Saturday, February 25, 2012

HOMILY FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT, YEAR B Genesis 9:8-15/ Psalm 25/ 1 Peter 3:18-22/ Mark 1:12-15

A civilised age is more exposed to subtle sins than a rude age. This is because it is more fertile in excuses and evasions. It can defend error and hence can blind the eyes of those who have not very careful consciences. It makes error plausible, it can make vice look like virtue. It dignifies sin by fine names; it calls avarice proper care of one’s family or industry; it calls pride independence; it calls ambition greatness of mind; resentment it calls proper spirit and sense of honour and the like. Such is our age and hence our self- denial must be very different from what was necessary for a rude age. The readings for this first Sunday of Lent bring to the fore the reality of sin and its destructive consequences. However, Jesus gives us hope; the hope of overcoming sin.



The first reading of today comes from the Priestly version of the flood story. This Priestly account speaks of the Divine Covenant as the outcome of the flood. God’s covenant with Noah is distinguished from other Old Testament covenants in that it is made not with Israel only but with the entire human race. In this covenant, God undertakes never again to destroy the earth by a flood. This is to prefigure the universalism of God’s salvation. It is God’s will ultimately not to destroy the earth but to redeem it. The point of this reading today as the Second reading indicates lies in the fact that Noah’s flood is treated in Christian thought and already in the New Testament as a type of baptism.




The Gospel reading for this First Sunday of Lent presents Jesus to us as the fulfillment of the covenant God made with Noah and brings us two questions. The first question is, “Why was Jesus tempted by the devil? Was he not the Son of God, consubstantial with the Father, God from God, light from light? Why should Jesus have to struggle with the wiles of the evil one?”




Well, Jesus was tempted by the devil for the same reason that he was baptized by John: because he was a human being. When Jesus came from Nazareth to be baptized in the Jordan by John, it was in order to associate himself with the religious currents of His time. He did not need the remission of sin as the others did who came to John for Baptism. Jesus was sinless, but he was human, and he wanted to be seen and known as sharing the human experiences of ordinary men and women. Insofar as it was possible for him, Jesus wanted to be just like everybody else. That is why he shared in the Baptism of John.




And, that’s also why Jesus allowed himself to be tempted by Satan. Every human being has experienced the lure of evil. Every human being has been invited to turn his or her back to God and walk the path of self-indulgence and arrogance that Adam and Eve opened up for their descendants. One would not really be human if one had never had any contact whatsoever with the attractiveness of sin. That is why Jesus went off to the desert: to give the devil his chance, to experience the appeal of evil that infects every human being.




The second question that this reading raises is about us. Why does the Church give us the narrative of the temptation of Jesus every year on the First Sunday of Lent? One would think that there might be some other aspect of Jesus’ life that would be more appropriate for the beginning of the penitential season—perhaps His Baptism, or Jesus’ teaching about the need for loving our neighbor? No, what the Church is teaching us here is that, during Lent, we are supposed to do the same thing Jesus did; that is, we are supposed to go apart from our ordinary life and face up to the evil that threatens us. We are supposed to acknowledge that the devil is after us and that we need to respond and react to the devil’s overtures.





The temptations that threaten us do not come in the same lurid forms in which Matthew and Luke show us the temptations of Jesus, but Jesus’ temptations and ours are basically the same. We are all tempted to comfort, not the ordinary comfort that God means us to have, but the comfort that we achieve through selfishness and indulgence. We are all tempted to success, to be somebody, no matter what the cost. We are all tempted to power: to run things, to run people, to be in charge. These are basic human desires, desires that we are inclined to answer at any cost, no matter what it takes. These are inclinations that we need to be aware of; inclinations that we need to confront.




By giving us the narrative of Jesus’ temptations at the beginning of each Lent, the Church is calling us to come to grips with the temptations that afflict each one of us. Lent is supposed to be a kind of desert that we enter each year, a place where we face up to the evil that afflicts us from outside us as well as the evil that afflicts us from inside.



Dealing with our sinfulness is not something we take on gladly; it is not something we do with enthusiasm. To admit that there is evil in our lives is already distasteful. To try to eradicate it is harder still. Yet unless we are realistic about our condition, we will remain detached from the life that the Lord intends us to live; we will remain weakened in our sharing in the life of Christ.




Unlike Jesus, we are sinners. We have given in, in great things or small, to the self destructive attractions that the devil presented to Jesus. We need to acknowledge that and do something about it.



We are all among the wild beasts like Jesus was in the wilderness. But just as Jesus was in the wilderness in order to experience our full humanity, so also Jesus will be with us as we strive to come to grips with the same kinds of temptations that he endured.




In sum, being a Catholic Christian believer involves living the life of Christ. During Lent the Church invites us to live with Jesus in his desert experience, to undergo trial with him and to come out of the desert at the end, ready to share a time of fulfillment with him in the kingdom of God.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

HOMILY FOR THE SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22,24b -25/ Psalm 41/ 2 Cori 1:18-22/ Mark 2:1-12

THEME: The mercy of God: our hope



In last Sunday´s liturgy Jesus confronts a physical image of sin (leprosy). Today liberation from sin itself is an explicit and central focus of the Readings. All God´s promises of salvation and forgiveness of sin have been fulfilled in Christ: God´s "Yes". It is something new when Jesus does what only God can do namely forgive sins. Sin wounds relationships; it darkens the intellect and weakens our wills to do the good. Sin isolates and increases the burden of guilt in the sinner.




One beautiful thing about the prophets is that, they never relent in pointing out the wrong doings of the Israelites. Even when they remain adamant and calamity befalls them, the same prophets will bring them God’s consolation. The first reading of today is no exception. This section of Isaiah forms part of Second Isaiah also known as the book of consolation. The Israelites are in exile in Babylon as a result of their sinful behaviour. The prophet gives them hope that in spite of their sins, God gives them a new beginning as far as His relationship with them is concerned. The prophet assures them, “Do not remember the former things, and consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18). God recognises the damage that sin has caused to his children and so He takes the initiative to reconcile them to himself.



The story of the Israelites is our own story. We have sinned and continue to sin in spite of the warnings from the prophets of today. The only way our praises and prayers can reach God is to allow ourselves to be transformed by the Him. However, the Lord recognises that our own strength continues to fail us and so the prophet says, “l, I am He who blots your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25).This prophecy of Isaiah that it is God himself who will blot out our sins is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word, in the gospel reading of today.




The basic thrust of the gospel´s message here is not that, since Jesus is God, he can forgive sin, but rather that, since he forgives sin – and makes a paralytic walk - he is God himself. The scribes are correct in reserving forgiveness of sins to God, but they are only the first in a long line of people who have been unable to "swallow" the incarnation of the Son of God. The scandal of the new covenant God has made with us is that he has become human; and that moreover he has never revoked this decision, so that he still works through the humanity of Jesus, present in his body which is the Church.





The "authority on earth to forgive sins" that Jesus claims is an essential part of the "something new" that God is doing (First Reading) namely first, the power to forgive sins is now "on earth", no longer a hidden power exercised by God in the heavens. Second, it is a power that belongs to "the Son of Man", this man Jesus, who shows the reality of his authority by the miraculous cure of the paralytic. The initial amazement or scandal experienced by the bystanders quickly gave way to praise that God "should have given such power to men". And here is the third novelty: rather than "to man", Mark reports that it is seen as given "to men" -to us, for whom and through whom the Savior´s power to forgive is exercised.





If we appreciate the magnitude of the gift of divine life God has given us, we will realize that "sin is excluded for anyone who has ´put on Christ.´ But the apostle John also says: ´If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us´" (1John 1:8; CCC 1425). Therefore none of us can do without the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Today´s Psalm makes all of us say, "Lord, heal my soul, for I have sinned against you". So that all of us can hear, "Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace." It is true that with the grace of God it is possible to avoid grave sin; nevertheless, since even our everyday failings diminish love and are subject to the sclerotic, paralyzing effect of all sin, a smart Christian will seek the grace of the sacrament frequently. Not exclusively because he or she has sinned; but so he or she will not sin. Confession is not a "car wash for the soul"; it is the sacrament of fight against sin in all its forms, the most powerful instrument we have for that purpose. And a loving encounter with Christ himself, present in the priest.





Unfortunately, the third element of God´s "new ways" – remains for some a stumbling block. Sadly, there are still Christians who live in the Old Testament and are scandalized by the appearance of God´s mercy wrapped in human form. After twenty centuries of Christian teaching, we do not contest the incarnation of the Son of God in Jesus. But, in practice, we contest his continuing incarnation in his Church and in his ministers especially as far as the Sacrament of Reconciliation is concerned. By overcoming, with a profound act of faith, whatever difficulties or simple negligence affects our appreciation and practice of this extraordinary gift of God´s mercy, we give a resounding "yes" to Christ who is God´s "yes" to us.






In conclusion, what in your life does God need to heal?” I believe that is why we are here. That is why we gather week after week to celebrate Eucharist. We come so that we might joyfully receive this bread from heaven, this bread that heals our withered hearts. As we receive this Eucharist, let us pray for the grace and the courage to desire and accept God’s healing. It is the faith of the man´s friends that bring him to Jesus and moves Jesus to say, "Your sins are forgiven", and it is the faith of the Church which prays daily for the forgiveness of sinners –all of us, her children- that bring us to him when of ourselves we are unable. We are the beneficiaries of that prayer; but because we are the Church we are also the ones who must pray every day in her name for those who need to be carried before the Lord.

Friday, February 10, 2012

HOMILY FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46/ Psalm 32/ 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1/ Mark 1: 40-45

THEME: THE LEPER’S PRAYER

The Liturgy of today is a reminder that we must learn to identify with the people we are called to minister to. Jesus and Paul are such models for our imitation.



In the first reading, the book of Leviticus brings to sharp focus the fact that to be leprous is to be an outcast. What is interesting is the fact that the Priest of God is the one to declare the leper as an outcast. This presupposes that the leprous man was a religious outcast. This religious tradition was held unto by the Jewish and their authorities until the time of Jesus. What could be more humiliating than to be a religious outcast and not a social outcast; to think that the Church which is supposed to be a place of solace turns out to be a place of discrimination of all kinds.





We have turned people into religious outcast by our way of relationships. They way look down on people, talk to them, and even shake them during the sign of peace shows that they are not humans. In our time, tribal sentiments, status, ethnocentricism to mention but few have all contributed to make people outcast in various forms in our Parish communities. Discrimination in its different forms in our day is more than having leprosy in Jesus’ day. It stinks especially because it is happening among God’s people.




When you read the instruction for leprosy described in the first reading, you can see how the disease is a picture of sin. Like sin, leprosy is deeper than the skin (Lev. 13:3); it spreads (Lev. 13:5-8); it isolates and defiles and it renders things fit only for the fire. Anyone who has never trusted the Lord is spiritually in worse shape than this man was physically. Jesus had compassion on the man and healed him. He did it with His touch and with His word. No doubt this was the first loving touch this leper had felt in a long time.




The gospel reading presents Jesus as the protagonist who brings in a new age, an age in which everybody matters but the Jewish religious authorities remained adamant to change. As a demonstration of the fact that lepers were human beings and needed care and love, Jesus encounters a leprous man and healed him in order to give an expression to this new age that he has inaugurated.



It was not as if the leprous man doubted the power of Jesus to heal. As a leper, he could not imagine coming close to Jesus because he was an outcast. How he got close to Jesus only God Knows. Perhaps Jesus went out in search of them whom society has discriminated against. Thus he was on his knees when he asked Jesus the question “If you choose, you can make me clean” (Mark 1:40). The question was one of self- pity; a call for sympathy. No wonder Jesus was moved with pity and granted him his request.
When the man was healed, Jesus warned him sternly never to tell anyone except the Priest. He did the very opposite. His witness to Jesus was genuine and from a heart of gratitude. He was told not to tell anybody and he told everybody. We have been commissioned to proclaim the good news of our liberation and salvation in Jesus Christ yet, we have kept quiet.



Jesus warned the cured leper not to tell anybody because he wanted to avoid any show of popularity which may derail his ministry. He teaches us to avoid drawing attention to ourselves and give all the glory to God when we attain success in our ministry. He warns against cheap popularity.



Paul in the second reading warns us against cheap popularity namely that whatever we do must be done to the greater glory of God. Like Jesus, Paul made himself all things for all men so that he might save some. Sometimes as Christians, there is the temptation to think that Jesus is able to do all he does because he is God. St. Paul is, therefore, throwing a challenge to us all to imitate him as he imitates Jesus. He is an example of a man who is truly converted and he sees how precious the life of everybody is to Jesus.



The thought of the goodness and power of God should give us confidence in prayer. If we expect our petition to be answered, we must go to prayer convinced that God will hear us. St. James warns us about a lack of trust in prayer: “If any of you is without wisdom, let him ask it from God who gives generously and ungrudgingly to all and it will be given him. Yet he must ask in faith, never doubting, for the doubter is like the surf tossed and driven by the wind. A man of this sort, devious and erratic in all that he does, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:5-7).



In sum, Jesus is noted to be the friend of outcasts. To bring help to outcasts, Jesus himself had to become an outcast and stay outside in places where nobody lived. He assures us that there is no hopeless situation at all in our daily encounter with him. What is the leprosy in your life that is hindering your encounter with the Lord? Remember the leper’s prayer “If you choose you can make me clean.” PEACE.

Friday, February 3, 2012

HOMILY FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B Job 7:1-4, 6-7/ Psalm 147/ 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23/ Mark 1:29-39

THEME: Our priorities in ministry

In the face of suffering man is, in the end, powerless (First Reading and Gospel). No matter how much comfort society provides, life on earth does not meet the aspirations of the heart. Christ has come as the redeemer and the conqueror of suffering and of death. He does not limit his healing mission to the ills of the body, but takes on the ailing soul to free the whole man, with a dedication (Gospel) that is mirrored by St Paul (Second Reading). The liturgy reminds us that our ministry can only be fruitful if we become like Christ offering our lives for service and not asking for anything in return.



In the first reading, Job laments about the vanity of man’s labour. For him, our life on earth is equivalent to pressed service or slavery or as he puts it, “Like a slave who longs for the shadow and the labourer who looks for their wages” (Job 7:2). Indeed, we can better appreciate why Job makes such an unguarded statement when we consider the suffering he was enduring.




The opposite is true in the gospel reading of today. We see a man who worked all day like a slave yet was ready to go the extra mile because he love to do what has been entrusted to him by his Father. Jesus demonstrates to us that ministry is service and must be offered freely. Let us always remember that Jesus never wanted any cheap popularity. Rather, he takes delight in doing his Father’s work whether it is rewarding or not. This should be our attitude as ministers and would be ministers of God.




The gospel of Mark is a gospel of urgency. Jesus draws our attention to the fact that the proclamation of the Good news demands of us an urgent response. To bring relief to people must not be taken lightly at all. It must consume us like it did to him. For, “As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Now Simon’s mother- in – Law was in bed with fever and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them” (Mark 1:29-31). As workers in the vineyard of the Lord, do we see ourselves laboring all day like slaves and when we are not rewarded, recoil into our shelves? As God’s people, do we see ourselves waiting on those who minister to us when we meet with God’s favour like Simon’s mother-in-law did to Jesus and his followers? This is the service expected by those who have been saved by Christ.





Peter and Andrews not only brought their friend James and John home with them from the synagogue but they also brought the Lord home. That is a good example for us to follow: do not leave Jesus at the Church- take him home with you and let him share in your blessings and burdens.




Our ministry like Jesus’ Ministry will only be fruitful when we learn to be with the Lord (Prayer). Jesus, recognizing that his Father is the source of his strength, will get up early in the morning to be with Him after a long day’s work. If only, we will recognise He who has called us, even when we are tired after a long day’s work, we will make time to be with Him. In whose ministry do we share? If it is Jesus’ ministry, then we cannot be faithful if we fail to be with him. It is only the desire for cheap popularity that will make us independent of the one in whose ministry we are called to share.




Ministry is twofold namely People centred and Christ centred. It is people centred because the joy of ministry is to see people relieved from their troubles; it is about being available to the people because, we are the instruments of healing for them; healing from all sorts of problems especially of their souls. It is Christ centred because, we are called to be with the one who has called us. It would appear that Jesus was at their beck and call of all kinds of people, including demoniacs and lepers and he lovingly ministered to them all. The Lord teaches us not to be selective in our ministry.





St. Paul in the second reading gives us lessons for what ministry is all about.
• It is a duty; a responsibility. Paul had one great goal in life: to glorify the Lord by winning the lost and building up the saints. To reach this goal, he was willing to pay any price. He was willing even to give up his personal rights. He sacrificed immediate gains for eternal rewards; immediate pleasures for eternal joys.




• It is a vocation; a call to service. It is not our duty to demand for a reward because like Paul said “For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation, I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:17-18). If we learn to depend on the Lord, He will make our wants his care.





• Paul is urging us as ministers to set our priorities right; the things that really matter in our lives. It is unfortunate that some Christians have their personal priorities confused with their calling and as a consequence hindering the work of Christ. If each believer were seeking the kingdom of God first and its righteousness, there would be plenty of money for missions, plenty of missionaries for service and the work of the Lord would prosper.





• Unlike Job, Paul teaches us that our responsibility as ministers of the Word and Sacraments does not change even in moments of adversity. For, it is vital for every human being to have a meaning in life. When it is non-existent or superficial, one feels an emptiness deep within and one crumbles in the face of suffering and the harsh realities of life. But one who has a ‘why’ to live can manage anyhow. Even adverse circumstances cannot crush a person who has a deep seated reason to live. So have a deep seated reason to live like Paul and that reason is to become all things for all men in order to save some.





In conclusion, in the opening prayer of today’s liturgy, we see a summary of what the saviour does “In your mercy and loving kindness, no thoughts of ours is left unguarded, no tear unheeded, no joy unnoticed. Through the prayers of Jesus, may the blessings promise to the poor in spirit lead us to the treasures of your heavenly kingdom.” The lament of Job in the first reading is our own story. When life’s burdens weigh us down, we are prompt to make unguarded statements; we even forget that God exists. But Jesus provides the remedy. He ministered to such people. We are called to do same.