Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Luke 9:57-62

As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Reflection on the gospel reading: In today’s gospel, we learn of three costs of discipleship. When Jesus says, “The Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head,” he suggests that being a minister of the gospel requires complete freedom from possessions. This does not mean that the disciple needs to be without possessions; it merely means that having things or not having them is not a paramount concern for the person who serves the gospel. Second, when Jesus says, “Leave the dead to bury the dead,” what he means is that disposal to the gospel precedes every other obligation in life. Finally, when Jesus says not to “look to what was left behind,” he isn’t speaking literally about not saying goodbye to family. This last saying sums up all three sayings in today’s passage: when we respond to Jesus’ call, it must be absolute and without condition.

Saint of the day: Jerome was a Roman Christian who lived in the fourth century. His father taught him his religion well, but sent him to a famous pagan school. There Jerome grew to love pagan writings and lost some of his love for God. Yet, in the company of a group of holy Christians, with whom he became great friends, his heart was turned completely to God.

Later, this brilliant young man decided to live alone in a wild desert. He was afraid that his love for pagan writings would lead him away from the love of God. He went into the desert to search for God. He also studied Hebrew with a monk as his teacher. He became such a great scholar of Hebrew that he could later translate the Bible into Latin and make it accessible to many more people in the vernacular language.

St. Jerome spent long years of his life in a little cave at Bethlehem, where Jesus had been born. There he prayed, studied the Bible, and taught many people how to serve God. He wrote a great many letters and even books to defend the faith from heretics.

St. Jerome suffered from a bad temper, and his sharp tongue made him many enemies. Yet he was a very holy man who spent his life trying to serve Jesus in the best way he could. Despite his cranky temperament, he grew holy and the church has proclaimed him a great saint. He died in 419 or 420.

Spiritual reading: Soul-making is a journey that takes time, effort, skill, knowledge, intuition, and courage. It is helpful to know that all work with soul is process – alchemy, pilgrimage, and adventure – so that we don’t expect instant success or even any kind of finality. (Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore)

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

John 1:47-51

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Reflection on the gospel reading: On this feast of Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, we have from the Church the reading from John’s gospel where Jesus mysteriously tells Nathaniel that he saw him under the fig tree and Nathaniel responds with a confession of faith that Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel. Jesus then tells him that he will see greater things and obliquely refers to Jacob’s dream where he saw the angels climbing up and down a ladder between God and humanity. In the image that Jesus presents to Nathaniel, the Lord is clearly the bridge that connects God and God’s people. May we cross that bridge today.

Saint of the day: We call the angels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael “saints” because they are holy. But they are different from the rest of the saints because they were not human. They protect human beings, and we know something about each of them from the Bible.

Michael’s name means “who is like God?” Three books of the Bible speak of St. Michael: Daniel, Revelation, and the Letter of Jude. In the book of Revelation or the Apocalypse, chapter 12:7-9, we read of a great war that went on in heaven. Michael and his angels battled with Satan. Michael became the champion of loyalty to God. We ask Michael to make us strong in our love of the Good News.

Gabriel’s name means “the power of God.” He, too, is mentioned in the book of Daniel. He has become familiar to us because Gabriel is an important person in Luke’s Gospel. This archangel announced to Mary that she was to be the mother of our savior. Gabriel announced to Zechariah that he and St. Elizabeth would have a son and call him John. Gabriel is the announcer, the communicator of the Good News. We ask Gabriel to help us to proclaim the Good News.

Raphael’s name means “God has healed.” We read the story of Raphael’s role in Tobit. He brought protection and healing to the blind Tobit. At the very end of the journey, when all was completed, Raphael revealed his true identity. He called himself one of the seven who stands before God’s throne. We ask Raphael to protect us in our travels, even for short journeys, like going to the store or school.

Spiritual reading: The soul at its highest is found like God, but an angel gives a closer idea of Him. That is all an angel is: an idea of God. ~Meister Eckhart

Fr. Ron’s Homily for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

The readings today are problematic or at the least, deal with some thorny issues of today. Both the first reading and the Gospel are often used, for example, to support heterosexual marriage as the only form of marriage, and divorce as sinful. Both these readings have caused untold guilt and have caused much misery in the name of Christ. People have even killed themselves as a result of interpretations of them, and continue to do so today. Families have split apart, people have lost their faith and left the church, and people have been forced out of the church by being seen as anathema. Is this what the Biblical author Jesus had in mind when these words were written down or spoken. I hardly think so.

I want to deal with the divorce and adultery issue first. In the Gospel today Jesus is approached by the Pharisees who again were trying to trick him. Apparently Jesus must have previously made some statements about marriage and divorce, and so the Pharisees ask a question to which they know the answer already. In his usual manner, Jesus turns it around by asking them a question: What did Moses say about it? Now, Moses didn’t say much! There is really only one line in Deuteronomy which takes for granted that a man could divorce his wife, and the statement was there to provide some legal protection for the woman – who in ancient times needed to be married to survive. Jesus explains that that bill of divorce, this concession, had to be there because of the hardness or sinfulness of men’s hearts.

Now we saw last week that Jesus often spoke in a type of hyperbole. He would take something to the extreme to make his point. In the chapter just before this that we read last Sunday, Jesus spoke of cutting out eyes, and chopping off limbs to avoid sin. As we have seen the writer, Mark, often sandwiched things that were alike, and I think he may have been doing the same here: similarly going to an extreme to make a point. Perhaps it may be easier to think about this if we look at the way Europeans look at law compared to the way we Americans do. Going the posted speed limit in the Unites States means that the number posted is the fastest you can go without being penalized. It is the “end” and you are allowed to go no further. In Europe the posted speed sign is an ideal. Ideally you should go this fast if you want to be safe. But few people follow that ideal, if you have ever driven in Europe!

I believe that Jesus is giving us an ideal here. For the most part God has blessed marriage as part of his plan because it is a model of his own Being. We learn in Genesis that God created in His own image. The ideal is to find the person that completes you and to be so close, both physically and spiritually, that you become one. This type of marriage, by the way was not the norm even in Jesus’ time for the Romans allowed divorce even though the average life expectancy for a marriage was only twenty years anyway because people died so young. So I too believe that this is the ideal today as well, complicated by the fact that we live so much longer, that we live in a sexually permissive society and that we are more aware today of psychological factors that inhibit a happy union. The ideal is still there and can be reached. I had the good fortune to be a product of an amazing marriage which is still going strong after 66 years – and my parents are still very much in love and have really grown to be “one person” im many ways, even knowing what the other is thinking.

But this is not true for everyone. It is the ideal. I cannot believe that Jesus would want people to live in an unhealthy situation, one that festers and where there is no love and may even be psychological or physical violence. I do believe we have an obligation to try to make it work in the best way we can, to seek help, to go as far as we can, but where there is no love, there is no union. We haven’t met the ideal, but we have tried. And so we should be allowed to go on with life – and it is not good to be alone.

Jesus’ statements about divorce are contained in each of the Gospels and in St. Paul. However, in each case, excepting Luke, the early writers have seen fit to adapt and modify the teaching in some way. It was, and is, a hard teaching, and for Jesus was probably eschatological – meaning that it describes life in the kingdom of God – which was to come and, as I have been telling you each week, begins here. The New Testament church in writing down Jesus’ words and ideas, realize that people were still hard hearted, still sinful, and if Christ’s statements about divorce were to be treated as law, some concessions would have to be made. The Church then can be seen as able to make pastorally necessary concessions – not that the concessions in the Gospels should be the only ones – but that the ideal should be placed before us, and that anything that does not reach the ideal is a result of human weakness and sinfulness and can be forgiven. Some scholars are also of the opinion that Jesus was so strong about forbidding divorce because he was concerned about the plight of women in society. Without her marriage a divorced woman would have nothing and would fall into poverty or sinful actions to stay alive. It would be typical of jesus to think of the rights of women and the underprivileged – remember immediately after this speech on divorce, he moves to protection of children again. So, that is why CACINA churches do not see divorce as an impediment to receiving the sacraments.

The second contemporary issue I want to deal with is gay marriage. There has always been homosexuality, but there has not always been a concept or word for it. That is a modern concept and term, only a little more than a hundred years old. But we know that there have always been people attracted to their same sex. In some cultures, like American Indian, it was seen as a blessing. For the Greeks, it was a form of mentoring. Any Biblical restrictions in the Old Testament actually referred to prostitution – the selling of sex, for there were both male and female prostitutes during that time. The Jews were repelled by male prostitution because it was part of the cult of Baal and was thus seen as worship of false gods. Since Baal was worshipped with male prstitution, it had to be bad. There might also have been a little sexism here as well, because Jews felt that in a sexual relationship the person who was penetrated was the woman, and if a man placed himself in the position of a women, he would be less than a man. In the New and Old Testament, people were referred to as eunuchs were most likely gay, and again, they were used to protect royal or important females, since they would have no sexual interest in them. The sin of Sodom which has given us the early word for gay men – sodomites, was a misnomer because the sin of Sodom was inhospitality, not homosexuality.

In most Christian churches today, the first reading is taken as law – that God created us male and female, and that we were meant to fit together sexually, and there just is no other way. Well, there is no other way mentioned. In CACINA we look at the beauty of this Genesis passage and apply it to all situations. “ It is not good for man to be alone.” I am not using inclusive language here because Adam in the story was the only person – there was no woman. It is interesting to me that God saw Adam as alone because God would talk to Adam and walk in the Garden with him – but God saw that that was not enough. Adam needed someone to complete him. While the creation of Eve has often been used to show man’s dominance over the woman, I do not believe that was its purpose at all. I think it was to show the equality with man. Woman came from man – she was bone of his bone. Her creation was to help Adam to understand that he was a social being and he needed another to compliment him, to become one with him, to love him and someone that he could do the same to.

I don’t think there is much question today in scientific circles that people are gay from birth or that there is a range of human sexuality. It is as true in the animal kingdom as it is in humans. The Bible deals with the norm, the greater number of people – and so only deals with heterosexuality. But what is in Genesis, should be able to be applied to the other end of the spectrum. It is not good for humans to be alone! Celibacy, it seems to me, breaks that mandate more than being gay does! CACINA believes “that love between two persons is a gift from God. We believe that the sacrament which has historically been termed ‘matrimony’ is confected between the two individuals, the role of the Church being solely to recognize in public, witness, and bless the bond of love between two persons, irrespective of the gender of the parties.”

These two areas are probably the only two areas where we deviate from the traditional teachings of the Roman Church today. Also it is interesting that they both deal with sexuality in some way. But we believe that Jesus came to save us, to give us a new way of looking at things, to offer forgiveness and to announce the kingdom which his death has begun on earth and exists in heaven. And this is the Good News that I bring you today.

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Luke 9:46-50

An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”

Then John said in reply, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

Reflection on the gospel reading: Today’s gospel provides Luke’s account of two sayings we have encountered recently in our Sunday readings from Mark’s gospel. The latter saying, in fact, the saying about one not in the company of Jesus casting out demons in Jesus’ name we encountered just yesterday while the question about who is the greatest was in our Sunday reading a week ago.

We read Luke’s account of Jesus’ prediction of his passion and death on Saturday. Luke does something striking and unambiguous in his rendering of this event. While Mark interjects a discussion about Elijah and John, Luke goes right to this argument among the apostles about who is the greatest. Luke is pointing out, by the way he constructs this plot, that while the apostles were totally at a loss about what to say about Jesus’ suffering and death, they were ready and eager to talk about who is the greatest. Luke emphasizes this point when he has Jesus take the child to make the point that Jesus has not chosen the apostle because they were something special: God could choose anyone to do the job he has given to the apostles, even a powerless child. The greatness of the apostles does not derive from who they are but from the mission they have been given.

And so it is with us. We may suffer the temptation to think we are something special. But whatever gifts we have, they are not ours but the Lord’s. Our focus should not be on what we have but what we do.

Saint of the day: Born at Pouy, Gascony, France, in 1580 into a peasant family, Vincent de Paul died at Paris, September 27, 1660. He made his humanities studies at Dax with the Cordeliers, and his theological studies, interrupted by a short stay at Saragossa, were made at Toulouse where he graduated in theology. Ordained in 1600, he remained at Toulouse or in its vicinity acting as tutor while continuing his own studies

The deathbed confession of a dying servant opened Vincent’s eyes to the crying spiritual needs of the peasantry of France. This seems to have been a crucial moment in the life of the man from a small farm in Gascony, France, who had become a priest with little more ambition than to have a comfortable life.

It was the Countess de Gondi (whose servant he had helped) who persuaded her husband to endow and support a group of able and zealous missionaries who would work among the poor, the vassals and tenants and the country people in general. Vincent was too humble to accept leadership at first, but after working for some time in Paris among imprisoned galley-slaves, he returned to be the leader of what is now known as the Congregation of the Mission, or the Vincentians. These priests, with vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and stability, were to devote themselves entirely to the people in smaller towns and villages.

Later Vincent established confraternities of charity for the spiritual and physical relief of the poor and sick of each parish. From these, with the help of St. Louise de Marillac, came the Daughters of Charity, “whose convent is the sickroom, whose chapel is the parish church, whose cloister is the streets of the city.” He organized the rich women of Paris to collect funds for his missionary projects, founded several hospitals, collected relief funds for the victims of war and ransomed over 1,200 galley slaves from North Africa. He was zealous in conducting retreats for clergy at a time when there was great laxity, abuse and ignorance among them. He was a pioneer in clerical training and was instrumental in establishing seminaries.

Most remarkably, Vincent was by temperament a very irascible person—even his friends admitted it. He said that except for the grace of God he would have been “hard and repulsive, rough and cross.” But he became a tender and affectionate man, very sensitive to the needs of others.

Spiritual reading: What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

At that time, John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’”

Reflection on the gospel reading: Today’s gospel speaks in many ways about the relationships between non-Christians and Christians, and the messages that the passage implies may not be altogether flattering to us who have accepted the baptism of the Lord. The disciples in this passage from the gospel tell Jesus they encountered a man who was exorcising devils in Jesus’ name. This man was not a disciple of Jesus, and the disciples report they told him to stop his use of Jesus’ name because he was not one of them. There has been a history of triumphalism among Christians, and perhaps the account we read today is the first record of that history.

Human goodness surrounds us, and I have found courageous kindness everywhere is my life, among people who believe in Jesus and among those who do not. Jesus corrects his disciples for believing only those who are numbered among his followers can do good things. Jesus knew, and all of us can witness, that human beings, whether or not they are Christians, are quite capable of much good. God speaks in every human heart, whether or not that heart is attached to a mind that confesses Jesus, and we do well to recognize and celebrate God’s achievements among believers and non-believers alike.

Moreover, we who subscribe to the Lord’s way of life often do not live it. How much do we become a scandal for non-believers? In America in recent decades, many of us Christians have demonstrated such unbridled intolerance that we have made the word Christian synonymous with bigoted and closed-minded. How can we claim to carry Christ’s gospel to the world when our arrogant dogmatism repels the very persons we profess we would attract.

We must proclaim Jesus Christ with a mind open to goodness wherever it is to be found. Most of us live lives that can carry the gospel to nonbelievers only through the attractiveness of our lives, so is it not better that we should live lives that actually do attract people?

Spiritual reading: Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them – every day begin the task anew. (Saint Francis de Sales)

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Luke 9:43b-45

While they were all amazed at his every deed, Jesus said to his disciples, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Reflection on the gospel reading: Jesus has revealed his identity to his disciples, but he has told them that he is something quite different than they imagined. While the disciples dreamed of a future that held earthly prestige, Jesus tells them his fate was one of betrayal and suffering. It is hard even for us, who know so well this story, to understand that suffering is an intrinsic component of the mission that Jesus lived and preached, but it is our call to embrace the suffering that life hands us. Certainly, we need not go and look for it; it will come and find us. But when it comes, we should not resist it. Everything is gift from the hands of God.

Saint of the day: Today is the memorial of Cosmas and Damian. These two martyrs were twin brothers from Syria who lived in the fourth century. They were very famous students of science and both became excellent doctors. Cosmas and Damian saw in every patient a brother or sister in Christ. For this reason, they showed great charity to all and treated their patients to the best of their ability. Yet no matter how much care a patient required, neither Cosmas nor Damian ever accepted any money for their services. For this reason, they were called by a name in Greek which means “the penniless ones.”

Every chance they had, the two saints told their patients about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Because the people all loved these twin doctors, they listened to them willingly. Cosmas and Damian often brought health back to both the bodies and the souls of those who came to them for help.

When Diocletian’s persecution of Christians began in their city, the saints were arrested at once. They had never tried to hide their great love for their Christian faith. They were tortured, but nothing could make them give up their belief in Christ. They had lived for him and had brought so many people to his love. So at last, they were put to death in the year 303. These holy martyrs are named in the First Eucharistic Prayer of the Mass.

Spiritual reading: Unless you believe, you will not understand. (De Libero Arbitrio by Augustine of Hippo)

Joe Diele’s Homily from Sunday, September 14

Joe Diele’s Homily for Sunday, August 13

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Luke 9:18-22

Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.

He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Reflection on the gospel reading: In today’s gospel, Jesus and his disciples are praying in solitude. In the midst of the prayer, the question of Jesus’ identity, mission, and fate arise. God has an idea for each of our lives and draws us to this idea through the various events of our lives. God calls us into communion with Godself to plug into a relationship which works out the nature our calling through prayerful recognition of how God works in our lives. This passage from Luke reminds us that it is in prayer that we sort through the various facts and emotions of that divine idea for our lives and learn what it is that God created us to be and to do.

Saint of the day: Born on April 4, 1894 to the Sicilian nobility, Giuseppe Benedetto Dusmet was the son of Marquis Luigi Dusmet. Educated at the abbey of San Martino delle Scales from when he was five-years-old, he became a Benedictine monk who made his formal vows on August 13, 1840 at the abbey of Monte Cassino. He taught philosophy and theology in Benedictine houses. A priest Giuseppe was prior of the monastery of San Severino, Naples from 1850 and became prior of the monastery of San Flavio, Caltanissetta, Sicily in 1852. From 1858, he was abbot of the monastery of San Nicolo l’Arena, Catania, Sicily. The monastery was later confiscated by the state soon after the founding of the kingdom of Italy. In 1867, he came archbishop of Catania, Sicily and a cardinal in 1889.

Spiritual reading: In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth. (Mahatma Ghandi)

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Luke 9:7-9

Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, “John has been raised from the dead”; others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”; still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.” But Herod said, “John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him.

Reflection on the gospel reading: I long have loved much a song from the 1970s musical, “Godspell,” a song called, “Day by Day.” The lyrics of that song ask that day-by-day, we may see Jesus more clearly, love him more dearly, follow him more nearly. In the passage that we read from Luke today, Herod too wants to see Jesus, but he wants to see him in a way quite different from the song from “Godspell.”

The Herod about whom we read today was the son of Herod the Great. Herod the Great, of course, in Matthew’s gospel is the king whom the magi visited and who, for fear of his throne, put to death all the boys of Bethlehem under the age of two. Herod the Great in his will provided that his kingdom be divided among his four sons, so Herod the Tetrarch who appears in today’s passage is a ruler of a fourth part of the kingdom of his father. “Tetrarch” actually means, “ruler of a fourth part.”

In today’s narrative, Herod has been hearing quite a bit about Jesus and the wonders that Jesus works. Herod is a superstitious man, and like his father before him, he fears Jesus. But Herod also is curious about him and wants to see him, perhaps so Jesus can perform some “magic” for him.

One moral to this gospel passage is that there are different ways to see Jesus. There is the wrong path, that is, the way that Herod wants: to perceive the Lord with neither faith nor hope and think about him much the way we might be amused by the tricks of a trained animal. And there is the way that the song “Day by Day” contemplates: to look into life and each part of the world to see, love, and follow the Lord.

Saint of the day: Born on March 1, 1653 at San Severino, Pacificus was the son of Antonio Divini and Mariangela Bruni, both of whom died when Pacificus was about three-years-old. They left him to be raised by an uncle. Pacificus joined the Franciscans in December 1670 and was ordained in 1678. A professor of philosophy, he taught novices and served as a parish missionary. His health failed and he spent his final 29 years lame, deaf, and blind, leading a contemplative life. Pacificus is said to have received ecstasies and been a miracle worker.

Spiritual reading: Justice will bring about peace; right will produce calm and security. (Isaiah the Prophet)