267 lines
8.1 KiB
Text
267 lines
8.1 KiB
Text
2024 Homilies
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6-23
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This passage of the Gospel is one that makes it clear, that the followers of Christ, should be bold.
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There is no place for cowardice, whining, or complaining, no matter how difficult or disturbing things get.
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For our God walks with us, and he dispells the storm with a word.
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Pride is the wrong word.
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It's an assurance.
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A complete trust.
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A knowledge that even death is no obstacle for God.
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A first-hand experience of the power of God.
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A deep yearning to spend eternity in communion with God.
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We see it in the saints.
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They hold their heads high, they see tragedy as no major difficulty, they have a deep peace and lively joy.
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Becuase they know, the power of God.
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Jesus, today, asks us the same question: “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
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3-28
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The Passover is a remembrance of the time when God brought the chosen people out of Egypt, by signs and wonders.
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And at this Passover supper, Jesus, God Himself, prepares to bring all of humanity out of slavery to sin, through His death on the cross the next day.
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And how does Jesus spend his last few hours of freedom?
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He washes the feet of His apostles.
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Jesus came to serve, not to be served.
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And in this Last Supper, that is what He did.
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Giving the gift of the washing of the feet: an act of love and care, for those about to betray and abandon Him.
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And then giving us the gift of the Eucharist, so that He will be with us always, until the end of the age.
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Confronted with such generosity, given by the God-Man mere hours before he would be tortured and killed, should cause us to ponder our own lives.
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It reminds me of this quote by St. Josemaria Escriva in his book, The Way:
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"I don't understand how you can call yourself a Christian and lead such an idle, useless life. Have you forgotten Christ's life of toil?"
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3-10
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Satan loves the darkness.
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It is where he works.
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His tools are lies, deceit, and trickery; things that are only effective in darkness.
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////
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In our Gospel, Jesus uses the images of light and darkness to show the reality of our world.
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Darkness is not something created, it comes about as an absence of light.
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Darkness happens when a creature withdraws from God: pushing the light away, brings about darkness.
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////
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We see how this works in our own lives.
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We were made to be communal creatures, connected to God and to each other.
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When we withdraw from those relationships, things break apart.
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Secrets divide us, depression grows through isolation, aggression heightens with discord.
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Sin begins with disunity.
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////
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When God enters into our lives, it is as light shining in the darkness.
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Secrets are exposed, lies are uncovered, and the difficult work of healing broken relationships, begins.
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Again, we have seen this in our own lives.
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Those little feelings that something isn't right, the anxiety that comes creeping in as the euphoria of sin wears away.
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That's God speaking to us, calling us to leave the darkness, and enter the light.
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To rekindle that relationship with Him.
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God gives us perfect and complete attention at all times, and we begin to enter the light, by giving some of our attention back.
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At mass, in confession, daily prayer, reading the scriptures, acts of service, learning about our faith.
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In all those ways, we live in the light.
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3-03
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1.
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The temple was built on a mountain.
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There were many roads that led up to it, and quite a few gates to enter the temple compound.
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Along the main road leading to the temple, was a marketplace, where money changers and merchants sold things related to the temple: animals and cereals for offerings, garments, and of course the money changers to trade the various currencies people would bring from far off lands.
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Some scripture scholars surmise that this market road would spill into the temple compound on occassion, and this is probably what had happened in our Gospel.
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There were too many sellers, not enough room along the street, and so they set up shop in the temple compound. A place for prayer, was overcome with business.
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And so Jesus took his time, plated a whip, and when the moment was right, he drove them out. Zeal for God's house, consumed Him.
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2.
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Zeal is love in action.
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Zeal is the action of a lover towards their beloved.
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The Trinity is a community of love, and so in the Gospel we saw the love of the Son for the Father.
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That love consumed Him, and thus He cleaned His Father's house.
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3.
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It is a good thing for us, to ask God to help us love Him.
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To pray daily, that He may make us love Him.
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To beg for the gift, of a deep and abiding love.
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That zeal for His house, may also consume us.
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2-25
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In our first reading:
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"Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,
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and go to the land of Moriah.
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There you shall offer him up as a holocaust
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on a height that I will point out to you."
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And then in the Gospel, on a high mountain, God says:
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"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."
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////
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An only son.
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Born in old age.
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To a barren woman, made fruitful by a miracle.
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His parents loved him dearly.
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They had watched him grow from a little baby, to a young man full of promise and possibility.
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This son was going to carry on the family line, he was going to care for his parents in their infirmaty.
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He was their present joy, and their hope for tomorrow.
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And God said: take that beloved son, and offer him up as a holocaust.
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//
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What's not included in this selection we hear in the first reading, is that Abraham arose early the next morning, took his son, and began travelling towards the mountain.
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Who knows what the conversation between him and Sarah was like that night. We cannot know the tears and rage and pain that marked the sleepless night.
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But still, Abraham took his son, prepared to sacrifice him.
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Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. “Father, here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”
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“My son,” Abraham answered, “God will provide the sheep for the burnt offering.” Then the two walked on together.
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And we know God provided, at the last minute, an angel was sent to stop Abraham, and a sheep was provided instead.
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////
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We move to the Gospel.
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On another mountain.
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Another only son.
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Loved dearly by His Father.
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Born of a virgin, the child of a miracle.
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"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."
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God did provide a sheep.
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He will not allow us to sacrifice our own sons, but he will lead His own to the slaughter.
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A true sacrifice, giving us a feast of His flesh and blood.
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That is the love of our God.
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2-18
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1. The action of the Spirit
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In many aspects of His earthly life, Jesus acted as an example for us.
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In many daily life examples, but even in extremes like the crucifixion, where He showed us how to be murdered as one of His followers: forgiving our murderers as they kill us.
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And in our Gospel today, Jesus allows himself to be driven by the Spirit.
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This is for our benefit.
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Jesus and the Spirit and the Father are perfectly united in the Holy Trinity.
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But for our benefit, Jesus gives us the example of how we should live:
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Driven by the Spirit.
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2. Who is the Holy Spirit?
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The Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier: the Spirit makes saints.
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Those seven gifts of the Holy Spirit you had to memorize in Confimation class, and the 14 fruits of the Spirit (which hopefully you didn't have to memorize (that was the part of the test I failed when I went through class)), they are just the typical ways that the Spirit makes us holy.
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But that is just the tip of the iceburg. When we invite the Holy Spirit into our life, into the depths of our soul and heart, throughout our days and nights, the Spirit will drive us towards holiness.
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Sometimes that will mean praying when we don't want to, or helping with extra chores around the house when we've already done our part, or giving a kind word and a smile to someone, even as we are about to break.
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And sometimes, the Spirit will drive you into the desert.
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3. The petition we should make to the Spirit
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This Lent, ask the Spirit to drive you towards holiness.
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Beg the Spirit, to make you a saint.
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Pray daily, for the Spirit to move you outside your comfort zone, and into a terrifying and exhilerating life.
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Ask the Spirit, to drive you into the desert.
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