1/11/20 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Sunday Reflection” （John Thornhill）

Good leadership is essential, if human associations are to achieve their goals. God’s ultimate designs for the human family are carried forward by the human communities called to be God’s collaborators – first, the people of old Israel, and now the Church, the New Israel. The readings of today’s liturgy remind us that many problems in the history of God’s people have been caused by flawed leadership. The corrupt rule of the kings of old Israel and their disregard of God’s covenant are notorious in Old Testament history. In our first reading, the 5th century B.C. prophet, Malachi reproaches the priests of the temple for the scandal they are giving the people – showing partiality; offering ‘stolen, lame and diseased animals’ in sacrifice (Malachi, 1:13). The conflict that will lead to the rejection and execution of Jesus is provoked by leaders who are blind to the truth he brings. Paul’s concern to leave an example of selfless leadership in his ministry to the Thessalonians was motivated by his knowledge that the Church would suffer if its leaders did not exercise a leadership that was inspired by the Saviour’s example.

Today’s gospel reading tells us how the community for whom Matthew wrote recalled the Saviour’s teaching concerning leadership of God’s people. The leadership Jesus criticised was the outcome of a complex development. There was no single authority that interpreted the faith of old Israel. The Law of Moses, the ‘torah’, was handed down in the biblical traditions as the expression of God’s authority. The priests of the temple were the traditional custodians of the rituals that gave expression to the people’s covenant obligations. The teaching of the prophets was a spontaneous expression of guidance, like a conscience of the nation. The scribes were students of the Law who interpreted its contents. The Pharisees formed a popular movement, seeking to revive the nation’s religious practice. Jesus acknowledged that it is these various groups who ‘occupy the chair of Moses’ – if the Law is to be interpreted faithfully, it is only these various authorities who can provide this interpretation. He criticised them, however, because they ‘do not practice what they preach’. His criticism echoed the age-old teaching of the prophet. If they had the true spirit of the covenant (that should have been the very soul of Israel’s faith) they would not interpret what the covenant required of God’s people in a way that made it next to impossible for the common people to give faithful observance. Though they should have helped the nation to be one family under their ‘one Father in heaven’, they interpreted the Law in such a way that their elaborate observance gave them an elite status – which they celebrated by wearing the trappings self-importance and seeing themselves as deserving the admiration of the common people they despised.

In the stern words of Jesus we have another example of a peculiarity of the Aramaic idiom that is puzzling to our ears – its lack of a manner of expressing a qualified negative. Clearly, Jesus is not denying the role of ‘fathers’ and ‘teachers’ in our human life. He is condemning the elitist pretensions currently being associated with such terms by the scribes and the Pharisees. Heeding the teaching of Christ, God’s people will recognise their fundamental equality before their common Father. Those called to positions of leadership among them will make themselves ‘the last of all and the servants of all’ (Mk 9:35); and all those who claim to be committed followers of the Lord must be on their guard against the spirit of self-importance that can be so damaging to the life of the Christian community

25/10/20 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Servants of the Word / dailyscripture.net

Jesus summarized the whole of the law in two great commandments found in Deuteronomy 6:5 – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” – and Leviticus 19:18 – “you shall love your neighbor as yourself”. God’s love directs all that he does – His love is holy, just, and pure because it seeks only what is good, beneficial, and life-giving – rather than what is destructive, evil, or deadly. That is why he commands us to love – to accept and to give only what is good, lovely, just, and pure and to reject whatever is contrary.

God is love and everything he does flows from his love for us. God puts us first in his thoughts and concerns – do we put him first in our thoughts? God loved us first and our love for him is a response to his exceeding goodness and kindness towards us. The love of God comes first and the love of neighbor is firmly grounded in the love of God. The more we know of God’s love, truth, and goodness, the more we love what he loves and reject whatever is hateful and contrary to his will. God commands us to love him first above all else – his love orients and directs our thoughts, intentions, and actions to what is wholly good and pleasing to him. He wants us to love him personally, wholeheartedly, and without any reservation or compromise.
What is the nature of love? Love is the gift of giving oneself for the good of others – it is wholly other oriented and directed to the welfare and benefit of others. Love which is rooted in pleasing myself is self-centered and possessive – it is a selfish love that takes from others rather than gives to others. It is a stunted and disordered love which leads to many hurtful and sinful desires – such as jealousy, greed, envy, and lust. The root of all sin is disordered love and pride which is fundamentally putting myself above God and my neighbor – it is loving and serving self rather than God and neighbor. True love, which is wholly directed and oriented to what is good rather than evil, is rooted in God’s truth and righteousness.
God loves us wholly, completely, and perfectly for our sake – there is no limit, no holding back, no compromising on his part. His love is not subject to changing moods or circumstances. When God gives, he gives generously, abundantly, freely, and without setting conditions to the gift of his love. His love does not waver, but is firm, consistent, and constant. He loves us in our weakness – in our fallen and sinful condition. That is why the Father sent his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to redeem us from slavery to sin and its disordered cravings, desires, passions, and addictions. God the Father always seeks us out to draw us to his throne of mercy and help. God the Father corrects and disciplines us in love to free us from the error of our wrong ways of thinking and choosing what is harmful and evil rather than choosing what is good and wholesome for us. Do you freely accept God’s love and do you willingly choose to obey his commandments?
How can we possibly love God above all else and obey his commandments willingly and joyfully, and how can we love our neighbor and willing lay down our life for their sake? Paul the Apostle tells us that “hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us”. We do not earn God’s love – it is freely given to those who open their heart to God and who freely accept the gift of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Lord Jesus to flood your heart with his love through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
What makes our love for God and his commands grow in us? Faith in God and hope in his promises strengthens us in the love of God. They are essential for a good relationship with God, for being united with him. The more we know of God the more we love him and the more we love him the greater we believe and hope in his promises. The Lord Jesus, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, gives us a new freedom to love as he loves. Paul the Apostle writes, “For freedom Christ has set us free… only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh [sinful inclinations], but through love be servants of one another”. Do you allow anything to keep you from the love of God and the joy of serving others with a generous heart?

18/10/20 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 “Sunday Reflection” （John Thornhill）

In these final weeks of the Church’s year, our readings from Matthew’s gospel point towards what lies ahead. Today’s gospel and that of next Sunday tell of the growing confrontation with the nation’s leaders that will lead to Jesus’ death. And in our last three readings from Matthew’s gospel Jesus warns his hearers that the end is approaching.

The exchange recorded in today’s gospel is well known. Matthew’s brief account tells us a great deal about the situation that was developing in the last days of Jesus life. The Jewish people bitterly resented the Roman occupation of their country; now, those who have turned against Jesus exploit this explosive situation to discredit him. The dilemma that Jesus is placed in by the question put to him about the paying of the Roman tax is brought out in Matthew’s account by the composition of the group putting the question – Pharisees and Herodians. The Pharisees represent Jews who have a real problem of conscience paying the tax. Strict Pharisees would have considered the inscription on the denarius handed to Jesus – which almost certainly read, ‘Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus, great high priest’ – to be blasphemous. This influential group, dedicated to upholding the traditions of God’s people, would have asked themselves whether they were compromising their principles by paying their tax with this coin. If Jesus encouraged the paying of the tax, he would not only offend the Pharisees, but also antagonise the common people who so resented the Roman rule. The Herodians, followers of Herod – the puppet ruler in league with the Romans – had no scruples concerning the tax. If Jesus condemned the paying of the tax, he could be denounced for subversion.

The famous reply of Jesus, ‘To Caesar what belongs to Caesar; and to God what belongs to God’ is not a clever evasion, as we may be led to think. With this reply, he turns the question back on his interrogators – taking the discussion beyond the level of the partisanship they are trying to exploit, he tells them that they are faced by a decision of conscience. As is so often the case – think of our own times – involvement in the political life of the nation is not a straightforward matter. The Romans had originally occupied Palestine at the invitation of Jewish leaders, bringing a relative stability, that replaced a situation of continuing anarchy. The contemporaries of Jesus must ask themselves whether the presence the Romans was the lesser of two evils. Today’s first reading from the later Isaian writings is well chosen. Cyrus – who ‘does not know’ the God of Israel – is called by the prophet, God’s ‘anointed’, as he fulfills God’s designs, sending the Jewish exiles back from captivity after his defeat of the Babylonians. God is Lord of all, certainly, Jesus is telling his listeners; but Jewish conscience must judge whether the Roman presence is providential, preventing a worse situation. We should note that Jesus invites the people to make their own judgment of conscience; he does not make it for them. We would misunderstand the reply of Jesus if we thought it was meant to instruct us about the relationship that should exist between Church and State. His reply concerns, not the order of politics, but the order of moral responsibility – the individual’s duty to participate in the life of the nation in a way that best promotes the common good of justice and peace. At a later date, when the Roman state became a demonic force intent on destroying the Church, defiance of the authorities was called for, and produced the martyrs who were the glory of the early Church.

11/10/20 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Sunday Reflection” （John Thornhill）

The parable, about the king who welcomed to his son’s wedding all who could be found, when those who had been invited refused to come, has a message similar to that of the parable we heard last week (which it immediately follows in Matthew’s gospel). Old Israel has not responded to God’s call, and now a New Israel will include all peoples, giving expression to God’s inclusive ways as it carries forward the designs of God. Again, we can recognise that the original parable of Jesus has been modified, as it was retold by the Church’s early preachers. Comparing Matthew’s presentation with Luke’s account of the same parable (Lk14: 15-24) makes it possible to recognise the additions Matthew has made. Luke’s much simpler presentation is no doubt closer to the parable as Jesus told it. Matthew’s presentation is embroidered with additions that give us a valuable insight into the themes that gave expression to the faith life of that early Christian community – themes that can help enrich our faith.

In Luke’s account, Jesus responds to the remark of someone at table with him (‘Happy those who will share the meal in the kingdom of God’) beginning his parable, ‘There was a man who gave a great banquet’. Matthew takes up and develops the theme of joy and celebration essential to Christian faith implied in this beginning, and opens the parable, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding’. The espousal theme was fundamental to the biblical tradition. The prophets compared God’s relationship with the chosen people with that of a loving and faithful husband. For the first Christians, the Saviour was ‘the Bridegroom’ (Mk 2:20), and the life they shared in the Church was described as joining in ‘the wedding feast of the Lamb’ (Rev 19:9). A banquet – especially that which celebrates a wedding – is an outstanding moment of fellowship. In the traditions of Israel, familiar to Matthew’s community, the blessings promised by God to those who have been faithful were likened to sharing in a banquet at the Lord’s table – as we hear in the reading from Isaiah in today’s liturgy. As they heard this reading, and rejoiced in its fulfilment in Christ, this community would have given thanks for the universality of God’s generous designs: ‘all peoples and nations’ will share in God’s blessings ‘everywhere on earth’, the prophet declares. Already, they knew, the faith was beginning to spread. Long familiar with the biblical themes, they would have seen the prophet’s associating of the messianic blessings with, ‘this mountain’ as a reference to the old temple. But if, as is likely, the old temple had already been destroyed by the Romans (A.D.70) when Matthew’s gospel was written, they would have been reminded that the shared life of Old Testament faith was only a foreshadowing of the eternal realities brought by Christ.

Matthew’s account includes the note of urgency characteristic of the outlook of the first Christians – three times, the king declares that all is ‘ready’. The final age has come, all must be ready to respond to the Lord’s call. And so, along the same lines, Matthew concludes his presentation by adding the short parable about ‘the man without a wedding garment’ – that would originally have been quite independent of the original story. Again the lesson is clear: although, in the present age, Matthew’s Church receives ‘the good and bad alike’ to rejoice at the wedding feast of the Lamb, let them know that their presence must be more than nominal adherence – they must be converted and live a life worthy of their calling.

4/10/20 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Sunday Reflection” （John Thornhill）

Seen from a human point of view, salvation history (the story of God’s dealings with humanity) is a tragedy; but the divine mercy and generosity has turned this tragedy into God’s triumph. This great drama comes to its climax, of course, in the life, death and resurrection of the Saviour: ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only Son’. The parable of Jesus in today’s reading from Matthew’s gospel refers to the tragedy that he now recognises to be inevitable. We have already become familiar with the original form of the parables of Jesus: a story that leaves his hearers confronted by an unsettling question. Today’s study of the formation of the gospels makes it clear that, as these parable stories were retold in the preaching of the early Church, they were often added to, to bring out lessons for later audiences. And it is evident that this parable – originally a challenge to leaders of the Jewish nation – has become, for those who have suffered persecution from the synagogue, a condemnation of the ‘chief priests and elders of the people’. The fact that Jesus foretells his death, but makes no reference to the resurrection that was so central to the faith of the first Christians, makes it clear that the parable is not a creation of the later Christian community, but is recalled as having been told by Jesus himself.

It is not difficult to identify the main elements of the original parable. A story that reflects common experience captures the attention of the audience, and unfolds predictably; the services of tenant farmers was commonly made use of by absentee landlords – a situation that not infrequently gave rise to disputes and conflicts, particularly if the landlord was not close at hand. At the same time, however, in the back of the minds of the audience is an awareness that, in the traditions of Israel, the vineyard theme has often been used to describe God’s dealings with Israel. We are told that the prophet Isaiah’s ‘Song of love for the vineyard’, echoed in the parable, was so well known in the time of Jesus that many people knew it by heart. It is a remarkable declaration – a moving expression of faith in the mysterious love and generosity that found expression in the election of Israel in the plan of God; and at the same time it is an acknowledgement of infidelity and failure. According to the usual pattern, as the story unfolds the audience is suddenly confronted by an unexpected turn of events. In this case it is the unreasonable decision of the landlord to send his own son on an errand that has led to so much violence and bloodshed: ‘They will respect my son’. Against the background of the vineyard theme, Jesus, who has come to recognise that his death is inevitable, confronts his hearers with the final expression of the folly of divine love.

As Matthew’s community tells the story of the parable, some of the modifications are obvious enough. In their account, the question Jesus puts to the leaders of the people has been added – the lesson of the parable is brought out more clearly, as the leaders are condemned out of their own lips. The reference to the psalm’s ‘stone rejected by the builders’, often repeated in the New Testament, is an explanatory addition, as is the conclusion: ‘The Kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit’. Matthew’s community knows that the parable is also a challenge for them – as the New Israel, they are now God’s vineyard: ‘Every branch in me that bears no fruit’, Jesus declares, ‘my Father cuts away’. Paul tells the Philippians that, if they bear good fruit, ‘The God of peace will be with them’.

27/09/20 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Sunday Reflection” （John Thornhill）

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus has already warned his disciples three times that he is to suffer; and he has indicated that the chief priests and leaders of the people will be responsible for his death. The brief parable in today’s reading, addressed ‘to the chief priests and the elders’, reflects the growing confrontation with these authorities that will lead, in the end, to his death. He knows that, in their opposition to him, they see themselves as upholding the traditions of Israel – giving expression to their faithfulness to the Lord. His parable gently confronts them with their tragic miscalculation. In Matthew’s narrative, immediately before Jesus tells this parable, he was challenged by these leaders: what authority did he have for teaching in the Temple precincts? He showed up their hypocrisy, putting them in a dilemma – asking them what authority John the Baptist had when he preached to the people.

The simple story of the parable he now addresses to them ends with a question. His parables, we recall, were designed to leave the hearers pondering an unsettling question. Because the answer to the question he put to them is straight forward – the son who initially refused, and ‘afterwards thought better of it and went’, was the one who did the father’s will – the opponents of Jesus answered accordingly. But as they do so, they begin to realise what Jesus’ parable is driving at. As the defenders of the nation’s faith traditions, they see themselves as always saying ‘Yes’ to God. But now Jesus is inviting them to reflect that their actions may not match their professions of faithfulness. John the Baptist called the people to a conversion whereby they would be open to what was about to take place in the great plan of God. The very ones these leaders despised, as ‘outside the law’ – tax collectors, sinners, those whose busy lives and slender means made it impossible for them to observe all the rituals and customs they emphasised – were listening to the teaching of the one announced by the Baptist, while they themselves were intent on destroying him, not recognising that he came from God. The ironic lesson of the parable would have been very real to the Jewish converts of Matthew’s community.

The old proverb, ‘Actions speak louder than words’, reminds us of the inconsistencies that can be present in the lives of all of us. The parable of Jesus reminds us that these inconsistencies can be present in our Christian lives – when we see ourselves as fervent believers, always faithful to our devotions and religious observances, but with little practical expression to show of our following of Christ. St Paul’s exhortations to the Philippians in today’s reading provide simple but telling examples of the practical attitudes that true followers of Jesus should have: no competition or petty rivalry, putting the wellbeing of others before our own, being genuinely concerned to assist those around us. And, as always, Paul leads us back to the ultimate pattern of our life as disciples of the Lord – the Son who said ‘Yes’ to the Father, came to work in the God’s vineyard, setting aside his divine glory and making himself the Servant of us all. ‘In your attitudes you must be the same as Christ’.

Jesus may well have told the same parable in different forms. As we hear today’s brief parable we may well ask whether it is related to the great parable, in Luke’s gospel, of the wayward son who found his way back to his father’s love and welcome.

20/9/20 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Msgr. Joseph A. Pellegrino

Human Resources would not have been happy with that landowner.  Sometimes, it seems that Human Resources does not want to come out on the side of generosity.  I remember a time that we wanted to pay an employee extra for work on a particular project.  We were told that we could not do this unless we re-adjusted that employee’s pay scale for all his work.

            Back in the times of the Lord, HR did not exist.  However, people had a sense of what was just and what was unjust.  Day workers were given the daily wage of one denarius.  The workday was sunrise to sunset.  So, it would seem just that those who worked less than a full day should receive less.  But in today’s parable, sometimes called the parable of the Laborers in the Marketplace, other times, perhaps much better, referred to as the Parable of the Good Employer, the landowner has pity on those who could not find work throughout the day.  They had families they had to feed.  It was not their fault that no one hired them.  Therefore, he hires them, some of them even a few hours before sunset, and gives them all the same daily wage.  He is not being unjust to those hired in the early morning.  He is being charitable, merciful, to those hired at the end of the day. 

            Justice and mercy are compatible when charity is involved.    “Are you envious because I am generous,” the owner says to those hired at sunrise who protested that they did not receive more.  The exact translation of this is “Do you view my actions with an evil, jealous eye?”  This occurs in the Gospel of Matthew where we also read, “If your eye causes you to sin, then pluck it out.”  Usually we relegate this phrase to a sexual connotation.  Properly applied to the point of today’s parable, the Lord is saying, “If you begrudge generosity to the less fortunate, than you cannot be a Christian.” If we do not rejoice in the benefits given to others, than we cut ourselves off from the benefits we have received.  As Christians, we are obligated to care for the poor.  We need to establish governmental and private means to aid those who cannot help themselves.  Yes, these agencies must be regulated to eliminate those who abuse them.  That is justice. But our main concern must be to care for those who have less.  That is mercy.   Some people reduce those forced into situations where they have to seek help from others.  This is not how a Christian should act. Yes, we should be happy when we realize that poor, sick, or people hurting in any way are being helped, but more than that, much more than that, we should be extending the hand of God to lift others up.

            “Are you envious because I am generous?” Envy and jealousy are horrible.  The jealous person looks for ways to destroy another person’s life.  The jealous person usually ends up destroying his own life.  Or her own life. The jealous person does not appreciate his own gifts.  He can only see the gifts that others have. He hates them for their gifts.  And his hatred destroys him.  Everybody is different.  No two people are the same.  We do not have the right to compare or contrast others to ourselves. 

            This parable should also be applied to our view of our relationship to God.  God loves the person who is faithful throughout the day.  He loves cradle Catholics who practice their faith throughout their lives.  He also loves those who come to him during the day and even in the evening.  Many people respond to God’s mercy at the end of their lives. God loves them for taking a huge step away from their former lives and for falling into the arms of His Mercy.  Literature presents Don Juan who refuse to reject his immoral lifestyle and would rather suffer hell than entrust himself to God.  It is a tremendous step of humility to turn from a sinful life and turn to the Lord.  God loves those who take this step, even though they join St. Augustine in mourning, “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient ever new. Late have I loved you.”  What matters is that they are with him now.  God loves cradle Catholics, and he loves converts.  He loves those who practice their faith throughout their lives, and he loves those who return to the faith. We rejoice in those who join the faith or return to the faith.  We don’t consider ourselves superior to them because we are not superior to them. 

            At the end of the gospel reading we come upon the phrase, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.”  We cannot impose our ways on the Lord. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”  That is from our first reading.  We cannot tell God how to be God.  We have to do our best to respond to the call to labor in God’s vineyard as we have received it. That call demands that we are open to God’s mercy in our lives and that we become vehicles for God’s mercy in the lives of others.  That is Christianity.  To act otherwise is to begrudge God for his generosity, or to be scripturally literal, to look upon God’s goodness with an evil, jealous eye. 

            The parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard calls upon us to ask God to help us be vehicles of His Mercy.

13/9/20 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

John Thornhill sm  (The Emmaus Series)

During this time of pilgrimage, sinfulness in the life of the Church obscures the reality of our life in Christ – a common life that should be a sign of hope for struggling humanity. It is not without reason that we begin the Church’s most solemn liturgies with an acknowledgement of our sinfulness. It should not surprise us, therefore, that the passage of Matthew’s gospel from which we are reading – concerning our life in the Church – is in large part about problems associated with the sinfulness of members of the Church. Last Sunday’s reading discussed the reconciliation of members guilty of public crimes destructive of the community. Today’s reading concerns the forgiveness called for within the community at a personal level.

As was so often the case, Peter’s impulsiveness gives rise to an important lesson. Peter has received a commission that involves considerable power in the life of the community of disciples. He thinks he is expressing what Jesus expects of him in the exercise of his authority. The question he puts to Jesus implies that he will be ready to forgive ‘seven times’. His round number really hints at an indefinite readiness to forgive. Apparently, the scribes of the day taught that one was not obliged to forgive after the third or fourth time. But the response of Jesus declares that this vagueness is not enough: ‘Not seven, but seventy seven times’ – there should be no limit to our readiness to forgive! Perhaps, as we hear this gospel, we are tempted to think that it has little to do with us – because we have never faced up to the ill will and resentments we have towards other members of our community, and to the gossiping and factions these attitudes give rise to. Though these attitudes may not seem seriously sinful, they can be very damaging, making it impossible for our parishes to live the kind of life that leads others to share in our faith. Resentment and the vengeful spirit have been part of the human story since the beginning. Living in covenant with living God, and learning God’s ways, old Israel came to accept that vengeance must be left to the Lord. For peoples who did not know the covenant, there was no limit to the spirit of revenge. In fact, the response of Jesus reminds us of this spirit, as expressed in book of Genesis, where Lamech boasts that he will exact ‘vengeance seventy-seven fold’. Jesus is reminding us of his teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew’s text, Jesus is remembered as teaching, ‘Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect’. Because the meaning of the word, ‘perfect’, in the biblical tradition has not been properly understood, one contemporary Bible renders this verse, ‘Set no bounds to your love, just as your heavenly Father sets none to his’. The parable of the unforgiving manager drives home this lesson. Clearly, the ruler’s generosity brings to mind the generosity of God. The debt forgiven was a fantastic amount, defying the imagination of Jesus’ audience, impossible to repay. We are invited to compare our unforgiving spirit with the boundless generosity of our God.

Let us examine our attitudes to others in our worshipping community. Have we failed to face up to our antagonisms, and tended to justify them by being judgmental of the attitudes of our fellow Christians? The great Church Father, John Chrysostom, has good advice for us as we examine our conscience. If we are not aware of our destructive attitudes we shall never grow up spiritually. On the other hand, he tells us, awareness of our own failings helps us to find the wisdom, gentleness and compassion that should be ours as true followers of the Saviour.

30/8/20 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr. Kevin O’Sullivan, O.F.M  (https://www.catholicculture.org/)

The first reading is taken from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 20:7-9 in which we hear Jeremiah giving voice to this internal anguish of mind; he hates what he has to say to his people, yet he is compelled by God to say it.

The second reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 12:1-2 in which he tells the Roman Christians (converts, for the most part, from paganism) that they must prove themselves worthy of this great favor, they must live truly Christian lives.

The Gospel is from Matt. 16:21-27. From all eternity this was God’s plan for mankind. But because sin had entered into the world before the Incarnation took place, the Son of God in his human nature had to suffer the violent death of the cross at the hands of sinners. In this very suffering he became the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world, as the second-Isaiah had foretold in his “suffering servant” prophecies. His death, because he was God as well as man, was a sacrifice, an atonement, of infinite value, and therefore obtained forgiveness from the Father for all the sins of the human race.

In foretelling his sufferings and death, which took place some months later, Christ intended to prepare his disciples and other followers for what he knew would be for them a severe crisis of faith. He also took occasion from it to remind his disciples, and all others who would follow him, of what their attitude to suffering and death should be. He told them, and us too, that we must be ever ready to accept sufferings in this life, and even an untimely death if that should be demanded of us, rather than deny our Christian faith.

To prove their loyalty to their faith in Christ thousands of Christians in the early Church, and thousands more during persecutions in later centuries, gladly took him at his word and went joyfully to their martyrdom. It is to be hoped that, aided by God’s grace, we would all be ready to imitate their example, if called on to prove our fidelity to Christ and our Christian faith. But at the moment what Christ expects and asks of us is that we should bear the sufferings and hardships of daily life cheerfully and gladly for his sake.

This daily carrying of our Christian cross can be, and is for many, a prolonged martyrdom. Poverty, ill-health, cruelty and hardheartedness met with in the home and in one’s neighbors, are heavy crosses which only a truly Christian shoulder can bear. But, if we were offered health, happiness, peace, wealth and power for the next fifty or seventy years on this earth, in exchange for an eternal heaven after death, what rational one among us would accept that offer?

Christians know that this life is a period of training, which makes us ready hereafter to receive the eternal reward which Christ has won for us. Every trainee knows that one must endure certain hardships and sufferings in order to merit graduation into one’s chosen profession or trade. On our Christian graduation day we shall, please God, hear the welcome words : “Well done good and faithful servant; because you have been faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater, come and join in your Master’s happiness” . May God grant that every one of us will hear these words of welcome.

23/8/20 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr. Joseph A Pellegrino 《Fr. Joe’s Spiritual Letters》 “Homily” 

As you know, the name Peter comes from the Greek word, Petra, meaning rock.  Jesus named Simon, “Peter”, the rock upon which the Church would be built.  Authority in the Church was entrusted to Peter, “whatever you declare bound on earth would be bound in heaven, whatever you declare loosed on earth would be loose in heaven.”

            The Lord could have found many different ways of establishing His church. He could have entrusted it to the angels.  He could have worked out a Church of some sort of direct inspiration where every move on earth was exactly dictated from heaven.  Instead, the Lord put the Church in the hands of people of faith.  Good people, like Peter, but still people with all the limitations of being human.  As all human beings, sometimes the humanity of individuals got in the way of their divine charge.  Peter tried to keep Christ from going to Jerusalem and was called “Satan” for he was doing the work of the devil.  After boasting that he would never deny the Lord, he did in fact deny him three times.  Peter was a good man, a man of faith, but sometimes his vision became clouded.  He was a man who could walk on water to the Lord, but then started thinking about what he was doing and started to drown.  That was very much the story of his failings.  He often started out well, but then let his humanity effect his actions.  For example, after Pentecost when the Church was in its first days, Peter realized that Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians were equal.  Yet, at Antioch, he ignored the Gentiles in favor of the Jews, for which he was berated by Paul. Peter was a holy man, but still, a man, and as a man he made human mistakes.

            On the positive side, Peter was a man who grew in his faith.  He was a determined fisher of men.  He accepted the obligations and responsibilities of leadership over the other apostles, many of whom were far better educated than he was.  Think about Paul who was educated at the feet of the great teacher Gamaliel. Yet Paul laid his teaching out before Peter to be sure he was proclaiming Christ properly.  Peter’s authority was given to Him by the Lord and confirmed in the action of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and through the remainder of Peter’s life.  Peter may have denied Jesus before Pentecost, but after Pentecost, he embraced suffering if that was what the Gospel entails. Peter, this man of Galilee, whose longest trip had been to Jerusalem, traveled all the way to Rome.  This man who fled the crucifixion of Jesus, accepted his own crucifixion asking to be crucified head down because he didn’t deserve to die as the Lord died.     

            When we consider the human failings of all the Popes who followed Peter, including those who would be canonized saints, we have to recognize the hand of the Holy Spirit in the very life of the Church. Christ gave His authority to the rock, even though some of those who exercised this authority let their humanity get in the way of their responsibility.  Still, because we do have a concrete authority, rock-solid, we know who we are when we say we are Catholic.  We know the fundamental beliefs of our faith and the basic dictates of our morals.  We are so firm in our faith, that even if those in authority should give us a poor example of living the faith as some of the popes of the distant past did, we still maintain our Christianity.  The Church still flourishes.  Why?  Because the Church is far more than individuals.  It is the Body of Christ guided by the Holy Spirit.

            Human frailty is not more powerful than Divine Grace.  When I think of some of the ways in which I, as an ordained leader have let my humanity get in the way of my responsibility, and yet still witness the wonderful ways the Lord uses me for others, I  realize that God’s power is far greater than my own limitations.  After forty-three years as a priest, I am still shocked at the way the Lord uses me despite my continual human failings.

            I am sure that there are situations in your own lives that you feel the same way.   I am sure that you recognize the Lord’s presence in your decisions despite your own human failings.  Many parents fear that they are acting like hypocrites when they do everything they can to prevent their children from engaging in actions that those parents themselves had done.  But really, they are not hypocrites.  They are concerned parents who want to protect their children from repeating their mistakes. 

            We, the confirmed, are entrusted with the responsibility of leading others to the Lord. We recognize that we do not do this alone.  We realize that we must allow the hand of the Lord to work his wonders through us. 

            Today’s gospel reading, “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church” leads us to make an act of faith in the Lord who uses human beings, you and me, to proclaim his wonders.

16/8/20 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Brendan Byrne SJ 

In the very full account of the episode given by Matthew, the sense of separation of ‘holy’ Israel from ‘unclean’ Gentile world emerges with increasing intensity.

Jesus first ignores the woman completely, despite the persistence and force of her plea, as she turns to the Jewish Messiah for help. The disciples’ urgent recommendation, ‘Send her away’, seems to imply ‘Get rid of her by granting her what she wants’, but Jesus he coldly insists that his mission is restricted to ‘the lost sheep of the house of Israel’. When, in one of the most moving gestures in all the Gospels, she comes and kneels before him and simply begs, ‘Lord, help me’, all she receives is a third rebuff in the form of the heartless image about not throwing the children’s food to dogs. 

But here, at last, is her chance. With superb wit, she takes up Jesus’ image and turns it against him – or at least against the restrictive attitude he is displaying.

Certainly, food prepared for children is not intended for domestic animals. But children eat untidily and house dogs under the table seize any scraps that fall. ‘Outwitted’, Jesus gives in, agreeing to her request and praising the greatness of her faith.

Many readers of the Gospel will doubtless be troubled by the apparent coldness that Jesus initially displays towards this desperate person. By depicting him acting in such a way, however, the narrative first intensifies the sense of the barrier between Jews and Gentiles, only to highlight the significance of what is happening when, as a result of the woman’s faith, the barrier comes crashing down.

Recent feminist interpretation has rightly identified this Canaanite woman as one of the great heroes of the Gospel tradition. Jesus allows her to ‘educate’ him out of the narrow understanding of his mission that his early responses betray. He is not only Messiah for the Jews but also the One in whose ‘name the Gentiles will place their hope’. The great mission charge to the nations at the end of the gospel has its anticipation and impulse here.

In the Second Reading, inclusiveness works the other way round, so to speak. The bulk of Israel has said ‘No’ to the Gospel of the Crucified. Does this mean they have forfeited the chance of salvation? No, says Paul: the God who in great fidelity has worked to include the nations of the world will not fail to act inclusively in favour of the original People of choice, for God’s ‘gifts and calling are irrevocable’.

9/8/20  19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Msgr. Joseph A. Pellegrino

To the ancient people, the seas represented chaos.  Fishermen and sailors, then, as well as now, know all too well the sudden turmoil caused by rough waters.  If you ever saw the movie, The Perfect Storm, you would understand why the water is associated with chaos.  Think back to the horrible Asian tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands.  I experienced a terrifying blizzard when I was in Boston at the beginning of my priesthood.  Since the Boston area is on the water, tremendous damaged was caused by the sea.  I used to show people homes in the Revere and Winthrop area that had their second story windows destroyed by waves. 

            The sea hits us in the front, the back, the left and the right.  There is no escaping it when we are in the middle of it.  That is chaos.

            But God conquered the seas. And Jesus walked on the water.  He continues to walk on water.  He walks on the chaos of our lives.

            That is one of the messages of today’s Gospel reading.  No matter what chaos there is in the world and in our lives, Jesus walks on it.  He conquers the chaos.

            Jesus conquers the chaos that is caused by things that our beyond our control.  Life itself is chaotic.  Just when all is seems to be calm, a loved one suddenly dies.  All of us have experienced this.  We did not cause the chaos, but we do suffer from it.  

            Jesus conquers the chaos, even that chaos which we ourselves cause in our lives.  Many of us have made bad choices.  Many of us have sinned. Many of us suffer the results of our sins or the sins of others.  For example, a person finally recognizes that he has gotten into a relationship which is destroying his family and destroying himself.  He returns to his family, but the damage has been done. He and his family suffer the results of his sins.

            It makes no difference whether we caused the chaos or whether we suffer from the chaos caused by others.  Jesus still walks on the water.  He conquers the chaos.  Then, do you know what he does?  He calls us to walk out onto the chaos and walk towards him.  “Come Peter.”  Peter walked on the water.  At least for a bit. 

            That is what Jesus does for us all. He walks on the chaos of our lives, and then calls us to come and join him.  He gives us the strength to walk on water.

            And what if we fail?  What if we blink, and sink like Peter did?  “Don’t be afraid,” the Lord says.  He is there to reach down and lift us out of the water, out of the chaos, just as he lifted Peter out of the water, out of the chaos of his life.

            The Lord knows that we are not saints, not yet anyway.  He knows that we are weak.  He accepted Peter, that loud lout, that well-meaning coward, and turned him into the Rock of the Church.  He takes us as we are and walks with us on the water. He only asks us to have the courage to put our faith in Him.  He gives us the strength to join Him in conquering the chaos. 

            Where is the chaos in your lives, in my life?  Is it sickness or death?  Is it chemical dependence? Is it some other addiction?  Is it turmoil in your marriage or your family?  Where have the seas raised up to chaotic dimensions?  Wherever that chaos is, please remember, that there is nothing, no chaos that is too great for Jesus to conquer. And there is nothing too devastating for us to conquer with Him.

            He walked on the waters, and He calls us to walk with Him.

2/8/20 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Weekly Homily” （Canon Dr. Daniel Meynen）

Every gift from God is free. For God is the supreme Good. This means that God is perfect in himself and that nothing can be given to him that he does not already have as a supreme, perfect, and infinite Being.

God gives freely, and what he gives is his grace. Now, every free gift, and thus every free gift from God, proceeds from love: by giving us his grace, God, who “is Love” (1 Jn 4:8), gives us a testimony of his love for us. Since love requires freedom, it is thus freely that God gives us his grace, if he wants to, when he wants to, and how he wants to.

Faced with God’s free and freely-given Love, what will we do? What do we already do? Can we remain indifferent? Must we respond to God’s Love? So many questions that we ask ourselves from time to time…

It is clear that we remain free to respond or not respond to God’s Love. This is the drama of all human History. Let us recall Adam and Eve. Tempted by the serpent, that is to say the devil, they both preferred a created good to the uncreated Good, which is God. And they sinned.

God wants to make a covenant with man, in Love, but man does not want to do so. As the Prophet Isaiah says in today’s first reading, allowing the Lord to speak directly to us: “I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.” (Is 55:3) So God did not hesitate. He sent his Son, freely, in order to reestablish the friendship that is possible between God and man, and to establish a new and eternal Covenant, in the Blood of his Son.

In the terrestrial Paradise, God tested Adam and Eve. God wanted to know if the man and woman he had created truly loved him. Alas, as we have said, they sinned. Since that time, God always searches for men and women faithful to his Love, such as the holy man Job.

“There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, «Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?» So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and afflicted Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Then his wife said to him, «Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God, and die.» But he said to her, «You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?» In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

God loves us! Even if he places obstacles in our path and sprinkles into our life times that are sometimes good and sometimes bad, God does not stop loving us: it is true, let us believe it! This is what Saint Paul says in the second reading for this Sunday: “I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Of course, it remains for us to ask ourself this question: if God loves us and continues to love us, will we also continue to love God? There is no answer to this question, for the question is badly put. Indeed, Saint John tells us: “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.” And: “We love, because he first loved us.” Let us believe that God loves us and let us have confidence in the grace that he does not cease to give us in his almighty love! Then nothing could separate us from God’s love and Christ’s love!

This Sunday’s gospel could not be clearer in showing us how great, immense, overflowing is God’s love for mankind! Jesus heals the sick, spends a long time teaching the crowds, and finally multiplies the loaves and fishes in order that all might eat their fill!

Similarly, in our life, if we pay attention, we will see that God has given us so many graces, such as Baptism, and all the benefits of the Redemption. The same can also be said of our parents, and all our family, friends and everyone close to us throughout our lives. Let us thank God for so many graces!

26/7/20

Msgr. Joseph A. Pellegrino

This Sunday’s readings begin with Solomon’s request for Wisdom and conclude with a summation of the Lord’s teaching on the parables.

            At the conclusion of the Dissertation on the parables in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus states: “Every scribe of the Kingdom is like the head of the household who brings out from his storeroom both the new and the old.”  Jesus spoke to the Jewish people, well versed in Hebrew scripture.  The Gospel of Matthew was pointed towards Jewish Christians. Jesus is not replacing what we call the Old Testament with the New Testament.  He is combining the best of the Hebrew Scriptures with the New Way, the Kingdom of God. The wise one, the scribe of the Kingdom, therefore, knows how to use what is old and what is new.

            It takes wisdom to understand how to deal with the past and the present.  There are many people who idealize the past and want to return to life as it was, for example, in the fifties.  There are many others who want to reject the past and concentrate only on the advancements of modern life. So, in the area of family life, the first group wants to re-create the Cleaver Family from one of the first sit-coms, Leave it to Beaver, and the second group sees a value in a sit-com like Modern  Family.  In the area of faith, the first group wants to return to the pre-Vatican Church and the second group wants a Church without a visible structure.

            How do we best deal with the past and the present?  I believe that it was the    Russian poet/philosopher, Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko, who had this insight:  He said that the trick to handling the past is to know what should be brought with us and what should be left behind.  That is wisdom.  For example, within the Church, we should bring with us from the past devotion to the sacraments, to the Mother of God, the importance of the Catholic Family, firm standards of morality, a determination to practice the faith.  What should be left behind would include the subordination of the laity, the repression of the roles of women in the faith, the glorification of the clergy, and the diminishing of the study of Sacred Scripture. 

            We should also apply this to our lives.  All of us can look back on our lives and note numerous positive and multiple  negative aspects of our lives.  We have got to stop persecuting ourselves by dwelling on the negatives of our past.  When we do this, we are bringing the past into the present.  Leave it in the past.  At the same time, it is not pride to recognize the gifts we have shown and to be sure that we utilize our potential, or make our talents real in the present. 

            So, for example, a person went through a period of life when he or she behaved immorally.  Then, perhaps due to a religious experience most likely occasioned by love, that person changed his or her lifestyle and became the person he or she is now. He or she said, “I am getting married now.  I am having a child now.  I need to be a person of integrity.” And that person grew up spiritually determined to live a new, dedicated Christian lifestyle. 

            It would be so wrong for that person or any of us to dwell on the mistakes of the past.  If sin was involved, well, remember the sacrament of reconciliation is given to us to leave the past in the past and to concentrate on the present.  On the positive side, a person can look at his or her past and remember how volunteer work for the poor or sick was so important during high school or college.  Perhaps, he or she might remember how others could not deal with a dying person, but how he or she was able to sit down, chat with the sick person, and see that person, not the person’s sickness.  Reflecting on this, the person says, “Hey, I can do this.  And it is important for me to use this gift God gave me.  I’m going to volunteer as an AIDS buddy or as a hospice companion.”  This is looking at the past and bringing the best with us to the present.

            You married folks really should do this when considering your relationship.  If you are human beings, then you have made mistakes.  Leave them in the past.  You have also been supportive and caring.  Bring this into your present.  Sometimes, a couple will see me that is having a crisis in their marriage.  Often, I’ll mention that the present situation needs to be dealt with, but don’t let this situation cause you to  overlook all the good you have done for each other and the growth you have achieved as a loving couple. Some people are too quick to give up on marriage and end up realizing what they have lost only after it is too late.

            Solomon prayed for wisdom.  Not a bad idea.  It takes wisdom to combat the challenges of life.  It takes wisdom to be a good parent, a good husband, a good wife, a good priest, a good person.  It takes wisdom to discern what needs to be brought into the present and what needs to be left in the past.  

            Where do we get this wisdom?  The same place that Solomon received his. 

19/7/20 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Msgr. Joseph A. Pellegrino

The parable of the mustard seed.  “And Jesus said, behold the mustard seed. It is the smallest of seeds yet it grows into a large bush.”

            I want to begin this article with something you are doing right now, but might be taking for granted reading.  We all can pick up a newspaper, a magazine, a novel, or whatever and in a few moments be brought into a world beyond our immediate surroundings. We can learn new things; we can develop our own intelligence; we can agree or disagree with someone we have never met and never will meet; we can be transported to the world of imagination, etc all due to our ability to read.

            Now how did this start?  How did we learn how to read? We started, most of us, with blocks and individual letters.  We learned what sounds these letters represented.  Then we put the letters together and learned how to spell words.  We even learned new words.  We put the words together and learned new concepts or reinforced that which we had learned.  In very small steps, we went from the letters on the blocks to being able to read the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas.

            It all began in a small way. It all began with letters.  The Kingdom of God is like a child learning his or her letters.  Time goes on and Mom, Dad, and teachers work with the child, and the child’s ability to read grows so great that the child becomes a professor of English Literature.  And so it is with the Kingdom of God.  Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa taught their children their prayers.  They brought their children to Church and taught them with their lives to value their relationship with the Lord.  And their children became parents and did the same.  And their children are the Moms and Dads of our parish.    The Church is full of good Christian men and woman, people of all walks of life, even priests, all living the values of the Kingdom of God, the spiritual realities of life. 

            And now you are doing the same.  You are teaching the ABC’s of religion to your children.  You have faith that the Kingdom of God will spread through them.  So, do not wonder if anything is getting through to the children.  Do not allow yourself to think that maybe nothing is happening for your children.  Trust in God.  If a child who learns his letters can become a professor of English Literature, a child who learns the simplest lessons of faith can become a great force of love for the Kingdom of God.  Say prayers with your children.  Allow God to turn the tiny mustard seed into a great plant.

            The parable of the weeds and the wheat.  And Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the farmer who sowed wheat, then an enemy came and sowed weeds….”  The weeds and the wheat grew together.  “Let us get rid of the weeds,” said his workers when the weeds and the wheat were still tiny plants.   “Better not,” said the farmer, “you might lose some of the wheat too.  We will wait until they are ready for harvesting when we’re sure we know what is weed and what is wheat. Then we’ll get rid of the weeds.”

            The Kingdom of Heaven is like the School where we send our treasures, our children.  They are not finished products when they get there. They have to do a lot of growing. They are still our treasures, and we love them.  Perhaps in the school there are other children who may not have experienced basic human values.  Perhaps, they have been raised in violent households, or households torn apart by some form of chemical dependency.   Perhaps, they have witnessed people hurting others, taking what is not theirs, using bad language, doing terrible things.  As a result, these children may have some pretty rough edges. Should the principal of the school throw the children from dysfunctional homes out before they cause serious problems, or should he give them the opportunity to learn basic values from the school and even from their classmates?  Yes, children need to be removed from the mainstream if they do something that threatens the welfare of the other children, but they are not going to be removed if they have not offended gravely, because the plants are still young and there may be wheat where we think there is weed.

            The Kingdom of Heaven is like the life of every man and every woman.  There is that in each of us which is wheat.  There is that which is weed.  Should God destroy us because of the weed in us?  Or should he give us time?  Perhaps that which is weed in us can be overtaken by that which is wheat.  A strong prayer life goes a long way in preventing serious sin. The Divine Farmer isn’t ready to give up on the crop. We should not give up on ourselves.  God knows that what may appear to be weed is in reality wheat.  For example, a man has a drinking problem. His drinking is destroying himself and his family.  Through prayer and the determination to change his life and through his own openness to the grace of God, he goes for help.  He first becomes a member of AA.  Then he is active in helping others.  Now for the last fifteen years he is dry. He is still an alcoholic, but his condition has resulted in virtue overcoming vice.  Now he helps others. God did not give up on him. He did not give up on himself. What looked like weed, the disease of alcoholism, turned out to be wheat as he brings God’s healing to other alcoholics.

            The parable of the mustard seed: the little efforts we make for the Kingdom of God have a tremendous impact upon the world.  The parable of the weeds and wheat:  God has infinite patience.  He is not about to give up on his people.  We should not give up on others.  And we should not give up on ourselves. 

            The parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the weeds and the wheat. Two simple parables.  Two simple stories.  Two tremendous sources of encouragement for us.

12/7/20 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Canon Dr. Daniel Meynen

Through the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah, the Lord compares the action of his Word to the action of the rain or snow that falls on the earth to give it its necessary moisture. The first thing to note here is that man masters neither the rain nor the snow. With respect to time, man cannot make it rain or snow when he wants it to, nor can he stop the rain or snow when he wants it to stop. With respect to the quantity of rain or snow, man is incapable of avoiding either drought, through lack of water, or flooding, through excess of rain or snow. By this comparison, the Lord wants to show us the Omnipotence of his Word, a Word that man cannot control just as he cannot control the rain or snow.

From the moment when the Word of God became flesh, ever since the very Son of God became incarnate in the womb of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the Prophecy of Isaiah was realized perfectly, in fullness, in Christ: “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Jesus comes not only to recreate man by redeeming him with his sacrifice on the Cross, but he also comes to give all of material creation the beginning of renewal, or of re-creation. In Jesus, by Him and through Him, all that is uniquely spiritual and all that is uniquely corporeal finds its fullness and perfection. This is why Jesus bears both the name of “Paraclete” and that of “Stone”: he is the first Paraclete, while the Holy Spirit is “another Paraclete” (Jn 14:16); and he is the “living stone… in God’s sight chosen and precious”.

In this Sunday’s gospel, the Lord speaks to us of a sower who went out to sow. And later in his discourse, Jesus explains to us that the seed is nothing other than the Word of God. Thus, with respect to the seed that falls on good earth, he says, “As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” (Mt 13:23) So here the spiritual Word of God is compared to a material seed cast onto the earth…

If we return to the first comparison, that of Isaiah, between the Word of God and the rain or snow, we see that there is a difference between the comparison of Jesus and that of Isaiah. Indeed, in Isaiah’s comparison, the rain or snow falls on the earth only in virtue of the Providence of God, which created the world as it is; on the other hand, in Jesus’ comparison, the seed falls onto the earth in virtue of the action of a man, the Sower, whose action conditions the action of the Providence of God that makes the seed germinate according to the laws of creation and of nature…

The Sower is, first of all, Jesus himself. But it is also the Church in her evangelizing action. When we proclaim the Word of God, let us therefore be vigilant, so that the seed of the Word of God might be cast onto good earth! Let us ask the Most Blessed Virgin Mary to guide our hand!

5/7/20  14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr. Joseph A Pellegrino

When we say the Lord is meek, we do not mean that He is submissive.  We mean that He is so full of love that He is willing to be patient. Perhaps some of the murderers will have the opportunity to join the eternal family of the martyrs they created and themselves give witness to Christ.

            Jesus is humble of heart.  A proud person sees the universe revolving around him or her.  If there is an offense, the proud person refuses to forgive.  “Who does he think that he is?” the proud person asks.  He or she is not concerned with returning the sinner to love.  His or her only concern is with vengeance.  That is not the way of the Lord.  Jesus is humble of heart. His concern is not with how He has been offended.  His concern is with the sinner and returning him or her to love. This is the mercy of God streaming from Jesus’ heart.

            What does all this mean to us?  It means that we need to give Jesus our burdens.  This is more than the difficulties of life, sickness, marriage or family problems, etc.  Yes, we give these to the Lord, but there is more than this that He wants.  He wants us to give Him all that is keeping us from Him.  Perhaps there are sinful hidden closets in our lives.  We are ashamed.  Perhaps there is some form of substance abuse.  Perhaps there is some form of sexual immorality.  Perhaps we have  difficulty forgiving those who have hurt us.  Maybe we have committed serious sins.  We had an abortion or we convinced another to have an abortion. Often we are afraid that God is never going to forgive us.  We have attacked Him, willingly and knowingly.  How can we seek forgiveness?  So, we think that we are condemned to go through life carrying these burdens only to wait for everlasting punishment after we die. 

            “No,” the Lord says, “Give me your burdens, come to me for I am meek and humble of heart.”  He is saying, “I am not so offended that I am shutting off mercy and compassion.  I am not concerned about myself.  I am concerned about you.  I suffered on the cross for you.  Give me your burdens.  I want them, no matter how ugly, how messy they may be.”

            And then the Lord says, “And you will find rest for yourselves, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” The burden of being a Christian is light next to the burden of carrying our sins to the grave and beyond.  Following the way of holiness, being separate from what others consider everyday life, is a lighter burden than carrying the weight of guilt that results from choosing to be part of the crowd that exalts in its immorality.  Holiness is being different from the immoral crowd.  Holiness is accepting the way of the Lord.

 Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI told young people: “The world offers you comfort.  But you were not made for comfort.  You were made for greatness.”  Every one of us was created for greatness.  To achieve this greatness means that there are times that we have to reject the comfort of the world.  There are times that we have to be uncomfortable.  We are mocked for our faith and our morality.  We are mocked for our refusing to live for ourselves.  We are mocked because we know that marriage is sacred and live that way.  We are mocked because we know that we have to avoid certain associates, certain places, certain parties, etc because we know that they can destroy us.  We are mocked because we are not part of the crowd. This is not comfortable. But we were not created for comfort.  We were not created to be part of the crowd.  We were created for greatness.  That is the burden, that is the yoke, that Jesus calls us to accept in today’s Gospel.

           But is that burden, the burden of living moral lives, really so difficult?  Not when it is compared to the burden of carrying sin.  It is so much easier to carry the burden of the Lord.  The burden the Lord puts on us brings us joy.  It brings us peace with ourselves in this life and total union with Him in the next life.

            It is easy for us to sin.  It is difficult to live with our sins.  It can be a challenge to avoid sin, even a burden.  But it is a joy to live free of sin.  It is a joy to join those who sing with their lives, “All is well, all is well with my soul.”

            “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”