St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

Homily for September 26, 2019

King Herod Antipas ruled the province of Galilee on behalf of Rome. Saint Luke portrayed his attitude toward Jesus as rather trivial. When he heard about Jesus’ activities and about the great interest that people had in Him, Herod became perplexed and made attempts to see Him. They finally met during the course of Jesus’ Passion, when Pilate sent Jesus to Herod for his opinion about His guilt. Herod questioned Jesus at length but, in the end, treated Him with contempt. Herod did have a curiosity about Jesus, but it was not was serious nor did it lead to faith.

There were others who showed interest in Jesus and their curiosity did lead them to faith. But, even for people of faith, there is much to wonder about in the life of Jesus. The question asked by Herod Antipas, “Who then is this?” is one for us all to consider. We must always be searchers in regard to Jesus, since we can never know Him fully. As Saint Paul said, “At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face.” We seek to know Him more clearly, love Him more dearly, and follow Him more nearly. +

 

 

Homily for September 25, 2019

As we have seen in today’s Gospel passage, as Jesus sent out His Apostles on mission, He told them to travel light. He wanted them to depend on the hospitality of those to whom they would preach the Gospel. Instead of being self-reliant, He wanted them to be reliant on others, to trust in the LORD, who would actively help them through the kindness of strangers.

Most of us like to be independent, and to some extent we need to be. But we are never really totally self-sufficient. In our early lives we were dependent on our parents and others; when we come towards the end of life, we will again need others to care for us. In between these two periods of total dependence, we still depend on others for those things that we do not have within ourselves, and others rely on us for what they do not have. So, we are really interdependent.

The LORD wants us to welcome the generous service of others and to offer what we have as well. Each of us has much to give and much to receive. The LORD, who uses us to serve others, also wants us to avail of others’ help and to recognize the presence and work of the LORD in this mutual reliance upon one another. +

Homily for September 24, 2019

In response to the people telling Him that family members were looking for Him, Jesus said that His real family “are those who hear the Word of God and act on it.” It is clear from His response that Jesus wants to relate to us as His family. He calls us His brothers and sisters and wants us to belong to His spiritual family. For us to become His family is simple in theory: we need to hear the Word of God and put it into practice in our everyday lives.

Throughout His life and ministry, Jesus’ focus was on the Word of God and the will of God. He heard that Word so fully that it shaped everything He said and did. John’s Gospel even calls Jesus the Word made flesh. (John 1:14)

As Christians, we are called to hear the Word of God and to act on it in everything that we say and do. Like the seed that fell on rich soil, we must take the Word to our deepest selves and yield an abundant harvest. (Matthew 13:18) If we listen to the God’s Word and let it shape us and our lives, then we are brothers and sisters to Jesus our LORD. +

Homily for September 23, 2019

The lamp about which Jesus speaks in our Gospel passage today was an oil lamp with a wick that could be lit. These lamps were an everyday household item in the time of Jesus and, really, for thousands of years. They were so common that, even today, it is not unusual to find one in the Mediterranean area completely intact. These lamps would light up an entire house at night. So, as Jesus said, no one would light such a lamp and then hide it under a bowl or a bed; that would make no sense.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses that light of the lamp as a metaphor for our faith. If the “light” of faith has been ignited in our hearts, minds, and souls, it is not meant to be covered or hidden. Rather, it should be shared, that it may cast light on others, so that they, too, may know and have faith in God.

The light of our faith needs to shine in our lives. It should be seen in how we live: in what we do and how we do it. To make that light of faith shine brightly, we must kindle it by listening to God’s Word. Jesus says, “Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given.” After listening to His Word, we must let that light of faith shine forth through our own words and through our way of life. +

Homily for September 22, 2019

Imagine spending hours and hours creating a beautiful work of art — and then, as a prayer, destroying it. That’s actually a ritual performed in many Tibetan monasteries to introduce students to the principles of Buddhism. Over a nine-day period, with prayers and chanting, the monks create an elaborate and beautiful sand “painting” called a mandala.

The painting, seven feet in diameter, is made of colored sand, chalk, saffron spice and wheat. The finished mandala includes representations from all the sacred principles of Buddhism.

The monks pray that the gods and saints descend from their sacred dwelling places and temporarily “live” in the mandala. When the mandala is completed, the students are then invited to come and study, with the monks, the meanings of the various symbols and signs and, through the mandala, be reborn in faith.

In the final part of the ritual, the monks thank the deities for their presence and request that they “leave” the mandala. Then the sands of the mandala are ritually defaced, swept up, and placed in urns. The monks solemnly take the urns to a nearby lake or river and prayerfully pour the sands into the waters. Like the passing of all things, the mandala is washed away, but existing forever in the memories of those who created it and in those who discovered God in it.

It is a part of human nature that we move about our lives believing that we are building a life and a world that will last forever. But everything that we have or create, or use are like the sands of the monks’ paintings: someday, sooner rather than later, it will all be washed away 

Today’s Gospel reading calls us to let go of the things that fill our lives and, instead, to seek to possess the lasting treasures of God: love of family and friends, the sense of meaning that comes from living the principles of justice and mercy, the joy of helping others realize their dreams and hopes for themselves and their families.

The loving relationships that we develop in this life are relationships that gain for us treasure in heaven. No act of terrorism, injustice, violence, or indifference can take away the love that we share with one another. These things may change the way that we are able to express that love — we will not see our loved ones when they die, we will not relate to them in the ways to which we have grown accustomed — but nothing can take that love away and nothing can keep that love from being fulfilled in the kingdom of God. All love comes from God and it is, indeed, the greatest treasure we have in this life and the only treasure that we will bring from this life into the next.

As we pray about our Gospel reading this week, may we recognize those areas of our lives that keep us from the love of God and the love one another; may we have the courage and the wisdom, to change our lives in ways that will bring us closer to the love of God and thus, closer to our salvation. +

Homily for September 21, 2019

Our story in today’s Gospel passage is one that we know well. Matthew, whose feast day we celebrate today, is a tax collector and, presumably, a sinful man, and followed Jesus and ate with Him, as did other sinners. The Pharisees objected to this because it violated their laws regarding ritual purity.

In Jesus’ response to the objections of the Pharisees, He echoed Hosea when He said, “Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” Jesus was referring the acts of Temple sacrifice. If mercy is above these sacrifices, then how much more is it above the rules of ritual purity?

The Pharisees knew Scripture well; they knew the law well, and they saw adherence to these strict laws in every aspect of life as doing the will of God. Yet, Jesus put mercy and love above these laws and traditions.

St. Paul affirmed this in his first letter to the people of Corinth when he said, “If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-4a)

Mercy springs forth from love and not righteousness. Mercy is the voice of God’s love for us and His desire that we have life, and have it to the fullest, on earth and in the kingdom to come. Exclusion and criticism of sinners – of those whom Jesus came to save – is not a part of a merciful response.

In late June of 2018, Pope Francis addressed the fourteen people whom he had elevated to the rank of cardinal with these words: “None of us must feel superior to anyone. None of us should look down at others from above. The only time we can look at a person in this way is when we are helping them to stand up.”

As we seek to answer the call to spread the Good News, let us pray that the mercy and love of God may be the source of all our actions, words, and attitudes, toward and on behalf of the people we are called to serve. +

 

Homily for September 20, 2019

Throughout His ministry, Jesus made it clear that He came not to be served but to serve. Although Jesus lived on this earth both as God and as human, at times He still needed the help of others in order to fulfill His mission. Today’s Gospel calls us to focus on some of the ways in which He was helped by a number of women who were His followers and supported His mission. Luke says that as Jesus made is way preaching throughout many towns and villages, a number of women provided for Him out of their own resources. Their service to Him enabled Him to serve others.

It stands to reason that if Jesus needed the help of others to complete His mission, then we are also in need of such help. By virtue of our Baptism, we are called to serve others, and we are also to accept the service of others, because we really do need their help; we cannot answer God’s call to us simply on our own resources.

Serving others calls for a spirit of generosity and for a spirit of humility, wanting to do for others recognizing our need for interdependence with others. Saint Paul taught us that within the Church, the Body of Christ on earth, we are all interdependent. The Spirit is at work in all our lives in many different ways. We need others and others need us. We all have something worthwhile to give and something worthwhile to receive. Let us recognize our need for, and be grateful for, those who journey with us and who help us through life. +

Homily for September 19, 2019

Most people would never even consider showing up at a meal unless they were invited. Yet, the woman in today’s Gospel passage does just that. It is important to note that she did so, not out of selfishness, but because she so anxiously wanted to be near Jesus and to show Him a service of hospitality and love. This uninvited guest showed Jesus the hospitality that His host should have shown Him, but he failed to do so. The woman honored Jesus in an overstated way in return for what she had already received from Him. She had felt God’s forgiving love through Jesus, and such was her gratitude for this gift that she wanted to offer love in return.

The woman should be an example to all who wish to be true followers of Jesus. Like her, all of us have received abundant gifts and, as John’s Gospel tells us, “from His fullness we have all received grace in place of grace.” [1] And like her, if we have a sense that we have been greatly gifted with grace, it will, hopefully, prompt us to do something great in return. 

The woman in the house of the Pharisee shows us how to receive from the LORD and how to love Him in return, not only in our prayers of praise, but also in the ways that we serve Him in our service to the least fortunate among us.

 

[1] John 1:16

Homily for September 18, 2019

There were some very good and conscientious people in the time of Jesus who criticized John the Baptist. Some found his ascetic lifestyle to be crazy. Many of these same people also whined about Jesus and how he associated with sinners and pagans. The habit of filtering reality through our own prejudices can lead us to reject things that are genuinely of God. This really isn’t faith nor is it healthy logic; it is seeking to fit God neatly into our own self-conceived and prearranged perception of reality.

What we really need to do is to become pliable in the ways of faith and let ourselves be shaped by the will of God, rather than seeking it to be the other way around. In the words of Isaiah the Prophet:

Yet, LORD, you are our father;

we are the clay and you our potter:

we are all the work of your hand.[1]

 

[1] Isaiah 64:7

Homily for September 17, 2019

In the ancient world – and even in some parts of the world today - widows were the most financially and socially vulnerable group, where women had little personal means of self-support. When their spouses died, they were dependent on their children, particularly their sons, to provide for them. So, a widow who lost her only son through death was the most vulnerable of all. It was just such a woman who met Jesus in today’s gospel passage.

The passage tells us that Jesus was moved with compassion by this woman’s dilemma. His compassion toward the woman was followed by action on His part as He restored her son to life and gave him back to his mother. It is remarkable that the widow in this story did not take any initiative towards Jesus; she did not cry out to Him for help. Without waiting to be asked, Jesus simply responded with compassion to a situation of human grief and loss.

The same Risen LORD reaches out to us today in our experiences of grief and loss, without waiting to be asked. When we are at our lowest and most vulnerable, His compassion, often experienced through others acting as His ambassadors, is our support. We do not need to carry our grief on our own; Jesus carries it with us. Literally, He suffers with us; “to suffer with” is the literal meaning of compassion. The LORD who shows us compassionate love wants us to be ambassadors of His compassion to others in their time of need, to carry each other’s burdens just as He carries ours. +