Homily for the Week of February 22, 2009

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time 2009
First Reading: Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24b-25
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 41:2-3, 4-5, 13-14
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 1:18-22
Gospel: Mark 2:1-12

There was a Broadway play in which a young drug addict had quit school and left home. In an unforgettable scene, the young person looks up to heaven and cries out in anguish: How I wish life was like a notebook, so I could tear out the pages where I made mistakes and throw them away. Thanks to Jesus, life is like a notebook. We can tear out the pages of our mistakes and throw them away. Tearing out the pages and beginning again is the message that Jesus is giving us today. Sometimes getting the guts to do this is difficult, especially if we are ashamed of or regret what has been written on the pages of our notebook.
Most of us -- in fact -- I know that all of us-- would like to be able to go back and make some changes. Jesus has some good news for us. Jesus allows us to go forward in life and not drag behind us what seems to be an ever-growing list of sins and mistakes.

There is an old saying about forgiveness that says, Forgive and forget. Unfortunately, we, as humans, can forgive but we’re not able to forget. It’s impossible for us to forget the pain we’ve experienced through someone’s thoughtlessness or anger. But, I believe that it is more difficult for us to forget the bad things we have done, and should not have done, than it is for us to forget what has been done to us by someone else. And why is it that way? Because we have to live with our conscience, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our conscience tells us that what we did was wrong. Our conscience is always there like a thermometer indicating our guilt and shame. These don’t go away unless we forgive ourselves and ask God to forgive us also.

With God, there is no skeleton in the closet. God’s forgiveness is total and without reserve. In fact, in today’s 1st reading, God tells His people that He will not remember our sins. It’s not that God can’t remember our offenses. It’s that He chooses not to. That is a miracle: that there can be, and is, a forgiveness so complete that not even the memory of the offense remains. Jesus brings us complete forgiveness. The best we can do is “forgive and accept” our situations. Only God can forgive and forget.

In today’s Gospel a man who is paralyzed wants to see Jesus because he has heard that Jesus could help him to walk again. Because he can’t walk 4 of his friends volunteer to bring him to Jesus. But because there is such a crowd and the building is full, they decide to make a hole in the roof and let him down through the hole in the ceiling. When he finally meets Jesus it is interesting to notice that Jesus focuses his attention firsts on this man’s spiritual condition. He really needed to be forgiven. He forgives him his sins. Then Jesus takes care of man’s physical problems. He forgives him before he takes care of his sickness. Some in the crowed were upset with Jesus because he forgave this man’s sins. They thought only God could forgive sins. Jesus even goes farther saying that he is giving this authority to others -- through priests—through the Sacrament Confession. That is why Confession is often referred to as the sacrament of healing.

At times we too can doubt that our sins can be forgiven by anyone except God. When we confess our sins to a priest he does what Jesus did to this crippled man. We are forgiven right there. The priest represents Jesus who listens to our confession. Through the priest Jesus removes our guilt and takes away our sins.

So often, we take this sacrament of God’s forgiveness for granted. If we were fully aware of the depth of the Sacrament of Confession, we might ask ourselves exactly what have we done to deserve this forgiveness. In actuality, there is absolutely nothing that we can do to “make up” for our sins. God’s forgiveness is free—absolutely and completely free.

Jesus offers us this free gift of forgiveness out of love for us, and our concern that we not live in guilt any longer. How fortunate we are to be able to just turn every one of our sins over to God and be free of our fears and worries. How fortunate indeed.

Confession or telling our sins is only one part of forgiveness. The other part is reconciliation. In fact Confession is often referred to as Reconciliation. As a result, many Catholics experience profound peace, acceptance, forgiveness and freedom from the burden of their sins. For many it is like letting go of the baggage that they have been carrying around for a long time. All of us at times carry a great deal of “baggage” that we would like to unload. Despite our best intentions each of us has experienced personal failure.

As a priest in Confession I have forgiven thousands of Catholics who wanted to start a new life, some overcome with guilt, others who want help to turn around their spiritual life, others who feel the need a deeper relation with God. Some of these will confess face to face, others in a traditional confessional. All, in one way or another, are controlled with weaknesses and easily submit to their temptations. In every situation I remind myself that I sit there as Jesus Christ. I ask myself: "What would Jesus say to this person?" And the answer comes soaring out of the Gospel of John where Jesus says "Neither do I condemn you. Go, now, and try not to sin again. And if those words of Jesus were not enough I remind myself what Jesus said to the person who had committed the same sin over and over again. And Jesus said to her: I forgive you Seventy times seven. There is no limit to forgiveness.

All of us have a little part of us called “putting things off.” And this includes our spiritual obligations. Let us fully appreciate all that Jesus has done for us out of love. Sometime during the 40 days of Lent this year make a good confession. Do it. You’ll never regret it. Then you will know the words of Jesus: RISE, PICK UP YOUR MAT, AND GO HOME.

Homily for the Week of February 15, 2009

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2009
First Reading: Leviticus 13:1 2, 44 46
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 32:1 2, 5, 11
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:31 -- 11:1
Gospel: Mark 1:40-45

Imagine having an illness so disfiguring, contagious and deadly that you cannot have any contact with other humans -- except for those suffering from the same disease. Cut off from family and friends, shunned by everyone, you must cry out, "Unclean, unclean!" anytime you might be close to someone healthy, warning of your disturbing presence. It might be difficult for you to imagine such a stark situation, especially since modern medical treatment provides cures for so many diseases that once ravaged humanity. Salves and ointments were not available.

The first reading and the Gospel talk of a disease that made a person unclean. Leprosy did not exist in the Middle East at the time of Leviticus, the author of our first reading. Leprosy was the name given to any kind of skin disease that caused problems to the skin such as psoriasis with itchy scales. Because the disease was mistakenly thought to be highly contagious, the leper had to live apart.

Part of the Old Testament Jewish teaching was to blame illness on a person’s sinfulness or the sinfulness of the parent or other ancestor. They thought God punishes us by giving us a disease. Detailed regulations, like those recorded in today's first reading, were drawn up to indicate how a leper should be treated. This apparently harsh treatment was the only way the community knew of protecting itself from contagion. And the priests of that day were the public health officials who diagnosed and set apart the leper. Once diagnosed the leper had to wear torn clothing, ring a bell and cry out Unclean, so that others would avoid them. They had to live in leper colonies. Everything was done to separate them from society.

Leprosy or what is known as Hansen’s Disease is still a common disease. The World Health Organization states that at the end of December about 300,000 new cases are detected every year. Many of these being children in the South East Asia in India and Indonesia, and also in South American country of Brazil.

In some cases the unclean person would recover. Taken to one of the priests, he would be examined, and, if truly healed, allowed to return to the community. The suffering of those who never recovered was intensified by the loss of family relations and friendships. In addition, those with leprosy could not partake in the Jewish worship and liturgy. They would have to dwell apart ... outside the camp, cut off from the social, cultural and religious life they had once enjoyed. They, in essence, became a sort of walking dead.

These grim facts render the encounter described in today's Gospel all the more surprising and meaningful. Notice how Jesus reacts. He is not afraid to be contaminated. Jesus is moved with pity. Though everyone else avoids the man, Jesus does not. Instead Jesus does the unthinkable after the man says to Jesus: If you wish, you can make me clean. He reaches out and he touches the leper. He puts his hand on the scabby, blotchy, unclean man. That was a direct violation of the Law, for Jews were to have no contact with anything unclean.

That touch was enough to heal the man’s sores, but best of all, it also healed the deep down inner hurts that come from being rejected, excluded, isolated from all others. At the words of Jesus the man is cured. His life is changed in an instant. He is restored to his friends and to society. He can lead a normal life again.

Also the unclean man did not infect the clean man; rather, the Lord purifies the leper. They recognized that the physical healing imparted by Jesus, while significant, was also meant to signify: It pointed to the spiritual healing offered and communicated by the Savior.
This story, set in a world very different from ours, has good news for us. It tells that Jesus is a friend of the outcast, that he rejects no one who comes to him. Jesus gives hope where there is no hope.

Jesus has the power not only to heal, but also to forgive sins. All of us are born lepers, disfigured and wounded by sin. Healed by the waters of baptism, we can choose to return to a leprous, sinful state. Thankfully, in the Sacrament of Confession, we have recourse to the healing hands of Jesus. Recognizing that we have cut ourselves off from the life of the Church, which is the household of God, we are able to kneel before Christ and say, "If you wish, you can make me clean."

Many times we today complain and judge the social unclean of our community or workplace or school. The unclean we may complain about may be those living with drug and alcohol addictions, or those irresponsible with family obligations. Perhaps it is a question of delinquent children, or younger adults who sponge off their parents. Should we separate ourselves from such behavior. Yes, from the behavior, but not the person.

Lepers are still among us. We need to ask ourselves how we treat today's lepers.
How do we act towards the unpopular classmate?

How do we as followers of Jesus behave towards the divorced and remarried?
Are we racist, even in our thoughts?

Whom have we cast out of our lives recently?

Whom have we named as the untouchables of 2009?

Who have we identified as the black sheep of our family?

It's not a question of saying that anything goes, but rather of ensuring that we exclude no one from our loving concern.

If we are willing to come to Jesus as the leper did -- if we tell him we disparately need him -- then we too will experience his healing and forgiveness. All we need to do is to invite him.

Homily for the Week of February 8, 2009

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B 2009
Job 7:1-4, 6-7
Psalm 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23

Mark 1:29-39
One day in I was in the sacristy at St. Peter's Church in Hammond looking at some books and through the door I noticed a parishioner who came to the church, he fell on his knees in front of the altar and shouted in a loud voice, I am not Job. You cannot keep piling things up on me, God. You have to help me. The man continued to call out, Why me? Why can't it be someone else, God? Please help me.

Eventually, after he had calmed down, the man stopped by the holy water font to bless himself as he left. He turned back to the altar and said in a quieter voice, I don't understand, but I'll be back.' I was struck by the final comment, I don't understand, but I'll be back.
The Book of Job is a story. It presents Job as a good man. Among his many blessings were his wife and children, a lot of cattle, and much land. These were outward signs of a special relationship with God. But Job's life turned tragic for no reason known to him. Ultimately Job loses his wife and family, his cattle, lands and most of his friends. Even those friends who stayed close to Job blamed him for his misfortune, saying he must have sinned in some manner to bring such a catastrophe upon himself.

Job is alone. Today's Bible reading from the Book of Job is part of his complaint against God. He has become utterly dependent on others for his survival. Like many people today who lose their job, each day he would wait in the marketplace to be hired. In the Mediterranean world it was considered shameful to ask someone for a job. You had to wait until asked, and Job felt depressed while knowing that no one would hire him. Having nothing and having been reduced to begging, Job now considered life itself as nothing but drudgery.
Our psalm today stands in stark contrast to the lament of Job: ''Praise the Lord, for he is good...He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds... The Lord sustains the lowly....'' Neither Job nor the parishioner would have found comfort in these words.
There is another contrast of sorts in the Gospel passage. Peter's mother-in-law was living in Peter's home. This was very unusual, for when a woman married she left the home of her family and went to live with the family of her husband. The only reason that Peter's mother-in-law would have been living with Peter's family would be because she was a widow without male children left to care for her. Because widows and orphans were thus the most defenseless in society.

Having been told of the mother-in-law's illness, Jesus, though it was the Sabbath, healed her. Mark says that Jesus ''grasped her hand, and helped her up.'' This is the phrase used when Jesus raised a person from the dead. This was a serious illness, and given the absence of any real medical practice, people had already thought of her as dead.

It is startling that, instead of rejoicing over her healing, the mother-in-law immediately waited on Jesus, Peter, and the rest of the group. This seems uncalled for, and some have argued that this passage demeans women. Mark had no intention of presenting Jesus in a bad light nor of demeaning women. The words Mark chooses when saying ''she waited on them,'' did not mean to serve milk and cookies. This is the phrase Mark uses for ministry. She got up and ministered to those present.

Though there were many more people needing healing, Jesus elected to move on. He told Peter that He had come to preach. Mark reminds us that Jesus came to preach the care of God. Jesus didn't heal Peter's mother-in-law because He needed a meal and a waitress. He healed this woman so that she could resume her role showing God's goodness and caring for those who can't care for themselves.

How often do we ask ourselves Why bad things happen to good people? or Why do Good things happen to Bad People? In a sense both questions are about the same thing. Sometimes things happen for no reason. God is not sitting in heaven sending us bad things. Suffering enters our life in many different ways.

Life can be difficult, not because God made it so. Life is difficult because life is difficult; it is part of being human. We don't live in an ideal world where every problem is resolved in less than sixty seconds. where you don't have homework, where everyone is easy to get along with. The people who came knocking at Peter's door looking for Jesus wanted an instant cure for their ailments. Jesus was the one who knew that these things take time, yet he also sensed the urgent needs of these seekers, and responded in love. Taking time to pray and place ourselves in God's presence is one of the many important actions we witness and follow through Jesus' good example. I leave you with one final thought upon suffering and goodness. It is the words of St. Therese of Lisieux who wrote: OUR LORD DOES NOT LOOK SO MUCH AT THE GREATNESS OR OUR ACTIONS, NOR EVEN AT THEIR DIFFICULTY, BUT AT THE LOVE WITH WHICH WE DO THEM.

If you were to read the entire book of Job you would find out that God does not answer his questions about suffering. But Job was satisfied with God's answers. Job's heart told him to trust in God's love even when his mind couldn't understand the mystery of suffering. God is good, just, loving, and merciful. Often things happen to us that we simply cannot understand. However, instead of doubting God's goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him. God does heal the broken hearted. Often we need to take the time to find out what is just around the corner. When we do, God takes our hands and lifts us up.

The man I mentioned a few minutes ago turned to prayer. Yes, he was upset, but he had faith and trust that God could do something about his life. Prayer is talking to God. But in addition to talking to God, we also must spend time listening to God. Few of us can tolerate friends who do nothing but talk at us. Words are an important part of prayer, but just as relationships are more than words, so is prayer. Prayer is the one relationship where you can talk to God about all of you and know that you are loved.

Homily for the Week of February 1, 2009

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2009
Ps 95:1-2,6-91 Cor 7:32-35 Mk 1:21-28

For most of us the first years of our life have been controlled by our school -- sometimes even more than from our parents and family. By the end of high school a student has been in a classroom over 14,000 hours, and will have had about 50 different teachers. Much of who we are and who we are to be is influenced by these teachers and by the school.

Often Jesus is referred to as the Teacher. In the Gospel I just read: “The people were astonished at his teaching.” At the time of Jesus there were no schools, no colleges, no universities. Children learned from their parents who had learned from their parents. Usually people turned to special individuals who were believed to have special knowledge. Often they would seek out the tallest and strongest man in their midst and placed upon him the responsibility of making their decisions for them. Saul and David were such persons in the Old Testament. They often trusted these persons blindly. At times they believed that these persons were gods.

For the Jews, the synagogue was the place where most learning took place. In Jesus’ time an educated man could teach in the synagogue. But often others were invited to teach. On this particular day Jesus was a visitor to the synagogue. He was invited to read the Bible and then to talk a little about what he had just read. Unlike a lot of others Jesus was different, He taught, not what he had heard from other teachers, but a different message. His listeners could tell that he believed what he was talking about. They were all astonished at what he was saying.
While Jesus was teaching, a person with an unclean spirit came up to Jesus. The unclean spirit means a man who is possessed by the devil, a man who is controlled by evil. Unclean spirits were one of the most common problems that Jesus encountered. They are still one of the most common problems we have to deal with today. It is someone who is unclean in their thoughts and language. This man spoke to Jesus and Jesus drove out the unclean spirit.

It is amazing that it is the devil that introduces Jesus to the crowd in the synagogue. Which tells us that all of us can produce goodness from bad once we want to do something about it.
Jesus’ classroom and his school was the outdoors, the lakeside, the shopping mall, the synagogue, the pasture -- in fact, he taught wherever he was. He was such a good teacher that many came to learn from him, and as a result they changed their lives. We are told today that "the people were spellbound by his teaching." Jesus believed what he taught; he taught what he believed; and he practiced what he taught.

Everybody understood Jesus. He talked plainly. He talked about things that affected people. Jesus’ teaching was simple. He taught love and how to love. We need to love, he would tell people who were hurting. Since we are all created by God, then we are created out of love. God always loves us. Regardless of the evil that might be found in someone or in our society, Jesus could find some good in each person. In fact God is Love.

Jesus taught our need to forgive even to forgive our enemies. Before Jesus came it was normal for people to love their neighbor but to hate their enemies. Jesus changed this around by teaching: LOVE YOUR ENEMIES AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU.

It may be difficult for us to accept the teachings of Jesus on love and on evil and goodness,. This picture of Jesus is hard in a society that does not have time for pain; a world of rapid Internet information, a world where war and violence are acceptable means to peace. The teachings of Jesus on love and evil are hard to accept in a society where so many say there is no such thing as evil. Evil is old fashion. We do not need to pay attention to temptation and sin. What does it matter if we lie a little, cheat a little, sound off a little, avoid our duties, eat or drink too much, skip church, forget to pray,

We are so good at sugar coating sins. We refer to stealing as shoplifting, to adultery as fooling around, to abortion as terminating a pregnancy, to pornography as adult entertainment. All of us who are old enough to commit sin know that there is an unclean spirit in all of us. Sin creeps in, beginning by our giving in to it a little, and before we know it, it has possessed us. And then it is easy for us to excuse ourselves by telling ourselves that it really does not matter, or everyone is doing it, or no one will find out, or I’m just being human. By all these excuses we deaden our conscience.

And once controlled by evil, we begin to feel that evil is more powerful than good. But that does not have to be. I hope that all of you prayed out load the response to our psalm today: IF TODAY YOU HEAR HIS VOICE HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS. We do good and avoid evil by listening to the voice of God in our conscience. IF TODAY YOU HEAR HIS VOICE HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS. How do we hear the voice of God? By listening to our conscience. And making a daily examination of our conscience. And being forgiven through the sacrament of Confession.

Paul tells us today: ''Brothers and sisters: I should like you to be free of anxieties.'' Unfortunately we are rarely free of anxieties of one type or another. Whether it is over a child using bad judgement, an announcement from the doctor that he found a suspicious lump, anxiety over the house note, worry over an ageing parent, anxiety about being able financially to retire, or any other worry, it seems that there will always be something to create anxiety in our lives.
We can will free ourselves of unclean spirits and anxieties if we have a good, prayerful relationship with God. Let us do our best this week to do just that. .