragement that we offer to them, because they are too familiar with us.  Hence, they are unable to see us as God's appointed instruments, the agents of God's healing and saving grace. Let us check also the other side of the coin. How often do we discount God’s agents through prejudice?  How often do we fail to see God’s image in them because of our own hardheartedness?  We must realize that God's power is always available to transform even the most unlikely people. 2) We need to handle rejection in the right spirit: a) We can handle rejection with respect – respect for ourselves and respect for others. Our first reaction to rejection is often anger – anger at ourselves for assuming we deserve what we got and bitterness toward others who perpetuate the rejection. In the face of rejection, we will be wise to follow the advice of St. Paul who said, “Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down on your anger.” b) We need to avoid self-defeating assumptions. One rejection need not be an indictment on one’s life. Rejection is not synonymous with continuous failure. c) We need to avoid magnifying the rejection. Rejection need not be a forecast of our future, and it must not become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Rejection in the past need not be a predictor of rejection in the future. d) We need to avoid allowing rejection to derail our dreams and instead to keep coming back. e) We need to learn from our rejections. We are not perfect, and we do not always get it right, but we need to keep coming back until we do get it right. Every rejection can be a lesson if we stay open to new possibilities and new opportunities. What can I do differently? How can I improve? What needs can I meet? These are the questions we need to ask if we are to prevent a trouble from going to waste. 3)  Let us acknowledge the prophets of God’s goodness in our midst. God is present giving us his message through our nearest and dearest and our neighbors and coworkers. Since God uses them as His prophets to convey His message to us, it is our duty to acknowledge and honor them. Let us express our appreciation today for our families – spouses for each other, parents and children for each other.  A word of appreciation for the lady who cooks the dinner, for the neighbor who is always ready to share our happiness and sorrow, for the friends who have given us time, support and attention during a recent bereavement or a tragedy in our life – all are our proper responses to God’s messengers of love and light. Let us not take for granted the presence of God among us as evidenced by the goodness shown by family and friends. Let us also recognize God’s direction, help and support in our lives through His words in the Bible and through the advice and examples of others. 4) We must have the prophetic courage of our convictions.  By our Baptism, God   calls us to be prophets like Jesus, sharing his prophetic mission.  The task of a prophet is to speak God’s truth.   We must never be afraid of this call.   We may rely on   Jesus to supply us with the courage to oppose the many evils in our society.  By legalizing abortion in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the killing of over thirty million unborn children in forty-five years, and it is tolerating the brutal execution of 4400 defenseless lives every day by abortion.  Our television and movie conglomerates, which are supported by the tax money of millions of citizens, systematically poison the minds of the young as well as the old by the excessive importance given to perverted sex and unnecessary violence. Many well-known corporate sponsors support more than 75,000 U. S. websites of pornographic material, thus enabling the destructive behavior of perverts and sex abusers.  Our society tells youngsters that promiscuous sex, drugs and alcohol are means by which they can express their individuality.   It is here that our country needs Christians with the prophetic courage of their convictions to fight against such moral evils. 5) We need to speak the truth of Christ with love, never being hypocritical or disrespectful.  We must never remain silent in the face of evil for fear of being thought "politically incorrect."   Jesus was not against conflict if it promoted truth. He taught us to give respect and freedom without condoning or encouraging sinful behavior. Love does not tolerate destructive behavior but, nevertheless, it sometimes causes pain--just as a surgeon must sometimes hurt in order to heal. We can be kind, charitable, and honest and forgiving as we speak forth our own convictions as Jesus did in the synagogue. Jokes of the week: # 1: Rejection resulting in the resignation: There was a feud between the Pastor and the Choir Director of a Southern Baptist parish. The first hint of trouble came when the Pastor preached on Dedicating oneself to service and the Choir Director chose to sing: "I Shall Not Be Moved". Trying to believe it was a coincidence, the Pastor put the incident behind him. The next Sunday he preached on Giving. Afterwards, the choir squirmed as the director led them in the hymn: "Jesus Paid It All" By this time, the Pastor was losing his temper. Sunday morning attendance swelled as the tension between the two began public. A large crowd showed up the next week to hear his sermon on the Sin of Gossiping. Would you believe the Choir Director selected: "I Love To Tell the Story"? There was no turning back. The following Sunday the Pastor told the congregation that unless something changed he was considering resignation. The entire church gasped when the Choir Director led them in: “Why Not Tonight?” Truthfully, no one was surprised when the Pastor resigned a week later, explaining that Jesus had led him there and Jesus was leading him away. The Choir Director could not resist singing: "What a Friend We Have In Jesus." # 2: Rejection at the Pearly Gate, too: A cab driver reaches the Pearly Gates and announces his presence to St. Peter, who looks him up in his Big Book. Upon reading the entry for the cabby, St. Peter invites him to grab a silk robe and a golden staff and to proceed into Heaven. A preacher is next in line behind the cabby and has been watching these proceedings with interest. He announces himself to St. Peter. Upon scanning the preacher's entry in the Big Book, St. Peter furrows his brow and says, "Okay, we'll let you in, but take that cotton robe and wooden staff." The preacher is astonished and replies, "But I am a man of the cloth. You gave that cab driver a gold staff and a silk robe. Surely, I rate higher than a cabby." St. Peter responded matter-of-factly: "Here we are interested in results. When you preached, people slept. When the cabby drove his taxi, people prayed."                               (Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Home (L. S. P.), 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604, USA).   
OT XV – B (1)
OT XV – B (1)

Synopsis: OT XV Sunday (July 12) Homily on Mk 6:7-13 (L/15)

Introduction: Today’s readings remind us of our Divine adoption as God's children and of our call to preach the Good News of Jesus by bearing witness to God’s love, mercy and salvation as revealed through Jesus. "God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world." (Ephesians 1: 4).

Scripture lessons: The first reading warns us that our witnessing mission will be rejected, as happened to the Old Testament prophets like Amos. He was ordered by Amaziah, the angry chief priest serving in the Northern Kingdom of Israel at Parajumpers Jacka Billigt Bethel, to take his prophesying back to his own country, the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Amos defended his prophetic role with courage, clarifying that it was not his choice but his God’s choice to elevate him from a shepherd and tree-dresser to a prophet. Like Amos, each one of us is chosen by God through the mystery of Divine adoption in Jesus, to become a missionary and to preach the “Good News,” mainly by Christian witnessing.

In the second reading, St. Paul explains the blessings that we have received through our Baptism and the responsibility we have to become missionaries. Then Paul reveals the Divine secret that it had been God’s eternal plan to extend salvation, through Jesus, first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. Hence, the Jewish and the Gentile Christians need to love, help and respect one another and thus proclaim Jesus, giving true witness by their lives.

In today’s Gospel (Mark 6:1-13), the evangelist tells the story of Jesus' commissioning of the twelve apostles to preach the “Good News” of repentance, forgiveness of sins, liberation and salvation through Jesus. Just as God sent the prophet Amos to preach repentance to ancient Israel and St. Paul to preach the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles, so Jesus sends forth his followers to proclaim the Good News of God’s Kingdom and to bring healing to those who need it most. Today’s Gospel reports the instruction Jesus gave his disciples for their first mission. They should be walking illustrations of God’s love and providence in action. They should preach repentance -- a change of heart and a change of action taking people from a self-centered life to a God-centered life.

Life Messages: # 1: We too have a witnessing mission: We are called to be witnessing disciples and evangelizing apostles. As witnessing disciples, we need to follow Jesus, imitate him, reflect him and radiate him. As apostles, we need to evangelize the world by sharing with others our experience of God and His Son, Jesus, proclaiming the Gospel and the salvation promised by Jesus through our transparent Christian lives and radiating the love, mercy, forgiveness, spirit of humble service and concern of Jesus to the people around us.

2) We also have a liberating mission, helping free people from the demons of nicotine, alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, promiscuous sex, hatred, jealousy, racial prejudice and consumerism. We need the help of Jesus to liberate us and others from these things.

OT XV SUNDAY (July 12) (Am 7:12-15, Eph 1:3-14, Mk 6:7-13)

Anecdote: # 1: : Gideon’s army and Jesus’ fishermen: An angel spoke directly to Gideon (Judges 6: 11-25), the fourth judge of the Israelites in the 12th century B.C. This two-way conversation is recorded in detail and comprises the commissioning of Gideon to be a deliverer and “Judge” of God's people. The angel of the Lord came to meet Gideon under the oak tree at Ophrah with specific instructions for a raid on the Midianites who were the controlling force in the land, fielding a unique and fast-moving camel battalion. They forcefully reaped all the grain of the Israelites during the harvest season for seven years. Gideon protested that his clan, Manasseh, was the weakest in the nation. But God assured Gideon, “I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them" (v 16). Gideon asked for a sign from God and God graciously gave it to convince Gideon that it was God who was sending him to fight, and it was God who would be fighting for him. In Judges 7:2-11 God gave additional instruction to Gideon and asked him to send home those soldiers who were afraid to fight a strong and big army. That reduced the number of soldiers in Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 10,000. But it was still too many in God’s sight. God further instructed Gideon to conduct a water-drinking test in the river. The test eliminated 9700 more soldiers, leaving behind only 300 soldiers of God’s selection. The story of Gideon's calling was about Kd 7 Shoes strategy: "Go in My strength." The Midianites had a force of 135,000 men with them when they invaded Israel in the 8th harvest season. But Gideon trusted in the strength of the Lord and defeated and destroyed the mighty army of the Midianites by his surprise midnight attack. Today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus selected and delegated twelve ordinary men for his preaching and healing ministry.

# 2: “Let people hear it”: Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), the world-famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn’t able to buy it. Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he returned to the seller, hoping to purchase that beautiful instrument. But to his great dismay it had been sold to a collector. Kreisler made his way to the new owner’s home and offered to buy the violin. The collector said it had become his prized possession and he would not sell it. Keenly disappointed, Kreisler was about to leave when he had an idea. "Could I play the instrument once before it is consigned to silence?" he asked. Permission was granted, and the great virtuoso filled the room with such heart-moving music that the collector’s emotions were deeply stirred. "I have no right to keep this violin to myself," he exclaimed. "It’s yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people hear it." Jesus gives us the same instruction the collector gave Kreisler when He shares with us the mission He gives the Apostles today in the Gospel.

Introduction: Today’s readings remind us of our Divine Adoption as God's children and of our call to preach the Good News of Jesus by bearing witness to God’s love, mercy and salvation as revealed through Jesus. The first reading warns us that our witnessing mission will be rejected, as happened to the Old Testament prophets like Amos. Amos condemned the cozy lifestyle of priests who supported the king and the rich and ignored the oppression of the poor. The angry chief priest, Amaziah of Bethel in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, told Amos to take his prophesying back to his own country, the Southern Kingdom of Judah, because they did not want to listen to his prophecy in Bethel. Amos defended his prophetic role with courage, clarifying that it was not his choice but his God’s choice to elevate him from a shepherd and tree dresser to a prophet. Like Amos, each one of us is chosen by God through the mystery of Divine adoption in Jesus to become missionaries and to preach the “Good News” by the witness of our Christian lives. The Psalmist sings in today's Responsorial Psalm that in Jesus alone, "Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from Heaven" (Psalm 85: 11-12). In the second reading, St. Paul explains the blessings that we have received through our Baptism and the responsibility we have to become missionaries. Through Christ, God has chosen us to be holy, made us the adopted brothers and sisters of His Son, Jesus, forgiven our sins, given us a right relationship with God, and enabled us to understand His plan of salvation. Then Paul reveals the Divine secret that it had been God’s eternal plan to extend salvation, through Jesus, first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. Hence, the Jewish and the Gentile Christians needed to love, help and respect one another and thus proclaim Jesus by the witness of their lives. In today’s Gospel (Mark 6:1-13), the evangelist tells the story of Jesus' commissioning of the twelve apostles for their first missionary journey. They are to preach the “Good News” of repentance, forgiveness of sins, liberation and salvation through Jesus. Just as God sent the prophet Amos to preach repentance to ancient Israel and St. Paul to preach the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles, so Jesus sends forth his followers to proclaim the Good News of God’s Kingdom and to bring healing to those who need it most.

The first reading, Amos 7:12-15: This first reading shows us, in the rejection of an Old Testament prophet, what would happen to Jesus and his apostles. For a long time, the territory we call the Holy Land had been divided between a northern kingdom called Israel and a southern kingdom known as Judah. The city of Jerusalem was in Judah. In the northern kingdom, at Bethel, there was a very ancient shrine with several priests. These Bethel priests sponsored the rich people and acted as cronies of King Jeroboam. Amos the prophet was sent by God to these priests with the demand that they speak against the current neglect and exploitation of the poor by the powerful. Amos had come from Tekoa in the southern kingdom of Judah to Bethel in the northern kingdom of Israel, to pronounce God’s judgment on Israel and its King, Jeroboam. As a prophet, Amos foretold the overthrow of the throne and shrine by the hand of God. Amaziah who was the high priest told him that the King was angry with him and he was seeking to kill him. It would be better for Amos to look for his own safety. Amos tells Amaziah that in the eyes of God the Temple that Amaziah served was not legitimate as it had been established by the royal household. But the furious chief priest of Bethel, Amaziah, told Amos to get out and go south to Judah. Amos explained that he was not a professional prophet; he was a shepherd and dresser of sycamores. He had become a prophet only because God had sent him to deliver a message to Israel and its King. We are invited to see the mission of the twelve apostles and our mission as Christians as parallel to the mission of Amos.

The second reading, Ephesians 1:3-10: This reading, taken from the letter to the Ephesians, is a prayer praising God for what God has accomplished in Jesus. In other words, Paul offers us the exercise of counting our blessings in the form of a benediction and thanksgiving in which we point to God as the Source of our blessings, in and through Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection. Through Christ, God has given us a clear purpose in life—to praise and to serve God and one another—with the Holy Spirit as a Helper in carrying out the task. Paul advises the Ephesians to count their blessings instead of focusing excessively on their inadequacies and deficiencies. In this prayer, Paul also reveals a Divine secret to the Jewish Christians. It had not been God’s plan to keep the Jews as His Chosen People exclusively. God's plan had always been to include the Gentiles eventually. And that is what Jesus did by sending Paul to preach to the Gentiles. Hence, the Jewish and the Gentile Christians were to respect and help each other as both were now adopted children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus.

Exegetical notes: 1) The context: Jesus, like the prophets before Him, was rejected by the people of his hometown as he corrected them for their prejudice. But instead of getting discouraged, Jesus went with his disciples to the neighboring towns and villages with his preaching and healing ministry. He prepared his disciples to go ahead of him to various places to announce his coming and to preach the Good News of the salvation coming through their master, Jesus. Today’s Gospel gives us the instruction Jesus gave his disciples for their first mission.

2) Travelers’ kit in Palestine: In Jesus' time, the Jews of Palestine ordinarily wore five articles of clothing. The innermost garment was called the tunic; and the outer garment was used as a cloak by day and as a blanket by night. Next, there was a girdle, which was worn over the tunic and cloak. The skirts of the tunic could be hitched up under the girdle for work or any strenuous activity. A headdress was also worn in order to protect the neck, the cheekbones, and the eyes from the heat and glare of the sun. Finally, the Jews wore sandals made of leather, wood or matted grass. They also carried a wicker basket within which was an ordinary traveler's bag made of kid's skin. The Jewish priests and devotees, who were often very covetous, carried these bags supposedly to collect contributions. No wonder, people labeled them "pious robbers” with their booty growing from village to village.

3) The meaning of Jesus’ instructions: Why did Jesus send the Apostles in pairs? Because according to Jewish law, two witnesses were needed to pronounce a truth. Going two by two carries with it the authority of official witnesses. By his instructions, it is clear that Jesus meant that his disciples should take no supplies for the road but simply trust in God for their requirements. God, the Provider, would open the hearts of believers to take care of the needs of the disciples. Jesus’ instructions also suggest that his disciples should not be like the acquisitive priests of the day, who were interested only in gaining riches. Instead, the disciples of Jesus must be concerned with "giving" rather than “getting." They should be walking examples of God’s love and providence. By doing so, they would also have the maximum of freedom and the minimum of burdens in their preaching and healing ministry. Jesus wanted his apostles to be rich in all the things which really mattered, so that they might enrich those who came into contact with them. Statistics tell us that most people who come to join a Church do so because a friend or relative brought them. So the best advertisement for any Church is the number of the faithful – men, women, and children, whose daily lives show forth some of the radiance of the Gospel.

3) "Shake off the dust from your feet:" Jesus knew that when his disciples went to any place to evangelize, a family or house would take them in, welcome them and give them what they needed because hospitality was an important religious tradition in Palestine. By His stern instruction, Jesus seems to be saying, “If people refuse to listen to you or to show you hospitality, the only thing you can do is to treat them as an orthodox Jew would treat a Gentile or a pagan.” The Rabbinic law Golden Goose Sale stated that the dust of a Gentile country was defiled, so that when a Jew entered Palestine from another country, he had to shake off every particle of the unclean land’s dust from his clothing and sandals.

4) Convey the Good News of God’s love and mercy: Jesus’ disciples were to preach the Good News that God is not a punishing judge, but rather a loving Father who wants to save men from their bondage to sin through Jesus His Son. The disciples were to preach the message of metanoia or repentance--which has disturbing implications. To "repent" means to change one's mind and then fit one's actions to this change. Metanoia literally means change your mind. It can also mean taking a new direction. Thus, repentance means a change of heart and a change of action--a change from a self-centered life to a God-centered life. Such a change may hurt a bit at times. It is also interesting to note that Jesus commanded his disciples to anoint with oil. In the ancient world, oil was regarded as a sort of cure-all. In the hands of Christ's servants, however, the old cures would acquire a new virtue through the power of God.

Life Messages: # 1: We, too, have a witnessing mission: Each Christian is called not only to be a disciple but also to be an apostle. As disciples, we have to follow Jesus and imitate Jesus. As apostles, we have to evangelize the world. We are called to share with others not just words, or ideas, or doctrines but an experience, our experience of God and His Son, Jesus. Like the apostles, like St. Francis Assisi, like Blessed Mother Teresa, we are all chosen and sent to proclaim the Gospel through our living. It is through our transparent Christian lives that we must show in our own actions the love, mercy and concern of Jesus for the people around us. Since we are baptized, Jesus is calling us in our working and living environment to evangelize, to invite people to know Jesus, to love him, to serve him and to follow him. An important part of evangelism is the simple act of inviting a friend or family member to join us in worship. This is where reconciliation between persons and God is most likely to take place. We do not have to commit verbal assault on someone with our convictions. A simple invitation offered out of a loving and joyful heart is the most powerful evangelistic message of all.

#2: We have a liberating mission: Although many people don’t believe in real demonic possession in our age, there are many demons which can control the lives of people around us making them helpless slaves. For example there are the demons of nicotine, alcohol, gambling, pornography and promiscuous sex, materialism and consumerism, or of any other activity which somehow can take control of people’s lives and become an addiction over which they have no control. All of these, or any one of them, can turn people into slaves. We need the help of Jesus to liberate us and others from these things. Jesus is inviting us today to cooperate with him. He wants us to be his instruments of liberation, to help others recover their freedom. We are meant to help people to cure their sicknesses - not only the bodily sicknesses but psychological and emotional illnesses as well. As a family member, a friend, a colleague, an evangelizer, when we work with Jesus, we can truly have a healing influence.

#3: We have a mission to live as children of God. Realization of our dignity as children of God should change our outlook on life. We are to be children filled with love, rather than selfishness and disobedience. We are to respect our brothers and sisters in Christ. As God’s children, we should live a life of absolute trust in the goodness of our Heavenly Father, who knows what is best for us. The realization that we are the children of God should bring us great Nike Roshe Cortez Nm Sp Sneakers comfort, peace and joy--even in our worst moments.

#4: We have a mission to grow in Divine adoption: It is in the Church--principally through the seven Sacraments--that our Divine adoption is made possible. We are chosen by God in Christ, baptized into his death and his Church, healed by his forgiveness, and nourished at the Eucharistic table. Today, when we gather as His adopted sons and daughters at this table of Christ’s sacrificial banquet, we can rightly address God as our Divine Father and ask Him for the special anointing of the Holy Spirit that we may grow daily in the true spirit and practice of our Divine adoption. L/15

OT XV – B (2)
OT XV – B (2)
Synopsis: OT XV [B] Sunday  Homily on Mk 6:7-13   Introduction: Today’s readings remind us of our Divine adoption as God's children and of our call to preach the Good News of Jesus by bearing witness to God’s love, mercy and salvation as revealed through Jesus.  "God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world." (Ephesians 1:4).   Scripture lessons summarized: The first reading warns us that our witnessing mission will be rejected, as happened to the Old Testament prophets like Amos. He was ordered by Amaziah, the angry chief priest serving in the Northern Kingdom of Israel at Bethel, to take his prophesying back to his own country, the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Amos defended his prophetic role with courage, clarifying that it was not his choice but his God’s choice to elevate him from a shepherd and tree-dresser to a prophet. Like Amos, we are chosen by God, through the mystery of Divine adoption in Jesus, to become missionaries and to preach the “Good News,” mainly by Christian witnessing.    In the second reading, St. Paul explains the blessings that we have received through our Baptism and the responsibility we have to become missionaries.  Then Paul reveals the Divine secret that it is God’s eternal plan to extend salvation, through Jesus, to all mankind -- first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.  Hence, the Jewish and the Gentile Christians need to love, help and respect one another and thus proclaim Jesus, giving true witness by their lives.  In today’s Gospel (Mark 6:1-13), the evangelist tells the story of Jesus' commissioning of the twelve apostles to preach the “Good News” of repentance, forgiveness of sins, liberation and salvation through Jesus.  Just as God sent the prophet Amos to preach repentance to ancient Israel and St. Paul to preach the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles, so Jesus sends forth his followers to proclaim the Good News of God’s Kingdom and to bring healing to those who need it most. Today’s Gospel reports the instruction Jesus gave his disciples for their first mission. They should be walking illustrations of God’s love and providence in action. They should preach repentance -- a change of heart and a change of action taking people from a self-centered life to a God-centered life.     Life Messages: # 1: We, too, have a witnessing mission: We are called to be witnessing disciples and evangelizing apostles.  As witnessing disciples, we need to follow Jesus, imitate him, reflect him and radiate him.  As apostles, we need to evangelize the world by sharing with others our experience of God and His Son, Jesus, proclaiming the Gospel and the salvation promised by Jesus through our transparent Christian lives and radiating the love, mercy, forgiveness, spirit of humble service and concern of Jesus to the people around us. 2) We also have a liberating mission, helping to free people from the demons of nicotine, alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, promiscuous sex, hatred, jealousy, racial prejudice and consumerism. We need the help of Jesus to liberate us and others from these things.   OT XV [B] SUNDAY (Am 7:12-15, Eph 1:3-14, Mk 6:7-13) Anecdotes: 1) Gideon’s army and Jesus’ fishermen: An angel spoke directly to Gideon (Judges 6:11-25), the fourth judge of the Israelites in the 12th century B.C.  This two-way conversation is recorded in detail and comprises the commissioning of Gideon to be a deliverer and “Judge” of God's people.  The angel of the Lord came to meet Gideon under the oak tree at Ophrah with specific instructions for a raid on the Midianites who were the controlling force in the land, fielding a unique and fast-moving camel-battalion.  They forcefully reaped all the grain of the Israelites during the harvest season for seven years. Gideon protested that his clan, Manasseh, was the weakest in the nation. But God assured Gideon, “I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them" (v 16).  Gideon asked for a sign from God and God graciously gave it to convince Gideon that it was God who was sending him to fight, and it was God who would be fighting for him.  In Judges 7:2-11 God gave additional instruction to Gideon and asked him to send home those soldiers who were afraid to fight a strong and big army. That reduced the number of soldiers in Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 10,000.  But it was still too many in God’s sight. God further instructed Gideon to conduct a water-drinking test in the river. The test eliminated 9700 more soldiers, leaving behind only 300 soldiers of God’s selection. The story of Gideon's calling was about strategy: "Go in My strength."  The Midianites had a force of 135,000 men with them when they invaded Israel in the 8th harvest season.  But Gideon trusted in the strength of the Lord and defeated and destroyed the mighty army of the Midianites by his surprise midnight attack.  Today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus selected and delegated twelve ordinary men for his preaching and healing ministry. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) 2) “We will do this.” This is what Francis used as the first rule for his order, the Franciscans. He just took the words of Jesus' instruction to his disciples on their first missionary journey, and said, “We will do this.” There would be other rules for the Franciscans later on, much more lenient after St. Francis died, but this was the first rule for the Franciscans. And they took it literally. "Take nothing with you on your journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in your belts; but wear sandals and only one tunic." Incidentally, the robe the Franciscans wear even today, the brown robe, is the robe that they wore in the 13th century. It was the garment of the peasant, and they identified with the poor, with the peasant. And they identified not only in dress, but also in poverty. They took vows of absolute poverty. They owned nothing, not even the tunic on their back. So, if they found somebody who had less than what they had, they were to share what they had. These were the Franciscans, the original Franciscans, and as long as St. Francis was alive, they followed this rule. They followed it literally. They took nothing with them on their journey. So, they were "mendicant" friars, which means they begged for their living. So, we must ask, is that what Jesus had in mind for us in today’s Gospel? The apostles did not take the practice of poverty literally. Paul continued to work his trade and have an income. The Book of Acts says that in the Church in Jerusalem –  the original Church after Pentecost – the members sold all their property, and held all things in common, which is just another way of owning property. Instead of owning it individually, they owned it as a community. Besides, the early Church itself called its members to a life of giving to the poor. We know that they took collections for the poor. So, the counsel in the Bible is not that you should get rid of your property and become poor. The standard in the Bible is that you should manage your property as a steward. 3) “Because there is no fourth-class!" This is a story told about Albert Schweitzer who was visiting a certain city. Dignitaries were awaiting him at the train station. But he was not to be found among the first-class passengers. Then they waited while the second-class passengers disembarked. Still no Schweitzer. Finally, they saw him coming out of the third-class compartment, carrying his own suitcase. "Why on earth do you travel third-class?" they asked him. "Because there is no fourth-class!" he replied. The fact of the matter is that Jesus called his disciples to be apostles (those sent with a message), and evangelists (those who proclaim the Good News), as described in today’s Gospel.    Introduction:  Today’s readings remind us of our Divine Adoption as God's children and of our call to preach the Good News of Jesus by bearing witness to God’s love, mercy and salvation as revealed through Jesus.  The first reading warns us that our witnessing mission will be rejected, as happened to the Old Testament prophets like Amos.  Amos condemned the cozy lifestyle of priests who supported the king and the rich and ignored the oppression of the poor.  The angry chief priest, Amaziah of Bethel in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, told Amos to take his prophesying back to his own country, the Southern Kingdom of Judah, because they did not want to listen to his prophecy in Bethel.  Amos defended his prophetic role with courage, clarifying that it was not his choice but his God’s choice to elevate him from a shepherd and tree dresser to a prophet. Like Amos, We are all chosen by God through the mystery of Divine adoption in Jesus to become missionaries and to preach the “Good News” by the witness of our Christian lives. The Psalmist sings in today's Responsorial Psalm (Ps. 85), that in Jesus alone, "Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from Heaven" (Psalm 85:11-12).   In the second reading, St. Paul explains the blessings that we have received through our Baptism and the responsibility we have to become missionaries.  Through Christ, God has chosen us to be holy, made us the adopted brothers and sisters of His Son, Jesus, forgiven our sins, given us a right relationship with God, and enabled us to understand His plan of salvation.  Then Paul reveals the Divine secret that it is God’s eternal plan to extend salvation, through Jesus, to all mankind -- first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. Hence, the Jewish and the Gentile Christians needed to love, help and respect one another and thus proclaim Jesus by the witness of their lives.  In today’s Gospel (Mark 6:1-13), the evangelist tells the story of Jesus' commissioning of the twelve apostles for their first missionary journey. They are to preach the “Good News” of repentance, forgiveness of sins, liberation and salvation through Jesus.  Just as God sent the prophet Amos to preach repentance to ancient Israel and St. Paul to preach the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles, so Jesus sends forth his followers to proclaim the Good News of God’s Kingdom and to bring healing to those who need it most. The first reading, Amos 7:12-15 explained: This first reading shows us, in the rejection of an Old Testament prophet, what would happen to Jesus and his apostles.  For a long time, the territory we call the Holy Land had been divided between a northern kingdom called Israel and a southern kingdom known as Judah.  The city of Jerusalem was in Judah. In the northern kingdom, at Bethel, there was a very ancient shrine with several priests. These Bethel priests sponsored the rich people and acted as cronies of King Jeroboam.  The Prophet Amos was sent by God to these priests with the demand that they speak against the current neglect and exploitation of the poor by the powerful. Amos had come from Tekoa in the southern kingdom of Judah to Bethel in the northern kingdom of Israel, to pronounce God’s judgment on Israel and its King, Jeroboam.  As a prophet, Amos foretold the overthrow of the throne and shrine by the hand of God. Amaziah who was the high priest told him that the King was angry with him and he was seeking to kill him. It would be better for Amos to look for his own safety. Amos tells Amaziah that, in the eyes of God, the Temple that Amaziah served was not legitimate as it had been established by the royal household. But the furious chief priest of Bethel, Amaziah, told Amos to get out and go south to Judah.  Amos explained that he was not a professional prophet; he was a shepherd and dresser of sycamores. He had become a prophet only because God had sent him to deliver a message to Israel and its King. We are invited to see the mission of the twelve apostles and our mission as Christians as parallels of the mission of Amos. The second reading, Ephesians 1:3-10, explained: This reading, taken from the letter to the Ephesians, is a prayer praising God for what God has accomplished in Jesus.  In other words, Paul offers us the exercise of counting our blessings in the form of a benediction and thanksgiving in which we point to God as the Source of our blessings, in and through Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection.  Through Christ, God has given us a clear purpose in life—to praise and to serve God and one another—with the Holy Spirit as a Helper in carrying out the task. Paul advises the Ephesians to count their blessings instead of focusing excessively on their inadequacies and deficiencies.  In this prayer, Paul also reveals a Divine secret to the Jewish Christians. It is not God’s plan to keep the Jews as His Chosen People exclusively. God's plan is for all mankind to be saved, so the Gentiles will eventually be included. That inclusion began formally when Jesus sent Paul to preach to the Gentiles. Hence, the Jewish and the Gentile Christians were to respect and help each other, as both were now adopted children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus.   Gospel exegesis: 1) The context: Jesus, like the prophets before Him, was rejected by the people of his hometown as he corrected them for their prejudice. But instead of getting discouraged, Jesus went with his disciples to the neighboring towns and villages with his preaching and healing ministry.  He prepared his disciples to go ahead of him to various places to announce his coming and to preach the Good News of the salvation coming through their master, Jesus. Today’s Gospel repeasts for us the instruction Jesus gave his disciples for their first mission.   2) Travelers’ kit in Palestine: In Jesus' time, the Jews of Palestine ordinarily wore five articles of clothing.  The innermost garment was called the tunic; and the outer garment was used as a cloak by day and as a blanket by night.   Next, there was a girdle, which was worn over the tunic and cloak.   The skirts of the tunic could be hitched up under the girdle for work or any strenuous activity.  A headdress was also worn in order to protect the neck, the cheekbones, and the eyes from the heat and glare of the sun.  Finally, the Jews wore   sandals made of leather, wood or matted grass.  They also carried a wicker basket within which was an ordinary traveler's bag made of kid's skin.  The Jewish priests and devotees, who were often very covetous, carried these bags supposedly to collect contributions. No wonder, people labeled them "pious robbers” with their booty growing from village to village. 3) The meaning of Jesus’ instructions: Why did Jesus send the Apostles in pairs? Because according to Jewish law, two witnesses were needed to pronounce a truth.  Going two by two carries with it the authority of official witnesses. By his instructions, it is clear that Jesus meant that his disciples should take no supplies for the road but simply trust in God for their requirements.  God, the Provider, would open the hearts of believers to take care of the needs of the disciples.  Jesus’ instructions also suggest that his disciples should not be like the acquisitive priests of the day, who were interested only in gaining riches.  Instead, the disciples of Jesus must be concerned with "giving" rather than “getting."  They should be walking examples of God’s love and providence. By doing so, they would also have the maximum of freedom and the minimum of burdens in their preaching and healing ministry. Jesus wanted his apostles to be rich in all the things which really mattered, so that they might enrich those who came into contact with them. Statistics tell us that most people who come to join a Church do so because a friend or relative brought them. So the best advertisement for any Church is the number of the faithful – men, women, and children, whose daily lives show forth some of the radiance of the Gospel. 3) "Shake off the dust from your feet:" Jesus knew that when his disciples went to any place to evangelize, a family or house would take them in, welcome them and give them what they needed because hospitality was an important religious tradition in Palestine.  By His stern instruction, Jesus seems to be saying, “If people refuse to listen to you or to show you hospitality, the only thing you can do is to treat them as an orthodox Jew would treat a Gentile or a pagan.”  The Rabbinic law stated that the dust of a Gentile country was defiled, so that when a Jew entered Palestine from another country, he had to shake off every particle of the unclean land’s dust from his clothing and sandals.   4) Convey the Good News of God’s love and mercy: Jesus’ disciples were to preach the Good News that God is not a punishing judge, but rather a loving Father who wants to save men from their bondage to sin through Jesus His Son. The disciples were to preach the message of metanoia or repentance--which has disturbing implications.  To "repent" means to change one's mind and then fit one's actions to this change.  Metanoia literally means change your mind.  It can also mean taking a new direction.  Thus, repentance means a change of heart and a change of action--a change from a self-centered life to a God-centered life.  Such a change may hurt a bit at times.  It is also interesting to note that Jesus commanded his disciples to anoint with oil.  In the ancient world, oil was regarded as a sort of cure-all.  In the hands of Christ's servants, however, the old cures would acquire a new virtue through the power of God.    Life Messages: # 1: We, too, have a witnessing mission: Each Christian is called not only to be a disciple but also to be an apostle.  As disciples, we are to follow Jesus and imitate Jesus. As apostles, we are to evangelize the world.  We are called to share with others not just words, or ideas, or doctrines but an experience, our experience of God and His Son, Jesus.  Like the apostles, like St. Francis of Assisi, like St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), we are all chosen and sent to proclaim the Gospel through our living.  It is through our transparent Christian lives that we must show in our own actions the love, mercy and concern of Jesus for the people around us. Since we are baptized, Jesus is calling us in our working and living environment to evangelize, to invite people to know Jesus, to love him, to serve him and to follow him. An important part of evangelism is the simple act of inviting a friend or family member to join us in worship. This is where reconciliation between persons and God is most likely to take place. We do not have to commit verbal assault on someone with our convictions. A simple invitation offered out of a loving and joyful heart is the most powerful evangelistic message of all.   #2: We have a liberating mission: Although many people don’t believe in real demonic possession in our age, there are many demons which can control the lives of people around us making them helpless slaves.  For example, there are the demons of nicotine, alcohol, gambling, pornography and promiscuous sex, materialism and consumerism, or of any other activity which somehow can take control of people’s lives and become an addiction over which they have no control.  All of these, or any one of them, can turn people into slaves. We need the help of Jesus to liberate us and others from these things. Jesus is inviting us today to cooperate with him. He wants us to be his instruments of liberation, to help others recover their freedom. We are meant to help people to cure their sicknesses - not only the bodily sicknesses but psychological and emotional illnesses as well.  As a family member, a friend, a colleague, an evangelizer, when we work with Jesus, we can truly have a healing influence.   #3: We have a mission to live as children of God.  Realization of our dignity as children of God should change our outlook on life.  We are to be children filled with love, rather than selfishness and disobedience.  We are to respect our brothers and sisters in Christ.  As God’s children, we should live a life of absolute trust in the goodness of our Heavenly Father, who knows what is best for us.  The realization that we are the children of God should bring us great comfort, peace and joy--even in our worst moments. #4: We have a mission to grow in Divine adoption: It is in the Church--principally through the seven Sacraments--that our Divine adoption is made possible.  We are chosen by God in Christ, we are baptized into his death and his Church, we are healed by his forgiveness, and we are nourished at the Eucharistic table.  Today, when we gather as His adopted sons and daughters at this table of Christ’s sacrificial banquet, we can rightly address God as our Divine Father and ask Him for the special anointing of the Holy Spirit that we may grow daily in the true spirit and practice of our Divine adoption.   (Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Home (L. S. P.), 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604, USA). 
OT XVI – B (1)
OT XVI – B (1)

Synopsis of OT XVI Sunday Homily (July 19) on Mk 6: 30-34 (L/15)

Introduction:  Today’s readings explain how God, like a good shepherd, redeems His people and provides for them. They also challenge us to use our God-given authority in the family, in the Church and in society, with fidelity and responsibility.   Today, pastoral ministry includes not only the pastoral care given by those named or ordained as “pastors” but the loving service given by all Christians who follow different callings to serve and lead others.

Scripture lessons: In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah (sixth century B.C.), thunders against Israel's careless leaders - the king, some priests and some court prophets – because they have shown no concern for the poor. The prophet also foretells the rise of a good, new shepherd in the family line of David. Then he consoles the Israelites enslaved in Babylon, by assuring them that God will lead them back to their original pasture in Israel.  Today’s Good Shepherd Psalm(Ps 23) affirms David’s faith and trust in God, the “Good Shepherd.”   The second reading introduces Jesus as the shepherd of both the Jews and the Gentiles and explains how Jesus, the good shepherd, reconciled all of us with His Father by offering himself on the cross. Paul also speaks about another reconciliation between the Jews and the Gentiles, brought about by Jesus who has accepted both into the same Christian brotherhood. The reading from the Gospel of Mark presents Jesus as the good shepherd fulfilling God’s promise given through his prophet Jeremiah in the first reading.  Here we see Jesus attending to his weary apostles, who have just returned from their first preaching mission, while at the same time expressing his concern for the people who, like “sheep without a shepherd," have gathered to meet him in the wilderness.

 

Life messages: 1) We need God’s grace to become good shepherds: The Christian life is a continuous passage from the presence of God to the presence of people and back again. Prayer is essentially listening to God and talking to Him. We should allow God the opportunity to speak to us and recharge us with spiritual energy and strength by setting aside enough time for Him to speak to us and for us to speak to Him. He speaks to us powerfully when we spend some time every day reading the Bible devoutly and meditating on the message God gives us. We receive strength from God to do our share of the shepherd’s preaching and healing ministry by praying to Him individually, in the family and as a community, in the parish Church participating in the Eucharistic celebration.

2) The Church has the double responsibility of teaching and feeding: There can be no true Christianity without the proclamation of the Gospel. Teaching the Word of God is essential to a Christian community.   Christians must also display the compassion of Jesus by meeting the social and material needs of others by our works of charity as individual Christians and as a parish community.

OT XVI SUNDAY (July 19) Jer 23:1-6, Eph 2:13-18, Mk 6:30-34)

Anecdote: # 1:  “Altar of the Chair:” Today’s Gospel presents Jesus as the good shepherd for people who were like sheep without shepherd. At St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the role of Pope as a teaching shepherd is depicted very powerfully in art. At the very back of the basilica, there is one of the most famous pieces in art history, done by the great sculptor Bernini. It’s called the “Altar of the Chair,” and it was so beautiful and influential that art historians say it was the start of the baroque era. It was Pope Alexander VII who commissioned Bernini to build a sumptuous monument which would give prominence to the ancient wooden chair believed to have been used by St. Peter.  Bernini built a throne in gilded bronze richly ornamented with bas-reliefs, in which the chair was enclosed: two pieces of furniture, one within the other. At the top of the altar, there is the brilliant translucent image of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove surrounded by angels. The Holy Spirit is descending upon a huge bronze chair which houses what in the 16th century was believed to be the actual chair on which St. Peter sat to teach the people of Rome. Peter’s chair is a symbol of the teaching authority of the Church and particularly of the Popes, the successors of St. Peter, who are Christ’s vicars on earth. The most formal teachings of the Church are called “ex cathedra,” meaning literally “from the chair.” Underneath the chair there are four bishops who are all famous teaching saints in the early Church—Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Augustine, and Ambrose—who are depicted referring to and spiritually upholding the teaching authority of the Church and papacy. But the element that is most relevant to today’s Scriptures is found sculpted into the backrest of the Chair. It’s a depiction of Peter feeding Christ’s sheep. It’s a reference to the end of St. John’s Gospel, when Jesus asked Peter three times, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter replied that he did. And Jesus responded, “Feed my lambs,” “tend my sheep,” and “feed my sheep.” Peter’s obedience in caring for Christ’s sheep is seen above all, therefore, in his TEACHING of Christ’s truth. Every year on February 22, the Church celebrates the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, to commemorate St. Peter's teaching in Rome.

# 2: The hour of a mid-week prayer service in a little church: Michael Faraday was a 19th century British physicist and chemist, best known for his discoveries of electromagnetic induction (the principle behind the electric transformer and generator) and of the laws of electrolysis. His biggest breakthrough in electricity was his invention of the electric motor.This great scientist once addressed convocation of scientists. For an hour he held the audience spellbound with his lecture on the electromagnetic induction, electrolysis, electric motor and their future applications. After he had finished, he received a thundering ovation. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, stood to congratulate him. The applause thundered again. Just as quickly, a deadened silence pervaded the audience. Faraday had left. It was the hour of a mid-week prayer service in a little church of which he was a member. Do we have a similar commitment? Like Faraday, have we pledged our allegiances to a Power that outlasts the short-lived fads and governments of this world? One of the reasons we gather for worship each week is for the refreshment of our spirits, the recharging of our spiritual; batteries. We need to shut the world out and focus our attention on God's presence in our lives. Jesus knew the value of getting away to a quiet place. With our families, would we put into practice what the Wall Street Journal suggested a generation ago? "What America needs ... is a revival of piety - the piety of our fathers.”  Today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus takes his worn-out disciples to a lonely place for rest and refreshment.

# 3: Expectant waiting for dear ones: A story from the life of Mother Teresa shows her love for lonely and unwanted people, the "sheep without a shepherd," who, while materially well-off, are sometimes "the Reebok Club C Outlet poorest of the poor."  On one occasion, she visited a well-run nursing home where good food, medical care and other facilities were offered to the elderly.   As she moved among the old people, she noticed that none of them smiled unless she touched them and smiled at them first.  She also noticed that many of them kept glancing expectantly towards the door while listening to her.   When she asked one of the nurses why this was so, she was told:   “They are looking for a visit from someone related to them.  But, except for an occasional visit, birthday gift or a get-well card, this never happens." Jesus invites us, in today’s Gospel, to show concern, mercy and compassion for such sheep without a shepherd.

Introduction:  Today’s readings explain how God, like a Good Shepherd, redeems His people and provides for them. They also challenge us to use our God-given authority in the family, in the Church and in society, with fidelity and responsibility.   Today “pastoral” ministry includes not only the pastoral care given by those named or ordained as “pastors” but the loving service given by many others who follow different callings to serve and lead others. In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah (sixth century B.C.), thunders against Israel's careless leaders - the king, some priests and some court prophets – because they have shown no concern for the poor. The prophet also foretells the rise of a good, new shepherd in the family line of David. Then he consoles the Israelites enslaved in Babylon, by assuring them that God will lead them back to their original pasture in Israel.  Today’s Good Shepherd Psalm (Ps 23) affirms David’s faith and trust in God, the Good Shepherd.”   The second reading introduces Jesus as the shepherd of both Jews and Gentiles and explains how Jesus, the good shepherd, reconciled all of us with His Father by offering himself on the cross. Paul also speaks about another reconciliation, that between the Jews and the Gentiles, brought about by Jesus who accepted both into the same Christian brotherhood. The reading from the Gospel of Mark presents Jesus as the good shepherd fulfilling God’s promisegiven through his prophet Jeremiah in the first reading.  Here we see Jesus attending to his weary apostles, who have just returned from their first preaching mission, while at the same time expressing his concern for the people who, like “sheep without a shepherd," have gathered to meet him in the wilderness. First reading, :  The prophet Jeremiah lived from about 650 BC to perhaps 580 B.C. Most of his work was in Judah's capital, Jerusalem. He tried to keep the people and several kings Nike Air Max Bw Outlet faithful to God amidst an atmosphere of political intrigue and backstabbing. Jeremiah was blunt about what was right and what was not.  He suffered at the hands of the powerful because of his outspokenness. At the time of this prophecy, a good king in Judah had just been replaced by a king who allied Judah to Egypt. Jeremiah was sent by God to rage against this policy, reminding the people and the King that God's people should trust in God, not in alliances with pagan nations. Some flattering "prophets" of the court backed the King and criticized Jeremiah. But Jeremiah remained a vigorous, courageous, outspoken man. Today we'd say Jeremiah had fire in his belly. Here he thunders on Chaussures Asics Soldes behalf of a God outraged at the powerful people's neglect of their responsibility to the poor. "I gave you the privileges of a shepherd, you mislead and scatter the flock, I'm about to replace you, and my people will be restored!" Jeremiah assured his audience that Yahweh would give them a "new shepherd," a new leader who would exercise Yahweh's care and concern for His people. Jesus fulfills the prophecy of the good shepherd God promised through Jeremiah – the one who would shepherd the sheep “so that they need no longer fear and tremble,” and the Davidic king who would do what was just and right in the land. Jeremiah’s prophetic denunciation of faithless servants in the Old Testament is applicable also to our own time. All of us who exercise responsibility in various ministries in the Church, in family life and in society, are called to Nike Cortez Soldes imitate God’s diligent, effective caring by bringing people together, leading  them and showing selfless concern for our subjects rather than taking personal advantage of them.

Second Reading, : In this reading, Paul celebrates the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy (first reading) of a future shepherd who would gather the dispersed and the scattered into one people of God. This passage explains how Christ has brought about reconciliation between ancient enemies, the Jews and the Gentiles. Paul says that the Jews were "near" and the Gentiles "far off." But by becoming Christians, those Jews, who had enjoyed God's favor for so many generations, have now accepted Christ as the Messiah. The converted Gentiles had long been estranged from God. But they, too, have now accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. Hence, as Christians, the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians are now no more enemies but brothers and sisters. The Law of Moses “with its commandments and legal claims"served to separate the Jews who kept it from the Gentiles who didn't know of it and didn't bother. Against the attempts by some Jewish Christians to impose the Mosaic Law on Gentile converts, Paul affirms that the Law can no longer separate God's single people into factions.

Exegesis: The context: Today’s Gospel passage presents the sympathetic and merciful heart of Jesus who lovingly invites his apostles to a desolate place for some rest.   Jesus had sent his apostles on their first mission, which was one of healing, teaching and preaching.  When they returned, they were no doubt exhilarated by the experience. They had witnessed at first hand, the power of God's Word.   Nonetheless, they were hungry, exhausted, and in need of rest, both physical and spiritual. In fact, Jesus was eager to hear about their missionary adventures as they proudly shared their experiences. But Jesus, too, was in need of a break from the crowds who were constantly pressing on him, Chaussures Adidas Outlet demanding his attention and healing. Hence, he led the Apostles by boat to a “deserted place” on the other side of the Lake for a period of rest and sharing.

2) “Sheep without shepherd:” But when they came ashore there was a large crowd waiting for them. Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for those people who were “sheep without a shepherd.” Here the reference to the shepherd was probably to religious leaders, because at this time the Jews were an occupied people and the real political power was in the hands of the Romans. This brief description, “sheep without a shepherd,” is also dense with Biblical allusions. Like the people of Israel, the crowds were in the desert where they would receive not only miraculous food (next Sunday’s Gospel), but guidance and instruction, just as the Torah had been given in the desert of Sinai.  “Sheep without s shepherd” will perish because a) they cannot find their way and will probably end up eaten by a wolf or other carnivores   b) they cannot find pasture and food and c) they have no defense against the dangers which threaten them.   Jesus' first act with these shepherd-less sheep was to teach them [v. 34] and then to feed them [vv. 35-40] and finally to protect his closest disciples who were also His sheep from the storm [vv. 45-52]. This text affirms Jesus’ extraordinary availability and his compassion for the needy. It teaches us that a Christian should be ready to sacrifice his time and even his rest in the service of the Gospel.

Life messages: 1) Christians must be people of prayer and action: The Christian life is a continuous passage from the presence of God to the presence of people and back again. Prayer is essentially listening to God and talking to Him. One of our main problems is that we do not truly allow God the opportunity to speak to us.  We also do not know how to "be still and to listen." Hence, we are often in danger of refusing to allow God to recharge us with spiritual energy and strength.  In addition, we do not set aside enough time for Him to speak to us and for us to speak to God.   How can we shoulder life's burdens if we have no contact with the Lord of Life?  How can we do God's work unless we rely on God's strength?  And how can we receive that strength unless we pray to him individually, in the family and as a parish community in the Church and receive His grace by participating in the Holy Mass and through the reception of the Sacraments? However, we must never seek God's fellowship in order to avoid the fellowship of men but always in order to prepare for it.   From our reflection on today’s Gospel, let us remind ourselves that the Christian life consists of meeting with God in the secret place so that we may serve people more effectively in the market place.

2) The Church has the double responsibility of teaching and feeding: People today find it difficult to balance those two aspects of the Christian life. Some apparently believe that the social ministry of the Church is all that is needed to make Christ present in the world.   Others seem to believe that the Church's major concern should be preaching the Gospel, rather than feeding the hungry and healing the sick.  The Church's duty, so the argument goes, is to spread the Gospel and provide for public worship. Both views are one-sided.  There can be no true Christianity without the proclamation of the Gospel. Teaching the Word of God is essential to a Christian community.  But that is only half of the story. Christians must also display the same compassion for the suffering that Jesus exhibited by meeting the social and material needs of others - even those who are not members of our Church.

3) The Church needs ideal pastors: The pastor must be a person of compassion. He must be able to feel deeply the suffering of others, to understand why they fear and tremble. The pastors are also called to lead and “govern wisely” (Jer 23:5), living the teaching they communicate. They are to guide people in right paths and are to be concerned about what is right and just. Their pastoral care should be involved and peaceful care and guidance. There are very many people searching for truth today, people hungering for instruction, good people who are looking for direction. They may be parents who are sick with grief over the future of a troubled child; a man stripped of his dignity by unemployment; a woman facing a pregnancy alone; elderly people who feel the diminishing surge of life in their bodies; people who are angry and confused because they have lost confidence in their leaders, whether political or religious. They are people who are looking for answers and for meaning. They are like sheep without a shepherd. They all need ideal pastors filled with the spirit of Christ the “Good Shepherd.”

Joke of the week: # 1: The young pastor was teaching the 23rd psalm to the Sunday school children. He told them that they were sheep who needed guidance. Then the priest asked, "If you are the sheep then who the shepherd is?” (Nike Presto Fly France obviously meaning himself). A silence of a few seconds followed. Then a young boy said, "Jesus. Jesus is the Shepherd." The young priest, obviously caught by surprise, said to the boy, "Well then, who am I?" The boy frowned thoughtfully and then said, "I guess you must be a sheep dog."

OT XVI – B (2)
OT XVI – B (2)
Synopsis of OT XVI Sunday Homily on Mk 6: 30-34 Introduction:  Today’s readings explain how God, like a good shepherd, redeems His people and provides for them. They also challenge us to use our God-given authority in the family, in the Church and in society, with fidelity and responsibility.   Today, pastoral ministry includes not only the pastoral care given by those named or ordained as “pastors” but the loving service given by all Christians who follow different callings to serve and lead others. Scripture lessons summarized: In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah (sixth century B.C.), thunders against Israel's careless leaders - the king, some priests and some court prophets – because they have shown no concern for the poor. The prophet also foretells the rise of a good, new shepherd in the family line of David. Then he consoles the Israelites enslaved in Babylon, by assuring them that God will lead them back to their original pasture in Israel.  Today’s Good Shepherd Psalm (Ps 23) affirms David’s faith and trust in God, the “Good Shepherd.”   The second reading introduces Jesus as the shepherd of both the Jews and the Gentiles and explains how Jesus, the good shepherd, reconciled all of us with His Father by offering himself on the cross. Paul also speaks about another reconciliation between the Jews and the Gentiles, brought about by Jesus who has accepted both into the same Christian brotherhood. The reading from the Gospel of Mark presents Jesus as the good shepherd fulfilling God’s promise given through his prophet Jeremiah in the first reading.  Here we see Jesus attending to his weary apostles, who have just returned from their first preaching mission, while at the same time expressing his concern for the people who, like “sheep without a shepherd," have gathered to meet him in the wilderness. Life messages: 1) We need God’s grace to become good shepherds: The Christian life is a continuous passage from the presence of God to the presence of people and back again. Prayer is essentially listening to God and talking to Him. We should allow God the opportunity to speak to us and recharge us with spiritual energy and strength by setting aside enough time for Him to speak to us and for us to speak to Him. He speaks to us powerfully when we spend some time every day reading the Bible devoutly and meditating on the message God gives us. We receive strength from God to do our share of the shepherd’s preaching and healing ministry by praying to Him individually, in the family and as a community, in the parish Church participating in the Eucharistic celebration. 2) The Church has the double responsibility of teaching and feeding: There can be no true Christianity without the proclamation of the Gospel. Teaching the Word of God is essential to a Christian community.   Christians must also display the compassion of Jesus by meeting the social and material needs of others by our works of charity as individual Christians and as a parish community. OT XVI [B]  Jer 23:1-6, Eph 2:13-18, Mk 6:30-34 Anecdote: # 1: “Altar of the Chair:” Today’s Gospel presents Jesus as the Good Shepherd for people who were like sheep without shepherd. At St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the role of Pope as a teaching shepherd is depicted very powerfully in art. At the very back of the basilica, there is one of the most famous pieces in art history, done by the great sculptor Bernini. It’s called the “Altar of the Chair,” and it was so beautiful and influential that art historians say it was the start of the baroque era. It was Pope Alexander VII who commissioned Bernini to build a sumptuous monument which would give prominence to the ancient wooden chair believed to have been used by St. Peter.  Bernini built a throne in gilded bronze richly ornamented with bas-reliefs, in which the chair was enclosed: two pieces of furniture, one within the other. At the top of the altar, there is the brilliant translucent image of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove surrounded by angels. The Holy Spirit is descending upon a huge bronze chair which houses what in the 16th century was believed to be the actual chair on which St. Peter sat to teach the people of Rome. Peter’s chair is a symbol of the teaching authority of the Church and particularly of the Popes, the successors of St. Peter, who are Christ’s vicars on earth. The most formal teachings of the Church are called “ex cathedra,” meaning literally “from the chair.” Underneath the chair there are four bishops who are all famous teaching saints in the early Church—Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Augustine, and Ambrose—who are depicted referring to and spiritually upholding the teaching authority of the Church and papacy. But the element that is most relevant to today’s Scriptures is found sculpted into the backrest of the Chair. It’s a depiction of Peter feeding Christ’s sheep. It’s a reference to the end of St. John’s Gospel, when Jesus asked Peter three times, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter replied that he did. And Jesus responded, “Feed my lambs,” “tend my sheep,” and “feed my sheep.” Peter’s obedience in caring for Christ’s sheep is seen above all, therefore, in his TEACHING of Christ’s truth. Every year on February 22, the Church celebrates the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, to commemorate St. Peter's teaching in Rome. # 2: Michael Faraday left for a prayer service in a little church: Michael Faraday was a 19th century British physicist and chemist, best known for his discoveries of electromagnetic induction (the principle behind the electric transformer and generator) and of the laws of electrolysis. His biggest breakthrough in electricity was his invention of the electric motor. This great scientist once addressed convocation of scientists. For an hour he held the audience spellbound with his lecture on the electromagnetic induction, electrolysis, electric motor and their future applications. After he had finished, he received a thundering ovation. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, stood to congratulate him. The applause thundered again. Just as quickly, a deadened silence pervaded the audience. Faraday had left. It was the hour of a mid-week prayer service in a little church of which he was a member. Do we have a similar commitment? Like Faraday, have we pledged our allegiances to a Power that outlasts the short-lived fads and governments of this world? One of the reasons we gather for worship each week is for the refreshment of our spirits, the recharging of our spiritual batteries. We need to shut the world out and focus our attention on God's presence in our lives. Jesus knew the value of getting away to a quiet place. With our families, would we put into practice what the Wall Street Journal suggested a generation ago? "What America needs ... is a revival of piety - the piety of our fathers.”  Today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus takes his worn-out disciples to a lonely place for rest and refreshment.   # 3: Expectant waiting for dear ones: A story from the life of Mother Teresa shows her love for lonely and unwanted people, the "sheep without a shepherd," who, while materially well-off, are sometimes "the poorest of the poor."  On one occasion, she visited a well-run nursing home where good food, medical care and other facilities were offered to the elderly.   As she moved among the old people, she noticed that none of them smiled unless she touched them and smiled at them first.  She also noticed that many of them kept glancing expectantly towards the door while listening to her.   When she asked one of the nurses why this was so, she was told: “They are looking for a visit from someone related to them.  But, except for an occasional visit, birthday gift or a get-well card, this never happens." Jesus invites us, in today’s Gospel, to show concern, mercy and compassion for such sheep without a shepherd. Introduction:  Today’s readings explain how God, like a Good Shepherd, redeems His people and provides for them. They also challenge us to use our God-given authority in the family, in the Church and in society, with fidelity and responsibility.   Today “pastoral” ministry includes not only the pastoral care given by those named or ordained as “pastors” but the loving service given by many others who follow different callings to serve and lead others. In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah (sixth century B.C.), thunders against Israel's careless leaders - the king, some priests and some court prophets – because they have shown no concern for the poor. The prophet also foretells the rise of a good, new shepherd in the family line of David. Then he consoles the Israelites enslaved in Babylon, by assuring them that God will lead them back to their original pasture in Israel.  Today’s Good Shepherd Psalm (Ps 23) affirms David’s Faith and trust in God, the “Good Shepherd.”   The second reading introduces Jesus as the shepherd of both Jews and Gentiles and explains how Jesus, the good shepherd, reconciled all of us with His Father by offering himself on the cross. Paul also speaks about another reconciliation, that between the Jews and the Gentiles, brought about by Jesus who accepted both into the same Christian brotherhood. The reading from the Gospel of Mark presents Jesus as the good shepherd fulfilling God’s promise given through his prophet Jeremiah in the first reading.  Here we see Jesus attending to his weary apostles, who have just returned from their first preaching mission, while at the same time expressing his concern for the people who, like “sheep without a shepherd," have gathered to meet him in the wilderness. First reading, Jeremiah 23:1-6, explained:  The prophet Jeremiah lived from about 650 BC to perhaps 580 B.C. Most of his work was in Judah's capital, Jerusalem. He tried to keep the people and several kings faithful to God amidst an atmosphere of political intrigue and backstabbing. Jeremiah was blunt about what was right and what was not.  He suffered at the hands of the powerful because of his outspokenness. At the time of this prophecy, a good king in Judah had just been replaced by a king who allied Judah to Egypt. Jeremiah was sent by God to rage against this policy, reminding the people and the King that God's people should trust in God, not in alliances with pagan nations. Some flattering "prophets" of the court backed the King and criticized Jeremiah. But Jeremiah remained a vigorous, courageous, outspoken man. Today we'd say Jeremiah had fire in his belly. Here he thunders on behalf of a God outraged at the powerful people's neglect of their responsibility to the poor: "I gave you the privileges of a shepherd, you mislead and scatter the flock, I'm about to replace you, and My people will be restored!" Jeremiah assured his audience that Yahweh would give them a "new shepherd," a new leader who would exercise Yahweh's care and concern for His people. Jesus fulfills the prophecy of the good shepherd God promised through Jeremiah – the one who would shepherd the sheep “so that they need no longer fear and tremble,” and the Davidic king who would do what was just and right in the land. Jeremiah’s prophetic denunciation of faithless servants in the Old Testament is applicable also to our own time. All of us who exercise responsibility in various ministries in the Church, in family life and in society, are called to imitate God’s diligent, effective caring by bringing people together, leading them and showing selfless concern for our subjects rather than taking personal advantage of them. Second Reading, Ephesians 2:13-18, explained: In this reading, Paul celebrates the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy (first reading) of a future shepherd who would gather the dispersed and the scattered into one people of God. This passage explains how Christ has brought about reconciliation between ancient enemies, the Jews and the Gentiles. Paul says that the Jews were "near" and the Gentiles "far off." But by becoming Christians, those Jews, who had enjoyed God's favor for so many generations, have now accepted Christ as the Messiah. The converted Gentiles had long been estranged from God. But they, too, have now accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. Hence, as Christians, the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians are now no more enemies but brothers and sisters. The Law of Moses “with its commandments and legal claims" served to separate the Jews who kept it from the Gentiles who didn't know of it and didn't bother. Against the attempts by some Jewish Christians to impose the Mosaic Law on Gentile converts, Paul affirms that the Law can no longer separate God's single people into factions.   Gospel Exegesis: The context: Today’s Gospel passage presents the sympathetic and merciful heart of Jesus who lovingly invites his apostles to a desolate place for some rest.   Jesus had sent his apostles on their first mission, which was one of healing, teaching and preaching.  When they returned, they were no doubt exhilarated by the experience. They had witnessed at first hand the power of God's Word.   Nonetheless, they were hungry, exhausted, and in need of rest, both physical and spiritual. In fact, Jesus was eager to hear about their missionary adventures as they proudly shared their experiences. But Jesus, too, was in need of a break from the crowds who were constantly pressing on him, demanding his attention and healing. Hence, he led the Apostles by boat to a “deserted place” on the other side of the Lake for a period of rest and sharing. Today’s Gospel teaches that “the mission of the Church should be based on the Gospel of compassion we seek to live and share, from the authority of our commitment to forgiveness and reconciliation; and that leadership, inspired by the wisdom of God, means not dictating and ruling over others but inspiring, providing for and selflessly caring for those whom we are called to lead.” (Connections).   2) “Sheep without shepherd:” But when they came ashore there was a large crowd waiting for them. Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for those people who were “sheep without a shepherd.” Here the reference to the shepherd was probably to religious leaders, because at this time the Jews were an occupied people and the real political power was in the hands of the Romans. This brief description, “sheep without a shepherd,” is also dense with Biblical allusions. Like the people of Israel, the crowds were in the desert where they would receive not only miraculous food (next Sunday’s Gospel), but guidance and instruction, just as the Torah had been given in the desert of Sinai.  “Sheep without s shepherd” will perish because a) they cannot find their way and will probably end up eaten by a wolf or other carnivores   b) they cannot find pasture and food and c) they have no defense against the dangers which threaten them.   Jesus' first act with this shepherd-less sheep was to teach them [v. 34] and then to feed them [vv. 35-40] and finally to protect his closest disciples who were also His sheep from the storm [vv. 45-52]. This text affirms Jesus’ extraordinary availability and his compassion for the needy. It teaches us that a Christian should be ready to sacrifice his time and even his rest in the service of the Gospel.   Life messages: 1) Christians must be people of prayer and action: The Christian life is a continuous passage from the presence of God to the presence of people and back again. Prayer is essentially listening to God and talking to Him. One of our main problems is that we do not truly allow God the opportunity to speak to us.  We also do not know how to "be still and to listen." Hence, we are often in danger of refusing to allow God to recharge us with spiritual energy and strength.  In addition, we do not set aside enough time for Him to speak to us and for us to speak to God.   How can we shoulder life's burdens if we have no contact with the Lord of Life?  How can we do God's work unless we rely on God's strength?  And how can we receive that strength unless we pray to him individually, in the family and as a parish community in the Church and receive His grace by participating in the Holy Mass and through the reception of the Sacraments? However, we must never seek God's fellowship in order to avoid the fellowship of men but always in order to prepare for it.   From our reflection on today’s Gospel, let us remind ourselves that the Christian life consists of meeting with God in the secret place so that we may serve people more effectively in the market place.   2) The Church has the double responsibility of teaching and feeding: People today find it difficult to balance those two aspects of the Christian life. Some apparently believe that the social ministry of the Church is all that is needed to make Christ present in the world.   Others seem to believe that the Church's major concern should be preaching the Gospel, rather than feeding the hungry and healing the sick.  The Church's duty, so the argument goes, is to spread the Gospel and provide for public worship. Both views are one-sided.  There can be no true Christianity without the proclamation of the Gospel. Teaching the Word of God is essential to a Christian community.  But that is only half of the story. Christians must also display the same compassion for the suffering that Jesus exhibited by meeting the social and material needs of others - even those who are not members of our Church.   3) The Church needs ideal pastors: The pastor must be a person of compassion. He must be able to feel deeply the suffering of others, to understand why they fear and tremble. The pastors are also called to lead and “govern wisely” (Jer 23:5), living the teaching they communicate. They are to guide people in right paths and are to be concerned about what is right and just. Their pastoral care should be involved and peaceful care and guidance. There are very many people searching for truth today, people hungering for instruction, good people who are looking for direction. They may be parents who are sick with grief over the future of a troubled child; a man stripped of his dignity by unemployment; a woman facing a pregnancy alone; elderly people who feel the diminishing surge of life in their bodies; people who are angry and confused because they have lost confidence in their leaders, whether political or religious. They are people who are looking for answers and for meaning. They are like sheep without a shepherd. They all need ideal pastors filled with the spirit of Christ the “Good Shepherd.”   Joke of the week: # 1: The young pastor was teaching the 23rd psalm to the Sunday school children. He told them that they were sheep who needed guidance. Then the priest asked, "If you are the sheep then who is the shepherd?” (obviously meaning himself). A silence of a few seconds followed. Then a young boy said, "Jesus. Jesus is the Shepherd." The young priest, obviously caught by surprise, said to the boy, "Well then, who am I?" The boy frowned thoughtfully and then said, "I guess you must be a sheep dog."   (Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence (L. S. P.), 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604)  
OT XVII – B (1)
OT XVII – B (1)

1 page Synopsis of O.T. XVII [B] Sunday (July 26) Jn 6: 1-15(L/15) Introduction:  Today’s readings invite us to become humble instruments in God’s hands by sharing our blessings with our needy brothers and sisters. They also Uruguay Kits 2015 remind us that if our country has been blessed with an abundance of earthly bread or with the technical capabilities to produce such abundance, then these gifts are for sharing with the hungry people and poor countries. Once physical hungers are satisfied, then we are challenged to satisfy the deeper hungers, for love, mercy, forgiveness, companionship, peace and fulfillment.

Scripture lessons: The first reading tells us how the prophet Elisha, by invoking God’s power, fed one hundred men with twenty barley loaves.  This miracle foreshadowed the gospel account of Jesus' miraculous feeding of the crowd who followed him to hear his words. Today’s psalm gives us the assurance that it is “the hand of the Lord that feeds us,” and that it is God who “answers all our needs.”  In the second reading, St. Paul reminds the Ephesians that Jesus united the Jews and the Gentiles by bringing them together as Christians in one faith and one baptism, and, hence, they have to live together, helping each other by sharing their blessings. Paul urges us to become communities of sharing Christians. The miraculous feeding of the five thousand people by Jesus, using five barley loaves and two fish, as described in today’s gospel, is associated with the Holy Eucharist early in the Church’s tradition. The people immediately interpreted the miracle, giving Jesus two Messianic titles: "The prophet” and "the one who is to come." This miracle teaches us that God works marvels through ordinary people. Elisha’s servant and Jesus’ disciples distributed the bread provided by God through generous people who were willing to share their food with the hungry. Thus, God meets the needs of people through the good will and services provided by members of His community.

Life messages:  A challenge to generous sharing: 1) The gospel story teaches that Jesus meets the most basic human need, namely hunger, with generosity and compassion. 2) Today’s readings also tell us that God really cares about His people and that there is enough and more than enough for everybody. Studies show that the world today produces enough food grains to provide every human being on the planet with 3,600 calories a day, not counting such foods as tuber crops, vegetables, beans, nuts, fruits, meats, and fish. Hence, let us pray and work for better social justice in all communities and countries. 3) As Christians we need to commit ourselves to share and to work with God in communicating His compassion to all as the early Christians did. God always blesses those who share their blessings and talents with loving commitment. We can begin our own humble efforts at "sharing" right in our parish by participating in the works of charity done by organizations like St. Vincent DePaul Society, the Knights of Columbus etc. (L/12

O.T. XVII [B] (Jly 29): 2Kings 4:42-44, Eph 4:1-6, John 6:1-15 Anecdote: #1: “No Golden Goose Sneaker Outlet my son, the pigs of my village don’t pray before meals!” Monsignor Arthur Tonne has a funny story on today’s gospel lesson. A village farmer stopped at a restaurant in the nearby town and sat near a group of young fellows who were acting up, shouting at the cook and heckling the waitress. When his meal was set before him the old farmer bowed his head to offer a prayer.  One of the smart-alecks thought he would have some fun with the old farmer.  So he shouted in a loud voice that could be heard by everyone, “Hey, Pop, does everyone do this where you come from?”  Calmly the old man turned towards the lad with an innocent smile and replied in an equally loud voice: “No son, our pigs don’t.”  Today’s gospel tells us that, before feeding the five thousand, Jesus took the loaves of bread, gave thanks (to God his Father) and distributed them.

#2: A bag of rice to share:   From her personal experience, Mother Teresa relates a story showing how the poor are more generous than the rich because they have experienced hunger and poverty.   Learning of a poor Hindu family in Calcutta who had been starving for many days, Mother Theresa visited them and brought a big parcel of rice to the mother.  She was surprised to see how the mother divided the rice into two equal portions and went out with one bundle to give it   to her Moslem neighbor.  When she returned, Mother   Theresa asked her why she had done such a generous deed.  The woman replied: “My family can manage with half the rice in this bag.  My neighbor’s family has several children and they are also starving."   Today’s gospel tells the story of a small boy who showed this same kind of generosity.  By sharing his small lunch (which consisted of five barley loaves and two dried fish), he became the instrument in Jesus’ working of a miracle that fed thousands.

# 3: “I wish I could be a brother like that:” Paul had received a special pre- Christmas gift from his rich brother. It was a beautiful new car - fully loaded and ready to go.  On Christmas Eve, when Paul came out of his office, a street kid was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it.  "Is this your car, mister?” the kid   asked.  When he replied that it was and that his brother had given it to him for Christmas, the boy said, "You mean your brother gave it to you, and it didn't cost you anything?  Free?  For nothing?  Gosh, I wish..."  The boy hesitated, and Paul knew what he was about to say.  He had heard it many times over the past few days.  He was going to wish he had a brother like that.  But what the boy said shocked Paul.  ”I wish", the boy said, "I wish I could be a brother like that."  We can be a brother like that or a sister like that.  All it takes is that we offer ourselves and what we have, to God.  All it takes is that we cease to worry about how little we have and begin instead to think about what it is that we can offer to others, as the little boy in today’s gospel story did by sharing his bread and fish with the multitude through Jesus. (“Chicken Soup” series).

Introduction:  Today’s readings invite us to become humble instruments in God’s hands by sharing our blessings with our needy brothers and sisters. Miracles can happen through our hands, when we collect and distribute to the needy the food destined for all by our generous God.  Today’s readings also remind us that if  we have been blessed with an abundance of earthly bread or with the technical capabilities to produce such an abundance, then these gifts are for sharing with the hungry.  When physical hungers are satisfied, then we are challenged to satisfy the deeper hungers - for love, mercy, forgiveness, companionship, peace and fulfillment.  The first reading tells us how the prophet Elisha, by invoking God’s power, fed one hundred men with twenty barley loaves.  This miracle foreshadowed the gospel account of Jesus' miraculous feeding of the crowd who followed him to hear his words.  Today’s  psalm tells us: “The hand of the Lord feeds us; God answers all our needs.”   In thesecond reading, St. Paul reminds the Ephesians that Jesus united the Jews and the Gentiles, bringing them together as Christians in one faith and one baptism.  Hence, he urges them to keep this unity intact as one body and one spirit by living as true Christians, “bearing with one another through love,” in humility, gentleness, patience and peace.  If we become such a community, nobody will go hungry, and God will meet the needs of people through the services provided by members of our community.  The miraculous feeding of the five thousand people by Jesus, with five barley loaves and two fish, as described in today’s gospel, is associated in Church tradition with the Holy Eucharist.  John’s version of the miracle clearly heightens the Eucharistic allusions when we read it along with the miraculous feeding of 100 men by the prophet Elisha in today’s first reading.  But unlike Elisha, Jesus himself assumed the divine role, feeding the people with eschatological plenty.  The reaction of the people was immediate and unanimous; they interpreted the miracle as a messianic sign and gave Jesus two Messianic titles: "The prophet” and "the one who is to come."  This miracleteaches us that God works marvels through ordinary people.  Elisha’s servant and Jesus’ disciples distributed the bread, provided by God.  Thus, God meets the needs of the people through the services provided by the members of His community.

First reading, : The first reading, taken from the Second Book of Kings, prepares us for today’s gospel which describes the miraculous feeding of more than five thousand people by Jesus using a boy’s gift of five barley loaves and two dried fish.  Acting through the prophet Elisha, God fed about 100 people with 20 barley loaves.  Both incidents tell us that God works marvels through ordinary people and meets the needs of people through the services provided by members of the community.  The Fathers of the Church recognized this miraculous feeding of Elisha as a type of, and prelude for, Jesus’ feeding of the multitudes in today’s gospel, an event that itself foreshadowed his gift of Himself in the Eucharist which continues to nourish believers.  The paired readings challenge the Church to continue Elisha’s and Jesus’ tradition by becoming, with His power, a provider and multiplier of bread for the poor.

Second Reading, : St. Paul, in prison, reminds the Ephesians that Jesus united the Jews and the Gentiles, bringing them together as Christians in one faith and one baptism.  Hence, he advises them to keep this unity intact as one body and one spirit by living as true Christians “bearing with one another inlove,” with humility, gentleness, patience and peace.  At present, we are the community that Paul describes.  We are the ones called to feed the hungry today.  As members of the body of Christ, we need to remember that miracles can happen through our prayers, our donations and our hands when we help Him to  distribute to the hungry the food destined for all by our generous God.

Exegesis:  The context: Jesus’ withdrawals into the wilderness were probably intended to provide periods of rest and reflection for Jesus and his disciples, and a time for him to teach them privately.  In addition, withdrawal might have allowed them to avoid danger from those hostile to him, particularly after the execution of John the Baptist.  Today’s gospel shows us one such incident, Here, we see Jesus trying, in vain, to withdraw with his Adidas Climachill Ride Boost Gfx apostles from the crowds at Capernaum by sailing to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus stepped ashore near a remote village called Bethsaida Julius, where the River Jordan flows into the north end of the Sea of Galilee, and faced a large crowd of people who had pursued him around the Sea on foot. His immediate reaction was one of deep compassion. Near the place where they had landed, there was a small grassy plain, and there he began to heal the sick among them and to teach them at length.  This was the scene of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand as described in today’s gospel.

A great miracle before a multitude: The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 is found in all four Parajumpers Kodiak Homme gospels, although the context and emphasis vary.  This is the only miracle, other than the resurrection, that is told in all the gospels, a fact that speaks of its importance to the early Church.  Compare Mark 6:35-44 with Matthew 14:13-21, Luke 9:12-17, and John 6:1-14.  Matthew says that there were about 5,000 men, not including women and children. This miraculous feeding in the desert had precedents: Moses, Elijah and Elisha had fed people without resources.  The present miracle resembles particularly the one performed by Elisha in 2 Kings 4:42-44.  In both cases, unlike the manna in the desert, there were leftovers, for everyone there had had enough and more than enough.  This miracle, then, is greater than the manna of the exodus.  The Gospel story should be treated as a witness to the power of God and an implicit declaration of Jesus’ divinity.  It also shows how, to this day, Jesus empowers his disciples to continue his works of compassion.  We may regard the incident both as a miracle of divine providence and also as a messianic sign in which Jesus multiplied loaves and fish in order to feed his hungry listeners.  The lesson for every Christian is that, no matter how impossible his or her assignments may seem, with divine help they can be done because "nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37).

A messianic sign or a miracle of generous sharing?  The traditional teaching of the Church is that Jesus literally multiplied the bread and fish to feed his hungry listeners.C.S. Lewis, in his book Miracles, says that this is simply God doing in microcosm what God does all of the time in macrocosm. At the beginning of this century in his classic book, The Quest for the Historical Jesus, Schweitzer suggested that what we have here is a "sacrament" rather than a full meal.   All the people received was the merest crumb of food, and yet, somehow, with Jesus present among them, it was enough. That, however, does not explain the baskets full of leftovers from the five loaves and two fish. A few bible scholars even suggest that the "miracle" may be interpreted also as Jesus’ success in getting a group of selfish people to share their personal provisions with others.  According to this interpretation, it appears strange and unnatural that the crowd had made this nine-mile long expedition to such a desolate village without taking anything to eat.  When people set out on a journey, they usually took their food with them in a small basket called a kophinah or in a bigger wicker basket.  But if they had done so in this case, each one might have been unwilling to share what he had brought with others.  If such were the case, Jesus might have deliberately accepted the five loaves and fish from the little boy in order to set a good example for the crowd.  Moved by this example of generosity, the crowd might have done the same: thus, there could have been enough for all.  This view was propounded by the famous preacher-novelist Lloyd C. Douglas, author ofThe Robe. This rather fanciful explanation may still be considered a “miracle”: it might show that how the example of the boy responding to Jesus “miraculously” turned a crowd of selfish men and women into a fellowship of generous sharers.  It does, however, militate against the Divinity of Jesus, True God and True Man. For it is the literal interpretation of the miracle which makes the miracle a messianic sign with Eucharistic reference, points to the Divinity of Christ and offers an example of God’s love for us, expressed in superabundant generosity.

A symbol of the Eucharist: No Bible scholar doubts that all six bread miracles in the gospels are about the Eucharist.  The multiplication of the loaves is the only miracle from Jesus’ public ministry narrated in all four Gospels with Eucharistic overtones.  The early Christian community saw this event as anticipating the Eucharist.  John uses this story in his gospel to introduce Jesus’ profound and extended reflection on the Eucharist and the Bread of Life.  The Cycle B lectionary has selected portions from John chapter 6 for five Sundays to remind us of Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist.  The Eucharistic coloring of the multiplication of bread is clear in Jesus' blessing, breaking, and giving the loaves.  Thus, the miracle itself becomes a symbol of the Eucharist, the sacrament of unity. The sharing of the broken bread is a sign of a community that is expected to share and provide in abundance for the needs of its members.  Matthew invites us to see this miracle as a type or symbol explaining the sacrament's meaning. Clearly the account suggests the early Christian rite of the breaking of the bread, celebrated daily (Acts 2), rather than the covenant-sacrifice meal, or the annual Jewish Passover celebration, or the yearly Christian Paschal celebration.  This daily breaking of the bread also had eschatological associations: it was an anticipation of the messianic banquet.  The Church's Eucharist today combines both the sacrificial and the eschatological associations.  In the recent past, emphasis has been placed more on the sacrificial than on the eschatological aspect, but the imbalance is now being redressed.

Life messages: #1: "You give them something to eat." The gospel story teaches that Jesus meets the most basic human need, hunger, with generosity and compassion.  Today’s readings also tell us that God really cares about His people and that there is enough and more than enough for everybody.  Studies show that the world today produces enough food grains to provide every human being on the planet with 3,600 calories a day, not counting such foods as tuber crops, vegetables, beans, nuts, fruits, meats, and fish.  Over the past twenty five years, food production has exceeded world population growth by about 16%. This means that there is no good reason for any human being in today's world to go hungry.  But even in a rich country like U.S.A., one child out of five grows up in poverty, three million people are homeless and 4000 unborn babies are aborted every day.  “The problem in feeding the world’s hungry population lies with our political lack of will, our economic system biased in favor of the affluent, our militarism, and our tendency to blame the victims of social tragedies such as famine.  We all share responsibility for the fact that populations are undernourished.  Therefore, it is necessary to arouse a sense of responsibility in individuals, especially among those more blessed with this world’s goods.” (Pope John XXIII, Mater et Magistra (1961) 157-58).

#2: We need to commit ourselves to share with others, and to work with God in communicating His compassion.  It is too easy to blame God, too easy to blame governments, too easy see these things as other people's problems.  They are also our problems.  That is the meaning of the Eucharist we celebrate here today.  In other words, as Christians we need to commit ourselves to share what we have with others, and to work with God in communicating his compassion to all.                                                                                                                                          God is a caring Father and He wants our co-operation to be part of His caring for all of us, His children.  That’s what the early Christians did, generously sharing what they had with the needy.  They were convinced that everything they needed to experience a fulfilling life was already there, in the gifts and talents of the people around them.  People of our time need to be encouraged to share, even when they think they have nothing to offer.  Whatever we offer through Jesus will have a life-giving effect in those who receive it.  We are shown two attitudes in the Gospel story: that of Philip and that of Andrew (John 6:7-9). Philip said, in effect:  "The situation is hopeless; nothing can be done."  But Andrew's attitude was: "I'll see what I can do; and I will trust Jesus to do the rest."  Let us have Andrew’s attitude.

#3: God blesses those who share their talents, with loving commitment.  This is illustrated by Mother Teresa who went to serve the slum dwellers of Calcutta with just twenty cents in her pocket.  When she died forty-nine years later, God had turned those original twenty cents into eighty schools, three hundred mobile dispensaries, seventy leprosy clinics, thirty homes for the dying, thirty homes for abandoned children and forty thousand volunteers from all over the world to help her.  We can begin our own humble efforts at "sharing" right in our parish by participating in the works of charity done by organizations like the St. Vincent DePaul Society, the Knights of Columbus and so many other volunteer groups. We may say, “I do not have enough money or talent to make any difference”.   But we need to remember that the small boy in the story had only five barley loaves and two dried fish.  The Bible guarantees that every believer has at least one gift from the Holy Spirit.  This is our one “tiny fish”.  Perhaps our “fish” is not money, but a talent or an ability that God has given us.  We all have something. If you have never trusted God with your time, or your talent, or your treasure...all your resources...this is the time to start.  Let us offer ourselves and whatever we have to God saying, “Here is what I am and what I have Lord; use me; use it.”  And He will bless us and bless our offering, amplifying it beyond our expectations.  When we give what we have to God, and we ask Him to bless it, it is then the miracle happens.  We, too, can perform wonders in our own time and place, by practicing the four "Eucharistic verbs” of Jesus:   Take humbly and generously what God gives us, bless it by offering it to others in God’s love, break it off from our own needs and interests for the sake of others, give it away with joy-filled gratitude to God who has blessed us with so much.

Jokes of the week: 1) "What would Jesus do?" I heard about a little boy who got into a heated argument with his sister about who was going to get the last brownie, and his mother overheard this discussion and came in to try to resolve the fuss. Her two children, both extremely upset, each wanted that last brownie. So sensing the opportunity to teach a deeper spiritual truth, the mother looked at her children and asked that very relevant question..."What would Jesus do?" Well, that little boy immediately answered, "That's easy. Jesus would just break that brownie and make 5,000 more!"

2) "What's the expiration date on it?" It's like the story of a little girl in Milwaukee who had had her tonsils out and was staying with her grandmother while her parents were at work. One day she complained of a sore throat. "I have some holy water from Lourdes that I got from my mother," the grandmother said. "Should I put some on your neck?" The girl thought for a moment and then asked, "What's the expiration date on it?"

3) Football Austria Sharing everything: A young man saw an elderly couple sitting down to lunch at McDonald's.  He noticed that they had ordered one meal, and an extra drink cup. As he watched, the gentleman carefully divided the hamburger in half, counted out the fries, one for him, one for her, until each had half of them.  Then he poured half of the soft drink into the extra cup and set that in front of his wife. The old man then began to eat, and his wife sat watching, with her hands folded in her lap.  The young man decided to ask if they would allow him to purchase another meal for them so that they didn't have to split theirs. The old gentleman said, "Oh no.  We've been married 50 years, and everything has always been and will always be shared, 50/50." The young man then asked the wife if she was not going to eat, and she replied, "It's his turn with the teeth." (L/15)

OT XVII – B (2)
OT XVII – B (2)
OT XVII [B] Sunday Jn 6:1-15 L/18 Introduction:  Today’s readings invite us to become humble instruments in God’s hands by sharing our blessings with our needy brothers and sisters. They are about hunger and food and about how we can satisfy the deeper hunger of our life. They remind us that if we and our country are blessed with an abundant food supply, we have to share it with the hungry people and poor countries. Once physical hungers are satisfied, then we are challenged to satisfy the deeper hungers, for love, mercy, forgiveness, companionship, peace and fulfillment. Scripture lessons: The first reading tells us how the prophet Elisha, by invoking God’s power, fed one hundred men with twenty barley loaves. Elisha relies not on what he has but on what God can do with what Elisha received as a gift.  This miracle foreshadows the Gospel account of Jesus' miraculous feeding of the crowd who followed him to hear his words. Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 145) tells us that God will feed us, satisfying all the needs of the people who love him. The Refrain reminds us, “The hand of the Lord feeds us; He answers all our needs.”  In the second reading, St. Paul reminds the Ephesians that Jesus united the Jews and the Gentiles by bringing them together as Christians in one Faith and one Baptism, allowing them to become one by eating his body. Hence, they have to live together, helping each other by sharing their blessings. Paul urges us to become communities of sharing Christians. Jesus’ miraculous feeding of five thousand people by using five barley loaves and two fish, as described in today’s Gospel, was associated with the Holy Eucharist early in the Church’s tradition. The people immediately interpreted the miracle, giving Jesus two Messianic titles: "The prophet” and "the one who is to come." This miracle teaches us that God works marvels through ordinary people. Elisha’s servant and Jesus’ disciples distributed the bread provided by God through generous people who were willing to share their food with the hungry. Thus, God meets the needs of people through the good will and services provided by members of His community.   Life messages:  A challenge to generous sharing: 1) The Gospel account teaches us that Jesus meets the most basic human need, namely hunger, with generosity and compassion. 2) Today’s readings also tell us that God really cares about His people, and that there is enough and more than enough for everybody. Studies show that the world today produces enough food grains to provide every human being on the planet with 3,600 calories a day, not counting such foods as tuber crops, vegetables, beans, nuts, fruits, meats, and fish. Hence, let us pray and work for better social justice in all communities and countries. 3) As Christians we need to commit ourselves to share and to work with God in communicating His compassion to all as the early Christians did. God always blesses those who share their blessings and talents with loving commitment. We can begin our own humble efforts at "sharing" right in our parish by participating in the works of charity done by organizations like the St. Vincent DePaul Society, the Knights of Columbus, etc. OT XVII [B] : 2 Kings 4:42-44, Eph 4:1-6, John 6:1-15 Anecdote: #1: A bag of rice to share:   From her personal experience, St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) related a story showing how the poor are more generous than the rich because the poor have experienced hunger and poverty.   Learning of a poor Hindu family in Calcutta who had been starving for many days, Mother Theresa visited them and brought a big parcel of rice to the mother.  She was surprised to see how the mother divided the rice into two equal portions and went out with one bundle to give it   to her Moslem neighbor.  When she returned, Mother Theresa asked her why she had done such a generous deed.  The woman replied: “My family can manage with half the rice in this bag.  My neighbor’s family has several children and they are also starving."   Today’s Gospel tells the story of a small boy who showed this same kind of generosity.  By sharing his small lunch (which consisted of five barley loaves and two dried fish), he became the instrument in Jesus’ working of a miracle that fed thousands. # 2: “No my son, the pigs of my village don’t pray before meals!” Monsignor Arthur Tonne has a funny story on today’s Gospel lesson. A village farmer stopped at a restaurant in the nearby town and sat near a group of young fellows who were acting up, shouting at the cook and heckling the waitress. When his meal was set before him the old farmer bowed his head to offer a prayer.  One of the smart-alecks thought he would have some fun with the old farmer. So, he shouted in a loud voice that could be heard by everyone, “Hey, Pop, does everyone do this where you come from?” Calmly the old man turned towards the lad with an innocent smile and replied in an equally loud voice: “No son, our pigs don’t.”  Today’s Gospel tells us that, before feeding the five thousand, Jesus took the loaves of bread, gave thanks (to God his Father) and distributed them. #3: Poverty and hunger in the midst wealth and prosperity: In the Asian, African and Latin American countries, well over 500 million people are living in what the World Bank has called "absolute poverty". Every year 15 million children die of hunger. The Indian subcontinent has nearly half the world's hungry people. Africa and the rest of Asia together have approximately 40%, and the remaining hungry people are found in Latin America and other parts of the world. Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion - a majority of humanity - live on less than $1 per day while the world's 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world's people.  There are three reasons for this situation: 1) Unwillingness of the rich people and wealthy countries to share their blessings with poor and the needy. 2) Unjust distribution of wealth enabling the rich to become richer and allowing the poor to get poorer. 3) Exorbitant military expense of rich and poor nations. Most countries spend more than half their national income for the military. For example, the U.S. spends 54% of its income for the military while allotting only 6% for education, 6% for housing and 3% for social security and unemployment benefits. Annual military expense of the U. S. for 2014-15 is $581 billion and that of China $129 billion and Russia is $70 billion. We have to remember that for the price of one cruise missile ($1.41 million), a school full of hungry children could eat lunch every day for 5 years. 100 million deaths could be prevented for the price of ten Stealth bombers, or what the world spends on its military in two days.  (Each stealth bomber costs $2.1 billion). Although the food in the world should suffice to feed God's children it will never suffice to fill the greed of men. By describing how Jesus miraculously fed five thousand people using the sacrificial sharing of his lunch by a boy, today’s Gospel challenges us to plan what we can do to feed the hungry in the world around us while limiting our indulgent lifestyle. Introduction:  Today’s readings invite us to become humble instruments in God’s hands by sharing our blessings with our needy brothers and sisters. Miracles can happen through our hands, when we collect and distribute to the needy the food destined for all by our generous God.  Today’s readings also remind us that if we have been blessed with an abundance of earthly bread or with the technical capabilities to produce such an abundance, then these gifts are for sharing with the hungry.  When physical hungers are satisfied, then we are challenged to satisfy the deeper hungers – for God, for love, mercy, forgiveness, companionship, peace and fulfillment. The first reading tells us how the prophet Elisha, by invoking God’s power, fed one hundred men with twenty barley loaves.  This miracle foreshadowed the Gospel account of Jesus' miraculous feeding of the crowd who followed him to hear his words.  The Refrain for today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps. 145) tells us: “The hand of the Lord feeds us; He answers all our needs.”   In the second reading, St. Paul reminds the Ephesians that Jesus united the Jews and the Gentiles, bringing them together as Christians in “one Faith, one Baptism [with] one God and Father of us all.”  Hence, he urges them to keep this unity intact as “one body and one spirit” by living as true Christians, “bearing with one another through love,” in “humility and gentleness, with patience, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”.  If we become such a community, nobody will go hungry, and God will meet the needs of people through the services provided by members of our community.  The miraculous feeding of the five thousand people by Jesus, with five barley loaves and two fish, as described in today’s Gospel, is early associated in Church tradition with the Holy Eucharist.  John’s version of the miracle clearly heightens the Eucharistic allusions when we read it along with the miraculous feeding of 100 men by the prophet Elisha in today’s first reading.  But unlike Elisha, Jesus himself assumed the Divine role, feeding the people with eschatological plenty.  The reaction of the people was immediate and unanimous; they interpreted the miracle as a messianic sign and gave Jesus two Messianic titles: "The Prophet” and "the One who is to come."  This miracle teaches us that God works marvels through ordinary people.  Elisha’s servant and Jesus’ disciples distributed the bread, provided by God.  Thus, God meets the needs of the people through the services provided by the members of His community.   First reading, 2 Kings 4:42-44, explained: The first reading, taken from the Second Book of Kings, prepares us for today’s Gospel which describes the miraculous feeding of more than five thousand people in which Jesus used a boy’s gift of five barley loaves and two dried fish.  Acting through the prophet Elisha, God fed about 100 people with 20 barley loaves. Both incidents tell us that God works marvels through ordinary people and meets the needs of people through the services provided by members of the community.  The Fathers of the Church recognized this miraculous feeding of Elisha as a type of, and prelude for, Jesus’ feeding of the multitudes in today’s Gospel, an event that itself foreshadowed Jesus’ gift to us of Himself in the Eucharist, which continues to nourish believers. The Elisha story looks back to Moses, the prophet who fed God's people in the wilderness (see Exodus 16). Moses prophesied that God would send a prophet like him (see Deuteronomy 18:15-19). The crowd in today's Gospel, witnessing his miracle, identifies Jesus as that prophet. (Scott Hann). The paired readings challenge the Church to continue Elisha’s and Jesus’ tradition by becoming, with his power, a provider and multiplier of bread for the poor. Second Reading, Ephesians 4:1-6, explained: St. Paul, in prison, reminds the Ephesians that Jesus united the Jews and the Gentiles, bringing them together as Christians in one Faith and one Baptism.  Hence, he advises them to keep this unity intact as “one body and one Spirit” by living as true Christians “bearing with one another in love,” with “humility and gentleness, with patience, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” At present, we are the community that Paul describes.  We are the ones called to feed the hungry today. As members of the Body of Christ, we need to remember that miracles can happen through our prayers, our donations and our hands when we help Him to distribute to the hungry the food destined for all by our generous God. In this Eucharist, we are made one body with the Lord, as we hear in today's Epistle. Gospel Exegesis:  The context: Jesus’ withdrawals into the wilderness were probably intended to provide periods of rest and reflection for Jesus and his disciples, and a time for him to teach them privately.  In addition, withdrawal might have allowed them to avoid danger from those hostile to him, particularly after the execution of John the Baptist.  Today’s Gospel shows us one such incident, Here, we see Jesus trying, in vain, to withdraw with his apostles from the crowds at Capernaum by sailing to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus stepped ashore near a remote village called Bethsaida Julius, where the River Jordan flows into the north end of the Sea of Galilee and faced a large crowd of people who had pursued him around the Sea on foot. His immediate reaction was one of deep compassion. Near the place where they had landed, there was a small grassy plain, and there he began to heal the sick among them and to teach them at length.  This was the scene of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand as described in today’s Gospel.   A great miracle before a multitude: The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 is found in all four Gospels, although the contexts and emphases vary.  This is the only miracle, other than the Resurrection, that is told in all the Gospels, a fact that speaks of its importance to the early Church.  Compare Mark 6:35-44 with Matthew 14:13-21, Luke 9:12-17, and John 6:1-14. Matthew says that there were about 5,000 men, not including women and children. This miraculous feeding in the desert had precedents: Moses, Elijah and Elisha had fed people without resources.  The present miracle resembles particularly the one performed by Elisha in 2 Kings 4:42-44.  In both cases, unlike the manna in the desert, there were leftovers, for everyone there had had enough and more than enough.  This miracle, then, is greater than the manna of the Exodus.  The Gospel story should be treated as a witness to the power of God and an implicit declaration of Jesus’ Divinity.  It also shows how, to this day, Jesus empowers his disciples to continue his works of compassion. We may regard the incident both as a miracle of Divine providence and also as a messianic sign in which Jesus multiplied loaves and fish in order to feed his hungry listeners. The lesson for every Christian is that, no matter how impossible his or her assignments may seem, with Divine help they can be done because "nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). St. Augustine reflects on this miracle that it is meant to lead the human mind through visible things to the perception of the Divine: “Christ did what God does. Just as God multiplies a few seeds into a whole field of wheat, so Christ multiplies the five loaves in his hands - for there is power in the hands of Christ. Those five loaves were like seeds, not because they were cast on the earth but because they were multiplied by the One who made the earth. This miracle was presented to our senses to stimulate our minds; it was put before our eyes in order to engage our understanding and so make us marvel at the God we do not see because of his works which we do see.”  A Messianic sign or a miracle of generous sharing?  The traditional teaching of the Church is that Jesus literally multiplied the bread and fish to feed his hungry listeners. At the beginning of this century in his classic book, The Quest for the Historical Jesus, Schweitzer suggested that what we have here is a "sacrament" rather than a full meal.   All the people received was the merest crumb of food, and yet, somehow, with Jesus present among them, it was enough. That, however, does not explain the baskets full of leftovers from the five loaves and two fish. A few Bible scholars even suggest that the "miracle" may be interpreted also as Jesus’ success in getting a group of selfish people to share their personal provisions with others.  According to this interpretation, it appears strange and unnatural that the crowd had made this nine-mile long expedition to such a desolate village without taking anything to eat. When people set out on a journey, they usually took their food with them in a small basket called a kophinah or in a bigger wicker basket.  But if they had done so in this case, each one might have been unwilling to share what he had brought with others.  If such were the case, Jesus might have deliberately accepted the five loaves and fish from the little boy in order to set a good example for the crowd.  Moved by this example of generosity, the crowd might have done the same: thus, there could have been enough for all.  This view was propounded by the famous preacher-novelist Lloyd C. Douglas, author of The Robe. This rather fanciful explanation may still be considered a “miracle”: it might show that how the example of the boy responding to Jesus “miraculously” turned a crowd of selfish men and women into a fellowship of generous sharers.  It does, however, militate against the Divinity of Jesus, True God and True Man. For it is the literal interpretation of the miracle which makes the miracle a Messianic sign with Eucharistic reference, points to the Divinity of Christ and offers an example of God’s love for us, expressed in superabundant generosity. A symbol of the Eucharist: No Bible scholar doubts that all six bread miracles in the Gospels are about the Eucharist.  The multiplication of the loaves is the only miracle from Jesus’ public ministry narrated in all four Gospels that has Eucharistic overtones.  The early Christian community saw this event as anticipating the Eucharist. John uses this story in his Gospel to introduce Jesus’ profound and extended reflection on the Eucharist and the Bread of Life.  The Cycle B lectionary has selected portions from John chapter 6 for five Sundays to remind us of Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist. The Eucharistic coloring of the multiplication of bread is clear in Jesus' blessing, breaking, and giving the loaves.  Thus, the miracle itself becomes a symbol of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of unity. The sharing of the broken bread is a sign of a community that is expected to share and provide in abundance for the needs of its members. Our word Eucharist is taken from the Greek language and describes an action: “to give thanks.” In the Eucharist we are fed by Jesus himself, and we are sent to serve others. Matthew invites us to see this miracle as a type or symbol explaining the Sacrament's meaning. The story of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes recalls a particular aspect of the Mass. In this miracle, Jesus transforms a young boy's offering of five barley loaves and two fish. In the offertory at Mass, we present the fruits of our labors, represented by bread and wine. These gifts, given to us first by God as grain and fruit, are returned to God in our offering of thanksgiving. God in turn transforms our gifts, making this bread and wine the very Body and Blood of Jesus. We also offer ourselves in this exchange, and we, too, are transformed by the Eucharist. This breaking of the bread also had eschatological associations: it was an anticipation of the Messianic banquet. John's description of this event anticipates the Messianic Banquet of Heaven, as the crowd sits down in rows to enjoy a great free meal. Each time we celebrate the Eucharist, we are anticipating the eternal banquet of heaven. The Church's Eucharist today combines both the sacrificial and the eschatological associations.  In the recent past, emphasis has been placed more on the sacrificial than on the eschatological aspect, but the imbalance is now being redressed. Life messages: #1: "You give them something to eat." The Gospel story teaches that Jesus meets the most basic human need, hunger, with generosity and compassion.  Today’s readings also tell us that God really cares about His people and that there is enough and more than enough for everybody.  Studies show that the world today produces enough food grains to provide every human being on the planet with 3,600 calories a day, not counting such foods as tuber crops, vegetables, beans, nuts, fruits, meats, and fish.  Over the past twenty-five years, food production has exceeded world population growth by about 16%. This means that there is no good reason for any human being in today's world to go hungry.  But even in a rich country like U.S.A., one child out of five grows up in poverty, three million people are homeless and 4000 unborn babies are aborted every day. “The problem in feeding the world’s hungry population lies with our political lack of will, our economic system biased in favor of the affluent, our militarism, and our tendency to blame the victims of social tragedies such as famine.  We all share responsibility for the fact that populations are undernourished.  Therefore, it is necessary to arouse a sense of responsibility in individuals, especially among those more blessed with this world’s goods.” (Pope John XXIII, Mater et Magistra (1961) 157-58). #2: We need to commit ourselves to share with others, and to work with God in communicating His compassion.  It is too easy to blame God, too easy to blame governments, too easy see these things as other people's problems.  They are also our problems. That is the meaning of the Eucharist we celebrate here today. In other words, as Christians we need to commit ourselves to share what we have with others, and to work with God in communicating his compassion to all.                                                                                                                                          God is a caring Father and He wants our co-operation to be part of His caring for all of us, His children. That’s what the early Christians did, generously sharing what they had with the needy. They were convinced that everything they needed to experience a fulfilling life was already there, in the gifts and talents of the people around them. People of our time need to be encouraged to share, even when they think they have nothing to offer.  Whatever we offer through Jesus will have a life-giving effect in those who receive it. We are shown two attitudes in the Gospel story: that of Philip and that of Andrew (John 6:7-9). Philip said, in effect:  "The situation is hopeless; nothing can be done."  But Andrew's attitude was: "I'll see what I can do; and I will trust Jesus to do the rest."  Let us have Andrew’s attitude. #3: God blesses those who share their talents, with loving commitment.  This is illustrated by St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), who went to serve the slum dwellers of Calcutta with just twenty cents in her pocket.  When she died forty-nine years later, God had turned those original twenty cents into eighty schools, three hundred mobile dispensaries, seventy leprosy clinics, thirty homes for the dying, thirty homes for abandoned children and forty thousand volunteers from all over the world to help her.  We can begin our own humble efforts at "sharing" right in our parish by participating in the works of charity done by organizations like the St. Vincent DePaul Society, the Knights of Columbus and so many other volunteer groups. We may say, “I do not have enough money or talent to make any difference”.   But we need to remember that the small boy in the story had only five barley loaves and two dried fish.  The Bible guarantees that every believer has at least one gift from the Holy Spirit.  This is our one “tiny fish”. Perhaps our “fish” is not money, but a talent or an ability that God has given us. We all have something. If you have never trusted God with your time, or your talent, or your treasure...all your resources...this is the time to start. Let us offer ourselves and whatever we have to God saying, “Here is what I am and what I have Lord; use me; use it.” And He will bless us and bless our offering, amplifying it beyond our expectations. When we give what we have to God, and we ask Him to bless it, it is then the miracle happens.  We, too, can perform wonders in our own time and place, by practicing the four "Eucharistic verbs” of Jesus: Take humbly and generously what God gives us, bless it by offering it to others in God’s love, break it off from our own needs and interests for the sake of others, give it away with joy-filled gratitude to God who has blessed us with so much. We are called by Christ to become the Eucharist we receive at this altar: giving thanks for what we have received by sharing those gifts -- our talents, our riches, ourselves – to work our own miracles of creating communities of joyful faith JOKES OF THE WEEK: 1) "What would Jesus do?" I heard about a little boy who got into a heated argument with his sister about who was going to get the last brownie, and his mother overheard this discussion and came in to try to resolve the fuss. Her two children, both extremely upset, each wanted that last brownie. So, sensing the opportunity to teach a deeper spiritual truth, the mother looked at her children and asked that very relevant question..."What would Jesus do?" Well, that little boy immediately answered, "That's easy. Jesus would just break that brownie and make 5,000 more!" 2) "What's the expiration date on it?" There is the story of a little girl in Milwaukee who had a tonsil inflammation and was staying with her grandmother while her parents were at work. She often complained of a sore throat and pain. "I have some holy water from Lourdes that I got from my mother," the grandmother said. "Should I apply a little of it  on your neck?" The girl thought for a moment and then asked, "What's the expiration date on it?" 3) Sharing everything: A young man saw an elderly couple sitting down to lunch at McDonald's.  He noticed that they had ordered one meal, and an extra drink cup. As he watched, the gentleman carefully divided the hamburger in half, counted out the fries, one for him, one for her, until each had half of them.  Then he poured half of the soft drink into the extra cup and set that in front of his wife. The old man then began to eat, and his wife sat watching, with her hands folded in her lap. The young man decided to ask if they would allow him to purchase another meal for them so that they didn't have to split theirs. The old gentleman said, "Oh no.  We've been married 50 years, and everything has always been and will always be shared, 50/50." The young man then asked the wife if she was not going to eat, and she replied, "It's his turn with the teeth." (L/18) (Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence (L. S. P.), 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604)
OT XVIII – B (1)
OT XVIII – B (1)

Synopsis: OT XVIII [B] (August 2) Homily John 6: 24-35 L/15

Introduction:  Today’s readings challenge us to trust in the providence of a loving and caring God and to hunger and thirst for the Bread of eternal life – the Holy Eucharist.  Only God can satisfy our various forms of spiritual hunger. Scripture lessons:   The first reading shows us how God satisfied the hunger of His chosen people in the desert by giving them manna and quail.  The restrictions imposed by God for the collecting of manna remind us to acknowledge humbly our total dependence on God and to trust that He will always provide for what we need.  Today’sResponsorial Psalm (Ps 78), refers to manna as “Heavenly bread” and the “bread of angels.”  In the second reading, St. Paul advises the Ephesians to satisfy their spiritual hunger by turning away from their former evil ways and leading lives of love, kindness, compassion and forgiveness.  Paul reminds us that our acceptance of Jesus as the real source of our life and the nourishment of our souls effects a total transformation in us.  Having been nourished by the Bread from Heaven and the word of God, we need to bear witness to Christ by living lives renewed by the Holy Spirit.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes the unique and bold claim: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."  Jesus was offering the crowd Bread from Heaven, Bread that nourishes for eternal life, Bread available to people who have faith in Jesus Christ.  When Jesus invited those who sought after him for earthly food to be fed, as well, by the Bread of his word or teaching, some accepted the nourishment.  But others turned away, disappointed because Jesus’ challenge required a commitment that they were unwilling to make.

Life messages: 1) We need spiritual nourishment from the word of God and from the Holy Eucharist: In the Holy Mass, the Church offers us two types of bread: a) the Bread of Life, contained in God’s Word and b) the Bread of Life, contained in the Holy Eucharist.  Let us nourish our souls with this Heavenly manna and carry Jesus to our homes and workplaces, radiating his love, mercy and compassion all around us. But we should not take for granted the Divine generosity that provides these gifts so readily and gratuitously by sharing in the Bread of Life simply as a matter of habit, without showing due attention and proper respect.

2) We need to accept God’s gifts of spiritual life and strength by properly receiving the Holy Eucharist: The Sacrament gives us 1) Courage to carry out God's work in the world, 2) Help to live the life God wants for us, 3) Inspiration to know the will of God in our lives, 4) A deeperUnderstanding of the holy mystery of Christ's Presence, 5) Encouragement to love others and strengthen the Faith community, 6) Grace to overcome temptation and avoid sin and 7) Joy and Peace of heart, knowing that Christ lives in us and will bring us to God's Heavenly Kingdom. Let us remember that the “Bread of Life” is Jesus Christ himself, not merely human bread.    It is Food for our souls giving us a share in God’s life and assurance of eternal life with Him.

OT XVIII [B] (8/2/2015): Ex 16:2-4, 12-15; Eph 4:17, 20-24; Jn 6:24-35 Anecdotes: # 1: A modern Good Samaritan: A few years ago the news media carried the story of a modern-day Good Samaritan who packed his car each day with dozens of homemade sandwiches and traveled to the inner city to distribute them to homeless and otherwise needy people.  Eventually, those who benefited from his generosity became familiar with the Samaritan’s customary route and began to congregate on certain corners at a specific time each day to wait for their daily gift of food.  Today’s Gospel describes such a scene where people who had been sumptuously fed on the previous day by Jesus came searching for him for another free meal.

# 2: All about food, earthly and Heavenly:  In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about food. The two biggest sellers in any bookstore, according to Andy Rooney, are the cookbooks and the diet books. The cookbooks tell you how to prepare the food, and the diet books tell you how not to eat any of it. Orson Wells once said, "My doctor has advised me to give up those intimate little dinners for four, unless, of course, there are three other people eating with me." Champion archer Rick McKinney confesses that he regularly eats chocolate chip cookies for breakfast. He refers to "the basic four food groups" as a Big Mac, fries, a shake and a lemon tart. A California scientist has computed that the average human being eats 16 times his or her own weight in an average year, while a horse eats only eight times its weight. This all seems to prove that if you want to lose weight, you should eat like a horse. (Sunshine Magazine). That's a subject most of us know too much about. A recent survey found that 41% of men and 55% of women consider themselves overweight. In one way or another, many of us are obsessed with earthly food. Think what a difference it would make in our lives if we were equally obsessed with Heavenly Food, the Food that Christ gives us.

# 3: Cat to kill mice:  Once there was a young Hindu hermit who lived as an ascetic in a forest.  He owned nothing except a pair of loincloths.  One morning, to his great disappointment, he found that mice had destroyed one of the loincloths.  He brought a cat to kill the mice and then a cow to give milk to the cat.  Later, as the cows multiplied, he hired a girl from the nearby village to look after the cows and to sell the extra milk in the village.  Finally, his ever-growing material needs prompted him to end his religious life, marry the girl and settle down as a farmer in the village.  This little story illustrates how easily the never-ceasing hunger for material things can take over our spiritual life. In today’s Gospel, Jesus promises to satisfy our spiritual hunger by offering His Body as our food.

Introduction:  Today’s readings challenge us to trust in the providence of a loving and caring God and to hunger and thirst for the Bread of eternal life – the Holy Eucharist.  As human beings, we hunger for many things besides food and material possessions.  We hunger to be recognized and honored, to love and be loved, to be listened to and to be appreciated, to help, console and encourage people and receive gratitude.  But only God can satisfy our various forms of spiritual hunger.  St. Augustine said: "O God, You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” (Confessions,

The first reading shows us how God satisfied the hunger of His chosen people in the desert by giving them manna and quail.  The restrictions imposed by God for the collecting of manna remind us to trust that God will always provide for our needs.  Sometimes we have to be stripped of our usual sources of support in order to be reminded that our ultimate sustenance comes only from God, and then to acknowledge humbly our total dependence on God.  Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 78), refers to manna as “Heavenly bread” and the “bread of angels.”  In the second reading, St. Paul advises the Ephesians to satisfy their spiritual hunger by turning away from their former evil ways and leading lives of love, kindness, compassion and forgiveness.  Paul reminds us that our acceptance of Jesus as the real source of our life and the nourishment of our souls effects a total transformation in us.  Having been fed on the Bread from Heaven, we need to put aside our old selves, steeped in ignorance and self-interest, and put on a new self, created in Christ’s image.  Having been nourished by the word of God, we need to bear witness to Christ by living lives renewed by the Holy Spirit.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes the unique and bold claim: “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst."  Jesus was offering the crowd Bread from Heaven, Bread that nourishes for eternal life, Bread available to people who have faith in Jesus Christ.  When Jesus invited those who sought after him to be fed spiritually by the bread of his word or teaching, some accepted the nourishment.  But others turned away, disappointed because Jesus’ challenge required a commitment that they were unwilling to make. First reading, : The passage from Exodus describes how the people complained to Moses of the acute shortage of food in the desert and accused him of leading them from Egypt, where food was plentiful, into the desert, “to die of famine.”  God heard the complaint of His people and lavished on them “food from heaven” in the form of fleshy quails in the evening and delicious manna in the morning.  The restrictions imposed by God for collecting the manna remind us to trust that God will always provide what we need. Sometimes we have to be stripped of our usual sources of support in order to remember that our ultimate sustenance comes only from God, and to acknowledge humbly our total dependence on God.  The fact that the Israelites were given bread from Heaven even after their murmuring reminds us that God’s generosity is not dependent on our virtue, but on His Goodness.  According to Bible scholars, quails and manna are occasional phenomena in the Sinai desert. Arranging for these gifts to arrive at the moment they were needed to meet the people’s need, however, was God’s work alone, His miracle.  The quail might have been migratory birds that often drop down in groups to the Sinai deserts due to exhaustion after their return flight from Europe over the Mediterranean Sea to their autumn habitats.  Manna is the secretion of two species of scale insects on the tamarisk shrub during the months of May and June. But it was God’s doing that the fall of manna occurred daily (except Sabbaths), for the 40 unbroken years of their wandering in the desert.   As the secretions drop from the shrub’s leaves to the ground, they cool in the night air and become firm.  If gathered early before the parching desert sun melts it, the manna provides a tasty, nourishing meal.  Bedouins in the northern Sinai call it mann and still use it as a sweetener.  The fact that the occasional occurrence of the manna and quail can be explained scientifically does not, in any way, lessen their theological importance in demonstrating God’s love for His people; indeed, the Israelites rightly ascribed these nourishing, timely gifts from the desert to the loving providence of their God.

Second Reading, : In the selections from Ephesians which we have read on these past two Sundays, St. Paul showed us how God effected the new unity of God's once separated peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles, by making both Christians.  In today’s second reading, St. Paul encourages the Jewish and Gentile Christians to live out the consequences of their unification, by treating each other like members of one family.  He also demands of the Gentile Christians of Ephesus radical changes from their pre-Christian way of life.  They must a) “put away the old self of their former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires,” b) “be renewed in the spirit of their minds,” and c) ”put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.” They must put away the old pagan life and put on the new Christian life, just as the catechumens divested themselves of their outer garments to go down into the Baptismal waters and, after emerging, were clothed in Baptismal robes.  Here, St. Paul is challenging all baptized believers to personal holiness.

Exegesis: The context: Today’s Gospel presents an introduction to Jesus’ famous discourse on the Holy Eucharist in the form of a dialogue between Jesus and the Jews who had gone around the Lake and come to Capernaum searching for him.  The people were looking for a repeat performance of their miraculous feeding.  In answer to their question about his arrival, Jesus told them that they looked for him for another free meal and that such meals would not satisfy them. Hence, he instructed them to labor for food that would give them eternal life.

Believing is the first condition: Although Jesus identifies himself as "the bread of life" (v. 35), he is not yet speaking about the Sacramental Eucharist in this part of his Eucharistic discourse. Here, the emphasis is placed on the faith-acceptance of the teaching of Jesus. In other words, Jesus states that he is nourishment, first of all, as one who offers us the life-giving words of God about the meaning of our lives. His message only gives life when we accept it and when it leads us from selfishness to selfless and sacrificial service for others. Jesus states that he is the bread of life for the one who "comes" to him and "believes" in him (v. 35). Jesus offered to satisfy the spiritual hunger of the people gathered around him on one condition.  They must believe him to be the Messiah, sent with the message that God is a loving, holy, and forgiving Father, and not a punishing judge.  Belief in Jesus is not simple intellectual assent, but an authentic, total commitment to Him of loyalty and solidarity. There is no reference yet to eating or drinking his body and blood, which will come later. Here, we are reminded that only a believing reception of the Body and Blood of Jesus will bring us true life.

Demand for a sign from Heaven: In reply to Jesus’ claim that he was the Messiah sent from Heaven to give eternal life to those who believed in him, the Jews demanded a sign from Heaven.  Moses, they said, had given a Heavenly sign to their ancestors in the manna rained down on them from Heaven.  The Jewish rabbis taught that the Messiah would repeat the miracle of manna and the prophet Jeremiah would reappear and unearth the Ark of the Covenant from its hidden place to show the Jews the original manna kept in the Ark.  Jesus corrected their understanding of Exodus 16:15 by stating that it was not Moses but God, Jesus’ Father Who had given, and continued to give, bread from Heaven. Now, Jesus not only gives the Bread of Life (John 6:11, 27), but also is the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 48).  The giver and the gift are one and the same.  As the Bread of Life from Heaven, Jesus claims that only he can satisfy man’s spiritual hunger. While bodily food helps us to stay alive in this world, spiritual food sustains and develops our supernatural life which will last forever in heaven.  Through God's infinite love we are given, in the Blessed Eucharist, the very Author of the gifts of faith and sanctifying grace.  Thus, the Eucharist is not a mere "symbol" of Jesus; rather, it is a Sacramental sign of Jesus’ Real Bodily Presence in his glorified risen Body.  This Bread of Life -- which is Jesus himself -- gives mankind a new relationship with God, a relationship of trust, obedience and love.

“The source and summit of the Christian Life:" We believe that the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian Life“(Lumen Gentium), because it contains the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Jesus Christ himself.  The Eucharist is a Sacrament of love that unites us with Christ who lived, died and rose again to bring us salvation, strengthens and makes holy our relationship with our fellow-Christians, nourishes us with the transforming power of grace andprepares us for the future glory of God's Heavenly banquet. Life messages: 1) We need spiritual nourishment from the word of God and from the Holy Eucharist: In the Holy Mass, the Church offers us two types of bread: a) the Bread of Life, contained in God’s Word and b) the Bread of Life, contained in the Holy Eucharist.  Unfortunately, many of us come to Mass every week to present on the altar only our earthly needs without accepting spiritual nourishment by properly receiving God’s Word and the Holy Eucharist.  Let us nourish our souls with this Heavenly manna and carry Jesus to our homes and workplaces, radiating his love, mercy and compassion all around us. It is perhaps the plainness and ordinariness of the consecrated Bread and Wine and their easy availability in our Churches that sometimes prevent some of us from appreciating the great gift of God in the Holy Eucharist.  But we should not take for granted the Divine generosity that provides these gifts so readily and gratuitously by sharing in the Bread of Life simply as a matter of habit and without showing due attention and proper respect.

2) Let us gain spiritual life and strength by properly receiving the Holy Eucharist: It gives us 1)Courage to carry out God's work in the world, 2) Help to live the life God wants for us, 3) Inspiration to know the will of God in our lives, 4) A deeper Understanding of the holy mystery of Christ's presence, 5) Encouragement to love others and strengthen the Faith community, 6)Grace to overcome temptation and avoid sin, and 7) Joy and Peace of heart, knowing that Christ lives in us and will bring us to God's Heavenly Kingdom.  Hence, we must receive the Holy Eucharist with our whole minds and hearts.  Let us never forget that the “Bread of Life” is Jesus Christ himself, not merely human bread.  When we pray, "give us this day our daily bread," let us remember that the Holy Eucharist is not simply a "snack," such as we might eat at a party or at lunch.   It is food for our souls giving us a share in God’s life.

OT XVIII – B (2)
OT XVIII – B (2)
Synopsis of OT XVIII [B] Homily on John 6:24-35 Introduction:  Today’s readings challenge us to be more concerned with spiritual food than physical food and to get our spiritual food regularly from the word of God and from the Holy Eucharist – the Heavenly Bread, because only God can satisfy the various forms of our spiritual hunger. Scripture lessons:   The first reading shows us how God satisfied the physical hunger of His chosen people in the desert by giving them manna and quail.  The restrictions imposed by God for the collecting of manna remind us to acknowledge humbly our total dependence on God and to trust that He will always provide for what we need.  Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 78), refers to manna as “Heavenly bread” and the “bread of angels” which God provided for Israel and provides for us today.   In the second reading, St. Paul advises the Ephesians to satisfy their spiritual hunger by turning away from their former evil ways and by leading renewed lives of love, kindness, compassion and forgiveness.  Paul reminds us that our acceptance of Jesus as the real source of our life and the nourishment of our souls effects a total transformation in us.  Having been nourished by the Bread from Heaven and the word of God, we need to bear witness to Christ by living lives renewed by the Holy Spirit.  Today's Gospel passage is taken from the “Bread of Life Discourse” in John's gospel. Here Jesus makes the unique and bold claim: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."  Jesus is offering the crowd Bread from Heaven, Bread that nourishes them for eternal life, the Bread available to people who have Faith in Jesus Christ.  When Jesus instructed those, who had sought after him for earthly food, that they should be fed by the Bread of his word or teaching, some accepted his teaching.  But others turned away disappointed, because Jesus’ challenge required a commitment that they were unwilling to make.  Life messages: 1) We need spiritual nourishment from the word of God and from the Holy Eucharist: In the Holy Mass, the Church offers us two types of bread: a) the Bread of Life, contained in God’s Word and b) the Bread of Life, contained in the Holy Eucharist.  Let us nourish our souls with this Heavenly manna and carry Jesus to our homes and workplaces, radiating his love, mercy and compassion all around us. But we should not take for granted the Divine generosity that provides these gifts so readily and gratuitously by sharing in the Bread of Life simply as a matter of habit, without repenting of our sins or showing due attention and proper respect. 2) We need to accept God’s gifts of spiritual life and strength by understanding what the Holy Eucharist gives us: The Sacrament gives us 1) Courage to carry out God's work in the world, 2) Help to live the life God wants for us, 3) Inspiration to know the will of God in our lives, 4) A deeper Understanding of the holy mystery of Christ's Presence, 5) Encouragement to love others and strengthen the Faith community, 6) Grace to overcome temptation and avoid sin and 7) Joy and Peace of heart, knowing that Christ lives in us and will bring us to God's Heavenly Kingdom. Let us remember that the “Bread of Life” is Jesus Christ himself, not merely human bread.    He is Food for our souls giving us a share in God’s life and assurance of eternal life with Him. OT XVIII : Ex 16:2-4, 12-15; Eph 4:17, 20-24; Jn 6:24-35 Anecdotes: #1: All about food, earthly and Heavenly:  In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about food. The two biggest sellers in any bookstore, according to Andy Rooney, are the cookbooks and the diet books. The cookbooks tell you how to prepare the food, and the diet books tell you how not to eat any of it. Orson Wells once said, "My doctor has advised me to give up those intimate little dinners for four, unless, of course, there are three other people eating with me." Champion archer Rick McKinney confesses that he regularly eats chocolate chip cookies for breakfast. He refers to "the basic four food groups" as a Big Mac, fries, a shake and a lemon tart. A California scientist has computed that the average human being eats 16 times his or her own weight in an average year, while a horse eats only eight times its weight. This all seems to prove that if you want to lose weight, you should eat like a horse. (Sunshine Magazine). That's a subject most of us know too much about. A recent survey found that 41% of men and 55% of women consider themselves overweight. In one way or another, many of us are obsessed with earthly food. Think what a difference it would make in our lives if we were equally obsessed with Heavenly Food, the Food that Christ gives us. # 2: “I’ve got a piece of him.” William Barclay tells us that when Admiral Lord Nelson was buried in St Paul's Cathedral, a party of his sailors carried his body high into the cathedral. His coffin was draped with a magnificent Union Jack. Later they carried his body to the graveside. One who saw the scene writes, "With reverence and with efficiency they lowered the body of the world's greatest admiral into its tomb. Then as though answering to a sharp order from the quarter deck, they all seized the Union Jack with which the coffin had been covered and tore it to fragments, and each took his souvenir of the illustrious dead." All their lives that little bit of colored cloth would speak to them of the admiral they had loved. "I've got a piece of him," they said, "and I'll never forget him." In a sense, when we leave this Church this morning after receiving Jesus in Holy Communion, each of us will take Jesus with us and covey the spiritual nourishment he gives us to others as we come into contact with them. The "Eu" in Eucharist, as the Lord's Supper is often called, means "good," and "charis" is the root of our English word "caress." The Lord's Supper is the "good caress." In this Sacrament God comes to us spiritually and physically and touches us and says, "I love you." He alone touches and satisfies our deepest needs. He alone allows us to reach out and touch one another. # 3: The Great Depression Bread-lines. In the depression years of the 1930’s millions of Americans were out of work and many thousands were hungry. In a number of cities, religious groups set up bread-lines to feed the hungry. One of these was the Franciscan monastery in Cincinnati, Ohio. Every evening, the Friars, Brothers and lay volunteers prepared and gave a nourishing sandwich of bread and meat to hundreds of hungry men and women. It was interesting to note the reactions of the recipients. Many accepted the well-prepared and well-wrapped food with a smile and a thank you. Others, with heads hanging, snatched the food package and shuffled off. Some tore the bag at once and started eating as they hurried away. Most of them ate every last crumb after a silent prayer and put the wrapping into a nearby container, though some would eat only the meat and discard the bread on the roadside. A few discontented ones just opened the package and then threw the entire contents away in protest. The way those hungry unfortunates reacted to that little lunch is a lot like the way his listeners received the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel. Introduction:  Today’s readings challenge us to trust in the providence of a loving and caring God and to hunger and thirst for the Bread of eternal life – the Holy Eucharist.  As human beings, we hunger for many things besides food and material possessions.  We hunger to be recognized and honored, to love and be loved, to be listened to and to be appreciated, to help, console and encourage people and receive gratitude.  But only God can satisfy our various forms of spiritual hunger.  St. Augustine said: "O God, You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You” (Confessions, I, 1.). The first reading shows us how God satisfied the hunger of His chosen people in the desert by giving them manna and quail.  The restrictions imposed by God for the collecting of manna remind us to trust that God will always provide for our needs.  Sometimes we have to be stripped of our usual sources of support in order to be reminded that our ultimate sustenance comes only from God, and then to acknowledge humbly our total dependence on God.  Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 78), refers to manna as “Heavenly bread” and the “bread of angels” which God provided for Israel and provides for us today.   In the second reading, St. Paul advises the Ephesians to satisfy their spiritual hunger by turning away from their former evil ways and leading lives of love, kindness, compassion and forgiveness.  Paul reminds us that our acceptance of Jesus as the real source of our life and the nourishment of our souls effects a total transformation in us.  Having been fed on the Bread from Heaven, we need to put aside our old selves, steeped in ignorance and self-interest, and put on a new self, created in Christ’s image.  Having been nourished by the word of God, we need to bear witness to Christ by living lives renewed by the Holy Spirit.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes the unique and bold claim: “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst."  Jesus was offering the crowd Bread from Heaven, Bread that nourishes for eternal life, Bread available to people who have Faith in Jesus Christ.  When Jesus invited those who sought after him to be fed spiritually by the bread of his word or teaching, some accepted the nourishment.  But others turned away, disappointed because Jesus’ challenge required a commitment that they were unwilling to make.  First reading, Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15, explained: The passage from Exodus describes how the people complained to Moses of the acute shortage of food in the desert and accused him of leading them from Egypt, where food was plentiful, into the desert, to “die of famine.”  God heard the complaint of His people and lavished on them “food from heaven” in the form of fleshy quails in the evening and delicious manna in the morning.  The restrictions imposed by God for collecting the manna remind us to trust that God will always provide what we need. Sometimes we have to be stripped of our usual sources of support in order to remember that our ultimate sustenance comes only from God, and to acknowledge humbly our total dependence on God.  The fact that the Israelites were given bread from Heaven even after their murmuring reminds us that God’s generosity is not dependent on our virtue, but on His Goodness.  According to Bible scholars, quails and manna are occasional phenomena in the Sinai desert. Arranging for these gifts to arrive at the moment they were needed to meet the people’s need, however, was God’s work alone, His miracle.  The quail might have been migratory birds that often drop down in groups to the Sinai deserts due to exhaustion after their return flight from Europe over the Mediterranean Sea to their autumn habitats.  Manna is the secretion of two species of scale insects on the tamarisk shrub during the months of May and June. But it was God’s doing that the fall of manna occurred daily (except Sabbaths), for the 40 unbroken years of their wandering in the desert.   As the secretions drop from the shrub’s leaves to the ground, they cool in the night air and become firm.  If gathered early before the parching desert sun melts it, the manna provides a tasty, nourishing meal.  Bedouins in the northern Sinai call it mann and still use it as a sweetener.  The fact that the occasional occurrence of the manna and quail can be explained scientifically does not, in any way, lessen their theological importance in demonstrating God’s love for His people; indeed, the Israelites rightly ascribed these nourishing, timely gifts from the desert to the loving providence of their God. Second Reading, Ephesians 4:17, 20-24, explained: In the selections from Ephesians which we have read on these past two Sundays, St. Paul showed us how God effected a new unity of His once separated peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles, by making both Christians.  In today’s second reading, St. Paul encourages the Jewish and Gentile Christians to live out the consequences of their unification, by treating each other like members of one family.  He also demands of the Gentile Christians of Ephesus radical changes from their pre-Christian way of life.  They must a) “put away the old self of their former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires,” b) “be renewed in the spirit of their minds,” and c)” put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.” They must put away the old pagan life and put on the new Christian life, just as the catechumens divested themselves of their outer garments to go down into the Baptismal waters and, after emerging, were clothed in Baptismal robes.  Here, St. Paul is challenging all baptized believers to personal holiness. Exegesis:  The context: Today’s Gospel presents an introduction to Jesus’ famous discourse on the Holy Eucharist in the form of a dialogue between Jesus and the Jews who had gone around the Lake and come to Capernaum searching for him.  The people were looking for a repeat performance of their miraculous feeding.  In answer to their question about his arrival, Jesus told them that they looked for him for another free meal and that such meals would not satisfy them. Hence, he instructed them to labor for food that would give them eternal life. Believing is the first condition: Although Jesus identifies himself as "the bread of life" (v. 35), he is not yet speaking about the Sacramental Eucharist in this part of his Eucharistic discourse. Here, the emphasis is placed on the Faith-acceptance of the teaching of Jesus. In other words, Jesus states that he is nourishment, first of all, as one who offers us the life-giving words of God about the meaning of our lives. His message only gives life when we accept it and when it leads us from selfishness to selfless and sacrificial service for others. Jesus states that he is the bread of life for the one who "comes" to him and "believes" in him (v. 35). Jesus offered to satisfy the spiritual hunger of the people gathered around him on one condition.  They must believe him to be the Messiah, sent with the message that God is a loving, holy, and forgiving Father, and not a punishing judge.  Belief in Jesus is not simple intellectual assent, but an authentic, total commitment to Him of loyalty and solidarity. There is no reference yet to eating  His Body or drinking His Blood, which will come later. Here, we are reminded that only a believing reception of the Body and Blood of Jesus will bring us true life. Demand for a sign from Heaven: In reply to Jesus’ claim that he was the Messiah sent from Heaven to give eternal life to those who believed in him, the Jews demanded a sign from Heaven.  Moses, they said, had given a Heavenly sign to their ancestors in the manna rained down on them from Heaven.  The Jewish rabbis taught that the Messiah would repeat the miracle of manna and the prophet Jeremiah would reappear and unearth the Ark of the Covenant from its hidden place to show the Jews the original manna kept in the Ark.  Jesus corrected their understanding of Exodus 16:15 by stating that it was not Moses but God, Jesus’ Father, who had given, and continued to give, bread from Heaven. Jesus is apparently speaking to two groups: those who witnessed the miracle of the loaves (last Sunday's Gospel) and those who had not seen the miracle but had heard about it and wanted to see a similar sign as proof. Jesus tells the former group that there is something much deeper in this event than “perishable food” being multiplied; the real “food” is his own Body later to be offered on the cross and glorified by Resurrection, and the word of God proclaimed, its power and authority manifested in the miracles of the loaves.  Jesus reminds the latter group who seek a sign as the Israelites sought a sign from Moses, that it was not Moses himself but God working through Moses Who provided food in the form of manna. The same God has given His people new bread for the new covenant -- the Risen Christ. The Giver and the Gift: Jesus not only gives the Bread of Life (John 6:11, 27) -- He is the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 48).  The Giver and the Gift are one and the same.  As the Bread of Life from Heaven, Jesus claims that only he can satisfy man’s spiritual hunger. While bodily food helps us to stay alive in this world, spiritual food sustains and develops our supernatural life which will last forever in heaven.  Through God's infinite love we are given, in the Blessed Eucharist, the very Author of the gifts of Faith and sanctifying grace.  Thus, the Eucharist is not a mere "symbol" of Jesus; rather, it is a Sacramental sign of Jesus’ Real Bodily Presence in his glorified risen Body.  This Bread of Life -- which is Jesus himself -- gives mankind a new relationship with God, a relationship of trust, obedience and love. “The Son of Man” and “works of God” and I AM.”: this expression has been the subject of considerable debate by scholars over the last 30 years. In its original Semitic (Hebrew or Aramaic form), “a son of man” was simply a human being, generically speaking. However, Jesus’ use of “THE Son of Man” as a title to refer to Himself seems to suggest, either that He Himself is the ‘paradigm’ of what it is to be human, or is perhaps an allusion to the “one like a son of man” who is seen by the Old Testament prophet Daniel (7:13, “one like a human being” in the NRSV translation), mounted on the clouds, and coming with God’s power to judge the earth. The exact meaning that Jesus intends this phrase to carry continues to be argued by scholars.  “The works of God”: although this phrase can be understood in several possible ways, it seems from the context here to mean “the works commanded by God and expected of His people.” “I am the Bread of Life”: throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus uses the expression “I am …” seven times (indicative of completeness) to introduce various key images by which He describes His person and His mission: “I am … the True Bread … the True Light … the Gate … the Way … the Good Shepherd … the Resurrection and the Life … the True Vine”. However, on an even deeper theological level, the Greek expression egô eimi (“I am”) relates back to the scene in Exodus 3:14, when God tells Moses to use this name (a shortened form of the divine name YHWH, “I Am Who I Am”) in asking Pharaoh to free the enslaved Israelites. “I Am” is, therefore, an explicitly divine title, and by using it repeatedly throughout this Gospel, Jesus is making a radical claim to BE the God that the Israelites had known in the time of Moses and the Exodus. . (Dr. Watson Murray).   “The source and summit of the Christian Life:" The emphasis in this segment of the Bread of Life Discourse is placed on the Faith-acceptance of the teaching of Jesus. In other words, Jesus is nourishment first of all as one who offers us the life-giving words of God about the meaning of our lives. Moreover, this Divine message, if it is to nourish for eternal life, must be accepted in a way that leads us from self-centeredness to unselfish love and sacrifice for others. It is for this reason that Jesus states that he is the bread of life for the one who "comes”? to him and "believes”? in him (John 6:35). In fact, what the Eucharist is not a kind of “static” presence of Christ, but the living and perfect self-offering of Christ to his Father, carried out by giving himself to us and for us. We believe that the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian Life“(Lumen Gentium), because it contains the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Jesus Christ Himself.  The Eucharist is a Sacrament of love that unites us with Christ who lived, died and rose again to bring us salvation, strengthens and makes holy our relationship with our fellow-Christians, nourishes us with the transforming power of grace and prepares us for the future glory of God's Heavenly banquet. Life messages: 1) We need spiritual nourishment from the word of God and from the Holy Eucharist: In the Holy Mass, the Church offers us two types of bread: a) the Bread of Life, contained in God’s Word and b) the Bread of Life, contained in the Holy Eucharist.  Unfortunately, many of us come to Mass every week only to present on the altar our earthly needs without accepting spiritual nourishment by properly receiving God’s Word and the Holy Eucharist.  Let us nourish our souls with this Heavenly manna and carry Jesus to our homes and workplaces, radiating his love, mercy and compassion all around us. It is perhaps the plainness and ordinariness of the consecrated Bread and Wine and their easy availability in our Churches that sometimes prevent some of us from appreciating the great gift of God in the Holy Eucharist.  But we should not take for granted the Divine generosity that provides these gifts so readily and gratuitously by sharing in the Bread of Life simply as a matter of habit and without showing due attention and proper respect.     2) Let us gain spiritual life and strength by properly receiving the Holy Eucharist: It gives us 1) Courage to carry out God's work in the world, 2) Help to live the life God wants for us, 3) Inspiration to know the will of God in our lives, 4) A deeper Understanding of the holy mystery of Christ's presence, 5) Encouragement to love others and strengthen the Faith community, 6) Grace to overcome temptation and avoid sin, and 7) Joy and Peace of heart, knowing that Christ lives in us and will bring us to God's Heavenly Kingdom.  Hence, we must receive the Holy Eucharist with our whole minds and hearts.  Let us never forget that the “Bread of Life” is Jesus Christ himself, not merely human bread.  When we pray, "give us this day our daily bread," let us remember that the Holy Eucharist is not simply a "snack," such as we might eat at a party or at lunch.   It is food for our souls giving us a share in God’s life. 3) Multiply good works like the loaves and fishes, (Pope Francis July 26, 2015) “Jesus satisfies not only material hunger, but the most profound of hungers, the hunger for meaning in life, the hunger for God. In the face of suffering, loneliness, poverty and difficulties of so many people, what can we do? Complaining, does not solve anything, but we can offer what little we have. We certainly have a few hours of time, some talent, some expertise. ... Who among us, does not have his or her “five loaves and two fish”? If we are willing to put them in the hands of the Lord, we will bring a little more love into the world, a bit more love, peace, justice and joy. God is able to multiply our small gestures of solidarity and make us partakers of his gift.” (Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence (L. S. P.), 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604)
OT XIX – B (1)
OT XIX – B (1)
SYNOPSIS: OT XIX [B] HOMILY ON JOHN 6:41-51 (L-18) Introduction: We are living in a world where people of all races and creeds hunger more for spiritual sustenance than for physical food. In response to the spiritual hunger of people in his own day, and to us as well, Jesus proclaims himself to be “the Bread of Life that came down from Heaven." Scripture lessons: The first reading describes the physical and spiritual hungers experienced by the prophet Elijah. The Bread of Life Jesus speaks about is prefigured in this reading by the miraculous food with which the angel nourished the Prophet Elijah in the desert while he was fleeing from the soldiers of Queen Jezebel. After being nourished by the Lord, Elijah was strengthened for the long journey of forty days to Mount Horeb where God instructed him to continue his prophetic work. The second reading presents Christ Jesus, the “Bread of Life,” as a “sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.” Paul reminds the Ephesian Christians and us that, instead of seeking satisfaction in stale food of anger, slander, bitterness and malice, we are to nourish one another with the spiritual food of compassion, kindness and mutual forgiveness. Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum on his return there after his miraculous feeding of the five thousand. During the discourse, Jesus reveals himself as the true “Bread of Life that came down from Heaven,” to give life to the world. Jesus proclaims himself as the new and perfect manna, the Incarnate Son of God literally "come down from Heaven." This means that by the Holy Eucharist, Jesus actually gives us a share of eternal life while we are still on earth. But some of Jesus' followers would turn away when he explained the source of his mysterious power and his Heavenly origin. Life messages: 1) Let us accept the challenge to become bread and drink for others: "You are what you eat?" Let us recognize that Jesus whom we consume in the Holy Eucharist is actually God Who assimilates us into His being. Then, from Sunday to Saturday we will grow into Jesus, as Jesus grows in us, our lives will be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we will become more like Jesus. Thus, we shall share in the joyous and challenging life of being the Body of Christ for the world – Bread for a hungry world, and Drink for those who thirst for justice, peace, fullness of life, and even eternal life. In other words, the Eucharist challenges us to sacrifice ourselves for others, as Christ has done for all of us. # 2: Let us appreciate Christ’s presence in the Holy Eucharist: Since the Holy Eucharist is "the Body and Blood, together with the soul and Divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ,” the Sacrament a) increases our intimate union with Christ; b) preserves, increases, and renews the Sanctifying Grace we received at Baptism; c) cleanses us of past sin and preserves us from future sins; d) strengthens the theological virtue of Charity in us, thus enabling us to be separated from our disordered attachments and to be rooted in Christ; and e) unites us more deeply with the mystery of the Church. OT XIX [B]  I Kgs 19:4-8, Eph 4:30--5:2, Jn 6:41-51 Anecdotes: # 1: Insatiable thirst for fountain of youth: Shortly after Columbus discovered America, rumors spread in Spain that the New World contained a fountain of youth. A sixteenth century Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon, first Governor of Puerto Rico, fitted a ship and sailed to America to search for this legendary fountain but never found it. Cocoon is a 1985 American science-fiction fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Ron Howard about a group of elderly people rejuvenated by aliens. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoon_(film). In the movie 'Cocoon' there is a group of senior citizens. These old people experienced a return to their youth when they bathed in a swimming pool used by aliens from another planet. Their exciting experience prompted them to accept an invitation from the aliens to go back with them to their planet. The senior citizens were told that once they reached the alien planet, they would live forever. In today’s Gospel Jesus promises a fountain of youth claiming that those who eat the Bread from Heaven will live forever. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies). # 2: Starving to death in the midst of plenty of food: During the winter of 1610, the population of British immigrants to Jamestown, in the U.S. (the Pilgrims) went from about 500 people to about 60. While disease and American-Indians took some lives, most of the settlers simply starved. There were plentiful supplies of fish, oysters, frogs, fowl, and deer all around them. But these settlers from the city were not accustomed to obtaining food from the land. Hence, they starved! [Cullen, Joseph P. "James' Towne," American History Illustrated (October, 1972).] We sometimes act the same way. God comes to us continually in the Person of the Holy Spirit to guide us. As a loving Father, God awaits the opportunity to meet our needs, but we are not accustomed to receiving things from His loving hand. In today’s Gospel, Jesus promises to give us spiritual food. It is up to us to receive the Heavenly Bread. # 3: A piece of British Admiral Horatio Nelson: At the time of the Napoleonic Wars, the famous British Admiral Horatio Nelson was due to be buried in St. Paul's Cathedral. His sailors lifted his casket over their shoulders and majestically carried his body into the cathedral. Draping his coffin was a magnificent Union Jack. After the service, the sailors once more carried his body high in the air, this time to the graveside. With reverence and with efficiency they lowered the body of the world's greatest admiral into its tomb. Then, as though answering to a sharp order from the quarterdeck, they all seized the Union Jack with which the coffin had been covered and viciously tore it to shreds, each taking his souvenir of the illustrious dead. A swath of colored cloth as a memento. It would forever remind them of the admiral they had loved. "I've got a piece of him," one sailor remarked, "and I'll never forget him." In like manner you now can have a piece of Christ - living bread - physically, spiritually, personally. Reaching out to receive him in Faith is all that's required. (Fr. Tony Kayala). Introduction: We are living in a world where people of all races and creeds hunger more for spiritual sustenance than for physical food. In response to the spiritual hunger of people in his own day, Jesus, in today’s Gospel passage from John 6, proclaims himself to be “the Bread of Life that came down from heaven.” It is through Jesus, the bread of life, that we have access to the Divine life during our earthly pilgrimage to God. The sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, which contains Jesus' teaching on the Eucharist, begins with Jesus’ miraculous feeding of his five thousand hungry listeners in a deserted place to satisfy their bodily hunger. Today’s Gospel offers us part of Jesus’ discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum on his return there after his miraculous feeding of the five thousand. During the discourse, Jesus reveals himself as the true “Bread of Life that came down from Heaven,” to give life to the world. "Manna" was God’s gift rained down "from Heaven" upon the Israelites to prolong their earthly life. Jesus proclaims himself the new and perfect manna, the Incarnate Son of God, literally "come down from Heaven." This means that the Bread we consume in the Eucharist is more than just a guarantee that one day we'll have eternal life. It actually gives us a share in that eternal life while we are still on earth. But some of those who had just witnessed Jesus’ ability to supply them with earthly food would turn away when he explained the source of his mysterious power and his Heavenly origin. The first reading describes the physical and spiritual hungers experienced by the prophet Elijah. In this reading, the Bread of Life Jesus speaks about is prefigured by the miraculous food with which the angel nourished the Prophet Elijah in the desert while he was fleeing from the soldiers of Queen Jezebel. After being nourished by the Lord, Elijah was strengthened for the long journey of forty days to Mount Horeb where God had given Moses the Ten Commandments. The refrain for today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 34), “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord,” invites us to come to Him in our fears and afflictions and discover how blessed we are when we “take refuge in Him.” The second reading presents Christ Jesus, the “Bread of Life,” as a “sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.” Paul reminds the Ephesian Christians that, instead of seeking satisfaction in anger, slander, bitterness and malice, they are to nourish one another with compassion, kindness and mutual forgiveness. It is Faith that strengthens us to live in this way, doing the right thing in our relationships with others, in a world filled with terror and violence and in a Church marked by betrayal and disillusionment. First reading, 1 Kings 19:4-8, explained: King Ahab of Israel married a pagan queen, Jezebel, who imported pagan worship into Israel. The prophet Elijah challenged 450 of the pagan god Baal’s prophets, defeated them in a public sacrifice-contest and killed all of them. The furious Queen Jezebel sent soldiers to kill the prophet. Today’s first reading expresses Elijah’s discouragement and frustration as he fled for his life. Collapsed in the only available shade, Elijah fell into a sleep of exhaustion while awaiting release through a speedy death. God heard His prophet’s prayer and sent an angel to feed him and strengthen him in his flight. The miraculous food provided by God sustained him through a 40-day pilgrimage to Horeb (Mount Sinai), where Elijah would be commissioned again as God’s prophet to carry on the struggle and to anoint his successor. Like Elijah, all of us learn to recognize our weakness and frailty, and are able to experience God’s empowering grace which is capable of transforming our powerlessness and discouragement. The lectionary compares God’s strengthening of his prophet by the miraculously-provided food with His strengthening of us in our pilgrimage to Heaven by the Bread from Heaven, namely, the Holy Eucharist. Second Reading, Ephesians 4:30-5:2, explained: The second reading contains St. Paul’s practical advice for peaceful, communal Christian living among former enemies, namely, the now-converted Jews and the converted Gentiles. Paul reminds the Ephesian Christians that their discipleship must be guided by the virtues of compassion and forgiveness, avoiding “bitterness, fury, shouting and reviling which would grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” That is how they should offer their lives as sacrifices pleasing to God, just as Jesus, “the Bread from Heaven,” offered himself as a “sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.” It is Faith that strengthens us to live this way, doing the right thing in our relationships with others, in a world filled with terror and violence and in a Church marked by betrayal and disillusionment. Baptized Christians are empowered by the Holy Spirit to embrace, understand and meet the challenges of a committed life. To that end, bitterness, anger, slander and malice need to be uprooted in order to give “root room” for the kindness, compassion and mutual forgiveness that are to characterize believers in Jesus. Exegesis: Jesus’ unique claims: Jesus makes a series of unique claims in today’s Gospel passage: 1) “I am the Living Bread that came down from Heaven.” 2)”I am the Bread of Life.” 3) “The Bread that I will give is My Flesh for the life of the world.” 4)“No one can come to me unless the Father Who sent me draw him.” 5)“I will raise him on the last day.” 6) “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God.” In short, Christ Jesus reveals himself as God and as the “Bread of Life from Heaven,” sent by the Father for our salvation. Jesus’ claims challenged: Jesus’ Jewish listeners could hardly contain themselves when Jesus claimed to be the "Bread of Life" (v. 35) who "came down from Heaven" (v. 38). They thought they knew his father and mother (v. 42), and saw him as just another hometown boy – a carpenter by profession without any formal training in Mosaic Laws and Jewish Scriptures. They could remember when he had moved from Nazareth to Capernaum with a band of unknown disciples, mostly fishermen. Hence, they came to the natural conclusion: “either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse" (C. S. Lewis). The complaint launched: In today's portion of the lengthy Bread of Life discourse (49 of Chapter Six's 71 verses), John re-emphasizes the similarities and contrasts between the old "manna in the wilderness" experience and this new notion of a “Bread of Life” that is directly tied to Jesus. In verse 41, John’s noting of the Jewish identity of the "complaining" crowd recalls for us their own unique history. Those listening to Jesus began to "murmur" against Jesus and his gifts of Heavenly Bread even as the ancient Israelites began to "murmur" or "complain" against Moses -- first out of hunger (Exodus 16:2,7,12), then against the monotony of the manna diet (Numbers 11:4-6). [Many scientists think that these “flakes” were formed from honeydew secreted by a certain insect that fed on the sap of tamarisk trees (yum!). In the dry desert air, most of the moisture in the honeydew quickly evaporated, leaving sticky droplets of the stuff on plants and the ground.] Like the Israelites, we, too, complain when God fails to meet our expectations. Since the Exodus, manna has been the symbol of God’s providence and love for the Jewish people. Jesus’ response: Jesus knew that the Jews were upset about his explanation that the multiplication of bread and fish signified that he himself was the Heavenly Bread that gives eternal Life. Jesus challenged the Jews to take a journey of Faith by seeing him, not as the son of Joseph, but as the one who came down from Heaven. Saying, "No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me ..." Jesus told his listeners, and tells us, that everyone who has become his follower has done so because God the Father has called him or her to Jesus. It is an act of God that has brought us to follow the way of Jesus. Faith is a gift. To follow Jesus is to live by Faith: to believe in and use the means necessary to make those radical changes to one's lifestyle that being a believer demands. Then Jesus offered the ultimate reassurance to every one of us who believes: "I will raise him up on the last day" (cf. vv.39, 40, 44, 54). This persistent theme serves to remind the reader/listener that only Jesus, the true Bread of Life, can impart the gift of eternal Life to the faithful. Jesus is a source of Life for us, giving himself to us by his own self-sacrificing love. Christ, the Bread of Life, is the love, justice and compassion of God incarnate. As Jesus, the “Bread of life,” has given and still gives “Life” to the world through his selfless compassion for, and humble servanthood to, others, we, too, can give that “Life to the world” when we look beyond our own needs and security to the good of others, giving from our treasure and even from our poverty, nourishing one another in the love, compassion and selflessness of the Gospel Jesus. Faith in practice: "Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me." Here Jesus clarifies that listening to God, and learning from God are key factors in our seeking Jesus and in our growing into strong believers and faithful servants of Jesus. The Good News is that God is willing to be present in our midst and to teach us. Jesus supports this point quoting Scripture, "And they shall be taught by God." The Holy Eucharist foreshadowed: Jesus’ dialogue with the Jews no longer deals with manna, but with His very Person: the Revealer who brings us God's salvation. Although John’s Chapter 6 does not name the Holy Eucharist, Jesus’ words remind us of the centrality of the Eucharist as the primary source of our spiritual nourishment. Jesus knows quite well that we need both spiritual and physical food for life’s journey. He offers both to us. Thus, the meal that we share at the Eucharistic table provides the food for this journey (“viaticum”). Furthermore, He tells us that this Bread from Heaven is His Flesh, given for the life of the world. The Jews, as well as Jesus’ disciples, understood that he was speaking literally when he said that His Body was food. This statement appeared to some as outrageous and impossible. Later in the discourse Jesus, will insist that His words must be accepted literally, and that His Father will draw men to accept them. Hence let us accept Jesus as the Heavenly Bread, medicine for the sick soul, nourishment for a wounded spirit, light and strength for a weary mind and the source of new and eternal life. The Bread from Heaven is also the word of God: In the Bible, bread appears several times as an image of wisdom, or Divine revelation: Isaiah says "You who have no money, come, receive bread and eat" (55:1-3); Proverbs invites everyone, "Come, eat of my bread"(9:1-6), and Sirach says, "Whoever fears the Lord and holds to the law will obtain wisdom... She will feed him with the bread of learning."(15:1-3). This should make a lot of sense to us, because we read books and watch movies and television to learn about life (hopefully) and to increase our knowledge. In the same way, we need to read, reflect and pray over the Word of God privately so that it can nourish our souls and be our true "soul food". Life messages: 1) We need to eat the Living Bread from Heaven and be one with Jesus: Jesus wants us to eat him because he IS Bread. "You are what you eat?" Jesus is Bread and he wants us to eat his Flesh. Thus, we bring him into the core of our being. He is ready to come into our lives, regardless of who we have been, or how unqualified we feel. Let us live the life of Faith ... making changes so that He becomes the staple food of our spiritual life, not a side dish. Let us be people who recognize that Jesus, whom we consume, is actually God Who assimilates us into His being. Then, from Sunday to Saturday we will grow into Jesus, as he grows in us, our lives will be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we will become more like him. Thus, we shall share in the joyous and challenging life of being the Body of Christ for the world – Bread for a hungry world, and Drink for those who thirst for justice, peace, fullness of life, and even eternal life. # 2: We need to accept the “Real Presence” of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist as an inspiring challenge. Based on sound tradition and the centuries-long teaching of the Magisterium, the Roman Catholic Church has consistently held fast to the belief in the Real Presence. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the other sacraments as the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all sacraments tend." In this most blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist "the Body and Blood, together with the soul and Divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ, is truly, really, and substantially contained" (CCC #1374). The Fathers of the Church explain that, while ordinary food is assimilated into man, the very opposite takes place in Holy Communion. Here man is assimilated into the Bread of Life. Hence, let us learn to receive Jesus, really present in the Eucharist, with due reverence, true repentance, proper preparation and grateful hearts. Let us remember that Holy Communion a) increases our intimate union with Christ; b) preserves, increases, and renews the Sanctifying Grace received at Baptism; c) cleanses us from past sin and preserves us from future sins; d) strengthens the theological virtue of Charity in us, thus enabling us to be separated from our disordered attachments and to be rooted in Christ; and e) unites us more deeply to the mystery of the Church. 3) We need to appreciate God’s love for us expressed in the Holy Eucharist. Pope John Paul II taught: “The Eucharist is the Sacrament of the Presence of Christ, who gives himself to us because he loves us. He loves each one of us in a unique and personal way in our practical daily lives: in our families, among our friends, at study and work, in rest and relaxation. He loves us when he fills our days with freshness, and also when, in times of suffering, He allows trials to weigh upon us: even in the most severe trials, He lets us hear his voice. To celebrate the Eucharist, ‘to eat his Flesh and drink his Blood,’ means to accept the wisdom of the Cross and the path of service. It means that we signal our willingness to sacrifice ourselves for others, as Christ has done” Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia (Holy Thursday, April 17, 2003). 4) We are participating in Christ in the Eucharistic celebration: The "Sacrifice of the Altar" is our participation in the entirety of Christ – his life, his ministry, his crucifixion and death for our sins, his Resurrection, and his Ascension to Heaven. We unite with him by offering our lives to him so that he ministers to the world through us. We sacrifice our will whenever and wherever it interferes with his, which results in our being raised up to new Life as we follow Christ to Heaven. Every Catholic Mass accomplishes this by providing us with our living Savior's Body and Blood, crucified and Risen, here and now, in the form of edible food. As Pope St. John Paul II pointed out in Ecclesia de Eucharistia, "The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic banquet of Mass is 'the source and summit of the Christian life'." Jokes of the week: # 1: Pastor’s bread of life: President Woodrow Wilson’s father was a preacher who eked out a meager living. One day, when he was riding his horse, he stopped to chat with a member of his parish. “That’s a handsome looking animal you have there,” said the latter admiringly. “But why is that your horse is so big and strong and you are so thin?” “Perhaps,” replied Wilson, “it is because I feed the horse and the congregation feeds me.” #: 2: “I am going to be a preacher:” After his return from church one Sunday a small boy said, "You know what, Mommy? I'm going to be a preacher when I grow up." "That's fine," said his mother, "but what made you decide to be a preacher?" "Well," said the boy thoughtfully. "Since I have to go to Church every Sunday anyway, I think it would be more fun to stand up and yell than to sit still and listen."   (Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence (L. S. P.), 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604)
OT XX – B (1)
OT XX – B (1)

OT XX [B] (Aug 16) Homily on Jn 6: 51-58 (L/15)

Introduction: Today’s readings stress the fact that the Holy Eucharist, the perfect fulfillment of the symbol of the manna of the Old Testament, is the Food that gives us life forever. In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus declared that the Bread he gives is his Flesh. This Sunday, Jesus asserts that to eat this Bread is to have eternal life.

Scripture lessons: In today’s first reading, taken from the Book of Proverbs, Lady Wisdom, representing God, offers wisdom and understanding in the form of a rich banquet to all those who are willing to heed her invitation. The early Christians often identified Jesus as the Wisdom of God. They regarded the Eucharist as Wisdom’s banquet, where they shared in the Divine Wisdom now Incarnate in Jesus. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 34), thanks God for His providential care and His close association with His people, and invites all to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” In the second reading, Paul advises the Gentile Christians to show their gratitude to God for calling them, along with the Jews, to Christianity, and for giving them a share in Christ’s life. They will be able to receive this life by avoiding their former foolish ways, like getting drunk on wine.Instead they are to be Spirit-filled with their talk edifying, always trying to discern and do the will of God. In today’s Gospelpassage, Jesus asserts that eating the Living Bread, himself, allows us to participate in his life and to grow here and now in our eternal life with God. Jesus emphasizes the eternal-life dimensions of eating his Body and drinking his Blood – that those who have faith in Jesus and do so have already stepped into Heaven in this life, sharing in God’s own life and therefore in eternal life. Our participation in the Eucharist also concretizes and energizes our relationship with Christ and with one another. When we share in the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, Jesus himself comes to dwell within us. This communion with the Lord makes us one Body, brings us eternal life, and sends us forth to be Christ's Body for the life of the world.

Life messages: # 1: We need to allow our body to be broken and our blood to be shed for others as Jesus did.  That is why, at the end of the Mass, we are sent out to announce the Gospel of the Lord by our humble service and exemplary lives, radiating Jesus’ love, mercy, forgiveness and spirit of service all around us.  Let us say with Jesus, "This is my body, given over for you" and"This is my blood, poured out for you“ and live out these words by living for others.

#2: We need to keep the hunger and thirst for God alive in our hearts: Every human being is blessed with an insatiable longing for God. We want God as our Father to hold us gently in His arms, keeping us safe throughout the dangers we face.   But often we use substitutes as an escape from that need: fast living, fast food, fast cars, needless luxuries, unrestricted sexual fulfillment.  We demand the right to do whatever we want to do whenever we want.  But let us remember the truth that unless we keep the hunger for God strong in our hearts, we will eventually realize the emptiness of our lives without Him.

  1. T. XX (B) (August 16) , , John 6: 51-58

Anecdotes: # 1: Touching the body of Christ! Mother Teresa of Calcutta had a rule that when a newcomer arrived to join her Order, the Missionaries of Charity, the very next day the newcomer had to go to the Home of the Dying. One day a girl came from outside India to join the Order.  Mother Teresa said to her: "You saw with what love and care the priest touched Jesus in the Host during Mass. Now go to the Home for the Dying and do the same, because it is the same Jesus you will find there in the broken bodies of our poor." Three hours later the newcomer came back and, with a big smile, said to her, "Mother, I have been touching the body of Christ for three hours." "How? What did you do?" Mother Teresa asked her. "When I arrived there," she replied, "they brought in a man who had fallen into a drain, and been there for some time. He was covered with dirt and had several wounds. I washed him and cleaned his wounds. As I did so I knew I was touching the body of Christ." To be able to make this kind of connection we need the help of the Lord himself. It is above all in the Eucharist that he gives us this help.  

# 2: Cannibalism in the Andes: In October, 1972, a plane carrying 46 passengers an Uruguayan rugby team and their families and supporters to an exhibition game in Chile crashed in the Andes.   Nando Parrado, one of the survivors, tells the story of their 72 day struggle against freezing weather and dangerous avalanches in the book Miracle in the Andes. [Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home is a 2006 book by and .]  The author's mother and sister were among those killed in the crash.  High in the Andes, with a fractured skull, eating the raw flesh of his deceased teammates and friends, Parrado calmly pondered the cruelties of fate, the power of the natural world and the possibility of his continued existence: "I would live from moment to moment and from breath to breath, until I had used up all the life I had," he wrote.   The 16 survivors had nothing to eat except the flesh of their dead teammates.  After two months, Nando, an ordinary young man – a rugby player - with no disposition for leadership or heroism, led an expedition of the remaining three of the survivors up the treacherous slopes of a snow-capped mountain and across forty-five miles of frozen wilderness in an attempt to find help.  The party was finally rescued by helicopter crews.  It was difficult for them to decide that eating human flesh was all right, even in those extreme circumstances!  Hence, it is not surprising that Jesus’ listeners protested against his invitation to eat his flesh and drink his blood as described in today’s Gospel. ()’

3) Food pyramids: New standards for diet were proposed recently. A new food pyramid was developed as a guide for healthy eating. It includes a base of bread, cereals, rice and pasta. The next level up the pyramid is vegetables and fruit. A still smaller next level is milk, yogurt, cheese, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and nuts. The smallest group at the top is fats, oils and sweets. We can propose a food pyramid for those who want a healthy spiritual life. You may want to develop your own, but it might include a base of feeding on the Word of God in the Eucharist and by study and meditation on the Scriptures. Upon that base one is nourished by Christian fellowship. It should include servings of regular worship. To that a daily use of prayer and devotions could be added. On top of those elements should be time for Christian service to meet the needs of others.

Introduction: Today’s readings stress the fact that the Holy Eucharist, the perfect fulfillment of the symbol of the manna of the Old Testament, is the Food that gives us life forever.   In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus declared that the Bread he gives is his Flesh. This Sunday, Jesus asserts that to eat this Bread is to have eternal life.    The first and second readings encourage us to turn aside from those things that do not nourish and sustain us and turn towards the Divine source: “be filled with the Spirit.”  In  today’s first reading, taken from the Book of Proverbs, Lady Wisdom, representing God, offers wisdom and understanding in the form of a rich banquet to all those who are willing to heed her invitation. The early Christians often identified Jesus as the Wisdom of God. They regarded the Eucharist as Wisdom’s banquet, where they shared in the Divine Wisdom now present in Jesus. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 34), thanks God for His providential care and His close association with His people, and invites all to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” In the second reading, Paul advises the Gentile Christians to show their gratitude to God for calling them, along with the Jews, to Christianity, and for giving them a share in Christ’s life. They will be able to receive this life by avoiding their former foolish ways, like  getting drunk on wine. Instead they are to be Spirit-filled with their talk edifying, always trying to discern and do the will of God. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus asserts that eating the Living Bread, himself, allows us to participate in his life and to grow here and now in our eternal life with God. Jesus emphasizes the eternal-life dimensions of eating His Body and drinking his Blood. "Eternal life" is complete and lasting happiness, satisfying our deepest longings and realizing all our dreams. We begin to experience this happiness in this world and enter it completely and forever in Heaven. This means that those who have Faith in Jesus have already stepped into Heaven in this life, sharing in God’s own life and therefore in eternal life. In the case of the Eucharist, once we start eating and drinking Jesus’ Body and Blood, we’re there. Our participation in the Eucharist also concretizes and energizes our relationship with Christ and with one another.

First reading, : In Old Testament times, most people believed that Heaven and Hell existed within this present life rather than in the future. According to Proverbs, Heaven exists in the quest for Divine wisdom, that is, the quest to discover Yahweh's presence in everything and everyone.  Those who discover how God operates in this world will live fulfilled and happy lives. In chapter nine from which today’s first reading is taken, Wisdom is depicted as a gracious hostess inviting the people to a fine banquet.  "Wisdom" becomes the symbolic image of the search for God's will.  As this reading suggests, Faith opens up the fonts of wisdom to nourish us. The reading invites us to an even more excellent banquet: the banquet depicted in today’s Gospel, .  When we partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ, we are filled with true wisdom.  Here, wisdom means knowing the will of God in our lives, knowing the real values in life and knowing how to live life as God means us to live. In their hymns and creeds, early Christians often identified Jesus as the Wisdom of God. The Bread of Life discourse in John indicates that the Eucharist is Wisdom’s banquet, where we share in the Divine Wisdom Incarnate in Jesus.

Second Reading, : In the earlier chapters of his Letter to the Ephesians, Paul reveals God’s secret plan.  It is to extend the call of the Chosen People to the Gentiles, too.  Hence, in today’s selection, Paul advises the Gentile Christians to show their gratitude to God by avoiding their former foolish ways, like getting drunk on wine.  Instead, they have to be filled with the Spirit, understand the will of the Lord and address one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual singing, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.  Paul encourages the community in Ephesus "to discern the will of the Lord." The authentic follower of Jesus “gives thanks always and for everything."  Paul believes that no one can be a faithful follower of God without actively trying to discover God's will for him or her. The apostle believes that we can discover God’s will wherever we may     be.

Exegesis: The background: Although the traditional and accepted view of today's selection from the Bread of Life discourse is that the passage represents a literal event in the life of Jesus, there are some Bible scholars who suggest that this passage is simply a theological reflection on the Eucharist, written for the early Christians.   Among the four Gospels, only John’s Gospel fails to mention the Eucharistic institution at the Last Supper.  Instead he dedicates five chapters (13-17) to reporting Jesus' discourse, a dialogue between Jesus and his critics, on that theme.  Today’s selection, the fourth of five excerpts from this discourse, read on successive Sundays, shows the shocked reaction of some people to Jesus’ blunt statement that the Life-giving bread which he is going to give them is his own body and blood.  

Life-giving bread from Heaven: "I, myself, am the living Bread come down from Heaven." “Come down from Heaven” refers to the Incarnation and announces Jesus’ Divine origins; without the Son’s becoming a human being there would be neither Sacrament nor Salvation.   Eating this Bread results in profound at-oneness with the Divine: the Son-become-man.   The reference to the future, "I will give," points to Jesus’ sacrificial death and to his "Flesh," which was to be offered on Calvary and shared at every Eucharistic celebration.   Jesus reminds his listeners that this was not the first time in the history of salvation that God had provided his people with food.   The people knew about the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness.   They now must realize how that experience differed from Jesus’ feeding his followers with the Holy Eucharist.

A shocking statement: “Unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Bood, you do not have life within you,” Jesus insists. That we cannot have everlasting life unless we eat Jesus' Body and drink his Blood was a shocking message to the listeners. Indeed, Jewish law prohibited the eating of human flesh, and blood of any kind was considered to be the actual life of a living being.   Drinking of blood, consequently, was prohibited in Judaism and in Christianity (Gen 9:4; Lev 17:10, 12, 14; cf. Acts 15:29).   Some of Israel’s Old Testament neighbors apparently drank blood as a religious act, believing that if they drank the blood of an animal they took into themselves the strength and vitality of that creature because blood was life, and life was blood.   Seeking life from the blood of an animal was idolatrous for Israelites because life comes from God alone.   In addition, for the Jews, blood itself was a spiritual contaminant, and coming in contact with blood immediately rendered one ritually unclean.  That was why a woman was considered to be ritually unclean for several weeks after she gave birth to a child.  We saw in the Gospel [13th Sunday B] how a woman with a chronic hemorrhage of blood dared not approach Jesus openly.  In the story of the Good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite on their way to the Temple would not contaminate themselves by contact with the injured man because he was bleeding.  To this day, observant Jews will eat only kosher meat from which the blood has been fully drained.

The Bread of Life from Heaven is the Body of Christ: The Bread of Life, or the Holy Eucharist, is the Sacramental Body of Christ.  Theologians recognize four elements in this “Body of Christ.” 1) The physical body: It is the physical body of Christ which was born in Bethlehem and died on Calvary.   2) The risen body: It is the transformed and glorified body of Jesus (I Cor 15: 35-49) with which Jesus appeared to his disciples.   3) The Mystical Body: It is the Church which is the continuation of Jesus Christ on earth.   Each baptized believer is an integral part (member), of the Mystical Body of Christ.   4) The Sacramental Body: It is related to and distinct from the above mentioned bodies of Christ.  During the Holy Mass, Jesus takes the bread and wine which we offer on the altar, offers it to God his Father and declares: “This is no longer your body, it is My Body; this is no longer your life’s blood, it is My Blood.”  The Eucharist is, thus, Jesus' dying for us, sacrificing himself for us, and calling us to perform the same sacrifice for others.

The Eucharist is the eternal sacrifice of Jesus providing life to those who eat his Body and drink his Blood.  Thus, the Holy Massis the Sacramental act which transforms our lives into the Divine Life.   In each Mass, Jesus transforms us into other Christs - ritually, sacramentally and existentially – thus keeping his promise: “I will be with you till the end of the world.”  

The deeper meaning: In spite of the Jewish antipathy to eating human flesh and blood, “eating Jesus' Flesh and drinking his Blood" became a common liturgical activity for Christians around the time of John's Gospel.   The second century martyr, St. Ignatius of Antioch, said, "For food I want the Bread of God, which is the Flesh of Jesus Christ and for drink I want His Blood, which is incorruptible love."   It was at the Last Supper that Jesus linked his Flesh with the bread he broke, and shared it with his disciples.  Likewise, he linked his Blood with the cup that was passed around, the Blood that was the pledge of an unbreakable bond between Jesus and his people. "This is my Body (my Flesh)... This is My Blood... which will be poured out for you.”   The Bread that we eat in the Eucharist is the Body of the Risen Lord; the Wine that we drink in the Eucharist is the Blood of the Risen Lord.   When Jesus spoke of his Flesh and Blood as the Food and Drink of eternal life, he was offering himself to the multitude as the real Source of Life.  To eat the Flesh of Jesus and to drink his Blood is to become totally identified with his very Person, with his deepest thoughts, with his vision of life, with his values, and with his mission to build the Kingdom of God.   In other words, Jesus is here calling us to follow him, to be with him sharing totally and unconditionally his mission and destiny.   Thus, the Eucharist is more than a memorial of Jesus' death (see 1 Cor 11:23-25).  Rather, it is the continuation of Jesus’ life after his Resurrection (Luke 24:13-35).

Heaven on earth theology: “Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”    "Eternal life" is complete and lasting happiness satisfying our deepest longings and realizing all our dreams.   But Jesus’ audience was content with the “bread" they already possessed:  the Mosaic Law.    Their ancestors ate this "heavenly bread" but "died nonetheless."   Jesus is as essential for our resurrected existence as food and drink are for our earthly life. Remember what Jesus told Martha after her brother Lazarus died?   "I am the Resurrection and the Life; whoever believes in me, even if he die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”   Heaven doesn’t begin after death.  It already exists for those who believe in Jesus.  When we begin to eat and drink Jesus’ Jesus warns us that unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood we Body and Blood, we are already in Heaven.   No wonder that unless we eat this Food and drink from this Cup wewill not have Divine life within us!

Life messages: # 1: We need to allow our body to be broken and our blood shed for others as Jesus did: When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion we accept a great challenge.  We accept the triumphs and the tragedies, joys and the pains necessary to build up the Kingdom of God wherever we have been called to serve.   That is why, at the end of the Mass, we are sent out to announce the Gospel of the Lord (Form 2), through the witness of our humble service and exemplary lives, radiating Jesus’ love, mercy, forgiveness and spirit of service all around us. As we walk away from the altar we may perhaps hear Jesus saying: "This is my Body, which will be given up for you" and "This is the Chalice of my Blood … which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins”.   What a power we would be for our world around us if each one of us could say that and mean it!   That is why, at the end of the Mass, we are sent out with, "Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life"(Form 3), through our lives.

#2: We need to keep the hunger and thirst for God alive in our hearts: Every human being is blessed with an insatiable longing for God. We want God as our Father to hold us gently in His arms, keeping us safe throughout the dangers we face.   But often we use substitutes as an escape from that need: fast living, fast food, fast cars, needless luxuries, unrestricted sexual fulfillment.  We demand the right to do whatever we want to do whenever we want.  But unless we keep the hunger for God strong in our hearts, we will eventually realize the emptiness of our lives without God.

THE JOKE OF THE WEEK : # 1: Life-giving bread in Heaven’s buffet: This 85-year-old couple, having been married almost 60 years, had died in a car crash.   They had been in good health for the last ten years, mainly due to their interest in healthful food and exercise.

When they reached the Pearly Gates, St. Peter took them to their mansion, which was decked out with a beautiful kitchen, a master bath suite and a Jacuzzi.   As they "ooohed and aaahed,” the old man asked Peter how much all this was going to cost.

"It's free," Peter replied, "this is Heaven."

Next they went to see the championship golf course that their heavenly home backed up to.  St. Peter told them they would have golfing privileges every day.

The old man asked, "What are the greens fees?"

Peter's reply, "This is heaven; you play for free."

Next they went to the clubhouse and saw a lavish buffet laid out for them.

"How much does it cost to eat?" asked the old man.

"Don't you understand yet?   This is heaven! It's free!" Peter replied.

"Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol foods?" the old man asked timidly.  Peter smiled and said, "That's the best part...you can eat as much as you like of whatever you like and you never get fat and you never get sick.   This is Heaven."

The old man looked angrily at his wife and said, "You and your bran muffins! I   could have been here ten years ago!”

OT XX – B (2)
OT XX – B (2)
One-page Synopsis of OT XX [B] Homily on Jn 6:51-58 Introduction: Today’s readings stress the fact that the Holy Eucharist, the perfect fulfillment of the symbol of the manna in the Old Testament, is the Food that gives us life forever. In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus declared that the Bread he gives is his Flesh. This Sunday, Jesus asserts that to eat this Bread is to have eternal life. Scripture lessons: In today’s first reading, taken from the Book of Proverbs, Lady Wisdom, representing God, offers wisdom and understanding in the form of a rich banquet to all those who are willing to heed her invitation. The early Christians often identified Jesus as the Wisdom of God. They regarded the Eucharist as Wisdom’s banquet, where they shared in the Divine Wisdom now Incarnate in Jesus. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 34), thanks God for His providential care and His close association with His people and invites all to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” In the second reading, Paul advises the Gentile Christians to show their gratitude to God for calling them, along with the Jews, to Christianity, and for giving them a share in Christ’s life. They will be able to receive this life by avoiding their former foolish ways, like getting drunk on wine. Instead they are to be Spirit-filled with their talk edifying, always trying to discern and do the will of God. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus asserts that eating the Living Bread, himself, allows us to participate in his life and to grow here and now in our eternal life with God. Jesus emphasizes the eternal-life dimensions of eating his Body and drinking his Blood – that those who have Faith in Jesus and do so have already stepped into Heaven in this life, sharing in God’s own life and therefore in eternal life. Our participation in the Eucharist also concretizes and energizes our relationship with Christ and with one another. When we share in the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, Jesus himself comes to dwell within us. This communion with the Lord makes us one Body, brings us eternal life, and sends us forth to be Christ's Body for the life of the world. Life messages: # 1: We need to allow our body to be broken and our blood to be shed for others as Jesus did.  That is why, at the end of the Mass, we are sent out to announce the Gospel of the Lord by our humble service and exemplary lives, radiating Jesus’ love, mercy, forgiveness and spirit of service all around us.  Let us say with Jesus, "This is my Body, which will be given up for you" and "This is the Chalice of My Blood … which will poured out for you “and live out these words by living for others.   #2: We need to keep the hunger and thirst for God alive in our hearts: Every human being is blessed with an insatiable longing for God. We want God as our Father to hold us gently in His arms, keeping us safe throughout the dangers we face.   But often we use substitutes as an escape from that need: fast living, fast food, fast cars, needless luxuries, unrestricted sexual fulfillment.  We demand the right to do whatever we want to do whenever we want.  But let us remember the truth that unless we keep the hunger for God strong in our hearts, we will eventually realize the emptiness of our lives without Him.  
  1. T. XX (B) Prv 9:1-6, Eph 5:15-20, Jn 6: 51-58
Anecdotes: # 1: Touching the body of Christ! St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), had a rule that when a newcomer arrived to join her Order, the Missionaries of Charity, the very next day the newcomer had to go to the Home of the Dying. One day a girl came from outside India to join the Order.  Mother Teresa said to her: "You saw with what love and care the priest touched Jesus in the Host during Mass. Now go to the Home for the Dying and do the same, because it is the same Jesus you will find there in the broken bodies of our poor." Three hours later the newcomer came back and, with a big smile, said to her, "Mother, I have been touching the body of Christ for three hours." "How? What did you do?" Mother Teresa asked her. "When I arrived there," she replied, "they brought in a man who had fallen into a drain and been there for some time. He was covered with dirt and had several wounds. I washed him and cleaned his wounds. As I did so I knew I was touching the body of Christ." To be able to make this kind of connection we need the help of the Lord himself. It is above all in the Eucharist that he gives us this help.     # 2: Cannibalism in the Andes: In October 1972, a plane carrying 46 passengers, a Uruguayan rugby team and their families and supporters, to an exhibition game in Chile crashed in the Andes.   Nando Parrado, one of the survivors, tells the story of their 72-day struggle against freezing weather and dangerous avalanches in the book, Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home [Nando Parrado and Vince Rause (New York: Random House --Three Rivers Press, 2006]. The author's mother and sister were among those killed in the crash.  High in the Andes, with a fractured skull, eating the raw flesh of his deceased teammates and friends, Parrado calmly pondered the cruelties of fate, the power of the natural world and the possibility of his continued existence: "I would live from moment to moment and from breath to breath, until I had used up all the life I had," he wrote.   The 16 survivors had nothing to eat except the flesh of their dead teammates.  After two months, Nando, an ordinary young man – a rugby player - with no disposition for leadership or heroism, led an expedition of the remaining three of the survivors up the treacherous slopes of a snow-capped mountain and across forty-five miles of frozen wilderness in an attempt to find help.  The party was finally rescued by helicopter crews.  It was difficult for them to decide that eating human flesh was all right, even in those extreme circumstances!  Hence, it is not surprising that Jesus’ listeners protested against his invitation to eat his flesh and drink his blood as described in today’s Gospel. (http://www.viven.com.uy/571/eng/default.asp) 3:  Food pyramids: New standards for diet were proposed recently. A new food pyramid was developed as a guide for healthy eating. It includes a base of bread, cereals, rice and pasta. The next level up the pyramid is vegetables and fruit. A still smaller next level is milk, yogurt, cheese, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and nuts. The smallest group at the top is fats, oils and sweets. We can propose a food pyramid for those who want a healthy spiritual life. You may want to develop your own, but it might include a base of feeding on the Word of God in the Eucharist and by study and meditation on the Scriptures. Upon that base one is nourished by Christian fellowship. The pyramid should include servings of regular worship. To that a daily use of prayer and devotions could be added. On top of those elements should be time for Christian service to meet the needs of others. Introduction: Today’s readings stress the fact that the Holy Eucharist, the perfect fulfillment of the symbol of the manna of the Old Testament, is the Food that gives us life forever.   In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus declared that the Bread he gives is his Flesh. This Sunday, Jesus asserts that to eat this Bread is to have eternal life.    The first and second readings encourage us to turn aside from those things that do not nourish and sustain us and turn towards the Divine source: “be filled with the Spirit.”   In today’s first reading, taken from the Book of Proverbs, Lady Wisdom, representing God, offers wisdom and understanding in the form of a rich banquet to all those who are willing to heed her invitation. The early Christians often identified Jesus as the Wisdom of God. They regarded the Eucharist as Wisdom’s banquet, where they shared in the Divine Wisdom now present in Jesus. In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 34), we thank God for His providential care and His close association with His people which invites and enables us to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” In the second reading, Paul advises the Gentile Christians to show their gratitude to God for calling them, along with the Jews, to Christianity, and for giving them a share in Christ’s life. They will be able to receive this life by avoiding their former foolish ways, like getting drunk on wine. Instead they are to be Spirit-filled with their talk edifying, always trying to discern and do the will of God. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus asserts that eating the Living Bread, himself, allows us to participate in his divine life and to grow here and now in our eternal life with God. Jesus emphasizes the eternal-life dimensions of eating His Body and drinking his Blood. "Eternal life" is complete and lasting happiness, satisfying our deepest longings and realizing all our dreams. We begin to experience this happiness in this world and enter it completely and forever in Heaven. This means that those who have Faith in Jesus have already stepped into Heaven in this life, sharing in God’s own life and therefore in eternal life. In the case of the Eucharist, once we start eating and drinking Jesus’ Body and Blood, we’re there. Our participation in the Eucharist also concretizes and energizes our relationship with Christ and with one another. First reading, Proverbs 9:1-6, explained: In Old Testament times, most people believed that Heaven and Hell existed within this present life rather than in the future. According to Proverbs, Heaven exists in the quest for Divine wisdom, that is, the quest to discover Yahweh's presence in everything and everyone.  Those who discover how God operates in this world will live fulfilled and happy lives. In chapter nine from which today’s first reading is taken, Wisdom is depicted as a gracious hostess inviting the people to a fine banquet.  "Wisdom" becomes the symbolic image of the search for God's will.  As this reading suggests, Faith opens up the fonts of wisdom to nourish us. “Wisdom spreads out a banquet to which we all are invited. The meat and wine that she offers is insight and understanding, and we would be fools to turn down her invitation. Jesus, too, spreads a banquet before us. He offers us himself, his flesh for the life of the world. If we turn down his invitation, we would be more than fools. We would be rejecting life itself.” (www.americamagazine.org). The reading invites us to this excellent banquet: the banquet depicted in today’s Gospel, John 6:51-58.  When we partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ, we are filled with true wisdom.  Here, wisdom means knowing the will of God in our lives, knowing the real values in life and knowing how to live life as God means us to live. In their hymns and creeds, early Christians often identified Jesus as the Wisdom of God. The Bread of Life discourse in John indicates that the Eucharist is Wisdom’s banquet, where we share in the Divine Wisdom Incarnate in Jesus. Second Reading, Ephesians 5:15-20, explained: In the earlier chapters of his Letter to the Ephesians, Paul reveals God’s secret plan.  It is to extend the call of the Chosen People to the Gentiles, too.  Hence, in today’s selection, Paul advises the Gentile Christians to show their gratitude to God by avoiding their former foolish ways, like “getting drunk on wine.”  Instead, they have “to be filled with the Spirit, understand the will of the Lord and address one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual singing, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.”  Paul encourages the community in Ephesus "to discern the will of the Lord." The authentic follower of Jesus gives “thanks always and for everything."  Paul believes that no one can be a faithful follower of God without actively trying to discover God's will for him or her. The apostle believes that we can discover God’s will wherever we may be. Gospel exegesis: The background: Although the traditional and accepted view of today's selection from the Bread of Life discourse is that the passage represents a literal event in the life of Jesus, there are some Bible scholars who suggest that this passage is simply a theological reflection on the Eucharist, written for the early Christians.   Among the four Gospels, only John’s Gospel fails to mention the Eucharistic institution at the Last Supper.  Instead he dedicates five chapters (13-17) to reporting Jesus' discourse, a dialogue between Jesus and his critics, on that theme.  Today’s selection, the fourth of five excerpts from this discourse (read on successive Sundays), shows the shocked reaction of some people to Jesus’ blunt statement that the Life-giving bread which he is going to give them is his own Body and Blood. “Sadly, chapter 6 is the source of considerable division and difference of opinion among experts in the Gospel of John, and their interpretations often fall according to denominational lines, with Catholics largely holding to a “sacramentalist” understanding, which is generally denied by many Protestant (especially evangelical) commentators. However, whether or not they agree with the Catholic view of this verse, many exegetes (including non-Catholics) certainly see in this chapter the influence of the early Church’s practice of the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper; Culpepper is one of many who speak of “clear Eucharistic overtones.” (Dr. Watson).  [“Two dimensions of Jewish worship provide the context of today’s Gospel, the fourth part of the ‘bread of life’ discourse in John 6. When an animal was sacrificed on the temple altar, part of the meat was given to worshipers for a feast with family and friends, at which God was honored as the unseen “Guest.”  It was even believed by some that God entered into the flesh of the sacrificed animal, so that when people rose from the feast they believed they were literally “God-filled.” In Jewish thought, blood was considered the vessel in which life was contained: as blood drained away from a body so did its life.  The Jews, therefore, considered blood sacred, as belonging to God alone.  In animal sacrifices, blood was ritually drained from the carcass and solemnly “sprinkled” upon the altar and the worshipers by the priest as a sign of being touched directly by the “life” of God. With this understanding, then, John summarizes his theology of the Eucharist, the new Passover banquet (remember that John’s Last Supper account will center around the “mandatum,” the theology of servanthood, rather than the blessing and breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup).  To feast on Jesus the “bread” is to “feast” on the very life of God -- to consume the Eucharist is to be consumed by God. In inviting us “to feed on his flesh and drink of my blood,” Jesus invites us to embrace the life of his Father: the life that finds joy in humble servanthood to others; the life that is centered in unconditional, total, sacrificial love; the life that seeks fulfillment not in the standards of this world but in the treasures of the next.”] (Connections).   Life-giving Bread from Heaven: "I, myself, am the living Bread come down from Heaven." “Come down from Heaven” refers to the Incarnation and announces Jesus’ Divine origins; without the Son’s becoming a human being there would be neither Sacrament nor Salvation.   Eating this Bread results in profound at-oneness with the Divine: the Son-become-man.   The reference to the future, "I will give," points to Jesus’ sacrificial death and to his "Flesh," which was to be offered on Calvary and shared at every Eucharistic celebration.   Jesus reminds his listeners that this was not the first time in the history of salvation that God had provided his people with food.   The people knew about the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness.   They now must realize how that experience differed from Jesus’ feeding his followers with the Holy Eucharist.   A shocking statement: “Unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you,” Jesus insists. That we cannot have everlasting life unless we eat Jesus' Body and drink his Blood was a shocking message to the listeners. Indeed, Jewish law prohibited the eating of human flesh, and blood of any kind was considered to be the actual life of a living being.   Drinking of blood, consequently, was prohibited in Judaism and in early Christianity (Gen 9:4; Lev 17:10, 12, 14; cf. Acts 15:29).   Some of Israel’s Old Testament neighbors apparently drank blood as a religious act, believing that if they drank the blood of an animal they took into themselves the strength and vitality of that creature because blood was life, and life was blood.   Seeking life from the blood of an animal was idolatrous for Israelites because life comes from God alone.   In addition, for the Jews, blood itself was a spiritual contaminant, and coming in contact with blood immediately rendered one ritually unclean.  That was why a woman was considered to be ritually unclean for forty days after she gave birth to a child.  We recently saw in the Gospel (OT 13 [B],) how a woman with a chronic hemorrhage of blood dared not approach Jesus openly.  In the story of the Good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite on their way to the Temple would not contaminate themselves by contact with the injured man because he was bleeding.  To this day, observant Jews will eat only Kosher meat from which the blood has been fully drained. “To say ‘Amen’ is to vigorously state one’s belief in something or someone, to vouch for their reliability or certainty.” (Dr. Watson).   The Bread of Life from Heaven is the Body of Christ: The Bread of Life, or the Holy Eucharist, is the Sacramental Body of Christ.  Theologians recognize four elements in this “Body of Christ.” 1) The physical body is the physical body of Christ, which was born in Bethlehem and died on Calvary.   2) The risen body is the transformed and glorified body of Jesus (I Cor 15: 35-49) in which Jesus appeared to his disciples.   3) The Mystical Body is the Church which is the continuation of Jesus Christ on earth.   Each baptized believer is an integral part (member), of the Mystical Body of Christ.   4) The Sacramental Body is related to and distinct from the above-mentioned bodies of Christ.  During the Holy Mass, Jesus takes the bread and wine which we offer on the altar, offers it to God his Father and declares: “This is no longer your body, it is My Body; this is no longer your life’s blood, it is My Blood.”  The Eucharist is, thus, Jesus' sacrificing himself, dying for us, and calling us to perform the same sacrifice for others. The Eucharist is the eternal sacrifice of Jesus providing life to those who eat his Body and drink his Blood.  Thus, the Holy Mass is the Sacramental act which transforms our lives into the Divine Life.   In each Mass, Jesus transforms us into other Christs - ritually, sacramentally and existentially – thus keeping his promise: “I will be with you till the end of the world.”     The deeper meaning: In spite of the Jewish antipathy to eating human flesh and blood, “eating Jesus' Flesh and drinking his Blood" became a common liturgical activity for Christians around the time of John's Gospel.   The second century martyr, St. Ignatius of Antioch, said, "For food I want the Bread of God, which is the Flesh of Jesus Christ and for drink I want His Blood, which is incorruptible love."   It was at the Last Supper that Jesus linked his Flesh with the bread he blessed, broke and shared with his disciples.  Likewise, he linked his Blood with the cup of wine he blessed, offered, and passed around, Blood that was the pledge of an unbreakable bond between Jesus and his people. "This is my Body (my Flesh)... This is My Blood... which will be poured out for you.”   The Bread that we eat in the Eucharist is the Body of the Risen Lord; the Wine that we drink in the Eucharist is the Blood of the Risen Lord.   When Jesus spoke of his Flesh and Blood as the Food and Drink of eternal life, he was offering himself to the multitude (and so to us), as the real Source of Life.  To eat the Flesh of Jesus and to drink his Blood is to become totally identified with Christ’s very Person, with his deepest thoughts, with his vision of life, with his values, and with his mission to build the Kingdom of God.   In other words, Jesus is here calling us to follow him, to be with him, and to share totally and unconditionally his mission and destiny.   Thus, the Eucharist is more than a memorial of Jesus' death (see 1 Cor 11:23-25).  Rather, it is the continuation of Jesus’ life after his Resurrection (Luke 24:13-35).     Heaven on earth theology: “Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”    "Eternal life" is complete and lasting happiness satisfying our deepest longings and realizing all our dreams.   But Jesus’ audience was content with the “bread" they already possessed:  the Mosaic Law.    Their ancestors ate this "heavenly bread" but "died nonetheless."   Jesus is as essential for our resurrected existence as food and drink are for our earthly life. Remember what Jesus told Martha after her brother Lazarus died?   "I am the Resurrection and the Life; whoever believes in me, even if he die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”   Heaven doesn’t begin after death.  It already exists for those who believe in Jesus.   Jesus warns us that unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood we “do not have Life within you” and so will not live in joy with him forever.  But when we begin to eat and drink Jesus’ Body and Blood, we are already receiving his eternal life, and we are already in Heaven.   No wonder that unless we eat this Food and drink from this Cup we will not have Divine life within us!   The teaching of the Fathers of the Church was in general unquestioningly realist, i.e., the consecrated bread and wine were taken to be, and were treated and designated as, the Savior’s Body and Blood" (J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, p. 440).  Ignatius of Antioch declares, “I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ.” Irenaeus of Lyons asks, “If the Lord were from other than the Father, how could he rightly take bread, which is of the same creation as our own, and confess it to be his body and affirm that the mixture in the cup is his blood?” (Against Heresies 4:33–32 [A.D. 189]).  Clement of Alexandria reminds us, “’Eat my flesh,’ [Jesus] says, ‘and drink my blood.’ The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutrients, he delivers over his flesh and pours out his blood, and nothing is lacking for the growth of his children” (The Instructor of Children 1:6:43:3 [A.D. 191]).  St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 4th century, teaches, “The bread and the wine of the Eucharist before the invocation of the holy and adorable Trinity were simple bread and wine, but the invocation having been made, the bread becomes the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ” (Catechetical Lectures 19:7 [A.D. 350]).  Theodore of Mopsuestia (AD 350-428), states flatly, “When [Christ] gave the bread he did not say, ‘This is the symbol of my body,’ but, ‘This is my body’).” (Commentary on Matthew 26:26   What does the Church’s Tradition (Magisterium, or official teaching authority) say? There are literally dozens of official Catholic documents on the many aspects of the Eucharist, including statements of Church councils, individual Popes, and bishops’ conferences. Among these, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (issued under Pope St. John Paul II, 1995) is a particularly helpful source of basic information on the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist.   The Protestant Deviation (from E-Priest): This is one of the main distinctions between the different branches of Christianity.  Catholic Christians and Eastern Orthodox Christians have maintained the ancient Faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  But during the Protestant Reformation, which took place in northern Europe in the fifteen and sixteen hundred, the different Protestant groups stopped believing in the Real Presence.  Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, John Knox and some other reformers started their own churches, breaking away from the Catholic Church. It was during this period that the many different Protestant denominations began to appear: Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists...  The Puritans who arrived on the shores of Massachusetts in the 1600s, the ones Americans call "the pilgrims," were a spinoff of these reformed churches. All of these new Christian groups continued to celebrate some kind of communion service in their Sunday worship, at least once or twice a year. But none of them believed firmly and clearly that Jesus was truly present in the Eucharist. They all taught that Jesus was only speaking symbolically when he said, as we heard in today's Gospel, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life."  But if Jesus had been speaking of a mere symbol, and not a real sacrament, would he have referred to eating and drinking his flesh and blood seven times?  Would he have made such an effort to explain that his flesh is "real food" and his blood "real drink" (verse 55)? Would he have used two different verbs to make sure he was understood: "phago" (verses 50 and 51), which means to consume a meal, and then, after his listeners expressed shock and doubt, "trago" (verses 53-58), which means to gnaw, crunch, or chew, as when we eat raw vegetables, or when cattle graze on grass?   Life messages: # 1: We need to allow our body to be broken and our blood shed for others as Jesus did: When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion we accept a great challenge.  We accept the triumphs and the tragedies, the joys and the pains necessary to build up the Kingdom of God wherever we have been called to serve.   That is why, at the end of the Mass, we are sent out to announce the Gospel of the Lord (Form 2), through the witness of our humble service and exemplary lives, radiating Jesus’ love, mercy, forgiveness and spirit of service all around us. As we walk away from the altar we may perhaps hear Jesus saying: "This is my Body, which will be given up for you" and "This is the Chalice of my Blood … which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins”.   What a power we would be for our world around us if each one of us could say that and mean it!   That is why, at the end of the Mass, we are sent out with, "Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life"(Form 3), through our lives.     #2: We need to keep the hunger and thirst for God alive in our hearts: Every human being is blessed with an insatiable longing for God. We want God as our Father to hold us gently in His arms, keeping us safe throughout the dangers we face.   But often we use substitutes as an escape from that need: fast living, fast food, fast cars, needless luxuries, unrestricted sexual fulfillment.  We demand the right to do whatever we want to do whenever we want.  But unless we keep the hunger for God strong in our hearts, we will eventually realize the emptiness of our lives without God.   THE JOKE OF THE WEEK: # 1: Life-giving bread in Heaven’s buffet: This 85-year-old couple, having been married almost 60 years, had died in a car crash.   They had been in good health for the last ten years, mainly due to their interest in healthful food and exercise. When they reached the Pearly Gates, St. Peter took them to their mansion, which was decked out with a beautiful kitchen, a master bath suite and a Jacuzzi.   As they "ooohed and aaahed,” the old man asked Peter how much all this was going to cost. "It's free," Peter replied, "this is Heaven." Next, they went to see the championship golf course that their Heavenly home backed up to.  St. Peter told them they would have golfing privileges every day. The old man asked, "What are the greens fees?" Peter's reply, "This is Heaven; you play for free." Next, they went to the clubhouse and saw a lavish buffet laid out for them. "How much does it cost to eat?" asked the old man. "Don't you understand yet?   This is Heaven! It's free!" Peter replied. "Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol foods?" the old man asked timidly.  Peter smiled and said, "That's the best part...you can eat as much as you like of whatever you like, and you never get fat and you never get sick.   This is Heaven." The old man looked angrily at his wife and said, "You and your bran muffins! I   could have been here ten years ago!”   (Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence (L. S. P.), 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604)
OT XXI – B (1)
OT XXI – B (1)
 OT XXI [B]  Sunday on John 6:60-69 Introduction: The main theme of today’s readings is that Christian life is a series of daily choices for God or against God, as we choose to live out or reject the truths He has revealed through His prophets in the Old Testament and especially through His Son Jesus in the New Testament. The fundamental choice we make determines how we live our lives, deciding whom we will serve. Scripture lessons: In the first reading, Joshua challenges the Israelites to decide whom they will serve, the gods of the Amorites in whose country they were then dwelling or the God of Israelites Who has done so much for them. The Renewal of Covenant ceremony in Joshua chapter 24 reminds us that the Eucharist is a Covenant meal that calls for a decision of Faith.  The second reading emphasizes the unity that must exist in the Body of Christ and the intimate relationship between Jesus and his followers. It also challenges the Ephesian Christians to make the right choices in life and build Christian marriages on mutual respect and love, accepting each other’s’ rights and dignity. Paul also uses the husband-wife relationship as an analogy to explain the close relationship between Christ and the Church. Paul reminds us that Jesus nourishes us, the members of his Church, through the Eucharist, making us His own Flesh and Blood, as husband and wife become one flesh. Concluding his long Eucharistic discourse, Jesus, in today’s Gospel, challenges his Jewish audience to make their choice of accepting him as the true Bread from Heaven who gives his Body and Blood as their Heavenly Food, or of joining those who have lost their Faith in him and left him, expressing their confusion and doubts about his claims. Today’s passage describes the various reactions of the people to Jesus’ claims. Jesus gives his twelve apostles the option of leaving him or staying with him. The apostles exercise their freedom of choice by choosing to stay with Jesus. In this Eucharistic celebration, we, too, are called to make a decision, profess our Faith in God’s Son and renew the Covenant ratified in Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection. Life messages: # 1: Let us make our choice for Christ and live it:  We Christians have accepted the challenge of following the way of Christ and making choices for Christ, fortified by the Bread Jesus gives and relying on the power of the Holy Spirit. The Heavenly Bread and the Holy Spirit will give us the courage of our Christian convictions to take a stand for Jesus, to accept the Church’s teachings and to face ridicule, criticisms and even social isolation for our adherence to sound Christian principles in our lives. That is what we mean by our “Amen” as we receive Jesus in Holy Communion. We express without any conditions or reservations our total commitment to him in the community to which we belong. Christ’s thoughts and attitudes, his values, his life-view must become totally ours. Above all, we are to identify with Jesus in the offering of his Flesh and the pouring out of his Blood on the cross by spending our own lives for others. OT XXI : Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b; Eph 5:21-32; Jn 6: 60-69 (L-18) Anecdote # 1: Martyrs’ choice for God, for Christ and his teachings: The Old Testament, the New Testament and the history of the Church tell the stories of brave men and women who heroically exercised their freedom of choice for God and His Commandments and so courted martyrdom. II Maccabees 6:18-31 describes how the 90-year-old saintly scribe, Eleazar, welcomed martyrdom rather than eat the flesh of a pig. The same book describes another heroic Jewish mother and her seven brave children who lost their lives by resisting the order of the Greek commander to reject their Jewish Faith. The martyrdom of St. Stephen is described in the Acts of the Apostles. The first three centuries saw thousands of Christians heroically choosing Christ and courting the cruel death inflicted by the pagan Roman Empire. St. Thomas More was the second-in-power in England and St. John Fisher the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University. Both were executed by King Henry VIII for choosing the teaching of the Church on marriage and divorce instead of choosing their king’s view. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian and pastor, chose to resist the anti-Christian and non-ethical doctrines of Hitler and was executed at 39. Today’s readings challenge us to make a choice for God and His teachings or against God. #2: St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa)’s commitment: Malcolm Muggeridge accompanied a film crew to India in order to narrate a documentary on Blessed Mother Teresa. He already knew she was a good woman or he wouldn't have bothered going. When he met her, he found a good woman who was also so very compelling that he titled his documentary, Something Beautiful for God. When he asked Mother Teresa why she went to Mass every day at 4:30 AM she replied, "If I didn't meet my Master every day, I'd be doing no more than social work." (Victor Shepherd, December 2001.) We are here today to meet Christ, not here for some other reason. We are here to listen for Christ's word for our life. We will find what John and Simon Peter and St. Augustine and Blessed Mother Teresa found: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." # 3: Lady Sings the Blues: The movie Lady Sings the Blues tells the story of singer Billie Holliday. To play the role of Billie Holliday, singer Diana Ross spent almost nine months reading clippings about Billie, sifting through pictures of her and listening over and over again to her recorded songs. Diana Ross also researched Billie’s era of fame, the 1930’s and 1940’s, and the drug addiction that tragically ended her career. Diana Ross’ motion picture debut in Lady Sings the Blues was a huge success, not only because of the powerful story it told about Billie Holliday, but also because of Diana Ross’ commitment to honor a singer she admired so much.  Commitment is one of the subjects of today’s readings. Diana Ross made a commitment to honor Billie Holliday, and so she did all the hard work necessary to live up to that commitment. Joshua in the Old Testament and the apostles in the New Testament made a commitment to follow the Lord, and so they were ready to make the sacrifices necessary to carry out their promises. Introduction: The main theme of today’s readings is that Christian life is a series of daily choices for God or against God, as we choose to live out or reject the truths He has revealed through His prophets in the Old Testament and especially through His Son Jesus in the New Testament. They remind us that the fundamental choice we make determines how we live our lives. Joshua, in our first reading, and Paul, in the second reading, make similar challenges to the people to make their choice.  Today we, too, are challenged to decide whom we will serve. Scripture lessons summarized: In the first reading Joshua challenges the Israelites to decide whom they will serve, the gods of their fathers, the gods of the Amorites in whose country they are then dwelling or the God of Israelites Who has done so much for them. The Renewal of Covenant ceremony in Joshua 24 reminds us that the Eucharist is a Covenant meal that calls for a decision of Faith.  The Response for today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 34), encourages perseverance to the end, when we shall eventually "taste" (fully realize through personal experience), and "see" (everything, past, present and future, falling into place), "the goodness of the Lord!" Paul, in the second reading, emphasizes the unity that must exist in the Body of Christ and the intimate relationship between Jesus and His followers. It also challenges the Ephesian Christians to build Christian marriages on mutual respect and love. Paul says that the Christian husband and wife should stand together in love before God, respecting each other’s rights and dignity. He also uses the husband-wife relationship as an analogy to explain the close relationship between Christ and the Church. That is why he urges his faithful community in Ephesus, “Live in love, as Christ has loved us.” He wants them to make the right choice in life. Paul reminds us that Jesus nourishes us, the members of his Church, through the Eucharist, making us his own Flesh and Blood, as husband and wife become one flesh. Concluding his long Eucharistic discourse in today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges his Jewish audience to make their choice of accepting the New Covenant he offers in his Body and Blood or of joining those who have lost their Faith in him and left him, expressing their confusion and doubts about his claims. Today’s passage describes the various reactions of the people to Jesus’ claims.  As Joshua spoke to his followers, Jesus speaks to the twelve apostles and gives them the option of leaving him or staying with him. The disciples cannot reject Jesus after all that he has done for them. Peter, their spokesman, asks Jesus how they can turn to anyone else – Jesus is the only one who has the message of eternal life. The apostles exercise their freedom of choice by choosing to stay with Jesus. In the Eucharistic celebration, we, like Peter, are called to make a decision, profess our Faith in God’s Son and renew the Covenant ratified in his life, death and Resurrection. First reading, Joshua 24:1-2, 15-17, 18, explained: In our first reading, taken from the book of Joshua (the leader who succeeded Moses), Joshua challenges the Israelites who have entered the Promised Land to make a choice. He challenges the people to reaffirm their Covenant relationship with Yahweh. By that time (12th century B.C.), the Promised Land had been divided up among the tribes of Israel. But a big concern is whether the tribes will remain faithful to the Lord God or drift away from their worship of and obedience to the God of Israel.  So before departing from them in death, Joshua gathers the tribal leaders around him to issue his last words of advice.  They gather at Shechem, 40 miles north of Jerusalem, where God had first appeared to Abraham and promised to make his descendants a great nation (Genesis 12:6ff and 33:18ff).  It was a fitting place for the renewal of the Covenant.  Joshua reminds the people of what God has done for them in rescuing them from slavery in Egypt, providing for their survival in the desert and giving them victory over their enemies.  God has been their Deliverer, Provider and Protector. This is the God that Joshua calls Lord and with Whom he wants to be covenanted.   Joshua's challenge to the Israelites is to decide, then and there, whom they will serve, the gods of their fathers, the gods of the Amorites among whom they now live, or this God Who has done so much for them.  They have to decide for the God of Israel or to reject Him in favor of the idols of their fathers and neighbors. Their decision for God should be reflected in their fidelity to the terms of the Covenant, i.e. the Law. Then Joshua sets the example for the rest of Israelites: “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua’s challenge prefigures the choice the apostles must make in today’s Gospel. We, too, are asked today whether or not we choose to remain in discipleship to Jesus. Second Reading, Ephesians 5:21-32, explained: In the second reading, Paul, writing to the Ephesians, gives us the criteria for our daily moral choices in the family, parish community and civil society. He wants the Ephesians to use in all spheres of Christian life the criteria for the relationship of a successful marriage. The husband is to use the authority that society gives him over his family, not to dominate and seek his own selfish satisfaction but rather to aid in the salvation and spiritual development of his family and household. Paul uses the image of a marriage relationship primarily to express the bond that exists between Christ and the Church. In addition, he uses the image of marriage to describe the relationship that should exist among believers. Those who enter into the Covenant of marriage should love and submit to one another in mutual care and respect, just as Christ submitted himself in loving sacrifice for the Church. Paul wants the Ephesians to accept, love, mutually respect, serve and recognize the true dignity of each member of Christ as the norms for all their relationships, both in the family and in their Faith community. Paul also reminds them, and reminds us, that Jesus nourishes the members of his Church through the Eucharist, making them His own Flesh and Blood, as husband and wife become one flesh. So, the norms of our every relationship must be acceptance, love, mutual respect, service and recognition of the true dignity of each member of Christ. Our choices in family life and parish life should be guided by this high ideal. Gospel exegesis: A tough teaching without compromise: "This teaching is difficult.  Who can accept it?" It was Jesus' disciples who made this complaint.  They were offended by Jesus' language -- his imagery -- the metaphors he used in his Eucharistic discourse. It was Jesus' dramatic way of saying that we must accept him totally, without any conditions or reservations. His thoughts and attitudes, his values, his life-view must become totally ours. Above all we are to identify with him in the offering of his Flesh and the pouring out of his Blood on the cross, the symbol of God's unutterable love for us. But without giving any further explanation, Jesus simply challenges them, and us, to open ourselves to the gift of Faith that God is offering us: “No one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father” (v. 65). Jesus tries to help his remaining followers to  make a leap of Faith, because it is  only with Faith that they will be able to see and grasp the triple mystery which has been revealed to them, namely, (1) the Incarnation (I am the Bread that came down from Heaven, 6:41); (2) the Redemption (the Bread that I give is my Flesh for the life of the world, 6:51); (3) the Ascension and glorification of Jesus (the Son of Man will ascend to where he was before, 6:62). “Flesh and “spirit.” Having insisted earlier that the believer must eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of the Son of Man in order to have eternal life, Jesus now tells his disciples "that the flesh is of no avail." But "flesh" here is not the Eucharist. Rather, "flesh" means natural sustenance, which cannot give spiritual nourishment. And the "Spirit" here means the life-giving Holy Spirit Who will be given to believers after Jesus' ascent into heaven. Peter’s response, "Master, to whom we shall go? You have the words of eternal life,” reflects the Faith-filled, free and whole-hearted decision of the early Christian community to follow Jesus and his teaching. While giving Holy Communion, the priest says, "The Body of Christ" and we respond with a total, “Amen” or "Yes!" That “Yes!” is not just an act of Faith in the Real Presence but a total commitment of myself to Jesus in the community of which I am a member. Some Bible scholars consider Jesus’ question, “Do you want to leave me, too?” to Peter and the apostle’s response as parallel to Jesus’ question, “Who do you think I am?” and Peter’s confession of faith at Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27-30; Matthew 16:13-20; Luke 9:18-21). Accepting the “scandal of the cross.” We are reminded of Paul, who spoke of "the offense (scandal) of the cross" (Gal. 5:11), and who said, "The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing" (1 Cor. 1:18).  The complaints of the disciples (v. 61), linked them to the Israelites who followed Moses into the wilderness.  Those early Israelites were unhappy because their journey was hard.  Faithful discipleship is seldom easy. Why is the Gospel offensive and scandalous?  It is because God's ways are not our ways.  It is offensive because it is costly.  When Christ calls us to eat his Flesh and to drink his Blood, he is inviting us to participate in his death.  The Christians who first heard this Gospel experienced persecution.  They knew martyred Christians, and they knew Christians who had avoided martyrdom by compromising their Faith. The Gospel with no offense would be like a surgeon with no scalpel -- having no power to heal.  Christ and his cross, truly revealed, will always be an offense, except to the redeemed. The Church must always be ready to give offense -- to speak out for Christ and against the destructive beliefs and behaviors that the world finds so attractive. The total assimilation of Jesus' spirit and outlook into our lives is very challenging. And it was a challenge that some of Jesus' disciples were not prepared to face. The reason? "There are among you some who do not believe, do not trust me." Faith is not simply a set of ideas to be held on to. It is a living relationship with a Person and His vision of life. It is a relationship that needs to grow and be deepened with the years. It is a relationship that has constantly to be re-appraised in a constantly changing world. We must hear Peter’s words to Jesus resounding through the centuries: “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Life messages: # 1: Let us make our choice for Christ and live it:  We Christians have accepted the challenge of following the way of Christ and making choices for Christ, fortified by the Bread he gives and relying on the power of the Holy Spirit. The Heavenly Bread and the Holy Spirit will give us the courage of our Christian convictions to accept the Church’s teachings and to face ridicule, criticisms and even social isolation for our adherence to sound Christian principles in our lives. The very option or possibility of choosing for or against Jesus is repeated over and over again in the modern age. We should resolve to take a stand for Jesus and accept the consequences. We recognize, in our going to Communion, the accepting of that challenge to be totally one with Jesus. When the priest gives us Holy Communion saying, "The Body of Christ,” we respond, "Amen." That "Amen," that "Yes," is not just an act of Faith in the Real Presence; it is a total commitment of ourselves to Jesus in the community of which we are members. We must accept him totally, without any conditions or reservations. Christ’s thoughts and attitudes, his values, his life-view must become totally ours, and must govern and shape our lives. Above all, we are to identify with him in the offering of his Flesh and the pouring out of his Blood on the cross, the symbol of God's unutterable love for us.   JOKE OF THE WEEK: 1) Choose my   God and my denomination and rite:  Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Catholic." I said, "Me, too! Latin rite Catholic or Oriental rite Catholic?" He said, "Oriental rite Catholic.” I said, "Me, too! Syrian or Armenian or Maronite Catholic?" He said, "Syrian." I said, "Me, too! Syro-Malabar or Syro-Malankara rite?" He said, "Syro-Malankara." I said, "Die, former heretic!" And I pushed him over the bridge. (Adapted from Emo Philips) 2) A climber fell off a cliff. As he tumbled down into a deep gorge he grabbed hold of a branch of a small tree. “Help” he shouted. “Is there anyone up there?” A deep majestic voice from the sky echoed through the gorge. “I will help you, my son. But first you must have Faith in me.” “All right, all right. I trust you.” answered the man. The voice replied, “Let go of the branch.” There was a long pause and the man shouted again, “Is there anyone else up there?”
OT XXII – B (1)
OT XXII – B (1)

SYNOPSIS OF O. T. XXII (AUG 30) HOMILY: Mk 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (L-15)

Introduction: Today’s readings explain what true religion is. It is not simply a scrupulous, external observance of rules, laws, traditions and rituals. It is a loving, obedient relationship with God expressed in obeying His Commandments, worshipping Him, recognizing His presence in other human beings and rendering them loving and humble service. Prayers, rituals, Sacraments and religious practices only help us to practice this true religion in our daily lives.

Scripture lessons: The first reading explains that religion is a Covenant relationship with a caring, providing and protecting God, fostered by keeping His Commandments given through Moses. God gave Israel the Law so that the Israelites might keep their Covenant with Yahweh and thank Him for His love and fidelity to His Chosen People. The Law was also intended to keep them a united, holy and intelligent nation, proud of their powerful, protective, single God.

In the second reading, St. James defines true religion as keeping the word of God and doing His will by helping the needy, the poor and the weak in the community. He challenges Christians to become doers of the word, not merely hearers.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus describes true religion as serving God and all His children with a pure and holy heart.  The Gospel explains the encounter of Jesus with the Sanhedrin observers and the Pharisees who had been sent to assess his unique, controversial teachings. These experts had found Jesus’ teachings an open violation of the “Traditions of the Elders, and His implied and spoken claims “blasphemous. It was in the fifth century BC that the scribes started adding oral traditions as interpretations and practical applications of the Mosaic Law. The Pharisees observed them and insisted that all the Jews should do so. The original noble purpose was to sanctify the daily lives of the people, making them “holy as God is holy” (“You are a priestly kingdom, a holy nation” -- Ex 19: 6), and different in lifestyle from their pagan neighbors. Jesus uses the occasion as a teachable moment to give them the following lessons: 1) Don’t teach human doctrines as dogmas. 2) Internal disposition, purity and holiness are more important than external ritual observances. 3) Keep your heart holy as it is the source of sins, vices and evil habits. The observance of traditions and of washing rituals does not correct the internal motivations and inclinations that really defile people. 4) External piety without internal holiness is hypocrisy.

Life messages: 1) We need to learn and keep the spirit of the Church’s laws and ritual practices. For example our  Sunday obligation is intended to allow us to worship God in the parish community, to offer our lives to God, to ask His pardon for sins, to thank God for His blessings and to receive Divine life and strength from Him in Holy Communion. Our daily family prayers are meant to thank God for his blessings, to present the family's needs before God, to ask pardon for sins and to maintain the spirit of unity and love in the family.

2) Let us avoid the tendency to become cafeteria Christians that is, to choose certain Commandments and Church laws to follow, and to ignore the others as we choose  certain food items and ignore others in a cafeteria.

XXII (Aug 30) ; ; Mk 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Anecdotes: 1) "Put your hand in Jesus' hand":  For almost 50 years Mother Teresa worked in the slums of Calcutta, India. She worked among the most forsaken people on earth. You and I would recoil from most of the people that she touched every day – the dispossessed, the downtrodden, the diseased, the desperate. And yet, everybody who met Mother Teresa remarked on her warm smile. How, after almost 50 years of working in conditions like that did she keep a warm smile on her face? Mother explains that it is interesting. "When I was leaving home in Yugoslavia at age of 18 to become a nun, my mother told me something beautiful and very strange”. She said, 'You go put your hand in Jesus hand and walk along with him.'" And that was the secret of Mother Teresa's life ever after. (Rev. King Duncan). Many of us here have good jobs. And we live in nice homes, and we have easy situations. But we don't have the warm smile on our faces that this little nun, working in the most desperate situation imaginable, had on her face. What's the difference? It may be that we've never put our hand in Jesus hand. It may be that we have him only on our lips as St. James remarks in the second reading.

2) Ritual washing using drinking-water: William Barclay in The Daily Study Bible tells the story of an old Jewish rabbi in the Roman prison diagnosed with acute dehydration which would have led to his death.  The prison guards insisted that the rabbi had been given his quota of drinking water.  So the prison doctor and the officer in charge instructed the guards to watch the rabbi and ascertain what he was doing with his ration of water.  They were shocked to find that the rabbi was using almost all his water for traditional ritual washing before prayer and meals.  Today’s Gospel tells us how the tradition-addicted Pharisees started questioning Jesus when his disciples omitted the ritual washing of hands in public before a meal.

3) Pursuit of enemy not hindered by prayer: Barclay’s second story is about a Muslim pursuing an enemy to kill him. In the midst of the pursuit, the Azan, or public call to prayer, sounded. Instantly the Muslim got off his horse, unrolled his prayer mat, knelt down and prayed the required prayers as fast as he could. Then he leaped back on his horse to pursue his enemy in order to kill him. Jesus opposes this type of legalism in the Jewish religion in today’s Gospel.

Introduction: Today’s readings explain what true religion is. It is not simply the scrupulous external observance of rules, laws, traditions and rituals. It is a loving, obedient relationship with God expressed in recognizing His presence in other human beings and rendering them loving and humble service. Prayers, rituals, Sacraments and religious practices only help us to practice this true religion in our daily lives.

Scripture lessons:  The first reading explains that religion is a Covenant relationship with a caring, providing and protecting God, fostered by keeping His Commandments given through Moses. God gave Israel the Law so that the Israelites might keep their Covenant with Yahweh and thank Him for His love and fidelity to His Chosen People. The Law was also intended to keep them a united, holy and intelligent nation proud of their powerful, protective, single God. The Responsorial Psalm describes a person who practices true religion —blameless and just, thoughtful and honest in dealing with others. In the second reading, St. James defines true religion as keeping the word of God and doing His will by helping the needy, the poor and the weak in the community. He challenges Christians to become doers of the word, not merely hearers.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus describes true religion as serving God and all His children with a pure and holy heart.  The occasion is a debate between Jesus and the Pharisees on the subject of "Tradition." Jesus warns the Pharisees against their tendency to equate traditional “human precepts” with God’s will. He blames the scribes and the Pharisees for giving undue importance to external observances in the name of “tradition,” while ignoring the Law’s real spirit. True religion should focus on the essentials. In particular, Jesus criticizes Pharisaic observance of ritual washing and declares that it is our inner motivations and dispositions that produce our purity or impurity.

First reading: : In the fifth century BC, internal corruption and external pressures had brought the Israelites to the brink of extinction.  Kings, priests, prophets and Temple had failed to hold them together. Deuteronomy, recorded under the Holy Spirit's direction during the crisis of the Babylonian exile, 587-539 BC, presented the ancient legal traditions surrounding the Law which had been given Israel by the Lord God through Moses. In this book, Moses described the beauty of the Law and commanded its observance as Israel’s sign of gratitude for the Lord God’s promise of the land. He assured the people that their God-given Law and their faithful observance of the Law would serve three purposes: a) it would help Israel survive as a people; b) it would make the people proud of their God and His Covenant; c) it would make neighboring nations marvel at the graciousness and justice of the God of Israel, at His closeness to His people and at their closeness to Him.  Hence, Moses challenged the Israelites with the questions:"What great nation is there that has its gods so near as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him?  What other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?" Moses cited the praise they would receive from neighboring nations as an additional reason for keeping the Law: "This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people."

Second Reading, : Today we begin a series of five Sunday readings from the letter of James.  In the letter, James addresses the whole Christian Church in general, rather than speaking just to a particular community or person as Paul did in his letters.  After dealing with the value of trials and temptations and refuting the argument that temptations come from God (James 1:2-18), James provides the only formal definition of religion in the Bible. He defines true religion as translating the love of God into deeds of loving kindness toward the vulnerable members of the community and putting into practice the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. More specifically, true religion means that one is to “care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Exegesis: The context: Just as Jesus and his disciples were reforming Judaism by transforming it into Christianity, the Pharisees had begun reforming Judaism at an earlier period. They considered the “Written Law” or Torah or the Law of Moses (the first five books of the Bible), and the “Oral Law” (clarifications and additions to the Mosaic Law given by scribes from the fifth century B.C.), as equally holy and binding.  These oral laws, known in Jesus’ time as the “Traditions of the Elders,” were a series of oral traditions intended to act as “a fence around the Law,” so that the Mosaic Law itself, and, thus, the Covenant, would never be violated. The original, noble intention of the scribes who formulated these traditions and of the Pharisees who practiced them was to have their religion permeate all Israel, purifying the people in their daily lives, making them holy as their God is holy.  In spite of these noble intentions, however, by the time of Jesus, their religion had degenerated, being reduced to only the exact performance of external rituals.  Small wonder, then, that the scribes and Pharisees were scandalized by the revolutionary teaching of Jesus, by the unique Divine and Messianic claims made by him and by his violations of the “Traditions of the Elders”! Hence, the supreme governing body of Judaism, the Sanhedrin, sent from Jerusalem as observers a team of scribes (experts in the Jewish Law), to assess Jesus’ claims, miracles, violations of traditions and controversial teachings.  A few of the local Pharisees accompanied the experts and started questioning Jesus when they noticed that Jesus’ disciples had omitted the ritual cleansing of hands before a party meal.

Ritual versus hygienic washing: Ritual washing was required of the priest, but there was nothing in the Mosaic Law that required the same behavior from lay people.  Pious Jews began to adopt that habit on the principle of Exodus 19:6 — “you are a priestly kingdom and a holy nation,” and gradually it became the “the tradition of the elders.”  The ritual cleansing of raw food items bought from the market, of vessels used for cooking and of the hands of those who were to eat the prepared food, like many similar practices, evolved later, to remind the Chosen People of their call to be "set apart as a holy and consecrated people," with values and life-style consciously different from those of pagans.  But in Jesus’ day, the Jews ignored the spirit of these traditions and practiced them simply as an essential judicial and ritual requisite.  The question "Why do your disciples not wash their hands before eating?" persisted. It created tensions in the early Church, particularly in the Christian community of Mark where some of the new Christians were Jews and some were Gentiles.  The Gentiles did not follow the Jewish customs, and, consequently, some of the Jewish Christians were upset.

Jesus’ reaction: In response to the Sanhedrin’s public criticism, Jesus stands in the prophetic tradition by citing Isaiah 29:13, where the prophet castigates the tendency to “teach mere human precepts as dogmas.”  "This people pays Me lip-service but their heart is far from Me.  Empty is the reverence they do Me, because they teach as dogmas mere human precepts." The Pharisees placed emphasis, not on building a relationship with God and their fellow-human beings, but on checking out their own external behavior.  Originally these religious traditions were intended to symbolize inner realities -- outward signs of inward devotion to God's Will.  But the Pharisees were using them to boost their own egos.  Hence, Jesus flatly denied that external things or circumstances could separate a person from God.  Jesus was not criticizing rituals given in the Mosaic Law, but the the giving of disproportionate importance to these things while neglecting what was far more important, the love of God and the care for one's fellow-human beings.  By insisting that uncleanness comes from violations of the moral law rather than of minute ritual prescriptions, Jesus denied a basic principle of Jewish religion and set aside a considerable amount of Mosaic Law.  "Nothing that enters a man from outside can make him impure; that which comes out of him, and only that, constitutes impurity."

Real source of impurity:  As illustrations of the evils which really make a person sinful and alienate him from God, Jesus mentions six evil acts: practices of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, adultery, acts of coveting or lust, and wickedness in general.  Then he adds a checklist of six vices or sins of the heart: deceit (lying), wantonness (shamelessness, immodesty), jealousy or envy, slander (imputing evil to others), pride (arrogance), and folly (the stupidity of one lacking moral judgment).  The point is clear.  Righteousness is not what we do on the outside, but who we are on the inside.  Righteousness is not about the hand; it is about the heart.  Acts of adultery, murder and unkindness come from within, from hearts that are adulterous, murderous and unkind.  For Jesus, a community that is actively worshiping God is a community that does not base its behavior solely on precepts and doctrines, but is integrally connected to God through righteous, just and loving relationships.  What makes a person holy are the attitudes and actions that Paul in Gal 5:22-23 lists as “the fruit” of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Life messages: 1) We need to keep the spirit of the Church’s laws and practices. For example our Sunday obligation is intended to allow us to worship God in the parish community, to offer our lives to God, to ask His pardon for our sins, to thank God for His blessings, to  present our needs before Him  and to receive Divine Life and strength from Him in receiving Holy Communion. Our daily   family prayers are meant to thank God for His blessings, to present the family’s needs before God, to ask pardon for all our sins, and to maintain the spirit of unity and love in the family.

2) Let us avoid the tendency to become cafeteria Christians:  As the Pharisees did, we too show the tendency to add to or subtract from God’s laws given in the Bible and taught by the Church. Some of us pick and choose certain Commandments to follow, ignoring the others as we do food offerings in a cafeteria. For example some actively do corporal and spiritual works of Charity, but avoidSunday Mass or remain unfaithful to the obligations attached to the   gift of their sexuality or the sacrament of marriage. Others are interested in fulfilling only the “minimal obligations” of the Faith. They come to Mass late and leave early. They make an effort to avoid serious sins, but don’t go to confession even when they fall into mortal sins.

3) Let us accept the challenge to become hearers and doers of God’s word as St. James instructs us:  Let us ask ourselves how theSunday or daily readings are affecting or changing our lives. That will show us whether we are being attentive listeners to, and doers of, God’s word. We become more fully Jesus’ family members, only when we consistently “hear the word of God and do it” (Lk 8:21). When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion today, let us ask him for the grace to become the doers of his word as he was the doer of his Fathers’ will.

JOKE OF THE WEEK: 1) Who is the Pharisee?  Father O'Malley was going through the mail one day after his powerful sermon on the Pharisaic life of some of his parishioners on the previous Sunday.  Drawing a single sheet of paper from an envelope, he found written on it just one word: "FOOL."  The next Sunday at Mass, he announced, "I have known many people who have written letters and forgot to sign their names.  But this week I received a letter from someone who signed his name and forgot to write a letter."

2) The Jewish tradition: Late in the evening, the young Jew knocked at the door and asked as an elderly man opened the door. "Sir, what time is it?"  The old Jew just stared at him and did not answer.  “Sir, forgive me for disturbing you at this time,” said the young Jew, “but I really want to know what time it is.  I have to find a place to sleep.”  The old Jew said, “Son, the inn on the next street is the only one in this small city.  I don't know you, so you must be a stranger.  If I answer you now, according to our Jewish tradition, I must invite you to my home.  You're handsome and I have a beautiful daughter.  You will both fall in love and you'll want to get married.  And tell me, why would I want a son-in-law who can't even afford a watch?”

3) Amazing family tradition: Isaac Ole had heard from his grandma stories of an amazing family tradition in his family.  It seems that his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all been able to walk on water on their 21st birthday.  On that day, they'd walk across the lake to the boat club for their first legal drink.  So when Isaac’s 21st birthday came around, he and his pal Sven took a boat out to the middle of the lake.  Ole stepped out of the boat and nearly drowned!  Sven just managed to pull him to safety. Furious and confused, Ole went to see his grandmother.  "Grandma," he asked," it's my 21st birthday, so why can't I walk across the lake like my father, his father, and his father before him?"  Granny looked into Ole's eyes with a broad smile and said, "Because your father, grandfather and great-grandfather were born in January when the lake is frozen and you were born in hot July!"

OT XXII – B (2)
OT XXII – B (2)
SYNOPSIS: OT XXII [B]  HOMILY: Mk 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Introduction: Today’s readings explain what true religion is. It is not simply a scrupulous, external observance of rules, laws, traditions and rituals. It is a loving, obedient relationship with God expressed in obeying His Commandments, worshipping Him, recognizing His presence in other human beings and rendering them loving and humble service. Prayers, rituals, Sacraments and religious practices only help us to practice this true religion in our daily lives. Scripture lessons: The first reading explains that religion is a Covenant relationship with a caring, providing and protecting God, fostered by keeping His Commandments given through Moses. God gave Israel the Law so that the Israelites might keep their Covenant with Yahweh and thank Him for His love and fidelity to His Chosen People. The Law was also intended to keep them a united, holy and intelligent nation, proud of their powerful, protective, single God. In the second reading, St. James defines true religion as keeping the word of God and doing His will by helping the needy, the poor and the weak in the community. He challenges Christians to become doers of the word, not merely hearers. In today’s Gospel, Jesus describes true religion as serving God and all His children with a pure and holy heart.  The Gospel explains the encounter of Jesus with the Sanhedrin observers and the Pharisees who had been sent to assess his unique, controversial teachings. These experts had found Jesus’ teachings an open violation of the “Traditions of the Elders, and his implied and spoken claims “blasphemous. They also noticed that Jesus’ disciples omitted the required ritual washing before meals. It was in the fifth century BC that the scribes started adding oral traditions as interpretations and practical applications of the Mosaic Law. The Pharisees observed them and insisted that all the Jews should do so. The original noble purpose was to sanctify the daily lives of the people, making them “holy as God is holy” (“You are a priestly kingdom, a holy nation” -- Ex 19: 6), and different in lifestyle from their pagan neighbors. Jesus uses the occasion as a teachable moment to give them the following lessons: 1) Don’t teach human doctrines as dogmas of Faith. 2) Sincerity of heart, internal disposition, purity and holiness are more important than mere external ritual observances. 3) Keep your heart holy as it is the source of sins, vices and evil habits. The observance of traditions and of washing rituals does not correct the internal motivations and inclinations that really defile people. 4) External piety without internal holiness is hypocrisy. Life messages: 1) We need to learn and keep the spirit of the Church’s laws and ritual practices. For example, our Sunday obligation is intended to allow us to worship God in the parish community, to offer our lives to God, to ask His pardon for sins, to thank God for His blessings and to receive Divine life and strength from Him in Holy Communion. Our daily family prayers are meant to thank God for his blessings, to present the family's needs before God, to ask pardon for sins, to maintain the spirit of unity and love in the family and to keep close relationship with God.  2) Let us avoid the tendency to become cafeteria Christians that is, to choose certain Commandments and Church laws to follow, and to ignore the others as we choose certain food items and ignore others in a cafeteria. OT XXII Dt 4:1-2, 6-8; Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mk 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23   Anecdotes: 1) "Put your hand in Jesus' hand":  For almost 50 years Mother Teresa worked in the slums of Calcutta, India. She worked among the most forsaken people on earth. You and I would recoil from most of the people that she touched every day – the dispossessed, the downtrodden, the diseased, the desperate. And yet, everybody who met Mother Teresa remarked on her warm smile. How, after almost 50 years of working in conditions like that did she keep a warm smile on her face? Mother explains that it is interesting. "When I was leaving home in Yugoslavia at age of 18 to become a nun, my mother told me something beautiful and very strange”. She said, 'You go put your hand in Jesus’ hand and walk along with him.'" And that was the secret of Mother Teresa's life ever after. (Rev. King Duncan). Many of us here have good jobs, we live in nice homes, and we have easy situations. But we don't have the warm smile on our faces that this little nun, working in the most desperate situation imaginable, had on her face. What's the difference? It may be that we've never put our hand in Jesus’ hand. It may be that we have him only on our lips as St. James remarks in the second reading and as Jesus remarks in today’s Gospel. 2) Ritual washing using drinking-water: William Barclay in The Daily Study Bible tells the story of an old Jewish rabbi in the Roman prison diagnosed with acute dehydration which would have led to his death.  The prison guards insisted that the rabbi had been given his quota of drinking water.  So, the prison doctor and the officer in charge instructed the guards to watch the rabbi and ascertain what he was doing with his ration of water.  They were shocked to find that the rabbi was using almost all his water for traditional ritual washing before prayer and meals.  Today’s Gospel tells us how the tradition-addicted Pharisees started questioning Jesus when his disciples omitted the ritual washing of hands in public before a meal. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies) 3) “I don’t smoke during Lent!” About 2 o’clock on a cold, blustery morning the rectory telephone rang. “I think grandpa is dying,” an excited voice declared. As it was just two blocks away Fr. Murray decided to walk to anoint the dying man. As he passed an alley a figure with a gun stepped out and demanded: “Give me your money.” The priest told the gunman: “My wallet is in the pocket of my coat. As the priest opened his coat the gunman noticed his Roman collar. He said: “I am sorry, I didn’t know that you were a priest. I beg your pardon Father! Keep your money.” In grateful relief Fr. Murray offered him a cigar. But the fellow shook his head saying, “No Father, thank you very much, but I don’t smoke during Lent!” In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls such blind observance of rules and tradition, hypocrisy. (Msgr. Arthur Tonne). Introduction: Today’s readings explain what true religion is. It is not simply the scrupulous external observance of rules, laws, traditions and rituals. It is a loving, obedient relationship with God expressed in recognizing His presence in other human beings and rendering them loving and humble service. Prayers, rituals, Sacraments and religious practices only help us to practice this true religion in our daily lives. Scripture lessons summarized:  The first reading explains that religion is a Covenant relationship with a caring, providing and protecting God, fostered by keeping His Commandments given through Moses. God gave Israel the Law so that the Israelites might keep their Covenant with Yahweh and thank Him for His love and fidelity to His Chosen People. The Law was also intended to keep them a united, holy and intelligent nation proud of their powerful, protective, single God. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 15) describes a person who practices true religion —blameless and just, thoughtful and honest in dealing with others. In the second reading, St. James defines true religion as keeping the word of God and doing His will by helping the needy, the poor and the weak in the community. He challenges Christians to become doers of the word, not merely hearers.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus describes true religion as serving God and all His children with a pure and holy heart.  The occasion is a debate between Jesus and the Pharisees on the subject of "Tradition." Jesus warns the Pharisees against their tendency to equate traditional “human precepts” with God’s will. He blames the scribes and the Pharisees for giving undue importance to external observances in the name of “tradition,” while ignoring the Law’s real spirit. True religion should focus on the essentials. In particular, Jesus criticizes Pharisaic observance of ritual washing and declares that it is our inner motivations and dispositions that produce our purity or impurity. First reading: Dt 4:1-2, 6-8, explained: In the fifth century BC, internal corruption and external pressures had brought the Israelites to the brink of extinction.  Kings, priests, prophets and Temple had failed to hold them together. Deuteronomy recorded under the Holy Spirit's direction during the crisis of the Babylonian exile, 587-539 BC, presented the ancient legal traditions surrounding the Law which had been given Israel by the Lord God through Moses. In this book, Moses described the beauty of the Law and commanded its observance as Israel’s sign of gratitude for the Lord God’s promise of the land. He assured the people that their God-given Law and their faithful observance of the Law would serve three purposes: a) it would help Israel survive as a people; b) it would make the people proud of their God and His Covenant; c) it would make neighboring nations marvel at the graciousness and justice of the God of Israel, at His closeness to His people and at their closeness to Him.  Hence, Moses challenged the Israelites with the questions: "What great nation is there that has its gods so near as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to Him?  What other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?" Moses cited the praise they would receive from neighboring nations as an additional reason for keeping the Law: "This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people." Second Reading, James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27, explained: Today we begin a series of five Sunday readings from the letter of James.  In this letter, James addresses the whole Christian Church in general, rather than speaking just to a particular community or person as Paul did in his letters.  After dealing with the value of trials and temptations and refuting the argument that temptations come from God (James 1:2-18), James provides the only formal definition of religion in the Bible. He defines true religion as translating the love of God into deeds of loving kindness toward the vulnerable members of the community and putting into practice the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. More specifically, true religion means that one is to “care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” Gospel exegesis: The context: Our Jewish brothers and sisters called the Law, which guided and directed and sanctified their lives, Torah and regarded it as revelation from God.  But, just as Jesus and his disciples were reforming Judaism by transforming it into Christianity, the Pharisees had begun reforming Judaism at an earlier period. They considered the “Written Law” or Torah or the Law of Moses (the first five books of the Bible), and the “Oral Law” (clarifications of, and additions to, the Mosaic Law given by scribes from the fifth century B.C.), as equally holy and binding.  These oral laws, known in Jesus’ time as the “Traditions of the Elders,” were a series of oral traditions intended to act as “a fence around the Law,” so that the Mosaic Law itself, and, thus, the Covenant, would never be violated. The original, noble intention of the scribes who formulated these traditions and of the Pharisees who practiced them was to have their religion permeate all Israel, purifying the people in their daily lives, making them holy as their God is holy.  In spite of these noble intentions, however, by the time of Jesus, their religion had degenerated, being reduced to only the exact performance of external rituals.  Small wonder, then, that the scribes and Pharisees were scandalized by the revolutionary teaching of Jesus, by the unique Divine and Messianic claims made by him and by his violations of the “Traditions of the Elders”! Hence, the supreme governing body of Judaism, the Sanhedrin, sent from Jerusalem as observers a team of scribes (experts in the Jewish Law), to assess Jesus’ claims, miracles, violations of traditions and controversial teachings.  A few of the local Pharisees accompanied the experts and started questioning Jesus when they noticed that Jesus’ disciples had omitted the ritual cleansing of hands before a party meal. Ritual versus hygienic washing: Ritual washing was required of the priest, but there was nothing in the Mosaic Law that required the same behavior from lay people.  Pious Jews began to adopt that habit on the principle of Exodus 19:6 — “you are a priestly kingdom and a holy nation,” and gradually it became the “the tradition of the elders.”  The ritual cleansing of raw food items bought from the market, of vessels used for cooking and of the hands of those who were to eat the prepared food, like many similar practices, evolved later, to remind the Chosen People of their call to be "set apart as a holy and consecrated people," with values and life-style consciously different from those of pagans.  But in Jesus’ day, the Jews ignored the spirit of these traditions and practiced them simply as an essential judicial and ritual requisite.  The question "Why do your disciples not wash their hands before eating?" persisted. It created tensions in the early Church, particularly in the Christian community of Mark where some of the new Christians were Jews and some were Gentiles.  The Gentiles did not follow the Jewish customs, and, consequently, some of the Jewish Christians were upset. Jesus’ reaction: In response to the Sanhedrin’s public criticism, Jesus stands in the prophetic tradition by citing Isaiah 29:13, where the prophet castigates the tendency to “teach mere human precepts as dogmas.”  "This people pays Me lip-service but their heart is far from Me.  Empty is the reverence they do Me, because they teach as dogmas mere human precepts." The Pharisees placed emphasis, not on building a relationship with God and their fellow-human beings, but on checking out their own external behavior.  Originally these religious traditions were intended to symbolize inner realities -- outward signs of inward devotion to God's Will.  But the Pharisees were using them to boost their own egos.  Hence, Jesus flatly denied that external things or circumstances could separate a person from God.  Jesus was not criticizing rituals given in the Mosaic Law, but the giving of disproportionate importance to these things while neglecting what was far more important, the love of God and the care for one's fellow-human beings.  By insisting that uncleanness comes from violations of the moral law rather than of minute ritual prescriptions, Jesus denied a basic principle of Jewish religion and set aside a considerable amount of Mosaic Law.  "Nothing that enters a man from outside can make him impure; that which comes out of him, and only that, constitutes impurity." Jesus contradicted the Pharisees, not because he undervalued the Jewish Law, but because he understood that Mosaic Law was primarily about love and freedom, and that its ritual elements were all subordinate to this primary concern. Real source of impurity:  As illustrations of the evils which really make a person sinful and alienate him from God, Jesus mentions six evil acts: practices of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, adultery, acts of coveting or lust, and wickedness in general.  Then he adds a checklist of six vices or sins of the heart: deceit (lying), wantonness (shamelessness, immodesty), jealousy or envy, slander (imputing evil to others), pride (arrogance), and folly (the stupidity of one lacking moral judgment).  The point is clear.  Righteousness is not what we do on the outside, but who we are on the inside.  Righteousness is not about the hand; it is about the heart.  Acts of adultery, murder and unkindness come from within, from hearts that are adulterous, murderous and unkind.  For Jesus, a community that is actively worshiping God is a community that does not base its behavior solely on precepts and doctrines, but is integrally connected to God through righteous, just and loving relationships.  What makes a person holy are the attitudes and actions that Paul in Gal 5:22-23 lists as “the fruit” of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”   Life messages: 1) We need to keep the spirit of the Church’s laws and practices. For example our Sunday obligation is intended to allow us to worship God in the parish community, to offer our lives to God, to ask His pardon for our sins, to thank God for His blessings, to present our needs before Him  and to receive Divine Life and strength from Him in receiving Holy Communion. Our daily   family prayers are meant to thank God for His blessings, to present the family’s needs before God, to ask pardon for all our sins, and to maintain the spirit of unity and love in the family.  2) Let us avoid the tendency to become cafeteria Christians:  As the Pharisees did, we too show the tendency to add to or subtract from God’s laws given in the Bible and taught by the Church. Some of us pick and choose certain Commandments to follow, ignoring the others as we do food offerings in a cafeteria. For example, some actively do corporal and spiritual works of Charity, but avoid Sunday Mass or remain unfaithful to the obligations attached to the   gift of their sexuality or the sacrament of marriage. Others are interested in fulfilling only the “minimal obligations” of the Faith. They come to Mass late and leave early. They make an effort to avoid serious sins, but don’t go to confession even when they fall into mortal sins.  3) Let us accept the challenge to become hearers and doers of God’s word as St. James instructs us:  Let us ask ourselves how the Sunday or daily readings are affecting or changing our lives. That will show us whether we are being attentive listeners to, and doers of, God’s word. We become more fully Jesus’ family members, only when we consistently “hear the word of God and do it” (Lk 8:21). When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion today, let us ask him for the grace to become the doers of his word as he was the doer of his Fathers’ will.   JOKE OF THE WEEK: 1) Amazing family tradition: Isaac Ole had heard from his grandma stories of an amazing family tradition in his family.  It seems that his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all been able to walk on water on their 21st birthday.  On that day, they'd walk across the lake to the boat club for their first legal drink.  So, when Isaac’s 21st birthday came around, he and his pal Sven took a boat out to the middle of the lake.  Ole stepped out of the boat and nearly drowned!  Sven just managed to pull him to safety. Furious and confused, Ole went to see his grandmother.  "Grandma," he asked," it's my 21st birthday, so why can't I walk across the lake like my father, his father, and his father before him?"  Granny looked into Ole's eyes with a broad smile and said, "Because your father, grandfather and great-grandfather were born in January when the lake is frozen, and you were born in hot July!" 2) The Jewish tradition: Late in the evening, the young Jew knocked at the door and asked as an elderly man opened the door. "Sir, what time is it?"  The old Jew just stared at him and did not answer.  “Sir forgive me for disturbing you at this time,” said the young Jew, “but I really want to know what time it is.  I have to find a place to sleep.”  The old Jew said, “Son, the inn on the next street is the only one in this small city.  I don't know you, so you must be a stranger.  If I answer you now, according to our Jewish tradition, I must invite you to my home.  You're handsome and I have a beautiful daughter.  You will both fall in love and you'll want to get married.  And tell me, why would I want a son-in-law who can't even afford a watch?”   3) Who is the Pharisee?  Father O'Malley was going through the mail one day after his powerful sermon on the Pharisaic life of some of his parishioners on the previous Sunday.  Drawing a single sheet of paper from an envelope, he found written on it just one word: "FOOL."  The next Sunday at Mass, he announced, "I have known many people who have written letters and forgot to sign their names.  But this week I received a letter from someone who signed his name and forgot to write a letter." (Prepared: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604. USA)  
OT XXIII – B (1)
OT XXIII – B (1)

Synopsis of OT XXIII (Sept 6) Sunday Homily, Mark 7: 31-37 (L/15)

Introduction: The central theme of today’s readings is an invitation to us to become humble instruments of healing in Jesus’ hands by giving voice to the voiceless and caring love to the needy and the marginalized in our society.   The readings also invite us to open our ears to hear the word of God and to let our tongues be loosened by the Holy Spirit to convey the Good News of God’s love and salvation to others.

Scripture lessons: The first reading (Is 35:4-7), reminds us that God's eyes are constantly focused on the helpless.   God especially cares for "the frightened, the blind, the deaf, the lame, the mute," and He encourages the powerless to "be strong and fearless."

This is why, in today’s second reading (James 2:1-5), the apostle gives us some basic and challenging principles of social justice. He exhorts Christians to show no partiality based on external appearance and to practice God’s “preferential option” for the poor. He warns the faithful against scorning or shaming the poor while showing special consideration to the rich.  Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 146), sings of a God who gives sight to the blind,   raises up those who are bowed down and welcomes strangers.

Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus, by healing a deaf and mute man, fulfilled Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy, "The eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped."  The ailments listed by Isaiah are symbolic of our interior illnesses:   blindness to the needs of our neighbor, unwillingness to hear God’s voice and the inability to speak words of praise and gratitude. Through this miracle story, Mark also reminds us that no one can be a follower of the Lord without reaching out to the helpless (“preferential option for the poor”).

Life messages:  1) We need to help Jesus to heal the deaf and the mute today.  Jesus desires to give us his healing touch in order to loosen our tongues so that he may speak to the spiritually hungry through us.   He invites us to give him our hearts so that he may touch the lives of people in our day through us, just as he touched the lives of millions through saintly souls like Francis of Assisi,  Damien of Molokai, Vincent de Paul and Blessed Mother Teresa.  Jesus’ compassionate touch will help us to hear the cries of the poor and the sick.  It will teach us to show kindness, mercy and consideration to others. His healing touch will also help us convey peace and hope to those around us.

2) We need to allow Jesus to heal our spiritual deafness and muteness.   We may find it hard to speak to God in prayer and harder still to hear Him speaking to us through the Bible and through the Church.  Hence, let us imitate the dumb man in the gospel by seeking out Jesus, following him away from the crowd, and spending more of our time in coming to know  him intimately as we study Holy Scripture and experience him directly in our lives in personal prayer.

OT XXIII [B] (8/6/2015) Is 35: 4-7a; Jas 2: 1-5;   Mk 7: 31-37

Anecdote:  The “little monk” who opened blind eyes:  At the Annual National Prayer Breakfast on February 2, 1984, Ronald Reagan, the former president of the United States, told the old story of "the little monk," Telemachus, a martyr whose self-sacrificial commitment to Christian ideals opened the blind eyes and deaf ears of the Romans and their fifth century Christian Emperor Honorius. According to the story, this Turkish monk was led by an inner voice to go to Rome in order to stop the cruel and inhuman gladiatorial fights between slaves. He followed the crowds to the Coliseum where two gladiators were fighting.  He jumped into the arena and tried to stop them, shouting "In the name of Christ, hold back!"   The gladiators stopped, but the spectators became indignant.   A group of them rushed into the arena and beat Telemachus to death.  When the crowd saw the brave little monk lying dead in a pool of blood, they fell silent, leaving the stadium, one by one. Three days later, because of Telemachus' heroic sacrifice of his own life, the Emperor decreed an end to the games. In today's Gospel, which describes the miraculous healing of a deaf mute, we are invited to open our ears and eyes, loosen our tongues and pray for the courage of our Christian convictions to become the voice of the     voiceless.

# 2: "The Touch of the Master’s Hand": In the poem “The Touch of the Master’s Hand,” Myra Brooks Welch tells the story of the auctioning of an old dusty violin. The violin was about to be sold for a mere $3 when a grey-haired man stepped forward, picked it up, dusted it off, tuned it and began to play. The man played such sweet music that, when he finished, the bidding jumped into the thousands of dollars. What transformed the dusty old violin into a precious instrument? The touch of the Master’s hand. The same “touch of the Master’s hand” continues to transform our lives today. By God’s touch we become His instruments to accomplish the marvelous works described in today’s Psalm 146: to secure justice for the oppressed, give food to the hungry and set the captives free.

# 3: "Five past two." Two older men were talking. One of them was bragging just a little bit. "I just purchased the most expensive hearing aid ever made," he said. "It is imported and is guaranteed for life." The second man asked: "What kind is it?" The first man answered, "Five past two." We can laugh about the hearing loss that comes with aging. It is a minor problem that will affect most of us sooner or later. In fact, experts predict that years of rock music, leaf blowers, and noise pollution in general will result in millions of baby boomers with hearing loss. According to a recent study by the National Institutes of Health, there has been a stunning 26 percent increase in those suffering permanent hearing loss between the ages of 35 and 60, compared to 15 years earlier. [With Adam Hanft, Dictionary of the Future (New York, NY: Hyperion, 2001), p. 3.] Today’s Gospel passage tells us how Jesus healed a deaf man who was mute.

Introduction: Today’s Scripture readings offer us an invitation to become humble instruments of healing in Jesus’ hands by giving voice to the voiceless, the needy and the marginalized in our society.   Today’s Scripture also invites us to open our ears to hear the word of God and to allow the Holy Spirit to loosen our tongues to convey the Good News of God’s love and salvation to others.    The first reading (Is 35:4-7), reminds us that God's eyes are constantly focused on the helpless.   God especially cares for "the frightened, the blind, the deaf, the lame, the mute," and He encourages the powerless to "be strong and fearless."   This is why, in today’s second reading (James 2:1-5), the apostle gives  us some basic and challenging principles of social justice. He exhorts Christians to show no partiality based on external appearance and to practice God’s "preferential option for the poor." He warns the faithful against scorning or shaming the poor while showing special consideration to the rich.  Today’s  Responsorial Psalm (Ps 146),  sings of a God who gives sight to the blind,   raises up those who are bowed down and welcomes strangers. The psalmist thanks God and asks us to rejoice because “the God of Jacob keeps faith forever,” by keeping His promise of peace and fullness of life for His people. Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus, by healing a deaf and mute man, fulfills Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy, "The eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped."  The ailments listed by Isaiah are symbolic of our interior illnesses:   blindness to the needs of our neighbor, unwillingness to hear God’s voice and the inability to speak words of praise and gratitude. Through this miracle story, Mark also reminds us that no one can be a follower of the Lord without reaching out to the helpless (“preferential option for the poor”).

First reading, Isaiah 35:4-7: The Jews are returning to their homeland after decades of exile in Babylon. Their arrival causes great friction with the other tribes already there, especially the Edomites. Hence, Isaiah reminds Israelites that when God leads his people home, He will work miracles on behalf of those who need it most: blind, deaf, lame and mute persons.  He assures them that God blesses their return, and that they should be confident and not fearful. He opens his prophetic admonition with one of the most frequent Biblical commands, “Fear not.” The life-giving streams of water bursting forth in the desert symbolize whatever is needed to achieve peace and fullness of life. The prophet gives the Israelites the assurance that  God will continue to save them from their enemies, will open their eyes to  the reality of what He is providing for them  and will open their ears to  what He has to tell them through His priests and prophets. This reading from Isaiah echoes the words of compliment given to Jesus by the people in today’s healing story, "He has done all things well; he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak."

Second Reading, : In this very practical pastoral letter, James points out to the members of the Church that they should treat others, whether they are rich or poor with equal honor and courtesy. James is not writing speculative theology, but reacting to real hurts inflicted on real people, and calling real Christians to a higher level of charity and responsibility. He exposes the sad irony of a Christian's giving special consideration to someone who is fashionably dressed and wearing gold rings, while shaming the poor man in his shabby dress.  The poor man, James says, is poor in the eyes of the world but rich in faith because he recognizes his dependence on God for everything and acknowledges that dependence in how he lives and acts. James insists that Christians “should show no partiality.” In a society like ours, which values people who have much money, great power or celebrity status, James' admonition turns our cultural assumptions upside-down and inside-out. That's what makes our showing respect to everyone we encounter, despite social and/or economic status,  and our treating all people as children of God, our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, a most valuable, living witness to him who died to save us all.

Exegesis:  The human touch and the symbolism of Baptism: The section selected from Mark’s Gospel begins with the healing of a deaf man and ends with the healing of a blind man in the non-Jewish area of the Decapolis. (Mark 7:31-10:52). Jesus shows his tender consideration for the weak by leading the dumb man away from the crowd so as not to embarrass him. The miracle is  described in seven ritual-like steps:   (1) Jesus  leads the man away from the crowd   (2) puts his fingers into the man's ears  (3)  spits on his own fingers  (4)  touches the man's tongue  with the spittle (5) looks up to heaven  (6)  sighs  (7)  and speaks  the healing command: "Ephphatha"  ("be opened.")   Why does Jesus carry out this elaborate ritual, while in other miracles he simply speaks a word or touches the individual?   It is probably because the dumb man cannot hear Jesus' voice or express his needs.   People of that day believed that the spittle of holy men had curative properties.  The early Church Fathers saw an indirect reference to Baptism in the way Jesus healed the man. In Baptism, the priest or deacon who baptized us touched our ears and mouths that we might hear the word of God and speak about Christ to others, sharing the “Good News” with the poor, the imprisoned, the fearful, and the broken-hearted.

God’s love in action: What we see is not simply the healing of a physical defect, but a concrete sign of the transforming power of God's Love. The power of God's Love is working in our lives to transform sorrow into joy, sickness into health, death into new life. The dumb man who is unable to communicate also symbolizes our own communication problem vis-à-vis God. In order to perceive and proclaim God's message, we need to be transformed. The miracle is not only about the physical healing of person who was deaf and dumb. It also points to the opening of a person’s ears so that he may hear the word of God, and loosening of his tongue so that he may speak his profession of faith in Jesus. The miracle has great relevance to us, because a person can have perfect hearing, and yet not hear the word of God, have perfect speech, and yet be unable to make an act of faith.

A challenge for the Church: All three readings speak of a God who is partial to the voiceless and the afflicted.  Today, however, many of us have lost the ability to recognize the voice of God calling us for action in our modern society.  We are asked to give hearing and voice to the deaf and the mute.   The person healed became a witness to the power of God. A Church that is to bear witness to the example of Jesus' love must not neglect “those who are bowed down.”   Through its healing presence the Church must give voice to the voiceless.

Instruction to Keep Silence:   Why did Jesus ask the man to keep silence? Jesus knew that he still had more to accomplish before his final showdown with the religious leaders in Jerusalem.   If the crowds were to attempt to make him the leader of a revolt, a probable result of spreading the story of this healing around, it would spoil his Heavenly Father’s holy plan.

Life messages:  1) We need to help Jesus to heal the deaf and the mute today.  Jesus desires to give us his healing touch in order to loosen our tongues so that he may speak to the spiritually hungry through us.   He invites us to give him our hearts so that he may touch the lives of people in our day through us, just as he touched the lives of millions through saintly souls like Francis of Assisi, Damien of Molokai, Vincent de Paul and Mother Teresa.  Like them, we are also invited to become the voice of the “poorest of the poor,” the helpless, the downtrodden and the unwanted who are set aside by the “new economy,” or who cannot even “speak plainly and fearlessly” about their concerns. Jesus’ touch will reveal to us how we neglect, scorn or shame some people while showing favor to others.  His compassionate touch will help us to hear the cries of the poor and the sick.  It will teach us to show kindness, mercy and consideration to others. His healing touch will also help us convey peace and hope to those around us.

2) We need to allow Jesus to heal our spiritual deafness and muteness.   We may find it hard to speak to God in prayer and harder still to hear Him speaking to us through the Bible and through the Church.  This may be because many of us are satisfied with what we have learned in catechism class about the Seven Sacraments, the Ten Commandments of God, the Six Commandments of the Church and the seven deadly sins. We don’t want to hear more about our Faith through further study of the Bible or the teachings of the Church.  It is not infrequent to meet Catholics who are highly qualified in their secular professions but are basically illiterate in their Faith. Hence, let us imitate the dumb man in the Gospel by seeking out Jesus, following him away from the crowd and spending more of our time in coming to know  him intimately as we study Holy Scripture and to experience him directly in our lives in personal prayer.   Our growing awareness of the healing presence of Jesus in our lives will open our ears and loosen our tongues.

3) Let us bring Jesus’ holy word “Ephphatha” to a generation blighted by the materialistic cultural aggression of our times:   In their day, the Romans imposed their language and culture on Palestine.  Modern secular culture, in fact, is no better. Religion and God are being evicted from schools, colleges, courtrooms, politics and public life. One cannot speak of virginity or marital fidelity without a contemptuous laugh from others.   The unborn child with a precious soul is often considered a “mere nuisance," a “product of conception,” a “fetus” ,“a blob of tissue,” or a tumor that can be gotten rid of,” with no human rights. In today's motion pictures, all religious gestures are either forbidden or relegated to the ignorant or superstitious.   We are told that sixty-five percent of our Catholic youth have no formal religious education beyond the eighth grade. They are exposed to the culture of free sex, loose relationships, liquor, drugs and violence.   No wonder, then, if they become deaf and blind to Christian ideals of morality, holiness in life and social justice! May our Lord touch us through this Gospel so that we also can say “Ephphatha” (“Be thou opened!”) to everything and every one shut in from or closed to God and His loving providence.

JOKE OF THE WEEK: 1) Who is deaf?  An old man is talking to the family doctor. "Doctor, I think my wife's going deaf." The doctor answers, "Well, here's something you can try on her to test her hearing. Stand some distance away from her without facing her and ask her a question. If she doesn't answer, move a little closer and ask again. Keep repeating this until she answers. Then you'll be able to tell just how hard of hearing she really is." The man goes home and tries it out. He walks in the door and asks, "Honey, what's for dinner?" He doesn't hear an answer, so he moves closer to her. "Honey, what's for dinner?" Still he gets no answer. He repeats this several times, until he's standing just one foot away from her. Finally, she answers, "For the eleventh time, I said we're having meat loaf!"

2) The new hearing aid: An elderly gentleman had had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor, and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%. The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again." The gentleman replied, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times!"

3) Webster’s English in the first century!  Helena, a member of the Providence, Rhode Island Women's Club went to a fund-raising "carnival" staged for the benefit of the Women's Club. One of the events took place in a tent which had been set up for a medium to conduct séances. Helena bought a ticket, went inside, and sat down at a large round table, presided over by the medium. The medium asked if anyone would like to make contact with a departed person. "Very well," said Helena, "there is a Bible story about Jesus curing a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. I would like to contact that man." After much bell-ringing, moaning and groaning, and humming which seemed to be coming from all directions, a voice from the chandelier announced distinctly, “I am the man whom Jesus cured of deafness and a speech impediment." To which Helena replied, "I know you can hear me because Jesus cured you of your deafness, and I can tell you that your speech is coming through most clearly, but I have one question." "Ask me anything," the voice came back. "All right, then," said Helena, "tell me, where did you, the Aramaic-speaking, first century Palestinian learn to speak American English?"

OT XXIII – B (2)
OT XXIII – B (2)
OT XXIII [B]  Isiah 35:4-7a; James 2:1-5;   Mk 7:31-37 Homily starter anecdote:  The “little monk” who opened blind eyes:  At the Annual National Prayer Breakfast on February 2, 1984, Ronald Reagan, the former president of the United States, told the old story of "the little monk," Telemachus, a martyr whose self-sacrificial commitment to Christian ideals opened the blind eyes and deaf ears of the Romans and their fifth century Christian Emperor Honorius. According to the story, this Turkish monk was led by an inner voice to go to Rome in order to stop the cruel and inhuman gladiatorial fights between slaves. He followed the crowds to the Coliseum where two gladiators were fighting.  He jumped into the arena and tried to stop them, shouting, "In the name of Christ, hold back!"   The gladiators stopped, but the spectators became indignant.   A group of them rushed into the arena and beat Telemachus to death.  When the crowd saw the brave little monk lying dead in a pool of blood, they fell silent, leaving the stadium, one by one. Three days later, because of Telemachus' heroic sacrifice of his own life, the Emperor decreed an end to the games. In today's Gospel, which describes the miraculous healing of a deaf mute, we are invited to open our ears and eyes, loosen our tongues and pray for the courage of our Christian convictions to become the voice of the voiceless. There is a little ritual in the rite of Baptism, called the “Ephphatha prayer,” taken from today’s gospel. The celebrant touches the ears and then the lips of the one to be baptized saying: “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May He soon touch your ear to receive His word and your mouth to proclaim His Faith.” Introduction: Today’s Scripture readings offer us an invitation to become humble instruments of healing in Jesus’ hands by giving voice to the voiceless, the needy and the marginalized in our society.   Today’s Scripture also invites us to open our ears to hear the word of God and to allow the Holy Spirit to loosen our tongues to praise and worship Him and to convey the Good News of God’s love and salvation to others.    Scripture lessons summarized:  The first reading (Is 35:4-7), reminds us that God's eyes are constantly focused on the helpless.   God especially cares for "the frightened, the blind, the deaf, the lame, the mute," and He encourages the powerless to "be strong and fearless." Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 146), sings of a God who gives sight to the blind, raises up those who are bowed down and welcomes strangers. The psalmist thanks God and asks us to rejoice because “the God of Jacob keeps Faith forever,” by keeping His promise of peace and fullness of life for His people. That is why, in today’s second reading (James 2:1-5), the apostle gives us some basic and challenging principles of social justice. He exhorts Christians to show no partiality based on external appearance and to practice God’s "preferential option for the poor." He warns the faithful against scorning or shaming the poor while showing special consideration to the rich.   Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus, by healing a deaf man with a speech impediment, fulfills Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy, "The eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped."  The ailments listed by Isaiah are symbolic of our interior illnesses: blindness to the needs of our neighbor, unwillingness to hear God’s voice and the inability to speak words of praise and gratitude. Through this miracle story, Mark also reminds us that no one can be a follower of the Lord without reaching out to the helpless (“preferential option for the poor”). First reading, Isaiah 35:4-7, explained: The Jews are returning to their homeland after decades of exile in Babylon. Their arrival causes great friction with the other tribes already there, especially the Edomites. Hence, Isaiah reminds Israelites that when God leads his people home, He will work miracles on behalf of those who need it most: blind, deaf, lame and mute persons.  The Lord God’s message expresses the promised redemption in terms of health, healing and well-being for the disabled. Through Isaiah, He assures them that He blesses their return, and that they should be confident and not fearful. The prophetic admonition opens with one of the most frequent Biblical commands, “Fear not.” The life-giving streams of water bursting forth in the desert symbolize whatever is needed to achieve peace and fullness of life. The prophecy gives the Israelites the assurance that God will continue to save them from their enemies, will open their eyes to the reality of what He is providing for them and will open their ears to what He has to tell them through His priests and prophets. This reading from Isaiah echoes the words of compliment given to Jesus by the people in today’s healing story, "He has done all things well; he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak." Second Reading: James 2:1-5, explained:  In this very practical pastoral letter, James points out to the members of the Church that they should treat others, whether they are rich or poor with equal honor and courtesy. James is not writing speculative theology, but reacting to real hurts inflicted on real people, and calling real Christians to a higher level of charity and responsibility. He exposes the sad irony of a Christian's giving special consideration to someone who is fashionably dressed and wearing gold rings, while shaming the poor man in his shabby dress.  The poor man, James says, is poor in the eyes of the world but rich in Faith because he recognizes his dependence on God for everything and acknowledges that dependence in the way he lives and acts. James insists that Christians “should show no partiality.” In a society like ours, which values people who have much money, great power or celebrity status, James' admonition turns our cultural assumptions upside-down and inside-out. That's what makes our showing respect to everyone we encounter, despite social and/or economic status, and our treating all people as children of God, our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, a most valuable, living witness to Jesus who died to save us all. At times, the Church was the only place in the ancient world where social distinctions did not exist. Master sat next to slave, poor beside rich. Gospel Exegesis:  The human touch and the symbolism of Baptism: Today’s section from Mark’s Gospel begins with the healing of a deaf man with a speech impediment and ends with the healing of a blind man in the non-Jewish area of the Decapolis. (Mark 7:31-10:52). In a culture where physical disabilities and sickness were commonly interpreted as signs of a person’s sinfulness (as a “curse” from God), many Jews would have considered this man to be stricken by God -- a sinner. Hence, Jesus shows his tender consideration for the weak by leading the man away from the crowd so as not to embarrass him. The miracle is described in seven ritual-like steps: (1) Jesus leads the man away from the crowd   (2) puts his fingers into the man's ears  (3)  spits on his own fingers  (4)  touches the man's tongue  with the spittle (5) looks up to heaven  (6)  sighs  (7)  and speaks  the healing command: "Ephphatha"  ("be opened.")  Jesus’ listener, who were familiar with Hebrew Scriptures, would have recognized another signal in Jesus’ command, “Ephphatha! Be opened!” Six centuries earlier, Ezekiel had prophesied, “that day your mouth shall be opened, and you shall be dumb no longer” (Ez 3:27). Why does Jesus carry out this elaborate ritual, while in other miracles he simply speaks a word or touches the individual?   It is probably because the man cannot hear Jesus' voice or express his needs.   People of that day also believed that the spittle of holy men had curative properties.  The early Church Fathers saw an indirect reference to Baptism in the way Jesus healed the man. In Baptism, the priest or deacon who baptized us touched our ears and mouths that we might hear the word of God and speak about Christ to others, sharing the “Good News” with the poor, the imprisoned, the fearful, and the broken-hearted.   God’s love in action: What we see is not simply the healing of a physical defect, but a concrete sign of the transforming power of God's Love. The power of God's Love is working in our lives to transform sorrow into joy, sickness into health, death into new life. The dumb man who is unable to communicate also symbolizes our own communication problem vis-à-vis God. In order to perceive and proclaim God's message, we need to be transformed. The miracle is not only about the physical healing of a person who was deaf and dumb. It also points to the opening of a person’s ears so that he may hear the word of God and loosening of his tongue so that he may speak his profession of Faith in Jesus. The miracle has great relevance to us, because a person can have perfect hearing, and yet not hear the word of God, have perfect speech, and yet be unable to make an act of faith. A challenge for the Church: All three readings speak of a God who is partial to the voiceless and the afflicted.  Today, however, many of us have lost the ability to recognize the voice of God calling us for action in our modern society.  We are asked to give hearing and voice to the deaf and the mute.   The person healed became a witness to the power of God. A Church that is to bear witness to the example of Jesus' love must not neglect “those who are bowed down.”   Through its healing presence the Church must give voice to the voiceless. Instruction to Keep Silence:   Why did Jesus ask the man to keep silence? Jesus knew that he still had more to accomplish before his final showdown with the religious leaders in Jerusalem.   If the crowds were to attempt to make him the leader of a revolt, a probable result of spreading the story of this healing around, it would spoil his Heavenly Father’s holy plan. Also, it seems likely that Jesus realized that people could easily misunderstand his healings and could see him simply as a human Messiah figure, a great miracle-worker and healer. In doing so, they would fail to grasp the larger message he had come to preach and live, which included humility and the necessity of suffering and the Cross before Resurrection (Dr. Watson). Life messages:  1) We need to help Jesus to heal the deaf and the mute today.  Jesus desires to give us his healing touch in order to loosen our tongues so that he may speak to the spiritually hungry through us.   He invites us to give him our hearts so that he may touch the lives of people in our day through us, just as he touched the lives of millions through saintly souls like Francis of Assisi, Damien of Molokai, Vincent de Paul and Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa).  Like them, we are also invited to become the voice of the “poorest of the poor,” the helpless, the downtrodden and the unwanted who are set aside by the “new economy,” or who cannot even “speak plainly and fearlessly” about their concerns. Jesus’ touch will reveal to us how we neglect, scorn or shame some people while showing favor to others.  His compassionate touch will help us to hear the cries of the poor and the sick.  It will teach us to show kindness, mercy and consideration to others. His healing touch will also help us convey peace and hope to those around us. 2) We need to allow Jesus to heal our spiritual deafness and muteness.  In times of grief, despair and failure, we can be “deaf” to the presence of God in the love and compassion of others; or we can become so preoccupied with the noise and clamor of the marketplace that we are unable to hear the voices of those we love and who love us. We may find it hard to speak to God in prayer and harder still to hear Him speaking to us through the Bible and through the Church.  This may be because many of us are satisfied with what we have learned in catechism class about the Seven Sacraments, the Ten Commandments of God, the Six Commandments of the Church and the seven deadly sins. We don’t want to hear more about our Faith through further study of the Bible or the teachings of the Church.  It is not infrequent to meet Catholics who are highly qualified in their secular professions but are basically illiterate in their Faith. Hence, let us imitate the dumb man in the Gospel by seeking out Jesus, following him away from the crowd and spending more of our time in coming to know him intimately as we study Holy Scripture and to experience him directly in our lives in personal prayer.   Our growing awareness of the healing presence of Jesus in our lives will open our ears and loosen our tongues.     3) Let us bring Jesus’ holy word “Ephphatha” to a generation blighted by the materialistic cultural aggression of our times:   We are reminded that Jesus has the power to heal the spiritual deafness caused by habitual sin. Hearts that have become hardened by a refusal to hear, be changed by, and then live out his words are once again challenged: “Ephphatha! Be opened!” In their day, the Romans imposed their language and culture on Palestine.  Modern secular culture, in fact, is no better. Religion and God are being evicted from schools, colleges, courtrooms, politics and public life. One cannot speak of virginity or marital fidelity without a contemptuous laugh from others.   The unborn child with a precious soul is often considered a “mere nuisance," a “product of conception,” a “fetus,” “a blob of tissue,” or a “tumor that can be gotten rid of,” with no human rights. In today's motion pictures, all religious gestures are either forbidden or relegated to the ignorant or superstitious.   We are told that sixty-five percent of our Catholic youth have no formal religious education beyond the eighth grade. They are exposed to the culture of free sex, loose relationships, liquor, drugs and violence.   No wonder, then, if they become deaf and blind to Christian ideals of morality, holiness in life and social justice! May our Lord touch us through this Gospel so that we also can say “Ephphatha” (“Be thou opened!”) to everything and everyone shut in from or closed to God and His loving Providence.   (Prepared: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604. USA)
OT XXIV – B (1)
OT XXIV – B (1)

Synopsis of OT XXIV (Sept 13) Sunday homily Mark 8: 27-35 (L/15)

Introduction: Today’s Gospel explains the basis of our Faith as acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God and our Lord and Savior. It also tells us that Christ Jesus became our Savior by his suffering, death and Resurrection. Finally, it outlines the three conditions of Christian discipleship, namely, denying oneself, taking up one’s cross and following Jesus.

Scripture lessons: Jesus saw aspects of his own life and mission foreshadowed in Isaiah’s Servant Songs. Hence, a large portion of one of these is presented as the first reading today. Like the servant described in today’s first reading, Jesus’ life was one of radical obedience and conformity to God’s will. Thus, the Servant passage provides background for the revelation of Jesus as the suffering Messiah. The Psalmist invites us to turn to the Lord for help amidst the trials of this world.  It is in God that we will find deliverance from trouble and relief from our afflictions.  (Ps 116). Today’s second reading, taken from the second latter of James to the Ropa Interior Calvin Klein Mujer Church, reminds us that suffering is not only something to be accepted but also something to be alleviated. James explains how our Faith in Jesus, the Messiah, should help us to alleviate the sufferings of others by our works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual. In the Gospel, in response to Peter’s profession of Faith in him as the Messiah and Savior, Jesus foretells for the first of three times his passion, death and Resurrection. Today’s Gospel consists of two sections: 1) the Messianic confession of Peter, who acknowledged Jesus as “the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.” and 2) Jesus’ prediction of his passion, death and Resurrection, followed by his clear teaching on the three conditions of Christian discipleship: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”

Life Messages: 1) Jesus wants to become a living, present reality for us, loving us, forgiving us, helping us, transforming our lives and outlook and building a personal relationship with us. The knowledge of Jesus as Lord and personal Savior needs to become a living, personal experience for each Christian drawing each of us to loving response. The relationship deepens and grows as we listen to him through the daily, meditative reading of the Bible, speak to him in our daily, personal and family prayers, offer him our lives on the altar in the Holy Mass and get reconciled with him, asking his forgiveness for our sins every night and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In the Eucharistic celebration today, we are celebrating and experiencing in our lives the death and Resurrection of Christ, the Messiah, our Lord and personal Savior.  2) We need to surrender our life to Jesus whom we experience as our Lord and Savior: The next step is the surrender of our lives to Jesus whom we have experienced by rendering humble and loving service to others with the strong conviction that Jesus is present in every person. The final step is to praise and thank God in all the events of our lives, good and bad, realizing that God’s love shapes every event of our lives.

OT XXIV [B] (Sept 13) Is 50:5-9a; Jas 2:14-18; Mk 8:27-35

# 1: Baby power and Christian powder:  Yakov Smirnoff () is a Comedian from Russia. When he first came to the United States from Russia he was not prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery Golden Goose Ball Star Billigt stores. He says, "On my first shopping trip with my friend, I sawmilk powder; you just add hot water, and you get milk. Then I saw Calvin Klein Steel Boxer Brief orange powder; you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, ‘what a country, you add water to a tin of powder and get a baby!’" Smirnoff was joking, but many non-Catholic Christian denominations make these assumptions seriously about instant Christian transformation, leading to eternal salvation. According to this belief, when someone surrenders his or her life to Christ, accepts him as his or her personal God and Savior and confesses his or her sins to him there is an immediate, substantive, in-depth, miraculous change in habits, attitudes, and character and he or she becomes a Christian, eligible for eternal salvation. Unfortunately, there is no such Christian powder and disciples of Jesus Christ are not instantly born. They are slowly raised through many trials, suffering, and temptations. They are saved by their faithful and lifelong cooperation with the grace of God given for doing good and avoiding evil. In today’s Gospel, Jesus explains what his disciples should do:  “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.”[Adapted from James Emery White, Rethinking the Church, (Baker, 1997), p. 55-57.]

# 2: Shakespeare and Jesus. It was the 19th century British essayist, Charles Lamb, who snatched the 17th century playwright William Shakespeare from his undeserved obscurity, returning him to the limelight of fame. Charles Lamb was once involved in a discussion on the question of who the greatest literary genius of all time had been. Two names finally emerged: William Shakespeare and Jesus of Nazareth.  Lamb put an end to the debate when he said: “I’ll tell you the difference between these two men.  If Shakespeare walked into this room right now, we would all rise to greet him, but if Christ came in, we would all fall down and worship.” There is the essential difference between the Man from Nazareth and all the other great people you can think of. Jesus Christ is God, and all others, no matter what their deeds, are but fools strutting on the stage for a brief time and then exiting. Today’s Gospel describes who Jesus really is and gives us the unique conditions for Christian discipleship.

3:  "Who do Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Islam say that I am?" The first two groups claim to be Christian, and Islam speaks about Christ.  But all of them have a confused Christology. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly called the Mormons, incorporates the Lord's name in its title, but its beliefs about Jesus are fatally flawed. A basic compendium of the Mormon gospel, entitled Mormon Doctrine, was Newcastle United Kits 2016 written by apostle Bruce Redd McConkie, an influential Mormon theologian.  According to McConkie, Mormons believe that "Lucifer, the son of the morning, is our elder brother, and the brother of Jesus." The Journal of Discourses, a 26-volume Mormon publication presenting public sermons by many early Mormon leaders, includes such statements as this: "Jesus, our elder brother was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the Garden of Eden, and who is our father in Heaven." The same volumes assert, "Jesus was married at Cana of Galilee and had many wives ... he also had many children." From these writings, it is clear that the Mormons fail the test when it comes to answering Jesus Christ's question, "Who do you say I am?" (v. 29). Ask the Jehovah's Witnesses, "Who do you say Jesus is?" The Jehovah's Witness publication, New Heavens and New Earth, declares by way of response, "Michael the Archangel is no other than the only begotten Son of God, now Jesus Christ."  Consider the religion of Islam. Ask the Muslim who Jesus is and the answer we get from official publications is "Jesus was no more than a mortal whom Allah favored and made an example to the Israelites. They are unbelievers who say God is Messiah, Mary's son" (Sura 43:59, Quran). Until people see Jesus as Peter did, as "the Christ, the Son of the Living God," they miss the mark

Introduction: Today’s Gospel explains the basis of our faith as acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God and our Lord and Savior. It also tells us that Christ Jesus became our Savior by his suffering, death and Resurrection. Finally, it outlines the three conditions of Christian discipleship, namely, denying oneself, taking up one’s cross and following Jesus.  Jesus saw aspects of his own life and mission foreshadowed in Isaiah’s Servant Songs. Hence, a large portion of one of these is presented as the first reading today, while in the Gospel, Jesus foretells his passion, death and Resurrection for the first time, in response to Peter’s profession of Faith in him as the Messiah and Savior. Like the servant described in today’s first reading, Jesus’ life was one of radical obedience and conformity to God’s will. Thus, the Servant passage provides background for the revelation of Jesus as the suffering Messiah. The Psalmist invites us to turn to the Lord for help amidst the trials of this world.  It is in God that we will find deliverance from trouble and relief from our afflictions.  (Ps 116).  Today’s second reading, taken from the second letter of James to the Church, reminds us that suffering is not only something to be accepted but also something to be alleviated. James explains how our Faith in Jesus, the Messiah, should help us to alleviate suffering in others by our works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual. Today’s Gospel consists of two sections: 1) the Messianic confession of Peter, who acknowledged Jesus as “the Christ (Messiah,) the Son of the living God.” and 2) Jesus’ prediction of his Passion, death and Resurrection, followed by his clear teaching on the three conditions of Christian discipleship: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”

First reading: Isaiah 50:4c-9a: In the middle section of the book of the prophet Isaiah, in chapters 40-55, there are four short passages which scholars have called theSongs of the Suffering Servant. In the original author's mind, the servant was probably a figure for the people of Israel, or for a faithful remnant within the people. In their original context, the songs were probably composed to help Israel see itself in the role of the servant. Through degradation and suffering, Israel could become for the rest of the world God’s message of liberation and salvation. But Jesus saw aspects of his own life and mission foreshadowed in the Servant Songs. Hence, this section of the third song is presented as the first reading today, while in the Gospel, Jesus foretells for the first time his passion, death and Resurrection, after Peter has professed his Faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Savior. Jesus identified himself and his mission with the sorrowful figure of humiliation and suffering, the Lord’s servant. Like the servant described in today’s first reading, Jesus’ life was one of radical obedience and conformity to God’s will. Thus, the Servant passage provides background for the revelation of Jesus as the suffering Messiah.

Second Reading: : Today’s reading, taken from the second letter of James to the Church, reminds us that suffering is not only something to be accepted but also something to be alleviated. James tells us that our Faith in Jesus the Messiah should be expressed in alleviating others' suffering through works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual. In other words, professing Faith in the Divinity of Christ and his role as our Redeemer is useless, unless we practice that Faith in genuine deeds of love, mercy, forgiveness and humble service as Jesus lived and demonstrated these qualities. As Christians, we are obliged to meet the material needs of poor persons and to alleviate their sufferings. We should respond concretely to the needs and sufferings of our fellow humans. Otherwise, our Faith is all talk and no action. “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James is not refuting the Pauline doctrine of salvation by faith, but warns us that a lifeless or an unlived faith has no power to save (v. 14) us from judgment.

Exegesis: The context: This Sunday we begin a series of seven Sunday Gospel readings from Mark’s account of the journey of Jesus and his disciples from northern Galilee to Jerusalem. Along the way Jesus gave instructions about his identity and what it meant to follow him (discipleship). Today's Gospel, relating the first of Jesus’ three prophecies of his passion, death and Resurrection, consists of two sections: the Messianic confession of Peter and Jesus’ prediction of his Passion, death and Resurrection, followed by his clear teaching on discipleship.

Two pertinent questions in a pilgrimage center: In Matthew and Mark, Jesus asked two questions about his identity. The incident occurred at Caesarea Philippi, presently called Banias, twenty-five miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee. This city was founded by King Philip, the son of Herod the Great, to perpetuate his own memory and to honor the Roman emperor Caesar. It was situated on a beautiful terrace about 1150 feet above sea level on the southwest slope of Mount Hermon overlooking the Jordan valley. The city was a great pilgrimage center for pagans because it held temples for the Syrian gods Bal and Pan, the Roman God Zeus and a marble temple for the emperor Caesar. Jesus realized that if his disciples did not know who he really was, then his entire ministry, suffering and death would be useless. Hence, he decided to ask a question in two parts.

The first question: “What is the public opinion?” Their answer was, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” John the Baptist was so great a figure that many Jews, and Herod their king, thought that John’s spirit had entered the body of Jesus. Elijah, the greatest of the prophets was believed to be the forerunner of the Messiah.  ["Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes"(Mal 4:5).] It was believed that, before the people went into exile, Jeremiah had taken the Ark of the Covenant and the altar of incense out of the Temple, and hidden them away in a lonely cave on Mount Nebo; before the coming of the Messiah, he would return and produce them, and the glory of God would come to the people again (2Macc 2:1-12).  In 2Esdr2:18 (an apocryphal work), the promise of God is: "For thy help I will send my servants Isaiah and Jeremiah."  The phrase, "one of the prophets,"   suggested that Jesus had a ministry like that of the former prophets. When the people identified Jesus with Elijah and with Jeremiah they were, according to their lights, paying him a great compliment and setting him in a high place, for Jeremiah and Elijah were the expected forerunners of the Anointed One of God. When they arrived, the Kingdom would be very near indeed.

The second question: “What is your personal opinion?" For the first time in their relationship, Peter, speaking for the other disciples, declared publicly: “You are the Christ (Messiah) the Son of the living God.” Peter was the first apostle to recognize Jesus publicly as the Anointed One (also translated Messiah or Christ).  Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah. To say that Jesus was the Christ, the anointed one of God was to say that He was the Immanuel, the Salvation of God -- God who became Man to save sinners!  It is evident that Jesus was well pleased with Peter’s answer. Jesus first pronounced a blessing upon Peter, the only disciple in the Gospels to receive a personal blessing. "Blessed are you, Simon son of John!" Next, Jesus confirmed Peter's insight as a special revelation from God. "No mere man has revealed this to you, but my Heavenly Father." However, Jesus was quick to explain to the disciples that he was not a political Messiah who would reestablish the Davidic kingdom after ousting the Romans.  Instead, he was the Messiah who would redeem mankind by his suffering, death and Resurrection.Like the Suffering Servant in the first reading, Jesus accepted suffering out of fidelity toward the One Whom He called Father and as part of his Messianic mission.Jesus’ example provides a challenge for us all to accept the mystery of the cross when our turn comes to follow the Suffering Servant and Suffering Messiah.

No suffering, no death, please: The Jewish religious tradition did include a certain amount of suffering and rejection on the part of its religious leaders.  One finds this in several references to Moses and the prophets (Exod 16:2; 17:2-4; Jer. 11:18-19; 20:7-10; Matt, 23:37).  The concept of suffering or self-sacrifice as having a saving effect was also present in the Jewish tradition (Ex 32:32; Is 53:5, 10, 12).  But it received explicit expression in Christian Messianism, not only in the Gospels, but also in the Acts of the Apostles (8:32), and in the epistles (Rom 5:6-8; Gal 3:13; 1 Pt 2:24-25). Jesus rebuked Peter when Peter tried to dissuade Jesus from such a course.  For Jesus, this was yet another temptation in the guise of a close friend's counsel.  It tested his commitment to the mission which his Heavenly Father had entrusted to him.

The three conditions for Christian discipleship: To counter the opposition expressed by Peter and to emphasize the fact that he was not the political, conquering Messiah of Jewish expectations who would bring perfect peace and justice, put an end to all suffering and death, and provide perfect joy and happiness in this world, Jesus turned to the wider audience of the crowd gathered with his disciples at Caesarea Philippi and emphatically declared the stringent conditions to be met by his disciples. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” Christian discipleship demands honesty of a disciple in order for him to practice self-control (“to offer our bodies as a willing sacrifice to God”), willingness to suffer, and readiness to follow Jesus by obeying his commandment of love. A) Self-denial:  This means, with God's grace, evicting selfish thoughts, evil desires and tendencies from our heart and filling it with God. In addition, also with God's grace, it means cleansing ourselves of all evil habits, enthroning God in our hearts and sharing Him with others. B) Carrying of the cross with Jesus: The cross always means pain and suffering. Our sufferings become the cross of Jesus with its saving power when we suffer with him by dying to our self-centeredness through serving others selflessly, enduring physical or mental pain and illness without complaint, and offering these sufferings to God in reparation for sin. We also offer penitential practices to God for the same intentions for ourselves and for the world. C) Following Jesus: This means that, as followers of Christ, we should live our lives according to the word of God, by obeying what is commanded by Jesus. Jesus’ predictions about Christian suffering would have had particular meaning for Mark's audience when they experienced their fulfillment in both the horrors of the Jewish war against Rome and the persecution under Nero, when Christians were used as torches to light Nero’s garden.

Life Messages: #1:  What does Jesus mean to us? Founder of a religion? Revolutionary Jewish reformer? One of the great teachers? Son of God and personal Savior? This can perhaps be broken down into other questions:  "How do I really see Jesus? Is Jesus a living experience for me, walking with me, loving me, forgiving me, helping me and transforming my life and outlook? What difference does Jesus make in my life?  Have I really given my life to him?  Are there areas where I have excluded Him, where my life is not noticeably different from the lives of those who see Jesus as irrelevant? Who do we say that Jesus is in our daily life? Who do we say that Jesus is when we are in the presence of those who don't know him, those who aren't interested in him? What does the way we live and behave say about who Jesus is? Is the joy, the love, the peace that we find in Jesus reflected in the way we live our lives?  We are gathered here today in the name of Jesus. We have not come together to celebrate a continuing Sevilla Kitsch Hostel Art Email memorial for a merely good man who died long ago. We are here to celebrate the death and Resurrection of Christ, the Messiah, our Lord and personal Savior in this Eucharistic celebration in which we encounter directly the Living God.

2) We need to experience Jesus as our Lord and Savior and surrender our life to him. The knowledge of Jesus as Lord and personal Savior needs to become a living, personal experience for each Christian. This is made possible, with the grace of God, by our listening to him through the daily, meditative reading of the Bible, by our talking to him through daily, personal and family prayers, by our offering to him our lives on the altar in the Holy Mass and by our being forgiven by and reconciled with him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The next step is the surrender of our lives to Jesus through rendering humble and loving service to others with the strong conviction that Jesus is present in every person. The final step is to praise and thank God in all the events of our lives, good and bad, realizing that God’s love shapes every event of our lives.

# 3:  Are we ready to take up our crosses and follow Jesus? Do we have enough faith to offer up a genuine sacrifice for Christ's sake? Can a Church in today's self-centered culture ask its people to sacrifice something for the sake of the Gospel? Jesus' challenge to all would-be disciples requires more than a "feel-good" spirituality. A true disciple asks, "Am I willing to sacrifice something for the God Who loves me?"  What made it possible for first-century Christians to choose a martyr's death? What has kept generations of Christians from losing faith and falling apart when confronted by the violence and hatred of this world? Can we offer even the day-to-day sacrifices asked by Jesus when they demand things we don't want to do?  Can we sacrifice some of our time in order to visit Him in a homeless shelter or soup kitchen? Can we sacrifice our job security and refuse to "go along" with a policy that is Nike Air Max 90 American Flag Gold unjust? Can we sacrifice our need to be in control and let Christ do with us what he will? Can we refuse to let our children watch television programs filled with sex and violence?

Joke of the Week

# 1: “Who do you say that I am?” On Sunday morning a man showed up at Church with both of his ears terribly blistered. So his pastor asked, "What happened to you Jim?" "I was lying on the couch watching a ball game on TV while my wife was ironing nearby. I was totally engrossed in the game when she went out, leaving the iron near the phone. The phone rang, and keeping my eyes on the TV, I grabbed the hot iron and put it to my ear." "How dreadful," gasped the pastor. "But how did the other ear get burned?" "Well, you see, I'd no sooner hung up, the guy called back!" He just didn't get it. Lots of folks never get it and never understand how life really works, even at the simplest levels. That's why Jesus is pressing his followers — and us with a challenging question in today’s Gospel: “Who do you say that I am?” (Msgr. Dennis Clarke)

#2: Cost of discipleship in an instant heaven culture: Some of you may remember comedian Yakov Smirnoff. He said when he first came to the United States from Russia, he wasn’t prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores. He says, "On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk--you just add water, and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice--you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder! What a country!"

OT XXIV – B (2)
OT XXIV – B (2)
Introduction: Today’s Gospel explains the basis of our Faith as acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God and our Lord and Savior. It also tells us that Christ Jesus became our Savior by his suffering, death and Resurrection. Finally, it outlines the three conditions of Christian discipleship, namely, denying oneself, taking up one’s cross and following Jesus. Scripture lessons: Jesus saw aspects of his own life and mission foreshadowed in Isaiah’s Servant Songs. Hence, a large portion of the Third Song of the Suffering Servant is presented as the first reading today. Like the servant described in today’s first reading, Jesus’ life was one of radical obedience and conformity to God’s will. Thus, the Servant passage provides background for the revelation of Jesus as the suffering Messiah. In today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 116), the Psalmist invites us to turn to the Lord for help amidst the trials of this world.  It is in God that we will find deliverance from trouble and relief from our afflictions.  (Ps 116). Today’s second reading, taken from the Letter of James to the Church, reminds us that suffering is not only something to be accepted but also something to be alleviated. James explains how our Faith in Jesus, the Messiah, should help us to alleviate the sufferings of others by our works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual. In the Gospel, in response to Peter’s profession of Faith in him as God’s Messiah and Savior, Jesus foretells for the first of three times his passion, death and Resurrection. Today’s Gospel consists of two sections: 1) the Messianic confession of Peter, who acknowledged Jesus as “the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.” and 2) Jesus’ prediction of his passion, death and Resurrection, followed by his clear teaching on the three conditions of Christian discipleship: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”   Life Messages: 1) Jesus wants to become a living, present reality for us, loving us, forgiving us, helping us, transforming our lives and outlook and building a personal relationship with us. The knowledge of Jesus as Lord and personal Savior needs to become a living, personal experience for each Christian drawing each of us to loving response. The relationship deepens and grows as we listen to Jesus through the daily, meditative reading of the Bible, speak to him in our daily, personal and family prayers, offer him our lives on the altar in the Holy Mass and see reconciliation with him, asking his forgiveness for our sins every night and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In the Eucharistic celebration today, we are celebrating and experiencing in our lives the death and Resurrection of Christ, the Messiah, our Lord and personal Savior.  2) We need to surrender our life to Jesus whom we experience as our Lord and Savior: The next step is the surrender of our lives to Jesus Whose love we have experienced by rendering humble and loving service to others with the strong conviction that Jesus is present in every person. The final step is to praise and thank God in all the events of our lives, good and bad, realizing that God’s love shapes every event of our lives. Click on http://frtonyshomilies.com if you miss any homily.   OT XXIV [B] (Sept 16) Is 50:5-9a; Jas 2:14-18; Mk 8:27-35 (L/18) # 1: Baby powder and Christian powder:  Yakov Smirnoff (https://youtu.be/5GK8ewRec7c) is a comedian from Russia. When he first came to the United States from Russia he was not prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores. He says, "On my first shopping trip with my friend, I saw milk powder; you just add hot water, and you get milk. Then I saw orange powder; you just add cold water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, ‘What a country, you add water to a tin of powder and get a baby!’" Smirnoff was joking on a “Comedy Show.” But some televangelists, preach such instant Christian transformation, leading to eternal salvation. According to this belief, when someone surrenders his or her life to Christ and accepts Him as his or her personal God and Savior and confesses his or her sins to Him there is an immediate, substantive, in-depth, miraculous change in habits, attitudes, and character and he or she becomes a born-again Christian eligible for eternal salvation. Unfortunately, there is no such Christian powder and disciples of Jesus Christ are not instantly born. They are slowly raised through many trials, suffering, and temptations. They are saved by their faithful and lifelong cooperation with the grace of God given for doing good and avoiding evil and for obeying God’s commandments. In today’s Gospel, Jesus explains what his disciples should do: “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” [Adapted from James Emery White, Rethinking the Church, (Baker, 1997), p. 55-57.] # 2: Shakespeare and Jesus. It was the 19th century British essayist, Charles Lamb, who snatched the 17th century playwright William Shakespeare from his undeserved obscurity, returning him to the limelight of fame. Charles Lamb was once involved in a discussion on the question of who the greatest literary genius of all time had been. Two names finally emerged: William Shakespeare and Jesus of Nazareth.  Lamb put an end to the debate when he said: “I’ll tell you the difference between these two men.  If Shakespeare walked into this room right now, we would all rise to greet him, but if Christ came in, we would all fall down and worship.” There is the essential difference between the Man from Nazareth and all the other great people you can think of. Jesus Christ is God, and all others, no matter what their deeds, are but fools strutting on the stage for a brief time and then exiting. Today’s Gospel describes who Jesus really is and gives us the unique conditions for Christian discipleship. 3:  "Who do Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Islam say that I am?" The first two groups claim to be Christian, and Islam speaks about Christ.  But all of them have a confused Christology. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly called the Mormons, incorporates the Lord's name in its title, but its beliefs about Jesus are fatally flawed. A basic compendium of the Mormon gospel, entitled Mormon Doctrine, was written by apostle Bruce Redd McConkie, an influential Mormon theologian.  According to McConkie, Mormons believe that "Lucifer, the son of the morning, is our elder brother, and the brother of Jesus." The Journal of Discourses, a 26-volume Mormon publication presenting public sermons by many early Mormon leaders, includes such statements as this: "Jesus, our elder brother was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the Garden of Eden, and who is our father in Heaven." The same volumes assert, "Jesus was married at Cana of Galilee and had many wives ... he also had many children." From these writings, it is clear that the Mormons fail the test when it comes to answering Jesus Christ's question, "Who do you say I am?" (v. 29). Ask the Jehovah's Witnesses, "Who do you say Jesus is?" The Jehovah's Witness publication, New Heavens and New Earth, declares by way of response, "Michael the Archangel is no other than the only begotten Son of God, now Jesus Christ."  Consider the religion of Islam. Ask the Muslim who Jesus is and the answer we get from official publications is "Jesus was no more than a mortal whom Allah favored and made an example to the Israelites. They are unbelievers who say God is Messiah, Mary's son" (Sura 43:59, Quran). Until people see Jesus as Peter did, as "the Christ, the Son of the Living God," they miss the mark Introduction: Today’s Gospel explains the basis of our Faith as acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God and our Lord and Savior. It also tells us that Christ Jesus became our Savior by his suffering, death and Resurrection. Finally, it outlines the three conditions of Christian discipleship, namely, denying oneself, taking up one’s cross and following Jesus.  Jesus saw aspects of his own life and mission foreshadowed in Isaiah’s Servant Songs. Hence, a large portion of the Third Song of the Suffering Servant is presented as the first reading today, while in the Gospel, Jesus foretells his passion, death and Resurrection for the first time, in response to Peter’s profession of Faith in him as God’s Messiah and Savior. Like the servant described in today’s first reading, Jesus’ life was one of radical obedience and conformity to God’s will. Thus, the Servant passage provides background for the revelation of Jesus as the suffering Messiah. In today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 116), the Psalmist invites us to turn to the Lord for help amidst the trials of this world.  It is in God that we will find deliverance from trouble and relief from our afflictions.   Today’s second reading, taken from the Letter of James to the Church, reminds us that suffering is not only something to be accepted but also something to be alleviated. James explains how our Faith in Jesus, the Messiah, should help us to alleviate suffering in others by our works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual. Today’s Gospel consists of two sections: 1) the Messianic confession of Peter, who acknowledged Jesus as “the Christ (Messiah,) the Son of the living God.” and 2) Jesus’ prediction of his Passion, death and Resurrection, followed by his clear teaching on the three conditions of Christian discipleship: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” First reading: Isaiah 50:4c-9a, explained: In the middle section of the book of the prophet Isaiah, in chapters 40-55, there are four short passages which scholars have called the Songs of the Suffering Servant. In the original author's mind, the servant was probably a figure for the people of Israel, or for a faithful remnant within the people. In their original context, the songs were probably composed to help Israel see itself in the role of the servant. Through degradation and suffering, Israel could become for the rest of the world God’s message of liberation and salvation. But Jesus saw aspects of his own life and mission foreshadowed in the Servant Songs. Hence, this section of the third song is presented as the first reading today, while in the Gospel, Jesus foretells for the first time his passion, death and Resurrection, after Peter has professed his Faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Savior. Jesus identified himself and his mission with the sorrowful figure of humiliation and suffering, the Lord’s servant. Like the servant described in today’s first reading, Jesus’ life was one of radical obedience and conformity to God’s will. Thus, the Servant passage provides background for the revelation of Jesus as the suffering Messiah. Second Reading: James 2:14-18, explained: Today’s reading, taken from the Letter of James to the Church, reminds us that suffering is not only something to be accepted but also something to be alleviated. James tells us that our Faith in Jesus the Messiah should be expressed in alleviating others' suffering through works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual. In other words, professing Faith in the Divinity of Christ and his role as our Redeemer is useless, unless we practice that Faith in genuine deeds of love, mercy, forgiveness and humble service as Jesus lived and demonstrated these qualities. As Christians, we are obliged to meet the material needs of poor persons and to alleviate their sufferings. We should respond concretely to the needs and sufferings of our fellow humans. Otherwise, our Faith is all talk and no action. “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James is not refuting the Pauline doctrine of salvation by Faith but warns us that a lifeless or an unlived faith has no power to save (v. 14) us from judgment. Gospel exegesis: The context: This Sunday we begin a series of seven Sunday Gospel readings from Mark’s account of the journey of Jesus and his disciples from northern Galilee to Jerusalem. Along the way Jesus gave instructions about his identity and what it meant to follow him (discipleship). Today's Gospel, relating the first of Jesus’ three prophecies of his passion, death and Resurrection, consists of two sections: The Messianic confession of Peter and Jesus’ prediction of his Passion, death and Resurrection, followed by his clear teaching on discipleship. Two pertinent questions in a pagan pilgrimage center: In Matthew and Mark, Jesus asked two questions about his identity. The incident occurred at Caesarea Philippi, presently called Banias, twenty-five miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee. This city was founded by King Philip, the son of Herod the Great, to perpetuate his own memory and to honor the Roman emperor Caesar. It was situated on a beautiful terrace about 1150 feet above sea level on the southwest slope of Mount Hermon overlooking the Jordan valley. The city was a great pilgrimage center for pagans because it held temples for the Syrian gods Bal and Pan, the Roman God Zeus and a marble temple for the emperor Caesar. Jesus realized that if his disciples did not know who he really was, then his entire ministry, suffering and death would be useless. Hence, he decided to ask a question in two parts. The first question: “What is the public opinion?” Their answer was, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” John the Baptist was so great a figure that many Jews, and Herod their king, thought that John’s spirit had entered the body of Jesus. Elijah, the greatest of the prophets was believed to be the forerunner of the Messiah.  ["Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes"(Mal 4:5).] It was believed that, before the people went into exile, Jeremiah had taken the Ark of the Covenant and the altar of incense out of the Temple, and hidden them away in a lonely cave on Mount Nebo; before the coming of the Messiah, he would return and produce them, and the glory of God would come to the people again (2Macc 2:1-12).  In 2Esdr 2:18 (an apocryphal work), the promise of God is: "For thy help I will send my servants Isaiah and Jeremiah."  The phrase, "one of the prophets,"   suggested that Jesus had a ministry like that of the former prophets. When the people identified Jesus with Elijah and with Jeremiah they were, according to their lights, paying him a great compliment and setting him in a high place, for Jeremiah and Elijah were the expected forerunners of the Anointed One of God. When they arrived, the Kingdom would be very near indeed. The second question: “What is your personal opinion?" For the first time in their relationship, Peter, speaking for the other disciples, declared publicly: “You are the Christ (Messiah) the Son of the living God.” Peter was the first apostle to recognize Jesus publicly as the Anointed One (also translated Messiah or Christ).  Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah. To say that Jesus was the Christ, the anointed one of God was to say that He was the Immanuel, the Salvation of God -- God who became Man to save sinners!  It is evident that Jesus was well pleased with Peter’s answer. Jesus first pronounced a blessing upon Peter, the only disciple in the Gospels to receive a personal blessing. "Blessed are you, Simon son of John!" Next, Jesus confirmed Peter's insight as a special revelation from God. "No mere man has revealed this to you, but my Heavenly Father." However, Jesus was quick to explain to the disciples that he was not a political Messiah who would reestablish the Davidic kingdom after ousting the Romans.  Instead, he was the Messiah who would redeem mankind by his suffering, death and Resurrection. Like the Suffering Servant in the first reading, Jesus accepted suffering out of fidelity toward the One Whom He called Father and as part of his Messianic mission. Jesus’ example provides a challenge for us all to accept the mystery of the cross when our turn comes to follow the Suffering Servant and Suffering Messiah. No suffering, no death, please: The Jewish religious tradition did include a certain amount of suffering and rejection on the part of its religious leaders.  One finds this in several references to Moses and the prophets (Ex 16:2; 17:2-4; Jer 11:18-19; 20:7-10; Mt 23:37).  The concept of suffering or self-sacrifice as having a saving effect was also present in the Jewish tradition (Ex 32:32; Is 53:5, 10, 12).  But it received explicit expression in Christian Messianism, not only in the Gospels, but also in the Acts of the Apostles (8:32), and in the epistles (Rom 5:6-8; Gal 3:13; 1 Pt 2:24-25). Jesus rebuked Peter when Peter tried to dissuade Jesus from such a course.  For Jesus, this was yet another temptation in the guise of a close friend's counsel.  It tested Jesus’ commitment to the mission which his Heavenly Father had entrusted to him. “Jesus rejected the term “Messiah” if it meant a political, nationalistic leader. Jesus consistently rejected that program as a diabolical attempt to divert him from his God-given mission.” (Reginald Fuller). The three conditions for Christian discipleship: To counter the opposition expressed by Peter and to emphasize the fact that he was not the political, conquering Messiah of Jewish expectations who would bring perfect peace and justice, put an end to all suffering and death, and provide perfect joy and happiness in this world, Jesus turned to the wider audience of the crowd gathered with his disciples at Caesarea Philippi and emphatically declared the stringent conditions to be met by his disciples. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” Christian discipleship demands honesty of a disciple in order for him to practice self-control (“to offer our bodies as a willing sacrifice to God”), willingness to suffer, and readiness to follow Jesus by obeying his commandment of love. A) Denying self:  This means, with God's grace, evicting selfish thoughts, evil desires and tendencies from our heart and filling it with God. In addition, also with God's grace, it means cleansing ourselves of all evil habits, enthroning God in our hearts and sharing Him with others. B) Carrying of the cross with Jesus: First, it means gracefully accepting that suffering without bitterness, as a part of our lives. Second, it means that we may not, in our suffering, pass on any bitterness to those around us. Third, it means that we must accept some other deaths before our physical death, that we are invited to let some parts of ourselves die. Fourth, Fourth, it means that we must wait for the resurrection and the eternal reward for our suffering. Christian life of service is carrying one’s cross in the footsteps of Jesus. Our sufferings become the cross of Jesus with its saving power when we suffer with him by dying to our self-centeredness through serving others selflessly, enduring physical or mental pain and illness without complaint, and offering these sufferings to God in reparation for sin. We also offer penitential practices to God for the same intentions for ourselves and for the world. C) Following Jesus: This means that, as followers of Christ, we should live our lives according to the word of God, by obeying what is commanded by Jesus. Jesus’ predictions about Christian suffering would have had particular meaning for Mark's audience when they experienced their fulfillment in both the horrors of the Jewish war against Rome and the persecution under Nero, when Christians were used as torches to light Nero’s garden. Life Messages: #1: We need to ask ourselves the question what Jesus means to us. Founder of a religion? Revolutionary Jewish reformer? One of the great teachers? Son of God and personal Savior? This can perhaps be broken down into other questions:  "How do I really see Jesus? Is Jesus a living experience for me, walking with me, loving me, forgiving me, helping me and transforming my life and outlook? What difference does Jesus make in my life?  Have I really given my life to him?  Are there areas where I have excluded Him, where my life is not noticeably different from the lives of those who see Jesus as irrelevant? Who do we say that Jesus is through our daily life? Who do we say that Jesus is when we are in the presence of those who don't know him, those who aren't interested in him? What does the way we live and behave say about who Jesus is? Is the joy, the love, the peace that we find in Jesus reflected in the way we live our lives?  We are gathered here today in the name of Jesus. We have not come together to celebrate a continuing memorial for a merely good man who died long ago. We are here to celebrate the death and Resurrection of Christ, the Messiah, our Lord and personal Savior in this Eucharistic celebration in which we encounter directly the Living God. 2) We need to experience Jesus as our Lord and Savior and surrender our life to him. The knowledge of Jesus as Lord and personal Savior needs to become a living, personal experience for each Christian. This is made possible, with the grace of God, by our listening to him through the daily, meditative reading of the Bible, by our talking to him through daily, personal and family prayers, by our offering to him our lives on the altar in the Holy Mass and by our being forgiven by and reconciled with him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The next step is the surrender of our lives to Jesus through rendering humble and loving service to others with the strong conviction that Jesus is present in every person. The final step is to praise and thank God in all the events of our lives, good and bad, realizing that God’s love shapes every event of our lives. # 3:  We should be ready to take up our crosses and follow Jesus. Do we have enough Faith to offer up a genuine sacrifice for Christ's sake? Can a Church in today's self-centered culture ask its people to sacrifice something for the sake of the Gospel? Jesus' challenge to all would-be disciples requires more than a "feel-good" spirituality. A true disciple asks, "Am I willing to sacrifice something for the God Who loves me?"  What made it possible for first-century Christians to choose a martyr's death? What has kept generations of Christians from losing Faith and falling apart when confronted by the violence and hatred of this world? Can we offer even the day-to-day sacrifices asked by Jesus when they demand things we don't want to do?  Can we sacrifice some of our time in order to visit Him in a homeless shelter or soup kitchen? Can we sacrifice our job security and refuse to "go along" with a policy that is unjust? Can we sacrifice our need to be in control and let Christ do with us what he will? Can we refuse to let our children watch television programs filled with sex and violence? Joke of the Week # 1: “Who do you say that I am?” On Sunday morning a man showed up at Church with both of his ears terribly blistered. So, his pastor asked, "What happened to you Jim?" "I was lying on the couch watching a ball game on TV while my wife was ironing nearby. I was totally engrossed in the game when she went out, leaving the iron near the phone. The phone rang, and keeping my eyes on the TV, I grabbed the hot iron and put it to my ear." "How dreadful," gasped the pastor. "But how did the other ear get burned?" "Well, you see, I'd no sooner hung up, the guy called back!" He just didn't get it. Lots of folks never get it and never understand how life really works, even at the simplest levels. That's why Jesus is pressing his followers — and us with a challenging question in today’s Gospel: “Who do you say that I am?” (Msgr. Dennis Clarke). 2) "I see millions of stars:" The story is told of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on a camping trip. As they lay sleeping one night, Holmes woke Watson and said, "Watson, look up into the sky and tell me what you see." Watson said, "I see millions of stars." Holmes asked, "And what does that tell you?" Watson replied, "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Theologically, it tells me that God is great and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it tells me that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. And what does it tell you?" Holmes answered, "Someone stole our tent." Some people are great at speculative knowledge but when it comes to its implication for practical living they score zero. Such is Peter in today's Gospel. L/18 Websites of the week:
  1. Where is it in the Bible? https://www.catholicbible101.com/thetencommandments.htm
  2. About Catholics: http://www.aboutcatholics.com/ 3) Catholic Spirit: http://thecatholicspirit.com/ 4) Catholic culture: http://www.catholicculture.org/ 5) Vatican on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/vatican
OT XXV – B (1)
OT XXV – B (1)

SYNOPSIS OF OT XXV [B] Sunday (Sept 20) Homily, Mk 9:30-37    Introduction: Today’s readings invite us to become great in the sight of God by doing God’s will, as Jesus did,  surrendering our lives in loving service of others.

Scripture lessons: The passage from the Book of Wisdom sounds like a Messianic prophecy similar to the “Suffering Servant” prophecy in Isaiah. This reading tells us how the world often ill-treats those who strive to live justly and to do God’s will.    It refers to Christ’s passion and urges us to choose the path of righteousness in spite of painful consequences, as Jesus did. In today’s Psalm, (Ps 54), the Psalmist prays for help against the insolent people who rise against the upright. The second reading is in tune with the dispute among the apostles about who is the greatest, recorded in today's Gospel. James reminds us that, instead of serving one another, we are jealous and envious of one another, we fight and kill one another, and we wage war because we covet others’ goods. James warns us that selfish ambitions destroy peace and cause conflicts in our country, local communities, Churches and families.  Hence, he advises us to choose the path of righteousness and humble, loving service, which leads to lasting peace.  Jesus, in today’s Gospel, gives us a glimpse of the path proposed by the first and second readings—namely, lovingly embracing and serving the vulnerable in our midst: the defenseless children, the despairing poor, the terrified, the mentally ill, the marginalized, the disabled, the refugees of war. True greatness lies in our ability to see and respond to the needs of others and it presupposes compassion and sympathy. The Christian vocation is an apostolate of bearing witness to Christ through loving service.  Jesus also teaches his apostles that child-like humility and loving, selfless service make one great in the eyes of God.

Life messages: # 1:  We must become great through loving, humble, self-giving service.    Greatness, in Jesus' view, is found in our willingness to accept, welcome and serve with love those who are considered unacceptable and undeserving by reason of class, color, religion, poverty or culture.   We must welcome people the loving way a child welcomes them before he is taught discrimination. # 2:   If we are to be truly great, we must be ready to accept four challenges:  (a) to put ourselves last, (b) to be the servant of all,(c) to receive the most insignificant human beings with love, and (d) to expect nothing in return.  During the holy Mass let us pray for the true spirit of service, for an attitude of love for those around us. # 3: We need to express our thanks to all those who serve us: those who clean our houses, cook meals for us, wash our clothes, those volunteers in our parish community who serve at the Eucharistic celebration as altar servers, ushers, lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist, choir members, Sunday school teachers, members of parish organizations like the Knight of Columbus, Ladies Sodality, St. Vincent De Paul Society and so many other organizations and groups and those government and city employees who serve the public.

OT XXV [B] (Sept 20) Wis 2:12, 17-20; Jas 3:16--4:3; Mk 9:30-37

Anecdote: “The most powerful woman in the world!" At the screening of the film Mother Teresa during the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations in 1983, the Secretary General, Javier Perez de Cuellar, rose from his seat to introduce Mother Teresa to an elite gathering of the representatives of all member countries of the U.N. He needed only one sentence for his introduction:  "I present to you the most powerful woman in the world!" Hers was the power of humble, sacrificial, Christian service and agapelove! On March 3, 1976, conferring on Mother Teresa the highest honor of India’s Vishwa Bharati University, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, who was at that time Prime Minister of India, said:  “I feel myself dwarfed when I stand before this holy and mighty woman who heroically showed the world how to practice Christian love in sacrificial and humble service.” For many years, the world watched, admired and honored this weak and elderly nun, always dressed in a blue-bordered white sari, as the incarnation of humble and sacrificing Christian service.  She was the living proof of Jesus' words in today’s Gospel that real greatness lies in serving others. She served all with love and compassion. From 1962 onwards, she received national and international awards in recognition of her greatness, attained through the humble service done to the “poorest of the poor.”    On Sept. 5, 1997, the day of the death of this holy woman who lived with us, practicing what Jesus commanded his apostles in today’s Gospel, Pope John Paul II said: “Mother Teresa marked the history of our century with courage.  She served all human beings by promoting their dignity and respect, making them feel the tenderness of God.”

# 2:   “She could have jumped.” There was a story a number of years ago that was carried in the newspapers and in Time magazine. Mary Frances "Frankie" Housley(October 12, 1926 – January 14, 1951) was the lone stewardess on National Airlines flight 83 which crashed after landing at Philadelphia Airport in January, 1951. Frankie Housley had made 10 trips into that burning plane... to help passengers get out. As soon as she had finished getting all of the passengers to safety Housley also started to jump from the plane. But just before she made her escape, a passenger on the ground screamed, “My baby, my baby!” Flight attendant Mary Housley turned back into the plane to find the baby, and that was the last time anyone saw her alive. She died in the attempt to save the baby, and rescue workers found her charred body holding the four-month-old baby in her arms. The story of her courage made national headlines, including an item in Time magazine. ( Time (Jan. 22, 1951). One passenger called her a "real heroine." A congressman labeled her the bravest American in history. .

OT XXV – B (2)
OT XXV – B (2)
Introduction: Today’s readings invite us to become great in the sight of God by doing God’s will, as Jesus did, surrendering our lives to Him by serving others. Scripture lessons summarized: The passage from the Book of Wisdom sounds like a messianic prophecy similar to the “Suffering Servant” prophecy in Isaiah referring to Christ’s passion. It urges us to choose the path of righteousness in spite of painful consequences. In today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 54), the psalmist prays for help against the insolent people who rise against the upright. In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us a glimpse of what walking that path is, namely, welcoming and serving the vulnerable in our midst: the defenseless children, the despairing poor, the mentally ill and the marginalized. Jesus also teaches his apostles that child-like humility and selfless service make one great in the eyes of God. The second reading is in tune with the dispute among the apostles about who is the greatest. In it, James warns us that selfish ambitions destroy peace and cause conflicts and war. So, James advises us to choose the path of righteousness and humble service which leads to lasting peace Life messages: # 1:  We must become great through humble, self-giving service.    Greatness, in Jesus' view, is found in our willingness to accept and welcome and serve those who are considered unacceptable by reason of class, color, religion, wealth or culture.   We must welcome people the way a child welcomes them before he is taught discrimination.   If we are to be truly great, we must be ready to accept four challenges: (1) to put ourselves last, (2) to be the servant of all, (3) to receive the most insignificant human beings with love, and (4) to expect nothing in return.  During the holy Mass let us pray for the true spirit of service and for an attitude of love for those around us. May the Holy Spirit help us to become truly great through humble, selfless service. 2) We need to practice humility in thoughts, words and actions. “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.” "What is the essential thing in the religion and discipline of Jesus Christ?” St. Augustine asks, and then responds, “I shall reply: first humility, second humility and third humility." We should not seek recognition and recompense for the service we do for Christ and the Church as parents, teachers, pastors, etc. Trusting Faith resulting from true humility is essential for all corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Since children reflect the innocence, purity, simplicity and tenderness of our Lord, and since they are given the protection of a guardian angel, we are to love them, train them and take care not to give scandal to them. We need to try to treat everyone with love and respect because, "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life" (St. Basil), CCC # 336. (L/18) OT XXV (Sept 23) Sunday: Wis 2:12, 17-20; Jas 3:16---4:3; Mk 9:30-37 Anecdotes: # 1: “The most powerful woman in the world!" At the screening of the film Mother Teresa during the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations in 1983, the Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar rose from his seat to introduce St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) to an elite gathering of the representatives of all member countries of the U.N. He needed only one sentence for his introduction:  "I present to you the most powerful woman in the world!" (Hers was the power of humble and sacrificial Christian service!). On March 3, 1976, conferring on Mother Teresa the highest honor of India’s Vishwa Bharati University, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, who was at that time prime minister of India, said: “I feel myself dwarfed when I stand before this holy and mighty woman who heroically showed the world how to practice Christian love in sacrificial and humble service.” For many years, the world watched, admired and loved this weak and elderly nun, always dressed in a blue-bordered white sari, as the incarnation of humble and sacrificing Christian service.  She was the living proof of Jesus' words in today’s Gospel that real greatness lies in serving others. She did this with love and compassion. Beginning in 1962, she was given several awards, national and international, in recognition of her greatness, attained through the humble service given to the “poorest of the poor.”    On Sept. 5, 1997, the day of the death of this saint who lived with us, practicing what Jesus commanded His disciples to do, Pope St. John Paul II said: “Mother Teresa marked the history of our century with courage.  She served all human beings by promoting their dignity and respect, making them feel the tenderness of God.” # 2: Dr. Charles Mayo polishing the shoes of his guests: There's a story told about Dr. Charles Mayo who, with his father and brother, founded the world-famous Mayo Clinic. Some European medical experts were visiting the clinic and were staying as guests at Dr. Mayo's home. In their own countries it was the custom of these gentlemen to place their shoes outside the bedroom doors for a servant to polish. As Dr. Mayo was headed to bed, he noticed shoes lined up outside the rooms of his guests, but it was too late to wake up any of the servants. With a sigh he picked up all of the shoes, hauled them to the kitchen, and spent half of the night polishing them. Here is an example of what Jesus tells you and me in today’s Gospel “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Msgr. Arthur Tonne). # 3: “There are no professionals in dying." In George Seaton's film The Proud and the Profane, the steps of a young nurse are traced to a place called Iwo Jima where her husband had been killed in World War II.  She goes to the cemetery where her husband lies buried and turns to the caretaker, a shell-shocked soldier, who had seen her husband die.  "How did he die?" she asks.  "Like an amateur," he replies.  "They teach you how to hurl a grenade and how to fire a mortar, but nobody teaches you how to die.  There are no professionals in dying." Most of us avoid the subject of death.  It's a taboo subject.  We pretend that we are going to live forever.  But the only way we can keep up that pretense is through massive denial.  Woody Allen said, "When I die, all I want is just a few of my good friends to gather around the casket and do everything in their power to bring me back to life." Everyone dies - that we can accept.  But somehow, we think we will be the exception. Jesus knew of the innate fear in the heart of the disciples concerning death, -- his death and theirs.  Jesus also knew that they would all pay a terrible price for their future ministry.  So, in today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches the apostles that he is going to become the Messiah by his death and Resurrection. Twelve additional anecdotes are uploaded in my website frtonyshomilies.com Introduction: Today’s readings invite us to become great in the sight of God by doing God’s will, as Jesus did, surrendering our lives in the service of others. Scripture lessons summarized: The passage from the Book of Wisdom sounds like a messianic prophecy similar to the “Suffering Servant” prophecy in Isaiah referring to Christ’s passion. It urges us to choose the path of righteousness in spite of painful consequences. In today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 54), the psalmist prays for help against the insolent people who rise against the upright.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us a glimpse of what walking that path is, namely, welcoming and serving the vulnerable in our midst: the defenseless children, the despairing poor, the mentally ill and the marginalized. Jesus also teaches his apostles that only child-like humility and selfless service make one great in the eyes of God. The second reading is in tune with the dispute among the apostles about who is the greatest. In it, James warns us that selfish ambitions destroy peace and cause conflicts and war. So, James advises us to choose the path of righteousness and humble service which leads to lasting peace The first reading: Wisdom. 2:12, 17-20, explained.  The Book of Wisdom was written around 100 BC for "the Diaspora," -- the Jews living in pagan cities such as   the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria. Today’s passage is considered to be a messianic prophecy of Jesus’ fate at the hands of his own people, presenting him as a “Suffering servant.” It refers to a righteous sufferer and points to Jesus' crucifixion. This reading tells us how the world often ill-treats those who strive to live justly and do God’s will.   Bible scholars consider this as a reference to a conflict that was developing among the Jews living in Alexandria.  The conflict was between those who were trying to keep their faith pure, and those who were adopting pagan Greek customs. The second reading (James: 3:16 – 4:3), explained: James is emphatic about the contrast between spiritual wisdom and earthly wisdom. The apostle states that conflicts and disputes come from our inordinate desires, worldly cravings and selfish ambition.  It is precisely this kind of conflict that appears in the Gospel when the apostles argue about who will be highest in the Kingdom of God. James contrasts this kind of jealousy and selfishness with the wisdom from above that produces a harvest of righteousness. Gospel exegesis:  The context: Jesus was returning to Capernaum after journeying incognito through the Northern Province of Galilee, avoiding crowds and teaching the apostles.  Mark presents Jesus as giving three predictions about his suffering and death in chapters, 8, 9 and 10.   The response by Jesus' disciples is disappointing because they were dreaming of a political messiah who would usher in an earthly kingdom.  In chapter 8, Peter rebukes Jesus for his words.   In chapter 9, (the first part of today’s text), an argument arises among the disciples as to who among them is the greatest.   In the third passage (chapter 10), James and John foolishly ask Jesus to give them seats on his right and left, when he comes to power.  “The grumbling of the other ten disciples at the request of James and John surely implies that they have shared the same hopes of authority and privilege as have the sons of Zebedee.” (Carl W. Conrad; http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/Mark/mk8tr.html). The second part of today’s Gospel describes what happens when Jesus returns to Peter’s house in Capernaum and explains to his apostles what true greatness is. The Christian criterion of greatness: Jesus says that people who serve humbly are the greatest. He uses a play on an Aramaic word that can mean either servant or child.  Presenting a child before them, Jesus explains that one who wishes to be the first among them must be a servant to all.  True greatness consists in serving one's fellow men and is never self-centered.  It lies in the ability to see and respond to the needs of others, and it presupposes compassion and sympathy. The two conditions of true greatness are humility and service. This vocation to service belongs to the Church as a whole and to every member of the Church.    In other words, the Christian vocation is an apostolate of bearing witness to Christ through loving, humble service.  Christian history teaches us that whenever the members of Christ’s Church have forgotten or ignored this call to service, the Church has suffered. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, gives us this  motto on service: “Do all the good you can; By all the means you can; In all the ways you can; In all the places you can; At all the times you can; To all the people you can; As long as ever you can.” The paradox of the first becoming the last: Here, Jesus stands conventional wisdom on its head:    the truly great person is a diakonos − a deacon − a servant − a person who spends his/her day taking care of other people! What does it mean when Jesus states that those who want to be the first must be the last? Probably, Jesus is speaking of his life and death in this spirit of his being a servant and considered the last, the loser. Jesus wants his apostles to substitute their ambition to rule thus becoming the first, with the ambition to serve, thus becoming the last. We are all supposed to be serving, whatever our position or role in the society or family or in the Church may be, because true greatness lies  in being the servant or slave of all. Welcoming children. “It may appear that Jesus’ teaching about innocence and welcoming the insignificant (vv. 33-37) is out of place in the context of his passion prediction (vv. 30-32). However, the prediction of his coming death was actually elucidated by Jesus’ lesson regarding the child and vice versa. Talya or child in Aramaic can also mean servant. To behave as a talya (servant) and to welcome even someone as insignificant (according to the standards of that time) as a talya (child) is to learn the reason for the cross (vv. 31-32) and its lesson of discipleship” (Sánchez files). In Greek also, the usual term for “children” [παις, pais] is the same term generally used for “slaves,” and vice-versa. By this play on words, it seems clear that, as much as Jesus is counseling His followers to welcome children in His name, Mark is also asking the Christian community to welcome “servants [of the Gospel],” in the same way that they would welcome Jesus.  (Dr. Watson).  By setting a child before them, Jesus asked them to be like the child, suggesting the importance of   innocence and humility. The trusting innocence of a child’s heart is the place where believers can meet both Christ and God. Besides, a child represents the most powerless member of any society, a person who has no power, no influence; a person who can be controlled, abused or neglected by others.   By introducing the example of a child, Jesus also shows us that, when serving others, we must be careful to serve the least important.   This means that the Christian must show hospitality to those who have no social status: the outcast, the sinner, the sick and the feeble.  In other words, the Christian must serve all of God's children, regardless of whether they are friends or foes. Why? Because such people represent Jesus in our midst and hence they must be welcomed, respected and helped. The passage also tells us that Christians must care for the unwanted, neglected, abused and ignored. Life messages: # 1:  We must become great through humble, self-giving service.    Greatness, in Jesus' view, is found in our willingness to accept, welcome and serve those who are considered unacceptable by reason of class, color, religion, wealth or culture.   We must welcome people the way a child welcomes them before he is taught discrimination.   If we are to be truly great, we must be ready to accept four challenges: (1) to put ourselves last, (2) to be the servant of all, (3) to receive the most insignificant human beings with love, and (4) to expect nothing in return.  During the holy Mass let us pray for the true spirit of service, for an attitude of love for those around us.  May the Holy Spirit help us to become truly great through humble, selfless service. St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) puts it like this: “Be the living expression of God's kindness through humble service; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile and kindness in your warm greeting.” Here is the motto of the Missionaries of Charity, the order of nuns founded by Mother Teresa: The fruit of Silence is Prayer. The fruit of Prayer is Faith. The fruit of Faith is Love. The fruit of Love is Service. And the fruit of Service is Peace. 2) We need to practice humility in thoughts, words and actions. “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.” "What is the essential thing in the religion and discipline of Jesus Christ?” St. Augustine asks, and then responds, “I shall reply: first humility, second humility and third humility." We should not seek recognition and recompense for the service we do for Christ and the Church as parents, teachers, pastors, etc. Trusting Faith resulting from true humility is essential for all corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Since children reflect the innocence, purity, simplicity and tenderness of our Lord, and since they are given the protection of a guardian angel, we are to love them, train them and take care not to give scandal to them. We need to try to treat everyone with love and respect because, "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life," (St. Basil) CCC # 336. WEBSITES OF THE WEEK 1)      Study on O. T. XXV [B] readings: http://www.textweek.com/mkjnacts/mark9b.htm 2)   Sermons from Seattle: http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_jesus_loves_all_the_little_children_of_the_world.htm 3)      Kurt's Favorite Catholic Links: http://www.psalm40.org/catholic/ 4)      Are Catholic doctrines biblical? http://usccb.org/bible/understanding-the-bible/study-materials/articles/bible-at-core-of-catholic-beliefs.cfm 5)      Scripture Catholic: https://www.scripturecatholic.com/ JOKES OF THE WEEK # 1: Remember potato salad and jokes:   Tony Campolo, used to say, “If you ever start to feel proud, thinking that you are somebody great, just remember that soon after your body has been lowered into the grave, your family & friends will be eating potato salad & telling jokes, & you’ll be history." # 2: More My Size! George Washington Carver, the scientist who developed hundreds of useful products from the peanut: “When I was young, I said to God, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the universe.’ But God answered, ‘That knowledge is reserved for me alone.’ So, I said, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.’ Then God said, ‘Well, George, that’s more nearly your size.’ And he told me.” # 3: A horrible mistake: Father, I have a besetting sin, and I want your help. I come to church on Sunday and can’t help thinking I’m the prettiest girl in the congregation. I know I ought not think that, but I can’t help it. I want you to help me with it." The pastor replied, "Mary, don’t worry about it. In your case it’s not a sin. It’s just a horrible mistake." #4: Prime minister’s humility: Winston Churchill was once asked, "Doesn’t it thrill you to know that every time you make a speech, the hall is packed to overflowing?" "It’s quite flattering," replied Sir Winston. "But whenever I feel that way, I always remember that if instead of making a political speech I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big." #5: I am proud of my humility: Do you have humility like the man who wrote the best-selling books, Humility and Humility and How I Attained It and The Ten Most Humble Men in the World and How I Chose the Other Nine?   # 6: Remember this old Sunday school song containing the basic servant-living theology: J.O.Y., J.O. Y. Tell you what it means: Jesus first, yourself last, and others in between. # 7: The humble pastor: Did you hear about the pastor who prepared a great message on humility.  But he was waiting for a bigger congregation to preach the sermon to! Another pastor was given an award for humility. A week later, the congregation took the award back because the pastor displayed it in his office! L/18 “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle B (No 49) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com Visit our website: http://frtonyshomilies.com/for previous Cycle B homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 196 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html for the Vatican version of this homily. Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604.    
OT XXVI – B (1)
OT XXVI – B (1)

OT XXVI [B] Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 (L/15)

Introduction: Today’s Scripture readings give us a strong warning against jealousy, intolerance and scandal.

Scripture lessons:  In the first reading, we find jealousy, in its destructive form of envy, raising its ugly head in Moses’ assistant and successor, Joshua.  Moses and seventy future helpers were called by the Lord God to the Tent of Meeting for the Spirit-giving Ordination ceremony. But two of the invitees were absent.  Hence, Joshua could not tolerate these absent men prophesying in the camp without receiving God’s Spirit in the Tent of Meeting. Moses had to instruct Joshua to be tolerant. This selection is intended to provide a Biblical background for Jesus’ response to the same kind of jealousy noticed in his apostles.  In the second reading, James warns the rich against giving scandal by their denial of social justice to their workers in refusing to give them a living wage, by ignoring the needs of others and by condemning and murdering the innocent and the righteous.  Withholding a day-laborer's wage was a terrible act of injustice, tantamount to murder in the agricultural economy of the ancient Middle East.  Baptism commits every Christian to work for social justice, through peaceable (rather than violent), means.  In the Gospel, we find intolerance among the apostles of Christ. John complained to Jesus that a man outside their group of selected disciples was exorcising demons in Jesus’ Name, in spite of their attempt to prevent him from doing so.  Jesus taught the Apostles lessons in his kind of tolerance and in the reward to be given to outsiders for good deeds they had done for the disciples of Jesus.  We also hear the strong warning of Jesus against giving scandal, especially to innocent children, vulnerable members of the community and beginners in the Faith.  Jesus warned the Apostles, and us, that, just as a doctor might remove by surgery a limb or some part of the body in order to preserve the life of the whole body, so we must be ready to part with anything that causes us or others to sin and which leads to spiritual death.

Life messages: 1) Let us avoid conduct that can lead to scandal.  We give scandal and become stumbling blocks to others: a) when we are unkind or unjust in our treatment of them, b) when we humiliate them by hurting their pride and damaging their self-image, c) when we discourage, ignore, or refuse to accept them, and d) when we become judgmental of those who are still struggling to reach a level of commitment that we feel is too low to be useful.

2: Let us learn the Christian virtue of tolerance: Christian tolerance asks that we bear with the weaknesses of others (without condoning the evil they do), by: a) remaining true to our conscience and beliefs, b) respecting the differences we encounter, c) working together on projects of common interest, d) affirming what is good in the other person’s position, even when we disagree on certain things, and e) allowing the light of Christ to shine through our loving words and deeds.

OT XXVI [B]: Nm 11:25-29; Jas 5:1-6; Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 (L/15)

Anecdote: #1: "Could you not have tolerated him for just one meal?"   There is legend told about Abraham, the grand patriarch of the Jews, in the Mideast. According to the legend, Abraham always held off eating his breakfast each morning until a hungry person came along to share it with him. One day an old man came along, and, of course, Abraham invited him to share his breakfast with him. However, when Abraham heard the old man say a pagan blessing over his food, he jumped up and ordered the old man out from his table, and from his house. Almost immediately, God spoke to Abraham. “Abraham! Abraham! I have been supplying that unbeliever with food every day for the past eighty years. Could you not have tolerated him for just one meal?" We are all children of God, and, hence, we have to love and tolerate everyone, as explained in today’s first reading and the gospel. (From Jack McArdle).

#2: Gandhi, Mandela, Dorothy Day and Martin Luther King Jr. With our fallen human nature, we fall victim to the evil tendency of trying to control the Spirit of God by our intolerance.  Our own arrogance insists that another is not qualified to speak on justice or morality because of his/her lower educational qualifications, low-grade lifestyle, humble social background or race.  As a society, we also tend to question people’s legitimacy – especially when they challenge us.  Mohandas Gandhi, a Hindu leader in India, challenged the colonial rule of the British Empire over India with his principles of peace and non-violence.  But the intolerant British Empire, initially dismissing him as a “silly, half-naked fakir,” tried to silence him by imprisonment.  But later they found, to their horror that the entire nation was behind him in its fight for freedom from colonial rule.  Nelson Mandela was ignored by the minority ruling class and was jailed for many for years as a radical because of his option for the poor and the oppressed in South Africa.  Dorothy Day was imprisoned in the U. S.  for her beliefs and was accused of being a Communist.  Martin Luther King Jr. challenged a nation and its policy of discrimination.  He was continually under surveillance by the FBI and was accused of inciting sedition and of being unpatriotic.  There are Christians who still look on believers belonging to non-Christian religions and on members of Christian denominations different from their own as heretics and semi-pagans.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives his disciples a lesson in Christian tolerance along with a warning against jealousy and scandal.    

Introduction: Today’s readings give us a strong warning against jealousy, intolerance and scandal.  In the first reading, we find jealousy, in its destructive form of envy, raising its ugly head in Moses’ assistant and successor, Joshua.  Moses and 70 future helpers were called by the Lord God to the Tent of Meeting for the Spirit-giving ordination ceremony. But two of the invitees were absent.  Hence Joshua could not tolerate these absent men prophesying in the camp without receiving God’s Spirit in the Tent of Meeting. Moses had to instruct Joshua to be tolerant. This selection is intended to provide a Biblical background for Jesus’ response to the same kind of jealousy noticed in his apostles.  In the second reading, James warns the rich against giving scandal by their denial of social justice to their workers in refusing to give them a living wage, by ignoring the needs of others and by condemning and murdering the innocent and the righteous. Baptism commits every Christian to work for social justice through peaceable (rather than violent), means.  In the Gospel, we find intolerance among the apostles of Christ. John complained to Jesus that a man outside their group of selected disciples was exorcising demons in Jesus’ Name, in spite of their attempt to prevent him from doing so.  Jesus taught the Apostles lessons in his kind of tolerance and in the reward to be given to outsiders for good deeds they had done for the disciples of Jesus.  We also hear the strong warning of Jesus against giving scandal, especially to innocent children, vulnerable members of the community and beginners in the Faith.  Jesus warned the Apostles, and us, that, just as a doctor might remove a limb or some part of the body in order to preserve the life of the whole body, so we must be ready to part with anything that causes us or others to sin and which leads to spiritual death.  Jesus is inviting us to integrate our bodies into our following of Christ, so that our hands become instruments of compassion, healing and comfort, our feet help us to bring the Gospel to the world and our eyes learn to see the truth, goodness and beauty all around us.

First reading, : The Book of Numbers was written down after the Exile, in the 6th century BC, by Jewish priests who were hoping to put the broken nation back together and to keep it faithful to God.  Chapter 11 has two stories of God's responses to the continuing complaints of the wandering Israelites.  First, they had lamented the absence of meat from their diet, comparing the manna unfavorably to the variety of foods they had eaten while enslaved in Egypt. Moses appealed to God, saying that he was unable to manage the people alone. God heard his plea and told him to select seventy elders --- experienced men from among the tribes --- whom God would appoint as leaders of the people under Moses, and assemble them in the Tent of Meeting.  Moses did so, and there God bestowed on them part of the Spirit He had given Moses. At once, they began to prophesy---a sign to the people that God had appointed them as His representatives. They prefigured the ministry of the apostles.  But Joshua, a close follower and aide of Moses who was jealous for Moses' reputation, complained about two men named Eldad and Medad.  Though both had been on Moses’ list of 70, neither had attended the Spirit-giving ordination ceremony in the Tent of Meeting, yet both were prophesying.  Moses asked Joshua, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!" and reminded him gently that God is free to choose anyone He pleases as His prophet. Through Baptism, all of us are made God's ministers and God’s prophets.  We are filled with God's Spirit and empowered to interpret God's vision and message to the people around us, and we are not to grow jealous of those serving the community in positions of greater authority or working for the community in different venues.

Second Reading, : The passage from James illustrates how the rich give scandal by their unjust treatment of laborers and their gross violation of the principles of social justice.  Today's passage is a straightforward moral condemnation and a strong denunciation of the unscrupulous rich who enrich themselves by treating others unfairly and spend their riches in self-indulgence. Withholding a day-laborer's wage was a terrible act of injustice, tantamount to murder in the agricultural economy of the ancient Middle East.  James is merciless in his condemnation of ill-gotten wealth.  There's hardly a more emphatic passage in the New Testament.  Baptism commits every Christian to work for social justice through peaceable (rather than violent), means.  Pope Paul VI’s encyclical on social justice echoes the tradition of James.

Exegesis: Today’s Gospel gives us lessons in Christian tolerance and exemplary Christian living.

 1) Warnings against jealousy and intolerance: The apostles wanted to reserve God's love and healing power to themselves as the "sole owners" and "authorized distributors"! We hear John complaining to Jesus that a stranger was driving out demons in Jesus’ Name, though he was not of their company.  They wanted Jesus to condemn the man.  As occasionally unsuccessful exorcists, they may have been jealous of this stranger.  Jesus, however, reprimanded his disciples for their jealousy and suspicion and invited them to broaden their vision and to recognize God's power wherever it was found.  Like Moses in the first reading, Jesus challenged a rigid understanding of ministerial legitimacy.  He wanted the apostles to rejoice in the good that others did, for God was the Doer of all good.  Jesus enunciates a principle for his disciples: "Anyone who is not against us is for us."  God can and does use anyone to do His work.  The Church has no monopoly on God's work, truth, love or power to heal and reconcile.  The work of the Kingdom is not confined to the baptized, although it is certainly our special work.  This lesson is especially valuable today.  Intolerance rising from fear and envy has a long history in the Christian Church and Christians are still known for a spirit of intolerance.  Ask the average person on the street what he/she thinks is a Christian attitude, and he/she will use words like "judgmental," "narrow-minded," "dogmatic," "condemning," and "intolerant."  The road to the brotherly love Jesus commands must begin with each of us.  The cause of Christ is not served by one's rejecting other ways to God than one’s own, or by one's claiming that no real good can take place outside the boundaries of one's own denomination.  It is through mutual respect that we find common ground with others and discover strengths in different beliefs.  Wherever we see God's work being done, we should give it our support and be ready to work together with those doing the work, whether they are Christians or not, believers or not.

2) A millstone for the scandal-giver: Jesus' second warning is against scandal-givers: those who cause the “little ones” to sin.  The Greek word for "little ones" ismicron, meaning the smallest or the least.  It can mean children, those who are new to the Faith, or those who are weak in Faith.  Jesus is pointing out that the scandalous behavior of older believers can be an obstacle to those whose Faith is just beginning to develop.  Etymologically, the word scandal comes from the Greek skandalon, which was a trap-stick or bent sapling used for a snare.  With a skandalon a hunter could catch a rabbit or other small prey.  We may remember how the Enron scandal, the Monica Lewinsky affair, and of course, the horrible sexual abuse of children by the clergy were pictured by the media.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines scandal as “an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil” (#2284).

3) Modern scandal-givers: The truly dangerous people to whom Jesus is referring are those evil ones who wear the mantle of religious leadership, and at the same time, by their counter-witness, turn the weak and the innocent away from God, and cause them to sin.  Today, we know the irreparable harm done to the Church and the faithful by the scandals of clerical sex abuse.  Likewise, scandal is often given by unorthodox theologians and false preachers, who propagate their anti-Christian ideas under the guise of Biblical and psychological research.   Professors, even at some Christian universities, sometime advocate moral relativism and nihilism, converting students to their false beliefs.  Even teachers at Catholic universities sometimes criticize papal pronouncements as “an infringement on academic freedom."  Do they not give scandal?  Our major social institutions — the news media, the Internet, law, public education, and the entertainment industry -- under the guise of “freedom of speech and expression,” often seem  hostile towards religion, erecting  stumbling blocks to believers.  We have an obligation to make known, with Christian courage, our views on these matters so as to protect the innocent.

3) Interpreting Jesus' words about self-mutilation? Our hands become instruments of sin according to what we touch and how we touch, in lust or greed or violence. Our feet are used for sin according to the places we have them take us.  Our eyes become doorways for sins according to what we choose to look at or refuse to look at.  However, it is important to understand that, in these passages about "plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand," Jesus is not speaking literally.  We have more sins than we have bodily parts.  Besides, even if all offending parts were removed, our hearts and minds -- the source of all sins-- would still be intact.  Hence, these sayings are actually about our attitudes, dispositions, and inclinations.  Jesus is inviting us to integrate our bodies into our following of Christ, so that our hands become instruments of compassion, healing and comfort, our feet help us to bring the Gospel to the world, and our eyes learn to see the truth, goodness and beauty all around us.

By these startling words about self-mutilation, Jesus also means that we must cut out of our lives all practices that keep us away from God, and retain only those habits that draw us closer to God.  Jesus is setting before all his disciples the one supreme goal in life that is worth any sacrifice.  That goal is God himself and His will for our lives, which alone leads us to everlasting peace and happiness.  Just as a doctor might remove a limb or some part of the body in order to preserve the life of the whole body, so we must be ready to part with anything which causes us to sin and which leads us or others to spiritual death.  Billy Graham has a fantastic way of summing up this Gospel message by concluding his Crusades with a final challenge: "Decide!  Cut away anything that prevents you from a radical decision for Jesus Christ!  Decide for Christ!" Life messages: 1) We need to avoid conduct that can lead to scandal.  We  give scandal and become stumbling blocks to others: a) when we are unkind or unjust in our treatment of  them, b) when we reject them because of their weakness, faults or sins, c) when we humiliate them by  hurting their pride and damaging their self-image, d) when we discourage, ignore, or refuse to accept them, e) when we ridicule them or deflate their dreams, f) when we follow a double standard:"Do as I say; don't do as I do,"  g) when we set standards which are so high that we are unable to meet them  ourselves, and h) when we become judgmental of those who are still struggling to reach a  level of commitment that we feel is too low to be useful. On the other hand, we become good role models: a) when we support and guide others in moments of doubt, weakness, and suffering, b) when we increase other people’s self-confidence by accepting them as they are and enabling them to discover their hidden talents, c) when we help them to grow by inspiring and correcting them, d) when we forgive them and listen to them with patience, and e) when we make ourselves examples of Christian witnessing.

#2: Let us learn the Christian virtue of tolerance: Christian tolerance asks that we bear with the weaknesses of others, without condoning the evil they do.  Intolerance is a sign of a weak faith.  Intolerance is also ineffective.  It does nothing but damage to the cause it seeks to defend. When we attack a heretic, we don’t change his mind, for the most part. We just give him an audience.  To ban a book, is, almost surely, to make it a best seller. Condemning a sinner immediately draws people to defend him.  An intolerant attitude will alienate, rather than attract, sinners.  Only genuine agape love can overcome hatred.  The Church should display this patient love to a hate-filled world.  The Church is expected to present Christ to the world.  How can the Church present Christ when it is arrogant or intolerant rather than loving others as Christ loves us?  We cannot exalt love by encouraging hate.  Hence, let us try both to learn and to practice the virtue of Christian tolerance in our interfaith and ecumenical endeavors by: a) remaining true to our conscience and beliefs, b) respecting the differences we encounter, c) working together on projects of common interest, d) affirming what is good in the other person’s position, even when we disagree on certain things, and e) allowing the light of Christ to shine through our loving words and deeds.

JOKE OF THE WEEK #1: Intolerance in the blood: In Belfast, Ireland, a Catholic priest, a Protestant minister and a Jewish rabbi were engaged in a heated theological discussion.  Suddenly an angel appeared in their midst and said to them, “God sends you His blessings.  Make one wish for peace and your wish will be fulfilled by the Almighty.” The Protestant minister said, “Let every Catholic disappear from our lovely island.  Then peace will reign supreme.” The priest said, “Let there not be a single Protestant left on our sacred Irish soil. That will bring peace to this island.” “And what about you, Rabbi?” said the angel. “Do you have no wish of your own?” “No,” said the rabbi. “Just attend to the wishes of these two gentlemen and I shall be well pleased.” —Anthony de Mello, in Taking Flight 

#2: "Die, heretic scum!" I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off.  I immediately ran over and said "Stop!  Don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!" "Like what?" "Well ...  are you religious or atheist?" "Religious." "Me too!  Are you Christian or Jewish?" "Christian." "Me too!  Are you Catholic or Protestant?" "Protestant." "Me too!  Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?" "Baptist." "Wow!  Me too!  Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?" "Baptist Church of God." "Me too!  Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God."  "Me too!  Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!" To which I said, "Die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off.

OT XXVI – B (2)
OT XXVI – B (2)
Central theme: Today’s Scripture readings give us a strong warning against jealousy, intolerance and scandal. Scripture lessons:  In the first reading, we find jealousy, in its destructive form of envy, raising its ugly head in Moses’ assistant and successor, Joshua.  Moses and seventy future helpers were called by the Lord God to the Tent of Meeting for the Spirit-giving Ordination ceremony. But two of the invitees were absent, and Joshua could not tolerate these absent men prophesying in the camp without receiving God’s Spirit in the Tent of Meeting. Moses had to instruct Joshua to be tolerant. This selection is intended to provide a Biblical background for Jesus’ response to the same kind of jealousy noticed in his apostles.  In the second reading, James warns the rich against giving scandal by their denial of social justice to their workers in refusing to give them a living wage, by ignoring the needs of others and by condemning and murdering the innocent and the righteous.  Withholding a day-laborer's wage was a terrible act of injustice, tantamount to murder in the agricultural economy of the ancient Middle East.  Baptism commits every Christian to work for social justice, through peaceable (rather than violent), means. The Refrain for today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 19), “The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart,” reminds us that obedience to the spirit of the Law will draw us closer to God and so give us lasting joy.  In the Gospel, we find intolerance among the apostles of Christ. John complains to Jesus that a man outside their group of selected disciples has been exorcising demons in Jesus’ Name, in spite of their attempt to prevent him from doing so.  Jesus responds by giving the Apostles lessons in his kind of tolerance and in the reward to be given to outsiders for good deeds they have done for the disciples of Jesus.  We also hear the strong warning of Jesus against giving scandal, especially to innocent children, vulnerable members of the community and beginners in the Faith.  Jesus instructs the Apostles, and us, that, just as a doctor might remove by surgery a limb or some part of the body in order to preserve the life of the whole body, so we must be ready to part with anything that causes us or others to sin and which leads to spiritual death. Life messages: 1) Let us avoid conduct that can lead to scandal.  We give scandal and become stumbling blocks to others: a) when we are unkind or unjust in our treatment of them, b) when we humiliate them by hurting their pride and damaging their self-image, c) when we discourage, ignore, or refuse to accept them, and d) when we become judgmental of those who are still struggling to reach a level of commitment that we feel is too low to be useful. 2: Let us learn the Christian virtue of tolerance: Christian tolerance asks that we bear with the weaknesses of others (without condoning the evil they do), by: a) remaining true to our conscience and beliefs, b) respecting the differences we encounter, c) working together on projects of common interest, d) affirming what is good in the other person’s position, even when we disagree on certain things, and e) allowing the light of Christ to shine through our loving words and deeds. OT XXVI [B]: Nm 11:25-29; Jas 5:1-6; Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 Homily starter anecdote: #1: "Could you not have tolerated him for just one meal?"   There is legend told about Abraham, the grand patriarch of the Jews, in the Mideast. According to the legend, Abraham always held off eating his breakfast each morning until a hungry person came along to share it with him. One day an old man came along, and, of course, Abraham invited him to share his breakfast with him. However, when Abraham heard the old man say a pagan blessing over his food, he jumped up and ordered the old man out from his table, and from his house. Almost immediately, God spoke to Abraham. “Abraham! Abraham! I have been supplying that unbeliever with food every day for the past eighty years. Could you not have tolerated him for just one meal?" We are all children of God, and, hence, we have to love and tolerate everyone, as explained in today’s first reading and the Gospel. (From Jack McArdle).   # 2: "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off." It was one of the most gripping news stories of 2003. In the beautiful but desolate mountains of southeastern Utah, a twenty-seven-year-old mountain climber named Aron Ralston, made a desperate decision. An avid outdoors man, Aron was rock-climbing one day when his right arm became trapped under a boulder, a boulder estimated to weigh at least eight hundred pounds. He saw immediately that he was in deep trouble. Unable to budge the rock at all, Aron took out his pocketknife and chipped away at the rock for 10 hours, managing to produce only a small handful of dust. Obviously, this was not going to work. Days were passing. No one knew where he was. Even worse, his family and friends were used to his going off for days without contacting anyone, so they were not even looking for him. With his arm still wedged beneath this enormous boulder Aron Ralston recorded a video message to his parents telling them good-bye. At the end of several days with no food or water, however, Aron made a remarkable choice. Aron Ralston decided to amputate his arm in order to save himself. And that's exactly what he did, using only a pocket knife. What an amazing display of courage and determination! After he was finished, he applied a tourniquet to his arm and rappelled nearly 70 feet to the floor of the canyon. Then he hiked five miles downstream where he encountered some other hikers and was rescued. Aron Ralston made the obviously excruciating decision to amputate his right arm to save his life. It is an amazing story! Who can read this story without thinking of Jesus' words from our lesson for today, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell"? What a stark declaration. "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off." Aron Ralston certainly made a choice – to sacrifice his arm in order to save his life. There are choices that must be made in life, and those choices determine our destiny.   #3: Gandhi, Mandela, Dorothy Day and Martin Luther King Jr. With our fallen human nature, we fall victim to the evil tendency of trying to control the Spirit of God by our intolerance.  Our own arrogance insists that another is not qualified to speak on justice or morality because of his/her lower educational qualifications, low-grade lifestyle, humble social background or race.  As a society, we also tend to question people’s legitimacy – especially when they challenge us.  Mohandas Gandhi, a Hindu leader in India, challenged the colonial rule of the British Empire over India with his principles of peace and non-violence.  But the intolerant British Empire, initially dismissing him as a “silly, half-naked fakir,” tried to silence him by imprisonment.  But later they found, to their horror that the entire nation was behind him in its fight for freedom from colonial rule.  Nelson Mandela was ignored by the minority ruling class and was jailed for many for years as a radical because of his option for the poor and the oppressed in South Africa.  Dorothy Day was imprisoned in the U. S.  for her beliefs and was accused of being a Communist.  Martin Luther King Jr. challenged a nation and its policy of discrimination.  He was continually under surveillance by the FBI and was accused of inciting sedition and of being unpatriotic.  There are Christians who still look on believers belonging to non-Christian religions and on members of Christian denominations different from their own as heretics and semi-pagans.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives his disciples a lesson in Christian tolerance along with a warning against jealousy and scandal. 23 Additional anecdotes are uploaded in my website: http://frtonyshomilies.com/ Introduction: Today’s readings give us a strong warning against jealousy, intolerance and scandal.  In the first reading, we find jealousy, in its destructive form of envy, raising its ugly head in Moses’ assistant and successor, Joshua.  Moses and seventy future helpers were called by the Lord God to the Tent of Meeting for the Spirit-giving ordination ceremony. But two of the invitees were absent, and Joshua could not tolerate these absent men prophesying in the camp without receiving God’s Spirit in the Tent of Meeting. Moses had to instruct Joshua to be tolerant. This selection is intended to provide a Biblical background for Jesus’ response to the same kind of jealousy noticed in his apostles.  The Refrain for today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 19), “The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart,” reminds us that obedience to the spirit of the Law will draw us closer to God and so give us lasting joy.  In the second reading, James warns the rich against giving scandal by their denial of social justice to their workers in refusing to give them a living wage, by ignoring the needs of others and by condemning and murdering the innocent and the righteous. Baptism commits every Christian to work for social justice through peaceable (rather than violent), means.  In the Gospel, we find intolerance among the apostles of Christ. John complains to Jesus that a man outside their group of selected disciples has been exorcising demons in Jesus’ Name, in spite of their attempt to prevent him from doing so.  Jesus responds by giving the Apostles lessons in his kind of tolerance and in the reward to be given to outsiders for good deeds they do for the disciples of Jesus.  We also hear the strong warning of Jesus against giving scandal, especially to innocent children, vulnerable members of the community and beginners in the Faith.  Jesus instructs the Apostles, and us, that, just as a doctor might remove a limb or some part of the body in order to preserve the life of the whole body, so we must be ready to part with anything that causes us or others to sin and which leads to spiritual death.  Jesus is inviting us to integrate our bodies into our following of Christ, so that our hands become instruments of compassion, healing and comfort, our feet help us to bring the Gospel to the world and our eyes learn to see the truth, goodness and beauty all around us. First reading, Numbers 11:25-29, explained: The Book of Numbers was written down after the Exile, in the 6th century BC, by Jewish priests who were hoping to put the broken nation back together and to keep it faithful to God.  Chapter 11 has two stories of God's responses to the continuing complaints of the wandering Israelites.  First, they had lamented the absence of meat from their diet, comparing the manna unfavorably to the variety of foods they had eaten while enslaved in Egypt. Moses appealed to God, saying that he was unable to manage the people alone. God heard his plea and told him to select seventy elders --- experienced men from among the tribes --- whom God would appoint as leaders of the people under Moses and assemble them in the Tent of Meeting.  Moses did so, and their God bestowed on them part of the Spirit He had given Moses. At once, they began to prophesy---a sign to the people that God had appointed them as His representatives. They prefigured the ministry of the apostles.  But Joshua, a close follower and aide of Moses who was jealous for Moses' reputation, complained about two men named Eldad and Medad.  Though both had been on Moses’ list of 70, neither had attended the Spirit-giving ordination ceremony in the Tent of Meeting, yet both were prophesying.  Moses asked Joshua, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!" and reminded him gently that God is free to choose anyone He pleases as His prophet. Moses promptly corrected Joshua for showing the tendency toward institutionalizing the power and presence of God. Through Baptism, all of us are made God's ministers and God’s prophets.  We are filled with God's Spirit and empowered to interpret God's vision and message to the people around us, and we are not to grow jealous of those serving the community in positions of greater authority or working for the community in different venues. Second Reading, (James 5:1-6), explained: The passage from James illustrates how the rich give scandal by their unjust treatment of laborers and their gross violation of the principles of social justice.  Today's passage is a straightforward moral condemnation and a strong denunciation of the unscrupulous rich who enrich themselves by treating others unfairly and spend their riches in self-indulgence. Withholding a day-laborer's wage was a terrible act of injustice, tantamount to murder in the agricultural economy of the ancient Middle East.  James is merciless in his condemnation of ill-gotten wealth.  There's hardly a more emphatic passage in the New Testament.  Baptism commits every Christian to work for social justice through peaceable (rather than violent), means.  Pope Paul VI’s encyclical on social justice echoes the tradition of James. Jean Paul Sartre, the French existentialist made the false statement: “Hell is other people!” But the truth is that hell is the “person of only one book.” Hell is me, when I am alienated from others, and, from God. Gospel exegesis: Today’s Gospel gives us lessons in Christian tolerance and exemplary Christian living.  1) Warnings against jealousy and intolerance: The apostles wanted to reserve God's love and healing power to themselves as the "sole owners" and "authorized distributors"! We hear John complaining to Jesus that a stranger was driving out demons in Jesus’ Name, though he was not of their company.  They want Jesus to condemn the man.  As occasionally unsuccessful exorcists, they may have been jealous of this stranger.  Jesus, however, reprimands his disciples for their jealousy and suspicion and invites them to broaden their vision and to recognize God's power wherever it is found.  Like Moses in the first reading, Jesus challenges a rigid understanding of ministerial legitimacy.  He wants the apostles to rejoice in the good that others are doing, for God is the Doer of all good.  Jesus enunciates a principle for his disciples: "Anyone who is not against us is for us."  God can and does use anyone to do His work. The invitation to proclaim the good news of salvation, in both word and work, is not restricted to the twelve apostles or seventy disciples but extended to anyone who will hear and respond to it “in Jesus’ name.” The Church has no monopoly on God's work, truth, love or power to heal and reconcile.  The work of the Kingdom is not confined to the baptized, although it is certainly our special work.  This lesson is especially valuable today.  Intolerance rising from fear and envy has a long history in the Christian Church and Christians are still known for a spirit of intolerance.  Ask the average person on the street what he/she thinks is a Christian attitude, and he/she will use words like "judgmental," "narrow-minded," "dogmatic," "condemning," and "intolerant."  The road to the brotherly love Jesus commands must begin with each of us.  The cause of Christ is not served by one's rejecting other ways to God than one’s own, or by one's claiming that no real good can take place outside the boundaries of one's own denomination.  It is through mutual respect that we find common ground with others and discover strengths in different beliefs.  Wherever we see God's work being done, we should give it our support and be ready to work together with those doing the work, whether they are Christians or not, believers or not. 2) A millstone for the scandal-giver: Jesus' second warning is against scandal-givers: those who cause the “little ones” to sin.  The Greek word for "little ones" is micron, meaning the smallest or the least.  It can mean children, those who are new to the Faith, or those who are weak in Faith.  Jesus is pointing out that the scandalous behavior of older believers can be an obstacle to those whose Faith is just beginning to develop.  Etymologically, the word scandal comes from the Greek skandalon, which was a trap-stick or bent sapling used for a snare.  With a skandalon a hunter could catch a rabbit or other small prey.  We may remember how the Enron scandal, the Monica Lewinsky affair, and of course, the horrible sexual abuse of children by the clergy were pictured by the media.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines scandal as “an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil” (#2284). 3) Modern scandal-givers: The truly dangerous people to whom Jesus is referring are those evil ones who wear the mantle of religious leadership, and at the same time, by their counter-witness, turn the weak and the innocent away from God, and cause them to sin.  Today, we know the irreparable harm done to the Church and the faithful by the scandals of clerical sex abuse.  Likewise, scandal is often given by unorthodox theologians and false preachers, who propagate their anti-Christian ideas under the guise of Biblical and psychological research.   Professors, even at some Christian universities, sometime advocate moral relativism and nihilism, converting students to their false beliefs.  Even teachers at Catholic universities sometimes criticize papal pronouncements as “an infringement on academic freedom."  Do they not give scandal?  Our major social institutions — the news media, the Internet, law, public education, and the entertainment industry -- under the guise of “freedom of speech and expression,” often seem hostile towards religion, erecting stumbling blocks to believers.  We have an obligation to make known, with Christian courage, our views on these matters so as to protect the innocent. 3) Interpreting Jesus' words about self-mutilation? Our hands become instruments of sin according to what we touch and how we touch, in lust or greed or violence. Our feet are used for sin according to the places we have them take us.  Our eyes become doorways for sins according to what we choose to look at or refuse to look at.  However, it is important to understand that, in these passages about "plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand," Jesus is not speaking literally.  We have more sins than we have bodily parts.  Besides, even if all offending parts were removed, our hearts and minds -- the source of all sins-- would still be intact.  Hence, these sayings are actually about our attitudes, dispositions, and inclinations.  Jesus is inviting us to integrate our bodies into our following of Christ, so that our hands become instruments of compassion, healing and comfort, our feet help us to bring the Gospel to the world, and our eyes learn to see the truth, goodness and beauty all around us. By these startling words about self-mutilation, Jesus also means that we must cut out of our lives all practices that keep us away from God and retain only those habits that draw us closer to God.  Jesus is setting before all his disciples the one supreme goal in life that is worth any sacrifice.  That goal is God Himself and His will for our lives, which alone leads us to everlasting peace and happiness.  Just as a doctor might remove a limb or some part of the body in order to preserve the life of the whole body, so we must be ready to part with anything which causes us to sin and which leads us or others to spiritual death.  Billy Graham has a fantastic way of summing up this Gospel message by concluding his Crusades with a final challenge: "Decide!  Cut away anything that prevents you from a radical decision for Jesus Christ!  Decide for Christ!" Life messages: 1) We need to avoid conduct that can lead to scandal.  We  give scandal and become stumbling blocks to others: a) when we are unkind or unjust in our treatment of  them, b) when we reject them because of their weakness, faults or sins, c) when we humiliate them by  hurting their pride and damaging their self-image, d) when we discourage, ignore, or refuse to accept them, e) when we ridicule them or deflate their dreams, f) when we follow a double standard: "Do as I say; don't do as I do,"  g) when we set standards which are so high that we are unable to meet them  ourselves, and h) when we become judgmental of those who are still struggling to reach a  level of commitment that we feel is too low to be useful. On the other hand, we become good role models: a) when we support and guide others in moments of doubt, weakness, and suffering, b) when we increase other people’s self-confidence by accepting them as they are and enabling them to discover their hidden talents, c) when we help them to grow by inspiring and correcting them, d) when we forgive them and listen to them with patience, and e) when we make ourselves examples of Christian witnessing. #2: Let us learn the Christian virtue of tolerance: Christian tolerance asks that we bear with the weaknesses of others, without condoning the evil they do.  Intolerance is a sign of a weak faith.  Intolerance is also ineffective.  It does nothing but damage to the cause it seeks to defend. When we attack a heretic, we don’t change his mind, for the most part. We just give him an audience.  To ban a book, is, almost surely, to make it a best seller. Condemning a sinner immediately draws people to defend him.  An intolerant attitude will alienate, rather than attract, sinners.  Only genuine agape love can overcome hatred.  The Church should display this patient love to a hate-filled world.  The Church is expected to present Christ to the world.  How can the Church present Christ when it is arrogant or intolerant rather than loving others as Christ loves us?  We cannot exalt love by encouraging hate.  Hence, let us try both to learn and to practice the virtue of Christian tolerance in our interfaith and ecumenical endeavors by: a) remaining true to our conscience and beliefs, b) respecting the differences we encounter, c) working together on projects of common interest, d) affirming what is good in the other person’s position, even when we disagree on certain things, and e) allowing the light of Christ to shine through our loving words and deeds. # 3: “He who is not against us is for us:” (Emailed by Fr. Fredie A.C. freddieac@gmail.com): There is a tendency   in us to downgrade, condemn, slander, ridicule, put down and make defamatory remarks against anybody who is different from us. Since the Church of Christ is scandalously divided on denominational lines, it is in our nature to think other denominations as inferior and ridicule or condemn them. When some lay people do better than the clergy in preaching and healing ministry, it is natural for the latter to feel envious of them and question their authority. The Gospel invites us to respect the gifts and charisms of all those who work in Jesus’ name. Though we need not and cannot accept all the viewpoints of those who are opposed to us, Jesus teaches us to respect them and their viewpoints. All have a right to their own views and thoughts. How wrong we are in thinking that we alone are right, all others are wrong; we alone possess the truth, others do not; we alone possess a monopoly over salvation. This does not mean we accept anything and everything from anybody and agree with it. We too should have our own personal convictions. Tolerance involves a respect for various aspects and facets of the truth. Intolerance gives the impression that nothing is true beyond what our eyes can see. Again, is this also not a sign of arrogance? How difficult it is for us not to hate the person himself when we hate his/her views/ beliefs/ opinions! Jesus calls us to build up a truly tolerant and inclusive society.   JOKES OF THE WEEK #1: Intolerance in the blood: In Belfast, Ireland, a Catholic priest, a Protestant minister and a Jewish rabbi were engaged in a heated theological discussion.  Suddenly an angel appeared in their midst and said to them, “God sends you His blessings.  Make one wish for peace and your wish will be fulfilled by the Almighty.” The Protestant minister said, “Let every Catholic disappear from our lovely island.  Then peace will reign supreme.” The priest said, “Let there not be a single Protestant left on our sacred Irish soil. That will bring peace to this island.” “And what about you, Rabbi?” said the angel. “Do you have no wish of your own?” “No,” said the rabbi. “Just attend to the wishes of these two gentlemen and I shall be well pleased.” (Anthony de Mello, in Taking Flight).   #2: "Die, heretic scum!" I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off.  I immediately ran over and said "Stop!  Don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!" "Like what?" "Well ...  are you religious or atheist?" "Religious." "Me too!  Are you Christian or Jewish?" "Christian." "Me too!  Are you Catholic or Protestant?" "Protestant." "Me too!  Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?" "Baptist." "Wow!  Me too!  Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?" "Baptist Church of God." "Me too!  Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God."  "Me too!  Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!" To which I said, "Die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off. {An Emo Phillips skit}. # 3: Jealousy even in death: Feeling very ill, a tough businessman went to see his doctor. After examining him, the doctor backed away and said, "I regret having to tell you this, but you have an advanced case of highly infectious rabies. It appears you've had it for some time. It will almost certainly be fatal." In shock, the man asked the doctor for pen and paper. "Do you want to write your will?" the doctor asked. “No! I want to make a list of all the people I want to bite!" the man replied.) USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK 1) Guide to catholic Internet Resources: http://www.catholicusa.com/ 2) Your guide to Catholic beliefs: http://www.aboutcatholics.com/   3) Families with students: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/home.jsp   4) Catholic mothers: http://www.catholicmom.com/ 5) DOUAY-RHEIMS Online Catholic Bible: http://www.catholicdoors.com/bible/index.htm 6) Text Week homilies: http://www.textweek.com/mkjnacts/mark9c.htm “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle B (No 50) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com Visit my new  website: http://frtonyshomilies.com/for previous Cycle B homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 196 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html for the Vatican version of my homilies. Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604.
OT XXVII – B (1)
OT XXVII – B (1)

OT XXVII [B] (Oct 4) Homily on Mark 10: 2-16 (L-15)

Introduction: Today’s Scripture readings are about the bond of love that marriage creates between a man and a woman, a bond that God wishes to be permanent. These readings challenge the spouses to practice the fidelity of their ever-faithful God, honoring their holy covenant commitment before Him.

Scripture lessons: The first reading from Genesis explains God’s original plan concerning sex and marriage.  It teaches us that God made man and woman for each other.  Hence, in marriage they are no longer two but one, united by an unbreakable bond. The reading also describes the institution of marriage and shows that monogamy was God's intention from the very beginning. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 90), expands the marital theme of the first reading and the Gospel to include the children born of the union. Since the children enrich the lives of their parents, the Psalmist prays: “May you see your children’s children.” The second reading, taken from the Letter to the Hebrews, reminds us that Jesus became one of us, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. As one of us, he “tasted death for everyone.” He was not only the Sacrifice, but also the High Priest. We are now his brothers and sisters, bonded with him, and through him bonded with God. Thus, Christ became the brother and Savior of all people – the good and the bad, the divorced, gays, lesbians -- everyone.  Jesus’ prohibition of divorce can be a source of suffering for those who face difficult married lives.  Paul suggests that we have to accept pain as Jesus did, as the suffering we should endure on the way to glory. Today’s Gospel gives Christ’s explicit teaching on marriage and divorce, the Divine origin of marriage, the sacredness of family life and the indissolubility of marriage.  These are difficult messages to preach in a society that embraces co-habitation and ignores both the escalating divorce statistics and the dangerous consequences of divorce.  The Gospel teaches that family life is sacred, that husband and wife are partners with equal rights and that the destruction of the family by divorce will result in the destruction of society.

 Life messages:1) The spouses need to work hard to create a good marriage: Marriage demands that they should become the right persons for each another. Marriage is a union based on committed sharing and forgiving, sacrificial agape-love. It requires a lot of mutual adjustments, generosity and good will to forgive and ask for forgiveness, sincere cooperation in training children and raising them as practising Catholic Christians and daily strength from God obtained through personal and family prayers and punctual participation in the parish liturgy.

2) We need to reach out with Christian sympathy to the divorced and problem families.   The parish community needs to accept them with respect, compassion, sensitivity, love and support, sharing the depth of their pain from a failed marriage. The Church cannot sanction remarriage unless the previous marriage was declared annulled by the diocesan marriage tribunal. “They should be encouraged to listen to the Word of God, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to bring up their children in the Christian faith…”(CCC #1651).

O.T. XXVII (10/4/2015)-Gn 2:18-24; Heb 2: 9-11; Mk 10: 2-16 [2-12]

Anecdote: # 1: The grim picture presented by divorce statistics.   We are told that during the last three years the divorce rate in the U.S has gone above 43%, although it is still less than that in Russia (65%), Sweden (63%), U.K (49%) and Australia (49%).  In 1998 there were 19.4 million divorced adults in the U.S.A.  Each year 2.5 million more couples get divorced.  A greater number of divorces occur within the Christian churches than in marriages made outside the Church.  An ABC broadcast reports that the divorce rate in the "Bible Belt" is 50% higher than in other areas of the country.  This affects the lives of one million new childrenevery year, 84% of whom live in single parent homes.  Statistics for the U.S. predict the possibility of 40% to 50% of marriages ending in divorce if current trends continue.  People between the ages of 25 and 39 account for 60% of all divorces.  More people are in their 2nd marriage than 1st (www. ).  With divorce being so common today, nearly half of all marriages end in divorce.

#2: Divorce a curse on children: Today divorce is at an all-time high, and there are more lives shattered by it than can ever be documented or calculated. There is hardly a child or a family in the advanced countries that hasn't been touched by the pain of divorce in one way or another.  Judith S. Wallerstein, Sandra Blakeslee,

OT XXVII – B (2)
OT XXVII – B (2)
The central theme: Today’s Scripture readings are about the bond of love that marriage creates between a man and a woman, a bond that God intends to be permanent. These readings challenge the spouses to practice the fidelity of their ever-faithful God, honoring their holy covenant marriage commitment before Him.   Scripture lessons summarized: The first reading, taken from Genesis explains God’s original plan concerning sex and marriage.  It teaches us that God made man and woman for each other.  Hence, in marriage they are no longer two but one, united by an unbreakable bond. The reading also describes the institution of marriage and shows that monogamy was God's intention from the very beginning. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 128) expands the marital theme of the first reading and the Gospel to include the children born of the union. Since the children enrich the lives of their parents, the Psalmist prays: “May you see your children’s children.” The second reading, taken from the Letter to the Hebrews, reminds us that Jesus became one of us, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. As one of us, Jesus “tasted death for everyone.” He was not only the Sacrifice, but also the High Priest. We are now his brothers and sisters, bonded with him, and through him bonded with God. Thus, Christ became the brother and Savior of all people – the good and the bad, the divorced, gays, lesbians -- everyone.  Jesus’ prohibition of divorce can be a source of suffering for those who face difficult married lives.  Paul suggests that we have to accept pain as Jesus did, as the suffering we should endure on the way to glory. Today’s Gospel gives Christ’s explicit teaching on marriage and divorce, the Divine origin of marriage, the sacredness of family life and the indissolubility of marriage.  These are difficult messages to preach in a society that embraces co-habitation and ignores both the escalating divorce statistics and the dangerous consequences of divorce.  The Gospel teaches that family life is sacred, that husband and wife are partners with equal rights and that the destruction of the family by divorce will result in the destruction of society.    Life messages: 1) The spouses need to work hard to create a good marriage: Marriage demands that they should become the right persons for each another. Marriage is a union based on committed sharing, and forgiving, sacrificial agape-love. It requires many mutual adjustments; much generosity and great good will to forgive and ask for forgiveness; sincere cooperation in training children and raising them as practising Catholic Christians; and daily strength from God obtained through personal and family prayers and punctual participation in the parish liturgy.   2) We need to reach out with Christian sympathy to the divorced and to troubled families.   The parish community needs to accept them with respect, compassion, sensitivity, love and support, sharing the depth of their pain from a failed, or failing, marriage. The Church cannot sanction remarriage unless the previous marriage has been declared annulled by the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal.  In the meantime, “…they should be encouraged to listen to the Word of God, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to bring up their children in the Christian Faith” (CCC #1651). OT XXVII [B] Gn 2:18-24; Heb 2:9-11; Mk 10:2-16 [2-12] Homily starter anecdotes: The grim picture presented by divorce statistics.   We are told that during the last three years the divorce rate in the U.S has gone above 43%, although it is still less than that in Russia (65%), Sweden (63%), U.K (49%) and Australia (49%).  In 1998 there were 19.4 million divorced adults in the U.S.A.  Each year 2.5 million more couples get divorced.  A greater number of divorces occur within the Christian Churches than in marriages made outside the Church.  An ABC broadcast reports that the divorce rate in the "Bible Belt" is 50% higher than in other areas of the country.  This affects the lives of one million new children every year, 84% of whom live in single parent homes.  Statistics for the U.S. predict the possibility of 40% to 50% of marriages ending in divorce if current trends continue.  People between the ages of 25 and 39 account for 60% of all divorces.  More people are in their 2nd marriage than 1st (www. dicorcenter.com).  With divorce being so common today, nearly half of all marriages end in divorce.  Consequently, there is hardly a child or a family in the advanced countries that hasn't been touched by the pain of divorce in one way or another. Children of single-parent families are five times more likely to be poor. They suffer intense grief and other mental problems requiring psychological help.  Children from disrupted families have more academic and behavioral problems at school and are nearly twice as likely to drop out of high school. Girls in single-parent homes are at a much greater risk for being sexually precocious and are more likely to have a child out of wedlock.  Crime and substance abuse are strongly linked to fatherless households.  Statistics show that 60 percent of rapists grew up in fatherless homes, as did 72 percent of adolescent murderers, and 70 percent of all long-term prison inmates.   Hence the importance of today’s readings about the indissolubility of marriage which is a freely agreed holy covenant commitment before God. #2: Divorce and cohabitation: The U.S. Census Bureau report for the decade of the 90's was released May 15 2001. Here are its disturbing findings concerning the family. The average life span of a marriage has dropped alarmingly. Any marriage without an expiration date of 10 years is, well, a miracle. Households headed by unmarried partners grew by almost 72 percent from 1990 to 2000. Most of these arrangements were men and women living together out of wedlock. Other studies have shown that cohabitation increased by close to 1,000 percent from 1960 to 1998. Households headed by single mothers increased by more than 25 percent, and those led by single fathers grew, get this, by almost 62 percent. And this next finding is astounding: For the first time ever, nuclear families dropped below 25 percent of households. That means the nuclear family, a mom and a dad and children, represents less than a quarter of all homes. Another finding partially explains why this is happening: A third of all babies are born to unmarried women (33 percent) compared to only 4 percent in 1940. You will remember some years back the actress Jodie Foster was in the news because she chose to bear and raise a child alone. There are a growing number of women in their late 20's and 30's who are doing the same # 3: Guinness world record for the longest marriage: A British couple holds the Guinness world record for the longest marriage. Percy and Florence Arrowsmith married on June 1, 1925 and celebrated their 80th anniversary on June 1, 2005. "I think we're very blessed," Florence, 100, told the BBC. "We still love one another, that's the most important part." Asked for the secret of their long marriage, Florence said you must never be afraid to say "sorry." "You must never go to sleep bad friends," she said. Of course, she's right. There are times in every marriage for forgiving and forgetting and saying, "I'm sorry" and going to sleep good friends. That's positive sentiment override. By the way, Florence's husband Percy, 105, said his secret to marital bliss was just two words: "Yes, dear." (Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited) Are you able to overlook one another's faults and forgive one another's mistakes? 26- Additional anecdotes are uploaded in my website http://frtonyshomilies.com/   Introduction: Today’s Scripture readings are about the bond of love that marriage creates between a man and a woman, a bond that God intends to be permanent. They challenge the spouses to practice the fidelity of their ever-faithful God.  The first reading, taken from Genesis, explains God’s original plan concerning sex and marriage.  It teaches us that God made man and woman for each other.  Hence, in marriage they are no longer two but one, united by an unbreakable bond.  The reading also describes the institution of marriage and shows that monogamy was God's intention from the very beginning. The Responsorial Psalm expands the marital theme of the first reading and the Gospel to include the children born of the union. Since the children enrich the lives of their parents, the Psalmist prays: “May you see your children’s children.” The second reading, taken from Hebrews, reminds us that Jesus became one of us, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. As one of us, he “tasted death for everyone.” Jesus was not only the Sacrifice, but also the High Priest. We are now his brothers and sisters, bonded with him and through him bonded with God. Thus, Christ became the brother and Savior of all people – the good and the bad, the divorced, gays, lesbians -- everyone.  Jesus’ prohibition of divorce can be a source of suffering for those who face difficult married lives.  Paul suggests that we have to accept that pain as Jesus did, as the suffering we should endure on the way to glory. Today’s Gospel gives Christ’s explicit teaching on marriage and divorce, the Divine origin of marriage, the sacredness of family life and the indissolubility of marriage.  These are difficult messages to preach in a society that embraces co-habitation and ignores both the escalating divorce statistics and divorce’s dangerous consequences.  The Gospel teaches that family life is sacred, that husband and wife are partners with equal rights and that the destruction of the family by divorce will result in the destruction of society. The first reading: Genesis 2:18-24, explained: The creation story in chapter two of Genesis shows that the ancient Israelites knew the importance of man and woman being joined one to another. The woman is made of the rib of man, and, hence, she is “bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh.” Figuratively, “bone” stands for strength and “flesh” stands for weakness. Woman’s origin makes her one with man. They are bonded in God’s deliberate creation of them. The clearest expression of this bonding is found in the marriage of a man and woman and their co-creation, with God, of a child, making of the three new family unit. Woman is found to be a “suitable partner” for man. That is why, God says, “a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife” with the result that, “the two of them become one flesh.” The Genesis text attributes two essential qualities to marriage: unity (the two shall become one) and complementarity or mutual interdependence. The theme of marital bonding, which is essential for human fulfillment and happiness in marriage and families, appears in both the first reading and today’s Gospel and explains Jesus’ teaching on marriage and divorce. Divorce reveals an absence of marital bonding. The second reading (Hebrews 2:9-11, explained): The Letter to the Hebrews is a sermon which explains the meaning of the early Christian confession that Christ died for us and our sins. It presents Christ as the great High Priest who has willingly offered himself on our behalf. He is both the perfect Sacrifice and the Priest who offers it. Today’s passage from Hebrews says that, by the grace of God, Jesus tasted death for us all, that he was our leader on the way to salvation and that we are now his brothers and sisters. Christ was thus “perfect” for fulfilling the task of bringing us into a new relationship with God in which we may now approach God with confidence and even boldness. Christ became the brother and Savior of all people – the good and the bad, the divorced, gays, lesbians – everyone.  Jesus’ prohibition of divorce can be a source of suffering for those who experience difficult married lives.  But Paul suggests that we have to accept pain the way Jesus did, as the suffering we should endure on the way to glory. The context: King Herod had married his brother's wife, Herodias, violating the Mosaic Law.  John the Baptist showed courage in condemning the king in public and lost his head for it.  In today’s Gospel the Pharisees were setting a trap for Jesus, asking whether he agreed with his cousin John on the non-legitimacy of divorce.  They were trying to trick him, to see if he would criticize the Mosaic tradition and alienate the people. But Jesus used the occasion to declare unequivocally that the bond of marriage comes from God, not man, and that it is permanent and indissoluble: “What God has joined, man must not separate”. High ideal and low practice: “The ancient Jewish term for marriage was kiddushin, a term that meant sanctification or consecration. Ordinarily, kiddushin signified the husband’s absolute consecration to his wife and of the wife to her husband. Each became an offering totally given to the other.” (William Barclay). Thus, the Jews had a high ideal of marriage and their rabbis taught: “the very altar sheds tears when a man divorces the wife of his youth.”  But their practice was far from that ideal, and divorce was common and easy. The wife was considered to be a husband's property with no legal rights whatsoever. So, Moses commanded the men at least to give the woman they were abandoning a certificate of divorce which stated: "She is not my wife and I am not her husband."  He would give this paper to his wife and tell her to leave.  They were then legally divorced. That way she would at least be free to remarry. Without that certificate, technically she was still the property of her former husband. So Moses was trying in a small way to give women some protection. There were two interpretations prevalent in Jewish theological schools concerning the Mosaic Law on divorce by which Moses allowed divorce when the husband found “some indecency” in his wife.  "When a man, after marrying a woman and having relations with her, is later displeased with her because he finds in her something indecent, he writes out a bill of divorce and hands it to her, thus dismissing her from his house” (Deuteronomy 24:1).  The Shammai School interpreted “indecency” as adultery, or some grounds of sexual impropriety, while the Hillel School interpreted it as anything which the husband did not like in his wife’s word, behavior, actions, or even her appearance. There are grounds for divorce if the wife burned his breakfast, put too much salt on his food, showed disrespect to him, spoke disrespectfully of her husband's parents in his presence, spoke to a man on the street, or even let her hair down in public -- or simply if he found a woman who was more attractive to him! Perhaps the most significant difference between their customs and ours lay in the status of the different genders. A man could divorce a woman on a whim, but a woman could not divorce a man for any cause. Jesus’ stand: Jesus’ prohibition of divorce here stands out dramatically for its sternness, which admits of no exceptions. It is interesting to note that Matthew’s parallel version (in Mt 19) adds the exception “except for unchastity/adultery” (v.9); Luke (in 16:18) does not include this exception. Jesus did not claim to introduce a new teaching.  He reminded the Jews that his doctrine went back to the original intention of God.  Citing the book of Genesis, Jesus proved that God made us male and female and commanded that "the two shall become one flesh."  He then drew the conclusion that “they are no longer two, but one body” – partners with equal rights. The marriage relationship is God’s gift to us. It is God’s way of providing a lover, a helpmate, someone who will always be there for us. Hence, He declared that no man was allowed to separate what God had joined together (Mt 19:6).  In contrast with the prevailing culture, Jesus presents man and woman as having equal rights and their marriage as essentially a permanent relationship.  ("In creating men 'male and female,' God gives man and woman an equal personal dignity" CCC #2334). These words might have reminded the Pharisees of Yahweh’s warning given through his last prophet: “I hate divorce” (Malachi 2:16).  Jesus also explains that Moses' permission for divorce was only a temporary concession to control the growing rate of divorce even in his time, by introducing a law governing divorce.  Jesus adds that it was because of the hard-heartedness of the Jewish men that Moses allowed such a concession. (The Greek expression used, σκληροκαρδία, sklērokardia, frequently means “stubbornness; obstinacy; refusal to be taught; insensitivity; persistent refusal to change one’s behavior.” Dr. Watson).  By negating an interpretation of Dt. 24:1-6 that allowed easy divorce, Jesus says, in effect, that where such a possibility of injustice and inequality exists in marriage, there can be no true marriage according to the intent of Genesis. According to the Mosaic sanction, men were allowed to divorce their wives, but wives were not able to divorce their husbands.  By denying the man’s right to divorce, Jesus places the husband and wife on an equal footing in marriage and teaches that no Mosaic regulation dealing with a temporary situation can alter the permanency and unity of marriage, which God intended. The Catholic teaching: Today’s reading from Mark’s Gospel, taken with Mt 5:31-32; Mt 19:3-9; Lk 16:18; and 1 Cor 7:10-11, is the main source from which the Catholic Church derives Jesus’ teaching on the Sacramental nature of marriage and its indissolubility.  Christian marriage involves both a sacred and legal contract between a man and woman and at the same time is rooted in a special Covenant with the Lord.  That is why Jesus states that a valid marriage is permanent.  Hence, the Church has always firmly taught that a Sacramental marriage between Christians in which there has been true matrimonial consent and consummation, is absolutely indissoluble, except by the death of one of the spouses.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes the Church’s teaching: “Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law.   It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death......  Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society.  This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society” (CCC #2384, 2385). Stability in marriage: Of course, it is not always easy for the two partners in a marriage to get along with each other because marriage though one of the most fulfilling of all relationships is also one of the most demanding.  The husband and wife bring to the marriage their strengths and weaknesses, loves and hates, hurts and wounds, hopes and fears.  Hence, the first requisite for a lasting marriage is that the spouses learn to accept each other as they are:  two imperfect and vulnerable human beings.  They are God’s gift to each other: “I will make a suitable partner for him.”  They must learn that healing the wounds of family life is as necessary as healing the wounds in the body.  In Familiaris Consortio (n. 17), Pope St. John Paul II encourages families with the following plea: "Family, become what you are!” This echoes the Second Vatican Council, which calls the family, "the intimate community of life and love in which the partners are nourished spiritually and physically, accept one another as they are, and adjust to each other, deriving strength through prayer, the Word of God, the Sacrament, plus guidance and counseling...”  When the marriage relationship breaks down and reconciliation is not possible, the Church recognizes the right of the couple to separate and live apart permanently.  If divorced Catholics then enter into a civil marriage, they are allowed to receive Eucharistic Communion only if they refrain from sexual relations. Life messages: 1) The spouses need to work hard to create a good marriage: Marriage demands that they should become the right person for each another. It means a union based on committed, sharing and forgiving, sacrificial agape-love. It requires a lot of mutual adjustments; generosity and good will to forgive and ask for forgiveness; sincere cooperation in training children and raising them as practising Catholic Christians; and daily strength from God, obtained through personal and family prayers and punctual participation in the parish liturgy.  2) We need to reach out with Christian sympathy to the divorced and troubled families.  There must be compassion, and a challenge to sin no more.  Those who are divorced must be taught that God has not abandoned them.  The parish community needs to accept them with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.  It is the duty of the Christian community to love and support them.  We must reach out to those who have been hurt by bad marriages.  We may not realize the depth of their pain, but we must be aware of our own frailty.  Those who are divorced and remarried must not be excluded from our community.  While the Church cannot sanction remarriage unless the previous marriage has been declared annulled by the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal, we must make it clear that the Church is not issuing a condemnation.  “They should be encouraged to listen to the Word of God, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to contribute to works of charity and to community efforts for justice, to bring up their children in the Christian Faith, to cultivate the spirit and practice of penance and thus implore, day by day, God's grace” (CCC #1651).  The National Catechetical Directory for Catholics of the United States says: “Divorced persons and their children should be welcomed by the parish community and made to feel truly a part of parish life.  Catechesis of the Church’s teaching on the consequences of remarriage after divorce is not only necessary but will be supportive for the divorced” (No. 131). 3) We need to be aware of the dangers of cohabitation.   According to the National Fatherhood Initiative, the rates of depression are three times higher for cohabiting couples than they are for married couples.  Cohabiting men and women reported significantly more alcohol problems than married or single men and women.  Cohabiting unions have more disagreements, fight more often and report lower levels of happiness than their married counterparts.  Male aggression is twice as common among cohabiting couples as it is among married partners.  Hence, parents must make sure that children understand that cohabitation is morally evil and not an innocent option for fun. JOKES OF THE WEEK #1: "My husband and I divorced over religious differences.  He thought he was God and I didn't." # 2: A 98-year-old man and a 95-year-old woman went to a lawyer to get a divorce. “How long have you been married?" he asked. "75 rough and rocky years," they said. "Then, why have you waited so long to file for divorce?"  They replied, "We had to wait for the kids to die!" # 3: “The secret of my success in my married life and in my business is the same”, said, Henry Ford on the 50th anniversary of his wedding, “I don’t change models every now and then; instead I stick on to one and try to improve it.” # 4: A couple was being interviewed on their Golden Wedding Anniversary. "In all that time -- did you ever consider divorce?" they were asked.  "Oh, no, not divorce," the wife said. "Murder sometimes, but never divorce." (Jack Benny, comedian) # 5: Marriage markers: I never married because there was no need.  I have 3 pets at home which answer the same purpose as a husband:  I have a dog that growls every morning, a parrot which swears all afternoon and a cat that comes home late at night. #5: Marriage miscellany: “A marriage may be made in Heaven but the maintenance must be done on earth.” Marriage is a three-ring circus: Engagement ring, wedding ring, and suffering.  At the cocktail party, one woman said to another, "Aren't you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger?"  The other replied, "Yes I am; I married the wrong man." Adam and Eve had an ideal marriage. He didn't have to hear about all the men she could have married, and she didn't have to hear about the way his mother cooked. A man tells his wife of 15 years that it feels like they've only been married for 5 minutes, the wife says that's so sweet, and he says yeah 5 minutes under water. # 7: Cut into half: Plato, the great Greek thinker of the fourth century BC, reports the legend that human beings were originally twice as big and twice as strong as they are now. However, because their size and strength made them arrogant, the gods cut them down to half their size; only when two-matching halves found one another and completed one another in marriage did they find true happiness.   8) “We’re getting a divorce!”: Morris calls his son in NY and says, "Benny, I have something to tell you. However, I don't want to discuss it. I'm merely telling you because you're my oldest child, and I thought you ought to know. I've made up my mind, I'm divorcing Mama." The son is shocked and asks his father to tell him what happened. "I don't want to get into it. My mind is made up."  "But Dad, you just can't decide to divorce Mama just like that after 54 years together. What happened?"  "It's too painful to talk about it. I only called because you're my son, and I thought you should know. I really don't want to get into it any more than this. You can call your sister and tell her. It will spare me the pain." "But where's Mama? Can I talk to her?"  "No, I don't want you to say anything to her about it. I haven't told her yet. Believe me it hasn't been easy. I've agonized over it for several days, and I've finally come to a decision. I have an appointment with the lawyer the day after tomorrow." "Dad, don't do anything rash. I'm going to take the first flight down. Promise me that you won't do anything until I get there." "Well, all right, I promise. Next week is Christmas. I'll hold off seeing the lawyer until after then. Call your sister in MA and break the news to her. I just can't bear to talk about it anymore." A half hour later, Morris receives a call from his daughter who tells him that she and her brother were able to get tickets and that they and the children will be arriving in Florida the in two days. "Benny told me that you don't want to talk about it on the telephone but promise me that you won't do anything until we both get there." Morris smiles and tells his wife, “Isn't that the best way to get your kids together for Christmas!” USEFUL WEBSITE OF THE WEEK # 1: Roman Catholic Divorce Issues:  http://www.divorceinfo.com/catholic.htm # 2: Annulment Guide: http://www.idotaketwo.com/christian_remarriage.html

# 3: Divorce and Remarriage: http://www.religioustolerance.org/div_rc.htm

 

# 4: The Catholic Church on Marriage, Divorce, and Annulments: http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/62/Catholic_Church_on_Marriage__Divorce__and_Annulment.html

# 5: Annulment FAQS (USCCB): http://www.foryourmarriage.org/catholic-marriage/church-teachings/annulments/

OT XXVIII – B (1)
OT XXVIII – B (1)

XXVIII Sunday (Oct 11) homily on Mk 10: 17-31(L/15)

Introduction: Today’s readings remind us that we do not possess anything in our life that we refuse to surrender to the Lord. In reality these things often possess us, and we become the prisoners of our possessions. What we have really done is to give our "things” top priority in our lives. Thus, we violate the First Great Commandment, which demands that we give absolute and unconditional priority to God.

Scripture lessons: The first reading advises us to use the God-given virtue of prudence and to seek true wisdom in preference to vanishing realities like riches or political and social influence.  Solomon chose Wisdom before everything else.  But when he accepted Wisdom, he received everything else along with her. Since Jesus is Wisdom Incarnate, when we put following Jesus ahead of everything else we receive everything else along with Jesus.

 The second reading warns us that we are accountable before God as to how we use our blessings and that the “living and effective word of God” must be our guide in evaluating the use of our blessings.

 In today’s Gospel selection (Mark 10: 17-30), we find three sections: a narrative about Jesus’ encounter with a rich man, Jesus’ sayings about wealth as a possible obstacle to following him and Jesus’ promise of reward for those who share their material possessions with the needy. Jesus reminded the rich man of the commandments that deal with relationships with other people and challenged him to sell what he had and to give the money to the poor.    Jesus shocked his disciples with this challenge to the Jewish belief that material wealth and prosperity were signs of God's blessings. Instead, he declared that true religion consisted in one’s sharing his blessings with others rather than hoarding them and getting inordinately attached to them.

Life messages: 1) We need to accept the invitation to generous sharing. Jesus was so generous that he gave us his very self.  Hence, there should be a desire to give in the heart of every Christian.  God does not ask us to give up our riches, but he does ask us to use them wisely in His service.  We must manage our possessions wisely, so that they do not gain control over our hearts.  God gives us time, talents and riches that we may use them in the service of others.

2) “You are lacking one thing."  We all have something in our lives that serves as a major obstacle to happiness and peace.   It may be anger, holding grudges, alcohol, drugs, lust, apathy, lies, unfaithfulness, theft, or fraud.  Let us invite God into our lives and into our efforts to face and remove that one obstacle to holiness. L/15

O.T. XXVIII (Oct 11) Wis 7:7-11; Heb 4:12-13; Mk 10: 17-30 (L/15)

Anecdotes: #1: How can you trap a monkey?  With a coconut, some roasted peanuts or rice and a string, tribal people living in the border of forests in Africa, Sri Lanka and India have been trapping monkeys for centuries.  At one end of the coconut, they open a hole that is big enough to allow a monkey's hand to push inside. However, the hole is too small for a monkey to remove his hand when he makes a fist.  On the other end of the coconut, a string is firmly attached and tied to a tree trunk.  The coconut trap, with roasted peanuts or roasted rice inside, is placed along a monkey's trail, and the trapper hides behind bushes with a net.  The monkey smells the peanuts and is attracted to them.   He puts his hand through the hole and grabs a handful of peanuts, after which it is impossible for him to remove his hand since he is unwilling to let go of the peanuts.  Suddenly the trapper casts the net over the monkey and traps it.  We too are attracted by different "peanuts" that can be detrimental to our spiritual and physical pursuits.  Today’s Gospel presents a rich young man who wants eternal life but will not relinquish “the peanuts" of riches.

#2: The sin of over-consumption: Instead of glaring accusingly at those countries struggling to control their population growth, we must squarely attack the monster we ourselves have let ravage the world. On average, a U.S. citizen causes over 100 times more damage to the global environment than a person in a poor country. The average North American consumes five times more than a Mexican, 10 times more than a Chinese person and 30 times more than a person in India. The richest 25 percent of the world's population use 86 percent of all forest products, 75 percent of energy, 72 percent of steel production. The poorest use only two percent of the world's resources. Workers in the developed world (North America, Western Europe and Japan), represent about 20 percent of the world's population. They use over 67 percent of the natural resources consumed each year and generate over 80 percent of its pollutants. For added perspective, the poorest 20 percent consume about two percent of resources. (Editorial by Director of Green Cross Fred Krueger in Green Cross, 1, Fall 1995.) Hence, economists like to call consumerism "The Jones Effect" (as in "keeping up with the Joneses"). Others, like Pope St. John Paul II, call consumerism one of those "Nike Air Max 270 Sale structures of sin" named "super-development," which the pope defined as "an excessive availability of material goods for the benefit of certain social groups" ["Pope John Paul II Addresses Over-consumption," Green Cross, 2 (Summer 1996), 4.] In his 1990 World Day of Peace Nike SB Dunk Low Pro UK statement, "The Ecological Crisis: A Common Responsibility," Pope St. John Paul II tied "super-development" to our polluting and pillaging of the environment, and stated most emphatically, "The ecological crisis is a moral issue."

# 3: Dear Abby A few years ago, an interchange of letters appeared in a nationally syndicated newspaper column. Dear Abby: We are not overly religious people, but we do like to go to church once in a while. It seems to me that every time we turn Nike Air Max Plus Sale around, we are hit for money. I thought religion was free. I realize that churches have to have some money, but I think it is getting to be a racket. Just what do churches do with all their money? Curious in North Jersey. Abby wrote back, Dear Curious: Even priests, ministers and rabbis must eat. Since they work full-time at their tasks, their churches must support them. Staff and musicians must also be paid. Buildings must be maintained, Cheap Nike Air Max 1 heated, lighted and beautified. Custodial staff members must eat and feed their families. Most churches engage in philanthropic work (aid to the needy, missions, and education); hence, they have their financial obligations. Even orchids, contrary to folklore, do not live on air. Churches can't live on air either. Religions, like water, may be free, but when they pipe it to you, you've got to help pay for the piping. And the piper. [Abigail Van Buren, "Religions need money too, for Heaven's sake," The Scranton Tribune (30 March 1994) C-2.]

Introduction: Today’s readings remind us that we do not possess anything in our life that we refuse to surrender to the Lord.  But, in reality our "possessions" often possess us, and we become their prisoners. What we really do is give our "things” top priority in our lives. Thus, we violate the First Great Commandment, which demands that we give absolute and unconditional priority to God.  The first reading advises us to use the God-given virtue of prudence and to seek true wisdom rather than to seek vanishing realities like riches or political and social influence.  Solomon chose Wisdom before everything else.  But when he acepted Wisdom, he received everything else along with her. Since Jesus is Wisdom Incarnate, when we put following Jesus ahead of everything else, we receive everything else along with Jesus. The second reading warns us that we are accountable before God as to how we use our blessings and that the “living and effective word of God” must be our guide in evaluating our use of God's blessings.  In today’s Gospel selection (Mark 10: 17-30), we find three sections: a narrative about Jesus’ encounter with a rich man, Jesus’ sayings about wealth as a possible obstacle to following him and Jesus’ promise of reward for those who share material possessions with the needy. Jesus reminded the rich man of the commandments that deal with our relationships with other people, and challenged him to sell what he had and to give the money to the poor.  Jesus’ challenge exposed two missing pieces in the rich man’s life: a sense of compassion for the poor and the willingness to share his blessings with the needy.  Jesus shocked his disciples with this challenge to the Jewish belief that material wealth and prosperity were signs of God's blessings. Instead, he declared that true religion consisted in sharing one's blessings with others rather than hoarding them and getting inordinately attached to them. Jesus’ teaching exposes the shallowness of our own easy assumptions about wealth and raises questions about the real basis of our security and hopes.

First reading, : About a hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the Jewish community was a minority in the great cosmopolitan city of Alexandria, Egypt, cut off from the comforting religious institutions of Jerusalem, and subject to great cultural pressure from the pagan Greek society. They were in danger of losing their identity because of the constant temptation to follow Greek philosophy and Greek morality rather than their Faith traditions.  A learned and faithful Jew assessed the situation of his fellow Jews in Alexandria and tried to bolster their faith with a book, now called Wisdom, which offered them a virtuous way of life.  By "wisdom" the author meant not just worldly wisdom but a spiritual wisdom that included adherence to older Jewish traditions.  Today's first reading, taken from the book of Wisdom, teaches, somewhat analogously, that one should prefer wisdom to every other good thing.  It quotes from King Solomon’s personal valuation of wisdom: “I preferred her [true wisdom] to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her.” In his prayer for wisdom, the first-century BC Alexandrian Jewish wisdom teacher identifies wisdom as the greatest possession of all and contrasts it with material possessions. True wisdom comes from God; it is the ability to see things as God sees them and to understand things as God understands them.  Only Divine wisdom can teach us how to live wisely and successfully in life, making wise choices. We are also invited to see Jesus as Wisdom Incarnate and to give him priority over everything else in life.

Second Reading, : The Letter to the Hebrews was written to bolster the faith of Jewish converts to Christianity.  These converts faced the contempt of their former Jewish friends, and they felt nostalgia for the institutions of Judaism (rituals, sacrifices, priesthood, etc.), that were either absent or greatly transformed in their new religion, namely Christianity.  This letter tries to show them in what ways the new religion of Christianity is better than their old Jewish faith.  St. Paul tells them that "The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword.”  No wonder the “two edged sword” in today’s Gospelstory of the young rich man, cuts through all our conventional ways of thinking and drives us to reflect on the things that really matter!

Exegesis: The rich and good young man’s sins of omission.  Obviously, this young man who came to Jesus in search of eternal life really wanted to be accepted by Jesus as a disciple. However, Jesus did not want this man as a disciple on his own terms, but rather on Jesus' terms.  The young man claimed that, from his youth, he had observed all the commandments Jesus mentioned, including the fourth commandment.  His tragedy was that he loved "things" more than people.  He was trapped by the idea that he could keep his possessions and still obtain God's mercy.  He failed to realize the fact that his riches had built a wall between himself and God.  In other words, his possessions “possessed" him.  Even though the rich man had never killed, stolen, or committed adultery, he was breaking both the commandment forbidding idolatry and the one commanding love of neighbor.  He worshiped his wealth more than God.

The unaccepted challenge: Jesus realized that this rich young man was shackled by his possessions.  So he challenged the young man by listing those precepts of the Decalogue that deal with social and familial relations. Then Jesus told the young man that, if he wanted to be perfect, keeping the commandments was not enough. He challenged the young man to share his riches with the poor.  "There is one thing lacking.  Sell all you have and give to the poor, and then you will have real treasure. After that, come and be with me." Jesus thus makes it clear that a true follower who wants to possess eternal life must not only be a respectable gentleman who hurts nobody, but also someone who shares his riches, talents and other blessings with the less fortunate.  In other words, Jesus tells the young man that life is a matter of priorities. God must have the first priority in our lives. Unfortunately, the rich man was unwilling to accept Jesus’ idea that wealth is not something to be owned but rather something to be shared with others.  Jesus asked him to break his selfish attachment to his wealth by sharing it.  He makes the same challenge to each of us today.  Our following of Jesus has to be totally and absolutely unconditional.  Our attachment may not be to money or material goods, nor to another person, a job, our health, or our reputation.  We must be ready to cut off any such attachment in order to become true Christian disciples, sharing our blessings with others.

Camel through the eye of a needle: Jesus uses a vivid hyperbole, or “word cartoon,” to show how riches bar people from Heaven.  The camel was the largest animal the Jews knew, and the eye of a needle the smallest hole.  The needle’s eye is variously interpreted.  Most probably Jesus used it literally.  The little, low and narrow gate on the outer wall of the city of Jerusalem through which even a man on foot could hardly pass erect, was also called “ The Needle’s Eye” in Jesus’ time.  The Greek word used for camel is kamelos, which can also mean a ship’s thick cable or hawser rope. Some modern Bible scholars think that both of these interpretations are attempts to "water" down the impossibility of getting a camel through the eye of a needle. Jesus is saying that it is not impossible, by the grace of God, for a wealthy person to keep his spiritual integrity, but it is extremely difficult and uncommon. Why do riches prevent man from reaching God?  First, riches encourage a false sense of independence.  The rich think that they can buy their way to happiness and buy their way out of sorrow and, hence, that they don’t need God.  Second, riches shackle a man to this earth (Mt. 6:21).  If a man’s interests are all earth-bound, he never thinks of the hereafter. Third, riches tend to make a man selfish.  But we need to understand that Jesus is not against riches as such, nor against the rich.  Zacchaeus, Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus were Jesus’ close friends and they were rich.  In other words, Jesus is talking about our attitude towards wealth.  The Bible doesn’t say that money is the root of all evil; it says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Jesus also challenges the Jewish belief that material wealth and prosperity are signs of God's blessings and condemns a value system that makes "things" more valuable than people.

Life messages: 1) We need to “Do something beautiful for God” by reaching out to others. That's the message we need to reflect on.  Our most precious possession is our souls.  Let us give ourselves away and give lavishly.  Mother Teresa puts it in a different way: “Do SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL for God. Do it with your life. Do it every day. Do it in your own way. But do it!”

2) We need to accept the invitation to generous sharing. Jesus was so generous that he gave us his very self.  The crucifix is "Exhibit A."  To follow Jesus we must have a generous heart and be willing to give our money away in order to express our generosity.  In the heart of every Christian there should be a desire to give.  Martin Luther says that the man who has given his heart to God will also give God his wallet.  God does not have to extort money from those who love him. God does not ask us to give up our riches, but He does ask us to use them wisely in His service.  We must manage our possessions wisely, so that they do not gain control over our hearts.  Let us also ask the question: "How do I use my talents?"  God gives us talents.  Hence, they are not really ours.  He lends them to us to be used in this world.  How do we use our talents?  What about time – do we use it for God?  We each get 168 hours every week.  How do we use our time?  Are we too busy to pray each day?

3) “You are lacking one thing."  We all have something in our lives that serves as a major obstacle to happiness and peace.  We must recognize this obstacle and address it head-on.  It may not be riches -- it may be anger, holding grudges, alcohol, drugs, lust, apathy, lies, unfaithfulness, theft, or fraud.  Let us invite God into our lives and into our efforts to face and remove that one obstacle to holiness.  We have a decision to make: whether to go away sad like the rich young man, or to follow Jesus and be happy.  Let us choose happiness.

4) We need to follow Jesus on his terms, and not on our terms.  This involves giving up whatever in our lives leads us to evil.  That’s step one.  Sometimes it may involve giving up things which are good.  As parents, we might consider all the time and personal recreation and relaxation (all good things), which we have given up over the years for the sake of the children.  As a mother or father who is also  a disciple of Jesus Christ, this was required of us, and we made the sacrifice.  When we follow Jesus on his terms, there may be certain crosses to bear, but deep down in the core of our being there is peace, and there is joy, because we know that we are doing our best to carry out God’s perfect will in our lives.

JOKE OF THE WEEK

#1: "Oh Lord, hit him again!” The parish church was badly in need of repair.  So the pastor called a special meeting to raise funds.  At the assembly, the pastor explained the need of an emergency fund for plastering the roof and supporting pillars and for carrying out other items of repair.  He invited the congregation to pledge contributions. After a brief pause, Mr. Murphy, the richest man in the parish, volunteered to give 50 dollars.  Just as he sat down, a hunk of plaster fell from the ceiling on his head.  He jumped up, looked terribly startled and said: “I meant to say 500 dollars.”  The congregation stood Cheap Nike Zoom All Out Low 2.0 silent and stunned.  Then a lone voice cried out from the back: “Oh Lord, hit him again!”

#2: Andrew Carnegie made millions in the steel industry. He worked hard helping the poor and underprivileged. Once a Nike Epic React Flyknit Sale socialist came to see him in his office and soon was railing against the injustice of Carnegie having so much money. In his view, wealth was meant to be divided equally. Carnegie asked his secretary for an assessment of everything he owned and at the same time looked up the figures on world population. He did a little arithmetic on a pad and then said to his secretary. "Give this gentleman l6 cents. That’s his share of my money.

 

# 3: A wealthy older gentleman had just recently married a lovely young lady, and was beginning to wonder whether she might have married him for his money. So he asked her, "Tell me the truth: if I lost all my money, would you still love me?" She said reassuringly, "Oh honey, don’t be silly. Of course I would still love you. And I’d miss you terribly."

OT XXVIII – B (2)
OT XXVIII – B (2)
Central theme: Today’s readings remind us that we do not possess anything in our life that we refuse to surrender to the Lord. In reality, these things often possess us, and we become the prisoners of our possessions. What we have really done is to give our "things” top priority in our lives. Thus, we violate the First Great Commandment, which demands that we give absolute and unconditional priority to God. Scripture lessons summarized: The first reading (Wisdom 7:7-11) advises us to use the God-given virtue of prudence and to seek true wisdom in preference to vanishing realities like riches or political and social influence.  Solomon chose Wisdom before everything else.  But when he accepted Wisdom, he received everything else along with her. Since Jesus is Wisdom Incarnate, when we put following Jesus ahead of everything else we receive everything else along with Jesus. In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 90), we beg God to teach us how to make proper judgments and choices in our lives that we may live with Him forever.  The second reading (Hebrews 4: 12-13) warns us that we are accountable before God as to how we use our blessings and that the “living and effective word of God” must be our guide in evaluating the use of our blessings.  In today’s Gospel selection (Mark 10:17-30), we find three sections: a narrative about Jesus’ encounter with a rich man, Jesus’ sayings about wealth as a possible obstacle to following him and Jesus’ promise of reward for those who share their material possessions with the needy. Jesus reminded the rich man of the commandments that deal with relationships with other people and challenged him to sell what he had and to give the money to the poor.    Jesus shocked his disciples with this challenge to the Jewish belief that material wealth and prosperity were signs of God's blessings. Instead, he declared that true religion consisted in one’s sharing his blessings with others rather than hoarding them and getting inordinately attached to them. Life messages: 1) We need to accept the invitation to generous sharing. Jesus was so generous that he gave us his very self.  Hence, there should be a desire to give in the heart of every Christian.  God does not ask us to give up our riches, but he does ask us to use them wisely in His service.  We must manage our possessions wisely, so that they do not gain control over our hearts.  God gives us time, talents and riches that we may use them in the service of others. 2) “You are lacking one thing."  We all have something in our lives that serves as a major obstacle to happiness and peace.   It may be anger, holding grudges, alcohol, drugs, lust, apathy, lies, unfaithfulness, theft, or fraud.  Let us invite God into our lives and into our efforts to face and remove that one obstacle to holiness. OT XXVIII [B] (Oct 14) Wisdom 7:7-11; Heb 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30. Homily starter anecdotes: #1: How can you trap a monkey?  With a coconut, some roasted peanuts or rice and a string, tribal people living in the border of forests in Africa, Sri Lanka and India have been trapping monkeys for centuries.  At one end of the coconut, they open a hole that is big enough to allow a monkey's hand to push inside. However, the hole is too small for a monkey to remove his hand when he makes a fist.  On the other end of the coconut, a string is firmly attached and tied to a tree trunk.  The coconut trap, with roasted peanuts or roasted rice inside, is placed along a monkey's trail, and the trapper hides behind bushes with a net.  The monkey smells the peanuts and is attracted to them.   He puts his hand through the hole and grabs a handful of peanuts, after which it is impossible for him to remove his hand since he is unwilling to let go of the peanuts.  Suddenly the trapper casts the net over the monkey and traps it.  We too are attracted by different "peanuts" that can be detrimental to our spiritual and physical pursuits.  Today’s Gospel presents a rich young man who wants eternal life but will not relinquish “the peanuts" of riches. # 2: Aladdin’s magic lamp and Solomon’s dream: Ala’ Ad-Din is the Arabic title of one of the best-known stories in The Thousand and One Nights. The chief protagonist of the tale, Ala’ Ad-Din, or Aladdin, chances upon an African magician who claims to be his uncle. At the magician’s request, Aladdin retrieves a lamp from a cave and discovers that he can summon up powerful jinn or genies to do his bidding. “Your wish is my command,” Aladdin is told, and he satisfies his desires for wealth, power and long life. Aladdin’s adventures and good fortune have left many young readers dreaming of sharing similar experiences. Imagine that you are Aladdin and that magic lamps and genies do exist. . . what would you ask for? Solomon found himself in just such a situation as described in today’s first reading. Although magic did not factor into the equation, God Himself appeared to the young king Solomon in a dream, asking for his wishes. In 1 Kings 3:5-14, Israel’s great king was told by Yahweh in a dream: “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” When Solomon asked for wisdom, i.e. for “an understanding heart to judge the people and to distinguish right from wrong,” he was praised by God. He had not asked for long life or riches or for the life of his enemies; because of this he was given the gift of wisdom. (Sanchez Archives). #3: The sin of over-consumption: Instead of glaring accusingly at those countries struggling to control their population growth, we must squarely attack the monster we ourselves have let ravage the world. On average, a U.S. citizen causes over 100 times more damage to the global environment than a person in a poor country. The average North American consumes five times more than a Mexican, 10 times more than a Chinese person and 30 times more than a person in India. The richest 25 percent of the world's population use 86 percent of all forest products, 75 percent of energy, 72 percent of steel production. The poorest use only two percent of the world's resources. Workers in the developed world (North America, Western Europe and Japan), represent about 20 percent of the world's population. They use over 67 percent of the natural resources consumed each year and generate over 80 percent of its pollutants. For added perspective, the poorest 20 percent consume about two percent of resources. (Editorial by Director of Green Cross Fred Krueger in Green Cross, 1, Fall 1995.) Hence, economists like to call consumerism "The Jones Effect" (as in "keeping up with the Joneses"). Others, like Pope St. John Paul II, call consumerism one of those "structures of sin" named "super-development," which the pope defined as "an excessive availability of material goods for the benefit of certain social groups" ["Pope John Paul II Addresses Over-consumption," Green Cross, 2 (Summer 1996), 4.] In his 1990 World Day of Peace statement, "The Ecological Crisis: A Common Responsibility," Pope St. John Paul II tied "super-development" to our polluting and pillaging of the environment, and stated most emphatically, "The ecological crisis is a moral issue." 27 additional anecdotes are uploaded in my website: http://frtonyshomilies.com/ Introduction: Today’s readings remind us that we do not possess anything in our life that we refuse to surrender to the Lord.  But, in reality our "possessions" often possess us, and we become their prisoners. What we really do is give our "things” top priority in our lives. Thus, we violate the First Great Commandment, which demands that we give absolute and unconditional priority to God.  The first reading advises us to use the God-given virtue of prudence and to seek true wisdom rather than to seek vanishing realities like riches or political and social influence.  Solomon chose Wisdom before everything else.  But when he accepted Wisdom, he received everything else along with her. Since Jesus is Wisdom Incarnate, when we put following Jesus ahead of everything else, we receive everything else along with Jesus. In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 90), we beg God to teach us how to make proper judgments and choices in our lives that we may live with Him forever. The second reading warns us that we are accountable before God as to how we use our blessings and that the “living and effective word of God” must be our guide in evaluating our use of God's blessings.  In today’s Gospel selection (Mark 10: 17-30), we find three sections: a narrative about Jesus’ encounter with a rich man, Jesus’ sayings about wealth as a possible obstacle to following him and Jesus’ promise of reward for those who share material possessions with the needy. In today’s Gospel, a rich man encounters Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God and Jesus reminds the rich man of the commandments that deal with our relationships with other people, challenging him to sell what he has and to give the money to the poor.  Jesus’ challenge exposes two missing pieces in the rich man’s life: a sense of compassion for the poor and a willingness to share his blessings with the needy.  Jesus shocks his disciples with this challenge to the Jewish belief that material wealth and prosperity are signs of God's blessings. Instead, he declares that true religion consists in sharing one's blessings with others rather than hoarding them and getting inordinately attached to them. Jesus’ teaching exposes the shallowness of our own easy assumptions about wealth and raises questions about the real basis of our security and hopes. First reading, Wisdom 7:7-11, explained: About a hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the Jewish community was a minority in the great cosmopolitan city of Alexandria, Egypt, cut off from the comforting religious institutions of Jerusalem, and subject to great cultural pressure from the pagan Greek society. They were in danger of losing their identity because of the constant temptation to follow Greek philosophy and Greek morality rather than their Faith traditions.  A learned and faithful Jew assessed the situation of his fellow Jews in Alexandria and tried to bolster their faith with a book, now called Wisdom, which offered them a virtuous way of life.  By "wisdom" the author meant not just worldly wisdom but a spiritual wisdom that included adherence to older Jewish traditions.  Today's first reading, taken from the book of Wisdom, teaches, somewhat analogously, that one should prefer wisdom to every other good thing.  It quotes from King Solomon’s personal valuation of wisdom: “I preferred her [true wisdom] to scepter and throne and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her.” In his prayer for wisdom, the first-century BC Alexandrian Jewish wisdom teacher identifies wisdom as the greatest possession of all and contrasts it with material possessions. True wisdom comes from God; it is the ability to see things as God sees them and to understand things as God understands them.  Only Divine wisdom can teach us how to live wisely and successfully in life, making wise choices. We are also invited to see Jesus as Wisdom Incarnate and to give him priority over everything else in life. In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 90), we beg God to teach us how to make proper judgments and choices in our lives that we may live with Him forever Second Reading, Hebrews 4:12-13: The Letter to the Hebrews was written to bolster the Faith of Jewish converts to Christianity.  These converts faced the contempt of their former Jewish friends, and they felt nostalgia for the institutions of Judaism (rituals, sacrifices, priesthood, etc.), that were either absent or greatly transformed in their new religion, namely Christianity.  This letter tries to show them in what ways the new religion of Christianity is better than their old Jewish faith.  St. Paul tells them, "The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword.” The living and effective word of God has the power to penetrate into our body and soul like a double-edge sword. We should allow the word of God in all its vital power and effectiveness to challenge us and our priorities and goals in life. The sharp word of God confronts, chastises, encourages, challenges, nourishes, and inspires all who will attend it. Like a double-edge sword, the word has the dual capacity of revealing God to the believer and revealing the believer to him/herself. No wonder the “two-edged sword” in today’s Gospel story of the young rich man, cuts through all our conventional ways of thinking and drives us to reflect on the things that really matter! Gospel exegesis: The rich and good young man’s sins of omission.  Obviously, this young man who came to Jesus in search of eternal life really wanted to be accepted by Jesus as a disciple. However, Jesus did not want this man as a disciple on his own terms, but rather on Jesus' terms.  The young man claimed that, from his youth, he had observed all the commandments Jesus mentioned, including the fourth commandment.  His tragedy was that he loved "things" more than people.  He was trapped by the idea that he could keep his possessions and still obtain God's mercy.  He failed to realize the fact that his riches had built a wall between himself and God.  In other words, his possessions “possessed" him.  Even though the rich man had never killed, stolen, or committed adultery, he was breaking both the commandment forbidding idolatry and the one commanding love of neighbor.  He worshiped his wealth more than God.   Why should Jesus seemingly reject the title of “good teacher” telling the young man that God alone is good? According to Venerable Bede, the One and Undivided Trinity itself—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—is the Only and One Good God. The Lord, therefore, does not deny Himself to be good, but implies that He is God; He does not deny that He is ‘good Teacher [Master],’ but He declares that no master is good except God.”  Jesus’ injunction to this man was the inspiration for many saints, who have taken Jesus at His word. Perhaps the two most famous were St. Anthony of Egypt (the “Father of Monks” and writer of the first monastic rule; ca. 250-356), and St. Francis of Assisi (ca. 1182-1226), who committed himself to live a life of radical Gospel poverty. The unaccepted challenge: Jesus realizes that this rich young man is shackled by his possessions.  So, he challenges the young man by listing those precepts of the Decalogue that deal with social and familial relations. Then Jesus tells the young man that, if he wants to be perfect, keeping the commandments is not enough. He challenges the young man to share his riches with the poor.  "There is one thing lacking.  Sell all you have and give to the poor, and then you will have real treasure. After that, come and be with me." Jesus thus makes it clear that a true follower who wants to possess eternal life must not only be a respectable gentleman who hurts nobody, but also someone who shares his riches, talents and other blessings with the less fortunate.  In other words, Jesus tells the young man that life is a matter of priorities. God must have the first priority in our lives. Unfortunately, the rich man is unwilling to accept Jesus’ idea that wealth is not something to be owned but rather something to be shared with others.  Jesus asks him to break his selfish attachment to his wealth by sharing it.  He makes the same challenge to each of us today.  Our following of Jesus has to be totally and absolutely unconditional.  Our attachment may not be to money or material goods, nor to another person, a job, our health, or our reputation.  We must be ready to cut off any such attachment in order to become true Christian disciples, sharing our blessings with others. Camel through the eye of a needle: Jesus uses a vivid hyperbole, or “word cartoon,” to show how riches bar people from Heaven.  The camel was the largest animal the Jews knew, and the eye of a needle the smallest hole.  The needle’s eye is variously interpreted.  Most probably Jesus used it literally.  The little, low and narrow pedestrian gate on the outer wall of the city of Jerusalem through which even a man on foot could hardly pass erect, was also called “The Needle’s Eye” in Jesus’ time.  Others have suggested that kamelos (camel) could have been a scribal or copyist’s error and should have read kamilos or cable (a ship’s thick cable or hawser rope). In either case, the difficulty of dealing carefully and conscientiously with riches is clearly affirmed. Some modern Bible scholars think that both of these interpretations are attempts to "water" down the impossibility of getting a camel through the eye of a needle, but Jesus is saying that it is not impossible, by the grace of God, for a wealthy person to keep his spiritual integrity, though it is extremely difficult and uncommon. Why do riches prevent man from reaching God?  First, riches encourage a false sense of independence.  The rich think that they can buy their way to happiness and buy their way out of sorrow and, hence, that they don’t need God.  Second, riches shackle a man to this earth (Mt. 6:21).  If a man’s interests are all earth-bound, he never thinks of the hereafter. Third, riches tend to make a man selfish.  But we need to understand that Jesus is not against riches as such, nor against the rich.  Zacchaeus, Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus were Jesus’ close friends and they were rich.  In other words, Jesus is talking about our attitude towards wealth.  The Bible doesn’t say that money is the root of all evil; it says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Jesus also challenges the Jewish belief that material wealth and prosperity are signs of God's blessings and condemns a value system that makes "things" more valuable than people. Finally, Jesus asserts that those who have made the kingdom of God their priority, will be well compensated both in this life with earthly blessings combined with pains and suffering, and in the next life with everlasting life. Life messages: 1) We need to “Do something beautiful for God” by reaching out to others. That's the message we need to reflect on.  Our most precious possession is our souls.  Let us give ourselves away and give lavishly.  Mother Teresa puts it in a different way: “Do SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL for God. Do it with your life. Do it every day. Do it in your own way. But do it!” 2) We need to accept the invitation to generous sharing. Jesus was so generous that he gave us his very self.  The crucifix is "Exhibit A."  To follow Jesus, we must have a generous heart and be willing to give our money away in order to express our generosity.  In the heart of every Christian there should be a desire to give.  Martin Luther says that the man who has given his heart to God will also give God his wallet.  God does not have to extort money from those who love him. God does not ask us to give up our riches, but He does ask us to use them wisely in His service.  We must manage our possessions wisely, so that they do not gain control over our hearts.  Let us also ask the question: "How do I use my talents?"  God gives us talents.  Hence, they are not really ours.  He lends them to us to be used in this world.  How do we use our talents?  What about time – do we use it for God?  We each get 168 hours every week.  How do we use our time?  Are we too busy to pray each day? 3) “You are lacking one thing."  We all have something in our lives that serves as a major obstacle to happiness and peace.  We must recognize this obstacle and address it head-on.  It may not be riches -- it may be anger, holding grudges, alcohol, drugs, lust, apathy, lies, unfaithfulness, theft, or fraud.  Let us invite God into our lives and into our efforts to face and remove that one obstacle to holiness.  We have a decision to make: whether to go away sad like the rich young man, or to follow Jesus and be happy.  Let us choose happiness. 4) We need to follow Jesus on his terms, and not on our terms.  This involves giving up whatever in our lives leads us to evil.  That’s step one.  Sometimes it may involve giving up things which are good.  As parents, we might consider all the time and personal recreation and relaxation (all good things), which we have given up over the years for the sake of the children.  As a mother or father who is also  a disciple of Jesus Christ, this was required of us, and we made the sacrifice.  When we follow Jesus on his terms, there may be certain crosses to bear, but deep down in the core of our being there is peace, and there is joy, because we know that we are doing our best to carry out God’s perfect will in our lives. JOKES OF THE WEEK #1: "Oh Lord, hit him again!” The parish church was badly in need of repair.  So the pastor called a special meeting to raise funds.  At the assembly, the pastor explained the need of an emergency fund for plastering the roof and supporting pillars and for carrying out other items of repair.  He invited the congregation to pledge contributions. After a brief pause, Mr. Murphy, the richest man in the parish, volunteered to give 50 dollars.  Just as he sat down, a hunk of plaster fell from the ceiling on his head.  He jumped up, looked terribly startled and said: “I meant to say 500 dollars.”  The congregation stood silent and stunned.  Then a lone voice cried out from the back: “Oh Lord, hit him again!” #2: Andrew Carnegie made millions in the steel industry. He worked hard helping the poor and underprivileged. Once a socialist came to see him in his office and soon was railing against the injustice of Carnegie having so much money. In his view, wealth was meant to be divided equally. Carnegie asked his secretary for an assessment of everything he owned and at the same time looked up the figures on world population. He did a little arithmetic on a pad and then said to his secretary. "Give this gentleman l6 cents. That’s his share of my money.   # 3: A wealthy older gentleman had just recently married a lovely young lady and was beginning to wonder whether she might have married him for his money. So, he asked her, "Tell me the truth: if I lost all my money, would you still love me?" She said reassuringly, "Oh honey, don’t be silly. Of course, I would still love you. And I’d miss you terribly." WEBSITES OF THE WEEK # 1: Resources for parish catechesis:   http://www.blestarewe.com/index.cfm #2: Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter - International Website: http://www.fssp.org/ # 3: Catholic Information Center on Internet: http://www.catholic.net/ # 4: What the church teaches: http://www.osv.com/ # 5: http://www.faithfirst.com/pdfs/TH%20C%20Parenting%20Rituals.R1.pdf # 6: Text Week homilies: http://www.textweek.com/mkjnacts/mark10b.htm # 7: Sermons & liturgies: http://bki.net/sermonB.html Click on my website: http://frtonyshomilies.com/ if you miss any homily.
OT XXIX – B (1)
OT XXIX – B (1)

SUNDAY XXIX [B] (Oct 18): IS 53: 10-11; HEB 4: 14-16; MK 10: 35-45 (LP)

World Mission Sunday homily is attached: Introduction: Today’s Scripture readings describe leadership as the sacrificial service done to others and offer Jesus as the best example. They also explain the servant leadership of Jesus, pinpointing service and sacrifice as the criteria of greatness in Christ’s kingdom.

Scripture lessons: The first reading is a messianic prophecy taken from the Fourth Servant Song in the second part of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. It tells how the promised Messiah would save mankind by sacrificing himself as the atonement for our sins. Jesus did this sacrificial service of love for us as the Suffering Servant by offering his life on the cross as an offering for sin, interceding for us and taking our punishment on himself.    The second reading, from the letter to the Hebrews, tells us that, as a God-man and mediator-High Priest, Jesus offered a fitting sacrifice to God his Father by offering himself as ransom to liberate us from the slavery of sin. In the time of Jesus, ransom was the price paid to free someone from slavery.  Sometimes the ransomer offered himself as a substitute for the slave, as Jesus did. The reading also speaks of a high priest who is able to sympathize with us in our weakness because he has been tested in every way, though sinless, and so we can “confidently” hope for God’s mercy. Today’s gospel explains how Jesus accomplished his mission of saving mankind from the slavery of sin by becoming the “Suffering Servant.” Here, Jesus challenges his followers to become great by serving others with sacrificial agape love: “Whoever wishes to be great must be a servant."  Jesus commands us to liberate others as he freed all of us, by rendering them loving and humble service.

Life Messages: 1) We are challenged to give our lives in loving service to others. As Christians, we are all invited to serve others – and to serve with a smile!  We are challenged to drink the cup of Jesus by laying down our lives in humble, sacrificial service for others, just as Jesus did. The best place to begin the process of service by “self-giving," is our own homes and workplaces.   When parents sacrifice their time, talents, health and blessings for the welfare of others in the family, they are serving God. Service always involves suffering, because we can’t help another without some sacrifice on our part.  We are rendering great service to others also when we present them and their needs before God daily in our prayers.

2) We are invited to servant leadership: In order to become an effective Christian community, we need lay leaders with the courage of Christian convictions to fight for social justice.  We need spiritual leaders who can break open the word for us, lead us in our prayer, offer us on the altar, and draw us together as sacrament.

OT XXIX [B] SUNDAY (Oct 18): IS 53: 10-11; HEB 4: 14-16; MARK 10: 35-45

Anecdote: #1: "Sir, I am a Corporal!" During the American Revolution, a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers who were busy pulling out a horse carriage stuck in deep mud. Their officer was shouting instructions to them while making no attempt to help. The stranger who witnessed the scene asked the officer why he wasn't helping. With great dignity, the officer replied, "Sir, I am a Corporal!" The stranger dismounted from his horse and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers himself. When the job was completed, he turned to the corporal and said, "Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job like this, and don’t have enough men to do it, inform your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again." Too late, the proud Corporal recognized General Washington.Washington understood that those who aspire to greatness or rank first among others must serve the needs of all . Where did Washington learn such leadership skills? I have no doubt he learned them here, in these words of Jesus: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” The young corporal had these words modeled for him by the man at the top. Jesus' disciples, likewise, receive from their leader a picture of servanthood.

# 2: True Greatness: Nobel prizes are awarded every year in literature, economics and science. People who have made outstanding contributions in these fields are given due recognition for their achieved greatness. Excellence is recognized in the sports world, too. For example, when Pete Rose surpassed Ty Cobb’s record number of hits in 1985, he assured himself a place in baseball’s Hall of Fame. We all aspire to greatness in some form or another. It is a desire which our Lord addresses in today’s gospel. But if we look deeper into enduring examples of greatness, we see that the Lord is right. Alexander the great was a remarkable leader because he stood by his men in battle. Albert the Great was an intellectual giant because he disciplined himself for study. Beethoven was a master composer because he struggled long hours to get the right note. Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’ (Quoted by Fr. Botelho).

#3: "I discovered that Service is Joy": It may sound unbelievable, but  it is true that Asia's first Nobel Prize winner in Literature (1913), Rabindranath Tagore, was behind the three great national anthems of three nations, viz. Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. He was also the first non-westerner to win the Nobel Prize in literature. He did so in 1913. He wrote this short poem:

I slept and dreamt that life was Joy; Then I awoke and realized that life was Service. And then I went to work - and, lo and behold, I discovered that Service is Joy.

Today’s gospel teaches us that true happiness comes from surrendering ourselves completely in humble service to God through Christ. And all we need is a servant's heart, mind, eyes and touch. So, "How's Your Serve?"

Introduction: Today’s Scripture readings describe leadership as the service of others and offer Jesus as the best example. They explain the servant leadership of Jesus, pinpointing service and sacrifice as the criteria of greatness in Christ’s kingdom. The first reading is a messianic prophecy, taken from the Fourth Servant Song in the second part of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.  The Servant of the first reading intercedes with God for the people, taking upon himself their wrongdoings and accepting the punishment their sins have incurred. This passage speaks of the servant as giving “his life as an offering for sin.”  The prophecy was realized in Jesus who lived and died for others.  The second reading, from the letter to the Hebrews, notes that Jesus responded to the call of his Father and became the mediator or priest for the people. The reading speaks of a high priest who is able to sympathize with us in our weakness because he has been tested in every way, though sinless, and so we can “confidently” hope for God’s mercy. Today's gospel lesson explains how Jesus accomplished his mission of saving mankind by becoming the “Suffering Servant” and challenging his followers to become great by serving others: “Whoever wishes to be great must be a servant." In the time of Jesus, ransom was the price paid to free someone from slavery.  Sometimes the ransomer offered himself as a substitute for the slave. Jesus’ death on the cross was just such a liberating offering made for mankind. The “slavery” mandated by Jesus is a loving service of liberation for others.

First reading, : The first reading about the “Suffering Servant” prepares us to hear ), on ambition versus humility. Jesus predicts, for the third time, that he is going to accomplish his mission by suffering, dying and rising. The concluding words of Jesus in today’s gospel, about giving his life as a ransom for many, refer to the messianic prophecy of the prophet Isaiah. This reading forms part of one of the famous four passages, from the second part of Isaiah, known as the Songs of the Suffering Servant, in which Jesus saw aspects of his life and mission foreshadowed.  In Isaiah, the Suffering Servant refers to a single individual, or to the remnant of the faithful within Israel, or to some other religious reformer who would bring about peace and restoration.  Isaiah speaks of God crushing the Suffering Servant (Jesus) with suffering.  "By his sufferings shall my servant justify many." We are invited to see the death of Jesus as the fulfillment of this passage, because it was a willing sacrifice which Jesus offered for our sins, making us righteous by taking our sins away.  The passage also gives us the assurance that if we stand for righteousness, we will be able to receive the loving care of our Father, God, Who will never abandon us.

Second Reading, : The Letter to the Hebrews was written to bolster the faith of Jewish converts to Christianity.  They suffered the contempt of former Jewish friends who had not been converted, and they felt nostalgia for the institutions of Judaism, such as rituals, sacrifices, the priesthood etc.  This letter tries to show them how they still have all these “missing” things, and in a better form in Christianity than they had them in Judaism.  Since the Jewish converts to Christ did not have the priests they were used to, the author of Hebrews argues that Jesus is the true High Priest, superior to and far better than the Jewish priests because He, the Son of God, shared our fragile, suffering humanity.  Thus, we can “approach his throne of grace confidently to receive mercy,” because he understands us.  Later, in Heb 9:10-14, St. Paul presents Jesus as both sacrificial victim and priest.  In his death and resurrection, Jesus functioned both as the priest who sacrificed the victim and as the victim who was sacrificed.

Exegesis:  The context:  Our Gospel reading for today is another classic text on the question of ambition.  For the third time, (Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:32), Jesus predicts his own death.  In spite of Jesus’ two previous predictions, James and John still thought of him as a revolutionary freedom-fighter and shared the Jewish belief that the Messiah would be a political king, sitting on David's throne and ruling over a re-united Israel.  They were sure that the purpose of Jesus’ final trip to Jerusalem was to overthrow the Roman rulers.  Hence, they wanted an assurance from Jesus that he would make them his first- and second-in-command in his messianic kingdom.

The high price of servant leadership: The request of James and John revealed their lack of understanding of true leadership.  They were looking for positions of power and prestige.  They thought that leadership came from where you sat rather than how you served.  Jesus gave them a sharp rebuke when he said, "You do not know what you are asking.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"   James and John assert their readiness to “drink the cup” of suffering and share in the “bath” or “baptism” of pain Jesus will experience (the Greek word used is baptizein, meaning to immerse oneself in an event or situation. To drink the cup is to accept the reality of suffering and to do God’s will in the midst of it, as Jesus did in Gethsemane. Those who follow the way of Jesus and seek to imitate his example of servant leadership must be willing even to suffer for others. During royal banquets, it was customary for an ancient king to hand the cup to his guests.  Thus, the cup became a metaphor for the life and experiences that God gives to men.  Jesus insisted that his disciples must drink from his cup if they expected to reign with him in his kingdom.  The cup he had in mind was a bitter one, involving crucifixion.  For Jesus, to take this cup was to take on himself God's judgment intended for us.  Baptism was also linked to the divine judgment that will come as a result of human sinfulness.  Jesus had in mind the cup of his own sacrificial death and the baptism of fire which lay before him in Jerusalem.

Trouble-shooting: Without fully understanding what Jesus meant, James and John quickly affirmed that they could share in their master’s cup and baptism.  They had no understanding of the personal cost that lay behind these two images. [History tells us that James was beheaded by Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:2), and John suffered deeply when he heard regularly for years, of the persecution of his fellow Christians, while he himself was forced into exile.]  Naturally, the request of James and John angered the other disciples.  They were upset that James and John had tried to gain some advantage over them.  So Jesus called them all together to give them yet another lecture on real leadership in the kingdom of God.

A challenge to achieve greatness through humble, sacrificial service: Jesus told his disciples plainly what his mission was, how he was going to accomplish it and what should be the criteria of greatness among his disciples.  He summarized his mission in one sentence:  “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Jesus also explained that he was going to accomplish his mission by undergoing crucifixion, offering himself as a sacrifice to save people from their sins.  Here, he challenged his apostles to share not only his power, but his service, by sacrificing themselves for others as he had done. According to Jesus, greatness consists not in what we have, nor in what we can get from others but in what we give to others.  The CEO in Jesus’ kingdom is the one who serves the needs of all the others.  Jesus thus overturns all our values, teaching us that true greatness consists in loving, humble, and sacrificial service. He has identified authority with selfless service and loving sacrifice.  For Jesus, true service means putting our gifts at the disposal of others.  Service is sacrifice:  extending a helping hand toward those in need translates love into meaningful deeds.  St. Paul, in Rom 1:1, says: “From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus.”  No wonder the official title of the popes down through the centuries has been, “Servant of the servants of God!”  For our contemporary saint, Blessed Mother Teresa, greatness lay in the giving of her whole self to the very lowest, treating them as brothers and sisters and living close to them.

Authority exercised by sacrificial service: Very often, people in authority act as if others exist only to serve them.  Even in our democratic form of government, our elected officials, although called “public servants,” frequently strut around like monarchs, interested in serving their own appetites for power, prestige, and wealth.  They forget the fact that authority is different from power.  Power is something a person has and forces on people.  Authority is something a person gains – it’s given to one by the people one leads.  One can gain authority from those one leads only through service and sacrifice.  When people see that a person has their best interests at heart and is willing to sacrifice and serve them, they will be willing to follow.  That’s real leadership and authority.  Jesus saw authority as an opportunity to serve others rather than to promote his own honor and glory.  He connected authority with selfless service.  He considered authority without sacrificial love as merely self-serving.

Life messages: 1) We are challenged to give our lives in loving service to others. To become an authentic disciple of Jesus means to put ourselves in the humble, demanding role of servant to others, to intentionally seek the happiness and fulfillment of those we love regardless of the cost to ourselves.  The best place to begin the process of “self-giving" service is in our own homes and in the workplace.  We have to look upon our education, training, and experience as preparation for service to others.  Whatever may be our place in society -- whether important or unimportant -- we can serve.  We should learn to serve with a smile.  This is possible whether we are in military service, social service, law, medical service, government or business.  If we want to be leaders, we must learn to be available, accountable, and vulnerable.  This triad --- availability, accountability, and vulnerability --- qualifies us for what Robert Greenleaf has called “Servant Leadership.”  “Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier.” —Albert Schweitzer

2) We serve by suffering:  In today’s Gospel, Jesus connects service with suffering. Suffering and service go hand in hand.  First, service always involves suffering because one can’t help another without some personal sacrifice.  Second, God always invites those who suffer to put their suffering at the service of others by uniting it with the suffering of Jesus.  Third, we must learn to be sensitive to the suffering of those around us.  One way to cultivate this sensitivity is to focus on the needs of others rather than on our own needs.  Another way is through prayer, as explained in St. Francis of Assisi’s famous Prayer for Peace.

3) We are invited to drink from the cup of Christ’s suffering: People often tailor their religious beliefs to fit their own needs.  In Christianity, this represents a false approach.  The Church needs true disciples who are cross-bearers and servants.  They seek and follow Christ wherever he leads.  A happy family is the result of true sacrifice and humble service.  The husband and wife sacrifice convenience, comfort, and time.  There can be no success without sacrifice.  We are challenged to drink the cup of Jesus by laying down our lives in humble and sacrificial service for others, just as Jesus did.

4) We are invited to servant leadership: We are a community of equals and we share in the responsibilities of being community.  In order to be effective, we need leaders – both ordained, as ministerial priests, and lay.  These servants have been raised up from among us to call us to order, to be the ground on which the rest of us can move around, refining our lives as followers of Jesus.  We need leaders who will help us to form a relationship that will assist us to become what we must be in order to wash one another’s feet.  We require leaders to call us to the ways of social justice.  We need leaders who tie us to other communities and groups who share similar values.  Finally, we need leaders who can break open the word for us, who can lead us in our prayer, offering us on the altar, and who can draw us together as sacrament.  No one of us possesses all that we as a community need.  Our job as servant leaders is to evoke, to recognize, to nurture, to celebrate and to help unify the gifts of the Holy Spirit here in our community.

JOKE OF THE WEEK: #1: Support your senator doing free service:  A priest went into a Washington, D. C. barber shop for a haircut.  When the barber finished, the priest asked him what the charge was and the barber responded, “No charge, Father, you are serving the Lord and I consider my service rendered to you as a service to the Lord.”  The next morning when the barber arrived at his shop he found at his front door a stack of usable Christmas cards and a note of thanks from the priest.  A few days later, a police officer went to the same barber for a haircut.  When he went to pay, the barber said, “No charge, officer.  I consider it a service to our community because you serve our community.”  The next morning when the barber arrived at his shop there were a dozen donuts at the front door and a note of thanks from the policeman.  A few days after this an influential senator came in for a haircut.  “No charge, Senator, I consider it a service to my country.”  The next morning when the barber arrived at his shop there were two congressmen waiting for their chance for the barber’s free service, carrying a note of thanks from the Senator!

OT XXIX – B (2)
OT XXIX – B (2)
OT XXIX [B] (Oct 21): Mk 10:35-45 (L-18) Central theme: Today’s Scripture readings describe leadership as the sacrificial service done for others and offer Jesus as the best example. They also explain the servant leadership of Jesus, pinpointing service and sacrifice as the criteria of greatness in Christ’s Kingdom. Scripture lessons summarized: The first reading is a Messianic prophecy taken from the Fourth Servant Song in the second part of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. It tells how the promised Messiah will save mankind by sacrificing himself as the atonement for our sins. Jesus has done this sacrificial service of love for us as the Suffering Servant by giving his life on the cross as an offering for sin, interceding for us and taking our punishment on himself.    The second reading, taken from the letter to the Hebrews, tells us that, as a God-man and mediator-High Priest, Jesus has offered a fitting sacrifice to God his Father by offering himself as ransom to liberate us from the slavery of sin. In the time of Jesus, ransom was the price paid to free someone from slavery.  Sometimes the ransomer offered himself as a substitute for the slave, as Jesus did. The reading also speaks of a high priest who is able to sympathize with us in our weakness because he has been tested in every way, though sinless, and so we can “confidently” hope for God’s mercy. Today’s Gospel explains how Jesus has accomplished his mission of saving mankind from the slavery of sin by becoming the “Suffering Servant.” Here, Jesus challenges his followers to become great by serving others with sacrificial agape love: “Whoever wishes to be great must be a servant."  Jesus commands us to liberate others as he has freed all of us, by giving ourselves to them in loving and humble service. Life Messages: 1) We are challenged to give our lives in loving service to others. As Christians, we are all invited to serve others – and to serve with a smile!  We are challenged to drink the cup of Jesus by laying down our lives in humble, sacrificial service for others, just as Jesus did. The best place to begin the process of service by “self-giving," is in our own homes and workplaces.   When parents sacrifice their time, talents, health and blessings for the welfare of others in the family, they are serving God. Service always involves suffering, because we can’t help another without some sacrifice on our part.  We are rendering great service to others also when we present them and their needs before God daily in our prayers. 2) We are invited to servant leadership: In order to become an effective Christian community, we need lay leaders with the courage of Christian convictions to work for social justice.  We need spiritual leaders who can break open the word for us, lead us in our prayer, offer us on the altar, and draw us together as sacrament. OT XXIX SUNDAY : Is 53:10-11; Heb 4:14-16; Mk 10:35-45 Homily starter anecdotes: #1: "Sir, I am a Corporal!" During the American Revolution, a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers who were busy pulling out a horse carriage stuck in deep mud. Their officer was shouting instructions to them while making no attempt to help. The stranger who witnessed the scene asked the officer why he wasn't helping. With great anger and dignity, the officer replied, "Sir, I am a Corporal!" The stranger dismounted from his horse and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers himself. When the job was completed, he turned to the corporal and said, "Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job like this, and don’t have enough men to do it, inform your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again." Too late, the proud Corporal recognized General Washington. Washington understood that those who aspire to greatness or rank first among others must serve the needs of all. America’s first president found himself in a situation that invited him to demonstrate servant leadership. Where did Washington learn such leadership skills? I have no doubt he learned them here, in these words of Jesus: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” The young corporal had these words modeled for him by the man at the top. Jesus' disciples, likewise, receive from their leader a picture of servanthood. # 2: True Greatness: Nobel prizes are awarded every year in literature, economics and science, among others. People who have made outstanding contributions in these fields are given due recognition for their achieved greatness. Excellence is recognized in the sports world, too. For example, when Pete Rose surpassed Ty Cobb’s record number of hits in 1985, he assured himself a place in baseball’s Hall of Fame. We all aspire to greatness in some form or another. It is a desire which our Lord addresses in today’s Gospel. But if we look deeper into enduring examples of greatness, we see that the Lord is right. Alexander the Great was a remarkable leader because he stood by his men in battle. Albert the Great was an intellectual giant because he disciplined himself for study. Beethoven was a master composer because he struggled long hours to get the right note. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho.) #3: "I discovered that Service is Joy": It may sound unbelievable, but it is true that Asia's first Nobel Prize winner in Literature (1913), Rabindranath Tagore, was behind the three great national anthems of three nations, viz. Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. He was also the first non-Westerner to win the Nobel Prize in literature. He did so in 1913. He wrote this short poem: I slept and dreamt that life was Joy; Then I awoke and realized that life was Service. And then I went to work - and, lo and behold, I discovered that Service is Joy. Today’s Gospel teaches us that true happiness comes from surrendering ourselves completely in humble service to God through Christ. And all we need is a servant's heart, mind, eyes and touch. So, "How's Your Serve?"   27- Additional anecdotes are uploaded in my website http://frtonyshomilies.com/ Introduction: Today’s Scripture readings describe leadership as the service of others and offer Jesus as the best example. They explain the servant leadership of Jesus, pinpointing service and sacrifice as the criteria of greatness in Christ’s Kingdom. Scripture lessons summarized: The first reading is a messianic prophecy taken from the Fourth Servant Song in the second part of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.  The Servant of the first reading intercedes with God for the people, taking upon himself their wrongdoings and accepting the punishment their sins have incurred. This passage speaks of the servant as giving “his life as an offering for sin.”  The prophecy was realized in Jesus who lived and died for others. Out of love, Jesus, the servant, lived and died so that the unjust might know God’s justification.   The second reading, taken from the letter to the Hebrews, notes that Jesus responded to the call of his Father and became the mediator or priest for the people. The reading speaks of a High Priest who is able to sympathize with us in our weakness because he has been tested in every way, though sinless, and so we can “confidently” hope for God’s mercy. Today's Gospel lesson explains how  Jesus accomplished his mission of saving mankind by becoming the “Suffering Servant” and challenging his followers to become great by serving others: “Whoever wishes to be great must be a servant." In the time of Jesus, ransom was the price paid to free someone from slavery.  Sometimes the ransomer offered himself as a substitute for the slave. Jesus’ death on the cross was just such a liberating offering made for mankind. The “slavery” mandated by Jesus is a loving service of liberation for others.   First reading, Isaiah 53:10-11, explained: The first reading about the “Suffering Servant” prepares us to hear today's Gospel teaching (Mark 10:35-45), on ambition versus humility. Jesus predicts, for the third time, that he is going to accomplish his mission by suffering, dying and rising. The concluding words of Jesus in today’s Gospel, about giving his life as a ransom for many, refer to the Messianic prophecy of the prophet Isaiah. This reading forms part of one of the famous four passages from the second part of Isaiah known as the Songs of the Suffering Servant, in which Jesus sees aspects of his life and mission foreshadowed.  In Isaiah, the Suffering Servant probably refers to a single individual, or to the remnant of the faithful within Israel, or to some other religious reformer who will bring about peace and restoration.  Isaiah speaks of God crushing the Suffering Servant (Jesus) with suffering.  "By his sufferings shall My servant justify many." We are invited to see the death of Jesus as the fulfillment of this passage because Jesus offers His life as a willing sacrifice which for our sins, making us righteous by taking our sins away. Out of love, Jesus the servant lives and dies so that the unjust may know God’s justification.   The passage also gives us the assurance that if we work for righteousness, we will be able to receive the loving care of our Father, God, who will never abandon us. Second Reading, Hebrews 4:14-16, explained: The Letter to the Hebrews was written to bolster the Faith of Jewish converts to Christianity.  They suffered the contempt of former Jewish friends who had not been converted, and they felt nostalgia for the institutions of Judaism, such as rituals, sacrifices, the priesthood etc.  This letter tries to show them how they still have all these “missing” things, and in a better form in Christianity than they had them in Judaism. While the first reading from Isaiah prophesies the necessary and sacrificial role of God’s servant, Jesus, in the plan of salvation, the author of Hebrews affirms Jesus’ priestly activity.  Since the Jewish converts to Christ did not have the priests they were used to, the author of Hebrews argues that Jesus is the true High Priest, superior to and far better than the Jewish priests because He, the Son of God, shares our fragile, suffering humanity.  Thus, we can “approach his throne of grace confidently to receive mercy,” because Jesus understands us.  Later, in Heb 9:10-14, St. Paul presents Jesus as both sacrificial victim and priest.  In his death and Resurrection, Jesus functions both as the Priest who sacrifices the victim and as the Victim who is sacrificed. Gospel exegesis:  The context:  Our Gospel reading for today is another classic text on the question of ambition.  For the third time, (Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:32), Jesus predicts his own death.  In spite of Jesus’ two previous predictions, James and John are still thinking of Jesus as a revolutionary freedom-fighter. They share their contemporaries’ Jewish belief that the Messiah will be a political king, sitting on David's throne and ruling over a re-united Israel.  They are sure that the purpose of Jesus’ final trip to Jerusalem is to overthrow the Roman rulers.  Hence, they want an assurance from Jesus that he will make them his first- and second-in-command in his messianic kingdom.  According to Middle Eastern custom, the seats on the right and left sides of the host were the places of honor, granted to his closest friends and associates, or those he wished particularly to recognize. The high price of servant leadership: The request of James and John reveals their lack of understanding of true leadership.  They are looking for positions of power and prestige.  They think that leadership comes from where you sit rather than from how you serve.  Jesus gives them a sharp rebuke, saying, "You do not know what you are asking.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They answer Jesus’ question with a very quick, “You bet we can!” That’s the kind of answer you give when you envision the ‘cup’ in question to be a bejeweled golden goblet filled with good wine at the feast of Jesus' inauguration as the replacement for the Caesar.” (Center for Excellence in Preaching; online). “The request of James and John for a share in the glory (Mark 10:35-37) must of necessity involve a share in Jesus’ sufferings, the endurance of tribulation and suffering for the Gospel” (Notes to the New American Bible). The cup was a symbol of the life experience allotted to each person by God. To “drink the cup” Jesus drinks is to accept the reality of suffering and to do God’s will in the midst of it, as Jesus did in Gethsemane and on Calvary. Those who follow the way of Jesus and seek to imitate his example of servant leadership must be willing even to suffer for others. During royal banquets, it was customary for an ancient king to hand the cup to his guests.  Thus, the cup became a metaphor for the life and experiences that God gives to men.  Jesus insisted that his disciples must drink from his cup if they expected to reign with him in his kingdom.  The cup he had in mind was a bitter one, involving crucifixion.  For Jesus, to take this cup was to take on himself God's judgment intended for us.  Baptism was also linked to the divine judgment that will come as a result of human sinfulness.  Jesus had in mind the cup of his own sacrificial death and the baptism of fire which lay before him in Jerusalem. Trouble-shooting: Without fully understanding what Jesus meant, James and John quickly affirmed that they could share in their master’s cup and baptism.  They had no understanding of the personal cost that lay behind these two images. [History tells us that James was beheaded by Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:2), and John suffered deeply when he heard regularly for years, of the persecution of his fellow Christians, while he himself was forced into exile.]  Naturally, the request of James and John angered the other disciples.  They were upset that James and John had tried to gain some advantage over them.  So, Jesus called them all together to give them yet another lecture on real leadership in the kingdom of God. Jesus further explains that to sit on his right hand and on his left is not his to give, except to those for whom it is prepared by his Father. The passage thus declares that “Christ would give rewards to his followers; but only to such as should be entitled to them according to the purpose of his Father.” (Notes on the New Testament) A challenge to achieve greatness through humble, sacrificial service: Jesus tells his disciples plainly what his mission is, how he is going to accomplish it and what should be the criteria of greatness among his disciples.  He summarizes his mission in one sentence: “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  It is in service and humility, Jesus says, that one will find true greatness in the eyes of God. Jesus also explains that he is going to accomplish his mission by undergoing crucifixion, offering himself as a sacrifice to save people from their sins.  Here, he challenges his apostles to share not only his power, but his service, by sacrificing themselves for others as he will do.  According to Jesus, greatness consists not in what we have, nor in what we can get from others but in what we give to others.  The CEO in Jesus’ kingdom is the one who serves the needs of all the others. The test of greatness in the reign of God is not how many people are in my service but how I may serve the many. Jesus thus overturns all our values, teaching us that true greatness consists in loving, humble, and sacrificial service. He has identified authority with selfless service and loving sacrifice. For Jesus, true service means putting our gifts at the disposal of others.  Service is sacrifice:  extending a helping hand to those in need translates love into meaningful deeds. Jesus clearly teaches that when power and authority are used in selfish ways, for personal gain, pleasure or advantage, instead of on behalf of others, they cease to be Christian, and become “like the leaders of the Gentiles.”  St. Paul, in Rom 1:1, says: “From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus.”  No wonder the official title of the popes down through the centuries has been, “Servant of the servants of God”!  For our contemporary, St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), greatness lay in the giving of her whole self to the very lowest, treating them as brothers and sisters and living close to them. Authority exercised by sacrificial service: Very often, people in authority act as if others exist only to serve them.  Even in our democratic form of government, our elected officials, although called “public servants,” frequently strut around like monarchs, interested in serving their own appetites for power, prestige, and wealth.  They forget the fact that authority is different from power.  Power is something a person has and forces on people. Authority is something one first receives from a higher power (ultimately God Who is the Source of Authority). That authority is recognized in one by the people who choose, receive and obey one as their Leader. One can exercise authority over those one leads only through service and sacrifice, for this is God’s own pattern, shown in Christ Jesus.  When people see that a person has their best interests at heart and is willing to sacrifice and serve them, they will be willing to follow. That’s real leadership and authority.  Jesus sees authority as an opportunity to serve others rather than to promote his own honor and glory.  Jesus connects authority with selfless service.  He considers authority exercised without sacrificial love as merely self-service.    Life messages: 1) We are challenged to give our lives in loving service to others. To become an authentic disciple of Jesus means to put ourselves in the humble, demanding role of servant to others, to seek intentionally the happiness and fulfillment of those we love regardless of the cost to ourselves.  The best place to begin the process of “self-giving" service is in our own homes and in the workplace.  We have to look upon our education, training, and experience as preparation for service to others.  Whatever may be our place in society -- whether important or unimportant -- we can serve.  We should learn to serve with a smile.  This is possible whether we are in military service, social service, law, medical service, government or business. We get chances to serve others every day- nurses serve their patients, teachers their students, parents serve the needs of their children, and spouses serve each another.  In our parishes, we are also called to serve not to be served. We can here apply the famous “ask not” of John Kennedy: “Ask not what your parish, what your Church, your God can do for you; rather ask what you can do for your parish, for your Church, your God!” If we want to be leaders, we must learn to be available, accountable, and vulnerable.  This triad --- availability, accountability, and vulnerability --- qualifies us for what Robert Greenleaf has called Servant Leadership. “Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier.” —Albert Schweitzer 2) We serve by suffering:  In today’s Gospel, Jesus connects service with suffering. Suffering and service go hand in hand.  First, service always involves suffering because one can’t help another without some personal sacrifice.  Second, God always invites those who suffer to put their suffering at the service of others by uniting it with the salvific suffering of Jesus.  Third, we must learn to be sensitive to the suffering of those around us.  One way to cultivate this sensitivity is to focus on the needs of others rather than on our own needs.  Another way is through prayer, as explained in St. Francis of Assisi’s famous Prayer for Peace. 3) We are invited to drink from the cup of Christ’s suffering: People often tailor their religious beliefs to fit their own needs.  In Christianity, this represents a false approach. The Church needs true disciples who are cross-bearers and servants.  They seek and follow Christ wherever he leads. A happy family is the result of true sacrifice and humble service. The husband and wife sacrifice convenience, comfort, and time.  There can be no success without sacrifice. We are challenged to drink the cup of Jesus by laying down our lives in humble and sacrificial service for others, just as Jesus did.  4) We are invited to servant leadership: We are a community of equals and we share in the responsibilities of being community.  In order to be effective, we need leaders – both ordained, as ministerial priests, and lay.  These servants have been raised up from among us to call us to order, to be the ground on which the rest of us can move around, refining our lives as followers of Jesus.  We need leaders who will help us to form a relationship with God and with each other that will assist us to become what we must be in order to wash one another’s feet. We require leaders to call us to the ways of social justice.  We need leaders who tie us to other communities and groups who share similar values. Finally, we need leaders who can break open the word for us, who can lead us in our prayer, offering us on the altar, and who can draw us together as sacrament.  No one of us possesses all that we as a community need. Our job as servant leaders is to evoke, to recognize, to nurture, to celebrate and to help unify the gifts of the Holy Spirit at work here in our community. JOKE OF THE WEEK: #1: Support your senator doing free service:  A priest went into a Washington, D. C. barber shop for a haircut.  When the barber finished, the priest asked him what the charge was and the barber responded, “No charge, Father, you are serving the Lord and I consider my service rendered to you as a service to the Lord.”  The next morning when the barber arrived at his shop he found at his front door a stack of usable Christmas cards and a note of thanks from the priest. A few days later, a police officer went to the same barber for a haircut.  When he went to pay, the barber said, “No charge, officer. I consider it a service to our community because you serve our community.” The next morning when the barber arrived at his shop there were a dozen donuts at the front door and a note of thanks from the policeman.  A few days after this an influential senator came in for a haircut.  “No charge, Senator, I consider it a service to my country.” The next morning when the barber arrived at his shop there were two congressmen waiting for their chance for the barber’s free service, carrying a note of thanks from the Senator! # 2: Good old days: George Bernard Shaw was once asked in what generation he would have preferred to live. The witty Irishman replied: "The age of Napoleon, because then there was only one man who thought he was Napoleon.   (Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604.)  
OT XXX – B (1)
OT XXX – B (1)

Introduction: The central theme of today’s readings is the overflowing mercy and kindness of a loving, healing and forgiving God for His children.

Scripture lessons: The first reading tells us how a forgiving and compassionate God has been healing the spiritual blindness of His Chosen People by subjecting them to captivity in Babylon and now will liberate them, bringing them back to their homeland. The Jerusalem journey of Jesus in the company of the lame and the blind connects the first reading to The healing of the blind Bartimaeus in today’s Gospel is also seen as the fulfillment of the joyful prophecy of Jeremiah about the return of the exiled Jews from Babylon to their homeland.  Today’s second reading, taken from Hebrews 5, presents Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for sins and as the true High Priest of the New Testament. It also gives us the assurance that our High Priest, Jesus, is sympathetic to us because he has shared our human nature.  Today’s Gospel explains how Jesus shows the mercy and compassion of his Heavenly Father by healing the blind Bartimaeus. Just asthe blind and the lame were God’s concern in the first reading, Jesus is concerned with the blind beggar, Bartimaeus of Jericho.  On hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, Bartimaeus loudly expressed his trusting faith in the healing power of Jesus by shouting his request, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." When Jesus invited him to come near, Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak (symbolizing perhaps the baptismal divesting). His   meeting with Jesus gaveBartimaeus the gift of spiritual as well as physical sight, and he became a disciple of Jesus.

Life messages: 1) Instead of remaining in spiritual blindness, let us pray for spiritual sight.  Each one of us suffers from spiritual blindness. Hence, we need the light of the Holy Spirit to enlighten us.  Anger, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, evil habits, etc., make us spiritually blind, and they prevent us from seeing the goodness in our neighbors and God’s presence in them. We are blinded by greed when we are never satisfied with what we have and incur debts to buy luxury items.  Hence, let us pray to have a clear vision of Christian values and priorities in our lives and to acknowledge the presence of God dwelling in ourselves and in our neighbors. A clear spiritual vision enables us to see the goodness in others, to express our appreciation for all that they have been doing for us, and to refrain from criticizing their performance.

2) We need to "cry out" to Jesus, as Bartimaeus did.  Like Bartimaeus, we must seek Jesus with trust in his goodness and mercy.  Sometimes our fears, anger and habitual sins prevent us from approaching God in prayer.  At times, we even become angry with God when He seems slow in answering our prayers.  In these desperate moments, let us approach Jesus in prayer with trusting faith, as Bartimaeus did, and listen carefully to the voice of Jesus asking us : "What do you want me to do for you?”  Let us tell Him all our heart’s intentions and needs.

OT XXX [B] (Oct 10) Jer 31:7-9; Heb 5: 1-6; Mk10:46-52 (L/15)

Anecdotes: # 1: An ancient eye test for spiritual blindness: Fr. De Mello tells a story which can help us to check our spiritual blindness.  A hermit asked his disciples: “When do you say that the night is ended and it is morning?"  The first disciple said: “I say that it is morning when I can distinguish an oak tree from a maple tree.” The hermit said: “No."  The second disciple answered: “I know it is morning when I can distinguish a cow from a sheep at a distance.”   Once again the hermit disagreed.   The third disciple replied “It is morning when no star is visible in the cloudless sky.” “That is also a wrong answer,” said the hermit.  Then he explained:” I know it is morning when I can recognize a person as a son or daughter of God, and, hence, my own brother or sister.”

# 2: Two famous prayers for spiritual vision: Cardinal Newman prays for clear vision in his famous poem, “Lead Kindly Light”:

Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom; lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on! Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene; one step enough for me.

“Amazing Grace,” As the captain of a British slave ship, John Newton regained his faith during a storm at sea and became an ordained minister who was very active in the abolitionist movement. He explains how he gained his spiritual eyesight in his famous hymn, Amazing Grace.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.

Today’s Gospel, which tells of the healing of the blind man, Bartimaeus, challenges us to strengthen our faith in Jesus, the healer, and invites us to gain true spiritual vision.

# 3: “I wish to be able to see my children eat off gold plates.”  According to a Jewish legend there was once a blind man who was married but had no children.  Although his life was hard, he never complained.  One day as the blind man was sitting by a river, the prophet Elijah came to him from heaven and said, “Even though your life has been hard, you never complained, and so God will grant you one wish.”  The poor man frowned.  “Only one   wish!" he said.  “I’m blind, I’m poor, and I’m childless.  How will one wish satisfy all my problems?  But give me twenty-four hours and I’ll think up a wish.”  He went home and told his wife what had happened.  She smiled at him and said, “Eat well and sleep soundly, for I know what you should wish.”  He came back the next morning and said to Elijah as he appeared again, “I wish to be able to see my children eat from gold plates.”  The wish was granted and the man and his wife lived happily for the rest of their days.  Today’s Gospel presents another blind man whose wish was to regain his sight. Jesus restored sight to his eyes and to his spirit, and Bartimaeus immediately began to follow Jesus as a sighted, witnessing disciple.

Introduction: The central theme of today’s readings is the overflowing mercy and kindness of a loving and forgiving God for His people. The first reading tells us how a forgiving and compassionate God healed the spiritual blindness of His Chosen People by subjecting them to captivity in Babylon and then liberated them, bringing them back to their homeland. The Jerusalem journey of Jesus in the company of the lame and the blind is the connection between the first reading and The healing of the blind Bartimaeus in today’s Gospel is seen also as the fulfillment of the joyful prophecy of Jeremiah about the return of the exiled Jews from Babylon to their homeland.  Today’s second reading, taken from the letter to the Hebrews, presents Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for sins and as the greatHigh Priest. It identifies Jesus as the true High Priest of the New Testament. It also gives us the assurance that, as the High Priest, Jesus is sympathetic to us because He has shared our human nature.  Today’s Gospel explains how Jesus showed the mercy and compassion of his Heavenly Father by healing Bartimaeus, a blind man. Just as the blind and the lame were God’s concern in the first reading, Jesus was concerned with the blind beggar, Bartimaeus of Jericho.  On hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, Bartimaeus loudly expressed his trusting faith in the healing power of Jesus by shouting, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." As Jesus invited him to come near, Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak (symbolizing perhaps the baptismal divesting). His   meeting with Jesus gave Bartimaeus the gift of spiritual as well as physical sight, and he became a disciple of Jesus.

First reading: Jer 31: 7-9 This reading, taken from the book of Jeremiah, tells us of the small number of people, "the remnant of Israel," who had survived the Assyrian captivity begun in 721 B.C.   Jeremiah uses this image to describe the coming return of the Babylonian captives as they will be led on their joyful journey home to Jerusalem. The passage foretells God’s promise to give His people life in all its fullness. Through their exile and suffering, the people had learned to humble themselves and turn to God with sincere repentance.  The returnees would include not only the healthy, but the blind, the lame, and the vulnerable. Originally spiritually blind, the exiled Jews, through suffering, would receive spiritual sight, and they would express their gratitude to God by singing His glories on their way back to their city.  Jesus' journey to Jerusalem in the company of the lame and the blind connects this first reading with   The Gospel highlights the actions of Bartimaeus which called healing from the heart of Jesus and prompted the now-seeing beggar to follow Jesus as a witnessing disciple.  The first reading, on the other hand, directs our attention to God's merciful actions: "delivering his people . . . bringing them back . . . gathering them . . . consoling them… guiding them . . . leading them."

The second reading (Hebrews 5: 1): The reading describes Jesus as the High Priest of the new Covenant.  It likens him to the class of ancient priests, (sympathetic and patient, not glorifying himself), then distinguishes Jesus from the others (because the Father called Jesus his Son).  The people addressed in this letter had been put out of the synagogues when they accepted Jesus.  The writer of Hebrews tries to comfort them by depicting Jesus as a superior replacement for the priests upon whom they had formerly depended. The Jewish High Priest was a sinner like others, and his role was to offer sacrifices to God for himself and for the people as their representative. But Jesus was sinless; he offered himself as a sacrifice for all sin, and He continues to act as our mediator at “the throne of grace.” Further, Jesus, the Son of God, was appointed directly by God to an even better priesthood (“the order of Melchizedek” Ps 110:4). In his role, person and appointment, Jesus surpassed every High Priest in ancient Israel. Hence through Jesus, the true High Priest, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence and boldness, and we can expect mercy and favor from God.

Exegesis:   The context: Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem through Jericho, an ancient city fifteen miles away from Jerusalem.  Jericho was the first city conquered by the Israelites when they entered Palestine. It was a city of great wealth and remarkable beauty, supporting many date palm plantations and fig trees.  Great numbers of merchants and Jewish priests made their homes in this pleasant city. The Mosaic Law required every Jewish male over the age of twelve and living within fifteen miles of Jerusalem to attend the Passover.  Those who, for one reason or another, were exempt from this obligation would often line the roads to Jerusalem to greet the crowds of pilgrims as they passed toward the city.  The Jewish rabbis on pilgrimage often taught religious lessons to the pilgrims on their journey.  Beggars also capitalized on the increased traffic through the city to beg for money.  One such beggar was the blind man known as Bartimaeus.

Jesus spots a particular blind man in the crowd: The story of Bartimaeus is the last healing miracle recorded in the Gospel of Mark.  The story is presented dramatically.  While the majority of those who received healing in the New Testament are not mentioned by name, in this case, the beggar’s name is given asBartimaeus, which means son of Timaeus.  When the people told Bartimaeus the news of Jesus’ passage through the city, he began to shout his remarkable prayer of Faith: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." Jesus was surrounded by a large crowd.  Amid the noise and dust, people were jostling for attention, and beggars cried out for alms.  In spite of this tumult, Jesus heard one voice crying out through the noise of the crowd.  Who would have expected a Messianic greeting from a blind beggar?  In spite of the crowd's objections, Jesus stopped and, recognizing Bartimaeus’ Faith, called the blind man over. In the Law of Moses, the blind are among those who are to be accorded protection in the name of God. Leviticus admonishes the Israelites not to “curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind.” In Deuteronomy those who lead the blind astray along the road are placed under the same curse as those who withhold justice from the alien, the orphan or the widowed. Psalm 146 proclaims that God gives sight to the blind, lifts up those who are bowed down and loves the righteous.   

Bartimaeus’ response of trusting Faith: The people conveyed Jesus' invitation to Bartimaeus, who responded by jumping up and running to Jesus.  Byaddressing Jesus as Son of David, the beggar publicly identified Jesus as the Messiah.  At Jesus’ summons, Bartimaeus threw aside his long cloak, his only possession, which protected him from heat and cold.  In throwing away his cloak, he gave up everything he had depended on, putting his complete trust in God. Jesus then asked, “What do you want me to do for you?"  Bartimaeus replied promptly: “Master, I want to see.”  Jesus rewarded his faith by restoring both his physical and his spiritual sight.   Having received physical and spiritual sight, Bartimaeus followed Jesus joyfully along the road.  The gift of sight led Bartimaeus to faith, and faith came to full expression in committed discipleship. He wanted to stay close to his Savior, to thank, praise, and serve Him.  Thus, today’s Gospel presentsBartimaeus as the model for us, in his prayer and in his wholehearted commitment to a discipleship that included, and still includes, rejection by those who refuse to believe.

Lessons of Christian discipleship: The section of Mark's Gospel that deals with discipleship (8:22-10:52), begins with the healing of a blind man (8:22-26), and concludes with the story of another blind man, Bartimaeus.  In between these two stories are three episodes in which the disciples are presented as blind to the meaning of Jesus' mission and of their own discipleship.  Their spiritual "blindness" is evident in their persistent misunderstanding.  The gradual coming to sight of the first blind man (8:22-26), stands in contrast to the story of Bartimaeus, who regains his vision at once and becomes a follower of Jesus.  The healing of the blindBartimaeus contains four main elements of Christian discipleship: a) the correct recognition of Jesus as Lord and Savior ("Jesus, Son of David"); b) the acknowledgement of the need for Jesus’ help ("Have pity on me"; "I want to see"); c) ready response to Jesus' call ("He . . . came to Jesus"); and d) becoming Jesus’ disciple (" … followed him on the way").

 The Messianic implications: The healing of Bartimaeus has Messianic implications.  Jesus commended Bartimaeus because he had correctly understood that Jesus was the Son of David and the expected Messiah.  Referring to the coming of the Messiah, Isaiah wrote: "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped" (Isaiah 35:5; 29:18, 42:7).  The Church has taken the persistent prayer of Bartimaeus to heart.  The prayer “Kyrie eleison” ("Lord, have mercy"), appears frequently in the liturgy.  Bartimaeus’ prayer has also become the source of “the Jesus Prayer:”  “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.”  In its adapted form, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner," it has become a popular Christian prayer.  The Church advises us to repeat it frequently, in acknowledgement of our sinfulness and our need for God’s mercy.  Like Bartimaeus, we should recognize -- even in our blind moments -- the presence of Jesus.  We can trust in the power of Jesus to give us new visions and to strengthen us in our weakness.

Life messages: 1) Instead of remaining in spiritual blindness, let us pray for spiritual sight.  Each one of us suffers from spiritual blindness. Hence, we need the light of the Holy Spirit to enlighten us.  Anger, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, evil habits, etc., make us spiritually blind and prevent us from seeing the goodness in our neighbors and God’s presence in them. We are blind to a sense of justice when we refuse to pay our debts, or when we collect our wages though we have not done an honest day's work for that day's pay, or have cheated our employer by taking time or items that belong to the company.  We are blinded by greed when we are never satisfied with what we have and incur debts to buy luxury items.  Hence, let us pray to have a clear vision of Christian values and priorities in our lives and to acknowledge the presence of God dwelling in ourselves and in our neighbors. A clear spiritual vision enables us to see the goodness in others, to express our appreciation for all that they have been doing for us, and to refrain from criticizing their performance.

2) We need to "cry out" to Jesus, as Bartimaeus did.  Like Bartimaeus, we must seek Jesus with trust in his goodness and mercy.  Sometimes our fears, anger and habitual sins prevent us from approaching God in prayer.  At times, we even become angry with God when He seems slow in answering our prayers.  In these desperate moments, let us approach Jesus in prayer with trusting Faith as Bartimaeus did and listen carefully to the voice of Jesus asking us : "What do you want me to do for you?”  Let us tell Him all our heart’s intentions and needs.

3) We need to have the courage of our convictions.  We need people who, like Bartimaeus, will refuse to be silenced by the secular leaders of our society.  We must make our politicians realize that our country is rejecting Christian principles and facing a loss of values.  A good example of this is the heated controversy over the First Amendment to the Constitution in the U.S.   The First Amendment says: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."  This is a simple statement of the right of an individual to follow his own conscience in worship.  Unfortunately, it is often interpreted by activist judges to mean that the expression of all religious ideas is forbidden by the government.  This is a far cry from the intention of thefounding fathers.  James Madison (the primary author of the Constitution) said, "Religion [is] the basis and Foundation of Government….  We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves… according to the Ten Commandments of God."  Even Thomas Jefferson, who coined the phrase "separation of Church and State", wrote: "God gave us life and liberty.  Thus, the liberties of a nation cannot be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God, and that they are not to be violated but with His wrath.  Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever."

JOKE OF THE WEEK

#1: Two Polish men were taking their first train trip to Warsaw on the train.  A vendor came down the corridor selling bananas which they'd never seen before. Each bought a banana. The first man eagerly peeled the banana and bit into it just as the train went into a dark tunnel.  When the train emerged from the tunnel, he looked across to his friend and said, "I wouldn't eat that if I were you." "Why not?” asked his friend. “Because, it makes you temporarily blind.”

#2: A motorist with poor eyesight was driving through a dense fog and was trying desperately to stay within range of the taillights of the car ahead of him.  As he squinted and worried his way along, trying to stay on course with those taillights, the car in front suddenly stopped, and his car hit the car in the front.  The driver of the rear car got out and demanded to know why the other driver came to such an abrupt stop.  "I had to," he replied, "I'm in my own garage!"

OT XXX – B (2)
OT XXX – B (2)
The central theme of today’s readings is the overflowing mercy and kindness of a loving, healing and forgiving God for His children. (Add an anecdote) Scripture lessons summarized: The first reading tells us how a forgiving and compassionate God has been healing the spiritual blindness of His Chosen People by subjecting them to captivity in Babylon and liberating them and bringing them back to their homeland. The Jerusalem journey of Jesus in the company of the lame and the blind connects the first reading to today’s gospel. The healing of the blind Bartimaeus in today’s Gospel is also seen as the fulfillment of the joyful prophecy of Jeremiah about the return of the exiled Jews from Babylon to their homeland.  Today’s second reading, taken from Hebrews 5, presents Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for sins and as the true High Priest of the New Testament. It also gives us the assurance that our High Priest, Jesus, is sympathetic to us because he has shared our human nature.  Today’s Gospel explains how Jesus shows the mercy and compassion of his Heavenly Father by healing the blind Bartimaeus. Just as the blind and the lame were God’s concern in the first reading, Jesus is concerned with the blind beggar, Bartimaeus of Jericho.  On hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, Bartimaeus loudly expressed his trusting faith in the healing power of Jesus by shouting his request, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." When Jesus invited him to come near, Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak (symbolizing perhaps the baptismal divesting). His   meeting with Jesus gave Bartimaeus the gift of spiritual as well as physical sight, and he became a disciple of Jesus. Life messages: 1) Instead of remaining in spiritual blindness, let us pray for spiritual sight.  Each one of us suffers from spiritual blindness. Hence, we need the light of the Holy Spirit to enlighten us, granting us proper spiritual vision.  Let us learn to recognize the causes of our spiritual blindness. Anger, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, evil habits, addictions etc. make us spiritually blind, and they prevent us from seeing the goodness in our family members, neighbors and God’s presence in them. Hence let us learn to think about and see the goodness in others without becoming unkind, critical and   judgmental.  We are blinded by greed when we are never satisfied with what we have and incur debts to buy luxury items.  Hence, let us pray to have a clear vision of Christian values and priorities in our lives and to acknowledge the presence of God dwelling in ourselves and in our neighbors. A clear spiritual vision enables us to see the goodness in others, to express our appreciation for all that they have been doing for us, and to refrain from criticizing their performance. 2) We need to "cry out" to Jesus, as Bartimaeus did.  Like Bartimaeus, we must seek Jesus with trusting faith in his goodness and mercy.  Sometimes our fears, anger and habitual sins prevent us from approaching God in prayer.  At times, we even become angry with God when He seems slow in answering our prayers.  In these desperate moments, let us approach Jesus in prayer with trusting faith, as Bartimaeus did, and listen carefully to the voice of Jesus asking us: "What do you want me to do for you?”  Let us tell Him all our heart’s intentions and needs. OT XXX [B] (Oct 28, 2018) Jer 31:7-9; Heb 5: 1-6; Mk10:46-52 Homily starter anecdotes: # 1: Blindfolded in the den of lion: In the seven years that he was held hostage in Lebanon, Terry A. Anderson, Chief Middle East Correspondent of the Associated Press was physically and psychologically abused, beaten and tortured by his captors. Chained to a bed or to the wall and stripped to his underwear, Anderson was kept blindfolded so as not to be able to recognize his whereabouts or subsequently reveal the identities of his guards. Deprived of physical sight and freedom, Anderson spent those seven years engaged in a spiritual odyssey marked by an ever-deepening insight. Blindfolded in darkness, he discovered the inner light of grace that enabled him to look once again in faith at God, to see himself in stark truthfulness and humility and even to look upon his captors with a sense of understanding. His probing spiritual perception led Anderson to seek reconciliation with and healing forgiveness from God. Through the ministry of Father Lawrence Jenco, a fellow hostage, Anderson rediscovered his faith. The following is Anderson’s prayer on that occasion: Where is faith found? Not in a book or in a church, not often or for everyone. In childish times, it’s easier; a child believes just what it’s told. But children grow and soon begin to see too much that doesn’t match the simple tales, and not enough of what’s behind their parents’ words. There is no God, the cynics say; we made Him up out of our need and fear of death. And happily, they offer up their test-tube proofs. A mystery, the priests all say, and point to saints that prove their faith in acts of love and sacrifice. But what of us who are not saints, only common human sinners? And what of those who in their need and pain cry out to God and go on suffering? I do not know -- I wish I did. Sometimes I feel all the world’s pain. I only say that once in my own need I felt a light and warm and loving touch that eased my soul and banished doubt and let me go on to the end. It is not proof -- there can be none. Faith’s what you find when you’re alone and find you’re not (Den of Lion, Memoirs of Seven Years, Crown Publishers, Inc., New York: 1993). In today’s gospel, another man, deprived of physical sight invites the gathered assembly in this church to share in his spiritual odyssey. We are often held hostage by our pride, fear, or self-seeking or by the “blindfold” of indifference to the needs of others. With Bartimaeus, let us pray for both freedom from spiritual blindness and growth in faith, saying, “Lord, I want to see.” (Sanchez Archives). # 2: An ancient eye test for spiritual blindness: Fr. De Mello tells a story which can help us to check our spiritual blindness.  A hermit asked his disciples: “When do you say that the night is ended, and it is morning?"  The first disciple said: “I say that it is morning when I can distinguish an oak tree from a maple tree.” The hermit said: “No."  The second disciple answered: “I know it is morning when I can distinguish a cow from a sheep at a distance.”   Once again, the hermit disagreed.   The third disciple replied, “It is morning when no star is visible in the cloudless sky.” “That is also a wrong answer,” said the hermit.  Then he explained:” I know it is morning when I can recognize a person as a son or daughter of God, and, hence, my own brother or sister.” # 3: Two famous prayers for spiritual vision: Cardinal Newman prays for clear vision in his famous poem, “Lead Kindly Light”: Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom; lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on! Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene; one step enough for me.  “Amazing Grace,” As the captain of a British slave ship, John Newton regained his faith during a storm at sea and became an ordained minister who was very active in the abolitionist movement. He explains how he gained his spiritual eyesight in his famous hymn, Amazing Grace. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. Today’s Gospel, which tells of the healing of the blind man, Bartimaeus, challenges us to strengthen our faith in Jesus, the healer, and invites us to gain true spiritual vision. 22 Additional anecdotes are uploaded in my website http://frtonyshomilies.com/ Introduction: The central theme of today’s readings is the overflowing mercy and kindness of a loving and forgiving God for His people. The first reading tells us how a forgiving and compassionate God healed the spiritual blindness of His Chosen People by subjecting them to captivity in Babylon and then liberated them, bringing them back to their homeland. The Jerusalem journey of Jesus in the company of the lame and the blind is the connection between the first reading and today’s gospel.  The healing of the blind Bartimaeus in today’s Gospel is seen also as the fulfillment of the joyful prophecy of Jeremiah about the return of the exiled Jews from Babylon to their homeland.  Today’s second reading, taken from the letter to the Hebrews, presents Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for sins and as the great High Priest. It identifies Jesus as the true High Priest of the New Testament. It also gives us the assurance that, as the High Priest, Jesus is sympathetic to us because He has shared our human nature.  Today’s Gospel explains how Jesus showed the mercy and compassion of his Heavenly Father by healing Bartimaeus, a blind man. Just as the blind and the lame were God’s concern in the first reading, Jesus was concerned with the blind beggar, Bartimaeus of Jericho.  On hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, Bartimaeus loudly expressed his trusting faith in the healing power of Jesus by shouting, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." As Jesus invited him to come near, Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak (symbolizing perhaps the baptismal divesting). His   meeting with Jesus gave Bartimaeus the gift of spiritual as well as physical sight, and he became a disciple of Jesus. First reading: Jer 31: 7-9, explained: This passage is part of the second of a series of four poems celebrating the return from the Babylonian Exile. Like a similar hymn of the return in Isiah 35 this hymn stresses the presence of the weak, the blind and the lame, nursing and pregnant mothers among those returning from exile. (Fr. R. Fuller).  It tells us of the small number of people, "the remnant of Israel," who had survived the Assyrian captivity begun in 721 B.C.  Jeremiah encourages his exiled fellow Jews with a promise of a homecoming reminding of the joy and triumph of the first coming home of their ancestors from Egypt’s slavery to the promised land.  Jeremiah describes the coming return of the Babylonian captives as they will be led on their joyful journey home to Jerusalem. The passage foretells God’s promise to give His people life in all its fullness. Through their exile and suffering, the people had learned to humble themselves and turn to God with sincere repentance.  The returnees would include not only the healthy, but the blind, the lame, and the vulnerable.  Originally spiritually blind, the exiled Jews, through suffering, would receive spiritual sight, and they would express their gratitude to God by singing His glories on their way back to their city.  Jesus' journey to Jerusalem in the company of the lame and the blind connects this first reading with today’s gospel. “By extending a word of healing and salvation (“your faith has healed, i.e. saved you”, Mark 10:52) to the poor, sick and needy, Jesus realized Jeremiah’s vision. Moreover, what the prophet had promised, regarding the return of the exiles to Judah, would be eclipsed by the ultimate return of all peoples to God, a homecoming Jesus would accomplish through the saving, healing power of his cross.” (Sanchez archives). The Gospel highlights the actions of Bartimaeus which called healing from the heart of Jesus and prompted the now-seeing beggar to follow Jesus as a witnessing disciple.  The first reading, on the other hand, directs our attention to God's merciful actions: "delivering his people . . . bringing them back . . . gathering them . . . consoling them… guiding them . . . leading them." The Responsorial Psalm: 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 chosen today is  the most  appropriate psalm to go with Jeremiah 31:7-9, because  like that hymn  it also celebrates the return from Babylon, and indeed the contrast between sorrow and joy is the theme of both passages. The second reading (Hebrews 5: 1), explained: The reading describes Jesus as the High Priest of the new Covenant and explains Jesus’ qualifications for high priesthood.  It likens him to the class of ancient priests, (sympathetic and patient, not glorifying himself), then distinguishes Jesus from the others (because the Father called Jesus his Son).  The people addressed in this letter had been put out of the synagogues when they accepted Jesus. Some were even abandoning Christ to return to Judaism. Hence the writer of Hebrews tries to comfort them by depicting Jesus as a superior replacement for the priests upon whom they had formerly depended because Jesus was appointed by God to that ministry to serve the people as intermediary between God and man and as man-God he had empathy for and profound patience with “erring sinners.” The Jewish High Priest was a sinner like others, and his role was to offer sacrifices to God, for himself and for the people as their representative. But Jesus was sinless; he offered himself as a sacrifice for all sin, and he continues to act as our mediator at “the throne of grace.” Further, Jesus, the Son of God, was appointed directly by God to an even better priesthood (“the order of Melchizedek” Ps 110:4). In his role, person and appointment, Jesus surpassed every High Priest in ancient Israel. Hence through Jesus, the true High Priest, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence and boldness, and we can expect mercy and favor from God.  It also gives us the assurance that our High Priest, Jesus, is sympathetic to us because he has shared our human nature. Gospel exegesis:   The context: Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem through Jericho, an ancient city fifteen miles away from Jerusalem.  Jericho was the first city conquered by the Israelites when they entered Palestine. It was a city of great wealth and remarkable beauty, supporting many date palm plantations and fig trees.  Great numbers of merchants and Jewish priests made their homes in this pleasant city. The Mosaic Law required every Jewish male over the age of twelve and living within fifteen miles of Jerusalem to attend the Passover.  Those who, for one reason or another, were exempt from this obligation would often line the roads to Jerusalem to greet the crowds of pilgrims as they passed toward the city.  The Jewish rabbis on pilgrimage often taught religious lessons to the pilgrims on their journey.  Beggars also capitalized on the increased traffic through the city to beg for money.  One such beggar was the blind man known as Bartimaeus. James & John versus Bartimaeus:  It is not by coincidence that this Gospel of blind Bartimaeus follows immediately upon last Sunday’s text about James and John’s ambitious request for positions of primacy in Jesus’ coming Kingdom. It is probable that Mark intends to the two stories to be seen in contrast: James and John, although possessing physical sight, evidently do not “see” Jesus for who He is, do not understand Him and His message properly yet, and are still too filled with pride and a desire for power. Bartimaeus, on the other hand, although physically blind, evidently “sees” Jesus much better than some of His own disciples; he recognizes Jesus as the promised Davidic Messiah, but, instead of asking for power and glory, seeks only the healing and mercy that many Jews believed the Messiah to be bringing. (Rev. Dr. Watson, Jerusalem). Were there two blind men, or one? Did this healing occur once or twice? St. Augustine is convinced that Mark and Luke are recounting two similar but not identical stories, involving two different men (de Con. Evan., ii, 65). Luke says that the healing happened as Jesus was arriving in Jericho, whereas Mark says that it occurred as Jesus was leaving Jericho. The fact that in Jesus’ time there were actually two Jerichos may be reflected in the differences in the accounts of healing two blind men (Matt 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43). Jesus healed the blind men after He left the old Jericho and as He was approaching Herodian Jericho. Jesus spots a particular blind man in the crowd: The story of Bartimaeus is the last healing miracle recorded in the Gospel of Mark.  (The name Bartimaeus in Aramaic meant ‘son of Timaeus,’ just as Peter was known as Simon bar-Yona, ‘son of Jonah’) The story is presented dramatically.  While the majority of those who received healing in the New Testament are not mentioned by name, in this case, the beggar’s name is given as Bartimaeus. When the people told Bartimaeus the news of Jesus’ passage through the city, he screamed out for Jesus’ attention as one abandoned by both God and man who could scarcely dare to dream of something better.   He began to shout his remarkable prayer of Faith: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."  (Perhaps there was a popular belief that any member of David’s family had inherited at least some of their illustrious ancestor’s powers? We should also recall that, especially under Roman occupation, the title “Son of David,” with both its royal and messianic associations, would have had strongly political overtones, and was potentially subversive. Dr. Watson). Jesus heard one voice crying out through the noise of the crowd.  Who would have expected a Messianic greeting from a blind beggar?  In spite of the crowd's objections, Jesus stopped and, recognizing Bartimaeus’ Faith, called the blind man over. In the Law of Moses, the blind are among those who are to be accorded protection in the name of God. Leviticus admonishes the Israelites not to “curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind.” In Deuteronomy those who lead the blind astray along the road are placed under the same curse as those who withhold justice from the alien, the orphan or the widowed. Psalm 146 proclaims that God gives sight to the blind, lifts up those who are bowed down and loves the righteous.    Bartimaeus’ response of trusting Faith: The people conveyed Jesus' invitation to Bartimaeus, who responded by jumping up and running to Jesus.  By addressing Jesus as Son of David, the beggar publicly identified Jesus as the Messiah.  At Jesus’ summons, Bartimaeus threw aside his long cloak, his only possession, which protected him from heat and cold.  In throwing away his cloak, he gave up everything he had depended on, putting his complete trust in God. Discarding his cloak represented a radical break with his previous life (symbolized by his cloak), in the same way that Peter, James and John left their fishing boats and nets behind them when “called” by Jesus?  The energy and the passion with which Bartimaeus responded to Jesus’ summons should characterize all those who seek to respond to Jesus’ call.  Jesus then asked, “What do you want me to do for you?"  Bartimaeus replied promptly: “Master, I want to see.”  Jesus rewarded his faith by restoring both his physical and his spiritual sight. “All four of the evangelists use sight as a symbol for Christian faith. Believing is the deepest kind of “seeing.” The early Church called baptism enlightenment.” (Fr. Dennis Hamm S. J.).  Having received physical and spiritual sight, Bartimaeus followed Jesus joyfully along the road. This blind man follows Jesus in the “Way,” a technical term for Christian discipleship.   The gift of sight led Bartimaeus to faith, and faith came to full expression in committed discipleship. He wanted to stay close to his Savior, to thank, praise, and serve Him.  Thus, today’s Gospel presents Bartimaeus as the model for us, in his prayer and in his wholehearted commitment to a discipleship that included, and still includes, rejection by those who refuse to believe. Bartimaeus is presented to contemporary believers as a guide in the Christian way because he was a man of faith and vision, a man unafraid to recognize his need for healing and to cry out, “I want to see!”, the man from Jericho invites us also to follow him up the road. Let us remember the old Persian proverb, “A blind man who sees is better than a seeing man who is blind.” Lessons of Christian discipleship: The section of Mark's Gospel that deals with discipleship (8:22-10:52), begins with the healing of a blind man (8:22-26), and concludes with the story of another blind man, Bartimaeus.  In between these two stories are three episodes in which the disciples are presented as blind to the meaning of Jesus' mission and of their own discipleship.  Their spiritual "blindness" is evident in their persistent misunderstanding.  The gradual coming to sight of the first blind man (8:22-26), stands in contrast to the story of Bartimaeus, who regains his vision at once and becomes a follower of Jesus.  The healing of the blind Bartimaeus contains four main elements of Christian discipleship: a) the correct recognition of Jesus as Lord and Savior ("Jesus, Son of David"); b) the acknowledgement of the need for Jesus’ help ("Have pity on me"; "I want to see"); c) ready response to Jesus' call ("He . . . came to Jesus"); and d) becoming Jesus’ disciple (" … followed him on the way"). “The Church has always taught that the life-changing grace of Christ is made available through the sacraments irrespective of the holiness of the minister or the congregation. In the Eucharist, the sacrament of sacraments, it is not just God’s grace but Christ’s bodily presence which is made available. That means that every Sunday we have the same opportunity as Bartimaeus. Then, why do so many of us go to Mass again and again and walk out the door much the same as we went in? Why so little healing, so little growth in holiness? Maybe because we lack the outrageously bold faith of Bartimaeus. The gifts and charisms of the Holy Spirit, forgiveness, healing, purification, guidance, all are there for the taking. Hence, in   the spirit of Bartimaeus, let’s determine to stop going home empty-handed.”  (Dr. Watson). The Messianic implications: The healing of Bartimaeus has Messianic implications.  Jesus commended Bartimaeus because he had correctly understood that Jesus was the Son of David and the expected Messiah.  Referring to the coming of the Messiah, Isaiah wrote: "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped" (Isaiah 35:5; 29:18, 42:7).  The Church has taken the persistent prayer of Bartimaeus to heart.  The prayer “Kyrie eleison” ("Lord, have mercy"), appears frequently in the liturgy.  Bartimaeus’ prayer has also become the source of “the Jesus Prayer:” “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.”  In its adapted form, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner," it has become a popular Christian prayer.  The Church advises us to repeat it frequently, in acknowledgement of our sinfulness and our need for God’s mercy.  Like Bartimaeus, we should recognize -- even in our blind moments -- the presence of Jesus.  We can trust in the power of Jesus to give us new visions and to strengthen us in our weakness. Life messages: 1) Instead of remaining in spiritual blindness, let us pray for spiritual sight.  Each one of us suffers from spiritual blindness. Hence, we need the light of the Holy Spirit to enlighten us.  Anger, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, evil habits, etc., make us spiritually blind and prevent us from seeing the goodness in our neighbors and God’s presence in them. We are blind to a sense of justice when we refuse to pay our debts, or when we collect our wages though we have not done an honest day's work for that day's pay or have cheated our employer by taking time or items that belong to the company.  We are blinded by greed when we are never satisfied with what we have and incur debts to buy luxury items.  Hence, let us pray to have a clear vision of Christian values and priorities in our lives and to acknowledge the presence of God dwelling in ourselves and in our neighbors. A clear spiritual vision enables us to see the goodness in others, to express our appreciation for all that they have been doing for us, and to refrain from criticizing their performance. 2) We need to "cry out" to Jesus, as Bartimaeus did.  Like Bartimaeus, we must seek Jesus with trust in his goodness and mercy.  Sometimes our fears, anger and habitual sins prevent us from approaching God in prayer.  At times, we even become angry with God when He seems slow in answering our prayers.  In these desperate moments, let us approach Jesus in prayer with trusting Faith as Bartimaeus did and listen carefully to the voice of Jesus asking us: "What do you want me to do for you?”  Let us tell Him all our heart’s intentions and needs.   Let us imitate Bartimaeus, the   man of faith and vision, a man unafraid to recognize his need for healing and to cry out, “I want to see!” 3) We need to have the courage of our convictions.  We need people who, like Bartimaeus, will refuse to be silenced by the secular leaders of our society.  We must make our politicians realize that our country is rejecting Christian principles and facing a loss of values.  A good example of this is the heated controversy over the First Amendment to the Constitution in the U.S.   The First Amendment says: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."  This is a simple statement of the right of an individual to follow his own conscience in worship.  Unfortunately, it is often interpreted by activist judges to mean that the expression of all religious ideas is forbidden by the government.  This is a far cry from the intention of the founding fathers.  James Madison (the primary author of the Constitution) said, "Religion [is] the basis and Foundation of Government….  We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves… according to the Ten Commandments of God."  Even Thomas Jefferson, who coined the phrase "separation of Church and State", wrote: "God gave us life and liberty.  Thus, the liberties of a nation cannot be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God, and that they are not to be violated but with His wrath.  Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever." JOKE OF THE WEEK #1: Two Polish men were taking their first train trip to Warsaw on the train.  A vendor came down the corridor selling bananas which they'd never seen before. Each bought a banana. The first man eagerly peeled the banana and bit into it just as the train went into a dark tunnel.  When the train emerged from the tunnel, he looked across to his friend and said, "I wouldn't eat that if I were you." "Why not?” asked his friend. “Because, it makes you temporarily blind.” #2: A motorist with poor eyesight was driving through a dense fog and was trying desperately to stay within range of the taillights of the car ahead of him.  As he squinted and worried his way along, trying to stay on course with those taillights, the car in front suddenly stopped, and his car hit the car in the front.  The driver of the rear car got out and demanded to know why the other driver came to such an abrupt stop.  "I had to," he replied, "I'm in my own garage!" WEBSITE OF THE WEEK #1: The Catholic Search Engine & World Wide Catholic Web Directory: http://catholic.org/newsearch/index. # 2: Catholic Educator’s Resource center: http://www.catholiceducation.org/ # 3: Faith First: http://www.faithfirst.com/ # 4: Catholic Blogs: http://www.catholicblogs.com/sitemap.html   “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle B (No 57) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com (L/18) Visit my website: http://frtonyshomilies.com/for previous Cycle B homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 196 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html for the Vatican version of this homily. Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604.
OT XXXI – B (1)
OT XXXI – B (1)
One-page summary: OT XXXI [B] Sunday Homily (Mark 12:28-34) The central theme: The central message of today’s readings is the most fundamental principle of all religions, especially Christianity. God Himself tells us that we are created to love God in loving others and to love others in loving God. In other words, we are to love God living in others. Our prayers, Bible reading, Sacraments, sacrifices and all other religious practices are meant to help us grow in this relationship of love which He initiates with us and we, by His grace, accept. Scripture lessons summarized: The first reading presents Moses explaining the Law to the Israelites after his return from Mount Sinai. He tries to make the people reverence and obey the Law as something that will bring them dignity and purpose, stature and distinction and a unique place in history. He reminds us to love God by keeping His commandments. He also describes the blessings reserved for those who obey the commandments. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 18) reminds us that God alone in our strength and our stronghold and that He lives! The second reading tells us how Jesus, the eternal and holy high priest, offered himself as a sacrifice on the cross to demonstrate God’s love for us. Paul affirms that Jesus, the new High Priest, is superior to the old High Priests for three reasons: a) He doesn't die and so doesn't need to be replaced generation after generation. b) He is sinless, so he need not offer sacrifices for his own sins. c) The Jewish priests were appointed according to the Law, but Jesus is appointed by the word of God. In today’s Gospel a Scribe asks Jesus to summarize the most important of the Mosaic Laws in one sentence. Jesus cites the first sentence of the Jewish Shema prayer: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Then He adds its complementary law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). Thus, Jesus says that true religion is loving God and loving our fellow human beings at the same time, which means the only way a person can demonstrate real love of God is by showing genuine, active love for his neighbor. Life Messages: #1: How do we love God? We must keep God's commandments, and offer daily prayers of thanksgiving, praise and petition. We must also read and meditate on His word in the Bible and prayerfully attend Mass and other liturgical functions. If I am going to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, then I am going to have to place His will ahead of mine, and so I may have to say no to some things that I might want to do. I am also going to have to seek the Lord's will and make it paramount in my life. #2: Loving our neighbor: This means that we have to help, support, encourage, forgive, and pray for everyone, without discrimination based on color, race, gender, age wealth or social status. If I am going to love my neighbor as I love myself, it will cost me as well! I may have to seek forgiveness when I think I have done no wrong. I may have to sacrifice something I think I need to meet a brother's need. I may have to give up time to help someone. I may have to spend time in prayer for people, go to them, and reach out to them in the name of the    Lord. OT 31 [B] : Dt 6:2-6; Heb 7:23-28; Mk 12: 28b-34 Anecdotes: #1: The Shema’s challenge to become “Iron Man” & “Iron Woman:” Mark Allen, a six-time "Ironman" winner and holder of the title "The World's Fittest Man," is married to a retired “Iron woman” triathlete,  Julie Moss.   Ironman/Ironwoman competitions include a grueling triathlon of swimming, bicycling, and running, designed to push the capabilities of the human body to their limits. To compete as an Ironman/Ironwoman, one must be in superb, all-round, peak physical condition. Mark Allen has devised a 16-week program designed to get a person into a state of "ultimate fitness." Allen also claims that if one follows this complete training regimen for as little as five hours a week, he/she can be transformed from chump into champ. Perhaps more startling is Allen's description of his training regimen as a kind of "meditation" for the entire body. The training regimen includes four components: "heart training" for endurance; "mind training" for attitude; "nutritional training" for internal (what we might call "soul") fitness; and "strength training" for muscle mass. Thus, Allen has physicalized the Shema mandate given in today’s Gospel, (Mark 12:29-30), into a program for shaping and transforming a human being in his/her entirety. When, in the Shema, the Lord God commands, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength," and "you shall love your neighbor as yourself," He reminds Israel and us that a big part of human existence is sheerly physical. It takes a certain amount of brute strength just to get through each and every day. To deny God’s presence and love in the physical world would be to remove godliness from our existence. As Christian men and women, we have our own Iron Person to look to as a perfect example of "fitness." Jesus Christ completely embodied the mandates of the Shema – loving His Father, God, with all His heart, mind, soul and strength, then reflecting God's love for Him in loving all He met, His neighbors, the same way. May Jesus coach us as we train in godliness, loving God and neighbor with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. #2: SoSA practicing the two great commandments of God:  SoSA was given the first Hero of Food Recovery and Gleaning Award by the US Department of Agriculture.The Society of St. Andrew (SoSA) is a grassroots, Faith-based, hunger-relief nonprofit working with all denominations to bridge the hunger gap between 96 billion pounds of food wasted every year in the United States and the nearly 40 million Americans who live in poverty. SoSA relies on support from donors, volunteers and farmers as they glean nutritious excess produce from farmers' fields and orchards after harvest and deliver it to people in need across the United States. Gleaning is the Biblical practice of hand-gathering crops left in the fields after harvest. Each year, tens of thousands of volunteers come together across the country to glean food left in farmers' fields and orchards so that it does not go to waste but instead goes to the tables of those in need. Since it began in 1979, the Society has collected more than 200-million pounds of fresh produce - perfectly nutritious food that might have some cosmetic deformity, making it unsaleable - and delivered it to soup kitchens, food banks, Salvation Army Centers, homeless shelters, and the like. 200-million pounds that otherwise would have rotted! Ken Horne, a United Methodist minister who is a co-founder of the group accepted the award and noted, "There is enough surplus food in this country to feed every hungry person...No one should ever have to go hungry." Amen! Can you imagine that God does not mind if people go hungry, that God does not care that every day some 40,000 children around the globe die of malnutrition-related causes? Hardly. Then we who say we love God will demonstrate it in love for our hungry neighbor. All it takes is the commitment of God's people, time-wise and money-wise, and the problem will be solved. No holding back. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_St._Andrew) (14-Additional anecdotes are uploaded in my website: frtonyshomilies.com)     Introduction: The central message of today’s readings is the most fundamental principle of all religions, especially Christianity. We are to love God in loving others and to love others in loving God. The prayers, Sacraments, sacrifices and all other religious practices are meant to help us grow in this relationship of love. The first reading reminds us to love God by keeping His commandments. It also describes the blessings reserved for those who obey the commandments. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 18) reminds us that God alone in our strength and our stronghold, and that He lives! The second reading tells us how Jesus, the eternal and holy High Priest, offered Himself as a sacrifice on the cross to demonstrate God’s love for us. Today’s Gospel teaches us how we should return this love by loving others. First reading, Deuteronomy 6:2-6, explained: Today's Gospel, (Mark 12:28b-34), is the climax of a series of questions on controversial issues asked by the Scribes and the Pharisees in order to trap Jesus and to eliminate him from their midst. The last question they ask is about the Law, historically Israel's most sacred institution, the foundation of every other institution. Hence, in the first reading, Moses is presented as explaining the Law to the Israelites after his return from Mount Sinai. He tries to make the people reverence and obey the Law as something that will bring them dignity and purpose, stature and distinction and a unique place in history. He promises them temporal rewards (“that your days may be prolonged, that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey”), if they remain loyal to Yahweh. They have to prove their loyalty to God by observing His commandments. Second Reading, Hebrews 7:23-28,explained: Some Jewish converts to Christianity missed the comforting institutions they had enjoyed in Judaism. The author of Hebrews tries to explain to them how much greater the benefits are they receive as Christians. Today's passage compares the older religion and priesthood to Jesus and his sacrifice. Paul affirms that Jesus, the new High Priest, is superior to the old High Priests for three reasons: a) He doesn't die and so doesn't need to be replaced generation after generation. b) He is sinless, so he need not offer sacrifices for his own sins. c) The Jewish priests were appointed according to the Law, but Jesus is appointed by the word of God. Gospel exegesis: The context: A scribe, who believed in both the written Law and the oral tradition, was pleased to see how Jesus defeated the Sadducees who had tried to humiliate Him with the hypothetical case of a woman who had married seven husbands. Who, they had asked Jesus, would be her husband in the world to come? To the scribes, the Mosaic Law was the greatest, fullest and most perfect revelation of God’s will that could ever be given. However, in the Judaism of Jesus’ day there was a double tendency: to expand the Mosaic Law into hundreds of rules and regulations and to condense the 613 precepts of the Torah into a single sentence. David condensed them into 11 statements (Ps 15), Isaiah reduced them to six (Is 33:15) and later to two (Is 56:1), Micah condensed them into three (Mi 6:8), and Habakkuk reduced them all to one: “the righteous shall live by his Faith” (Hb 2:4). The famous Jewish rabbis and even some of the Fathers of the Church like St. Augustine also tried to condense these precepts. So it was natural for a scribe to ask Jesus to summarize the most important of the Mosaic Laws in one sentence. Jesus’ novel contribution: Jesus gave a straightforward answer, quoting directly from the Law itself and starling them with his profound simplicity and mastery of the law of God and its purpose. He cited the first sentence of the Jewish Shema prayer: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Then He added its complementary law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself"(Leviticus 19:18). Jesus' contribution combined the originally separate commandments and presented them as the essence of true religion. True religion, Jesus says, is loving God and loving our fellow human beings at the same time, which means the only way a person can demonstrate real love for God is by showing genuine, active love for neighbor. The “great commandment in the Law” is really threefold: We are commanded (1) to love God, (2) to love our neighbor, and (3) to love ourselves. We are to love God, for it is in loving Him that we are brought to the perfection of His image in us. We are to love our neighbor and ourselves as well, because both of us bear God’s image, and to honor God’s image is to honor Him who made it. We are to love our neighbor and our self as a way to love God: God gives us our neighbors to love so that we may learn to love Him. The scribe was so impressed by Jesus’ grasp of the Law that he remarked: "Well said, teacher! You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than He.' And 'to love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." The comment by the scribe that the love of God and neighbor is "worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices," carries special weight because he had probably come to the Temple to make his sacrifice, the usual way for the faithful of Israel to express worship and religious commitment.   Love your neighbor as you love yourself: The command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves is a very demanding one. It was very hard for the Jews of Jesus’ time because only a fellow-Jew, obeying the Mosaic Law, was considered their neighbor. That is why, immediately after defining this important commandment, Jesus tells them the parable of the Good Samaritan, as reported in Luke’s Gospel. He wanted to teach His listeners that everyone in need is their neighbor. Love for our neighbor is a matter of deeds, not feelings. It means sharing with others the unmerited love that God lavishes on us. This is the love for neighbor that God commands in His law. Often preachers preach on loving self and cultivating self-esteem and self-respect as prerequisites to loving neighbor. But Jesus does not advocate self-love; he simply acknowledges our natural tendency to be on the lookout to be Number One, then asks us to extend that same kind of love to others. But when we come to put the greatest commandment into practice, we find that there is a flaw – and that flaw is not in the commandment, but in us. We quickly find that we cannot love God or our neighbor as we ought to. The solution lies in the “new commandment” that Jesus will give to his disciples as he enters into his Passion: “Love one another as I have loved you.” No longer is our self-love to be the measure of our love of neighbor: The standard is no longer to be subjective, but objective.  When we look at the extent of Jesus’ love, at the way He demonstrates His infinite charity, we see the true  standard. Be reconciled with neighbor as well as with God: We are asked to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all the strength, vitality, and human intelligence. Since God is present in all others, any sin against another person becomes a sin against God. Hence, it is not sufficient to be reconciled with God by repentance. We have to obtain forgiveness from, and reconciliation with, the person we have hurt. "If anyone says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen (I John 4: 20. "There is no other commandment greater than these." This is because all the other commandments are explanations of these two. The Ten Commandments are based on the principle of reverence for God and respect for others. Hence, the first three Commandments instruct us to reverence God, His Holy Name and His Holy Day, and the remaining Commandments ask us to respect our parents and to respect the life, honor, property, and good name of others. Life Messages: #1: How do we love God? There are several means by which we can express our love for God and gratitude to Him for His blessings, acknowledging our total dependence on Him. We must keep God's commandments, and offer daily prayers of thanksgiving, praise, contrition. and petition. We must also read and meditate on His word in the Bible and prayerfully attend Mass and other liturgical functions. If I am going to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, then I am going to have to place His will ahead of mine. This means that I may have to say no to some things that I might want to do. It also means that I am going to have to seek the Lord's will and make it paramount in my life. Taken together, loving God means we open our hearts, give Him our will, develop our minds, direct our emotions, use our bodies and deploy our resources in ways that reveal our love for Him in active, loving service of everyone we encounter   #2: Loving our neighbor: Since every human being is the child of God and the dwelling place of the Spirit of God, we are actually giving expression to our love of God by loving our neighbor as Jesus loves him and us.  This means we have to help, support, encourage, forgive, and pray for everyone without discrimination based on color, race, gender, age wealth or social status. If I am going to love my neighbor as I love myself, it will cost me as well! I may have to seek forgiveness when I think I have done no wrong. I may have to sacrifice something I think I need to meet a brother's need. I may have to give up time to help someone. I may have to spend time in prayer for people, go to them, and reach out to them in the name of the   Lord. #3: Questions we should ask ourselves on a daily basis: Is my love for God all that it should be? Do I pray to Him as I should? Am I in His Word as I should be? Are there people or things that have crept in and taken over first place in my life? Is Jesus somewhere down the line after some person, some thing, or even myself? What about my love for others? Is it all it could be? How loving am I to the members of my family, to my neighbors, to the members of my parish community? The answer to all these questions will help us to measure the degree of our love of God. JOKES OF THE WEEK #1: The child’s commandments:  A Sunday school teacher was talking to a class of five- and six-year-olds about the Ten Commandments. "Can you give me a Commandment with only four words?" she asked. "I know," said a little girl: "Keep off the grass." The discussion turned to family love and the teacher brought in the Commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother." Then she asked, "What about a Commandment that tells us how to treat our brothers and sisters?" A little boy who had five brothers and sisters was quick to answer: "I know," he said, "You shall not kill." When the class ended, two of the boys began to poke each other. The teacher intervened saying, "Didn't we just finish talking about the Golden Rule?" to which one of the little combatants replied, "Yes but he did it unto me first." #2: No God, no potatoes! A few years ago, on a routine visit to a Soviet collective farm, a Russian commissar demanded of one of the laborers in the fields: "How was the crop this  year?" "Oh, we had a fantastic harvest -- many, many potatoes. So many potatoes, in fact, that if you piled them up to the sky, they would reach the foot of God!" The commissar scolded, "There is no God, comrade." The laborer retorted, "There aren't any potatoes either." [Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, in Imprimis 20, (December 1991).] #3: Faith in the one and only God and trust in several stars: Canadian sociologist Reginald Bibby reports of Canadians, "Eighty-eight percent know their astrological signs, with half of the entire population reading their horoscopes at least once a month, outnumbering Bible readers by two to one." [Reported in Martin E. Marty, Context (1 November 1993).] Wouldn't it be great if 88% of the people were starting their day with the Word of God, not the alignment of the stars? #4: Love your neighbor as you love yourself: Three men were sailing together in the Pacific Ocean. Their vessel was wrecked and they found themselves on an island. They had plenty of food, but their existence was in every way different from what their lives had been in the past. The men were walking by the seashore one day after they had been there for some months and found an ancient lantern. One man picked it up. As he began to rub it and clean it, a genie popped out and said, "Well, since you have been good enough to release me, I will give each of you one wish." The first man said, "Oh, that's perfectly marvelous. I'm a cattleman from Wyoming and I wish I were back on my ranch." Poof! He was back on his ranch. The second man said, "Well, I'm a stockbroker from New York, and I wish that I were back in Manhattan." Poof! He was back in Manhattan with his papers, his telephones, his clients and his computers. The third fellow was somewhat more relaxed about life and actually had rather enjoyed life there on the island. He said, "Well, I am quite happy here. I just wish my two friends were back." Poof! Poof! (Everybody's idea of a "great time" isn't the same).                                     (Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604.)    
OT XXXII – B (1)
OT XXXII – B (1)

Introduction: Today’s readings invite us to live out a total commitment to God’s service with a humble and generous heart, free from pride and prejudice.

Scripture lessons: The first reading and the Gospel today present poor widows who sacrificially gave their whole lives and means of livelihood to God, symbolizing the supreme sacrifice Jesus would offer by giving His life for others.  In the reading from the First Book of Kings, a poor widow who had barely enough food for herself and her son welcomed the prophet Elijah as a man of God, shared her food with him and received her reward in the form of a continuing daily supply of food.  Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 146), is the first in the final group of Hallel psalms.  In it, God is praised for his loving-kindness toward the needy, including widows. In the Gospel, Jesus contrasted the external signs of honor sought by the scribes with the humble, sacrificial offering of a poor widow and declared that she had found true honor in God’s eyes.  The poor widows in both the first reading and the Gospel gave away all that they possessed for the glory of God.  The second reading tells us how Jesus, as the High Priest of the New Testament, surrendered His life to God His Father totally and unconditionally as a sacrificial offering for our sins – a sacrifice far beyond the sacrifices made by the poor widows.

Life   messages: # 1: We need to appreciate the widows of our parish: Even in seemingly prosperous societies, widows (and widowers), in addition to their deep grief, often suffer from economic loss, from the burden of rearing a family alone, and from a strange isolation from friends, which often sets in soon after protestations of support at the funeral of their spouses.  Let us learn to appreciate the widows and widowers of our parish community.  Their loneliness draws them closer to God and to stewardship in the parish.  They are often active participants in all the liturgical celebrations, offering prayers for their families and for their parish family.  Frequently, they are active in the parish organizations, as well as in visiting and serving the sick and the shut-ins.  Hence, let us appreciate them, support them, encourage them and pray for            them. #2: We need to accept Christ’s criteria of judging people: We often judge people by what they possess.  We give weight to their position in society, to their educational qualifications, or to their celebrity status.  But Jesus measures us in a totally different way – on the basis of our inner motives and the intentions hidden behind our actions.  He evaluates us on the basis of the sacrifices we make for others and on the degree of our surrender to His holy will.  The offering God wants from us is not our material possessions, but our hearts and lives.  What is hardest to give is ourselves in love and concern, because that gift costs us more than reaching for our purses. Let us, like the poor widow, find the courage to share the wealth and talents we hold. Let us  stop dribbling out our stores of love and selflessness and sacrifice and compassion and dare to pour out our whole heart, our whole being, our "whole life" into the love-starved coffers of this world.

  1. T. XXXII (B) (Nov 8) I Kgs 17: 10-16; Heb 9:24-28; Mk 12: 38-44 Anecdote: # 1: Blessed Mother Teresa’s mite: Consider David Porter's comment on Mother Teresa: "She was born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (AG-nes GOHN-jah BOY-yah-jee-oo), to Albanian parents in Yugoslavia. She went to India in 1929 as a member of the Loreto Order of nuns, after learning English in their Motherhouse in Dublin Ireland.  There she taught for many years and became principal of the school.  In 1946, she received her 'call within a call' to work with the poorest of the poor.  By 1948, she had received permission to leave the Loreto order and had trained in the nursing skills she would need to carry out her calling.  She prayed, "Oh God, if I cannot help these people in their poverty and their suffering, let me at least die with them, close to them, so that I can show them your love" [Mother Teresa: The Early Years, 67; cited by Caroline J. Simon, "The Media and Mother Teresa," Perspectives, 12 (March, 1997), 3.]  Simon notes: "From this simple beginning, the Missionaries of Charity have grown to include 4,500 Sisters and Brothers, 755 homes for the children, the sick, the destitute and the dying and 1,369 medical clinics that serve 120,000 worldwide."  Mother Teresa's mite has might, and it's the ever-growing might of love in action.

#2: A widow’s mite in the life of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. By birth and marriage, Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton was linked to the first families of New York and enjoyed the fruits of living in high society.  Reared a staunch Episcopalian by her mother and stepmother, she learned the value of prayer, Scripture reading and a nightly examination of conscience.  At 19, Elizabeth was the belle of New York.  She married a handsome, wealthy businessman, William Magee Seton.  They had five children before his business failed, and William died of tuberculosis.  At 30, Elizabeth found herself widowed and penniless, with five small children to support.  While in Italy with her dying husband, Elizabeth had witnessed the Catholic Church in action, through the lives, beliefs and behavior of family friends.  Three basic elements in Catholicism led her to become a Catholic in March, 1805: a belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Mother of God, and a conviction that the Catholic Church traced its origin and priesthood in a direct line back to the apostles and to Christ.  When Elizabeth returned to the U. S., many of her family and friends rejected her because she had become a Catholic. To support her children, she opened a school in Baltimore with the cooperation of some of her friends.  From the beginning, her group was organized along the lines of the religious community which would only be founded officially in 1809.  Mother Seton became one of the keystones of the American Catholic Church.  She founded the first American religious community for women, the Sisters of Charity.  She opened the first American parish school and established the first American Catholic orphanage. All this she did in the span of 46 years while rearing her five children.  She died on January 4, 1821, and was buried in Emmitsburg, Maryland.  In 1963, Mother Seton was beatified, the first American-born citizen to receive this honor.  She was canonized in 1975.  Elizabeth Ann Seton was a real widow who offered her mite to God without reservation as the poor widow in today’s gospel did (Adapted from St. Anthony’s Messenger).

# 3: Fanny Epps' mite has might of love:  Mrs. Epps likes the time she spends with children. So she enjoys her time as a volunteer at the Norge Elementary School in Williamsburg, Virginia. There, she works with students who have mental and physical disabilities. Her day begins long before she goes on duty at 7 a.m. She has to catch a bus to get to the school. When she gets there, she greets Drew who has difficulty walking. Another one of her favorites has Down syndrome. He sits beside her, smiling. She turns on the tape recorder and plays "Jingle Bell Rock," while her students sing and clap enthusiastically. It takes a lot of energy to work all morning, five days a week, with these children. Oh, did I mention that Mrs. Epps is 99 years old? Wasted time, twisted values? "I don't want to act dead while I'm still alive," she says. Fanny Epps' mite has might, and it's the might of love!

Introduction: Today’s readings invite us to live out a total commitment to God’s service with a humble and generous heart, free from pride and prejudice. The first reading and the Gospel today present poor widows who sacrificially gave their whole lives and means of livelihood to God, symbolizing the supreme sacrifice Jesus would offer by giving His life for others.  In the reading from the First Book of Kings, a poor widow who had barely enough food for herself and her son welcomed the prophet Elijah as a man of God, shared her food with him and received her reward in the form of a continuing daily supply of food.  Today’s Responsorial Psalm is the first in the final group of Hallel psalms.  In it, God is praised for his loving-kindness toward the needy, including widows.  In the Gospel, Jesus contrasted the external signs of honor sought by the scribes with the humble, sacrificial offering of a poor widow and declared that she had found true honor in God’s eyes.  The poor widows in both the first reading and the Gospel gave away all that they possessed for the glory of God.  The second reading tells us how Jesus, as the High Priest of the New Testament, surrendered His life to God His Father totally and unconditionally as a sacrificial offering for our sins – a sacrifice far beyond the sacrifices made by the poor widows.

First reading, : This particular passage is one in a collection of stories of miracles wrought by the prophet Elijah who challenged King Ahab and his cruel pagan Queen Jezebel over the issue of worship of the false god, Baal.  Complementing the story of the Widow’s Mite told in today’s Gospel, the first reading explains how another poor, pagan widow, a Syro-Phoenician living in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon, in the middle of a famine and with little left for herself, shared the last of her meager resources with the prophet Elijah. As a reward for her sacrificial generosity, she received God’s blessing for the remaining months of the famine  in the form of sufficient continuing daily provisions which ensured their survival.  Elijah, instructed by the Lord God and following the Near Eastern custom, had asked for hospitality in the form of food and accommodation.  The widow was not unwilling, but told the prophet that she had enough for only one meal for her son and herself.  Nevertheless, Elijah asked her to demonstrate her trust in his God's provision by first giving food to Elijah himself, as the man of God.  She did as he asked, and we know what happened.  Her jar of meal and the jug of oil did not empty until the drought had ended.  This story of the widow's provisions, like the following story of Elijah's raising of her son when he had died, also emphasizes the power of God's word in the prophet's mouth. Second Reading, : The letter to the Hebrews was written for Jewish converts to Christ, in part to help them cope with the loss of the comforts they had enjoyed from the institutions of Judaism.  The Temple authorities had refused to permit early Jewish Christians to participate either in the synagogue or the Temple services.  St. Paul teaches these Judeo-Christians that Jesus, alive in the community, has become the Holy of Holies and the High Priest, around which pair all Temple worship revolved.  Since Jesus has replaced both the Temple and human mediators, the Christians need not go to the Temple for worship.  In today's passage, the institutions in question are sanctuary, sacrifice, and judgment.  Under the Old Covenant, a priest conducted an annual ritual sacrifice in the sanctuary of the Temple, slaughtering a lamb.  Paul argues that Jesus Himself has replaced the whole class of ancient priests, and that the earthly sanctuary has been made obsolete by the sanctuary that is Heaven, where Jesus the High Priest intercedes for us directly before God.  Similarly, the repetitive annual sacrifices have been replaced by Jesus' once-for-all sacrifice at the end of the ages. The old sacrifices were meant to forestall an unfavorable judgment by God.  The new expectation is brighter and more positive:salvation for those who eagerly await Him. Exegesis: The context: Beginning from chapter 11 of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus confronts the Temple authorities and challenges the abuses in the "organized religion" of his time.  One by one he engages in debate with the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the scribes, and the Herodians.  Jesus' overarching condemnation of the religious-political-economic establishment is summed up when he accuses the leaders of having transformed the Temple into a den of robbers (Mark 11:17). Today's Gospel text demonstrates why all those who held traditional positions of religious power found Jesus' presence and preaching so disturbing.  Jesus' denunciation of the scribes forms the conclusion of the series of Jerusalem conflict stories. These stories show the widening gulf between Jesus and the Temple authorities that will result in the Sanhedrin's decision to get rid of Jesus. The attack on pride and hypocrisy: The scribes of Jesus' day were experts in the Law of Moses, scholars to whom people turned for a proper understanding of God's will as revealed in Scripture.  But in today’s Gospel, Jesus moves from the scribes' erroneous theology to their bankrupt ethics, reflected in their craving for pre-eminence both in religious gatherings (in the synagogue), and in social settings (market places and banquets).  Jesus publicly criticizes their behavior as a ceaseless grasping for honor.  He begins by attacking the popular style of scribal dress, a fairly easy target.  A first-century scribe wore a long linen robe with a long white mantle decorated with beautiful long fringes.  White robes identified the wearer as someone of importance and prestige.  Jesus' observation that the scribes liked "to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces" is a reference to the tradition which dictated that common people "in the marketplace" should respectfully rise to their feet when a scribe walked past.  The Talmud notes that when two people meet in the marketplace, the one inferior in knowledge of the Law should greet the other first.  But the scribes began to feel that such respect was a right owed to them for their learning in the Law, and this made them arrogant and proud.  Likewise at banquets and dinner parties, when rich men invited scribes and perhaps some of their pupils as guests, they would give these men prominent seats.  Similarly, the scribe's synagogue seat of honor placed him up front with the Torah, facing the congregation.  Scribes were seated on a platform facing the people, resting their backs against the same wall that held the box which contained the Torah scrolls.  The problem Jesus pinpoints is that the scribes had confused the respect intended for the position they held with respect given them for their own abilities and accomplishments.  Jesus also characterizes the scribes'  offering of long prayers to God, whether in the synagogue or Temple or some other highly public place, not as an attempt to seek God's will or praise God's Name, but as a means of asserting, and being honored for, superior piety.

Devouring widows’ houses: In verse 40, Jesus denounces the shameless profiteering of the scribes at the expense of widows.  The Jewish scribes of the first century were not paid for being scribes because they were not considered as belonging to a professional, self-supporting group.  Thus, despite the honor their position brought them, many scribes were downright poor, and it was deemed an act of obedience and piety to extend the hospitality of one's goods and services, of one's home and resources, to scribes for their support.  Devouring widows' houses is Jesus' condemnatory description of the source of the luxurious lives led by some scribes who impoverished gullible and pious widows  who volunteered to support them.  The reference to "widows' houses" could also refer to the scribes' tendency to abuse their powers as trustees for the estates of wealthy widows.  Further, these authorities were charged with distributing the Temple collections to widows and the needy.  In actuality, however, some  spent the funds on conspicuous consumption: long robes and banquets and Temple decorations.  This is how they devoured the estates of widows.  Power and position often lead even religious leaders to material greed and corruption. Widow’s mite: According to the Mishnah (Shekalim VI. 6), there were, standing  up against the wall of the Court of Women, 13 trumpet-shaped receptacles that functioned to gather the gifts of the faithful for the Temple treasury. As Jesus and his disciples sat and watched the comings and goings of those offering their gifts of support, they observed many wealthy worshipers placing significant sums into the temple treasury.  But it was not until Jesus observed the tiny offering of two leptons (equivalent to a couple of pennies), made by a poor widow, that he was moved to comment on the proceedings.  It was not the woman's poverty that made her gift significant for Jesus.  For him, it was the fact that this widow, alone among all the contributors lined up to give their offerings, gave her all.  The very rich put in much, and the moderately well-off put in a decent amount.  But all those who had gone before this widow had limited their giving by holding back a major portion of their money for their own use.  This widow stood alone as the one who had turned over, as an offering to God for His use, everything she had -- two leptons.  Those two, almost worthless coins represented her last shred of security, her fragile earthly thread of hope for the future. With her deep desire to be an obedient servant of God, the widow gave all she had as an offering -- even her future -- for the sake of God.  In other words, she gave herself totally into God’s hands, with the sure conviction that He would give her the support she          needed. Compliment or lamentation? Oddly, some modern Bible commentators argue that Jesus’ statement that this poor widow put in all she had, was not intended primarily as praise of the woman but was meant both as a prophetic denunciation of the members of the Temple establishment who took advantage of such little people and as the expression of His personal moral indignation at the situation.  How, they ask, could Mark's Jesus praise someone for sacrificing everything to a place and system which, even in the first century, Christians believed Jesus had replaced?  According to John Pilch (The Cultural World of Jesus), speaking of the widow who put her two mites in the Temple collection box, "Jesus laments this woman's behavior because she has been taught 'sacrificial giving' by her religious leaders. Jesus' constant Gospel teaching had been grounded in a belief that religion was never to use people's benevolence to enrich itself.  Christians were to direct their generosity to the needs of others, not to enrich their parishes beyond a certain limit.  Yet Mark clearly focuses on the widow’s deed.  In contrast to the external signs of honor sought by the scribes, she sought only to please God, and she, not they, possessed true honor in God’s eyes. “The simple piety of this woman of no social standing is contrasted with the arrogance and social ambitions of some so-called religious leaders.  This poor woman, in a daring act of trust in God's providence, put into the treasury everything she had. Her action symbolized what Jesus would do by offering his very life to God his Father as an act of perfect   obedience. Life   messages: # 1: We need to appreciate the widows of our parish: In our seemingly prosperous society, widows (and widowers), in addition to their deep grief, often suffer from economic loss from the burden of rearing a family alone and from a strange isolation from friends which often sets in soon after protestations of support at the funeral of their spouses.  Let us learn to appreciate the widows and widowers of our parish community.  Their loneliness draws them closer to God and to stewardship in the parish.  They are often active participants in all the liturgical celebrations, offering prayers for their families and for their parish family.  Frequently, they are active in the parish organizations, as well as in visiting and serving the sick and the shut-ins.  Hence, let us appreciate them, support them, encourage them and pray for            them. #2: We need to accept Christ’s criteria of judging people: We often judge people by what they possess.  We give weight to their position in society, to their educational qualifications, or to their celebrity status.  But Jesus measures us in a totally different way on the basis of our inner motives and intentions hidden behind our actions.  He evaluates us on the basis of the sacrifices we make for others and on the degree of our surrender to God’s holy will.  The offering God wants from us is not our material possessions, but our hearts and lives.  What is hardest to give is ourselves in love and concern, because that gift costs us more than reaching for our purses.

# 3: We need to pour out our "whole life." Can we, like the poor widow, find the courage to share the wealth and talents we hold? Can we stop dribbling out our stores of love and selflessness and sacrifice and compassion and dare to pour out our whole heart, our whole being, our "whole life" into the love-starved coffers of this world?

JOKE OF THE WEEK #1: You know the old joke about the chicken and the pig that saw the church sign saying "Help feed the hungry."  The chicken said "That's a good idea!  Let's help by putting in our 'widow’s mite.'  Let's give ham and eggs."  The pig said "That's easy for you to say, but for me it's a total commitment!"

OT XXXII – B (2)
OT XXXII – B (2)
Central theme: Today’s readings invite us to live out a total commitment to serve God with a humble and generous heart, free from pride and prejudice. Scripture lessons summarized: The first reading and the Gospel today present poor widows who sacrificially gave their whole lives and means of livelihood to God, symbolizing the supreme sacrifice Jesus would offer by giving His life for others.  In the first reading, taken from the First Book of Kings, a poor widow who has barely enough food for herself and her son welcomes the prophet Elijah as a man of God, shares her food with him and receives her reward in the form of a continuing daily supply of food.  In the Gospel, Jesus contrasts the external signs of honor sought by the scribes with the humble, sacrificial offering of a poor widow and declares that she has found true honor in God’s eyes.  The poor widows in both the first reading and the Gospel gave away all that they possessed for the glory of God. The sacrificial self-giving of the widows in the first reading and the Gospel reflects God’s love in giving His only Son for us, and Christ’s love in sacrificing himself on the cross.  The second reading tells us how Jesus, as the High Priest of the New Testament, surrendered His life to God His Father totally and unconditionally as a sacrificial offering for our sins – a sacrifice far beyond the sacrifices made by the poor widows. Life     messages: # 1: We need to appreciate the widows of our parish: Even in seemingly prosperous societies, widows (and widowers), in addition to their deep grief, often suffer from economic loss, from the burden of rearing a family alone, and from a strange isolation from friends, which often sets in soon after protestations of support at their spouses’ funerals. Let us learn to appreciate the widows and widowers of our parish community.  Their loneliness draws them closer to God and to stewardship in the parish.  They are often active participants in all the liturgical celebrations, offering prayers for their families and for their parish family.  Frequently, they are active in the parish organizations, as well as in visiting and serving the sick and the shut-ins.  Hence, let us appreciate them, support them, encourage them and pray for them.   #2: We need to accept Christ’s criteria of judging people: We often judge people by what they possess.  We give weight to their position in society, to their educational qualifications, or to their celebrity status.  But Jesus measures us in a totally different way – on the basis of our inner motives and the intentions hidden behind our actions.  He evaluates us on the basis of the sacrifices we make for others and on the degree of our surrender to His holy will.  The offering God wants from us is not our material possessions, but our hearts and lives.  What is hardest to give is ourselves in love and concern, because that gift costs us more than reaching for our purses. Let us, like the poor widow, find the courage to share the wealth and talents we hold. Let us stop dribbling out our stores of love, selflessness, sacrifice, and compassion and dare to pour out our whole heart, our whole being, our "whole life" into the love-starved coffers of this world.
  1. O. T. XXXII (B) (Nov 11) I Kgs 17:10-16; Heb 9:24-28; Mk 12:38-44 Anecdote: 1: Blessed Mother Teresa’s mite: Consider David Porter's comment on Mother Teresa: "She was born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (AG-nes GOHN-jah BOY-yah-jee-oo), to Albanian parents in Yugoslavia. She went to India in 1929 as a member of the Loreto Order of nuns, after learning English in their Motherhouse in Dublin Ireland.  There she taught for many years and became principal of the school.  In 1946, she received her 'call within a call' to work with the poorest of the poor.  By 1948, she had received permission to leave the Loreto order and had trained in the nursing skills she would need to carry out her calling.  She prayed, "Oh God, if I cannot help these people in their poverty and their suffering, let me at least die with them, close to them, so that I can show them your love" [Mother Teresa: The Early Years, 67; cited by Caroline J. Simon, "The Media and Mother Teresa," Perspectives, 12 (March, 1997), 3.]  Simon notes: "From this simple beginning, the Missionaries of Charity have grown to include 4,500 Sisters and Brothers, 755 homes for the children, the sick, the destitute and the dying and 1,369 medical clinics that serve 120,000 worldwide."  Mother Teresa's mite has might, and it's the ever-growing might of love in action.
#2: A widow’s mite in the life of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. By birth and marriage, Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton was linked to the first families of New York and enjoyed the fruits of living in high society.  Reared a staunch Episcopalian by her mother and stepmother, she learned the value of prayer, Scripture reading and a nightly examination of conscience.  At 19, Elizabeth was the belle of New York.  She married a handsome, wealthy businessman, William Magee Seton.  They had five children before his business failed, and William died of tuberculosis.  At 30, Elizabeth found herself widowed and penniless, with five small children to support.  While in Italy with her dying husband, Elizabeth had witnessed the Catholic Church in action, through the lives, beliefs and behavior of family friends.  Three basic elements in Catholicism led her to become a Catholic in March, 1805: a belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Mother of God, and a conviction that the Catholic Church traced its origin and priesthood in a direct line back to the apostles and to Christ.  When Elizabeth returned to the U. S., many of her family and friends rejected her because she had become a Catholic. To support her children, she opened a school in Baltimore with the cooperation of some of her friends.  From the beginning, her group was organized along the lines of the religious community which would only be founded officially in 1809.  Mother Seton became one of the keystones of the American Catholic Church.  She founded the first American religious community for women, the Sisters of Charity.  She opened the first American parish school and established the first American Catholic orphanage. All this she did in the span of 46 years while rearing her five children.  She died on January 4, 1821, and was buried in Emmitsburg, Maryland.  In 1963, Mother Seton was beatified, the first American-born citizen to receive this honor.  She was canonized in 1975.  Elizabeth Ann Seton was a real widow who offered her mite to God without reservation as the poor widow in today’s Gospel did (Adapted from St. Anthony’s Messenger). # 3: Fanny Epps' mite has might of love:  Mrs. Epps likes the time she spends with children. So she enjoys her time as a volunteer at the Norge Elementary School in Williamsburg, Virginia. There, she works with students who have mental and physical disabilities. Her day begins long before she goes on duty at 7 a.m. She has to catch a bus to get to the school. When she gets there, she greets Drew who has difficulty walking. Another one of her favorites has Down syndrome. He sits beside her, smiling. She turns on the tape recorder and plays "Jingle Bell Rock," while her students sing and clap enthusiastically. It takes a lot of energy to work all morning, five days a week, with these children. Oh, did I mention that Mrs. Epps is 99 years old? Wasted time, twisted values? "I don't want to act dead while I'm still alive," she says. Fanny Epps' mite has might, and it's the might of love! 23 additional anecdotes are uploaded in my website frtonyshomilies.com Introduction: Today’s readings invite us to live out a total commitment to God’s service with a humble and generous heart, free from pride and prejudice. The first reading and the Gospel today present poor widows who sacrificially gave their whole lives and means of livelihood to God, symbolizing the supreme sacrifice Jesus would offer by giving His life for others.  In the reading from the First Book of Kings, a poor widow who has barely enough food for herself and her son welcomes the prophet Elijah as a man of God, shares her food with him and receives her reward in the form of a continuing daily supply of food.  Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 146) is the first in the final group of Hallel psalms.  In it, God is praised for his loving-kindness toward the needy, including widows.  In the Gospel, Jesus contrasts the external signs of honor sought by the scribes with the humble, sacrificial offering of a poor widow and declares that she has found true honor in God’s eyes.  The poor widows in both the first reading and the Gospel gave away all that they possessed for the glory of God.  The second reading tells us how Jesus, as the High Priest of the New Testament, surrendered His life to God His Father totally and unconditionally as a sacrificial offering for our sins – a sacrifice far beyond the sacrifices made by the poor widows. First reading, 1 Kings 17:10-16,, explained: This particular passage is one in a collection of stories of miracles wrought by the prophet Elijah who challenged King Ahab and his cruel pagan Queen Jezebel over the issue of worship of the false god, Baal.  Complementing the story of the Widow’s Mite told in today’s Gospel, the first reading explains how another poor, pagan widow, a Syro-Phoenician living in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon, in the middle of a famine and with little left for herself, shares the last of her meager resources with the prophet Elijah. As a reward for her sacrificial generosity, she receives God’s blessing for the remaining months of the famine in the form of sufficient continuing daily provisions which ensure their survival.  Elijah, instructed by the Lord God and following the Near Eastern custom, has asked for hospitality in the form of food and accommodation.  The widow is not unwilling, but tells the prophet that she has enough for only one meal for her son and herself.  Nevertheless, Elijah asks her to demonstrate her trust in his God's provision by first giving food to Elijah himself, as the man of God.  She does as he asks, and we know what happened.  Her jar of meal and the jug of oil did not empty until the drought had ended.  This story of the widow's provisions, like the following story of Elijah's raising of her son when he had died, also emphasizes the power of God's word in the prophet's mouth.    Second Reading, Hebrews 9:24-28, explained: The letter to the Hebrews was written for Jewish converts to Christ, in part to help them cope with the loss of the comforts they had enjoyed from the institutions of Judaism.  The Temple authorities had refused to permit early Jewish Christians to participate either in the synagogue or the Temple services.  St. Paul teaches these Judeo-Christians that Jesus, alive in the community, has become the Holy of Holies and the High Priest, around which pair all Temple worship revolved.  Since Jesus has replaced both the Temple and human mediators, the Christians need not go to the Temple for worship.  In today's passage, the institutions in question are sanctuary, sacrifice, and judgment.  Under the Old Covenant, a priest conducted an annual ritual sacrifice in the sanctuary of the Temple, slaughtering a lamb.  Paul argues that Jesus Himself has replaced the whole class of ancient priests, and that the earthly sanctuary has been made obsolete by the sanctuary that is Heaven, where Jesus the High Priest intercedes for us directly before God.  Similarly, the repetitive annual sacrifices have been replaced by Jesus' once-for-all sacrifice at the end of the ages. The old sacrifices were meant to forestall an unfavorable judgment by God.  The new expectation is brighter and more positive: salvation for those who eagerly await Him.  Gospel exegesis: The context: Beginning from chapter 11 of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus confronts the Temple authorities and challenges the abuses in the "organized religion" of his time.  One by one he engages in debate with the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the scribes, and the Herodians.  Jesus' overarching condemnation of the religious-political-economic establishment is summed up when he accuses the leaders of having transformed the Temple into a den of robbers (Mark 11:17). Today's Gospel text demonstrates why all those who held traditional positions of religious power found Jesus' presence and preaching so disturbing.  Jesus' denunciation of the scribes forms the conclusion of the series of Jerusalem conflict stories. These stories show the widening gulf between Jesus and the Temple authorities that will result in the Sanhedrin's decision to get rid of Jesus. The attack on pride and hypocrisy: The scribes of Jesus' day were experts in the Law of Moses, scholars to whom people turned for a proper understanding of God's will as revealed in Scripture.  But in today’s Gospel, Jesus moves from the scribes' erroneous theology to their bankrupt ethics, reflected in their craving for pre-eminence both in religious gatherings (in the synagogue), and in social settings (market places and banquets).  Jesus publicly criticizes their behavior as a ceaseless grasping for honor.  He begins by attacking the popular style of scribal dress, a fairly easy target.  A first-century scribe wore a long linen robe with a long white mantle decorated with beautiful long fringes.  White robes identified the wearer as someone of importance and prestige.  Jesus' observation that the scribes liked "to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces" is a reference to the tradition which dictated that common people "in the marketplace" should respectfully rise to their feet when a scribe walked past.  The Talmud notes that when two people meet in the marketplace, the one inferior in knowledge of the Law should greet the other first.  But the scribes began to feel that such respect was a right owed to them for their learning in the Law, and this made them arrogant and proud.  Likewise at banquets and dinner parties, when rich men invited scribes and perhaps some of their pupils as guests, they would give these men prominent seats.  Similarly, the scribe's synagogue seat of honor placed him up front with the Torah, facing the congregation.  Scribes were seated on a platform facing the people, resting their backs against the same wall that held the box which contained the Torah scrolls.  The problem Jesus pinpoints is that the scribes had confused the respect intended for the position they held with respect given them for their own abilities and accomplishments.  Jesus also characterizes the scribes’ offering of long prayers to God, whether in the synagogue or Temple or some other highly public place, not as an attempt to seek God's will or praise God's Name, but as a means of asserting, and being honored for, superior piety. Devouring widows’ houses: In verse 40, Jesus denounces the shameless profiteering of the scribes at the expense of widows.  The Jewish scribes of the first century were not paid for being scribes because they were not considered as belonging to a professional, self-supporting group.  Thus, despite the honor their position brought them, many scribes were downright poor, and it was deemed an act of obedience and piety to extend the hospitality of one's goods and services, of one's home and resources, to scribes for their support.  Devouring widows' houses is Jesus' condemnatory description of the source of the luxurious lives led by some scribes who impoverished gullible and pious widows who volunteered to support them.  The reference to "widows' houses" could also refer to the scribes' tendency to abuse their powers as trustees for the estates of wealthy widows.  Further, these authorities were charged with distributing the Temple collections to widows and the needy.  In actuality, however, some  spent the funds on conspicuous consumption: long robes and banquets and Temple decorations.  This is how they devoured the estates of widows.  Power and position can lead even religious leaders to material greed and corruption. Widow’s mite: According to the Mishnah (Shekalim VI. 6), there were, standing  up against the wall of the Court of Women, 13 trumpet-shaped receptacles that functioned to gather the gifts of the faithful for the Temple treasury. As Jesus and his disciples sat and watched the comings and goings of those offering their gifts of support, they observed many wealthy worshipers placing significant sums into the temple treasury.  But it was not until Jesus observed the tiny offering of two leptons (equivalent to a couple of pennies), made by a poor widow, that he was moved to comment on the proceedings.  It was not the woman's poverty that made her gift significant for Jesus.  For him, it was the fact that this widow, alone among all the contributors lined up to give their offerings, gave her all.  The very rich put in much, and the moderately well-off put in a decent amount.  But all those who had gone before this widow had limited their giving by holding back a major portion of their money for their own use.  This widow stood alone as the one who had turned over, as an offering to God for His use, everything she had -- two leptons.  Those two, almost worthless coins represented her last shred of security, her fragile earthly thread of hope for the future. With her deep desire to be an obedient servant of God, the widow gave all she had as an offering -- even her future -- for the sake of God.  In other words, she gave herself totally into God’s hands, with the sure conviction that He would give her the support she needed. Compliment or lamentation? Oddly, some modern Bible commentators argue that Jesus’ statement that this poor widow put in all she had, was not intended primarily as praise of the woman but was meant both as a prophetic denunciation of the members of the Temple establishment who took advantage of such little people and as the expression of His personal moral indignation at the situation.  How, they ask, could Mark's Jesus praise someone for sacrificing everything to a place and system which, even in the first century, Christians believed Jesus had replaced?  According to John Pilch (The Cultural World of Jesus), speaking of the widow who put her two mites in the Temple collection box, "Jesus laments this woman's behavior because she has been taught 'sacrificial giving' by her religious leaders. Jesus' constant Gospel teaching had been grounded in a belief that religion was never to use people's benevolence to enrich itself.  Christians were to direct their generosity to the needs of others, not to enrich their parishes beyond a certain limit.  Yet Mark clearly focuses on the widow’s deed.  In contrast to the external signs of honor sought by the scribes, she sought only to please God, and she, not they, possessed true honor in God’s eyes. “The simple piety of this woman of no social standing is contrasted with the arrogance and social ambitions of some so-called religious leaders.  This poor woman, in a daring act of trust in God's providence, put into the treasury everything she had. Her action symbolized what Jesus would do by offering his very life to God his Father as an act of perfect obedience. Life   messages: # 1: We need to appreciate the widows of our parish: In our seemingly prosperous society, widows (and widowers), in addition to their deep grief, often suffer from economic loss from the burden of rearing a family alone and from a strange isolation from friends which often sets in soon after protestations of support at their spouses’ funerals. Let us learn to appreciate the widows and widowers of our parish community.  Their loneliness draws them closer to God and to stewardship in the parish.  They are often active participants in all the liturgical celebrations, offering prayers for their families and for their parish family.  Frequently, they are active in the parish organizations, as well as in visiting and serving the sick and the shut-ins.  Hence, let us appreciate them, support them, encourage them and pray for        them. #2: We need to accept Christ’s criteria of judging people: We often judge people by what they possess.  We give weight to their position in society, to their educational qualifications, or to their celebrity status.  But Jesus measures us in a totally different way – on the basis of our inner motives and intentions hidden behind our actions.  He evaluates us on the basis of the sacrifices we make for others and on the degree of our surrender to God’s holy will.  The offering God wants from us is not our material possessions, but our hearts and lives.  What is hardest to give is ourselves in love and concern, because that gift costs us more than reaching for our purses. # 3: We need to pour out our "whole life." Can we, like the poor widow, find the courage to share the wealth and talents we hold? Can we stop dribbling out our stores of love and selflessness and sacrifice and compassion and dare to pour out our whole heart, our whole being, our "whole life" into the love-starved coffers of this world? JOKE OF THE WEEK #1: You know the old joke about the chicken and the pig that saw the church sign saying "Help feed the hungry."  The chicken said "That's a good idea!  Let's help by putting in our 'widow’s mite.'  Let's give ham and eggs."  The pig said, "That's easy for you to say, but for me it's a total commitment!" #2: A six-year-old boy, home from his first day at Church, was asked what he thought of the Holy Mass. "It was OK," he replied, "but I think it was unfair that the pastor at the altar did all the work, and then a bunch of other people came around and took away all the money." Amen to that small lad's insight! # 3: A colleague once told how "a certain woman phoned her personal banker to arrange for the disposal of a $1,000 bond. The voice on the phone asked for clarification, "Is the bond for conversion or redemption?'' The confused woman paused and then inquired, "Am I talking to the bank or the church?'' Websites of the week (You Tube items on marriage) 1)      The be-attitudes of marriage (fun filled talk by Rev Mark Gungor) https://youtu.be/HpyMhlT94Nc (The be-attitudes of marriage)   https://youtu.be/v9dEktzDSDA (Rules in relationships)   https://youtu.be/814eR5K7KD8 (Tale of man’s & woman’s brains)   https://youtu.be/sXKDJcGkYbE (How to stay married and not kill anybody)   2)      Focus on the family: http://www.focusonthefamily.com/ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWAoFaCrb6qRKNV7dAZ0-doXqKF5WbrYf      23 Additional anecdotes are appended to the attached homily “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle B (No 61) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com (L/18) Visit our website: http://frtonyshomilies.com/for missed or previous Cycle B homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 196 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html for the Vatican version of this homily. Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604.
OT XXXIII – B (1)
OT XXXIII – B (1)

SYNOPSIS OF OT XXXIII [B] HOMILY ON Mk 13:24-32 (L/15)

Introduction: Today’s readings give us the assurance that our God will be with us all the days of our lives and that we will have the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst, guiding, protecting and strengthening us in spite of our necessary uncertainty concerning the end time when “Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”  Each year at this time, the Church asks us to apply the “last things” – Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell -- to ourselves.

Scripture lessons:  The readings invite us to focus our attention on the threefold coming of Jesus: 1) His first coming according to the flesh, as Redeemer.  2) His second coming, either at our death, or at the end of time and the world, which will bring our salvation to completion.  3) His coming into our lives each time we step forward in genuine Christian living.  The first reading with its vision of the archangel Michael, taken from the prophet Daniel (167 BC),  was originally given to comfort and give hope to the Jewish people, persecuted by a cruel pagan king.  In the second reading, the author of the letter to the Hebrews consoles believers suffering from “endtime phobia” with the knowledge that Jesus, who sits forever at God’s right hand, is our mediator. By his sacrificial death, he forgave our sins and sanctified us.  Today’s Gospel, taken from Mark (69 AD), offered hope to early Christians persecuted by the Roman Emperor Nero, reminding them of Jesus’ words about his glorious return to earth with great power and glory as Judge, to gather and reward his elect. Daniel and Mark continue to remind us that God will ensure that the righteous will survive the ordeal and will find a place with Him. Through the parable of the fig tree, Jesus warns us all to read the “signs of the time,” reminding us that we must be ever prepared to give an account of our lives to Jesus when he comes in glory as our Judge, because we can not know“either the day or the hour” of his Second Coming.

 Life messages:

1) Let us recognize the “second coming” of Jesus in our daily lives through everyday occurrences, always remembering that Jesus comes without warning. But let us not get frightened at the thought of Christ’s Second Coming because he is with us every day in the Holy Eucharist, in the Holy Bible and in our worshipping communities. We will be able to welcome him in his Second Coming as long as we faithfully do the will of God daily by serving our brothers and sisters, by recognizing Christ’s presence in them, and by getting reconciled with God and with our brothers and sisters every day.

 2) We need to “learn the lesson from the fig tree.”  This means that we are to watch and wait in a state of readiness.  Instead of worrying about the endtime events, we are asked to live every day of our lives loving God living in others, by our committed service to them with sacrificial agape love.

OT XXXIII [B] SUNDAY: Dn 12:1-3; Heb 10:11-14, 18; Mk 13:24-32

Anecdote #1: The endtime phobia: French "prophet" and astrologer Nostradamus (1503-1566), foretold that the world would end when Easter fell on April 25.  This happened in 1666, 1734, 1886 and 1943; it will occur again in 2038.  In 1379, St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419), a Spanish Dominican monk, basing his prediction on the number of verses in the Book of Psalms (2,537 verses), predicted the demise of the world in AD 3936.  By the end of 1998, the Mount of Olives Hotel, run by Palestinian Muslims, wrote to 2,000 Protestant Christian groups in the U.S. asking "How would you like to be reserving your rooms at the Mount of Olives Hotel, to wait for  the‘second coming’ of  Jesus on the first day of the new millennium,  2000 A.D.?"  Some scientists fueled public anxiety by citing a series of possible ways, including nuclear war and collision with a comet, in which the world could come to an end.  A very popular book in 1989 was 89 Reasons Why the World Will End in 1989.  The Jehovah’s Witnesses frightened gullible followers at least 3 times during the last century with their “end of the world” predictions in 1914, 1918 and 1974.  It is this paranoid fear that led people to die in the mass suicides organized by Heaven’s Gate and Jim Jones.  The film Omega Code, released in October, 1999, was an independent movie funded by the Trinity Broadcasting Network, the largest Evangelical Christian TV network in the U.S.  It was promoted by a team of 2,400 U.S. Evangelical pastors.  The plot involved a portrayal of the “” at the imminent “Second coming” of Jesus, when “born again” and "saved" Christians, both alive and dead, are supposed to fly upward in the air to meet Jesus.  The film was rated in the top 10 grossing movies for October, 1999.  Over 17 million copies of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' “Second Coming” novel, Left Behind,were sold by July 27, 2000.  This is how modern man reacts to the reality of the coming of the end of the world.  Hence, today’s readings remind us that we should be well prepared and always ready to meet Jesus at any time, daily in our brothers and sisters and at the end of our lives or the end of the world, whichever comes first.

# 2: Bingo first! Who cares about the Second coming?: There is a second group of people who ignore Christ’s Parousia and stick to their addictions. A woman was hurrying home from work. This was her Bingo night. Suddenly she spotted this fellow standing on the edge of the pavement holding aloft a placard which read: The end of the world is near. She went up to him and said, “You say the end of the world is near.” “That’s right, missus,” he replied. “But are you sure?” “Quite sure, missus.” “And you say it’s near.” “Yes, missus.” ”How near?” “Oh, very near.” “Could you be more precise?” “This very night, Missus.” She paused for a moment to reflect on this. Then in a voice full of anxiety, she asked, “Tell me, son. Will it be before or after Bingo?” (Flor McCarthy in New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies).

 

Introduction: Today’s readings give us the assurance that our God will be with us all the days of our lives and that we will have the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst guiding, protecting and strengthening us in spite of our necessary human uncertainty concerning the endtime when “Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”  Next Sunday is the Thirty-fourth and last Sunday in our liturgical year when we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, and the following Sunday marks the beginning of the Advent season with a new Liturgical Cycle.  Each year at this time, the Church asks us to mediate on the “last things” – Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell -- as they apply to us. The readings invite us to focus our attention on the threefold coming of Jesus: 1) His first coming according to the flesh, as Redeemer.  2) His second coming, either at our death, or at the end of time and the world, which will bring our salvation to completion.  3) His coming into our lives each time we step forward in genuine Christian living.  The first reading with its vision of the archangel Michael, taken from the prophet Daniel (167 BC), was originally given to comfort and give hope to the Jewish people, persecuted by a cruel pagan king.  In the second reading, the author of the letter to the Hebrews consoles believers suffering from “endtime phobia” with the knowledge that Jesus, who sits forever at God’s right hand, is our mediator. By his sacrificial death, he forgave our sins and sanctified us.  Today’s Gospel, taken from Mark (69 AD), offered hope to early Christians persecuted by the Roman Emperor Nero, reminding them of Jesus’ words about his glorious return to earth with great power and glory as Judge, to gather and reward his elect.  Though Daniel and Mark describe frightful scenes, their accounts also remind their audience that God will ensure that the righteous will survive the ordeal and will find a place with Him.Through the parable of the fig tree, Jesus warns us all to read the “signs of the time,” and reminds us that we must be ever prepared to give an account of our lives to Jesus our Judge, because we can not know “either the day or the hour” of our own death or of his second coming.

The first reading: In the second century BC, the Jews were conquered by the Greeks.  The Greek king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, tried to Hellenize the Jews by imposing Greek norms on them, by forbidding them to practice circumcision, by stripping the Temple of its valuables, by burning the Torah scrolls, by introducing the worship of Greek gods to the Jews and by forcing the Jews to join in the worship of these pagan gods.  In this frightening and dangerous time, the Lord God’s prophetic message to Israel through Daniel addressed the needs of the suffering Jewish people, bolstering their morale and promising them the sure and definite intervention of Yahweh, their God of power and glory, even if they faced persecutions and hardship for a short term.  Hence, they believed that Yahweh was on the verge of stepping into the world and definitively changing everything (Dan 12: 1-3).  This short passage also describes the “great tribulation,” the “resurrection of the dead” and the Divine Judgment with its rewards for the wise and righteous and its punishments for the foolish and wicked.  Thus, today’s selection from Daniel introduces the belief in the resurrection of the deadand makes the first mention in the Bible of “everlasting life,” while such a doctrine was almost unprecedented among Jews even in the second century.

Second Reading, : The letter to the Hebrews was written for Jewish converts to Christ, in part to help them cope with the loss of the comforts they had enjoyed within the institutions of Judaism and from which they had been excluded by their conversion.  The author's intent was to show that Jesus himself had replaced those old institutions and exceeded them.  In today's passage, the institutions in question are priesthood and sacrifices.  The author asserts that the old, repetitious sacrifices were futile, while the one sacrifice of Jesus makes us perfect forever and wins the forgiveness of sin, rendering further sacrifice unnecessary.  Furthermore, Jesus, the new and the only High Priest, has a seat at God's right hand, closer than any other priest has ever come to Him.  For Jesus’ sacrifice made possible the forgiveness of sins and the formation of a new relationship between God and humankind.

Exegesis: The context: Mark's Gospel, written some 40 years after Jesus' death, is the simplest, shortest, and oldest of the four Gospels.  This week's Gospel text is taken from the thirteenth chapter of Mark, which, together with Matthew 24 and Luke 21, is often called the "Little Apocalypse."  Apocalypse literally means unveiling. The whole of Mark’s thirteenth chapter is full of apocalyptic imagery and predictions borrowed from the Old Testament.  Verses 24-27 are taken from images appearing in the prophecies of Joel (2:10), Isaiah (13:10 and 34:4), Daniel (7:13), Deuteronomy (30:3) and Zechariah (2:10).  Jesus skillfully weaves all these various strands into one powerful vision.  The Gospel of Mark was written in the year 69 AD, just one year before the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, at a time when the Romans were suppressing Jewish protests and persecuting Christians.  Many Christians began wondering why Jesus did not return as he had promised.  Some even wondered whether he had really been the promised Messiah.  Hence, Mark tried to strengthen their faith by quoting Jesus’ predictions of the coming persecution of the faithful (13:9-13), the destruction of Jerusalem (13:2, 7-9, 14-20), the rise of the Anti-Christ (13:5-6, 21-23), the end of the world, and Christ’s Second Coming (13:24-26).  Mark also offered hope to a persecuted community by reminding the people of Jesus’ promise that wars, natural disasters and betrayal by family members would be overcome when the Son of Man returned to gather in his loved ones.

The glorious coming of the Son of Man: In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about the displacement of celestial bodies at the end of the world, followed by the appearance of the Son of Man in glory to establish the Reign of God.  The coming of the Son of Man, "in clouds with great power and glory," echoes a passage in the Daniel.  Cosmic disturbances of the sun, moon and stars are images traditionally associated with the manifestations of God's judgment of Israel. Although no time-frame is given in the Gospels for the period between the destruction of Jerusalem and the final coming of Jesus as King and Lord of all, the early Christians believed that Jesus would come in their lifetime, based on their understanding of Jesus’ promise in Mark, "this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place."

Parable of the fig tree and warning for watchfulness: Jesus gives a warning lesson from the fig tree, using stock prophetic expressions well known to his listeners (Ezra 9:3; 13:1; Baruch 27:5-13; Amos 8:9; Joel 2:10, 3:15; Ezekiel 32: 7, 8; Isaiah 27:13, 35; Micah7:12; Zechariah 10:6-11).  The fig tree sprouts its leaves in late spring heralding the summer season.  The application of this image to the end of the world suggests that the end of the world will mean good times, or summer, for Jesus’ disciples, because their God will be bringing things to a triumphant end and His Truth, Love and Justice will prevail forever.  But we must always be well prepared to face our judgment because we do not know the day nor the hour, either of the ending of the world or of our own call from this life.  Hence, true disciples are to watch and wait in a state of readiness.  Instead of worrying about the endtime events, we are asked to live every day of our lives in loving God living in others, by our committed service.  Thus, we will enter into a deeper relationship with God, which will continue when we pass through death into a different kind of life.

Life messages: 1) Let us recognize the “second coming” of Jesus in our daily lives. Today’s Gospel reminds us of a “coming” of God which we tend to forget, namely, God’s daily coming to us in the ordinary events of our lives.  We must learn to recognize and welcome Him in these everyday occurrences – happy, encouraging, painful or disappointing – always remembering that He comes without warning.  Let us remember that the Lord is present wherever people treat each other with gentleness, generosity, and thoughtfulness.  Hence, let us try to bring Jesus to earth, as Blessed Mother Teresa puts it: “by doing little things to others around us with great love.”

2) Let us take heart and not get frightened: The end of the world should never be thought of as depressing, disheartening or frightening because we are in the hands of a good and loving God.  Christ’s second coming gives us the message that God is journeying with us in the trials and difficulties of life and that His word is ever-present as a light of hope.  He speaks to us through the Bible.  We have the Eucharist as a sign that God is with us, in our midst.  Holy Communion is our point of direct, personal contact with God.  That is why the holy Mass is special: the more fully and frequently we participate in the Mass, the more deeply the Lord can come to us, and the more completely He can remain with us. Let no one frighten us with disturbing descriptions of the end of the world because “the end” is all about the birth of everyone and everything into eternity.

3) Are we ready to meet our Lord with a clear conscience?  Suppose we were to learn today that we had just one year to live - that we would die on November 15, 2016.  What changes would we make in our lives?  How would we spend our time, talents and wealth?  What changes would we make in our priorities? Would we be concerned about the petty quarrels and bickering of life?  No!  The next twelve months would be the best year of our lives because we would spend our time doing loving, holy and worthwhile things.

4) “Learn the lesson from the fig tree.”  Jesus tells us that our personal “endtime” is a prelude to eternal happiness.  However, we are all so taken in by our secular culture’s fascination and glamour that we are sometimes embarrassed or saddened by the signs of our own approaching end.  We foolishly consider growing old as an evil thing, rather than as a warning from a loving God to prepare to meet Him and to give an account of our lives.  Our aches and pains and frequent “doctor’s appointments” in our senior years should remind us of God’s warning that we are growing unfit to live in this world, and that we have to get ready for another world of eternal happiness.  Hence, let us take the spirit of the 27th Psalm: “Wait for the Lord.  Take courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord” (v. 14).

JOKE OF THE WEEK

#1: "You’ll wish you were Jewish!!"  A Protestant minister and a Catholic priest enjoyed teasing their Jewish rabbi friend, continually asking him when he was going to convert to their faith.  When the Holidays rolled around, the rabbi sent them a card with the following: "Season’s Greetings!  Roses are reddish, Violets are bluish; When the Messiah comes, you’ll wish you were Jewish!!"

#2: Missed the “rapture” by a minute:  A certain man, Herbert Washington by name, was so taken up by the nearness of Christ’s second coming and “the rapture” that he became a pain in the neck to his coworkers.  So his coworkers hatched a plan to pay him back in his own coin.  One day, when Herbert went to the washroom, they laid their work clothes on their chairs and hid in the supply room.  When Herbert came back from the washroom, he thought the rapture had taken place.  The Muslim janitor, who was part of the joke, pretended to have witnessed everyone disappear and ran around the office feigning panic.  Herbert fell to the ground clutching his heart and screaming, "I knew you'd forget me, Jesus!  What did I do wrong?"  He was rushed to a local hospital with what was diagnosed as a mild heart attack. (Fr. Munachi).

#3: The Second Coming. A Sunday school teacher asked his class, “If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale and gave all my money to the Church, would that get me into Heaven?  “NO!” the children all answered.  “If I cleaned the Church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into Heaven?”  Again, the answer was, “NO!”  Again the teacher asked, “Well, then, if I were kind to animals and gave candy to all the children, and loved my wife, would that get me into Heaven?”  Again, they all answered, "NO!"  “Well then how can I get into Heaven?”  A five-year-old boy shouted out, “YOU GOTTA BE DEAD!”  Good insight for a five-year old!

#4: Somnambulist or Methodist? "Be constantly on the watch!  Stay awake," Jesus commands.  The signs-of-the-times are such that, clearly, this is no time for somnambulists.  A somnambulist, as you know, is a person who walks in his sleep.  On the eve of his wedding, a young man decided to confess all to his fiancée.  He went to her and said, "My love, there is something I feel I must tell you before we are married; something you must know. It may make a difference in your feeling toward me.  You see, I am a somnambulist."  The young lady thought for a moment, then replied, "Oh that's all right.  There's no problem.  I was raised a Methodist.  We can go to your Church one Sunday and to mine the next."

OT XXXIII – B (2)
OT XXXIII – B (2)
Central theme: Today’s readings give us the assurance that our God will be with us all the days of our lives and that we will have the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst, guiding, protecting and strengthening us in spite of our necessary uncertainty concerning the end time when “Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”  Each year at this time, the Church asks us to consider the “last things” – Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell – as happening to ourselves. Scripture lessons summarized:  The readings invite us to focus our attention on the threefold coming of Jesus: 1) His first coming according to the flesh, as Redeemer.  2) His second coming, either at our death, or at the end of time and the world, which will bring our salvation to completion.  3) His coming into our lives each time we step forward in genuine Christian living.  The first reading, taken from the prophet Daniel (167 BC), was originally given to comfort and give hope to the Jewish people persecuted by a cruel pagan king. It advises us to live wisely and justly in the present time, instead of worrying about the unknown future. The author of the Hebrews in the second reading, challenges us to look to the future with hope and serenity because Jesus, who sits forever at God’s right hand, is the mediator who has secured the forgiveness of our sins and our sanctification through his sacrifice on the cross. Today’s Gospel, taken from Mark (AD 69), offered hope to early Christians persecuted by the Roman Emperor Nero, reminding them of Jesus’ words about his glorious return to earth with great power and glory as Judge to gather and reward his elect. Daniel and Mark continue to remind us that God will ensure that the righteous will survive the ordeal and will find a place with Him. Through the parable of the fig tree, Jesus warns us all to read the “signs of the time,” reminding us that we must be ever prepared to give an account of our lives to Jesus when he comes in glory as our Judge, because we cannot know “either the day or the hour” of his Second Coming.  Life messages: 1) Let us recognize the “second coming” of Jesus in our daily lives through everyday occurrences, always remembering that Jesus comes without warning. But let us not get frightened at the thought of Christ’s Second Coming because he is with us every day in the Holy Eucharist, in the Holy Bible and in our worshipping communities. We will be able to welcome him in his Second Coming as long as we faithfully do the will of God daily by serving our brothers and sisters, by recognizing Christ’s presence in them, and by being reconciled with God and with our brothers and sisters every day. 2) We need to “learn the lesson from the fig tree.”  This means that we are to watch and wait in a state of readiness.  Instead of worrying about the end time events, we are asked to live every day of our lives loving God living in others, by our committed service to them with sacrificial agape love. OT XXXIII [B] (Nov 18) SUNDAY: Dn 12:1-3; Heb 10:11-14, 18; Mk 13:24-32 Homily starter anecdotes #1: Scientists on the end of the world: Scientists have fueled public anxiety by citing a series of possible ways in which the world could come to an end, e.g. (a) Sucked into a black hole. A large dead star which has collapsed and has become so incredibly dense that even light cannot escape it, a “black hole” is thought to be a fatal attraction for any nearby matter; (b) Climate change. Another ice age or glacial period is expected in 2,000--10,000 years; if and when it occurs, over eight billion people will try to survive on 30% less land mass; (c) The Greenhouse Effect. A predicted temperature increase of 6o F is expected by the year 2030; if this occurs, polar regions will thaw, ocean levels will rise and vast areas of earth will be flooded; (d) Collision. Earth may be hit by a meteorite, asteroid or comet; (e) Cosmic Rays. Earth’s magnetic field is waning at present, making it susceptible to the rays of an exploding supernova and/or solar flares; (f) Nuclear War and its Aftermath. A familiar and frightening scenario: a possible nuclear war could wipe out up to 90% of the U.S. population and 50% of that of Russia; (g) The Death of the Sun. Considered as the ultimate disaster, the eventual cooling of the sun will occur only after an intense period of heating up which will boil away earth’s oceans and bake its crust unto lifelessness. [Patricia Datchuck Sánchez, Celebration.] But Today’s readings give us the assurance that our God will be with us all the days of our lives and that we will have the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst guiding, protecting and strengthening us in spite of our necessary human uncertainty concerning the end time when “Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” So, the Church advises us to entrust the unknown and unknowable future to God’s caring and capable hands. # 2: $ 57, 000 for Jesus’ shopping in his second coming: In 1981, a man left $57,000 in his will to Jesus. It was for His own use when He returned at the Second Coming. The money was to be invested at the highest interest in the meantime. Does anyone really think that Jesus will be shopping at a posh department store for a new seamless robe and sandals upon His return? Does anyone feel money is what He shall require from us at the Parousia? Is this what the Nazarene is all about? Christ is more interested in the way we conduct our lives this moment rather than tomorrow. He is more eager to see us improve life for others today than He is to remove us from it. Andrew Greeley has some wise thoughts on this point. The Second Coming, the New Age, the New Epoch, he says, can and should be happening throughout this day and week. I saw the Second Coming at a Soup Kitchen where I worked. A white woman volunteer gave a black man soup, pasta, and coffee. As he was leaving, he thanked her. Then she noticed the bad condition of his shoes. She told him to wait. From the clothing closet, she brought several pair. The woman got down on her knees and fitted each pair. Finally, she found his fit. In this forty-minute encounter, Jesus in His Second Coming was present. I was watching Him washing His apostles' feet all over again. I witnessed the New Age today at a fast-food restaurant. A busload of children treated their waitress with kindness. "Please" and "thank you" were more plentiful than hamburgers and cokes. They cleaned their table. They left a generous tip and a happy waitress. There was no doubt but that the Lord was present. I see the New Epoch every time one of you gives me $100 and asks me to give it to a family having a difficult time. If one looks sharp enough, you can see a smile on Christ's face. I observed the New Order yesterday. I was lost and could not find the correct road. I asked directions of a young man. Though he was in as much a hurry as I, he U-turned and told me to follow him for several miles. Then he put my car on the correct road. Can you not hear Jesus applaud as I tell you this story? I heard of the Second Coming yesterday. A mother told me of her return from a long journey. On her kitchen table, she found a dozen carnations waiting to greet her. The benefactor was her teen son. That day she saw Christ in her boy. I saw the New Epoch last week. A priest had heard that hostiles in a parish were gleefully giving another priest, whom he hardly knew, a hard time. He phoned. "May I buy you a good lunch?" The trip cost him not only the restaurant bill but also a round trip of 140 miles, and over half a tank of gas. Was not the Nazarene riding with him that day? You, I am sure, can fill in the blanks and tell me of the times when you saw the Second Coming this past week. And hopefully you were the cause of it.        (Fr. James Gilhooley) 23 additional anecdotes are uploaded in my website http://frtonyshomilies.com/ Introduction: Today’s readings give us the assurance that our God will be with us all the days of our lives and that we will have the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst guiding, protecting and strengthening us in spite of our necessary human uncertainty concerning the endtime when “Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”  Next Sunday is the Thirty-fourth and last Sunday in our liturgical year when we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, and the following Sunday marks the beginning of the Advent season with a new Liturgical Cycle.  Each year at this time, the Church asks us to mediate on the “last things” – Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell -- as they apply to us. The readings invite us to focus our attention on the threefold coming of Jesus: 1) His first coming according to the flesh, as Redeemer.  2) His second coming, either at our death, or at the end of time and the world, which will bring our salvation to completion.  3) His coming into our lives each time we step forward in genuine Christian living.  The first reading with its vision of the archangel Michael, taken from the prophet Daniel (167 BC), was originally given to comfort and give hope to the Jewish people, persecuted by a cruel pagan king. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 16) reminds each of us that God Himself is “my allotted portion and my cup,” and that “with Him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.” In the second reading, the author of the letter to the Hebrews consoles believers suffering from “endtime phobia” with the knowledge that Jesus, who sits forever at God’s right hand, is our mediator. By his sacrificial death, Jesus forgave our sins and sanctified us.  Today’s Gospel, taken from Mark (AD 69), offered hope to early Christians persecuted by the Roman Emperor Nero, reminding them of Jesus’ words about his glorious return to earth with great power and glory as Judge in order to gather and reward his elect.  Though Daniel and Mark describe frightful scenes, their accounts also remind their audience that God will ensure that the righteous will survive the ordeal and will find a place with Him. Through the parable of the fig tree, Jesus warns us all to read the “signs of the time,” and reminds us that we must be ever prepared to give an account of our lives to Jesus our Judge, because we cannot know “either the day or the hour” of our own death or of his second coming. The first reading Dn 12:1-3, explained: This first reading taken from the prophet Daniel (167 BC), originally given to comfort and give hope to the Jewish people being persecuted by a cruel pagan king, advises us to live wisely and justly in the present time instead of worrying about the unknown future.  In the second century BC, the Jews were conquered by the Greeks.  The Greek king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, tried to Hellenize the Jews by imposing Greek norms on them, by forbidding them to practice circumcision, by stripping the Temple of its valuables, by burning the Torah scrolls, by introducing the worship of Greek gods to the Jews and by forcing the Jews to join in the worship of these pagan gods.  In this frightening and dangerous time, the Lord God’s prophetic message to Israel through Daniel addressed the needs of the suffering Jewish people, bolstering their morale and promising them the sure and definite intervention of Yahweh, their God of power and glory, even if they faced persecutions and hardship for a short term.  Hence, they believed that Yahweh was on the verge of stepping into the world and definitively changing everything (Dan 12:1-3).  This short passage also describes the “great tribulation,” the “resurrection of the dead” and the Divine Judgment with its rewards for the wise and righteous and its punishments for the foolish and wicked.  Thus, today’s selection from Daniel introduces the belief in the resurrection of the dead and makes the first mention in the Bible of “everlasting life,” while such a doctrine was almost unprecedented among Jews even in the second century BC.   Second Reading, Hebrews 10:11-14, 18, explained: This reading challenges us to look to the future with hope and serenity because Jesus, who sits forever at God’s right hand, is the mediator who secured the forgiveness of our sins and our sanctification through his sacrifice on the cross. The letter to the Hebrews was written for Jewish converts to Christ, in part to help them cope with the loss of the comforts they had enjoyed within the institutions of Judaism and from which they had been excluded by their conversion.  The author's intent was to show that Jesus himself had replaced those old institutions and exceeded them.  In today's passage, the institutions in question are priesthood and sacrifices.  The author asserts that the old, repetitious sacrifices were futile, while the one sacrifice of Jesus makes us perfect forever and wins the forgiveness of sin, rendering further sacrifice unnecessary. Through Jesus’ saving gift of himself, perfect praise has been offered to God, sin and guilt, have been expiated, and absolute, intimate union has been achieved.  Jesus continues his priestly work in Heaven by his intercession for us in the presence of God, the Father. Furthermore, Jesus, the new and the only High Priest, has a seat at God's right hand, closer than any other priest has ever come to Him.  For Jesus’ sacrifice made possible the forgiveness of sins and the formation of a new relationship between God and humankind. Gospel exegesis: The context: Mark's Gospel, written some 40 years after Jesus' death, is the simplest, shortest, and oldest of the four Gospels.  This week's Gospel text is taken from the thirteenth chapter of Mark, which, together with Matthew 24 and Luke 21, is often called the "Little Apocalypse."  Apocalypse literally means unveiling. The whole of Mark’s thirteenth chapter is full of apocalyptic imagery and predictions borrowed from the Old Testament.  Verses 24-27 are taken from images appearing in the prophecies of Joel (2:10), Isaiah (13:10; 34:4), Daniel (7:13), Deuteronomy (30:3), and Zechariah (2:10).  Jesus skillfully weaves all these various strands into one powerful vision.  The Gospel of Mark was written in the year 69 AD, just one year before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, at a time when the Romans were suppressing Jewish protests and persecuting Christians.  Many Christians began wondering why Jesus did not return as he had promised.  Some even wondered whether he had really been the promised Messiah.  Hence, Mark tried to strengthen their faith by quoting Jesus’ predictions of the coming persecution of the faithful (13:9-13), the destruction of Jerusalem (13:2, 7-9, 14-20), the rise of the Anti-Christ (13:5-6, 21-23), the end of the world, and Christ’s Second Coming (13:24-26).  Mark also offered hope to a persecuted community by reminding the people of Jesus’ promise that wars, natural disasters and betrayal by family members would be overcome when the Son of Man returned to earth to gather in his loved ones. The glorious coming of the Son of Man: In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about the displacement of celestial bodies at the end of the world, followed by the appearance of the Son of Man in glory to establish the Reign of God.  The coming of the Son of Man, "in clouds with great power and glory," echoes a passage in Daniel.  Cosmic disturbances of the sun, moon and stars are images traditionally associated with the manifestations of God's judgment on Israel. In the Creed we recite at Mass, we proclaim that Jesus “will come again to judge the living and the dead.” The New Testament writers used the Greek word Parousia which means the arrival and presence of a king, to describe this second coming of Jesus. Although no time-frame is given in the Gospels for the period between the destruction of Jerusalem and the final coming of Jesus as King and Lord of all, the early Christians believed that Jesus would come in their lifetime, based on their understanding of Jesus’ promise in Mark, "this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place." Parable of the fig tree and warning for watchfulness: Jesus gives a warning lesson from the fig tree, using stock prophetic expressions well known to his listeners (Ezra 9:3; 13:1; Baruch 27:5-13; Amos 8:9; Joel 2:10, 3:15; Ezekiel 32: 7, 8; Isaiah 27:13, 35; Micah 7:12; Zechariah 10:6-11).  The fig tree sprouts its leaves in late spring heralding the summer season.  The application of this image to the end of the world suggests that the end of the world will mean good times, or summer, for Jesus’ disciples, because their God will be bringing things to a triumphant end, and His Truth, Love and Justice will prevail forever.  But we must always be well prepared to face our judgment because we do not know the day nor the hour, either of the ending of the world or of our own call from this life.  Hence, true disciples are to watch and wait in a state of readiness.  Instead of worrying about the endtime events, we are asked to live every day of our lives in loving God in Himself and as living in others by our committed service.  Thus, we will enter into a deeper relationship with God, which will continue when we pass through death into a different kind of life. Life messages: 1) Let us recognize the “second coming” of Jesus in our daily lives. Today’s Gospel reminds us of a “coming” of God which we tend to forget, namely, God’s daily coming to us in the ordinary events of our lives.  We must learn to recognize and welcome Him in these everyday occurrences – happy, encouraging, painful or disappointing – always remembering that He comes without warning.  Let us remember that the Lord is present wherever people treat each other with gentleness, generosity, and thoughtfulness.  Hence, let us try to bring Jesus to earth, as St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) puts it: “by doing little things to others around us with great love.” 2) Let us take heart and not be frightened: The end of the world should never be thought of as depressing, disheartening or frightening because we are in the hands of a good and loving God.  Christ’s second coming gives us the message that God is journeying with us in the trials and difficulties of life, and that His word is ever-present as a light of hope.  He speaks to us through the Bible.  We have the Eucharist as a sign that God is with us, in our midst.  Holy Communion is our point of direct, personal contact with God.  That is why the holy Mass is special: the more fully and frequently we participate in the Mass, the more deeply the Lord can come to us, and the more completely He can remain with us. Let no one frighten us with disturbing descriptions of the end of the world because “the end” is all about the birth of everyone and everything into eternity. 3) Are we ready to meet our Lord with a clear conscience?  Suppose we were to learn today that we had just one year to live - that we would die on November 18, 2019.  What changes would we make in our lives?  How would we spend our time, talents, wealth?  What changes would we make in our priorities? Would we be concerned about the petty quarrels and bickering of life?  No!  The next twelve months would be the best year of our lives because we would spend our time doing loving, holy and worthwhile things. 4) “Learn the lesson from the fig tree.”  Jesus tells us that our personal “endtime” is a prelude to eternal happiness.  However, we are all so taken in by our secular culture’s fascination and glamour that we are sometimes embarrassed or saddened by the signs of our own approaching end.  We foolishly consider growing old as an evil thing, rather than as a warning from a loving God to prepare to meet Him and to give an account of our lives.  Our aches and pains and frequent “doctor’s appointments” in our senior years should remind us of God’s warning that we are growing unfit to live in this world, and that we have to get ready for another world of eternal happiness.  Hence, let us take the spirit of the 27th Psalm: “Wait for the Lord.  Take courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord” (v. 14). JOKE OF THE WEEK #1: "You’ll wish you were Jewish!!"  A Protestant minister and a Catholic priest enjoyed teasing their Jewish rabbi friend, continually asking him when he was going to convert to their Faith.  When the Holidays rolled around, the rabbi sent them a card with the following: "Season’s Greetings!  Roses are reddish, Violets are bluish; When the Messiah comes, you’ll wish you were Jewish!!" #2: Missed the “rapture” by a minute:  A certain man, Herbert Washington by name, was so taken up by the nearness of Christ’s second coming and “the rapture” that he became a pain in the neck to his coworkers.  So his coworkers hatched a plan to pay him back in his own coin.  One day, when Herbert went to the washroom, they laid their work clothes on their chairs and hid in the supply room.  When Herbert came back from the washroom, he thought the rapture had taken place.  The Muslim janitor, who was part of the joke, pretended to have witnessed everyone disappear and ran around the office feigning panic.  Herbert fell to the ground clutching his heart and screaming, "I knew you'd forget me, Jesus!  What did I do wrong?"  He was rushed to a local hospital with what was diagnosed as a mild heart attack. (Fr. Munachi). #3: The Second Coming. A Sunday school teacher asked his class, “If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale and gave all my money to the Church, would that get me into Heaven?  “NO!” the children all answered.  “If I cleaned the Church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into Heaven?”  Again, the answer was, “NO!”  Again the teacher asked, “Well, then, if I were kind to animals and gave candy to all the children, and loved my wife, would that get me into Heaven?”  Again, they all answered, "NO!"  “Well then how can I get into Heaven?”  A five-year-old boy shouted out, “YOU GOTTA BE DEAD!”  Good insight for a five-year old! #4: Somnambulist or Methodist? "Be constantly on the watch!  Stay awake," Jesus commands.  The signs-of-the-times are such that, clearly, this is no time for somnambulists.  A somnambulist, as you know, is a person who walks in his sleep.  On the eve of his wedding, a young man decided to confess all to his fiancée.  He went to her and said, "My love, there is something I feel I must tell you before we are married; something you must know. It may make a difference in your feeling toward me.  You see, I am a somnambulist."  The young lady thought for a moment, then replied, "Oh that's all right.  There's no problem.  I was raised a Methodist.  We can go to your Church one Sunday and to mine the next."   The Websites of the week 1) A handy link for all things Catholic:  http://www.catholicusa.com/   2) Questions on Church teaching: www.catholic.com   3) Courses on the Bible: www.salvationhistory.com   4) Information about Catholic and Christian faith: www.americancatholic.org 5) Mark 13: 24-32 commentaries: http://www.4catholiceducators.com/gospel-mark-13-a.htm       “Scriptural Homilies” Cycle B (No 62) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com (L-18) Visit my website by clicking on http://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle B homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 196 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html for the Vatican version of this homily. Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604
XXXIIV OT (B) (1)
XXXIIV OT (B) (1)

O.T. 34 Christ the King (Nov 22) - Dn 7:13-14; Rv 1:5-8; Jn 18:33b-37(L/15)

Introduction: This Sunday, at the end of Church’s liturgical year, the readings describe the enthronement of the victorious Christ as King in Heaven in all his glory. Instituting this Feast of Christ the King, Pope Pius XI proclaimed: “Pax Christi in regno Christi” (the peace of Christ in the reign of Christ). This means that we live in the peace of Christ when we surrender our lives to him every day, accept him as our God, Savior and King and allow him to rule our lives.

Scripture lessons: The first reading, taken from the book of Daniel, tells of the mysterious Son of Man (with whom Jesus would later identify himself), coming on the clouds, glorified by God and given dominion that will last forever.  Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 93), proclaims, “The Lord is King,” celebrating the God of Israel as King over all creation.  In the second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation, the risen Christ comes amid the clouds as the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last of all things.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus asserts before Pilate that he is a king and clarifies that that his kingdom “does not belong to this world.”  He rules as King by serving others rather than by dominating them; his authority is rooted in truth, not in physical force, and his Kingdom, the reign of God, is based on the beatitudes. Jesus has come to bear witness to the truth: about God and His love for us, about himself as the Son of God and about us as the children of God.  There are plenty of texts proving the kingship of Jesus both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament of the Bible.

Life Nike Free 3.0 Messages: 1) We need to accept Christ the King as our Lord, King and Savior and surrender our lives to him. We surrender our lives to Jesus every day when we give priority to his teaching in our daily choices, especially in moral decisions. We should not exclude Christ our King from any area of our personal or family lives.  In other words, Christ must be in full charge of our lives, and we must give him sovereign power over our bodies, our thoughts, our heart and our will.

2) We need to accept Jesus Christ as our serving King. Jesus claimed that he came not to be served but to serve and showed us the spirit of service by washing of the feet of his disciples. We become his followers when we recognize his presence in everyone, especially the poor, the sick, the outcast and  the marginalized in the society  and render humble and loving service to Jesus in each of them. 3) We need to accept Jesus Christ as the King of love. Jesus came to proclaim to all of us the Good News of God’s love and salvation, gave us his new commandment of love: “Love one another as I have loved you,” and Nike Air Max 2017 Women's demonstrated that love by dying for us sinners. We accept Jesus as our King of love when we love others as Jesus loved, unconditionally, sacrificially and with agape love.

CHRIST THE KING (Nov 29) (Dn 7:13-14; Rv 1:5-8; Jn 18:33b-37)

Anecdotes: #1) Long live Christ the King! In the 1920s, a totalitarian regime gained control of Mexico and tried to suppress the Church. To resist the regime, many Christians took up the cry, "Viva Cristo Rey!” (“Long live Christ the King!”) They called themselves "Cristeros." The most famous Cristero was a young Jesuit priest named Padre Miguel Pro. Using various disguises, Padre Pro ministered to the people of Mexico City. Finally the government arrested him and sentenced him to public execution on November 23, 1927. The president of Mexico (Plutarco Calles) thought that Padre Pro would beg for mercy, so he invited the press to the execution. Padre Pro did not plead for his life, but instead knelt holding a crucifix. When he finished his prayer, he kissed the crucifix and stood up. Holding the crucifix in his right hand, he extended his arms and shouted, "Viva Cristo Rey!" (“Long live Christ the King!”) At that moment the soldiers fired. The journalists took pictures; if you look up "Padre Pro" or "Saint Miguel Pro" on the Internet, you can see that picture. (Fr. Phil Bloom).

#2: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” St. Thomas More is the patron saint of politicians. He was a brilliant lawyer and diplomat in 16th century England. His patriotism and loyalty to the throne attracted the attention of King Henry VIII who made him Lord Chancellor of England.  What Henry VIII did not know was that Thomas More’s first loyalty was to Christ, the King of kings. When Henry VIII decided to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon, marry Anne Boleyn and make himself head of the Church of England, More thought this was not right. Rather than approve what he believed to be against the Divine will, he resigned from his prestigious and wealthy position as Lord Chancellor and lived a life of poverty. Since he would not give his support to the king, More was arrested, convicted of treason, imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1534 and beheaded in July of the following year. On his way to public execution, More encouraged the people to remain steadfast in the faith. His last recorded words were: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” For More, it was not simply enough to confess Christ privately in the safety of his heart and home; he believed one must also confess Christ in one’s business and professional life as well as in the laws and policies that govern society. (Fr. Munacci).

# 3: On His Majesty’s Service: Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, was brought before the Roman authorities and told to curse Christ and he would be released.  He replied, "Eighty-six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my King, Jesus Christ, who saved me?"  The Roman officer replied, "Unless you change your mind, I will have you burnt."  But Polycarp said, "You threaten a fire that burns for an hour, and after a while is quenched; for you are ignorant of the judgment to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly.  Do what you wish."

Introduction: The Church’s liturgical year concludes with this feast of Christ the King, instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to celebrate the Jubilee Year and the 16th centenary of the Council of Nicaea.  Instituting this feast, Pope Pius XI proclaimed: “Pax Christi in regno Christi” (“The peace of Christ in the reign of Christ”).  This feast was established and proclaimed by the Pope to reassert the sovereignty of Christ and the Church over all forms of government and to remind Christians of the fidelity and loyalty they owed to Christ, who by his Incarnation and sacrificial death on the cross had made them both Nike Shox Nz Id adopted children of God and future citizens and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Christ is our spiritual King and Ruler who rules by truth and love. We declare our loyalty to him by the quality of our Christian commitment, expressed in our serving of others with sacrificial and forgiving love, and by our solidarity with the poor. Although emperors and kings with real ruling power exist today only in history books, we nevertheless honor Christ as the King of the Universe and the King of our hearts by allowing him to take control of our lives.  In thousands of human hearts all over the world, Jesus still reigns as King.  The Cross is his throne and the Sermon on the Mount, his rule of law.   His citizens need obey only one major law: “Love God with all your being, and love others as I have loved you.”  His love is selfless, compassionate, forgiving, and unconditional.  He is a King with a saving and liberating mission: freeing us from all types of bondage, enabling us to live peacefully and happily on earth, and promising us an inheritance in the eternal life of heaven.

This Sunday, at the end of Church’s liturgical year, the readings describe the enthronement of the victorious Christ as King in heaven in all his glory. The first reading, taken from the book of Daniel, tells of the mysterious Son of Man (with whom Jesus would later identify himself), coming on the clouds, glorified by God and given dominion that will last forever.  Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 93), proclaims, “The Lord is King,” celebrating the God of Israel as the King over all creation.  In the second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation, the risen Christ comes amid the clouds as the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last of all things.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus asserts before Pilate that he is a king and clarifies that that his kingdom “does not belong to this world.”  He rules as King by serving others rather than by dominating them; his authority is rooted in truth, not in physical force, and his Kingdom, the reign of God, is based on the beatitudes.

First reading: Daniel 7:13-14: The apocalyptic Book of Daniel came to prominence during a bitter persecution of the Jews in the second century BC, where it bolstered the faith of the beleaguered chosen people of God.  The book rises from the sixth century BC, during the Captivity of the Jews in Babylon (the Exile).Today’s selection from Daniel expresses well the Jewish understanding of the Kingship of God and that of the Promised Messiah.  It describes the mysterious “Son of Man” (with whom Jesus would later identify himself), as coming on the clouds, glorified by God and given the dominion that will last forever.  In his Nike Air Max 90 Ultra Breathe Pink vision, Daniel saw God seated on a Throne, with millions of people serving Him.  Into His presence there came a human figure, "one like a Son of Man,” to whom were given (v.14) "dominion and glory and kingship, that all should serve him... his kingship is one which shall never be destroyed."  He would be the King of kings and the Lord of glory and His Kingdom would last forever.  The New Testament proves that Jesus is this long-awaited King of the Jews.

Second reading: Revelation 1:5-8: The New Testament Book of Revelation has the same apocalyptic character as the Book of Daniel, although that element is not very evident in today's short selection.  Its readers were being persecuted, and the author wanted to bolster their faith.  To the description of Jesus given here, we can apply what was said above about the Son of Man and his commission from the Ancient One.  Today’s reading from the Book of Revelation also explains how the risen Christ will come amid the clouds as the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last of all things.  In its apocalyptic style, the Book of Revelation describes how Jesus has become our King by freeing us from our sins by his blood (and so from the ruler of darkness), and by blessing all of us to be priests for his God and Father -- all because he loves us.  Today’s reading concludes by stating that Christ the King is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, that is, the A and the Z, the beginning and the end of our lives and of all life.  Alpha and Omega are the first and the last letters of the alphabet in Greek, the original language of this book.  Giving Jesus the Alpha title reminds us of the : That Jesus is the Word of God, pre-existing with the Father before all creation.  To call Jesus the Omega is to say that he will be in charge at the end of the world.  The four passages refer to the supreme Kingship of Christ who founded a Kingdom for us, where He has made us priests dedicated to the service of God his Father.  He will come a second time to judge all men.

Exegesis: The Biblical basis of the feast: A) Old Testament texts: The title "Christ the King" has its roots both in Scripture and in the whole theology of theKingdom of God.   In most of the Messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel, Christ the Messiah is represented as a King.  B) New Testament texts: a) In the Annunciation, recorded in Lk 13:2-33, we read: “The Lord God will make him a King, as his ancestor David was, and He will be the King of the descendants of Jacob forever and His Kingdom will never end."  In fact, the Kingdom of God is the center of Jesus’ teaching and the phrase "Kingdom of God"occurs in the Gospels 122 times, of which 90 instances are uses by Jesus.  b) The Magi from the Far East came to Jerusalem and asked the question: (Mt. 2:2) “Where is the baby born to be the King of the Jews?  We saw his star… and we have come to worship him."  c) During the royal reception given to Jesus on Palm Sunday, the Jews shouted: (Lk.19: 38) “God bless the King, who comes in the name of the Lord."  d) During the trial of Jesus described in today’s Gospel, Pilate asked the question:  (Jn.18: 33):  “Are you the king of the Jews?"  Jesus replied: “You say that I am a king.  I was born and came into this world for this one purpose, to bear witness to the Truth."   e) The signboard hung over Jesus’ head on the cross read: “Jesus the Nazarene, king of the Jews."  f) Before his Ascension into Heaven, Jesus declared: (Mt. 28:18): “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.”  g) Finally, in Matthew 25:31, we read that Christ the King will come in glory to judge us on the day of the Last Judgment.

Jesus’ clarification of his kingship before Pilate during his trial: The Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy for claiming to be God, and they wanted him to die by the most shameful and painful type of Roman execution.  Hence, they brought Jesus before Pilate the Roman governor and accused Jesus of causing sedition against the Roman Empire and Caesar.  "We found this man inciting our people to revolt, opposing payment of the tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be Christ, a king" (Lk. 23:2).  Today’s Gospel presents the first part of the trial conducted by Pilate who questions Jesus about his kingship.  In his dialogue with Pilate, Jesus implies that Pilate does not understand the spiritual or transcendent nature of Jesus’ kingship (“My Kingdom does not belong to this world”).  Jesus admits that he is a king but declares that his Kingdom is not of this world.  Neither his present nor his future reign operates according to the world’s criteria of power and dominance.  Jesus’ Kingdom, the reign of God, is based on the beatitudes, and he rules through service rather than through domination.  His authority is rooted in truth, not in physical force.  Jesus also claims that he has come to bear witness to the truth about a larger and eternal Kingdom.  Jesus has come to bear witness to the truth: about God and His love, about us and about whom we are called to be.

èLife Messages: 1) We need to assess our commitment to Christ the King today.  As we celebrate the Kingship of Christ today, let us remember the truth thathe is not our King if we do not Golden Goose Francy Mujer listen to him, love him, serve him, and follow him.  We belong to his Kingdom only when we try to walk with him, when we try to live our lives fully in the spirit of the Gospel and when that Gospel spirit penetrates every facet of our living.  If Christ is really King of my life, he must be King of every part of my life, and I must let him reign in all parts of my life.  We become Christ the King’s subjects when we sincerely respond to his loving invitation:"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart" (Matthew 11:29).  By cultivating in our lives the gentle and humble mind of Christ, we show others that Jesus Christ is in indeed our King and that he is in charge of our lives.

2) We need to give Jesus control over our lives.  Today’s Feast of Christ the King reminds us of the great truth that Christ must be in charge of our lives, that we must give him sovereign power over our bodies, our thoughts, our heart and our will.  In every moral decision we face, there’s a choice between Christ the King and Barabbas, and the one who seeks to live in Christ's Kingdom is the one who says, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”  Let us ask ourselves the question, "What does Jesus, my King, want me to do or say in this situation?"  Are we praying each day that he will give us the right words to say to the people we meet that day, words that will make us true ambassadors of Jesus?  Does our home life as well as the way we conduct ourselves with our friends come under the Kingship of Jesus?  Or do we try to please ourselves rather than him?

3) We need to follow Christ the King’s lesson of humble service to the truth. Christ has come to serve and to be of service to others.  Hence, we are called to his service - service to the truth.  In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus saying that the reason for his coming – the reason that he was born – was to “bear witness” to the truth.  The truth to which Jesus bears witness by His Life and which he teaches us is that God his Father is also our loving and forgiving Father, so we are all His children, forming one body.  Hence, whatever we do for His children, and our sisters and brothers, we do for Him.  So we are called to be a people who reach out to embrace the enemy and the stranger, a people who are called to glory in diversity, a people who will endlessly forgive, a people who will reach out in compassion to the poor and to the marginalized sectors of our society, a people who will support one another in prayer, a people who will realize that we are called not to be served, but to serve.  In other words, servant-leadership is the model that Christ the King has given us.

4) We need to obey the law of love of Christ the King.  Citizens of Christ’s kingdom are expected to observe only one major law--the law of love.  "Love God with your whole heart and love your neighbor as yourself.”  "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."  Jesus expects a higher degree of love from His followers: “Love one another as I have loved you.”  On this great Feast of Christ the King, let us resolve to give him the central place in our lives and promise to obey his commandment of love by sharing what we have with all his needy children.

JOKE OF THE WEEK

#1: Christ is in charge: Susan C. Kimber, in a book called Christian Woman, shares a funny piece of advice she received from her little son: "Tired of struggling with my strong-willed little son, Thomas, I looked him in the eye and asked a question I felt sure would bring him in line: 'Thomas, who is in charge here?'  Not missing a beat, he replied, ‘Jesus is, and not you mom.’ "

#2: Co-pilot Christ the king: Many people love bumper sticker theology.  Bumper stickers may not always have the soundest theological statements, but they generally at least have the ability to make you think.  One such, “God is my Co-pilot," has also been found on Church signs, where the theology is just as much fun and sometimes sounder.  In this case, the Church sign says, "If Christ the King is your Co-Pilot, change seats."

Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, AL 36604, USA