Wednesday, August 6, 2025 - Homily

 

Wednesday, August 6, 2025 - The Transfiguration - God is always present EVEN when we cannot see.

To read the texts click on the texts: Dn 7:9-10, 13-14; Lk 9:28-36

The feast of the Transfiguration was made a universal feast on 6th August by Pope Callixtus III to commemorate the raising of the Siege of Belgrade in 1456.

The Gospel text for the feast is from the event of the Transfiguration as narrated by the Gospel of Luke

It is only in Luke that the Transfiguration occurs in the context of Jesus’ prayer. Just as the voice from heaven, inviting him to be Son and slave, spoke while Jesus was praying after his baptism, so also now, at the transfiguration, the voice from the cloud speaks in the context of Jesus’ prayer.

The Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain confirms that Jesus was in the presence of God. It also serves to clarify that Jesus is, indeed, God’s Son. While Moses and Elijah, who appear with Jesus on the mountain, might represent the Law and the Prophets, they are also mentioned because of the actions they performed. Like Moses, who parted the sea on the command of God, and who fed the multitude in the desert with manna from heaven, Jesus calms the storm and feeds the five thousand with bread. Like Elijah, who multiplied loaves, cleansed a leper, and raised the dead, Jesus does the same, and even more. Only in Luke are we given the content of the discussions that Moses and Elijah have with Jesus. They are discussing his exodus from this world to the next.

Though Peter and his companions, John and James, witness this event, they do not know what to make of it. Peter, however, wants to remain there and so in the past. Jesus knows that he cannot remain on the mountain, tempting as that might be. He knows what he has to do and he will let no one come in the way. He has to come down and go to the Cross. In this event it is confirmed that Jesus is both Son of God and he is Suffering Servant. He will, through his death, bring salvation to all. He is the fulfillment of all the hopes, not only of Israel but, of the whole world.

This time, unlike at the time of the Baptism, the voice from the cloud adds, “Listen to him”. This command endorses and confirms Jesus’ interpretation of the future course of events that will take place in his life, namely, his death, resurrection, and ascension. God approves of Jesus’ orientation and wants the disciples to realize that this is the only way. Thus, they cannot remain on the mountain. They have to go down with Jesus and let him go to where the Cross awaits him.

The Transfiguration is an event which encapsulates the whole Christ event. It is here that we see his entire life; ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension unfold. It is a summary of what was, what is, and what will be. Only in the light of the cross and resurrection do we understand the character of God and the significance of Jesus.

Though God will seem hidden at the passion and death of Jesus, and though Jesus might seem defeated, things are not as they seem. Rather, God is as present at the passion and death of Jesus as he was at the Transfiguration. Jesus is as victorious in his passion and death as he was in his Transfiguration. In the first reading of today, this is precisely the kind of confidence that Abram is challenged to have. He and his wife are old, they do not have even one son and yet, God commands him to believe that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Abram dared to believe, even when he could not understand, and it was so. He first believed and then, he saw.

The readings of today teach us an all important lesson. There are times in our lives when things do not go the way we plan, when all that we plan goes awry, when the road seems steep and the going is difficult, and, when we feel like giving up and giving in. It is at times like these that we, like Peter, wish we had stayed on the mountain. It is at times like these when we, like Abram, might like some tangible proof, some sign. Yet, the Transfiguration of Jesus, and the attitude of Abram, teaches that God continues to walk ahead of us and, though we may not be able to see him as clearly as we would like, God is there.

Tuesday, August 5, 2025 - Homily

 

Tuesday, August 5, 2025 - If you were in Peter’s place and were about to drown, what would you say to the Lord?

To read the texts click on the texts: Numbers 12:1-13; Mt 14:22-36

The text of today appears immediately after the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand (14:13-21). For the first time in Matthew, the disciples are sent forth without Jesus. This is also the first time in the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus is depicted as praying. Many see the boat in which the disciples are is by as representing the church and here it is battered by the waves. Despite the seeming impossibility of Jesus being able to reach them, he comes to them in the darkest part of the night i.e. between 3.00 and 6.00 a.m. By walking on the water, Matthew is not portraying Jesus as defying the law of gravity, but subduing the chaos of the waters. Jesus does what only God can do (Job 9,8; 38,16; Ps 77,19 etc), and announces himself as “I am” which is reminiscent of the name God used to identify himself in Exodus 3,15. The second part of this pericope in which Peter asks Jesus to allow him to come to him is exclusive to Matthew. Peter addresses Jesus as believers do in Matthew by using the title “Lord”. The point that Matthew seems to be making is not only that Peter took his eyes off Jesus and so began to sink, but also that by leaving the boat, he indicated that he wanted proof of the presence of Jesus. Peter cries out with a prayer, “Lord, save me”, and Jesus reaches out and saves him. The gentle rebuke identifies Peter as a person of “little faith” which in Matthew is a mixture of courage on the one hand and anxiety on the other. It is a faith mixed with doubts. The conclusion to this episode in Matthew is that the disciples worship Jesus as Son of God. Jesus is then portrayed as the one who can make everyone whole.

The boat of our life is often swamped by waves. These can be marital discord, addictions, problems with children and parents, disagreements with neighbours and the like. When this happens, the Lord keeps coming to us, walking on the water, subduing the chaos and confusion of our lives and telling us that he continues to be Emmanu’el. If we continue to stay in the boat, he will lead us safely to the shore. If we decide to leave the boat and go to him, then we need to keep our fixed on him and not let the waves get us down.

Monday, August 4, 2025 - Homily

 

Monday, August 4, 2025 - Will you like Jesus become bread for at least one person today?

To read the texts click on the texts: Numbers 11:4-15; Mt 14:13-21

The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand with five loaves and two fish in which five baskets are gathered is the only miracle that Jesus worked that is found in all the four Gospels (Mk 6,32-44; Lk 9,10-17; Jn 6,1-15).

In Matthew, Jesus withdraws after hearing about the death of John the Baptist. However, as he did earlier (12,15), the withdrawal is not out of fear, as is clear here from the fact that even in his withdrawal he is able to reach out to the multitudes and satisfy their hunger. The crowds follow Jesus and when Jesus sees them, he reaches out to make them whole. Unlike in Mark where the disciples are shown in a bad light in their sarcastic response to Jesus’ charge to them, “you give them something to eat” (Mk 6,37), in Matthew they are not. In Matthew, it is the disciples’ lack of faith, which is brought to the fore. In Matthew, the words and actions of Jesus here, resemble more closely than in Mark, the words and actions at the scene of the Last supper (26,20-27). The people eat, are satisfied and there is food left over which highlights the abundance and extravagance of the miracle. Matthew adds “besides women and children” (14,21) to Mark’s “five thousand men” (Mk 6,44) in order to expand the numbers and emphasise again the abundance of the miracle.

Many like to see this miracle as one in which selflessness is at the core. Seeing Jesus share his own meal so freely, others were motivated into sharing what they had so that there was more than required. It is in giving that we receive and more than we ever expected. 

Sunday, August 3, 2025 - Homily

 

Sunday, August 3, 2025 - Do you own things or do things own you?

To read the texts click on the texts: Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23; Col 3:1-5,9-11;Lk 12:13-21

Two contrasting images bring out the meaning of the readings of today. The first is this: An advertisement company offered as its first prize, a two week paid holiday on an island. The winner would be the one who had the most money on the day he/she died.

The second is this: A televised interview with a man who had lost his house and all his possessions to a raging fire driven by strong winds somewhere in the world provides a striking contrast to the rich fool.  Shortly before the fire, this man recalled that his brother had mused that they should be careful not to allow their possessions to possess them.  Seeing everything he owned but the shirt on his back go up in smoke, he announced to the reporter, with a note of unexpected triumph: “I am a free man now!”

The Gospel text of today and the first reading are emphatic: We can take nothing with us. We leave everything when we leave.  The story is told that, at the funeral of the fabulously wealthy Aristotle Onassis, one of the mourners turned to another and said, “How much did he leave?” The other replied, “Everything. He left everything.”

Both the Gospel and the first reading speak of a person so possessed of his possessions that he does not really possess them, but allows them to possess him. So deep is the man’s self-centredness that he can only think in terms of “my crops, my barns, my grain, my goods, and, finally, my soul”. This selfishness is what comes to haunt him at the end. His possessions have claimed him, they have controlled him, they have used him and, they have led to his death. The illusion that his properties and riches are inalienable and absolute is stripped away by the inalienable and absolute reality of death. He did not enjoy his riches when he was alive.  And, another will own and possess them after his death.

This fact is made absolutely clear when not once in his soliloquy does the rich man of the Gospel think that he could give away out of the abundance he possesses. His concern is only to build bigger barns to store, for his sole benefit, the bounty he receives. This very clearly, according to the first reading of today, is vanity. Such a person is restless in the day and unable to sleep at night. He is worried in the day and anxious at night.

An antidote to this way is suggested by Paul in the second reading of today. He invites the Colossians to be concerned, not merely or firstly about earthly things but, to seek the things that are above. This heavenly mindedness is not to be understood as a form of inattentiveness about the things of this life. On the contrary, because one is first concerned about heaven, it will drive and motivate believers to put things in perspective. Believers will strive to live a full earthly life, one moment of one day at a time. This kind of life means that one is not obsessed or fixated on the future. Seeking the things above does not mean reduction of the Christian hope to “a pie in the sky when you die”. It means putting to death in oneself everything that is selfish and self-centred, especially insatiability which reveals itself in making things ends in themselves and giving things the status of a god. To seek the things above means seeking Christ and his way of proceeding. His way of proceeding always put the other before self.  His way of proceeding is always concerned to share, not only from one’s bounty but, even from the little that one may have.

The challenge of the readings of today is an enormous one. We live in a world in which the larger majority live, not in the present or the now but mainly in the future or the tomorrow. It is also a world in which “having more’ is the criterion by which success and failure are defined and judged. The more one has, the more successful one is regarded. Thus, there is in many, an obsession to keep accumulating even at the expense and discomfort of others. These want bigger homes, bigger cars, bigger anything and everything simply because they have been taught to believe that bigger is always better. These are like the fool in the first reading and in the Gospel of today who will not share their bounty with anyone and who will never be satisfied, no matter how much they accumulate. These die without ever having lived.

Yet, there is also another way. Jesus has not only shown us this way, he is this way. He is the way of selflessness, self-sacrifice, and living contentedly in the present moment with no regrets about the past and no obsession with the future. He is the way in which “being more” and spending oneself in the service of others means more than egocentric, inconsiderate and uncaring living. He is the way in which success and failure are measured, not in terms of how much one possesses but in how much one dares to give away. He is the way which does not die but lives forever.

Saturday, August 2, 2025 - Homily

 

Saturday, August 2, 2025 - Will you, like John the Baptist point to Jesus through your life today? How?

To read the texts click on the texts: Ex 25:1,8-17; Mt 14:1-12

Herod mentioned at the beginning of this story of the death of John the Baptist found also in Mark 6,14-29 is Herod Antipas and the son of Herod the Great mentioned in the Infancy narrative of Matthew (2,3). Though Matthew has taken this story from Mark, he shortens it considerably. Matthew’s reason for Herod wanting to kill John is the same as Mark, John had objected to Herod having married Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. In Matthew, unlike in Mark, it is not Herodias who wants to kill John, but Herod himself. When the daughter of Herodias (who is not named) pleases Herod with her dance on his birthday, she asks for the head of John the Baptist. After burying John, his disciples go and tell Jesus about what had happened.

It is not always easy for us to take a stand against injustice. Yet this is what this text is calling us to do. In the process on taking a stand we might become unpopular or sometimes the object of ridicule. The challenge is how much we are willing to risk.