Homily for the Week of July 28, 2013

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 2013 PRAYER Genesis 18:20-32 Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8 Colossians 2:12-14 Luke 11:1-13 Most of us are great on finding answers to How to. Search on the internet, and you will soon learn how to tie a tie, boil an egg, or even train your dragon. The followers of Jesus were no different. They were not a bunch of guys who suddenly got religion. Being Jews they would have gone to the synagogue every weekend. They would have heard readings from the Bible and then sermons on the readings. They had often seen Jesus go off by himself and pray. So you can imagine that they wanted Jesus to teach them how to prayer. So he taught them the prayer that most of you know by heart: the Lord’s Prayer. I have just read a version of the Lord’s Prayer as given to us in the Gospel of Luke The one with which you are more familiar is in the Gospels of Matthew and of Mark. Prayer was always spoken aloud in Jesus’ day. There was no concept of “silent prayer.” It was believed that for a prayer to exist it had to spoken aloud. The Gospels are full of references to Jesus’ prayers being overheard. Because prayer could be overheard, how a person prayed revealed what that person believed. It could also reveal who a person’s teacher was simply by the style of prayer. This is because personal identity did not exist as we experience it today. Identity was really corporate and not the sense of self or the individualism that we have in the modern world. Everything about people was wrapped up in the groups to which they belonged: family, town, tribe, nation. Because of this corporate identity, there was no concept of “private prayer” as we recognize it. People could pray alone, but they still prayed aloud, making the sense of the prayer still communal. Mostly when we think of prayer we think of asking for things. When we are in need of God’s help, it is appropriate to ask for it. Yet there is a more important reason to pray than simply to tell God we need something. The more important reason is to build a relationship with God. Relationships cannot exist without communication. We can really say that the quality of our relationship with someone depends on the quality of our communication with that person. Because the ability to communicate is something we have to learn, hundreds of books are written to help us improve our skill in that area. We need to learn how to communicate with God just as we need to learn how to communicate with one another. Because God is greater than we are, communication with God can be more difficult. Even with the third commandment telling us that we need to spend time with God at least once a week, we can often find the slightest reason to avoid putting time aside for God. Jesus knew that prayer has its difficulties. That is why we tells us not to give up. There are lots of people who get religious only when they want something.. When they pray and don’t get what they ask for, they are convinced that prayers does not work. Jesus tells us it does. The think is that we get too impatient and we want things right away. Too often we forget that when we pray we forget that our prayers are addressed to Our Father. As we know sometimes fathers say no or not yet, or I don’t think that would be a good idea. Notice that Jesus tells in to say thy will be done. Prayer is always an expression of our faith -- of what we believe. That is why prayer is not easy because is not easy. When we start praying we enter into a dialogue much like Abraham had with God in our first reading. We need to tell God what we would like, but at the same time we believe that it is God who has the last word, not us. And that last word is that God wants our everlasting happiness. He even tells us to pray for thy kingdom come. Jesus does tell us to ask and we will receive. He does not tell us that we might receive or maybe we will receive, but we will receive. What God is really telling us that no prayer is ever wasted. Prayer always brings us some blessing although it may not be exactly what we want. Since God knows us so well, we must conclude that if God does not give us what we ask for, then he has something better in mind. And that is partly why people give up on prayer. They do not have faith in God’s wisdom and love. Prayer always works even when we do not see immediate results. Having said all of this it does happen to most of us that we get discouraged in prayer. We get distracted or go off on some other thought. If you do not get distracted in prayer then you have to be brain dead. Distractions are normal. Even when we try to pray we have to believe that God reaches out to us. God is pleased that we are reaching out to him. We can fill our mind with excuses for not praying: such as it doesn’t work; you’re wasting your time; its boring; you have too many other things to do; you are too tired now, and so forth. Don;t ever quit prayer no matter what. Prayer will always bring you great blessings, and more important, it will bring you a deeper relationship with God. We now continue the greatest prayer of all: the prayer of the Mass and Holy Eucharist.

Homily for the Week of July 21, 2013

HOMILY: Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2013 Genesis 18:1-10a Psalm 15:2-3, 3-4, 5 Colossians 1:24-28 Luke 10:38-42 In life we must constantly try to focus on the main thing. And as you well know it is easy to get distracted; to become preoccupied with something that is not the main thing. We can even become so preoccupied with this particular thought or feeling that we become addicted to it. The main thing is to know the main thing and to keep the main thing the main thing. With only a little imagination, this saying could have been something that Jesus might have said to Martha in our popular Bible story today about Martha and Mary. The question for us from this story is what is the main thing? The main thing is too often missed. The rules of Jewish hospitality were very clear. The purpose of Christian hospitality was that every stranger should be received as if he or she is Jesus himself. Hospitality has always been — and remains — an important social requirement of Middle Eastern culture. How you treat strangers, how you greet people, how you welcome people into you home, how you serve people, all of these are very important. Failures in hospitality are perceived as insults. Breaches of hospitality on a high enough level could start a war. In our first reading we see this expression of hospitality in the behavior of Abraham. Abraham was at the entrance of his tent, which would have been big enough for a family to cook and sleep. To get away from the very hot noon sun Abraham was sitting under an oak tree at the entrance of his tent. He sees three strangers near his tent. Abraham does not merely invite the three strangers to stop and rest in the shade but he insists that they do. He did not merely grab tea for the three men. He put the whole household to work preparing a feast. Why? It was a way to serve God. For two sisters Martha and Mary, providing hospitality was a religious expression of service in the name of God. Jesus had been invited to their home for dinner. To appreciate what happened and what Jesus taught Martha and Mary, it is helpful to recognize what was not going on. Often we read too many things into this story, making assumptions and adding details that are not present. For example, Jesus does not criticize Martha for preparing a meal. At no point does Jesus say or imply that what Mary was doing was more important that what Martha was doing. Although very often this story has been used to indicate that Jesus was more interested in people who pray that in people who serve others. There is a subplot in the story that is very important. Every person is called to be a disciple or follower of Jesus. Jewish social and religious customs usually prohibited women from being students or disciples of religious teachers like Jesus. We are told that “Mary. . .sat beside the Lord at his feet, listening to him speak.” Sitting is the position of students at the time of Jesus. Teachers sat in a chair to teach, and students sat on the floor literally at their feet. The point of describing Mary in the role of a student is not to criticize Martha. It is a broader statement that everyone is called to be a student of Jesus and to listen to His Word. Here is the main thing: The truth is that Martha and Mary are doing the same thing. They are both devoted to Jesus and so both are serving Jesus. Jesus would not criticize Martha for preparing a meal. Luke who w wrote this Bible passage tells us over and over that Jesus came to serve. The verb Luke used a Greek word that was typically used to describe a person who waited on tables -- a waitress or a waiter. The word has been translated into English by the word “deacon.” If Martha was doing what she should have been doing, then why did Jesus tell her that she was anxious and worried? Jesus was trying to tell Martha that she has lost focus on why she was doing what she was doing. The word “worried” can be translated as “distracted,” and this is exactly what happens when we worry: we become distracted. Martha was drawn away from something. Martha’s concern about what her sister Mary was doing distracted her and therefore made preparing a meal a burden to her. Jesus was trying to tell her to stay focused on why she was doing what she was doing. The “better part” was not sitting at the feet of Jesus like Mary was doing. That applies to each of us. The “better part” is finding our focus in Jesus for whatever we do. Jesus did not place one activity — listening or preparing a meal — above the other. Both are important to Jesus, for they are both expressions of our desire to love and serve.

Homily for the Week of July 7, 2013

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2013 Isaiah 66:10-14c; Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20; Galatians 6:14-18; Luke 10:1-12, A recent radio interview featured a journalist who decided to spend a year doing jobs that most Americans will not do. One of these jobs was to harvest lettuce. For two months he was the only white person toiling among Mexican migrant workers. He described the back-breaking labor vividly and how he had to become numb to the pains in his back and hands and arms to make it through each day. He had to ignore his fierce thirst from the relentless heat and sun, for to take a break to get water would put him hopelessly behind. What was most impressive in his story was the way people helped one another in the fields. When one person was sick and could not keep up the pace, all the others automatically took on a bit more of a load to help her get through the day. In today’s Gospel Jesus invites 72 of his followers to take up the very strenuous work of evangelization. As in the lettuce fields, the harvest is abundant, but those who are willing to take on this demanding work are few. Those who do take it up are “like lambs among wolves,” gentle and loving, while facing fierce opposition that could even devour them Jesus sends them out in pairs. He tells them the job is URGENT (it has to be done right away.) He tells them "greet no one along the way" There is no time to waste; and the message is just as urgent. God is demanding a decision right now: are you for him or against him? He also tells them that they "you are going to be treated like lambs among wolves. But they are to bring no weapons. They are to live and eat with those who invite them. Just who are these other 72? They were not priests or nuns. They were people just like you. They were women and men. From the very beginning Jesus invites and asks persons like yourself to help him. He invites mothers and fathers; married and single; youth and senior citizens; teachers and students; correct officers and carpenters and bankers and store clerks and farmers; nurses and hospice workers; altar servers and lectors; those who take care of persons and those who take care of machines; volunteers of parish councils and fire departments and rescue squads and hospice; those who take time to visit and care for the sick and shut ins; those who hunt for lost children; members of the Knights of Columbus and workers unions; moms and dads who pray with their children at bedtime. And what are they doing? Very simple. They are telling those willing to hear that God is near; God cares for them. Most of those to whom they talked had never heard this good news, or if they had, they did not believe it or had forgotten it. At Baptism we inherited our Catholic religion, and we were invited to make Jesus the center of how we live. Like the 72 we were also invited to go our and announce the good news of their religion. But how can we talk about the good news if we do not know the good news. Unfortunately, many of us may be poorly informed about our religion. Or we have not updated our religion since the time we made our First Communion or Confirmation. That is why the Knights of Columbus have provided two books: Catholicism and Dynamic Catholic, to help you to update.That is why each weekend you can take home a new Dear Padre question and answer on the back of the parish bulletin. This week you will find the Catholic teaching on Purgatory. . Yes, who are the 72? They are you. At this Mass, renew again your desire and your faith that you will go out into your world, and by the way you live and the things you do let all persons know that God' is near and cares. It is only in sharing your faith that we will build your faith. And if in some one way you might have missed the invitation or it got lost, Jesus invites you and me again to be one of those 72. He expects each one of us as disciples to go to every town and place to share his message. All of us are to imitate him; we are to copy his way of life. His call to us here in 2013 is just as urgent, or probably more urgent, than when he lived on earth. So, we first of all must be convinced of our own faith and its practice. You and I are the workers who go out into the vineyard. We also must realize that the vineyard is right here. Those who respond to Jesus’ invitation to go out into the fields never go alone. We all have partners who rally in support of us, ensuring that all together share in the joy of a successful harvest. Even if there were enough priests or nuns to do this work, all of you need to do it.