Monday, July 14, 2014

Deacon Steve's Homily - 15th Sunday Ordinary – cycle A - Listen to Jesus


We are in the middle of summer vacation and for all the students and teachers I would like to have an English lesson. I would like to discuss ‘Paraprosdokians’ with all of you. Paraprosdokians are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is
surprising or unexpected. You need to listen closely to the sentence or phrase to get the full meaning. Winston Churchill, Graucho Marx, & Bill Cosby were real fans of paraprosdokians. Let’s listen to some:

1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it.
2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you ... but it's still on my list.
3. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.
4. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. 5. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
6. Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening' and then proceed to tell you why it isn't. 
7. I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure any more. These are wonderful because they make you pay attention. 

They make you listen closely because the sentence generally ends in a funny or unlikely way. Listening closely to Jesus is something we need to do as well and that is what we hear in today’s Gospel from Matthew. Jesus is teaching the people. He is teaching with parables; his words are often difficult for the average person to understand. The people need to listen closely so they can understand his teachings.  



This parable is about the Sower and the Seed. Let’s listen closely to Jesus’ words:

“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
These are difficult teachings for the people and the apostles to understand. 
 
Even though they may have listened closely, Jesus has to explain it to them. 
 
“The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time.  When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit.  But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”’



We hear Jesus discuss the ‘word’ in this reading. Remember the beginning of John’s Gospel – the prologue? In the beginning was the ‘word’ and the ‘word’ was made flesh.’My friends, Jesus himself is the ‘word’ that John describes. And Jesus is teaching the people how important it is to listen to the ‘word’, to listen to him. He is teaching the people how important it is to allow him, the ‘word’, to transform their hearts and their lives.



How do we listen closely to Jesus?  We have to work at it.  Just like tending a garden is work, tending our souls is work, too. Our souls must be prepared. Most of us here, have been baptized and confirmed in the church. That in itself, is transformative, but we must do more. We have the sacrament of Eucharist to feed our souls; we have the sacrament of Reconciliation to heal our souls. We have sacred scripture which we can read and reflect upon each day. We have the mass where we can encounter Jesus in our priest, in each other, in scripture, and most intimately in the Eucharist. We can practice charity at home, at work, in our communities, and throughout the world. By doing these things, our souls become ‘rich soil’ in which we better understand the ‘word’ and it can bear abundant fruit. 
Imagine how different our world would be if everyone was ‘rich soil’ and listened closely to Jesus? If we just listen and live his 2 great commandments. ‘Love God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul. ‘And, Love you neighbor as yourself.’ Living in a world of love for God and neighbor would bear abundant fruit of peace and harmony! I ask you this, ‘who would not want that?’

Last fall, Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation The Joy of the Gospel was released.
Throughout the book the pope reminds all of us that as follower of Christ we should be a people of great joy.  We shouldn’t be afraid to share that joy with all those people we encounter each and every day.

So with that in mind here’s one more paraprosdokian to ponder: 

Some people cause happiness wherever they go; Other people cause happiness whenever they go. 
This week, my friends, may we be a people who always cause happiness wherever we go. We do that by listening closely to Jesus and allowing his words to bear abundant fruit in our lives.
 











Sunday, July 13, 2014

Homily week 15 - cycle A - Listen and understand God's Word and you'll be blessed

         My daughter was married in May and I took a week off from serving due to all our family being in town for the wedding. We were all not able to make Sunday Mass until the evening and we went to a 7pm Mass at St. Thomas More.   At the end of Mass a lady came up to speak. She was dressed in tropical attire, had a lei on her neck, and flowers in her hair.  She also had some props: a little palm tree and a bucket of sand.  She invited all the youth to come on a trip next week where they would be flying to a tropical island and spending a week on the beach enjoying the sunshine.  As we were driving home one of our extended family members said: I sure wish our church could afford to send us a nice trip like that.    My wife and I got a chuckle this.   Our family member thought they were really going on a trip, but she was really talking about a tropical themed Vacation Bible School.   She heard the message, but didn’t understand. 

The sower of the seed in Jesus’ parable sounds like he is being a bit wasteful

spreading the seed everywhere: on the path, rocks, among thorns, and in rich soil.  I asked my son after we read the Gospel this week what he thought if I sprinkled the seed everywhere like the sower did in our garden.  We have a small garden with stepping stones surrounded by a rock and grass border. He said it would be a waste and thought the seed should only go in the fertile soil.  

The people of Jesus’ time thought it would be even more of a waste. 
Seed was a very precious commodity and none was wasted, as it was very hard to get. You couldn’t just run down to Home Depot if your seed ran out. 
Also Jerusalem and the surrounding area was mostly hard and rocky ground.
It required hard work to prepare the soil to be fertile.   You’d only plant seeds in areas that you knew they would grow. 

But Jesus uses the sower and seed to represent God and his word.   The different type of ground where the seed is scattered represents us. Sometimes we’re very fertile and prepared to receive Gods’ word.   Other times we’re like the path, rocky ground, or surrounded by thorns.   We may hear the word, but we don’t really listen and understand.   We’re not ready for it to bear fruit, to achieve the end for which God’s word was sent.  But God sends his word anyway because he is a generous lover.   His word is sent for all to hear and doesn’t expect anything in return.  It’s freely given in love.  He sends it regardless of whether we listen and understand, because he knows there will be time when we are ready.
Later on in the parable Jesus tells the apostles: “blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear”.   He sends his blessing because they not only hear, but they also listen and understand and will bear fruit yielding a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.  Today, 2000 years later, we experience the fruit of their understanding through the spread Christ’s Church through their ministry.  This is good news.  If we listen to the word of God we are blessed and we will bear great fruit. 

Who here is blessed because they listen and understand God’s Word? 
Now lets ask another way, who here is blessed because the understand all the time?    I can’t even raise my hand on that one. We all have many distractions in our lives that keep us from listening and understanding the word of God.  We have trials, anxieties, worries, and the pursuit of worldly riches that can distract us.  Have you ever been at Mass where your mind distracted during the readings and then you were confused trying to make sense of the homily? I’ve been there myself, but not as often as used to.  

How do we become better at listening and understanding the Word of God so it can bear fruit that God intends?  One good way is to take some quiet time weekly to prepare by read the Sunday readings prior to coming to the Mass.   Shut off the phone, computer, and TV and find a quiet area to read and reflect on the readings. You may also want take time as a family and do this together.    My son and I read the readings, each taking turns, and then reflect and discuss what they meant to us. There’s also a very good method call Lectio Divina where you prayerfully read and reflects on scripture.  After reading take some time to reflect on what they mean to you.  Try to get to Mass early if you can to prayerfully quiet down to hear the Word of God.  After Mass discuss with your family or friends how God’s word can make a difference in your life for the next week.  By preparing to receive the word of God you’ll be surprised at the fruit it bears. 

What about when you are struggling with the trails in your life and you feel far away from God? This can be a good time to turn to the God’s word.   You may not feel like praying and struggle to find the words.   I was there last night when I heard the news of the loss of our parishioner, Bill Gilliland.   I turned to the Psalms to help focus my mind on God and provide some consolation.  When you can’t find the words to pray during a tough time, God’s Word is there to help. 

God in his generosity and love make his word available to us whether we are fertile or rocky soil.  I pray that you all become better at listening and understanding the Word of God so you too will be blessed and bear the fruit that God intends for your lives.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Freedoms we enjoy today and looking back to our founders

On the 4th of July I attended Mass at St. Martin parish in Amityville NY. The priest's homily reflected on principles that the USA was founded on: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He focused on the importance of life from conception to natural death and also liberty, specifically freedom of religion. Our freedom of religion is being threatened today and we need to be vigilant in protecting this freedom. He used the prayers of Archbishop Carroll for the inauguration of George Washington as an example of how precious freedom of religion and reliance on God was to our founding fathers. The prayers over 235 years ago are just as appropriate for today.    So we look back to the prayer of Archbishop John Carroll, the prayer written for the inauguration of our first president. His words speak to us still today.

Almighty and eternal God, assist with your spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to your people over whom he presides. May he encourage due respect for virtue and religion. May he execute the laws with justice and mercy. May he seek to restrain crime, vice, and immorality. Let the light of your divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government. May they seek to preserve peace, promote national happiness, and continue to bring us the blessings of liberty and equality. May we [all] be preserved in union and that peace which the world cannot give; and, after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal. We pray to you, who are Lord and God, for ever and ever. (“Prayer for an Inauguration,” Book of Blessings, para. 1965)

God bless you all and have a safe 4th of July with family and friends. 

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The essence of love is forgiveness.

 The essence of love is forgiveness. This was one of the main ideas from Fr. Joe's homily that really struck me from the Sunday Mass for the Solemnity of St. Peter and Paul. He mentions that these two men had the similarities of both being prisoners and also were responsible for spreading the Gospel to Gentils (Paul) and Jews (Peter). In fact both have letters attributed to them in the New Testament, Peter had two, and Paul had 13, with the majority of Acts written about him. The other thing these two had in common was their betrayal of Jesus. Peter denied out Lord three times at his trial and Paul was persecuting and killing Christians. Our Lord forgave both of these men and had an important role for them through his forgiving love, the spread of his Church through the proclamation of Jesus. 

Forgiveness can be very hard for us, but if we forgive we are being the person of Jesus. By doing so we are showing loved and proclaiming Jesus good news. 

Fr. Joe closed with a reflection of his priesthood and the joy that it brought him. He really exudes that joy. In seeing such joy it is a great example of vocation we should encourages for our sons and daughters to serve the church as priest, deacon, or religious sister or brothers.   We all want our children to be happy and I think we see both Fr. Joe and Fr. Vince being great examples of happiness.   Please pray about how to encourage our children to consider a life of serving the Church. May God bless you.