Prophesy, Preach, and Proclaim: Homily for the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus sent His apostles on mission with power over unclean spirits and the mandate to ‘cure every disease and every illness.’ It is a powerful mandate that includes an important distinction. Giving the apostle the instruction to cure disease AND illness might strike some as redundant. However, the distinction is important to understanding the mission of the Church that heals illness but rarely cures disease. Disease and illness are not synonymous. Few physicians are able to cure disease. True, surgeons can remove a diseased organ and effect a cure. Internists are able to cure some diseases but more often we stabilize them. Think diabetes or high blood pressure. Psychiatrists? I’m still not sure after thirty five years. However, despite the limitations all have the mandate to heal illness. Disease is a biomedical affliction with identifiable pathological changes in an organ or organ system at some level. While a disease affects only the patient, illness is a sociocultural perspective that includes how the individual and others understand and experience certain disvalued and feared states caused by disease. Illness affects not only the individual but the family, the community, and at times all of society, in ever widening circles. The dichotomy is apparent in scripture when we consider leprosy. Leprosy as described in both Old and New Testaments never had anything to do with what is now known as Hansen’s disease. Leprosy was a catch-all term for visible scaly lesions including vitiligo, psoriasis, and blemishes. Jesus cured the disease of leprosy in those afflicted but more significantly He cured the illness and thus returned the sufferers to themselves and to society. There are many modern illustrations of the difference between disease and illness. AIDS as disease was first described in June 1981. By 1990 almost 101,000 Americans had died of the disease with 1/3 of those deaths reported in 1990. The toll of AIDS as illness, a toll exerted on family, friends, community, society, and the world of medicine, was, is, and will remain beyond accounting. Thanks to covid we had a refresher course on the difference between disease and illness. The disease, which affected only individuals, killed the elderly age 65 and above in disproportionate fashion. The illness was an even greater disaster. Many of those elderly, as well as patients hospitalized for other reasons were forced to suffer and die in anguished solitude. Many perceived abandonment by their families and friends who were prevented from visiting. And no, a computer is not a good substitute for someone dealing with cognitive impairment. They were bereft of the sacraments as well. The illnesses: loneliness, depression, anxiety, fear, and for many, cognitive decline came from a combination of government fiat, irrational fears of administrators, lack of compassion, and generalized stupidity on the part of too many who should have known better. The slogan, “Follow the science” was a dismissive cudgel used to beat others into submission regarding vaccination. Many lives were destroyed. As with AIDS the impact of the illnesses of covid can never be estimated, particularly when one factors in the disastrous impact of school closures. The disease has faded. The illness will echo for decades to come. How did the twelve apostles perceive Jesus’ mandate to cure disease and illness? How did they feel when it was given to them? How did they feel when the going got rough or when they realized the risks? Ideally they did not respond in the same way as a young physician who wrote an op-ed column in response to covid titled, “I Didn’t Sign Up For This,” an extended whine about having to work under the conditions and risks of covid. It might be best for this young doc to hang up the stethoscope now and seek a different line of work. Apparently he or she likes the title but not the obligations that come with it. Mandate derives from the Latin mandatum: manus (hand) and dare (to put) thus ‘to put into one’s hands.’ The foot washing of Holy Thursday is referred to as the mandatum, from Jesus’ words at the Last Supper “I have given you an example, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” The histories of AIDS and covid as diseases AND illnesses have a shameful element in common. That shame was, and is, the refusal of too many with training and ability to treat patients because of the diagnosis. The stories of refusing to allow patients with AIDS to even enter a medical office were many during the early years. During covid, Arthur Caplan, a so-called medical ethicist in New York published a column on Medscape titled, “It’s Okay for Docs to Refuse to Treat Unvaccinated Patients.” The good news is that Caplan is not physician. He cannot treat patients. The over 700 responses to his column from physicians were overwhelmingly negative, angry, or both. It is never OK to cherry pick who or what is treated based on diagnosis or social agenda. I suspect had Dr. Caplan written that it was OK to refuse puberty blockers for so-called transexual children he would have been fired right quick. It is not easy to treat disease. Sometimes the best we can do is keep it at bay for a little while. “A cure for cancer in our lifetime.”? Nothing more than a moronic bumper sticker reflecting no knowledge of the thousands if disease that fall under the umbrella term cancer. Treating the illnesses of modern times is even more difficult. That is a separate homily. We have all been given the same mandate as that given to the apostles. That is to treat illnesses and proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven through our words and the example of our lives. _____________________________________ Will try to post photos next week. This is truly a miserable web site.

New try

Am going to try to restart this blog as I cannot understand the procedures for some of the others.

NEW BLOG, NEW SITE

I moved the blog from this site to frjacksjmd.net. It will take some getting used to but this site has become undependable. Will continue to post regularly on the blog and on faceback.

This will be the last post on this blog. The site is functioning poorly, printing submissions in a bizarre font. Service has seriously deteriorated since I began it fifteen years ago while in Australia on tertianship. There are a lot of words I could use to describe what blogspot has become but I would have to go to confession. While I may or may not try to resume a different blog, I continue to publish homilies and photos on facebook (johsiberski). I do not tolerate computer driven frustrations well. So screw you google.

Solemnity of the Annunciation

25 March 2026 Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ, Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto “The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, And she conceived of the Holy Spirit” So begins the Angelus, a prayer consisting of four short verses, each verse followed by a Hail Mary. It is recited thrice daily, generally at 6 AM, noon, and 6 PM. It commemorates our Lord’s incarnation, recalls Mary’s fiat, and contributes to making the day holy. The Annunciation is a quiet solemnity. There was no visible sign: no star, no eclipse, and no earthquake. There was no voice from the heavens. Simply a quiet scene that took place in a small room in an obscure village in the Middle East. But, the Universe held its breath as it unfolded. An angel was carrying news to a young woman named Mary. How would she reply? Is this the time? Mary was startled when she heard the angel’s message. Nothing stirred outside that small room. The universe became silent when it heard the angel's greeting, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee." Clasping its hands over its heart, the world waited anxiously. St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote: “The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady. . . .The price of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent. . . .” The woman appeared puzzled and concerned, as if she were asking herself what the angel’s greeting meant. The look on her face was changing. Wait . . . . and then: "Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum." "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, May it be done unto me according to your word." In a sigh of relief the universe changed. It would never be the same. A new calm descended. The prophecy would be fulfilled. Mary’s words penetrated the very substance of all that is. Those words would echo forever. The most perfect yes in history had just been enunciated. The universe and all within it rejoiced. The virgin had accepted her vocation to be the Theotokos, the God-bearer, in fulfillment of the prophecy to Ahaz. Like us, Mary was endowed with free will. She could have rejected the vocation the angel presented to her. On the surface it seems irreverent to suggest that Mary could have refused. Her decision, however, was not inevitable. It was not forced by God. She was chosen. But she was free to choose. Fiat mihi secundum tuum was her yes. In the third verse of the angelus we pray: Et Verbum caro factum est. Et habitavit in nobis “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Angels rejoiced. Heaven celebrated. Mary's life would change. Joseph would soon receive her into his house. They would soon make the arduous journey to Bethlehem where Jesus would be born of the House of David,once again in fulfillment of a prophecy. The annunciation almost always occurs during lent. During lent the Eastern Church chants a hymn to the Theotokos, Mary, the God-bearer, whose reply to the angel enabled the universe to rejoice. It includes the verse: "Receive, O earth, the glad tidings of great joy. Heavens, praise the glory of God. The Theotokos, the God-bearer, the living tabernacle of God shall not be touched by an unclean hand. The lips of believers shall sing to her ceaselessly with the voices of angels crying joyfully, Hail full of grace, The Lord is with Thee." Thus, we celebrate today.

Out of the Depths I Cry: Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent

  

Ez 37:12-14

Ps 130

Rom 8:8-11

Jn 11:1-45

 

These are extraordinary, almost overwhelming  readings that deserve prolonged meditation. 

                                  

Ezekiel begins with a promise:  “Thus says the Lord God . . .  I will open your graves and have you rise from them.”  The commentary on this passage in The Jewish Study Bible is succinct:  “Traditional Jewish exegetes find here the idea of the resurrection of the dead before the day of judgment, a fundamental belief of rabbinic Judaism ascribed to Moses.”   Obviously the resurrection of the body was not a new or exclusively Christian belief.  In fact belief in the resurrection of the dead separated the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  We will reiterate our belief in the resurrection of the dead shortly in the Creed and yet again as we renew our baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil. 

 

Paul comments on the cost of sin and announces good news: Although the body is dead because of sin, if Christ is in us the spirit is alive because of righteousness.  What more could we want? 

 

Psalm 130—De profundis—is one of the most beautiful and evocative of the 150 hymns in the entire psalter. 

 

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine:

Domine, exaudi vocem meam.

 

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord.  Lord, hear my voice.   

 

We call to the Lord out of the depths of sin. We call from the tombs in which we find ourselves again and again.  We call to the Lord who hears our plea; the Lord who forgives our sins. 

 

The readings and psalm prepare us to hear the cinematically detailed story of Lazarus. It is not only the story of Lazarus.  It is our story.  It is the revelation of being brought from death to life in Christ through the forgiveness of sins—until  the final resurrection of the dead. 

 

Jesus, fully human, weeps at Lazarus’ tomb.  Jesus, fully God commands Lazarus to come forth from that tomb.   Jesus, fully human, wept over Jerusalem as he weeps over us.  Jesus, fully God, called the son of the widow of Nain to rise from his stretcher and the daughter of the official to get up from her bed, just as he calls us to eternal life.  In his commentary on this Gospel Jesuit Fr. Stanley Marrow points out the fundamental difference between Lazarus and the others who were brought back to life only to have to die again later; and Jesus, who rises from the dead never to die again.  If one were forced to choose only two words to describe the difference they would be reanimation and resurrection. 

 

Lazarus, the widow’s son, and the young girl were reanimated for a period of time, only to die later; not unlike the modern analog of cardiac resuscitation or the miracles wrought daily in hospitals throughout the world.  They are temporary stays.   Only Jesus came back from the dead never to die again. 

 

If Lazarus is us so is Martha.  The same Martha who complained to Jesus about Mary now makes a profound act of faith,  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”   And then  the climax of this narrative: “I am the resurrection and life; whoever believes in me will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” 

 

It is not that we will not die to this life.  Jesus is not promising that we won’t suffer. Our deaths may come quickly without time to prepare.  Our deaths may come at the end of a slow but easy passage from this life; a deep sigh at the end and nothing more.  Or we may die after a prolonged period of pain, suffering, and decay.  It is not ours to choose.  What Jesus is promising is that, in Stanley’s words, “the eternal life which we possess here and now cannot and will not be interrupted even by death.” 

 

We cry to the Lord out of the depths of our souls.  The Lord answers with kindness and plenteous redemption. 

 

What more could  we want? 

 

_____________________________________________

The photos are all black and white conversions from a ten-day visit to Vietnam after tertianship in Australia.  I can still see the provincial's face who, as we were discussing tertianship asked, "Do you want to stop in Hawaii on the way home?"  My reply?  "No.  I've never wanted to go to Hawaii.  Can I stop in Viet Nam.  It would take too long to explain why asking to go to Viet Nam was one of the best decisions I could have made.  

 

 

Fishermen killing time until high tide.   At low tide the sand extends for hundreds of yards and the boats are stuck.  

Vietnamese scholastics playing volleyball during recreation. 

 

A bike ride along the ocean.

This anonymous kid saw my camera and began hamming it up

 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD 

 

Rejoice O Jerusalem: Homily for Laetare Sunday

  

1 Sm 16;1B, 6-7, 10-13A

Eph 5:8-14

Jn 9:1-41

 

"Laetare Jerusalem:

et conventum facite omnes

qui diligitis eam:

gaudete cum laetitia,

qui in tristitia fuistis . . ."

 

"Rejoice oh Jerusalem

and all who love her.

Be joyful, all who were in mourning . . ."

 

The name Laetare for the fourth Sunday of Lent derives from the first Latin word of the entrance antiphon, Laetare. Rejoice.  In one of the many essays he composed during 40 years teaching at Georgetown, the late Jesuit Father Jim Schall wrote: "Laetare Sunday is traditionally called a respite.  It makes us begin to feel the nearness of the Passion and the Resurrection, but with a reminder that even amid the Lenten fast and the coming remembrance of the Crucifixion,we are not to forget that Christianity is a religion of joy."  

 

Father continues, "Christianity is called the most worldly of the religions. . . . because it is a religion engaged with the world and in the world, but it is not of the world.  Christianity transcends the world, it goes beyond the world it goes beyond the universe. It will not cease when the world ends or when the universe involutes on itself."

 

We will be reminded on the Feast of the Annunciation in eleven days, that because of Mary’s fiat  “May it be done to me according your word,”  Christianity will continue beyond the end of the world just as those words will echo eternally beyond the end of the universe.

 

Schall then makes a further observation,

 

"Christianity is also the happiest religion since it knows this world is not all there is. There is something precious beyond the world.  The world is not a bad place. if we don't expect of the world more than it can give, or if we don't see the world for what it is not."

 

Paul’s instruction to the Ephesians is that they see the world for what it is and what it is not.  “Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness, rather, expose them. . .   Live as children of the light, for light produces every kind of goodness, and righteousness, and truth. . . . “

 

The task of the Church is to expose the works of darkness: the works of darkness in the abortion clinic, the works of darkness in state legislatures that are passing bills to allow killing the sick elderly before their time, and the works of darkness, the pure evil, of those who encourage and assist in the psychological, surgical and hormonal abuse of confused children who lack independent decision-making capacity.

 

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”  Christ gives us the same light that he gave the man born blind,

 

Laetare Sunday reminds us that we are approaching the magnificent liturgies of the Sacred Triduum. The Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday begins with the blessing of the fire from which the paschal candle is lit.  As he incises the candle before lighting it, the priest says the words that explain our faith in one sentence:

 

"Christ yesterday and today

the beginning and the end.

Alpha and Omega;

all time belongs to him,

and all the ages;

to Him be glory and power,

through every age for ever."

 

Soon our mourning, will be replaced by dancing.  It will not be the short respite of Laetare Sunday but the unfettered joy of Easter, a joy we will carry forth despite the realities of life impinging on us. The darkness of death will be overwhelmed by the light of eternal life. 

 

Like the man born blind in today's Gospel, we will see with unclouded vision.  Unlike the man born blind, we will not be confused about who gave us our sight. 

 

"Laetare Jerusalem:

et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam:

gaudete cum laetitia . . . "

 

Rejoice Jerusalem  . . . . Rejoice.

 

______________________________________________________

A Sunday I always look forward to for what it meant in childhood.  Not a major celebration thing but always looked forward to it.  

 

Photos are from St. Joseph Trappist Abbey, indeed I will be there this coming Saturday. 

 

Almost the entire church using a 7 mm lens. Because of the blue stained glass it is difficult to take and process a color photo of the church.  Black and white conversion works great.  The blue cast actually make adjusting the shadows much easier. 

Entrance to the monk's choir from the cloister.

The cavernous sacristy.  On Sunday there will be a large number of dusty rose vestments on the vesting table.  The vestments at Spencer are expensive (see Holy Rood Guild) but worth every penny and then some.  They will last forever.  And, as they have no images, focusing on excellent fabrics and beautiful trim, they never go out of style.  

 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD