Homily for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time from Sts Francis and Clare Parish
From the Parish of Sts Francis and Clare, at the web site https://stsfrancisandclare.com you also can see past homilies and much more.
Homily, October 22, 2017- the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
One thing we must first remind ourselves of today is that the gospel has nothing to do with our concept or idea of separation of church and state. The question involved was a question of authority and God as the ultimate power. The first reading is interesting because Cyrus was not a Jew but the Persian Ruler. Isaiah refers to him as “God’s 
anointed,” the same title given to Jewish Kings. In this case, Cyrus unknowingly to himself, was doing the work of God by letting the Israelites return home and even reconstruct their temple. So the ruler who is doing God’s will has legitimate authority, but God is the source. In the gospel, the Pharisees and Herodians were actually setting a trap in their friendly approach and seemingly simple question. It required either a yes or no with either answer having dire consequences of turning believers against Him or committing treason against the empire.
But Jesus doesn’t answer the question really as it was put to Him. In fact he left two unanswered questions, that then and through the centuries remain for each generation to answer. What belongs to God and what belongs to Caesar(or the state, the good of humanity). It has led to a whole history of rich versus poor, of demands for human rights, of demands for the end of slavery and all other movements even to our present time. Humanity’s fallen nature has not always made us a people with our best foot forward, but hopefully we are trying and learning what it means to be a Christian and a lover of God and all that it asks us to do. It is an ongoing task, learning and developing as a people, as a world responsible to our creator. We are all called to be open and discerning of the Holy Spirit who leads the way for all. Truly we will be complete only when we are one with God, in this life, and in the next.
Homily- October 8, 2017- the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Well it seems we are back into vineyards and the business of grapes for another week. Of course Israel was an agricultural nation and grapes were important if they were to have wine for their tables. Remember too Jesus said I am the Vine you are the Branches and my Father is the vine dresser. So these parables have a sense of importance, but we have to be careful to realize they have at times been heavily allegorized and possibly stretched beyond their original intent. Keep in mind that Jesus or the early church never accused or blamed the Jewish people for Christ’s death.
A farmer in Israel as elsewhere lived off the land. They would trade and barter for the necessities they needed for farming, livestock, food and taxes and tithes and other necessities of life. In essence, a landowning farmer would be left with about 20% of his crop to look out for his family. A tenant farmer as we see in the gospel, could really not expect much more, but was obligated to pay the landowner. Now, typically, the tenants were the leaders of the people. Their lifestyle, accountability, leadership all become questionable and a need for change is seen and brought about. It these writings it would mean at the time that the leadership was passed on from the chief priests, etc to the new Judaeo-Christian Church.
To move forward through the centuries, we see the message of Jesus has been constant, and his church remains. It has looked to be different in one time or another, but like old testament times, repentance, change and renewal was always something the Holy Spirit has maintained and has kept Christ alive to the world. Our message today, is that good leadership must listen and work together with the people of God. History has proven that in all areas of spirituality the Spirit breathes where he wills. It is for the rest of us to discern the Spirit and not disparage the messenger.
In the intellectual sphere, the remarkable achievements of learning and science has advanced the world and also challenged us to clean up the mistakes we have made. If God our ultimate landowner asked for an accounting today, What would we say?
Homily October 1, 2017- the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s gospel actually is located in Matthew’s gospel in Holy Week after Jesus’ entrance and his cleansing of the temple. It is in response to a challenge by the chief priests. His question was who did the father’s will between the two sons. They said the first and he said, that yes the son who said no actually did the work, while the son who said yes appeared to be doing the right thing but was only looking out for himself. In light of this, Jesus asked that when you had John the Baptist, the tax collectors and prostitutes and sinners believed and followed him but you did not. You stuck to keeping the appearance of following the law but were only concerned with your power.
There is a big lesson here for us today. God calls us to love and respect all who are around us. It means we must be ready to forgive and always ready to welcome even those we do not know. It means that we not put our self first, that as Jesus served and even offered 
his life so we to are called to serve. It means that in our life we have a position that in someway oversees others, we must humbly and in a just way manage and serve those we serve.
We know that Jesus encounter in today’s gospel was preliminary to his execution, yet Jesus was faithful to why he came and to what was to come. It certainly means for us that the right thing is not always the easiest thing.
Homily, September 24, 2017- the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
As the son of a union business agent, I kind of view the parable of today’s gospel with a prejudiced eye. Having grown up with the concept of a fair and living wage, and a just hour by hour accounting of a laborer or a truck driver, the story of the parable seems to violate concepts of justice and rights of the working person. These hard-fought rights brought forth labor unions and economic growth in the last century. But, and it is a big but, the parable was spoken centuries ago, in the Judaic countryside in a culture and 
time far removed from us. It was not meant to be an economic lesson, but a description of what the Kingdom of God was like and perhaps how he acted. In that time, an employer invited workers to work and terms were negotiated as to what would be paid.
In this story, the householder chooses to pay all the workers the same, whether they worked all day or just one hour. Red flags, sirens, etc. all arise as we listen. It is not fair, the men should be paid by the hour and not all the same. Yet, we forget they agreed to what was fair. What call does anyone have to ask or demand more than what was fair. 
The translation we have says the householder was “generous,” but a careful look at the original say more like the householder paid out of his “goodness.” And there we find the whole point of what the kingdom of heaven is. It is there out of God’s goodness and He treats all the same. The kingdom is not a reward or something earned but where God has invited us to be. We are all equal and God doesn’t play favorites of one over another.
We are all called to his kingdom, some with years and years of faith and love, others answering for lesser time. Yet, from the infant who died in childbirth to the martyrs of the many centuries to the exalted saints we honor in the church, God welcomes and treats each as his own and each with all his love. Yes, we need to labor as we are called to the vineyard.
Homily August 13, 2017, the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s gospel is interesting, but first we should see that with the Transfiguration we missed the death of John the Baptist in the previous week’s cycle. At that time he wanted to be alone and withdrew to a quiet place only to be followed by the crowd. He ministered to them and sent them away and sent his Apostles across the Sea of Galilee. Like all of us, He obviously needed some time alone to think and to interact with his 
Father. In times when our hearts are troubled or some crisis needs to be absorbed, most people seem to retreat for some solitude and even prayer. Elijah in the first reading did that. 
As he waited for Yahweh, a storm came and an earthquake came but God was not there. In a quiet whisper he hid his face as God was there. But in the Gospel, we see Jesus finish his time of solitude and set out to catch up with his Apostles. A storm had come up and the boat was being tossed about and the Apostles were afraid. More frightening for them was to see Jesus approaching them on the water. It was like a ghost approaching them. In fear they cried out, only to be assured that it was He who was there. It is then we see Peter at Jesus call walking to Jesus and then starting to sink. 
A startling reminder that faith even in Jesus presence gave into doubt when human thought doubted the intervention of Jesus. Faith requires a constancy of thought and perseverance. In Matthew’s account of this, we see that the faith of all brings them to to declare that Jesus was the Son of God.
To be learned today are a couple of things. First would be that at times we need to withdraw or stand aside for some time and prayer. Rest and refreshment is good for our spiritual side as well as our physical side. A second thing though is to realize that God can come at that time of crisis and be a partner as we weather whatever storm there is. Unlike Peter, we should not give into doubt or fear, and should always maintain our faith and perseverance regardless of what is ahead. This has and will be Jesus message as he still goes up to Jerusalem and what lies ahead. He knows His Apostles’ faith will have them sink like Peter, yet like Peter they will be rescued by Jesus own love and resolve.
Homily August 6, 2017 the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Today’s gospel of the Transfiguration is from Matthew. Luke’s account is read in reading cycle 3 in Lent leading up to Christ’s passion. We also see today in the second from 2 Peter that the author writing in the tradition of Peter gives an eyewitness account to “this is my Beloved Son”. Why Jesus chose just three of his Apostles is not completely clear, but in some way he was preparing them for what was to come. The meeting with Moses and 
Elijah was very significant because of their place and importance in the history of the Jews. Jesus shining face was alluding to His place and his coming ascension to the Father. The idea of visions was not unknown in the Jewish tradition. The fear of the Apostles, we see assuaged by Jesus plus his charge to keep the whole thing secret for the time being.
For us, I think we can see as we look at all three readings that we are looking at Christ and our savior teacher and also as the resurrected-ascended Son of God. Clearly, it is a celebration of our faith and an affirmation of Jesus and his teaching us the way. It is another way of affirming: “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.”
Homily July 9, 2017, the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
My yoke is easy and my burden light. The Priests and Scribes and Pharisees and Elders of Jesus time represented the wisdom of time and the law of the land. It was to these leaders of the temple that the people looked to be faithful followers of God in the tradition of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and king David. These men over the years had codified laws and rules and prescriptions that were specific and numerous and were controlling of every part of life. These rules and laws went from the washing of hands 
before eating to worshiping. Lost in all this was the personal nature of God. Jesus today is telling them that the revelation of his Father is hidden from the wise because they are blinded to Jesus. It is through Jesus that they can see and experience the Father. In this way they come to know the father because they know Jesus and only he can reveal and bring the father to 
them. So, Jesus is revealing to them the true wisdom, and that is his person. He is the way to the father and he is telling those so strongly bound and burdened with so many prescriptions to come to him and rest and give up their burdens. His yoke, his burden is easy in comparison. His call is love and concern for others to live in the person of Christ.
Today, we should remember Christ’s words and remember that wisdom is in his person and actions. Rules and laws are meant to be a service or guideline for order, yet without compassion and mercy and living in the person of Christ are they meeting the test “My yoke is easy and my burden light”? Truly our real rest and peace is in him.
Homily March 12, 2017, the 2nd Sunday of Lent
In the readings today, we see 2 significant moments In the history of salvation. The first is the acceptance of Abram(Abraham) to pull up stakes and leave behind his kinsfolk and all that was familiar to him and set out to a place unknown to him to become a father of a great nation. Remember he was 74 years old and in that time travel was difficult and leaving meant that he would never return. It was a key moment of faith to accept the call. Even later at his death, Abraham had one son as heir and 2 
grandsons. While he had 6 other sons, they were not in the line of those who received his inheritance, although they spread far and wide and we know today that Abraham is known as a Father of faith to Jews, Muslims and Christians. Thus, while his inheritance was small at his death, ultimately many nations have been born from him in the course of the centuries. His relationship with God and the fidelity of those who came after him brought us to the entrance of Christ into the world and the age of Christianity he started.
The Transfiguration in the gospel today is a transformational moment because Jesus chose 3 of his disciples to share a moment where, in a glorified state, he spoke to Moses and Elijah. It was a moment of confirmation and of passing on from the prophets Moses and Elijah to Jesus. At that moment, with the voice telling the disciples to listen to him, the relationship from the time of Abraham to that moment was passed on to Jesus. It was a moment and experience that the 3 disciples didn’t completely understand until Christ’s death and their encounter with the risen Christ. This moment in a way prepared t
hem for the Passion and death, but still in their own human weakness and fear were challenged by the events of Christ’s death. Despite that, Christ continued on, for he came for the weak, for those who sin, for all who are fearful or doubtful. His love, the love of God, was for all and he freely gave without judging asking only that those he met to believe. In all times, that love which also encompasses forgiveness for all our faults is what is at the real core of life. So perhaps our best response to what was read today is “I believe”
CACINA 
leave a comment