Homily for June 1, 2008

Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time A
Deuteronomy 11:18, 26-28, 32
Psalms 31:2-3, 3-4, 17, 25
Romans 3:21-25, 28
Matthew 7:21-27

During the past week many persons remembered family members and friends who died in past years by visiting cemeteries. In my years as a priest I have found my visits to cemeteries as places of prayer, of silence, of memory. One of these cemeteries is St. Patrick's Cemetery in Rossie. Somewhat like St. James, St. Patrick's was founded by Irish immigrants who came to work in the mines. Many of the monuments have Irish names. One monument has stayed in my memory. It is the grave of a military hero -- a general. It lists all of the battles he fought and his lifetime accomplishments. Right next to it is a small stone erected for a beloved young wife who died when she was only 21 years old. Unlike the general’s long list of accomplishments, her grieving husband had only one line engraved in remembrance of her: Everywhere she went, she brought flowers.

If we are to have beautiful blossoms the plant needs pruning. Pruning is not only cutting back but also of the beautiful blossoms that flower when pruning is done at the right time and in the right way. And I believe that is what God is trying to tell us in our Bible readings or today. Our first reading we hear the voice of God through the words of Moses. What we hear is a strong reminder of how the Jews were freed from slavery. God reminds these people how they have been cared for by God. Keeping God laws is how they live gratefully.

The Jewish people will be blest as long as they live according to the “laws” which are meant to keep them safe. Palestine was a country surrounded by other nations with other gods and other ways. Moses is exhorting them to stick to their history, stick to their relationship with the God of their freedom and stick to their being one nation under God and not contaminated by contact with other nations.

God knows these people and gives them the freedom to wander, but informs them of the results of their going back into various forms of slavery. In other words, they need to be pruned of temptation to go back to their old way of life before they knew God. Our problem is that we are not always clear and sure about what is good for us.

During the next 25 Sundays we will be hearing the words of Jesus as recorded from the Gospel of Matthew. Today we hear the conclusion and summary of the famous Sermon on the Mount. Matthew was a Jew who had become a follower of Jesus. He lived among Jews. He wrote to the other Jews who had become Christians but were being ridiculed by others for their becoming followers of Jesus. So in Matthew’s gospel you will find many references to Jewish traditions which Jesus followed. He connects Jesus to Abraham and King David. But he also tells us about many things where Jesus breaks away from the Jewish religious leaders.

In our Gospel today, Matthew begins the Sermon on the Mount with Jesus' moral code summarized in the Beatitudes. These are not just beautiful and memorable sayings, but they are the requirements of those who want to follow Jesus. Those who follow Jesus are called disciples. You and I are disciples. Prayer is not enough. Discipleship means being active. At the end of his Gospel, Matthew gives us Jesus' Great Commission: 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

A disciple's first responsibility is to listen to God’s word and then submit to it. The power of God's Word -- Jesus -- will compel us to act in His name. Without this total submission, it will not matter how much good we do! Submitting ourselves to Jesus Christ is the foundation of our lives. We rarely see much of the foundation of a house. In the same way, we might look great on the outside by all the good deeds we do, but that hidden foundation, our interior submission to God, must be present. Otherwise, like the house built on sandy soil, we'll look good -- but only until temptation comes. Then we cave in.

All the teachings and ways of Jesus will lead to survival. His teachings form a firm foundation as when a person builds a house on rock. Those who choose other ways of living will eventually have their shaky footings swept away by their selfish ways of relating with life.

I once heard of a priest who spent most of the night making sandwiches for the homeless. He did not do it for reward or acceptance. Soon TV and news reporters heard about him. His reputation grew so much that his fellow priests starting sending him money to help him out. Much to their surprise he sent back the money to everyone with a one-line note that said: Make your own sandwiches.

This person obviously knew himself. He had pruned himself. He did not let the needs and expectations of others infect his own simple sense of discipleship. His spirituality was not dependent on the approval of others. Jesus tells us today: Built your life on a solid foundation -- on rock.