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Ordinary 15

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on July 15, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

July 15, 2001 Deuteronomy 30:10-14 + Colossians 1 15-20 + Luke 10:25-37

What is this law the wnter of Deuteronomy speaks of with such passion? What commandment and statute are we so strongly encouraged to keep, and what is it we are to return to the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul? He’s right, this one who writes to us from so long ago. It is not too mysterious or remote.Every descendant of Abraham has it written on their hearts and in their minds. To this day, faithful Jewish people have at their door posts and some wear it on their person. It is the heart of the Book of Deuteronomy For us it is another of the qualities to be found in disciple of Jesus Christ, one so significant and profound that it will take us two weeks to explore it’s depths and implications. It is the law of Love, the theme of the whole of book of sermons that make up Deuteronomy, and the Law Jesus summarized in his life and his preaching: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your mind, and your whole soul, and you shall love your neighbor has yourself.

In the tenth chapter of Deuteronomy, the servant of Yahweh is instructed with all the force of law to: “Love the stranger” In the sixth chapter it is “Love the Lord your God” which the scholar quotes so deftly in his response to Jesus. He knows the law very well. It is the violation of the law of love for the stranger that condemns those who passed by the man at the side of the road. It is the keeping of that law by the Samaritan that sets before us this quality of discipleship. Next week, we shall see again in it’s other side: the Love of God.

“Neighbor Love” or perhaps, “Mercy” as Jesus calls it today becomes the third of the qualities we are called to consider in our own lives this week. First there was Poverty two weeks ago, then there was Joy, last week, and now we find this Mercy, Disciples of Jesus know this quality deep within their being. It is a quality of generosity and compassion. It is not just exceptional moments or a response to disasters, but a quality that is consistent and present all the time. The disciple of Jesus does not just show up when a tornado or hurricane blows through, they do not just learn the name of a neighbor when their house bums down.,They are always aware of human need, and never measure out limits to their compassion, concern, and assistance. “Take care of him. If there is more cost, I will repay you upon my return.” It is never a matter of whether or not those in need deserve assistance. The disciple of Jesus is not a social worker concerned with the solutions of social problems. The disciple of Jesus knows Mercy, and can see the face of God in another human being, and they will not pass by Mercy is that quality of love and compassion when there is every reason for there to be none.

I ran across this little story last week that drives home the point with wonderful clarity It spoke of random acts of kindness, and proposed that they could generate  a tidal wave of goodness. It seems that a woman drove up to a toll booth on the highway and handed the attendant seven tokens instead of just one. “I’m paying for mine and for the next six cars.” she said. As each car pulled up to the booth, the attendant announced, “The lady in the red car paid your toll. Have a nice day!”

Now that’s how Samaritan Love works, or “Mercy”    The lady in the car had no idea who was behind her It didn’t make any difference. This story of Samaritan Love offers a challenge to all who believe in Jesus Christ and would be His disciples to make the practice of random acts of kindness their routine, not an occasional exception, the rule of their lives, not just at toll booths, but hour by hour on the phone, at the desk, in the car, at the table, in the classroom, or in the kitchen, wherever there is another in whom we may see the face of God. Mercy is indiscriminate, or it isn’t Mercy at all. It does not measure or hmit. It is never exclusive nor reserved for someone special. Mercy, for a disciple of Jesus, is something very near, already in our mouths, and in our hearts, and it simply waits to be carried out.

Ordinary 14

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on July 8, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

July 8, 2001 Isaiah 66:10-14 + Galatians 6:14-18 + Luke 10:1-12,127-20

We are presently in a series of Gospel readings taken from a special section of Luke’s Gospel that is often called the “travel narrative” It began last week, and it will continue to the Thirtieth Sunday Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem, and Luke uses this occasion to teach about discipleship: about what it means to be a disciple, and about the human qualities of disciples.

Being task oriented as we have become in our culture, we often get the what mixed up with the who. It’s so easy to begin to shape our identity by what we do rather than by who we are. Recently I was listening to a eulogy during which someone was speaking about the deceased. On and on it went about what the man had done, where he worked, who for, and for how long. Inside I was groaning because that wasn’t who this was, that was what he did, and the man we were honoring was far more than where he worked which to me seemed totally msignificant since I never knew the man before he had retired!

We are forever selling ourselves to the tasks of life, measuring our worth or the worth of another by what we earn, where we work, what we have accomplished, what we drive, and how big the house is. Our children start early with this stuff – their judgements have to do with what they wear on the feet, how many megs on their hard drive, and how fast their internet server!

This way of thinking, so at odds with the Christian message, often finds its way into our reflection and our thinking about who we are as disciples. In other words, we begin to think of discipleship as something we do, as something with very serious duties and responsibilities, and while that is an element, it’s not all there is to it. When that’s all there is, we are stuck, and discipleship is reduced to just another thing we’re supposed to do, sort of like another job or chore added on the rest of life. What we can discover in this section of Luke’s Gospel is another way of looking at ourselves and one another in the context of discipleship rather than in the context of consumer or producer There is more to this calling than something we must do. Being a disciple is what we must become, and that happens first by what we are, not by what we do.

Last week, we got the first of several characteristics or attitudes that are important elements of discipleship – or perhaps we might better say, they are part of the identify the disciple. Poverty is the one I spoke of last week. If you remember, I suggested that it had nothing to do with what we own or do not own, but rather with how we relate to and use what we have for others – in short, whether or not we can give it away, or share it without worry over whether it might be broken or lost is the measure of our poverty.

This week, we get another quality of discipleship, and it springs out of the Poverty, that fundamental and first of them all. Notice how Jesus sends them out­ with nothing: poor. With nothing to worry about, nothing to lose, nothing to pack, carry, or slow them down, they are free, and that quality of freedom from worry and the possessive concerns that seem to weigh down the rich who’s stuff is too good to loan or share, is called._JQy. Notice that attitude in the disciples of this story· “They returned rejoicing” Then, lest they think or we think that their joy has something to do with what they have done, he goes on immediately to say· “Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” It’s who they are, not what they do that matters, that makes them disciples, and fulfills their mission.

Now lest we think that this is about someone else, or about those Apostles, pay attention to the fact that Luke is talking about “others”, nameless ones who are all followers of Jesus – all are sent on this mission of discipleship; all given the divine command; all. All ofus are sent on ahead in Christ’s name. We are emissaries of God. What Christ wants is that others will see Him in us. “Then God said. ‘Let us make humankind in our own image, according to our likeness.” Our calling is to act in God’s behalf, to represent God until he comes in glory..

But, what does this world get? What kind of God do we represent – what is the image this world gets of God from us? It is a profound and a troubling question. A world that longs for a loving, forgiving, God of mercy too often gets a God a judgment, revenge, and punishment. Is that the God we believe in, trust, and hope for? A world that longs for God of patience, and loving understanding often gets intolerance and impatience. Where’s the God we pray to and ask for mercy with confident expectations. Why is it that others cannot find in us the image of the God we want for ourselves? I think it’s because we don’t get the point – fail to understand discipleship and continue to reduce it to tasks, duties, and responsibilities.

As disciples we are called to be poor, and the consequence of that poverty when we have embraced it is Joy, because we are free of anxious concerns and worry about things that have nothing to do with who we are; that have nothing to do with the wonderful news that our names are written in heaven. In the weeks to come through this summer and fall, journey with me to Jerusalem, and let us see what we can discover about what who are called to be, and how discipleship is to be lived. This much we have learned so far· poverty and joy are the first two attitudes by which the disciple lives in this world.

Ordinary 13

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on July 1, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

July 1, 2001 Kings 19:16,19-21 + Galatians 5:1,13-18 + Luke 9:51-62

Those who would follow Jesus are a people called to povertyThose who would follow Jesus are not called to take on a task like working a second job, but rather to make following Jesus everything so completely that it reorders all other duties.

In our quest for Justice, we have gotten a few things mixed up, not the least of them is a confusion of justice with revenge. I’ve said a great deal about that in the past couple of years here, and it would be easy to launch off in that direction again given the fact that Jesus, in this gospel today, rejects revenge entirely But that is not the only example of our confusion about “Justice” It also is evident in our sense of what St. Francis of Assisi used to call. “Sister Poverty” In the clarity of his thinking if not in the radical style of his life, Francis understood poverty For him, and for that matter, all ofus who set our sights on being followers and disciples of Jesus, Poverty is not a social problem. It is not some ill to be solved, cured, and wiped out by an economic system that is “just” “Poverty which makes us uneasy, stirs our passion, and calls into question our economics, laws, and our consumer culture is an issue of Justice. “Poverty” which Jesus commends to his followers, is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved. One is the consequence of injustice, the other is a consequence of a life style and a new way of relating to things and to others.

There is a test of poverty It has nothing to do with annual income. It has to do with what can be shared. If your car is too expensive to let someone use it; it’s too expensive. If your computer is too delicate for anyone else to use, it is too delicate. If your sweater is too god for your sister to wear; it’s too good. The point is not that you have a certain make and model of car, or computer, or designer named sweater If any of it separates you from your neighbor, it is a violation of poverty This has nothing to do with what you may own, but the moment it becomes a problem, you’re in gospel trouble. You see, it’s not about justice, it’s about poverty

It might be “just” to say that someone doesn’t have the ear to use your stereo because they do not share your same refined taste. It might be “just” to think that someone is too plump to look in your sweater, and all of that may be true. But, you are not poor at that point, you are just true. The moment you start finding reasons for not sharing what you have, you are no longer living the virtue of poverty which Jesus proposes is essential for those who would follow him.

You may have good taste. You may have good sense. You may be law abiding, honest, and truthful, but you’re not poor; and you’re in trouble with the gospel.

We are not called to be caseworkers, making distinctions about who should have what, who deserves what, and what will help someone and what will not. That’s what social agencies do. God is poor; God shares the sun and the rain on good and bad alike. What is asked of us is compassion which is an experience of poverty.

Life today is very complicated, but the Gospel is not for those who believe. Jesus still looks for some to follow him, to live in the mystery of poverty It is not a life style that will take diluting, and it cannot be done part time. Faith in Jesus, life in the Gospel is not for Church, Sunday, or times of private prayer It’s for every day and every hour It is everything. We do not take our lives and fit them into the Gospel. We take the Gospel and let it shape our lives, our priorities, our vision, and our relationships. Those who make the way of Jesus their own must be willing to do so first, fully, freely, and forever

The Nativity of John the Baptist

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on June 24, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

June 24, 2001 Isaiah 49:1-6 + Acts 13:22-26 + Luke 1:57-66,80

I have often thought of Elizabeth and Zechariah as being metaphors for the church. I suspect people in those days had pretty well dismissed them as not being very important. They were old, probably old of touch with things, not particularly productive, and probably all that was expected was they might offer a prayer or two now and then. Many look at the church today just the way people may have looked at Elizabeth and Zechariah. They judge thechurch to be quaint, out of touch, and not productive enough to contribute much to society and the human community other than a few prayers now and then. They simply don’t expect much.

Yet, faithful in prayer, non productive on their own, that old couple in the hill country of Judea are a lot like us, the church, going through rituals faithfully, sometimes puzzled by what is asked of us, and silent when we ought not to be. Most of all, we are like them in as much as we are barren if left to ourselves.

The Second Servant Song of Isaiah which we have just heard speaks of being called while still in his mother’s womb. In spite of his early call, the Servant is discouraged about doing God’s will.But God confronts the prophet and promises divine protection and guidance to complete the mission. We see this pattern again and again in the prophets including John and Jesus himself.

What I would like for you to consider in your prayer and reflection on these texts today is that we are the prophetic people called in a church that often looks, feels, and acts like Elizabeth and Zechariah. Yet, we remain faithful in prayer and open to the will and voice of God, even if we don’t quite understand it. In the midst of our prayerful offering, these readings speak like the angel spoke to Zechariah.

We’ve been born here – brought to life here, named here, and no matter how old the church may seem to some, no matter what its critics may say, it is never unproductive when God wishes for a servant, a prophet, or a herald. They always come from here, for that is what we are. I believe that what we proclaim today is not the story of John the Baptist so much as it is the story of any one of us  called to be prophetic and servant. If you can imagine the Church as Zechariah and Elizabeth, then imagine yourself as John. the consequence of prayerful fidelity and openness to God’s plan. For that is, in the end what we are. As a Church, we are not left to ourselves to be productive and fruitful. God works with us just as God worked with that old couple in the hill country What the world might judge to be useless except for a prayer now and then is hardly incapable of producing. We are the result of the God who still visits a people at prayer.

When God called prophets to their mission, they were equipped with what they needed to serve as ambassadors of a divine message. The prophetic Servant is endowed with the cutting and invasive power of the two-edged sword and also protected by God’s arm until that time when he is expected to cany out his mission.

Surely John had moments of reflection on his prophetic call. We must reflect on our call as post resurrection proclaimers of God’s word.And for all of us there is the challenge to look into our lives to see how we can more faithfully follow the exampleof that Servant, John:Making ready the way of the Lord,Stirring up anyone who will listenwith hopes and dreams for a Kingdom not far from us,Recognizing the presence of God in human flesh and blood,and remaining ready to get out of the way because we know and believe that this life is not about us, but about the victory of God’s Love.We are the prophet / servant now,we are the ones who must emerge from the desert of our timid faith to stand boldly in this world and proclaim in word and in deedthat Justice has come, that Peace is at hand, and that Forgiveness sets us free.

The Body and Blood of Christ

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on June 17, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

June 17 2001 Genesis 14:18-20 + 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 + Luke 9:11-17

Anyone of us who has ever engaged in a conversation about religion that eventually moves toward Mass and the Eucharist gets asked the question. If it isn’t asked, someone in the conversation has been holding back. If it isn’t asked, it is certainly thought; and the question. “Do you really believe that?”

A few weeks ago, I asked that question of the children making their first communion. They all insisted that they did believe that the communion they would share was the Body and Blood of Christ, but they have also believed in Santa Clause, Easter Bunny’s and Tooth Fairies. So, I wasn’t too impressed with their response. What I suspect really matters, is whether or not you believe that; and the annual celebration of this Feast brings me to ask myself the same question.

An important aspect of the Catholic imagination, that is to say, the way Catholic Culture views and interprets human experience, events, and memories is its ability to hold many meanings of an event in creative tension instead of isolating a single interpretation. Let me give you an example that is very much to the point: there is the belief and the authentic tradition that the Eucharist is an act of praise and thanksgiving to God expressed in ritual and song. There is an equally authentic tradition that the Eucharist is the “Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.” There is also an equally authentic tradition that says Eucharist is a meal shared in ritual. Any of these traditions can be distorted by exaggeration. Our faith says that the Eucharist is truly a banquet for the multitudes, a memorial of the last meal of a condemned Christ, and the covenant that binds those who share that meal into the relationship which the Incarnation initiates. Any distortion or exaggeration of these equally valid traditions leads to a private appropriation by individuals, and that is contrary to belief.

So, when I ask: “Do you really believe this?” You’ve got to think about and know about what there is to believe.Do you really believe that in touching this food you are in immediate, physical contact with the divine, and that by this food you are freed from sin, redeemed, and made worthy to be God’s own child?Do you really believe that by sharing in this meal, you share in the

Trinity Sunday

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on June 10, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

June 10, 2001

Proverbs 8:22-31 + Romans 5: 1-5 + John 16:12-15

Four of Five centuries before Christ’s birth, the people of Israel had returned to their homeland from the exile. A great poem was composed from which our first reading comes today. It reveals a most significant transition in the expectations of the Israelites.Their hope for an earthly messiah is gone with their earthly king. Returning from exile, they no longer look to a descendant of David to fulfill their hopes. They now tum to God, and the poem reflects their hopes and expectations. But there is a problem with this change, even though it ultimately proves to be the right one. The problem is. this God, their God has no name. What those Israelites seemed to do is name their God after the place where they have encountered the divine presence. The ancient poem which provides the verses of our first reading today is all part of the great search for the name of God. The poet believes that Wisdom is the highest of all virtues, that Wisdom is the source of peace and harmony, of justice and goodness, and so in the poem, Wisdom is the attribute of the Divine, and so poetically the virtue is personified and spoken of as the name of God.

Father, Son, Spirit, are, in a sense like “Wisdom”  human efforts  to hold onto, express in words, and cherish in memory experiences  of God and our greatest hopes for God. When those ancient “Fathers” of the church met in Council to wrestle with and resolve the controversies surrounding the experiences, names, and implications of those names, their efforts focused upon relationships in a more inclusive way than simply virtues. For them, now caught up in the divine self-revelation in the Christian experience, the names have something to do with persons like apparent and child. Even the idea of “Spirit” is directly associated with the companionship of fellow believers, for that experience is always spoken of within the context of the “church” or the assembled believers.

This early summer feast falling year after year on the Sunday after Pentecost is no observance of an event’s anniversary Unlike Pentecost or Easter or Christmas, Trinity is not something that happened. It is something that continues to happen as long as God continues to be revealed among us, and as long as God’s people continue to search for way to express that experience and call that  God by name.

The parents of this baby, and every parent who has ever stood here before us are caught up in an experience of God they could only barely imagine a year ago. Their experience of their love expressed for one another in a relationship that is pure gift from gift now has a name, and they have spoken it among us. They will never be ableto speak that name again without invoking the presence of God who is now, more than ever before, the source of life and love.

Father, Son, Spirit, Wisdom and any other words we use are all our feeble human attempts can manage to express and to hold on to the presence of our God living and moving among us. We may know this God by other experiences we call forgiveness, healing, hope, laughter, peace, or freedom. Whatever it is and however we name it, it will not be enough, and the effort will not stop there.

This early summer feast called “Trinity” is a wake-up call to all who have become complacent in their relationship to God. It is an invitation to continue the search for a new name, a better name, an other name by more deeply reflecting upon what God continues to do for us. These parents will never celebrate Trinity Sunday the same way again, because of what God has done in their lives. God has a new name, God’s presence in their lives is more obvious than ever before; and it must be the same for us all. Perhaps not nearly as public and as dramatic as it has been in the birth of this child, but none the less real.

It’s about God’s names. It’s about the experience of God day in and day out. It’s about our relationship to God and to one another, and our effort to capture that experience and express it in a word.It’s the Feast of the Holy Trinity

Pentecost

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on June 3, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

June 3, 2001

Acts 2:1-11 + 1 Corinthians 12:3-7 12-13 + John 20:19-23

The trouble with the way Luke compresses things in his writing is that we end up thinking that something happened in an instant, that results which is what he’s really telling us about are the consequence of the event he uses to describe the results. In other words, wind and tongues of frre are not the point. What happens to that motley crew of frightened, disheartened and disparate disciples is the point. It’s not a matter of “how”, but a matter of “what” and it is the same for us all.

The trouble is that Luke’s images and version of this event play into our modern day expectations of instant success, instant pleasure, instant everything. Fast food, internet connections, one hour glasses at the Mall, and digital cameras all play into this “thing” that has happened to us with the result that we can’t and don’t want to wait. We get impatient with things that just take time, and begin to miss out on the opportunities that are there for people willing to put in time at practice, study, and reflection.

Personally, I like John’s version of Pentecost (that coming of the Spirit) much better than Luke’s. At least with John, the relationship with Jesus is in tact. Matthew and Mark don’t even attempt to deal with it. Maybe because their writing is so much earlier that the results or “consequences” of the Spirit’s presence are not yet so obvious that they have begun to wonder how it happened. They simply deal with the great commissioning that gets lost in the pyrotechnics of Luke’s version.

What has happened to these people is the issue here – and the only reason to tell the story again is to try and make sense of what has happened to us, if anything.

In a word, they became a church, a united, praying, preaching, serving assembly of believers witnessing to the person and mission of Jesus Christ. The point of celebrating Pentecost and telling again the stocy from Luke and from John is to ask ourselves what’s happening to us. Is there any similarity? Forget about the wind (which is hard to do in Oklahoma), forget about what “seem tobe tongues of fire” and pay attention to the results – unity, prayer, service, witness through a life style and values rooted in the Life

and Values of Jesus Christ. To whatever extent we can measure ourselves and growth in that direction, then there’s been a Pentecost for us too. In fact, it has nothing to do with language, but everything to do with unity and an ability to cut through the externals that often defme and divide us and discover what we have in common as children of God. It has nothing to do with wind or breath, but everything to do with Life and Creation as we hear of it in Genesis. It has nothing to do with fire, but everything to do with purification, illumination, and the passion to live as Jesus lived.

We celebrate this Feast because it is ours, not because of something that happened to the group freightened and barely loyal disciples a long time ago. We celebrate this Feast because of what is happening to us, slowly but surely, patiently, and progressively as we become more and more Church, a people living by grace, filledwith blessings and gifts too numerous to count. In a world suddenly conscious of ethnic origins and identities made clear by language difference fiercely possessed, we run the risk of losing the real identity that matters, our identity in Jesus Christ.

The hope this Feast and its readings stir within us is that we shall not become impatient and give up the effort, that we shall not tire of the struggle to grow stronger in faith and more clear of purpose, that we shall not grow weary of the long struggle for justice and for peace. What those disciples became, we are becoming, but not in an instant. Although we are countless generations removed from those first disciples who were spirited and dispatched for duty by Jesus, we are nonetheless sharers in the same Spirit and participants in creations eternal encore.

As we assemble to celebrate the abiding gift of the Spirit today, I give you the words of the John Chrysostom, a bishop in the fourth century “You are not only free, but also holy, not only holy but also just; not only just, but also sons and daughters; not only sons and daughters, but also heir; not only heirs, but also brothers and sisters of Christ, but also join heirs, not only join heirs, but also members, not only members, but also temples, not only temples, but also the instruments of the Spirit.”

The Ascension of the Lord

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on May 27, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

May 27 2001 Acts 1.1 11 + Ephesians 1.17-23 + Luke 24:46-53

The traffic on that road to Jerusalem must have been like the Broadway extension at 7.30 on a weekday morning. If you stop to think about it, the gospel events and stories that take place on that road are numerous, and a lot of significant things seem to happen to folks who are either coming or going along that road to Jerusalem. Now, much of the time, given the fact that the Gospelis not about History, but rather about God’s revealed Word, the Jerusalem spoken of is not so much a city in the middle east,but a goal, or destination for all of human life, especially for those who have followed Jesus “to Jerusalem” Today’s episode from Luke is no exception. When Luke says that they returned to Jerusalem filled with Joy, I think he means that they went on with their lives – on to heaven if that word works better – ftlled with Joy   In fact, what we have here is the last sentence of Luke’s Gospel: “They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.

Now I think everyone reads stories a little differently I do know some people who go to the end of a novel and read it first before they start at the front. I know too that there is always that tension when you’re talking about some great book or story or film with someone who hasn’t seen it. Do you tell them how it ends, or not? Do you want to know, or do you want to be surprised and experience the unfolding of the story? That’s always an issue, and it’s part of Luke’s technique as well.

We’ve just been through the story from birth till now It’s been a dramatic story with fmely developed characters: Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, Family and Friends. Peter, Andrew, James, John, young people, old people, sick people, powerful and influential people. It’s a huge cast. It’s a story of uncertainty, betrayal and love, passion, forgiveness, murder, the great conflict of truth and lie, of power and weakness, of darkness and light, innocense and guilt, of rescue, fear, and intrigue. Today, we fmd out how it ends and in doing so, we might begin to wonder: “Who’s story is this?” Has it been about Jesus, or has been about the Disciples of Jesus? Maybe both, but certainly not one without the other.

As are as we can tell, knowing what comes in part two: Acts of the  Apostles, this has been as much about the disciples as it has been about Jesus, and in part two even more so. What we find out today in the last verse is how it all ends. We find out what happens to people who live lives in the companionship of Jesus Christ, who are his disciples, meaning that they are learning from him every step of the way.

What we find out today is what happens to those who experience forgiveness when they have been unfaithful friends, who believe what He has taught, trust, what he has revealed, and are obedient to and seek the Will of the one who sent him. They are a people who go on through to the end, to “Jerusalem” They are a people whose journey to that “Jerusalem” is marked by “Joy” This “Joy” which is such a fundamental Christian Virtue is not a kind of silliness that would see disciples skipping off down the road carefree and mindless of the suffering all around them, untouched by tragedy and disappointment. It is rather, the consequence of “Peace” as we heard of it last week.

Free of fear, confident in hope, and assured that no matter what, disciples of Jesus shall not be alone. They live with a firm and confident attitude called, “Joy” that is more than a feeling or sentiment. It is greater than what we know as ‘happiness’, because happiness is fleeting, comes and goes. Disciples of Jesus know that things work out right in the end, because that is what the story tells us. the story of Jesus and the story of His disciples.

Perhaps stricken with grief, they let go of their friend and companion much as we let go of spouses and parents, and sometimes of children when they leave us in this life. Yet, we are able to turn and continue on to Jerusalem with joy, because we know the end of the story

Easter 6

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on May 20, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

May 20, 2001 Acts 15:1,2,22-29 + Revelation 21.10-14,22-23 + John 14:23-29

Last week, John speaks of Glory This week, he speaks of Peace.Both are powerful, nurturing, and tangible signs of the Spirit’s presence in human life – they are the treasures of the incarnation. What is of concern here is the status of the disciples after the departure of Jesus. This whole section of John’s Gospel deals with what and how the disciples are to live (which is obedience) and relate to this world (in love), especially as they wait for the return of Christ, using certain gifts to sustain them in the wait.

Peace is one of them, and it is the immediate consequence of the indwelling or the realized union of God Father and Son living in the disciple. “An abiding presence”. a Comforter, Counselor, Consoler, Advocate, Strengthener, Helper, Someone to stand by you…….. allterms struggling to express in English, the Greek word. “Paraclete.” This gift, this “Spirit” sets the disciples off from the world. It is how and why they are in this world and not of this world.

The “peace” of which John speaks is ultimately the overcoming of fear – a kind of total well being. Like “love” it is, for John, the hallmark of being a disciple of Jesus. This gift then, which is the center of today’s Gospel is not the absence of trouble. The world’s peace is the peace of escape, denial, avoidance, a “peace” that comes from refusal to face things.

The peace which Jesus offers us is the peace of conquest, something that no experience in life can ever take from us. It is the peace which no sorrow, no danger, no suffering can make less. It is independent of outward circumstances. This peace frees us from fear, not from trouble.

One of the drawbacks or weaknesses of the Pentecostal movement we have experienced in our generation is that it proposed that the presence of the Spirit was manifested by a kind of outward giddiness or wide eyed joyful piety that generated prayerful gestures or postures and was accompanied by a certain genre of music and vocabulary of prayer like: “Praise the Lord!” or a chorus a “Amens” and “Alleluias” to every good feeling and sentiment. While there certainly may be nothing wrong with that experience or piety, it is  far  from what John was expressing and proposing as the Gift of the

Spirit. The sense of this Gospel is that manifestations of the Spirit’s presence in one’s life is more in terms of Courage and Hope. The spirit filled in John’s gospel are those who stand before tragedy, disappointment, pain, and sorrow with courage. They are not overcome by the inevitable confusion, doubt, and fears in this life.In fact, the real witness to the spirit is that Fear does not run their  lives, Hope does. They do make decisions out of fear: caring about what others will think or say about them, they make them out of love and obedience to the Will and Word of God. When we know what is right, it is the Spirit that makes us bold. When we know how to face injustice, our own disappointments, or the challenge of our own death, the gift we have will be sufficient, because we are not alone.

We proclaim the Gospel of John today, and we bear witness to the gift we have received in the Spirit of God. a spirit of courage and of hope made all the more powerful by the indwelling of God in our hearts, our minds, and again through the sacrament of this table, in our very flesh and blood.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” he says to us, and that is the whole, entire, heart of the Gospel and it is the Word of the Lord.

Easter 4

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on May 6, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

May 6, 2001 Acts 13:14,43-52 + Revelation 7:9,14-17 + John 10:27-30

It’s not about sheep nor shepherds. It’s about knowing and being known. It’s about relationships, mutuality, and the “art” of maintaining, nurturing, and building relationships that are lasting and life-giving. It’s about making our relationship with God through Jesus Christ the model and normative for all our relationships, which means of course, that our relationship with God is as important as our relationship with anyone else.

Without an agrarian experience providing the image for this day’s Gospel, we have to work a little harder to get the point, and we can’t stop and settle down with sentimental pastoral images of wooly lambs that individualize and privatize the image – we must also keep this image in the context of the flock.

To those without experience, all sheep look alike, and the prospect or really knowing one from another when there’s a large number of them is a challenge. At night, shepherds brought their flocks together, and take turns with patrol and watch through the night. They bang their staff and rattle things to keep away predators and make thieves aware of the vigilance. When day break comes, each shepherd has a special call which then disentangles the larger flock. The sheep know their shepherd, just as much as each shepherd know which sheep are his. There’s the point – mutuality

Every sheep is known by it’s shepherd, and eveiy one of the sheep knows which shepherd to follow. Those sheep know their shepherd’s call. They hear his voice and recognize it above all the other sounds and distractions around, and therein lies the challenge of this gospel and its invitation. The call is there, the voice is there.

Telephones ring; beepers summon us, e-mails arrive; spouses, children, careers, make endless demands on our time, energy, attention, dedication. We have homes to clean or to repair, meals too cook, newspapers to read, children to take to endless sporting events, and there are other demands we might not want to think about like drinking, gambling, drugs or the computer serving of pornography Then there’s eating, shopping, television, all of which  are our little addictions adding to the cacophony of voices that drown out the Voice. It is so easy for us, unlike the sheep, to run to another call, or become so busy and distracted that we heed nothing but the noises of the sheep all around us a miss the call of our shepherd.

We are so quick to expect God to hear our call when there’s trouble, and we have every right to live with that hope, given the price that was paid for us, but perhaps the one who calls would like things to be a little more mutual, and for that reason, he speaks to us the words of this days’ gospel. For it is God who speaks these words to us, God who calls us, God who wants us.

In an endlessly busy world that does not slow down for a moment, a world in which even blessing over food before we eat can seem a rather quaint and uncomfortable custom, it is not surprising that it is all to easy for us to lose the capacity to pause, to reflect on who we are and whose we are, and above all else, ceaselessly, gladly, joyfully, listen. Yet, that is all that is asked of us, that we listen, to listen to the endless call to the water, to follow where ever he leads. That’s all he asks. Listen.