A Homily – The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a Holy Day of Obligation

First Reading – Genesis 3:9-15,20 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 97(98):1-4

Second Reading – Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Luke 1:28

The Gospel According to Luke – 1:26-38 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 The reading for today from Genesis is a fable, drawn from the book of fables; we cannot take this narrative literally.

 Eve is not the mother of all living beings, this is a metaphor.

 The garden of Eden was not paradise, it refers to the early agricultural civilization of Summer. Adam, or Adamah is the one who came from the soil, a man who tilled the earth.

 This myth does not concern the creation of the universe. Rather, it narrates a critical moment in the history of the Hebrew people, know at the time as the Apiru, or Iberu. This fable recalls their transition from a time when they lived in a state of relative safety and security in service to the Sumerian Kings, followed by the hardship of exile and expulsion, whether self-imposed or forced as the consequence of a broken relationship.

 Consider the teaching of the psalmist.

 It is right and good to praise God, the creator of the universe, it is right and good because the created world is miraculous and beyond the scope of human comprehension. But never forget, God does not determine who will be victorious in combat or a given contest. God has no enemies, and in God, within whom all things exist and have their being…in God there is no conflict.

 Be mindful.

 It is not God’s justice that we demonstrate in our courts of law, that is human justice; when human justice approximates the justice of God…justice tempered by mercy, justice that is restorative, justice that heals…it is then and only then that justice is good.

 Remember.

 God is kind and faithful to all people with equal measure.

 If you seek to be an instrument of justice, then you must judge fairly, judge kindly and always keep before you the love God bears toward all..

 Remember the life of Jesus, and God; whom he called Father and consider this:

 Is god glorious?

 What is glory?

 The apostle informs us that God’s greatest desire is to be in relationship to us, like a parent who loves their children, desiring that each and every one of us comes to the full knowledge of the divine.

 There is hope in the knowledge of God, and the hope we have for ourselves, like the hope we hold out for those we love, is a hope that God wishes we would extend to everyone, even those we do not love, for that is the way that leads to the knowledge of God, and our relationship to the divine.

 If you think that God has promised riches and glories to be the inheritance of the saints, remember this, the first will be last and the last will be first. Spiritual riches are not counted in gold and silver and precious things; grace is a manifestation of love, we find it through companionship and friendship with God, and we discover God through our relationships with one another.

 Be mindful.

 God chose all of us, and in so doing God was determined to accept us as we are; God accepted us even when only the possibility of our being existed. God accepted us, poured forth the divine love and prepared a place for us according to the God’s will.

 God does nothing out of vanity; God did not do this so that God could hear us praise the divine name, and gives no special consideration to anyone, whether they follow the way Jesus taught…or not, whether they were the first workers in the field of good works, or came late in the day, whether they are more or less good…bad.

 Whoever you are and whatever you bring with you, God loves and has prepared a place for you.

 Consider the Gospel reading for today regarding the birth of Jesus:

 You must understand that the stories of his Jesus’ birth, beginning with the annunciation as it presented here, these are myths like the Genesis fable we discussed earlier.

 More significantly, they are intentional fabrications that amount to a heap of propaganda and outright lies. The Genesis mythology aggregated slowly, over the course of centuries, from an oral tradition before it was ever set down in script.

 The Jesus mythology was a contrivance from the outset, and the version of it that we inherited from the Church was ultimately a product of Roman imperialism, forever conditioned by the machinations of an empire.  

 Be mindful.

 The spirit of God Is the spirit of truth and can never be served falsehoods and lies.

 The annunciation did not happen as has been recorded, the spirit of God did not impregnate a virgin woman, that is not how we procreate.

 

First Reading – Genesis 3:9-15,20 ©

The Mother of All Those Who Live

After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’

  Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,

‘Be accursed beyond all cattle, all wild beasts.

You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust every day of your life.

I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring.

It will crush your head and you will strike its heel.’

The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 97(98):1-4

Acclaim the King, the Lord.

Sing a new song to the Lord,

  for he has worked wonders.

His right hand, his holy arm,

  have brought him victory.

The Lord has shown his saving power,

  and before all nations he has shown his justice.

He has remembered to show his kindness

  and his faithfulness to the house of Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth

  have seen the saving power of our God.

Rejoice in God, all the earth.

  Break forth in triumph and song!

Sing to the Lord on the lyre,

  with the lyre and with music.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn,

  sound jubilation to the Lord, our king.

Let the sea resound in its fullness,

  all the earth and all its inhabitants.

The rivers will clap their hands,

  and the mountains will exult at the presence of the Lord,

  for he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge all the world in justice,

  and the peoples with fairness.

 

Second Reading - Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12 ©

Before the World Was Made, God Chose Us in Christ

Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.

Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence, determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ for his own kind purposes, to make us praise the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved, and it is in him that we were claimed as God’s own, chosen from the beginning, under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things as he decides by his own will; chosen to be, for his greater glory, the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Luke 1:28

Alleluia, alleluia!

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!

Blessed art thou among women.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Luke – 1:26-38 ©

'I Am the Handmaid of the Lord'

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

 

A Homily – The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a Holy Day of Obligation

Observation - December 8th, 2023, Friday

it is warm outside

            for December

the air is dry

in the apartment

there is a jet overhead

I can hear its descent

engines roaring

on the way to its landing

 

there is laughter

on the sidewalk

women laughing

the first-full day

of Hanukkah

A Homily - The First Sunday of Advent (Year B)

First Reading – Isaiah 63:16-17& 64:1, 3-8 ©

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 79(80):2-3, 15-16, 18-19 ©

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Psalm 84:8

The Gospel According to Mark 13:33 - 37 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 Consider the words of the prophet and trust in God, God the creator of the universe and parent to us all.

 We are all laden with guilt, each of us bearing countless transgressions, every one of which has born fruit in the world, festered in our hearts and done real harm to ourselves and countless others.

 As the prophet says:

 We wear our integrity like a filthy cloth.

 Despite all of this, God loves us. God has promised to deliver us, all of us together, God has promised not to lose a single one.

 Be mindful!

 The psalmist misunderstands how historical events unfold, and how the will of God is manifest in them.

 Know this.

 God is the shepherd of all people, not of Israel only.

 God does not reside in a palace or sit on a throne, God is not a general at the head of an army. Such things are human institutions, built and sustained by human vanities; when we imagine God thus we do a disservice to the divine.

 The face of God shines on everyone; look for it in the face of your neighbor, in the face of your enemy, in the faces of those who persecute you.

 Be mindful.

 We all struggle in this world together and only the death of the body will deliver us from the human conditions, from the dilemmas we face or the machinations of other’s.

 We are all subject to the vicissitudes of nature, sickness and diseases…therefore be kind to one another.

 Know this.

 God did not rescue the Israelites from Egypt. God did not send the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Ptolemy’s or the Romans to punish the people. God did not destroy the temples and scatter the Jews into the diaspora; God did not do these things…human beings did, and God will not protect you or show you favor in this world.

 It is up to us, God’s children, to love, show mercy and care for those who are downtrodden…this is the task we have been given, it is our sacred obligation.

 Consider the words of the apostle.

 If you have been baptized you have accepted an appointment to be an apostle, to share the good news, 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.

 We are all people of the way…every single one of us is a saint in the making.

 Remember this.

 Jesus is not a lord, he is not a king, he was our brother, and is our friend.

 Jesus preached on the faithfulness of God, whom he called abba…father, and but God does not work in the world the way the apostle imagined.

 Be mindful.

 God is revealed in the good works done by one human being for another, whether they are done in the name of God which we recognize or some name that is foreign to us, or in no name at all; God is revealed in the good works we do, in relationship to one another.

 Be mindful!

 God will not steady you and keep you without blame, that is for you to do in the company of your friends and family

 God has made you free, whether you live a good life or a bad life is up to you. God will speak to you, from your heart; God will speak about the good life, but so will the voices of fear and greed, and hate, they will also speak to you from your heart, they will sing to you about the life you want and the things you desire or feel that you deserve…therefore you must discern.

 It is for you to decide which you will listen to, and because you are human you will vacillate, sometimes you will make the right call, sometimes you will fail. Whichever way you wander, God will forgive you, just as God asks that you forgive those who have harmed you. God will love you and ask you to accept the forgiveness of those you have harmed, ultimately God will ask you to forgive yourself…which may be the hardest thing of all to do.

 Remember:

 God is the creator of the entire universe. All lands belong to God, all seas, all planets, all stars, all galaxies, everything and everyone that is in them…the universe itself is the body of God, and we are all together in it.

 Consider the Gospel reading for today:

 We are called to diligence and mindfulness, to perpetual and continuous watchfulness. This is what it means to be in the way.

 The way of loving service is never ending, but so long as we are engaged in it, we are living in the garden.

 Love is love, hope is hope, and trust is trust…to live out the faith means to actively trust in the goodness, the mercy and the justice of God.

 To live in a state of hope requires that we extend the hope we have for ourselves, for our friends and our families, to the stranger in our midst, to the person who owes us money, to the person to whom you are indebted, even to your enemies.

 To be in love, you must be loving, tend the lamp and trim the wick…keep it lit.

 The way is like a river flowing, never still, flowing to the sea.

  

First Reading – Isaiah 63:16-17& 64:1, 3-8 ©

O That You Would Tear the Heavens Open and Come Down

You, Lord, yourself are our Father, ‘Our Redeemer’ is your ancient name.

Why, Lord, leave us to stray from your ways and harden our hearts against fearing you?

Return, for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance.

Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down!

– at your Presence the mountains would melt.

No ear has heard, no eye has seen any god but you act like this for those who trust him.

You guide those who act with integrity and keep your ways in mind.

You were angry when we were sinners; we had long been rebels against you.

We were all like men unclean, all that integrity of ours like filthy clothing.

We have all withered like leaves and our sins blew us away like the wind.

No one invoked your name or roused himself to catch hold of you.

For you hid your face from us and gave us up to the power of our sins.

And yet, Lord, you are our Father; we the clay, you the potter, we are all the work of your hand.

 

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 79(80):2-3, 15-16, 18-19 ©

God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

O shepherd of Israel, hear us,

  shine forth from your cherubim throne.

O Lord, rouse up your might,

  O Lord, come to our help.

God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

God of hosts, turn again, we implore,

  look down from heaven and see.

Visit this vine and protect it,

  the vine your right hand has planted.

God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

May your hand be on the man you have chosen,

  the man you have given your strength.

And we shall never forsake you again;

  give us life that we may call upon your name.

God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

 

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 ©

We are Waiting for Our Lord Jesus Christ to be Revealed

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and peace.

I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ. I thank him that you have been enriched in so many ways, especially in your teachers and preachers; the witness to Christ has indeed been strong among you so that you will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed; and he will keep you steady and without blame until the last day, the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, because God by calling you has joined you to his Son, Jesus Christ; and God is faithful.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Psalm 84:8

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let us see, O Lord, your mercy and give us your saving help.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Mark 13:33 - 37 ©

If He Comes Unexpectedly, He Must Not Find You Asleep

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come. It is like a man travelling abroad: he has gone from home, and left his servants in charge, each with his own task; and he has told the doorkeeper to stay awake. So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming, evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn; if he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake!’

 

The First Sunday of Advent (Year B)

A Homily - The Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), The Solemnity of Christ the King

First Reading - Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 22(23):1-3a, 5-6 ©

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Mark 11:10

The Gospel According to Matthew 25:31 - 46 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 Consider the words of the prophet, take them into your heart, for this is the divine injunction:

 Be forgiving.

 Be just.

 Be mindful.

 Be humble.

 Be watchful.

 Be caring.

 Look after the well-being of all who come your way; as you treat the stranger, so do you treat God, the creator of the universe.

 Know this!

 God looks out for everyone, the whole of the flock, all of humanity; we are all in God’s care, and God is determined not to lose a single one of us.

 God will seek out the lost, bring back the stray, heal the wounded and strengthen the weak.

 As the psalmist says:

 God is shepherd to us all.

 If we walk in the way of God, we ourselves will be a shepherd to our sisters and brothers.

 Do not dwell on the things you may lack, when our time in this world comes to an end it is not the end of all things. Life here is transitory. If we are hungry, we are hungry only for a time. If we thirst, it is but for a moment…there is a limit to our pain.

 Trust in God and find peace. In the end you will be fulfilled.

 It is not only because God loves you that God guides you; it is for God’s own sake that God blesses you. We are the body and when there is pain in the member there is pain in the whole.

 Know this:

 The powers of sin and death  are temporary, it is only God that endures forever, and we are children of the divine, we are one with God whose spirit dwells within us.

 Be mindful of the apostle’s words; he has a deep feeling for circular arguments.

 The reading for today begins in circularity, with Paul insisting that Christ must be raised from the dead or his faith, and the faith of Christians everywhere is in vain, because the faith of Christians everywhere is not in vain, he says that we must believe that there is a resurrection, and the risen Christ is the proof of it.

 This is not a reasonable argument or a rational basis for the faith...set it aside; it has no bearing on the main point of this passage, which is this:

 Sin and death enter the world from a single point in time, and it is another singular point in time that brings sin and death to an end.

 According to Paul, Adam causes the fall and Christ restores creation to its proper place.

 The scope of their work, negative and positive, is equal in that the scope includes the totality of all living beings: past, present and future.

 Listen to the apostle who understood our relationship to the divine:

 We are created all-together as one.

We are one creation in God.

In our failures and our faith we are one. 

 Remember this!

 God is not a king, a prince or a lord. The Church, following the way Jesus taught, can never be the extension of a royal dynasty, and should not be seen as one.

 Consider the gospel reading for today, it contains much of what is true, and much that is false.

 Let us begin with this:

 The glory of Christ is expressed in mercy, you will not find Christ seated on a throne, commanding armies of angels, with the nations assembled before him. It is the duty of all Christians to reject such images; they are a trap and they lead to fallacious thinking.

 What is true is this:

 Our love and fidelity to God and Christ is expressed in how we treat one another; rich or poor, weak or strong, right or wrong.

 Among the ancient Hebrews, both the sheep and the goats were integral to their community, the Hebrews tended and cared for flocks of each. Both the sheep and the goats belonged to the same community.

 We are one human family, we are not sheep and goats, we are never divided by God, we are only divided by each other, and we must reject all such efforts to divide us.

 In our human family there is good and bad, there are right and wrong; we all have both within us. We are called on to foster the good and forgive the bad; we are called by Jesus to forgive even those who do us harm.

 

First Reading - Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17 ©

The Lord Will Judge Between Sheep and Sheep

The Lord says this: I am going to look after my flock myself and keep all of it in view. As a shepherd keeps all his flock in view when he stands up in the middle of his scattered sheep, so shall I keep my sheep in view. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered during the mist and darkness. I myself will pasture my sheep, I myself will show them where to rest – it is the Lord who speaks. I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them.

As for you, my sheep, the Lord says this: I will judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and he-goats.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 22(23):1-3a, 5-6 ©

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

The Lord is my shepherd;

  there is nothing I shall want.

Fresh and green are the pastures

  where he gives me repose.

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Near restful waters he leads me,

  to revive my drooping spirit.

He guides me along the right path;

  he is true to his name.

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

You have prepared a banquet for me

  in the sight of my foes.

My head you have anointed with oil;

  my cup is overflowing.

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me

  all the days of my life.

In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell

  for ever and ever.

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

 

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28 ©

Christ Will Hand Over the Kingdom to God the Father; So that God May Be All in All

Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Death came through one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come through one man. Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet. And when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subject in his turn to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Mark 11:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessings on the coming kingdom of our father David!

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Matthew 25:31 - 46 ©

I Was Naked and You Clothed Me; Sick, and You Visited Me

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.

‘Then the King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Then the virtuous will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?” And the King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”

‘Next he will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink; I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Then it will be their turn to ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me.”

‘And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life.’

 

The Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), The Solemnity of Christ the King