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Homilies are posted no later than during the week
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4 Ordinary Time
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Fourth
Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C
1 Corinthians 12,31-13:13
Some years ago a popular song told us, "What the world needs now is
love, love, love." Perhaps the composer of this song was inspired by St
Paul's letter to the Corinthians. At any rate, Paul of Tarsus would
totally agree with the main lines of the song.
Only one person in the history of the United States has had the good
fortune or, if you prefer, the misfortune to be inaugurated four times
as President. He was the remarkable Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
As his biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin will attest, the man from Hyde
Park, New York was not an especially religious person. Yet, he knew his
St Paul. At each of his inaugurations, the Roosevelt family Bible was
held by the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. And each time it was
open to today's superb second reading on love. The President was as
much impressed by the thirteenth chapter of Paul's letter to the small
Christian colony at Corinth in Greece as we are.
This chapter has been correctly called a hymn of love. I suppose too we
might name it a hymn to love. Many would argue that the thirteenth
chapter of first Corinthians is not merely the finest prose in St
Paul's letters but also in the entire New Testament. Authors of
whatever stripe would consider their oeuvre complete if they could run
off such a sublime message on their word processors. The Holy Spirit
had full burners working when He inspired Paul of Tarsus on this
passage.
I recall as a boy listening to the late actor, James Mason, with his
marvelous voice recite this chapter from memory. As young as I
was, I felt goosepimples moving swiftly around my skin. I can well
understand how Beethoven's audience must have felt that night he first
conducted his Ninth Symphony.
All of us at some time have asked in one form or another, "What is
love?" There are of course many answers to the query. The one offered
by mystics is the one I find most satisfying. They would say simply
that love is a person. His name is Jesus. And, if you want to be an
authentic lover, become that Jesus. To paraphrase Nobel Prize laureate
Seamus Heaney, He is the "lure let down to tempt the soul to rise."
One author further suggest a strategem for our instruction. Wherever
Paul mentions the word "love," we should substitute the word "Jesus."
Listen! Jesus is always patient and kind. He is never jealous. He is
never boastful or conceited. He is never rude or selfish. He does not
take offense and is not resentful. He takes no pleasure in other
people's sins but delights in the truth. He is always ready to excuse,
to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.
The glorious language does fit our Leader well, does it not? But
suppose that wherever St Paul mentions love, we substitute our own
names. Is there anyone here who thinks the language fits us? If
anything, we should grow red in the face - all of us - and hopefully
sigh our regrets. Yet, the exercise does tell us the direction we
Christ followers should be heading.
However, we might better be able to substitute our own names with more
confidence if we were to begin to practice what someone has called the
Golden Rules for Living. If you open it, close it. If you turn it on,
turn it off. If you unlock it, lock it up. If you break it, admit it.
If you can't fix it, call in someone who can. If you borrow it, return
it. If you value it, take care of it. If you make a mess, clean
it up. If you move it, put it back. If it belongs to someone else, get
permission to use it. If you don't know how to operate it, leave it
alone. If it's none of your business, don't ask questions.
Aldous Huxley spent some time as professor of the Humanities at the
celebrated Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a world-class
intellectual. There he told a friend, "...it's rather embarrassing to
have spent one's entire lifetime pondering the human condition and to
come toward its close and find that I really don't have anything more
profound to pass on by way of advice than, 'Try to be a little
kinder.'" St Paul would say, "Amen to that!"
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http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
4 Ordinary Time
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Fourth Sunday of the Year
The Greatest of These is Love
Today’s second reading is one of the most beautiful sections of the New
Testament, the great Pauline reflection on love. It is found in
that part of the First Letter to the Corinthians where St. Paul speaks
about the Christian community. Paul begins by presenting some of
the concrete difficulties experienced by the community in their
celebration of the Lord’s Supper. He tells them that they are
celebrating the Eucharist incorrectly. At the time that Paul
wrote to this community, about the year 57, the Eucharist was still
celebrated as part of a full meal. Christians gathered together
on Sundays to recall the Lord's mandate: "Do this in memory of
me." They shared a meal just as Jesus shared a meal with his
disciples at the Last Supper. During these weekly gatherings the
needs of the community would be taken care of. Food would be
shared in common, with enough brought so that the poorer members of the
community would have plenty.
This
should have worked, and did work for a decade or so. But by the
time that Paul wrote the Corinthians, things were starting to break
down. Factions and cliques were forming even as the Corinthians
gathered to celebrate the Lord's Supper. The rich were bringing
good food and drink for themselves and their friends. The poor
were left to fend for themselves. Paul corrects the Corinthians by
going right to the heart of what the Eucharist is all about. At the
Lord's Supper everyone shared the one bread of Christ, making the
participants one body, one community of love and salvation. Dividing
into factions with the rich scorning the poor, was in direct conflict
with Jesus's own life. It showed a contempt for others, and a
contempt for the communal nature of the Church. Paul reprimanded
the Corinthians because their failure to serve all the members of the
community ignored the very nature of the Church and in a real and
frightful way despised the actions of the One who founded it.
Paul
then goes on in chapter 12 to discuss the Christian community. He
begins by presenting the various gifts of the members of the
community. He points out that all gifts flow from the Holy
Spirit. To one the Spirit gives the gift of wisdom. To
another he gives the gift of understanding. Some can work
miracles. Others can prophecy. Some can speak in various
languages. Others can interpret languages. And so
forth. All the members of the Church are gifted with
different manifestations of the Spirit, one gift is not more important
than another, one member of the community is not more important than
another. Together all with their gifts compose the unified Body
of Christ.
In
the seventies and eighties various charismatic groups sprang up
throughout the Church emphasizing the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
These groups were and are important. We need to have a deeper
understanding of the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
However, some individuals and groups got off base relatively
quickly. They missed the whole point. They made it seem
that those who had visible manifestations of the gifts of the Holy
Spirit were better and stronger Christians than others.
They spoke about baptism of the Holy Spirit in terms that denigrated
the one true sacrament of baptism. They missed the whole point of
First Corinthians.
That’s where today’s reading comes in. The same things happened
among the Christians of Corinth and throughout the early Church.
Paul is emphatic in stating that the gifts of the Holy spirit are
useless, meaningless, if they are not immersed with love. Without
love the great wonders of the Spirit that still attract people such as
speaking in tongues, healing, and prophesying, are a resounding gong or
clashing cymbal. Consider this, a cymbal may have a place in an
orchestra, but no one goes to a cymbal concert. There is
something far more important in which a cymbal must participate: being
part of the orchestra. The ability to prophecy, to comprehend
mysteries, even the gift of a faith so great that one could move
mountains as Jesus told the disciples they could do, all these gifts
are wonderful, but meaningless, meaningless without love.
Sadly, we all have experiences of people who claimed to have great
faith but who lacked love. We have all met people who were so
stern, so harsh in their dealings with others, so rigid in what they
thought was proper Christianity, that they drove their children out of
their families and, if they were priests, their people out of
their parishes. Without love, they had nothing. Without love, we, as
individuals and as Church, are nothing.
What
is this love that is fundamental to Christianity. That’s where
the beautiful declarations of Corinthians 13 comes in. Rather
than define love, Paul personifies it.
Perhaps, it would be easier to understand these statements if we added
the words man or woman after each sentiment. Love is a patient
man, a patient woman. Love is a kind man, a kind woman.
Love is a person who is not boastful, or rude, or self serving, or
quick tempered, or vengeful. Love is a truthful person, a man or woman
of integrity. A loving man, a loving woman puts up with
everything for the sake of being loving. No matter what happens
in the world, his or her love remains strong. Love never
fails.
All
those gifts of chapter 12, speaking in tongues, prophesying, working
miracles, and so forth are all physical, concrete gifts of the Spirit.
They will no longer exist once we leave the physical world and enter
the spiritual world. But love, love is forever. The gifts
of the Spirit were given to us because we were immature in our
faith. They drew us to faith. But now that we have received
the faith, we have to put away the things of children and embrace the
love of God, for God is Love. When I was a child, I used to talk
like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. But when I
became a man I had to put aside childish things.
Our
focus should not be on the manifestations of the Spirit. Our
focus must be on living the Love of God. If we do this, then we will be
able to do that which no physical person can do, we will be able to see
God face to face. Then we will know Him as He really is.
Love
is central to being an authentic Christian. You and I were created to
be unique reflections of God’s presence. God is love. We
were created to actualize, to make real, a unique reflection of
His love. Our actualization of His love, our reflection of His love is
eternal because He is eternal. Heaven, then, is the union of the
Creator and those creatures who have given an authenticity to their
being, by immersing themselves in that which is at the essence of
His Being, his love.
The
great hymn of love of Chapter 13 is far more than a reflection to be
read during marriage celebrations. It is a statement of that
which is essential for authentic Christianity.
When
we die, we will go before the Lord with nothing except our love.
If we have loved in an authentic Christian way, if we have loved the
way that Christ has loved, then we will stand before the Creator.
If we have loved as He calls us to love, we will be absorbed by Him yet
still be individuals. We will see Him face to face.
And
He will have our faces, and we will have His. |
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http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see
Spanish homilies
4 Ordinary Time
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Three
Levels of Love
(January 31, 2010)
Bottom line: In today's readings we see three levels of love: emotions,
decision and gift.
In the past couple of weeks, St. Paul has spoken about the variety of
gifts, for example: teaching, healing, administration, ecstatic prayer
and assistance to the poor. These gifts come from the Holy Spirit - and
we should treasure each one.
Today, however, St. Paul speaks about the greatest gift. I think you
know what it is. St. Paul say, "The greatest of these is love."
What is love? I want to talk to you today about love, but I know I face
some obstacles. Many have become cynical about "luv." "Don't talk of
love," says a famous song, "I've heard the word before." People use the
word to justify all kinds of behavior, some of it, terribly
destructive.
In spite of the way people abuse the word, love, we cannot get away
from it. It has a deep roots in our tradition. Jesus sums up the entire
law with that word. And St. Paul tells us it is God' greatest gift.
So, what is love? I can hardly give a full definition, but we can learn
a lot from today's readings. They speak about three levels of love.
Love, of course, is pure and simple in itself, but like light passing
through a prism, it has many facets. Today we see three levels.
The first is the level of emotions. Bad emotions can get us into
trouble, but good emotions can better our relationships. When I was in
high school, I learned the secret of a smile. Before opening a door, I
try to think of some thing or someone I am grateful for. It brings a
smile to my face. Now, I haven't always done that, but I have noticed
that a smile not only makes others feel better. It makes me feel
better. Likewise St. Paul encourage us to cultivate good emotions and
avoid bad ones: jealousy, brooding, quick-temper - and so on.
Love to some degree, depends on good emotions, but love involves a lot
more than emotions. Perhaps you have heard the saying: Love is not a
feeling; love is a decision. That is the second level of love - to make
a decision and follow through.
Dr. Martin Luther King described this second level of love. He spoke
about a day when we would judge each other, not by externals, such as
hue of complexion, but by content of character. Character means the
ability to make a decision and follow through. We grow by making
promises and then fulfilling them. I say I will be at a certain place
at a certain time, then I do everything possible to fulfill that
promise - even if difficulties arise.*
Today's Gospel illustrates the decision to love. Jesus returns to his
home town. His old neighbors should have received him enthusiastically.
Instead, they turned against him. They got so angry they wanted to toss
him over a cliff. How Jesus reacted to this rejection can teach us a
lot.
Many people begin some work or ministry with great enthusiasm, but when
they meet some put-down or humiliation, they throw in the towel. Not
Jesus. He lifted his head, passed through their midst - and went to the
next town. On a human level, it must have hurt that the people he spent
thirty years with turned against him. But Jesus had received a
commission, he had made a decision - and he continued on. That is love.
Love is a decision.
Love is a sound decision, sustained by good emotions. But love involves
something else we cannot ignore. St. Paul makes it clear that love is a
charism, a gift from God. No one can demand love. I cannot say, "Look,
I've done everything right. You've got to love me. You owe me your
love." No, when all is said and done, love is a gift. Perhaps you have
heard of "the humility of a lover." St. Paul says love is "not
inflated." Pride, arrogance destroys love. It allows no place for love.
Love is a gift - and it takes open hands to receive a present.
So love has three levels: emotions, decision and gift. I would like to
apply this to something that will happen in a few weeks. Here in
Western Washington people will begin to see "Catholics, Come Home"
commercials on television. Through them God will touch many hearts -
and some will think about returning to their faith. We want to receive
them with love.
We can start with a smile. It may not be so easy - some of those facial
muscles haven't been used for years, but with practice, our faces can
welcome others.
And we can make a decision - to say hello to someone we have not met or
do not know very well. We are a friendly parish and we can make the
decision to include every person who walks through door. We have
official greeters, but we need everyone - when you see someone new or
alone - to say, hello. And to learn at least one new name every
weekend. It's not easy - and there will be setbacks - but love is a
decision.
And love is a gift. Each person who comes to our parish is a gift. I
have no police force. I have no truant officers. I have no way of
requiring anyone to come to St. Mary's. Each person who comes is a
gift. I hope that we will receive each other in that spirit.
Love is a good emotion, beginning with a smile. Love is a decision - to
carry through and to continue in face of discouragement. Love, above
all, is a gift. As St. Paul says, "Faith, hope, remain...but the
greatest of these is love."
************
*For sure, a higher need might present itself. I promised to meet with
someone at the office, but then I receive a call that a parishioner is
dying... I still of course have a duty to the person I made the
original appointment with.
General Intercessions for Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C (from
Priests for Life)
Spanish Version
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http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
4 Ordinary Time
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January 31st, 2010 A.D.
4th Sunday in Ordinary Time Lk 4/21-30
Background:
Today we hear about the first manifestation to the "Magi"
(astrologers is probably a good name for them, though it misses the
attempts of these men to produce a science of the stars).
Despite our tradition of Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior, the
Greeks and the Russians hold that there were twelve kings. Since there
were twelve tribes of Israel and twelve apostles, they argue that their
had to be twelve kings.
Our tradition of three is based on the fact that three gifts were
mentioned. No matter how many of them there were, they were men who, as
the carol says, had the courage to follow their star.
Story:
This homily series rarely repeats itself but there is only one story
that should be told on this festival and that is the magical story of
Babuksa.
Once upon a time there lived in Bethlehem a woman named Babushka.
She kept the cleanest and neatest house in town and was also the best
cook. She heard rumors of three kings coming across the desert but paid
no attention to them because she had so much work to do. Then she heard
the sounds of drums and pipes and a cavalcade of riders. She looked out
the window and there were three richly dressed kings coming towards her
house. They told her that they had come to honor the little prince who
had been born in Bethlehem and they needed food and lodging. Babushka
cooked a wonderful meal for them, remade all the beds, and wore herself
out.
The next morning the kings begged her to come with them so she
too might see the little prince. Babushka said she would follow after
them as soon as she finished the dishes. She cleaned the house again
and then took out of a cabinet the toys of her own little prince who
had died so long ago. She had no more need of them and would give them
to the new little prince. She put them in a basket and sat down for a
moment's rest before she followed the wise men. Hours later she woke
up, grabbed the basket, and rushed into town. But the kings were gone
and so was the little prince and his parents. Ever after, it is said,
Babushka has followed after them. Whenever she finds a new born babe,
she looks to see if he is the little prince. Even if he (or in our days
she too) is not there, Babushka leaves a toy for the child. I think she
probably found the prince early on, but we still should learn from her
lesson: we should never let the important interfere with the essential.
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http://www.saintvincentarchabbey.org/homilies/index.lasso
4 Ordinary Time
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Jan,
31, 2010
Luke 4:21-30
Demetrius R. Dumm, O.S.B.
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel Summary
Biblical passages used in the liturgy often suffer from being removed
from their contexts. This is particularly noticeable in today's gospel
selection, which shows Jesus referring to a biblical passage from
Isaiah, which he has just read without telling us what it is. We need
to note, therefore, that he has just read an important messianic
passage. Accordingly, when he declares that this prophecy has been
fulfilled, he is in effect announcing his own claim to be God's chosen
one for the liberation of Israel.
Jesus senses some resistance to this dramatic announcement and counters
it by reminding them that it is always difficult for local folks to
believe that one of their own might be much more than they have given
him permission to be. In a sense, this is a recognition of the truth in
that adage: "Familiarity breeds contempt."
This narrowness of vision takes on much more serious implications when
it touches our own relationship with God. As Jesus points out, God has
never felt obliged to recognize privilege based solely on birth (or
church membership). Being a member of a chosen people simply clarifies
one's obligation to respond to God's special claims on that people; It
does not excuse one from obedience to those claims. It is a privilege
with heavy responsibilities. Thus, in the gospel story, the widows and
lepers from outside of Israel prove to be more worthy of God's
attention than the members of his own people.
Life Implications
It is important to recognize the symbolic and universal implications of
the narrow-minded attitude of excessively provincial people. The
challenge of today's gospel takes us far beyond the merely social
implications of that phenomenon. The fact is that we are all tempted to
reject the challenging initiatives of God in order to cling to our own
more familiar and controllable vision of life. The words of Isaiah are
pertinent here: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are
your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than
your thoughts (55:8-0).
This point is sharpened in the words of Jesus to Peter when he reacts
against the thought of a suffering and dying Messiah: "For you are not
on the side of God, but of men" (Mark 8:33). Jesus is God's Messiah
long before he is our Messiah. And, although we will always be tempted
to "domesticate" and make reasonable the claims of God, they will
forever challenge us to be converted from self-satisfied, provincial
and merely human ways of relating to God's message.
As a matter of fact, the divine message, embodied in the person and
words of Jesus, calls us into the "wilderness" of endless concern for
others. For we never really know where unselfish love will lead us. We
may even have to say at time, "My life is really no longer my own. I
have loaned it to others who are more in need than I am." When that
happens, we will understand why Jesus said that God went outside of
Israel to take care of the widow of Sidon and Naaman, the Syrian.
Demetrius R. Dumm, O.S.B.
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http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
4 Ordinary Time
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FOURTH
Sunday
Jeremiah 1. 4-5, 17-19; Psalm 71. 1-6, 15-17; 1 Corinthians
12:31--13:13; St. Luke 4. 21-30
In the town of Nazareth, where so many knew the Lord well, saw him
grow, visited his home, a sin had taken root; familiarity had bred a
prideful sense of entitlement. Those who knew the Lord well, "Is not
this Joseph's son?" (Lk 4, 22) assumed that he would grant them the
signs and miracles of which they had heard so much in other cities and
towns. This pride left them receptive to the Lord and his teaching at a
merely superficial level, and their pleasure and approval quickly
turned to murderous hatred when he reproved them for their sin, "When
they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they
rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the
hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down
headlong." (Lk 4, 28-29) Their pride, a sin against love, had grown
into a monstrous hatred.
One can sin against God's love in various ways:
--hatred of God comes from pride. It is contrary to love of God, whose
goodness it denies, and whom it presumes to curse as the one who
forbids sins and afflicts punishments. (CCC 2094)
In their hatred for Christ, the Nazarenes committed grave sin. In their
overweening pride, hatred became a deliberate attack against Jesus, for
they intended to kill him.
Deliberate hatred is contrary to charity. Hatred of the neighbor is a
sin when one deliberately wishes him evil. Hatred of the neighbor is a
grave sin when one deliberately desires him grave harm. "But I say to
you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that
you may be sons of your Father in heaven." (Mt 5: 44-45)(CCC 2303)
The Lord majestically frees himself from their grasp, "But passing
through the midst of them he went away." (Lk 4, 30) Christ is the
peacemaker, and our model as bearers of peace. We must pray for peace
and, through active charity, extend the gift of peace and forgiveness
to all. Some, in pursuing Christian perfection, may even choose to
renounce violent resistance and, instead "make use of those means of
defense available to the weakest" (CCC 2306) when confronting their
enemies. Christ embraced solidarity with the weakest, for he merely
fled from his persecutors, rather than summoning his manly or divine
strength in his own defense.
Those who renounce violence and bloodshed and, in order to safeguard
human rights, make use of those means of defense available to the
weakest, bear witness to evangelical charity, provided they do so
without harming the rights and obligations of other men and societies.
They bear legitimate witness to the gravity of the physical and moral
risks of recourse to violence, with all its destruction and death. (Cf.
GS 78, 5.) (CCC 2306)
Let's pray for each other until, together next week, we "meet Christ in
the liturgy", Father Cusick
(Publish with permission.) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/ |
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http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
4 Ordinary Time
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Sermon by Father Alex McAllister SDS Index
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Jesus stood up in the Synagogue of Nazareth and proclaimed the Word of
God. The people were used to this, just as we are used to hearing the
scriptures read to us each Sunday. It was a familiar routine and they
were probably quite pleased to see this promising son of their village
taking his turn to read the text from Isaiah which we heard last week.
“The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me…
to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives… and
set the down trodden free.”
His reading of the scriptures was fine, the real problem occurred when
he came to the sermon. It was only one line and yet it was probably one
of the best sermons ever preached, certainly one that provoked an
extraordinary reaction. “This text is being fulfilled today, even as
you listen.”
First of all they are astonished and amazed and even proud of him; but
then as they began to realise the implication of his words their
admiration turned to anger and they chased him out of town even, at one
point, trying to push him over a cliff.
Anyone can read the scriptures, as indeed we ought. Often people only
turn to their Bible when they are in trouble and need reassurance; they
turn to particular pages where they will find nice texts that give them
comfort. But even when reading harder passages we can easily gloss over
the challenging bits and absorb only the more neutral texts.
But we know that the scriptures can be very disturbing; we well
understand that the Gospels in particular are deeply challenging, even
revolutionary. Sometimes Christ’s message is insistent and demands the
urgent modification of our lifestyle.
We are not always so comfortable with some of the words that come from
Jesus’ lips. In the case of today’s Gospel Jesus speaks about the text
being fulfilled today, at this very moment. And who are its
beneficiaries: the poor, prisoners, and the downtrodden. I don’t
suppose there were many of them in the congregation that day? Not many
of them here today in this Church either.
His hearers most likely felt themselves excluded, that this message of
hope was addressed to someone other than themselves.
If they were particularly insightful they might have heard his words in
an accusatory way, they might have felt that they were partly
responsible for the plight of the poor, the blind, the captives and the
downtrodden. But I don’t think very many of them fell into this
category.
Jesus begins his ministry with a manifesto, a declaration of intent, a
list of beneficiaries. Actually the only group of people on his list
that the hearers might fall into was the blind whom he came to give new
sight.
Because, of course, that is what is required when it comes to the
Gospel –achieving a new perspective, seeing things with a new set of
eyes, from a different point of view.
We are so used to viewing things with the eyes of those around us, from
a secular point of view. We tend to think that once we have got our
finances sorted out and achieved security in life then everything else
will fall into place.
But this simply isn’t so. In the eyes of God material things count for
nearly nothing. What is important to him are things such as justice,
fairness, goodness, truth, charity and love. What God is interested in
is not material objects but virtues.
What God wants us to get right are these things. He wants us to raise
our children with love in their hearts, free from prejudice and open to
all that is good and true and holy. He wants us to live our lives with
a focus on the spiritual values. He wants these things for us because
they are the only things which will last.
He is considering not our immediate welfare but our eternal welfare.
I’m not saying that we should neglect the material world. Of course, we
need a roof over our heads, we need a good education, we need a
fulfilling job and sufficient spare time for comfort and leisure.
But none of these things should be at the expense of others. The way
society is constructed we feel very self sufficient; no one thinks of
themselves as having their foot on the neck of someone much poorer than
themselves. And yet we know that there are plenty of disadvantaged
people around us.
Perhaps here in the UK their poverty is not extreme; the welfare state
helps to eradicate the worst types of financial poverty, but of course
there are many kinds of poverty other than the purely material. We need
to think about these things and we need to think about the kind of help
we can offer our brothers and sisters in the human family.
We can’t afford to cold shoulder those worse off than ourselves whether
they are worse off materially or physically, or mentally, or
spiritually, or emotionally, or in any other way.
Christ plainly tells us that these people already have their place in
his Kingdom. And if we ever manage to find our way into the Kingdom it
is precisely these people with whom we will be living. So it only makes
sense to make friends with them now.
In Paul’s beautiful First Letter to the Corinthians he lists the
qualities necessary for those who enter the Kingdom of God: patience,
kindness, freedom from jealousy, humility and so on.
The things he lists are all essentially virtues and to crown them all
is love.
Our task here on earth is to cultivate the values of the Kingdom. Our
job as Catholics is to become experts in the things that God wants. We
are supposed to know him better than those who simply ignore him. We
ought to be ready to explain God’s priorities when we get asked.
The Lord spoke to Jeremiah and said, “Before I formed you in the womb I
knew you. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
These words were addressed to us as well as to Jeremiah. God knows us
better even than we know ourselves, he has appointed us as his
prophets, his ambassadors here on earth. Let us resolve therefore
become ever closer to him so that we are familiar with his thoughts and
desires, so that we are imbued with the things that he values.
It is only then that we will be equipped to live out our vocation in
life, only then that we will be effective witnesses in the world.
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Father Bonar will not be posting homilies for Cycle B to allow himself
time for other projects. His collection of homilies (including homilies
for Cycle B) is available at www.clydebonar.com.
4 Ordinary Time |
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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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