18th Sunday Year B 2021

 

 18^th. Sunday, Year (B)

(Exodus 16:2-4, 11-15; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35)

 

 

     

Do not work for food which perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  For on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.

Here we learn that it is with a view to Jesus, the Son of God made man, that God the Father offers us an eternal destiny and a heavenly home.  His only-begotten Son – knowing and loving His Father -- deigned to become one of us, sinlessly sharing our earthly experience by living humbly among us and, finally, by dying for us on the cruel, cruel, Cross. Therefore, God the Father wills that we – members of the Body of the Risen and glorious Christ -- be offered a share in His Resurrection.

It was ever so; for it was because the Son of Man, Jesus the Messiah, was to be born of the Israelite people -- children of Abraham. Isaac, and Jacob -- that God, long before, decided to lead those Israelites, under the guidance of Moses, out of slavery in Egypt to freedom in their own, God-given, land.

Now, those Israelites chosen to be rescued from slavery in Egypt, did not fully understand what God was offering them.  Their sufferings under the Egyptians had made them long for freedom, and their experience of God through His servant Moses gave them hope that freedom could be theirs.  But they had to learn that true freedom for human beings made in the image and likeness of God could not come cheap: it necessarily involved freedom of both body and soul, freedom from human coercion and freedom from slavery to sin. And so, when the going got hard in the desert, those Israelites began to hanker after the fleeting moments of pleasure that had come their way in bodily slavery; those moments when, for a very short period each day, they had been able to rest from forced labour and allow themselves to sink into the pleasure of eating the measure of Egyptian food rationed them, before falling asleep through exhaustion.  Thinking that their present journey through the desert was costing them more than they had anticipated, they thus began to lose hold of their erstwhile, God-given, desire for freedom, and began to fantasize over those occasional bits of food allowed them in Egypt:  wouldn’t it be wonderful to taste the like again!  Of course, indulged imaginations of that sort shared with relatives and friends in private conversations soon led to public grumbling and ultimately to confrontation with Moses and Aaron, the spokesmen and servants of the God they as yet so little understood:

The Israelites said, “Would that we had died at the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!”

The people wanted food, proper food, here and now! Future freedom now seemed of very little importance in comparison.  Above all, freedom from sin ... what did that really mean?   Satisfaction, though short lived, was felt immediately; when would thoughts of human dignity ever bring anything other than thoughts??

The people were, however, being led by their God Who knew their true need and that   their present desire for freedom and food were idle imaginations never going to be given them by the Egyptians: as far as they were concerned, whatever pittance might again become Israel’s lot in Egypt it would involve yet more abject slavery.  As far as God was concerned, on the other hand, though they would have to learn what ‘true freedom’ meant, and what Food would bring them true fulfilment, all that was within their competence, and involved nothing other than their dutiful obedience to His commands now and in the land He would give them as their own.

Nevertheless, for the present they needed further time and experience in order to gradually appreciate the issues involved, and so God, backing up Moses and Aaron, nipped the people’s grumbling in the bud by immediately sending them  a large flock of quail that covered the camp, and then later by depositing on the ground overnight fine flakes of what looked like hoar-frost for them to collect as bread.

We can imagine with what eager abandonment those ex-slaves devoured the cooked quail after weeks of difficult desert travelling:

But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was aroused against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague. (Numbers 11:33)

The Lord God – with Jesus in view -- was preparing them for an eternal and glorious destiny, and they, by wallowing so wholeheartedly in a pottage of quail, were disposing themselves to go back to slavery … following the example of Esau who had despised his birthright for pleasurable food:

Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, and Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way.  Thus, Esau despised his birthright.    (Genesis 25:33-34)

And like Esau, who begged with tears that his birthright might be restored but to no avail, they too were punished severely for choosing to doubt the goodness of their Maker and despise their own dignity:

            The LORD struck the people with a very great plague.

People of God, there are many in our society today who imitate those Israelites of old: for example, some prefer to be permanently out of work, living idly, on hand-outs from the state, or from minor criminality; others are content to drink their time and money away, or waste their lives just seeking kicks from alcohol, sex, and drugs abuse.  This state of things is most displeasing to God, because such people and others like them are degrading themselves.  Friends and people around them can see that the pleasures they imagine themselves to be enjoying are affording them no true joy at all, but most assuredly robbing them of any prospects for future happiness or well-being.  And such is their pitiable state that there are some who feel moved to devote themselves to all kinds of social work to help such people in their need and out of their distress.  And such helpers not only see, but they themselves can suffer from, such experiences of worldly distress and the human tragedy of those so-called ‘drop outs’.

You, dear People of God, should therefore be able to imagine something of the compassion of Jesus when He came to rescue the whole of mankind who, despising that likeness to God which was their birthright, had degraded themselves by becoming slaves to the Devil and to sin, and were now incapable of fulfilling their human potential as children of God called to a heavenly destiny and eternal blessedness.  As you heard in the Gospel reading, Jesus said to the Jews, the people closest to God in the world of those days:

Do not work for food which perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  For on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.

Just as a human being cannot find happiness living like an animal for the satisfactions of food and debauchery, likewise, one called to become a child of God cannot find authentic happiness and fulfilment by pursuing a merely human idea of life: our make-up and our calling demand that the life we live be both human and divine in the likeness of Jesus Who, though God, became one of us, in order that we, though fallen human beings, might, through Him, learn to live a life of righteousness before God and good-will with men in the power of the His gift: the Holy Spirit.

The great modern tragedy is that our Western societies have the power, the technology, and now the most abject will, to offer endless opportunities for people to enjoy the things of this world.  After having imperfectly learned over centuries something of God, and having gradually built up a measure of social coherence by the help of His Spirit among them, many are now despising their heritage of a heavenly calling, as did Esau and Israel of old: the imperfectly appreciated and understood promises and teachings of God seem  old hat in comparison with the new and immediately available pleasures of sinful modern life, with the result that many former Christians now prefer to grab for themselves what seems to be so readily available and at so little apparent cost, rather than to rely on the goodness of One Whom they cannot see, and Who, at the cost of their obedience to Him, seems to offer nothing better than promises of things to come.

However, we must not forget what history has to teach us, for we have heard what happened to Israel in the desert.  The People of Israel in the desert wanted quail; reminiscent of the delights of Egypt, they wanted food for present pleasure whereas God was offering them food for the long journey and hard battle that lay ahead of them, food that would keep them fit for, and see them through, the trials of the desert struggle.

In Jesus’ time the Jews also wanted food for present pleasure and fulfilment:

            You seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the     loaves and were filled.

They and their contemporaries wanted what was tangible: a Messiah who would be their miraculous and victorious leader against the Romans and indeed against the nations.   However, what Jesus offered, then as now, was His heavenly teaching and His Eucharistic Flesh and Blood -- prefigured by the desert manna -- as Bread from Heaven and as Food for a long and supremely important journey: the only ‘proper’ Food for those called to follow Him on pilgrimage to His and their heavenly Father’s home:

            I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Saint Paul faithfully echoes the call of Jesus writing to the Ephesians, as you heard in the second reading:

If indeed you have heard Jesus and have been taught by Him, put off your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

And now, dear People of God, each one of us has to make a definitive choice in his or her life; it was indeed ever so, as Moses warned the slaves escaping from Egypt (Deuteronomy 30:19-20):

 I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding His voice, and holding fast to Him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land which the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Our wondrous blessing is that One greater than Moses speaks to us today, People of God. Let us learn from the Scriptures to hear His message with our ears, understand and love His teaching with our mind and heart thanks to His Spirit of holiness and truth being offered us, and respond to His call by following His teaching handed down to us from His Apostles by Mother Church with sincerity and perseverance of heart.

 

 

             

 

 

 

 

 

17th Sunday Year B 2021

 

                 Seventeenth Sunday, Year B.

(2 Kings 4:42-44; Ephesians 4:1-6; Gospel of St. John 6:1-15)

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, notice first of all those words spoken by the people who witnessed and benefitted from Our Lord’s miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fish:

            This really is the Prophet Who is to come into the world.

How right were those words!

As you well know, that great miracle foreshadowed the Holy Eucharist, the Bread of Eternal Life, which Jesus was to give at the Last Supper.  You will also remember, I am sure, the story of those two disciples walking together to Emmaus and sorrowing over Our Lord’s recent crucifixion, who were overtaken and joined by the Risen Lord Himself; and how, despite conversation on their way together, it was only at the evening meal -- which they had charitably invited Him to share with them – that they eventually realized just Who their guest was as they saw Him bless and break the bread.

In both those cases, the miraculous feeding of the five thousand and the Emmaus incident, Jesus was recognized for Who He most truly was, Prophet and Saviour, in a Eucharistic context.  It is the same today, People of God; only in our Eucharist – only through participation in Holy Mass, only through our sacramental reception of the Body and Blood of Christ -- can we come to a full recognition of the truth about Our Blessed Lord.

This is confirmed for us by St. John who assures us that no one knows the depths of a man save the spirit within that man, and here in the Eucharist -- as we receive and consume the Sacred Host -- Christ bestows on us His own most Holy Spirit, to the fullest extent of our individual capacity and longing to receive Him: the Spirit of Wisdom and Power to lead and guide us, as children of Mother Church and members of the Body of Christ, through the trials of this life into all truth about Jesus and all love for Him and His Father.

This Eucharistic receiving-in-order-to-learn is a pattern that permeates the whole of Christian life:

first of all, for the consecration of both bread and wine in our Eucharist

            Blessed are You, Lord God, for we have received …

then, in the case of the great Apostle of the Gentiles

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was handed over, took bread,  (1 Corinthians 11:23)

and then in the lives of each and every disciple of Jesus our Lord (Revelation 3:20),

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, (then) I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with Me.

Dear People of God that attitude of receiving, of asking and listening, in order to receive and learn, should permeate the lives of each and every one of us, because our Christian life is a vocational search for knowledge of God’s truth and a right understanding of His love, and for the grace to respond as true children of God, in Jesus, the sublimely obedient Son and lover of us all.

And yet, as you heard, Our Blessed Lord can only say ‘if’:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him sharing the bread of life and word of God, with the wine of wisdom, understanding, and power.

Today there are many, many people, scholars and authorities, writing and/or speaking much about Jesus or about what is good, better, and best for mankind and modern society, without any obedient acknowledgement of God, with no faith in Jesus, and who are strongly opposed to the very notion of any humble submission to His most Holy Spirit.   Consequently, all their conclusions concerning mankind’s intractable social problems and moral dilemmas are, at the best, but the result of human mental endeavour, directed by an individual ego: they are ‘excogitations’, mostly sparked off by, and developed along lines determined by, scholarly controversy. The result is not something gratefully received, lovingly heard, observed, admired, and treasured, but the product, so-to-speak, of a mental vine-press, where the grapes used are the fruit of scholars ‘up to the minute’ studies, bolstered by personal items contributing little more than some measure of ‘spikyness’, helpful to provoke present-day controversy among fellow scholars and to promote immediate sales for all.

Authentic Christian knowledge on the other hand is precisely the fruit of a gracious gift of God, a fruit to be subsequently matured under the sun of the Spirit’s grace: for, after having been gratefully received, such intellectual and spiritual awareness needs to be humbly appreciated and assessed, rigorously developed, and whatever else is humanly needed for its proper and fullest expression and understanding; but its origin is always a Godly gift, received not excogitated, a gift to be personally accepted with gratitude and faith before being lovingly shared and shaped with others’ help for a deeper understanding and appreciation of Mother Church’s treasury of God’s revelation, and for our own human joy as children of God delighting in the glory of God’s Kingdom taking shape before us and among us, and finding proper expression to the greater glory of God and the beauty of our Christian faith and hope.

That sort of knowledge, dear People of God, is the basis  of our Catholic and Christian Tradition, and that distinctive aspect of being received characterizes all truly great and profitable human knowledge and awareness, a characteristic which is impossible without much previous prayer and listening as well as present thinking, without humble waiting as well as hard work, without aspiring to what is above and beyond self and time as well as trying to appreciate what needs to be done here on earth, in our modern society and the world around us .

Jesus in His Eucharist is the only true source of Life for us, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and that is what the bread and wine used at Holy Mass signify: the nourishment for our earthly life to be gradually transfigured into heavenly and eternal Life by the Spirit being offered us. 

When Jesus was talking to the crowd after this multiplication of the loaves and fish, He urged them:

Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.

The wondrous nature of this ‘bread enduring to eternal life’, was foreshadowed by the fact of Jesus ordering that all scraps be gathered up: none were to be left for the birds of the air and beasts of the field, let alone to just corrupt as did even the miraculous manna of old left unconsumed overnight in the desert.  Moreover, 12 hampers’ full were gathered in total, foreshadowing such food – Jesus’ gift – intended for the feeding not only of the 12 tribes of Israel, but (John 10:16) also of all those:

Other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd,

for eternal life, through faith and obedience to God’s guidance of Law and Love.  Yes indeed, that bread blessed by Jesus was  wonderful both in its immediate significance for those original 5,000 who gratefully rejoiced on receiving it; but far, far more wonderful is the bread consecrated by Jesus, in its future promise for all those who would subsequently look with full faith, confidence and love, towards Jesus to lead them through the desert of this man-made world towards the promised land to come.

Whatever promise life may hold for us who are the People of God, whatever may be the meaning, purpose and goal of our individual lives, for each one of us, the fulfilment of it all and the consummation of all our deepest yearnings or aspirations is to be found in the Eucharist, for here we receive Him Who is Life itself.  In Him alone – and only by receiving His Spirit into our lives -- can we become fully, truly, and ultimately ourselves, the selves we were created and destined to become not only for our personal fulfilment, but for the blessing of our world and the greater manifestation of the glory of God our Father.

The Christ we receive in Holy Communion is the crucified Christ, now glorified and seated at the right hand of His Father in heaven.  He comes to us through the sacrifice of the Mass, and this Eucharistic Jesus we receive is the real Christ glorified in His Self-oblation to His Father for us.  He still bears the traces of His crucifixion, of the wounds in His hands, feet and side; it is part of His glory, He does not seek to obliterate the memory of His great suffering because that suffering was the supreme expression of His sublime love for His Father and the enduring witness to His love for us.

As with all human beings, suffering will inevitably have a significant, perhaps even vital part, to play in our lives, and as disciples of Jesus we aspire to embrace those sufferings by the power of His most Holy Spirit Who wills to transfigure us thereby into a Christ-like expression of love for the Father.

People of God, let us thank God with all our hearts for this supremely holy sacrifice and sacrament of Holy Mass, let us offer ourselves with Jesus and in Him to the Father, and

-- receiving Him in Holy Communion -- let us, in the power and love of His most Holy Spirit, express our willingness, our great desire, to learn from Him, to receive from Him whatever and all that will prepare us so that He might be able to take us by the hand and lead us in all things through life and death for the glory of His Father and the salvation of all those found to be of good will.

 

16th Sunday Year B 2021

 

Sixteenth Sunday of Year (B)

(Jeremiah 23:1-6; Saint Paul to the Ephesians 2:13-18; St. Mark’s Gospel 6:30-34)

 

Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the O.T. Scriptures, as we know them, were built up very gradually over more than a thousand years, with later ages adding new layers, strata, to traditions received from earlier times; and in some of the most ancient of these traditions thus providentially preserved and developed is the theme of shepherd:

Then (the prophet Micaiah) said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’”  (1 Kings 22:17)

The Israelites were originally nomads, people wandering with their flocks and herds from one grazing land to the next, always in search of pasture for their animals.  This original, wandering existence -- bound by no ties other than the well-being of their flocks and herds and the constant search for the best available grazing -- this, in a word, nomadic life was very much admired in later ages by some of the great prophets of Israel who found themselves surrounded on every hand by decadence: by the luxury, violence, injustice, superstition and depravity of city life, and the abuse of settled agriculture in the pursuit of profit and pleasure.  They looked back with nostalgia for the old days because it seemed to them that as nomads they had lived with the dignity and simplicity of men who were free: being disciplined and protected by the tranquil rigours of desert life.  Yes, they regarded the original nomadic life as ideal for God’s Chosen People seeking, ultimately, only God’s will; while rejoicing in His great beauty and goodness in the world around and above all in their own national history and personal lives.

With such sentiments those prophets regarded the Exodus as the high peak of Israel’s spiritual experience, when – with God as her shield and guide – she came out of Egypt’s slavery and wandered over desert wastes learning to know her God on the way to the land He had promised them.  Moses appeared to them as the true shepherd and David -- their great king -- as his heir. 

            I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no             longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the LORD

This is the name they give him: “The LORD our justice.”  (Jeremiah 23:4-6)

After David, however, his royal successors failed to respond satisfactorily to their calling and so we heard Jeremiah declaring to them in today’s first reading:

Woe for the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of My pasture, says the Lord;

and looking to the more distant future the prophets foretold two things: God Himself would be the Shepherd of His People; as would also a future king, the Messiah of God. 

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David.  As King He shall reign and govern wisely, He shall do what is just and right in the land.   In His days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security.

These two traditions were fulfilled in the Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ … and the great work of Christ our Shepherd was to bring peace to His flock: peace with God and with men of good will, as Saint Paul told us in our second reading:

He came and preached peace to you (Gentiles) who were far off and peace to those (Jews) who were near, for through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Sublime Peace; a peace not for idleness, but for progress: progress through faith in Jesus, by the power of His most Holy Spirit, leading ultimately to the Father’s presence.

Therefore, having heard in the Gospel reading that:

When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd;

we can guess that He pitied them above all for the lack of peace in their hearts and of ultimate purpose in their lives and aspirations.

His Apostles had just returned from the missionary work on which He had sent them and they were so very excited about the results of their work: the conversions brought by their preaching, the cures they had wrought and the demons they had cast out.  Oh, how excited they were; and how glad, how anxious to tell Jesus all about it! 

Nevertheless, Jesus’ first care was to calm their over-excited minds and jubilant hearts:

He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (for) people were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat.

Dear People of God, notice Jesus’ guidance:  leave the crowd and learn to rest in (His) Jesus’ presence. 

And yet, on reading today’s Gospel passage I was a little puzzled by Jesus’ words, because I would have expected Him to say, ‘Come away with Me to a deserted place (away from the crowd) by yourselves’, but He does not say ‘Come away with Me’, but ‘Come away by yourselves from the crowd’.   Can it be that there Jesus does not explicitly promise to be physically with, or waiting for, His disciples; but rather, that by His use of the words ‘Come away by yourselves’, which, only imply His presence, He also wants to positively encourage them to actively seek Him there in that lonely place?

That guidance of Jesus, is, dear People of God of the utmost importance for ourselves whenever we can find such a place of solace for ourselves in the stresses of life.   He wants to be found indeed, but, nevertheless, He does not want to be thought of as being ‘automatically’ available?

Then, on seeing the crowds who had followed after Him, how He pitied them, how deep was their unrest!!

We notice a similar thing so very frequently these our days.  How easy it is, in a crowd, to forget oneself; how easy to be swept along from one absorbing interest to another, to be drawn into and embroiled in a kaleidoscope of ever-changing events and excitement!  But what about when people need -- as eventually they must -- to go their own ways when each is then left alone with his or her own thoughts?  How few can bear that silence: for some, a threatening loneliness, for others, oppressive boredom!  And what does that show?  Simply that, of themselves, they have little that is positively theirs: life for them is a wearisome business without the constant novelties of crowd-life, crowd-noise, crowd-provocation and excitement.  Look around you!  How often young people are to be seen with ear-phones pumping into their heads rock and pop music or whatever is the latest hit-style.  There is, of course, nothing directly wrong about that, but I’m sure Our Lord pities many such young people too, who cannot bear to be alone with themselves, to be aware of nothing but their own thoughts and fears, longings and regrets.  Why?  Because they don’t know where their life is going, they don’t have any ultimate guiding purpose.  Out of touch, out of tune, with any such aspirations, surrounding silence only seems to provoke deep and largely inarticulate longings, vague and unrecognizable feelings, which well up within themselves when noise and distractions from around cease.

Jesus came to bring peace to our souls by offering us TRUE LIFE: life such as the world cannot give; life with a calling and a purpose that endures throughout the variations, trials, and storms of eventful life and goes with us into and beyond the grave; life centred on a rock which no storms can unsettle let alone overthrow; life with a joy which cannot be taken away from us by worldly chance, because it wells up from within our own hearts and minds; life, drawing us with Jesus our neighbour our companion and friend, our Lord and Saviour, to God His Father and our fulfilment.  That, is the treasure offered us by faith in Jesus and the Gift of His Spirit in the Church.

People of God, don’t let yourselves get too wrapped up in the things of this world.  Take serious measures to be alone in the vicinity of Jesus at times: and then shut yourselves off from the noise around and open yourself up to be with Him in faith that He may deepen His Peace, His Life, within you.

Those words are emphasized because Christian prayer, and above all Christian contemplation are not to be entered upon in accordance with Yoga-like practices.    We Catholics and true Christians do not try use any technique on, we do not try to exercise any power (even persuasive) over, Him.   We turn to Him in our need, and in His Power is our contentment and peace; we hope in His great Goodness, and in His merciful Wisdom and Providence we confidently rest.

Thus, may we learn to say with all our heart on our daily way through life the words of today’s Psalm:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;

and may we ultimately find our lives fulfilled beyond all possible measure and desire in our faithful experience of those sublime words:

 Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

15th Sunday Year B 2021

 

                  15^th. Sunday, Year (B)

(Amos 7:12-15; Ephesians 1:3-10; Mark 6:7-13)

 

 

 

 

This is a momentous occasion for Jesus.  His last words in public had been:

            A prophet is not without honour except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in                his own house.

He had not been accepted by His own people at Nazareth and that rejection had been symptomatic of the reaction He had evoked in Galilee as a whole, but above all at Jerusalem: there had been some measure of appreciation from a small number of individuals; some occasional, ephemeral, demonstrations of enthusiasm from the generality of people; but always against a background of solid and developing opposition from the religious authorities, both Sadducees and Pharisees, while the ordinary members of the People of God remained largely indifferent.  Perhaps Jesus would have expected that official rejection and religious opposition, but it was the relative indifference shown by His own people at Nazareth, despite His Personal words of acknowledged wisdom in their midst and the good reports of His miracles performed elsewhere, that disturbed Him.  Despite the renown His healings and cures elsewhere had won for Him, His own people would not listen to His authoritative Word of truth because they could not accept it coming from Him.  This personal rejection was deeply engrained in Nazareth society, and Jesus felt it so much, that we are told:

He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.  And He marvelled because of their unbelief.

He left Nazareth and carried on preaching in the villages around but His mind was pre-occupied: He was beginning to appreciate that it would not be He Himself who would bring Israel -- let alone the nations -- back to God: at least, Israel would not repent and be converted back to the Lord in response to words preached by Himself.  The saving message had, indeed, to be His message, for He Himself was the only and ultimate Good News, but others would have to proclaim it for Him after Him; for He, Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Mary, would not prove to be Personally acceptable to His own people in His lifetime.

Faced with such a situation Jesus began to think of His future Church which would proclaim His Good News to the whole world and offer His saving grace to all who would believe in His Name, be they Jews or pagans.  He therefore decided to send out disciples on what we might call ‘a trial run’ and, as Matthew (10:5-6) tells us, only to a strictly limited group of people:

Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Jesus also gave His Apostles strict instructions regarding the preparations to be made for the journeying ahead of them:

He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff -- no bag, no bread, and no copper in their money belts -- but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.

Nevertheless, these were no random instructions, for they were of such a nature as meant to impress upon the disciples that they were being sent out on a holy mission: for these requirements would equally have fitted them for entering the Temple in Jerusalem.  It was with a similar attitude and a like intention to that of worshippers entering the Temple that they were to embark upon this mission Jesus was entrusting to them, it was to be a holy mission for God’s glory above all.  It was also, undoubtedly, to be for the present and future well-being of those to whom they were being sent because, according to Mark, Jesus:

            Gave them power over unclean spirits,

whereby they would be enabled to go through Israel preaching the proximate coming Kingdom of God and overthrow of the devil’s power, by calling the people to repentance and casting out unclean spirits.

The decision was made by Jesus to send them out, but perhaps He was also wanting to see how His Father would bless the mission as a foreshadowing of the Church, because Jesus was always attentive to even the slightest manifestation of His Father’s will: as, for example, when He prayed all night before choosing His Apostles; and, again, when He chose Simon Peter as Rock because His Father had clearly chosen Simon for a special revelation.

However that may be, it would seem that the short mission of the Apostles to the People of Israel was indeed blessed and turned out to be most successful, for we are told (Mark 6:30-31) that:

The apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. (Whereupon) He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."

And, it should be carefully noted, it was in that deserted place to which they now headed that Jesus would, a little later, feed the Five Thousand with food foreshadowing the future Eucharist, the supreme source of heavenly refreshment and renewal in His future Church.

As you can see, this sending out of the Twelve by Jesus is extremely significant for us who are His disciples and members of His Body, the Church, and we can learn most by trying to appreciate not only the physical arrangements for food and clothing, not only the spiritual powers He gave the Apostles for their work, but also by most carefully observing the personal attitude Jesus enjoined on them:

In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place.

They were not to move about from place to place despite the fact that that could very easily have happened.  For example, modern, good, kindly and considerate, Christians on such a mission would think -- and secretly praise themselves for thinking thus – that it would be only right and proper for them to move from house to house so as not to be too much of a burden on any one household.  However, it is clear that Jesus here is telling His Apostles to be in no way apologetic for needing and accepting some help on their mission.   Indeed St. Matthew insists on this point, for according to him, Jesus said to His missionaries:

Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out.  And when you go into a household, greet it.  If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. (10:11-14)

Let me make it clearer: Jesus is saying, “Inquire who in the town is worthy to shelter you.  Have every confidence because the blessing you bring with you is God’s blessing of peace, but it is only for those who are worthy.”

That blessing of peace for the host household was quite special; however, it was by no means the only blessing the Apostles carried with them, for we are told:

They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.

Many in that town or city would, indeed, have had good reason to rejoice at the Apostles’ coming.  But, as yet I haven’t even mentioned the greatest blessing the Apostles brought with them, the blessing for which not just some would rejoice … no, the supreme blessing being offered by the Apostles was to be for all in that town or city: it was the blessing of having the Good News preached to them and being given the opportunity to believe in the name of Jesus and, through repentance, have their sins forgiven:

            So, they went out and preached that people should repent.

These were truly Apostles of peace: peace, first of all, for the members of the household that would charitably shelter them; and then, a much more wonderful peace to all who, hearing their preaching and believing in Jesus, would repent of their sins!  Peace before God, that is, peace with God, to all repentant believers.  These Apostles were those of whom the prophet Isaiah had spoken (Isaiah 52:7) hundreds of years ago:

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

Surely, we can appreciate why such Apostles, men with such a message and such blessings to bestow, had to be in no way apologetic, for they would come bearing such gifts! And yet, they must be in no way proud or avaricious, because the gifts they brought would be gifts of God: gifts of His gracious giving alone, theirs, but to humbly bestow.

People of God, we who are privileged to be Catholic Christians today should in no way apologize for our belief in God; likewise, we should never try to make ourselves appear more understanding and sympathetic than God Himself whether by our words or by our attitudes.  Sad to say, however, such posturing seems far too common today among those who try to win human approval for Jesus or His Church by apologizing, by watering down, explaining away, whatever they fear to be too strict or too demanding in the Gospel.

Do you think that I am being too critical of modern tendencies?  I will prove to you that I am not, because Mark goes on to tell us what was Jesus’ Own final piece of advice, indeed His final command, to His Apostles going on mission; a command many, very many, seemingly good people of today -- people modern society considers icons and admirable people -- would never condone, indeed would condemn, today:

Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment than for that city!

That, of course, forces us to ask ourselves the question: “Who is right, the Gospel or some of the popular modern presentations of, or substitutions for, it?”   Or, to put in another way: “Who are Christians today, who are you and I, following?  Is it, as indeed it should be, Jesus and His Gospel as proclaimed by His Church; or is it what many modern pseudo-religious and “wanna-be-popular” figures like to present as the only truly acceptable, compassionate, and all-embracing, modern Good News ... not from God whom they do not believe in, but from your elected political representatives, people with power but personally hidden from view, who indeed want to offer you all that is for your good and their own?

Now, of which Church are you a member dear friends, the Church that has suffered and endured throughout the centuries following the teachings of Christ our Saviour under the guidance of His most Holy Spirit gifted to us; or some pleasing, comfortable, dispositions of modern morality, acceptable to all because including all in their very own and individual wills and ways, and also very popular with the young who know so little of life yet seek excitement so diligently, a morality whose tenets are fully in line with “EU values, principles, and law”,  to quote EU threats against Hungary of late?

Ours is a time of decision, dear People of God, and may Mother Church’s truth be our guide, her sacramental grace our strength, in Jesus our Saviour, by the Spirit Who is God’s Gift of Life to us, for the Father Who is Lord of all.

                                                        

 

 

           

 

14th Sunday Year B 2021

 

 14th. Sunday (Year B)

 (Ezekiel 2:2-5; 2nd. Corinthians 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6)

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We have here a most important Gospel reading: important, that is, for our right understanding of the vocation and spiritual life of a committed Christian; and it is prefaced by two remarkable readings from the prophet Ezekiel and St. Paul.

Let us, first of all, listen once again to our reading from the prophet Ezekiel:

Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against Me…. You shall say to them: ‘Thus says the Lord God!’  And whether they head or resist --- for they are a rebellious house --- they shall know that a prophet has been among them.

Things were apparently so bad with the Chosen People in those days, that the prophet was not being sent to comfort God’s people like Isaiah, not even being sent to convert delinquents, since it was doubtful whether any would be converted -- whether they head or resist -- but simply to proclaim God’s word, and thus to impress upon the people that there was a prophet – a spokesman chosen by God -- in their midst, and to force Israel to recognize that though they had often failed Him, He would never fail them.

Witness to the truth, to God’s truth!   That is the prophet’s – and a Catholic priest’s -- first and supreme function, as Our Blessed Lord said of Himself and His mission when being questioned by Pilate:

For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world: to bear witness to the Truth.  (John 18:37)

Not to convert, first of all, but to bear witness to God’s truth; conversions will come later, as Jesus went on to say:

          Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. (ibid.)

In the reading from St. Paul, we heard again about this contradictory aspect of God’s word … be it God’s activity or His spoken message.  Paul had received an abundance of revelations and was in danger of becoming too proud, and therefore a thorn in the flesh was given him.  That was God’s word in action, you might say a word of contradiction indeed, which Paul most certainly did not like, but – as ever with God – it was a word to save him.  And so, although Paul pleaded earnestly with God that the thorn might leave him, God’s reply was something which, initially, Paul found hard to understand because it was so much at variance with his own, human, way of thinking …

My grace is sufficient for you, My power is made perfect in weakness.

Paul wanted to do great things for God, but he had to learn that God alone does great things, for the glory of His Name and for our salvation.  Consequently, He would only allow Paul to do great things for His glory in such a way that, at the same time, Paul would be learning – unforgettably – the truth about himself: that he could do nothing, of himself, for salvation.  And so, Paul eventually came to rejoice, for example, in his own inability to make great sermons, because experience gradually taught him that when he went forward in faith – obeying God’s call and trusting in God’s help -- then, despite his own inability, God would work wonders through him and for him.

Jesus, the Word-of-God-made-flesh, Himself came among us as Lord and Saviour and -- in accordance with God’s message to Ezekiel -- both His Person and His spoken words proved unacceptable to sectarian pride, and less than pleasing to human hopes; with the result that, as you heard in our Gospel today, Jesus did not convert many at Nazareth because His fellow townspeople had no faith in His Person and were not impressed by His words.  Nevertheless, Jesus successfully carried out His mission and fulfilled His Father’s purposes in Nazareth for He bore witness to the truth and exemplified those sublime and prophetic words given to Isaiah:

 My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD.  (Isaiah 55:8)

People of God, so often today great things are desired of the priests of Mother Church: they are exhorted at times by their bishops, they are frequently expected by their Catholic people, but above all, so many priests themselves want, desire, and consequently seek, to somehow make Jesus popular.

That, however, is not a Catholic priest’s primary function: he must first of all bear witness to God’s truth, learnt in all its integrity from Mother Church; and that truth has then to be, must be, vivified in himself by his own faithful appreciation of, and loving response to, God’s Personal activity and goodness.  Vivified, however, not taken over by that personal experience; so that in his preaching and teaching as a Catholic priest, the Truth of God and of Mother Church may be proclaimed with God-given conviction and truly human understanding and sympathy.

Conversions will, in God’s mercy and great goodness, follow, for:

Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.

There is something here for all in God’s flock … something to help us live our faith more fruitfully.  For we must recognize that God’s word may – at times – seem to be a contradiction to us: creating a decisive tension within us, or simply jolting us out of our complacency.  And that is its proper purpose and function: to touch and open-up new depths in, and reveal the very roots of, our God-given being to the saving influence of His grace, and thus to lead us to a richer Christian fulfilment as witnesses to the beauty and goodness of God, and ‘exponents’, so to speak, of a more authentic human life.

For, left to ourselves, we tend to spend so much of our lives in superficial pleasures and distractions which empty us of character; and those God-given contradictions, where God can seem so absent, are meant, at times, to help us realize that we are needy individuals, and to make us look below the surface, deeper than the obvious, in order to find the true meaning and purpose of our life.  Faith is the Christian faculty that enables us to believe, recognize, and hopefully to respond to God’s presence in and throughout the whole of life; and we respond aright by trying to do what is right and true, by affirming what is good and beautiful, and by dedicating ourselves, perseveringly, to life in all its fullness -- spiritual as well as bodily, eternal a well as natural -- because of His call which those aspects of life express for us.

For example, how often good Catholic parents experience anguish and anxiety as they see their young people wandering away from religious practice and the Faith itself.   And yet, if they will embrace it aright, this experience can be a great opportunity for them, as with Saint Paul, to glorify God and to draw even closer to those they love despite the sorrow and suffering involved.  As good Catholic and Christian parents -- despite finding themselves in such a situation – they can yet persist in loving their children and trusting God: trying to draw God to their children, by constant prayer and hopeful confidence; and their children to God, by ever deeper (and perhaps yet more costly!) love and patience.  As silent witnesses to God, where words of exhortation and instruction cannot be given because they would not be accepted, such parents who continue to unite God and their children through their own love and suffering for both, are then, themselves, being conformed very closely indeed to Christ on the Cross with one arm outstretched to men and the other to His Father, uniting them both in the great love of His most Sacred Heart. 

Let us then, People of God, take confidence; because life’s most bitter moments, its most searching trials, when met with faith and embraced with trust in God, can be experienced as encounters with His holy word, His saving will; indeed, as His Self-revelation to you for a P/personal fellowship with Him throughout your life.  They are contradictions like the Cross, meant to result in our resurrection as newer and fuller human beings and more authentic Christians … men and women all the more capable of joy and fulfilment for having lived through such troughs of sorrow and trial.  For that to happen one thing is absolutely necessary: faith in Jesus first of all, faith in His Most Holy Spirit ever recalling Jesus’ teaching to the mind of Mother Church; and deep gratitude for our own personal awareness and experience of God our Father’s everlasting goodness.

Dear People of God, Catholic and Christian, seek true humanity, full and free; seek confidently and unswervingly the authentic meaning of life: its true beauty, worthwhileness, and purpose.  Seek, in a word, God, revealing Himself in His Son, through His Church unique and universal, and in you, by His Spirit.

May this Holy Mass bring about for us who participate in it with faith the great miracle of our resurrection from the shallows to the fullness of all our possibilities, human and divine; the fullness for which He created us and towards which He ever guides and ‘upgrades’ us through sorrow and joy, in Christ Jesus, Our Lord.