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

First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6 ©

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 33(34):2-3,10-15 ©

Second Reading – Ephesians 5:15-20 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 1:14,12

Alternative Acclamation – John 6:56

The Gospel According to John – 2018.08.19

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

The reading speaks to the way of life that all Christians are called if their intention is to follow Jesus.

Let us be clear about this; not all of those who have been initiated into the Christians Church follow the way. It is also true that the institutions of the Church have been opposed to Jesus’ teaching, in one way or another, from the beginning, though it does not know it.

Be mindful.

You do not need to be a Christian to follow the way, in fact, because of the Church’s erroneous teaching, membership in it may be a stumbling block.

Consider the teaching of the apostle who calls us to be moderate and temperate in all the things we do as Christians, and exemplars of the faith.

As followers of the way we are called to sobriety and rationality in service to our sisters and brothers. We are not called to service for the sake of our salvation; we are called on to service as a means of giving thanks to God, the creator of the universe.

Know this.

If it is your intention to seek God, look no farther than your heart; you will find God there encouraging you to a live a life of loving service. In loving you will be blessed, and through the love you give you will be a blessing to others.

If your intention is to praise God, do not sing it in church but do it through works of love, by seeking justice for the marginalized and mercy for those in bondage, through service to the stranger and even your enemy, do it with humility all the days of your life.

If your intention is to emulate the divine, do it through compassion.

Listen to your neighbors, be responsive to their cares, rescue them from fear and encourage them in hope, look into their hearts and see God’s presence there.

Remember.

With God there is no shame. God is no respecter of station, class or wealth. God loves everyone the same regardless of where they were born, the color of their skin, the language they speak or what religion they have been taught.

Do not look for God to save you from your troubles, the divine hand will not reach into our lives and change our circumstances. In this way, we are all like Job, who experienced the indifference of the universe and the fullness of human suffering. God will not intervene on our behalf, and just because we experience the universe as indifferent we ourselves are not called to be indifferent. Insofar as God does act in the world, God acts through us who calls us to share the suffering of others, as Christ did, and to alleviate their tribulations if we can.

Know this.

We cannot escape the pains of the world, our faith in God is meant to help us understand how transient they are; all pain is temporary, but love lasts forever.

Therefore, do not fear.

Speak the truth.

Avoid evil.

Do good.

Be mindful.

God sees all and hears all; God knows all, even our innermost thoughts, our secrets and desires, our true motivations. God understands our experience even as we understand it ourselves, seeing through our eyes, feeling what we feel.

Live in the present moment, do not look to the future for the good things that may or may not come…but work toward them anyway. God’s love is enduring, but it is only in the present moment that we experience it and are able to share it with others.

Teach hope and ignore the fear-mongers, except insofar as you are sharing the truth with them.

This is the way.

Consider the gospel reading for today and know this:

We are saved by grace, because God wills it. Give thanks for that, and do not place your faith in anything else.

The dogmas and doctrines of the church do not save, neither do its creeds, decrees and decretals. What the church imagines to be the effective means of salvation, the sacraments and their formulas, they do not save…the eucharist is not magical food; eating the bread and drinking the wine does not confer the gift of eternal life.

Christians do a disservice to the memory of Jesus when they use the eucharist to divide people, splitting them into groups of insiders and outsiders, and by withholding the grace which they believe it confers. The eucharist may only be seen as a sacrament insofar as it fulfills what the ministry of Jesus promised, which is to foster hope through the loving service we provide to one another at the common table, the table of God to which all are welcome and none are refused.

First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6 ©

Wisdom Builds Her House and Invites All to Eat Her Bread There

Wisdom has built herself a house, she has erected her seven pillars, she has slaughtered her beasts, prepared her wine,   she has laid her table.

She has despatched her maidservants and proclaimed from the city’s heights:

‘Who is ignorant? Let him step this way.’

  To the fool she says, ‘Come and eat my bread, drink the wine I have prepared!

Leave your folly and you will live, walk in the ways of perception.’

 

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 33(34):2-3,10-15 ©

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Alleluia, alleluia!

I will bless the Lord at all times,

  his praise always on my lips;

in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.

  The humble shall hear and be glad.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Revere the Lord, you his saints.

  They lack nothing, those who revere him.

Strong lions suffer want and go hungry

  but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Come, children, and hear me

  that I may teach you the fear of the Lord.

Who is he who longs for life

  and many days, to enjoy his prosperity?

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Then keep your tongue from evil

  and your lips from speaking deceit.

Turn aside from evil and do good;

  seek and strive after peace.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Alleluia!

 

Second Reading – Ephesians 5:15-20 ©

Be Filled Not with Wine, but With the Spirit

Be very careful about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent and not like senseless people. This may be a wicked age, but you redeem it. And do not be thoughtless but recognise what is the will of the Lord. Do not drug yourselves with wine, this is simply dissipation; be filled with the Spirit. Sing the words and tunes of the psalms and hymns when you are together, and go on singing and chanting to the Lord in your hearts, so that always and everywhere you are giving thanks to God who is our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Gospel 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!

 

Alternative Acclamation – John 6:56

Alleluia, alleluia!

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in him, says the Lord.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 6:51-58 ©

My Flesh is Real Food and My Blood is Real Drink

Jesus said to the crowd:

‘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.’

Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:

‘I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him. As I, who am sent by the living Father, myself draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will draw life from me. This is the bread come down from heaven; not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live forever.’

 

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

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