Saturday, January 8, 2022 - Homily

 Like John, our role is to prepare the way for Jesus and to point out to him through our words and actions.

Saturday, January 8, 2022 - How will you point to Jesus through your words and actions today?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Jn 5:14-21; Jn 3:22-30

This is John’s final appearance in the Gospel of John in which he gives his final witness to Jesus. The reason for the witness is the report of his disciples that Jesus to whom John bore witness was also baptizing and that “everyone” was now going to him. This witness begins with John stating what at first glance might seem like a logical statement, but in its deeper sense means that Jesus has what he has from God. It is a gift from God to Jesus and given to him directly. This is why in his earlier testimony, John had made clear that while he was not the Christ, and he was the one sent ahead of him to prepare the way. Since he was clear about his role in God’s plan of salvation, he had no difficulty with accepting it and living it out. He is but the friend of the bridegroom, who when the bridegroom appears will take his secondary and less important place. The bridegroom is the one who is at the centre of the marriage feast. When it begins the friend must recede into the background.

 

The choice of this text on the last day of the Christmas Season is apt because it defines the roles of each of us who like John are friends of the bridegroom, Jesus. Like John, our role is to prepare the way for him and to point out to him through our words and actions. If we understand this role and if at every moment we realize where our authority ends, we can fulfill this role as we ought to.

Friday, January 7, 2022 - Homily

 

Will you say that kind word; give that loving touch or that uninhibited hug that can result in someone being healed today?

Friday, January 7, 2022 - Will you say that kind word; give that loving touch or that uninhibited hug that can result in someone being healed today? Are there people you have been treating as lepers? Will you dare to reach out and “touch” them today?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Jn 5:5-13; Lk 5:12-16

In the NT, “leprosy” seems not to be limited to Hansen’s disease but denotes various skin diseases that could produce scales, inflammation, or lesions. The priestly legislation regarding the detection and treatment of leprosy is reported in detail in Leviticus 13–14. The Levitical law required that the afflicted person be examined by a priest. If the priest determined that the person had leprosy, he or she was to be quarantined for seven days. At the end of the week, the priest might extend the quarantine a second week or pronounce the person clean or leprous. The law required that a leprous person wear torn clothing, leave his hair disheveled and live alone or with other lepers. When approached by another person, the leper was to cover his or her upper lip and call out, “Unclean, unclean” (Lev 13:45-46). Leviticus 14 prescribes a detailed ritual for the cleansing of a leper who has been healed from the disease. The leper must be examined by a priest, a ritual involving two birds was performed, and then the cleansed leper would bathe, shave, and wash his or her clothes before returning to the community.

This story of the healing of a leper in Luke is found also in Mark 1:40-45. Luke, however, states that the man was “covered with leprosy” and so heightens the man’s condition. The leper makes a fervent plea to Jesus as is evident when he falls “on his face” and asserts that Jesus can cure him and make him clean. Jesus reaches out and touches the leper which here could be Luke’s way of showing that Jesus could not be defiled by external laws, rules and regulations. It could also mean that while others would shun an unclean person like a leper and run as far away as possible from him, Jesus draws close and even touches the man. The leper is healed instantly. In Luke, the reason for the man to remain silent and to tell no one seems to be in order to get the certification from the priest that he was clean.  Unlike Mark who ends the story by saying that the leper did not obey the command to silence but proclaimed it freely and began to spread the word, Luke does not say anything further about the leper. The text ends with the growing popularity of Jesus and the crowds’ attraction to him. Jesus, however, would always seek solitude and silence and the opportunity to be alone with his father.

 

Though the scriptures explicate on many occasions that there is no connection between sin and illness, many today attribute diseases, illness and misfortune to sin. Sometimes it is not the individual’s sins but the sins of his/her forefathers which they think are being brought on them. Nothing is further from the truth than this warped way of thinking. Most of the sicknesses today are psychosomatic and those which are not are often the result of an unhealthy life style or in the case of the poor malnutrition. Our response to our own illnesses and to those of others has to be the response of Jesus. The first step towards healing is having a positive attitude as both the leper and Jesus show. The leper approaches Jesus with confidence and a positive attitude and Jesus responds with compassion and love. Jesus makes no judgement on the cause of the leper’s illness but does what he has to do to reach out and heal and this is what we are called to do when we see someone in need of healing. Often it is not external medicine but a kind word, a loving touch or an uninhibited hug that can result in healing. This remains the challenge for us today.

Thursday, January 5, 2022 - Homily

 How would you define your life’s mission in one sentence?

Thursday, January 6, 2021 - How would you define your life’s mission in one sentence?

To read the texts click on the texts:  1 Jn 4:19-5:4; Lk 4:14-22

This text contains the first public appearance of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. This occurs in a synagogue in which Jesus announces the coming of the kingdom of God and all that it entails by reading from the prophet Isaiah.

The Spirit plays an important role in the Gospel of Luke and so at the beginning of his public ministry Jesus is led by the Spirit and begins teaching in the synagogues and wins the approval of all people.

In the synagogue of Nazareth, Jesus chooses the text from Isa 61:1 and 58:6. He would have read standing up and taught sitting down. While the reading would have been from the Hebrew text, the interpretation/teaching would have been in Aramaic. The Lucan Jesus omits the reference in Isaiah “to bind the brokenhearted” and adds instead from Isa 58:6 “to let the oppressed go free”. He also omits and significantly “and the day of vengeance of our God” found in Isa 61:2. The result of these omissions and addition is that the mission and vision of Jesus becomes a very practical and tangible one and not one that is merely psychological or spiritual. It is an all inclusive mission which has its priority the poor. Jesus’ ministry signaled that the time for the liberation of the impoverished and oppressed had come, and in that respect at least his work would fulfill the ideal and the social concern of the Jubilee year.

Jesus’ first words after the reading are electric. He announces that the centuries of waiting on God’s blessing have ended: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” The words from Isaiah spoke of an anointing by the Spirit, the work of a prophet, and dramatic signs of God’s redemption. The townspeople had heard reports of Jesus’ teaching elsewhere and might reasonably have expected that if he was a prophet endowed by the Spirit of God he would favor his hometown with his mightiest works. Thus they would share in the fame of the prophet from Nazareth so that no longer would anyone be able to say (however wrongly) that there were no prophets from Galilee (John 7:52). In short, they heard Jesus’ declaration of fulfillment as a promise of special favor for his own people and his “hometown”

As confirmation of the crowd’s initial enthusiasm for Jesus’ announcement, Luke reports that they bore witness to him and marveled at the “gracious words” he spoke. Luke is depicting a positive response to Jesus based on the content of Jesus’ proclamation. If the people find him eloquent it is because they are pleased by what he has said.

By placing this text at the beginning of his Gospel Luke makes clear what the Mission of Jesus will be about not only throughout the Gospel, but even after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The summary of the Mission statement of Jesus is that the “good news” of God’s graciousness is preached primarily to the poor. This news is not merely a verbal proclamation but one that includes actions of healing and making whole. Every kind of limitation that a person experiences, whether economic, physical, psychological, or spiritual is addressed by Jesus. Indeed, Jesus addresses not just one aspect of a person’s life but the whole person and the whole life.

Wednesday, January 5, 2021 - Homily

 When are rowing against the wind, God comes to us walking on the water and leads us to the shore.

Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - When you are rowing against the wind, do you give in to easily to negative emotions? Will you realize today that Jesus continues to be present in the boat of your life?

 To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Jn 4:11-18; Mk 6:45-52

With the exception of Luke who does not narrate the miracle of walking, the other three evangelists do. In Mark, the story is linked to the previous miracle of feeding the five thousand. Jesus dismisses the crowd and goes to pray. Mark portrays Jesus as praying three times in his Gospel. The first time is in 1:35-38, the second time here and the third time in the garden of Gethsemane (14:32-42). In each of these three occasions the prayer is prompted by something significant that Jesus has to discern about. If in the first instance it is whether he must stay in Capernaum or move to other parts of Galilee, here it is about his role as shepherd to the people and in Gethsemane it is about his fidelity to his Father’s will and his acceptance of the Cross.

Three pointers indicate that this miracle is to be interpreted as a “theophany” (a revelation of God). The first is of Jesus walking on the water. While Mark does not intend to portray Jesus as defying the law of gravity by walking on the water, he does intend to show Jesus as subduing the forces of evil. In the Old Testament only God has the power to walk on the water (Job 9:8; 38:16). The second pointer is in the phrase, “he intended to pass them by” which is a reference most probably to God as the One who passed by Moses (Exod 33:19–23; 34:6) and Elijah (1 Kgs 19:11) in a moment of self revelation.  The third pointer is the manner in which Jesus identifies himself: I am”. This is the name which God gives to Moses in Exod 3:14 when Moses asks for it in order to tell the people with whose authority he would speak. The fact that the disciples are struggling against the wind is an indication that Jesus approaches them to help them in their hour of distress.

The disciples in Mark are unable to understand this theophany and respond not out of faith but fear.

It is not always the case that the tide is with us and we are rowing in the same direction as it. There are times when we are rowing against the wind. It is at times like these when the going is tough, when there seems to be no respite in sight that Jesus comes to us walking on the water and assuring us that he has and is able to conquer all the negative forces that threaten to pull us down. He comes to us in the darkest part of the night when nothing seems clear and visibility is low to assure us of his presence in the boat of our lives. He comes to us with words of comfort and hope: “Courage! I am. Do not be afraid”.

Tuesday, January 4, 2022 - Homily

 

When was the last time you gave without counting the cost? Will you dare to give like this today?

Tuesday, January 4, 2022 - When was the last time you gave without counting the cost? Will you dare to give like this today?

To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Jn 4:7-10; Mk 6:34-44

The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle that Jesus worked that is found in all four Gospels (Mt 14:13-21; Lk 9:10-17; Jn 6:1-15). While details differ, what is common are the numbers: With five loaves and two fish, five thousand (“besides women and children” in Matthew) are fed and twelve baskets are gathered.

The story in Mark begins by Jesus having compassion on the crowds when he sees them because they seem as sheep without a shepherd. The images of sheep and shepherd evoke many Old Testament references where kings are condemned by prophets for not being shepherds to their people and to the pleas of prophets to God to shepherd his people. Here, Jesus takes on the role of shepherd of the people. Though he begins this role by teaching the people, he does not stop there. Theory is translated into action, words are shown in deeds.

In Mark the disciples are shown in a bad light. Their response to Jesus’ charge to them, “you give them something to eat”, is sarcastic. They stress the impossibility of what Jesus charges them to do and even ridicule that charge. Jesus responds by asking them to do what they are told and when they find out that there are only five loaves and two fish, they are ordered to ask the crowd to sit down in groups. Miraculously these are enough to feed five thousand and also to gather what is left over which signify the abundance of the miracle. Not only do people have enough, they have more than enough.

The primary function of the feeding miracle in this section of the Gospel is to demonstrate that the people now have a true shepherd in Jesus. They need not be hungry anymore. God’s word and bread will be available in abundance because of the presence of Jesus.

While some see the miracle clearly as miraculous and which cannot be explained rationally, others see it 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.