The Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

 A Homily – The Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

 

First Reading – Zephaniah 2:3,3:12-13 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 145(146):6-10

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 11:25

Alternate Acclamation – Matthew 5:12

The Gospel of Matthew 5:1 – 12a ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

God, the creator of the universe, God is not a lord or a king, God is not the leader of a nation, not now and not ever. God has nothing to do with human government. God does not intervene in the affairs of human beings or their politics.

God does not punish the rebellious because God has no stake in the conflicts that occur amongst God’s children.

Remember.

God calls people from the place of God’s indwelling, God draws a person to the divine from the place where they are, meeting them there and never leaving their side. God speaks to us there…from here where we are, God speaks to us that we may understand, talks with us that we may find wisdom, but this is only possible if we stop to listen, if we learn to discern divine counsel apart from the voice of our ambitions.

Consider the psalmist:

It is right to praise God, the creator of the universe.

It is good to praise God, with words in song, for God is the author of our being and God’s grace is the vehicle of our salvation.

The life of a single human being, even the total expanse of time that humans will have walked the earth, the sum of it will be consumed in a brief burst of light, a flash in the night, when our world comes undone, consumed by our star.

It is wise to understand this and reflect on its meaning; we are born, we breathe for a while and then we are gone; the earth itself will not survive the dying of the sun.

This is not cause for sorrow, it is simply the way things are.

Therefore, happy are those whose help is God, happy are those who assist God in the divine work of mercy and justice:

 

Who lift the oppressed,

          wherever they are

Who feed the hungry

and the prisoner

Who teach the ignorant,

          Wherever they are,

 

Who advocate for those that need an advocate, care for those who cannot care for themselves. Find those who are lost in their wickedness, tell them that they are loved and bring them home.

Consider the teaching of the apostle, his approach and method, understanding that the responsibility of a Christian, the duty of the baptized, is to participate in a universal priesthood; we are all called to mission, to follow the way of Jesus, whom we call the Christ. Consider the teaching of the apostle on how to share the gospel, the good news…that the divine will moves within us.  

 Direct your ministry to the lowly, the outcast and the marginalized; speak to them of their greatness. Remind those who feel unloved that they are loved; the lonely they are desired.

Assure the sick that they will be well, tell the poor that wealth does not matter.

 Speak to what is lacking in the direct experience of your sisters and brothers; state your faith without equivocation that everything will be made whole.

 Reverse everything, this is the art of persuasion:

 Speak to strength as if it were weakness, convince the weak that they are strong.

 Give the people something outside of themselves to believe in; let that lead them. Give them something they cannot see, touch, or hear, it will be irrefutable, unassailable and captivating.

 Know this:

The person who cannot boast of what is good or beautiful in themselves, will boast of their participation in the good and beauty of another; when their participation in it becomes a part of their identity will defend it to the bitter end.

 These are the arts of persuasion, the apostle was a student of rhetoric and he understood the principles well...as should we all.

 The teachings of Jesus cannot be treated like a shell game, though they are, and have been since the beginning, as Matthew’s Gospel illustrates, therefore consider the reading for the day:

 The way of Jesus is not a long-con, it is not a bait and switch, it is a simple teaching that cannot be controlled or owned by any one group of people.

 Be mindful of the second paragraph in today’s reading there is truth here, but the first paragraph contains the lie…which necessitates this corrective.

 God has hidden nothing from us, God’s spirit is the spirit of truth, God’s is the spirit of wisdom, the creation of the universe was an act of reason, its truths are wide open, they are plain for anyone to see.

 The wise and the powerful, the learned and the clever, the weak and the meek, everyone…everyone has access to the same truth, we are all present to the mind of God, possessing equal access to the knowledge of justice, the nature of  hope, and meaning of love.

 Who are the wise and powerful? Who are the learned and the clever? Who are the faithful and or the fallen? In every generation, the new group labels the elder group as out of touch, blind, privileged, in the dark, corrupt.

 It is an endless cycle, and the way remains the same, unchanged since the dawn of time: love justice, be merciful, do good, serve God through the loving service you provide to one another, walk humbly all the days of your life.

 This is the way; share it with your family, your friend, your neighbor, the stranger. Even with your adversary, follow the way.

 Just because a person may be wise and powerful, learned and clever, or a child of the church, does not mean they will recognize the truth when they see it, or act upon it when they do. Membership in the club is not a guarantor of any specific behavior.

 It is not your station in society, it is not how other people regard you, it is not the titles you have earned, or the ways that you have been marginalized that give us the tell on how you will fulfill the call to follow the way; what matters is what is in your heart and your willingness to trust in the content of your hope.

 Much has been written about the sermon on the mount. It is hard for me to believe that I would have anything new to add to that discussion, but adding something new is not as important as sharing the story itself, the story of how it shapes my perspective on the Gospels themselves, to share that perspective and keep the conversation flowing.

 In this teaching Jesus articulates a way of seeing the world, of living in society, of understanding our relationship to the creator; that reverses the social expectations that prevailed in his time.

 He might have said: the providence of divine belongs to all people, regardless of who they are or where they came from, or how far they think they are from the love of the God, no matter what creed they profess, or what traditions bind them. Divine providence belongs to everyone in equal measure, no matter how mush or how little they may think about it.

 The gentle seek few possessions, having nothing to guard, they are themselves unguarded…and free; by freeing themselves from their desires they have gained everything.

 Have hope…all sadness and all mourning, all suffering comes to an end.

 Strive for what is right and just, for the good and truths that are universal in scope, for fairness in what touches all people, give up your concerns for yourself and your tribe, for that is the narrow path that leads to misery, it is the broad road that leads to joy.

 Mercy follows upon mercy, as the sun follows the rain.

 All people will come to the vision of God, just as certainly as they will come to know their true selves, for the vision of God and the fullness of the divine is at the center of all people, connecting us to one another, making us whole.

 Accept the parentage of the divine. Take up the task God has set before us. Love justice, be merciful, make peace.

 The divine providence belongs to all people, the use of it comes through sharing.

 If you are abused and persecuted for the sake of peace and mercy; have no fear, the powers of sin and evil,  and the pain they bring, the reality of sickness and death, these are temporary and will end.

  

First Reading – Zephaniah 2:3,3:12-13 ©

In Your Midst I Will Leave a Humble and Lowly People

 

Seek the Lord, all you, the humble of the earth, who obey his commands.

Seek integrity, seek humility: you may perhaps find shelter on the day of the anger of the Lord.

In your midst I will leave a humble and lowly people, and those who are left in Israel will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.

They will do no wrong, will tell no lies; and the perjured tongue will no longer be found in their mouths.

But they will be able to graze and rest with no one to disturb them.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 145(146):6-10

The Blessedness of Those Who Hope in the Lord

I will praise my God all my days.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

  I will praise the Lord all my life,

 make music to my God as long as I exist.

Do not trust in princes to save you,

  they are only sons of men.

One day their breath will leave them, they will return to the ground;

  on that day perish all their plans.

Happy the one whose help is the God of Jacob,

 whose hope is in the Lord his God,

who made heaven and earth and all that is in them,

  who keeps faith for ever,

  who gives justice to the oppressed,

  who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord frees prisoners,

 he gives light to the blind,

  he raises the fallen.

The Lord loves the upright, cares for strangers,

  sustains orphans and widows;

  but the wicked he sends astray.

The Lord will reign for all ages,

  your God, O Zion, from generation to generation.

I will praise my God all my days.

 

 

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ©

God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, to shame the wise

Take yourselves for instance, brothers, at the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No, it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen – those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything. The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made members of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has become our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and our freedom. As scripture says: if anyone wants to boast, let him boast about the Lord.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 11:25

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom

to mere children.

Alleluia!

 

Alternate Acclamation – Matthew 5:12

Alleluia, alleluia!

Rejoice and be glad: your reward will be great in heaven.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel of Matthew 5:1 – 12a ©

How Happy Are the Poor in Spirit

Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up the hill. There he sat down and was joined by his disciples. Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:

 

‘How happy are the poor in spirit;   theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Happy the gentle: they shall have the earth for their heritage.

Happy those who mourn: they shall be comforted.

Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right: they shall be satisfied.

Happy the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.

Happy the pure in heart: they shall see God.

 

Happy the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God. Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

The Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

A Homily – The Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

 A Homily – The Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

  

First Reading – Isaiah 8:23-9:3 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 26(27):1, 4, 13-14 ©

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 4:23

The Gospel of Matthew 4:12 - 23 ©

 

(NJB)

  

Listen!

 It is an error to ascribe divine motive or action to any event that transpires here on Earth. God, the creator of the universe, God made us in freedom and the whole of creation as well.

 Be mindful.

 God does not confer glory on anyone, on any tribe or any nation, and God does not seek glory for God’s own self. The prophet was wrong to use this language, his error being the error of human ambition, representing the limits of the human imagination, it is a reflection of our sinful nature and our own obsession with personal pride.

 Glorification is not God’s concern, neither should it be ours. The prophet was write however, to speak of this: to speak of hope like a light shining in the darkness, which once perceived, gladdens the heart and brings joy.

 God’s light shines on us from beyond this world; we cannot always see it, but we will when we have left the world behind.

 Listen!

 It is wise to trust in God; it is less than wise to hold yourself in high esteem.

 Embrace God’s judgment!

 This should be easy for a person of faith who knows that God’s judgment never appears without God’s mercy, and that God’s wrath never appears without God’s love.

 Do not boast about standing upright. No one is innocent, and God already knows you, better than you know yourself.

 Do not shun your neighbors, even if you perceive them to be frivolous, even if they do not share your values or believe things contrary to your own beliefs; do not be quick to call them evil.

 Sit where you are invited, open your door to everyone; then will you be in the service of God.

 Be mindful of this, at all times be mindful:

 A house divided against itself cannot stand, and if it cannot stand, it cannot be used for any good, it will shelter no one, harbor no one, people cannot gather there, talk together, share a meal together or lift up their voices in song.

 Do not look to the pulpit or the person preaching there as the final word on the way.

 Look to the teaching of Christ, of Jesus who says this: no greater love can a person show than that they give their life for their sister or brother, which is exactly what Jesus did when the time came, when he was arrested at Gethsemane, put on trial and killed.

 Follow the way: love God with all your strength and all your heart and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, this is the whole of the law, and the wisdom of the prophets…this is the way.

 Be mindful, and be wary of the Scriptures, especially when the authors of the text are attempting to fit their narrative of Jesus’ life into a picture that makes it look as if he is fulfilling a prediction made by a prophet from past ages.

 In these cases the literal story is always false, it cannot be relied on for anything, even as a metaphor. Stories that rest on a false foundation are suspect and should be treated guardedly.

 Know this:

 Even if a prediction was made, and even if Jesus did the thing that was predicted, it is false to suggest that Jesus’ actions were in fulfillment of it…such a thing would be merely a happy coincidence.

 This truth is bedrock, we know it because the future is not predetermined, it never has been and it never will be. God and creation free.

 A prophet only speak of the future for two reasons; to engender hope and to warn of danger. There is no other purpose and there is no predictive power in it. A prophet, even when talking of the future, is always addressing a matter before the people in their own time and their own place. Prophecy is never meant to guide the lives of future generations, except in cases when the prophet is addressing an issue of universal truth, such as the nature of justice and mercy, which is itself timeless and unchanging.

 Listen!

 The Gospel writers were propagandists. They fabricated many of the details of Jesus’ life. They fabricated those details to suit their narrative about who Jesus was, why his mission was necessary, and what his life and death meant for the early church.

 In this narrative the Gospel writers place Jesus directly in the tradition of John the Baptist, they do it with the words “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” This is a continuation of that narrative, meant to harness the energy of John’s movement, after his arrest and murder. The narrative in the Gospel for today informs the reader of this, and that is its main intention.

 

First Reading – Isaiah 8:23-9:3 ©

In Galilee of the Nations the People has Seen a Great Light

In days past the Lord humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in days to come he will confer glory on the Way of the Sea on the far side of Jordan, province of the nations.

The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone.

You have made their gladness greater, you have made their joy increase; they rejoice in your presence as men rejoice at harvest time, as men are happy when they are dividing the spoils.

For the yoke that was weighing on him, the bar across his shoulders, the rod of his oppressor – these you break as on the day of Midian.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 26(27):1, 4, 13-14 ©

The Lord is my light and my help.

The Lord is my light and my help;

  whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

  before whom shall I shrink?

The Lord is my light and my help.

There is one thing I ask of the Lord,

  for this I long,

to live in the house of the Lord,

  all the days of my life,

to savour the sweetness of the Lord,

  to behold his temple.

The Lord is my light and my help.

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness

  in the land of the living.

Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.

  Hope in the Lord!

The Lord is my light and my help.

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17 ©

Make Up the Differences Between You Instead of Disagreeing Among Yourselves

I appeal to you, brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, to make up the differences between you, and instead of disagreeing among yourselves, to be united again in your belief and practice. From what Chloe’s people have been telling me, my dear brothers, it is clear that there are serious differences among you. What I mean are all these slogans that you have, like: ‘I am for Paul’, ‘I am for Apollos’, ‘I am for Cephas’, ‘I am for Christ.’ Has Christ been parcelled out? Was it Paul that was crucified for you? Were you baptised in the name of Paul?

For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the Good News, and not to preach that in the terms of philosophy in which the crucifixion of Christ cannot be expressed.

  

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 4:23

 Alleluia, alleluia!

 Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom and cured all kinds of sickness among the people.

 Alleluia!

  

Gospel According to Matthew 4:12-23 ©

 He Went and Settled in Capernaum: in This Way the Prophecy of Isaiah Was Fulfilled

 Hearing that John had been arrested, Jesus went back to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. In this way the prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled:

 ‘Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali!

Way of the sea on the far side of Jordan, Galilee of the nations!

The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light; on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death a light has dawned.’

 From that moment Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’

 As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast in the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’ And they left their nets at once and followed him. Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. At once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.

 He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people.

 

The Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

A Homily - The Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

A Homily - The Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

First Reading – Isaiah 49:3, 5-6 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 39(40):2, 4, 7-10 ©

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Luke 19:38, 2:14

Alternative Acclamation John 1:14, 12

The Gospel According to John 1:29 - 34 ©

 

(NJB)

  

Listen!

Be wary of the voice of God. Be wary! Be wary when you hear God speak to you, especially in private; what you perceive as the voice of God is almost always the voice of your own desires.

Be wary and be mindful.

God, creator of the universe, God made us all as servants, God made us all from light; through the service we provide to one another, to light we shall return.

Consider the wisdom of the psalmist: who declares that God is the God of mercy, and of listening. Bend your ear to God; listen with your heart. Stretch out your feelings and you will find the way past the troubles of life on Earth, through its filth and misery.

Seek salvation, seek wellness, seek freedom from your own sins and do not dwell on the sins of others…unless your intention is to forgive them, to help them shoulder the burden.

When you are beset with difficulties do not cast blame on others, rather look to yourself, to your own transgressions; seek relief from them by following the way, which is love.

Listen.

We have all been appointed by God to be apostles, to share the gospel, the good news of God’s love for us and the promise that God has prepared the way for our salvation, for the salvation of humanity, for the salvation of all people in all times and all places….this is what it means to be a Christian.

We are all people of the way; we are all saints in the making.

Remember this!

Jesus is not a lord, he is not our king, he was our brother; we have a friend in Jesus.

Let us dwell on this for a moment longer; God is not king, or a lord. The divine does not wear a crown. We do not seek glory as we struggle on the way toward salvation. As we follow Jesus we seek the lowest of the low, not the highest heaven, we seek to serve those in the deepest dark, returning them to the light of love.

Listen!

Do not repeat the errors of John.

Proclaim the truth, we are all born into the family of God; we are God’s children. We are not made the children of God by any power, not by a power that comes from within us, neither by a power that is external to us. We coming into being as children of God, in the Word, by the Word and through the Word.

Our status as children of God is as unconditional as God’s love for us.

Remember this always and consider the Gospel for today:

It was written more than one hundred and twenty years after the death of Jesus. None of its authors knew Jesus, or John for whom it is named, and not any of them, knew anyone, who knew them.

Like all of the other Gospels, John was not written by a single person. It was written by a community of people, and more than any of the other Gospels, this Gospel was written as pure-propaganda.

The Gospel of John was written with the intention of arguing for that community’s beliefs about who Jesus was, what the meaning of his life was, and what his death meant to Christians of their day, it was written to communicate their beliefs about Jesus to the world.

By the time the Johannine Gospel is written, the early church no longer had any concern about ameliorating John the Baptist’s followers, as they did when the earlier gospel’s were drafted. The ethnic Jews in John’s community had either become Christians already, or they were considered by the Christians in their community to be enemies of the nascent Church.

John’s Gospel is overwhelmingly concerned with depicting Jesus as the cosmic savior. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is the Word of God, who comes to take away the sins of the World.

In John’s Gospel Jesus is God.

When John the Baptist encounters Jesus, he provides witness to this. The Baptist does not Baptize Jesus, as he does in the other Gospels, even though he, himself is busy at the work of baptizing when they meet. When he sees Jesus approach, he announces to his followers that Jesus has come, a man greater than himself, one who existed before him (even though he was born in time after him), one on whom the Spirit of God rests, one who will complete the baptism of every believer, because he will baptize them with Holy Spirit and not mere water.

The Gospel of John was the crowning achievement of early Christian propaganda. Through this vehicle the Church transformed the man, Joshua son of Joseph, into the being through whom the entire universe came into existence (if you believe it).

This is what it is – and this is fine, but it must be understood for what it is: the expressions of faith and hope, not the recitation of history and fact; it is metaphor, allegory and myth – it is what it is.

 

First Reading – Isaiah 49:3, 5-6 ©

I Will Make You the Light of the Nations so that My Salvation May Reach to the Ends of the Earth

The Lord said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I shall be glorified’; I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord, my God was my strength.

And now the Lord has spoken, he who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to him:

‘It is not enough for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel; I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 39(40):2, 4, 7-10 ©

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

I waited, I waited for the Lord

  and he stooped down to me;

  he heard my cry.

He put a new song into my mouth,

  praise of our God.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,

  but an open ear.

You do not ask for holocaust and victim.

  Instead, here am I.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

In the scroll of the book it stands written

  that I should do your will.

My God, I delight in your law

  in the depth of my heart.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

Your justice I have proclaimed

  in the great assembly.

My lips I have not sealed;

  you know it, O Lord.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

 

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 ©

May God the Father and Our Lord Jesus Christ Send You Grace and Peace

I, Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle, together with brother Sosthenes, send greetings to the church of God in Corinth, to the holy people of Jesus Christ, who are called to take their place among all the saints everywhere who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ; for he is their Lord no less than ours. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and peace.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Luke 19:38, 2:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessings on the King who comes, in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens!

 Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation John 1:14, 12

 Alleluia, alleluia!

 The Word was made flesh and lived among us: to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.

 Alleluia!

  

The Gospel According to John 1:29 - 34 ©

 'Look: there is the Lamb of God'

 Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’

  

The Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)