Reflections for the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time 2012**
** These homilies were written by Fr. Howard in 2009 and 2010.
They refer to the daily readings for the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time 2012
Sunday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
July 15, 2012
Mark 6: 7-13
Link to Readings for Daily Mass
In today’s Gospel Jesus calls the Twelve Apostles together and sends
them two by two on their first mission. They are, in effect, to imitate
him by preaching repentance, driving out demons (those pesky problems
people are powerless over), and curing the sick. They are to imitate
Jesus in their simple lifestyle by getting rid of unnecessary
possessions. They can take a walking stick with them but are to carry no
food, no sack, no money. They were permitted to wear sandals but could
not have two tunics. Kind of a simple lifestyle, eh what? When I go on
an overnight I tend to take enough “stuff” for a month. Later the
disciples will return and share their experiences and accomplishments
with the Lord.
Jesus’
directions to his Apostles also apply to us as his followers today. It
is good to remember that Jesus doesn’t ask his disciples (or us) to do
anything he himself did not do. Jesus preached incessantly. The
Scriptures tell of his preaching repentance (Mark 4: 17; Mark 1: 14-15). Luke (4: 16-21)
also tells of Jesus preaching and teaching in the synagogue in Nazareth
where he amazed people with the words that came from his mouth.
There are numerous places in the
Scriptures that speak of Jesus driving out demons. We have commented
many times in these homilies about the various conditions that can be
labeled “demons.” Lepers and paralytics came to Jesus asking to be
cured, realizing their illnesses were beyond anything they themselves
could do. As for caring for the sick, there are countless miracles in
the Scriptures of Jesus’ many healings.
Jesus asks us to do the same things in
our ministry as parents, single people, as religious men and women in
the various dioceses, congregations and orders. All of us have a mission
to accomplish as followers of Jesus.
We are to preach repentance by our
words and by our example. We are to drive out the demons of violence,
greed, lust, drugs, resentments, hatred and war by teaching and
preaching the values of Jesus, particularly by surrendering our wills
and lives to his care and urging others to do the same. We are to cure
the sick by our care and compassion and prayers for our brothers and
sisters who are ill. We are to take the accent and focus in our lives
off of useless and unnecessary material possessions, realizing that all
this only distracts us from the mission of Jesus in this world. Our task
is not an easy one. It wouldn’t be very worthwhile if it was easy. But
it is a service that is most rewarding in giving us the happiness, joy
and peace we all desire.
Jesus, please help us to continue to do your work in our world.
Fr. Howard
Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, July 16
Matthew 10: 34 – 11:1
Link to Readings for Daily Mass
Our Gospel for today brings us to the
end of Jesus’ instructions for all who are to follow him in proclaiming
the “good news.” The tenth chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel ends with a
number of unrelated sayings, some of which sound mighty strange to us.
The words of his coming to set a man against his father and a daughter
against her mother, or that we are to love Jesus more than we love our
own families sound rather strange at first reading. We find ourselves
saying to ourselves: Jesus doesn’t really mean all of this literally.
There must be some other explanation. And, of course, there is.
All of the sayings in verses 37-39
underline the great attachment demanded of the followers of Jesus for
Jesus. This reminds me of a little ejaculation we were reminded to say
every day in grade school: All for thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
This is the surrender that we have spoken of so often. And surrender of
my will and life to Jesus means I will love my father, mother, and all
the other members of my family to the utmost. The love of Jesus includes
the love of our family: Whatever we do for him, we also do for one
another. A follower of Jesus who does not love his or her own family and
who does not recognize God’s love in those near at hand, will not be
able to share that love with others. Disciples, especially those called
away from home on their mission, are to subordinate their love for the
family and even their own life for the sake of Jesus and his will for
them. The reward for all of this and the sacrifices we make for others
is a rich life of happiness, joy and peace. This is the paradox of being
a follower of Jesus and loving him above all things.
Fr. Howard
Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, July 17
Matthew 11: 20-24
Link to Readings for Daily MassToday’s Gospel from St. Matthew points out to us
the consequences of rejecting Jesus’ message. His deeds and words should
urge us on to action and to reform our lives.
It is hard for me to even imagine what life would
be like morally or ethically if I didn’t have the values of Jesus in
front of me all the time. Sometimes I come close to finding out when I
disregard his values and choose to go my own way. Things get all bent
out of shape and life becomes a mess. My life as a drinking alcoholic
gave me this perspective. I thought I was having a great time but deep
down inside I was miserable and knew I wasn’t happy and at peace with
myself. I was just kidding myself, rationalizing doing things that in no
way brought happiness to my life. Only when I saw the folly of my ways
and returned to the ways of Jesus did I find what I truly wanted and
valued in life.
So, at least we get a hint of what life without
Jesus is like from our sinfulness. I don’t believe any of us like that
at all. Let’s stop kidding ourselves and get back to seeing true joy and
happiness through following Jesus’ way.
Fr. Howard
Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, July 18
Matthew 11: 25-27Link to Readings for Daily MassOn July 14, 1957, in
St. Mark’s Church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy, I was ordained to
the priesthood. I am extremely grateful to Almighty God for his call to
serve him and his people as a priest.
Our Gospel for today can be construed as being about the difference between knowing about God and about really knowing God. The difference is huge! I think the first 17 years of my priesthood I knew about God. Knowledge of God for me during that period was a head trip. That’s what it means to know about God. I didn’t really begin to know
God, to know him in my heart, until I quit playing games with alcohol
and settled down to really living the life of a priest and really coming
to know God.
I believe all of us, each in his or her own way, go
through the transition of knowing God with our head and then finally
knowing him and loving him with our hearts. When we love him with our
hearts, we believe what we know about him and try our best to put it
into practice. That is when we begin to find happiness, joy and peace in
our lives. I believe I have now found these things and I am very
grateful to God for his many graces that led me on the right path. It has been a great ride. How about you?
Fr. Howard
Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, July 19
Matthew 11: 28-30
Link to Readings for Daily Mass
Today’s Gospel choice is very short –
only three verses – but these are very gracious, gifted verses of
Scripture. Jesus invites us to come to him. He let’s us know that he is
available to us whenever we need him, whenever we feel burdened. Jesus
invites us to take his yoke upon ourselves and learn from him, and if we
accept this invitation we will find rest from our burdens. God’s “yoke”
is study of and obedience to Torah (the way of the Lord, their duty to
their God. See Jeremiah 5:5). Jesus’ yoke that we are invited to “take
up” is not a rejection of the Torah, but Jesus’ fulfillment of it.
Remember, Jesus came not to abolish the law (Torah) but to fulfill it.
Our taking up of Jesus’ yoke, then, is to study, learn, and be obedient
to Jesus’ way, truth and life. And Jesus tells us his yoke is light, not
heavy. This does not mean we are to interpret his ways to mean easy
ways. Rather, we are to observe his ways strictly as he says it. We are
not to put words in Jesus’ mouth. The “rest” we will find in so doing
will bring all the created order in right relationship and we will
rejoice in its goodness. In other words, it is in this “rest” that we
discover the wisdom, the prudence of God, that right way of doing things
we talked about recently.
These are rather difficult times in
which we are living. The financial crisis we are undergoing is causing
many to lose their jobs, their livelihood, their homes, their ability to
care for their families. Burdensome, worrisome, indeed!! Jesus invites
us to bring all of this to him. Let his way, truth and life help us. If
we surrender our burdens to him, put it all in his hands, what do we
have to worry about? This is what it means to surrender. If we haven’t
as yet discovered this, let’s try it! It is really the 3rd Step of the
12 Steps which asks us to make a decision to turn our will and our lives
over to the care of God as we understood Him. This is really where
happiness, joy and peace come from.
Fr. Howard
Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, July 20
Matthew 12: 1-8
Link to Readings for Daily Mass
Today’s Gospel selection begins
chapter 12 of Matthew’s Gospel and begins with one of the two
controversies between Jesus and the Pharisees that ultimately result in
their wanting to put Jesus to death.
In the first controversy Jesus defends
his hungry disciples for plucking grains of wheat to eat as they walked
through the grain fields on the Sabbath. Harvesting wheat was work, you
know, work that was forbidden on the Sabbath. The second controversy
involved Jesus curing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. This,
too. was looked upon as work.
Today’s Gospel is concerned only with
the first controversy. Here we see Jesus fulfilling the law, and he does
so with an act of compassion to respond to a human need that he tells
us must take precedence over ritual observances. It is the same as that
mark of maturity and responsibility I have spoken of before: The mature,
responsible person is to prefer people over things. Things here doesn’t
always mean material things, but also “things” like our time, our
career, games, rituals, etc. Here Jesus does not abolish the law
regarding no work on the Sabbath, but we see how he fulfills it and
completes it in his interpretation, which is his way, truth and life we
are to follow.
Is there anything going on in my life where I am preferring things over people? If so, maturity demands we correct this.
Fr. Howard
Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, July 21
Matthew 12: 14-21
Link to Readings for Daily Mass
Our Gospel for today passes over the
second controversy we noted above of Jesus curing the man with the
withered hand on the Sabbath. Rather it picks up right after the second
controversy where the Pharisees “went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.”
Matthew then gives a long quotation from the prophesy of Isaiah (42: 1-4)
to show Jesus as the One chosen and approved by the Father, even as the
human authorities reject him and seek to put him to death to get him
out of their hair. Jesus, Isaiah tells us, will be meek and gentle
through all of this, “a bruised reed he will not break.” Jesus has the Spirit of God.
In our being rejected and in the other difficult
times of life, let us try to imitate the meek and gentle Jesus by
turning our lives over to him as we spoke of on Friday.
Jesus, help us turn to you.
Fr. Howard
