Our first reading is from the book of Revelation. The section just
preceding today’s passage described the end of the world. The sun became
dark and the moon became red as blood and there was a great earthquake all
over the earth. People tried to hide from all these terrible things and
they asked: “Who can survive?” Today’s reading answers the question -
those who have followed Christ faithfully. The number 144,000 is a
symbolic number, symbolizing perfection. Notice after it refers to the
144,000 it speaks of those who are saved as such a large crowd that no one
could count them.
HOMILY:
It’s hard to believe it’s already November. As this year comes to an end
we are reminded that time in this life will come to an end for each one of
us. It’s not something most of us enjoy thinking about, but the Church
reminds us through various liturgies at this time of the year that this
life is not all there is. God has greater things prepared for us. And so
we begin the month with the feast of All Saints, giving us an image of the
glory God intends for us if we just travel along the way he has pointed
out for us.
The first reading today is from the last book of the bible giving us a lot
of hope that we will be among those who will enjoy God’s love for all
eternity. Even though Jesus told us that those who take the easy way that
leads to destruction are many, and there are few who enter into life
through the narrow gate, those few are still quite a sizeable number, a
number too large to count. Those who have been designated by the Church
as saints are very easy to count. It’s obvious that the great number of
saints our first reading tells us about include ordinary people like us,
or like neighbors we’ve known, or parents or grandparents or relatives
we’ve loved.
The hope that our first reading gives us is underscored in our second
reading where we hear that “we are God’s children.” This is not just a
nice, feel-good, poetic term, it is in fact what we really are if we have
God’s grace in us.
Our gospel reading shows us Jesus preaching the beatitudes as he begins
the Sermon on the Mount. As we hear the beatitudes, we can perhaps think
of some of the great saints who lived out the various beatitudes. For
example: “blessed are the single hearted” such as Mother Teresa, or
“blessed are the poor in spirit” like St. Francis of Assisi, or “blessed
are those persecuted for holiness sake” such as St. Lawrence or St.
Boniface. Which of the beatitudes do you think appeals most to you? On
this day of All Saints it might be a good idea to choose one of the
beatitudes and try to live it out more fully. I believe if we do, we will
find that we are at the same time living out all the others to a greater
degree as well. ” Let us remember that Jesus ends them with these words:
“Be glad and rejoice, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 4, 2007
INTRODUCTION: Our first reading begins with the line: “Before the
Lord, the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning
dew.” The balance the author is speaking of is a balancing scale where a
grain would be a tiny weight that weighed something like gold or silver.
The author could have had no idea how vast the universe is, but he is true
in telling us God is greater. After this statement, the author of our
reading goes into a long prayer of praise of God’s greatness and love.
HOMILY: To help you see the humor and the drama in today’s gospel,
I would like you to imagine that the pope is making a visit to Washington
D.C. Most of Washington’s politicians and lawyers, lobbyists and ordinary
people show up to welcome him. Dick Cheney, our vice president who also
wanted to see the pope, was out hunting and he showed up late. The crowd
was too big for him to get through and, since he is a little shorter than
average, he wasn’t able to see over the heads of people in the crowd. To
see the pope’s motorcade, Dick Cheney climbs up one of the cherry trees so
he can see better. A few in the crowd may have enjoyed watching Dick
Cheney climb a tree. But then the pope saw him there and said “Dick,
hurry and get down. I’m going to stay with you this evening.” Watching
him “hurry down” might have drawn a few more chuckles. The pope might
have even laughed, but then things got less funny. People started
grumbling. The pope is playing partisan politics. The pope should be
concerned about the poor and here he is catering to the rich. Then there
would be those who believe that Dick Cheney is not a totally honest and
virtuous person and they wonder why the pope is hanging out with people
like that. Right away Dick Cheney declares that he’s giving half of his
oil stock to Catholic Charities and he is going to make right any mistakes
that he was responsible for in the Bush administration!
Now you have a feel for the humor and the drama that one might have felt
on that particular day when Jesus passed through Jericho. I want to
clarify one thing: I used Dick Cheney as an example only because he is
well known and because he probably wouldn’t look very dignified climbing
up or down a cherry tree. Zaccheus would have been well known. He was
the chief tax collector in the area whose wealth most likely came from
gouging the poor people he collected taxes from. The people would have
viewed him as a traitor and a first rate crook. So lets reflect on what
happened when Jesus asked Zaccheus to hurry down from the tree. Jesus had
already seen the potential goodness in this man. With just a simple word
from Jesus, new life filled Zaccheus. Jesus asked only for a meal and a
place to stay for the night, but the heart of Zaccheus opened up
completely. He announced he would make amends if he had defrauded anyone
(as he surely had, for fourfold restitution was traditional in cases of
flagrant theft). Furthermore, he committed himself to giving half of his
money to the poor. The gospels never tell us of Jesus smiling, but surely
on this occasion he must have been grinning from ear to ear.
The first reading tells us in prayer: God,
“you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made.”
Although God’s love was there before Zaccheus was even born, Zaccheus had
to do something to open himself to that love. And he did. He climbed a
tree and before he knew it, Jesus was a guest in his home. Not only was
Jesus his guest, but something else wonderful happened to Zaccheus.
Zaccheus discovered that genuine happiness was not in material wealth but
in God’s love and in loving others. The gospel describes Zaccheus as
small, but his encounter with Jesus allowed him to grow - not in stature
but in maturity and love and joy.
What is the tree that we have to climb to
see Jesus? In what way do we have to go out of our way to allow God to
take possession of us? Do we need to spend more time in prayer? Do we
need to be more generous with our money? Do we need to rise above our
fears and mistrust and allow God to have more control in our lives? Do we
need to come to Mass more often, perhaps even when we are not obligated to
come? Do we need to forgive or to be forgiven? Do we need to control our
impatience and trust more? The tree that we need to climb in order to see
Jesus better may take many forms. Do we want to see Jesus badly enough to
climb it?
No matter how small we may think we are,
no matter how bad we may have been, no matter how insignificant we may
feel, God loves us and he offers us his friendship and his life --
forever. Today at Mass he is inviting himself into our lives. As Jesus
states in the Book of Revelation: “Behold I stand at the door and knock.”
How far will we open the door of our hearts to let him in?
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 10/11, 2007
INTRODUCTION
Alexander the Great built an empire that stretched from Sicily and Egypt
all the way to India. This included Israel. About a hundred and fifty
years after Alexander died, the Greeks still governed the area. By that
time they started enforcing Greek culture and religion on all those whom
they ruled. In Israel this meant, for example, that it was a crime to
circumcise a child. Copies of the Scriptures were burned. Jews could not
follow their dietary laws or celebrate their usual feasts. The worship of
Greek gods and goddesses was required. Some of the Jews gave in to the
Greeks, others fought hard to hold on to their traditional faith in
Yahweh. Our first reading gives us just a hint of how terrible this time
was for the Jews. This reading is chosen because it reflects their faith
in the resurrection of those who are faithful to Yahweh, and it prepares
us for the gospel which also deals with the topic of resurrection.
HOMILY
St. Paul said clearly, “If Christ is not risen, vain is our preaching and
vain is your faith.” Paul’s words remind us how essential to our faith is
the resurrection. It is the death and resurrection of Christ we celebrate
each week at the Eucharist. We recall this mystery in the spring at Easter
time because that’s when Jesus died and rose. At this time of the year we
reflect on death and resurrection because the year is coming to an end.
The Church reminds us our own lives will also come to an end some day. We
have been called to share in Christ’s risen life at the end of time. Most
of us do not like to think about this life coming to an end, but if we
don’t think about it, we will not be very well prepared for it. It is
important that we be prepared, because it’s only by being prepared through
our faithfulness to Christ that we will enjoy the wonderful things that
are ahead for us. Jesus said: “I came that they may have life and have it
more abundantly.” That more abundant life will be with him forever in
risen glory.
Our first reading describes the heroic faith of many Jews during the
difficult period when the Greeks were attempting to impose paganism on the
Jewish people. That was about a century and a half before the birth of
Christ. The faith that these faithful Jews showed was amazing, considering
that the Jews had not had a long tradition of belief in the resurrection.
That was a concept that only developed a few hundred years before Christ.
We see from the gospel that not even all of the religious leaders of
Jesus’ day believed in the resurrection. The Sadducees were of the
priestly class. We hear them in today’s gospel asking Jesus a ridiculous
question, not because they were interested in the answer, but because they
wanted to embarrass him with a dilemma they thought he wouldn’t be able to
answer. Jesus answered them by saying their idea of the next life was
incorrect. The law that Moses wrote about a man taking his brother’s wife
if his brother were to die was meant to preserve a deceased man’s name and
memory through offspring, to protect inheritance, and to secure the safety
of the widow. There would be no need for all of that in the next life.
Jesus did not tell us much of what it will be like in the next life,
because it will be so much different from anything we now know. It will
not be a continuation of our present life. We will have our bodies back,
not with all our aches and pains and imperfections, but in some glorified
form. After our spirit enters into the glory of God's kingdom, we hope,
then at the time of the resurrection, we will receive a body to match - a
body that will radiate also God's glory. It is beyond our understanding
now what this might be like. C.S. Lewis tried to describe it this way. He
said a person who has experienced bodily resurrection “would have gone
through as big a change as a [stone] statue...[being] changed from being a
carved stone to being a real man."
The Lord reminds us today that the work of creation is not finished. Our
spirits and the glorified body that we will have will be infused with the
strength and beauty and glory and immortality of God. But we need to
cooperate with this plan that God has for us. This is why Christ came to
us, to show us the way. This is one of the reasons why we gather for the
Eucharist each week – to remember what Jesus taught us and to remember
what he did for us and why.
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 18, 2007
INTRODUCTION
In our first reading today we hear from the prophet Malachi who lived
about 470 years before Christ. Many Jews at that time were apathetic about
their religious duties and about keeping the Commandments. He warns his
listeners that the day of reward and punishment is coming. Fire is the
symbol that represents both the reward and the punishment. It will be
scorching heat for those who have not followed God’s ways, and will bring
warmth and healing to those who have been faithful.
HOMILY
I’m always feeling nervous around this time of the year. It’s the season
when they shoot turkeys!
In case you are wondering why the church is decorated in this fashion, we
had our children’s Mass on Friday and the theme was Thanksgiving. The tail
feathers on the turkey on the altar each mention something that each
kindergarten child is thankful for (their family, their teacher, their
parents, their dog, their brother!) And the trees have fruit hanging on
them, with lists of things the children in other grades are grateful for.
As we all know, true gratitude not only inspires us to say “thank you” but
also moves us to share our blessings. So the children brought in cans of
food for our St. Vincent de Paul food pantry. By the way, about 85 to 90
percent of our school children come from families whose income is below
the poverty line. One does not have to be rich to be generous and to
share.
Life has its ups and downs. We have happy times and we have tragic times.
And the Scripture readings this week remind us of both, the good times and
bad. Today’s gospel is about difficult times. It reminds us that some day
this world, which we love, (most of the time) will come to an end. The
destruction of the Temple was just a prelude to the end of all things that
we treasure. We need to remember that this will happen, so we keep our
priorities straight and make God’s Kingdom our greatest treasure for that
will never end.
On Thursday of this week, we think of the blessings we have received and
we give thanks. We need to know, however, that gratitude is an attitude
and not just something that takes place once a year. I’ve always preached
that thankfulness is the key to joy. This is supported now by objective
psychological research. Two psychologists from the University of Miami
took three groups and randomly assigned them to take time once a week to
focus on one of three things: hassles, things for which they were
grateful, and ordinary things. The results were that people who focused on
things for which they were grateful saw their lives in favorable terms.
They had fewer headaches or colds, and they took better care of themselves
. Their energy and joy and their willingness to help others was noticed by
those who knew them. This did not happen with the other two groups.
Further studies have confirmed those results. That’s fantastic. If you
want to live happier, healthier, more optimistic lives, practice being
more grateful. Psychology is just confirming what we’ve always been
taught. St. Paul, two millennia ago, said “Dedicate yourselves to
thankfulness…Sing gratefully to God from your hearts in psalms, hymns and
inspired songs. Whatever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in
the name of the Lord Jesus. Give thanks to God the Father through him.”
(Col. 3, 15-17) The Church tries to help us to become grateful if we’re
not, or to remain grateful if we are, by telling us to come to Mass every
week. Another word for Mass is Eucharist, a Greek word meaning
Thanksgiving. Too many people think Thanksgiving is all about lots of food
and lots of football. That will not do the job for our spirits that real
gratitude will do.
The biggest obstacle to a grateful spirit is our own negativism. We tend
to dwell on our problems, on what we don’t have, on what’s wrong with our
lives. Certainly we have to try to deal with problems when they arise, but
some things we just have to live with. If we are always focused on
problems, that’s a path that leads to depression. To develop an attitude
of gratitude, we have to consciously focus on what’s right with our lives,
what cheers us up, what we have, not what we wish we had. It takes a
conscious effort and discipline to do this sometimes. When we begin seeing
how blessed we are, it’s like opening the shade and letting in the
sunshine, or as Malachi says it, “there will arise the sun of justice with
its healing rays.”
Gratitude expressed to others almost always comes back around. One study,
for example, showed that waitresses who wrote “thank you” on the check
they presented at the end of a meal received on average 11% more tips than
those who didn’t. Gratitude does have a boomerang effect.
We are reminded in Mass today how blessed we are. Sure there will be
difficult times in life, but God will not abandon us. He will help us
through. If we follow the wisdom and the way of life he has revealed to us
we can, with gratitude, look forward to eternal joy. “Not a hair on your
head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
Amen.
Christ the King
November 25, 2007
INTRODUCTION When the first king of Israel, King Saul, was killed in battle, the
southern part of Israel chose David as their king. The northern part chose
Ishbaal, King Saul’s son, to be their king. Ishbaal was inept and after
seven years of chaos, the northern tribes turned to David and asked him to
rule them also. This is where our first reading comes in. David was a
successful leader and, in spite of some serious misbehavior, was viewed
throughout Jewish history as an ideal king. The Jews always hoped for
another king like him. When a king assumed his office, he was anointed and
thus the ideal king the Jews longed for was often referred to as “the
anointed one.” The Hebrew word for this is “Mashiah,” or as we say it:
“Messiah.” When Mashiah is translated into Greek we have “Χριστός.” So
when we call Jesus “Christ” we are in effect saying Jesus, the King.
Christ’s kingdom is not an earthly one, as St. Paul tells us, but it is
eternal and a sharing in God’s own authority and power.
HOMILY
This will be my last homily for this year. Before everyone cheers or
wonders whether I am taking an extended vacation, I should tell you I’m
talking about the liturgical year -otherwise known as the Church year.
Next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent, and we begin again a new Church
year, preparing ourselves to celebrate Christ’s birth. Before we know it,
we’re into Ash Wednesday, and it is especially early this year. The last
time Lent came so early in the spring (and that’s because Easter is early)
was 89 years ago. Starting next Sunday, then, we begin to recall the major
events of Jesus life: his birth, his death, resurrection, ascension and
his sending of the Holy Spirit. After Pentecost, as usual, we hear about
his miracles and his teaching as presented to us in St. Matthew’s gospel.
And as usual, at the end of the liturgical year, we will again celebrate
the feast of Christ the King.
The feast of Christ the King was established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. You
might wonder, didn’t Pius XI know kings are not so popular any more? But
what else could we call Christ? Should we call him instead a president, a
prime minister, the chairman of the board, a dictator, president for life?
The title “King” is most fitting for Christ. But he is not the same as any
other king. His power is absolute and eternal. He has received his
authority and power from God the Father and that will never change.
When we think of kings, it is automatic to associate them with castles and
crowns, royal robes, jewelry, servants, armies and various symbols of
wealth and power. Today Jesus, our king, is pictured hanging on the cross,
his crown a crown of thorns. His small group of followers is nowhere to be
found except for his mother, one faithful Apostle, and a couple of women.
No rings were on his fingers, just nails in his hands and feet. No royal
robes, instead he was most likely stripped naked as was the Roman custom.
Later centuries have covered him over with a loin cloth for modesty. No
one is cheering him or praising him. His enemies are outdoing each other
mocking him. After three years working to establish a kingdom of love, he
is condemned as a criminal, tortured and executed. He warned his followers
some of them would suffer in a similar fashion. It’s a wonder he had any
followers at all.
I am always impressed when I think of what Jesus did in three years. Moses
labored for 40 years, Buddha 45 years, and Muhammad 23. The carpenter on
the cross, with the sign above his head, Jesus Christ, king of the Jews,
who came from a politically and religiously insignificant part of an
insignificant country, influenced this world more than any human being
that ever lived. After two thousand years a billion people, including
ourselves, call him our king! If some of his followers reflected his
teachings more faithfully, there might be six billion who now follow him.
Jesus is a king who does not parade around in worldly glory or demonstrate
worldly power. However, he is greater than any king who ever lived, for he
is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
Our king does not rule by arms and weapons. Arms and weapons get people’s
attention. Without having someone to stand over us with a club or a gun,
we are tempted to feel “why do I have to do what they tell me?” A lot of
people feel that about Jesus. The people who put him on a cross felt that
way, except for his few friends and the thief who asked to be remembered
when Jesus entered his kingdom. The Jewish leaders thought they would be
rid of this troublemaker, this bossy person who went around telling people
how they should live. They didn’t understand the power that he lived by
and taught by, the power of love. He will always be a king who rules with
love, but whether or not he is king in our lives and in our hearts is up
to us. If we respond to him in love, it will lead us into his kingdom of
new life.
A cartoon in the New Yorker showed two fellows walking to lunch one day
and the one was complaining to the other: “my boss keeps telling me what
to do.” Authority is not popular, we like to make our own rules, even with
regard to God. The new age theology, which is really a return to paganism,
views Christ as a nice guy who overlooks our bad behavior and is going to
reward all of us in the end, no matter how we’ve lived. He will forgive us
if we turn to him. Notice his words of forgiveness were directed only to
one of the two crucified with him. We cannot take our salvation lightly.
The cross was not a joy ride for Jesus. Salvation is serious business and
Jesus suffered in order to win salvation for us. But he can only save us
if we do not forget that he is always our king, not just in an abstract
way but in our concrete, everyday lives. Amen.
