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2008 A / 33rd Ordinary
Father Kevin J Forsyth
“Concerning Times and Seasons” ©
“Concerning times and seasons,”
says Paul, “you know very well that the day of the Lord
will come.” Having already
addressed the question of what happens to those already dead when Christ
returns in His glory, Paul now turns his attention to those who are still
living – those who will be alive to witness the great and glorious second coming
of the Savior of the world. The
Thessalonians had apparently raised the question of the date of the
Lord’s return and such a concern has been common ever since - everybody wants
to know or thinks they know! Jehovah
Witnesses have set the date for the Lord’s return as December 21,
2012. Paul simply responds as Jesus Himself
responded: we can’t know. The Day of the Lord will come when we
least expect it. It seems to me if
you’re expecting it on a certain date, it won’t happen. It will happen when it happens. The coming of the Lord will be as sudden
as the onset of labor pains and as unexpected as the thief in the night.
Believers
however, need not worry for they are already living in the light of
Christ. They are not wandering about
in darkness but are aware that the Kingdom is already “at hand” - present
in the world: present in the Church – in the living Body of Christ. Those freely choosing to live in sin are
in the darkness and under the influence of evil powers. Christians - those baptized and truly
living in Christ - have been freed from that dark realm, and thus are
already anticipating “the day of the
Lord.” We merely need to stay
alert, alive in faith, and attentive to the Lord, and sober!
While
we await the coming of the Lord we are entrusted with responsibilities
according to our God given gifts or “talents.” We, the Church, are the Bride of Christ
and our Bridegroom desires that we be as worthy as the wife described in
the Book of Proverbs, a woman of such great value and dependability that
her husband is completely trusting of her, having entrusted to her his
heart – the greatest of all gifts.
I
realize that heightened sensitivity about gender issues in this 21st
century make it difficult for some
people to truly appreciate this beautiful passage from Proverbs. The opening lines speak of a “worthy”
wife and her “value” to her husband, which may lead some people to dismiss
the praise of this good woman. This
is one of those cases where understanding the correct context of the
reading is vitally important.
Proverbs
begins with a depiction of wisdom personified - as a
woman. Wisdom is an attribute of
God, to be sought by every person, male or female, who wants to
attain true happiness, honor and wealth – in this life! That’s right, wealth! Seek wisdom first and attain wealth! Most people try doing it in reverse. Try it the Biblical way and you just might
be surprised. Seek God and His
wisdom first!
This
portrait of a woman at the end of Proverbs stands as a summary of the whole
book, depicting a woman who has embraced wisdom in daily life. The woman portrayed in this poem is no
shrinking violet “standing by her man” but a strong and resourceful woman
who manages her household efficiently and profitably and who extends
her care beyond the hearth - to the poor and the needy in her
community. She may not be a woman
who “has it all” but she is a woman who “does it all.”
We
are presented with only a small part of this magnificent poem from the Book
of Proverbs. The entire poem is 22
verses long and it might be well worth our effort to read it in its
entirety. For this woman displays
remarkable energy and initiative as a businesswoman as well as a household
manager. Written at least 2,500
years ago, this Book holds this woman up in high regard as an example of
how worthy women are! Think about
the culture of that time and the low standing women had in that
culture. The Wisdom of God is saying
this woman is how it should be! Incredible
for its time!
In
Hebrew, she is described as a “woman of power” and a “woman of
wealth.” We’re told she buys land
and works it herself, profiting from her own labors. Just like that commercial from the ‘70’s,
she “works hard for the bacon and
fries it up in the pan.” Yet, like
every Scripture reading, this text reflects its own time and customs. The tasks this woman undertakes
and her relationship to her husband may not match the experience of most
women today, but there is an enduring value to this portrait of wisdom personified. Like two of the servants in today’s
Gospel, she used well the “talents” that God gave her.
In
the Gospel, the Lord’s use of the word “talent” is ingenious. A “talent” was a coin – money –
worth about one thousand dollars.
But the word “talent” also means “ability.” So, on the surface it might seem as if Jesus is speaking about
money but rest assured He’s not. It
might also seem as if Jesus is speaking about our “gifts,” our “talents,”
our personal abilities. Ah but, maybe He’s not. Just like we’ve done with other parables,
we might have to dig deeper for the real meaning.
It
is certainly legitimate to apply this parable to our own lives as a call
from Christ to make good use of whatever God has given us. That’s just good stewardship. The important thing is not how many gifts or talents we have been entrusted with; the important
thing is what we do with the gifts we have been given. We are competent, capable creations of a
loving God. The responsibility
though for how well we grow is our own.
It is important to remember that this is not just a general story
about personal growth and development: that we are given something and we
make more of it. Like the old
saying, “What we are is God’s gift to
us, what we make of ourselves is our gift to God.” That holds true in
any time and place.
However,
this parable speaks of gifts and talents that are to be used for the
building up the Kingdom of God, not
our own kingdoms; not a personal
development, but a corporate development. The “talents” which God gives us may not
refer to our natural abilities but rather refer to the gifts of
grace, redemption, and the love of God.
It is these gifts we are to use and develop. For example, seeing love as a gift entrusted to us makes
sense of the comment at the end of the Gospel that those who have will gain
even more. Love grows only by being shared, not by
hoarding it – by burying it in the ground.
When love is shared, love is returned- ten, twenty, and even a
hundred-fold.
In
the Gospel today, we found a Master who entrusted his servants with various
responsibilities and that not all of those servants proved to be worthy of
their Master’s trust. Remember the
third servant? “I knew you were a demanding person. So out of fear…” You did notice he blamed the Master for burying
his talent in the ground and not doing what he could have done. The first
two servants took personal responsibility and did what was expected of
them. Not the third one. He took no personal responsibility and
ended up playing the “Blame Game.” “I knew you were a demanding
person. It’s your fault.”
I
wonder if that’s a reliable statistic – one out of three people will pass
the buck and blame someone else for their own thoughts and actions – for
what they have done and what they have failed to do. What do you say that in this 21st
century we end the “Blame Game” started in the Garden of Eden by Adam when
he blamed Eve for giving him the fruit he wasn’t supposed to eat and then Eve
blaming the serpent for tricking her into eating it. Let’s end the “Blame Game” and start
taking personal responsibility for what we say and what we do. The Buck Stops Here!
Let
us pray that we become “good stewards” of God’s many gifts to us, both
personal and corporate, especially His enduring gifts of faith, hope, and
love. And on that great Day of the Lord – whenever it
happens – (and I guarantee you it won’t be December 21, 2012), and on that
day may we be judged worthy in small matters and entrusted with even
greater as well.
There’s
an interview program on the Bravo network hosted by James Lipton. At the end of every interview, he asks
his quests the same 4 questions including “If there is a heaven, what do you want to hear God say to you when
you enter?” In the decade I’ve
been watching, no one has yet to give the Biblical answer. According to Jesus, in today’s Gospel, it’s
what we all should want to hear: “Well
done good and faithful servant. Come;
share your Master’s joy.”
And
when you get there, if you hear Christ begin to say anything else - duck!
2008 A / Feast of the Lateran Basilica of
Saint John the Baptist
Father Kevin J
Forsyth
“Zeal for God’s
House” ©
“Zeal
for your house will consume me.” John
writes that the Lord’s disciples recall those words from Psalm 69 as they
stand by and watch Jesus overturn tables, spill coins, and drive out
of the Temple - the moneychangers, the merchants and their sheep and oxen -
with a whip made of cords reminiscent of a cowboy from the old wild
west. (Sound effect) This is not normal behavior for
Jesus. Is the Lord having a really bad day? And do the
members of our Ladies Guild selling raffle tickets in the vestibule this
weekend need fear receiving the same treatment? (Sound effect again) Stay tuned!
Today the Church celebrates the
anniversary of the dedication of the Lateran
Basilica of Saint John the Baptist, built on land donated by the
Laterani family. The original basilica
in Rome was
dedicated on November 9th in the year 324. I say original
because the basilica now standing
on the site is not the original; in fact, the basilica has been
rebuilt several times over the last 1700 years. That’s not unusual: the present Saint
Peter’s Basilica in Rome
was rebuilt in the 15 and 1600’s because the magnificent structure erected
by the Roman Emperor Constantine was in danger of collapsing.
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem have also
both been rebuilt. Even the White
House was completely gutted and rebuilt during the Truman
Administration. Buildings don’t last
forever. People don’t either, yet Saint Paul calls us “God’s building” and the “temple of God.” Just as God’s presence dwells in His Temple in Jerusalem, God’s Spirit dwells in us, and we should treat each other and ourselves with the dignity and
respect due those ‘temples.’
But why do we celebrate this feast of the Lateran Basilica
of Saint John
the Baptist? The significance of
this Basilica for Christians and for Christianity is profound. It was the Roman Emperor Constantine, who
reigned from 306 to 337, who himself converted to Christianity and brought
the whole Roman Empire with him - bringing an end to an era of organized
and intensive persecution of Christians. To celebrate today’s feast is to
celebrate the freedom of the early Christian church and indeed, the freedom to worship wherever the
Church exists today. We also
celebrate our oneness with Christians everywhere as we recall the
dedication of that Church building nearly seventeen centuries ago; a
building where a spirit of freedom
took root, so that all Christians could worship openly and without fear of,
well, an early form of terrorism.
So it is not so much a particular
building we venerate today, nor a particular people, but a spirit of freedom that was born – a
freedom to worship without fear. As
Paul reminds us that we are “God’s
building,” it is the presence of believers in every time and place
who impart the faith and continue the legacy that was built upon the solid
foundation of Jesus Christ and His first disciples.
Even while Paul reminds us of who we are and what we accomplish,
he does recognize that divisions can and do exist in the
corporate church and these divisions must be reconciled and
healed or they will weaken the structure of God’s temple. Paul tells us to remember our oneness in
Christ and avoid splitting hairs in elaborate and contentious arguments
about Christian life and practice.
Get along with each other and treat one another with the dignity of
being “temples of the Holy Spirit.” For Paul, that is the “given,” or
the starting point, not the end or the goal.
But what about Jesus and the anger He
exhibits in today’s Gospel? What’s that all about? Is it the fact that there are
money-changers in the Temple
area? No, they were serving a
necessary function, exchanging Roman or Greek coins for the coins accepted in the Temple.
Was it the presence of merchants and the sale of animals? No, these were used for sacrificial
offerings. (Thank God animal sacrifice has ended!) John tells us this ‘disturbance’ happened
near the Passover Feast. There would
have been thousands of pilgrims in the city for the feast, all wanting to
visit the temple and offer sacrifice.
For this, the money-changers and animal merchants were needed. So then, what’s the big deal?
From sources other than the
Gospel accounts, we learn that the money-changers were notorious thieves,
exchanging coins at exorbitant rates, taking advantage of the poor
who could do little in protest.
We’ve all heard, “money
talks,” and the poor had so little of it; they had no voice. What outraged Jesus was this exploitation
of the poor took place in a sacred place - God’s Temple - where one would expect to find
the highest regard for the poor, for honesty and integrity. The Lord’s anger seems more than
justified; it is appropriate. ● A modern-day example similar to this idea is
the standard held today, regarding the recent pedophilia crisis we all
experienced. People do have higher
expectations of the Church and her clergy when it comes to the safety and
the protection of her children. It
is a disgrace from which our
Church is still recovering.
For our ‘edification’ today on this
feast of the ‘dedication’ of the Lateran Basilica, the story of the
cleansing of the temple reminds us of the nature of our churches as sacred
places where members of the household of God can safely assemble in mutual
respect to celebrate the presence and the life of the Risen Christ. It is our home away from home.
In eleven days - on November 20th
- we will mark the 25th anniversary of the dedication of this
sacred place. Built on the solid
foundation of Jesus Christ – and with a natural brook running beneath it,
(similar to the one under the Temple Ezekiel spoke about in today’s 1st
reading) – we remember the sacrifices of so many Catholics who built this
sacred place and have now passed on to their eternal reward – many of whose
names I’m sure are inscribed on the All Souls envelopes on the Altar. And we also recall the continuing sacrifices of many of the
original parishioners who are still with us, and of members of a new
generation - like me - who have joined this parish long after the original tent collapsed. For who among us is not reminded of these
things when hearing Paul’s words today, “Like a wise master builder I laid a foundation and another is
building upon it. Each member must
be careful how he builds upon it.”
Just as the people of the Lateran
Basilica in Rome
are doing today, we continue to build upon the foundation of faith
dedicated here 25 years ago. Each
one of us must be careful as we continue the building process; careful to
treasure who and what has come before us, and careful to teach,
preach, and live as Christ has taught us, treasuring each other as “living stones,” precious in God’s
eyes, and holy.
In 11 days, we will celebrate our 25th
anniversary milestone with a Buffet Dinner at the Continental Room,
honoring Father Vito DeCarolis, the pastor under whose watchful care this
edifice was built. ● It’s the strangest
way I’ve ever ended a homily but … tickets for $10 each are on sale
this weekend and next weekend only.
I hope as many of you as possible can join us, especially those who
were here with Father DeCarolis during the building of this holy
place.
Here’s to our first 25 years and may
God grant us many more years to come!
Announcements:
Members of the Ladies Guild are in
the vestibule today selling tickets for their Holiday Baskets raffle. And in answer to the question I asked in
the homily about whether or not they might be in for a whipping (sound
effect): No! As long as they give
you the correct amount of ticket you purchase and the right change.
2008 A / All Souls Day & Mass of Remembrance
Father Kevin J Forsyth
“The Purification of All Souls” ©
“Why do you search
for the living among the dead? He is
not here.” Those were the words of the angel to the women who came to anoint
the Body of Jesus early in the morning that first Easter Sunday. “He
is not here.”
Many
people visit the graves of their loved ones – on Easter Sunday, on
birthdays and anniversaries of their deaths, and on … All Souls Day. I have to tell you though, like the angel
told the women – they are not there.
Oh, their bodies are; their remains
as we call them, but what we knew best about them – their soul, their
spirit, their personality, their uniqueness – what is was that made them
who they were - and still are – that
is not there. It has gone -
gone on to a better place. Actually,
the best place there is: heaven, paradise, the kingdom; whatever word or
metaphor we might use to describe it - a place of eternal light, happiness
and peace.
We
who enjoy faith in Christ Jesus know we will one day join Him in His
Kingdom. What we are not sure about
is when. And I don’t just
mean the when of our death; I mean the when of our entrance into His Kingdom
after our death. Some people believe that entrance into
His Kingdom is immediate and automatic.
Is it? Do we go from here to
there in an instant? Or is there some kind of … delay?
The
Church has taught what both the Old and New Testaments teach – what Jesus
teaches in the Gospels: for those people without sin, the entrance
is pretty swift. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts (mmmm
donuts) that Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II wasted no time entering
paradise. For those, however, who
die with the stain of sin on their souls, the entrance takes a bit longer,
as these souls first need to be purified before entering the presence of
Almighty God.
Purgatory: probably thee most
misunderstood teaching of the Catholic Church. I’ll never forget the first episode of
the television series called “Desperate
Housewives.” In it, a mother of
2 twin boys, who apparently spend much of their day testing their
mother’s patience, spins around, squats down to their level, pulls out a
piece of paper from her, well, you know, and threatens her boys by saying,
“You see this paper. On it is the telephone number of Santa
Claus. If you two don’t behave, I’m
going to call him and tell him not to stop here this year.” Well it worked. Will it work when the boys are 21? No way.
They would have grown up. My
friends, when it comes to purgatory,
it’s time for all of us to grow up.
Whatever we learned in grammar school or CCD classes as a child,
or think we learned, (and our adult memories may not
be as good as our childhood imaginations
were), we, as adults may have to
revisit this mysterious ‘place.’ And
there’s no better time to do so than on … All Soul’s Day.
First
of all, purgatory is not really a ‘place.’
It’s an experience of
cleansing. The root word of purgatory
is “to purge” meaning ‘to purify.’ Webster calls it, “an
intermediate state or condition after death for expiatory
purification.” Listen to what Pope John Paul II wrote about purgatory in the
Catholic Catechism:
He
wrote: it’s the “final purification. All who die in God’s grace and friendship
are indeed assured of their eternal salvation, but after death they
undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the
joy of heaven. The Church gives the
name ‘purgatory’ to this final purification.” Ah, the Church gave it this name. That’s why this English word – purgatory-
isn’t in the Bible – a book of documents written in Hebrew, Aramaic and
Greek. Other English words not in
the Bible are Lent, Easter, Christmas & Trinity. The Pope continued, “Purgatory is entirely different from the punishment of the
damned, “hell.” The Church
formulated her doctrine on Purgatory by reference to certain texts of
Scripture which speak of a cleansing fire.”
Through the miracle of modern science,
people who have clinically died and have been brought back to this life again, have all spoken of,
or written about, their life after death experiences. Regardless of religion, they all
shared many experiences in common including: an enormous tunnel in which
people they knew and people they did not know, were all moving towards a bright light at one end of this
tunnel. In the Gospel of John,
Jesus clearly states, “I am the
light.” It is the Church’s
belief, echoed in Eucharistic Prayer
2, that Christ is that Light at the end of this “tunnel.”
Again, in John’s Gospel, Jesus
said, “no one goes to the Father
except through me.” Everyone, all God’s children, must go
through Christ, whether they know it or not, whether they believe it or
not. If they want to go to heaven,
they must go through Christ to get there.
What then is the advantage for us?
We know the truth! The truth
that sets us free! Free from fear – “blessed assurance!” The lighted Paschal Candle, the symbol of the Risen Christ, stands
up front today as a reminder to us that Christ is that Light to
which and through which we will all journey.
People who have shared this tunnel
experience have all said that it was a very cleansing experience, as if they were being ‘washed cleaned’ with each and every
step they took towards the Light.
Well, that sure sounds like ‘purgatory’ to me. I often teach children it’s like a shower
for the soul. The only difference
is, and I think this is where the confusion lies, water is not the cleansing agent, fire is: the fire of the
Holy Spirit. And that
fire is not at all like the fire
we experience here on earth.
God’s fire, the fire of the Holy Spirit
purifies. It does not burn, hurt or
destroy. The fire of the Holy Spirit
is the fire of the burning bush
on Mount Sinai not consumed. It is the
fire into which seven Old Testament brothers were thrown, but not incinerated. Instead, their torturer cried out, “Look!
They’re dancing! And there
appears to be with them one who looks like a Son of God.” (I wonder who that could be!) Again,
this is Old Testament. One
example from the New Testament: It is the fire of the Holy Spirit
which descends like tongues of flame
upon the Apostles – and Mary – at that First Pentecost, empowering them for
a new life in Christ!
People who have experienced this
tunnel have all said that it was thee most beautiful experience of
their lives. No one ever really
wanted to come back here. And
there is no chance at all
that anyone could ever head to that other place: a soul in purgatory has already made a
fundamental choice for God and can never be lost. Purgatory is not for those are going to
hell. Purgatory is for those who are
being cleansed for God. The devil
wants us as dirty as we can get!
I think the confusion came from
the Middle Ages - from a people who clearly didn’t understand the
difference between earthly fire
and fire of the Holy Spirit. I hope we enlightened minds of the 21st century do
understand. And if you still don’t, ask any charismatic or
Pentecostal. They’ll tell you all
about the fire of the Holy Spirit!
Having said all this, we might
logically ask, “Where are the souls
of our loved ones now?” Are they
still in the tunnel of
purgatory? How long does this
experience last? Well, I don’t know
but I’d guess that would depend on how dirty a person was – how much
cleansing he or she needs. All I can
tell you is this: Jesus has but one
full time job: as Savior of
the World – and He’s really good at it.
If it takes just a few moments in a Confessional for our sins to be
forgiven, why should anyone assume that it would take any longer for Christ
to cleanse our souls of sin in this experience
of purification the Church calls Purgatory? Again, Jesus is really good at His job as
Savior. Cooperate with Christ and
let Him do His job! How? Repent, that is, admit sin, and be
cleansed. That’s an important key –
we must repent by taking personal responsibility for our sins and by
making restitution in this life. If
we don’t make amends here, the time we spend in purgatory will last far
longer than it has to.
It should surprise no one that the
Bible is now on computer. Someone a
while back typed into the computer phrases like “be not afraid,” “you have nothing to fear,” “take courage;”
all those kinds of related phrases – they all basically mean the same
thing. He discovered that, in both
the Old and New Testaments combined, those phrases appeared a total
of 365 times – once for every day of the year. Do you think that’s a coincidence? That’s what non-believers say. Believers
call it a God-incidence! Something
God planned all along. And do you
suppose God is trying to tell us something, and has been trying to tell us
for a very long time? “Be not afraid.” “You have nothing to fear.” “God is love, and they who abide in love,
abide in God and God in them,” now and forever.
In memory of our loved ones who
have died, many of us do visit cemeteries and place flowers on their
graves. Some light candles by their
portraits at home. [At today’s 4:15 Mass,] or [In a few moments,] we will light the candles in
front of the altar in memory of the 34 parishioners who died since last All
Souls Day. While doing all these things, we remember how
they made us laugh and cry, assisted us in times of trial, celebrated with
us in time of triumph, sometimes tested our patience while helping us to
appreciate the mystery that is each human life as a unique reflection of
our Creator. And so we hope and pray
for our final reunion with them.
Saint Bernard once wrote this to a
dying friend, “I can never lose someone whom I have loved, someone to whom
my soul cleaves so firmly that it can never be separated, does not go away,
but only goes before. Be mindful of
me when you come to where I shall follow you.” In remembering our “dearly departed” we
also remember that they have not gone ‘away,’ they have only gone ‘before’
– “gone before us marked with the
sign of faith” to a place where we hope to follow. And if you’ll like your final journey to
God to be as short as humanly
possible, step into any confessional once in a while, get rid of the sins now, make amends, and later travel
as lightly and as swiftly as if … “on eagle’s wings.”
2008 A / 30th Ordinary
Father Kevin J Forsyth
Seeing God In Our
Neighbors ©
“When the Pharisees heard that Jesus has silenced the Sadducees,
they …” well, I guess they figured it was their turn to be
silenced! A scholar of the law tests
Jesus by asking which commandment in the law is the greatest. This question was frequently debated
among the Pharisees. It might seem a
silly question to us - wouldn’t the greatest be the first? What is the first
commandment? “I am the Lord your God you shall have no other Gods.” Is that what Jesus said was the
first? No, Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” That’s not the number one Moses gave
us! How about number two? What is it? “You
shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” Now, the name of God the Father is
“Yahweh.” Orthodox Jews regard the
name “Yahweh” as so sacred they will not even use it in prayer or
worship. Most Jews though do
use God’s Name for prayer and worship. We used
to use it in sacred song until a few weeks ago when Pope Benedict
directed that we may not use it anymore in prayer, worship or
song. But, I digress, is that the
second commandment Jesus gave us?
Nope, He said number two is, “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
What’s going on here? Is
Jesus unaware of the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses?
Jewish law – the Torah – had 613
distinct and separate commands called “precepts of the law.” 248 of the 613 were positive, as in “You
shall … do this.” 365 of the 613 were negative, as in “You shall not … do that.” What Moses brought down from Mount Sinai were the “top ten.” * The Jews had a command or precept to guide almost every
waking moment of their lives.
Keeping up with these 613 precepts would have been hard for a rabbi,
let alone a regular “Joe the Plumber” in the pew. With so many to remember and obey, people
were bound to wonder, “Are they all equally as important or can we
let a few of them slide by the wayside?
So the question posed to Jesus is
even tougher than we first imagined.
What commandment, out of 613 of them, is the greatest? This is an almost unanswerable
question. If Jesus were to single
out any one commandment, He would violate the belief that, since all
of them came from God, they all had equal importance. Jesus responds, not with a commandment,
but with a summation. Brilliant! The question came from a lawyer – they
were used to “summations,” so Jesus gives them one!
Jesus knows His Scripture and
wastes no time is responding. He
reaches back into the Book of Deuteronomy, (chapter 6, verse 5) and
responds “You shall love the Lord,
your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This quote was very familiar to the
Jews. It was part of their daily
prayers called the “Schema.” Then
Jesus reaches back into Leviticus, (chapter 19, verse 18) and adds, “The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ‘Like it’ in this regard means ‘equal to
it.’ Jesus presents a kind of scale:
a weight suspended by two ropes. If
one breaks, the other will as well. “The whole law and the prophets depend
on these two commandments.”
“Depends on them:” Our passage ends at that point, but a
question remains in my mind: Did the Lord’s answer silence the
Pharisees as He had earlier silenced the Sadducees? I looked in my Bible but no clue was
given. We are left to
speculate. Since no one uttered
another word, we might speculate that ‘yes,’ Jesus once again leaves his
opposition silenced in the dust! How
about us? Are we “silenced” as we
wonder if we “fit the bill?” Do we
love our neighbor as ourselves? Do we love God with our whole heart,
soul, mind and strength? These four
words are used to express ‘our whole being.’
We all know what these words mean in
everyday life: a father shouts to his son on the basketball court to “put a
little heart into it.” A Broadway
tune proclaims “you gotta have heart.”
Heart means enthusiasm, feeling, compassion, generosity. We have “soul music,” or someone is the
“soul of kindness.” Soul
means life, spirit, and breath. Our
mind is something we make up … or lose!
Mind is our intention, awareness, purpose, decision. And finally, our strength is our
power, or ability: “He has the strength of ten men,” or the weight of two
men!
Jesus uses these four attributes
of the human condition to express our ‘whole being.’ In summing up 613 precepts into 2, Jesus
does not cancel the “old law.”
Elsewhere He said, “I have
not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.” His fulfillment of the law, indeed our
fulfillment of the law requires that every aspect of our lives - heart,
soul, mind and strength - be directed toward God and in turn toward our
neighbor, in whom God also resides.
Everything we say and do should somehow be connected to fulfilling
both these equal commands. For
Jesus, these two commands cannot be separated.
Today’s passage from Exodus is
timely as it deals with our treatment of neighbors, especially immigrants,
widows and orphans. These three were
and are the most defenseless in society.
How we treat them is very revealing about our ‘character,’ both as
individuals and as a nation.
We learn in Exodus that God has a special love for them and offers
them exceptional protection. “You shall not wrong any widow or
orphan. If you ever wrong them and
they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will flare up and I will kill
you with the sword.” Yikes! Having
a bad day Lord? Or maybe we ought to take Him at His
Word! God commands His people to
never take wrong His ‘blessed poor.’
Scripture instructs that we are
all made in the image and likeness of God.
God has made a mold of Himself and each one of us is cast from that
mold. Yet, it is a most unique mold
as no two individuals are exactly alike.
Our challenge in loving God and neighbor is to recognize the image
of God in each other. Clearly, we
would like to think that we do love God, but as Jesus explains, if
we fail to love our neighbor, then we fail to love God present within that
neighbor. The scales tip – and maybe
even falls.
Seeing God in one another is a
tall order; much easier said than done.
Maybe we need to remember that the Lord’s brilliant summation came from the Schema – the Jewish daily
prayer, and that we need to pray. Who knows? Praying for our neighbors just might be the first step toward seeing
God in our neighbors.
Sunday
October 19, 2008
A
Prelude to the Homily:
You’ve a lot of paperwork to take
home with you today: we’ve got the bulletin, then a supplement to the bulletin,
and then an insert to the supplement, and at the exits, a pamphlet. I’ll be so happy when this election is
over!
First, the initial 4-page
supplement includes a letter from the Archbishop asking us to look at all
the issues carefully and let our informed conscience be our guide as
regards who gets our vote. On page 4
of the supplement are the responses (or lack thereof) from those candidates
from our geographical area. I’ve been
told the listing from our district is incorrect (it figures) as the
candidate is Tamath Rossi.
The insert to the supplement is
the statement from all of the Catholic Bishops in Connecticut asking us to vote YES to a
Constitutional Convention and the right of referendum on Election Day.
And as you leave, you can take
this pamphlet entitled “In the Voting Booth: A Catholic’s Guide.” In it you’ll read why we should
vote; that the Church does not tell us who to vote for; that while
we, as Church, are not single-issue voters, there are some issues that are
more important than others; and the 4 steps we need to take before stepping
into a voting booth in 2 weeks. It’s
a very well written, fair and balanced pamphlet. That’s why I chose it from among a dozen
available.
Just one personal note: there’s a
misleading commercial on television – surprise, surprise – who would have
guessed! The Commercial states
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is against a Constitution Convention
because, if we have one, it will be dominated by special interests. Well, that’s a ludicrous point
since that’s exactly what a Constitutional Convention deals with – the
special interests/issues that have not come up in the past!
You certainly don’t have a
Constitutional Convention to review the status quo! So, don’t be misled by that ridiculous
commercial. Having a Constitutional
Convention would be great to have, if only for the opportunity for our
schools to teach the kids about it - as it happens.
Besides, what are the politicians
afraid of anyway? The truth? Or perhaps more work! It will bring additional work for
them. What do you say we put them to
work!
2008 A / 29th Ordinary Sunday
Father Kevin J Forsyth
“When Will We
Learn?” ©
“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to
God.” This has been one of the Bible
passages used by the Church over the last 2,000 years to gently encourage
parishioners to place into the collection basket what God is due,
but it’s really not about
money. Oh, I wish I could say it is
about money, but it’s not; or at least only
money. “Repay to God what belongs to God.” That statement begs the question, “Just what
belongs to God?”
In the Gospel, some Jewish leaders
attempt to trap Jesus and thus discredit Him. When will they learn? The nature of a verbal trap was to ask an
opponent a question in such a way that no matter what the response was, the
answer will be wrong. I think my mom
used to do the same thing! The
Pharisees are in the lead here and they attempt to charm Jesus by faking
deep respect and admiration for Him as a sincere, honest and truthful
teacher. Don’t worry; Jesus sees
right through them! When will they
learn?
The question posed to Jesus
reflects a very controversial issue in first-century Palestine: Should Jews pay taxes
to the Roman government? The Pharisees
opposed such payment as being against God’s law. The Herodians, who were Jewish supporters
of Herod and allies with Rome
(“traitors”), supported paying taxes to the Roman government. If Jesus says that paying taxes to Rome is permissible,
He will be accused by the Pharisees of violating God’s law. If Jesus says that paying taxes to Rome is forbidden, He
will be accused of violating Roman law.
Either way, Jesus loses, but not for long. When will they learn?
The Lord response is quite clever
to this “church verses state” issue.
He asks for a coin.
Interestingly, when he does, the Pharisees immediately produce a Roman coin! Obviously the Pharisees do not shun any
economic advantages made possible by using Roman coins regardless of the
religious implications. This makes
them … hypocrites! Notice Jesus is a
gentleman and does not point out their hypocrisy. Besides, there are bigger fish to fry at
the moment. An easy question is
answered: it is Caesar’s head and inscription on the coin. “Then
repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
The traditional interpretation is
that the state has legitimate rights and God has legitimate rights and both
must be met. That is hardly an
amazing or even ‘clever’ response. It’s
simply supporting the status quo and Jesus regularly opposed the status
quo. But if you recall, I did only
moments ago say the Lord’s response
was clever. To uncover the
cleverness of it, we have to dig a bit deeper. Get out the shovels!
Based on God’s law and the nature
of creation, everything in heaven and on earth belongs to God. In relation to God, humans have no
right to make demands on one another.
Therefore, Jesus is saying that what belongs to Caesar is absolutely
… nothing! Everything belongs to
God. The ball is now in the
Pharisees’ court. It is also in our
court too, or should I say our court system. This “church verses state” is a hot
button issue that will never go away until all sides admit that everything
belongs to God and we are just the stewards of God’s creation – a basic
lesson in Genesis.
Accepting that everything does
belong to God, since He has created everything, than what is our response
to the Lord’s command to “repay to
God what belongs to God?” What
exactly belongs to God?
Being the self-centered people we
can often be, let’s start with the obvious: we belong to God! So we repay God with the gift of our
lives. Since my teen years, I have
had a poster with the words, “What
you are, is God’s gift to you; what you make of yourself is your gift to God.”
I’ve tried to live by those words making of myself the best I
can be. I’ve been among you long
enough for you to know I’m far from perfect, and as I look around the room
I take great comfort in knowing I’m not alone (smile), but I am
encouraged by yet another poster I have with the words, “I’m a work in progress; God isn’t finished with me
yet.” God isn’t finished with
any of us yet. If we’re “finished”
with someone, if we’ve “had it” with them, then we need to stop and
think. If God isn’t finished with
them, why are we? What makes us
think we’re better than God?
Doing the best we can do, being
the best we can be, is certainly one way we can, and do repay God for the
gift of our lives. And when you
think of it, it’s also a prime way we fulfill the fourth Commandment, “Honor your father and mother.” What parent hasn’t said to their kid, “I
just want you to be the best you can be.”
Our heavenly Father is no different from our earthly father - and
mother, in that regard.
The Book of Genesis instructs us
that all creation belongs to God – everything God has created: the trees
and the seas, the air and the bears, all humans and all animals. We humans are the highest order of
creation and God appointed us as His stewards – the caretakers – of all God
created. How well have we cared for
God’s creation? Did you know that
the people of the 20th century polluted or destroyed God’s
creation more in that one century than all humanity did in all of
the other 19 centuries combined? And
that’s nothing to be proud of. We
humans certainly have our work cut out for us in this 21st
century. Can we reverse our
destructive ways?
We heard of King Cyrus
today. We heard that he was God’s
“anointed.” God anointed King David
and God anointed his great (etc.) grandson Jesus Christ. God anointed other Jews, too. King Cyrus stands out like a sore
thumb. Anyone know why? Cyrus wasn’t Jewish. He was a pagan king, founder of the Persian Empire.
Yet, he served God’s will and purpose as God’s “anointed.” This is not so unusual as God will use whatever and whomever God wants to use in order to fulfill His will. And to find a recent example, we don’t
have to look far back into our history either.
Remember the “Holy Alliance” of Pope John
Paul II, President Ronald Reagan, and President Mikhail Gorbachev? From mostly behind closed doors, their
“alliance” brought down the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall. There
God used a saintly Pope, a divorced former Catholic, and an Atheist to
bring down ugly walls, an evil empire.
So, “repay to God what belongs to God” isn’t such a difficult thing
to figure out when we recognize that everything belongs to God. And apparently it’s not just a Christian
or a Jewish thing; it’s a human thing. And perhaps, if we really had a Dr.
Doolittle among us, we’d discover the ways the animal kingdom already
responds to God. You scoff at the
notion of animals serving God?
Stories of how animals serve God are plentiful throughout the
Bible. Give it a good read! When will we learn?
2008 A / 28th Ordinary
Father Kevin J Forsyth
“Bringing Our
Baptismal Dignity Unstained Into Heaven” ©
“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will destroy the veil that
veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations.” “The
web woven over all nations?” Up until 18 years ago, when Al Gore
invented it, Biblical scholars believed that Scripture passage referred
only to death itself. Now, with the
presence of the ‘world wide web,’ could that passage mean more? Stay tuned.
Isaiah writes that God will
destroy the veil or shroud that
has covered us, preventing us from seeing and understanding the ‘mysteries
of life.’ There will come a day when
we will see clearly and understand
fully everything that has perplexed or confused us. As the special insert to Eucharistic
Prayer 3 states, “we shall see you,
our God, as you are.” The cloud of doubt, the haze of hesitation will be
evaporated, and when it happens, maybe we’ll understand today’s Gospel
passage better! It certainly is one
of the Lord’s more mysterious parables.
What we can say with some degree
of certainty is that it is an allegory about the final
judgment. Now, since many people
today believe we are in the “last days” maybe this is one Sunday you might
want to listen more carefully and read the bulletin at home! Matthew, who writes his gospel around the
year 85 AD, is warning his community that the terrible destruction of Jerusalem in the year
70 AD – some 15 years earlier – was God’s judgment on the people’s
unfaithfulness. Think for a moment
about the unfaithfulness of people today.
Is God repeating Himself? Are
we experiencing the fall of the great American Empire? Stay tuned.
The Gospel allegory is about a
king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. Biblical wedding feasts are always used
as symbols of final salvation – they’re about happiness, dreams fulfilled,
plenty of food and drink, dancing and merriment. The initial invitations were issued by
the king – the Lord God – and delivered by the prophets. Israel was unresponsive to the
invitation. A second invitation
comes from early Christian missionaries, again to the Jews, who again
refused the invitation. The third,
and final invitation, is once again issued by God, but this time it is
extended to both good and bad alike – “Come
to the feast!” The wedding hall
is packed and it seems that the response to the invitation has been a great
success - but there is one more shock in store.
The king finds a person in the
wedding hall not wearing “a wedding garment.” He confronts that person who is very
surprised by all this, and then - to our shock - that person is “bound hand and foot and cast into the
darkness outside where there will be wailing and the grinding of teeth.” Yikes! What’s that all about? It’s actually a direct warning by Matthew
to his community then and to all Christians today. It means that ‘being called requires
more than just showing up.’
If you’re thinking about how
you’re dressed right now, and if you’re dressed well enough, and if not,
worry that if the king were here right now, he’d throw you out,
well, think again. It’s not
about clothes. I wish I could say it
is, so people would once again wear their ‘Sunday Best’ to this feast, but
it’s not about clothes. It’s about our
heart, soul, and mind – our attitude.
Remember Paul’s words a few weeks ago – our “attitude must be Christ’s!”
It’s about the dignity bestowed
upon us at baptism when we were “clothed in Christ.” It’s about wearing that dignity proudly
in all we say and in all we do, and bringing that dignity unstained into
the everlasting life of heaven. It’s
about being good stewards of the many good gifts of time, talent and
treasure God has given us. It’s
about fulfilling the old saying, “What I am is God’s gift to me; what I
make of myself is my gift to God.”
A husband and wife were looking
over vacation pictures. “Your sister
took this one,” the husband said.
“It’s when we were at the waterfall, but it’s strange – I’m not in
the picture. I must be behind
whatever this thing is that’s blocking the right half of the
picture.” “That thing,” said his
wife “is your belly. You’re in the
picture alright – you take up half of it!”
Like that husband, we may not initially see ourselves in today’s “parable/picture” of the wedding
banquet, but the parables of the Lord are actually interactive –
we’re in every parable somewhere.
You might think, “I can’t relate
to the parable because, the events are just not realistic. Who would refuse to go to a banquet
hosted by a king? Who’d kill the
messengers? Besides, the people who
finally came were simply the only people available – the bottom of the bowl
– and I’m a whole lot better than that!
Certainly, I’m not going to share the heavenly banquet with riff-raff
brought in to fill the hall!”
Well, maybe that logic isn’t
really ‘air-tight.’ We actually do
decline invitations all the time, and for many reasons. We decline weddings we don’t actually have
to go to; talks or presentations on worthwhile topics; and even 12-hour
prayer vigils. And there’s the
invitation to attend the Lord’s Banquet here each Sunday. And though logic would dictate otherwise,
we do choose work over such occasions because working overtime does
impress the boss, or Lord knows we do need the extra cash! We may not actually kill messengers but
some people sure do give the Lord’s messengers a hard time, even trying to
kill their reputations through gossip.
The fact that we are here, Sunday after Sunday, speaks volumes
about our commitment to God, His Son, the Church and this parish. You are one step ahead of the ones who
don’t “come to the feast.” But
again, showing up is not the goal; it’s not the end of the story. This wedding banquet – the Eucharist – is
a call for us to continue to look closely at our own lives and change those
aspects which don’t speak loud and
clear of our being faithful disciples of Jesus Christ – of living lives
of honesty and integrity – of being God’s good stewards. All those in Washington - the White
House, Congress – and Wall Street should hear this homily!
“Many are invited, but few are
chosen.” As much as we may not want to hear
it, we must prove ourselves by proper and fitting conduct. It’s not enough to just be invited and
show up, we must also be worthy to be chosen. ● I hated junior and
senior high school gym class. I was
never really good at sports – music was my forte – so when it came time to
choose sides during gym, I’d never be chosen first, I’d more likely be
chosen last. Sometimes, I feared
never being chosen at all. ● In case you’re concerned that you might not
be chosen, or might be chosen last of all, fear not and remember, “the first shall be last and the last
shall be first.” And until then,
as Paul writes, “I can do all things
in Him who strengthens me … (because) my God will fully supply whatever I
need.”
2008 A / 27th Ordinary
Father Kevin J Forsyth
“Two Tales of Two
Vineyards” ©
“Let me sing of my friend’s vineyard.” Oh, be not afraid! I’m not going to sing. I sang enough last Sunday. No, that’s how our Scripture passage from
Isaiah began today. And oh, what a
song he sings! This song was
written by Isaiah to be sung at wine
festivals. It’s in the form of a
ballad – a love song – and until the last couple of lines, it seems to be a
simple, pleasant love song about a vineyard – an unproductive
vineyard!
The song asks the listeners – the
residents of Jerusalem and Judah – to pass judgment as the
vineyard owner pleads his case against
his own vineyard! The hearers
would naturally agree with the
owner that the vineyard should be
destroyed because it was useless and unproductive. The proposed actions of the owner seem
appropriate and reasonable. Then,
right at the end, those last couple
of lines, Isaiah explains that the vineyard is the House of Israel, and
the people of Judah
are the plantings. Oh-Oh; they have
to pass judgment on themselves – on their own lack of response to God’s Word.
The final verse contrasts the judgment and justice God seeks, with
the bloodshed and outcry God finds.
It’s not a pretty sight.
Isaiah’s “Song of the Vineyard” is clearly part of the background of the
Gospel Vineyard. In fact, the
descriptions of the two vineyards and the efforts of the landlord are quite
similar. However, the Lord’s parable
in Matthew has become more of an allegory, with different characters
representing different people in Israel’s history. The landlord is God, the tenants are the
people of Israel,
the servants sent to the tenants are the prophets, and the landlord’s son
is … Jesus, who is killed by the tenants.
Just like Isaiah’s parable, Jesus’
version asks the hearers to pass judgment on themselves. The quotation from Psalm 118 about the “stone rejected by the builders”
reinforces that point. Then Jesus
adds a final line to make it absolutely clear that the story applies to the
rejection of the Gospel by many in Israel: the Kingdom will now be
given to those Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus.
Vineyards were surrounded by
hedges, which were extra thick and filled with thorns. The purpose of these thorny hedges was to
keep out the animals that would trample the vines and eat the
grapes. The thorny hedges also
served to keep out thieves who would try and steal some of the grapes come
harvest time.
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