A Homily – Pentecost (Year B), A Holy Day of Obligation

A Homily – Pentecost (Year B), A Holy Day of Obligation

 

First Reading – Genesis 11:1-9 ©

Psalm 32(33):10-15

Second Reading – Exodus 19:3-8,16-20 ©

Canticle - Daniel 3:52-56

Third Reading – Ezekiel 37:1-14 ©

Psalm 106(107):2-9

Fourth Reading – Joel 3:1-5 ©

Psalm 103(104):1-2,24,27-30,35

Fifth Reading – Romans 8:22-27 ©

Gospel Acclamation

The Gospel According to John 15:26-27,16:12-15 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen

 The reading for today from The Book of Genesis is the story of the beginning of agrarianism. It does not represent an accurate historical recounting of the beginning of civilization, rather it is a mythologized understanding about how cities came to built, and the development of large agricultural centers.

 The reading for today does however represent a historical record of what the Israelites came to believe about how agrarian culture was established, allowing larger and larger populations of people to be supported, gathered into cities which were then fortified for their defense.

 The narrative surrounding the construction of this first “tower,” the tower of Babel, is also a story about the beginning of religion.

 In Mesopotamia these towers were called ziggurats, and they served a variety of purposes. They were granaries, they also functioned as temples. They were under the management of the priestly cast, and from the top of these towers ancient astronomers watched and recorded the movements of the stars and planets through the heavens.

 The reading for today functions almost like a fable, it is a cautionary tale explaining how the development of agrarianism created divisions among the people. In order to facilitate the construction of the tower and the city around it, a division of labor ensued, and a caste system came to be a permanent feature of agrarian life. People were separated into laborers, merchants, priests and royals. As time passed these castes became increasingly more rigid, and movement between them became nearly impossible for ordinary people.

 The moral of the story is not that God punished the people by dividing their languages on account of their pride and vanity, or out of some kind of fear that the people, if they were allowed to work together, would come to represent a threat to God in heaven. Rather, it is a story of how human beings are inclined to set themselves up as kings and queens, usurping authority to themselves through the aegis of religion in order to enslaves the people…which is what they did.

 Consider the psalmist, who is correct in saying that it is fitting to praise God. It is wise to trust in the counsel of God and to have faith in God’s mercy. Do not however, expect God to rescue you from danger, and you should not allow yourself to believe that God loves any one of God’s children more than any other.

 Be mindful.

 God knows all things and understands all things. God’s knowledge is not an abstract knowledge of the particular details belonging to individual events. Rather, God understands our person, our choices, our lives even as we experience and understand them ourselves, only with a clarity that we could never possess.

 When you hear the call to faith you are being called to trust in God’s plan for you, and to trust in God’s plan for creation. Therefore, do not wait for salvation, salvation is already yours, God has prepared us all for it, from the beginning of time…now go out and share the good news.

 Understand this.

 We must be diligent in our commitment to expose false theology. We cannot let our imagination linger over fables and myths, allowing them to be understood as concrete realities, without time naming them so.

 If we take these stories literally, we would have to uphold the tradition that human beings need an intermediary, someone like Moses to pass messages back and forth between human beings and the divine. We would have to accept the necessity of the priesthood. We would have to accept the idea that God, the creator of the universe, has chosen one tribe out of the whole world to represent God’s will to the people. We would have to believe in the absolute necessity of ritual washing before a person could be made acceptable to God. We would have to accept the notion that only specific chosen people, priests of various orders, are permitted by God to approach a sacred place and that God endorses the death penalty for those who violate these rules and rubrics. We would have to accept a myriad of beliefs concerning the function and nature of the blood-taboo. We would have to accept the idea that it is unclean to be, or touch a woman, along with some many other prohibitions and taboos that are rooted in un-truths that as servants of the truth, we cannot accept.

 Know this!

 We are all the children of God, and God dwells in all of us, God speaks to us in our heart of hearts.

 We do need to see God descending on the mountain, such an image is meant to be taken metaphorically, allegorically, not literally.

 Remember.

 There are no intermediaries, God speaks to us directly, male and female, Jew and gentile. God is not a king or a lord, God does not come in pomp and circumstance, blowing trumpets with tongues of fire, with drums and horns marching in a parade.

 God speaks to us quietly with a voice that is loving and respectful of the inherent dignity God has endowed each one of us with.

 God does not require or even desire our praise and exaltations, except insofar as those praises take the form of a mercyiful and generous bearing toward one other.

 God does not dwell in a temple; God is present in all places, in everyone, to everyone.

 God is not a king.

 Serve God through the love and kindness you show one another.

 Consider the wisdom of Ezekial.

 The bounds of death are no impediment for divine grace. God will cross any threshold to save God’s children, like the good shepherd going out into the night to save the lost sheep.

 Have no fear for the present, all time belongs to God. Time is a tool of the divine, it is a means for God to achieve God’s end. There is nothing done that cannot be undone; have no fear.

 This is the meaning behind this reading from Ezekial.

 Consider the again the wisdom of the psalmist and let us affirm our trust in God’s goodness.

 God made us in this world. God made us free, and the world itself is free from divine coercion.

 Remember.

 All who call on God will be saved; in the end every knee shall bend and every tongue confess their faith in God.

 The eternal God is the first source and center of all things and beings, and the totality of created order. The infinite God engenders all potentialities, and yet interferes with none of them, and the entirety of what is moves according to God’s eternal purpose.

 Consider the wisdom of Paul:

 It is wise and good to anticipate the coming of God. It is wise and good to desire to be in the presence of God.

 Anticipate that moment, relish it, cherish it but, at the same time remain present to the people and mindful of the events that are actually occurring in your life, shaping your relationships in your family and your community.

 When you are in prayer and your thoughts are unformed, when your feelings are unclear and when no words come to your mind, or when the words that do come are inappropriate for prayer; then be silent, quiet your mind, still the murmurs in your heart, let go of the voices; be silent and listen.

 Let your prayer be one of listening.

 Read the Gospel for today and know this.

 There is no deception in God, no falsehood, no fabrication, no prevarication. Therefor those who claim to speak for the divine must not lie or mislead, cover-up or hide the truth from the people.

 Know this.

 All human beings are prone to error, but there is no error in God.

 When those who have ascended to positions of leadership in Christian communities use deception to persuade you…reject that leadership.

 Some will commit errors because they are honestly confused, but many others commit error that are willful; they lie to you while knowing that they are lying, and they do it anyway; they do it for wealth, they do it for power, they do it to hide from their shame.

 Such people have abandoned Jesus, perhaps not completely, but in their deliberate deceptions they do.

 Know this!

 We have all forsaken God at one time or another, but God has never forsaken us, God never will.

 This is the truth. Let it serve as the foundation of your faith.

First Reading – Genesis 11:1-9 ©

The Tower of Babel

Throughout the earth men spoke the same language, with the same vocabulary. Now as they moved eastwards they found a plain in the land of Shinar where they settled. They said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and bake them in the fire.’ (For stone they used bricks, and for mortar they used bitumen). ‘Come,’ they said ‘let us build ourselves a town and a tower with its top reaching heaven. Let us make a name for ourselves, so that we may not be scattered about the whole earth.’

  Now the Lord came down to see the town and the tower that the sons of man had built. ‘So they are all a single people with a single language!’ said the Lord. ‘This is but the start of their undertakings! There will be nothing too hard for them to do. Come, let us go down and confuse their language on the spot so that they can no longer understand one another.’ The Lord scattered them thence over the whole face of the earth, and they stopped building the town. It was named Babel therefore, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth. It was from there that the Lord scattered them over the whole face of the earth.

 

Psalm 32(33):10-15

The Lord provides

Praise is fitting for loyal hearts.

Rejoice in the Lord, you just:

  it is good for the upright to praise him.

Proclaim the Lord on the lyre,

  play his song on the ten-stringed harp.

Sing a new song to the Lord,

  sing out your cries of triumph,

for the word of the Lord is truly just,

  and all his actions are faithful.

The Lord loves justice and right judgement;

  the earth is full of his loving kindness.

By the Lord’s word the heavens were made,

  and all their array by the breath of his mouth.

He gathered the seas as if in a bag,

  he stored up the depths in his treasury.

Let every land fear the Lord,

  let all the world be awed at his presence.

For he spoke, and they came into being;

  he commanded, and they were made.

The Lord confounds the counsel of the nations,

  throws the thoughts of the peoples into confusion.

But the Lord’s own counsel stands firm for ever,

  his thoughts last for all generations.

Happy the nation whose lord is God,

  the people he has chosen as his inheritance.

The Lord looks down from the heavens

  and sees all the children of men.

From his dwelling-place he looks

  upon all who inhabit the earth.

He moulded each one of their hearts,

  he understands all that they do.

The king will not be saved by his forces;

  the abundance of his strength will not set the strong man free.

Do not trust a horse to save you,

  whatever its swiftness and strength.

For see, the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

  upon those who trust in his mercy,

hoping he will save their souls from death

  and their bodies from hunger.

Our souls praise the Lord,

  for he is our help and our protector,

for our hearts rejoice in him,

  and we trust in his holy name.

Lord, show us your loving kindness,

  just as we put our hope in you.

 

Second Reading – Exodus 19:3-8,16-20 ©

Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God

Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Say this to the House of Jacob, declare this to the sons of Israel:

  ‘“You yourselves have seen what I did with the Egyptians, how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself. From this you know that now, if you obey my voice and hold fast to my covenant, you of all the nations shall be my very own, for all the earth is mine. I will count you a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation.”

  ‘Those are the words you are to speak to the sons of Israel.’

  So Moses went and summoned the elders of the people, putting before them all that the Lord had bidden him. Then all the people answered as one, ‘All that the Lord has said, we will do.’

  Now at daybreak on the third day there were peals of thunder on the mountain and lightning flashes, a dense cloud, and a loud trumpet blast, and inside the camp all the people trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the bottom of the mountain. The mountain of Sinai was entirely wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. Like smoke from a furnace the smoke went up, and the whole mountain shook violently. Louder and louder grew the sound of the trumpet. Moses spoke, and God answered him with peals of thunder. The Lord came down on the mountain of Sinai, on the mountain top, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain.

 

Canticle - Daniel 3:52-56

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our ancestors, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; and blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.

Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.

Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne upon the cherubim, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven, praiseworthy and glorious forever.

Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.

 

Third Reading – Ezekiel 37:1-14 ©

A Vision of Israel's Death and Resurrection

The hand of the Lord was laid on me, and he carried me away by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley, a valley full of bones. He made me walk up and down among them. There were vast quantities of these bones on the ground the whole length of the valley; and they were quite dried up. He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘You know, Lord.’ He said, ‘Prophesy over these bones. Say, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. The Lord says this to these bones: I am now going to make the breath enter you, and you will live. I shall put sinews on you, I shall make flesh grow on you, I shall cover you with skin and give you breath, and you will live; and you will learn that I am the Lord.”’ I prophesied as I had been ordered. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a sound of clattering; and the bones joined together. I looked, and saw that they were covered with sinews; flesh was growing on them and skin was covering them, but there was no breath in them. He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man. Say to the breath, “The Lord says this: Come from the four winds, breath; breathe on these dead; let them live!”’ I prophesied as he had ordered me, and the breath entered them; they came to life again and stood up on their feet, a great, an immense army.

  Then he said, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They keep saying, “Our bones are dried up, our hope has gone; we are as good as dead.” So prophesy. Say to them, “The Lord says this: I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this – it is the Lord who speaks.”’

 

Psalm 106(107):2-9

Let Them Thank the Lord for His Love, for the Wonders He Does for Men

Alleluia.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

  for his kindness is for ever.

Let them say this, the people the Lord has redeemed,

  those whom he rescued from their enemies

  whom he gathered together from all lands,

  from east and west, from the north and the south.

They wandered through desert and wilderness,

  they could find no way to a city they could dwell in.

Their souls were weary within them,

  weary from hunger and thirst.

They cried to the Lord in their trouble

  and he rescued them from their distress.

He set them on the right path

  towards a city they could dwell in.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,

  for the wonders he works for men:

the Lord, who feeds hungry creatures

  and gives water to the thirsty to drink.

They sat in the darkness and shadow of death,

  imprisoned in chains and in misery,

because they had rebelled against the words of God

  and spurned the counsels of the Most High.

He wore out their hearts with labour:

  they were weak, there was no-one to help.

They cried to the Lord in their trouble

  and he rescued them from their distress.

He led them out of the darkness and shadow of death,

  he shattered their chains.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,

  for the wonders he works for men:

the Lord, who shatters doors of bronze,

  who breaks bars of iron.

The people were sick because they transgressed,

  afflicted because of their sins.

All food was distasteful to them,

  they were on the verge of death.

They cried to the Lord in their trouble

  and he rescued them from their distress.

He sent forth his word and healed them,

  delivered them from their ruin.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,

  for the wonders he works for men:

Let them offer a sacrifice of praise

  and proclaim his works with rejoicing.

Those who go down to the sea in ships,

  those who trade across the great waters –

they have seen the works of the Lord,

  the wonders he performs in the deep.

He spoke, and a storm arose,

  and the waves of the sea rose up.

They rose up as far as the heavens

  and descended down to the depths:

the sailors’ hearts melted from fear,

  they staggered and reeled like drunkards,

  terror drove them out of their minds.

But they cried to the Lord in their trouble

  and he rescued them from their distress.

He turned the storm into a breeze

  and silenced the waves.

They rejoiced at the ending of the storm

  and he led them to the port that they wanted.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,

  for the wonders he works for men:

let them exalt him in the assembly of the people,

  give him praise in the council of the elders.

The Lord has turned rivers into wilderness,

  he has made well-watered lands into desert,

  fruitful ground into salty waste

  because of the evil of those who dwelt there.

But he has made wilderness into ponds,

  deserts into the sources of rivers,

he has called together the hungry

  and they have founded a city to dwell in.

They have sowed the fields, planted the vines;

  they grow and harvest their produce.

He has blessed them and they have multiplied;

  he does not let their cattle decrease.

But those others became few and oppressed

  through trouble, evil, and sorrow.

He poured his contempt on their princes

  and set them to wander the trackless waste.

But the poor he has saved from their poverty

  and their families grow numerous as sheep.

The upright shall see, and be glad,

  and all wickedness shall block up its mouth.

Whoever is wise will remember these things

  and understand the mercies of the Lord.

 

Fourth Reading – Joel 3:1-5 ©

I Will Pour Out My Spirit on All Mankind

Thus says the Lord:

‘I will pour out my spirit on all mankind.

Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men see visions.

Even on the slaves, men and women, will I pour out my spirit in those days.

I will display portents in heaven and on earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.’

The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord dawns,

that great and terrible day.

All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved, for on Mount Zion there will be some who have escaped, as the Lord has said, and in Jerusalem some survivors whom the Lord will call.

 

Psalm 103(104):1-2,24,27-30,35

Hymn to God the Creator

Lord, My God, How Great You are!

Alleluia.

Bless the Lord, my soul!

  Lord, my God, how great you are!

You are robed in majesty and splendour;

  you are wrapped in light as in a cloak.

You stretch out the sky like an awning,

  you build your palace upon the waters.

You make the clouds your chariot,

  you walk upon the wings of the wind.

You make the breezes your messengers,

  you make burning fire your minister.

You set the earth upon its foundation:

  from age to age it will stand firm.

Deep oceans covered it like a garment,

  and the waters stood high above the mountains;

but you rebuked them and they fled;

  at the sound of your thunder they fled in terror.

They rise to the mountains or sink to the valleys,

  to the places you have decreed for them.

You have given them a boundary they must not cross;

  they will never come back to cover the earth.

You make springs arise to feed the streams,

  that flow in the midst of the mountains.

All the beasts of the field will drink from them

  and the wild asses will quench their thirst.

Above them will nest the birds of the sky,

  from among the branches their voices will sound.

From your palace you water the mountains,

  and thus you give plenty to the earth.

You bring forth grass for the cattle,

  and plants for the service of man.

You bring forth bread from the land,

  and wine to make man’s heart rejoice.

Oil, to make the face shine;

  and bread to make man’s heart strong.

The trees of the Lord have all that they need,

  and the cedars of Lebanon, that he planted.

Small birds will nest there,

  and storks at the tops of the trees.

For wild goats there are the high mountains;

  the crags are a refuge for the coneys.

He made the moon so that time could be measured;

  the sun knows the hour of its setting.

You send shadows, and night falls:

  then all the beasts of the woods come out,

lion cubs roaring for their prey,

  asking God for their food.

When the sun rises they come back together

  to lie in their lairs;

man goes out to his labour,

  and works until evening.

How many are your works, O Lord!

  You have made all things in your wisdom,

  and the earth is full of your creatures.

The sea is broad and immense:

  sea-creatures swim there, both small and large,

  too many to count.

Ships sail across it;

  Leviathan lives there, the monster;

  you made him to play with.

All of them look to you

  to give them their food when they need it.

You give it to them, and they gather;

  you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

But turn away, and they are dismayed;

  take away their breath, and they die,

  once more they will turn into dust.

You will send forth your breath, they will come to life;

  you will renew the face of the earth.

Glory be to the Lord, for ever;

  let the Lord rejoice in his works.

He turns his gaze to the earth, and it trembles;

  he touches the mountains, and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord all my life;

  as long as I exist, I will sing songs to God.

May my praises be pleasing to him;

  truly I will delight in the Lord.

Let sinners perish from the earth,

  let the wicked vanish from existence.

Bless the Lord, my soul!

 

Fifth Reading – Romans 8:22-27 ©

The Spirit Himself Expresses Our Plea in a Way that Could Never be Put into Words

From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free. For we must be content to hope that we shall be saved – our salvation is not in sight, we should not have to be hoping for it if it were – but, as I say, we must hope to be saved since we are not saved yet – it is something we must wait for with patience.

  The Spirit too comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God.

 

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 15:26-27,16:12-15 ©

The Spirit of Truth Will Lead You to the Complete Truth

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness.

And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the outset.

‘I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now.

But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come.

He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine.

Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said:

All he tells you will be taken from what is mine.’in my power to take it up again; and this is the command I have been given by my Father.’

 

A Homily – Pentecost (Year B), A Holy Day of Obligation