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Homily

24th Sunday Ordinary Time – The Chosen one

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 50: 5-9a; Ps. 116:1-6, 8-9; Jas. 2:14-18; Mk. 8:27-35

Jesus is the Chosen one, the Christ, the anointed.  Jesus poses the question to his disciples “Who do you say that I am?”  People were claiming he was John the Baptist, Eljah or one of the prophets but Peter answers correctly, “You are the Christ”.  To be the Christ is to claim to be the Chosen one sent from God who the Israelites were waiting for to save them. 

Today some people believe Jesus was a prophet, a teacher, or even a mythological figure who did not do all the things that are said of him.  Who is Jesus for us this day?  Is Jesus the Chosen one in our lives who we encounter in a personal relationship or do we treat him as a distant Lord who we will come to face some day but not today? 

The meaning of the word “Christ” is “to anoint” thus Christ is the anointed one from God who in Hebrew is translated as “Mesiah” or one who is anointed.  Christ then is the “God-man” who is named Jesus by God in his humanity and called Christ in his divinity.  Jesus the anointed one is who God proclaims “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Mk 1:11) Jesus is the chosen one anointed to anoint our humanity into Christendom, that is into the kingdom of God. 

If God is for us who can be against.  The only real enemy to defeat come from within to allow God’s will to be done in us.  It is often said that we can be our worst enemy.  God is for us but we must be for God to receive the blessing and graces he desires for us.  That is the condition that comes from having free will.  Those who call out God saying “where is God” when bad things happen have not entered into a covenant with him living in relationship in order to see the hand of God in all and through all.  Jesus was crucified and where was the Father if not with the Son and the Spirit, always present in the suffering.  Jesus’ suffering was for a greater good something to contemplate in our own suffering. 

God’s will for us is to walk in faith, that is to do the works of faith not just to believe.  Many claim to believe but choose to walk their own way with a false assumption faith is enough.  Today we hear St. James say that faith is not enough, going so far as to say “faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead”.  This cuts right to the heart of those who claim “saved by faith alone” is enough. 

Yes, we are justified by faith but it is only the first act we take before we are called for more.  Our works don’t earn us our salvation they validate our faith.  They are the true sign of our faith.  Without works our claim to faith may be only a false illusion, a house built on sand that washes away when the test of faith comes as a strong tide under its foundation. 

Jesus is the Chosen one, anointed for the work of salvation and he explains to the disciples that this work entails suffering and death but also his resurrection.  Peter’s “rebuke” of Jesus is his way of saying don’t go there “faith alone” is enough.  Jesus’ response “Get behind me Satan” is a reminder that the evil one tries to deceive us to not take up our cross but believe it is enough to have faith and live our own life apart from the call to do the works of God.  Without the cross there is no resurrection.  This is the way of salvation for which Jesus was anointed for.  This is the narrow way he teaches us to follow if we wish to rise with him in glory. 

We cannot be deceived by the evil one to believe salvation is an easy road to follow.  Jesus tells the crowd in order to follow him they must deny themselves and take up the cross.  To deny ourselves is to forgive, to fast, to abstain, and also to make acts of atonement not only for our sins but for those of the world.  To take up the cross is proclaiming the word by our actions, our charity, our service, our prayer.  This Mass is our highest form of prayer in which we can offer ourselves up to Christ. 

The Chosen one has given us himself that we may imitate him in doing the works of salvation.  The works of salvation begin with the work of ourselves inviting Jesus to work on us that we may know how to truly follow him.  The works of salvation extend out to others as he leads us in calling others by our spiritual and corporal works of mercy.  Let us do the work and we shall be among the chosen ones. 

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Homily

23nd Sunday Ordinary Time – “Be opened!”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 35: 4-7a; Ps. 146:6-10; Jas. 2:1-5; Mk. 7:31-37

“Be opened!”   Be opened to the word of God.  Be opened to receiving the Holy Spirit.  Be opened to the mystery of faith that “makes the deaf hear and the mute speak”.  The Lord is ready to reveal himself in us but are we ready to receive him?  We are especially called to be open without partiality to receive Christ in the poor and the suffering.  The Lord “loves the just” and justice shows no partiality especially in doing good. 

Be especially opened to the reality that the Lord is among us and he “comes to save you”.  The Lord is our refuge and all creation is subject to his word.  He not only returns sight and hearing but he multiplies the bread as his true body and the wine as his true blood in the Eucharist to transform our very being to be Christ to the world.  The Lord lives and he desires to live through us not just with us. 

“Ephphatha!” is the prayer that is said in baptism over the ears of a child that their ears be opened to the word of God and over the lips that they may proclaim the word of God by their lives.  Baptism opens the soul of a child to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to be guided by the spirit of God.  It opens the child to come to see good and evil, to search for something greater than this world, and to be protected from the powers of darkness.  Who does not desire this for their child?  In baptism we are open to receiving the graces from God to lead a virtuous life. 

In a world with constant noise around us seeking to grab our attention to be open to the Lord requires our silence.  To hear the voice of the Lord we must find a quiet place and be still.  Where is that quiet place we go to in our lives?  Is it the early morning before the days rush begins, or maybe at night when everything settles down, we can “turn everything off” literally and figuratively and listen for the Lord.  During the day can we turn off the music, the constant “news alerts” or how about put that phone on silent mode for 15 or 30 minutes and find some rest and peace in the Lord? 

There is the expression “I have no time to think”, just too busy, too many demands, maybe someday.  Then one day we realize where did the time go and who did we really live for God or for the world.  To be open to God is to give him our time as we go through the day aware of his presence active in our souls.  To be open to God is to come and worship giving thanks to him in our prayer in Mass, in adoration, in opening his Word and allowing him to speak to our hearts. 

We were created in God’s image and so we reflect who God is in our being.  We connect to God in our soul with our thoughts, emotions, and will.  Our will desires his will, our emotions desire his love, our thoughts reflect on his Word and he opens us to receive his truth, his passion, and his good for our salvation.  Be open to surrendering ourselves to the Lord and we will receive his greatness. 

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Homily

22nd Sunday Ordinary Time – Doers of the Word!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Dt. 4: 1-2, 6-8; Ps. 15:2-5; Jas. 1:17-18, 21b-22,27; Mk. 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Called to be “doers of the word and not hearers only” give true testimony of our faith by taking right action.   Doers of the word are united to the heart of Jesus to receive every good gift from above.  The good gifts from above lead us to the service of others that we may taste and see the goodness of the Lord.  A doer of the word does justice and justice is to care for the sick, the suffering, and the poor.  We give without counting the cost because in the end if we belong to God then all we have and all we are is his blessing upon our life. 

Moses gave the statues and decrees to go along with the commandments with a word of warning not to add or subtract from them.  Over a thousand years later Jesus is calling out the Pharisees for “teaching as doctrines human precepts” meaning they raise their own traditions as a doctrine from God while disregarding the commandments from God.  They not only added so many rules but they have raised their rules to be equal to God’s teaching.  In doing so they make of themselves the god of authority and not the servant of the God of authority.  They have become empty vessels of the truth of God filling themselves with evil thought, unchastity, theft, murder and every kind of sin including blasphemy. 

In being a “doer of the word”, it begins with recognizing it is all about God and not about us.  It is a surrender to the will of God.  We empty ourselves of ourselves to receive the graces necessary to live the word of God.  This is hard to do.  It demands great trust in God and trust is not something that comes easy unless we have a deep relationship with the one, whom we trust. 

Who do we trust?  All our relationships of trust are based on conditional experience.  We learn to trust and distrust as we grow in relationship with others.  How much have we grown in our relationship with God?   We may be a ship out in the deep waters waiting for the wind to send us in some direction without purpose or destiny.  God is our destiny and he provides us our purpose in life as a doer of the word so let us be as people of action, doing what is right, just, and guided by our Lord and savior. 

How good are we as doers of the word, that is living the word of God?  To keep oneself “unstained by the world” is not easy when we want to belong to the world and receive every good gift from the world.  We see what others have and we are tempted to desire it for ourselves.  We enter into what the world offers and soon learn that there is a cost to what is described as a “rat race” to be first and a “dog eat dog” culture that in order to get ahead there will be a cost that demands we compromise our values, accept the world on its terms, and “play by their rules”.  It does not have to be this way.  When we trust in the Lord, he will provide the means and the way to remain in him and his righteousness. 

It all begins with what is in the heart, the good and the evil that are constantly at battle.  When the heart is burdened by every kind of evil temptation it does little good to simply ponder our weakness.  Overcoming our weakness comes from taking right action and doing an act of justice, charity, humility and sacrifice.  The act can be transformative to the heart giving life to the heart of love and God is love.  Just “do it” and let God give birth to the virtues of love.  A doer of the word is doing the will of God and it pleases our Lord to see the soul surrender in obedience to his word. 

The Lord comes in glory to lift up the soul who is faithful to his word, not waiting for a sign, not waiting to receive the gift or a special calling.  God does not send an email, a letter, or a messenger to move us into action.  He has already sent us Jesus and given us the word to follow so now its up to us to respond. 

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Homily

21st Sunday Ordinary Time – This is the day!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1 Jos. 24:1-2a, 17-18b; Ps. 34:2-3, 16-21; Eph. 5:21-32; Jn. 6:60-69

This is the day to decide “whom you will serve”.  Joshua called together all the tribes of Israel and their leaders in order to make the decision of their priority.  He was witness to how the people were being influenced by the “gods” where they were dwelling.  We could say they were becoming a “fallen away” nation and it was time to bring them to account for their actions.  The people remembered their past and recommitted to the Lord.  This is the day the Lord gives us in the same way to recommit to the practice of our faith.  It is enough to say “I believe” but when our actions say our priority is not the Lord then this is day to recommit to the Lord. 

In the same way, Jesus has been leading his disciples to recognize he is the bread of life to eat and drink but “this saying is hard; who can accept it?”  Many did not and left him but the twelve he chose remained convinced he was “the Holy One of God”.  This was the day to choose to follow the way of the Lord or return to their former way of life.  The same is true for our times when many are leaving the practice of the faith of their childhood or choose only to identify as Catholic without following the practice of faith the Church teaches.  It is a compromised faith that lives not by the word of God but by personal ideology.  Personal ideology is to be our own god. 

Many say “I believe in God but do not accept what the church teaches.”  The church is the bride of Christ who he has given us to follow as his teaching authority.  The church guards against false teachers who rise and fall in every generation.  If Jesus is the fullness of revelation, then everyone who claims to teach the word of God must accept the foundation of faith that goes back to Jesus and his disciples passed on from generation to generation.  To claim “God has revealed to me something new” is a false teacher and we have a long history of false teachers.  There is only one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that Jesus established and this is the day to decide who do we follow. 

Simon Peter was wise when he answered Jesus, “Master, to who shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”  Peter was willing to put aside all of his own ideas, beliefs, thinking and be open to receive the revelation from Jesus even if it did not make human sense at the time.  Peter quickly came to the realization that Jesus was the Messiah sent from God who he either accepted completely or not at all.  With Jesus there is no compromise to the truth.  In a world that teaches to each their own truth they are deceived by the evil one.  Peter surrendered his mind, heart, and will to Jesus and he became the rock on which Jesus built his church.

Jesus uses the example of the marriage between a man and a woman to describe his love and commitment to the Church.  The Church becomes one with Christ in the Eucharist.  Jesus is the head of the Church and the Church is to remain obedient to Christ.  The bond between Christ and his Church is a covenant of love, sacrificial love for each other, a love that keep on giving.  

Jesus gives us the image of an ideal marriage where love of the other is love of self.  In marriage preparation, I remind couples that this is the person they have chosen to live and die for.  Most couples don’t have this image of love or marriage.  It is more probable that their love is a conditional love not subordinate to each other but challenging each other for control.  Who controls the bank account, the credit cards, the remote control, the family time, the leisure time?  Letting go is hard to do.  We are called to let go and let God be the Master of our life but we can’t even let our marriage partner have authority.  This is the day God gives us to decide while there is still time.  There will be no time for regrets in heaven or hell. 

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Homily

20th Sunday Ordinary Time – The catch

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1 Kgs. 19:4-8; Ps. 34:2-9; Eph. 4:30—5:2; Jn. 6:41-51

Jesus is both the fisherman and the catch.  Jesus has been telling the people that he is “the living bread that came down from heaven.”  As a good fisherman he is reeling in the people with his word providing wisdom for the ages by revealing who he is.  He is not only the Son of God who came down from heaven but the food we are to eat in order to have eternal life.  This is the catch for those who believe, caught in the net of salvation.  Jesus goes from being the fisherman of our souls to becoming the catch that we will eat in order to live. 

This is the mystery of faith is how the fisherman becomes the catch.  Many refused this teaching then and even to this day.   Even now for many the question remains, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?  The answer is because he is God the Son who took on human flesh in order to be the sacrificial lamb of atonement for our sins.  More deeply is because he is love, the beginning and the end of the eternal who desires to transform us with his own body and blood becoming united as one in a spirit of love.  Love is the purpose, journey, and the catch.   

Are we caught up in the net of God’s love tasting and seeing the goodness of the Lord?  The heart of love gives thanks always and for everything, for everything is a gift from God when we remain in him, he promises to remain in us.  How good it is to be caught up in the net of Jesus.  It is the net of freedom, the promise of salvation and way of justice.  How is it that in a world of information technology makes access to the revelation from God so available so few seek and find the way?  Being part of the catch of coming to Jesus also has a “catch”. 

The catch of coming to Jesus has a “catch” in all of the history of salvation.  From the time of Moses and the giving of the Commandments to the teaching of Jesus “faith alone” does not fulfill the requirement.  Faith is a movement in which we act, love, and live beyond simply a belief.  Many can say “I believe’ but not live the faith that is given to us by the Father, by Jesus and by the Spirit.  Faith is a movement, we are moved by faith to give of ourself in a way in which we empty ourselves of “self” in order to serve a greater good, a higher purpose, a divine calling.  The catch is an obedience to the faith and this is where we stray away to our own misery.  The well-known expression is “Jesus cannot save us without us.” 

Everyone is not going to heaven and it is not Jesus’ fault.  He gives us his own body and blood to eat and drink every time we come to Mass that we may live and so many value it so little.  This is the bread to live forever.  So, I invite everyone this day with the question “what is holding you back from receiving this bread?”  “I am not Catholic.” There is a way to become Catholic.  “I am not married in the church”.  There is a process of convalidating a marriage.  “I was married before this marriage.”  There is a juridical process to examine the validity of a marriage and resolve the issue.  “I haven’t gone to confession in years.”  There are confessions every week or you can schedule an appointment with a priest.  There is a way and God provides the way through his church.  Come to the way and enjoy the catch!

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Homily

19th Sunday Ordinary Time – The living bread

Posted on by Deacon Joe

1 Kgs. 19:4-8; Ps. 34:2-9; Eph. 4:30—5:2; Jn. 6:41-51

Jesus confirms today he is the living bread from heaven.  The past few weeks the gospel readings are building up to understand Jesus’ teaching on who he is.   We have heard him say “I am the bread of life”.  While many Christian denominations take his teaching to imply that scripture is the word that is the bread of life, today he makes it clear that he is the living bread he gives and it is his “flesh for the life of the world”.  He gave his flesh on the cross of cavalry to save us and he does it today in the Holy sacrifice of the Mass.  This flesh we can only receive by coming to receive him in the Eucharist.  End of story or should we say the beginning of eternal life. 

Jesus reminds us about the manna the Israelites ate in the desert like “flakes” and they died but the living bread today we receive is a host that resembles a flake “so that one may eat it and not die.”  Not only does Jesus offer us himself as the living bread but he also fulfills the prophesy “They shall all be taught by God” because he is God the Son of the Father in heaven.  The people see only “Jesus the son of Joseph” and they are filled with “bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling the son of God.  They see with the eyes of humanity without faith and cannot believe. 

Unless we come to Jesus, the living bread for healing of our sins, our weaknesses, our concupiscence, and our attachments to this world we cannot “taste and see the goodness of the Lord”.  In the words of an old cliché “oil and water don’t mix”.  In the freedom to choose we cannot have both the desires of the flesh and the goodness of the Lord.  This is not to say we cannot have good things in this world.  Good things are a blessing to serve our needs that we may fulfill a higher purpose in our lives.  They are a means to climbing our own mountain of Horeb as we see in Elijah. 

After only one day’s journey into the desert, Elijah was ready to quit praying “This is enough, O Lord!”.  Without God he would have never made it but he prayed and God answered him.  So often we encounter our own hardship in life and in our weakness want to give up or we do give up without calling on God’s help and mercy.  Elijah was beyond his human capacity to live and ready to die until an angel touched him.  Death was not God’s purpose for Elijah who we also encounter in the Transfiguration of the Lord next to Jesus.  By trusting in God, Elijah fulfilled his destiny.  Elijah surrendered to God and there began his victory over death.  Have we surrendered to the will of God in our lives? 

Elijah was rescued by the angel of God who provided for him the food and drink to strengthen his resolve and continue on his journey to serve God’s purpose.  There used to be a very popular television series called “Touched by an Angel” in the 1990’s.  The core of each episode was to bring “guidance and messages from God to various people who are at a crossroads in their lives” (Wikipedia).  In the television world this was a genre of fantasy and drama but in God’s world Elijah was touched by a real angel and messenger from God.  We also can be touched by an angel who watches over us.   We belong by our baptism to the communion of saints and angels when we choose God in our lives and live for a higher purpose. 

God is calling us each by name and he has a mountain for us to climb.  We were born for a greater purpose just like the many lives we read in the scriptures who lived and died not knowing how their lives added to the history of salvation.  It is our turn now to do our part, to answer the call. 

What is our mountain today?  It may be to be a voice and bring comfort to the suffering or a word of Godly truth to someone who needs to her it and is on the wrong path; it may be at act of charity to feed his sheep or persevering during difficult times as God fashions us to be more into his image.  It may be a steady stream of challenges or one huge event that transforms our lives.  To each God provides both the call and the living bread.  Jesus gives himself to us today.  Are we ready to give ourselves to him?    

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Homily

18th Sunday Ordinary Time – The work of God!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Ex. 16:2-4, 12-15; Ps. 78:3-4, 23-25, 54; Eph. 4:17, 20-24; Jn. 6:24-35

The work of God is believing in Jesus.  Jesus is the I am who gives us the bread of life.  Our readings are a continuation from last week as the bread of life in which all things point to Jesus. 

Jesus captures the human condition when he says, “you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.”  We see it in the grumbling of the Israelites who hunger for food that is perishable and forget the God who set them free.  The lesson from Jesus is simple, to hunger first for righteousness and God will provide all that we need. 

Imagine taking Maslow’s pyramid of hierarchy of needs and turning it upside down.  Instead of the primary need being our physiological needs, our primary need is our self-actualization as a child of God, coming to know ourselves as God created us to be.  Our esteem comes from being in the image of God, putting on the mind of God, the passion of God, and the will of God.  In his image we can follow the way of the Lord by loving and belonging in relationship of giving of ourselves as we have received from the Lord.  The Lord provides us our safety knowing we are protected by our guardian angel and all the angels and saints.  Finally, our hunger and thirst is satisfied not with more for the bodily needs but with more food for the spirit. 

The Israelites asked “What is this?  It is described as “fine flakes” which Moses claims is the bread that the Lord has provided for them to eat.  The host we receive in the Eucharist also resemble fine flakes made with unleavened bread.  It is our food for the spirit coming as the body and blood of Jesus.  We have the blessing of being able to look back at salvation history and connect the story across time in a way the Israelites of the Old Testament and in Jesus’ time could not.  We can worship Jesus in the Eucharist and receive him as the bread of life.  This is our time to fulfill the work of God by believing and allowing him to transform our lives. 

Jesus is ready to do the work of God in us and through us if we allow him.  Be open to the will of God and he will reveal himself in our lives by the work that we are called to accomplish in his name.  This is the testimony we see as Jesus’ disciples are transformed into apostles with the power of the word in their hearts and minds.  This same word is given to us each time we come to Mass to not only transform us but to call us to the work of God by believing and trusting in his love to lead us in the more perfect way. 

Jesus came from heaven to give life to a world that is dying in secularism and agnosticism rejecting the one true God for a personalized ideological god.  Paul in his letter to the Ephesians calls the faithful to “no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds”.  He is also speaking to us today in a world that considers the “mind” as the ultimate reality unto itself.  Whatever the mind can reimagine itself to be is a reality others must accept.  The mind has the capacity to be delusional, paranoid, fearful, exaggerated, of living in fantasy while being seriously sincere yet seriously wrong.   The mind is a gift for the purpose of living in search of the truth.  The truth lies outside of the mind.  The truth lies in God. 

God is the source of all creation and all creation serves the creator.  Anything that comes between this link is a lie from the evil one who is here to cause division and confusion.  The world is filled with division and confusion.  It is our turn now to be the light of truth, not my truth or your truth but God’s truth.  It is the truth that sets us free and gives us our joy and peace.  Let us live it and we will be doing the work of God. 

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Homily

17th Sunday Ordinary Time – The bread of life

Posted on by Deacon Joe

2 Kgs. 4:42-44; Ps. 145:10-11, 15-18; Eph. 4:1-;6; Jn. 6:1-15

Jesus is the bread of life.  He comes to give himself to us in the Eucharist.  As bread he is broken, dividing himself to feed the many that we may gather to celebrate his body and blood as our Lord, in one faith, through one baptism for our “one God and Father of all”.  In Jesus it all comes together to be in all. 

Growing up I recall the expression “where two can eat so can three”.  Even when there was little to eat there was always enough to share with others.  It was an act of faith knowing that God provides and we should be generous with what we have received.  Each day brings us the Lord’s blessing to be multiplied as the bread of love, joy, peace and life.  Tomorrow will bring its own challenges but also another opportunity for God to demonstrate his love in the miracle of the ordinary.  Recently I heard on the catholic radio station someone say that what others call “being lucky” is God choosing to be anonymous in his love for us.  

Today we see an act of faith demonstrated by Elisha who trusts in God connecting the present to the future and greater miracle to come.  Jesus comes and in the same manner takes from the little that there is to feed the multitude preparing the soul to be fed the truth of God.  The miracle opens the minds and hearts of the people to receive the word of God and believe.  The multiplication of bread is not the great miracle but only a visible sign of the invisible grace we receive today in the greater miracle of the Eucharist.

It is tempting to say that today in our world we need a miracle to open the minds and hearts of people to see, taste, and believe.  The truth is that the miracle is already with us daily and we fail to see it.  It is the miracle of the Eucharist, body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus present today to nourish our souls and give us the bread of life from heaven. 

The reading from today comes from the gospel of John chapter 6 just before Jesus declares his body as the food for eternal life.  Jesus demonstrates his power over the natural world so that we can believe in his supernatural power to transform himself into the bread of life and yet so many cannot accept this teaching. 

In the Christian world non-Catholics claim that the word of God is the bread of life.  The gospel of the word has the supernatural power to transform lives.  The question is which gospel?  The interpreted by who?  Each denomination takes its own version of the gospel to make claims on the truth.  Even the church of Satan has its own gospel claiming to profess the truth and has transformed many into believers of its lies.  Today we need the miracle of the Eucharist more than ever but if we Catholics fail to acknowledge the sacredness of Jesus in the Eucharist how can the world come to see and believe. 

There is a reason the Church is seeking a Eucharistic revival in our times.  Too many have fallen into the practice of being cultural Catholics, cafeteria Catholics, non-practicing Catholics when we need worshiping Catholics.  We need a revival of the soul and the bread for the soul is the Eucharist.    Taste and see the goodness of the Lord when we become his temple and carry him within our souls.  He who receives him in the Eucharist receives the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The Eucharist is sacred and we are to be well disposed in receiving it by having made a good confession.  We must confess with out lips in order for our lips to receive the Lord. 

The church has a history of Eucharistic miracles well documented and validated but it is up to us to us to come and believe. 

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16th Sunday Ordinary Time – “The Lord our justice”

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Jer. 23:1-6; Ps. 23:1-6; Eph. 2:13-18; Mk. 6:30-34

“The Lord our justice”.  The Lord’s justice is not based on a conditional agreement but on a covenant of love.  It is the giving of oneself for the other as the Lord sacrificed himself for our mercy.  We are called to give ourselves to God in love.   Works are the fruit of love not the conditional measuring stick of salvation.  Our justice is the Lord, his sacrifice, his love, and his mercy.  He shepherds his own out of this love.  Where there is love then justice and peace meet.   

The Lord our justice comes to us in Jesus Christ, “a righteous shoot of David”.  He is a shepherd to guide our paths in the dark valley of a sinful world.  He is not only at our side but he resides within to govern our soul with gentle love and holy inspiration.   The Lord’s generosity is boundless and yet we are the ones who set boundaries and limit his generosity.  How foolish our humanity that prides itself more on its limitedness that on God’s boundless love.    Through the cross there is an ocean of mercy and yet how few come to receive it in the sacrament of confession.  We are so near to him and yet stop short of receiving his boundless love. 

In his flesh on the cross he abolished the “law” based on the external compliance of hundreds of rules that burdened the people of Israel.  He created the “law” of love of the heart that becomes evident by the visible signs of the invisible grace of God that lies within.  Where there is love there is active participation in that love.  Where there is love there is sacrifice, giving of oneself for those we love.  Where there is love there is the Lord our justice who bring us his peace. 

The Lord Jesus came to bring his peace to the “near” and “far” meaning to the people of Israel and to the Gentiles bringing both together as a shepherd to all.  No one is denied “access in one spirit to the Father”.  No one that is except the one who denies it to himself by denying God.  It would be tempting to claim that as a believer we do not deny our God but then when put to the test are we really surrendering to him our mind, heart and will and responding to our encounters of life putting God first?   The spirit is wanting but the soul is weak, holding on to its control when it is being called to let go and let God. 

The Lord knows us better than we know ourselves.   His voice speaks to our hearts when we follow him in his Word, in his sacraments, and through his apostles in the Church.   He is our high priest who left us the priesthood to continue his apostolic mission to the world.  We are not alone and we were not meant to be alone in this world.  To isolate our faith to our own will is to deprive ourselves of the riches that come from the graces of coming together as one body in Christ.  It is in the unity of the body of his people that he breaks himself into bread in the Mass to become the bread of life.  The eucharist is the highest form of unity to God in the Trinity. 

People who believe they can isolate their faith solely between them and God are not only limiting themselves from the communion of faith but from God himself who comes to us through all of creation.  It is not God’s way to create silos of faith as the way to come to him. This is our attempt to make God conform to our will not his.  Silos of faith are no more than making of ourselves our own God with our own individual theology, and our own standards of practice.  This is the deception of the evil one who conquers through division. 

The Lord our justice has given us the blueprint for a strong foundation.  It is the foundation of love, sacrificial love, unconditional love, the mercy of love poured out of the heart of Jesus.  Justice is the Lord’s and we are the more blessed by it. 

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Homily

13th Sunday Ordinary Time – Just have faith

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Wis. 1:13-15; 2:23-24; Ps. 30:2, 4-6, 11-13; 2 Cor. 8:7,9, 13-15; Mk. 5:21-43

The Lord says to us today, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”  In the middle of the storm of life someone might say to us “just have faith” and in your heart you realize that is easier said than done.  The test of faith comes clear under the storms of life where fear strikes at the heart, in circumstances beyond our control, and when God comes calling.  Fear and faith are in constant opposition of each other.  Fear drives away faith and faith buries fear. 

True faith is not blind faith.  Some foolishly think that to walk by faith is to walk blindly.  Consider this example of two people in a dark room with no light.  The person who walks blindly has never been in this room, has no idea where things are and can easily stumble and injure themselves.  The person who walks by faith has spent time in this room getting familiar with the surroundings with a sense of how to walk in the darkness of this room.  When we close our eyes to pray, we open our souls to the light of faith and receive the spirit of truth to walk in true faith.  Without prayer we only trust in what we see and lack faith. 

By faith we know how to handle success with grace and manage failure with humility; we know how to celebrate life and persevere in suffering, we know how to live each moment as it was the last breath and prepare for eternity.  Faith is the scale on which we weigh all that life brings us and stay in right balance. 

The question is where is our faith; in who do we trust?  Do we mainly trust in ourselves and give God a passing thought or prayer in hopes that he is there when we need him or do we align our life in the practice of trusting in God and allow God to be our God, our guiding light in all that we do?  The answer determines whether the scales are tipped towards fear or faith. 

Faith is like a muscle that without exercise cannot become stronger but in time only weakens.  Faith is an active process that becomes stronger with practice; that is the practice of prayer; trusting in the Lord; waiting upon the Lord; seeking him; and surrendering to the him.  This is true Godly faith in action.    In Godly faith we have the capacity to put on the mind of God, to see with the heart of Jesus, and follow the will of our Father in Spirit.   

The woman who touched the clothes of Jesus believed with great faith in the power of Jesus to cure her.  The synagogue official whose daughter was dying believed in the power of Jesus to save her from death.  Those who lacked faith and ridiculed Jesus for saying she was not dead but asleep he “put them all out” to feed on their own lack of faith.  This is a reminder that people of faith need to guard against the carriers of fear and doubt who work for the evil one.  “Get away from me Satan” is an appropriate prayer to bring light to darkness. 

God formed humanity to be in his own image “imperishable” and yet “death” is in the world; or is it?  Jesus came to put an end to death.  There is an image of a little girl with her finger pointing out at who is seeing her.  The caption at the top says “Don’t worry about dying your going to live forever”; then at the bottom it reads “worry about location, location, location”.  Jesus came to put an end to death so his purpose is to bring us to everlasting life in heaven.  Death of the mortal body is just the next step in the journey to our location of heaven, purgatory, or hell.  Purgatory comes with the promise of heaven in need of final justice through purification. 

When we pray for life and death comes to the body it does not always indicate a lack of faith; in fact, it may be an answered prayer.  True life is eternal and God has answered our prayer not as we seek it but as he wills for our greater good.  The Lord has rescued us from the sins of this world and we give him all the praise and honor.  “I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me” that I may have great faith and trust in you. 

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