October 27, 2010. Homily, October 30, 2010.

Luke 14: 1, 7-11

On a Sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully.

He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and so the host that invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man,' and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, 'My friend, move up to a higher position.' Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone that exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

The Gospel of the Lord.

October 24, 2010:

Luke 18:9-14.

Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. "Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector, The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity -- greedy, dishonest, adulterous - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I pay tithes on my whole income.' But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.' I tell you the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

The Gospel of the Lord.

One title used by St. Augustine and St. Benedict and also used by Pope St. Gregory the Great is "servant of the servants of God".

Everyone here in this room is a child of God. Each is valuable. When I would sum up in criminal cases, I wanted to emphasize the value of each member of the jury. So I would explain how 12 persons could decide a complicated criminal case with no experience and no notes. I said 12 acting together could remember a whole trial while one acting alone could not And then I would predict that during deliberations each would contribute knowing that when me prediction came true, they would all remember my prediction and from that my argument. Similarly each one of you is here for your individual reason and for your communal reason. And each during the meal will be raised up individually and communally - each in humbling himself will be exalted.

October 24, 2010, Homily, October 26, 2010.

Luke 13:18-21

Jesus said, "What is the Kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.

Again he said, "T what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Use Mother Teresa, 1910-1998: in 1946 riding a train back to Calcutta from a retreat, was watching the slums and heard a voice commanding her to help the people in the slums of Calcutta. She exchanged her habit for a white sari with blue piping, started a school, in 1950, she had 12 followers, by 1998 when when she died the Missionaries of Mary had over 4000 in 12 countries and today over 5,000 in 1123 countries. Mother Teresa is the mustard seed; inn 50 years she had spread her campaign throughout the world, Something Beautiful for God, the title of Mellencamp's autobiography of Mother Teresa. 3 measures of flour is 50# with kneading the while batch may be leavened

Lex orandi, lex credendi = the rule of prayer, the rule of belief.

the rule of prayer may establish the rule of faith

the way you pray and how you pray shows what you believe

pray as if it all depends upon God and work as if it all depends upon you

The rule of faith is the word received; the Liturgy is the word expressed.

Liturgy confirms and deepens faith.

what you exhibit externally reflects what you believe internally.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen: if you don't behave as you believe, you will end by believing as you behave.

Practice what you preach.

Laborare est orare: work is prayer.

The Word of God became a zygote, scarcely visible to the naked eye. He was born a helpless infant. His first visitors were not religious and state dignitaries but simple shepherds from the hillside. If the entry of the Word of God into human history was so humble and simple, it is not surprising that the Kingdom of God should also begin with the smallest and the most humble. The mustard seed is very tiny, but it grows into a mighty shrub. The pinch of yeast can raise three measures (about fifty pounds) of dough. To discern the Kingdom of God we need close vision, and action close to hand – not big theories and acrimonious talk.

October 24, 2010, Sunday Homily, October 24, 2010.

2 [Paul] Tim. 4:6-8

Beloved: I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.

We have Paul in our Church represented carrying his scrolls, in the mosaic facing us on the wall behind the altar.

Luke 18:9-14.

Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. "Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector, The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity -- greedy, dishonest, adulterous - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I pay tithes on my whole income.' But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.' I tell you the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Beloved: I am already being poured out like a libation, I am at the point of dissolution, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. I await now my merited crown in heaven, certain that the Lord, the just judge, will grant it to me as he will to all, who await with hope for his appearance.

A parable is a vessel made of words into which we pour who we are and we pour out what we need.

So today, the parable is directed "to those who are convinced of their own righteousness and despised every one else." Already we know that those who think in that manner are not following the greatest commandment, that we love the Lord our God with our whole hearts and souls, our whole minds and strength, the Shema which the devout Jew prayed every day, and the second which is like the first, that we love our neighbor like ourselves. And then when the Pharisee prays, the parable says "he took his position". When you are invited take a lower position so that in case one more important is invited you are not asked to move down lower but instead take a lower position so that the host may say to you, "My friend, come up higher."

And when he prayed, he did not pray to God but instead "spoke this prayer to himself". Even so, God heard him for we have this parable and besides although the Pharisee lists his good deeds, they are already known to God just as this "prayer to [the Pharisee] himself" is known to God. And then a further violation, now of the stricture, "Judge not, lest ye be judged." "O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity -- greedy, dishonest, adulterous - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I pay tithes on my whole income." And the Pharisee is judged for all time: for whoever exalts himself will be humbled. In contrast, the tax collector, the despised servant of the conquering Romans, "stood off at a distance", "would not even raise his eyes to heaven", "beat his breast" and prayed not to himself but to God, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." Jesus tells us that the tax collector, who humbled himself, in the temple before God, went home justified.

October 21, 2010. Homily, October 23, 2010

Luke 13: 1-9.

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they ere greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you that if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!"

And he told them this parable: "There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in this orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, "For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?" He said to him in reply, "Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it my bear fruit in the future. If not, you can cut it down."

The Gospel of the Lord.

This is about untimely death. My class-mate Don Pillsbury on our 50th anniversary class masthead even though he is deceased six months. We know his death was untimely because he was in my college class.

The genesis of these stories in the first part of this Gospel seems to be that Pilate wanted to build an aqueduct to bolster Jerusalem's inadequate water supply and to finance the project from monies taken from the Temple treasury. The Jews gathered to demonstrate and to protest; Pilate's soldiers mingled with the protestors. When the protestors grew unruly, the soldiers sought to put down the unruliness; violence ensued, and some of the protestors were killed and more injured.

Pilate pressed ahead with his aqueduct; one of the towers collapsed and eighteen workers were killed.

To become a deacon one goes through formation. As part of formation, each of the persons studying to be a deacon is to write an autobiography explaining the genesis of his desire to become a deacon. My submission started with the words of the parable from this Gospel:

There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in this orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, "For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?" He said to him in reply, "Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it my bear fruit in the future. If not, you can cut it down."

I then continued. I am that fig tree. And continued, that I had been exposed to the Church from my grandmother, my mother, my uncle the priest and my aunt, the nun. Each had pressed me to follow in the way but I had refused. I kept refusing until finally I decided that the Church needed me, I would accept, and then let the administration of the Church reject me. But God interfered to protect me and to encourage me through the 58 years before I applied, my acceptance, the four years of formation, the class work, the administration of the Diaconate, and on to my ordination. I am that fig tree, the ground around me cultivated, fertilized, until I bore fruit to follow in the way of the Lord. I am that fig tree.

Posted by Daniel Murphy at 4:09 PM 0 comments

October 17, 2010. Homily, Tuesday, October 19,2010.

Luke 12:35-38

Jesus said to His disciples: "Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master's return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second [10 PM to 2 AM] or third watch [2 AM to 6 AM] and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants."

The Gospel of the Lord.

You know neither the day nor the hour.

We are all students and servants of the Lord. As Christians who share in the fullness of revelation made known in Jesus Christ, we have a serious obligation to lead lives distinguished by love of God and love of neighbor.

There is an interesting twist: when the master returns and finds the servants awake, Jesus says, he will serve them, reversing the roles of master and servant. The Son of Man came, we remember, “to serve and not to be served” (Mt 20:28; Mark 10:45).

October 10, 2010. Homily, October 12, 2010.

Luke 11: 37-41

After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, "Oh, you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms and behold, everything will be clean for you."

The Gospel of the Lord.

As my grandmother got to be about my age now, and I was 13 and 14, I would stay at her house while my grandfather was away on trips. Sadie Johnson was my grandmother's cook and what a great cook Sadie was. When we would sit down for dinner, my grandmother would ask, "Dan, have you washed your hands?" And too often I would reply, "No, Grandma." And she would say, "Dan, a gentleman always washes before dining." Some things stay with you, and that has stayed with me. At Calvary, it helps remind me to cleanse my hands before I enter a patient's room and after I leave, for infection in a hospital is most commonly spread through one's hands.

The dietary and cleansing routines set forth in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, are health advisories, intended for the prevention of diseases. But here "The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal." The Pharisee did not observe Jesus washing. But the Pharisee did not ask, as my grandmother would ask me, whether Jesus had cleansed himself; instead whether Jesus had cleansed himself so that the Pharisee could observe him doing so. And since Jesus had not acted so as to be observed, the Pharisee was wandering into the error our parents caution us against, "Judge not lest ye be judged." And Jesus was judging the Pharisee for what Jesus as God can observe, the Pharisee's inner self. That inner self is what Jesus has come to heal, it is our unloving and ungenerous thoughts, no matter what our appearance may be to those looking at our surface.

O wad some Power the giftie gie us,

To see oursels as ithers see us!

Oft-quoted lines from Robbie Burns. If you are not familiar with Scottish dialect: he prays that some Power would give us the gift to see ourselves from the outside. What do you think? – Would it be a good thing?

“Give for alms those things that are within.” What does this mean?

That inner source where forgiveness arises must be a pure source, with no hidden poison in it. Cyril of Alexandria wrote, “Christ shows that those who sincerely serve God must be pure and clean…from what is hidden inside the mind.” If that source is pure, then we will not be secretly injecting poison into all our thoughts and actions. Then, as Jesus said, “everything will be clean for you.”

October 6, 2010. Homily, October 9. 2010.

Lk 11:27-28

While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!’ But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!’

The human being is both flesh and spirit. When the woman in today's Gospel called out to Jesus "Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you", she was emphasizing the physical aspect of the human being. The word "Hebrew" as in "the Hebrew people" is derived from the Hebrew word "hebiru" meaning "wind" or "spirit". Jesus in responding to His Hebrew audience "Blessed rather are the those who hear the word of God and obey it", emphasizes the spiritual aspect of the human being. Jesus came to heal the sinful, nourish the spirit, and show the way to eternal life. His Passion was His crucifixion, death and resurrection. He stayed on earth after His Resurrection for forty days and then ascended into Heaven. His Ascension made room for the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit who came and abides with us to help us understand that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus shows us the way to eternal life.

Meister Eckhart said, "The whole of Christendom pays our Lady great honour and respect because she is the bodily mother of Christ, and that is right and proper…. And if Christendom pays her such honour, as indeed is fitting, nevertheless Christendom should pay even greater honour and glory to that person who hears God's word and keeps it…. All that honour, and immeasurably more, is accorded to that person who hears God's word and keeps it…. The Father of heaven gives you His eternal Word, and in that same Word He gives you at once His own life, His own being and His Godhead: for the Father and the Word are two Persons but one life and one being undivided…. In this light…the Father knows no difference between you and Him and no precedence, any more or any less than between Him and His Word. For the Father and yourself and all things and the Word itself are one in this light.”