Homily: Tuesday, 6th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings: Jas 1:12-18 • Ps 94 • Mk 8:14-21

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Yesterday we saw the blindness of a Pharisee asking Jesus for a sign of His authority from God. Today we see the blindness of Jesus’ own disciples, still struggling to understanding who He is. They were neither evil nor stupid; they just hadn’t grasped that Emmanuel – God with us – quite literally meant that God was with them. Of course, this points to you and me as well, to our own blindness in not always recognizing the clear Presence of God in our own lives.

The disciples are traveling across the lake in the boat.  You would think that with 12 of them someone would remember to pack a lunch. But no. They had only one loaf of bread. As they cross the lake, Jesus is talking to them:

“Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”  

For the Jews yeast was a corrupting agent because it caused fermentation.  That was why at Passover they ate unleavened, incorrupt, bread. As Paul tells the Corinthians: 

“Get rid of all the old yeast, and make yourselves into a completely new batch of bread, unleavened as you are meant to be” [1 Cor 5:7].

Jesus is simply telling his disciples to avoid two opposing kinds of corruption: that of the Pharisees which is based on narrow-minded and intolerant legalism and that of Herod, is based on amoral and hedonistic pleasure-seeking. Of course, the disciples don’t listen; like us they tend to focus on their own little problems. They latch on to the word “yeast” and link it to their current obsession – not enough bread for them all. All they can think about is their lunch.

Jesus knows what is going in their minds. And so, he chews them out, scolding them for being so self-absorbed, for their continued worries of not having enough bread for their lunch. First, he tosses some rhetorical questions at them: Why are you worried about having no bread? Are your minds so closed, your vision so impaired you can’t see what’s right in front of you? Have you forgotten everything you’ve witnessed? Did it mean nothing?

But then He engages in a little Q&A with them: 

“When I broke the five loaves among the 5,000, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?” 

“Twelve,” they answer.  

“And when I broke the seven loaves for the 4,000, how many baskets of leftovers did you collect?” 

“Seven,” they reply.

“And still, you don’t understand?”

Five loaves for 5,000 people and 12 baskets of leftovers…Seven loaves for 4,000 with 7 baskets of leftovers…And you, a mere dozen men, are worried about being short of food when I am with you?

Mark tends to be hard on the disciples. They neither see nor hear, even when they witness the remarkable faith of others who encounter Jesus.They seem not to understand what is happening right before their very eyes. I suppose that’s to be expected. These were practical, down-to-earth men –fishermen, not mystics. They don’t yet know what to make of all the healings and miraculous things they’ve witnessed. A bit like you and me – so often we don’t see or understand what’s right in front of us.

But the disciples are learning…Indeed, only a few days after this event Peter makes His remarkable, Spirit-inspired testimony at Caesarea Philippi.

“Who do you say that I am? Jesus asks them.

And Peter replies, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” [Mt 16:16].

Mark, you see, isn’t really firing his shots at the disciples, because we know the end of their story. No, Mark is concerned about us, about you and me, for Mark knew what he was about. In the Acts of the Apostles, we encounter Mark as an evangelist, companion of Paul, and then Peter, a man who had seen the temptations James addresses in our first reading. 

Can we see? Do we understand? That God is with us? That He loves each of us with a very intimate, personal love? Or is our faith so weak we allow the little things in our lives to drive our thoughts and actions and blind us to the reality of God’s care for us? How about instead we focus on the big things:

On striving for holiness amidst the clutter of our lives.

On deepening our prayer life so we can stay in touch with God’s will for us.

On making disciples by taking Jesus to others

Do these things, the big things, and God will gladly lead us, and help us handle all the rest – the little things like bread, and illness, and family conflict, all the other worries that occupy our minds.

God cares for us, and He loves to take care of faithful ones.

Homily: Tuesday, 30th Week in Ordinary Time - Year A

Readings: Rom 8:18:25; Ps 126; Lk 18:18-21

About 60 years ago, when I was a freshman at Georgetown, our theology course focused on Sacred Scripture. Our professor was an ancient Jesuit, probably in his sixties, who loved to tell stories. As we studied Jesus’ parables on the Kingdom, he told this brief parable of his own.

A man entered a garden shop and was surprised to see God behind the counter.

"You can have anything you want, free of charge!" God told him.

Surprised and thrilled, the man said, "Oh, I'd really like to be wealthy!" But from the expression on God's face, he realized he might have made a mistake; and so, he added, "and, of course, the same for all my neighbors."

But God still hesitated, so the man thought: perhaps I should have asked for something more spiritual.

"I'd also like peace and blessings on me and my family."

But God still did nothing.

"Ok," he blurted, "I'd like peace in the world! And an outbreak of love; yes, an epidemic of love from one end of the world to the other!"

With this, God shook His head and said, "You've come to the wrong shop. We have only seeds here."

Yes, God is in the seed business. He loves to give us little things that He will turn into very big things.

Of course, like Jesus, the good Jesuit father was trying to show us that God’s gifts demand a suitable response from us.

His gift of faith is handed to us in countless different ways, tiny seeds that He will fertilize and water if only we accept them, take them to heart, and give them room to grow.

Brothers and sisters, the Kingdom isn’t a place; it’s really a web of relationships, God’s people working together with Him to bring His love and His justice into the world. And it’s through Jesus Christ that God’s love, God’s power, breaks through into our lives. We need only accept Him, and accept the Gospel, that tiny seed, that small measure of yeast, and the result will be beyond our imagining.

Remember those words of Jesus as He began His public ministry? 

“The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel” [Mk 1:15].

Yes, dear friends, the Reign of God is here but it needs a response from us; it needs repentance and faith. Repentance, that metanoia, the call to undergo a complete change of mind and heart, a conversion, a willingness to turn away from self and turn to God. And faith – an acceptance of this wondrous gift that overcomes all fears. Let your faith smother those fears. How did St. Paul put it to the Romans, who had real reason to fear?

“…the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us” [Rom 8:18].

And it’s through us that God reveals His mercy, and His love to the world. Just as the yeast is inserted into the flour, we too must allow God to insert us into the world. We become infiltrators, or as Paul prefers to call us, “ambassadors for Christ” [2 Cor 5:20] – ambassadors of the Kingdom – allowing God to appeal through us.

That’s our job, as Christians, to expand the Kingdom, spreading God’s Word and God’s love in the little slice of His creation He’s given to each of us.

We need only visit His little garden shop, and He’ll give away the seeds – that’s the business He’s in.

Homily: Monday, 17th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings: Jer 13:1-11 • DT 32:18-21 • Mt 13:31-35
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The Kingdom of Heaven is where God works.

It’s the tiny seed that grows to be a tree, a home for birds.

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed...

It’s the little bit of yeast, the leaven that makes the dough rise.

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast..."

Jesus uses these natural processes in His parables to give us some insight into the nature of God’s Kingdom. And to teach us that God’s work in the Kingdom involves cooperation on our part.

Notice that you and I are neither seed nor yeast. Instead, we're called to help God in His work, to water the seed, to knead the dough. But the great work -- the miracle of growth, the seed becoming the tree -- is not our doing; that’s God’s work. Yes, the Kingdom of Heaven is where God works.

Our part is small. And the more we realize that, the more we step aside and surrender, the more receptive we are to God’s work in our lives, the more the work of the Kingdom is accomplished. 

The wonderful thing about this great work of God’s Kingdom is that it starts from the smallest beginnings in the hearts of men and women who are receptive to God's word. 

Just like the seed germinating out of sight beneath the ground, God’s greatest work is unseen and causes a transformation from within. Just as the yeast transforms a lump of dough and produces rich and wholesome bread when baked, the kingdom of God transforms those who receive the new life Jesus Christ offers. 

When we yield our lives to God and allow His word to take root in our hearts, we’re transformed and made holy by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. St. Paul said it best: 

"...we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us” [2 Cor 4:7]

In today’s brief parables Jesus reveals that His way is not at all spectacular; it’s a quiet way, a way of humility and love. Instead of seeking earthly power, Jesus went about healing sick and tormented people. Miracles, yes, but not spectacles, not the sort of miracles the world wants to see.

So many today urge us to follow them. They promise the world but produce nothing but dust…because the world can deliver nothing else. Indeed, almost everything about the Kingdom of Heaven is the opposite of what the world desires.  

Jesus described Himself as “the way, the truth, and the life” [Jn 14:6]. And the world? Well, it's exactly the opposite. Through its lies and its culture of death, it fills us with fear and leads us astray, away from our loving God. This is nothing new, as God reminds His prophet in today’s reading from Jeremiah:

“This wicked people…refuse to obey my words…walk in the stubbornness of their hearts, and follow strange gods to serve and adore them…they do not listen” [Jer 13:10-11].

Jeremiah: "They do not listen."

The world’s been rejecting God for a long time, but what the world seeks never lasts, while God’s Word never perishes. 

Do you see the false logic of the world? But the logic of the Gospel turns the world on its head. It’s the logic of worldly paradox, a logic the world can't understand. 

Only in the Kingdom of heaven are the first really the last, are the weak the strong, and the greatest the least.

Only in God’s Kingdom are the poorest the richest, and the lost saved. 

Only in God's Kingdom are the lowest the highest, and the meek inherit the earth.

Only in God's Kingdom, are the hungry satisfied and the persecuted blessed.

And to live there eternally, we must die, die to self.

In a word, what the world seeks, God rejects. 

So, take heart, brothers and sisters, because this is the Good News. This is the paradox we’re called to proclaim from the rooftops to all who will hear. That’s our work. God will do the rest through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

Our other work within the Kingdom is prayer. Under the influence of prayer you and I grow imperceptibly, so God can work in us, so His work of transformation continues far beyond our own meager efforts. 

Let’s pray today that we’ll be filled with the Holy Spirit, that He’ll transform us into the Christ-like holiness God desires. 

Let’s pray, too, that the Spirit increases our zeal for the Kingdom and instills in us a desire to live only for God’s greater glory.

Instead of being overcome by fear, be instead filled with the gift of faith that God offers us.

And at the end of each day, how about taking a moment to ask, “What did I do today to bring about the Kingdom?”