Saint Romuald of Ravenna - An Ordinary Man

Today we celebrate the life of Romuald, a saint of Ravenna.

I lift up his memory for one reason in particular, which is this: he was a realist and encouraged a sense of realism among his followers, especially as it attaches to religious zeal.

Romuald was an outspoken critic of the way in which the lives of Catholic saints were written about and disseminated. He could not tolerate the popular tradition of hagiography, a genre of literature replete with embellishment, fantasmagoria and pure fiction. He called out these articles of propaganda for the lies they were (and are).

His criticism of the tradition merits our respect.

Romuald belonged to an aristocratic family. He lived between the mid-tenth and early eleventh centuries CE, and he was the founder of the Camaldolese order, in the Benedictine tradition.

Romuald was wild in his youth. It is said that he had given himself over to the sins of the flesh, but later, as a hermit, he breathed new life into eremitical and aesthetic monasticism.

History reports that Romuald founded and or reformed many monastic institutions, though not all of his work was successful. Through the promulgation of his rule he encouraged monks under his care to lead solitary lives, engaged in mediation and the interior reflection on the self.

He was interested in the process of a person’s inner thoughts, encouraging his followers to watch and be mindful of theirs as if they were watching fish in a stream.

In this way Romuald’s ministry was akin to that of a Zen master.

Romuald was heavily influenced by the Orthodox practice of hesychasm, known in the west as quietism, a traditional (though controversial) mode of deep-meditation, much like the meditative practice of Buddhist monks in the Himalayas and Japan.

Today we celebrate the man, Romuald of Ravenna for his service to the truth, which is the Spirit of God.

We tell no lies about him, he was an ordinary, though interesting man.

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

First Reading – Ezekiel 17:22-24

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 91(92):2-3,13-16

Second Reading – 2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Gospel Acclamation – John 15:15

The Gospel According to Mark 4:26-34 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

This reading from Ezekial conveys a message of hope. It is a prophecy for the whole of creation inasmuch as it is a prophecy for Israel.

Understand this.

It can be difficult to separate the particular from the universal, but that is what we are called to do when we engage this text. When Ezekial suggests that God is active in the world, causing one thing or another to happen according a divine plan…he is in error. God, the creator of the universe, God does not intervene in our affairs.  

God made us, and all that is free from coercion.

Nevertheless, he points to God’s purpose in creation, expressing the profound hope the entirety of what is, moves according to the divine plan.

The reading concludes with a classic trope, depicting God as one who reverses the fortunes of the proud and lifts up the lowly. Do not take this to mean that God acts with the capriciousness of a tyrant. God is not a king or a lord; rather, God is a friend and the parent of us all.

We should not interpret this motif as meaning, God will do as God wills in regard the lofty and the lowly, but that all things and beings, great and small, exist within the universe of God’s concerns.

Be mindful.

It is good to give thanks to the creator, and express gratitude for God’s mercy.

God is merciful to all.

God shows mercy to those who have God’s name upon their lips, and to those who speak no word of God at all. God shows mercy even to those who curse God.

Divine mercy has no limits.

If you sing praises to God in recognition of God’s good work in creation, know that among God’s good work are all of those who quarrel with God...and the church.

Know this.

God does not have any favorite children, nor does God love one person more than any other.

Know that there is no guarantee the just will flourish, and no guarantee that the unjust will perish. God only promises to right all wrongs and to do so with justice as tempered by mercy and love.

The works of the wicked will pass away, as will the works of the just, and the wicked themselves will be reborn as servants of God; as brothers and sisters to all…this is the hope expressed in the gospel.

Consider the words of the apostle, and do not be led astray.

Remember the name Immanuel; Remember that God is with us, there is no place we can go where we are not in God presence.

Trust in this and let your confidence in God blossom from there.

Understand this.

The apostle allowed his dualistic view of the world to shape his faith, rather than his faith to shape his view of the world, which would have allowed him to dispense with dualism.

Though he should not be faulted for his world view, it is one he inherited from his cultural milieu, nevertheless we have a duty to challenge him on it.

Know this.

We are not on trial here, Jesus is not a lawyer and God does not sit before us as a judge.

What we may expect from the God at the end of our lives here on earth is grace, we are called to have hope in God’s love and to expect healing; for God knows what we suffer here, just as God knows the secrets of our hearts.

God knew these from the beginning and God said that it was good.

Be mindful.

The greatest commandment is love, love is the whole of the law.

To follow Jesus in the way we must one another and to give of ourselves to one another.

The love that we are called to is not the love we call desire, though to desire and be desired is an experience of great joy. We are called to move past the love we have for family and friends, because to love in that way is only a short extension of the love we have for ourselves, insofar as we see ourselves in the faces of our mothers and fathers, we see our ambitions as tied to the ambitions of our friends…we are called to love with greater dynamism than that.

We are called to love to the point of selflessness, to love even those who work against us, we are called to love our enemies, to forgive those who have hurt us and done us harm, to feed the stranger and protect them…we are called to do o in emulation of the divine.

Jesus taught with parables, he used analogy and metaphor, not because he wanted to keep the truth from people, or because he wanted to cloak the secrets of the universe in mystery, but because the subjects he spoke to: God and the nature of reality, are inherently mysterious in and of themselves.

Remember.

God comes to us as a friend, a brother, a sister, a parent.

God is a gardener, and the fullness of God exists in each seed that is sewn, as in the bush when it is grown; from sewing to harvest it is one and the same thing.

Understand this.

The gospels are replete with propaganda, their authors wrote from a place of vanity suggesting that they themselves were given special teaching by Jesus. They want you to believe something about them and their relationship to Jesus that is not true. Even with their privileged position as the people who were closest to Jesus while he lived, they were unable to understand the crucifixion, both before or after his arrest and trial. It was Judas, Iscariot, one of the twelve, who sold him out, and in the aftermath the other eleven abandoned him, leaving only his mother and a handful women to remain by his side.

They never understood his mission, though they could have, if they had been able to set aside their vanity and listen for awhile.

First Reading – Ezekiel 17:22-24

I Will Plant a Shoot on the High Mountain of Israel

The Lord says this:

‘From the top of the cedar, from the highest branch I will take a shoot and plant it myself on a very high mountain.

I will plant it on the high mountain of Israel.

It will sprout branches and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar.

Every kind of bird will live beneath it, every winged creature rest in the shade of its branches.

And every tree of the field will learn that I, the Lord, am the one who stunts tall trees and makes the low ones grow, who withers green trees and makes the withered green.

I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 91(92):2-3,13-16

Praise of God, the Creator

Lord, We Proclaim Your Love in the Morning and Your Truth in the Watches of the Night.

It is good to praise the Lord,

  and to sing psalms to your name, O Most High,

to proclaim your mercy in the morning

  and your faithfulness by night;

on the ten-stringed lyre and the harp,

  with songs upon the lyre.

For you give me joy, Lord, in your creation:

  I rejoice in the work of your hands.

How great are your works, O Lord,

  how immeasurably deep your thoughts.

The fool does not hear,

  the slow-witted do not understand.

When the wicked sprout up like grass,

  and the doers of evil are in full bloom,

it will come to nothing, for they will perish for ever and ever;

  but you, Lord, are the Highest eternally.

For behold, Lord, your enemies, how your enemies will perish,

  how wrongdoers will be scattered.

You will give me strength as the wild oxen have;

  I have been anointed with the purest oil.

I will look down upon my enemies,

  and hear the plans of those who plot evil against me.

The just will flourish like the palm tree,

  grow tall like the cedar of Lebanon.

They will be planted in the house of the Lord;

  in the courts of our God they will flourish.

They will bear fruit even when old,

  fresh and luxuriant through all their days.

They will proclaim how just is the Lord, my refuge,

  for in him there is no unrighteousness.

 

Second Reading – 2 Corinthians 5:6-10

We Want to be Exiled from the Body and Make Our Home with the Lord

We are always full of confidence when we remember that to live in the body means to be exiled from the Lord, going as we do by faith and not by sight – we are full of confidence, I say, and actually want to be exiled from the body and make our home with the Lord. Whether we are living in the body or exiled from it, we are intent on pleasing him. For all the truth about us will be brought out in the law court of Christ, and each of us will get what he deserves for the things he did in the body, good or bad.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 15:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

I call you friends, says the Lord, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.

Alleluia!

 

Alternatively:

Alleluia, alleluia!

The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower; whoever finds this seed will remain for ever.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Mark 4:26-34 ©

The Kingdom of God is a Mustard Seed Growing into the Biggest Shrub of All

Jesus said to the crowds: ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man throws seed on the land. Night and day, while he sleeps, when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, he does not know. Of its own accord the land produces first the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the crop is ready, he loses no time: he starts to reap because the harvest has come.’

He also said, ‘What can we say the kingdom of God is like? What parable can we find for it? It is like a mustard seed which at the time of its sowing in the soil is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet once it is sown it grows into the biggest shrub of them all and puts out big branches so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade.’

Using many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, so far as they were capable of understanding it. He would not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything to his disciples when they were alone.

 

The Gospel According to Mark 4:26-34 ©

Musashi Miyamoto – Kinsei, and Sensei Clifford “Chick” Moody

I first encountered the writing of Musashi when I was eighteen years old.

A friend of mine knew that I wanted to become a “super-hero,” and on the I went to a dojo at the intersection of Selby Avenue and Chatsworth in Saint Paul: the Inner Truth School of Self Defense.

I introduced myself to the Sensei, Clifford “Chick” Moody, a white haired gnarly old man, and he asked me what I was doing there.

“I am following the advice of my friend,” I told him, “I want to learn strategy and self-defense.”

My words came out a bit formal and canned (which they were, Mark suggested that I use those words), they sounded a bit theatrical and grandiose, but it worked on the ancient and grizzly, tough looking Sensei Moody.

His demeanor visibly changed; I think in that moment he decided he could take me seriously (I don’t know how long that lasted).

While the rest of his students continued with their warm-up, he had two of his black belts come to the place where I sat; he instructed them to work through a series of blocks and strikes and falls, to give me an idea of what I could expect the course of training would be…if I were to begin my studies at the way place.

At the end of the demonstration Sensei gave me a piece of free advice; he told me to read two books from two authors, On War, by Carl von Clausewitz; and The Go Rin No Sho (Book of Five Rings) by Musashi Miyamoto.

For the next three years I trained at the dojo: three hours a day, five days a week, with one-on-one training after regular sessions ended on Sundays, where I practiced knife and hatchet throwing, blow-gun and other projectiles.

Sensei Moody was a sixth dan. He held black belts and weapons proficiencies in dozens of styles. He taught his own system, which he called Muashi, Way of the Wind, but its roots were in Okinawan Karate, the hard forms of Goju Ru and Goju Kiyokai, and he taught Ninjitsu.

Sensei Moody’s teachers were among those men who brought Japanese martial arts to the United States: Ron Duncan Jr. and Peter Irving, they were children of American servicemen who grew up in Japan after World War II and learned the deep knowledge straight from the source.

There were days when Sensei would have us sit in sanchin while he read from Musashi. It was then that I discovered the greatest practitioner of martial discipline and combat strategy the world has ever known…

…Musashi Miyamoto, Kinsei (Saint of the Sword).

Musashi, Self Portrait c. 1640 ce                   

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

First Reading – Genesis 3:9-15 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 129(130)

Second Reading – 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23

Alternative Acclamation – John 12:31,32

The Gospel According to Mark 3:20-35 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 The reading for today from the Book of Genesis is merely an etiological myth concerning the origin, purpose and meaning of the rainbow…it has nothing to do with reality.

 Floods and other natural disasters happen, not because call wills them or causes them to occur. God did not destroy the world with a flood; God does not intervene in the world in that way.

 The authors of this mythology were addressing the origins and fallout of a major regional disaster, not one that they experienced themselves, but the memory of one (likely more than one) that had undergone significant mythologization before them. They coopted this narrative and used it to express the hope that such an event will never occur again.

 Know this.

 God, the creator of the universe, is patient, loving and kind.

 God’s spirit is the spirit of mercy; if you are looking for justice in the world, you will find it mercy.

 Learn from God; emulate God’s spirit. Through patience, love and kindness you will manifest the spirit of God’s mercy within you…follow it and you will be on the way.

 Consider the writing of the apostle, there is wisdom here, and folly as well…therefore be mindful.

 God provides for all of God’s children; God has prepared a home for everyone in paradise. Trust in God’s plan, this is the essence of faith.

 It is reasonable to expect that the strength of our faith will wax and wane, wax and wane again, like the moon rising and falling in circuit.

 Do not be concerned, God has accounted for this, and the end for which you have been prepared is not meted out according to the measure of faith a person possesses, or their relative lack of it.

 Know this.

 Grace is not transactional, and God is always with you.

 Remember.

 Jesus was not killed for the “glory” of God, or to fulfill some divine purpose; he was killed to suit the vanity of small-minded men. His death was a political murder; any suggestion otherwise undermines the truth.

 Every single one of God’s children (which is every one of us), all people, in all time, in all places is the subject of God’s love and mercy; no-one is left out of the divine plan; any suggestion otherwise diminishes the good news.

 God does not intervene in human affairs like Zeus, or Jupiter or Jove. God is not the Thunderer, neither is God a king; such attestations are a disservice to the faith.

 God comes as a friend, a sister, a brother, a parent; God comes to us as a stranger, we find God among the meek and the marginalized, the poor and the hungry and the outcast.

 Know this.

 There is no power in this world other than God. The Gospel writers penned a lie when they wrote about the “prince” of this world. There are no principalities or powers active in the world that are not made by human beings, for human purposes, as institutions of power and control.

 God has no enemy, and the only enmity we face is the enmity we engender in our own hearts, to our own detriment.

 Consider the Gospel reading for today.

 It purports to answer a question concerning the authority of Jesus to cast out demons and devils.

 Set aside for a moment that we do not live in a world populated by demons and devils. We live in God’s creation, a world that is wholly ordered to God, by God and for God’s purpose.

 The Gospel reports that Jesus had been engaged in his ministry and “casting out demons,” but what he was really doing was caring for the sick, and his opponents wanted to downplay his work by suggesting that his successful healings, indicated he was in league with the devil.

 The gospel writers answered this with an argument that did little to challenge the claims of Jesus’ opponents. The argument they put in Jesus’ mouth is not conclusive, in fact they leave his claims exposed to counter-argument. It seems that they are not directing and argument to the critics Jesus faced in his own day, but rather toward own opponents in the period of the early church. In fact, they are not actually engaged in an argument, rather, they are making a call for unity on the grounds of authority, not reason or rationality.

 Ultimately, the Gospel writers undermine the Jesus’ teaching, they water down the good news. They outline what they perceive to be the upper limits of God’s love and mercy, threatening anyone who would challenge the authority church, with eternal damnation.

 This is not the way.

 The Gospel writers teach that God will forgive all sins, all blasphemies, except one, a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which the leaders of the church claims resides with them…which is itself blasphemy. The Gospel writers call for the unity of the church, over and against the unity of the family, and this is the final tell that they had strayed from the way.

 

First Reading – Genesis 3:9-15 ©

'I Was Afraid Because I Was Naked, and I Hid'

The Lord God called to the man after he had eaten of the tree. ‘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.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 129(130)

Out of the Depths

From the Morning Watch Even Until Night My Soul is Longing For the Lord.

Out of the depths I have cried to you, Lord:

  Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears listen out

  for the voice of my pleading.

If you took notice of our transgressions, Lord –

  Lord, who would be left?

But with you is forgiveness,

  and for this we revere you.

I rely on you, Lord,

  my spirit relies on your promise;

my soul hopes in the Lord,

  more than the watchman for daybreak.

More than the watchman for daybreak,

  let Israel hope in the Lord:

for with the Lord there is kindness

  and abundant redemption.

He himself will redeem Israel

  from all its transgressions.

 

Second Reading – 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 ©

We Are Being Trained to Carry the Weight of Eternal Glory

As we have the same spirit of faith that is mentioned in scripture – I believed, and therefore I spoke – we too believe and therefore we too speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus to life will raise us with Jesus in our turn, and put us by his side and you with us. You see, all this is for your benefit, so that the more grace is multiplied among people, the more thanksgiving there will be, to the glory of God.

  That is why there is no weakening on our part, and instead, though this outer man of ours may be falling into decay, the inner man is renewed day by day. Yes, the troubles which are soon over, though they weigh little, train us for the carrying of a weight of eternal glory which is out of all proportion to them. And so we have no eyes for things that are visible, but only for things that are invisible; for visible things last only for a time, and the invisible things are eternal.

  For we know that when the tent that we live in on earth is folded up, there is a house built by God for us, an everlasting home not made by human hands, in the heavens.

 

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 12:31,32

Alleluia, alleluia!

Now the prince of this world is to be overthrown, says the Lord.

And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Mark 3:20-35 ©

A Kingdom Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand

Jesus went home with his disciples, and such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind.

The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, ‘Beelzebul is in him’ and, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.’ So he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never stand. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot stand either – it is the end of him. But no one can make his way into a strong man’s house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first. Only then can he burgle his house.

‘I tell you solemnly, all men’s sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin.’ This was because they were saying, ‘An unclean spirit is in him.’

His mother and brothers now arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him, ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.’ He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’

 

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

The Patron Saint of Poets - Saint Columba…Columban…Columbanus…Colmcille, father of Cummain

Saint Columba…Columban…Columbanus…Colmcille, he was from a noble family, from the Ulster kingdom of Dál Riata, he was the abbot of Iona, he is the patron saint of poets; and of Derry, the Irish call him Colmcille.

What we know of his life has been magnified by myth. This aggrandizement did not happen merely because the Irish love to boast. Through the aegis of church propaganda his story was augmented by fantastical accounts in a way that was typical of all hagiographies; through these his story took on a supernatural mystique, but Columba…Columban…Columbanus…Colmcille was famous in his day for his missionary work, he built monasteries in Scotland among the Picts, and also on the continent, in Frankia and Burgundia, and as far south as Lombardy.

He lived a long life and did many extraordinary things; he evangelized Europe as a Celtic Christian, setting out from Ireland with twelve companions, like Jesus with his disciples. He was accompanied by his son, Columbanus the Younger, a man known by the name of Cummain.

Some historians believe that Columbanus the Younger continued the work of his father, and that the son is responsible for all the work carried out on the continent in his father’s name, during the time at which the elder Columbanus took up his pen, becoming a prolific writer…two of Colmcille’s poems have survived

As the founder of the abbey at Iona he is credited with preserving a great storehouse of ancient writing through the dark ages, into modern times.

He is Colmcille, father of Cummain…to them belong the stories of Columba…Columban…Columbanus, they are the true patron saints of the Emerald Isle.

Observation - June 9th, 2024, Sunday

All my windows are open wide

Sunlight filtered through green-leaves

Sparrows in the maple sing

The air is cool in these last days of spring

From the neighbor’s house an infant cries

The Greatest of All Time - Hero for the Ages

Muhammad Ali is gone

he left us eight years ago

the greatest of all is gone

 

he held the world in his hands

he spoke to us,

one and all

the greatest of all lives on

 

I heard the news in the middle of the night

I awoke in the dark to hear the grim news

listening to the radio as I wept

 

Muhammad Ali,

the greatest of all

had died

 

of all the heroes I ever fell for

he was the only one truly alive

the only hero I ever prayed for

believing he could make a difference

in our lives, in the world and in our time

 

he spoke of justice,

the foundation of freedom

Ali he spoke the truth,

as a condition for love

he spoke to the world

with the same style he fought in

Ali was a poet

who fought for everyone

he spun rhythms that dazzled

with words that could hurt

pretty as a butterfly

fearsome as a bee

Ali danced…floating past us

striking with his sting

he was the great champion

            Ali bumaye…

he bravely faced the powers

that govern our world

Muhammad Ali was a prophet

in our time

 

he gave us permission to brag

to be good, be bold and do right

he challenged authority…he

risked the things that he desired most

giving up titles, money, fame

he shunned war, and promoted life

he went to prison, Casius Clay

returning to with a new name

and Muhammad Ali was right

  

he handcuffed lightning and sent thunder to jail

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

First Reading - Deuteronomy 5:12-15 ©

Responsorial Psalm 80(81): 3-8, 10-11

Second Reading – 2 Corinthians 4:6-11 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 6:63, 68

Alternate Acclamation – John 17:17

The Gospel According to Mark 2:23-3.6 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

When you read the law concerning the sabbath remember Jesus’ teaching who instructs us that the sabbath was made for the benefit of human beings and for no other purpose.

It is right and good to keep the sabbath. It is right and good to take time out of your week to reflect on the providence of the divine, to look into the faces of your spouse and children, your mother and father, your sister and brother, your employer and your employees and see the face of God…you will find God looking back at you in the eyes of the homeless, the disenfranchised, the sick and the stranger.

Give to them as you can, help them to a place of rest if you are able, facilitate their experience of grace through the love you provide to them.

Know this!

There is strength in the knowledge of God, the creator of the universe. It is right to praise God and good to rejoice in life which God brought forth from the primordial chaos, to rejoice in human life and to celebrate in your life…in all of its your uniqueness.

Consider how Jesus taught the law: love God, and demonstrate this not through words but through actions, by loving your neighbor even as you love yourself.

Do not believe in the old lies and misconstruals of the law, do not blindly accept the will of human being as representing the will of the divine.

Remember.

God does not interfere with the choices we make. What we accomplish, or fail to accomplish, happens due to the choices we make, not because God has a stake in those things. God did not rescue the Jews from Egypt, God did not give them Israel for an inheritance. They freed themselves and waged war on the land of Canaan. They took the possessions of Canaan at the point of the sword, through murder, fire and blood.

Know this.

It was not God’s will. God has no enemies.

God leads us to the knowledge of the divine in the subtle ways. Through the seed of the Word that dwells within us, which is to say: by virtue of the fact that we are created in the divine image, that we are gifted with reason so that we are able to know and understand the truth.

Meditate on the law, it is written in your heart, it is the same law that was written in Jesus’ heart:

Love God with all your strength and all your heart and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself…do this in fulfillment of the law.

Consider the teaching of the apostle and know that faith should not be taught as a mode of mysteries. It is not forbidden to speculate about the eternal and the invisible, but what can we know of those things, conditioned as we are by time and space. It is not the eternal and the invisible that should concern us in this life, it is the people we encounter every day, the people we can see and feel and touch.

Our eternal home is waiting for us, as it waits for all of God’s children, even as it waits for those who work against God’s will; even they are loved by God…do not reject them or turn them away, for they are also the objects of God’s love.

Do speak of the glory of God, or the glory of Jesus, or the glory of the promise. Speak instead of the ordinary and humble way of life that God calls us to.

That is the way Jesus called on us to follow.

Be mindful.

The Gospel provides many examples of where the early church began to deviate from the teaching of Jesus, as when Peter suggests that he received from Jesus a secret concerning the path to eternal life. Peter would have us believe that the purpose of believing in the gospel, of believing that Jesus is the “Holy One of God” is the key to receiving the gift of salvation.

Peter’s scheme suggests that God parcels out access to Jesus, to the truth, to the reality of life everlasting, allowing some to come to it while refusing others; this scheme is false.

Here is the gospel: God loves you, and you are saved.

You are not saved for anything that you have done, you did not earn it, you are saved because God loves you. The promise of salvation is not that you will be spared from suffering and torment in hell, or that when you are judged God will forgive you; God has already forgiven you, you are saved already.

God has prepared you, and everyone for eternal life.

Believe it!

Let the goodness of this promise flow through you, live your life as if you know that it is true…even if you doubt…especially when you doubt.

We are not called to believe in the idea that Jesus is this or that, the Holy One of God, we are called to act on the principles of his faith, his trust in divine providence, we are called to live lives of charity and service to each other, to walk humbly, do could and serve justice all the days of our lives.

Remember.

You cannot lie and serve God at one and the same time.

Consider the Gospel reading for today, it is a cautionary tale.

On the one hand today’s reading serves as an indictment of the people who plotted against Jesus, of those who desired to see an end to his ministry and who plotted his murder.

On the other hand it serves to separate the ministry of Jesus, who was himself a Pharisee, from the establishment of Pharisaic Judaism, which in the period of the early Church, had not converted to Christianity, and whose membership was extremely hostile to it.

However, the most important aspect of the narrative is that the ordinances of God, the laws and customs of the people, exist to serve humankind, not the other way around.

Jesus is a good theologian, he makes the argument first on the basis of tradition and scripture, and then on the grounds of justice.

The miracle that is described need not be taken literally; it is a metaphor, as a metaphor it serves to put the exclamation point on the rest of the narrative.

The power to heal comes from God, from God would not have granted such power in contravention of God’s law, giving the proof that Jesus has correctly interpreted the law, and that stands in divine favor.

First Reading - Deuteronomy 5:12-15 ©

Remember that You were A Servant in the Land of Egypt

The Lord says this:

 

‘Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. For six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath for the Lord your God. You shall do no work that day, neither you nor your son nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your ox nor your donkey nor any of your animals, nor the stranger who lives with you. Thus your servant, man or woman, shall rest as you do. Remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God brought you out from there with mighty hand and outstretched arm; because of this, the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the sabbath day.’

 

Responsorial Psalm 80(81): 3-8, 10-11

Solemn Renewal of the Covenant

Ring Out Your Joy to God Our Strength.

Shout with joy to God our helper,

  rejoice in the God of Jacob.

Take up the song, sound the timbrel,

  play on the lyre and the harp.

At the start of the month, sound the trumpet,

  at the full moon, at our festival.

For this is the law for Israel,

  the decree of the God of Jacob.

He gave it to Joseph, for a witness,

  when he went out of the land of Egypt;

  with words that had never been heard:

“I freed his back from burdens;

  his hands were freed from heavy loads.

In your tribulation you called on me and I freed you,

  I heard you from the heart of the storm,

  I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Listen, my people, and I will put my case –

  Israel, if you would only hear me!

You shall not have any strange god,

  you shall not worship the gods of foreigners.

For I am the Lord, your God,

  who led you out of the land of Egypt.

  Open wide your mouth and I shall fill it.

But my people did not hear my voice:

  Israel did not turn to me.

So I let them go on in the hardness of their hearts,

  and follow their own counsels.

If my people had heard me,

  if only they had walked in my ways –

I would swiftly have crushed their enemies,

  stretched my hand over those who persecuted them.

The enemies of the Lord would be overcome with weakness,

  Israel’s would be the good fortune, for ever:

  I would feed them full of richest wheat

and give them honey from the rock,

  to their heart’s content.

 

Second Reading – 2 Corinthians 4:6-11 ©

In Our Mortal Flesh the Life of Jesus is Openly Shown

It is the same God that said, ‘Let there be light shining out of darkness’, who has shone in our minds to radiate the light of the knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of Christ.

  We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us. We are in difficulties on all sides, but never cornered; we see no answer to our problems, but never despair; we have been persecuted, but never deserted; knocked down, but never killed; always, wherever we may be, we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may always be seen in our body. Indeed, while we are still alive, we are consigned to our death every day, for the sake of Jesus, so that in our mortal flesh the life of Jesus, too, may be openly shown.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 6:63, 68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life; you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

 

Alternate Acclamation – John 17:17

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is truth, O Lord: Consecrate us in the truth.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Mark 2:23-3.6 ©

The Son of Man is Master Even of the Sabbath

One sabbath day, Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples began to pick ears of corn as they went along. And the Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing something on the sabbath day that is forbidden?’ And he replied, ‘Did you never read what David did in his time of need when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves of offering which only the priests are allowed to eat, and how he also gave some to the men with him?’

And he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; the Son of Man is master even of the sabbath.’

He went again into a synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they were watching him to see if he would cure him on the sabbath day, hoping for something to use against him. He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up out in the middle!’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing. Then, grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at them, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was better. The Pharisees went out and at once began to plot with the Herodians against him, discussing how to destroy him.

 

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