| Homily
for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time: September
23 & 24, 2006
Given by the Most
Reverend Stephen E. Blaire at the Cathedral of the Annunciation
in Stockton.
When we hear the Scriptures being read we might
be inclined to think that these are wonderful, inspired documents
which we venerate from another age because they contain inspirational
messages and important teachings about our salvation. Such
an understanding is well and good but insufficient. It must
be stressed further that the Scriptures contain the living
Word of God which speaks to us now. And the homily is meant
to help us receive this word which is being proclaimed.
The disciples did not understand very well,
if at all, the word of God as it came directly from the lips
of Jesus, and Mark says, “they were afraid to question
him.” I wonder, do we understand any better today what
Jesus meant when He said, “The Son of Man is to be handed
over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his
death the Son of Man will rise.”
Like the disciples we keep going on with our
own questions. “Who is the greatest among us?”
they argued with one another. The last issue of Time Magazine
asked on the front cover, “Does God want us to be rich?”
Jesus never answers these kinds of questions,
but uses them as a springboard to present the gospel message.
“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be…the
servant of all.”
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…but
store up treasures in heaven….For where your treasure
is, there also will your heart be.” The Letter of James
tells us that wars and conflicts and other evils come from
jealousy and selfish ambition.
I wonder if we are too complicit with the disorders
in our world and fail to receive deep within our consciences
the living Word of God as it is proclaimed in the Scriptures.
Again the Letter of James says “You ask but you do not
receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
I think the great mistake people make about
religion is that they want their faith or belief to solve
the problems of the world, to satisfy their personal desires
and somehow or other to keep them safe from all suffering
or hardship. They want a rose garden in this life. And there
are numerous TV evangelists speaking this message of prosperity.
The wisdom of the gospel, however, is to live as a just person
– peaceable, gentle, constant, sincere, full of mercy
and good works. We may be prosperous or not, but what we seek
is to be holy, to live for God in Christ. If we try to live
virtuous lives for God in Christ in loving service of one
another, then we are beginning to understand what the passion,
death and resurrection of Jesus is all about. Did not Jesus
explain the meaning of his impending death by washing the
feet of his disciples?
Jesus spent His ministry teaching His
disciples. His Word continues to be our living teacher today.
Last Update September 25, 2006
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