One page synopsis of Christ the King Homily on Luke 23: 35-43 Introduction: It was Pope Pius XI who introduced this feast in the liturgy in 1925 to bring back Christ, his rule and Christian values into lives of Christians, into society and politics. It was also a reminder to the totalitarian governments of Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin that Jesus Christ is the only sovereign king. Although emperors and kings now exist mostly in history books, we still honor Christ as the King of the Universe by enthroning him in our hearts and allowing him to take control of our lives. This feast challenges us to see Christ the King in every one and treat him or her with love, mercy and compassion as Jesus did, especially those whom our society considers the least important.
Scriptural basis: Since the New Testament identifies Christ the King as the Son of David, the first reading recalls the story of David's anointing as king of Israel. In the second reading, St. Paul asserts that, as the image of the invisible God, Christ the King is superior to the prominent groups of angels like "thrones, dominations, principalities or powers.” Describing the crucifixion scene, today’s gospel teaches that Christ became the king of our hearts and lives by his suffering, death and resurrection. In most of the messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel, Micah, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Christ the Messiah is represented as a king. The New Testament tells us that Jesus is the long awaited king of the Jews. In the Annunciation, recorded in Lk.1: 32-33, we read: “The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was, and he will be the king of the descendants of Jacob forever and his kingdom will never end.” When Pilate asked the question: (Jn.18: 33) “Are you the king of the Jews”? Jesus made this answer, “You say I am a King. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice” (Jn 18: 37)
Life messages: 1) We need to surrender our lives to Christ’s rule: Since Christ our king lives as His Holy Spirit in our hearts, as his grace in our souls, we have to learn to live in his holy presence, doing his will by sharing his forgiving love with others around us. Being aware of his presence in the Bible, in the sacraments and in the worshipping community we have to listen and talk to him.
2) Be servers: Since Christ was a serving king we are invited to be his loyal citizens by rendering humble service to others by sharing Christ’s mercy and forgiveness with others.
3) We need to use our authority to support the rule of Jesus. This feast is an invitation to all those who have power or authority in the government, public offices, educational institutions and the family to use it for Jesus by witnessing to him. We must use our authority to witness to Christ in our business and professional life by following his teachings in our social and political life. Parents are expected to use their God-given authority to train their children in Christian ideals and in the ways of committed Christian living.
OT 34 (Nov 21) CHRIST THE KING: II Sam 5: 1-3; Col 1: 12-20; Lk 23: 35-43
Anecdote: 1) Long live Christ the King! In the 1920s a totalitarian regime gained control of Mexico and it tried to suppress the Church. To resist the regime, many Christians took up the cry, "Viva Cristo Rey! Long live Christ the King!" They called themselves "Cristeros." The most famous Cristero was a young Jesuit priest named Padre Miguel Pro. Using various disguises, Padre Pro ministered to the people of Mexico City. Finally the government arrested him and sentenced him to public execution on November 23, 1927. The president of Mexico (Plutarco Calles) thought that Padre Pro would beg for mercy, so he invited the press to the execution. Padre Pro did not plead for his life, but instead knelt holding a crucifix. When he finished his prayer, he kissed the crucifix and stood up. Holding the crucifix in his right hand, he extended his arms and shouted, "Viva Cristo Rey" “Long live Christ the King!” At that moment the soldiers fired. The journalists took pictures; if you look up "Padre Pro" or "Saint Miguel Pro" on the Internet, you can see that picture. (Fr. Phil Bloom)
2) On His Majesty’s Service: Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, was arrested and brought before the Roman authorities. He was told if he cursed Christ, he would be released. He replied, "Eighty-six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong; how then can I blaspheme my king Jesus Christ who saved me?" The Roman officer replied, "Unless you change your mind, I will have you burnt." But Polycarp said, "You threaten a fire that burns for an hour, and after a while is quenched; for you are ignorant of the judgment to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly. Do what you wish."
3) Desperate deaths of autocratic kings & dictators: The death of Josef Stalin (1879-1953), the Communist dictator was described by his daughter as difficult and terrible. Silenced by a stroke shortly before he died, Stalin’s “last words” were more visual than audible. Newsweek magazine quoted Svetlana Stalin who said, “At what seemed the very last moment, he cast a glance over everyone in the room. It was a terrible glance, insane, angry and full of fear of death. With one final menacing gesture, he lifted his left hand as if he were bringing down a curse on us all.” Philip III of Spain (1578-1621), who proved an unfit king, indifferent to the plight of his people, breathed his last, wishing, “Would to God that I had never reigned. What does all my glory profit, but that I have so much the more torment in my death?” Charles IX, who in 1572 had ordered the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of the Huguenots throughout France met death with despair, “What blood! What murders! I am lost forever. I know it.” When she lay dying, Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) was said to have offered, “All my possessions for a moment of time.” Today’s gospel challenges us to compare to these deaths Christ the King’s death on the cross, offering his life to God his Father in all serenity and elegance. (Patricia Datchuck Sánchez)
4) “Honey, take a long, long look”: As the body of Abraham Lincoln’s body lay in state for a few hours in Cleveland, Ohio for mourners to pay their tribute, a black woman in the long queue lifted up her little son and said in a hushed voice: “Honey, take a long, long look. He died for us, to give us freedom from slavery.” Today’s gospel gives us the same advice, presenting the crucifixion scene of Christ our king who redeemed us from Satan’s slavery by his death on the cross.
Introduction: The Franciscan Order was instrumental in establishing this feast and extending its celebration to the universal Church, following the lead of its great thirteenth century theologians, St. Bonaventure and Blessed Duns Scotus. It was Pope Pius XI who introduced this feast into the liturgy in 1925 because the people of the day had “thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives” and “these had no place in public affairs or in politics.” Although emperors and kings now exist mostly in history books, we still honor Christ as the King of the Universe by enthroning him in our hearts and allowing him to take control of our lives. When we accept Jesus as the king of our lives, then everyone else takes on proper proportion. We are also challenged to find Christ the King in every one around us. As loyal subjects of Christ the King, we are invited to treat others with justice and compassion as Jesus did, especially those whom we consider the least important.
First reading: II Sam 5: 1-13: recalls the story of David's anointing as king of Israel. David was seen in the Old Testament as a type, a representation, of the future messianic king (2 Sm. 7: 16, Is. 9: 6-7, Jer. 23: 5), and Jesus is often identified as the Son of David, the Messiah and the Shepherd of God’s people. David’s successful 40-year reign became the model for the hoped-for Messiah (that is, anointed one), in later Judaism. Saul, the first king of Israel, was told by the prophet Samuel that the kingship would not remain in his family because he had disobeyed the laws of God. David was chosen by God to replace him and was anointed secretly by Samuel in Bethlehem. Having had to flee from Saul, David settled in Hebron. Accepted by the tribe of Judah, he reigned there as king of Judah for seven years. The first reading tells us how, on the death of Saul, the northern tribes came to David in Hebron and anointed him king over all of Israel. David's reign lasted a mere forty years, but Christ's reign is eternal. David was a mere man, sinful but repentant. Christ was the God-Man, sinless and all-perfect, who died on the cross to free all from their sins.
Second reading: Col 1: 12-20: Among the early Christians at Colossae, there were people promoting a detailed belief in angels and their mediating role in our relationship with God. Paul, neither affirming nor denying the existence of these "thrones, dominations, principalities or powers," simply states that Christ is superior to the whole lot. St. Paul tells the Colossians how grateful they should be to God for having made them Christians and citizens of Christ’s kingdom. The Apostle then describes who and what their new sovereign is: true God and true man, the true image of the invisible God and at the same time the perfect exemplar of true humanity. As God’s beloved son, our king has direct and immediate access to God. As image of the invisible God, Jesus, our king, is the symbol of divine sovereignty. As the firstborn of creation, he is the promise of all the good things that will follow. As risen Lord, he is the head of the church and the promise of our own resurrection. This portion of St. Paul's epistle is aptly chosen for this great feast of the Kingship of Christ to remind us how blessed, how fortunate, we are to be Christians, citizens of his kingdom on earth with a promise of perpetual citizenship in his heavenly kingdom if we remain faithful to Him, because “in him all things hold together.”
Gospel: Today’s gospel presents Christ the King as reigning, not from a throne, but from the gibbet of the cross. Like the “suffering servant,” of Isaiah (53:3), he is despised and rejected, as the bystanders ridicule the crucified king, challenging him to prove his kingship by coming down from the cross. The Gospel also tells of the criminal crucified beside Jesus who recognized Him as savior king and asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus entered his kingdom. Jesus promised the “good thief” that he would be with Him that day in Paradise. Tradition acknowledges the criminal on Jesus’ right side as “the good thief” who repented of his sins at the last moment, although Matthew calls him a “revolutionary.” Although the Romans intended the inscription on the cross, “This is the King of the Jews” to be ironic, it reflected the popular Jewish speculations about Jesus’ possible identity as the Messiah of Israel. For Luke and other early Christians, that title was correct, since the kingship of Jesus was made manifest most perfectly in his suffering and death on the cross.
Exegesis: Kingship of Jesus, the Messiah, in the Bible. In most of the messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel, Micah, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Christ the Messiah is represented as a king. Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the Prophet Micah announced His coming as king. "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrata, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days" (5:1). Daniel presents "one coming like a human being ... to him was given dominion and glory and kingship that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed" (7: 14).
The New Testament tells us that Jesus is the long awaited king of the Jews. In the Annunciation, recorded in Lk.1: 32-33, we read: “The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was, and he will be the king of the descendants of Jacob forever and his kingdom will never end.” The Magi from the Far East came to Jerusalem and asked the question: (Mt. 2:2) “Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star… and we have come to worship him.” During the royal reception given to Jesus on Palm Sunday, the Jews shouted: (Lk.19: 38) “God bless the king, who comes in the name of the Lord.” When Pilate asked the question: (Jn.18: 33) “Are you the king of the Jews”? Jesus responded “You say I am a King. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice” (Jn 18: 37)
Today’s gospel tells us that the board Pilate had them hang over Jesus’ head on the cross read: “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews,” and that Jesus promised paradise to the repentant thief on the cross who made the request: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Before his ascension in to heaven, Jesus declared: (Mt. 28:18) “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.”
A unique king with a unique kingdom, Jesus Christ still lives as king, in thousands of human hearts all over the world. The cross is his throne and the Sermon on the Mount is his rule of law. His citizens need obey only one law: “Love one another as I have loved you" (Jn 13: 34). His love is selfless, sacrificial, kind, compassionate, forgiving and unconditional. That is why the preface in today’s Mass describes Jesus’ kingdom as a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace. He is a king with a saving and liberating mission: to free mankind from all types of bondage so that we may live peacefully and happily, though not without suffering, on earth and inherit eternal life in heaven. His rule consists in seeking the lost, offering salvation to those who call out to him and making friends of enemies.
The Kingdom of God is the central teaching of Jesus throughout the Gospels. The word kingdom appears more than any other word throughout the four Gospels. Jesus begins His public ministry by preaching the kingdom. "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel (Mk 1:14). In Christ's kingdom, “we are all a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Pt 2: 9). According to the teachings of the New Testament, the “kingdom of God” is a three-dimensional reality: the life of grace within every individual who does the will of God, the Church here on earth, and eternal life in Heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that the Church is the kingdom of Christ already present in mystery. It is the mission of the Church to proclaim and establish the kingdom of Christ in human souls. This mission takes place between the first coming and the second coming of Christ. The Church helps us to establish Christ’s kingdom in our hearts, thus allowing us to participate in God's inner life. We are elevated and transformed through sanctifying grace. This supernatural life of grace comes to fulfillment in the eternal life of Heaven.
Life messages: 1) We need to surrender our lives to Christ’s rule: Since Christ our king lives as His Holy Spirit in our hearts, as his grace in our souls, we have to learn to live in his holy presence, doing his will by sharing his forgiving love with others around us. We have to be constantly aware of his presence in the Bible, in the sacraments and in the worshipping community.
2) We need to fight against the enemies of Christ’s kingdom: Terrorism has affected the entire world including Christ’s kingdom on earth. These “terrorists” are people who slaughter the unborn; engage in a frontal attack on the modern family through provocative television shows, movies, music and pornography; eradicate any recognition of God from public display and public schools; and those priests and religious who abuse children. Hence Jesus the King needs convinced apostles, prepared and ready to fight against these enemies. The battlefield is the home, the school, the place of employment, the neighborhood, and the parish. These provide new and exciting challenges, new opportunities to stand up for what is right and to defend the truth of Jesus Christ our King. To ensure that Jesus is always the king of our hearts requires great commitment, sacrifice, conviction, hard work and a lot of prayer.
2) We need to use our authority to support Jesus’ message. This feast is an invitation to all those who have power or authority in the government, public office, educational institutions and family to use it for Jesus. Are we using our God-given authority so as to serve others? Are we using it to build a more just society, rather than to boost our own egos? Are we who are parents using our God-given authority to train our children in Christian ideals and the ways of committed Christian living?
The Solemnity of Christ the King is not just the conclusion of the Church year. It is also a summary of our lives as Christians. On this great feast day, let us resolve to give Christ the central place in our lives, and to obey his commandment of love by sharing our blessings with all his needy children. Let us conclude the Church year by asking the Lord to help us to serve the King of Kings as he presents himself in those reaching out to us. "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.” Amen. Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat! Christ conquers! Christ rules! Christ reigns!
JOKE OF THE WEEK
# 1: Christ is in charge: Susan C. Kimber, in a book called Christian Woman, shares a funny piece of advice she received from her little son: "Tired of struggling with my strong-willed little son, Thomas, I looked him in the eye and asked a question I felt sure would bring him in line: 'Thomas, who is in charge here?' Not missing a beat, he replied, ‘Jesus is, and not you mom.’ "
# 2: Sleep-inducing sermon on Christ the King: "I hope you didn't take it personally, Father," an embarrassed woman said to her pastor after the Holy Mass, "when my husband walked out during your sermon on Christ the King.""I did find it rather disconcerting," the pastor replied. "It's not a reflection on you, Father," she insisted. "Ralph has been walking in his sleep ever since he was a child."
# 2: Co-pilot Christ the king: Many people love bumper sticker theology. Bumper stickers may not always have the soundest theological statements, but they generally at least have the ability to make us think. One such, “God is my Co-pilot," has also been found on church signs, where the theology is just as much fun and sometimes sounder. In this case, the Church sign says, "If Christ the King is your Co-Pilot, change seats."
(“Scriptural Homilies” no 359 by Fr. Tony: akadavil@mobis.com (L/10)
Eleven additional homilies are appended to the attached homily
(Fr. Anthony Kadavil, St. Mary’s Church, 106 Providence Street, Mobile, AL 36604)
Additional anecdotes for OT 34 - Christ the King Sunday
1) "Regem habemus" About three centuries ago, Spaniards besieged a small French town, St. Quentin. The city walls were in ruins; fever and famine plagued the people. One day the Spaniards shot over the walls a shower of arrows to which were attached little slips of parchment promising that if they surrendered, their lives and property would be spared. The mayor of the town was a devout Huguenot. For answer, he tied a piece of parchment to a javelin and hurled it back to the Spaniards. On the parchment was the message: "Regem habemus" -- "We have a king!" Christians also can say, "We have a King." Jesus is our King. We belong to his Kingdom.
2) Mother Teresa & Leo Tolstoy who recognized the king in disguise: The story is told of Mother Teresa of Calcutta observing a novice using tweezers to pluck maggots from the leg of a dying leper. The young woman stood at arm's length to perform the odious task. Gently but firmly, Mother Teresa corrected her charge. Taking the tweezers and putting her face quite near the wound, she said, "You don't understand, my dear. This is the leg of Christ our Lord. For what you do to this man, you do to him." Or again, Leo Tolstoy's story "Martin the Cobbler" tells of a lonely shoemaker who is promised a visit by our Lord that very day. Eagerly all day, he awaits his arrival. But all that comes is a man in need of shoes, a young mother in need of food and shelter, a child in need of a friend. Martin the cobbler ends the day thinking "perhaps tomorrow he will come," only to hear a voice reply, "I did come to you today, Martin; not once, but three times." Christ is a king who goes about in disguise as the poor, the sick, the cripples, the tortured, the marginalized.
3) INRI: A Jewish boy was lazy in his studies and misbehaved in the public school. So his parents enrolled him in a Catholic school to see if he would improve. His parents were surprised to observe that the boy stopped his excessive watching of TV, limited his time on computer games and spent most of his time in studies. At the end of the year, he was the best student in class. His baffled parents asked him what had happened. "The first day I went to school," he explained, "and saw that man hanging on a plus sign at the main entrance of the school building, I knew you couldn't fool around here and get away with it.” Today’s gospel reminds us that the man on the cross is not an object to frighten naughty kids, but our king and savior who died for us promising us eternal life, and who will come in glory to judge the world on the day of the Last Judgment.
4) Jesse Owens challenging Adolf Hitler: The black man standing in the arena was an affront to Der Fuehrer's authority. The scene was the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany. The black man was Jesse Owens of The Ohio State University representing the U.S.A. He was aptly called "the fastest human alive." Der Fuehrer was Chancellor Adolf Hitler who had recently risen to power championing an arrogant theory that his "Aryan race" of "supermen" would conquer the world. In implementing his theory he began systematically to stamp out the Jews in a bitter expression of prejudice and discrimination. Hitler also publicly denounced Blacks, Negroes as they were called then, as an inferior race. Jesse Owens, in his estimation, should not even be present at the Games. Jesse Owens was not only present, but he went on to win four gold medals in the 100-meter-dash, the 200-meter-dash, the broad jump and the 400-meter relay race. He demolished Hitler's claim that the Aryan race was superior to all others. Furthermore, this soft-spoken black athlete embarrassed Hitler and undermined his pompous authority in the heart of the Fatherland. We may not be in danger of being seduced by an evil power such as Hitler, but we may not be clear on the authority to whom we give allegiance. We owe our allegiance to Christ the King who redeemed us by shedding his blood.
5) "Super Savior"-- A church in Ohio did it with a large icon--a 62-foot-tall statue of Jesus with upraised arms, installed in a cornfield just north of Monroe, Ohio on Interstate 75. The statue--dubbed "Super Savior"-- was erected by the Solid Rock Church, in Middletown. Here is what is interesting. Traffic fatalities on this notorious stretch of road have dropped dramatically since the Super Savior statue was raised. Is that pure coincidence or has the Styrofoam and fiberglass Christ really aided road safety? Nobody knows. (Dr. John Bardsley, National Catholic Reporter, 10-28-2005, p. 3). Certainly a giant statue of Christ does no harm, and if it improves traffic, that's fine. But do not be confused. This is not the best way to express our allegiance to Christ. The best way to express our allegiance to Christ is to make our lives worthy of the name Christian.
6) Feast of Christ the King: In 1925 Pope Pius XI wanted people to know that this is Christ's world, not the property of the emerging dictators of that day. Mussolini had been in power for three years. Adolf Hitler had been out of jail only a year, and was finding great popular support for his fledgling Nazi party. The pope had the courage of his convictions to declare, despite dictators, that Christ was King, reminding Christians where their ultimate loyalty lay! (From a sermon by Don Friesen, Ottawa Mennonite Church).
7) Unfinished work: A newspaper story, some time back, recorded the grim incident of a police officer shot and killed in the line of duty. His great desire before he was killed was to see his family's back yard completely landscaped, a desire he never saw fulfilled because of the bullet that ended his life. Some of his fellow officers, who had grown to love their fallen comrade, donated their time and money to complete the work. Because it was the policeman's desire to finish the project it became his friends' desire. (Allen Hadidian, Discipleship, Chicago: Moody Press, 1987). To those of us who love Jesus Christ and accept him as the king of our lives, the application is clear. What He loved and desired, we should love and desire and work to complete. His work is to see lost men saved and built up. His work is to see this world redeemed. His work is to see this unfinished world be brought to completion. We who love Him are called to complete the task.
8) King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Listed in any history book among the greatest leaders that the world has ever known would be the name, Augustus Caesar. It was Augustus Caesar who fixed the limits of the Roman Empire. It was during his reign that the PAX ROMANA, the peace of Rome that lasted for over 200 years was initiated. It was he who ordered the building of roads linking the great empire and allowing rapid access to subordinate governments. It was he who gave Rome its constitution, creating the office of emperor and investing in that office unlimited power, though he never used the title emperor himself. The age of Augustus was a bright spot in literature and the arts. It was the era that gave the world Virgil and the great historians. Augustus was truly a great ruler. Is it not ironic, then, that 2000 years after the reign of Augustus Caesar, he is mainly remembered because every year at Christmas time, we read these timeless words: "In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed." Among those to be taxed, of course, were Mary and Joseph of Nazareth. Augustus Caesar would truly be shocked to realize that during his reign was born the One who was far greater than he. He was the one who had been anointed King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It was a minor official in the Roman empire, Pontius Pilate, who first asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus obviously convinced him that he was. We often see engraved on crosses the letters INRI. They stand for IESUS NAZARENUS REX IUDAEORUM, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. St. Teresa of Avila, the 16th century Carmelite reformer always referred to Jesus as "His Majesty," and so He is. After 2000 years, His stature has not diminished.
9) The forgiving King: Rev. Tony Campolo says that in his teenage years he was terrified by a visiting pastor's depiction of Judgment Day. This pastor claimed that one day God would show us a movie of every single sinful thought, word, or action we ever committed. And he ended his lurid description with the announcement, "And your mother will be there!" But Tony claims that Judgment Day will more closely mirror what happened during the trials over the Watergate scandal. The prosecutor brought in a tape of a conversation between Nixon and his aides. Just at the most crucial part of the tape, the section that revealed their crimes, there was an eighteen minute gap of silence. Nixon's faithful secretary, Rosemary Wood, had erased the incriminating evidence! In the same way, Campolo says, Jesus will erase all the incriminating evidence against us as he did to the repentant thief crucified at his right side.
10) You're with Him; go on in." A few years ago, Pastor Erwin Lutzer and his daughters were visiting Washington, D.C. While there, they met a man who had served on former President Bush's secret-service security team. The gentleman offered to give them a guided tour of the Oval Office. Pastor Lutzer and his daughters passed through many security checkpoints the next day on the way to the Oval Office. At each checkpoint, they expected to be searched and questioned. But instead, the guards took one glance at the secret-service man and announced, "You are with him; go on in." Pastor Lutzer wrote that he expects our entrance into heaven will be like that. We will have no credentials of our own that could possibly get us in. But Jesus will be walking along beside us. And at each gate, the angels will take one look at Jesus and announce, "You're with Him; go on in." (2. "Do Many Paths Lead into God's Presence?" By Erwin Lutzer, Preaching Magazine, Mar./Apr. 2001, p. 20).
11) King who conquered death: Worldly kings do not have this power. Their last enemy is death which ends their power, wealth, and prestige. In Vienna there is a crypt under a Capuchin church. In this crypt are buried 140 kings, queens, princes, and princesses. Each sarcophagus is sculptured in steel. The largest is a double tomb for Maria Theresa and her husband. On each sarcophagus is carved a cross and the king's or queen's crown. On each corner of one sarcophagus is a skull wearing a crown. The message is clear: Death is king! Even kings are conquered by death. But the kings of God's realm live in spite of death. As kings, we Christians need have no fear of death, for by the power of the cross, death was defeated. (L/10)
(Fr. Anthony Kadavil, St. Mary’s church, 106 Providence Street, Mobile, AL 36604)
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
O. T. XXXIII SUNDAY
1 page synopsis of O. T. XXXIII Sunday homily on LK 21: 5-19 (LP)
Introduction: The central theme of today’s readings is “The Day of the Lord” or the “Second Coming” of Jesus in glory, as judge, at the end of the world. They warn us about the final days of the world, our own death and the final judgment. Malachi in the first reading foretells this Day, which will bring healing and reward for the just and punishment in fire, for the “proud and all evil doers.” Although St. Paul expected that Jesus would return during his life time, he cautions the Thessalonians in the second reading, against idleness, anticipating the end of the world. Paul advises the Thessalonians that the best preparation for welcoming Jesus in his “Second coming” is to keep working and doing one’s duties faithfully as he did. Today’s gospel passage clarifies that the date of the end of the world is uncertain. Signs and portents will precede the end, and the Christians will be called upon to testify before kings and governors. The good news is that those who persevere in faithfulness to the Lord will save their souls and enter God's eternal kingdom. Christ’s Second Coming is something to celebrate because he is going to present all creation to his heavenly Father. That is why we proclaim it at every Mass: “Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again. Since Luke's community had experienced much persecution, today’s gospel gives them the message: don't give up because God is always with us. Luke encourages them to rely on Jesus’ promise of the protective power of a providing God, and to persevere in faith and its practice. Luke also reminds them of the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world, given by Jesus.
Life messages: 1) we must be prepared daily for our death and private judgment. We make this preparation by trying to do God’s will every day, by leading holy lives of selfless love, mercy, compassion and unconditional forgiveness. In order to do this, we must recharge our spiritual batteries every day by personal prayer, that is, by talking to God, and listening to Him by reading the Bible. Daily examination of our conscience at bedtime, asking God’s pardon and forgiveness for the sins of the day, will also prepare us to face God any time and give an account of our lives.
2) We need to attain permanence in a passing word by exemplary lives. We must remember that our homes, our churches and even our own lives are temporary. Our greatness is judged by God, not by our worldly achievements, but by our fidelity to faith and its practice by loving others. How our faithfulness is expressed each day is the most important thing. We are to persevere in our faith, in spite of worldly temptations, attacks on religion and moral values, by the atheistic or agnostic media, threats of social isolation, and direct or indirect persecution because of our religious beliefs. Let us conclude this Church year by praying for the grace to endure patiently any trials that are essential to our affirmation of Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
O.T. 33 (Nov 14) MALACHI 3:19-20; II THESS 3: 7-12; LK 21: 5-19
Anecdote: # 1: The theater is on fire: The Danish philosopher, Kierkegaard, tells a parable of a theater where a variety show is proceeding. Each act is more fantastic than the last, and is applauded by the audience. Suddenly the manager appears on the stage, apologizing for the interruption. He announces at the top of his voice that the theater is on fire, and begs his patrons to leave the theatre immediately without causing a commotion. The spectators think that it is the most amusing turn of the evening, and cheer thunderously. The manager again feverishly implores them to leave the burning building, and he is again applauded vigorously. At last he can do no more. The fire races through the whole building engulfing the fun-loving audience with it. "And so," concludes Kierkegaard, "will our age, I sometimes think, go down in fiery destruction to the applause of a crowded house of cheering spectators?" (Resource, July/August). Today’s readings warn us about a similar fate if we are not well prepared when the “Day of the Lord” dawns quite unexpectedly, marking the end of the world.
# 2: Be patient and be faithful waiting for Christ’s second coming. Remember Albert Einstein’s words after the Second World War: “As a lover of freedom, when the revolution came in Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities were silenced in a few short weeks. Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler’s campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it, because the Church alone has had the courage to stand for intellectual truth, and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised, now I praise unreservedly.” The Church had the moral courage to resist a dictator and saves the lives of so many Jews because it believed in the assurance given by Jesus in today’s gospel.
# 3: Beware of false messiahs: In 1978, the whole world was shocked and dismayed by reports from Jonestown, Guyana where the Rev. Jim Jones had led hundreds of people into one of history’s darkest mass-suicides and mass-murders. These were not ignorant, primitive savages in a far-off land. They were American citizens who had fallen under the leadership of a madman. We don’t see many signs nowadays of the Moonies. Their founder Rev. Moon and his Unification Church have faded into the background. At one time he boasted considerable political support. He invested heavily in the elections of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Rev. Moon built an empire by putting young people out on the streets selling flowers. Moon preached that a new messiah was soon to come. He claimed that new messiah was a man born in Korea in the 20th century. False messiahs are forever with us. We need not even deal with such self-deluded creatures as mass-murderer Charles Manson who gathered a group of seemingly intelligent young adults as his followers. Manson once said, “My philosophy is: ‘Don’t think.’” That is the philosophy subtly expressed by all false messiahs. Don’t think. Reason is the enemy of all fanatics. But false messiahs do come along every once in a while. That is why Jesus warns his followers about false messiahs in today’s gospel.
Introduction: As the Church year comes to an end, the Sunday readings reflect on the final days of the world, our own death and the final judgment. Today's theme is “The Day of the Lord” or the “Second Coming” of Jesus in glory as judge at the end of the world. Malachi in the first reading foretells this Day, giving the warning that the future, known to God alone, will bring healing and reward for the just who forearm themselves with words and works (peace, justice, mercy and truth), and retribution for the “proud and all evildoers.” Today’s psalm refers to Jesus in his second coming: “The Lord...comes to rule the earth; he will rule the world with justice and the peoples with equity.” Although Paul expected to be alive at the return of Jesus, he cautioned the Thessalonians, in the second reading, against the idleness with which some of them were anticipating the end, and encouraged them not to be weary of doing good. He suggested that the best preparation for the future was to devote the attention to present duties, to maintain a holy and wholesome balance between prayer and service, work and play, and to develop enduring family ties and values. Today’s gospel passage warns that the date of the end of the world is uncertain. Signs and portents will precede the end, and the faithful will be called upon to testify before kings and governors. The good news, however, is that those who persevere in faithfulness to the Lord will save their souls and enter God's eternal kingdom. Christ’s Second Coming is something to celebrate, because he is going to present all creation to his heavenly Father. That is why we proclaim it at every Mass: Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again. Thus, the message of the day is: don't give up; God is always with us. Luke's community had experienced much persecution. Jesus' words about people being "handed over by parents, brothers, relations and friends," were beginning to come true. Hence Luke encouraged them, in today’s gospel, to rely on Jesus’ promise of the protective power of a providing God and to persevere in faith and its practice, “By your perseverance you will secure your lives." Luke also reminded them of the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the end of the world, given by Jesus.
First reading: Malachi 3: 19-20: When Judah returned from its exile in Babylon, the people and their leaders showed a tendency, which they had absorbed from their long contact with the pagans, to lead loose moral lives. The priests were irresponsible, ignorant and indulgent leaders, failing to correct abuses (Collegeville Bible Commentary). Hence, in today’s first reading, the prophet Malachi, in the mid-fifth century (515 to 458) BC, chided them for their religious impiety, dishonesty, and marriage with pagans, with the foolish hope that they would be able to get away with everything. Malachi thought that the day of the Lord was coming shortly. So he warned that God takes note of the goodness of those who fear him and will punish the wicked and the proud on the “Day of the Lord by setting them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch.” The image here is that of a blazing oven. For the sinful, the Day will be a day of fiery purification; for the righteous, it will be the Day of healing. Malachi is the very last book of the Old Testament in many non-Catholic Bibles, and his announcement about the day of the Lord is fulfilled in Jesus.
Second reading: II Thess 3: 7-12: The earliest Christians expected Jesus to come again in glory soon (Parousia), bringing history to its climax in the final judgment of the living and the dead. Some among the Thessalonians responded to this prospect by abandoning their customary work and leading lives of idleness. They asked themselves, "Why should we spend the small amount of time before the Parousia in hard labor?" Some of them were more interested in minding other people's business. Hence, St. Paul corrects them by asking them to imitate his own example of manual work (as a tent-maker or leather-worker of some sort), and preaching, warning them, “if anyone is unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.” By his manual labor, Paul supported his ministry, preaching his beliefs in word and deed to his fellow workers. We, too, must keep ourselves busy by faithfully discharging our duties and actively bearing witness to Christ through our lives, as we wait hopefully for the second coming of Jesus.
Exegesis: The apocalyptic discourse. Luke 21:5-36 is Luke's version of what is frequently called "the apocalyptic discourse." The early Christian apocalyptic writing was symbolic in nature, giving more an interpretation of future events than an actual prediction. The purpose of the apocalyptic literature was to encourage dispirited people by proclaiming that God is in control of history and that punishment of the wicked will come about by God’s doing. It was also intended to encourage the believers to remain faithful through the coming ordeals. The works are meant to inspire believers to derive whatever good they can from life’s inevitable suffering. So the apocalyptic writers encouraged their readers to interpret their sufferings as a sharing in the birth pangs of the “end.” The believers were assured that if they remained constant in faith, they could welcome the end of all things and the beginning of eternity with confidence and joy rather than with fear and dread. Luke presents the material as Jesus’ words addressed to the people gathered in the Temple for the Passover feast. Jesus demands of His hearers tenacity of faith and hope in spite of their sufferings. In the liturgical context, the Church aptly places Jesus’ end-time predictions at the end of the Church year. Luke's text, as we have it, seems to confuse the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius (A.D. 79) with Jesus’ predictions of the end of the world.
Fulfilment of Jesus’ prediction: To the proud people of Jerusalem, Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the Temple was a great shock and blasphemy because those words sounded like massive distrust of God and an insult to God. Yahweh would not allow it! It is not surprising that these words of Jesus were used against him at his trial before the High Priest. Yet within forty years, the prediction of Jesus was largely fulfilled. The Temple, originally built by Solomon, demolished by the Babylonians and rebuilt by Herod, was destroyed. At the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman army, 1.1 million people perished, 97,000 were carried away into captivity, the Temple was demolished by fire, and the priests were murdered.
Call for evangelization by heroic witnessing: The real question of the believers at the end of the first century was: "Now that many of these things have happened, and we are being persecuted, what should we do?" Luke gives them Jesus’ assurance that they are to trust his words against their persecutors. They must make use of this opportunity to bear witness to Jesus. This test of faith was also an opportunity to bear witness before the court officials and the public at large. Thus, the persecution would become a massive evangelization campaign [21:12-13]. Jesus cautions against their despairing in the face of wide-ranging opposition and persecution. Arrests would be followed by trial and condemnation in religious (Jewish) and civil (Gentile) courts. Their faith would serve as a clear witness on the Day of Judgment. Not only would the individual martyrs see the Lord in heaven, but the Church would flourish in persecution [21:18-19].
Doomsday prophets miss the message: Jesus refused to predict details or provide clues for the coming calamity. “War, earthquake, pestilence and famine" were traditionally personified as the “Four Apocalyptic Horsemen” who would come to announce the end-time judgment. The late Raymond Brown, a renowned Scripture scholar, suggests that end-of-the-world people perform a valuable service for us. They keep the Second Coming before our eyes. Prophets of doom in every century point to historical calamities (wars and revolts) and cosmic disasters (great earthquakes, famines, pestilence) and "signs in heaven" (like solar eclipses and comets), as signs of the end. This is a direct contradiction of what Jesus said. He told us not to try to predict the end, but to live loyally and lovingly in situations which, in many cases, would be hostile to the Gospel. Instead of destroying us, persecution and martyrdom will gain us eternal life. At the end of the discourse, Jesus gave the assurance, “Not a hair from your head would perish" (21:18). God's saving purpose will certainly triumph, because, contrary to appearances, he remains firmly in control. Finally, the way to glory is traveled more often through day-by-day endurance, rather than through isolated acts of heroic virtue. Here is a practical spirituality each of us can live, whatever our current situation may be.
Life messages: 1) We need to be prepared daily for death and judgment. The ideal way to accept Jesus’ apocalyptic message is always to be ready to face our death. We must live holy lives of selfless love, mercy, compassion and unconditional forgiveness, remembering the demands of justice in our day-to-day lives. We must also take time to rest and to pray in order to keep our hearts alive to God’s presence with us and within us. Daily examination of our conscience at bedtime, asking God’s pardon and forgiveness for our sins of the day, also prepares us to face God at any time to give an account of our lives.
2) We need to attain permanence in a passing word by exemplary lives. Our homes, our churches and even our own lives are temporary. All our structures are provisional. Our influence has no more claims to permanence than our buildings. Hence, our task is not to build monuments of any kind, but to be faithful to Christ. How our faithfulness is expressed each day is the most important thing. We are to persevere in our faith, despite worldly temptations, attacks on religion and moral values by the atheistic or agnostic media, threats of social isolation, and direct or indirect persecution because of our religious beliefs. Let us conclude this Church year by praying for the grace to endure patiently any trials that are essential to our affirmation of Jesus our Savior.
JOKE OF THE WEEK
1) Judgment Day, Second Coming, WHAT A PHONE BILL! After finishing his homily on the Judgment Day, the preacher started the prayer of mercy. "Oh Lord," he began. "One of these days we are going to wake up, and it's going to be DARK everywhere!” Deliver us, oh Lord." "Lord, have mercy on us!" responded the congregation. The preacher continued: "Then we are going to pick up the telephone and call Washington, and they are going to say, 'It's DARK over here too!'" "Lord, have mercy on us!" responded the congregation.” Then we’re going to pick up the phone and call London, and they are going to say, 'It's DARK over here!' "Lord, have mercy on us!" responded the congregation. “Again we're going to pick up the phone and call Moscow, and they are going to say, 'It's DARK over here too!" "Lord, have mercy on us!" responded the congregation.” "Then we're going to pick up the phone…. At this juncture, the church treasurer, who had also been caught up in the fervor of the preacher’s prayer, cried out uncontrollably: "Lord, Lord! What a PHONE BILL!"
2) Teeth will be provided in hell: Grandma told her little grandson: “Be a good boy. At the end of the world all the disobedient and bad people will be cast into fiery hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The little boy raised an intelligent doubt. “Grandma, you don’t have any teeth and you always quarrel with others. How would you gnash your teeth when you are cast into hell?” Grandma replied: “You naughty boy, don’t you know that teeth will be provided in hell.”
3) Endtime humor: Humorist Lewis Grizzard writes about a man in his hometown named Luther Gilroy. Luther claimed he was out plowing his field and saw a sign in the sky that said THE END IS NEAR. So Luther let his mule and his cow out of their pens, gave all his chickens away, and climbed on top of his house to await the end. When it didn't come, he pouted and refused to come down from the roof. Finally, his wife called the deputy sheriff, who came over and said, "Luther, you idiot, I saw that same sign. It didn't say, 'The end is near.' It said, 'Go drink a beer.' Now come down off that roof before you fall off and break your neck."
USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK
1) New American Bible for your computer desk top for easy reference: http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/
2) Catholic Internet Sources: http://www.catholicsource.net/
3) My house: Practical information on protecting families and healing marriages from pornography: http://www.loveisfaithful.com/
“Scriptural Homilies” no 358 by Fr. Tony: akadavil@mobis.com (L/10)
10- Additional anecdotes for OT 32: # 1: The end time predictions of scientists: Christians are not the only ones to talk about coming disasters. A year earlier it was the New Age people who were sounding the alarms. Astrologers were talking about a harmonic convergence producing chaos all over the world when the planets aligned on August 16, 1987. Nothing happened. In 1979, the fear was of the space satellite, Skylab. It was falling from the sky, NASA warned, but they were unsure where. The Federal Aviation Administration closed airspace; state and local governments went on alert; companies sold helmets. Skylab burned up July 11, 1979, over the Indian Ocean and Australia. No one was hurt. In today’s gospel Jesus speaks about the destruction of Jerusalem and signs preceding the end of the world.
# 2: "Look Master, what large stones and what large buildings!" The Temple of Jerusalem of Jesus’ time was the third Temple. Solomon had built the first Temple in seven years. It stood for 370 years. It was first looted by an invading army. A decade later, in 586 B.C.E., it was sacked and burned by the Babylonians. After the exile, the Temple was rebuilt under the order and patronage of Cyrus, the king of Persia by Zerubbabel in 516 B.C.E. Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple of Zerubbabel, taking a decade. Building upon and extending beyond the foundations of Solomon and Zerubbabel, he nearly doubled the area of the Temple Mount, enclosing within the retaining walls an area of 35 acres! But according to Josephus, Herod's 18,000 workmen continued work until 63 C.E. To enlarge the Temple Mount and to enclose 35 acres, strong retaining walls had to be extended down into the Tyropoean Valley to the west and down Ophel hill to the south. Ashlars, huge building blocks, were quarried, cut, faced and fitted without cement. All were proportionally large, but the largest measures 46 feet long by 10 feet high by 10 feet deep. Weighing 415 tons, it makes the stones of the Egyptian Pyramids - a mere 15 tons - to be as pebbles! ((Murray Stein, "How Herod Moved Gigantic Blocks to Construct the Temple Mount," Biblical Archaeology Review, Vol. VIII, No. 3, Washington, D.C., May-June, 1981, p. 42.). It was this beautiful Temple which the Roman army burnt down on August 28 in C.E. 70, as Jesus had predicted, after first murdering all the Temple priests. For nearly a month, the people of the upper city held out against the siege and the power of Rome. But on September 20 the Romans overran the city, slaughtering the inhabitants and putting the entire city to the torch. Everything happened as Jesus had said. The 40-foot colonnades that surrounded the Temple Mount, the Temple itself, and Herod's huge portico were all gone. They had been pushed down and pulled over, rolling into the Tyropoean Valley to the west and the Kidron Valley to the east, significantly lifting the levels of both valleys. For the most part, the stones remain to this day right where the Romans left them. Except for the few stones of the Western Wall, often called the Wailing Wall, there was “not one stone left upon another” that was not thrown down. Titus and his legions swept through all of Palestine, razing hundreds of synagogues to ground.
# 3: “I never unpacked it in the first place.” You may know the story about the little boy who had returned from his first two weeks at summer camp. He showed his mother two badges that he had won: one for making improvements in swimming, the other for naming the most birds on a nature hike. There was a blue ribbon in his pocket signifying a third prize, and his mother asked him about that. “Aw,” he said, “I got that thing for having the neatest packed bag when we were ready to come home.” “I’m proud of you,” his mother said. “No big deal,” he said. “I never unpacked it in the first place.” If we are constantly looking for God to right the world’s wrongs some day in a great cataclysmic conclusion to life on this earth, we may never “unpack our bag” and realize that it is here and now where God has placed us to do our living.
# 4: Be careful when you try to predict the future. Today’s experts turn out sometimes to be tomorrow’s fools. I read recently that when the city fathers of the grand metropolis New York City planned for the future growth of their city, they laid out the streets and numbered them from the center outward. When they began, there were only six or seven streets. In their planning maps, they projected how large they thought the city might grow. Reaching beyond their wildest imagination, they drew streets on the map all the way out to 19th Street. They called it “Boundary Street” because they were sure that’s as large as New York City would become. At last count, the city had reached 284th Street far exceeding their expectations! (Rev. Adrian Dieleman, http://www.trinitycrc.org/sermons/eph3v20-21.html ). In 1881 the New York City YWCA announced typing lessons for women. Amazingly, angry protests greeted this announcement. Why? Many believed that the female constitution would break down under the strain. Some of you women can remember when girls were only allowed to play half court in basketball for the same reason. Nobody envisioned what today’s women athletes would be capable of.
# 5: An old Hungarian anecdote. A pious Hungarian king, finding himself on a certain day depressed and unhappy, sent for his brother, a good-natured, but rather indifferent prince. To him, the king said: "I am a great sinner and fear to meet God." But the prince only laughed at him, treated the matter as a joke and left the royal palace without making any comment. It was a custom in Hungary at that time, that if the executioner sounded a trumpet before a man's door, it was a signal that the man was to be led forth to execution. The king sent the executioner in the dead of night to sound the fatal blast before his brother's door. The prince, awaking from sleep, realized its awful import. Quickly dressing, he stepped to the door and was seized by the executioner, who dragged him, pale and trembling, into the king's presence. In an agony of terror, the prince fell upon his knees before his brother and begged to know in what way he had offended him. "My brother," answered the king, "if the sight of a human executioner is so terrible to you, shall not I, having grievously offended God, fear to be brought before the judgment seat of Christ? Do we not read in the Bible, ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’?”
# 6: The great day in our lives: There is always a great deal of emotion in anticipation of “the day,” whether that be a First Communion day, graduation day, wedding day, the first day of a new job, opening day at the ballpark or our retirement day—to name but a few important days in the lives of many of us. In such cases, not only is the day enjoyed for itself, it also promises many more wonderful days in the future. On the other hand, there are some days that strike fear and dread in our hearts, such as the day we lose our job, the day of the death of a loved one, the day we are sent out to fight a war. These days thrust us into sadness and struggle with little or no light at the end of the tunnel. The Day of the Lord was always a day of anticipation for the people of ancient Israel. Originally it was perceived as a day of fulfillment. It was the moment in history when all of the promises made by God would come to completion, and the people of God would enjoy them forever, promises of peace and prosperity, of contentment and harmony. But some of the prophets warned that the Day of the Lord would first be a day of suffering or purging, referring to it as the “birth pangs of the Messiah.” Today’s readings focus on the painful aspects of “that day.”(Dianne Bergant).
# 7: Be faithful: Some of you know the story of writer Anne Lamott. When she was twenty-five, her father died after a long struggle with brain cancer. Over the next few years Anne herself began to suffer from an overwhelming sense of desperation and fear which she tried to suppress with alcohol and pills. Although she was managing to write and publish successful novels at the time, it was clear that her life was spinning out of control. In her memoir, Traveling Mercies, she writes about this dark period of her life. And most importantly she tells how a community of Christian faith, a neighborhood church called St. Andrew, came to her rescue. In her book she tells the time-honored story of a little girl who was lost. This girl ran up and down the streets of the big town where her family lived, but she couldn’t find a single landmark. She was frightened. Finally a policeman stopped to help her. He put her in the passenger seat of his car, and they drove around until she finally saw her church. She pointed it out to the policeman, and then she told him firmly, “You can let me out now. This is my church, and I can always find my way home from here.” Anne Lamott writes, “And that is why I have stayed so close to mine because no matter how bad I am feeling, how lost or lonely or frightened, when I see the faces of the people at my church, when I hear their tawny voices, I can always find my way home.” (Anchor, 2000)
# 8: Question to Buddha: Rev. Richard J. Fairchild tells the story of a monk who once approached the Buddha and asked: “Do the souls of the righteous survive death?” Characteristically, Buddha gave him no reply. But the monk persisted. Each day he would repeat the question, and each day he would get silence for an answer, until he could stand it no longer. He threatened to abandon the path to enlightenment unless this crucial question was answered. Why should he sacrifice everything to live a monastic life if the souls of the righteous perished with their bodies? Then Buddha in his compassion spoke. “You are like a man,” he said, “who was dying from a poisoned arrow. His relatives rushed a doctor to his side. But the man refused to have the arrow pulled out unless three of his questions were answered. First, about the man who shot him – was he a white man or black? Second, was he a tall man or a short man? And third, was he a Brahmin or an outcast?” Many of us are in the same position as that monk. How many of us question God and refuse to continue in our faith until all our questions about life after death are answered to our satisfaction? Jesus’ teaching about the end of the world, God’s judgment of the wicked and the reward of the faithful in today’s readings will avail us nothing, unless we are willing to allow Christ to enter our hearts and minister to us his life-giving word. We must be willing to allow God to pluck out the arrows that poison our lives before we have all the answers to our questions. The question we need to ask is not, ”Why do the wicked seem to prosper?" but rather, ”Will I be saved?"
# 9: It Happened Tomorrow, and Early Edition: Years ago, a film entitled, It Happened Tomorrow, featured an ambitious business executive who wished that he could buy tomorrow’s newspaper today so as to take financial advantage of his privileged glimpse into the future. Suddenly, an elderly gentleman appeared before him, holding the coveted newspaper. “I’ve decided to grant your wish,” he said. The remainder of the movie details what happened to the businessman as a result of his “future” knowledge. Later a television series, called Early Edition, reprised the premise of the film and featured a young man who received ‘tomorrow’s paper’ daily. As he read of accidents that were yet to happen and disasters that were yet to occur, he sensed a certain responsibility for preventing them by altering the circumstances and/or protecting the people involved. Though such stories are somewhat interesting and attention-grabbing, they are simply imaginative escapes into the world of fiction. We cannot know the future this way, but the future is known—by God to Whom it belongs. He alone is responsible for its unfolding day by day, year by year. We, for our part, are to be responsive to God by being responsible for God’s gifts of the present as detailed in today’s readings. (Patricia Sánchez)
# 10: A Church without persecution dies a natural death: The late William Barclay wrote: "The crisis of the present day is not theological: it is ethical. Christian theology is not really under attack, for there are few outside of the church sufficiently interested in it to assail it."(William Barclay, The Ten Commandments for Today, (New York, Harper and Row, Publishers). Gardner C. Taylor comments further: "It is astonishing how much an American family will spend on physical fitness and how little time or interest or money it will invest in spiritual fitness. It is amazing how much attention parents will give to a balanced diet for a child's physical growth and how little attention they will pay to the child's moral and spiritual growth. Bread for the body, but no food for the soul. Cultivation of the mind, none of the heart.” “Scriptural Homilies” no 358 LP/10
Introduction: The central theme of today’s readings is “The Day of the Lord” or the “Second Coming” of Jesus in glory, as judge, at the end of the world. They warn us about the final days of the world, our own death and the final judgment. Malachi in the first reading foretells this Day, which will bring healing and reward for the just and punishment in fire, for the “proud and all evil doers.” Although St. Paul expected that Jesus would return during his life time, he cautions the Thessalonians in the second reading, against idleness, anticipating the end of the world. Paul advises the Thessalonians that the best preparation for welcoming Jesus in his “Second coming” is to keep working and doing one’s duties faithfully as he did. Today’s gospel passage clarifies that the date of the end of the world is uncertain. Signs and portents will precede the end, and the Christians will be called upon to testify before kings and governors. The good news is that those who persevere in faithfulness to the Lord will save their souls and enter God's eternal kingdom. Christ’s Second Coming is something to celebrate because he is going to present all creation to his heavenly Father. That is why we proclaim it at every Mass: “Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again. Since Luke's community had experienced much persecution, today’s gospel gives them the message: don't give up because God is always with us. Luke encourages them to rely on Jesus’ promise of the protective power of a providing God, and to persevere in faith and its practice. Luke also reminds them of the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world, given by Jesus.
Life messages: 1) we must be prepared daily for our death and private judgment. We make this preparation by trying to do God’s will every day, by leading holy lives of selfless love, mercy, compassion and unconditional forgiveness. In order to do this, we must recharge our spiritual batteries every day by personal prayer, that is, by talking to God, and listening to Him by reading the Bible. Daily examination of our conscience at bedtime, asking God’s pardon and forgiveness for the sins of the day, will also prepare us to face God any time and give an account of our lives.
2) We need to attain permanence in a passing word by exemplary lives. We must remember that our homes, our churches and even our own lives are temporary. Our greatness is judged by God, not by our worldly achievements, but by our fidelity to faith and its practice by loving others. How our faithfulness is expressed each day is the most important thing. We are to persevere in our faith, in spite of worldly temptations, attacks on religion and moral values, by the atheistic or agnostic media, threats of social isolation, and direct or indirect persecution because of our religious beliefs. Let us conclude this Church year by praying for the grace to endure patiently any trials that are essential to our affirmation of Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
O.T. 33 (Nov 14) MALACHI 3:19-20; II THESS 3: 7-12; LK 21: 5-19
Anecdote: # 1: The theater is on fire: The Danish philosopher, Kierkegaard, tells a parable of a theater where a variety show is proceeding. Each act is more fantastic than the last, and is applauded by the audience. Suddenly the manager appears on the stage, apologizing for the interruption. He announces at the top of his voice that the theater is on fire, and begs his patrons to leave the theatre immediately without causing a commotion. The spectators think that it is the most amusing turn of the evening, and cheer thunderously. The manager again feverishly implores them to leave the burning building, and he is again applauded vigorously. At last he can do no more. The fire races through the whole building engulfing the fun-loving audience with it. "And so," concludes Kierkegaard, "will our age, I sometimes think, go down in fiery destruction to the applause of a crowded house of cheering spectators?" (Resource, July/August). Today’s readings warn us about a similar fate if we are not well prepared when the “Day of the Lord” dawns quite unexpectedly, marking the end of the world.
# 2: Be patient and be faithful waiting for Christ’s second coming. Remember Albert Einstein’s words after the Second World War: “As a lover of freedom, when the revolution came in Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities were silenced in a few short weeks. Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler’s campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it, because the Church alone has had the courage to stand for intellectual truth, and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised, now I praise unreservedly.” The Church had the moral courage to resist a dictator and saves the lives of so many Jews because it believed in the assurance given by Jesus in today’s gospel.
# 3: Beware of false messiahs: In 1978, the whole world was shocked and dismayed by reports from Jonestown, Guyana where the Rev. Jim Jones had led hundreds of people into one of history’s darkest mass-suicides and mass-murders. These were not ignorant, primitive savages in a far-off land. They were American citizens who had fallen under the leadership of a madman. We don’t see many signs nowadays of the Moonies. Their founder Rev. Moon and his Unification Church have faded into the background. At one time he boasted considerable political support. He invested heavily in the elections of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Rev. Moon built an empire by putting young people out on the streets selling flowers. Moon preached that a new messiah was soon to come. He claimed that new messiah was a man born in Korea in the 20th century. False messiahs are forever with us. We need not even deal with such self-deluded creatures as mass-murderer Charles Manson who gathered a group of seemingly intelligent young adults as his followers. Manson once said, “My philosophy is: ‘Don’t think.’” That is the philosophy subtly expressed by all false messiahs. Don’t think. Reason is the enemy of all fanatics. But false messiahs do come along every once in a while. That is why Jesus warns his followers about false messiahs in today’s gospel.
Introduction: As the Church year comes to an end, the Sunday readings reflect on the final days of the world, our own death and the final judgment. Today's theme is “The Day of the Lord” or the “Second Coming” of Jesus in glory as judge at the end of the world. Malachi in the first reading foretells this Day, giving the warning that the future, known to God alone, will bring healing and reward for the just who forearm themselves with words and works (peace, justice, mercy and truth), and retribution for the “proud and all evildoers.” Today’s psalm refers to Jesus in his second coming: “The Lord...comes to rule the earth; he will rule the world with justice and the peoples with equity.” Although Paul expected to be alive at the return of Jesus, he cautioned the Thessalonians, in the second reading, against the idleness with which some of them were anticipating the end, and encouraged them not to be weary of doing good. He suggested that the best preparation for the future was to devote the attention to present duties, to maintain a holy and wholesome balance between prayer and service, work and play, and to develop enduring family ties and values. Today’s gospel passage warns that the date of the end of the world is uncertain. Signs and portents will precede the end, and the faithful will be called upon to testify before kings and governors. The good news, however, is that those who persevere in faithfulness to the Lord will save their souls and enter God's eternal kingdom. Christ’s Second Coming is something to celebrate, because he is going to present all creation to his heavenly Father. That is why we proclaim it at every Mass: Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again. Thus, the message of the day is: don't give up; God is always with us. Luke's community had experienced much persecution. Jesus' words about people being "handed over by parents, brothers, relations and friends," were beginning to come true. Hence Luke encouraged them, in today’s gospel, to rely on Jesus’ promise of the protective power of a providing God and to persevere in faith and its practice, “By your perseverance you will secure your lives." Luke also reminded them of the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the end of the world, given by Jesus.
First reading: Malachi 3: 19-20: When Judah returned from its exile in Babylon, the people and their leaders showed a tendency, which they had absorbed from their long contact with the pagans, to lead loose moral lives. The priests were irresponsible, ignorant and indulgent leaders, failing to correct abuses (Collegeville Bible Commentary). Hence, in today’s first reading, the prophet Malachi, in the mid-fifth century (515 to 458) BC, chided them for their religious impiety, dishonesty, and marriage with pagans, with the foolish hope that they would be able to get away with everything. Malachi thought that the day of the Lord was coming shortly. So he warned that God takes note of the goodness of those who fear him and will punish the wicked and the proud on the “Day of the Lord by setting them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch.” The image here is that of a blazing oven. For the sinful, the Day will be a day of fiery purification; for the righteous, it will be the Day of healing. Malachi is the very last book of the Old Testament in many non-Catholic Bibles, and his announcement about the day of the Lord is fulfilled in Jesus.
Second reading: II Thess 3: 7-12: The earliest Christians expected Jesus to come again in glory soon (Parousia), bringing history to its climax in the final judgment of the living and the dead. Some among the Thessalonians responded to this prospect by abandoning their customary work and leading lives of idleness. They asked themselves, "Why should we spend the small amount of time before the Parousia in hard labor?" Some of them were more interested in minding other people's business. Hence, St. Paul corrects them by asking them to imitate his own example of manual work (as a tent-maker or leather-worker of some sort), and preaching, warning them, “if anyone is unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.” By his manual labor, Paul supported his ministry, preaching his beliefs in word and deed to his fellow workers. We, too, must keep ourselves busy by faithfully discharging our duties and actively bearing witness to Christ through our lives, as we wait hopefully for the second coming of Jesus.
Exegesis: The apocalyptic discourse. Luke 21:5-36 is Luke's version of what is frequently called "the apocalyptic discourse." The early Christian apocalyptic writing was symbolic in nature, giving more an interpretation of future events than an actual prediction. The purpose of the apocalyptic literature was to encourage dispirited people by proclaiming that God is in control of history and that punishment of the wicked will come about by God’s doing. It was also intended to encourage the believers to remain faithful through the coming ordeals. The works are meant to inspire believers to derive whatever good they can from life’s inevitable suffering. So the apocalyptic writers encouraged their readers to interpret their sufferings as a sharing in the birth pangs of the “end.” The believers were assured that if they remained constant in faith, they could welcome the end of all things and the beginning of eternity with confidence and joy rather than with fear and dread. Luke presents the material as Jesus’ words addressed to the people gathered in the Temple for the Passover feast. Jesus demands of His hearers tenacity of faith and hope in spite of their sufferings. In the liturgical context, the Church aptly places Jesus’ end-time predictions at the end of the Church year. Luke's text, as we have it, seems to confuse the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius (A.D. 79) with Jesus’ predictions of the end of the world.
Fulfilment of Jesus’ prediction: To the proud people of Jerusalem, Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the Temple was a great shock and blasphemy because those words sounded like massive distrust of God and an insult to God. Yahweh would not allow it! It is not surprising that these words of Jesus were used against him at his trial before the High Priest. Yet within forty years, the prediction of Jesus was largely fulfilled. The Temple, originally built by Solomon, demolished by the Babylonians and rebuilt by Herod, was destroyed. At the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman army, 1.1 million people perished, 97,000 were carried away into captivity, the Temple was demolished by fire, and the priests were murdered.
Call for evangelization by heroic witnessing: The real question of the believers at the end of the first century was: "Now that many of these things have happened, and we are being persecuted, what should we do?" Luke gives them Jesus’ assurance that they are to trust his words against their persecutors. They must make use of this opportunity to bear witness to Jesus. This test of faith was also an opportunity to bear witness before the court officials and the public at large. Thus, the persecution would become a massive evangelization campaign [21:12-13]. Jesus cautions against their despairing in the face of wide-ranging opposition and persecution. Arrests would be followed by trial and condemnation in religious (Jewish) and civil (Gentile) courts. Their faith would serve as a clear witness on the Day of Judgment. Not only would the individual martyrs see the Lord in heaven, but the Church would flourish in persecution [21:18-19].
Doomsday prophets miss the message: Jesus refused to predict details or provide clues for the coming calamity. “War, earthquake, pestilence and famine" were traditionally personified as the “Four Apocalyptic Horsemen” who would come to announce the end-time judgment. The late Raymond Brown, a renowned Scripture scholar, suggests that end-of-the-world people perform a valuable service for us. They keep the Second Coming before our eyes. Prophets of doom in every century point to historical calamities (wars and revolts) and cosmic disasters (great earthquakes, famines, pestilence) and "signs in heaven" (like solar eclipses and comets), as signs of the end. This is a direct contradiction of what Jesus said. He told us not to try to predict the end, but to live loyally and lovingly in situations which, in many cases, would be hostile to the Gospel. Instead of destroying us, persecution and martyrdom will gain us eternal life. At the end of the discourse, Jesus gave the assurance, “Not a hair from your head would perish" (21:18). God's saving purpose will certainly triumph, because, contrary to appearances, he remains firmly in control. Finally, the way to glory is traveled more often through day-by-day endurance, rather than through isolated acts of heroic virtue. Here is a practical spirituality each of us can live, whatever our current situation may be.
Life messages: 1) We need to be prepared daily for death and judgment. The ideal way to accept Jesus’ apocalyptic message is always to be ready to face our death. We must live holy lives of selfless love, mercy, compassion and unconditional forgiveness, remembering the demands of justice in our day-to-day lives. We must also take time to rest and to pray in order to keep our hearts alive to God’s presence with us and within us. Daily examination of our conscience at bedtime, asking God’s pardon and forgiveness for our sins of the day, also prepares us to face God at any time to give an account of our lives.
2) We need to attain permanence in a passing word by exemplary lives. Our homes, our churches and even our own lives are temporary. All our structures are provisional. Our influence has no more claims to permanence than our buildings. Hence, our task is not to build monuments of any kind, but to be faithful to Christ. How our faithfulness is expressed each day is the most important thing. We are to persevere in our faith, despite worldly temptations, attacks on religion and moral values by the atheistic or agnostic media, threats of social isolation, and direct or indirect persecution because of our religious beliefs. Let us conclude this Church year by praying for the grace to endure patiently any trials that are essential to our affirmation of Jesus our Savior.
JOKE OF THE WEEK
1) Judgment Day, Second Coming, WHAT A PHONE BILL! After finishing his homily on the Judgment Day, the preacher started the prayer of mercy. "Oh Lord," he began. "One of these days we are going to wake up, and it's going to be DARK everywhere!” Deliver us, oh Lord." "Lord, have mercy on us!" responded the congregation. The preacher continued: "Then we are going to pick up the telephone and call Washington, and they are going to say, 'It's DARK over here too!'" "Lord, have mercy on us!" responded the congregation.” Then we’re going to pick up the phone and call London, and they are going to say, 'It's DARK over here!' "Lord, have mercy on us!" responded the congregation. “Again we're going to pick up the phone and call Moscow, and they are going to say, 'It's DARK over here too!" "Lord, have mercy on us!" responded the congregation.” "Then we're going to pick up the phone…. At this juncture, the church treasurer, who had also been caught up in the fervor of the preacher’s prayer, cried out uncontrollably: "Lord, Lord! What a PHONE BILL!"
2) Teeth will be provided in hell: Grandma told her little grandson: “Be a good boy. At the end of the world all the disobedient and bad people will be cast into fiery hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The little boy raised an intelligent doubt. “Grandma, you don’t have any teeth and you always quarrel with others. How would you gnash your teeth when you are cast into hell?” Grandma replied: “You naughty boy, don’t you know that teeth will be provided in hell.”
3) Endtime humor: Humorist Lewis Grizzard writes about a man in his hometown named Luther Gilroy. Luther claimed he was out plowing his field and saw a sign in the sky that said THE END IS NEAR. So Luther let his mule and his cow out of their pens, gave all his chickens away, and climbed on top of his house to await the end. When it didn't come, he pouted and refused to come down from the roof. Finally, his wife called the deputy sheriff, who came over and said, "Luther, you idiot, I saw that same sign. It didn't say, 'The end is near.' It said, 'Go drink a beer.' Now come down off that roof before you fall off and break your neck."
USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK
1) New American Bible for your computer desk top for easy reference: http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/
2) Catholic Internet Sources: http://www.catholicsource.net/
3) My house: Practical information on protecting families and healing marriages from pornography: http://www.loveisfaithful.com/
“Scriptural Homilies” no 358 by Fr. Tony: akadavil@mobis.com (L/10)
10- Additional anecdotes for OT 32: # 1: The end time predictions of scientists: Christians are not the only ones to talk about coming disasters. A year earlier it was the New Age people who were sounding the alarms. Astrologers were talking about a harmonic convergence producing chaos all over the world when the planets aligned on August 16, 1987. Nothing happened. In 1979, the fear was of the space satellite, Skylab. It was falling from the sky, NASA warned, but they were unsure where. The Federal Aviation Administration closed airspace; state and local governments went on alert; companies sold helmets. Skylab burned up July 11, 1979, over the Indian Ocean and Australia. No one was hurt. In today’s gospel Jesus speaks about the destruction of Jerusalem and signs preceding the end of the world.
# 2: "Look Master, what large stones and what large buildings!" The Temple of Jerusalem of Jesus’ time was the third Temple. Solomon had built the first Temple in seven years. It stood for 370 years. It was first looted by an invading army. A decade later, in 586 B.C.E., it was sacked and burned by the Babylonians. After the exile, the Temple was rebuilt under the order and patronage of Cyrus, the king of Persia by Zerubbabel in 516 B.C.E. Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple of Zerubbabel, taking a decade. Building upon and extending beyond the foundations of Solomon and Zerubbabel, he nearly doubled the area of the Temple Mount, enclosing within the retaining walls an area of 35 acres! But according to Josephus, Herod's 18,000 workmen continued work until 63 C.E. To enlarge the Temple Mount and to enclose 35 acres, strong retaining walls had to be extended down into the Tyropoean Valley to the west and down Ophel hill to the south. Ashlars, huge building blocks, were quarried, cut, faced and fitted without cement. All were proportionally large, but the largest measures 46 feet long by 10 feet high by 10 feet deep. Weighing 415 tons, it makes the stones of the Egyptian Pyramids - a mere 15 tons - to be as pebbles! ((Murray Stein, "How Herod Moved Gigantic Blocks to Construct the Temple Mount," Biblical Archaeology Review, Vol. VIII, No. 3, Washington, D.C., May-June, 1981, p. 42.). It was this beautiful Temple which the Roman army burnt down on August 28 in C.E. 70, as Jesus had predicted, after first murdering all the Temple priests. For nearly a month, the people of the upper city held out against the siege and the power of Rome. But on September 20 the Romans overran the city, slaughtering the inhabitants and putting the entire city to the torch. Everything happened as Jesus had said. The 40-foot colonnades that surrounded the Temple Mount, the Temple itself, and Herod's huge portico were all gone. They had been pushed down and pulled over, rolling into the Tyropoean Valley to the west and the Kidron Valley to the east, significantly lifting the levels of both valleys. For the most part, the stones remain to this day right where the Romans left them. Except for the few stones of the Western Wall, often called the Wailing Wall, there was “not one stone left upon another” that was not thrown down. Titus and his legions swept through all of Palestine, razing hundreds of synagogues to ground.
# 3: “I never unpacked it in the first place.” You may know the story about the little boy who had returned from his first two weeks at summer camp. He showed his mother two badges that he had won: one for making improvements in swimming, the other for naming the most birds on a nature hike. There was a blue ribbon in his pocket signifying a third prize, and his mother asked him about that. “Aw,” he said, “I got that thing for having the neatest packed bag when we were ready to come home.” “I’m proud of you,” his mother said. “No big deal,” he said. “I never unpacked it in the first place.” If we are constantly looking for God to right the world’s wrongs some day in a great cataclysmic conclusion to life on this earth, we may never “unpack our bag” and realize that it is here and now where God has placed us to do our living.
# 4: Be careful when you try to predict the future. Today’s experts turn out sometimes to be tomorrow’s fools. I read recently that when the city fathers of the grand metropolis New York City planned for the future growth of their city, they laid out the streets and numbered them from the center outward. When they began, there were only six or seven streets. In their planning maps, they projected how large they thought the city might grow. Reaching beyond their wildest imagination, they drew streets on the map all the way out to 19th Street. They called it “Boundary Street” because they were sure that’s as large as New York City would become. At last count, the city had reached 284th Street far exceeding their expectations! (Rev. Adrian Dieleman, http://www.trinitycrc.org/sermons/eph3v20-21.html ). In 1881 the New York City YWCA announced typing lessons for women. Amazingly, angry protests greeted this announcement. Why? Many believed that the female constitution would break down under the strain. Some of you women can remember when girls were only allowed to play half court in basketball for the same reason. Nobody envisioned what today’s women athletes would be capable of.
# 5: An old Hungarian anecdote. A pious Hungarian king, finding himself on a certain day depressed and unhappy, sent for his brother, a good-natured, but rather indifferent prince. To him, the king said: "I am a great sinner and fear to meet God." But the prince only laughed at him, treated the matter as a joke and left the royal palace without making any comment. It was a custom in Hungary at that time, that if the executioner sounded a trumpet before a man's door, it was a signal that the man was to be led forth to execution. The king sent the executioner in the dead of night to sound the fatal blast before his brother's door. The prince, awaking from sleep, realized its awful import. Quickly dressing, he stepped to the door and was seized by the executioner, who dragged him, pale and trembling, into the king's presence. In an agony of terror, the prince fell upon his knees before his brother and begged to know in what way he had offended him. "My brother," answered the king, "if the sight of a human executioner is so terrible to you, shall not I, having grievously offended God, fear to be brought before the judgment seat of Christ? Do we not read in the Bible, ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’?”
# 6: The great day in our lives: There is always a great deal of emotion in anticipation of “the day,” whether that be a First Communion day, graduation day, wedding day, the first day of a new job, opening day at the ballpark or our retirement day—to name but a few important days in the lives of many of us. In such cases, not only is the day enjoyed for itself, it also promises many more wonderful days in the future. On the other hand, there are some days that strike fear and dread in our hearts, such as the day we lose our job, the day of the death of a loved one, the day we are sent out to fight a war. These days thrust us into sadness and struggle with little or no light at the end of the tunnel. The Day of the Lord was always a day of anticipation for the people of ancient Israel. Originally it was perceived as a day of fulfillment. It was the moment in history when all of the promises made by God would come to completion, and the people of God would enjoy them forever, promises of peace and prosperity, of contentment and harmony. But some of the prophets warned that the Day of the Lord would first be a day of suffering or purging, referring to it as the “birth pangs of the Messiah.” Today’s readings focus on the painful aspects of “that day.”(Dianne Bergant).
# 7: Be faithful: Some of you know the story of writer Anne Lamott. When she was twenty-five, her father died after a long struggle with brain cancer. Over the next few years Anne herself began to suffer from an overwhelming sense of desperation and fear which she tried to suppress with alcohol and pills. Although she was managing to write and publish successful novels at the time, it was clear that her life was spinning out of control. In her memoir, Traveling Mercies, she writes about this dark period of her life. And most importantly she tells how a community of Christian faith, a neighborhood church called St. Andrew, came to her rescue. In her book she tells the time-honored story of a little girl who was lost. This girl ran up and down the streets of the big town where her family lived, but she couldn’t find a single landmark. She was frightened. Finally a policeman stopped to help her. He put her in the passenger seat of his car, and they drove around until she finally saw her church. She pointed it out to the policeman, and then she told him firmly, “You can let me out now. This is my church, and I can always find my way home from here.” Anne Lamott writes, “And that is why I have stayed so close to mine because no matter how bad I am feeling, how lost or lonely or frightened, when I see the faces of the people at my church, when I hear their tawny voices, I can always find my way home.” (Anchor, 2000)
# 8: Question to Buddha: Rev. Richard J. Fairchild tells the story of a monk who once approached the Buddha and asked: “Do the souls of the righteous survive death?” Characteristically, Buddha gave him no reply. But the monk persisted. Each day he would repeat the question, and each day he would get silence for an answer, until he could stand it no longer. He threatened to abandon the path to enlightenment unless this crucial question was answered. Why should he sacrifice everything to live a monastic life if the souls of the righteous perished with their bodies? Then Buddha in his compassion spoke. “You are like a man,” he said, “who was dying from a poisoned arrow. His relatives rushed a doctor to his side. But the man refused to have the arrow pulled out unless three of his questions were answered. First, about the man who shot him – was he a white man or black? Second, was he a tall man or a short man? And third, was he a Brahmin or an outcast?” Many of us are in the same position as that monk. How many of us question God and refuse to continue in our faith until all our questions about life after death are answered to our satisfaction? Jesus’ teaching about the end of the world, God’s judgment of the wicked and the reward of the faithful in today’s readings will avail us nothing, unless we are willing to allow Christ to enter our hearts and minister to us his life-giving word. We must be willing to allow God to pluck out the arrows that poison our lives before we have all the answers to our questions. The question we need to ask is not, ”Why do the wicked seem to prosper?" but rather, ”Will I be saved?"
# 9: It Happened Tomorrow, and Early Edition: Years ago, a film entitled, It Happened Tomorrow, featured an ambitious business executive who wished that he could buy tomorrow’s newspaper today so as to take financial advantage of his privileged glimpse into the future. Suddenly, an elderly gentleman appeared before him, holding the coveted newspaper. “I’ve decided to grant your wish,” he said. The remainder of the movie details what happened to the businessman as a result of his “future” knowledge. Later a television series, called Early Edition, reprised the premise of the film and featured a young man who received ‘tomorrow’s paper’ daily. As he read of accidents that were yet to happen and disasters that were yet to occur, he sensed a certain responsibility for preventing them by altering the circumstances and/or protecting the people involved. Though such stories are somewhat interesting and attention-grabbing, they are simply imaginative escapes into the world of fiction. We cannot know the future this way, but the future is known—by God to Whom it belongs. He alone is responsible for its unfolding day by day, year by year. We, for our part, are to be responsive to God by being responsible for God’s gifts of the present as detailed in today’s readings. (Patricia Sánchez)
# 10: A Church without persecution dies a natural death: The late William Barclay wrote: "The crisis of the present day is not theological: it is ethical. Christian theology is not really under attack, for there are few outside of the church sufficiently interested in it to assail it."(William Barclay, The Ten Commandments for Today, (New York, Harper and Row, Publishers). Gardner C. Taylor comments further: "It is astonishing how much an American family will spend on physical fitness and how little time or interest or money it will invest in spiritual fitness. It is amazing how much attention parents will give to a balanced diet for a child's physical growth and how little attention they will pay to the child's moral and spiritual growth. Bread for the body, but no food for the soul. Cultivation of the mind, none of the heart.” “Scriptural Homilies” no 358 LP/10
Thursday, June 24, 2010
SYNOPSIS OF XIV SUNDAY HOMILY ON LUKE 10: 1-12, 17-20 (LP)
Introduction: Today’s scriptures remind us that announcing the good news of the kingdom by words, deeds and life is not the task of only a few,but is rather a task for all baptized Christians.
Scripture lessons: the first reading, Isaiah sees the city ofJerusalem as the prototype of the rejoicing Church—the Church whocomforts her children, “as a mother comforts her baby son.” He assureshis listeners that they live in the certainty of Yahweh’s promises oflove, protection, prosperity and salvation. In today’s second reading (Galatians 6: 14-18), Paul clearly teaches that it was Jesus’ death onthe cross which brings us salvation and not his Jewish heritage. Hereminds us that every Christian is called to be a “new creature,” andthat the mission of each member of the Church is to bear witness to thesaving power of the cross of Christ through a life of sacrificial andself-giving service. Today’ gospel according to Luke describes thefulfillment of the prophetic promise made by Isaiah in Jesus’commissioning of 72 disciples to preach the gospel in towns andvillages in preparation for his visit. He gives them “travel tips” for their missionary journey. They must be walking witnesses of God’s providence by relying on the hospitality of others, living very simple lives, preaching the good news and healing the sick. Today’s gospel reminds us that the 1.5 billion Christians in the world today have the same mission to preach the gospel of Christ to the other 4.5 billion non-Christians.
Life Messages: 1) We need to continue the preaching mission: Just as Jesus in today’s gospel gave instructions to the seventy-two missionaries, he also gives each one of us a mission to carry out. As faithful Christians we should attract others to our faith by exemplary lives just as a rose attracts people by its beauty and fragrance. It’s our job and our responsibility. We must not miss the current opportunities to be apostles in everyday life by our words and deeds.
2) We need to avoid the counter-witnessing of practicing the “supermarket Catholicism” of our politicians who publicly proclaim their “Catholicism” and yet support abortion, gay marriage, human cloning and experimentation with human embryos. Nor should we be “armchair Catholics” “cafeteria Catholics” or “Sunday Catholics” who bear counter-witness to Christ through their lives.
3) Let us start preaching the gospel in our families by leading exemplary Christian lives where spouses love and respect each other and raise their children in the spirit of obedience and service, disciplining them with forgiving love and teaching them to pray, love and help others by sharing their blessings.
XIV SUNDAY- JULY 8: IS 66:10-14; GAL. 6:14-18, LUKE 10: 1-12, 17-20-L
Anecdote # 1: 001- James Bond and Jesus’ disciples. James Bond according to M15 is simply unacceptable as a spy. At least that is what MI5 said. In March 2003, MI5--Great Britain's domestic intelligence agency--reported that characters like James Bond are too tall to serve as a spy in Her Majesty's Service because good spies should blend in with those around them. Since the average man is 6' tall or less, then the upper acceptable height limit for Great Britain's male spies is 5' 11" and for female spies, the upper limit is 5' 8". All the actors who have played James Bond in the movies have been 6' or taller. By MI5's current standards, none of them would have been qualified to serve as real domestic spies. A secret agent can't exactly keep his secret status if he stands out too much. (CNN.com - James Bond "too tall" to be a spy - Mar 6, 2004, International Edition London, England (Reuters). I doubt that Jesus chose his disciples on the basis of their height, do you? As he sent them out into the world, he certainly didn't seem concerned that they would stand out too much. In fact, he insisted that they should stand out as walking witnesses of Jesus’ good news -and that their mission could be dangerous.
Anecdote # 2: One-man army for Christ: The story of St. Philip Neri,who earned the title “Apostle of Rome” in the 16th century, is anexample of missionary zeal demanded by today’s gospel. Philip came down toRome in the early 1500s as an immigrant from Florence and a layman.When he arrived, he was horrified by the physical and moral devastation of thecity. Rome had been sacked in 1527 by the Germans who had left much of thecity shell-shocked and ruined. The Gospel wasn’t being preached, andmany priests and cardinals were living in open defiance of Christ’smoral teachings. Philip prayed to God to learn what he might do. Heread the letters that St. Francis Xavier had sent back to Europe fromIndia, where he had been converting tens of thousands, and Philipthought that God was calling him to follow the great Basque missionaryto India, to give his life in proclaiming the Gospel. He went to hisspiritual director and told him what he thought God was asking of him.The wise old priest affirmed his desire to serve and bear witness toChrist, but told him to focus his attention on re-evangelizing thosearound him: “Rome is to be your India!” This was quite a task for oneman. But Philip, relying on God’s help, started — first as a layman,then as a priest — to convert Rome, one person at a time. He wouldcheerfully go to street corners and say, “Friends, when are we going to start to do good?” He developed various entertaining social and religious activities to give the people, especially the young people, better alternatives for their hearts and time than those offered by the debauched culture around them. His impact was enormous, and when he died in 1595, much of Rome had been reconverted. The same God who spoke to Philip almost five hundred years ago challenges eachone of us this morning through the Scriptures, “Your parish and yourfamily, your workplace and your parish are your mission field!”
Introduction: Today’s gospel describes how Jesus sent his disciples out to towns and villages to prepare for his visit by giving them “travel tips” for their missionary journey. This reminds us that announcing the good news of the kingdom is not the task of only a few, but is rather a task for all. Following the model of Jesus, the Church rejoices in the triumphs and accomplishments of her children. She constantly nourishes them, directs them, consoles them and gives them strength. In the first reading, Isaiah sees the city of Jerusalem asthe prototype of the rejoicing Church—the Church who comforts her children, “as a mother comforts her baby son.” He assures his listeners that they live in the certainty of Yahweh’s promises of love, protection, prosperity and salvation. In the words of the Psalmist, “we rejoice in the awesome deeds of God who keeps us among the living and will not let our foot slip.” In today’s second reading (Galatians 6: 14-18), Paul clearly teaches that it is Jesus’ death on the cross which brings us salvation and not his Jewish heritage. Paul reminds us that every Christian is called to be a “new creature,” and that the mission of each member of the Church is to bear witness to the saving power of the cross of Christ through a life of sacrificial and self-giving service. Today’s gospel according to Luke describes the fulfillment of the prophetic promise made by Isaiah in Jesus’ commissioning of 72 disciples to preach the gospel in towns and villages in preparation for Jesus’ visit. The 1.5 billion Christians in the world today have the same mission to preach the gospel of Christ to the other 4.5 billion non-Christians.
First reading, Isaiah 66:10-14: The prophet Isaiah is encouraging the Jews returning from Babylonian exile to see their beloved city of God, Jerusalem, alive under its ruins. In poetic and symbolic language, he describes the prosperity and peace which the New Jerusalem will give them. Both the Holy City of Jerusalem and God are presented in the image of a mother. The prophet offers a maternal image of God. The returned exiles will have the experience of a child being fondled by its loving mother. They will be like suckling infants enjoying the comfort and nurture of a mother because the city will give them the experience of Yahweh’s love and care, the Temple of Jerusalem will represent God’s presence in their midst and "the Lord's power shall be known to his servants." The prophet calls on his fellow-Jews to rejoice and be glad because Jerusalem will be greater, more peaceful and more prosperous than she ever was before. Today’ gospel according to Luke describes the fulfillment of the prophetic promise made by Isaiah in the seventy-two disciples as they returned after completing their mission.
Second Reading, Galatians 6:14-18: These are the concluding words of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Shortly after Paul left Galatia, some ultra-conservative Judeo-Christians ("Judaizers”) arrived there from Jerusalem. They taught that, since the historical Jesus was Jewish, circumcised and observed the Torah, his disciples also had to be Jewish and circumcised and had to observe the Torah. So Paul wrote a letter to those in Galatia who were disturbed and confused by these new teachings. Paul was angry with the Galatians for their stupidly in accepting the false arguments of the Judaizers. In the letter Paul argues forcefully that God requires no such thing, and that keeping such a false obligation is nothing to boast about. Astonishingly,Paul boasts about what would otherwise be shameful, the execution of Jesus on the cross. "Crucified to the world" is another strong image, meaning that Paul's relationship with the world is no longer governed by the old Mosaic Law or anything else from the past, but by his relationship with Christ crucified.
Exegesis: Travel tips for the seventy-two walking witnesses on their first mission trip: While all the synoptic Gospels mention a mission of the Twelve, only Luke adds a second mission of the 72. Just as Moses selected the seventy-two elders to guide and govern his people, so Luke presents Jesus as the “new Moses” in today’s gospel. Jesus sends out his seventy-two disciples to towns and villages to announce his visit, thus giving a symbolic meaning to the number seventy-two. The Jews also believed that there were seventy-two nations in thewhole world, and they had seventy-two members in the Sanhedrin, the supreme council of the Jews. In the Book of Genesis, seventy descendants of Jacob moved with him from Israel to Egypt to begin a new life. In the Book of Exodus, seventy elders go up the Mountain of God along with Moses to learn about the new covenant with YHWH. Each of us, by the very fact that we have heard the Lord's call, is likewise sent on a mission. Hence, announcing the good news of thekingdom is not something optional for a Christian. The disciples received instructions as to how they were to carry out their mission. For example, they were to "carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals." There is also an ominous warning that they are sent as “lambs among wolves.” Their guidelines were simple: go where they were received (verses 5-6); remain in one place (verse 7) and eat what was set before them (verse 8). This would help them avoid the appearance of being mercenary. The basic idea behind Jesus’ instruction is that his disciples were sent as walking witnesses and hence they were not todepend on anything or anybody except on the Holy Spirit of God and on divine providence.
1)”Ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to the harvest.” The mission of the seventy-two disciples was not a human project, and hence they needed strength from God to do the work. In proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, we, too, participate in God’s work. It is the Lord who is working in and through us. He gives us the power to announce his presence with our lives. Therefore, constant contact with the Lord of the harvest is necessary. This means that we must be men and women of prayer -- not only for an hour a week at Mass but on a daily basis.
2) "Do not carry a walking staff or traveling bag; wear no sandals." In Jesus’ day, travelers carried a stick as a defense against snakes and wild animals, and used sandals as an aid in traveling along dusty roads and rocky byways. Likewise, a change of clothing as well as food and drink were thought necessary—but Jesus forbade all these. His command was that the disciples should give up even thesenecessities so as to be both a living act of faith in God and “walking signs” to those who saw them. The disciples were only armed with their faith and the name of Jesus. They needed nothing more. Their detachment from material goods would enable them to uphold the absolute priority of preaching the Good News. They did not need a staff or provisions because God would take care of them through the people to whom they were to preach. The spirit of detachment would also help them to trust more deeply in Divine Providence and would oblige them to rely humbly on the hospitality of those who were receptive to the Gospel. Their life-style should help proclaim their message: "The reign of God is at hand." In other words, "God is among you as Jesus of Nazareth, working with power."
3) "Greet no one along the way." (See also 2 Kings 4:29). This instruction implies that the mission was so urgent that nothing should divert the disciples from it. Likewise, the disciples were told to travel in pairs, suggesting that the work of evangelization should be a collective one.
4) Acceptance and rejection: One of the reasons we prefer to delegate our Lord's evangelistic work to priests, religious and missionaries is that we fear rejection. When by our words and lifestyles we tell others about Jesus, we sometimes find ourselves labeled as “religious fanatics," “Bible-thumpers,” or perhaps, simply as “old-fashioned.” Many times we take the rejection personally. So Jesus consoles us: "Let your peace come back to you.” This means, “Don’t take it personally. You have done your part, so don’t worry about the outcome.” He goes on, telling them, “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven” in the book of life! It is not up to us to force anyone to accept Jesus. Our mission is to prepare the way. If aperson's heart is open, the Lord will enter in.
5) Preach that the kingdom of God is at hand. The kingdom of God comes into being wherever God reigns, and wherever His will is done. The kingdom of God is present in the people through whom God acts. “Hence the early church equated Christ with the kingdom of God because God reigns in Christ, God’s will is done in Christ and God acts through Christ” (Lumen Gentium, #5). Thus to proclaim the kingdom of God is the same as to proclaim Christ. In fact, the Church from its beginning, by proclaiming the good news of Christ, was being faithful to his mandate to proclaim the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God has come upon us if God reigns in our hearts, if we do God's will, if God acts through us.
Life Messages: 1) We need to continue the preaching mission: Just as Jesus in today’s gospel gives instructions to the seventy-two missionaries, he also gives each one of us a mission to carry out. There were just a handful of followers in Jesus’ day to preach the good news, but today there are over one billion Roman Catholics and about a half billion other Christians (in 30,000 denominations!) who accept Jesus as “Lord” and “Savior.” So there are 1.5 billion missionaries in a world of six billion people. A recent survey asked the question, “Why do adults join the Catholic Church in spite of the scandals publicized in the media?” Seventy-five percent of the new adult converts to the Catholic Church reported that they were attracted by a personal invitation from a Catholic who had alively relationship with Christ and his Church. As faithful Catholics, we will attract others to the Catholic Church—just as a rose attracts people by its beauty and fragrance. It’s our job. It’s our responsibility. We must not miss the current opportunities to be apostles in everyday life by our words and deeds.
2) We need to avoid counter-witnessing: The Church is founded on the rock of Peter, a humble, ignorant fisherman who died for the Lord he loved. Compare his faith and heroic witnessing with the “supermarket Catholicism” of our politicians who publicly proclaim their “Catholicism” and yet support abortion, gay marriage, human cloning and experimentation with human embryos. We should not be “Catholics for a Free Choice” who oppose anything proposed by the Church, including the most basic right to life. Nor should we be armchairCatholics, spiritual weekend warriors, “cafeteria Catholics” or “barely-make-it-to-Mass” members of the Church, who bear counter-witness to Christ. Instead of giving counter-witness, let us become heralds of the Kingdom in our own homes by treating each other with profound respect. When spouses respect each other, the children and our neighbors will experience the Kingdom in our families because the kingdom of God is God’s rule in our hearts enabling us to do His will.
3) The modern world needs the heroic witnessing of martyrs. The earlywriters of the Church never called the first Christians “martyrs,” inthe modern sense of the word, but rather those who died “givingwitness” (martyrein) to Christ. The most important element wasn’ttheir deaths; it was their fidelity to their faith until the last moment oftheir lives. Martyrs are not people to be relegated to the distantpast. Recent history abounds with examples of martyrdom: civil war inSpain, religious persecution in Poland, Mexico, Vietnam, Russia,China, and Africa. The names of Edith Stein (Germany), MaximilianKolbe (Poland), Miguel Pro (Mexico), and Pedro Poveda (Spain) are onlythe beginning of a long list of innocent victims, witnesses for theirfaith. Even today, religious freedom is still denied in variouscountries and, in fact, several Muslim nations forbid the celebrationof the sacraments. In our day, there are also “moral martyrs” who,although they are never physically killed, die an ignominious death,persecuted in the press, defamed in the media and falsely accused offaults they never committed. As successors of the seventy-twodisciples, we are called upon to do Christ’s work with the courage ofthese martyrs’ convictions.
JOKES OF THE WEEK (on the preaching mission).
# 1 The definition of a good sermon: It should have a good beginningand a good ending and they should be as close together as possible. Asermon should be modeled as a woman's dress: long enough to cover thesubject, but short enough to keep it interesting. A rule of thumb forpreachers: If after ten minutes you haven't struck oil, stop boring! Apastor was greeting folks at the door after the service. A woman said,"Father, that was a very good sermon." The pastor says, "Oh, I have togive the credit to the Holy Spirit." "It wasn't THAT good!" she says.A priest, whose sermons were very long and boring, announced in thechurch on a Sunday that he had been transferred to another church andthat it was Jesus' wish that he leave that week. The congregation inthe church got up and sang: "What a Friend we have in Jesus!"
# 2: Boring preacher: A man was walking a pit bull down the road. The dog got away, ran up to a preacher and bit him on the knee. Then the dog went acrossthe street and bit a beautiful young woman. The owner was broughtbefore a judge who asked, "Why did your dog bite the preacher?" Theman answered, "I don't know! He's never done anything like thatbefore." Then the judge asked, "Well why did he bite the young woman?"The owner replied, "Oh that's easy to answer! Probably he wanted toget the taste of that boring preacher out of his mouth!"
# 3: Place of amusement: A pastor who was well known for the jokes he told during his sermons asked Park Benjamin, a famous humorist, why he never came to hear him preach. Benjamin replied, "Why, Sir, the fact is, I haveconscientious scruples against going to places of amusement onSunday."# 4: Abraham Lincoln put it rather strongly but effectively, when hesaid: "I do not care for cut-and-dried sermons. When I hear a manpreach I like to see him act as if he were fighting a bumblebee.
“USEFUL WEBSITES OF THE WEEK
1) Daily Catholic: http://www.dailycatholic.org/issue/04Jan/index.htm
2) EWTNLibrary: http://www.ewtn.com/ewtn/library/search.asp
(Scriptural homilies No. 343 by Fr. Tony (akadavil@mobis.com)
6 additional anecdotes for O. T. XIV
# 1: Albert Schweitzer, the missionary doctor and Nobel Laureate, was born in 1875 in the region of Alsace, an area claimed vigorously both by France and Germany. Schweitzer was always attracted to scholarship and to his father’s ministry in the Church as pastor. He earned degrees in Theology and Philosophy while at the same time serving as a curate for a small congregation. And he kept that small ministry even when he wasteaching at a prestigious university and writing a foundational workof theology, Quest of the Historical Jesus, in 1905. Schweitzer alsoachieved renown as an authority on the music of J.S. Bach. Anorganist of international repute, he produced a great edition ofBach’s works and wrote a six-hundred page study of the composer. Oneday he chanced upon a notice in a magazine describing the need fordoctors in Africa. And so he decided to leave behind all hisaccomplishments and answer the call. His friends and colleaguesthought he was mad. But his mind was made up. He earned a medicaldegree with a specialty in tropical diseases and presented himself tothe Paris Missionary Society which sent him with his wife to the areaof Africa now called Gabon. Within months he had designed and builtan African-village-style hospital. He tried by his work as amissionary doctor to relate Christianity to the sacredness of life inall its forms. He followed strictly the guidelines for the preachingand healing mission Jesus gave to the seventy-two disciples asdescribed in today’s gospel and became one of the great Christianmissionaries of the twentieth century.
# 2: The story “Picture of Peace” by Catherine Marshall. There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture on peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains allaround it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All whosaw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. Theother picture too had mountains. But these were rugged and bare. Abovewas an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played.Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This didnot look peaceful at all. But when the king looked closely, he sawbehind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. Inthe bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of therush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest – in perfectpeace. Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose thesecond picture. Do you know why? “Because,” explained the king,“peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise,trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all thosethings and still be in calm in your heart. This is the real meaning ofpeace.” This Sunday’s Gospel reading (Lk 10:1-12, 17-20) tells usabout the mission of the seventy-two disciples who are called to bepeace-bearers and peace givers. (Stories for the Heart, compiled byAlice Gray) (Scr. Hom- Fr. T)
# 3: Kim the missionary: A true story told by Father Ray. A couple ofmonths ago, a man from our parish, Kim by name, came up to me andsaid, "Fr. Ray, please say an extra prayer for me. I’m giving a talkthis afternoon to some high school teenagers at a public school, whichmy nephew attends. This year his class has been having ‘motivationalspeakers’ talk about how they have overcome the obstacles anddifficulties they’ve faced in their lives. My nephew asked me to comeand share my story." Fr. Ray said to him, "That’s a public school, youknow. Do you plan to tell them everything?” He asked that questionbecause he knew Kim’s story. Kim’s stepson had been murdered, hisstepdaughter had died of cancer a week after she graduated from highschool and his wife had been killed in a car accident. Prior to thesetragedies Kim had lived the life of a pagan and hadn’t even beenbaptized. In the midst of the terrible sadness caused by thesetragic events, however, he had opened his heart to God and embraced theCatholic faith. So Father Ray knew that if Kim were going to tell themeverything—including the part about the Church and sacraments—theofficials at the school might not like it. So Fr. Ray repeated thequestion, "Do you plan to tell them everything?” Without hesitation,Kim answered, "Absolutely!" Fr. Ray then told him, "Then I’lldefinitely pray for you – and if you get arrested for mentioning God,Jesus and the Catholic Church in a public school, I promise to comeand visit you in prison!”
Kim gave the talk. And what happened? The young people loved it! Theythought it was so great that they voted him "the best speaker of theyear," and asked him to return in the fall to tell his story to thewhole school! This current incident illustrates the deep hunger forGod still present in this materialistic world, and shows that youngpeople like to hear authentic, sincere, witnessing to Jesus Christ. Intoday’s Gospel text (Luke 10), we are told that Jesus sent outseventy-two disciples into the towns he was planning to visit, toprepare people for his arrival. The disciples were to do this byproclaiming the good news of God’s love and salvation and by healingthe sick. This is what Kim did for those high school students! Hehealed the sick of heart by his words of witness, and he helpedprepare some of them to receive Jesus Christ more fully into theirlives! (Scr. Hom- Fr. T)
# 4: Travel guides: Savvy travelers about to embark on a trip oftenprepare themselves by consulting the appropriate experts. A wealth ofhelpful information can be found in the form of travel guides whichare readily available at any local library or bookstore. Therein,amateur tourists and veteran globe-trotters alike, can become familiarwith what there is to see and to do in their chosen destination. Mapsof the region aid in planning travel routes. Charts of averagetemperatures and rainfalls, addresses and telephone numbers of touroperators, timetables for buses and trains, calendars of specialevents, tables of the monetary exchange rate and listings of localmuseums, galleries, post offices, markets, banks, etc., all provehelpful to those who wish their travels to be uneventful andworry-free. Many guide books also include a region by regiondescription of the most important and interesting sites to visit aswell as a brief survey of the history of the area and a profile ofpersonality of the local residents. Budget-minded or financially-strapped travelers usually appreciate the travel-guides’ recommendations as to the price ranges of various restaurants, hotels and motels. Some guides contain descriptions and recommendations as to the local cuisine and certain gourmet specialties. Many also provide a brief dictionary of important words and useful phrases to facilitate the travelers’ efforts at communication. A few of the more detailed travel books even offer tips concerning certain mores and culturalsensitivities of which the average tourist may be unaware. More oftenthan not, those who avail themselves of such information enjoy morepleasant and memorable travel experiences. In today’s gospel, Luke hasfeatured Jesus detailing a list of travel tips and information of avery different sort; while this advice may not compare to that whichis included in a Fodor’s or a Michelin or any other such guide, it isnevertheless valuable and necessary for every would-be disciple.(Patricia Datchuck Sánchez)
# 5: There is a funny story about two young Mormon missionaries who were going door to door. They knocked on the door of one woman who was not at all happy to see them. The woman told them in no uncertain terms that she did not want to hear their message and slammed the door in their faces. To her surprise, however, the door did not close and, in fact, almost magically bounced back open. She tried again, really putting her back into it and slammed the door again with the same amazing result--the door bounced back open. Convinced that one of the young religious zealots was sticking their foot in the door, she reared back to give it a third slam. She felt this would really teach them a lesson. But before she could act, one of them stopped her and politely said, "Ma'am, before you do that again, you really should move your cat."
# 6: When Someone Is Drowning: There was an interesting story in Readers Digest sometime back by Elise Miller Davis titled, "When Someone Is Drowning, It's No Time To Teach Him How to Swim." Ms. Davis tells of sitting near a swimming pool one day and hearing a commotion. A head was bobbing in and out of the deepest water. Ms. Davis saw a man rush to the edge of the pool and heard him yell, "Hold your breath! Hold your breath!" Then a young lady joined him, screaming, "Turn on your back and float!" Their voices caught the attention of the lifeguard. Like a flash, he ran the length of the pool, jumped in, and pulled the man in trouble to safety. Later, the lifeguard said to Ms. Davis, "Why in the name of heaven didn't somebody holler that one word--Help? When someone's drowning, it's no time to teach him how to swim." Do you understand that there are people in our community who are barely staying afloat? Families are disintegrating, young people are becoming chemically addicted, and middle-aged people are facing life-crises that would blow your minds. What they need is good news of Jesus from zealous missionaries and pastors and committed Christians.
Weekday HomiliesJune 28- July 3 (2010) L
June 28 Monday: Mt 8: 18-22: 18 Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." 20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." 21 Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."
The context: Today’s gospel passage explains the cost of Christian discipleship and the wholehearted constancy and sacrificial ministry that the Christian mission requires.
It was quite unexpected for a learned scribe to volunteer to become Jesus’ disciple. But Jesus offered him no false promises. "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests,” He said. Jesus was simply being honest about the demands and the cost of a commitment the scribe might make too lightly and a journey he might be undertaking too easily. Being a Christian is not an easy or comfortable affair: it calls for self-denial and for putting God before everything else. Jesus’ response to another would-be disciple who asked for more time before becoming a disciple sounds harsh: “Let the dead bury their dead.” But this man’s father was not dead or sick. The man had simply asked to stay with his father until the father’s death. Jesus knew that later he would find another reason to delay answering the call.
Life messages: 1) We need to honor our commitments: Today, more than ever, people make marriage commitments too easily and then break them. The problem today is that the couples do not have the courage to make the commitment of marriage. We all know there is a tremendous shortage of priests because our young people are unwilling to make commitments to God by committing themselves to life-long celibacy, to a diocese or to the vowed life of a religious community. 2) We need to pray for strength to honor our commitments. We are here this morning because, in one way or another, we have said to Jesus, “I will follow you.” Sometimes we have been faithful, to him and other times we have not. Hence we have to pray for strength to honor our commitments, we have to ask for forgiveness when we fail, and we have to renew our determination to walk with Jesus by being loyal to our spouse and family, earning our living honestly, and living not only peacefully, but lovingly, with our neighbors. (Fr. Tony)
June 29 Tuesday: Apostles: Peter & Paul: Mt 16: 13-19: 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"16 Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. 21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you." 23 But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men."
Peter and Paul are the principal pillars of the Church. Today we celebrate the feast of their martyrdom.
Peter was son of Jona and brother of Andrew. He was a professional fisherman from Bethsaida, a fishing town on the Lake of Galilee or Gennesaret. He may have been a follower of John the Baptist. It was his brother Andrew who introduced him to Jesus, and Jesus who changed his name from Simon to Cephas or Peter. Jesus made him the leader of his apostles. At Caesarea Philippi Jesus promised to make him the head of his Church, and the risen Jesus confirmed Peter’s precedence. It was Peter’s speech on the day of the Pentecost which inaugurated the Church. He made missionary journeys to Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea and convened the first Council in Jerusalem. He wrote two epistles and he was martyred by crucifixion under the emperor Nero.
Paul the “Apostle of the Gentiles” and the greatest missionary was a Roman citizen by birth as he was born in Tarsus. His original name was Saul. As a Pharisee he was sent to Jerusalem by his parents to study the Mosaic Law under the great rabbi Gamaliel. As a student he learned the trade of tent-making. He was actively present at the stoning of Stephen. But he was miraculously converted on his way to Damascus to arrest the Christians. He made several missionary journeys, converted hundreds of Jews and Gentiles and established Church communities. He wrote 14 epistles. He was arrested and kept in prison for two years in Caesarea and two more years in Rome. Finally he was martyred by beheading at Tre Fontane in Rome
June 30 Wednesday: Mt 8: 28-34: 28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" 30 Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine." 32 And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.
The context: Today’s gospel episode demonstrates Jesus’ power over the devil in a Gentile town called Gadara (Matthew) or Gerasa (Mark & Luke) of Decapolis east of the Jordan. Two possessed men came out of a tomb-filled desolate place. Their demons, recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, begged him to send them into a herd of swine. In Mark’s and Luke’s version of the incident, the possessed men’s demons named themselves Legion (6000), indicating their number. Jesus did as the evil spirits requested, and the now-possessed swine ran down the slope and drowned in the sea. The frightened people of the city asked Jesus to leave their city. The people considered their swine more precious than the possessed men, and the liberation given to these men from evil spirits did not matter to them. If we have a selfish or materialistic outlook we fail to appreciate the value of divine things and push God out of our lives, begging Him to go away, as these people did.Life message: Come out of your tombs: Jesus is calling us to come out of the tombs. Our tombs are the closed-in, sealed-off areas of our hearts where life in the Spirit of God has died because we haven't let Jesus minister to us through others. Such ungodly persons are lonely. They try to fill their inner emptiness by filling their lives with money, promiscuity, addictions or workaholism. Jesus the liberator is ready to free us from the tombs of our evil addictions and habits. Let us go to him and receive his love, that we may experience the joy and freedom of the children of God. (Fr. Tony) LP/10
July 1 Thursday: Mt 9: 1-8: Matthew 9:1-8 : 1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Rise and walk'? 6 But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- he then said to the paralytic -- "Rise, take up your bed and go home." 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
The context: Beyond showing his authority over temptation, over the lives of men, over nature, over demons and over sickness, in today’s gospel we see Jesus demonstrating a new form of authority – his authority to forgive sins. Jesus miraculously restores a paralyzed man to health as a sign of this authority. The healing episode presents Jesus as the embodiment of God, sent to save us, restore us and make us new. So we have to look beyond the boundaries of our religious experience to appreciate the healing and forgiving operation of our God in newer and newer ways.
Many kinds of sickness, like this man’s paralysis, were seen by the Jews as punishment for their personal sin or the sins of their parents. It was also a common belief that no sickness could be cured until sin was forgiven. For that reason Jesus had first to convince the paralyzed man that his sins had been forgiven. Once Jesus had granted the paralytic the forgiveness of God, the man knew that God was no longer his enemy, and he was ready to receive the cure which followed. It was the manner of the cure which scandalized the Scribes. By forgiving sin, they thought Jesus had blasphemed, insulted God, because forgiving sin is the exclusive prerogative of God. This healing demonstrates the fact that we can never be right physically until we are right spiritually, that health in body and peace with God go hand in hand.
Life messages: We need God’s forgiveness to live wholesome lives. The heart of the Christian faith is the "forgiveness of sins." In the Creed we say that we believe in “one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” While we have the power to forgive others, we need to be forgiven ourselves by the One who has the authority to forgive. In Jesus we see this authority, the same authority He gave to his Church. Today’s gospel gives us an invitation to open ourselves to God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to hear from the priest Jesus’ words to the paralytic: “Your sins are forgiven.” The Gospel also instructs us to forgive others their sins against us and to ask God’s forgiveness for our daily sins every day of our lives. (Fr. Tony) LP/10
July 2 Friday: Mt 9: 9-13: 9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. 10 And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 12 But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
The context: Today’s gospel episode of Matthew’s call as Jesus’ apostle reminds us of God’s love and mercy for sinners and challenges us to practice this same love and mercy in our relations with others.
The call and the response: Jesus went to the tax collector’s office to invite Matthew to become his disciple. Since tax collectors worked for a foreign power and extorted more tax money from the people than the area owed, they were hated and despised as traitors by the Jewish people and considered public sinners by the Pharisees. Jesus could see in Matthew a person who needed divine love and grace. While everyone hated Matthew, Jesus was ready to offer him undeserved love, mercy and forgiveness. Hence Matthew abandoned his lucrative job because for him Christ's call to follow Him was a promise of salvation, fellowship, guidance and protection.
Scandalous partying with sinners. It was altogether natural for Matthew to celebrate his new calling by celebrating with his friends. Jesus’ dining with outcasts in the house of a traitor scandalized the Pharisees for whom ritual purity and table fellowship were important religious practices. Hence they asked the disciples, "Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?" In answer to their question Jesus stressed his ministry as healer: “Those who are well do not need a physician; the sick do.” Then Jesus challenged the Pharisees quoting Hosea, “Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” Finally Jesus clarified his position, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Life messages: 1) Jesus calls you and me for a purpose: Jesus has called us, through our baptism, forgiven our sins, and welcomed us as members of the Kingdom. In fact he calls us daily through the Word, through His Church, to be his disciples, and to turn away from all the things that distract us and draw us away from God. Just as Matthew did, we, too, are expected to preach Christ through our lives by reaching out to the unwanted and the marginalized in the society with Christ’s love, mercy and compassion. (Fr. Tony) L/10
July 3 Saturday: John 20: 24-29: Feast of St. Thomas the apostle:
The context: Today we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas the apostle. Today’s gospel passage (verses 24-29) presents the fearless apostle St. Thomas, in his uncompromising honesty, demanding a personal vision of, and physical contact with, the risen Jesus as a condition for his belief. Thomas had not been with the disciples when Jesus made his first appearance to them. As a result, he refused to believe. When the Lord appeared to him later, He said: “Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed.” Thomas was able to overcome his doubts by seeing the risen Jesus.
The unique profession of faith: Thomas, the “doubting apostle” made the great profession of faith, “My Lord and my God.” This declaration by the “doubting apostle” in today’s gospel is very significant for two reasons. 1) It is the foundation of our Christian faith. Our faith is based on the divinity of Jesus as proved by his miracles, especially by the supreme miracle of his resurrection from the dead. Thomas’ profession of faith is the strongest evidence we have of the resurrection of Jesus. 2) Thomas’ faith culminated in his self-surrender to Jesus, his heroic missionary expedition to India in A.D. 52, his fearless preaching, and the powerful testimony given by his martyrdom in A.D. 72.
Life messages: Faith culminating in self-surrender to God, leads us to the service of our fellow-human beings. Living faith enables us to see the risen Lord in everyone and gives us the willingness to render each one loving service. (“Faith without good works is dead” James 2:17). It was this faith in the Lord and obedience to his missionary command that prompted St. Thomas to travel to India to preach the gospel among the Hindus, establish seven Christian communities (known later as “St. Thomas Christians”) and eventually to endure martyrdom. The spiritual Fathers prescribe the following traditional means to grow in the living and dynamic faith of St. Thomas the Apostle: a) We have to know and experience Jesus personally and intimately by the daily and meditative reading of the Bible. b) We have to strengthen our faith by the power of the Holy Spirit through personal and community prayer. c) We have to share in the divine life of Jesus by frequenting the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. d) We have to be reconciled with God on a daily basis by repenting of our sins and asking God’s forgiveness, and by receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation whenever we fall into a grave sin. Mother Teresa presents it this way: “If we pray, we will believe; if we believe, we will love; if we love, we will serve. Only then we put our love of God into action.” (Fr. Tony) LP/10.
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