Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time August 28, 2008
Jeremiah 20,7-9
Psalm 62,2.3-4.5-6.8-9
Romans 12,1-2
Matthew 16,21-27
Football is one of the Fall sports that attract thousands of persons both on the high school and college level. Some years ago, Gene Stallings coached the University of Alabama to a 22 –game winning streak and number-two rating in college football, and then the Dallas Cowboys. But it was not this event—but another one—that had the greatest impact on his life. It was the birth of his son, Johnny.
When the doctor told Stallings and his wife that their son Johnny had Down’s syndrome and would probably not live beyond the age of four, Stallings fainted. Thirty years later Johnny still had Down’s syndrome and was still living. In his book Another Season he describes the impact Johnny has had on his life, Stallings said: “He’s special! All his love is unconditional. He doesn’t keep score. He’s totally unselfish.” On many occasions Stallings has said if he could reverse things and start over with a child who didn’t have Down’s syndrome, he and his wife would not do it. What Stalling thought would be an enormous cross in his life turned out to be an enormous blessing.
The readings of today's Mass all give the same message. They tell us that our blessings in life may also involve crosses. We may decide for whatever reason to go against God. If and when we do the price we pay is not being true to our deepest self. God and Jesus are to be trusted absolutely. God will stand at our side.
Our first reading is a section from Jeremiah. It is one of the most moving passages of the Old Testament. But as any biblical text it must be placed in its context to be understood. The passage quoted expresses in vivid detail how difficult it can be to follow God. God had ask Jeremiah to be one of his prophets; that is, a person chosen to speak for God. Jeremiah feels that God "duped" him. Jeremiah does speak for God, but when he does, he gets insulted. Everyone laughs at me, he says. But inspite of that, Jeremiah still keeps on living as God wants him because it becomes like fire burning in my heart. Isn't this a powerful description of how we suffer when we obey our conscience. Our conscience is the voice of God within each of us who keeps telling us: you are being good or you are being bad. No matter what we try to do to deny or stifle that voice, it is always there.
Jesus at one time used the example of a coin. On one side of the coin is the cross and on the other side is a crown. If we try to embrace one side, the glorious side, and reject the other, the suffering side, we falsify the gospel. The same Jesus who said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest,” also said, “If any of you want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Do we come to Jesus then to be freed from our burdens or do we come to Jesus to take on the cross? We come to Jesus to be freed from our meaningless and futile burdens and, in its place, take on the cross that leads to salvation and glory.
Today’s gospel challenges us to say no to the very attractive but one-sided gospel of instant glory, a sugar-coated gospel that offers the false promise of “all crown and no cross”. Often we followers of Jesus may think: “Only believe and it will all go well with you.” It didn’t all go well for Jesus; he still had to endure the cross. It didn’t all go well with Mary; a sword of sorrow still pierced her soul. It didn’t all go well with the countless men and women saints who have gone before us. Why then should it all go well with you and me? In the face of disappointment, bereavement, sickness and failure, our faith response should be, not to question “Why me?” but to recognize that these crosses and contradictions are the necessary condition for our future glory.
Each day we are tempted to abandon God and do things that our consciences says we should not do. It is so easy for us to pick and chose parts of the bible or our Catholic faith, and accept those parts and practices that make our religion painless. It is so easy to yield to peer pressure, which is one of the most powerful social forces in the world. It is so easy to stifle the voice of our conscience when we see other people apparently stifling theirs. But that is not what today's readings urge us to do. For Jeremiah, for Paul, and for Matthew, God calls us to a difficult vocation. Unless we constantly remind ourselves of this we will fail to be the kind of disciples that Christ expects us to be.
If we pick up our cross and follow in the footsteps of Jesus, our cross can also become a blessing and a stepping stone to greater things.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Homily for the Week of August 24, 2008
TWENTIETH-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME A 2008
Readings: Isaiah 22:19-23;
Romans 11:33-36;
Matthew 16: 13-20
In the past few days the news networks have been saturated with the guessing game as to whom will be selected to campaign for the Vice President of the United States. In the next few weeks, if we chose, we can view and listen to the speeches of those who believe they have the best qualifications and moral character to lead our country for the next 4 years. This will all be done in the most opulent exhibition that money can buy.
Fast forward to about the year 30 AD. Jesus and his disciples are in the region of Caesarea Philippi, a pagan area about 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. They were likely standing at the base of Mount Hermon, in front of the well known cliff filled with niches holding statues of pagan gods at the top of which was a statue in honor of Julius Caesar. Jesus' campaign speech was very short. He asked his close friends who others thought he was. He got a variety of answers. This was an indication that he was not well known -- perhaps much like the answers he would get from persons today.
Then Jesus turns the question around. He asked his friends who they taught he was. There was silence. But then Peter answers: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus then speaks to Peter directly telling him that was the right answer. He then appoints him as the first leader of the church, or was later known as the First Pope.
That passage has been the subject of much controversy over the past 2000 year history of the Catholic church. That the Pope is the head of the Church is a belief that has not been accepted by other Christian churches. And even on our part, we may not fully understand the implications of who the Pope is. Some think he is sinless. Others give him supernatural power, others believe he cannot make a mistake; others think of him as a man who has too much authority, and some could care less about the Pope.
We are told today in our Gospel that Peter was chosen by Jesus to be the leader of the church. Jesus gave Peter the keys of the kingdom and also tremendous responsibility: WHATEVER YOU BIND UPON EARTH SHALL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN, AND WHATEVER YOU LOOSE UPON EARTH SHALL BE LOOSED IN HEAVEN. That same authority was given to all Popes. And from the time of Peter to Pope Benedict XVI the church has been lead by human beings. Some of our popes have been great men; not only in piety, but also in vision, but others have been, humanly speaking, almost lacking in any qualifications to lead and strengthen the Church. There have been times of goodness in the church due to them and there have been times of terrible damage. But through all of it the Church has escaped from the jaws of death, which leads us to believe that the church must be divinely guided, or else, like many corporations or associations, it would have folded up over the past 2000 years.
Why has the plan of Jesus worked? The reason is that Jesus is still with the church, especially in the person of the Pope, no matter who he might be. Peter and the others popes are not the successors of Jesus but really his representatives, those who stand in his place. He has authority only in the name of another person -- the person to whom authority really belongs. And so the authority of the Pope is really the authority of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the real rock of the Church. He is the firm foundation. Jesus continues to lead and strengthen the church through the Pope, his vicar on earth.
Peter was chosen head of the Church, not because he had taken courses in leadership and administration, but because he had faith. He was the only one who could answer 100% correctly the question WHO IS JESUS--You are the son of the living God.
Authority is not given to a person to do with as they please. All authority is accountable to God. It must be exercised with God will, and out of human limitations. The best way to use authority is like a servant. Jesus was telling us that all persons who have any authority, whether moms and dads, or teachers, or Presidents or Vice Presidents or whomever are bound to suffer also are called to serve others, not to be served.
Many of you have heard the word INFALLIBILITY connected to the Pope. Infallibility does not mean that the Pope is sinless. It means that whenever the Pope gives us a truth regarding faith and morals -- what we are to believe and how we are to live -- he speaks as if Jesus were speaking to us. The Pope does this very, very rarely, and only after he has called together his advisors from throughout the world. The last time of infallibility was November 1st, 1950 when Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of Mary as a teaching of the Catholic Church. Such infallibility lets us know what God wants us to believe and how to act with justice and love. This authority is a guide for our conscience but it is not a substitute for it.
Jesus lived on earth only 33 years. He arranged that his teachings and his mercy would be known through human beings like Peter or Benedict XVI. In the Old Testament God always chose human beings to bring his good news and his message to others. Jesus chose 12 apostles as his leaders. But all of us are called in our own way to bring faith and morality to others. Each of us our Christ bearers.
are to live out that calling in our ordinary lives. Then we live up to our names as followers of Jesus as we continue the building of the kingdom.
Readings: Isaiah 22:19-23;
Romans 11:33-36;
Matthew 16: 13-20
In the past few days the news networks have been saturated with the guessing game as to whom will be selected to campaign for the Vice President of the United States. In the next few weeks, if we chose, we can view and listen to the speeches of those who believe they have the best qualifications and moral character to lead our country for the next 4 years. This will all be done in the most opulent exhibition that money can buy.
Fast forward to about the year 30 AD. Jesus and his disciples are in the region of Caesarea Philippi, a pagan area about 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. They were likely standing at the base of Mount Hermon, in front of the well known cliff filled with niches holding statues of pagan gods at the top of which was a statue in honor of Julius Caesar. Jesus' campaign speech was very short. He asked his close friends who others thought he was. He got a variety of answers. This was an indication that he was not well known -- perhaps much like the answers he would get from persons today.
Then Jesus turns the question around. He asked his friends who they taught he was. There was silence. But then Peter answers: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus then speaks to Peter directly telling him that was the right answer. He then appoints him as the first leader of the church, or was later known as the First Pope.
That passage has been the subject of much controversy over the past 2000 year history of the Catholic church. That the Pope is the head of the Church is a belief that has not been accepted by other Christian churches. And even on our part, we may not fully understand the implications of who the Pope is. Some think he is sinless. Others give him supernatural power, others believe he cannot make a mistake; others think of him as a man who has too much authority, and some could care less about the Pope.
We are told today in our Gospel that Peter was chosen by Jesus to be the leader of the church. Jesus gave Peter the keys of the kingdom and also tremendous responsibility: WHATEVER YOU BIND UPON EARTH SHALL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN, AND WHATEVER YOU LOOSE UPON EARTH SHALL BE LOOSED IN HEAVEN. That same authority was given to all Popes. And from the time of Peter to Pope Benedict XVI the church has been lead by human beings. Some of our popes have been great men; not only in piety, but also in vision, but others have been, humanly speaking, almost lacking in any qualifications to lead and strengthen the Church. There have been times of goodness in the church due to them and there have been times of terrible damage. But through all of it the Church has escaped from the jaws of death, which leads us to believe that the church must be divinely guided, or else, like many corporations or associations, it would have folded up over the past 2000 years.
Why has the plan of Jesus worked? The reason is that Jesus is still with the church, especially in the person of the Pope, no matter who he might be. Peter and the others popes are not the successors of Jesus but really his representatives, those who stand in his place. He has authority only in the name of another person -- the person to whom authority really belongs. And so the authority of the Pope is really the authority of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the real rock of the Church. He is the firm foundation. Jesus continues to lead and strengthen the church through the Pope, his vicar on earth.
Peter was chosen head of the Church, not because he had taken courses in leadership and administration, but because he had faith. He was the only one who could answer 100% correctly the question WHO IS JESUS--You are the son of the living God.
Authority is not given to a person to do with as they please. All authority is accountable to God. It must be exercised with God will, and out of human limitations. The best way to use authority is like a servant. Jesus was telling us that all persons who have any authority, whether moms and dads, or teachers, or Presidents or Vice Presidents or whomever are bound to suffer also are called to serve others, not to be served.
Many of you have heard the word INFALLIBILITY connected to the Pope. Infallibility does not mean that the Pope is sinless. It means that whenever the Pope gives us a truth regarding faith and morals -- what we are to believe and how we are to live -- he speaks as if Jesus were speaking to us. The Pope does this very, very rarely, and only after he has called together his advisors from throughout the world. The last time of infallibility was November 1st, 1950 when Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of Mary as a teaching of the Catholic Church. Such infallibility lets us know what God wants us to believe and how to act with justice and love. This authority is a guide for our conscience but it is not a substitute for it.
Jesus lived on earth only 33 years. He arranged that his teachings and his mercy would be known through human beings like Peter or Benedict XVI. In the Old Testament God always chose human beings to bring his good news and his message to others. Jesus chose 12 apostles as his leaders. But all of us are called in our own way to bring faith and morality to others. Each of us our Christ bearers.
are to live out that calling in our ordinary lives. Then we live up to our names as followers of Jesus as we continue the building of the kingdom.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Homily for the Week of August 17, 2008
TWENTIETH SUNDAY 2008
Is 56:1,6-7; Rom. 11:13-15, 29-32; Mt 15:21-28
Can you picture Jesus as a member of the Cadyville or Saranac Fire Departments carrying around his beeper? That is exactly what Jesus did. Like fire fighters, He was often interrupted by those who would call on him for help. And it so happens that today it is a non-Jewish woman, a foreigner, who sets off his beeper. Usually we see Jesus responding quickly and with great compassion. But today Jesus turns His back on her. She was not a Jew. His close friends try to discourage him from answering the rescue call. They all seemed to know her: she's noisy. She's bothersome and a distraction. And she is not one of them, She is not even a follower of Jesus. Forget her, and let's move on, they tell Jesus.
And it seems that at first Jesus is quite disturbed at her. Jesus was not thinking for himself but reflecting the disagreement among the Jews at that time. If you listened closely to the words of Jesus which I just read you must have been thinking: THIS IS NOT THE JESUS THAT I HAVE KNOWN. Jesus sounds harsh. Jesus at first refuses the request on the grounds that he came for Jews only.
But then she insists that her 911 call is not for herself but for her sick daughter. The woman can't tell Jesus much about her condition but the mother knows the daughter is hurting. Jesus at first treated her forcefully, primarily because as a Canaanite she was from a group of people who hated the Jews and Jesus. The Canaanites would make jokes about Jews and Jewish rabbis such as Jesus. They would often call the Jews dogs.
But then Jesus listens to her. She says to Jesus: PLEASE,LORD, FOR EVEN THE DOGS EAT THE SCRAPES THAT FALL FROM THE TABLE. OF THEIR MASTERS. And Jesus answers her: O WOMAN, GREAT IS YOUR FAITH. LET IT BE DONE TO YOU AS YOU WISH. By these words this woman showed she believed, and that her faith did not depend on where she lived or her ancestors or even her religion. All people belong to God, she believed. The shrewd and humble woman convinces Jesus to cure her child. Her faith convinces Jesus to pay attention and to heal her daughter.
This woman lived centuries ago. But we do have today in our Catholic church and in our country people who exclude others. Each of us at times have judged others, often using opposites such as: good/bad; rich/poor; young/old; married/not married; Catholic/Protestant; thin/fat; war/peace; tall/short; black/white; hot/cold; up/down; wide/narrow; yes/no.
In one way or other each of us here today have also made decisions as who is in or who is out within our friends, and sometimes, even in our families or classmates. More personally each of us has our own boundaries and we have constructed our own walls between us and those we include or those we exclude.
This causes us separation in our church and among our community. The good news of our Bible readings today is that God has created all of us equal, and he has given each of us the same heavenly destiny. God has eliminated all divisions. Because all people belong to God. We are invited today to pray for all persons; to include all in the church.
One of the most historic sites in the United States is Ellis Island in the New York Harbor, the federal immigration station in the New York harbor opened in 1892. Over forty percent of American citizens today can trace their family’s entrance into this country through Ellis Island. Among the first arrivers in 1892 were Fred Astaire, Irving Berlin, and Rudyard Kipling. This is very true of St. James Parish. A look at the older monuments in our cemetery tell us the story of our ancestors. For St. James Parish, it was not Ellis Island but it was Montreal 160 years ago where the starving Irish Catholic families arrived by boat from Ireland at the invitation of the Oblate priests of Canada and St. John's Church of Plattsburgh. They came to this beautiful Saranac River Valley and the Hardscrabble Road. And within a few years, with their own hands and skill cut the logs and stones and built this church. This church was built on the backs of those outsiders having become insiders.
We are thankful for the persistence of the Canaanite woman because when Jesus responded to her 911 call, he put in our front yard a flag with all the colors of the human spectrum in it. Catholic is spelled with a small “c” as well as a large one
Today's gospel poses some questions for us. Are our priorities the right ones? Do we restrict our love, our time, our compassion to those whom we like or who are like us? Are we striving to be like God, who shows mercy to people of all races and all backgrounds? Does our charity merely begin at home, or does it end there too?
Another set of questions is equally important: Are we ready to alter or set aside our priorities to help those who need us? Are we willing to give time and energy to those in particular need, or do we ignore their need because we feel we are already "doing our bit," or because we are afraid of departing from the safety of what we call normal?
These are not easy questions -- even Jesus hesitated before responding to the Canaanite woman who begged him for help. We need time to pray and reflect on our lives, to remind ourselves that our first priority in life is to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Is 56:1,6-7; Rom. 11:13-15, 29-32; Mt 15:21-28
Can you picture Jesus as a member of the Cadyville or Saranac Fire Departments carrying around his beeper? That is exactly what Jesus did. Like fire fighters, He was often interrupted by those who would call on him for help. And it so happens that today it is a non-Jewish woman, a foreigner, who sets off his beeper. Usually we see Jesus responding quickly and with great compassion. But today Jesus turns His back on her. She was not a Jew. His close friends try to discourage him from answering the rescue call. They all seemed to know her: she's noisy. She's bothersome and a distraction. And she is not one of them, She is not even a follower of Jesus. Forget her, and let's move on, they tell Jesus.
And it seems that at first Jesus is quite disturbed at her. Jesus was not thinking for himself but reflecting the disagreement among the Jews at that time. If you listened closely to the words of Jesus which I just read you must have been thinking: THIS IS NOT THE JESUS THAT I HAVE KNOWN. Jesus sounds harsh. Jesus at first refuses the request on the grounds that he came for Jews only.
But then she insists that her 911 call is not for herself but for her sick daughter. The woman can't tell Jesus much about her condition but the mother knows the daughter is hurting. Jesus at first treated her forcefully, primarily because as a Canaanite she was from a group of people who hated the Jews and Jesus. The Canaanites would make jokes about Jews and Jewish rabbis such as Jesus. They would often call the Jews dogs.
But then Jesus listens to her. She says to Jesus: PLEASE,LORD, FOR EVEN THE DOGS EAT THE SCRAPES THAT FALL FROM THE TABLE. OF THEIR MASTERS. And Jesus answers her: O WOMAN, GREAT IS YOUR FAITH. LET IT BE DONE TO YOU AS YOU WISH. By these words this woman showed she believed, and that her faith did not depend on where she lived or her ancestors or even her religion. All people belong to God, she believed. The shrewd and humble woman convinces Jesus to cure her child. Her faith convinces Jesus to pay attention and to heal her daughter.
This woman lived centuries ago. But we do have today in our Catholic church and in our country people who exclude others. Each of us at times have judged others, often using opposites such as: good/bad; rich/poor; young/old; married/not married; Catholic/Protestant; thin/fat; war/peace; tall/short; black/white; hot/cold; up/down; wide/narrow; yes/no.
In one way or other each of us here today have also made decisions as who is in or who is out within our friends, and sometimes, even in our families or classmates. More personally each of us has our own boundaries and we have constructed our own walls between us and those we include or those we exclude.
This causes us separation in our church and among our community. The good news of our Bible readings today is that God has created all of us equal, and he has given each of us the same heavenly destiny. God has eliminated all divisions. Because all people belong to God. We are invited today to pray for all persons; to include all in the church.
One of the most historic sites in the United States is Ellis Island in the New York Harbor, the federal immigration station in the New York harbor opened in 1892. Over forty percent of American citizens today can trace their family’s entrance into this country through Ellis Island. Among the first arrivers in 1892 were Fred Astaire, Irving Berlin, and Rudyard Kipling. This is very true of St. James Parish. A look at the older monuments in our cemetery tell us the story of our ancestors. For St. James Parish, it was not Ellis Island but it was Montreal 160 years ago where the starving Irish Catholic families arrived by boat from Ireland at the invitation of the Oblate priests of Canada and St. John's Church of Plattsburgh. They came to this beautiful Saranac River Valley and the Hardscrabble Road. And within a few years, with their own hands and skill cut the logs and stones and built this church. This church was built on the backs of those outsiders having become insiders.
We are thankful for the persistence of the Canaanite woman because when Jesus responded to her 911 call, he put in our front yard a flag with all the colors of the human spectrum in it. Catholic is spelled with a small “c” as well as a large one
Today's gospel poses some questions for us. Are our priorities the right ones? Do we restrict our love, our time, our compassion to those whom we like or who are like us? Are we striving to be like God, who shows mercy to people of all races and all backgrounds? Does our charity merely begin at home, or does it end there too?
Another set of questions is equally important: Are we ready to alter or set aside our priorities to help those who need us? Are we willing to give time and energy to those in particular need, or do we ignore their need because we feel we are already "doing our bit," or because we are afraid of departing from the safety of what we call normal?
These are not easy questions -- even Jesus hesitated before responding to the Canaanite woman who begged him for help. We need time to pray and reflect on our lives, to remind ourselves that our first priority in life is to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Homily for the Week of August 10, 2008
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2008
1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a · Rom 9:1-5 · Mt 14:22-23
Most of us in the Saranac River Valley and Cadyville might be walking on water if the rains we have had in the past few weeks continue. Water like sunshine is one of God's gifts that we either have too much of or too little of. Water symbolizes many positive things. It can quench thirst, sustain life, cleanse, even be a means of relaxation or the means of contemplation. As Christians we certainly relate to the cleansing waters of baptism and we speak of the Water of Life and of Living Water. Water has such a positive symbolic value that we can forget that water also represents chaos and death. In recent years we have had at least two examples of the disasters caused by water.
On the day after Christmas 4 years ago a 9.3 magnitude earthquake shook the ocean floor under Indonesia. The island of Sumatra was the first to be affected by the resulting tsunami. Over 300,000 died that morning in raging water. We cannot soon forget Hurricane Katrina 3 years ago this month. It was the sixth most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. The storm surge devastated cities all across the northern Gulf Coast. The failed levee system and consequent flooding of New Orleans displaced thousands. Worse, there were 1,836 people who died. With the third anniversary of Katrina less than two weeks away, bodies are still being found.
Water can sustain life, but it can also destroy life in equal and frightening measure. The ancients were so afraid of the sea that they saw it as the home of violent gods. For the Greeks, Poseidon, the lord of the sea, was a moody and violent god. When he hit the earth with his trident the earth trembled, so he was also called ''Earth Shaker.'' Occasionally he could surprise humans with a good mood when he would raise new islands and still the sea.
The writer of the book of Genesis knew this fear very well. He wrote that ''in the beginning, the waters covered the earth,'' and they were violent. They represented the chaos that God overcame when He created the dry land. Later, however, and in anger, God almost completely destroyed creation in a flood. God also used water to slay the Egyptians who pursued His people.
In our first reading we find that Elijah was miserable. He felt himself to be a failure and he wanted to die. But he was ordered to eat, and to journey to Horeb, the Mountain of God. There he was told to stand on the mountain, where the Lord was to pass by. But instead he experiences a great wind; then there was an earthquake and thunder, and then a fire. God was not in them. Instead, God was in the sound of a gentle breeze. God was in a whisper, God was in the sound of silence.
We find again the themes of silence and the unexpected in the Gospel. In the Gospel today we find the disciples in the evening in a boat on Lake Gennesaret, the Sea of Galilee. Because of the topography of the land there, huge windstorms can develop without warning. For the apostles, water still represented a place where demons and evil gods lived. To be caught after nightfall in a boat in a windstorm would have been frightening. They surely thought they might die that very night. It is over these waters that Jesus walks.
Not so for the disciples, who were rowing right into what would turn out to be big wind storm which overturned their small fishing boat. But Jesus came to them, and called out to them; and Peter on impulse walked towards him across the waves. Was he testing Christ or himself? His courage failed in the wind's strength, and in fear he began to sink, and cried out for help. Jesus put out his hand at once, and held him. Then came the silence as the wind dropped and the storm abated, and in the calm the disciples recognized him as Jesus, but more than Jesus, a person who is also the Son of God. And it is over these waters, by the power of Jesus, that Peter himself could walk if only for a moment. The boat was a safe haven once Jesus entered it.
Perhaps this gives us a clue as to how God speaks to us, not in a storm or strong wind, but in what the sound of silence. God's voice speaks to us in the ordinary events of our lives. But if our lives are so full that our minds are cluttered with thoughts and feelings for our attention, we will miss hearing the voice of God. Or we may have learned to tune out many noises. We can easily develop a pattern of not listening.
Religiously, spiritually, for most Catholics there has been for centuries a struggle between faith and doubt. That was Peter's problem. Peter's fears and doubts showed the smallness of his faith. Peter began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus. As long as he focused on Jesus, he walked on water. The moment he lost his focus and saw the storm, he began to sink.
That is also our story. Most of us have faith, but we often lose our focus. We see the storms and the wind around us. The wind in our live can be most anything that prevents us from being real. It could be pain: the pain of loneliness, insecurity, envy, not enough money or job. It is easy to over come this pain with homemade remedies or addictions which make matters worse. Just as we go to dentists and doctors to get rid of our pains and to be healed, we Catholics must turn to our faith in Jesus to heal our deepest personal wounds. Daily, however, we need to put into practice the faith that we express here today. The Bible and our Catholic Church tell us that God is with us even in these difficult moments. Like Peter It would be so easy to believe if we could only get rid of the wind.
Our faith does not take away suffering, but it provides us with remedies. If you keep your focus on Jesus and not on your surrounding storms you too can walk on water. There is no struggle God cannot calm. We must find time in each day to be silent with him--a short prayer in the morning, or just the words "thank you" when we remember his goodness--then his voice will be in that stillness and his hand will hold us. We need to appreciate the sound of silence.
1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a · Rom 9:1-5 · Mt 14:22-23
Most of us in the Saranac River Valley and Cadyville might be walking on water if the rains we have had in the past few weeks continue. Water like sunshine is one of God's gifts that we either have too much of or too little of. Water symbolizes many positive things. It can quench thirst, sustain life, cleanse, even be a means of relaxation or the means of contemplation. As Christians we certainly relate to the cleansing waters of baptism and we speak of the Water of Life and of Living Water. Water has such a positive symbolic value that we can forget that water also represents chaos and death. In recent years we have had at least two examples of the disasters caused by water.
On the day after Christmas 4 years ago a 9.3 magnitude earthquake shook the ocean floor under Indonesia. The island of Sumatra was the first to be affected by the resulting tsunami. Over 300,000 died that morning in raging water. We cannot soon forget Hurricane Katrina 3 years ago this month. It was the sixth most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. The storm surge devastated cities all across the northern Gulf Coast. The failed levee system and consequent flooding of New Orleans displaced thousands. Worse, there were 1,836 people who died. With the third anniversary of Katrina less than two weeks away, bodies are still being found.
Water can sustain life, but it can also destroy life in equal and frightening measure. The ancients were so afraid of the sea that they saw it as the home of violent gods. For the Greeks, Poseidon, the lord of the sea, was a moody and violent god. When he hit the earth with his trident the earth trembled, so he was also called ''Earth Shaker.'' Occasionally he could surprise humans with a good mood when he would raise new islands and still the sea.
The writer of the book of Genesis knew this fear very well. He wrote that ''in the beginning, the waters covered the earth,'' and they were violent. They represented the chaos that God overcame when He created the dry land. Later, however, and in anger, God almost completely destroyed creation in a flood. God also used water to slay the Egyptians who pursued His people.
In our first reading we find that Elijah was miserable. He felt himself to be a failure and he wanted to die. But he was ordered to eat, and to journey to Horeb, the Mountain of God. There he was told to stand on the mountain, where the Lord was to pass by. But instead he experiences a great wind; then there was an earthquake and thunder, and then a fire. God was not in them. Instead, God was in the sound of a gentle breeze. God was in a whisper, God was in the sound of silence.
We find again the themes of silence and the unexpected in the Gospel. In the Gospel today we find the disciples in the evening in a boat on Lake Gennesaret, the Sea of Galilee. Because of the topography of the land there, huge windstorms can develop without warning. For the apostles, water still represented a place where demons and evil gods lived. To be caught after nightfall in a boat in a windstorm would have been frightening. They surely thought they might die that very night. It is over these waters that Jesus walks.
Not so for the disciples, who were rowing right into what would turn out to be big wind storm which overturned their small fishing boat. But Jesus came to them, and called out to them; and Peter on impulse walked towards him across the waves. Was he testing Christ or himself? His courage failed in the wind's strength, and in fear he began to sink, and cried out for help. Jesus put out his hand at once, and held him. Then came the silence as the wind dropped and the storm abated, and in the calm the disciples recognized him as Jesus, but more than Jesus, a person who is also the Son of God. And it is over these waters, by the power of Jesus, that Peter himself could walk if only for a moment. The boat was a safe haven once Jesus entered it.
Perhaps this gives us a clue as to how God speaks to us, not in a storm or strong wind, but in what the sound of silence. God's voice speaks to us in the ordinary events of our lives. But if our lives are so full that our minds are cluttered with thoughts and feelings for our attention, we will miss hearing the voice of God. Or we may have learned to tune out many noises. We can easily develop a pattern of not listening.
Religiously, spiritually, for most Catholics there has been for centuries a struggle between faith and doubt. That was Peter's problem. Peter's fears and doubts showed the smallness of his faith. Peter began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus. As long as he focused on Jesus, he walked on water. The moment he lost his focus and saw the storm, he began to sink.
That is also our story. Most of us have faith, but we often lose our focus. We see the storms and the wind around us. The wind in our live can be most anything that prevents us from being real. It could be pain: the pain of loneliness, insecurity, envy, not enough money or job. It is easy to over come this pain with homemade remedies or addictions which make matters worse. Just as we go to dentists and doctors to get rid of our pains and to be healed, we Catholics must turn to our faith in Jesus to heal our deepest personal wounds. Daily, however, we need to put into practice the faith that we express here today. The Bible and our Catholic Church tell us that God is with us even in these difficult moments. Like Peter It would be so easy to believe if we could only get rid of the wind.
Our faith does not take away suffering, but it provides us with remedies. If you keep your focus on Jesus and not on your surrounding storms you too can walk on water. There is no struggle God cannot calm. We must find time in each day to be silent with him--a short prayer in the morning, or just the words "thank you" when we remember his goodness--then his voice will be in that stillness and his hand will hold us. We need to appreciate the sound of silence.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Homily for the Week of August 3, 2008
18TH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR, YEAR A 2009
Isaiah 55:1-3
Romans 8:35, 37-39
Matthew 14:13-21
This week Catholic News Service had a news article about Lopez Lomong. Lopez is one of the lost boys of the Darfur region of Sudan who arrived in Syracuse in 2001 He was adopted by Barb and Bob Roger of St. Leo’s Catholic Church in Tully. Lopez is now in Beijing and will compete for the United States in the Olympics in the 1,500 meter race. Lopez was one of Sudan's more than 27,000 lost boys, so called because they were driven from their tribal villages and separated from their parents during the height of their country's civil war. When he was 6 years old Lopez and other children in his village were abducted by the army. He escaped through a hole in the camp wall and fled to Kenya where he was arrested and placed in a refugee camp. After living for years in refugee camps, when he was 16 years old he and about 3,800 other lost boys were resettled in the United States in 2001. That is when he was adopted by Barb and Bob Rogers of Tully. "When we were in Africa, we didn't know what was there for us as kids -- we just ran," he said. "God was planning all of this stuff for me, and I didn't know. When you put God first in your life, anything is possible” he said. “Now that I am 23 years old,” he said, “I also realize that nothing in this world is free except God.”
Our first reading today from Isaiah tells us that what God has to offer is free. There is no cost -- not even a hidden cost. We can't pay anything for what God has to offer us even if we want to. Forgiveness is free. God’s love is free. What God has to offer is beyond our imagining. What God has to offer is satisfying. Despite the graciousness of God we let things get between us and Him. Perhaps we should begin to see the extraordinary within the ordinary and see that even though we keep sinning, God keeps on forgiving. This is extraordinary.
We live in a society that sometimes chooses material things over human beings. Some children have so many toys or clothes or options that they get confused and hyper trying to make choices. We often think that a car, a cell phone, a computer, a good salary, of being a top student or athlete will make us totally happy. But we soon find out that happiness comes from none of these. How totally different is the way of life that comes from the Bible and Jesus.
We are told today by Isaiah that God has already given us everything to make us happy. God says: ALL YOU WHO ARE THIRSTY COME TO THE WATER. YOU WHO HAVE NO MONEY, COME WITHOUT PAYING AND WITHOUT COST. WHY SPEND YOUR MONEY FOR WHAT IS NOT BREAD; YOUR WAGES FOR WHAT FAILS TO SATISFY?
The experience of hunger, poverty, sickness and death can make it seem as if God has forgotten us. But in all of these God continues to love and protect.
Right now God gives us everything we need for happiness. Why don't we know it and feel it? Because we are looking off in the distance rather than within ourselves in our heart and spirit. Happiness does not come in going on a shopping spree or drinking spree, but in taking a new look at what we already have -- even if it might be hunger, sickness, loneliness, misunderstandings, anxiety. Religion or faith does not take away our problems; but a strong faith shows us a new way to see things, not a new way to obtain things.
In our third reading Jesus gives us an example of this. Jesus teaches us what real happiness is, and how it brings us true love. Jesus meets a large crowd, hungry, sick. His heart goes out to them with pity. His friends suggested that he send the hungry crowds away so that they could buy some food. They wondered why he bothered with them. Assuring His disciples that there was no need to send the people away, Jesus told them to ''give them some food yourselves.'' Needless to say, they were astonished. They had very little for just themselves. Jesus took their food, ''and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.''
This feeding takes place in our life every day if we only believed it did. If he did it for the crowds of 2000 years ago why wouldn't he do it for us today? God wants happiness for us just as he did for those of the Gospel story. This happiness and generosity comes about with the help of caring persons, like Barb and Bob Roger of Tully, who are willing to be like Christ.
We need someone who will be able to bring the bread of Eucharist to persons to help them to be bread for everyone. We need committed lay persons, committed families. But we also need young men and woman who will make it their lifetime commitment to be available to serve the needs of both the bread givers and the Eucharistic bread receivers. That is why that today some men and women still offer their lives to serve others as missionaries.
We cannot miss the allusion to the Eucharist. Jesus gave to the disciples, and the disciples gave to others. Those others gave to still others. And today we still receive and give. It should be noted that ''they all ate and were satisfied.'' What God has to give is always satisfying. Not only is it satisfying, God is so generous that there is always more than is necessary. What God gives us is complete, there is nothing lacking.
And there is still more. Our Lord stays with us always in this blessed Sacrament, remaining with us not for just an hour, not for just a day, not for just a year, but always!
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