A Homily – The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (Year B), A Holy Day of Obligation

First Reading – Apocalypse 11:19,12:1-6,10

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 44(45):10-12,16

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 15:20-26

Gospel Acclamation

The Gospel According to Luke 1:39-56

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 These myths are metaphors; the woman represents the Church, but only insofar as it adheres to the way. It is a dramatic narrative, written for a Christian audience who lived during a time of persecution, who saw their fledgling movement under threat.

 From a place of fear the author of the Apocalypse imagined that the Church would come to rule the world, like an empire or a monarchical institution. In keeping with this expectation he twists the future expectation of the Gospel into something grotesque, making the threat which the dragon in his vision portends, into something of a fate accompli. He displaces the woman who is full of light from her role as Church, in-so-doing the Church becomes the dragon.  

 Be mindful.

 Chrisitan hope is not the hope for political and secular power; the proper content of Christian hope is for peace and love and goodwill between all people. These hopes cannot be achieved through violence, usurpation or coercion, but through humility, kindness and compassion.

 Know this.

 It is an exercise in vanity to allegorize a life in service to the divine as to a royal wedding. Our service will not be rewarded with gold and perfumes, with flowing gowns and feasts...doing good is its own reward and the fruit is found in the seed.

 God’s servants are more likely to be beaten and killed, marginalized and imprisoned than to be regaled with ceremonious pomp, and only after much time has passed, if they are remembered at all, are the recognized for their service and what they gave us.

 Remember.

 God is not a king or a maker of kings, and God has no enemies.

 God servants pass away from the world and go to join the creator, as do all whom God loves…which is everyone.

 Those who go to their labors early receive the same wage as those who come late in the day. There is no special-boon granted to those who found the divine and loved God while they were alive and in the flesh, only the joy that comes of its own for living justly, walking humbly and providing loving service to those in need.

 Consider the teaching of the apostle who understand the way and knows that we, humanity, were created all-together; in God we are one creation…in our failures of faith and in our triumphs of the same, we are one. 

 Consider the Gospel reading for today and pay attention to the differences in the narrative traditions of the early Church.

 Tthe writers of Mark begin their story when Jesus of Nazareth, otherwise known as Joshua son of Joseph, was already an adult male at the beginning of his public ministry. However, the early Christians wanted more, and so the authors of Luke went back in time and narrated a fable about his conception and birth. In this fable, or myth (whatever you think it should be called) they attempted to tie up various loose ends in the stories that were being told about Jesus. By doing this they had hoped to unite different factions of Christians in their time.

 The particular narrative we are given today was meant to appeal to the followers of John the Baptist, by bringing forth the notion that Jesus and John were actually cousins, and that even though John was older, he was a follower of Jesus from the time he was in the womb, they double-down on this by subordinating John’s mother to Mary.

 It is a story, a fable, a myth; the whole thing is a work of fiction.

 This was an unfortunate development in the early Church because a great deal of theology and doctrine has been hung from these exercises in make believe, and because these fictions were in themselves naked political calculations meant to manipulate the burgeoning movement.

 The succeeding Gospels, each in their turn, reached back further in time and did so for the same purposes.

 For instance, the writers of Matthew inserted a confusing genealogy into the record; tracing Jesus’ heritage back to Adam, through David on his father’s side, while at the same time the Church asked its members to believe that Joseph was not his biological father.

 The writers of John open their narrative with the beginning of time itself and the creation of the universe.

 It is a sad thing to note, that what people opted to believe about these fables ended up being the cause of extreme, bitter and deadly partisan conflict among Christians...never mind the actual teaching of Jesus, which is to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you.

 Rejoice in the divine, rejoice that we who are infinitely less than the infinite God have received an eternal blessing; rejoice in God’s mercy, emulate it without fear.

 Rejoice, and oppose the continuing transmogrification of Mary into the dragon, a beast that would eat its own tail.

 

First Reading – Apocalypse 11:19,12:1-6,10

A Great Sign Appeared in Heaven: A Woman Adorned with the Sun

The sanctuary of God in heaven opened and the ark of the covenant could be seen inside it.

  Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth. Then a second sign appeared in the sky, a huge red dragon which had seven heads and ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet. Its tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and dropped them to the earth, and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was having the child, so that he could eat it as soon as it was born from its mother. The woman brought a male child into the world, the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre, and the child was taken straight up to God and to his throne, while the woman escaped into the desert, where God had made a place of safety ready.

  Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, ‘Victory and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 44(45):10-12,16

The wedding of the King

This is the time of repentance for us to atone for our sins and seek salvation.

Alleluia, alleluia!

My heart cries out on a joyful theme:

  I will tell my poem to the king,

  my tongue like the pen of the swiftest scribe.

You have been given more than human beauty,

  and grace is poured out upon your lips,

  so that God has blessed you for ever.

Strap your sword to your side, mighty one,

  in all your greatness and splendour.

In your splendour go forth, mount your chariot,

  on behalf of truth, kindness and justice.

Let your right hand show your marvels,

  let your arrows be sharp against the hearts of the king’s enemies

 – the peoples will fall before you.

Your throne is firm, O God, from age to age,

  your royal sceptre is a sceptre of justice.

You love uprightness, hate injustice

 – for God, your God has anointed you

  with the oil of gladness, above all your companions.

Myrrh and aloes and cassia anoint your garments.

From ivory palaces the sound of harps delights you.

In your retinue go the daughters of kings.

At your right hand, the queen is adorned with gold of Ophir.

Listen, my daughter, and understand;

  turn your ears to what I have to say.

Forget your people, forget your father’s house,

  and the king will desire you for your beauty.

  He is your lord, so worship him.

The daughters of Tyre will bring you gifts;

  the richest of your subjects will beg you to look on them.

How great is the king’s daughter, within the palace!

  She is clothed in woven gold.

She will be taken to the king in coloured garments,

  her maidens will escort her to your presence.

In gladness and rejoicing they are brought

  and led to the house of the king.

Instead of your fathers you will have sons:

  you will make them rulers over all the world.

I will remember your name

  from generation to generation.

And so your people will do you honour

  for ever and for ever.

Amen.

This is the time of repentance for us to atone for our sins and seek salvation.

Alleluia, alleluia!

 

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 15:20-26

Christ Will Be Brought to Life as the First-Fruits and Then Those Who Belong to Him

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.

 

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

Mary has been taken up to heaven; all the choirs of angels are rejoicing.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Luke 1:39-56

The Almighty has Done Great Things for Me

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

  And Mary said:

‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.

Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me.

Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.

He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart.

He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.

He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy – according to the promise he made to our ancestors – of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

 

A Homily – The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (Year B), A Holy Day of Obligation

A Homily – The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

 First Reading – 1 Kings 19:4-8

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 33(34):2-9

Second Reading – Ephesians 4:30-5:2

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23

Alternative Acclamation – John 6:51

The Gospel According to John 6:41-51 ©

 

(NJB)              

 

Listen!

God, the creator of the universe, God is not a king-maker; God is not a general leading armies and God does not desire sacrifices of blood and flesh.

God speaks to us of love and mercy, of justice and compassion, of tenderness and humility; God is the arbiter of grace.

Be mindful.

If you seek the divine, look no farther than your heart; you will find God through loving, and in loving you will be blessed.

Praise God through works of love; seek glory through service, in serving with humility.

Know this.

God’s greatness is exhibited through love. God has no name, therefore if you seek to exalt the name of God you will find yourself at a loss, and though it is good to praise the divine God does not desire our praise, what God desires is our co-operation in the loving work of creation...exalt that.

Listen to your neighbors, with a kind word you may deliver them from fear, God’s light will shine through you, and you will know it because it is the light of faith (which means trust), hope and love.

Know this.

With God there is no shame; the all-knowing God knows our iniquities, God knows us as we know ourselves, and God does not respect social status or wealth…God loves everyone the same.

Understand this: We are each of us like Job…in our own way.

Do not look for God to save you from your troubles, through faith in God you will understand how transient they are.

Look to your family and friends if you need to be rescued from some dilemma, look to your neighbor, remember the “good Samaritan,” the deliverance you seek may very well come from a stranger.

Know this.

All pain is temporary, but love lasts forever.

Do not fear; speak the truth. Avoid evil; do good.

God sees all, hears all, knows all, even your innermost thoughts, secrets, desires, and motivations, God knows your thoughts…even as you think them. Therefore, keep your mind in the present and give no attention to the things that may or may not come your way.

This is the way to peace:

Mindfulness…mindfulness…mindfulness and truth telling, mindfulness with compassion, compassion with patience, patience with grace; listen, see, feel…understand.

Pursue clarity, tell the truth, fulfill your duty with devotion, remain calm, practice mercy and forgive, be kind and share the divine grace in friendship with all whom you meet; do these things, act in these ways, promote these qualities in service to God.

Consider the teaching of the apostle and let us not dwell on the false claim he makes in his letter to the Ephesians. Jesus was not slaughtered like a sacrificial animal and given to God as a fragrant offering.

God does not desire the holocaust, and no one can stand in your place before the judgment seat. Each person is accountable for their own sins, mandated to forgive those who have sinned against them, and required to ask forgiveness of those they have sinned against.

What is important here is that we are asked to love one another, this is the appeal, to love another, show mercy to one another as Jesus taught.

Be Mindful.

God’s grace is not transactional; though love fosters love, there is always love and God is always with you…you do not have to buy a ticket to receive it, join a group or do anything at all.

Consider the Gospel reading for today, it is replete with theological errors, it could be a case study in the misapplication of metaphor.

The reading suggests that Jesus is the bread of life, like the mana that fell from heaven when the Israelites wandered in the desert…only Jesus, as the bread of life, is different.

Jesus, as the bread of life, feeds the spirit; its life-giving properties are not of this world, to receive it is a prerequisite for entrance into eternal life.

Understand this:

In the final verse of the reading, the gospel writers link Jesus, as the bread of life, to the cult of animal sacrifice; this is a common error among Christian writers.

The cult of animal sacrifice, bloodletting, killing, these have no redemptive value in and of themselves. There is no magic in it, God does not savor the scent of burning flesh.

The bread of life is a metaphor, it is not derived from Jesus’ actual body, the wine is not his blood. Rather, the bread of life is his teaching on the way, a mode of being that leads to a just society, one seeks the good of every individual.

To eat the bread of life, is to incorporate this teaching into your own life, for your benefit and the good of all people everywhere.

When the gospel writers get bogged down in their efforts to prove the authority of Jesus by appealing to his divine sonship, they forget that we are all the children of God. Rather, they should appeal to the simple authority of his teaching, measured by its truthful commitment to spreading compassion throughout his community, and doing so in humility with compassion.

Do not pay attention to the excuse making the gospel writers engage in when they tell you that no one come to Jesus except by the will of God; God wills that everyone come to the way. When the apostles and their heirs make these excuses they are merely justifying their failure to effectively communicate the real message in Jesus’ ministry and reach their audience.

The gospel is this:

God love you, and God loves us…we, all together. To serve God we must do the same.

First Reading – 1 Kings 19:4-8

The Angel Gives Elijah Food to Reach the Mountain of God

Elijah went into the wilderness, a day’s journey, and sitting under a furze bush wished he were dead. ‘O Lord,’ he said ‘I have had enough. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down and went to sleep. But an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked round, and there at his head was a scone baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. But the angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, or the journey will be too long for you.’ So he got up and ate and drank, and strengthened by that food he walked for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

 

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 33(34):2-9

Those Who Seek the Lord Lack no Blessing.

I shall bless the Lord for ever:

  my mouth will proclaim his praise.

My soul will glory in the Lord:

  let the meek listen and rejoice.

Join me and proclaim the greatness of the Lord:

  together let us exalt his name.

I sought the Lord and he listened to me:

  he rescued me from all my fears.

Look to him and he will shine upon you,

  and you will not be put to shame.

This poor man called, and the Lord answered him

  and saved him from all his many troubles.

The angel of the Lord will build defences

  round those who fear the Lord:

  he will come to their rescue.

Taste and see that the Lord is kind:

  happy the man who hopes in him.

Revere the Lord, his saints:

  for those who fear him are never destitute.

The rich are hungry and in want,

  but for those who seek the Lord

  there is no lack of good things.

Those Who Seek the Lord Lack no Blessing.

Let Peace be All Your Quest and Aim.

Come, children, listen to me:

  I shall teach you the fear of the Lord.

Who is the man who desires life,

  who wants to live long to enjoy good things?

Do not let your tongue speak evil:

  let your lips not utter deceit.

Avoid evil, do good:

  seek peace and follow it.

The eyes of the Lord are on the just

  and his ears hear their cries;

but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil:

  he wipes their memory from the earth.

The just cried out, and the Lord listened

  and freed them from all their many troubles.

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted:

  the crushed in spirit he will save.

Many are the troubles of the just,

  but the Lord will free them from all of them.

He will protect all their bones:

  not one will be broken.

Their own evil destroys sinners:

  those who hate the just will be punished.

The Lord will redeem the souls of his servants:

  those who put their hope in him will not be punished.

Amen.

Let Peace be All Your Quest and Aim.

 

Second Reading – Ephesians 4:30-5:2

Forgive Each Other as Readily as God Forgave You

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God who has marked you with his seal for you to be set free when the day comes. Never have grudges against others, or lose your temper, or raise your voice to anybody, or call each other names, or allow any sort of spitefulness. Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.

  Try, then, to imitate God as children of his that he loves and follow Christ loving as he loved you, giving himself up in our place as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – John 6:51

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven, says the Lord.

Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 6:41-51 ©

Anyone Who Eats this Bread Will Live Forever

The Jews were complaining to each other about Jesus, because he had said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ ‘Surely this is Jesus son of Joseph’ they said. ‘We know his father and mother. How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’

Jesus said in reply, ‘Stop complaining to each other.

‘No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets:

They will all be taught by God, and to hear the teaching of the Father, and learn from it,

is to come to me.

Not that anybody has seen the Father, except the one who comes from God: he has seen the Father.

I tell you most solemnly, everybody who believes has eternal life.

‘I am the bread of life.

Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a man may eat it and not die.

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.

Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.’

 

A Homily – The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Observation - August 9th, 2024, Friday

a cool morning in in August

my windows are open,

a small dog is barking

 

a bus slows to a stop on thirty-seventh

a hydraulic hiss issues forth when it stops

 

green leaves silhouetted

            against a silver sky

turning circles on the tips

            of crooked fingers

beckoning to me

      to come outside

A Homily – The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

First Reading – Exodus 16:2-4,12-15

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 77(78):3-4,23-25,54

Second Reading – Ephesians 4:17,20-24

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:6

Alternative Acclamation – Matthew 4:4

The Gospel According to John 6:24-35 ©

 

(NJB)              

 

Listen!

God did not feed the Israelites in the desert, they gathered its natural fodder, and called it a miracle. This mana in the desert was received as a miracle, and consumed in a spirit of thanksgiving, but it was not a supernatural event.

Insisting that the myths of our ancestors represent a historical record of fundamental truths does not make them so. Our insistence does not turn allegories into actualities, or even present these metaphors as something suitable for modern theology, or philosophical exploration…we must handle them with care.

God, the creator of the universe, never intervened in the lives of people in the ways that are recorded in the Book of Exodus, or the Psalms; God is not a magician, or a miracle maker. The creator made us and the entire universe in a state of radical freedom, free from all forms of divine coercions; God does not reach into the world to change the fate of nations.

Consider the wisdom of the apostle who encourages us to enter into the life of God and be renewed. Share in the divine providence, in God’s abundance; cast off your old ways of greed, envy, fear and despair. Share abundantly and without reservation, even in times of scarcity.

Live as Jesus lived, he showed us the way to lead a truthful life, and dedicate yourself to the good of all God’s children…which means everyone.

If we live merely to eat, we are no different than the beasts of field and forest, following our noses and the hunger in our bellies, ruled by thirst and the vicissitudes of desire.

We can be more than that, we were made to be more than that, to look beyond ourselves, to be drawn out of ourselves, to see in our neighbors another-self and the divine spark that unites us spiritually.

We may be transcendent by following the way.

Consider the Gospel reading for today.

God is the author of all life, not each and every instance of pro-generation, but of the entirety of life’s potential fulfilled in each and every case. We do not come into life by believing in it, we come into life through the crucible of birth.

We were made not just for life in this world, but for life everlasting. We do not acquire everlasting life through the power of our belief, or any power of our own, but through grace, which we are endowed…it is a gift that comes directly from the divine.

Jesus calls us to have faith in this proposition, and by our faith to free ourselves from our present fears. In this way we are able to love one another, to care for our sisters and brothers, even the stranger among us; a just society is not possible without it.

Know this.

Jesus does not call on us to believe in his name, the title that were given him after his death, or the supernatural powers that were attributed to him in the generations that followed.

Jesus calls on us to believe in God’s plan for creation, to believe that the world is good, and that justice and mercy are possible to the extent that we act in accordance with those beliefs…this faith is the bread of life.

First Reading – Exodus 16:2-4,12-15

The Lord Sends Manna from Heaven

The whole community of the sons of Israel began to complain against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and said to them, ‘Why did we not die at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we were able to sit down to pans of meat and could eat bread to our heart’s content! As it is, you have brought us to this wilderness to starve this whole company to death!’

  Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now I will rain down bread for you from the heavens. Each day the people are to go out and gather the day’s portion; I propose to test them in this way to see whether they will follow my law or not.

  ‘I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel. Say this to them, “Between the two evenings you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have bread to your heart’s content. Then you will learn that I, the Lord, am your God.”’

  And so it came about: quails flew up in the evening, and they covered the camp; in the morning there was a coating of dew all round the camp. When the coating of dew lifted, there on the surface of the desert was a thing delicate, powdery, as fine as hoarfrost on the ground. When they saw this, the sons of Israel said to one another, ‘What is that?’ not knowing what it was. ‘That,’ said Moses to them, ‘is the bread the Lord gives you to eat.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 77(78):3-4,23-25,54

Our fathers have told us of the might of the Lord and the marvellous deeds he has done.

Alleluia.

Listen, my people, to my teaching;

  open your ears to the words of my mouth.

I shall open my mouth in explanation,

  I shall tell of the secrets of the past.

All that we have heard and know –

  all that our fathers told us –

  we shall not hide it from their descendants,

but will tell to a new generation

  the praise of the Lord, and his power,

  and the wonders that he worked.

He set up a covenant with Jacob,

  he gave a law to Israel;

he commanded our ancestors to pass it on to their children,

  so that the next generation would know it,

  the children yet to be born.

They shall rise up and tell the story to their children,

  so that they put their trust in God,

so that they do not forget the works of God,

  so that they keep his commandments;

so that they do not become like their fathers,

  rebellious and troublesome,

a generation of fickle hearts,

  of souls unfaithful to God.

The sons of Ephraim, the bowmen,

  fled when it came to battle;

they did not keep their covenant with God,

  they refused to follow his law.

They forgot his deeds

  and the wonders he had shown them.

In front of their ancestors he had worked his wonders,

  in the land of Egypt, in the plains of Tanis.

He divided the sea and led them across,

  he held back the waters as if in a bag.

He led them in a cloud by day;

  and through the night, in the light of fire.

He split the rock in the desert

  and gave them water as if from bottomless depths.

He brought forth streams from the rock

  and made the waters flow down in rivers.

Still they insisted on sinning against him,

  they stirred up the wrath of the Most High in the desert.

They put God to the test in their hearts,

  asking for food, their desire.

They spoke out against God, saying

  “Can God lay a table in the wilderness?”

He struck the rock, and the waters poured out,

  and the streams were full to overflowing;

“But can he give us bread?

  Can he give meat to his people?”

The Lord heard all this, and he flared up in anger.

  Fire blazed against Jacob,

  his wrath rose up against Israel.

All this, because they had no faith in God,

  they had no trust in his saving power.

He commanded the clouds nevertheless,

  and opened the doors of the heavens.

Manna rained down for them to eat:

  he gave them the bread of heaven.

Men ate the food of angels;

  he gave them provisions in abundance.

In heaven he stirred up the east wind,

  he brought the south wind, by his power:

he rained meat on them as if it were dust,

  winged birds, like the sands of the sea,

to fall in the middle of their camp,

  all around their tents.

They ate and were full to bursting,

  and so he gave them their desire.

In the middle of their enjoyment,

  when the food was still in their mouths,

the wrath of God rose up against them,

  and slew the healthiest among them,

  and laid low the flower of Israel.

All this – and still they sinned,

  still they had no faith in his wonders.

He made their days vanish in a breath,

  their years in a headlong rush.

Whenever he was killing them, they sought him,

  repented and came back to him at dawn:

they remembered that God is their helper,

  that God, the Most High, is their saviour;

but their speech to him was only flattery:

  they lied to him with their tongues,

their hearts were dishonest towards him,

  they did not keep his covenant.

But the Lord is merciful:

  he forgives sin, he does not destroy.

Always he turned aside his anger,

  held back from unleashing all his wrath.

He remembered that they were flesh –

  a breath, that goes and does not return.

Alleluia!

They remembered that God was their helper and their redeemer.

Alleluia!

 

Second Reading – Ephesians 4:17,20-24

Put Aside Your Old Self and Put on the New

I want to urge you in the name of the Lord, not to go on living the aimless kind of life that pagans live. Now that is hardly the way you have learnt from Christ, unless you failed to hear him properly when you were taught what the truth is in Jesus. You must give up your old way of life; you must put aside your old self, which gets corrupted by following illusory desires. Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way, in the goodness and holiness of the truth.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:6

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord; No one can come to the Father except through me.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – Matthew 4:4

Alleluia, alleluia!

Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 6:24-35 ©

It is My Father Who Gives You the Bread from Heaven; I Am the Bread of Life

When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’

Jesus answered:

‘I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.

Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life,

the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’

Then they said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.’ So they said, ‘What sign will you give to show us that we should believe in you? What work will you do? Our fathers had manna to eat in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’

Jesus answered:

‘I tell you most solemnly, it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread; for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’

‘Sir,’ they said ‘give us that bread always.’

Jesus answered:

‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst.’

 

A Homily – The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Alexander Solzhenitsyn – Author, Nobel Laureate, Hero

I will say without equivocation that Alexander Solzhenitsyn is the greatest Russian author of all time, even greater than the great Dostoyevsky, surpassing by orders of magnitude the likes of Tolstoy; he is perhaps the greatest author of all time…and this is no trifling estimation.

I first encountered his classic novella, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich when I was in my late teens, just a little book that could be read in an afternoon, but it was heavy and it was deep.

I read it slowly, forming every word in my mouth, pushing them out with my breath…quietly, nearly silently. I read it aloud to facilitate my understanding.

In my early twenties I was still heavily involved with reading other authors in the Russian cannon. It took some time for me to get to Solzhenitsyn’s other writing, like the Gulag Archipelago for which he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, but when I came to it, I found it life changing.

Solzhenitsyn said the Archipelago was more of an exercise in journalism than literature; he was surprised by how well it was received, though he should not have been. Its principal achievement was the personalization of the gulag experience which he was able to do because he himself had been a victim of it.

He put a human face on the collected suffering imposed by the Soviet state on all of its citizens by exposing to the world the systematic injustice of the gulag system, and the threat of it which hung over everyone (and still does today).

Solzhenitsyn was born in Russia, in 1918, just after the Bolshevik Revolution. He served in the Russian Army during World War II. In 1944 he was decorated for valor in combat and Awarded the Order of the Red Star, but in 1945 he was arrested for saying derogatory things about the government in private correspondence. These were statements that he did not publish but were merely shared between himself and a friend.

He spent eight years in the gulags after his conviction.

Surviving World War II and the Russian gulags are themselves heroic feats, feats for which any person is deserving of recognition. His status as a Nobel Laureate is another thing that marks him as a person of significance. But…what makes Solzhenitsyn a hero to me is his insight into human nature and his profound ability to communicate that insight through the poetry of prose.

In my early thirties I read more of his books: October 1914 and The First Circle. I was awed by the way in which he could present the myriad forces: societal, intellectual, spiritual and emotional that vector-in on the complex matrix of concerns that comprises the motivations and shapes the intentions of individual persons.

Solzhenitsyn was able to portray the movement of those currents and shifting vectors in the matrix, in a way that made the lives of his characters…even the most ordinary, crackle with a dynamism that transforms them into living spirits, even the most heinous and cruel appear as worthy subjects of our compassion. He was able to accomplish such feats because he was adept at humanizing the characters in his novels, allowing his readers to expand their own view of the world…to include his own; in doing so his readers are made into better persons for having read him.