Homily: 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This weekend we heard the famous biblical story of Abraham and his son Isaac, and the angel who stopped Abraham at the last minute from sacrificing his son as God had ordered. While this passage demonstrates Abraham’s unbelievable faith in God – it is a story whose ending is often missed.  An ending which turns this story upside down and changes how that culture – and we – need to see God so differently.  What is this surprise twist? And how does it impact our spiritual journey?  Check it out…

For the past 12 days we have heard the stories of the birth of Jesus Christ as God incarnate indeed good news of great joy all people.  So, on this Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord we celebrate Jesus revealed as the Christ Child to the magi, who arrive by the light of the star. Every year we listen to this well-known Gospel story of the journey of the magi who pay homage to the Christ Child. But today I invite you to just focus on two lines that appear in the Gospel. What are they?  Check it out because…as you will you see, any interaction with this Jesus the Christ, no matter where or how it happens, will change your own journey.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family…and tomorrow the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And I like the fact that this Feast comes hours before the Solemnity for it allows us to really look at how this God incarnate, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary…this Christ Child…this God who came into the world in a family that had its heart and its doors open to love – connects to our daily life and our families.  It was Pope Francis who reminded us that, “The family is important, as it is necessary for the survival of humanity. Without the family, the cultural survival of the human race would be at risk. The family. Whether we like it or not, is the foundation.”

In a society where all too often we can easily fall prey to the notion of separating the secular and the sacred, and we close our eyes to what is sacramental, what does it take to build that foundation? 
 Check it out…

With the calendar only providing us 3 full weeks of Advent, how have you been spending your time? What, perhaps have you been seeing…or feeling or doing differently? For Advent calls us to be conscious, awake, alert.  Advent calls us to be open to how Christ comes to us every day.  Advent calls for our participation by opening our eyes to our own brokenness and that of humanity.  For Christ is there…just waiting and wanting our active participation. This week’s Gospel provides us three points which may lead us to a better understanding of what we are called to do moving from this briefest 4th week of Advent into Christmas and the New Year.  What are they? Check it out….

As we each walk through this season of Advent, we may just find ourselves in some form of wilderness, thirsting for peace, reconciliation and healing – and thus it’s a time we need to be alert, awake, watchful and vigilant to God’s presence. So, perhaps we take the lead from Isaiah where we spend time seeking how we can better “Prepare the way of the Lord”…of how we can look at the valleys, at the crookedness, and the rough places not just in the outside world, but also in our own hearts. What does that look like?  Check it out…

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe: to some degree I think the title of today’s feast day could miss the mark of its original purpose and design. For did you ever notice, nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus say to worship him, much less as a king – he simply said to follow him and to do as he does. The best description of all of this, across all the Gospels, appears in today’s reading of Matthew’s recording of Jesus’ last discourse which indicates kinship seems to be more important that kingship. What does that look like?  Check it out…

Biblical scholars tell us that this Parable of the Ten Virgins was likely cobbled together from a few sources meant to drive home the message of always being prepared – a Gospel theme we will hear often between now and Christmas.  But was does that mean to you and me?  What does being prepared look like? And tapping into one of today’s Gospel metaphors, what is the oil that we need to be placing in our lamps?  Check it out…

For the past few weeks, we have been listening to Jesus telling parables to the Chief Priests and Pharisees.  For Jesus is attempting to get their attention to think differently, choose differently and to open their eyes to his teachings of the Kingdom of God. But they show no interest in listening to his teachings about love and compassion, much less inclusion.  Thus, they look to corner Jesus into committing a crime of sedition and thus be crucified, by putting the question to Jesus if taxes should be paid to Caesar or not.

Perhaps a way to phrase this question in the present time would be: is our allegiance with the spiritual or the worldly?  Where is our focus today?  Since this story appears in all three Synoptic Gospels, this story carries a deeper and more significant message than a Gospel about just paying taxes. What is that hidden meaning?  Check it out…

This Sunday we heard the conclusion of the Gospel story that began last week when Jesus said he would build his Church upon the rock of Peter. But a few lines later Jesus calls Peter, ‘Satan’ and he is told to get behind Christ and follow him. So how did Peter get it so right to the point where Jesus will use Peter as the foundation of his Church and then in the next moment Peter gets it so wrong as to be called Satan? The answer and, indeed our lesson, is rooted in the two types of thinking that we face every day. What are they? How do we distinguish them?  Check it out…

The Surgeon General of the US, Dr. Vivek Murthy, just announced the ending of COVID-19 as a global emergency. But at the same time declared a new number one epidemic in our country today – one that affects 50 % of our population, and even higher for our kids.  What is it? And how does that tie into the Gospel reading from John this Sunday?  Check it out…