Homily: Saturday, 20th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings: Ez 43:1- • Ps 85 • Mt 23:1-12

__________________________

Today we celebrate St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a 12^th-century monk who had a powerful influence on the Cistercian reform of the Benedictines. He never turned away from conflict and criticized the Benedictines for their wealth and what he considered their lax spiritual life. He also received a lot of after-the-fact, and probably unfair, criticism for his strong support of the Second Crusade, an effort that ended in disaster.

But despite all this, he had a very positive impact on the Church during those challenging times. He was also a true mystic, and his writings, especially his work on the Love of God, are still widely read today. Indeed, we told that Pope John XXIII read from St. Bernard’s work every evening.

--------------------------------

When we hear Jesus castigating the Pharisees and Scribes, we must be wary of the tendency to believe His words were aimed solely at those men whom Jesus encountered so often.

But what Jesus has to say in this passage shouldn’t be thought of only as a diatribe against people in the past, those nasty Scribes and Pharisees. Doing so, we forget that it’s for our benefit and reflection that these words of Jesus have been included in the Gospel. Indeed, the same attitudes were found among the early Christians just as they are all too common today. Yes, the Gospels were written to us and for us.

We must also realize Jesus wasn't attacking every Scribe and every Pharisee. Afer all, they included many good men, just and honest men like Gamaliel (Acts 5) and Nicodemus (Jn 3). Jesus is really attacking wrong attitudes that are behind the hypocrisy and sinfulness so common then and now.

He turns first to those in authority, and challenges them to practice what they preach. He sees through their open hypocrisy, that "all their works are performed to be seen" [Mt 23:5], that they relish the attention and honors they receive.

Hearing these words of Our Lord, I'm forced to look at myself and examine my own attitudes. Of course, we deacons don't pack a lot of authority, and that's as it should be. The very meaning of our title is "servant." But maybe that's the problem. After all, how often do I remind myself that I am called only to serve?

I hear Jesus' words about relishing "greetings in the marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi'" [Mt 23:7]. Now I'm no rabbi, but I can hardly go to Publix without someone greeting me as "Deacon" and too often saying nice things about me. Do I relish these greetings? It's hard not to, so I usually ask the other to pray for me and the ministry to which God has called me, reminding myself that His call and all that comes with it is undeserved. It's still hard, until God, in His own unique way, humbles me. He does that a lot.

How about you? do you really accept, as Jesus reminds us, that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, adopted children of the Father? Do we accept that any differences among us, any human achievements (all that human "greatness") and any talents -- that these are all gifts, that none of us is greater than another. For as Jesus commands:

"The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted” [Mt 23:11-12].

If we pay attention to our reading from the prophet Ezekiel, perhaps we can better understand this command. After all, when placed in God’s presence, as Ezekiel was, it’s hard not to be humbled. Ezekiel was reminded that God, despite the sinfulness of His people, remain with them always. Once again, the covenant is renewed. And it’s renewed again and again, but it’s never God who breaks it, for God is merciful and forgiving. The final covenant, the New Covenant, will be made through Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, Who pours out His blood for the love of us all.

As we learn from Ezekiel, the glory of the Lord is always ready to enter our lives, if only we humble ourselves before Him. We are called, then, to follow the example of Our Lord. We are called to humble ourselves just as He did – our God Who emptied Himself to become one of us.

Today He humbles Himself further as He comes to us, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, but in the simple form of bread and wine so we may take Him to us, that our God may reside within us: the Son, in the Father, through the Spirit.

We are on our way, brothers and sisters. But we must become the Church of the meek, a Church of the humble that approaches God in repentance. It’s what we’re called to do. God allows us, the faithful, to “start afresh…from the beginning,” to forgive sinners and embrace and console the innocents, to share the Good News, and do so in faith, in humility, and in love.

Homily: Monday 20th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings: Ez 24:15-23 • Dt 32:18-21 • Mt 19:16-22

________________

Our readings are especially meaningful today, not only because of the troubles plaguing our world and yes, even our Church, but also because here, in this community, we are far more likely to experience deep loss in our lives.

We first encounter the prophet Ezekiel, who faced a personal loss, the sudden, unexpected death of his wife, whom God lovingly refers to as "the delight of your eyes" [Ez 24:16]. Aren’t those beautiful words? – “the delight of your eyes” – words that offer a glimpse into the love that must have bound these two.

God tells Ezekiel not to mourn her death openly; more sadness is coming; he must be the example:

“You shall be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the Lord” [Ez 24:27].

This exchange between God and prophet brought to mind a close friend who died several years ago.

On our way north to visit our children, Diane and I stopped by to Scott and his wife, Marnie. Scott was a retired admiral and he and I had flown together back in our Navy days and remained good friends. But now Scott was dying of cancer and we wanted to see him once more.

That day, as we ate lunch together, Scott’s drawn face suddenly filled with peace. He smiled and said, “You know, Dana, I’m so looking forward to seeing our Lord, I can hardly stand it.”  Scott died exactly one week later. And that comment, made over a salad at a Longhorn restaurant, was a gift. Several weeks later, Marnie told us, “Scott saved me from a lot of grief because he was so joyful about the life to come.”

Do you see how our lives, and how we live them, how our faith, and how we profess it, can have a deep impact on others. Ezekiel ultimately accepted his wife’s death as a blessing that spared her from the calamities about to befall God’s People. It also freed him to do God’s work in the world, to approach his calling worry-free, unaffected by the world and the troubles it so often brings.

Babylon’s long siege of Jerusalem would end in the slaughter of God’s people, the destruction of the city, and the desecration of God’s Temple. The survivors would be carried off into exile. God gave Ezekiel the task of leading the people as they faced these tragedies. “What does this mean for us?” they asked him.

Today as we look at our world, we find ourselves asking the same question. But then God answers with Moses’ words in our responsorial.

“You have forgotten God who gave you birth" [Dt 32:18].

Yes, too many in our world have forgotten God; and we, who are faithful but still sinners, turn to our God and ask, “What does this mean for us? What shall we do?” I can only repeat what Ezekiel told God’s People: Continue to turn prayerfully to our merciful God and ask for the strength to begin again. That’s right! We must begin again as the Church has many times over the past 2,000 years.

800 years ago, our Lord commanded St. Francis: “Go and repair my house which, as you see, is falling into ruin.” It was a time to begin again. The Church has faced many calamities, but Jesus promised:

“I am with you always, until the end of the age” [Mt 28:20].

Today we are led by another Francis, a man who must continue the ongoing task of rebirth. Pray that God gives him and his fellow bishops the will and the strength to confront the challenges to this one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

Sadly, some in the Church will turn away. Like the rich young man, they will turn away in sadness, others in anger, unable to accept the Gospel without compromise.

50 years ago, when Pope Benedict XVI was a young Father Joseph Ratzinger, he made some prophetic comments in a radio broadcast:

“From the crisis of today the Church of tomorrow will emerge — a Church that has lost much. She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning.

“But in all of the changes at which one might guess, the Church will find her essence afresh and with full conviction in that which was always at her center: faith in the triune God, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, in the presence of the Spirit until the end of the world.

“The Church will be a more spiritual Church… It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek.”

We’re on our way, brothers and sisters. We must become the Church of the meek, a Church of the humble that approaches God in repentance. It’s what we’re called to do.

We, the faithful, are called to “start afresh…from the beginning,” to forgive sinners and embrace and console the innocents, to share the Good News, and do so in faith, in humility, and in love.

Homily: Memorial of St. Barnabus (Monday, 10th Week of Ordinary Time)

Readings: Acts 11:21b-26; Ps 98; Mt 5:1-12

The Beatitudes, with which Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount, are not only a gateway to the sermon, but also a gateway to Jesus' teaching.

But we should understand they don't refer to different kinds of Christians but rather to different demands made on everyone who wants to be Jesus' disciple. In other words, we must all be poor in spirit and meek; we must mourn, hunger and thirst after righteousness, be merciful and clean of heart; we must be peacemakers, and be willing to suffer persecution while seeking holiness.

The Sermon on the Mount

Jesus promises salvation to all who strive to follow the spirit and meet the demands of the Beatitudes. Healthy and sick, powerful and weak, rich and poor - Jesus calls all to the blessings experienced by those who live up to His teaching. While the Beatitudes promise salvation not in this world, but in the next, they do promise peace in this life, God's peace even in the midst of suffering.

In a sense, then, the Beatitudes encapsulate the entirety of Christ's teaching. These promises are so new, so radical, so at odds with the way the world has always evaluated things. By placing spiritual good above material or worldly good, they rule out the religiosity of the Pharisees, a religiosity that regards earthly happiness as a blessing and reward from God, and unhappiness and misfortune as punishment. 

And so I think it's good for us to turn to them on occasion, reminding ourselves of what Jesus is telling us...

The poor in spirit? These are the detached, the spiritually needy, the truly humble, who look only to God for salvation and trust in His mercy. They know they are children in the presence of God, that they own nothing. Everything comes from and belongs to God. This spiritual poverty is what Jesus asks of each of us.

Blessed are the poor in spirit...

Those who mourn... Too often we think this applies only to the mourning that follows the death of a loved one. But Jesus takes it much further. We are blessed, He tells us, when we suffer and bear our suffering with love and a spirit of atonement. We are blessed in our repentance, and when we are pained by or suffer from the offenses of others.

Indeed, the Holy Spirit consoles those who mourn, those who weep for their own sins and the sins of the world. These are truly blessed.

...for they will be comforted

The meek suffer patiently and with humility, even in the midst of unjust persecution. The meek aren't the weak - not at all - for once again Jesus turns the world upside down, showing us the strength of the meek, those who remain serene, humble, and steadfast in their faith, who never give in to resentment or discouragement.

You and I, when we are irritable and resentful, simply display our lack of humility and interior peace. The virtue of meekness is the antidote and a necessary part of the Christian life.

Blessed are the meek...

Hungering and thirsting for righteousness, we strive to do God's Will by seeking justice, obeying the commandments, living a life of prayer - in a word, striving for holiness.
Seeking holiness, we are called to turn to the Church, the universal vehicle of salvation; to love the Church's teaching and the Sacraments; to strive for an intimate relationship with God in prayer; and to seek justice, God's justice, in all we do.

Jesus wants us to hunger and thirst for all He offers us, including His Presence in the Eucharist; for it is all good. 

Hunger and thirst for God...

The merciful always forgive. They accept other's defects, helping them cope with them, and loving them despite their sins. To be merciful is to imitate Jesus, the source of all mercy. To be merciful is to rejoice with others and to suffer with others. It's really the practical application of the 2nd of the great commandments: love your neighbor as yourself.

Blessed are the merciful...

The clean of heart have the capacity to love, a gift God offers to us all. They have an upright and pure attitude to everything noble. As St. Paul instructed the Philippians: 

"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is beautiful, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" [Phil 4:8].

Helped by God's grace, we should strive to cleanse our hearts and acquire this purity, for its reward is the vision of God.

The peacemakers foster God's peace in themselves and in others. They strive to be reconciled and to reconcile others with God.

Being at peace with God is the cause and effect of every kind of peace.  Any peace on earth not based on this divine peace will be shallow and misleading. "They shall be called sons of God" [Mt 5:9]. As St. John makes clear in his first letter,

"See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are" [1 Jn 3:1].

Blessed are the peacemakers...

The persecuted suffer because they strive for holiness, something the world despises. They are blessed for being true to Jesus, for suffering patiently and joyfully.

In every Christian's life there are situations that call for heroism, where no compromise is possible. One either stays true to Jesus Christ whatever the cost or one denies Him.

St. Bernard calls it "the beatitude of the martyrs." But don't be deceived into thinking it doesn't apply to you; for martyr simply means witness, and we are all called to be witnesses to Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Christian martyrs today

We are reminded of this today, the memorial of St. Barnabus, who not only spent his life as a witness to Jesus Christ, but willingly gave his life.

St. Barnabus, Martyr 61 A.D.

To refuse to be the Christian witnesses we are all called to be is to lack faith, to have no trust that God remains with us to support and strengthen us.

Yes, indeed, following the Beatitudes, living the true Christian life, isn't easy; but God promised to remain with us, to help us as we struggle to put them into practice. Because of this promise, you and I can believe that all sacrifice and all suffering has value.

When we suffer, yes, our faith can be tested. But we know that we can trust God no matter how difficult the circumstances. We can say, "Thy will be done," no matter how much we are defeated. If we can do these things, our faith is real and practical.

For God's will works in bad times and in good times.  It works in ways that are far beyond our ability to understand, but we can always trust in it.