Mon of 17th Week of OT Homily

1st Reading: Jer 13:1-11

Responsorial Psalm: Dt 32:18-21

Gospel: Mt 13:31-35

We can all benefit from learning more about the faith that we celebrate. We definitely know people who have abandoned their faith for some reason and can be invited to return to the Church. Their are people who have never heard the Gospel message and could benefit from hearing it within their lives. Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have all spoken about the importance of the new evangelization for our world. We have an important task here to integrate our faith into our lives and in return to bring it out to the world. We can only be successful in the task if we unite ourselves with Christ.

If we are to begin to unite ourselves more and more with Christ each day we must return to his infinite mercy. This mercy was known by the prophet Jeremiah and it was his desire to share it with the world. Through reconciliation we are led to better serve the Gospel and to be opened up to the graces that come to us from God. We can then learn more about our faith and spend more time desiring to draw ourselves closer to Christ in prayer. Reconciliation, knowledge, and prayer are all important elements as we allow Christ to set our faith aflame so that it can spread throughout the world.

In our Gospel passage we are told about the yeast that has wheat added to it and it is allowed to grow. Of course when this is cooked it becomes bread which is very important imagery especially when looked at in conjunction with yesterday's Gospel. Here we co,e to understand the gift of the Eucharist where Christ is present in His Body and Blood and desires to give nourishment to our lives. May we allow the Eucharist to be the strength of our faith which leads us into the new evangelization. May we hand over all of our needs to Christ and allow Him to handle them, so that through his strength we can become instruments through which the faith can grow to all corners of the world.

17th Sun of OT Year B Homily

1st Reading: 2 Kgs 4:42-44

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 145:10-11,15-18

2nd Reading: Eph 4:1-6

Gospel: Jn 6:1-15

A magician is able to make miraculous things happen before the eyes of people. They are able to take everyday objects such as coins and make them disappear and reappear in the blink of an eye. They are able to place a person in a box and cut them in half; only to put them back together in a matter of moments. We must admit that these people are able to do some extraordinary stuff from some very ordinary objects. If they were unable to do anything out of the ordinary we would be forced to admit that they would make a pretty poor magician. In our lives we are constantly being surrounded by ordinary things that have great potential that lie beyond themselves. The issue for us is how we can allow ourselves to look beyond these ordinary objects and to see the realities that lie beyond. A magician is able to do this through their act because they are able to look into the ordinary and see all the possibilities that exist and then are able to make them come into play.

Today we take a five week break from the Gospel of Saint Mark to place our focus upon chapter 6 of the Gospel of Saint John. This chapter is placing its focus upon the bread of life that has come down to us from Heaven. This chapter from John comes properly placed when we look at it in conjunction with the Gospel text that was proclaimed last week at the Mass. Last week we heard from the Gospel of Saint Mark where it was said that Christ has concern for each us in the midst of our greatest needs and wants us to place those needs in His hands. From these scripture passages we come to realize the importance of the extraordinary things that enter into our lives. Sometimes when we place our focus upon what is ordinary we lose sight of the true reality that exists behind what is taking place. In our journey of faith we are surrounded by many ordinary examples that contain a much richer reality behind them. One of these rich realities is that of the Mass where we come to be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ.

At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we come together as a community of faith to be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ. If you would take a glance at the bread and the wine you would think that what is going on here is very ordinary. Bread and wine of course are very ordinary objects which we encounter often in our daily lives. In all reality what is going at the Mass is far from ordinary. We may have ordinary objects such as the bread and wine, but something far greater is going on before our eyes. Through the words of the priest these ordinary objects are becoming far from ordinary. Yes, these objects may look like bread and wine, but they have become the extraordinary because they are truly the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ who entered into the world to bring nourishment to all believers. Before our eyes dwells the presence of Christ in these ordinary elements, so that in our greatest spiritual needs we will be provided for as those in the Gospel of John were provided for during their time of need.

The gospel passage is a reminder for us of the great hope that Christ places into each of our lives. In this passage we have a multitude of people who find themselves drawn close to Christ. Christ in return gives them the spiritual assistance that they were in search of and then goes on to realize the importance of nourishment within their lives. He then took ordinary objects such as bread and fish and had the apostles take these ordinary objects to distribute to the people. These first priests of the Church did as they were instructed and thus went to the people to distribute what seemed to be much of nothing to a HUGE amount of people. From these ordinary objects something extraordinary took place because they did not run out of food and by the end of the day something was left over. This had to of been a most profound moment in the life of the apostles because of the extraordinary event that took place before their eyes. This extraordinary event continues to take place before our eyes at each Mass that takes place around the world.

At the Mass this notion that was begun with the Gospel of Saint John is continued. Christ continues to this day to have the priests of the Church take the ordinary element of bread and through the words given by Christ something extraordinary takes place. We the people of God who come to this Church to find spiritual nourishment are able to open ourselves up to the gifts that come within this Mass. Through the words of the priest, the hymns that we sing, the readings, and prayers of the Mass our hearts and souls are opened up to receive the nourishment that comes to us from God. In these ordinary gestures something extraordinary takes place because we are brought before Christ in a most profound manner. We who enter into this extraordinary realm are bringing all of our worries, struggles, and fears along and are joining them together with the cross of Christ. It is here at this place that the ordinary objects of bread and wine are brought forth and truly become the Body and Blood of Christ.

No matter where we find ourselves today we can trust with all our hearts and souls that the Body and Blood of Christ truly dwells here with us. We can trust that we can bring all of our needs and desires to this Mass and receive the nourishment that we are in search of. What takes place here with the ordinary elements of bread and wine is not a act of magic, but is truly Christ present with us at work in our lives through these ordinary elements. Through these gifts we are invited to join with Saint Paul as a people of one faith, one Lord, and one baptism who are invited to come together as one community. May we no longer allow our minds to be at ease with accepting the ordinary into our lives without allowing our hearts and souls to be taken to the extraordinary that lies beyond what we see. When we allow the extraordinary to truly work within our lives we are allowing the Lord to come and feed us in all of our needs. May our eyes look hopefully to the Lord as we receive this nourishment within our lives.

Fri of 16th Week in OT Homily

1st Reading: Jer 3:14-17

Responsorial Psalm: Jer 31:10-13

Gospel: Mt 13:18-23

Deacon Gary and all the hands that have assisted in working inside of our parish garden have brought about a lot of fresh produce. If you are to walk around the garden your eyes would quickly be drawn to the tomatoes which seem to have had no problem in growing. Through planting the seed it seems like they picked the perfect type of soil because things have really taken off. If the choice for land was any different the results may of been far different then what we have currently received. Our Gospel today gives us the much needed challenge to look inwardly and thus evaluate what we have built our faith upon.

In this Gospel we were given images of different possibilities when it comes to planting seed. In planting one has to put a lot of thought into what they are doing or their results will not go according to their original desires. For people of faith we also have many possibilities that have been given to us concerning the path that we will follow. We teach concerning virtues and vices and admit that each effects our growth of faith. When one commits a certain sin over and over they are allowing themselves to be exposed to vice. On the other hand when one does something that forms their habits to be directed towards God they are building up the strength that is found inside the virtues.

May we invest the time that is needed in our lives to allow virtue to spring up within our lives. If we find ourselves to be following the path of vice may we invest the time needed to pull ourselves away from these deadly habits. No matter where we find ourselves today may we trust as the prophet Jeremiah did by returning ourselves to God. It can only be through allowing our faith to be built upon God that we can ever hope to leave our vices behind and thus allow our hearts and souls to find the soil that is needed to spring us forth into new life. Only in doing this will we allow ourselves to be guarded by Christ our Shepherd as we draw closer to Him.

Feast of St. James Homily

1st Reading: 2 Cor 4:7-15

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 126:1-6

Gospel: Mt 20:20-28

What does it mean for us to be great? People often like to debate who the greatest sport star ever was for a certain sport. In the wake of the Olympics we have many people who are trying to prove how great they are because they plan on winning the gold medal. Surely if a person was to win a gold medal in the Olympics we would be forced to admit that they must be great. Of course in using great in this manner we are paying attention to the great talents that these people have in overcoming others in a certain event to prove that they have the best attributes to make them great.

Our Gospel gives us a different glimpse into the reality of what makes one great. This list that is given to us does not contain winning sports events and thus becoming the greatest at something. We are instead given a list of attributes which shows our need to lower ourselves to others especially to Christ. This call for humility to enter into our lives is a very different definition to great then we would give to the debate of who is the best at a certain field. This form of greatness is placing Christ at the head of our lives and thus allowing Him to work within our lives instead of trying to prove that we are great by doing it ourselves.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint James, who was an apostle and martyr. We can defiantly say that this man was great because he was able to live out these attributes of greatness within his life. Saint James was able to be a servant of the Gospel and to go into the world and live out this service to all people whom he encountered. His service to the Gospel eventually brought him to death from the sword of Herod making him the first martyr from among the twelve disciples of Christ. May his example encourage us to search for greatness in our lives by lowering ourselves to Christ through humility, so that we may rejoice with Him continually.

Tues of 16th Week of a OT Homily

1st Reading: Mi 7:14-15,18-20

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 85:2-8

Gospel: Mt 12:46-50

The discussion from this Gospel passage and ones which are similar to it are often brought up when discussing people's devotion to St. Mary. It has been said that by the mere fact that Jesus' brothers are referred to inside of this passage that we have proof that Mary's role in the Church should be lowered. If Christ was able to have brothers surely this means that Mary was not a virgin nor free from the stain of sin. This is the misunderstanding with this text and with the scriptural use of brother in the context of this passage. The Fathers of the Church point out that we have each been invited to enter into communion with Christ and thus become His sisters and brothers.

The reality that we have been called to enter into this community as the sisters and brothers of Christ and be invited to receive the Body and Blood of Christ should be an important reality for each of us. As we enter into the next five Sundays of Ordinary Time we will be entering into the Gospel of Saint John where we will focus upon the bread of life that comes to us from Heaven. Through these passages of scripture we will be acknowledging that Christ dwells in the Sacrament of the Altar and calls to each of us to join with Him as His sisters and brothers.

Saint Mary is the Mother of God who was free from the stain of sin. Through her intercession we are invited to enter more deeply into relationship with her son. It is her desire for us to join her as her children, so that we may be drawn closer to the Heart of her Son. May we the brothers and sisters of Christ enter into this relationship and allow ourselves to enter more fully into the community of Christ. Through this great reality we have been invited to share the mercy and love of the Lord each day of our lives.