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Homilies are posted no later than during the week
prior to the Sunday they are needed |
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9 Ordinary Time
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A violin made by the 17th century Antonio Stradivari
came on the market in London. It was valued at $7 million dollars. Two
points made it valuable: firstly it's a Stradivari and secondly in 200
years it had been hardly played. The Holy Spirit is our Stradivari. He
has restyled us with His graces at Baptism and Confirmation. But we
don't make use of them.
Everyone Mother Teresa told us is a pencil in God's
hand. But He gets little writing from most of us.
We Westerners should blush at today's
Pentecost. Two thousand years ago our ancestors worshipped trees. They
attempted to stay warm without fire in damp caves. They hadn't yet
invented the wheel. But this was not the case with the sophisticated
people of India, the Middle East, and North Africa. They were lining up
by the thousands waiting patiently to be baptized with the Holy Spirit
by the Apostles & Co.
The Pentecost story comes out of Acts of the
Apostles. Its nimble prose is almost a daily history of the early
Church. The Acts are a historian's delight.
The word Pentecost is borrowed by us from the
Jews. So too are other elements in our Liturgy. We owe much to the Jews
and their genius. We even borrowed Jesus from them. If Christians are
anti-Semites, they are guilty of short memories.
Originally Pentecost was a great Jewish feast.
The Jews
never took any gift from God for granted. They spent quality time
thanking God for the first crops. The holy day was celebrated fifty
days after Passover.
We celebrate Pentecost fifty days after the
Resurrection
of Christ. We salute not the appearance of tomatoes in our gardens but
rather the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the founding members of
Christianity. Today our Christian ancestors were confirmed in the
Spirit. The terrible beauty that is the international Church was born.
Is there any wonder we shoot off liturgical fireworks at Pentecost?
At the point we discuss, the Jesus followers
were leaderless. They were scared. They were short on bodies but not
brains. They numbered one hundred forty timid souls - the apostles,
Mary, and unnamed individuals. This was hardly a group equipped to take
over the world. They clung to each other like fly paper. They were in
the large room which had been the scene of the Last Supper.
It was to these frightened souls the Holy
Spirit came with His wagon load of gifts. They discovered that
Christianity was not designed to be a do it yourself affair. (Daniel
Durkin) In charismatic language, they were slain in the Spirit. They
began to feel like super strong people. They found themselves ready to
take on the cosmos. They heard each other speaking in foreign tongues.
These languages would be their passports to evangelize the world.
What happened to them that first Pentecost? Take a
glass of clear water. Drop in a few drops of red dye. Ah, red water. A
new creation. A few drops of the Holy Spirit into our souls and they
became a new creation. A little bit of the Holy Spirit will take us a
long way.
The Holy Spirit was already the electricity causing
the light to burn but remaining invisible. (Regis
Armstrong)
The bedlam occurring in the Upper Room was heard.
Someone dialed 911 and a mob assembled. It was an international crowd.
They watched the freshly confirmed apostles rush from the Upper Room.
They spoke in various tongues about Jesus. The Church was jumping into
the fast lane. The world would never be the same.
Many say, "If the Holy Spirit gave us the same
gifts, what a job we'd pull off for Christ! We'd turn our town upside
down." The good news is that we received the same cornucopia of gifts
at Baptism and Confirmation. These were our personal Pentecosts. The
bad news is that we have never thrown the on switch to use these gifts.
Most of them sleep. Think of the Holy Spirit as the generous uncle
everyone wants. He loads us down with wonderful gifts at our Baptisms
and then doubles the ante at Confirmation.
But the gifts become like the Stradivari violin in London. Though
increasing in value, they are hardly used.
Today is a good day to blow the dust off our spirits
and play sweet music. The Spirit will assist us. He is the master of
surprises making the impossible possible. He reminds us it does not
require great people to do great things - just unselfish ones.
(Patricia Opatz) This Pentecost become God's well worn pencil. Leave
your signature on the world.
Jesus does not need lawyers. He needs witnesses.
(Paul VI)
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http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
9 Ordinary Time
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Belonging
to the Lord
Today’s reading begin with Moses telling the people to follow the Laws
of God so closely that they are bound on their wrists, and set as
pendants on their foreheads. “Be careful to follow all the statutes and
decrees that I set before you today,” Moses says.But then we
read in Romans that the righteousness of God has been manifested
outside of the law. So what is it that we should do, follow Moses or
look for God outside of the law?
In
the Gospel Jesus says that we need to take our directions from Him.
Fr.
Bill Bausch included a wonderful story to help direct our thoughts in
his book, A World of Stories.Fr. Bausch credits Ted Loder for
the story from his book Wrestling the Light. The story is about a man
who wasn’t all that able to follow a whole lot of Church laws and was
therefore convinced that he wasn’t a very good Catholic. However he was
a man who, in the long run, embraced Christianity.It’s the story
of Murph and someone named Sam Who Am.
Let
me shorten this rather long story. Check one of the books I mentioned
to read the whole version.It is extremely well written.
Murph was an elderly man who owned a tavern in a large city.The
tavern was pretty run down.It was small.It stunk.
Murph closed his tavern every night at 9 because he didn’t want the few
customers he had walking on the streets late at night.He was
more concerned with the people then with making money.In the
same way, if someone came in spending too much on the booze, he would
send him home to take care of his family.
So
Murph’s tavern was mostly empty, except in the afternoons from twelve
to two. That’s when Murph cooked up hamburgers and cheese sandwiches
for the homeless of the area.He started when a fellow told him
he hadn’t eaten in 24 hours and just kept doing it.The numbers
kept growing, but Murph kept cooking.His little tavern came into
prominence when a developer tried to buy it and called in the Board of
Health to close Murph down.The local TV news showed up and the
reporter asked Murph,“Why are you doing this, serving this
food?” “Because I can, that’s why,” said Murph. “Everybody talks about
the government and doing stuff and what they would do, but that’s all
useless talk.I can’t do anything about Washington, but I can get
a sandwich into a hungry guy.It’s no big deal, but it’s all I
can do.” The developer left, tail between legs.
A
few months later a special person came to the tavern. This person had a
heavy coat under which there was a bulky sweater, a plaid dress,
jogging pants, one rubber boot, one jogging sneaker, and a ski
cap.Murph held out a sandwich and watched the pile of rags with
a person inside sit down on the floor.After a while, Murph
walked over and sat down next to him.“What’s your name?” asked
Murph.“Sam Who Am” was the reply.“That’s a funny name for
a woman,” said Murph.“Who said I was a woman?” said Sam.
“Sorry,” said Murph, “I didn’t think a man would wear that
dress.”“Who said I was a man?” said Sam Who Am.“Now
listen,” said Murph, “Either your a man, or a woman.What are
you, anyway?”“I’m a burning bush,” said Sam Who Am. “I’m a
messenger from God, an angel.”“Yeah, right,” said Murph, “and
I’m the Pope.”
Murph went to get up, but he just felt too tired to stand.In
fact, he had felt real tired the whole day. He tried to ignore it and
continue the conversation, “Well, I guess you must be big on Church
stuff,” Murph said. “Yeah, I am,” said Sam Who Am, “how
come you don’t go to Church anymore?”“How do you know that?”
asked Murph.“I just do,” said Sam Who Am. Now Murph didn’t have
the strength to go anywhere, so he had stay and chat.“I used to
think about the people in Church being pretty good folk.Then I
thought that I weren’t nearly as good as them.So I felt I didn’t
belong.That’s when I stopped goin’.”
“Is
it as simple as that?” asked Sam Who Am.A tear made its way down
Murph’s cheek.He tried to catch himself, but he said, “It’s
lonely not belonging.I act like it ain’t, but it is.I
guess that’s why I feeds all these homeless people.For an hour
or so, we all belong together, right here.None of us are
homeless.Sometimes, in the morning or in the evening I go over
to Saint Madelines and just sit there in that beautiful Church.I
think that if only the people there and the people here could get
together, nobody would feel alone.But, what are you goin to
do.Those are two different worlds.”
“Those worlds aren’t so far apart,” said Sam Who Am.In fact
there is a sister there at St. Madelines, sister Mary Martha, who
always says hello to you.You might not know it, but she prays
for you every day.”“Now, how do you know that?” asked
Murph.“What are you, a sister in disguise?”Then Murph
settled down and said softly, “what good it’s going to do, her praying
for me?” Sam Who Am said to Murph, “And Murph, what good
does it do for Sister Mary Martha that you feed the homeless?”
“Well,” said Murph, “maybe if one of these people were her brother or
sister it would be good for her.”
“You
see it,” said Sam Who Am, “they are her brothers and sisters, and she’s
your sister.People do belong, they belong to each other.
Heaven and earth belong to each other. You see it. Food, prayers,
caring for people, its all the same.You see it,” exclaimed Sam
Who Am.“I don’t see much of anything, right now,” said Murph,
“nothing but people standing around me and crying and praying.”
“It’s OK,” said, Sam Whom Am, “they just realize how much you mean to
them and miss you.I’ve come to take you to the place where you
have always belonged.”
The
homeless and the sisters from St. Madeline got together and took over
the tavern.They turned it into food shelter.They buried
Murph in the local cemetary.On his grave someone put, “This is
Murph.He belongs to God.”
Murph did not belong to God because he followed laws.He belonged
to God because he followed the reason for the laws.The Sabbath
is not made for man, man is made for the Sabbath.Belonging to
God cannot be reduced to the observance of law.Belonging to God
means living his life.
Perhaps there are many people in the St. Madeline’s of the world who
call out “Lord, Lord,” but never lift a finger for those who were
hurting.Sadly, the Lord might say, “I never knew you.”
Hopefully, there are many Murphs in this world and among us who have
the law of Christ written in their hearts. Their/our very way of life
is built on the rock of the Lord’s love.When we care about
others, we all belong to the Lord.
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http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see Spanish
homilies
9 Ordinary Time
|
Belonging
to the Lord
Today’s reading begin with Moses telling the people to follow the Laws
of God so closely that they are bound on their wrists, and set as
pendants on their foreheads. “Be careful to follow all the statutes and
decrees that I set before you today,” Moses says.But then we
read in Romans that the righteousness of God has been manifested
outside of the law. So what is it that we should do, follow Moses or
look for God outside of the law?
In
the Gospel Jesus says that we need to take our directions from Him.
Fr.
Bill Bausch included a wonderful story to help direct our thoughts in
his book, A World of Stories.Fr. Bausch credits Ted Loder for
the story from his book Wrestling the Light. The story is about a man
who wasn’t all that able to follow a whole lot of Church laws and was
therefore convinced that he wasn’t a very good Catholic. However he was
a man who, in the long run, embraced Christianity.It’s the story
of Murph and someone named Sam Who Am.
Let
me shorten this rather long story. Check one of the books I mentioned
to read the whole version.It is extremely well written.
Murph was an elderly man who owned a tavern in a large city.The
tavern was pretty run down.It was small.It stunk.
Murph closed his tavern every night at 9 because he didn’t want the few
customers he had walking on the streets late at night.He was
more concerned with the people then with making money.In the
same way, if someone came in spending too much on the booze, he would
send him home to take care of his family.
So
Murph’s tavern was mostly empty, except in the afternoons from twelve
to two. That’s when Murph cooked up hamburgers and cheese sandwiches
for the homeless of the area.He started when a fellow told him
he hadn’t eaten in 24 hours and just kept doing it.The numbers
kept growing, but Murph kept cooking.His little tavern came into
prominence when a developer tried to buy it and called in the Board of
Health to close Murph down.The local TV news showed up and the
reporter asked Murph,“Why are you doing this, serving this
food?” “Because I can, that’s why,” said Murph. “Everybody talks about
the government and doing stuff and what they would do, but that’s all
useless talk.I can’t do anything about Washington, but I can get
a sandwich into a hungry guy.It’s no big deal, but it’s all I
can do.” The developer left, tail between legs.
A
few months later a special person came to the tavern. This person had a
heavy coat under which there was a bulky sweater, a plaid dress,
jogging pants, one rubber boot, one jogging sneaker, and a ski
cap.Murph held out a sandwich and watched the pile of rags with
a person inside sit down on the floor.After a while, Murph
walked over and sat down next to him.“What’s your name?” asked
Murph.“Sam Who Am” was the reply.“That’s a funny name for
a woman,” said Murph.“Who said I was a woman?” said Sam.
“Sorry,” said Murph, “I didn’t think a man would wear that
dress.”“Who said I was a man?” said Sam Who Am.“Now
listen,” said Murph, “Either your a man, or a woman.What are
you, anyway?”“I’m a burning bush,” said Sam Who Am. “I’m a
messenger from God, an angel.”“Yeah, right,” said Murph, “and
I’m the Pope.”
Murph went to get up, but he just felt too tired to stand.In
fact, he had felt real tired the whole day. He tried to ignore it and
continue the conversation, “Well, I guess you must be big on Church
stuff,” Murph said. “Yeah, I am,” said Sam Who Am, “how
come you don’t go to Church anymore?”“How do you know that?”
asked Murph.“I just do,” said Sam Who Am. Now Murph didn’t have
the strength to go anywhere, so he had stay and chat.“I used to
think about the people in Church being pretty good folk.Then I
thought that I weren’t nearly as good as them.So I felt I didn’t
belong.That’s when I stopped goin’.”
“Is
it as simple as that?” asked Sam Who Am.A tear made its way down
Murph’s cheek.He tried to catch himself, but he said, “It’s
lonely not belonging.I act like it ain’t, but it is.I
guess that’s why I feeds all these homeless people.For an hour
or so, we all belong together, right here.None of us are
homeless.Sometimes, in the morning or in the evening I go over
to Saint Madelines and just sit there in that beautiful Church.I
think that if only the people there and the people here could get
together, nobody would feel alone.But, what are you goin to
do.Those are two different worlds.”
“Those worlds aren’t so far apart,” said Sam Who Am.In fact
there is a sister there at St. Madelines, sister Mary Martha, who
always says hello to you.You might not know it, but she prays
for you every day.”“Now, how do you know that?” asked
Murph.“What are you, a sister in disguise?”Then Murph
settled down and said softly, “what good it’s going to do, her praying
for me?” Sam Who Am said to Murph, “And Murph, what good
does it do for Sister Mary Martha that you feed the homeless?”
“Well,” said Murph, “maybe if one of these people were her brother or
sister it would be good for her.”
“You
see it,” said Sam Who Am, “they are her brothers and sisters, and she’s
your sister.People do belong, they belong to each other.
Heaven and earth belong to each other. You see it. Food, prayers,
caring for people, its all the same.You see it,” exclaimed Sam
Who Am.“I don’t see much of anything, right now,” said Murph,
“nothing but people standing around me and crying and praying.”
“It’s OK,” said, Sam Whom Am, “they just realize how much you mean to
them and miss you.I’ve come to take you to the place where you
have always belonged.”
The
homeless and the sisters from St. Madeline got together and took over
the tavern.They turned it into food shelter.They buried
Murph in the local cemetary.On his grave someone put, “This is
Murph.He belongs to God.”
Murph did not belong to God because he followed laws.He belonged
to God because he followed the reason for the laws.The Sabbath
is not made for man, man is made for the Sabbath.Belonging to
God cannot be reduced to the observance of law.Belonging to God
means living his life.
Perhaps there are many people in the St. Madeline’s of the world who
call out “Lord, Lord,” but never lift a finger for those who were
hurting.Sadly, the Lord might say, “I never knew you.”
Hopefully, there are many Murphs in this world and among us who have
the law of Christ written in their hearts. Their/our very way of life
is built on the rock of the Lord’s love.When we care about
others, we all belong to the Lord.
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http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
9 Ordinary Time
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Background:
The reading from the Acts and from St. John’s Gospel ought to be
seen as part of the same event, the anticipation of Pentecost and his
fulfillment, or perhaps even two accounts of the same event, the
enspiriting of the apostles after Jesus went home to the Father in
heaven, the beginning of their mission – a mission of peace and
forgiveness and enthusiasm and respect for variety. It is worth noting
that this speaking in tongues is not like what would later be called
the gift of tongues. They were not speaking in a language that no one
could understand. Rather they were speaking in their own languages and
were understood by everyone even those who did not speak Aramaic. The
lesson is that there is room in the new community of the followers of
Jesus for everyone that the spirit calls , no matter what their
“ethnic” background
Story:
Once upon a time there was a grammar school boy’s football team
that had a good chance of winning the championship of their league.
They had a great quarterback, a couple of good pass receivers and some
superb defensive lineman. Their only real weakness was that they had no
good PAT kicker. The other teams in the league usually converted a
touchdown into seven points. Our local heroes had to settle for six.
Moreover they were so spooked by their inability to score a PAT that
invariably their attempts by passes or runs turned into flops. Now it
just so happened that there was a girl in their class who was a great
soccer player and had a wonderful kicking foot. As the season wore on,
the guys worked up their nerve to ask her whether she would do their
PATs for them. I thought you’d never ask, she said. Well, the first
week she played they scored four touchdowns and ended up tied at 28-28.
So she kicked a ten yard field goal and they won. She’s really one of
the guys, the guys insisted. But a bunch of parents got together and
complained to the Monsignor. Trying to keep everyone happy, he put his
foot down (and into his mouth) by making a rule that no girl could play
on the boys team. That made the parents very happy, even the girl’s
parents who were afraid she would get hurt. The team lost the playoff
game by one point. (And this is NOT a story about whether girls should
play football.)
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http://benedictine.stvincent.edu/archabbey/Weeklywords/Weeklywords.html
9 Ordinary Time
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Jun,
01, 2008
Matthew 7: 21-27
Demetrius R. Dumm, O.S.B.
Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel Summary
The message from today’s gospel is painfully plain. There are no fine
distinctions or careful qualification. When it comes to the evaluation
of our behavior in this life, mere words, like “Lord, Lord,” will not
count for very much. Even in a non-religious context, we are accustomed
to say, “Words or cheap.”
What will finally be revealed as the one thing important in life will
be, according too Jesus, “the will of my Father.” Unfortunately, there
will be no lack of those who will recite the list of their supposed
accomplishments. They will claim to have prophesied, or cast out
demons, or even to have performs mighty deeds…but all of these “good
works” will have been by their own definition and under their own
control.
There will be a terrible judgment on these self-chosen deeds. The words
that we hope never to hear are the words of Jesus: “I never knew you.”
Surely there is nothing more urgent in our lives than to discover how
to forestall such a frightening divine judgment.
The story of a house built on sand which cannot withstand the storm
aptly illustrates the sad situation of a person who never really
accepts and lives in accordance with the wisdom of God as revealed in
Jesus.
Life Implications
This divine wisdom, so powerfully revealed in the life of Jesus, is
found everywhere in the gospel, but one of the most dramatic
revelations of this occurs at the Last Supper. We must remember that
this is the last opportunity that Jesus will have to speak with his
disciples. It should not surprise us then to hear him summarize all his
teaching in one dramatic and challenging statement. Taking the bread in
his hands, he says to his disciples something that they never heard him
say before: “Take and eat; this is my body,” and then, taking the cup,
“Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant”
(Matthew 26:26-28).
Jesus tells us, his present-day disciples, that we must imitate him as
he gives his body and blood—his very life—for the sake of others. This
is the wisdom that will allow us to build a house that can resist all
possible storms. We need to open our hearts to the love of God so that
we may be free enough to choose to love others…and then we must do so,
as much as we can and as much as they need. If we can dedicate
ourselves to this apparently foolish, but really supremely wise way of
living, we will surely hear God say to us, “I have always known you.
Welcome home!”
Demetrius R. Dumm, OSB
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http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
9 Ordinary Time
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Ninth
Sunday
Deuteronomy 11, 18. 26-28; Psalm 31; Romans 3, 21-25. 28; St. Matthew
7, 21-27
"Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
(Matthew 7, 21)
The prayer of faith consists not only in saying "Lord, Lord," but in
disposing the heart to do the will of the Father. (Cf. Matthew 7:21)
Jesus calls his disciples to bring into their prayer this concern for
cooperating with the divine plan. (Cf. Matthew 9: 38; Luke 10:2; John
4:34) (CCC 2611)
(See also CCC 2826)
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http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
9 Ordinary Time
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Ninth
Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Today we return to the cycle of readings we call Ordinary Time and we
pick up the Gospel of Matthew at the very end of the Sermon on the
Mount. We are not surprised that the conclusion of this long sermon
comes with an allusion to the Last Day.
The words ‘When that day comes’ are a clear reference to the Day of
Judgement and the separation of the righteous and sinners here is not
in the form of sheep and goats but as the man who built his house on
sand as opposed to the one who built his house on rock.
This separation of those destined for heaven and hell is a common
feature of the religious texts current at the time known as Wisdom
Literature. Indeed it has been a very frequent rhetorical device used
by preachers down through the centuries to help get the people to focus
on the great decisions that need to be made in life.
Those old enough will remember fierce missions given by the
Redemptorists and others fifty years or so ago who deliberately
preached hell-fire and damnation. Their intention was good but their
psychology was perhaps a little faulty. Heavy use of fear and guilt to
achieve greater religious observance is not something anyone would
advise today.
Let me assure you that modern day missioners, and the Redemptorists in
particular, have rethought their whole strategy and their missions
today are very popular and entirely positive. I was at one in Ireland
last year and the Church was packed –not with people trembling with
fear but eager to hear the Good News of the Gospel and Christ’s message
of love.
Here Jesus doesn’t take the hell-fire approach but he does heavily
stress that a choice must be made in life. Listening to and then acting
on his words leads to eternal life; however, those who merely listen
but do not act will find themselves outside the Kingdom.
And choice is what the Christian life is all about: choosing the
Kingdom, choosing to accept God’s will, choosing the good and rejecting
the evil one.
A lot of us, however, like to sit on the fence. We like to have one
foot in both camps; we come to mass and we say our prayers but we like
to dabble a bit on the side. We are overly fond of Augustine’s words in
prayer to the Lord, "God, grant me chastity and continence, but not
yet."
We want to have our cake and eat it, we want to be good and holy and
ultimately to go to heaven but we don’t want to be rid of our sins just
yet. We rather like them and treat them as old friends that we don’t
want to push out of the door.
Gossiping about others, cherishing attitudes that are nothing other
than racist, petty pilfering, being creative with our tax returns,
nursing an affection for someone we know is not available to us,
extreme laziness or neglect of one or other responsibility—all these
sorts of things feel quite comfortable to us or they might even give us
a frisson of illicit pleasure and so we don’t want to relinquish them.
We like our little ways; we don’t want to make that choice that Christ
sets before us.
But there are choices to be made and a procrastinator cannot really
call himself a Christian for Christianity is precisely about making a
choice. We either follow Christ or we don’t, there isn’t a middle way.
If we half-follow him then we are neither here nor there, in fact we
are quite confused and lost.
You see Christ doesn’t want just part of us he wants all of us. He
doesn’t want half our love; he wants all of our love. He wants us to
commit ourselves to him wholeheartedly. And the rewards are tremendous.
Just imagine what fulfilment there is in giving one’s life totally to
God. Just imagine the consolation a person experiences by living their
life in a way that is in total conformity to God’s will. Just imagine
what fruitfulness there is in a life lived in deep prayer and close
communion with God himself.
Don’t think that these things are only for weak and sentimental
people—they couldn’t possibly cope with such a life. No one who is weak
could manage to live this life. No, the Life of the Spirit is for the
strong and for the courageous. It is an extremely demanding life but a
life lived so close to God is really the only life worth living.
And it is within reach of us all. But like anything else it requires
training and commitment. But most of all it requires us to be
uncompromising; we have to build this house on solid rock: on absolute
integrity, on God’s commandments and the Gospel of Christ.
This is the life we Christians are called to; this is the life the
saints have lived, this is our true vocation in life.
Don’t think that this is unattainable. It is a choice that Christ sets
before us and he will not ever set anything before us that we cannot
achieve.
Don’t think that living such a life will stop us from being the person
we are. No, it will make us better not different; our qualities will be
perfected not changed.
Don’t think that it will take us away from those we love or make them
think less of us. Actually living in a more radical Christian way will
make us closer to those around us; it will make us more loving and more
lovable.
There are many storms ahead in life. Christ is telling us to choose the
Gospel, he is telling us to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to him and
he will guide us safely though. So let us build this house of our lives
well and set its foundations on the rock of Christ and his Church.
In the Spring I gave some assemblies at the Castle School and I told
them this story, it also seems to fit our theme today.
“A rich man decided he should do something for the poor so he went to
the poorest man in the village and gave him the contract to build a
house. It was to be a grand house and no expense was to be spared. The
rich man then went off on a long journey. The poor man thought to
himself that this was his big chance to make a killing. He built the
house but with the cheapest of everything, all the while submitting
bills to the agent for the best of materials. When the rich man
returned he was able to present him with the key to the new house. The
rich man promptly returned the key to the builder and said that he
would be happy if he would accept the house as his gift.”
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Contact Father at cbonar@cfl.rr.com;
information about his book of homilies is available at www.clydebonar.com.
9 Ordinary Time |
Ninth
Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Readings: Deuteronomy 11: 18, 26-28; Romans 3: 21-25, 28; Matthew 7:
21-27
The Wise Man Builds His House On Rock
Introduction
Once upon a time there were three little pigs. Their mother warned
them: "Watch out for the big bad wolf, because he will eat you. Build
your houses strong so that you will be safe from the wolf."
The first little pig built his house with straw. Then, one day, the big
bad wolf came. He huffed and he puffed and he blew the straw house
down, and ate the little pig.
The second little pig built his house of sticks. The wolf huffed and he
puffed and he blew the stick house down. The wolf ate the second little
pig.
The third little pig built a strong house using bricks. The wolf came.
He puffed and he huffed, he huffed and he puffed, but he could not blow
the brick house down. The third little pig lived happily every after.
I tell the children’s story about the three little pigs because some
people think God lives in a straw house or a stick house. For God, we
want a brick house, we want to be an intimate friend with God.
"I never knew you"
In our Gospel, Jesus tells us some people cry out, "Lord, Lord," but
Christ answers, "I never knew you." With God, these folks tried to
build a straw house. Actually, they tried to tell God what to do.
Some examples. A teenage girl was brought into the emergency room.
She’d overdosed on drugs. As the doctors worked, the hospital chaplain
prayed. But the girl died. The next day the hospital chaplain was
beside himself. He complained, "I prayed to God. Why didn’t God answer
my prayers?"
The hospital chaplain had a faith built with straw. His God, an on-call
worker of magic. Certainly, God can work miracles. But we cannot tell
God what to do. An overdose kills, and we know it kills.
Another example. A director giving a parish retreat asked, "What do you
say to God when you can think of nothing to say?" His answer, repeat
nonsense syllables until God gives you the gift of tongues.
Again, that’s telling God what to do. Speaking in tongues is a gift
from God (1 Corinthians 12:10, 30). We cannot tell God to give us the
gift of tongues. Scripture tells us God distributes "different gifts to
different people just as he chooses" (1 Corinthians 12:11; Hebrews 2:4).
They cried, "Lord, Lord," and Christ said, "I never knew you." We’ve
got to get beyond thinking we can control God. Beyond thinking God is
on-call to do our will or that God listens to nonsense syllables.
"the foolish man who built his house on sandy ground"
How about building with sticks? Christ said, "Anyone who hears my words
but does not put them into practice is like the foolish man who built
his house on sandy ground." We’ve got a lot of foolish people building
stick houses on sandy ground!
Let’s start with the Catholics who come to church three times in their
lives: to be baptized, to be married, and to be buried. We can add to
this list those who come Easter Sunday and at Christmas. With that
schedule, how could anyone even know God? They remind me of a
definition in The Devil’s Dictionary. The author, Ambrose Bierce,
defined a Christian as "one who follows the teaching of Christ insofar
as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin."1 So shallow their
faith.
The Devil has his own set of beatitudes. Listen to some of the "Devil’s
Beatitudes."2 Blessed are those who are too tired or too busy to meet
with fellow Christians on Sunday each week. Their hearts belong to the
Devil. Blessed are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to
be thanked. I can use them, the Devil says. Blessed are those who have
no time to pray. They are easy prey for the Devil. Blessed are you when
you read this and think it is about other people and not about
yourself. The Devil has got you. Houses built on sandy ground are the
Devil’s playhouses.
The Reverend Joe Wright pointed to houses on sandy ground in his payer
for an opening session of the Kansas House of Representatives.3 Pastor
Wright said, "We know your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil
good,’ but that’s exactly what we have done. We have . . . inverted our
values. We have worshiped other gods and called it multi-culturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative life-style. We
have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have polluted the air
with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression."
Christ challenges us to check whether or not we are being foolish.
Surely we build on sandy ground when our times in church can be counted
on one hand, or the "Devil’s Beatitudes" describe us, or when we
reverse our spiritual values.
"the wise man who built his house on rock"
But Christ tells us, the house set solidly on rock does not collapse.
When we do the will of the Father in Heaven, when we live by the words
of Christ, we build our houses on rock.
The cornerstone for a house built on rock is coming to Mass. Unless we
know God, unless we invite God into our lives, our house will never
rest on rock. By coming to Mass, we obey God’s commandment to keep holy
the Sabbath. At Mass, we learn about Jesus. In our Gospel, Christ tells
us about himself, about our being his brothers and sisters as the
adopted children of God. Then, in Holy Communion, we come face to face
with Jesus himself as we eat his Body and drink his Blood.
At Mass, we encounter Christ, we open ourselves to being an intimate
friend of Jesus. Friendship with Christ is a key brick for a house
built on rock.
With his own house built on rock, Jeremiah Denton sustained his faith
while a prisoner of war. He called his prison a "monastic existence."
In his prison he kept his own monastic routine of prayer. During long
months of solitary confinement, Jeremiah Denton recited Mass to
himself, in English and in Latin. Of course, he was not able to attend
Mass: no chaplain ever was allowed to visit prisoners of war in North
Vietnam. When being tortured, Jeremiah Denton continually prayed the
Rosary, praying while tortured for days on end without a break.4
Prayers, the essential bricks for a house built on rock. Jeremiah
Denton never doubted God held him in the palms of his hands (Isaiah
49:16), never stopped his praying, not even, as he titles his book,
When Hell Was In Session.
Another key brick for a house built on rock is loving our neighbor as
ourselves (Matthew 22:39). People of faith do acts of kindness. During
the Blizzard of ‘96, two feet of snow fell on Philadelphia. A city bus
got stuck in front of a lady’s house. After the bus sat there for a
while, the lady asked if anyone needed to use the bathroom. She opened
her house to strangers. After several hours had passed, the lady cooked
some spaghetti and served everyone, using her own dishes and flatware.
Simple acts of kindness show a life full of faith.
Christ tells us the house set solidly on rock will not collapse. We
built this house by coming to Mass, with the bricks of prayers, and
simple acts of kindness.
Conclusion
Today’s Gospel contains a warning. Only those who do the will of the
Father in heaven will enter the kingdom of God. Houses built on sandy
soil will collapse, only houses built by the wise on rock will
withstand the winds which blow and buffet the house.
Where do we build our houses? Do we give our demands to God, thinking
God should be at our beck and call? Or, are we casual about God, only
coming around from time to time? Or, is our house built on rock, solid
with prayer and acts of kindness and regular attendance at Mass?
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These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use;
however, they may not be commercially published without permission of
the author.
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