Homily: Tuesday, 15th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings: Ex 2:1-15a • Psalm 69 • Mt 11:20-24

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One of the remarkable things about the Old Testament is the willingness of its authors and the Holy Spirit to hide nothing and reveal almost everything about the key characters. This is so very different from all other ancient religious texts, as well as the official records of other ancient societies. In these, the kings and pharaohs and conquerors were all depicted as near perfect, as godlike men who always won, and never failed.

But not so in the Bible. Beginning with Adam and Eve, and progressing through the Patriarchs to Moses, then on through the long list of prophets and Kings, we encounter so many men, and actually quite a few women; and for all of them, nothing is hidden – strengths and weaknesses, sins and virtues, it’s all revealed.  The focus, you see, is not really on these men and women; rather it’s on God, who chooses whomever He desires to fulfill His plan, to carry out His work in the world. 

And often enough He chooses amazingly unlikely people. Today, for example, in our reading from Exodus, we encounter two versions of Moses.

First, a basket-case floating among the bullrushes, a Hebrew infant, “a goodly child”, his mother called him, surrendered by that mother in hope and trust, and retrieved and adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter.

We next encounter a grown Moses, fortyish and entitled, but a man who presumably knew his roots. Driven by a slightly skewed sense of justice, he willfully kills an Egyptian who was persecuting a Hebrew slave laborer. When the word gets out, Moses realizes he too must get out, and heads east to the land of Midian. Moses is introduced to us in all his imperfections. And yet on Mt Horeb God will choose him to free His people and lead them to the Promised Land. How blessed we are that our loving, merciful God chooses us as well, despite all our imperfections. 

Then we encounter Jesus in our Gospel passage from Matthew. You know, a lot of folks seem to see Jesus solely as the warm and fuzzy, group hug, kumbaya Jesus. And yet, in the Gospel He often comes across quite differently.

Today, for example, He’s taking on the role of Prophet. Indeed, He sounds a lot like Isaiah when that prophet proclaimed God’s judgment on the King of Babylon.

“Down to Sheol you will be brought to the depths of the pit!” [Is 14:15]

Jesus says much the same, doesn’t He? Hard words to those neighboring towns, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, whose people had witnessed all those miracles, but failed to listen. Because Jesus had been with them, and they had seen and heard it all, their judgment will be harsher.

When I was growing up we had a brief family Bible Study every week. Now, to my knowledge, my mom, who was an RN, had no formal training in Sacred Scripture, but always seemed to share wonderful insights. We’d read a few verses then Mom or Dad would ask what we thought of it.

After reading these comments of Jesus, my brother and I tried to say something like: “The people in those towns are really going to catch it.” But Mom simply said, “You know, Jesus isn’t talking to us about those little towns. He’s talking to us about us.” That took all the wind out of our sails. She went on, explaining it all to us in words similar to these...

“Jesus healed all those people because He loved them, and He wanted others to see and understand that they must listen to Him…But so many didn’t. If we instead turn away from Him, we’re no better than the people of those towns. You see,” Mom told us, “Our Lord has been living with us in our home, speaking to us through our church…and when we receive Holy Communion He actually lives within us. Because of that, we must listen to Him, do as He asks us, and let God’s will rule our lives.”

With that, she ended the lesson. Brothers and sisters, Jesus said the same thing, didn’t He? His Gethsemane prayer, words recorded in all three of the Synoptic Gospels:

“Not what I will, but what you will.”

…words that actually encapsulate His entire teaching. Moses struggled to accept God’s will in his life, and so too did the Apostles.

I guess that’s the question for you and me: What’s the focus of our lives, our will our His will? After all, every day we pray, “Thy will be done,” but do we really seek it?

Burnings

I noticed a one-paragraph story in this morning’s paper, one of those world news blurbs from the A.P. presumably used by an editor to fill up the page with interesting tidbits. The tiny story had a big headline: “After Quran Burnings, U.N. Calls for Countries to Fight Religious Hate.” The single paragraph that follows doesn’t tell us much, only that “The U.N.’s top human rights body overwhelmingly approved a measure calling on countries to do more to prevent religious hatred in the wake of Quran burnings in Europe.” It seems the “overwhelming” vote was 28 to 12 in favor of the measure, although we’re told very little about the actual content of the measure or who voted yea or nay. The only other piece of information shared with us is that the measure passed “despite objections from Western countries who fear tougher steps by governments could trample freedom of expression.” That’s it.

Anyway, the story piqued my curiosity, so I did a little online research. According to the U.N.’s website, the measure brought about an urgent debate to “discuss the alarming rise in premeditated and public acts of religious hatred as manifested by recurrent desecration of the Holy Quran in some European and other countries.” These desecrations of the Quran were apparently the catalyst that led the U.N. Human Rights Council to address the issue of religious hatred. It would seem, then, for those 28 countries who voted “Yes”, Quran burning is the ultimate act of religious hatred. 

This led me to ask, “Who voted Yea and who voted Nay?” And I found the answer quickly thanks to Al Jazeera, the Islamic news agency that never misses a chance to attack the West. Their coverage included a complete breakdown of the vote. Once again, keep in mind these nations are the members of the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, what the A.P. called it’s “top human rights body”. We should, then assume they are all in favor of human rights…right? Here’s the vote:

Glancing through the list of Yes votes, it’s hard not to notice that many of them are totalitarian, or authoritarian, or theocratic, or just plain old dictatorships. Since the measure was precipitated by the most recent Quran burning in Sweden, we can rightly assume the Islamic nations voted for the measure. Of course, their concept of human rights is somewhat restrained, and generally relates only to what they consider Islamophobia. Sadly, within their own nations, most deprive the Kafir (the non-Muslim) of basic human rights, particularly religious rights. And the extremists among them, the Jihadists, simply kill non-Muslims which they believe to be a religious duty. We recall the many executions based solely on religion, like the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by ISIS in 2015 (see below):

I will gladly admit, I am strongly against Quran burning, or Bible burning, although I don’t believe it should be criminalized. But such actions, although obvious examples of religious hatred, do not compare to the far more vile crimes being committed against the world's most persecuted religion, Christianity.

Speaking of burning, in Egypt hundreds of Christian churches have been destroyed, often burned, by Muslims. And, perhaps surprisingly to most people, the same has been happening in parts of India (another Yes voter) but perpetrated by radical Hindus who want to eliminate all Christian communities. In both nations (and many others) the seeming indifference of local and national police agencies is telling. I find it interesting that such persecution of Christian minorities is taking place in India, often described as “the world's largest democracy”. This is another reason why unchecked democracy, which leads to the dictatorship of the majority, is really no different from any other form of totalitarianism. We should thank God every day for the wisdom of our Founding Fathers who, because they recognized the perils and historic evils of pure democracy, left us a lasting (we hope) legacy of a constitutional republic.

One parting comment: Because the United Nations has staffed its Human Rights Council with so many nations who openly despise human rights, I see no reason to pay much attention to anything that flows out of that building into the East River.

Pray for those who persecute us.

Good News and Bad News

A few days ago I read that National Geographic might be on its last legs. Walt Disney, the corporation that now owns the magazine, has fired pretty much everyone that works for National Geographic. Apparently there weren’t that many folks left to churn out the woke drivel that has replaced what used to be wonderful articles about our fascinating world. Although the magazine will still be published, at least for a little while, all future articles will be written by freelancers and then cobbled together by the few remaining editors. I don’t expect that to last too long, especially since their subscriptions are just a fraction of what they once were. At one point over 12 million people subscribed (including me), but now it’s down to 1.5 million (excluding me). I suspect most of these are long-time subscribers who just can’t give it up, despite the magazine’s current weirdness. 

Anyway, unless the Disney wokecrats (Did I just coin a new word?) convert and support the dreaded DeSantis campaign, the future of National Geographic is bleak indeed. I suppose that’s the good news. Sadly, it’s also the bad news. My parents began subscribing to National Geographic when they were married on July 4, 1935, and never threw out an issue. I read and reread all those magazines and turned to them whenever I wanted to learn something about a particular place in our world. It was a unique magazine, well-written, and wonderfully photographed by many true professionals. How wonderful that my folks kept every issue. Unfortunately when they moved from New York to Chatham on Cape Cod, I think all those mags were left behind. Of course by then I had left for college and soon enough had my own subscription. Yes, indeed, it was once a great publication.    

Then there were the maps! I’ve long been a cartaphile (Did I just coin another word?), probably from the age of seven. When NG arrived in the mail, the first thing I looked for was the map. No map, no joy. But if one of those wonderful maps were included, I would open it up and spread it out on the dining room table. Just to see it opened up was almost magical, as if I were right there in that other piece of our world. As a child I’d pore over each newly arrived map for hours, fascinated by it all, the cities, rivers, borders, mountains, lakes, and seas. I suppose those NG maps were the reason I became a geographic fanatic, something reflected even in my choice of hobbies: stamp collecting and ham radio. Like those detailed maps, both took me around the world, but in very different ways. 

And so, I am saddened hearing that National Geographic may not be with us much longer. It could, of course, be restored, but that’s unlikely. One thing about ideologues: they’re so wrapped up in their beliefs, they’re really unable to change. But nothing in this world lasts forever, but at least I and many other will still have the memories of this once great publication. 

Summer Course Whines

Over the years our parish Bible Study has grown from the few parishioners who joined us that first year to well over 100 participants today. To accommodate everyone, we've had to offer these weekly sessions at three different times. Preparing and facilitating these sessions, when combined with my other ministries, takes a toll. Every summer, then, I take a three-month break from leading our Bible Study just so I can rest a bit and regroup internally in body, mind, and spirit. 

This hiatus actually works out pretty well since a significant number of parishioners are seasonal residents here in Florida. When I first began this Bible Study 17 or 18 years ago, many of these snowbirds (as the great Anne Murray would call them) suggested I stop for the summer so they wouldn't miss anything -- a suggestion I readily accepted. But to appease those who live here year-round I decided to conduct a course on some aspect of our faith each summer. These courses vary in length from three to five sessions, conducted weekly.

This year's course, scheduled for the five Wednesdays of August, is on "World Religions". It will actually focus on four non-Christian religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam. I intend to pack a lot into those five 90-minute sessions and hope I haven't taken on too much. My intent is to help participants better understand the ' beliefs and practices of these religions. I will approach this study from a Catholic perspective by examining the teaching of the Church as it relates to non-Christian religions. We'll emphasize those areas where Catholic Christianity and non-Christian religions converge and diverge. But the primary aim is to enrich and deepen our own faith, thus aiding us in our call to evangelization.

The trouble is, I really have to develop the course from the ground up. In the past I've addressed the subject in brief talks and reflections, but conducted a course on other religions only once. This was many years ago and with a entirely different focus. As I've now discovered, preparing the course means a lot of work, something which seems to defeat the purpose of our summer hiatus. Anyway, I'm making progress, so that's good. 

If I sound like I'm whining, I suppose I am. But I truly love all our Bible Study participants, and they're worth it. The course will be open to anyone who wants to attend, so it will be interesting to see how many decide to take part.

I've added a page, devoted entirely to this course, on our Bible Study website, so handout materials and PowerPoint presentations will be available online. 

If anyone wants to "attend" the course remotely, you'll have to do so by using each session's PowerPoint presentation and referring to the other documents provided. Right now there is no intention of live-streaming the course, but I suppose that could change. 

Here's the link: Course (catholic-scripture.com)