I Do Not Know You: Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 66:18-21

Ps 117

Heb 12:5-7, 11-13

Luke 13:22-30

 

Today's readings are neither comforting nor consoling. They will not soothe fears. They will not erase doubt. It is much more comforting to hear blessed are the poor or I am the good Shepherd.  That will have to wait for another day. 

 

If anything, the readings from Hebrews and Luke’s Gospel will increase frustration; they will  force us to ask questions such as: Why bother?  Where is God?  Disturbing though they may be these readings are important. They reflect a primary reality in the lives of all believers as well as those deemed to be saints: a life following Jesus is neither easy nor smooth. We must cope with doubt and uncertainty.  Each of us must recommit daily and then continue the journey. 

 

A recurring theme in the recent daily gospels has been that of exclusion or perhaps exclusivity. The gospels from Monday through Thursday, include variations on the themes of many are called and few are chosen,  the last shall be first and the first last.   

 

How many will arrive at the gate?  

Who will get through? 

Will I make the cut?  

 

The first reading from Isaiah proclaims that people from other nations who hear of the true God, the God of Abraham and Moses, will come to Jerusalem from all over the world to worship and offer sacrifice.  These particular passages 

come from the end of the last chapter of Isaiah.  The penultimate verse of this chapter is: “And sabbath after sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, 

says the Lord.”  This is key.  Worship, prayer, thanksgiving, and observing the Sabbath; these are what will bring us through the narrow door.  

 

The reading from Hebrews emphasizes that the journey is neither easy nor guaranteed to be pleasant.  It is, in fact, a difficult journey, a journey of trial, a journey in which weakness is revealed.  It is the journey of life as we experience it.  It is a journey punctuated by struggle, doubt, and error . . .  

and of being disciplined for that error.  

 

There is no promise--there has never been a promise and there will never be a promise--that following Jesus brings a life free of challenge,  a life without sorrow, suffering, or darkness, or a life in which one never feels abandoned.   

 

Discipline is painful to receive.  Discipline is painful to administer.  It alienates the one who is disciplined from the one who disciplines and vice-versa.  It may take a long time before we can look the one who disciplined us in the eye without resentment, without feeling a sting or becoming defensive.   Not one of us enjoys being criticized. No one enjoys being disciplined even when it is deserved. However, Hebrews includes a promise of relief:  “At the time it is administered, 

all discipline seems a cause for grief and not for joy.  But later it brings forth the fruit of peace and justice to those who are trained in its school.”   

 

We recall discipline more acutely than we do praise.  We learn more from our mistakes than from our successes.  We grow more from adversity than we do in times of plenty and ease.  It is paradoxical that sometimes the farther we feel from God the closer we are to Him, the more distant Jesus seems the more likely He is walking next to us.  

 

In the context of this week’s readings, the gospel is a further warning 

against spiritual elitism, a warning against sectarianism and self-importance. . .  a warning against assuming we are God’s chosen; His favorites, while everyone else is second class. We have all been guilty--and will be guilty—of saying or thinking something along the lines of,  “What is someone like HER doing here?”  

“Who admitted THAT novice?” Or, in a variation on Groucho's famous statement,

“I wouldn’t want to belong to any club that lets HIM in.”  

 

Each one of us is the potential hearer of Jesus’ rejection, “I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Away from me, you evildoers!”  We ARE sinners.  We are sinners loved by God to be sure, but sinners nonetheless.  This is true even of those who are deemed living saints.

 

Think back to when excerpts of Mother Teresa’s letters were published, letters she wanted destroyed after her death.  Some of the commentary was the fruit of reflection.  Some pushed a vicious anti-religious anti-Catholic agenda.  Some critique was absurdly psychoanalytic. or, worse yet, laden with hilarious and  pretentious new age psychobabble.  

 

It seems that despite appearances to the contrary, she was a woman who struggled with doubt for decades, she was a perceived saint whose prayer life was often dry.   It appears that much of Mother Teresa’s life was one of frequent wailing and grinding of teeth; of coping with underlying dissatisfaction.  

 

For many of us her letters enhanced rather than detracted from, her reputation for holiness because they demonstrated  that though she struggled with doubt 

she never rejected Jesus.  Many have struggled with doubt, with dryness,

and feeling abandoned by God.  Jesus himself prayed psalm 22 from the cross:

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”  

 

People will come all directions to partake of the banquet of the Lord.   It is not important if we are first, last, or somewhere in the middle. The only important thing is that we partake of the banquet.

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Tertianship in Australia was an extraordinary experience in all dimensions.  One of the best parts, aside from the long retreat, was spending five weeks in Port Lincoln, way down on the tip of South Australia.  I spent the time working in a parish in which the priest, a nice guy, had gone on vacation to the U.S.  The irony did not escape me.  

St. Mary of the Angels a short walk to Boston Bay (really, Boston Bay)  I could walk there in about seven minutes.  

The town from above.  Very small place.  It was like being back home in Plymouth, PA except  rather than coal mining fishing was the industry.  People were terrific.  I could have easily stayed for a year or so. 

A gazebo overlookingn the bay.  The industrial looking thing on the right is  part of the industry.  One tanker visible in the distance. 

Tuna fishing boats.  They are very large when onen is riding in a small motorboat.

This red sailboat was anchored.  in the bay.  I shot it several times from the shore and from the water.  This is one of the latter.

I frequently walked down before Mass in the AM.  

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

 

 

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab

Ps 45:10, 11, 12, 16

1 Cor 15:20-27

Lk 1:39-56

 

The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; is one of three Marian feasts that are holy days of obligation requiring the faithful to attend Mass, unless, in the inexplicable thought of the U.S. bishops in 1991, it falls on a Saturday or Monday when I guess, it is a holy day of inconvenience,

on the same principle that one should not eat oysters except in months that end with ‘r.’   The other two Marian Feasts on which the faithful are obliged to attend Mass are  The Immaculate Conception on December 8 and The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God on New Year’s Day.  Same silly exception.

 

This particular feast raises questions for many of the faithful and even more questions for the less-than-faithful and the terminally sophisticated skeptic. 

The first question asks why we celebrate the Feast of Mary's Assumption.  

Though decreed as dogma by Pius XII only in 1950, the feast has been observed 

in both the Western and Eastern Churches since the 6^th Century.  Despite the early beginning of this observance, there is no scriptural basis--solid or otherwise--for Mary's Assumption, or what the Eastern Church calls The Dormition of Mary.  A few passages of scripture are sometimes cited as indicative of the Assumption.  But the explanations of how they suggest the Assumption involve intricate mental and scriptural gymnastics.  

 

A second question considers the how.  As tantalizing as it might be to explore 

the biology and physics of the Assumption, the question is irrelevant.  The significant question asks what this feast means and what the dogma of the Assumption teaches us.

 

The Feast of the Assumption points the way for all followers of Jesus who imitate Mary’s fidelity and her obedience to God’s will. . . it points the way for all who can repeat Mary’s yes at the Annunciation: 

 

"Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum"

“May it be done unto me according to your word.”  

 

Each of the readings is important to the feast. 

 

The Book of Revelation is filled with fantastical, strange, and bizarre images

some of which will never be fully understood. I recently instructed and baptized 

a professional colleague who converted to Catholicism.  When he finished reading the Book of Revelation he sent a one-line email: “That is quite a book.” 

 

The interpretations and identity of the woman in this passage are subject to heated debate.  They range from those who say that these images indicate 

Israel, the Church, Eve, Mary the Mother of God, all of the above, some of the above, or none of the above. Scripture scholar Adele Collins suggests that it is more important to see the woman’s destiny than it is to identify her.  It is a good point.    

 

Many artists have painted and sculpted the images in Revelation—at times with decidedly mixed results. One can clearly see the influence of this passage, in depictions of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the only other feast on which we hear this reading. 

 

Paul’s words both comfort and instruct us.  We heard at the beginning of the reading “Just as in Adam all die so too in Christ shall all be brought to life.”  And then at the end of the readings, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for he subjected everything under his feet.”

 

Death’s destruction was contingent on Mary and her reply to the angel. Mary’s obedience stands in sharp contrast to Eve’s disobedience.  Eve’s infidelity to God’s will is trumped by Mary’s fidelity. Mary is both the antithesis of Eve and the new Eve, mother of us all. 

 

Magnificat anima meo Dominum

Et exsultavit spiritus meus

in Deo salutaris meo.

 

"My soul proclaims 

the greatness of the Lord, 

my spirit rejoices 

in God my savior." 

 

There are lilies that must never be gilded.  The Magnificat is one of them.  

Mary’s prayer does not need grammatical dissection. or revisions that reflect contemporary mores.

 

The Magnificat calls for quietly holding the words in the depths of our souls, 

particularly at the end of vespers, the hour that prepares us for the silence of the night, that time of darkness that is most fertile for prayer and contemplation. As we pray with Mary, as we magnify the Lord, and rejoice in God our savior, 

we will once again recall that God has remembered—and will always remember—His promise of mercy.  

 

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,

Sicut erat in principio, 

et nunc, et semper, 

et in sæcula sæculorum. 

Amen.

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The photo is a statue of the BVM anchored in rock overlooking Cohasset Harbor in Cohasset, MA taken at the blue hour in mid-July a few years back.  

+ Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

They’re Pulling in the Driveway: Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wis 18:6-9

Ps 33

Heb 11:1-2, 8-19

Lk 12:32-48

 

We heard in the Letter to the Hebrews, "Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen."

 

These are important words that remind us what faith is, and, with just a little thought, what faith is not. True faith is not dependent on the sciences. Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration. It will always remain a mystery beyond the reach of historical reconstruction, scientific explanation, or geographic verification.  Faith is not unquestioning, pious, or naive either.

It is not visiting the Mountain of the Transfiguration  to see specifically where Jesus stood or to kiss where he might have been thought to stand at the place of the Ascension. There are some things we can never know.  Faith continues despite lack of proof.  

 

Both the scientifically skeptical and the unquestioningly pious must learn to live with reality.  They must learn to live, not only with things not seen, but with things that will never be seen, knowable, or open to any kind of proof.  Faith is radical trust in God’s goodness and guiding presence, even in the midst of trial and struggle.  Faith is not the light at the end of the tunnel. It is the light in the tunnel.  It is the light that allows us to travel through the tunnel and come out on the other side. Faith is listening for and following the soft voice that may be obscured by the chaos of the present moment.

 

The reading from Hebrews gives a short biography of Abraham, our father in Faith.  Because of faith he left home and all that was familiar even though he did not know where he was to go. In faith he accepted that he would be the father of a nation despite his and his wife Sara’s ages.  In faith he was prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac who was the fulfillment of God’s promise of generativity.  It is an astonishing story. Faith always entails a degree of uncertainty. That uncertainty is highlighted in the gospel. The Gospel is disconcerting.  It is less comforting and more of a warning about our responsibilities.  

 

Jesus reminded  His disciples to be aware of their responsibilities at all times when he told them, “But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the servants . . . ,to eat . . . and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and unknown hour.  He will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful.” 

 

Many parents have had the experience of coming home sooner than expected

to find the kids doing what they were told not to do, partying, drinking, or any of a number of other untrustworthy behaviors.  The situation is a staple of many movies. There might have been a shocked silence, rage,tears, or promises after the fact.  The children betrayed the parents’ trust. It could take years for it to be reestablished. 

 

Jesus concluded with, "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded." We have been entrusted with much:the Gospel, the sacraments, and the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  We will be held accountable if we do not use and learn from them.  

 

 

We show our trust in God in how we respond to the gifts we have been given,

how we use the time and opportunities in life to grow in the face of adversity, even when we face our own death or the death of one whom we love. It is not a matter of having been perfect.  It is a matter of having held to the faith and used what we have been given.

 

We should not be caught by surprise like the servants in the gospel, or the kid whose parents come home earlier than expected.  We should live each day as if we were preparing to meet the Lord. so that we might sing with the psalmist:

 

"Our soul waits for the LORD,

who is our help and our shield.

May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you." 

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One afternoon in Ljubljana I went walking with the camera with the intention of converting everything I shot into black and whtie.  It was a great day.  Loved the jazz quartet I ran into on one of the bridges.  

+ Fr. Jack, SJ, MD