Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - Homily

 

Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - If God were to call you to himself now, what are the three things you would regret not having done? Will you do them today?

To read the texts clock on the texts: 1 Corinthians 12:12-14,27-31; Lk 7:11-17

The miracle of the raising the widow’s son at Nain is a miracle that is found only in the Gospel of Luke. If the centurion’s servant healed in 7,1-10 was ill and at the point of death, the son of the widow in this story is already dead. There are many similarities between this story and that of Elijah’s raising the widow’s son in 1 Kings 17,10.17-24. Luke emphasises that the son was the widow’s “only son” (7,12). Luke also states that when Jesus saw the widow, he had compassion for her.. Jesus raises the boy quite simply with an authoritative command. The crowd responds by regarding Jesus as a prophet and by affirming that God has been favourable to his people through the deed that Jesus had just done.

The scripture offers many instances where men and women of faith ask for help, and are granted it, even though under normal experiences they might have gone on for the rest of their lives with sin or weakness or sickness or oppression. Does prayer change anything? Again and again the scripture teaches that it does indeed. God can and does intervene in the normal running of his universe. We see just such an instance in this passage. The young man is dead -- his life cut short by sickness perhaps, but death is a "normal" experience in our fallen world. Then Jesus sees a mother's tears, realizes that this widow -- there is no husband and other children mourning beside her -- has lost her only son, and Jesus moved with compassion, and intervenes. God doesn't intervene every time we are hurting or have problems, just as loving parents do not or cannot intervene to soften everything for their children. Sometimes we are angry with God for not giving us the answer to prayer that we desire. Sometimes we blame him for not intervening when our loved ones are sick or die. But it is not because God lacks compassion, for Jesus shows us the Father, and Jesus is full of compassion. We are left with the fact that Jesus indicates that the Father will do things as a result of our prayers, because of his compassion, that he will not otherwise do. Prayer can appeal to the heart of God to bring about change.

Monday, September 16, 2024 - Homily

 

Monday, September 16, 2024 - Will you keep on keeping on today; even when things might not go the way you plan?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Corinthians 11:17-26,33; Lk 7:1-10 

In the story of today’s Gospel, we will read of a centurion’s response of faith in Jesus. The emphasis in the miracle is given to the power of Jesus’ word. There is a close parallel to this story in Matthew and a more distant parallel in John. In Matthew, the servant is “lying paralysed at home”, whereas in Luke, the “slave is at the point of death”. While in Matthew, it is the centurion himself who comes to make the request of Jesus, in Luke; he sends first a delegation of elders who would have been leaders of the synagogue. They vouch for the merit of his request. As Jesus starts for the centurion’s house, a second delegation is sent. This time it is the friends of the centurion. The centurion’s words, “I am not worthy” contrast sharply with the tribute paid to him by the Jewish elders, who testified, “He is worthy”. The effect is to place the centurion in an even better light. The centurion’s words may also convey that he was aware that the Pharisees’ regarded a Gentile’s house as unclean and that a Jew would be defiled by entering his home. He is also confident that Jesus could heal at a distance. Just as he acts by commanding his subordinates, he expects no more than that Jesus would do the same. The point of the story is Jesus’ affirmation of the centurion’s faith and not the report of the healing that concludes the story. Luke’s description communicates Jesus’ surprise at the Gentile’s faith, and his approval as well. Where Jesus would have expected to find faith in an Israelite, here he finds it in a Gentile.

There are times when after having tried all available means to solve a problem that we might be facing, we might be tempted to throw up our hands in despair and simply give up. The centurion’s faith is an inspiration to everyone of us that we need to keep on keeping on despite all evidence to the contrary.

Sunday, September 15, 2024 - Homily

 

Sunday, September 15, 2024 -- Jesus - The Glorious Messiah who suffered

To read the texts click on the texts: Is 50:5-9a; Jas 2:14-18; Mk 8:27-35

“Praise the Lord! Father, my son has been healed from his cancer. Brother Peter laid his hands on him and prayed and the cancer was gone.” These were the words spoken to me by the mother of a young boy who was stricken with cancer. A month later, the cancer came back stronger than before and before long, the young boy was called to eternity.

Many interpreters of Mark’s Gospel consider the Confession of Peter as the watershed of Mark’s Gospel. This confession is the first part of the Gospel text of today. In a sense, this is true because, everything up to this point in the Gospel seems to lead to this confession and it is from this confession that the rest of the Gospel flows. However, even as Peter confesses Jesus as Christ, he is not fully aware of what he is really saying and Jesus has to both correct and enhance his understanding through the words that he speaks after the confession.

The reason why Jesus asks the disciples the two questions about his identity is not because he was facing any sort of identity crisis, but because he wanted to ascertain whether the people, and his disciples, really understood who he was. Where one would have expected immediate praise from Jesus after Peter’s confession, there is the surprising command to the disciples to tell no one about it. This might even seem strange. However, deeper reading shows that this is not as strange as it seems.

In the first part of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus commands both demons and some of those whom he has healed to silence after the exorcism and cures. He does not want them to reveal his identity. The main reason for this seems to be that he did not want to be understood, primarily, as a miracle or wonder worker. Here, too, he commands Peter and the disciples to silence because it is clear that, though the correct confession has been made with the lips, it is not a confession that has come from understanding, That there is lack of understanding is evident in Peter’s rebuke of Jesus after Jesus challenges him, and the disciples, to realize that, as Son of Man, he must suffer, die, and be raised. This means that the title of Messiah, for Jesus, is a title that can only be correct when in the same breath one speaks of him as the Suffering Servant of God. While, for Peter, the title “Messiah” excluded suffering, for Jesus there could be no “Messiah” without the cross and vindication after it.

This image of the Suffering servant is brought out in the first reading of today, which contains the third of the fourth servant songs found in Isaiah. In this song, the focus and elaboration is very clearly to exhort those who listen to it. They, who have witnessed the servant’s activity and suffering, are called to follow in his footsteps rather than go their own way of selfishness and self-interest. The servant, very clearly, will follow God’s will no matter how difficult it may be. God has taught him, prepared him, and will continue to help him. God will not abandon him. God has faithfully responded to the servant in his situation of distress, In fact, it is in the context of God’s attending to the servant that affliction arises and yet, is borne without complaint or resistance to bearing additional afflictions. The servant is helped by God precisely in his ability to bear assaults. God is the source of strength more than of merited justice, and God will, in time, vindicate his servant. No one is able to declare the servant guilty, yet, despite his not being guilty; he will suffer in silence and will suffer courageously.

We are living in a culture in which suffering is seen as a negative and thus, something to be avoided at all costs ad to be gotten rid of as soon as possible. This is not to say that suffering is good and desirable or that God delights in human suffering. As a matter of fact, in the second reading of today, James is emphatic that a faith that does not show itself in deeds is a faith that is dead. Only such a faith is truly alive that manifests itself in action. It has to be a faith that results in making the pain and suffering of a fellow human being less, and lighter to bear.

The Gospels, too, explicate that Jesus reaches out to people in their need and redeems them from their suffering. When he sends his disciples out on Mission, it is not merely to preach but also to heal and make whole. Yet, we must also keep in mind that suffering is part of the human condition and the fact that we are human means that we will suffer. The call of the readings of today is not a call to run away from suffering or regard it in any way as punishment from God. The call is to face up to it squarely in the manner in which Jesus did. While we continue to believe in the miracles of Jesus, and in the fact that Jesus can work miracles even today, we must balance this understanding by realizing that there is also, in Jesus, the cross. The challenge is to make God’s will for us, our own.

Saturday, September 14, 2024 - Homily

 

Saturday, September 14, 2024 - The Exaltation of the Cross - Lifted up and Exalted

To read the texts click on the texts: Num 21:4-9; Phil 2:6-11; Jn 3:13-17

The Exaltation of the Cross is one of the twelve great feasts in the yearly Church cycle. Because the cross is at the heart and centre of all that we as Christians believe, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the triumph of the cross of Christ over the power of sin and death. And so this feast provides us with another opportunity to reflect on the central mystery of our faith: that the one who was lifted up on the cross in crucifixion has triumphed over the power of sin and death because God highly exalted him.

This feast commemorates two historical events: first, the finding of what was considered the Cross of Christ in the year 326 by the mother of Constantine the Great, St Helen, and second its recovery from Persia in 628.

A story is told of Emperor Heraclius who in the year 628 after making peace with the Persians carried what was considered the Cross on which Jesus hung back to Jerusalem on his shoulders. He was clothed with costly garments and with ornaments of precious stones. But at the entrance to Mt. Calvary a strange incident occurred. Try as hard as he would, he could not go forward. Zacharias, the Bishop of Jerusalem, then said to the astonished monarch: "Consider, O Emperor, that with these triumphal ornaments you are far from resembling Jesus carrying His Cross." The Emperor then put on a penitential garb and continued the journey and carried the Cross into the Church of Holy Wisdom where it was triumphantly exalted. It was then resolved that the Fest of the Triumph or Exaltation of the Cross be celebrated by the Church in all parts of the world.

The Cross -- because of what it represents -- is the most potent and universal symbol of the Christian faith. It is a constant reminder -- and witness -- of Christ's ultimate triumph, His victory over sin and death through His suffering and dying on the Cross. The cross, once a tool of death, has become a means to life, an instrument of our salvation; it gives strength to resist temptation, it gives hope to seek new life and it dispels fear and darkness.

As Christians, we exalt the Cross of Christ as the instrument of our salvation. Adoration of the Cross is, thus, adoration of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became Man, who suffered and died on the Cross for our redemption from sin and death. The cross represents the One Sacrifice by which Jesus, obedient even unto death, accomplished our salvation. The cross is a symbolic summary of the Passion, Crucifixion, Death and Resurrection of Christ.

In the first reading of today we read of how Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in order to heal and bring wholeness to a broken people. This was God’s way of showing the people that He was primarily a God who wanted to save and redeem and not condemn and destroy. The Church and especially the evangelist John interpreted this lifting of the bronze serpent by Moses as a foreshadowing of the salvation through Jesus when He was lifted up on the Cross. The Triumph of the Cross is the Triumph of Jesus Christ whose love for us and obedience to his Father climaxed with his death on the cross. The deeper meaning of the Cross is presented in The Christological hymn in today's second reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians. Jesus emptied himself completely, not just becoming a human being but accepting the worst public death of the society he lived in to demonstrate the extent of the love of God for us. He died making a willing statement of love, filling the world with the love he had for his Father and his Father had for him. We are saved from the horrors of evil, from meaningless lives due to the love of the Lord. Because Jesus died on a cross for us we are able to proclaim to the world: Jesus is Lord. His love made this possible. When we venerate and adore the cross we are saying: Jesus is Lord of our lives.

To the world this act of surrender on the cross was an act of utter humiliation and subjugation and the height of folly. To the world this death on the cross was a wasted life. To the world this death on the cross was a sign of utter defeat. But what the world calls wisdom, God calls foolishness, and what the world calls strength God call weakness. Therefore God highly exalted the crucified one by raising him from the dead. God gave Jesus his own name so that every creature on earth must now call Jesus “Lord.” What human beings did, God contradicted. And so in the weakness and foolishness of the cross we see the wisdom and power of God: Christ crucified. In him and his cross, surrender becomes power, waste becomes gain and death and defeat become victory and new life.

The cross is at the centre of our lives every time we face sickness and death. The cross is at the centre of our lives in frailty and old age. The cross is at the centre of our lives every time we feel utterly alone and abandoned. The Cross is at the centre of our lives every time we are tempted to give in and give up. It is at the centre of our lives every time we are tempted to throw our hands up in despair. It keeps reminding us that only when we embrace the cross in the midst of suffering and abandonment can we understand the power of the resurrection. Only when we have the courage to keep on keeping on can we like Christ become victorious and conquer. Only when we embrace the cross is it possible for God to raise us up and give us new life.

Friday, September 13, 2024 - Homily

 

Friday, September 13, 2024 - Did you know that when you point a finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Corinthians 9:16-1,22-27; Lk 6:39-42

The parable that begins this section is a rhetorical question. The blind who need someone else to lead them surely cannot lead another who is blind. What is worse is that if this is attempted both persons will be in trouble. This is why disciples who intend to lead others must first learn to be like the master. If they attempt to lead others without first learning from the master, their teaching will be erroneous.

The second parable reinforces the point made in 6,37-38 about not judging or condemning. Before one can point to the faults of others, introspection is called for. One must realise that often one might be guilty of greater misdeeds than the person to whom one is pointing.

Thursday, September 12, 2024 - Homily

 

Thursday, September 12, 2024 - How often have you done something for someone else without any expectation whatever? Will you do something like this today?

 To read the texts, click on the texts: 1 Corinthians 8:1-7,11-13; Lk 6:27-38

After pronouncing the beatitudes and woes, the Lucan Jesus goes on to speak of love of enemies. The disciples are called to be actors rather than reactors. They are to love their enemies and bless and pray for those who are against them. How this is to be done practically is then illustrated. Disciples are to offer no resistance to the violent and are to be generous in their giving expecting nothing in return. 

The Golden rule is stated positively here and by placing it in this context, Luke probably intends that this is how the disciples must respond to those who are against them. 

Our relationships generally are based on barter exchange. If someone does good to me then I will be good to that person in turn. However, the Lucan Jesus calls his disciples to go beyond and to build relationships based on unconditional love. 

The last two verses of this section deal with not judging and not condemning. These are followed by two positive prescriptions to forgive and give freely without measure.

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 - Homily

 

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 - When did you last say a positive word to someone? Will you speak a positive word to at least one person today?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Corinthians 7:25-31; Lk 6:20-26

The Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke is packed into one chapter of 30 verses unlike that of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, which extends over three chapters totalling 109 verses.

Unlike in Matthew’s, “Sermon on the Mount” (Mt 5,1 – 7,29) where Jesus pronounces only Beatitudes (Mt 5,3-12), in Luke’s, “Sermon on the Plain”, for each of the four beatitudes there is a corresponding woe. Also unlike Matthew, Luke speaks in the second person and not the third person, which has the effect of making the pronouncements more direct, more personal.

The first beatitude is addressed to the poor (not “the poor in spirit” Mt 5,3). This is indeed a scandalous statement because it overturns all conventional expectations and pronounces a blessing on those who are marginalized. They are promised the kingdom of God by being released from their marginalisation and oppression. It brings to light that God is making an option for the poor. The next two beatitudes concern hunger and mourning and could be addressed to the same group. The poor because they are poor are also hungry and weep. They are promised an end of their hunger in the promise that they will be filled and an end to their weeping and mourning in the promise that they will laugh. The fourth and final beatitude in Luke speaks about the disciple who will be hated, excluded, reviled and defamed. These are called to rejoice in their being reviled and promised a reward in heaven. They are also given as consolation the example of those who went through similar trails before them.

Corresponding to each beatitude, Luke has a woe. The first woe is addressed to the rich who have received their consolation already and so can expect nothing more. Those who have had their fill now and told that they will go hungry and those who laugh now will weep. Those of whom people speak well are compared to the false prophets.

When we look at the injustice, disharmony and poverty around us it is not easy to believe that our God is a God who cares for the poor. Yes, this God became poor in history to show us the way and how we are to live. If we can be a little less selfish, work in our own situations toward harmony and give a little something to someone else, we will be bringing God and his word to them.

Tuesday, September 10, 2024 - Homily

 

Tuesday, September 10, 2024 - Will you collaborate with Christ in bringing about the kingdom today? How?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11; Lk 6:12-19 

By placing the appointment of the Twelve immediately after the controversies with the Pharisees (6,1-11) and the dramatic distinction between old and new (5,36-39), Luke presents the appointment of the Twelve as the constitution of a new nucleus for the people of God, perhaps in deliberate succession to the twelve tribes of Israel. The conflicts between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees have already shown that they represent the old and that, therefore, they are no more fit for leadership in the kingdom than old wineskins for new wine.

Luke makes special mention of the personal prayer of Jesus at all the important events in his life, and so Luke portrays Jesus as praying before his baptism, before his temptation, after a hard days work of preaching, teaching and healing and just before his choice of the Twelve. Jesus knows that even though humans will be weak and fail, even though they will deny and betray him again and again, he would still want them to collaborate with him in bringing about the kingdom.

The choice of the Twelve is a text that offers each of us a lot of hope and consolation. This is because we are aware of what Jesus could accomplish even with such a motley band of men. Since he did so much with and through them, he can do the same with and through us.

Monday, September 9, 2024 - Homily

 

Monday, September 9, 2024 - How often have you made rules and regulations more important in your life than love?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Corinthians 5:1-8; Lk 6:6-11

This is the second Sabbath controversy story. Already at the beginning we are told that the day is a Sabbath and that Jesus goes to the synagogue to teach. In this context, his teaching is not only in words but also in deeds by means of a situation from life. Only Luke of all the three evangelists tells us that it was the man’s right hand that was withered. This was the hand normally used for work, gesturing and greeting. He would have had to do all of the above with the left hand, which ordinarily was not to be used in public. The scribes and Pharisees are also introduced into the scene, so that there are four parties: Jesus, the man with the crippled hand, the scribes and Pharisees and those who were in the synagogue. While the crippled man sees Jesus as a potential healer, the scribes and Pharisees pose an obstacle to the healing. Jesus makes a public example of the man. All will see what he is about to do. Before the healing, Jesus asks a question, which poses two sets of antitheses: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it. Sabbath observance is defined positively, not in terms of what one will do, but in terms of what one must do. The question brings out the dichotomy that existed in their own lives, because though they would not want a man to be healed from his illness on that holy day, they would have no qualms about discussing the “best way to deal with Jesus” on that same holy day. They preferred the law to life and love.

We might tend after reading this story to condemn the Pharisees and scribes. However, we too often behave as they did. We might attend a Eucharistic celebration and wish everyone in the church the peace of Christ, eat the same bread and yet come out of the church continuing to keep feelings of resentment and anger against our neighbours in our hearts.

Sunday, September 8, 2024 - Homily

 

Sunday, September 8, 2024 - Healed to heal the world

To read the texts click on the texts: Is 35:4-7; Jas2:1-5; Mk 7:31-37

The vision proposed by Isaiah in the First reading of today is a cosmic vision. The central theme of this vision is the proclamation that the natural order will be dramatically transformed. The first exhortation to those who listen is that they must remove all fear from their hearts. The reason for this is that the Lord himself is coming to help them in their need. The Lord is the antithesis of fear. This salvation, which will be effected by the Lord, is tangible and real. It will result in the blind being able to see again, the deaf being able to hear, the mute being able to speak, the lame being able, not merely to walk, but to leap and run This is not all. With the coming of the Lord, the whole of nature will be transformed and redeemed. Where there was once a desert, there will be springs of water. Waterlessness will be converted into flowing streams.

However, this will happen after, and only after, the blind see, the deaf hear, the mute speak, and the lame leap and run. In other words, the redemption of the people will lead them to see the redemption of nature. The people will not redeem or ransom themselves. Redemption and ransom are effected by God, and God alone. Through divine action, the people of God become the redeemed of God, and that transforms their lives in every possible way.

In the Gospel text of today, we read about a similar transformation that takes place in the life of a man after he encounters Jesus. This miracle is unique to Mark’s Gospel. This man is deaf, with an impediment in his speech. His deafness prevents him from speaking properly. Thus, it is only after his ears are opened, by Jesus’ words and action that he is able to speak properly.

Now that he can hear clearly, he can also speak clearly. Interestingly, this is the first of only two miracles in the Gospel of Mark in which Jesus uses external methods. Also, the preparation for the miracle is elaborate. The man is taken aside from the crowd and, after Jesus puts his fingers in the man’s ears, he spits and touches the man’s tongue and gives the command for the healing in Aramaic. The response of the people, at the conclusion of the miracle, is an indication that the promised salvation by Isaiah has become a reality in Jesus. This promised salvation has exceeded all expectations.

However, despite this fact, this salvation cannot really be witnessed in our world today. Sometimes, it might seem to us that things around us are as if Jesus had never come. One of the main reasons for this is that, like the people whom Isaiah addressed before their redemption and, like the deaf man before his healing, we seem to have lost use of our faculties. Having eyes, we do not see; having ears, we do not hear; having hearts, we do not love. This lack of seeing, hearing, and loving, prevents us from witnessing the salvation that God has effected and is effecting in Jesus, even now. We are so caught up in ourselves and our own small worlds that we fail to take notice of others and especially the poor.

This selfish and self-centered attitude is pointed to in the second reading of today when James exhorts his readers, and us, that because of lack of genuine love, they, and we, have neglected the poor and have become partial, biased, and prejudiced. We attend only to those who we believe can do us favours and so, our relationships are based on barter exchange than on genuine love. This attitude prevents us from seeing people as they are. We look at them as objects that can fulfill our wants and we use people rather than love them. We do not really see them or hear them at all. We do not really love. This lack of love, in turn, prevents us from being the kind of persons that we have been made in Jesus. It prevents our tongues from speaking God’s praise and our hearts from reading out to all. This is why, even though deserts have indeed been turned into springs and dry lands have been turned into rivers of flowing water, we do not experience these as we ought.

The challenge of the readings of today is to remove the stoppers that we have placed in our ears and the blinders that we have placed before our eyes. It is a challenge to remove the blocks that we have placed in our hearts. It is to dare to hear and see rightly so that we can, indeed, love as we ought. Then, the dry lands will be watered yet again and the arid ground turned into rivers of abundant life.

Saturday, September 7, 2024 - How often have you made rules and regulations ends in themselves?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Corinthians 4:6-15; Lk 6:1-5

The episode is a Sabbath controversy, and is found also in Mark 2,23-28 and Matthew 12,1-8. Since Deut 23,24-25 allowed a person passing a neighbour’s field to pluck heads of grain with the hand, this does not seem to be the reason for the complaint of the Pharisees. Luke (6,1) alone states that the disciples were rubbing the heads of grain in their hands, which could be interpreted as threshing, and threshing was one of the forms of work forbidden on the Sabbath. In his response, Jesus refers to the incident from 1 Samuel 21,1-6 in which David confronted Ahimelech at Nob. The point that the Lucan Jesus makes is that if David had the authority to overturn Levitical rules and eat the bread of the Presence and even give it to his companions, because he gave priority to human need over ritual observance, so can Jesus, who is Lord of the Sabbath.

Rules and regulations are made so that there might be order in society and each will know his/her role. It is possible that sometimes they might become ends in themselves and take precedence over everything else. They can never take precedence over human need. All rules and regulations are at the service of humans and not the other way around.

Saturday, September 7, 2024 - Homily

 

Friday, September 6, 2024 - Homily

 

Friday, September 6, 2024 - Are you afraid of change? Why?

 To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Lk 5:33-39 

In Luke, this episode about fasting continues from the previous one (5,27-32) in which after the call of Levi (5,27-28), Jesus eats in Levi’s house along with tax collectors and others. This table fellowship leads the Pharisees to murmur. Jesus responds with a common proverb about only the sick needing a physician and then emphasises that he has come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance (5, 31 – 32). Luke omits Mark’s introduction, which informs us that John’s disciples’ and the Pharisees were fasting, and thus allows the conversation of the previous scene to continue. In response to the comment that John’s disciples like those of the Pharisees fast and pray, Jesus responds with a metaphor of a wedding feast and the inappropriateness of the guests fasting while the wedding is in process and the bridegroom is with them. While in Mark the new or unshrunk cloth is sought to be sewn onto an old garment; in Luke the cloth is first torn from a new garment and then sought to be put onto an old garment. In Luke the destructive effect of tearing the new garment is highlighted. Lk 5,39 is exclusive to Luke and brings out the closed attitude of those who do not want the new. They prefer to stick to the old because they feel comfortable with it and are not willing to change or see things from a new perspective. They insist that the old is good.

It is not always easy to accept change. We prefer to do things the old way and feel comfortable when things remain the same. We must realise that the only thing that is permanent is change and we must get used to it. While we need not change just for the sake of changing, we must be open and receptive to change and be ready to change when we have to.

Thursday, September 5, 2024 - Homily

 

Thursday, September 5, 2024 - What do you think Jesus is calling you to today? Will you answer his call?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Corinthians 3:18-23; Lk 5:1-11

The call of the first disciples in the Gospel of Luke is different from the other Synoptic Gospels. While in Matthew and Mark Jesus calls to them when he was passing by the Sea of Galilee, here he is in Simon’s boat. While there are similarities between this account in Luke and the account of the miraculous catch in John 21:1-4, there are also differences. The most striking difference is that Luke uses the story here as the setting for Simon’s call to follow Jesus, whereas John uses it to show that Peter was reconciled with the risen Jesus after having denied him. While in John, Jesus is not in the boat but on the shore, here in Luke he is in the boat. In John there is only one boat, that in which the disciples are, here there are many boats. The nets in Luke are beginning to break, but John explicitly mentions that despite the large haul, the nets did not break.

The point that Luke seems to make is that following Jesus on his way will entail a completely different life style, will call for a different set of priorities. Where Simon and the others were focusing on fish (material, temporary, passing things), Jesus calls them to focus on people (spiritual, permanent, things that last).

Wednesday, September 4, 2024 - Homily

 

Wednesday, September 4, 2024 - Will you find the time today, “to be”, so that “your doing” will be more efficacious? How?

To read the texts click on the texts:  1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Lk 4:38-44

The reading of today allows us to encounter a Jesus who was busy day and night “doing” and yet a Jesus who would manage to find the time “to be”.

The first of the three scenes that form part of this section deals with the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. Since in Luke this healing takes place before the call of the first disciples, he does not mention Andrew, James and John as Mark does (Mk 1:29). He also probably uses this healing to prepare for the call of Peter, which he narrates in 5:1-11.

In the second scene, Luke depicts a Jesus who would heal people at all times of the day or night. While the demons use the title “Son of God” to identify Jesus, Luke himself informs the readers that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. Luke seems to have taken the silencing function from Mark because it is not clear in his Gospel as it is in Mark, why Jesus would not allow the demons to speak.

In the third and final scene of this section, Luke portrays a Jesus who would find time to commune with his Father. He portrays a man of action and yet a man of prayer, though he does not explicitly state here that Jesus prayed. Though the crowds want to prevent Jesus from leaving, Jesus is clear that he must go on to other places as well, for the kingdom belongs to all.

This Jesus is the one who challenges us today to be men and women who derive our strength “to do” from “the one who is and will always be”.

Tuesday, September 3, 2024 - Homily

 

Tuesday, September 3, 2024 - Will your actions speak louder than your words today? How?

 To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Cor 2:1-16; Lk 4:31-37

Immediately after leaving the synagogue, Jesus works a miracle. This miracle is the healing of a man possessed by a demon, thus putting into action immediately the manifesto he had spoken about. This exorcism is the first of the four exorcisms in the Gospel of Luke. The unclean spirit The unclean spirit uses here the word Ἔα. (Ha!) which must be interpreted as an interjection of anger or dismay. Anger because of the presence of Jesus and dismay because it knows the end has come with the coming of Jesus. It refers to Jesus here as Jesus of Nazareth and as the Holy one of God, which is a title Luke has taken from Mark, since it does not appear again in the Gospel of Luke. Since the demon is aware that Jesus is the Holy One of God, it also knows that its end has come. Jesus exorcises the demon with a command. A single word suffices to heal the man. Though the demon throws the man into convulsions, it does not harm him. It cannot harm him because of the presence of Jesus.

It is interesting to note that the people who witnessed the miracle refer to it not as an action but as a teaching simply because there was never a separation between the words and deeds of Jesus, there was never a separation between what Jesus said and did.

Jesus said what he did and did what he said.

Monday, September 2, 2024 - Homily

 

Monday, September 2, 2024 - Do you agree with the manifesto of Jesus? How will you help him put it into action today?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; Lk 4:16-30

"Nazareth’ has figured prominently in the Infancy Narratives of Luke, but Luke reminds us that it was where Jesus had been brought up. Jesus is faithful to the tradition he received from his fore fathers, and does not flout rules for the sake of flouting them. He is not an armchair critic. Standing to read was customary. While he taught, he would sit. There were many parts to the worship in a Jewish synagogue, and various people might have been asked to lead in reading or praying. Luke’s description of Jesus finding the place where the verses quoted from Isaiah occur probably means that Jesus himself chose this passage. The scriptures would be read in Hebrew and then interpreted in Aramaic. Jesus could have chosen a text which spoke about the glory of the Prophet, or about God’s Chosen One (see for example Isaiah 63), yet, he chooses a text where he will as Prophet and Chosen One spend himself in service.

The reading is from Isa 61,1-2a and 58,6. Luke, however, omits “to bind up the broken hearted of Isa 61,1 and adds from Isa 58,6, “to set at liberty those who are oppressed”. The threefold repetition of the pronoun “me” is an indication that this passage describes the ministry of Jesus rather than Isaiah. It is also important to note that Jesus in Luke does not go on to read the second part of Isaiah 61,2 “and the day of vengeance of our God.”

1.  Significantly, Jesus’ work will be good news to the poor. The “poor” figure more prominently in Jesus’ teachings in Luke than in any other Gospel (see Lk 14,13.21; 16,20.22; 18,22; 21,3).

2.  Jesus released persons from various forms of bondage and oppression: economic (the poor), physical (the lame, the crippled); political the condemned) and demonic.

3.  The restoration of sight to the blind was closely associated with the prophetic vision of fulfilment of God’s promises to Israel. When Jesus restores sight to the blind (Lk 7,21-22; 18,35) he is dramatically fulfilling the role of the one who would be “ a light for the nations” (Lk 2,32).

4.  “the acceptable year of the Lord” In Isaiah, this term refers to the Jubilee year legislation in Lev. 25. Following a series of seven sevens (forty nine), the fiftieth year was to be a time of liberty (Lev 25,10). The coming of Jesus means that the liberation of the impoverished and oppressed had come.

Jesus followed the usual practice of rolling the scroll and giving it back to the attendant. The posture of sitting was the usual posture when teaching. (See how in Mt 5,1-2 when Jesus goes up to the mountain, he sits down before beginning to teach). Through his first words to the people in the synagogue, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”, Jesus conveys that the centuries of waiting on God’s blessing and promises have ended.

There is initial enthusiasm for Jesus’ announcement. This is a positive response to what he has said. They are happy because what they hear suits them. It fits in with their way of thinking. The question, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” need not be hostile, especially because earlier Luke reports that all spoke well of him. It might be paraphrased in this manner; who would have thought that someone who grew up in our village could reach so far?

Jesus interprets the crowd to say that he must begin in his own hometown what he has been doing in so many other places. They are ready to receive God’s blessing.

While this proverb, “Truly (Amen) I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown” is also found in Matthew (13,57), Mark (6,4) and John (4,44), the form varies. Luke is the only one of the four who introduces the proverb with “Amen”. In Luke like in John, there is no exception clause (which is found in Matthew and Mark –“except in his own country and in his own (house”). Luke changes the word “honour” found in the other three forms and substitutes it with “accepted”. The word “hometown” can also mean “home country”, and anticipates the rejection of Jesus in Nazareth and also in the whole of Israel. The examples of Elijah and Elisha serve as a reminder that God’s blessings are not restricted to only a few but are available for all. Also the blessings will not be forced on anyone, but must be accepted with an open heart as gift. The passive verbs imply God’s direction: God closed the heavens (4,25), God sent Elijah (4,26) and God cleansed Naaman (4,27 see also 2 Kings 5,1-14).

At first Jesus had seemed to be promising them the blessings. He was saying what they wanted to hear. But now, he had said something different. He had woken them from their stupor. He had challenged them to get out of their complacency. He had taken them beyond boundaries and stereotypes, and had spoken about the graciousness and magnanimity of God’s unmerited blessing.

“went on his way” may be translated “he was going on”. Through this Luke makes clear that he does not want anyone to read that Jesus had a miraculous deliverance, but that Jesus would remain steadfast and resolute no matter what the consequences. Human power and objections could not come in the way of his mission to proclaim God’s justice and unconditional love.

A SUMMARY OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

We will begin reading from today and for all weekdays (except when there are feast or solemnities) from the Gospel of Luke. Below is a summary of the Gospel of Luke.

The Gospel of Luke is generally regarded as the third of the four canonical Gospels. Almost all scholars agree that the author of Luke is also the author of the Acts of the Apostles.

The Gospel is known by many names. Some see it along with Acts as narrating the history of salvation, which is divided into three parts. This first is the time before Jesus where everything is old. This is possibly why Luke has changed Mark 8,28 which has “one of the prophets” as one of the answers of the people regarding Jesus’ identity to “one of the old prophets” (9,19). The second is the time of Jesus who inaugurates the kingdom (4,16-30) and the third is the time of the Church (The Acts of the Apostles), which continues the work of Jesus.

Others see it as a Gospel of Prayer because when compared with Matthew and Mark, the Lucan Jesus prays oftener. There are seven accounts of Jesus praying that are exclusive to Luke. (3,21; 5,16; 6,12; 9,18; 9,29; 11,1; 22,32).

Still others see it as a Gospel of Women since Luke gives special importance to women in his Gospel. In Luke’s Infancy narrative, Mary rather than Joseph is an important figure. Only in Luke do we find the miracles of the raising of the widow’s son (7,11-15) and the healing of the woman with a spirit of infirmity (13,10-17). Luke alone tells us that Jesus had women disciples who provided for him out of their means (8,1-3).

Some also see Luke as the Gospel of Great Mercy or Pardon. This is because the Parables of the Good Samaritan (10,30-35) and the Prodigal Son (15,11-32) are found only in Luke. While hanging on the Cross, it is in Luke’s Gospel alone that Jesus forgives those who crucified him (23,34).

The Gospel of Luke begins with the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah followed by the announcement of the birth of Jesus to Mary. Immediately after this announcement Mary goes to meet Elizabeth who will be the mother of John the Baptist in order to share the good news with her. Luke alone of all the Evangelists narrates an incident in the early life of Jesus after his birth where he is found in the Temple. Jesus begins his public ministry immediately after his Baptism and in the Synagogue at Nazareth where he reads from Isaiah what may term as his own manifesto and plan of action. He chooses disciples to help in his mission, which he continues in Galilee.

A large part of the Gospel (9,51-19,27) has been termed as the Journey to Jerusalem during which Jesus both preaches and heals. After his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, he cleanses the Temple but continues to teach in it even after this incident. During this time he is questioned about his authority and other matters of the law and most of the questions are with a view to trap Jesus. It is one of the Twelve, Judas who betrays Jesus to the Jewish leaders. He is tried, and condemned to death on a cross where he dies forgiving those responsible for crucifying him.

The last part of the Gospel begins with an episode of the empty tomb in which the women who go to the tomb are asked why they look for the living among the dead. Jesus then appears to two disciples when they are on their way to Emmaus and chides them for their lack of faith. Finally Jesus appears to the eleven, gives them a commission and then is then taken up to heaven. The disciples return to the Temple in Jerusalem with great joy.

Some of the characteristics unique to Luke’s Gospel are as under:

1.  The Gospel of Luke is the only Gospel, which narrates the annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist, and his birth. The birth of Jesus is announced to Mary (not Joseph as in Matthew). Luke alone narrates the ascension of Jesus into heaven.

2.  Only Luke narrates the incident of Jesus being found in the temple (2,41-52). This is the only incident from Jesus’ childhood that any evangelist narrates.

3.  Luke’s genealogy of Jesus goes back to Adam the first human being (3,38) unlike Matthew’s, which begins with Abraham. Luke alone gives us the age of Jesus when he began his ministry (3,23).

4.  In Luke alone we find the parables of the Good Samaritan, the Publican and the Pharisee who went to the Temple to pray, the rich man and Lazarus, the lost coin, the prodigal son, the unjust steward, the rich fool who would tear down his barns and build greater barns in order that he might store his goods, and the story of Zacchaeus, who climbed a tree in order that he might see Jesus. Each of these parables and stories illustrates what Luke regards as an essential characteristic of Jesus’ work.

5.  Compared to the other canonical gospels, Luke devotes significantly more attention to women. The Gospel of Luke features more female characters, features a female prophet (2,36), and details the experience of pregnancy (1,41-42). Prominent discussion is given to the lives of Elizabeth and of Mary, the mother of Jesus (Ch. 2).

6.  Luke portrays Jesus as extremely concerned about the poor and those who were considered social outcasts. Already in the Sermon on the Plain, the Lucan Jesus pronounces a blessing on “the poor" (6,20) unlike the Matthean Jesus whose blessing is pronounced on the “poor in spirit” (Mt 5,3). Three parables in Chapter 15 (the Lost sheep, the Lost coin and the Lost Son) are told one after another because the Pharisees and scribes complained about Jesus’ table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners.

7.  Luke mentions the Holy Spirit more than the other two synoptic gospels, Matthew and Mark. John the Baptist is filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born (1,15); next, John's mother Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit (1:41); before long, John's dumbstruck father Zechariah is also filled with the Holy Spirit (1,67). Jesus is conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit (1,35). The Holy Spirit reveals to the aged Simeon that he will see the Messiah (Christ) before he dies (2,26-27). John the Baptist announces that the powerful one coming after him will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (3,16). When Jesus is baptized, the Holy Spirit descends on Him in bodily form as a dove (3,22), as God the Father confirms from heaven that Jesus is "My Son, whom I love". At this point Jesus is "full of the Holy Spirit" (4,1), and is "led out by the Spirit into the wilderness" (4:1), where the Devil tempted Him for forty days. Having successfully resisted the Devil as a man (4,4.8.12), Jesus returns to Galilee "in the power of the Spirit" (4,14). Luke uses all these references as a build-up to Jesus reading the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me" (4,18-19). 'The Anointed One' is 'the Messiah' in Hebrew, 'the Christ' in Greek. The total involvement of the Holy anointing Spirit at every step of the way (conception, babyhood, childhood, extended family, baptism, temptation and inauguration to ministry) proves that He, Jesus, is the Anointed One, the Messiah, and the Christ.