The Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

A couple weeks late, but here is my homily from August 17.

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081714.cfm

          I think that it is safe to say that we have all experienced that awful feeling of being rejected.  Some have experienced it more than others, but it seems to be something all humans experience.  It can start out when we are children and a sibling or a cousin no longer wants to play with us or we get in a fight with a friend at school and we don’t talk for a few days.  As we get older, maybe someone we have a romantic crush on rejects us.  Perhaps a friend or someone we trust betrays us in some way.  Maybe we are not chosen for something that we had really hoped for.  Sometimes that feeling of rejection is short lived and the relationship is healed over time.  Other times the rejection and the hurt remain and we need to seek healing and forgiveness to get past it all. 

          Of course, we can also be mistaken about the rejection.  It is very easy to misinterpret a person’s actions or inactions as a rejection of us or something about us.  In reality it might be that the other person simply forgot something or misunderstood something or is doing things differently than we would do them.  Whatever the details, we thought there was a rejection when there really was not. 

          I think that is exactly what happens at times in our relationship with God.  Perhaps we ask God for something, but then He never seems to answer us.  Maybe we’re used to a feeling of peace when we pray, but suddenly we experience none of that in prayer.  Sometimes we have these times when it feels like God is not listing to us or doesn’t seem to be active in our lives; it is very tempting to assume that God has rejected us in some way.  I get the impression that some people assume that God will reject them because of their sins; as if they are unworthy of His love.  They may even imagine that if they had a chance to talk directly with Jesus about this, the conversation would go very similar to the first part of the conversation that we hear between Jesus and the Canaanite woman in the Gospel today.  What an awful feeling of rejection that would be: going before Jesus with a request as noble as the woman’s request of healing her daughter, only to have Jesus turn His nose up at her and liken her to a common dog!

          God would never reject us, of course.  Our faith tells us that God will always love us.  In just the same way, Jesus does not reject the Canaanite woman.  In fact, many Scripture scholars believe that Jesus had no intention of rejecting the woman or denying her request.  The reason He uses that lines about being only sent for the “lost sheep” and not throwing the children’s food “to the dogs” was because He wanted the woman to respond with her faith.  As a Canaanite, the woman didn’t share the Jewish faith of Jesus and His disciples, yet she acknowledges Him as the “Son of David” and calls Him “Lord” and asks for the miracle.  Jesus knew she had faith that He could do it, but He wanted the others to see her express her faith, so He puts her to a kind of test.  If her faith were not real, she probably would have given up once she saw that Jesus wasn’t making it easy for her.  But she does have faith, and so she keeps asking for her daughter’s salvation even with the difficulties.

          Likewise, God wants us to respond with faith at times as well.  God has His reasons for seeming to avoid or delay answering our prayers.  He also has His reasons for not always being so present in our lives or seeming to have moved out of our lives at times.  We might not ever figure out exactly why those sorts of things happen.  Maybe God wants us to move deeper in our faith, so He moves away for a bit and wants us to follow, much like a parent teaching their child to walk for the first time.  God might delay a response to our prayers because He wants to see how our faith responds to a delay in our plans.  God might also know that what we ask for isn’t really what we need right now anyway, so He gives us something else that will help our faith grow all the more.  Whatever the case may be, God isn’t rejecting us or our request, but is giving us the opportunity to grow deeper in our faith with Him.

          God calls each and every one of us to a deeper relationship with Him.  That is what we see going on in the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah.  As I mentioned before, sometimes we might be scared that we are not worthy of God’s love or worthy to have God listen to our prayers.  In ancient times, the Israelites believed that God only found the prayers and sacrifices of the Israelites to be worthy of Him.  Yet here, God says that those who follow the Sabbath and love His name and keep His covenant will be found acceptable.  Even “foreigners who join themselves to the Lord” are acceptable.  God’s house is a house of prayer for all peoples.  So why should we worry ourselves if our prayers will be accepted as well?  We are to have faith.

          I mentioned at the beginning of this homily about people in general having felt rejected in their lives.  While we do all know what rejection feels like, I hope this homily helps everyone realize that we do not have to let that fear of being rejected rule us: especially when it comes to our relationship with God.  God wants us to grow deeper in our relationship with Him, and just as every relationship requires the individuals to grow in certain ways, so must we.  Let us not fear, but continue in our faith.  God will be there.

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081014.cfm

I have found that a very popular theme that often comes up in various stories in our culture involves the old axiom, “Appearances can be deceiving.” Sometimes a character chooses to disguise themselves to fool another person. Other stories have a character who is forced to take on another appearance, like a curse or a trick in fairytales. Still other stories have characters who simply look different than what their character is really like. In the classic fable of the “Ugly Duckling”, the supposed “duckling” appears to be the ugliest and most awkward of the ducks, until he discovers that he was simply in the wrong nest. Fairytales like “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Princess and the Frog” involve cursed princes who appear to be ugly and deformed. They must convince their lead female characters that they are worth loving despite their grotesque outward appearance.

William Shakespeare loved using this theme of mixing up appearances in his comedies. He would often have a character dress as something completely different than who they really where. A king dresses up as a servant as a servant becomes the king in his absence. The king spies on the servant to see what happens. Sort of like an early version of “Undercover Boss” if you remember that show. In another play a woman dresses up as a man and becomes the servant of a duke. He sends his new servant to ask a duchess for her hand in marriage. The duchess can't stand the duke, but falls in love with the new young man, not knowing that “he” is really a her. The servant runs and hides. Meanwhile, her twin brother (who she thought was dead and of course looks exactly like her) shows up. The duchess sees the brother, thinks he is the duke's servant, and proceeds to talk to him about marriage plans for the two of them. As you can imagine, a lot of chaos ensues as they try to figure this mess out.

My point is that there are many stories out there that play off of this theme of deceiving appearances. Even modern movies and TV shows love to include characters like this. They may be disguised as one person and turn out to be someone else. They may give a negative first impression at the beginning, but then prove the hero at the end. The fact that so many of these types of characters have shown up in stories through out the centuries shows that people are intrigued by them and like hearing stories that have that type of plot twist.

The Bible is no exception to this theme of “Appearances can be deceiving.” Look through Sacred Scripture and we can find numerous examples of people whose appearance gave a very different impression than who the person really was. Of course, these are not made up characters, but real people. Consider Moses: raised in Pharaoh's court, exiled for murder, by his own admission was a terrible public speaker, but ended up leading the Israelite people to freedom. The mighty King David: the youngest of eight brothers, a young shepherd boy when he volunteers to slay Goliath, yet he slays Goliath and is still revered as Israel's greatest king. Our Lord Jesus was totally not what people were expecting: born to the wife of a carpenter in a feeding trough in a stable, never ascended to the royal throne, executed as a common criminal, yet He saved us from our sins and is acknowledged by Christians everywhere as the Son of God and King of Heaven and Earth.

Today's readings are also about appearances and what we expect, but instead of looking at a human person and his or her appearance, we are looking at God and how God's appearance does not always match what we expect. We all have an idea in our minds of who God is, how He is going to act, and how He will appear, or more appropriately, how He will manifest His power and might. That picture in our minds of how God will look and act and speak might not always match what we find in the Scriptures.

Let's consider the first reading from the First Book of Kings. Elijah the prophet is on Mt. Horeb, seeking shelter in a cave. God tells him to come out so that he can witness Him as He passes by the mountain. It isn't that Elijah will actually see God walking around in bodily form, but will instead be able to experience the manifestation of His presence there at the mountain. The prophet experiences a strong wind that crushes rocks and earthquakes and a fire, but God isn't in any of those. Then he hears “a tiny whispering sound” and hides his face because he knew that God was there. I don't know about all of you, but when I was quite a bit younger my expectation would have been for God to come in of those more dramatic examples, like fire or lighting. After all, in other Scripture passages, God makes Himself known in a booming voice and earthquakes and burning bushes. Now that I know God a bit better, God coming in a quiet fashion makes much more sense.

My point is, I think many people would expect God to come in a loud sound like a wind rather than a tiny sound. Perhaps it is because God is so powerful that we expect Him to make a more powerful and flashy entrance. Elijah is able to recognize, however, that God has come in this unexpected way. It is because of his faith that he recognizes his Creator and doesn't brush it off as hearing things.

The Gospel reading is also full of unexpected things. Nobody would expect to see their friend walking across the open sea towards their boat. I'm sure the other eleven were surprised to see Peter get out a walk on the water as well. No one can blame the Twelve for not expecting this. What Jesus emphasizes here is their lack of faith. Had they had faith they would not have been afraid in the storm because they would have known God was with them. They would not have freaked out at seeing Jesus walking on the water because they would have known that Jesus was the Son of God. All Twelve may have gotten out and walked on the water because of their faith. But they doubt and so fear takes over. They miss out on an opportunity to experience the presence of God as Elijah does when he shows his faith.

We may never experience Jesus walking on the water or God coming past a mountain, but there are times when God is doing something in our lives that we do not expect. Will we respond with faith like Elijah did and welcome God's presence in our lives no matter how complicated it is? Or will we respond with fear and doubt because we do not want to accept what God is doing? Let us not sink as Peter did, but walk with faith in Christ.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080314.cfm

“What do I have to do?” That is a question that many people seem to like to ask from time to time. Its use spans many different activities and walks of life. You might hear it asked in school, “What do I have to do to pass this class?” or “to get an ‘A’ in this class?” Upon finishing high school or college we might hear someone ask, “What do I have to do to get this job?” Later on the question may turn to, “What do I have to do to get a raise or a promotion?” Even among Christians, it is not unheard of to hear people ask the question, “What do I have to do to get into Heaven?”

On the surface, these questions might seem to be fairly normal questions requesting typical information. However, when you think about these questions, you can see that they are not really asking about how to be a good Catholic, or how to be a good employee or student. Actually it is asking for the least amount of information. When we ask, “What do I have to do…?” what we are really asking is, “What is the least amount of work that I need to do in order to get what I want?” We are actually looking for the minimum of the requirements: “What is the minimum amount of points I need to get 90%?” “What is the minimum work needed to get that job or that promotion?” “How many prayers do I have to say or how many Masses do I have to go to in order to be ‘good’ with God?”

There is a related question that I have heard several times as a priest. People want to know, at what point in the Mass do you have to come in by in order for it to count? In other words, how late is too late for Mass? The simple answer is: there is no specific time set that a person has to be at Mass. I have been told that before the Second Vatican Council, when Mass was still all in Latin, people were taught about a specific time in the Mass that you had to be there by in order to fulfill your Sunday obligation. No such time has been set for the current Mass. Rather, the encouragement is for all people to be there for the entirety of Mass. The temptation for most people when they are given a minimum requirement is to only do the minimum. If the Church set a time that you have to be at Mass in order for it to count, many people would wait until that moment to come in. By not setting that minimum, we are simply saying we want the people at the whole Mass. Yes, things happen that make us run late from time to time. Not a big deal. But if we are late all the time, maybe we should re-think our Sunday mornings so we can be in the church from the beginning of the opening hymn. The same can be said for the end of the Mass. Sometimes there are emergencies that require us to leave early on rare occasions. But if we are leaving early every week, there is something very wrong going on. We are asked to be here for the entire Mass: not to come in at the Gloria or leave right after Communion or before the final hymn, but to be here from the first hymn until the last hymn is sung. It’s one hour out of our whole week, can't we at least do that?

Now, to be fair, not everyone is interested in only doing the minimum requirements, whether it is about the spiritual life or our day to day earthly life. Those who particularly enjoy something or who have a particular passion for something will often go well beyond the normal call of duty, so to speak. We all need a reminder every so often to encourage us to not just settle for the bare minimum. Especially when it comes to the spiritual life, going beyond the minimum requirements helps show our love for God.

Our readings today illustrate how God's love goes well beyond the minimum requirements. In the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, God is inviting the people to come back to Him using the image of a grand banquet. The people of Judah had angered God by worshiping false gods and not following God's Commandments. Their punishment was a long exile in the land of Babylon, in modern day Iraq. Now God is inviting them back to His loving embrace, offering forgiveness and an over abundance of grace. There is also a physical aspect to this as they were allowed to return to their homeland soon after this.

Listen to what God is telling us. First we are told to come to the water. This is a fine commodity in desert region. Then we are told to receive grain and wheat without cost. Things are getting generous. Then we are told we can drink wine and milk without cost as well. Now things are getting lavish. Why focus all our wealth and strength on things of this earth that will only waste away, God asks us. Focus on God, and we will have everything that we need, plus so much more! These images of free food and choice wine and milk represent, not just good, not just physical luxuries, but also Heavenly graces given freely.

Moving on to the Gospel, we hear Matthew's version of the feeding of the five thousand. In front of all these witnesses (well over five thousand including the women and children) Christ Himself multiplies the food. Now these loaves are probably small barley loaves that look more like diner roles. The fish are also small, not much bigger than a perch, maybe smaller. That meal was enough for two people at best: nothing too fancy here. With this great miracle of multiplying the food, however, these five thousand-plus men, women, and children are satisfied and there are still leftovers! This is not the lavish banquet that Isaiah described before, but it still helps us see the generous heart of God. He could have given each of them just enough to get them to the next village; He could have had Jesus end His curing of the sick sooner so they could have departed earlier in the day. Instead, He gives what the people needed, and then some, just as the prophet had foretold.

God gives us an abundance of His love and grace. How will we respond so that we can worship Him in thanksgiving and praise Him in what we do? Let us not settle for what we have to do, but what we want to do out of our love for Him.

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072014.cfm

What would you do if you had a chance to talk with God face to face for as long as you would like? Yes, we can talk to God whenever we want to in prayer, but as we all know prayer can be a bit distracting at times with everything else going on around us. It can sometimes be a bit frustrating when we would like a response from God on something, or an answer to a question, but we simply hear nothing. I'm talking about a chance to talk to God free of distractions and you can hear Him speak back to us. Perhaps this is the very thing that will happen when we die: we will simply have a one-on-one meeting with the Almighty. What would you do; what would you say; how would you feel? I've met some people who I think could honestly say that there would be a lot of joy and excitement and they would want to talk to God about any number of things. I think the majority of people would have a mix of nervousness about what to say to Him, with excitement about being with Him, but also some fear of what He might say back to them. I think they would carefully pick and choose what to say to Him, still wanting to say so much, but unsure of what is proper and afraid of what might happen. The last group would be those who would be simply too afraid to saying anything at all. I would hope that this group would be small, but I have a feeling that the number of people in this category is much higher than I would care to admit. These are not the people who are God fearing (those who have a healthy respect for God) but rather those who are so afraid of Him that they don't dare to come close enough to talk with Him or find out what He might want to say to them. They have convinced themselves that God is more full of wrath and condemnation than of love and mercy. They keep Him at arms length, certain that if they get too close to Him it will only mean hell-fire and brimstone.

I don't know exactly why it is that people develop such a negative view of God's relationship with humanity, but I suspect that part of it is the result of an over emphasis of God's punishment of evildoers. Let's take today's Gospel as an example. The parable of the weeds in the field is about both evildoers and the faithful, but it can be easy to focus solely on those lines about collecting the weeds for burning and casting evildoers into the fiery furnace. Sadly, there have probably been more than a few preachers who have chosen to focus primarily on the punishment mentioned in this passage and those like it with the good intention of trying to steer people away from a life of sin, resulting in an unhealthy fear of God. However, I hope that we can all come to see that the purpose of the Gospel is not all about the punishment of sinners. Yes, there is a stern reminder here that God does punish sinners, but when we take a step back and look at this reading with the other readings today and the rest of Scripture, we can see the overall emphasis is on mercy instead of punishment. Consider the reaction of the householder in the parable when he learns about the weeds. If God only cared about punishment and condemnation, the parable would have been about the householder who had all the weeds and the wheat uprooted and burned and then started all over again by replanting with good seed. Instead, the owner is patient and waits until harvest time to separate the good from the bad. Just so, God waits on his punishment as well until He can see who chooses faith and who chooses the life of sin.

The other day I was have dinner with a few other priests in downtown Duluth. One of the priests is a classmate of mine who has been out in Washington D.C. studying canon law. Canon law refers to all the laws that govern how the Church operates. It determines everything from how and when we celebrate the Sacraments to the set up of a parish finance council and making business decisions. One of the other priests asked him how his studies have been going. He replied that he has been amazed at how much mercy is at the heart of canon law. He explained that almost every law of the Church includes an exception to the rule. The laws explain what should normally be done in a situation, but then add, “except where such-and-such is the case” and give other instructions. So often the Church gets a bad rap for having so many rules that say, “Don't do this” or “Don't do that”. The laws actually reflect the mercy of the Supreme Lawgiver and those who study them are reminded that they are to be applied loosely, allowing for many exceptions and always with the salvation of souls in mind. Mercy is the key word here.

The first reading today from the Book of Wisdom should serve as a great reminder to us that God is about mercy and the care of all rather than unjustly condemning people. “There is no god besides you who have the care of all”, we are told. Only God Himself is like this. The reading continues, “For your might is the source of justice; your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.” It is God's might and mastery that also makes Him so lenient and merciful. The one speaking in this reading is telling God that He has been a just and merciful leader. The last line of this reading is also very important for what we are looking at today. “You gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.” What this tells us is that an important part of God's justice and mercy is about giving those who have sinned a second chance. That is why we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation: a chance to repent of our sins and start over again with a clean slate.

A valid question at this point might be, “But what if we just keep falling back into the same sin?” That is where the second reading comes in handy. St. Paul is talking more about how the Holy Spirit will help us find the words for prayer, but he is also talking about how the Holy Spirit helps us in following God's will. The Spirit comes to our aid and intercedes for us. We might not even understand how it is happening or understand that it is even happening, but it helps us.

So let us not fear God's wrath or His judgment. Let us instead trust in His love and mercy to help us enter into His eternal Kingdom.

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/071314.cfm

Today's Gospel about the Parable of the Sower is a very well known passage to most Christians. It is so well known that I think it is very easy for us to get a bit complacent with what it is really trying to tell us to do. We understand what the parable means and what Jesus is telling us in it, that we must listen to the Word of God being spoken to us and understand it, but we become complacent as to what we must do in order to accomplish this. Jesus mentions four different locations where the seeds fall, but it is very easy for us to automatically identify with the seeds that fall on rich soil. In other words, we assume that we are the good little Christians who listen and obey God and all those other examples are there as warnings to all the other people out there who don't listen. The problem is, as we all know, we are not perfect; we do not always listen as carefully as we should. How, then, do we reach that perfection so that we may produce fruit a hundred fold?

It's tempting to think that if we just listen to God's words the best that we can then that same Word will automatically make everything alright; almost as if His words have some sort of magical powers. Many of us grew up hearing fairytales that often include fairy godmothers and wizards and good witches and bad witches and the like. In those stories the trick is to say the magical words just right or complete a simple task and everything will be as it should be. We would all love to have a solution where we could just say the magic words, “bibitty, bobitty, boo” and all our problems are solved or to receive true love's first kiss or click our heels together and everything becomes perfect. It doesn't work that way in real life and neither does it work in the spiritual life. Wouldn't it be wonderful if when we were ready to give our all to Christ we just called out, “Okay God, I'm ready! Do your stuff!” and we just had to stand there with our arms out and waited for God's Word and His graces to wash over us and automatically make us into His perfect follower? However, it requires a much more active participation on our part. Now don't get me wrong; there is still such a thing as God grace. This grace is often called “unmerited grace”, meaning God gives us that grace no matter what we do, or don't do for that matter. I'm not saying that God's help for us is determined by our actions, I am saying that when He does help us, we need to actually respond and use those gifts and graces. We aren't just some passenger along for the ride.

God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah today that His word doesn't go out and return to Him void. Rather it goes out and actually has a great and very powerful effect on others. The image is used of how rain comes and waters the earth and causes things to grow and bear fruit. So what that tells us is that God has spoken and sent His word and His graces upon us. Now, how are we going to respond?

As I mentioned before, Jesus gives us four scenarios of what happens to the seeds of the sower. If we look back over our lives and examine our consciences, I hope we will see that we have at one time or another fallen into more of theses categories than we may realize.

Let us first consider the seed that falls on the path. Jesus tells us this is the one “who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart.” There are times when it is hard to understand what is being talked about. Maybe we don't understand something we read or hear read from Scripture. Maybe we hear something of Church teaching that makes little or no sense to us. In a perfect world we would all seek to understand this better and explain it to each other. But perhaps out of laziness and not wanting to go through all the work, or perhaps out of not wanting to know what it means because we are afraid that we will have to change how we think of other things, we end up not understanding it better. Then what could have been a wonderful lesson of God's unending love for us is taken away forever.

The seed that falls on rocky ground is a person described as “one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away.” Whenever I reflect on this one, I picture several times as a teenager when I would go to a youth retreat or to a youth event either at my home parish or something going in Duluth. Many times when I would go on these things something awesome would happen: I would experience God's presence or His grace or His forgiveness or His love in some very intense way. I came away thinking I could do whatever God asked of me. I wanted to hold on to this feeling forever. But then some sort of hardship would take that away. No one would listen to what I wanted to say about Jesus. I wasn't exactly the most popular kid so I didn't have many friends and didn't find the support that I was looking for from my peers. These weren't persecutions per se as Jesus mentions, but they are still hardships that take away what we started out with. Maybe it wasn't at a youth event, but you may have had one of those uplifting spiritual moments in your life that was taken away by hardships caused by others who just didn't get what you experienced.

Similarly we hear about the seed sown among thorns. Jesus tells us that this one “hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit.” This is much like the last example except that it is about the fears and anxieties that we may have about our lives. It is also about the temptations of worldly goods, fears that are easy for us to have.

The key with the last two is to not let those distractions of hardships or stress and temptations towards worldly things to get in our way. This is often easier said than done, but if those are the things that are drawing us away from God, don't you think it is worth finding away around it? Most importantly, let us not forget that God wants us with Him. That means He will be with us to help us past these stumbling blocks. Then we will bear great fruit; then we will experience the never ending joy of Heaven.

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/070614.cfm

Whenever you see a movie or a TV show where one of the characters is a king or a queen or an emperor or some other nobility, they often portray the character in a very regal setting. They stand and sit very tall and proper and have an air of superiority and loftiness. They show that they consider themselves above all the commoners that surround them. Most often, any nobility that don't share those same mannerisms or traits are shown to be misfits or weaklings. Sometimes the writers do this for comic relief and other times it's a part of a clever plot twist that will later prove that the supposed misfit or weakling is really the strongest and most capable of all. But whatever the plot line is, the point is pretty clear: people expect nobles and monarchs to act a certain way.

All this can also be said of movie or TV characters who are supposed to be divine. Whether it is God Himself or one of hundreds of mythological gods or goddesses who have been thought up in course of human history, divine characters are often shown to have the same superiority and loftiness as we see in noble characters. To be cast out and forced to live among mere mortals or to become one of them is considered a severe punishment for many mythical pantheons. Before any of them would even consider listening to the prayers of one of those pathetic mortals on earth, those mortals most offer great worship and/or sacrifice before them. Even our own Almighty God is sometimes portrayed as being so high and almighty that only the privileged few are allowed the honor of having their prayers heard and answered by Him.

Fortunately for us, Sacred Scripture proves that idea to be false. We know that God is not so high and mighty that He would refuse to stoop down to listen to us. He does not consider coming as one of us a punishment, as we can see by the fact that Jesus came to us as one of us. It was a humbling experience for Him to be a helpless baby and to allow himself to be crucified, but it wasn't a punishment for the second person of the Trinity. In fact, Scripture tells us that He did it out of love for all of us; Scripture tells us that God Himself created us and saw that it was very good. So why wouldn't He want to listen and answer the prayers of all of us?

Our first reading from the Book of the Prophet Zechariah talks about the returning of a king to Jerusalem after many years of exile in the East. The prophet tells us to rejoice and shout for joy, because this is to be glad tidings for all of Jerusalem and Israel. He then goes on to describe this king as he enters into the Holy City, “See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass.” Now, to our modern ears riding into the capital city on a donkey might not sound all that regal, but in the ancient Near East where horses were few and far between this was as grand a steed as any royalty could hope for. This is a royal entrance being described here. Notice as well that he is being described as a “just savior” and “meek”. So there is this royal entrance, but the tone is different than we might expect: this king is meek and humble and willing to server others as their savior. This is not the typical “conquering hero” that we are used to seeing with kings and all their royal fanfare. This humble tone comes all the more into play when we consider that Christians have long interpreted this passage as referring to Jesus Christ. You may remember from Palm Sunday that this same passage is quoted as Jesus rides a donkey into Jerusalem as the people wave palms branches in celebration. Not only does this show that Jesus is that meek and humble King, but since Jesus is God, that means that God is meek and humble. If you ask me, that sounds like a wonderful person to have as our God and King!

So what does this mean for us? For one thing, it means that we can fully trust and rely on God because of His love in sending His Son to save us. It also means that we too are called to be meek and humble of heart before God. We can see this in today's Gospel reading. Jesus has been speaking to His Twelve Apostles, when He stops to give praise to God. He says, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones.” The term “little ones” at the end is sometimes translated as “the childlike”. It is important to point out that Jesus isn't praising those who are childish or those who act like little ones who act immature. Rather, Jesus is making a distinction between the “childlike” and the “wise and learned”. The wise and the learned think they know it all. Jesus probably had the Scribes and Pharisees in mind when He said this. They constantly question everything that Jesus says and does. Those who are childlike, however, are meek and humble. Like a child who still has that innocence that allows him or her to believe parents and teachers without questioning every single word, Jesus is referring to those who follow His teachings and His words. And since it is the Son who reveals the Father to those who seek Him, it is only the childlike who will come to know the Son and the Father.

Jesus then gives a famous line that has given comfort to many who are sick or suffering in some way: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart”. Jesus calls Himself meek and humble, just as He is referred to in the First Reading and just as we are called to be as “little ones”. He continues, “and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Those who refuse to be childlike or humble will only find a heavy burden in trying to follow Christ. This can apply as well when we try to solve things on our own without God's help, or when we try to break free of a sinful habit without relying on God's grace. But when we do humble ourselves and innocently follow Christ's words as children of God, we will find rest. Let us humbly approach our King and Savior!

Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul

          As you may have noticed, most feast days of saints get skipped during the years when the day lands on a Sunday.  As a result, we don't often get to hear too much about saints on Sunday Masses with just a few exceptions.  Today is one of those exceptions as we celebrate the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. 

          Now, I personally enjoy learning about the lives of saints.  I love studying a little bit about what their lives might have been like and the history of the times in which they lived and I find it very interesting to study their writings that still exist.  However, sometimes I can feel a bit overwhelmed as I read about them.  I don't know if anyone else has had this feeling or noticed this, but it seems like some saints were so holy from the beginning of their lives that it's near impossible for any of us to reach them.  I feel like some days it takes all my energy and will power to take even a few minutes for personal prayer.  St. Therese of Lisieux from the 19^th Century said it best when she wrote, “When reading the lives of the saints, I was puzzled at seeing how Our Lord was pleased to caress certain ones … with such favors that they were unable to soil the immaculate beauty of their baptismal robe”.  Sts. Peter and Paul, I believe, are not examples of this.  When we look at what we know about their lives from Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition we can see that they were ordinary people like us: imperfect and prone to mistakes.  Despite these imperfections, God called them to be shepherd who laid down their lives for their sheep.  Perhaps by studying their lives we will better see how God is calling us, even with our own mistakes and shortcomings. 

Oops, forgot to post this sooner.  Here is my homily from last weekend.  The readings for the Saturday Vigil or different than those for Sunday, so the link will take you to both sets of readings.

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062914.cfm

 

         St. Peter is often referred to as the “Prince of the Apostles”.  He was by far the most outspoken of the Twelve and a clear leader among them.  Jesus even named him as our first Pope.  One might expect that such an important religious leader would be a scholar who was well versed in theology and had studied it since childhood.  As we all know, however, St. Peter was a simple fisherman from Galilee: hardly the perfect candidate to be a great religious leader.  Yet that was who God chose to be that leader.

          As I said before, St. Peter was very outspoken, a trait that earned him praise for his faith, but also criticism for his lack of faith at other times.  In the Gospel of Matthew we hear about Peter's confession of who Jesus is.  Jesus and the Twelve are at a city called Caesarea Philippi.  This city was next to a large cliff into which was carved a temple dedicated to several Greek gods.  Under this cliff was a deep spring which eventually feeds into the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River.  No one knew how deep the spring was, so it was nicknamed, “The Gates of the Netherworld”.  Jesus asks the Twelve, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"  They answer with prophets, Elijah, or John the Baptist.  Jesus replies with a second question, “But who do you say that I am?”  Here, Peter responds with a very faith filled answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus praises him and tells him:  “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” 

          Jesus goes on to tell him, “I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  When Israel was its own kingdom, the king would name a man as his steward who would take care of the palace and the city of Jerusalem while the king was away.  This man was the second in command.  By giving Peter the keys to the kingdom, Jesus, as king of Heaven and Earth, was making Peter His steward.  Understand that this is a big move since Rome was in charge and Israel had no real king. 

          So Peter shows his faith in this instance, but we see in other places how little he understood what was going on.  Later on he rebukes Jesus for saying He will die on the cross, but Jesus responds by rebuking Peter: “Get behind me Satan!”  Peter doesn't yet understand that the passion must happen.  We also know the famous story of how Peter denies knowing Jesus three times.  In the Gospel of John, after Jesus' resurrection, the Savior asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?”  Peter responds each time with, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”  This is followed by various versions of the command to “Feed my sheep”.  Peter denies Christ three times, but reaffirms his faith three times to make up for it.  It is his faith, not his doubt, that stands out today.  St. Peter died by being crucified upside down; not feeling worthy of being crucified exactly like Jesus.

          St. Paul was also very outspoken.  He wasn't perfect either.  The Acts of the Apostles tells us that he worked very hard to arrest any Christians that he encountered.  He didn't do this to go against God's wishes, but rather he thought he was doing the will of God by following a strict observance of the Jewish faith.  His conversion story is a great example of how God can change our hearts and minds to His will.  He is known today as the Apostle of the Gentiles, because he was very instrumental in bringing the Gospels to the Non-Jewish peoples. 

          Because he had been such an ardent opponent of Christianity, St. Paul had a lot of convincing to do so that his fellow Christians knew he was truly Christian.  In his Letter to the Galatians, St. Paul takes a moment to explain where he is coming from and why they should listen to him.  He explains that the Gospel he preaches is not of human origin, but comes from Jesus Christ.  Paul wasn't taught this Gospel, but it was given to him through a revelation of Christ.  He didn't make it up.  Furthermore, the Apostle explains that his conversion to Christianity wasn't a fluke or something he made up to get into their good graces.  He says, “You heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it, and progressed in Judaism” but when God called him, he didn't seek other people.  In other words, he is again affirming that he received all his information from God.  He ends this reading with the instruction, “As to what I am writing to you, behold, before God, I am not lying.”

          St. Paul needed to show that his conversion was complete and that he had a lot to offer as an Apostle.  He also needed to show that he wasn't doing this for his own pleasure, but that he was ready to give his life for the Gospel as Christ did.  In his Second Letter to Timothy, he writes, “I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.”  He is explaining to Timothy, a young bishop, how he sees that his death will be coming soon, but that he knows that God is with him and has helped him run the race well.  He is ready for death.  According to tradition, St. Paul was beheaded in Rome, a few years after St. Peter.

          Sts. Peter and Paul were not perfect.  They had to go through their own conversions to get ready for their work.  But when God finally called, they were ready to lay down their lives for the sheep of Christ's flock.  May their example inspire us to continue in the faith.