homilies

on the liturgy of the Sundays and feasts

by robert j. batule

Magnanimous in death

14th Sunday of the Year-July 7

"A" Readings: Zech. 9:9-10 Rom. 8:9. 11-13 Matt. 11:25-30

Title: The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick

Purpose: (1) to teach the effect of this Sacrament as God

with us in our illness; (2) to encourage its proper use by all.

n Each year at the Good Friday Liturgy of the Passion, we listen to the last of the four Servant of Yahweh Songs (Isa. 52:13-53:12). The prophet Isaiah writes of "a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned . . . held . . . in no esteem (Isa. 53:3)." This servant of the Lord, pierced for our offenses and crushed for our sins (Isa. 53:5), was magnanimous even in death. So magnanimous was he that the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all (Isa. 53:6). Even then this did not defeat him as he took away the sins of many, and won pardon for their offenses (Isa. 53:12).

Only days before he suffered on Calvary, the King of Kings rode into Jerusalem amid jubilation. Saint Matthew recounts the scene by quoting the prophet Zechariah: "Your king shall come to you: a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass (Zech. 9:9)." This prophecy of Zechariah, quoted by Saint Matthew, is found in today's first reading. Zechariah wants the Israelites to rejoice heartily . . . and shout for joy (Zech. 9:9). But their rejoicing and shouting for joy is not over a conquering warrior but for the arrival of a humble messiah.

Even though a King, Jesus was not born royally. Saint Luke describes his birth thusly: "The time came for her [the Virgin] to have her child, and she gave birth to her first-born son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn (Luke 2:6-7)." The Catechism cites this as evidence of a humble birth (525). His entrance into Jerusalem follows the same regal path of humility. The Catechism puts it this way: "Jesus conquers the Daughter of Zion, a figure of his Church, neither by ruse nor by violence, but by the humility that bears witness to the truth (559).

One sure way to humility is suffering. Every type of suffering-physical, mental, emotional or moral-involves loss. For some, the suffering is a loss of physical mobility. For others, the suffering is a loss of mental acuity. For still others, the suffering is a loss of emotional control or moral influence. Suffering reduces us, it brings us low.

The suffering of Jesus brought him low but it did not vanquish him. The Letter to the Hebrews says that for a little while Jesus was made lower than the angels (Heb. 2:7). He suffers death, according to the sacred author, that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone (Heb. 2:9). His taste of death for everyone, the sacred author continues, destroys the one who has the power of death, the devil (Heb. 2:14). The victory of Jesus frees those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life (Heb. 2:15). The beneficiaries of this victory are not the angels but rather the descendants of Abraham (Heb. 2:16). This allows Jesus to become like his brothers in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people (Heb. 2:17). Tested through what he suffered, Jesus is able to help those who are being tested (Heb. 2:18).

Those who are reduced and brought low through suffering are helped by the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. In this wonderful Sacrament, the Lord raises up the ill and saves them by uniting them ever more closely with the Paschal Mystery. Jesus is the Physician of our souls and he grants rest to those of us who are weary and burdened by sickness and pain. The Catechism calls the Anointing of the Sick a particular gift of the Holy Spirit and instructs us that "the first grace of this sacrament is one of strengthening, peace and courage to overcome the difficulties that go with the condition of serious illness or the frailty of old age . . . [T]he Holy Spirit . . . renews trust and faith in God and strengthens against the temptations of the evil one, the temptation to discouragement and anguish in the face of death. The assistance from the Lord by the power of his Spirit is meant to lead the sick person to healing of the soul, but also of the body if such is God's will (1520)." The sick person is further assured that if he has committed any sins, his sins will be forgiven (Rite of Anointing).

In classic Pauline style, the Apostle to the Gentiles distinguishes in today's second reading between a life in the flesh and a life in the spirit (Rom. 8:9, 11-13). Those who celebrate the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick have been given the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead (Rom. 8:11). Because of the Spirit now dwelling in those who celebrate the Sacrament, there is spiritual power to fight against the enemies of the human spirit, especially loneliness and despair. Those who celebrate this Sacrament are fortified to trod the way of their Golgothas.

Hearing about this Sacrament today is a reminder that we should encourage the seriously ill and elderly in our families to arrange to use the Anointing of the Sick. If they cannot do this on their own, we should in Christian charity arrange it for them. Vigilance of this kind is a humbling experience for those in good health. It makes us aware of our mortality, our finitude. It also elevates our awareness of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, the Spirit of faith, hope and love. Finally, we become witnesses to an easier yoke and a lighter burden in others, thereby moving us to participate in this great mystery when circumstances warrant it.

Suggested Reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1499-1532.

Basis of our faith

15th Sunday of the Year-July 14

"A" Readings: Isa. 55:10-11 Rom. 8:18-23 Matt. 13:1-23

Title: Revelation the Basis of our Faith

Purpose: (1) to teach how our faith is based on God's

Revelation; (2) come down to us through Scripture and Tradition.

Political commentators during the 1990s use the expressions "on message" and "off message" to refer to statements made by public officials. When a public official appears at a press conference to express support for another official's program, he is said to be "on message." When a public official shows up to disagree with a higher official's policy, he is described as being "off message."

In politics, public relations is everything. In order to get reelected, politicians must get the word out, substantively and symbolically, that they are working to solve civic and social problems. It's easy to get sidetracked or detoured when lesser officials don't speak "on message." Not speaking "on message" can get one fired or a boss unelected. Therefore, it's in the interest of policy designer and policy implementor for the lesser official to speak "on message."

These last ten years have witnessed a deepening concern over school sex education curricula, especially AIDS instruction. Some administrators, teachers and parents think it is necessary to have a curriculum which simultaneously encourages sexual abstinence and teaches about condom use. Opponents of this strategy criticize that students are receiving conflicting messages about sexuality. On the one hand, they are counselled to postpone sexual gratification. On the other hand, they are advised to be safe if they are sexually active.

The message that we give to our young people about sexuality should be a consistent one. We should not send them mixed signals about right and wrong, good and evil, and sin and virtue. The message we ought to give our young people concerning sexuality should be very clear conceptually and practically. In this way, word and deed are really congruent. The happy result is a message not adventitious with the appearance of being imposed but one bearing an essential unity.

The faith we profess is a faith based on Revelation. The Fathers of Vatican II in the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) make this clear when they write "in His goodness and wisdom, God chose to reveal Himself and to make known to us the hidden purpose of His will by which through Christ, the Word made flesh, man has access to the Father in the Holy Spirit and comes to share in the divine nature. Through this revelation, therefore, the invisible God out of the abundance of His love speaks to men as friends and lives among them so that He may invite and take them into fellowship with Himself (DV, 2)." The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council had just finished establishing their reason for a document on Revelation, calling their teaching a service of handing on the message of salvation (DV, 1).

The long form of today's Gospel includes not only the parable of the farmer who went out to sow seed but an explanation of this parable. Jesus explains that the seed is an image or metaphor for the message. In each place that the seed falls, something happens regarding the message. The message is not understood, it is received with joy but falters, it produces no yield or it produces a great yield.

It is customary to refer to the seed as the word of God, and indeed it is. We must be careful, however, not to define too narrowly the word of God. The word of God is preserved for us both in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. And the two, Scripture and Tradition, are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of devotion and reverence (DV, 9).

The Catechism teaches the People of God that there is one common source for Revelation and two distinct modes of transmission (80-82). By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining, practicing, and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful (84). What we might call being "on message."

The Catechism notes for us that "an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living, teaching office of the Church alone . . . [t]he bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome (85)." The Magisterium is the final word on the message-its content and meaning-and precludes a conflicting message. Ever mindful of its proper role, though, the Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God. It only teaches what has been handed on to it (86).

It is important to remember that today's Gospel is an invitation to faith. Our faith is surely a faith in the message. But even more so, it is a faith in the messenger, that is, Christ himself. As the farmer sows the seed, he is sowing Christ. As we know from today's Gospel, some will reject Christ, others will accept him but their faith is weak. Still others will accept Christ and because their faith is strong, they will hear the message and take it in (Matt. 13:23).

Faith is to be personally appropriated and internally assimilated. It cannot remain on the surface (on the path, on the rocks, among the briers). It must sink down deeply and its roots must touch every level of our existence. When this happens, faith is not merely understood on an intellectual level or found satisfying on an emotional level but it is truly lived. The messenger and message have become so much a part of us that, as Saint Paul says, Christ lives in us (Gal. 2:20).

The Responsorial Psalm on the Feasts of some of the Apostles (e.g., May 3rd, the Feast of Saints Philip and James) is the following: "Their message goes out through all the earth (Psalm 19:5)." In one sense, the message does not belong to Philip and James; they are bearing Christ's message, not their own. In another sense, however, the message does belong to Philip and James. They were called by Christ and took their place among the Twelve. They ate, drank and lived with the Master. This close communion with the Lord allowed the message of Christ to become interiorly the message of Philip and James. The message and the messenger are as one (definitely "on" and without conflict).

By close communion with the Lord in prayer, in the sacramental life and in virtuous living, the seed of faith takes root in us. The message is taken in, thoroughly appropriated and assimilated. It bears a yield of a hundred or sixty or thirty fold in holiness and apostolic zeal.

Suggested Reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 50-100.

God is the author

16th Sunday of the Year-July 21

"A" Readings: Wis. 12:13. 16-19 Rom. 8:26-27 Matt. 13:24-43

Title: The Books of the Bible

Purpose: (1) to explain the divisions of the Bible; Testaments, literary forms, books; (2) to encourage knowledge of the Bible in Church through the Lectionary selections.

Several colleges here in the United States offer what are called Great Books programs. These are curricula which are designed to have students read the truly outstanding works of literature, history, philosophy and politics belonging to Western civilization. Those who put these curricula together believe that students are better served educationally if they read and discuss the most influential texts of Western culture. This belief is based on the notion that students should grapple first-hand with the ideas which founded and shaped our most enduring institutions.

This tack in undergraduate education is not without controversy. Some argue, for example, that the Great Books approach is not sufficiently diverse and multi-cultural. Others object that there really isn't a canon of what are the truly outstanding works of Western civilization. Still others complain that the Great Books method does not allow for electives and specialization.

Defenders of the Great Books curricula maintain that a culture removed from its great thinkers and builders will collapse upon itself if we do not reclaim and become excited again about the ideas which make our culture great. They argue that, owing to relativism and a mélange of questionable educational theories, undergraduate curricula have become soft and have not prepared students to make important contributions to their culture.

Some look upon Plato's Republic, Augustine's Confessions, and Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations not to deny them but to offer cautions. Some say, for instance, that these works are wonderful but we must see them in their proper relationship to one another if we are to achieve maximum benefit from this approach. Others, for example, contend that interpretation of the Great Books within a proper framework is necessary if we are to unveil their deepest meanings.

Catholics should look upon the Bible as a collection of Great Books. What makes the 73 books of the Bible great is that each one is inspired by God. "To compose the sacred books, God chose men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more (CCC, 106)." What makes the 73 books of the Bible great is that each one is true. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures (CCC, 107)."

As great as the books of the Bible are, we cannot interpret them as our pleasures dictate. "To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words (CCC, 109)." Additionally, we must be attentive to the content and unity of the whole Scripture, the living Tradition of the whole Church and the analogy of faith (CCC, 112-14). And we must not forget to distinguish between the different senses of Scripture: the literal (CCC, 116) and the spiritual (CCC, 117) and within the spiritual: the allegorical, the moral and the analogical (CCC, 117). This, of course, is subject to the judgment of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God (CCC, 118).

The first reading for today is taken from the Book of Wisdom. The sacred writer refers to God's might as the source of his justice (Wis. 12:16). When God judges us, he judges with clemency (Wis. 12:18). God teaches us so that we might be just and kind to others (Wis. 12:19). Where else do we learn of God's might and justice if we are not told about it in the Bible? Where else do we learn to imitate divine justice and kindness if not by becoming better acquainted with these great 73 books?

Today's Gospel continues the theme of last Sunday's Gospel: parables concerning the Kingdom of God. Today's Gospel contains the parable of the wheat and the weeds, the parable of the mustard seed and the image of the dough which rises. In one way or another, these parables are related to the growth of the Kingdom. How are we to grow spiritually without the Old Testament and the New Testament? How are we to grow spiritually without an appreciation of covenant and fulfillment?

A college professor of mine who loves film said that if an undergraduate attended all the films in the eight film festivals he offered over four years, that student would receive the equivalent of a course in films. Because of the wisdom of the Lectionary, Catholics who attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation are treated to a mini-course in Sacred Scripture. It's all there: Old and New Testaments, history, prophecy, gospel, poetry, narrative, etc.

It would be sad, however, if all we knew about the Scriptures remained on a merely academic or intellectual level. The challenge we all have is to take what we learn in Sacred Scripture and submit it to the discipline of love. At this Holy Eucharist, we are afforded just this opportunity, an opportunity afforded the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. As Saint Luke tells us: "When he had seated himself with them to eat, he took bread, pronounced the blessing, then broke the bread and began to distribute it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him: whereupon he vanished from their sight. They said to one another, 'Were not our hearts burning inside us as he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?'" (Luke 24:30-32).

Suggested Reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 101-141.

The gospel truth

17th Sunday of the Year-July 28

"A" Readings: 1 Kings 3:5. 7-12 Rom. 8:28-30 Matt. 13:44-52

Title: The Gospel and the Gospels

Purpose: to explain (1) the meaning of Gospel which preceded the four Gospels; (2) the characteristics of the Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; (3) the Gospel according to each of us.

Portrait painters who paint the same subject are likely to produce different renderings. The reasons for this are numerous: different schools of painting, different use of light and angles, some paint with more definition than others, etc.

The observer of the various portraits recognizes the same subject in each rendering. But he also recognizes the differences-exquisite attention to facial expression in one painting, the proportion of the subject to setting in another.

The wise observer retains all of the renderings. He does so out of a concern for holding on to the subject's richness. The various perspectives on the subject illuminate and bring to the fore key features which capture not just for the one observer but in some instances for many others as well what makes the subject so fascinating.

We may look upon the Gospels as four different portraits of Jesus, the Son of God. The four evangelists are like painters who apply their strokes to the canvas. These strokes, when they are finished, depict and characterize the Nazorean who dies in the city of the prophets, Jerusalem. It is good to recall that the four evangelists do not write of four different Jesuses; they write of one Jesus. They write of one Jesus out of faith, a common faith. But a common faith does not preclude the evangelists from presenting different aspects of the one Messiah.

For Saint Mark, there is the emphasis on the miracles of Jesus, miracles which announce the Kingdom of God. For Saint Matthew, there is the emphasis on Jesus as the New Moses, the Teacher of the New Covenant. For Saint Luke, there is the emphasis on Jesus who forgives and shows us the mercy of God. For Saint John, there is the emphasis on the divinity of Jesus from his pre-existence with the Father right on up through his Passion and Resurrection.

The last ecumenical council sums up for us the special place of the Gospels in Christianity. "The Gospels have a special pre-eminence, and rightly so, for they are the principal witness of the life and teaching of the incarnate Word, our Savior. . . . The sacred authors wrote the four Gospels, selecting some things from the many which had been handed on by word of mouth or in writing, reducing some of them to a synthesis, explicating some things in view of the situation of their churches, and preserving the form of proclamation but always in such a fashion that they told us the honest truth about Jesus (Dei Verbum, 18, 19)."

Even when we read and hear the Epistle, we are directed back to the Gospel. In today's second reading, Saint Paul tells the Christians in Rome that God has predestined them to share the image of his Son, that the Son might be the first-born of many brothers (Rom. 8:29). The expression "first-born" is used by Saint Luke in his infancy narrative (Luke 2:7). As we know, the title "first-born" does not mean that Mary had other sons. What it does refer to is the fact that Jesus possessed the rights and privileges of the first-born son.

The use of the expression "first-born" by Saint Paul and its use by Saint Luke to describe the birth of Our Lord should give us pause to wonder. In just a few words, it is possible to announce, to utter the Good News. In just a few words, we can recapitulate what God had in mind before he created the world and what he accomplished so marvelously through Christ, namely, our redemption.

If we use the short form of today's Gospel, all it takes are a few verses to announce the Gospel. In two verses from Chapter Thirteen of Saint Matthew's Gospel the evangelist offers two parables concerning the Kingdom of God (Matt. 13:44-46). The first parable is about a man who finds a buried treasure in a field. Joyful over his find, the man went and sold all that he had and bought that field. The second parable is about a merchant's search for fine pearls. When the merchant found one really valuable pearl, he put up for sale all he had and bought the one really valuable pearl.

In re-telling these parables of Our Lord, the evangelist is painting a picture of Jesus. With firm strokes, the evangelist depicts a Son who staked it all on the inauguration of God's reign in a definitive way. We who purport to be followers of the Son must be willing to surrender what we value in favor of what is most valuable from the vantage point of God's Kingdom. This is the cost of discipleship; putting all of our allegiances, attachments and preferences aside and risking our very security for one, a relationship with the Lord. The price we will pay is indeed dear; it involves suffering and the Cross. We cannot feign ignorance of this because it has been already announced to us. Saint Paul and Saint Luke have already given us their word; therefore, we are not to be deceived.

Whenever we commit to live in the spirit of risk and the Cross, we are not just witnessing to the Gospel but fashioning a mini-gospel through the circumstances of our lives. In this way, we are evangelizing others. We are announcing to them the Gospel of the first-born. By faithful announcement of the Gospel in word and in deed, we share with the world the image of God's Son. This is the summons to which we rise today and every day.

May we carry out this work as the four evangelists did, that is, with deep faith, a lively hope and an ardent charity.

Suggested Reading: The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 125-27. n