INTRODUCTION – Three hundred years is a long time. In our nation,
three hundred years would take us back to before George Washington was
born and long before our Declaration of Independence. In our first
reading we hear from Zechariah the prophet. For those who first heard
Zechariah’s words, there would have been the realization that it had
been three hundred years since their country had a king and had known
independence. They could recall their sad history that three hundred
years earlier their homes and lands, their city and their Temple had
been destroyed and they were exiled to Babylon and became Babylonian
slaves. Then the Persians conquered the Babylonians, allowed the Jews to
return home, but continued to rule them and to collect taxes from those
they ruled. Then came the Greeks who conquered Israel and who eventually
bitterly persecuted Jews who would not give up their faith and their
traditions. So when the prophet Zechariah tells God's people, “Rejoice!”
many of them probably thought he had been out in the sun far too long.
But God's prophet has reason to be full of joy. The role of a prophet is
to see clearly what others cannot see. He could see a time when there
would be no more war, or exile, destruction or conquest. He could see
that one day they would have their own king, a king who would bring
peace. That is the symbol of the donkey in the first reading. Horses
were weapons of war, used by warriors and conquerors. Horses, chariots,
warriors’ bows and other instruments of war would be outlawed in his
kingdom. The people of Jerusalem remembered this prophecy when Jesus
came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday. We’re not at Palm
Sunday yet. But we hear in today’s gospel Jesus reveals himself as a man
of peace who is meek and humble of heart. That’s why the passage from
Zechariah was chosen for our first reading. Someday after we learn to
better follow Jesus, the man of peace, maybe we will then see
Zechariah’s prophecy of peace fully fulfilled.
HOMILY - Up until a few hundred years ago, the yoke was very
common. It would join two animals together so their combined strength
could pull a plow or wagon. Now we have trucks and tractors to do the
work of animals. The word yoke also had a symbolic meaning. It
symbolized slavery and servitude.
At the time of Jesus, the Jewish law sometimes was referred to as a
yoke, a burden to be endured. The way the Scribes and Pharisees
interpreted God’s law certainly proved to be a burden on God’s people.
(Mt. 23,4) When Jesus said, “take my yoke upon you and learn from me,”
he was contrasting his way, his teachings to the Jewish leaders’
incorrect and burdensome interpretations of God’s law that the people
would hear weekly in their synagogues. The spirit behind Jesus’
teachings would lift their burdens and be refreshing. “Come to me all
you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
I think there are two ideas that are worth reflecting on. 1) Jesus said
“my yoke is easy and my burden light.” Every law is a burden, and this
includes even the laws Jesus gave us, for law involves obligations and
responsibilities, things we have to do and obey. When we obey his law,
we discover it is not overburdening, rather it will lift our spirits and
will lead us to eternal life. Sin, which is another word for
disobedience to God, puts a burden on us. St. Paul tells us when we sin
we become indebted to sin. We all know what debt can do to us. It weighs
us down. Next week Paul will tell us more about how sin can enslave us,
while living according to the Spirit gives us life.
This past week we celebrated our Independence Day. But there’s no
independence from God. We treasure our freedom in this country, but if
we think freedom is doing anything we want, we won’t have any freedom at
all. I think the image of a sailboat is a good example of what I’m
saying. I used to sail a lot. It was important that you kept your hand
on the tiller and kept the sail at the right angle to the wind. If you
let the boat go free, it would be a disaster. Many times I turned wrong
into the wind and got blown over. Once, on a really cold, windy day, I
spent a couple of hours in very cold water before someone rescued me. I
never told this story before because having to be rescued is
embarrassing for a sailor. In our own lives we need to keep going in the
right direction to find peace and happiness, and God’s laws are meant to
keep us going in that direction. God’s way is not to limit our freedom
as sometimes people think, but to guide us to peace and happiness. When
we ignore or violate his law (which is sin) we become a slave to our own
worst selves.
2) The other thing about a yoke is that it joins two animals together.
With a yoke, one animal does not pull the wagon or the plow alone. When
Jesus said, “come to me…take my yoke upon you,” he is offering to be our
partner in bearing our burdens. He is telling us we won’t go through
life alone. He promised at the Last Supper he would not leave us orphans
(Jn. 14,18) All we need to do, and sometimes we need to do it every day,
is to commit ourselves to following him and he will be there for us. We
can be sure of that! Amen.
Fifteenth Sunday in
Ordinary Time
July 13, 2008
INTRODUCTION The prophet, whom we hear in today’s first reading, was
speaking to God's captive people in Babylon. Through the prophet, God is
telling them they would soon be able to return home. Their exile, which
lasted 50 years, was suddenly at an end. No doubt this seemed like an
impossibility. God assures them his promise will be fulfilled. God said
his word is like the rain. When God sends the rain it does the work of
keeping the world green and alive. When God sends out his word, it is
not full of empty promises, but it has the power to be effective.
HOMILY Today we have a choice as to whether to do the long form
or short form of the gospel. I chose the short form, because I believe
most of us already know that Jesus was the one who scattered the seed by
speaking God’s word to all who would listen. Not everyone responded in
the same way. Some ignored him, some received his message with
enthusiasm but quickly forgot or was easily distracted. Some took God’s
word to heart and grew in God’s grace and love. God’s word was
generously offered to all people, but not everyone benefited from it.
Another purpose Jesus may have had in telling this parable was to help
his apostles understand why everyone did not follow Jesus with as much
excitement as they did.
It is a parable so rich in meaning that it has other interpretations as
well. I came across a delightful story by Megan McKenna in her book:
Parables: the Arrows of God which might give us another way of looking
at today’s parable.
There was a woman who was depressed over the state of the world. She
longed for love among her family and friends, peace among all people,
compassion for the poor and vulnerable. There were problems everywhere
as she saw so much selfishness, greed, hatred, lack of moral values.
One day she came upon a little shop. She walked in and was surprised to
see someone behind the counter who reminded her of Jesus. She couldn’t
believe it really was Jesus, but the similarity was so striking that she
just had to go to him and ask: “Excuse me, are you Jesus?” “I am.” “Do
you work here?” “No, I am the owner.” “What do you sell here?” “Well, I
really don’t sell anything. It’s all free. I have here just about
anything you might want. You’re welcome to walk around the aisles and
see what you might be interested in. Make a list of all the things you
want and bring it back to me. I’ll see what I can do for you.” She was
amazed at what she saw on the shelves: peace on earth, food to feed the
hungry, clean air and water, warm clothing for the poor, forgiveness.
The woman compiled a long list and brought it back to Jesus. When Jesus
looked at all the items she had written down he smiled and said “no
problem.” He bent down behind the counter and ran his fingers through
several boxes. He then stood up and laid out a series of small envelopes
for the woman. “What are these?” she asked. “Seed packets,” Jesus
replied. “This is a catalogue store.” “You mean I don’t get the finished
product?” she asked. “No,” Jesus said. “Just take these seeds home,
plant them and nurture them and help them grow and you will be quite
pleased with the results.” She said “Oh!” and left the store without
taking anything with her. Most of us want God to solve problems for us
overnight, and when he does that’s great, but mostly he gives us the
means and the help we need and calls us to have faith and patience. Live
by God’s word, it will not disappoint us. As God promised in today’s
first reading: “my word will not return to me void, but shall do my
will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”
Sixteenth Sunday in
Ordinary Time
July 20, 2008
INTRODUCTION
The first reading today could be difficult to follow. It is from the
book of Wisdom, a book of the bible written about 100 years before
Christ. At this time, the Jews were being persecuted for their faith.
Many Jews were giving up their belief in God and going over to pagan
ways. The author of this book is struggling with the question: “why is
God allowing this evil to go on?” His conclusion is that God's power is
not directed toward evil people, but it shows itself in God's patience,
wanting people to repent and allowing them time to do so. This theme
prepares us for the gospel, which also deals with the problem of evil.
HOMILY
I’ll start with the parable of the wheat and the weeds. A few months ago
I had a conversation with a professed atheist. He was convinced that God
could not exist because there was so much evil in the world. I wasn’t
able to convince him otherwise. He was like the farm workers in today’s
gospel who wanted to go out into the field and pull up all the weeds. No
one who tries to grow a garden lets the weeds grow along with the
flowers and vegetables they plant, but as with many of Jesus’ parables,
God does exactly what we would not expect. The owner of the farm, who
represents God, said let the wheat and weeds grow together and we’ll
separate them at harvest time. Because God does not always do things the
way we think he should, many people often get angry with God or turn
away altogether. They forget who’s the Master.
Thank God who is so patient, or there might be a mighty small population
in today’s world. If any of us think we’re the ones God would not pluck
up, then you can sign up after Mass to begin your canonization process.
Other than the Blessed Virgin and Jesus himself, we’re all sinners and
in need of salvation. I personally am most grateful that God is patient
with me.
Although we admit we all fail to be as holy as we know we should be, and
we know God is patient and merciful, this is not the time to beat
ourselves up. This is a time to be grateful for his way of dealing with
us stems from his infinite love for us. That is the deeper mystery. God
delights in us, even though we have weeds growing in our garden. He
gives us his help to continue growing in holiness. This idea connects
with the other two parables about the mustard seed and the yeast, for
growth is a slow process.
Of course these two parables are originally meant to describe the
kingdom that God is establishing through the ministry of Jesus Christ, a
kingdom that started with a very tiny group of followers and continues
to grow. I’ll bet the apostles would never have imagined that it would
still be growing 2000 years later and would number 2 billion followers
of Christ (if you include in that number all Christian denominations).
However, we can see these two parables from a personal perspective in
that, although we want to love and serve God, we do not become perfect
overnight. We must be patient with ourselves for growth takes much
longer than we want it to at times. It will happen if we keep doing the
best we can to pray and to do what God wants. St. Paul’s letter to the
Romans is apropos when he tells us in today’s second reading we do not
know how to pray as we ought, so the Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers
by interceding for us.
That points out what is so unique about the Mass. The Mass is the
greatest, and as Jesus said, the most powerful way to pray. We are
joined together in prayer. The Mass is also great because it is the
prayer and perfect sacrifice of Jesus, and we get to join our prayer and
worship with his. There are lots of wonderful and powerful prayers and
the Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers. Most of all the Spirit is with
us now as we thank God for his goodness to us and ask his blessing upon
us.
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 27, 2008
INTRODUCTION
King David died about 970 years before Christ. His son, Solomon,
succeeded him as king of Israel. Today’s first reading is Solomon’s
prayer as he begins his reign. He prayed for an understanding heart that
he would reign well. Of all the gifts he could have asked for, he valued
wisdom more than anything else. God's commands guide us to wisdom, so in
the psalm refrain we praise God for this gift.
HOMILY
Again this Sunday we hear Jesus teaching us about the kingdom of heaven.
The parable about the net thrown in the sea was explained and the first
two parables about the treasure and the pearl are pretty obvious.
However, I have a story that will help us think more deeply about the
idea of a treasure.
A lady wrote this story about herself. She recalled that when she was a
child her wealthy parents would take an extended vacation every summer
and they would leave their child in the care of a sitter. When the girl
was eleven, the sitter quit right before the parents were to go on
vacation, but the parents were able to hire a substitute. The girl came
upon her mother wrapping up and hiding all the family jewels and
silverware. The little girl asked why, since her mother had never done
that before. Her mother explained she could not trust the new sitter
with the family valuables. You can imagine how the little girl
interpreted this remark. The parents were trusting the sitter with their
daughter but not with anything that had material value. Was she not a
“family valuable” of greater importance than knives and forks?
That remark did not make the little girl feel valued. I am sure her
parents would have protested that they greatly valued their daughter.
The point I am making is that we can all say we value something or
someone. But sometimes the things or people we value most are taken for
granted.
Jesus is telling us today that the kingdom of God and living in God’s
good grace is of the highest value to us. Going to Mass, prayer, keeping
the Commandments, loving God and each other is not just a form of
insurance that we will be happy in the next life. It is something that
we make part of our lives. The man who found the treasure was lucky, but
the treasure wasn’t legally and fully his until he sacrificed his
possessions in order to buy the field. The man who wanted the pearl had
to do the same. The kingdom of heaven doesn’t come automatically. We
have to invest in it to really possess it, or rather I should say, to
have it possess us. The most important thing we have to invest is our
time, time to pray and to reflect on the Scriptures, perhaps even to
serve God or the Church with some of our gifts and talents. But it also
requires an investment of our will, choosing to guide our lives by
Christ’s teachings rather than making up our own rules about what’s good
or bad. It even takes an investment of our finances, since if we value
our faith, we will adequately support it.
When this life is over, we will have to leave behind most of our
treasures. But we will take with us our good works and our love for God
and others; these will be our joy for all eternity. A life of holiness
and goodness is a treasure that will not fail. Amen.
