Saturday, March 16, 2024

The Time is Close: Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent

 

Jer 31:31-34

Ps 51

Heb 5:7-9

Jn 12:20-33

 

We are rapidly moving toward the singular event in Jesus’ life  and the sole reason for Jesus incarnation and birth, a birth we celebrated three months ago.  Next Sunday we will hear the chilling introduction:  “The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.”  Throughout the rest of Holy Week we will recall the most important event in the history of the world.  The Church will commemorate the institution of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday.  On Good Friday there will be another proclamation of Our Lord’s Passion, this time according to St. John. Then will follow the long peculiar emptiness of Holy Saturday that will end with the ecstatic joy of the Easter Vigil. 

 

The covenant God formed with His people was not and is not a pact between equals.  It was not, is not, and never will be a democracy.  God decided in freedom to grant His allegiance to Israel.  He dictated His conditions.  We are free to accept or reject those conditions.  We are not free to negotiate them or revise them to suit our taste, socio-political whims, or most recent trends.

 

God chose Israel without any merit on her part.  Similarly, God has chosen us. Like Ancient Israel we are sinners.  Like the Ancient Israelites we are sinners loved by God.  God has given His love freely.  We can only respond with a love

that translates into obedience to the conditions of that covenant.  We heard the how of that obedience in today’s Gospel.

 

Jeremiah prophesied that the covenant would be reestablished.  The covenant had to be reestablished because the Israelites, by worshiping foreign gods, had violated the old covenant in a manner resembling the betrayal of adultery within marriage.  Unlike the old covenant inscribed on stone the new covenant would be inscribed on the human heart. That new covenant will change the heart on which it is inscribed.   It will change it unless that heart chooses to reject the covenant and change itself into stone, scarred and pockmarked by sin.

 

The reading from Hebrews reminds us that Jesus, fully divine and fully human, was acquainted with the trials and sufferings of the human nature he shares with us.  Next Sunday we will recall Jesus’ fear.  Three times he prayed, “Abba . . . take this cup from me.”  And three times he offered his obedience, “But not what I will but what you will.”  

 

After his exaltation Jesus no longer knows weakness.  BUT, having experienced weakness, fear of death, fear of pain, and the sorrow of perceived abandonment

He knows our fear of death, dying, and abandonment, a fear that came true for too many during the bizarre pandemic precautions that ignored the needs of the dying thus, forcing them to die alone, bereft of any human contact,

and kept from the sacraments of confession and anointing of the sick. 

Those who instituted the hysterical, irrational, and immoral policies are deserving of condemnation. They have much to answer for.

 

 

Today’s gospel from Chapter 12 of John begins by noting it was six days until the Passover. The next chapter begins with the words, “Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father . . . . “ Jesus gives final instructions to His followers.  He tells us the how of our obedience.  In the Revised Standard Version one hears: “If any one serves me he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if anyone serves me, the Father will honor him."

 

Confessing Jesus, believing in Him as Son of God, as Revealer of the Father, and Messiah is not an intellectual or mental exercise.  Faith in Jesus is not something to pull out when convenient or just for holidays. It is not something one can store on a shelf. Our actions must emerge from the Eucharist and all it demands.

 

In 1996 Fr. John McHugh, the Capuchin Franciscan chaplain at Dartmouth where I was teaching at the time, preached a challenging and squirm-inducing homily  regarding the necessary response to those suffering from poverty. On the way out of the chapel I overheard a young woman telling a classmate in response to Father's challenge, “I don’t want my religion to influence my political and economic decisions.”   The absurdity of that comment is right up there with, “I’m very spiritual . . . . but not at all religious.”  Those who claim to serve the Lord

must follow Him in the service of His Father. They do that by the totality of their obedience to the Father and in their love for one another. 

 

Jesus’ words: “where I am, there shall my servant be also” radically alter our understanding of death.  Prior to Jesus' act of obedience, death was a descent into Sheol, the dismal habitation of the dead.  Henceforth, the death of those who serve and follow the Lord is an ascent to the Father where the Son also is. 

 

Thus, we pray with the psalmist the great Miserere

 

"A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me. . . .
Give me back the joy of your salvation, 
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you."

 

_______________________________________________________

While traveling home from N'Djamena, Chad in August 2014, I stopped in Ireland for ten days in large part to attend the Croke Park Classic, an every two or three year American university football game.  Did not take camera to game, a very wise decision.  But wandered around the city.  

The Samuel Beckett  Bridge.  Spent several hours shooting it from both sides.

The prettiest tap line next to the Rockettes.

St. Peter's Green, very near the Leeson St Jesuit Community in which I stayed for ten days.


The city was bedecked by Penn State decor.  The Penn State fans outnumbered the UCF one by at least three to one if nor more.

The announcement of the game.

A pub somewhere between the Leeson St. Community and Croke Park.


Saturday, March 9, 2024

Dusty Rose is NOT Pepto-Bismol Pink: Homily for Laetare Sunday

 

2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23

Ps 137 1-6

Eph 2:4-10

Jn 3:14-21

 

"Laetare Jerusalem:

et conventum facite omnes

qui diligitis eam."

 

"Rejoice, O Jerusalem;

and gather round,

all you who love her."

 

The Fourth Sunday of Lent is traditionally known as Laetare Sunday, with the name deriving from the first word of the entrance antiphon,  Laetare. “Rejoice.”

 

We mark Laetare Sunday visually by replacing the somber purple vestments with dusty rose. Note, dusty rose is absolutely NOT Pepto-Bismol or Barbie’s Dream House pink. There is a significant difference.  The dusty rose visually remind us

of a subtle lightening of mood, transient though it may be, now that the penitential time is more than half over.   That change of color is an important signifier of that brief respite that Jesuit Father Jim Schall described in one of his many essays.

 

"Laetare Sunday is traditionally called a respite.  It makes us begin to feel the nearness of the Passion and the Resurrection, but with a reminder that even amid the Lenten fast and the coming remembrance of the Crucifixion, we are not to forget that Christianity is a religion of joy."  He goes to explain that "Christianity is a religion of joy since it knows this world is not all there is; there is something precious beyond the world."  That precious something is apparent in today's readings and particularly in John's Gospel.

 

Commenting on the first reading, The Jewish Study Bible notes that "one of the hallmarks of the Book of Chronicles is its notion of divine providence and retribution . . . through which virtuous deeds lead to reward, and bad deeds bring punishment and suffering."  The book's uniqueness is its view of Divine compassion, that allows for repentance and forgiveness of sin. That compassion brings an eternal message of hope.  

 

No matter how often the Israelites violated the covenant forgiveness was available. God never forgot the covenant even when his people repeatedly did,

even when they chose to worship false pagan gods. We are blessed because

through  God's mercy we receive forgiveness for our sins in the sacrament of confession, as often as we wish to partake of it.  

 

The responsorial, Psalm 137, is fascinating.  It reflects the notion of retribution for sin found in Chronicles. It illustrates the importance of holding to God, recalling and living within the covenant God made with His people. It is also one of the few instances in all of scripture in which a physician can make an accurate diagnosis. 

 

"If I forget you O Jerusalem,

may my right hand wither,

may my tongue cleave

to the roof of my mouth

if I remember you not."

 

As punishment for forgetting the covenant, the psalmist is calling down upon himself the Ancient Near Eastern version of the old schoolyard oath, "If I am lying may God strike me dead."  He is calling down a specific punishment that even today many find worse than death. Should he sin by forgetting what God had done for his people, the psalmist is asking that he be punished by a stroke on the left side of his brain, the type of stroke that results in paralysis and atrophy of the right hand and arm, along with the garbled speech of expressive aphasia that does, in fact, sound as if the tongue is stuck to the roof of the mouth. It is important to note that God is not threatening this punishment.  The psalmist is calling it down upon himself for the sin of forgetting God and His covenant.

 

St. John Paul II of happy memory took words from Paul's Letter to the Ephesian for the title of his second encyclical Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy), an encyclical in which he explored the mystery of redemption.  We read in section seven:  "mercy is an indispensable dimension of love; it is . . . love's second name, and, at the same time, the specific manner in which love is revealed and effected . . ."

 

We have been saved by grace and mercy.  John tells us as much in the gospel

where he wrote, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life."  This truth never loses its power to stun the believer into silence at the power of the cross while leaving the non-believer perplexed by the scandal of the same cross. 

 

It is critical to recall when contemplating these words that they do not even hint

that our bodies will not die. Rather, these words tell us that the power of death itself has been overthrown.  We will all die.  It cannot be otherwise.

 

Ideally that moment will occur at the natural end of our lives rather than through so-called physician prescribed death, a euphemism for putting down those who are ill. We will all die. But, death itself has lost its power over us and will never regain it. 

 

"Laetare Jerusalem:

et conventum facite omnes

qui diligitis eam."

 

________________________________________________________

At this point in Lent of 2011 I was part of the Australian Tertianship.  We were making the Long Retreat at Sevenhill, South Australia, a 1000 acre winery near Clare, South Australia, that is best described as being in the middle of nowhere. 

 

 

Brother Vincent making his midday meditation. 

We knew where the key was for the church's choir loft.  Fortunately I had the camera with me the first time I went up.  The cross for the veneration liturgy on Good Friday was in place.  Took many many photos of this over a few days.

We had an unusual amount of rain.  I posted this in honor of the anniversary of the release of the movie version of "The Sound of Music" on 2 March 1965, fifty-nine years ago last week.

My familiar lament:  if only I had the equipment then that I have now.  Kangaroos are fast and difficult to get near.

The altar cross.  The stained glass was non-figurative and cast great light.


The altar at around the same time of the day.  The church was oriented directly east thus late afternoon (it was autumn in Australia) was a great time to capture the light.   




Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Zeal for the Father’s House: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent

 

Ex 20:1-17

Ps 19

I Cor 1:22-25

Jn 2:13-25

 

The readings for today’s Mass are rich. Each could be the text for a long homily.  Each tells us about God. The God of Exodus is not a God of relativism, a God of accommodation, negotiation, or adaptation to social trends.

 

The Ten Commandments are short. They are to the point.  They prohibit Adultery.  Killing.  And Stealing, to name a few thou shalt nots. They demand love for God and one’s neighbor.  Thou shalt not kill does not exclude abortion

because it is QUOTE delivery of women’s health care UNQUOTE. 

 

“Honor thy father and mother" does make allowance for asking physician to prescribe death for mom or dad because their lives are perceived to have no meaning; or the inheritance is running out. 

 

While the prohibition against adultery should be self-evident, it doesn't take long

wading in the moral swamp of modern American life to get the idea that it is frequently ignored and accepted as a part of life. 

 

The second chapter of John‘s Gospel is 25 verses long and includes and one massive shift in scene.  In the space between the end of verse 12 and the beginning of today's reading with verse 13, we move from the wedding at Cana

to the Temple at Jerusalem.

 

The challenge of this gospel reading is that we are forced to confront our notions

of who Jesus is and, perhaps with greater difficulty, how Jesus acts.  This is not a warm and fuzzy scene.  For those for whom zeal for God’s house is a sometimes thing or depends current social fads, it is an uncomfortable confrontation.  Like the God of the Old testament, The Jesus of the gospels is not a Jesus of relativism, accommodation, negotiation, or a man who adapts to social trends, "Oh, c'mon Jesus, everybody is selling animals in the Temple these days." Or, "Keep your religion out of my life." Or, "My body, my self."   

 

The Jesus of the gospels is the Jesus who challenged political authorities. but he also challenged social trends: adultery, divorce and extortion.  The Jesus of the gospels called a spade a spade.  The Jesus of the gospels did not cave into secularist society.  The Jesus of the gospels would not tolerate the desecration of His Father’s house, unlike some idiot at St. Patrick’s a few weeks ago when a group of trannies, who are beneath contempt, desecrated it in the course of a so-called funeral.

 

The scene of Jesus overturning tables in the Temple and driving out the money changers with a whip, bothers some people.  They are bothered because Jesus is not gentle, or affirming, or negotiating. He is angry and acting on that anger.

It is unlikely that the Jesus of this gospel would sanction and bless immoral relationships, even if that blessing was given “spontaneously” whatever that might mean.

 

The late Jesuit Father Stanley Marrow, commented on this reading. “One puzzling aspect is how generation after generation can hear this account and persist in clinging to their cherished image of Jesus. . . an image of Jesus so “gentle and mild” as to be incapable of overthrowing anything, not even the reader’s smugness. . . . The Jesus in this or any other gospel is not a standard-bearer for bleeding hearts. The aim of the Gospel is not to provide us with the biography of an inspiring hero, proportioned to the size of our ambitions, conformed to our ideals, and meeting our notions of what constitutes greatness.”  Perhaps Stanley might have included he was not a standard bearer for political correctness.

 

Without zeal for God’s house the Church cannot exist.  Without zeal for God's house, we might as well simply stay in bed on Sunday and watch the shopping channel or reruns of Oprah. Only zeal for God's house, only time dedicated to prayer and contemplation on the gospel, will allow us to realize the fundamental truth given in the psalm.

 

“The law of the Lord is perfect,

refreshing the soul;

The decree of the Lord is trustworthy,

giving wisdom to the simple.

 

The precepts of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart,

the command of the lord is clear,

enlightening the eye."

 

The Lord does, indeed, have the words to everlasting life. 

________________________________________________________

 

One of the fascinating aspects of photography is the relationship between light and shadow.  Without the shadow light means very little.  

 

Sunrise at Cohasset, MA

My lunch at a monastery in Slovenia.  The rose was icy cold, made on the grounds.  The bread is "borek" a stuffed bread that I ate whenever possible.

A still life at a monastery of nuns.

Votive lights at the Cathedral in Lyon, France.


 Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Saturday, February 24, 2024

We Adore Thee O Christ and We Bless Thee: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent

 

Gen 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18

Rom 8:31b-34

Mk 9:2-10

 

We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee

Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.

 

The first reading from Genesis described Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac.  Unfortunately, the passage was edited and thus we hear a discontinuous reading. Thus the details of the journey to the place of sacrifice were omitted,  as was the image of Isaac carrying the wood for his sacrifice. We are left with two things: Abraham's obedience and the confirmation of God's promise that he would be the father of a great nation.

 

This is a rich narrative.  It should not be abbreviated. The parallels between Isaac carrying the wood on which he was to be sacrificed and Jesus carrying the wood on which He was crucified are obvious. If they are proclaimed in the first place. Isaac's confusion was mirrored by Jesus' confusion in Gethsemane. 

 

To those with a Freudian mindset or those hostile to faith, the narrative is disturbing.   God orders a man to sacrifice his only son.  The man prepares to carry out the sacrifice without question. 

 

Many people whine, whimper, and emote about this narrative along the lines of "I could never believe in a God who could be so cruel, sadistic, irrational, or . . . ."(fill in the blank with a favorite pejorative).  There is no sadism here. There is no cruelty in the narrative. There is only faith.

 

The Jewish Study Bible describes this as Abraham's greatest test, and as "A magnificent story, that is one of the gems of biblical narrative."  It also notes a translation problem. "There is no good English equivalent for the Hebrew 'hineni' that is translated as 'Here I am.'  Hineni indicates readiness, alertness, attentiveness, receptivity, and responsiveness to instructions."  It indicates unquestioning obedience to the will of God. 

 

In the reading from Paul's Letter to the Romans we heard that, God "did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all."  God asked Abraham to give him all, to give him everything, to give him his only son, to give him his future, and the existence of a people yet to come into existence. 

 

Once Abraham demonstrated his obedience God returned everything to him.  Because of Jesus' obedience everything was returned to us.

 

One of the first prayers a Jesuit novice learns is the Suscipe of St. Ignatius of Loyola. It begins,

 

"Take Lord, and receive,

all my liberty, my memory, my understanding,

my entire will,

all I have and call my own." 

 

Take all.  Not that which I am willing to give, not that which is left over, not that which is easy. Take all.  That is what Abraham was willing to give. That is what God the Father gave us.  All.

 

The narrative of Jesus' Transfiguration both points us towards and draws us into

a mystery that is beyond historical reconstruction, scientific explanation, or geographic specificity.  None of these factors matter.  When, how, and where are unnecessary distractions.  It is sufficient to know that Jesus was transfigured in front of three of the apostles. 

 

Imagine the scene. Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets standing with Jesus.  Place yourself in that scene.  Where are you standing?  What do you see?  What do you feel? What are you thinking?  How are you acting? The apostles were confused and frightened.  As he became more anxious Peter began to speak without thinking what he was saying.  Despite today's vogue for apostle bashing none of us would have acted any better.  Most likely, we would have acted worse and pulled out an Ancient Near East smart phone,

snapped pictures, texted them to the rest of the apostles, and tried to get a selfie with Moses.

 

As the tension increased the voice of God the Father declared, "This is my beloved Son."  This is the beloved Son who was like us in all things but sin. This is the beloved Son who took on the human condition to redeem us from our sins and save us from death. This is the beloved Son, God incarnate, who, like Isaac, carried the wood for the sacrifice on his own back.

 

This is the beloved son, who, like Abraham, acted in perfect obedience to the will of the Father.  Then, the apostles, and by extension, each one of us, received a mission from the Father: "Listen to him." 

 

Listen to his teaching, the teaching of His words and the teaching of His actions.  As we listen to Jesus words and imitate his actions, as we take His teaching to heart, and allow that teaching to transform us, we move that much closer to experiencing the glory of His Transfiguration in our own lives.

 

We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee

Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.

 

_________________________________________________________

 

Almost fully recovered from the adventure with covid.  A bit of fatigue and a degree of cough which is baseline for me for other reasons.  Will give the homily at Mass tomorrow AM at 8. 

 

The photos are from the Church of St. Cyril and Methodius, the Serbian Orthodox Church in Ljuljana.  It was not large but absolutely exquisite.  





Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Sunday, February 18, 2024

No Homily This Week

No homily this week. 

Halfway through giving a  homily on Ash Wednesday I became unable to finish it.  Was transported to hospital by ambulance with covid, pneumonia, and dehydration, all of sudden onset.  Because I am immunosuppressed things went fast and furious.  Spent three days in hospital and was then “discharged” to “home hospital” In which the hospital comes to me.  Nurses visit twice daily to administer the several IV medications, pass out the daily doses of oral medications, check the usual, and transmit the information back to hospital.  There is, in my case, a facetime-like meeting with the doc who examined me in the hospital with the option of a home visit by doc if needed (not in my case).  Medications that have to be infused are done so here using a portable infusion kit.  

 

Recovery is going well.  Tomorrow will probably mark discharge once the last of the IV treatments is done. 

 

It has been a little rocky but am planning to take some time before going back to full speed, which these days ain’t very speedy. 

 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Friday, February 2, 2024

Handel’s Messiah and Being Old: Homily for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

 

Mal 3:1-4

Ps 24

Heb 2:14-18

Lk 2:22-40

 

The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas, was the day on which the Church blessed the beeswax candles to be used in the coming year. I’m not certain there is a proper blessing for cans of liquid paraffin or propane cannisters. But, on the other hand, it is difficult to tell what can and should be blessed in the Church today.

 

Throughout the ages, the first reading, psalm, and gospel have been the inspiration for some of the most beautiful music imaginable.  Much of the first reading from Malachi is sung in part I of Handel’s Messiah including

 

“The Lord whom ye seek,”

“But who may abide,”

and the chorus, “And He shall purify.”

 

Psalm 24, today’s responsorial psalm appears in Part II of Messiah as the chorus: “Lift Up Your Heads O Ye Gates.”

 

And then there is the gospel.

 

With just a bit of effort at making a composition of place and applications of senses, the gospel for the Feast of the Presentation, is a snapshot of the life of the Holy Family that is relevant even today as a family brings a child into the church to be baptized. The parents are committing the child to a specific life and they are committing themselves to bring the child up in the faith.  Of course, either or both commitments can be rejected or broken once made but that rejection is a matter of free choice.

 

The gospel includes Luke’s exquisite Canticle of Simeon or the Nunc Dimittis the chant at the end of compline or night prayer, that serve as the Church’s lullaby. Simeon’s canticle has been set to music for centuries  in versions ranging from ancient Gregorian chant, to Gustav Holst, Taizé and contemporary Estonian Composer Arvo Pärt, a convert from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy.

 

Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine,

secundum verbum tuum in pace:

 

"Lord, now you let your servant go in peace

Your word has been fulfilled . . . "

 

Each of the readings chosen for this Feast illuminates a dimension of it.

 

Malachi’s prophecy "And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek." was fulfilled in concrete fashion in today’s gospel.

 

In commenting  on the reading from Hebrews, the late Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner pointed out that (Jesus)  “came into the world the same way we did in order to come to terms  with the given facts of human existence,  . . . and to begin to die”

What Rahner calls the facts of human existence are not easy to accept.  We rage against the fact that we must become old, suffer, and die. And we rage, even more violently, against the fact that those whom we love must also die, some before they are old. Here we can turn to Mary. to whom Simeon foretold the pain to come with his cryptic words; “and you yourself, a sword will pierce.”

 

What did Mary feel when she heard these words?  Did she recall them as she stood at the foot of the cross? No other sword pierces as deeply as that going through the heart

of a parent who buries a child. The wound never heals. There is no such thing as the vaunted “Closure.”  The pain may ease with time but it never goes away.

 

Today’s gospel is the only time we hear the distinct voices of the elderly in the New Testament.  It is the only time we hear the voices of accrued wisdom, the voices of those who are old.  Though Simeon’s age is not specified, his prayer suggests that he was aware that death was near. Thus his gratitude that he saw and held the one who would bring salvation to all the world.  Anna was 84 years old. Note: she was 84 years old she was NOT 84 years young, as the popular insult routinely hurled at the elderly today would have it.

 

Nunc dimittis servum tuum . . .

 

Jesus was not recognized by the crowds milling about in the Temple. He was recognized by an old man and an old woman who had been awaiting the Lord.  He was recognized only by two old people who had prayed for His coming.

 

Simeon and Anna are examples to those of us who are old because, with the wisdom granted only to the elderly, they recognized Jesus, the Messiah, the promised one, and the source of our salvation in the infant brought into the Temple.  They alone were aware that in fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy, the Lord whom they sought and prayed for had come into the temple. They alone recognized that the prophecy had been fulfilled in the infant cradled in his parents’ arms..

 

Lent begins on February 14, a mere twelve days from today. The Lenten readings and gospels will remind us that Jesus was like us in temptation, pain, suffering, and death.

We will be reminded that  he was like us in all things but sin.  And during Holy Week

we will commemorate his saving act.

 

But today, as we recall His presentation in the Temple, we celebrate and rejoice that Jesus is the light of the world, the light that will never die even after the universe itself

has been extinguished.

 

Nunc dimittis servum tuum

 

“Lord now you let your servant go in peace.”

 

___________________________________________________________

 

The Feast of the Presentation is my favorite feast of the Holy Family, a feast such as the Nativity of the Lord, The Baptism of the Lord, Jesus Lost in the Temple, and even the Wedding at Cana, in which we see a snapshot of the relationships and interactions among the Holy Family.  It is easy to be distracted by the big picture and thus miss those little vignettes of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph interacting as family.  


The photos are from an early morning walk in Old City Lyon, France in June 2014.


The perfect way to start of day in June.

Had it not been 7 AM the temptation would have been strong.

I very much like the flower painting. But a bit large for my carry-on

And all those years I didn't think knowing the difference among Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian wasn't important.  One of the court buildings

Had the fantasy of moving into the top floor of this building over looking the river.

Old City Lyon was a short walk.  Our community was about thirty yards to the right of the edge of this photo  The bridge was for pedestrians only which made it a great place to shoot.

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD


 

Saturday, January 27, 2024

Harden Not Your Hearts: Homily for the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time

 

Dt 18:15-20

Ps 95

1 Cor 7:32-35

Mk 1:21-28

 

"A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen."

 

The first reading from chapter 18 of Deuteronomy establishes the role of the prophet and foretells Jesus coming. Christianity came to understand these verses as promising a single prophet to come at the end of time, a Messiah, the Messiah, Our Lord Jesus,  And so, in John’s gospel, we hear Philip say to Nathaniel "We have found him of whom Moses spoke in the law, Jesus of Nazareth . . . "  Acts of the Apostles quotes this passage from Deuteronomy

directly in referring to Jesus. It is an important reading.

 

The first reading ends with God giving two harsh warnings:

 

The first warning is to the people: Whoever will not listen to my word which the prophet speaks in my name will answer to Me for it

 

The second warning is to the prophet himself: If a prophet presumes to speak in my name a prophecy that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.

 

The psalm is the 95th of the 150 psalms that comprise the Church’s prayer book.

It is recited daily as invitatory psalm that begins the liturgy of the hours. It reminds us of the proper disposition for prayer:

 

"Come let us sing joyfully to the Lord . . . "

 

"He is our God, and we are his people the flock he shepherds, . . ."

 

"Harden not your hearts."

 

The short second reading is fascinating. It frequently arises in discussions of vowed chastity for men and women who belong to religious orders or congregations as well as discussions of celibacy for secular priests.

 

A person is more available for the things of God if not also preoccupied with concerns for a family and all that goes with being a husband or wife

as well as a parent. The vocation to vowed chastity is no more or less honorable than the vocation to marriage and family life.  But, the two are different in their demands, graces, opportunities, and challenges.  The two states of life  are not interchangeable. Paul is not suggesting that vowed chastity or celibacy is a superior state; far from it. However, he is pointing out the differences between the two states of life.  

 

The last verse is significant. There is clearly no question of trying to deceive anyone by encouraging or forcing him or her to enter into  a way of life for which he or she is unsuited, or by which he or she is repelled, because it is misperceived as better.  This is true not only for the life of the spirit but also for the life of the mind.  Entering a profession because one is being forced to by the expectations of one's parents or friends or because the person sees it as prestigious or high-income is always a bad idea that may result in profound unhappiness for the one acting against his or her will.  Indeed,  it may be disastrous. 

 

Because the Gospel of Mark will be proclaimed throughout the entire liturgical year, we are going to hear the words, amazed, astonished, astounded,

frightened, awed, and other synonyms around 35 times.  Astonishment is the frequent reaction to Jesus teaching in Mark.  Part of the astonishment was driven by the sense that He was teaching with authority rather than in the manner of the scribes. This particular Gospel from the first chapter of Mark describes the beginning of Jesus public ministry. It is difficult to know exactly what  Mark meant

when he describes that Jesus taught "not as the scribes."  But, this marks the beginning of the scribes opposition to Him.

 

The scribes were not necessarily a single group. Rather they fulfilled multiple functions, mostly in government and in the synagogue as teachers, interpreters of scripture, and even as lawyers. They quickly became enemies of Jesus.

One commentator notes that the scribes' opposition to Jesus was far greater and more dangerous than that of the Pharisees.  It was the Jerusalem scribes,

along with the elders and high priests who were the chief instigators of Jesus trial.

 

What exactly did the people recognize in Jesus' teaching that was absent from the teaching of the scribes? Part of it was in what Jesus said and how He said it.

I suspect one of the things was that Jesus did not use euphemisms to cover up reality, particularly the reality of sin.  He called sin for what it was, a violation of God’s law but not necessarily the laws established by man.

 

Confucius lived and died 500 years before Jesus.  One of his well-known sayings is: “The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name.”  Jesus did that.  He called sin for what it was. Euphemisms for sin for sin are much too common today as are redefinitions of what is or is not sin.  Some of some of the vocabulary in use today seems to be an attempt to deny that sin even exists. But physician assisted suicide or the mutilation of gender-affirming therapy, is not less a sin and sinful, because of the antiseptic-sounding descriptions.  That Jesus called things things by their right name is one of the factors that drove the scribes to seek his death.

 

After Jesus cast out the unclean spirit we hear again that all were amazed. What is this?  What is going on? Who is this man? He even has authority over unclean spirits?  One can imagine how quickly the word spread throughout the region.

 

Jesus taught with authority.  He cast out evil spirits with authority. That same teaching, that same authority guides us today, if we allow it to rather than, like the false prophet of the first reading, saying something along the lines of “But that isn’t what Jesus meant.”

 

We can only respond to Jesus

by following the instruction of the psalmist:

 

“Sing joyfully to the Lord”

“Bow down in worship”

"Harden not your hearts."

 

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Monte Lussari or sv. ViÅ¡arje, is a place of pilgrimage in the Italian Alps very close to the borders with both Austria and Slovenia.  The summit on which stands the church is accessible only via ski lift-cable car.  Spent ten days there one summer doing some work with kiddos who were learning English.  I was the only native speaker there.  The photo opportunities were such that the camera never left my should except when concelebrating Mass.  I'm not much of a seashore or beach guy.  Give me the mountains.  

 

Pilgrims at Mass.  Daily Masses were celebrated in Italian, German, and Slovenian, the language switching throughout.  The retired bishop with whom I concelebrated paced the language switches so that when my part came it was in Slovenian.  With practice I could have made a reasonable attempt at Italian but German is well-beyond my ability.

The pilgrims' luggage jammed into the back of the church.

Potica (pronounced po teet sa) a Slovenian version of nut roll that is baked in a bread pan rather than the free-form pointed oblong I grew up with (the Polish version I assume).  Potica is glorious.  As it nut roll.

There was a bicycle race happening.  I don't think there were ten feet of level ground on ViÅ¡arje.  Great vantage points for photography. 

The summit with the cross surveying everything.  




 Fr. Jack, SJ, MD