Homily for the Week of October 25, 2009

30th Sunday B - 2009

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:7–9

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 126:1–2, 2–3, 4–5, 6

Second Reading: Hebrews 5:1–6

Gospel: Mark 10:46–59

Most of us have lived in Northern New York much of our lives. We are no use to cities larger than Plattsburgh or Watertown or Burlington. But many of us have had experiences in larger cities like Albany, or New York or Montreal. The streets in these cities are lined with strings of shops, but there are also a whole cluster of homeless people customarily begging for money from passers-by. Some people walk past more briskly when one of the beggars approaches them. Others smile or nod in acknowledgement. Still others dig into their pockets for loose change. It is particularly unnerving when one of these homeless people shouts loudly or continues to call out after you.

Now bring that scene to 2000 years ago. You and Jesus are walking together with a crowd after meeting each other in Jericho just 18 miles from Jerusalem where Jesus would be killed. One the side of road is a beggar who shouts out after Jesus. Some in the crowd try to silence him, but he calls out all the more. Because of the crowd, Jesus might not have been able to see the man, who was blind, but Jesus hears his cries for mercy. Jesus finds out that his name is Bartimaeus. Jesus hears him and says, “Call him.” They then get Bartimaeus, telling him that Jesus is calling him. But now it is Jesus who is calling out to this beggar. Jesus' attention to turned completely to this person in need.

Jesus does not say an angry What do you want? but a deeply interpersonal exchange between himself and the beggar and Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He says to Jesus: I want to see. Jesus gave him back his sight and said to him: Go your way, your faith has saved you.

In Jesus' day, to have a handicap like blindness was an outward sign that one had committed some sin, either their own or someone's within their family. Despite this, in most healing stories, family or friends bring the handicapped or sick to Jesus, asking that He intervene and give the person health. In every case, Jesus heals the person for the good of the whole community. Each healed person benefits, but somehow the healing serves all believers as well.

It is not clear whether Bartimaeus is asking to see for the first time or to see again. Bartimaeus does not go away, but instead follows Jesus. Bartimaeus' problem was not only blindness, but he was blind to what Jesus wanted of him. While most of us have not been blind from birth, we are born with clouded sight. It is as though we are born with cataracts on our eyes, living our days of greyness in a world full of brilliant colors.

We learn something more of Bartimaeus. ''He threw aside his cloak.'' That is a very important action. It was the practice of beggars to spread out their cloaks and sit on them. Not only did the cloth keep them off the ground, but also a cloak made it easy for beggars to gather up coins thrown by those who passed by. When Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak, it meant he abandoned his dependence on the money and transferred his dependency to Jesus.

As faithful Catholics, our ears must be attuned to the calls of those who are crying out for healing and reconciliation. In many instances we are the ones who hear the begging of friends or family members who call out for reconciliation and healing. In other instances, especially when one member of our family or parish community is especially weighed down by suffering, perhaps we can lead that person to a priest. But in my 50 years as a priest I have found that it is very, very often people like you who have led a person to me to seek spiritual help or healing. Many times persons need your eyes and ears and common sense to help those most in need to come to me for help. We must commit ourselves to working together to bring about healing and reconciliation.

Our own share in the priesthood, given to us in baptism, demands that we as well come to know and understand all those around us. In coming to know people and the human condition, we become more compassionate and less likely to complain or avoid someone. With compassion, our first instinct becomes to serve someone's needs.

The lesson for us from the story of the blind man is that in his darkness he never gave up hope that one day he would be able to see the world as it is. Thus when Jesus came to him he was prepared to see. Jesus touched him and for the first time he SAW--- and the first thing he saw was the face of Jesus Christ. Now he could finally see the world for what it was -- a place where Jesus Christ lived.

The man happily put aside the memory of his blindness and now seeing, began to follow Jesus down the road that led to the land beyond all times. So it shall be for us if we try our best to follow Jesus in this life.

May the Lord forgive us for all the times we have asked for foolish things, rather than for the help to see better the road to salvation. Let us also pray to be a close friend of Jesus like Bartimaeus was. I leave you with a question. It is the same Jesus asked Bartimaeus. Jesus is asking each of you: What do you want me to do for you? Spend the days of this week giving Jesus your answer.

Homily for the Week of October 18, 2009

29th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2009

Isaiah 53:10-11

Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22

Hebrews 4:14-16

Mark 10:35-45 or 10:42-45

This weekend we honor and identify with those of our church who leave the comfort of their homes and communities to go to other places in our world to bring the news of Jesus to those who have not yet heard of Him. It also has a close identification with our country and with Cadyville. Two hundred years ago an 18 year old girl by the name of Pauline Jaricot was born to a wealthy family in France. She was young and beautiful. Her father owned a silk factory in Lyon, France and Pauline worked in the factory. In 1799 many young men ad women left France to become missionaries in what was called New France. In 1799 New Orleans was the center of the Catholic church in the United States. It included all Catholics east of the Mississippi River including Florida, Quebec and all of Eastern Canada. It also included Cadyville. Pauline's brother was one of these young men. One day Pauline received a letter from her brother, a student at the Seminary of St-Sulpice, in New Orleans in which he described the extreme poverty of the Catholic people in Louisiana. As the result of her brother's letter Pauline organized a group of silk working women which she called the circle of 10 to support the French Catholics in the United States. Each woman was asked to pray each day and give a penny a week. Pauline then sent the money to her brother.

Approximately 160 years ago millions of men and women were starving to death in Ireland because of the potato blight known as the Great Potato famine. Catholic Missionary priests and nuns invited many of them to come to Canada. The missionary priests at St. John's in Plattsburgh then invited them to came to Cadyville to grow potatoes on the Hardscrabble Road. In a short time they helped Father Rooney to build St. James Church. Cadyville was a mission community at that time. Interestingly enough some money was provided to these Irish Catholics by the women working in the French silk factories in the building of this church. They could not have survived without the charity of Pauline Jaricot.

Last year an extraordinary document came to light, one that reflects true heroism in the heart of missionaries. The document was a letter from Father Christian de Cherge, one of seven French Trappist monks murdered in Algeria, North Africa in May 1996. A few years before the murder took place, Father DeCherge prepared a letter to his family to be opened should he be killed.

He recognized the evil of what might strike him, but wrote of his desire for a moment in which to beg God's forgiveness for his own sins and to forgive with all his heart the one who would kill him. He began his letter: If one day, and it could be today, I should fall victim to that terrorism which seems now to be launched against all foreigners living in Algeria, I would like my community, my Church, my family, to remember that my life was given to God and to that nation. Addressing directly the unknown one who might kill him, he called him friend of the final moment, who will have known not what you were doing. He put into practice the self-giving love of Jesus mentioned in our readings today.

In our first reading today Isaiah tells of the suffering servant: If he gives his life as an offering for sin, the will of the Lord will be accomplished through him. We know that God wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.

We see Jesus the suffering servant of Isaiah and realize that we who follow him are to share in His suffering. In the Gospel today Jesus asks James and John Can you drink the cup I shall drink or be baptized in the same bath of pain as I? Jesus stresses that he did not come to be served but to serve -- to give his life for others.

As we celebrate World Mission Sunday we are reminded that our missionary work takes place not only among family, friends and neighbors, but also extends to all peoples. Two thirds of the worlds people have not yet been reached with the Good News of salvation in Christ. We must help them to hear, and to experience the saving love of Jesus, teaching and healing of those who serve.

One other example of service is perhaps the hardest one for us to see. Each of us are call to self sacrifice in helping others. We are also called to cry out against injustice and to make our lives holy through the Sacraments.

I hope that some of you here today would offer to be one of those willing to leave home and help those who not only struggle for food, but also for spirituality and religion. Perhaps none of you will ever spend a minute of your lives as a foreign missionary or even visit a country where missionaries labor at great personal pain. Let us remember in this Mass all Catholic missionaries. Holiness is not a luxury for a few, but it is a duty for each of us.

Most of the time we recognize people of importance in our country by the number of Secret Service or security people they have around them, or the number of bullet proof black vehicles that surround them, or the number of persons they have to arrange the stage before they speak. Jesus teaches us that it cannot be like that with us. Jesus came not to be served but to serve others, especially the poor and those who need healing. His greatness is seen most clearly in his laying down his life for others.

Through Baptism we share in the Church's ministry to serve all who are in need. That is also our purpose or our mission. And because of this each one of us are missionaries in working for peace and justice in our homes, our parish, and our world.

Homily for the Week of October 11, 2009

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2009
First Reading: Wisdom 7:7-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
Second Reading: Hebrews 4:12-13
Gospel: Mark 10:17-30 [17-27]

Within the past few days we have heard a lot about the Nobel Peace Prize which has been awarded to our President. There is another person who received that same prize in 1979 when she was 70 years old. It was the saintly nun Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Perhaps no person of the last century has been more revered in life than Mother Teresa. She was a frail nun who became a one-woman world power for peace and goodness. This nun, who died at 87 years of age, was buried in a simple grave in a quiet corner of the Missionaries of Charity cemetery in Calcutta, India. From the day that Mother Teresa rode a train in India she heard Jesus speak to her: COME BE MY LIGHT. From that day on she dedicated her whole life to bring the love of God to the poorest of the poor, sickest of the sick. She preached that God's love is in each and every one of us.

The overwhelming poverty and social classes of Asia in 1930 never turned Mother Teresa into a social revolutionary. She ministered to the world as she found it, insisting there was dignity there. She said: The poor give us much more than we give them. They're such strong people, living day to day with no food. And they never curse, never complain. We don't have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them. At her wake in Calcutta, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and Christians lined the streets in temperatures near 95 degrees to say goodbye. During her wake, street sweepers clutching little flowers lined up to pay their respects. A beggar with legs crippled by polio used his arms to drag himself to gaze at Mother Teresa's body wrapped in the white, blue-trimmed sari she adopted as her order's habit. They all considered her a saint. Mother Teresa, like the young man, in today’s Gospel, had heard the message of Jesus.

A young man comes to Jesus and asked Jesus what he must do to get to heaven. Jesus tells him he must follow the commandments. He tells Jesus he has done this all his life. This young man was in fact a good and holy person. Jesus loved him because he had followed all the commandments from his youth. But what more can he do beyond keeping the commandments. Jesus pushes him a step further. GO SELL WHAT YOU HAVE AND GIVE IT TO THE POOR. AFTER THAT, COME AND FOLLOW ME. The young man could not look Jesus in the eye. The young man looked down to the ground and went away sad. He had too many possessions.
Such advice must have been frightening for this young person because he had a lot of possessions. He and his family may have had his whole life planned out for him. But Jesus revealed the truth. It was not the right path. But Jesus did not go running after him, begging him to come back. Neither did Jesus change or soften his answer to help him out. Jesus offered. But he must accept or reject the offer. It is up to him, not to Jesus. Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty

The rich young man was interested in Jesus, but not enough to change his life around. He could not let go of his material possessions. He was controlled by his possessions. He had climbed to the top. He had kept the commandments, but God did not appear to be the first possession of his life. His attachments to his possessions had made him spiritually poor.

Jesus looks at each of us today with love. He promises life after death if we help the poor and do not let our possessions come between us and God. Next weekend is World Mission Sunday. There are still many young men and women who want to go to help the poor. Some may give 5 or 10 years of their life, or, like Mother Teresa, give their whole life. They are called missionaries. f you read the newspapers or listen to cable news you know that these are difficult times for missionaries. Very many bishops, priests, nuns and lay leaders have been assassinated in the past 12 months simply because they are followers of Jesus. The total number is astonishing, because we usually hear in our news only those who are Americans.
It is clear that Jesus is not condemning material things or personal possessions. But he is condemning a personal value system that makes things more valuable than persons. Because the young man valued his possessions and wealth more than Jesus, he could not accept the invitation of Jesus. Mother Teresa could have rejected the invitation to follow Jesus as a nun. As Christians we are invited to give of our Time, of our Talents and of our Treasures to the service of our faith. Jesus promises to those who do a hundred times more in this present age than you have given up, and also eternal life in the age to come. If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.

Each of us must find our own Calcutta. We must do small things with great love. It’s not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing; and it is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving. To God, nothing is small. If we give to God the moment we have, it becomes infinite. Let us resolve today to give, not the leftovers, but of our needs.

Homily for the Week of October 4, 2009

27th Sunday Year B 2009
First Reading: Genesis 2:18–24
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 128:1–2, 3, 4–5, 6
Second Reading: Hebrews 2:9–11
Gospel: Mark 10:2–16 [2–12]

This weekend we are given a series of Bible readings about equality between sexes, and marriage. Most of you don't know that women in this country got the right to vote less than 100 years ago. At the time of Jesus, women were regarded as possessions, which meant that only a man could ask for divorce. There was also a debate going on among the Jews. Some followed the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy and the rabbi Shammai who interpreted God to allow divorce only in cases of adultery. On the other hand, the followers of Rabbi Hillel taught that a man could divorce his wife for any reason including loosing her youthful looks.

Today's first reading as been used for thousand of years to justify treating women as inferior to men. But experts in ancient culture have shown that the basic point is that none of the animals was an equal partner to the man. He has dutifully named all the animals, but could not find a fully satisfying partnership. None of the animals together are equal partners to the man. Consequently, God created the first woman, as he did the first man, with a unique act of creation. The stress is on the unique relationship between the first woman and the first man.
The gospel is very difficult to understand and, for some, difficult to accept even today. Many families have suffered the agony of divorce, and today's Gospel could very well be another wound. Jesus is very clear about divorce, but the context must be noted. To whom is Jesus speaking? He is not speaking to those who are divorced. He is speaking to a group of Pharisees, a group of religious lawyers. These are legalists who have challenged Him on legalistic grounds, and He responds in kind. They ask about the law. Jesus responds with the law.

Another context for our Gospel is to remember that while women could be charged with adultery, men could not. In the house with the disciples, Jesus makes clear that, in His mind, not only could women commit adultery, but men could as well. The creation story of man and woman does not create a hierarchy of men over women, it creates a partnership of equality, and in the debate over divorce, Jesus reminds His disciples of this.

The question before Jesus was about much more than divorce. It was about exceptions to the rules and the law. Like the pharisees how often do we too read the rules, but we want to know the exceptions. Today's readings provide us with an opportunity to reflect on whether we are prepared to take risks in our relationships with others and trust each other. They also challenge us to look at our relationship with God and assess how much we are prepared to love God as opposed to simply believing in God or asking God for what we need.

Obviously, because of various reasons, for some there is no way in which two persons are able to make such a lasting agreement. Too often a man and woman about to get married bring into the marriage a lot of baggage. In most cases problems began years before the wedding day. Often these personal difficulties were hidden or covered over in the process of marriage preparation. In our times when the tools of communication such as cell phones and the internet are so readily available, it is a real tragedy that many of preparing for marriage do not or are afraid to be honest in trusting each other.

The ability to trust one another was lacking. Often, the marriage was only a public event that happened to take place in a Catholic church. While no bride and groom whose marriage I have witnessed as a priest planned to get divorced, many do. Sometimes divorce may be the best solution. However, parents who are divorced must not hate one another. Parents who are divorced can be gentle with each other and treat each other with love and respect. Children must never feel that they are the cause of the divorce.

For those of you who are happily married take this day to reflect and to thank each other for the gift of each other. Let your wedding ring, which is round and has no beginning and no end, be a sign of God's love for you, and your love for each other.
For those of you preparing for marriage, take time by yourself to consider what must be done so that you will give to your future partner the best person that could ever be expected, and change what needs to be changed before you are married.
For those of you who may be in a struggling marriage, plan to do something immediately by seeking assistance through others and through prayer alone and together to face the problems which you have.

And for those of you whose marriage may have ended, be like the little children of the gospel who trusted Jesus, and then were embraced and blessed by him. Loving God or loving another completely is never easy. Neither is marriage easy. However, letting the love of God be a partner to the love of one another, can make marriage easier and last until death.
Ultimately, there is very little that cannot be kept good, or made better by prayer. Believe in the spiritual guidance of: the family that prays together stays together. Let all of us promise ourselves that we make prayer the absolute necessity of our lives, especially family prayer.