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Ordinary 25

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on September 23, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

September 23, 2001 Amos 8:4-7 + 1 Timothy 2:1-8 + Luke 16:1-13

The use of a shrewd and dishonest servant in the parable today demands some careful attention to words of Jesus who is more concerned with the wisdom of this shrewd servant than his behavior This is what he praises, the wisdom, not the self­ serving behavior The parable is addressed to the disciples – that is the first clue leading us to recognize that there is something here for us. What we have here is a Lukan instruction on the right use of money drawn out of parable by Jesus which suggests that disciples, if they are wise, use everything they have for the sake of their place in the kingdom. It further proposes that wise disciples will know what is of lasting value and what is fleeting. Finally, Jesus proposes that wise disciples will know that they can only serve one master, and everything they have must be used in that service.

Jesus does not commend dishonesty in this story He commends the wisdom of the servant who looks ahead. The dishonesty of this servant should not discolor everything else about him. We are sometimes led into a very anti cerebral bias in the church that leads us to be unwilling or unable to think or conceive of ourselves as being clever about kingdom activity That business of being “childlike” is often mistakenly translated into being naive, when in fact, Matthew’s gospel (10:16) alerts disciples to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” What we hear today is Luke’s version of the same proposal. a clever kind of wisdom is appropriate in the real disciple of Jesus; nothing naive or passive; but rather a kind of far-seeing, focused vision that can be trusted with little matters and big ones.The disciple can be trusted to use all things and all opportunities well for the sake of the future, which is of course the coming reign of God.

The Gospel proposes that for all the dangers in possessions, it is possible to manage goods in ways appropriate to life in the Kingdom of God. To do that takes a kind of Wisdom that is seen in faithful attention to frequent and familiar tasks of each day, however small and insignificant they may seem. The one faithful in today’s nickels and dimes is the one to be trusted with the big account. Yet it is easy to be indifferent toward small obligations while sincerely believing oneself fully trustworthy in major matters, but that isn’t “gospel wisdom.”

What Luke suggests is that life consists of a series of seemingly small opportunities. Most ofus will do nothing in the week to come that will bring reporters running and get media attention. More likely the week will present little more than a chance to give a cup of water, write a note, visit a nursing home, share a meal, tell a child a story, go to another meeting, choir practice, or give a compliment or two. Yet, “Whoever is faithful in little things is faithful in bigger ones” and disciples are wise enough to know that. They will use every little  opportunity to root themselves more securely and more deeply into the Kingdom yet to come. They are looking ahead, looking beyond the present and immediate business of the day, and never forgetting for a moment that an accounting of one’s stewardship is going to be called for That awareness does not prompt fear nor anxiety nearly as much as it inspires wisdom and loyalty, and a trustworthy attitude that is responsible and consistent with a life that is Jerusalem bound and prepared for suffering and glory, death and resurrection. The disciple knows what is coming, and is wise enough to be prepared.

Ordinary 24

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on September 16, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

September 16, 2001 Exodus 32:7-14 + 1 Timothy 1:12-17 + Luke 15:1-32

We must look at all the stories we have from this stop on the journey, for together they give us the twelfth virtue, or quality, that marks a disciple of Jesus. We see it in the man who looks for the lost sheep. It is there in the woman who sweeps the house, and all the more obvious in the father who looks, waits, and watches for his son. The disciple is watchful. Even when it makes no sense by the world’s judgement, by the worlds values, the watch, the expectation, the hope, the wait, is never abandoned.

The man looking for his lost sheep doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. Never mind that to leave ninety-nine in danger and look for one opens him up for criticism and ridicule because the one that wanders is the one that always wanders. Never mind that he may have done it before. He goes off looking and watching to find.

The woman looking for her coin is not concerned about anything except finding that coin. She goes about her business with single purpose, finding that coin. She would have swept anyway, but now she sweeps night and day to find that coin, uninterested in the fact that she had nine others just like it.

The father is the focus of the third story, no matter what riches we may gain from reflection on the other characters. He is watchful for that son to return. He has not gone back to “business as usual” He has not said to the rest of the household. “He’s always going to be that way, forget it.” He has not closed the door on the future, changed the locks on the house, nor cut off any hope of change or growth or reconciliation in himself, his first son, or the “lost one” He is simply watchful, and because of it, he doesn’t miss the chance he gets to have the party I’ve wondered sometimes about that fatted calf. Was there always one being readied for a party, or was he living in watchful anticipation that it would be used for just this purpose?

Watchful is the disciple of Jesus Christ. Never cutting off, never giving up hope, never living with that final and self-justifying attitude about another that says: “They’ll just always be that way” “That’s the way they’ve always been, and they’re not going to change.” It’s like pulling down the garage door on hope, and the ultimate conclusion and dismissal of hope. The disciple continues to be watchful and alert to any opportunity for finding anyone that is lost. No matter what others may say, not matter that others may come along to replace what has been lost. The disciple knows the loss and watches for the chance to seize and celebrate the return or reconciliation.

Reflecting on this gospel has done more to develop my attitude about capital punishment than any other of the sayings of Jesus. The realization that killing an offender ends all hope of their repentance, is really something to think about. It takes from them more than life. It takes away any hope or opportunity to repent. Giving up on them with the thought that “they’ll never change”is a sad excuse for our judgements when we know how painful it would be were others to say the same thing about us and take away any chance to grow, change, and repent. It is beginning to seem to me that if we take away another opportunity to repent and change, we take the obligation of doing so upon ourselves.

What happened to us six years ago in this city now seems to have been a trial run, a preview, if you will, of what has now happened to our whole nation. It makes no difference who did it. It makes no difference why What matters is what we do about it, and what we become because of it. It should come as no surprise to any living person that human beings are capable of great cruelty and evil, especially when driven by hatred, anger, and helplessness. Yet at the same time, great heroism and self-sacrifice out of love rises up in contrast. We can chose which behavior is more worthy of us as disciples of Jesus Christ. Rather than wondering “why”, perhaps we might wonder about what it is we are to become and therefore what we are to do consistent with our identity.

In the lives of the people of this gospel there is no effort to blame or punish the lamb or the son. There is one virtue that marks them all. Watchfulness. They look for and wait for the opportunity to restore the unity that is broken, and they never give up nor do anything to eliminate that opportunity Always on the look-out, the disciple remains watchful and vigilant for every opportunity to extend the mercy of God and the embrace of God’s reign not only to those who are deserving, but to those some insist will never change, never be worthy, nor ever find their way home. For the celebration to begin, it takes two movements. one, the return, and two the welcome. In neither case can there be a heart hardened by disappointment, anger, or stubbornness. For this grace, we pray.

Ordinary 23

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on September 9, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

September 9, 2001 Wisdom 9:13-18 + Philemon 9-10:12-17 + Luke 14:25-33

A first reading of today’s instruction on the way to Jerusalem may lead us to think that Luke has Jesus talking about commitment and the consequent renouncing of all things, or that he’s inviting the disciple to take up a cross. However that may be, those ideas fail to dig beneath the words and get behind examples. It is the later verses of this text that lead us into virtue as a quality of life rather than simply into behavior Remember, first discipleship is about being something, then, from that comes the doing of something. In fact, the very effort to get that straight in our minds is what it’s all about. The disciple is always asking: “What kind of person shall I be?” rather than. “What shall I do?” The doing will take care of itself once the being is in place.

So, our Gospel text today leads us back to that consideration – and from what Jesus has to say at this pause when turns to the crowd is that those who would be his disciples will be Prudent. Those ofus schooled in any Christian spirituality will immediately recall those “Cardinal Virtues” we may have once learned.Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude. They come to us from the Book of Wisdom chapter 8, verse 7 “If one loves justice, the fruits of her works are virtues, for she teaches moderation and prudence, justice and fortitude, and nothing in life is more useful than these. ” Ancient Greeks, Thomas Aquinas, Augustine and Bernard of Clairveaux all developed thought about these virtues as central to good moral living.

When Jesus puts this ancient wisdom into his formation program for disciples, he suggests that his disciples will be people of action,not cautious, timid, frightened, mediocre, and inactive. These are not the qualities of Prudence.In fact, they are just the opposite.Prudence seeks the best way to do the right thing. The point is the DOING.It is a virtue of action, not of passive caution.

Back in the 20s and 30s, a phenomenon of Christian action spread from Belgium and France to this country taking the form of what we called: “The Christian Family Movement, CFM”The heart of that program was simply the Virtue of Prudence reduced to three principals:SEE, JUDGE, ACTThe passage of time may have left the CFM movement in the past, but not its wisdom.

The obstacles to prudence are what Jesus confronts in his formation of disciples: procrastination, negligence, hesitation, inconsistancy, rashness ( like the people in the examples of the gospel ) and rationalization. All of these are excuses for doing nothing or for doing the wrong thing.

In terms of those Cardinal Virtues, Prudence is the first.Prudence enables one to avoid acting against justice because of greed or favorites. Prudence prevents one from acting against temperance by keeping good desires, like food or sex, from running wild and taking control of our lives, or controlling wrong desires, like revenge.Prudence prevents one from acts against fortitude by finding a way between excessive fear and blind recklessness.

We are called to be Prudent – which always means to be people of action. wise, accountable, reasonable, and responsible. The Prudent have an desire to discern. In Oklahoma very soon, there is a call to action, and this Gospel could not have come at a better time. 695 will be before us very soon.The Prudent will ask questions not quote statistics that can be used any which way they can be twisted. Before the answer “Yes” or “No” is given, there are other questions to ask.The SOONER CATHOLIC, and next Sunday’s Bulletin will publish a statement from the Council of Priests in the Archdiocese which poses four questions.They are questions the prudent will ask.

It’s a serious issue for disciples of Jesus, this matter of Prudence.It guides and motivates the prophet. It always sees the big picture of life rather than just the little stuff.It is a way of living in relationship to others and to things that seeks the Will of God in all things.Prudent disciples know themselves, take time to reflect upon their experience, integrate and relate that experience to the experience of others, to the Word of God, to the good of all, and to all the consequences of action.Prudent disciples ask questions, inquire, probe, wonder, and pray

Ordinary 20

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on August 30, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

August 19, 2001 Jeremiah 38:1-6,8-10 + Hebrews 12.1-4 + Luke 12:49-53

We have to work a little harder to find the virtue of discipleship we are offered in this week’s text, but it’s there. Given the emphasis on peace that we find in Luke’s Gospel, these words of Jesus today are difficult to reconcile. At first glance, taking the words of the Gospel literally or out of their context, it would be easy to think that Jesus proposes that d1sc1ples be trouble makers or rantmg fanatics who wreck relationships and destroy families. This thinking is wide of the mark. To get to the point for disciples, we must examine m this text the master, Jesus to see what it is about him the disciple is to imitate.

I’ll call it “Zeal” for the purpose of our series in this season, but not in the sense of the fanatical zealot, but rather in the sense of one whose life has meaning, purpose, and destinyIt is living with a focus and firm since of one’s identity and purpose in life.Someone who can say· “I have come to set the earth on fire.” knows what they are about, who they are, and for what purpose they have life.Now that is the quality or virtue one must find or develop in discipleship.

Those who have zeal in their lives are people who have a clear purpose, who know who they are, where they are going, and what they have to work with.No aimless drifting, no going after this or after that one day after another, no shopping around for religion nor picking and choosing in an effort to justify oneself or avoid the challenge of doctrine, truth, or conversion of one’s life.

This is a virtue rooted in an expectation that something is asked of us, that there is a purpose for our lives, each of us, and a destiny to which we are all called.The zealous are focused on the direction of their lives – their future, their purpose and goal.For the disciple of Jesus Christ, that destiny is the Reign of God for which they are headed with a sense of urgency and purpose.They know how to get there, and they know what gets in the way.

There is a vibrant vitality about them that is eager and expectant, vigilant and ready for the Lord’s coming. This is not the “Jesus is coming,—— look busy”syndrome or frantic do-goodism that is often vague and guilt driven.It is rather, a devotion to the tasks of prayer, ministry, and service consistent with one’s relationship to Jesus.It is a life driven by the glad and certain anticipation that just as the Lord Jesus has already come bringing changes in every dimension of human existence, so he will return to confirm and resume the royal rule of God.

Not many people today are convinced that “Jesus is coming soon” (road signs and bumper stickers notwithstanding).Few are inclmed to reflect upon the second coming of Jesus at all, much less do it with the glad eagerness of the edge of the pew posture that might be appropriate for us.The conviction in the disciple’s life is that God will come again.There is no indifference to that promise, but rather an eager devotion toward that day in ready anticipation.That is the virtue of discipleship Jesus of Luke’s Gospel affirms on the way to Jerusalem at this point in the journeyAs the text goes on, because of their focus and purpose, the disciple can read the signs of the times, discern the meaning of their lives and relationships and the presence of God in their midst.

Ordinary 18

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on August 30, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

August 5, 2001 Ecclesiastes I :2; 2:21-23 + Colossians 3:1-5,9-11 + Luke 12:13-21

Besides knowing poverty, joy, mercy, hospitality, and perseverance, disciples of Jesus are rich. It may seem to be a contradiction to the first of the qualities Jesus proposed for those who would follow him, but actually, it is the complementary consequence of poverty The consequence of Gospel Poverty is a richness and wealth in the values of the Kingdom of God The very poverty Jesus proposes makes one rich, free, and unencumbered by the wornes that best the man of this Gospel story who is so anxious about how he can hang onto and hoard all that he has collected. A disciple of Jesus is no fool.

The First Testament reading gives us, as usual, some direction if we understand what the writer means by “Vanity” The Hebrew word is used 38 times in the book, and it emphasizes futility or uselessness. He is concerned with life’s emptiness, and that is the clue to the gospel parable we hear this weekend on our Jerusalem Journey The life of the man in the parable 1s vain. It is empty In spite of the wealth he accumulates, his biggest concern is how to hang on to it and get more. He is a fool.

The disciple of Jesus learns from the master today that an ability to set worthy priorities is an essential quality In the end it is the greatest challenge to greed and to the kind of emptiness that drives so many into desperate lives of loneliness and sadness. The disciple possess and cultivates a way of relating to the things of this life that is independent and free. The disciple knows that they are the recipient of many gifts, none of which is their own possession. The disciple knows that everything belongs to God and is simply on loan for a very short time for the sake of completing the mission of Jesus. What we carry into the next life is what we have done with what we have been given. It is a quality of Wisdom that gives purpose, direction, meaning, and fullness to life. It is a way of using what we have not to get more, but to be more; more faithful, more generous, more like God, more concerned, and more responsible for one another’s needs.

The disciples Jesus forms are rich in wisdom, purpose, and usefulness. They have asked the question. “What shall I do with what I have?” again and again, and the answer is never build bigger barns. There is a purpose to their lives formed by the Gospel and the Life of Jesus Christ. Their days are useful for more than financial gain and security They never forget, deny, nor live as though they belong to this world. Always the pilgrim, they are on the way to Jerusalem, therefore, always the Steward who knows that all we have is to be left behind for the use of another and the glory of God.

Living with no Will that provides for others and recognizes no one except one’s  immediate family; complaining about taxes when estate planning and Trusts can benefit others; having no priorities in life that will stand the test of the Gospel, no perspective that finds happiness in giving, sharing, and serving leaves one to be the fool, not the disciple. We who believe in the life to come, disciples of Jesus, look ahead, look beyond, look to Jerusalem. Not fooled by the “eat, drink, and be merry” attitude of present day hedonism, we set our values firmly on the foundation of the Gospel. We remember always, that even our life is but a loan from God that like every other loan will be recalled.

As we move along the path Luke has set for us, we take and make the time to be wise stewards, to recognize wherein lies our real wealth. We will stop complaining about how poor we are, how much we need, and how tough these times seem to be in the face of what we are asked and called to become. We will recognize how really rich we are, and use these bountiful gifts as disciples of Jesus learn from the master how to serve, how to give, and how to enter into eternal life.

Ordinary 21

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on August 26, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

August 26, 2001 Jeremiah 1:4-10 + Hebrews 12:18-29 + Luke 13:10-17

Coming back from Tulsa last night, a car whipped in front of me, frantic to save five minutes on the drive by blasting out of stretch that was narrowed for repairs. I caught sight of a bumper sticker that said. “Jesus Is The Only Fire Escape.” Now whether or not that is true, it said more to me about the driver than about Jesus.Most of us in this part of the country who are Catholics have been asked a time or two if we are saved. And again, the question rarely asked for the sake of gathering information usually tells us more about the person who inquires than it does anything about salvation.

When the question arises on the way to Jerusalem in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus does not respond. He never answers, you notice, the question about the number to saved. He simply launches into that talk about trying to make it through the narrow door which we immediately decide means admission to heaven. It is answer directed to behavior not to behavior’s consequence.

Saved is the disciple of Jesus, the virtue we ponder on this week’s pause in the Journey; and the discussion of Jesus with those along the way raises the issue for our reflection and study Obviously from what is said in the dialogue, just knowing Jesus is not enough for salvation. It is not enough to be baptized. It is not enough to share rituals and receive sacraments. It is not enough to receive communion if we do not try to achieve it. A thousand communions are not enough if hated lurks in our hearts. It is not enough to take this bread which is Christ’s body ifwe do not break bread to feed the hungry members of Christ’sbody It is not enough to seek comfort, forgiveness and love if we have not given comfort, forgiveness and love.

There was an ancient french custom ofbuilding one’s coffin from the wood of the table that had been used to feed the poor The custom gives evidence of an understanding that a disciple must be more than a passive receiver of God’s gifts and grace. The disciple of Jesus will have plenty of wood for their coffin. They will never think that simply because they are members of the community they will gain the Kingdom. They know that this is a matter in the hands of God.

The question about the “few” to be saved comes from a world which saw reality as limited. For most people of the first century there was only so much to go around including salvation. Competition was endemic to the religious as well as the economic sphere. In fact, the word “struggle” is almost symbolic of the era. In those times, there were the “elite” how were saved, and the “others.” The image of God held by these people springs out of this ancient thinking; and it is just exactly this that Jesus comes to confront. What sort of God would permit only a “few” to

be saved? The God reveled by Jesus is a God very inclusive with his table fellowship. Remember that Jesus does not answer the questions in these verses, but urges us to take the path of disciplined faith, not the easy way It is the narrow door that he recommends.

In our language, the words “salvation” is linked to the word “salve” as a healing ointment. Those are saved, are those who are healed, suggests the language.Salvation comes as Liberation, yet many might feel in our days and in our culture that we are free, in fact, we talk of freedom and guard our ch01ces at every tum regardless of the consequences. Yet, we are in bondage to an economic system that feeds off the poor, a military system that divides human kind into victors and victims. We are trapped by our pre occupation with ourselves and our own well­ being. If we are saved, we would be free of that.Salvation comes too as reconciliation. The oldest biblical image of salvation is the return of God’s people from their exile. That image is central to the story of faith. Exiled from Paradise; exiled from the Holy Land; exiled from God, the saved are a people coming home once more in the loving gaze of God.

Saved disciples of Jesus Christ live at home in the presence of God and the company of God’s people. They sit at the table and take the bread because they have given the bread. They reap the fruits of loving sacrifice, for they have been the victims for each other They know the comfort of forgiveness because they have forgiven each other and themselves.

Saved disciples are healed from all that holds them back from seeking the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. They know that there are no reserved tables in the Kingdom of Heaven, and that while always open, the door is narrow and all would-be-guests will welcome others as brothers and sisters who also have been touch, healed and saved.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on August 15, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

August 15, 2001 Revelation 11 19, 12.1-6, 10 + 1 Corinthians 15:20-27 + Luke 1:39-56

In the ancient and modem Mediterranean lands, it is time to harvest the grape.It is not by chance that this feast settles so easily into this season, even though it presents a challenge to us living in this chmate.None the less, aware of that fact, our imaginations can do the work, and tease out of this Feast it’s most profound meaning.In this one woman, what we all desire, what lurks in the depth of every heart, and stirs every longingis to be carried, mercifully and lovingly, from death to life.That’s all there is to it,and this feast is that hope’s fulfillment.

It 1s something like the harvest going on these days over there. That grape, pulled from the vine,crushed and fermented in a kind of death springs to life in winesthat may cheer the lives of many and be used to present to the faithfulthe sacramental presence of the risen Christ in communion.

The story from the Book of Revelation, our first reading today is a great tale from Jewish apocalyptic taken for Christian use. That dragon’s quarrel is actually with the child, not the mother But once the tale is told, how can we separate the two?Mother and son have been so long associated in pain and passion that they come to be associated in gloryThis is our tradition which we celebrate today That’s all there is to it,and this feast is that hope’s fulfillment.

Mary’s Feast is the church’s harvest dayWe assemble here to ask God to raise the barren, the unloved, the forgotten, the poor, the little ones of this earth.We do so from our position of privilege and comfort, in this rich and powerful landin the hope that God’s justice will not pull us down.

The harvest of life in the church for us is a heart marked by conversion,a life lived in justice and mercy, in generosity and kindness.We wonder here today what harvest will be reaped from our lives while we hope to be carried from death to life,and we ask Mary to pray for usnow and at the hour of our death, at the moment of our harvestinto the great barn of God’s merciful reign.

Ordinary 19

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on August 12, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

August 12, 2001 Wisdom 18:609 + Hebrews 11 1-2,8-19 + Luke 12:32-48

Fearless is the disciple of Jesus, and this week’s stop on the Jerusalem journey with Jesus gives us the next characteristic in a simple and straightforward directive. If we were to observe the earliest human behavior in the youngest of children, the first fear deep in the human psyche 1s the fear of abandonment: the fear of being alone. It prompts the first human cry, and it is soothed only by the reassurance of touch. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to remember our own early and lasting fears. That fear of being alone very quickly causes other fears. If I’m alone, then no one is going to take care of me. If I’m alone, no one is going to feed me, give me shelter, protect me. Behavior then begins to address the fear

If I am alone, or I might become alone, then I had better take care of myself. The fear that once alone there might not be enough of whatever I am needing triggers the hoarding, the possessiveness, and all kinds of aggressive behavior and attitudes. These are addressed by Jesus in today’s lesson for disciples. “Sell” and “give” are the directives easy only for those who have no fear The confident assurance that even if we feel alone, the master will return calms the anxious disciple with the assurance that there is always plenty, an “inexhaustible treasure” is the way Jesus refers to what awaits those who will live without fear

The Lukan church was surely troubled and anxious about the absence of the historical Jesus. Slow to believe, slow to trust that Spirit which could settle their fears and their sense of Christ’s absence, this story gives us Luke’s counsel to those who have become anxious in the waiting, and troubled by doubt and fear The disciple without fear attends, waits, watches for the Master’s return confident that it shall happen, and that all will be well.

Jesus calls to a life of discipleship that would certainly be frightening ifwe were to be in it alone. But he never asks that. The community he builds with his words is not based in this world of fear and hoarding, but is in the one true home to which he calls us. In that place we do not need all the things we are told daily we must have out of fear that we will have to take care of ourselves, because no one else will, or stockpile more and more stuff because there’s not enough to go around. We are given the gift of freedom – freedom from fear Embracing that gift, we can look ahead not for something bad to happen, but for the master to return and treat us as friends, not as servants.

Ordinary 17

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on July 29, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

July 29, 2001 Genesis 18: 20-33 + Colossians 2.12-14 + Luke 11 1-13

It is our fifth week in the Jerusalem Journey, exploring the instruction Jesus gives to those who would be his disciples. Poverty, Joy, Mercy, and Hospitality were the first four qualities of discipleship, and I remind you, that what we are discovering here is not what disciples do, but what they are: Poor, Joyful, Merciful, and Hospitable. Today, we look to the First Testament’s reading for our clue as we explore the Gospel passage. Without domg so, we might simply say that it tells us that a disciple is prayerful and let it go at that. Of course of disciple is prayerful, that’s not the point of what Luke has Jesus telling them. The message emerges m the story that follows the prayer

That is where the first reading from Genesis comes in. It’s not about God. It’s about Abraham. There is no need to establish God’s power and reputation. After all, God is God. The ancient one who kept this story alive did so, apparently, in order to praise Abraham as a worthy contender for mercy, even before his Maker Sitting with that story, reading 1t over and over again, I became more impressed with Abraham than with God. There’s no surprise nor revelation about God in this story, but it certainly says a lot about Abraham and his constant, steady, unwavering persistence.

Now, when you hold on to that memory of Abraham, and then listen to the whole of today’s Gospel passage, there is something more going on in Luke’s plan than simply giving us a prayer formula. What the disciples ask of Jesus is not so much how to prayer in words, but how to be successful in prayer, and the response of Jesus is more to be found in the story that follows than in the formula itself.

Abraham discovers that God will have mercy, and what we seem to see here is that mercy is that mercy comes by a partnership: God responds to human compassion to become compassionate. Without compassionate and merciful people, God’s compassion and mercy is not available. Does this mean that without Abraham’s mercy God would not have had mercy? Who knows? What is obvious is that it didn’t happen that way What did happen is that a someone pressed God for mercy and it was granted. There is a partnership revealed here that we dare not ignore.

Herein lies this week’s quality of discipleship: “persistence” or “perseverance.” The application of this quality lies in one’s recognition of the partnership or coalition the disciple has with God, just as those disciples had with Jesus.Perseverance is the key It is the real secret to affective prayer; not the use of the right words, the right formula, or the right sequence of dates. It is perseverance in the relationship no matter how things are going. Yet everything in our culture and this age would make this look foolish. Throw away relationship that fail to make  us feel good all the time, a relentless search and demand for perfection in others, and a growmg sense of entitlement that makes us impatient and intolerant of anything that is slow or a pleasure that is not instant make the disciple whose life is formed around perseverance look oddly out of place. But so it shall be for those who have set their face on Jerusalem and chose to be formed by Jesus Christ along the way

Those who say· “Lord, teach us to pray ” are not seeking a repetition of words, but a breakthrough to the one thmg necessary to keep them on their journey. It is the one unique element of Luke’s lesson on this issue, and a constant theme in his whole Gospel. the Holy Spirit. That is what will be given to those who ask, the very Spirit and Life of God. It won’t be a matter of the little things with which we all sometimes clutter up our prayers with passmg wants, needs, and fears. It will be the Spirit that can and will sustain us through all temptations, tnals, and fears. This is what Jesus has ultimately come to give us, to teach us, and share with us. It is that Spirit which allows disciples of Jesus to take up the words of the Psalm we just used in this liturgy and make its words our own. “I thank you for your faithfulness and love which excel all we ever knew of you. On the day I called, you answered. you increased the strength of my soul. ”

Ordinary 16

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on July 22, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

July 22, 2001 Genesis 18: 1-10 + Colossians 1:24-28 + Luke 10:38-42

The Old Testament reading today will not let us escape what we find in the Gospel. a story of hospitality. What we discover today in this part of the Journey to Jerusalem however is not just a lesson in hospitality, but another dimension of Discipleship.The lesson comes not just from word, but also from example.The stories of Jesus feeding crowds abound in the Gospel. His mandate to the apostles to: “Feed them yourselves” comes off the page into the face of those who always think someone else will or should take care of the hungry. The response of Jesus to the needs of those who came to him is never just “spiritual” He raises a dead girl, and tells the parents. “Give her something to eat.”All through the Old Testament, God is the Divine host who feeds and sustains those who wander the wilderness.Once in their promised land, they always remained sojourners and passing guests there in God’s eyes.Their prayer and their feasts celebrated the Table God had set before them.

In Jesus, Israel’s divine host became incarnate, and the Old Testament quality of hospitality was seen in the images he used for the reign of God as a banquet and in the way he himself was found at dinners, feasts, and banquets with sinners, pharisees, and folks like Martha and Mary. Yet, while Martha and Mary may seem to the host, it is, in the end, Jesus who feeds them with his presence and his word.

Disciples of Jesus, poor, joyful, merciful, and hospitable never forget that they are perpetual guests of a loving and divine host.As guests, our possessiveness and proprietary attitude toward this world’s goods and resources are kept in check.As disciples we are clear in our minds and hearts that it is the Word of God that really provides nourishment for us, and a life devoted to hear that word is first of all concerns.In some ways, Martha and Mary might be seen as one person – the person who received Jesus Christ.There is a balance proposed here: between doing and being, and the disciple knows the difference.

In an age and culture of work that glorifies the workaholic, and rewards with high praise (and low wages) those who revel in 60 and 70 hour work weeks, there is a serious challenge deep in this storyWork becomes an idol because it can produce the much sought after prizes or  comfort, pleasure, and success.In the meantime, relationships disintegrate, not just the relationship with God, but between parents and children, but between spouses and neighbors as well.

An call to integration of work and play, or of act10n and prayer, is what disciples of Jesus hear in this Gospel walking with Jesus to Jerusalem.Having just told the story of Mercy in the Good Samaritan parable, he quickly reminds us that this discipleship is not all about doing, it is also about being. In this case, being hospitable, being good guests, and gracious hosts in spirit of Abraham and the style of Jesus.