Recent Homilies

HOMILY FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

February 24-25, 2007

Recently, I picked up a book simply because of its title, Why Can’t We be Good? The author says that the problem is choice, which started when God injected freedom of choice into the heart of creation. In the story of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis, they had it made! Everything was there for the asking; they did not have to labor; they enjoyed an intimacy with God. But Adam and Eve were given one rule, not to eat the fruit of a certain tree. But then, temptation came along: Doesn’t that apple look good? Do you really suppose that God would deny you something so obviously good? Well, they may have had 999 things and lacked just one. And, wouldn’t you know it, Adam and Eve focused on the one thing they did not have.

When we make a good choice, it makes us feel good about ourselves, and it can really pay off. I recently read an article about a minister who was sent to a particular community to build a new church. One day, he went into a store, picked up some things he needed, and handed the cashier a fifty dollar bill. As he was about to put the change in his wallet, he discovered that he had received too much. He though that he should keep the money because in the past he had been short-changed by unscrupulous vendors. But he decided to go back, and explained to the cashier that he was returning the money that had been given to him accidentally.

“Oh, that was no accident,” replied the cashier. “I did it on purpose.” After the minister voiced his surprise, she explained, “I know who you are and what you are trying to do. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change.” The minister now has a church of more than 4,000 people. Can you imagine what would have happened if word had gotten out that he could not be trusted?

Choice and temptation go hand in hand. Rationalizing is often a part of it. A startling statistic is that in the United States there are over two million people in prison, some of them on death row. They are there because they were tempted and made bad choices.

Today’s gospel shows that Jesus was in the same boat. Through struggle, prayer, fasting, self-denial, and turning to God for help, he was able to resist some very attractive and powerful temptations. He was free, as we are. He had to make choices, as we do.

Sin often starts in our inclinations—our thoughts and feelings. We envy other people. We are greedy. We have too much pride. We look at somebody with lust in our heart. The next thing you know, we give in to temptation.

Lent can be many things, or it can mean nothing. The choice is ours. One of the ingredients of Lent has traditionally been the struggle against the evil of temptation and sin. Lent can be a time for honesty with ourselves. It can be a time for making a good confession. It can be a time for turning to God. But it’s all up to us because God gave us choice.

If we go back to the title of the book with which I started, Why Can’t We be Good? we might find a theme to guide us through this Lenten season: How can we strive to become good?

HOMILY FOR ASH WEDNESDAY

February 21, 2007

Our first reading today comes from the Old Testament prophet Joel. He lived at a time of national disaster, when millions of locusts had devoured wheat, leaves, even small trees. Israel looks like a war zone and there is precious little to eat. Joes sees this as an opportunity to remind the people of their need for God, the need to turn away from evil and sin, and the need to be more faithful to their obligations. Because it is a national disaster, it calls for a national response of prayer and penance. No one is excused; one and all must embrace the call to prayer and fasting, even infants and brides and grooms.

We had that same kind of awareness on 9/11. On that day we had a national, and even international, disaster. People experienced it together, found solidarity in grief, and turned to God in prayer and sorrow.

Today, we observe the ultimate solidarity we have as human beings. We have no choice; whether we like it or not, after we breathe our last breath, we are as dead as the dust and ashes we receive today. No one is exempt. No one lives forever. Each Ash Wednesday questions us: Does God have our attention? Or will it take another 9/11 to get us on our knees and to fill our churches?

What are we to do? First, we must remember that we receive ashes in the form of a cross, a sign that, though we are destined to die, Jesus’ cross and resurrection gives us hope. We receive ashes believing in Easter. Second, our gospel reading gives us Jesus’ own three-fold agenda for the Lenten season. He asks us to pray more, so that we grow in our relationship with God. He asks us to fast, to go without, so that we can be freed of our addictions to anything that is not God. And he asks us to be mindful of the poor and to respond to the tragic plight of much of the human race.

We are in this together. Jesus shows us the way out—through locusts, 9/11s and even everlasting death. Does he have our attention?

HOMILY FOR THE SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

February 17-18, 2007

When I was in the seminary in Belgium, I had a classmate from Durban, South Africa. We became good friends. If one of us was a little short of money, we could always borrow from the other. One time, two months went by, and I realized that I had not repaid some money that I had borrowed. I wondered why my friend didn’t ask for his money back. Was he being polite? Did he wish not to embarrass me? Did he forget?

His answer was rooted in today’s gospel in which Jesus says that when we lend to somebody, we should not expect repayment. I was amazed that somebody was actually trying to live by this part of Jesus’ teaching.

We seem to have an innate sense of fair play from a very early age. There is a commercial in which two brothers discover that there is just one slice of bread left for a peanut butter snack. Their mother allows the older boy to cut the slice, and then the younger one to choose which piece he wanted. The older boy thought he would get the choice and so he had cut the bread unevenly. Most young children would be able to understand the issue of fair play in this commercial.

We also develop a natural sense that good behavior should be rewarded, and bad behavior punished. This leads to the idea that some people are more “deserving” of recognition, friendship, responsibility, love and forgiveness.

Then along comes Jesus, asking us to go against all these natural inclinations. Love your friends? He asks. What’s the big deal in that? What Jesus asks his followers to do is to love even their enemies. There are three Biblical passages that illustrate these unnatural divine inclinations. First, in the story of the prodigal son, the father accepts his son back into the family and showers him with love, even though the son doesn’t particularly deserve it. In the story of the workers in the vineyard, those who work just one hour get a full day’s pay, just like those who put in a full day’s work. And finally, in the accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion, our Lord prays for his tormentors, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Now, some would say that this kind of thinking and acting is OK for “church” activities, but that is not how the real world works. In business you could hardly succeed if you do good to your competitors. In government, practically speaking, how do you love terrorists who are intent on killing you? Does Jesus really expect us to do that?

And then, there’s the personal level. Suppose someone tells lies about you and ruins your reputation. Or someone walks away from family responsibility, leaving the burdens of children and home to the other spouse. What are we to do? I don’t believe that Jesus is calling us to be a doormat, or to ignore the situation when justice has been abused. But the call to love remains, challenging us to love our enemies, pray for our persecutors and going the extra mile, even when the person doesn’t deserve it. He taught this stuff. He actually lived it. Do we think he was just kidding?

HOMILY FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

February 10-11, 2007

Several years ago, I visited a priest friend who worked on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. Flying in to Albuquerque, we had a magnificent view of the terrain. Much of what I saw was desert—sandy, dry and lifeless. But then I noticed a beautiful ribbon of green, which is where a river flowed. Where there was water, there was life; the rest looked like a scene from the moon.

In our first reading the prophet Jeremiah paints a similar picture and uses it to make a spiritual point. Those who leave God out of their life, who trust only in their own wisdom, are like the desert—lifeless. One day they will feel empty, perhaps sensing that they have wasted a good part of their life.

In our day the drama continues. Many people have made gods out of money, possessions, power over others, cheap sex, their job, alcohol and drugs. They treat these created realities as more important than God.

To them, what Jesus teaches in today’s gospel will sound just plain stupid. Notice that our Lord calls blessed those who are poor, hungry, weeping and hated. Conversely, he issues warnings of woe to those who are rich, filled, laughing and popular. If we were to make a television reality show, perhaps we might call it something like “Achievement Awards for Bozos and Losers”.

What it comes down to is this: Who is wiser, God or us? Who knows better, Jesus Christ or us? If we think that Jesus Christ knows what he is talking about, it’s time to pay attention. No more excuses. No more ignoring his teaching. No more having it both ways. Either he is who he says he is, or he is not. Either we follow him, or we don’t.

In light of today’s gospel, what are we to do? I would suggest that we need to bring the two parts together. If you are rich, then help the poor. Even if you are poor, help somebody poorer than you. If you are filled, feed someone who is hungry. Even if you have but one slice of bread, you can still cut it in half and give half to a starving neighbor. If you are happy, reach out to someone who is sad. And if you are sad, the best way to get out of it is to help somebody who is sad, too. If you are popular, and all speak well of you, stand up for someone who is hated, looked down upon or discriminated against.

What this will do is to move us out of the center of our own universe. We will begin to see others as our sisters and brothers, not strangers to be laughed at or condemned. We may discover that Jesus Christ is right, and that it’s not a bad idea to listen to him.

HOMILY FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

February3-4, 2007

Several years ago, at 1:00 or 2:00AM, if memory serves, a man stopped at his doctor’s home, walked up the porch steps and rang the doorbell. When the doctor came to the door, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he thought he was seeing a ghost. The reason? The doctor had never seen the man, except in a wheelchair. Because of an accident many years before, the man had been paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Yet now he walked to the doctor’s door.

How did this happen? Some friends of the man had taken him to Worcester, MA, for a healing service presided over by Fr. Ralph DiOrio. Perhaps some of you have heard of him, or you may have attended one of Fr. DiOrio’s services. He was a powerful healer (actually, God was working through him), and he attracted crowds of thousands.

I got to know Fr. DiOrio briefly when I was a student at Holy Cross College. Some friends and I taught in a religious education program at the parish where Fr. DiOrio was an assistant. He was meek, mild-mannered and shy. One day, we asked for some money for the Confirmation program, but Fr. DiOrio was reluctant to go to the pastor! Years later, God chose this shy man to be a wonderful, powerful minister of healing.

We find a similar scenario in today’s readings. In the second reading, St. Paul puts himself down. He describes himself as the least of the Apostles because he was the last to see the risen Lord, and because he had persecuted Christians, considering them heretics. But Paul now says that, by the grace of God, “I am who I am.”

In the gospel reading, a carpenter (Jesus) shows fishermen (Peter, James and John) how to fish. On their own they had failed. But now they caught so many fish that there nets were breaking and their boats were starting to sink. Notice the reaction of Peter: “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” But Jesus accepts Peter, warts and all, and tells him that from now on he will be fishing for people.

In our first reading the prophet Isaiah, who lived more than 700 years before Christ, is called to speak to the people on God’s behalf. He protests that he is an unclean man with unclean lips. In his heavenly vision, an angel takes an ember and touches it to Isaiah’s lips, purifying him. When God asks, “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah responds, “Send me.”

You see the pattern? God chooses the weak and makes them strong. There have been many times in my life when I have wondered if I had what it takes to be a priest. I thought it might be presumptuous on my part, especially in light of the extraordinary individuals who served as priests when I was young. But God’s call kept coming, and I responded, “Send me.”

Do you sometimes wonder if you are adequate to the task? I have met many people who have felt that they failed as parents, especially if there grown children were not attending church. Many young people have not felt qualified to do something with their life, pursue a goal or chase a dream, simply because somebody told them they were not worthy.

Of course, we may actually be inadequate if we rely only on ourselves. But if we are open and stay close to the Lord, wow! Consider what happened to Isaiah, Peter and Paul. With God’s help, individuals can change. And through them God can change the world.

Something to think about: Is God calling you? Are you willing to respond, “Here I am; send me”?