For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/090107.shtml
For me, this parable of the talents is all about making disciples for the Lord! Faith in Jesus that is kept to one’s self quickly becomes stale, and quickly becomes worthless. But those who are trying to make disciples, they are the ones who tell God everyday – Lord, increase my faith! Give me more faith because without more faith, I will never have the courage to tell others about you and to bring them to you! I find it a real poverty in my own life when I am stuck trying to put a relative value on my faith in God. I am really afraid of losing the treasure of my earthly life when I compare who I can be through my own choices versus who I can be by letting God choose a life for me. It is fear that causes us to live our faith only for ourselves. It is fear that holds onto sin and its meager security. But when we try to make disciples for the Lord, we forget the danger of losing ourselves. The reward of investing our talent in making disciples is self-forgetfulness. If we are not afraid of losing our earthly life, we will inspire others to seek the kingdom of heaven as well. Most importantly, the more joy we have in making disciples, the less time we will spend remembering the meager security we had through our former slavery to sin.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Homily for Friday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time
For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/083107.shtml
The Church is the bride of Christ, so one way to interpret today’s parable allegorically would be to see the 10 virgins and prospective brides as members of the Church. Salvation is the gift of Christ to his bride and his body, the Church. He wishes that all of us be saved. In this proposed allegory, Christ would have liked to have taken all of the virgins into the wedding feast. Christ wants to save his body, the Church, not as individuals, but as a group. He wishes that not one of us be lost. But the parable is clear – we will not be saved against our will – Christ will not force us to be ready. Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who are ready to respond to the marriage invitation that Christ offers. As Catholics, this marriage invitations comes to us through the holy Eucharist. Through the first sacrament, baptism, we have a new beginning with Christ. In baptism, we have ‘virginity’ so to speak, since we are washed clean of all sin. Yet the grace of baptism must be guarded, trimmed and kept ready for us to receive the Eucharist worthily. Each time we receive the Eucharist, a marriage invitation comes to us, the bride of Christ, from Christ Himself. Christ really appears to us in the Eucharist and asks us – Do you love me? Are you ready? In the Eucharistic sacrifice Christ says to us that He loves us more than He loves His own life, and that He is ready to hand over us everything that He has received from His Heavenly Father. What are we ready to hand back to him in response to this marriage proposal?
The Church is the bride of Christ, so one way to interpret today’s parable allegorically would be to see the 10 virgins and prospective brides as members of the Church. Salvation is the gift of Christ to his bride and his body, the Church. He wishes that all of us be saved. In this proposed allegory, Christ would have liked to have taken all of the virgins into the wedding feast. Christ wants to save his body, the Church, not as individuals, but as a group. He wishes that not one of us be lost. But the parable is clear – we will not be saved against our will – Christ will not force us to be ready. Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who are ready to respond to the marriage invitation that Christ offers. As Catholics, this marriage invitations comes to us through the holy Eucharist. Through the first sacrament, baptism, we have a new beginning with Christ. In baptism, we have ‘virginity’ so to speak, since we are washed clean of all sin. Yet the grace of baptism must be guarded, trimmed and kept ready for us to receive the Eucharist worthily. Each time we receive the Eucharist, a marriage invitation comes to us, the bride of Christ, from Christ Himself. Christ really appears to us in the Eucharist and asks us – Do you love me? Are you ready? In the Eucharistic sacrifice Christ says to us that He loves us more than He loves His own life, and that He is ready to hand over us everything that He has received from His Heavenly Father. What are we ready to hand back to him in response to this marriage proposal?
Homily for Thursday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time
For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/083007.shtml
Whenever I drive a two-lane highway, I always get behind a large truck that is hard to get around. A more virtuous man would just drive patiently behind the truck, or wait for a safe opportunity to pass, or for the truck to turn off the highway. But this is not what I do. Instead, I impatiently try to sneak pass the truck, so I can continue unabated toward my destination. Invariably, when this large truck pulls in front of me, I wonder to myself. Why didn’t you leave a minute earlier, or even 30 seconds earlier, instead of waiting until the last moment to leave? If you had left earlier, surely this truck would not be in your way.
Admittedly, this story has more to do with my lack of patience than with today’s Gospel, but I think today’s Gospel gives us the same sense of urgency that I feel when that truck pulls in front of me. There is to be some spiritual progress made today, some gift of grace that God wants to give us, that cannot be postponed to tomorrow. In discipleship, tomorrow is always too late; for tonight the thief may come and steal what we need to live, and tomorrow, that truck might pull in front of us to prevent our getting to the place where we should have arrived the day before. Yes, it is true that our Lord is patient and merciful, and it is true that He may give the gift of a full day’s wage to one who only works an hour in his vineyard. But today’s Gospel is urgent and clear: foolish is the one who presumes that his master is long delayed; the habit of procrastination must be resisted at all costs.
Whenever I drive a two-lane highway, I always get behind a large truck that is hard to get around. A more virtuous man would just drive patiently behind the truck, or wait for a safe opportunity to pass, or for the truck to turn off the highway. But this is not what I do. Instead, I impatiently try to sneak pass the truck, so I can continue unabated toward my destination. Invariably, when this large truck pulls in front of me, I wonder to myself. Why didn’t you leave a minute earlier, or even 30 seconds earlier, instead of waiting until the last moment to leave? If you had left earlier, surely this truck would not be in your way.
Admittedly, this story has more to do with my lack of patience than with today’s Gospel, but I think today’s Gospel gives us the same sense of urgency that I feel when that truck pulls in front of me. There is to be some spiritual progress made today, some gift of grace that God wants to give us, that cannot be postponed to tomorrow. In discipleship, tomorrow is always too late; for tonight the thief may come and steal what we need to live, and tomorrow, that truck might pull in front of us to prevent our getting to the place where we should have arrived the day before. Yes, it is true that our Lord is patient and merciful, and it is true that He may give the gift of a full day’s wage to one who only works an hour in his vineyard. But today’s Gospel is urgent and clear: foolish is the one who presumes that his master is long delayed; the habit of procrastination must be resisted at all costs.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Mother Theresa
I don't know if you saw the recent AP story about Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta. Her biographer is claiming that after her initial visions of Jesus and her mandate from Him to serve the poor, she went through the last three decades of her life or so without any feeling of closeness to Jesus. At one point, the article claims that after all the good she had done, she felt like she had nothing because she had lost her closeness to Jesus. The spiritual dryness or 'dark night of the soul' that Mother Theresa felt was surprising to me. I know how dedicated she was to daily prayer, and how she insisted that all her sisters be faithful to a daily hour of meditation and to daily Mass. Who would have known, if what her biographer is saying is true, that she persisted in her love and service by the simple commitment of her will to follow through on what she had been asked to do by our Lord, without any further encouragement or consolations from Him. I'll be interested to see further comment on this story. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/INDIA_MOTHER_TERESA?SITE=ILSPR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
I'm headed to Benedictine College tomorrow (www.benedictine.edu) to try to meet some people on campus to begin vocation ministry there. Please pray for a fruitful day. Tomorrow night, perhaps the Royals game vs. Detroit, if the weather is tolerable.
Also, I got a facebook recently after reading about a priest who thinks it is important to be present there! I don't really know what I am getting into, but I have 8 friends so far!
I'm headed to Benedictine College tomorrow (www.benedictine.edu) to try to meet some people on campus to begin vocation ministry there. Please pray for a fruitful day. Tomorrow night, perhaps the Royals game vs. Detroit, if the weather is tolerable.
Also, I got a facebook recently after reading about a priest who thinks it is important to be present there! I don't really know what I am getting into, but I have 8 friends so far!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Homily for Wednesday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time - Martyrdom of John the Baptist
For daily readings, go to www.usccb.org
Last October I was in Rome and was able to visit for the first time the Borghese Gallery, in which some of the treasures of Rome are displayed. In the gift shop, I bought a poster of Carravaggio’s beheading of John the Baptist. I guess I have always wanted to emulate the courage of John the Baptist. I’ve always wanted to have a prophetic dimension to my life. I’ve had the poster almost a year, and I just found a frame for it the other day, but I have not yet put it up anywhere . . . I’m thinking maybe in my study. It is a pretty gruesome picture. Actually, scripturally, it is incorrect. The beheading of John the Baptist by Carravaggio shows not an executioner beheading John, but the daughter of Herodias herself, with her vengeful mother watching on. Let’s put it this way, if I do put it up, it will be a conversation piece.
John’s martyrdom seems so meaningless. For the cousin of Jesus, the one who prepared His way, the last and the greatest prophet, the one who baptized our Lord in the Jordan, I would have expected a more public martyrdom. John’s martyrdom is certainly dramatic, and the story memorable, but the martyrdom happens in relative seclusion, without John’s having the chance to make a last testament. What a lesson in courage and humility the Baptist gives us – John fulfills his mission and then exits the stage without further ado, seeking no special favors for himself. He is true to his mission to decrease, so that Christ may increase!
Last October I was in Rome and was able to visit for the first time the Borghese Gallery, in which some of the treasures of Rome are displayed. In the gift shop, I bought a poster of Carravaggio’s beheading of John the Baptist. I guess I have always wanted to emulate the courage of John the Baptist. I’ve always wanted to have a prophetic dimension to my life. I’ve had the poster almost a year, and I just found a frame for it the other day, but I have not yet put it up anywhere . . . I’m thinking maybe in my study. It is a pretty gruesome picture. Actually, scripturally, it is incorrect. The beheading of John the Baptist by Carravaggio shows not an executioner beheading John, but the daughter of Herodias herself, with her vengeful mother watching on. Let’s put it this way, if I do put it up, it will be a conversation piece.
John’s martyrdom seems so meaningless. For the cousin of Jesus, the one who prepared His way, the last and the greatest prophet, the one who baptized our Lord in the Jordan, I would have expected a more public martyrdom. John’s martyrdom is certainly dramatic, and the story memorable, but the martyrdom happens in relative seclusion, without John’s having the chance to make a last testament. What a lesson in courage and humility the Baptist gives us – John fulfills his mission and then exits the stage without further ado, seeking no special favors for himself. He is true to his mission to decrease, so that Christ may increase!
Homily for Tuesday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time - St. Augustine
For daily readings, go to http://www.usccb.org/
For the past several days, Jesus has been railing against the scribes and Pharisees. He calls them hypocrites, and rightly so, because they have been attending to details of the law while neglecting its spirit. As we listen to Jesus’ reproval, however, we must resist the temptation to ‘pile on’ and to add our own condemnation to those around us whose worship appears to us to be a façade. More important than ‘piling on’ is our ability to see the scribes and Pharisees with compassion. Indeed, this is the way that Jesus sees them, although for the moment for their own good He must unmask their hypocrisy. As Paul says in today’s letter, so ‘dearly beloved’ had the Thessalonians become to him and to his companions, that they gave the Thessalonians not only the Gospel, but their very selves as well. We should assume, which we do not always do, that Jesus considers the scribes and the Pharisees his ‘dearly beloved’ even though He must speak harshly to them at the moment.
There was a wonderful meditation from von Balthasar in yesterday’s Magnificat that shows convincingly how much easier it is to love than to be loved. Most of us have the fault of self-hatred; we discount the affection of others because we know they see us from the outside-in rather than from the inside-out. Were they to see in us not the outward qualities that they admire, but our true selves, we are afraid of what they would say and feel about us. Jesus says clearly to the scribes and Pharisees that it is not enough for them to be loved simply because the outside of their ‘cups’ are clean. No, they are meant to receive a much deeper love, a love that heals and that saves, if only they could overcome their fear of such a love. Jesus speaks harshly to them, and to us, because He truly loves us, and will not allow us to settle for less than He is ready to give.
For the past several days, Jesus has been railing against the scribes and Pharisees. He calls them hypocrites, and rightly so, because they have been attending to details of the law while neglecting its spirit. As we listen to Jesus’ reproval, however, we must resist the temptation to ‘pile on’ and to add our own condemnation to those around us whose worship appears to us to be a façade. More important than ‘piling on’ is our ability to see the scribes and Pharisees with compassion. Indeed, this is the way that Jesus sees them, although for the moment for their own good He must unmask their hypocrisy. As Paul says in today’s letter, so ‘dearly beloved’ had the Thessalonians become to him and to his companions, that they gave the Thessalonians not only the Gospel, but their very selves as well. We should assume, which we do not always do, that Jesus considers the scribes and the Pharisees his ‘dearly beloved’ even though He must speak harshly to them at the moment.
There was a wonderful meditation from von Balthasar in yesterday’s Magnificat that shows convincingly how much easier it is to love than to be loved. Most of us have the fault of self-hatred; we discount the affection of others because we know they see us from the outside-in rather than from the inside-out. Were they to see in us not the outward qualities that they admire, but our true selves, we are afraid of what they would say and feel about us. Jesus says clearly to the scribes and Pharisees that it is not enough for them to be loved simply because the outside of their ‘cups’ are clean. No, they are meant to receive a much deeper love, a love that heals and that saves, if only they could overcome their fear of such a love. Jesus speaks harshly to them, and to us, because He truly loves us, and will not allow us to settle for less than He is ready to give.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Homily for Monday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time - St. Monica
For daily readings, go to www.usccb.org
I am the Lord, your God. You shall not have other gods besides me. Is it true, my dear friends, that the first commandment is first because it is the most often transgressed? Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians rejoiced because the Thessalonians turned from idols to worship the living and true God and to await the coming of His Son from heaven. This conversion from worshipping something that has only fleeting existence to that which is true, that which lives forever, is no small feat. If such faith in the living and true God is accomplished once, it is forever in danger of being lost. The first commandment is perhaps the most important, the most often transgressed, and quite likely, the best place to start in our daily examination of conscience. I am the Lord your God, you shall not have other gods besides me.
In their fastidiousness to religious practice, the scribes and Pharisees had made idols of religious objects. It is important for us in our religious practice never to swear by anything less that heaven itself. As valuable as our piety is, and as necessary as it is for us to persevere in practice, our piety is never a formula for religious success. For which is greater, our piety, or the unmerited gift of the Holy Spirit, which makes our piety fruitful?
I am the Lord, your God. You shall not have other gods besides me. Is it true, my dear friends, that the first commandment is first because it is the most often transgressed? Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians rejoiced because the Thessalonians turned from idols to worship the living and true God and to await the coming of His Son from heaven. This conversion from worshipping something that has only fleeting existence to that which is true, that which lives forever, is no small feat. If such faith in the living and true God is accomplished once, it is forever in danger of being lost. The first commandment is perhaps the most important, the most often transgressed, and quite likely, the best place to start in our daily examination of conscience. I am the Lord your God, you shall not have other gods besides me.
In their fastidiousness to religious practice, the scribes and Pharisees had made idols of religious objects. It is important for us in our religious practice never to swear by anything less that heaven itself. As valuable as our piety is, and as necessary as it is for us to persevere in practice, our piety is never a formula for religious success. For which is greater, our piety, or the unmerited gift of the Holy Spirit, which makes our piety fruitful?
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