St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

Homily for Monday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time

In today's Gospel, a lawyer asks Jesus two crucial questions: First, he asks, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus encourages the lawyer to answer the question by referring to the command to love God and neighbor. Second (perhaps to justify himself for not treating everyone as his neighbor), he asks, "And who is my neighbor?" In response to that question, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Looking carefully at the parable, we see it doesn't answer the question, "Who is my neighbor?" Instead, it seems to answer another question, "Which of these three proved himself to be a neighbor?" The parable explains what it means to be a genuine neighbor. Jesus implies that being a neighbor to others is more important than defining who my neighbor is. The lesson is that everyone is my neighbor.

We could say that the answer to the lawyer's first question ("What must I do to inherit eternal life?") is to be a good neighbor. If you want to know what it means to be a neighbor, look at the Samaritan. The priest, Levite, and Samaritan noticed the wounded man by the roadside. What set the Samaritan apart is that he responded to what he noticed.

The priest and the Levite probably saw with eyes focused on the laws of purity, which they saw as more important than showing compassion. Their way of seeing precluded offering assistance to the man on the road. The Samaritan's way of seeing gave way to compassion and mercy. It is the kind of seeing that characterized Jesus Himself. His answer to the lawyer's first question is, "Be a good neighbor in the way that I am."

Homily for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of Aesop’s Fables is about a lion and a man arguing about humans being stronger than lions. The man insists that humans are stronger; to prove it, he takes the lion to a park and points out a statue of a man ripping apart the jaws of a lion. The lion looks at the statue and says, “That’s nothing! It was made by a man.”

Aesop’s point is this: Sometimes, we portray things not as they are but as we would like them to be.

Some theologians are concerned that contemporary Christians are doing that today regarding God, stressing the attributes of God we like while playing down the ones that don’t fit in with how we want to live our lives. They cite a tendency to stress God’s love and mercy while playing down the fact that God is a just judge to whom we will, one day, have to give an account of our lives.

The parable in our Gospel gives us a summary of the biblical view of God. It shows God as both a patient parent and a just judge. 

Like the vineyard owner, God showed incredible patience with the leaders of Israel. He gave them every opportunity to change their ways. When it became clear, however, that more patience would be fruitless, God held them accountable for their actions. 

We see this same pattern in Jesus. The same gentle Jesus who said to the people, “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart,” also “made a whip out of cords” and drove the money changers from the Temple. The same Jesus who said, “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father,” also said, “Whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

We need to know that God is patient and a just judge. God does love us, and God is always ready to forgive. However, if we ask for forgiveness without a genuine change of heart or a true transformation of spirit, God will hold us accountable for our actions and attitudes. 

I’d like to close with a time-honored prayer by Pope Clement XI. It takes into account both aspects of God.

                          Lord, I believe in you. Give me a firmer faith.

                          I hope in you; give me surer hope.

                          I love you; make me love you more and more.

                          I adore you as my first Beginning,

                          and long for you as my last End.

                          I praise you as my constant Benefactor,

                          and call upon you as my gracious Protector.

                          Guide me in your wisdom,

                          restrain me by your justice,

                          comfort me by your mercy,

                          defend me by your power.

                          I offer you

                          my thoughts, to be fixed on you;

                          my words, to have you as their theme;

                          my actions, to be done according to your will.

Homily for the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

Today, the Church celebrates the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. The Rosary calls us to reflect on the amazing mysteries of the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus.

Scripture depicts Mary as a profoundly contemplative person. In the second chapter of Luke’s Gospel, in response to the words of the shepherds, it is said that “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) Again, in response to the words of the Child Jesus to her in the temple, Luke says that Mary “kept all these things in her heart.” (Luke 2:51)

Luke depicts Mary as a meditative person, reflecting deeply on all that was happening in the life of her Son. So, Mary exemplifies the manner of mind and heart that we are invited to bring to the praying of the Rosary.

In praying the Rosary, we treasure and contemplate the key moments in the life of Jesus in this world and His going from this world to God the Father. Mary not only reflected on what God was doing in the words and deeds of Jesus, but she surrendered herself to what God was doing, as shown by her response to the visit of the angel Gabriel when she says, “May it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)

Like Mary, may we, too, reflect upon all that God is doing in the words and actions of Jesus; and also like Mary, may we, too, surrender ourselves more fully to God’s will in our lives, thus becoming more fully the people God made us to be.

Homily for Friday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time

Our LORD grieves that the people of the towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida did not appreciate all He had done among them. They were unchanged by God’s works in their midst and were not in any way moved by them to turn to a better life.

We, too, can sometimes miss the signs of God’s grace among us. Grace might take the form of a surprising kindness shown to us, an unexpected invitation, a word of appreciation or support when it was needed, a positive and willing response to a request we’ve made, or someone’s simple presence and work among us.

 The LORD comes to us especially in and through His followers, in and through each other in the Church. He says in today’s Gospel, “Whoever listens to you listens to me.” We don’t always recognize how the LORD touches our lives; we don’t always notice the LORD passing by and gracing us in different ways. In the evening, it can be good to look back over our day, notice where and how the LORD has been gracing us with His presence, and then quietly give thanks for that.

Homily for Thursday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time

In our Gospel today, St. Luke recounts how Jesus sent out a large group of His disciples and instructed them to "ask the master of the harvest to send out more laborers for his harvest."

In its varied forms, the LORD'S work cannot be done by one person or even a small group of people; it requires many laborers. Since the harvest is abundant and wide-ranging, the more workers, the better. This is an essential message for bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and the lay faithful of the Church. Many people are needed to take responsibility for the life of the Church, the work of the LORD.

In sending out His disciples ahead of Him, Jesus drew attention to the many difficulties, challenges, and rejections that they would face. He anticipated that some towns would not welcome them. Still, whether people received them or not, the disciples were to proclaim: "The kingdom of God is at hand for you."

Indeed, the LORD is present to all people, whether they receive Him or not. Jesus continues to work in and through those ready to be His laborers. We are always in the presence of God's kingdom, God's rule, among us; there is no escaping it. The issue is how we respond to that presence and the call to share that presence with others.

Homily for the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi

In today's Gospel passage, three men wished to join Jesus and travel about sharing in His work without reflecting on what it would entail. When He asked them to join him immediately, two wanted to delay following Him since they had important tasks to do first. Clearly, burying one's father and saying goodbye to one's family were important matters. However, Jesus wanted them to come immediately, leaving all else behind.

It is difficult to understand how the call of Jesus could be so urgent. Following Him is always a challenging choice. He asks for commitment and loyalty even greater than what we owe our relatives. Trying to follow the Gospel earnestly can even put us at odds with those closest to us. Like any other challenging Gospel text, today's passage must be set within the broader context of Jesus' teaching to love one's neighbor as oneself and put God above all else.

Homily for Tuesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time

Rejection is one of the most heartbreaking human experiences, especially if it comes from someone who truly matters to us, one whom we have trusted or loved. Rejection can leave us very angry and bitter or even tempted to retaliate in some way, as James and John wanted to do in today's Gospel.

Jesus knew this from personal experience when He was rejected by the people of the Samaritan village. He was Jewish and heading for Jerusalem; that was enough to make them refuse Him hospitality. If rejection like this was a regular response of Samaritans to Jews, the enraged response of the disciples was probably a typical Jewish response to Samaritans.

How different Jesus' response was to that of His disciples. He rebuked them and went to another village to proclaim the Gospel elsewhere. Jesus was charitable in the face of rejection.

That is His way and should be our way too. Who we are and how we relate to others is not decided by how others may treat us. Rather, who we are, even in the face of rejection, is determined by something much deeper: our relationship with the LORD and our efforts to keep living by His mind and Spirit.

Homily for the Memorial of the Guardian Angels

The questions people ask often reveal their values and priorities. When Jesus' disciples asked Him, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" [Matthew 18:1] it revealed their interest in personal standing and prominence. In His reply, Jesus did something and said something. First, He placed the child in front of them. He said they needed to become like children simply to enter the kingdom of heaven, never mind becoming the greatest in the kingdom.

Jesus' disciples are to become child-like but not childish. There's a significant difference. They will be child-like in the sense of completely trusting the love of God the Father and demanding nothing else, including status and standing. Greatness comes to those who make themselves as dependent on God as children are dependent on adults for their care and well-being. 

Let us pray for a true spirit of humility, recognizing our dependence on God and turning our will over to His divine wisdom and care. 

Homily for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

For decades, author Jonathan Kozol has been exploring the depths of poor inner-city neighborhoods and the children who live there in such award-winning books as Rachel and Her Children and Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation. 

Mr. Kozol once observed that poor neighborhoods serve a critical purpose for the wealthy. He said that if there were no poor neighborhoods, the rich and the privileged would have to look into the eyes of the poor every day.

In the 1980s, thousands of families in New York became homeless. These people walked the streets and gathered outside the restaurants and theaters. The civic-minded people of the city were not happy. He said, "The last thing the theater owners wanted was to have a wealthy couple spend $200 to see Les Miserables, a musical about the poor, and then come out from the theater and see the real thing!"

 

Mr. Kozol said that sometimes he would walk by that theater and see people who, only moments earlier, had likely been weeping for the poor children in Paris, exiting out on the street, offended by people begging on the sidewalk.

In today's Gospel and throughout the Gospels, Jesus defends the dignity of all people in the eyes of God -- the poor, the powerless, the ignored, the forgotten. We are called to support that dignity, not just in the words of songs sung comfortably in the theater or church, but on the street corners of our own cities and neighborhoods. 

Jesus demands that we, His disciples, voice our faith not just in the prayers and rituals we speak but also in the ways we reach out and help the needy, in the ways we treat those who are different from us, and in the relationships we form with one another. 

The challenge of discipleship is to translate our many "good intentions" into the actual work of discipleship, to transform our emotional feelings for the unseen, distant poor and marginalized into genuine compassion and charity to the poor and marginalized in our midst. 

 

Homily for the Memorial of St. Jerome

Admiration can be fleeting: here one day and gone the next. Today's Gospel passage refers to a time when all were full of admiration for everything Jesus did. He had just healed a boy who suffered from seizures; all were amazed at what God had done through Him. But their support would soon wither, and Jesus knew He would suffer the same fate as many prophets before Him. So, at the peak of his fame, He said, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men."

Admiration meant little to Jesus. His driving force was to do God's will and to complete His selfless work. He felt compelled to go to Jerusalem, as dangerous as it was, because the people needed to hear His message, even if it led to His death.

What motivates us? Our faith calls us to make the priorities of Jesus our own, to be about God the Father's business, and to do God's will with the opportunities we have. This will bring not just the momentary pleasure of applause but the more profound joy that comes from living the real purpose of our lives.