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Lent 6 Passion Sunday

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on March 24, 2013
Posted in: Homily.

March 24, 2013 at Saint Mark Catholic Church in Norman, OK

Isaiah 50, 4-7 + Psalm 22 + Philippians 2, 6-11 + Luke 22, 14 – 23, 56

The proclamation of the Passion so easily allows us to be spectators when in fact we are disciples. We must not listen to the passion. We must learn from the Passion. Jesus teaches all the way till his last breath, and then he even teaches from the tomb. If we have chosen to be in the this church, then there is no place for us except as disciples learning again from the master. There is no room in the Passion nor in the church for spectators. When it comes down to the Passion and Holy Week, it’s time to get on your knees and learn from the master.

The movies and the media and some shallow spiritualities might want to impress us with the ugliness, the suffering, the injustice, and the persecution, and that might be fine for moment or two, but you can’t stop there. The Passion of Christ is not about how Christ suffered, what happened to him, and how awful we might think it was. The Passion of Christ is about his response, not his persecution.

For a long time before Jesus, people persecuted each other, and it has continued without a pause since Jesus himself suffered and died. People die horrible deaths. Innocent people die too, put to death by legal injection, the miscarriage of justice and the abuse of power and authority. Christ is still suffering in the poor, the abused, and victims of violence all over this earth. The tragedy is that it is all so common, and so disciples must look to the master to learn from him the response to all this because the Passion is not about suffering and persecution. It is about the response of Jesus.

Watch and learn from the master. Despite his fear and his agony, he is focused on God and on others. He meets women who are weeping for him, and he tells them to weep for themselves. He hangs there with a criminal, and he comforts him with a promise of Paradise. No matter what happens in this Passion, it is never about him. He remains attentive and focused on God and the needs of others.

Our world has been filled with suffering and pain since the first humans made their appearance. What is new is the response of Jesus to that pain. No complaint. No whining, No blaming. No excuses, and no denial. It’s all for others; total selflessness and sacrifice out of love. This is something new in the face of something old. Learning that lesson, some have risen up with hope and courage in the face of  injustice and pain in this world ready and willing with courage and faith risk persecution and hatred and bring comfort, hope, and relief to the suffering never thinking of themselves.

This is what we can learn from the Passion; not how Christ died, but what he still teaches us through his death about hope, about sacrifice, and about love for others.

Let the Holy Week begin, and let this world be filled with people who learn from the master’s suffering how to respond.

Lent 5

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on March 17, 2013
Posted in: Homily.

March 17, 2013 at Saint Mark Catholic Church in Norman, OK

Isaiah 43, 16-21 + Psalm 126 + Philippians 3, 8-14 + Luke 8, 1-11

I have always disliked this Gospel story. I don’t like the thought of that woman standing there in her shame in front of a bunch of haughty accusers pointing at her, threatening her, and challenging Jesus. It is just an ugly scene, an ugly thought, a sad moment that really only resolves kindly for that woman. The rest of us are left standing there looking down.

I don’t like the fact that she is being used. This is not about her, and it is not about adultery. It is about those scribes and pharisees with all their self-righteous moral superiority using that woman to trap Jesus and prove themselves so law abiding and innocent. I just don’t like it when people get used by other people to make themselves look good. It happens all the time, because people who want to look good are not good, or at least do not feel good about themselves, so they have to use someone else or tear them down with their accusations, gossip, or whispered stories that may or may not be true.

I don’t like the fact that she is there alone. It takes two to commit that sin. Where is that guy? Did he slip away in the confusion of being caught? In that culture, according to the Book of Deuteronomy (22,22) which those scribes and pharisees knew very well, both were to be killed. They are not enforcing the law. Maybe the husband set the trap knowing that she would be killed. Perhaps some enemies of his set the trap in order to shame him. It is impossible to decide but the embarrassment of the situation is surpassed only by the malice of setting the trap to catch the partners in the act. There is ugly malice here, and it isn’t adultery.

Of course, the trap for the woman only a setup for the trap being set for Jesus which is what this is all about. If Jesus urges them to release the woman, he violates the law, and they will pounce on him faster than they did on the woman. If he orders her to be stoned, he will be in trouble with the Romans who have taken away the right of capital punishment from the Judeans.

He doodles on the ground. It was and still is what people did at that time and place when they are thinking. Finally he responds to their badgering by challenging this zealous lynch mob to consider their motives. He asks them to think about why they are there, and that stops them in their tracks, because their righteous goal is motivated by the wrong reason; and that’s not a good way to accomplish something right. Doing the right thing for the wrong reason never makes it the right thing no matter what.

In the end, it seems to me that the scribes and pharisees are the ones caught, not just the woman. In a world where getting caught now seems to be worse than what you were caught doing, the story leaves us with more than enough to think about for the rest of Lent as we prepare for Passion Week. It’s almost as though unless we get caught doing wrong, we can keep on going without a thought about what’s going on. Sadly, our children are learning this all too quickly. They seem to spend more time in denial and lying, covering up and devising schemes to not get caught than they might in looking at why they do those things in the first place. We have taught them this behavior, and it is like a virus spreading widely and wildly.

The consequence of all this is a lot of resentment, revenge and anger. We seem to resent mercy, and we find the easy forgiveness of Jesus a little hard to imitate. In him we find no revenge even toward the scribes and pharisees who try so hard to trap him. At best, this ugly story can give us hope for the day when we shall stand before the judge, the prophet, the Son of Man in all our guilt and shame and hope that there will be no rush to judgement, and that having used others far too often, accused, and blamed others, we might escape the stoning and death we deserve.The one who said: “Behold, I make all things new.” is remaking the look of justice. The best we can do is stand there in grateful awe and silence waiting for the look of mercy. If that is our hope, we might have a better chance that it would come true by beginning to practice and share that mercy with each other, lifting the burden of shame, purifying all our motives for the good that we do, and making sure that we never again use anyone to make ourselves look better while embracing the truth that we are sinners hoping for forgiveness and we have no business holding stones in our hands.

Lent 4

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on March 10, 2013
Posted in: Homily.

March 10, 2013 at Saint Mark Catholic Church in Norman, OK

Joshua 5, 9-12 + Psalm 34 2 Corinthians 5, 17-21 Luke 15, 1-3, 11-32

There is something more important and deeper than the story of an apple, a snake, and two people at the beginning of Genesis. Some like to think it is the story of sin, and what some call, “Original Sin.” I have no argument with  that interpretation. It simply doesn’t matter to me. It seems to me that getting all hung up on Adam and Eve an their sin in Paradise is the beginning of the blame game.  It becomes very easy to blame them for everything, and act as though their sin is the cause of my sin, which of course is silly since that thinking proposes that we have no choice and are so helpless that we cannot say “No” to temptation.

At this age of my life, I am beginning to see a little deeper into that story and see it from another angle; one which today’s Gospel proposes to us. I wonder how it is that finding themselves in that Paradise, living in such innocent and pure intimacy with God, with each other, with all of creation with everything in all creation at their disposal, they refused to be happy, to enjoy, and live with glad satisfaction in those circumstances. To put it simply; was wrong with them? Why could they not live that joy?

What this story then becomes and reveals is the beginning of our refusal to accept and live in the joy of being in God’s presence. Despite being placed in this wonderful world, despite being called into this beautiful community of faith in which we can experience daily the presence of Christ handed on for us in the Holy Eucharist, in spite of the blessed assurance of God’s love revealed in the Word of God we proclaim so boldly, we still refuse the joy.

Every member of the human family with the exception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and our Lord himself has become preoccupied with our own effort to find joy in everything but the free gift of God’s graceful love. We seem to prefer our own insufficient and short-lived efforts to find joy and contentment everywhere else. The consequence is a world of sadness, loneliness, stress, addiction, or despair. We ignore and sometimes refuse the abiding joy that God longs to give us.

I wonder sometimes if we do this because it is too good to be true, or because we cannot imagine a reality beyond ourselves, beyond what we can think of or create or control. Whatever the reason to see and our refusal to enter into the joy that God offers us, we have the source of sadness, sinfulness, and in the end the real possibility of our eternal loss.

Look at this Gospel story. It is our story. Not many of us can identify with the younger son so don’t spend a lot of time on that piece of this story unless you know you have run off and squandered it all. Not too many of us can identify with the father unless you’re really close to God and God-like behavior. I like to think of him in connection with last week’s parable where the fig tree had a champion to hoe, fertilize, and water for one more year. Whoever that was; they didn’t give up on the tree just like this father does not give up on either son. He waited, like God waits. He never said to the rest of the family: “Forget it, he’s always been that way, and he’ll never change.”  I doubt that he even changed the locks on the house! Did you ever notice that they had a fatted calf on hand?  I’ve always suspected that the father kept one ready for that day when it would be needed.

It seems to me that if we want to bring this parable to life, we ought to take a good look at that older son, the who has everything, the one who is always there, like you and me in this church week and after week, the one so favored and so gifted by this generous father. We’re the ones who have it all, at least all that we need. We are the ones who live in the father’s presence. Yet, we all have spells when we refuse the ultimate gift provided by this generous father, the gift of joy that comes from sharing the father’s joy, from embracing and joining in a blessed reunion, and participating in the father’s generosity.

Fortunately for us, the father keeps waiting, keeps coming out, keeps calling us to come and share the joy, to realize with joy all that we have been given, to embrace with joy the promise made to those who choose to live in his house, to be watchful and quick to welcome those who have run off seeking their own pleasures and fortune, and finally to share the joy that comes from intimacy and the favor of feasting at this table.

In John’s Gospel at the last supper, Jesus prays intensely: “As the father loves me so I also love you. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain his love. I have told you this so that my joy might in in you and your joy might be complete.”

This Joy that Jesus offers us is not something that can be found by human ingenuity or cleverness. It comes from our relationship with Christ and through Him with His Father. It is the surest sign of a shared life and love of God. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit at work in us. It is this joy that guards and strengthens us in the face of every trial and trouble. The Joy that flows from Spirit is not what we feel when we accomplish something and get the praise of others; it is peace and confidence when our best plans go wrong, when we experience the ridicule and criticism of others.

Already in this season, we anticipate the joy of Easter. This is no time for gloomy and reluctant disciplines that make us miserable, but a season when we endure with joy the things that will lead us not to just one Easter day, but a life time, and an eternity of Easter glory.

Lent 3

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on March 3, 2013
Posted in: Homily.

March 3, 2013 at St Mark Catholic Church in Norman, OK

Exodus 3, 1-8. 13-15 + Psalm 103 + 1 Corinthians 10, 1-6.10-12 + Luke 13, 1-9

It’s a vineyard, what is that fig tree doing there? This should make you curious. For years I wondered about that when I would hear this Gospel. It’s a vineyard for growing grapes, not an orchard. There is some odd disorder about this fig tree in a vineyard that ought to make us curious. Fig trees bear fruit through most of the year. In that part of the world, only April and May finds them without some fruit. So now and then they might be planted in a vineyard where grapes were more unpredictable. But land for growing food was very precious and scarce. Even more so was the water. So Luke takes us to a vineyard today. Along with a banquet, a vineyard is the most frequent and ancient image of the Church in the New Testament. 

At the first level, Jesus is speaking to the Jews who are not responding to his message. He is giving them one last chance to respond, that is to say, bear fruit. Luke uses this parable for that early Christian community who are still living among the Jews, yet already populated by Gentiles. It would seem that among them are some who are not bearing any fruit. Like a fig tree in the vineyard, they are taking up space, using up water which the vines need, but there is no fruitfulness from their presence. Now we proclaim this parable once more remembering what the vineyard means as a symbol of the faithful community, the church, grafted onto the Christ: the true. So it is important to listen to this gospel with these images in our mind.

I like to call this parable, “The Last Chance Story”. It is today proclaimed to us with the same images and challenges as before; the same reminder and same message. It invites us to reflect upon on our place in the vineyard of the Church; to wonder about our own fruitfulness, about whether or not we take or give. It proposes that we might give some serious thought about what we’re doing here and why: taking up space, using up the resources (like the fig tree uses up water) or do we contribute something by way of bearing fruit.

The story should out to be heard along with all the other fig tree stories. There are several, and in all of them there is a serious expectation that fruit is to be produced. In Matthew chapter 3, John the Baptist says: “Even now the axe is laid to the roots of the trees, so that any tree which fails to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire.” His voice speaks again in Luke’s 3rd chapter with the same assurance that “any tree which fails to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire.” It was John’s belief that with the coming of Jesus an hour of destiny had come: bear fruit, or be cut down. Mark’s gospel uses the same image even more powerfully. In the 11th chapter, Jesus walks by a tree that is not bearing fruit and complained. The next morning his disciples walked by that tree again and it had “withered to the roots”, says the Gospel.

The message of the parable could not be more clear. If we are in this vineyard, then something is expected of us. We can’t simply be here taking up space and using up the nutrients without producing something. Uselessness invites disaster. A useless fig tree is threatened with destruction. Here we come to one of the most fundamental aspects of what Jesus has to say about life. Goodness is a positive thing. One of the most frequent we hear all the time is terribly off the mark: “I didn’t do anything wrong.” or “I never hurt anyone.” The person who says or thinks that way is living under the impression that this is goodness. But the demand of Jesus is not, “Have you done no harm?” It is, “What good have you done?” The basic sin is to take more out of life than your put in. The basic Christian test is not “what did you get out of life.” but “What did you put in?” It is the same with our life as a church.  You ought to ask yourself on the way home what you put in, now what you got out of this hour?

The greatest problem that put this fig tree in danger of destruction was that it failed to realize its own possibilities. It had in its nature to be the most productive of all fruit trees. In this case, it had even more going for it, because it was planted in a fertile and productive vineyard, but it was in fact still fruitless. What a tragedy!

Two last thoughts about this fig tree.  It had a champion that begs for just one more chance. There was someone willing to dig around it, fertilize, and encourage it. Then there is one more thing a little more ominous that can’t be denied or avoided. There is a limit. After one more year, the limit for the fig tree came. I believe this Gospel says to us that there is a final chance, there is a limit. It would be dangerous to live in denial of this fact. It is a law of nature that when we fail to us a faculty or ability given to us, we will lose it. If you live long enough in the dark, you will go blind. If you don’t use an arm or a leg long enough, it will atrophy. If we consistently refuse or avoid the invitation and challenge of Christ we will become incapable of accepting it, in which case, it is not God who condemns, we who do it to ourselves.In the midst of this season when prayer, abstinence, fasting, and charity are used to hoe around us and stir us to life, we have this brilliant parable to remind, to challenge, and invite us to question and examine just what we’re doing here and how much fruit comes from our presence and whether or not we risk destruction by delay and denial.

Union City, OK Saint Joseph Church

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on February 19, 2013
Posted in: Parish Missions.

February 19, 2023 “The Journey To Jerusalem.”

This evening, tomorrow, and Thursday, we are going to make a pilgrimage, a journey to Jerusalem along with Jesus and his disciples. Chapters 9 to 19 of Luke’s Gospel are a single unit in which Luke has Jesus gather about him those who closest and most faithful; those he would now instruct in a very direct and personal way. Jesus has finished his mission to the crowds, and he sets face toward Jerusalem knowing fairly well what would happen there. As yet, the disciples do not know, and perhaps that is better since they listen more openly without any great anxiety about what is going to happen at the end of the journey.

While we are together these three evenings, I am going to read those ten chapters to you, and we will imagine that we are walking along on the way to Jerusalem, which for us these days is Holy Week. The verses of these chapters will come up again during the summer months of this year, and perhaps having listened and prayed our way through these chapters now, they come alive like never before when you hear them in the summer.

What Jesus does is propose some virtues that are necessary for being faithful followers and for remaining his disciples. In some of the episodes, those virtues are very obvious, in a few it will take some reflection to understand what he proposes. As I have lived with these verses and preached from them for 45 years, I have come up with a list of 19 virtues or characteristics by which we can identify disciples of Jesus Christ. At the end of the evening, I am going to pass out a list of them, and you can use that list to guide yourself and to listen to these chapters on your own. I would suggest that you will get more out of this mission if your read those ten chapters with the list at your side tomorrow and the next day while you are at home. Just to get you started, the characteristics I see that Jesus proposes and the virtues he would want in his disciples are: Poverty, Joy, Mercy, Hospitality, Persevering, Rich Fearless, Zealous Saved Humble, Prudent, Watchful, Wise, Aware, Dutiful, Grateful, Persistent, Justified, and Repentant. Let’s get started and watch how this unfolds.

Read 9: 51-62.

Now those who would follow Jesus are a people called to poverty. They are not called to take on a second job, but rather to make following Jesus everything so completely, that it reorders all other duties. “I will be your follower wherever you go.” Says that man who speaks for us, and the response of Jesus proposes Poverty. Now the “poverty” that Jesus commends to his followers is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved. Poverty in the Gospel is not a social problem, some ill to be solved, cured, and wiped out by an economic system that is “just” The poverty that makes us uneasy, stirs our passion, and calls into question our economics, laws and our consumer culture is an issue of Justice. Poverty that Jesus commends to his followers is a way of life, 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’s too expensive. If your computer is too delicate for anyone else to use, it’s too good. If your sweater is too good 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. The point is, 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 or how much, but the moment it become a problem, you’re in gospel trouble. You see, it’s not about justice, it is 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 refined taste. It might be “just” to think that someone is too fat to look good in your sweater, and all that may be true. But, you are not poor at that point, you are just truthful. 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 are not poor, and you are in trouble with the Gospel. We are not called to be caseworkers making decisions about who should have what, who deserves what, and what will help someone and what will not. That is what social agencies do. What is asked of us is compassion which is an expression of poverty. God is poor; God shares the sun and the rain on good and bad alike.

Life today is complicated, but the Gospel is not complicated for those who believe. Jesus still looks for some to follow him, to live the mystery of poverty. Let’s keep moving along with Jesus.

Read 10, 1-12 and 17-20

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 whose stuff is too good to loan and share is called JOY. Notice that attitude in the disciples when they return. It says, “they returned rejoicing.” Then, lest they think that the joy has something to do with what they have done, Jesus goes on immediately to say: “Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” You see, it is who they are that matters, no what they do. This was for them, and is still for us a constant challenge. We keep getting the WHAT mixed up with the WHO, and so we shape our identity by what we do rather than by who we are. This starts a bad cycle of thinking. We measure 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.

This thinking is at odds with the Gospel. Discipleship is not so much what we do as who we are. Being a disciple is what we must become, and that happens first by what we are not by what we do. If it’s just a matter of doing something, then discipleship is just another job, one more thing on the list of what have to get done. The doing comes from the being. 

Not too long ago I was listening to a eulogy at a funeral home in Norman, and someone was speaking about the deceased. On and on it went about what the man had done, where he worked, for whom, and for how long. I began to think I was going to be the next on dead before he sat down! I was groaning inside because that was not who that man was, all that talk was what he did, and the man we were honoring was far more than where he worked. To me that was all insignificant since I never knew the man until he had retired. He was a holy man, a just man, a kind man. Those things had nothing to do with his work and what his job accomplished.

Disciples of Jesus are full of joy sent on a mission as emissaries of God. What Christ wants is that others will see him in us. But what does the world get? It is a troubling question. A world that longs for a loving, forgiving God of mercy too often gets a God of judgment, revenge, and punishment. A world that longs for a God of patience and understanding often gets intolerance and impatience. As disciples we re called to be poor, and the consequence of that poverty when we embrace it is Joy. We have Joy because we are free of anxious concerns and worries 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.  Poverty and Joy are the first two attitudes by which the disciple lives in this world.

Read 10, 25-37

Poverty, Joy, and now 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 blows through. Nor do they just learn the name of a neighbor when their house burns 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.

Random acts of kindness can generate a tidal wave of goodness. There is a story told about a woman who drove up to a toll booth and handed the attendant the money for seven cars instead of just her own. “I’m paying for mine and 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.”  That is simply samaritan love at work: Mercy. The lady had no idea who was behind her. It did not make any difference. The 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 limit. 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.

Read: 10, 38-42

 Disciples of Jesus are poor, joyful, merciful, and hospitable. They 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 hearing that word is the first of all concerns. In some ways, Martha and Mary might be seen as one person – the disciple who received Jesus Christ. There is a balance proposed here between doing and being, the disciple knows the difference.

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

A call to integrate work and play, or action 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, Jesus 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. So often in other places in the Gospels, Jesus arrives as the guest, and ends up acting the host. His disciples living his example can hardly not be the same.

Read: 11, 1-13

Poverty, Joy, Mercy, Hospitality, and one more for tonight. At first glance you might want to think it’s prayerfulness, but that’s too easy, and that is something to be presumed. I do not think the disciples are asking Jesus to give them words. They know how to pray. They all grew up in a synagogue. They want to know the secret of successful prayer. They have seen it at work in Jesus, and they want to know the secret, and that secret is perseverance. The real secret to effective prayer is not using the right words, the right formula, or the right sequence of days and dates. It is perseverance in the relationship no matter how things are going.

Everything in our culture and this age would make this look foolish. Throwing away relationships that fail to make us feel good all the time, a relentless search and demand for perfection in others, and a growing 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 loo oddly out of place. But so it shall be for those who have set their face on Jerusalem and chosen 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 thing necessary to keep them on their journey. It is the one unique element of Luke’s lesson on this issue, and 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 passing wants, needs, and fears. It will be the Spirit who can and will sustain us through all temptations, trials, and fears. This is what Jesus has ultimately come to give us, to teach us, and share with us. Perhaps the best prayer of all, and the most sincere prayer is not, “Our Father who art in heaven….” but, “Come Holy Spirit.”

Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament now takes place

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Read: 12, 32-48

Fearless is the disciple of Jesus, and this stop on the Jerusalem journey with Jesus gives us the next attribute I want to talk about with you. If you did some reading on your own, you may notice that I skipped one from the list, “rich.” Three nights will just not get through every one in great detail, but if you read the Gospel text, you know that just before this passage in chapter twelve, there has been a lesson through a great parable about a man whose life is empty in spite of all his accumulated things. He is a fool because he can think about is how to hang on to it. The disciple of Jesus knows how to set worthy priorities. Disciples know that they are recipient of many gifts, none of which is their own possession; that everything belongs to God and 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. The disciple uses what they have not to get more, but to be more: more faithful, more generous, more like God, more concerned, and more responsible for the needs of an another.

So now we come the next attribute of a disciple: fearlessness. If we observe the earliest human behavior in the youngest of children, the first fear deep in the human psyche is 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 fear. That fear of being alone 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 might be 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 the verses we just heard. Sell and Give are the directives easy only for those without fear. The confidence that,a 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.

That church Luke is writing to at first was surely troubled and anxious about the absence of Jesus. Slow to believe, slow to trust that Spirit which could settle their fears and their sense of Christ’s absence, this story give us Luke’s counsel to those who have coming anxious in the waiting, and are 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.

The life Jesus calls us to would certainly be frightening if we 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 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.

Read: 12, 49-53

To get the attribute of a disciple in this text, you have to look closely at Jesus to see what it is about him disciples are to imitate. It all it ZEAL, but not in the sense of a fanatic, but rather in the sense of one whose life has meaning, purpose, and destiny. It is living with a focus and firm sense 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 what purpose they have life. that is the virtue one must find and cultivate as a disciple. Those who zeal in their lives are people who a 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 challenges of doctrine, truth, or conversion in one’s life. Zeal 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 their 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 something vibrant 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 are convinced that Jesus is coming soon even though you might see a bumper sticker now and then that says so. Few are inclined to reflect upon the second coming of Jesus at all, much less do it with glad eagerness. But those who live with zeal find meaning to their lives, read the signs of the times, and are always in the presence of God. They know who they are and where they are headed.

Read: 14, 1,7-14

Now those of you who are picky and watching the list should give me a break. I am passing over another on the list I gave you. It is virtue I called “Saved.” Before I push on, let’s simply remember that the word “salvation” is linked to the word “salve”, a healing ointment. In other words, disciples are saved, meaning they are those who are healed. Saved disciples are healed from all that holds them back. Salvation sets one free. Think of it this way: the Israelites were “saved” from the Egyptians — they were set free from all that kept them from God. The saved are people coming home to loving gaze of God. They know that only God can save, and they can do nothing to save themselves, and that leads to this virtue we now find in Chapter 14: Humble.

The protocol from the Banquet of Heaven is being set here, and the way Jesus sees it, there is to be a radical departure from the typical system used in the ancient world, and certainly not done with in our world. Guests would be seated according to their status or importance in our society, and it was a highly stratified society where places at table carried great social weight, and it was a serious matter if one judge their place incorrectly. Rank and status were based upon comparisons with others. The Kingdom protocol that Jesus announces on the way to Jerusalem clearly marks a shift from the Mediterranean world’s custom of reciprocity and social standing.

We have all grown up in the art of being politically correct which teaches that we should bend or skirt the truth in order to avoid conflict. We have learned the lesson that we establish our identity and measure our worth and success by comparing ourselves with other: the more you have, the better you are. The more power you wield, the stronger you are. The more control you have, the more successful you become. The radical and revolutionary character of the Kingdom of God sees wealth and possessions as gifts of God, not privilege or right of status or family.

Disciples of Jesus know that humility does not mean being a doormat in relationships, at work or in public. It means knowing one’s rightful place in the reign of God and it means knowing that it is a gift. The humble disciple finds their sense of self and their identity in God, not in comparing themselves with others. This kind of humility leads to service, not power. The humble then are free, free from fear, free from clinging to fame and fortune that stifle depth and development.

Part of this parable is addressed to guests and part to hosts.

In speaking to guests, Luke suggests that humility is not a matter of pretending that one is “not worthy”. but rather facing the truth that all is gift, and the only proper attitude is to be grateful. The proud think they are worth more because of their achievements, status, wealth, or power, all of which they may well have. Yet they miss the point: all these things they have are for the service of others – for no other purpose whatsoever.

In speaking to hosts, the message comes from a different perspective. Inviting the right people to dinner is crucial. For the host humility calls for a guest list that includes the hungry. The people around the table are those who in truth need to be there.The host does not invite them because of what they can give to the host with by way of favor or by way of being looked upon as a “saint.” Rather, the humble host knows the truth that what worldly possessions they may have are in their possession not because they are better than anyone else, but because they have been chosen to be instruments of God’s love….and where there is love, there is God.

Read: 14, 25-33

At first hearing of these verses, we might think it’s about renouncing all things and taking up a cross; but I don’t think that is what Jesus is leading up to. The later verses are the most important when it comes to digging deeper into this text. Remember, first, discipleship is about being something, then, from that comes doing something. The disciple is always asking: “What kind of person should I be?” rather than “What should I do?” The doing will take care of itself once the being is in place.

So these verses take us back to the principal and Jesus suggests that a disciple must be prudent. Now, those of us who learned our catechism the old way may remember the “Cardinal Virtues”: Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude. They come to us from the Book of Wisdom Chapter 8 where it says: “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 though 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 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! This is a virtue of action, not passive caution.

The obstacles to Prudence are what Jesus confronts in his formation of disciples: procrastination, negligence, hesitation, inconsistency, 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 the Cardinal Virtues, Prudence if first. Prudence enables us to avoid acting against justice because of greed or favorites. Prudence prevents us from acting against temperance by keeping good desires, like food and sex from running wild and taking control of our lives or controlling wrong desire, like revenge. Prudence presents one from acting against fortitude by finding a way between excessive fear and blind recklessness. We are called to be Prudent which always means being a people of action: wise, accountable, reasonable, and responsible.  This is a serious issue for disciples. Prudence guides and motivates the prophet. It always sees the big picture of life rather than just the little stuff. Prudent disciples ask questions, inquire, probe, wonder, and pray

Read: 15, 1-32

Watchful is the disciple of Jesus. The watch, the hope, the wait is important. The man looking for lost sheep doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. Never mind leaving 99 in danger to look for one. Never mind that he has probably 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 has one thing in mind – finding the coin. She would have swept anyway, but now she sweeps night and day uninterested in the fact that she has nine others just like it. In the third story, when coupled with the first two, it is the father that matters. 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 to 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 son. He is simply watchful, and because of it, he does not 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 such a purpose?

The disciple of Jesus is watchful and alert to any opportunity for finding anyone that is lost. No matter what others may say, no 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 al 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 judgments 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 seems to me that if we take away another’s opportunity to repent and change, we take the obligation of doing so upon ourselves.

In the lives of these people in Luke’s 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 no only to those 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 that is hardened by disappointment, anger, or stubbornness. For this grace we should pray.

Read: 16, 1-13

It is the wisdom of this shrewd servant that Jesus puts before us, not his behavior. This is what he praises, the wisdom. The parable is addressed directly to the disciples. That’s our first clue that we should pay attention. Wisdom as Jesus proposes through this strange story is about vision, a sense of the future and the cleverness to not be caught off guard or surprised. There is nothing naive or passive about a wise man, but rather a kind of far-seeing, focused vision that makes them trustworthy with little things as well as big things. I think this 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 might be. The one faithful today with nickels and dimes is the one to be trusted with big accounts. Yet it is easy to be indifferent toward small obligations while sincerely believing oneself fully trustworthy in major matters, but that is not Gospel Wisdom. The disciple knows what is coming and is wise enough to be prepared.

Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament now takes place.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Read: 16, 19-31

Like you, I have heard this parable countless times. It is so familiar that any of us could finish the story if it were stopped after a lives of introduction. Over the years, I have come to respect this one in torment, at least to suspect that he was a decent man. After all, when his request is turned down by Abraham, he is at least thoughtful enough to care about his brothers and hope that they might not share his torment. It is important to realize that he is not condemned because he is rich. He finds himself in never ending torment because he never saw Lazarus. It isn’t that he refused or that he did something evil. It is simply that he never saw Lazarus.

One of the saddest aspects of this parable and one of the most sobering is the fact that the rich man raised his eyes and saw Lazarus only when it was too late for him to redeem himself. Insulated as we are these days by our busy lives and the demands of our responsibilities the needs of others rarely enter our thoughts. We justify ourselves by insisting that we’ve done nothing wrong, when the truth is we’ve done nothing at all, which is exactly what put the rich man in such torment. We sanitize poverty and its primary cause – Injustice – by hiding in privatized religion. This age in which we live has reduced religion to worship on Sunday and a very small area of morality – mostly sexual. We teach our children: Be kind. Be chaste. Try to stay married. Don’t quarrel in front of your children Pray. Nowhere do we hear: BE JUST or BE PASSIONATE, or DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE INJUSTICE THAT OPPRESSES MOST OF THIS WORLD”S POPULATION.

Being tidy, temperate, and chaste is nice, but it is not enough to make one fully a good person or a disciple of Jesus. Every generation raises up another church-going Christian who makes a fortune off underpaid workers who have no health care, no rights and no hope. Being unaware of of injustice is not compatible with disciples of Jesus. They will be AWARE of every Lazarus in every generation and nation. Religion of disciples of Jesus is love and justice. Religion is love of neighbor as one’s self. Religion is blessing the food at meals and bringing the blessing of food to those without it. Religion is worshiping God; on one’s knees as it were, but on one’s knees washing the feet of the poor. “The poor you will have always with you” is not an excuse for saying: “That’s just the way it is.” It is a reason for never becoming unaware or ceasing to look everywhere for them. They will always be there, so we must always find them, be aware of them, and never cease being aware of the sufferings of others.

The great abyss of regret and unrealized good intentions threatens us all, and it continues to keep us from one another all too often. Disciples of Jesus hear the master’s words. AWARE of his presence and His Gospel, they become aware of injustice as corporate sin, as evil done by government, business, industry, university, and sometimes by church. They recognize its evil and are not unaware of their share in it and responsibility for it. They do not insulate themselves with a puny, private religion. They are always aware of the gifts of God’s love and mercy they are given to dispense.

Read: 17, 5-10

Almost always we hear this parable from the side of the master, and when that happens, we miss the point of this story told as an instruction to servant/disciples on the way to Jerusalem. The story placed as it is reminds us of our role as servants. The story speaks of duty and it proposes that a disciple is not only aware, but dutiful.

From the time of our mythic ancestors called Adam and Eve, creatures and servants have attempted the role reversal so evident in this parable. Faith gives us the insight to see who we are: servants in the manner of Jesus who did not cling to anything godly, but emptied himself and assumed entirely the role of the servant/slave. When the disciple views what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, then the responsible disciple give back what is due – which is what “duty” is all about: giving what is due. It is not something extra, nor is it something for which congratulations should be in order. It is simply a matter of recognizing what is due. Discipling, in this sense, is done the, not because God deserve it, but because a disciple recognizes that God is God and we are servants. That is the way it has been since the beginning.

So being a faithful disciple provides no grounds for triumphalism or feelings of moral superiority, no should it anticipate special honor or appreciation. A servant serves the maser. That is what a servant does. It is the servant’s duty, because the master is due service. This kind of thinking and self awareness is part of the very fabric of the disciples identity. It is rooted in the virtues we have already explored: Humility, Watchfulness, Awareness, Wisdom, and Prudence. They all provide the character that brings one to fulfill one’s duty.

In the disciple of Jesus there is no room for “look what I have done” attitude. In fact, there is no time for such vainglory, because there is always more to do. Created and sustained in every breath by God, we know that we owe everything to God. The cry of the apostles: “Increase our faith” which began this section reflects their awe at the enormity of what Jesus asks of them. Their cry is made all the more intense by verses just before these in which Jesus speaks about forgiveness with his expectation that there will be no limit to forgiveness. Seventy times Seven is what he says there. No limits, no excuse for refusing to forgive such is the duty of a disciple. They know their place, their relationship to God, and they may never assume the divine role.

Read: 17, 11-19

This is certainly a story about boundaries disregarded. It makes no difference that those unclean are to be avoided. It makes no difference that they live across the border, and it makes no difference that they are samaritans. Where there is faith, there is healing. That is the issue here, and faith is not limited to just the “right” people: those who live on the right side of the border or those who are nice and clean. With Jesus Christ, and for His disciples, there are no boundaries when it comes restoring those who have been excluded, but boundaries is not exactly what this is all about, and this story, told on the way to Jerusalem, puts before us a contrast from which we may draw another of the disciple virtues.

Luke proposes a distinction here between the nine and the one: a distinction we might describe as physical healing and spiritual healing. Notice that the healing of physical infirmity did not bring salvation. Although the nine who did not return to Jesus were indeed cured physically, there is no mention at all of their spiritual healing or salvation. On the other hand, the one who returns to Jesus, the one who acknowledges what God had done for him through Jesus Christ is the one who is saved by faith. Because of his gratitude, by which he gave evidence of his faith, this grateful leper was enabled to experience salvation beyond his physical cure. 

It is gratitude that Luke singles out as a virtue to be found in disciples of Jesus Christ. The grateful recognition of God’s’ initiative that brings healing and salvation is the surest sign of faith. Faith for the disciple of Jesus is not a matter of rules kept nor prayers said. It is a matter of Gratitude in response to the initiative God has taken on our behalf. Disciples are Grateful. They recognize what God as done for them. They return again and again to the feet of the master and speak his praises as the Gospel describes it. This is a public recognition. Take note. It is not something the leper does quietly in his heart or at home in his room. I want you to make a connection here to our Sunday Eucharist because this is exactly what it is all about. Without gratitude there is believable faith. Without expressing that gratitude like this man in the story, there is nothing assured about salvation. The disciple of Jesus is found at the master’s feet giving praise and thanks. That is a great description of Sunday Mass, and perfect reason and explanation of why we gather. 

Gratitude, for a disciple of Jesus, is a way of life, not a passing emotion. It is a life-changing conversion as public as a known leper throwing himself at the feet of Jesus Christ in a Samaritan town. We are not talking about personal, private stuff here. Disciples formed in Luke’s tradition are a people who have known what it means to be accepted, included, healed, saved, and graced by a God who ignores all boundaries, and their gratitude is contagious.

Read: 19, 1-10

We are at the end of the journey. The Luke’s school of discipleship is coming to an end. It began with these words in Chapter 9: “Now it happened that as the time drew near for him to be taken up, he resolutely turned his face towards Jerusalem….” But notice how it ends. This visit to the house of Azcchaeus wass not a delay or a detour on the journey to Jerusalem. This was and is the very purpose of the journey. “The Son of man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke will get Jesus to Jerusalem in another couple of verses; but that city is not where Jesus was going. He was, and he still is headed for our homes to stay with us, be with us, live with us. The final virtue of a disciple toward which so many of the others have pointed is the virtue that brings Jesus, attracts Jesus, draws and invites him: the virtue of Repentance.

Zacchaeus stands before us in sharp contrast to that crowd who can’t quite see Jesus because they are too busy looking at and criticizing Zacchaeus. They have shut him out, and in their righteous critique of his life, they have also shut out Jesus. Zacchaeus unlike the crowd that can see Jesus, wants to see Jesus, and is willing to go to some inconvenience and take some risk to do so. Never mind his dignity, stature, or what he might look like in the eyes of others, he will see Jesus, and he will do whatever it takes; and Jesus will see him. You can almost see the two of them walking over to the house – walking away from the crowd, their backs turned away from the whispering, accusing, blaming crowd who do not hear themselves called “Children of Abraham,” and will find no salvation in their homes.

It is the crowd that is indicted by this story. They were so put off by their supposition concerning Zacchaeus that they failed to “see” that in terms of the righteousness of God they were as “lost” as anyone, and were dierted from “seeing” Jesus and gladly welcoming him to their salvation. 

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus announces three times that salvation has come.

  1. At the synagogue when his turn came and he rolled up the scroll and sat down saying: “Today this message of salvation is being fulfilled” That happened in Nazareth and it caused a riot.
  2. Then he says it in this passage in Jericho. He will say it one more time.
  3. He is hanging on a cross, and he says it again to a dying thief hanging at his side.

What it takes to experience this “salvation” is seen in these two, Zacchaeus and the thief who are outside the symbolic synagogue: Repentance.

In Zacchaeus we see it best. It is not something he did, but something he became that brought the consequences. He became a “just” man. It is not just feelings of regret. Repentance bears fruit not only for the household of Zacchaeus, but also for the poor who will be beneficiaries of his conversion and, as well, those people whom he may have defrauded. Repentance has more than personal effects. There is a domestic, social, and economic dimension as well. In Luke, salvation is not just a matter of the soul. It touches the whole human family and all human life. In the great story about to unfold of Jesus and the cross, the presence of the Risen Christ makes noble and holy the home and the table of the faithful disciple. It happened in Jericho, it happened in Emmaus, and it can happen here in Union City if we will be his disciples. 

Lent 1

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on February 17, 2013
Posted in: Uncategorized.

February 17, 2013 at Saint Mark Catholic Church in Oklahoma City, OK

Deuteronomy 26, 4-10 + Psalm 91 + Romans 10, 8-13 + Luke 4, 1-13

Let’s quickly review the three levels of the Gospels I’ve taught you to think about.

  1. The original incident with Jesus
  2. The circumstances in the community for which the Gospel was composed
  3. The circumstances today in which we again proclaim this Gospel.

Now at the first level remember, Jesus is alone. if you are taking this text seriously, the first thing you have to wonder about is how did anyone know what went on out there in the wilderness? Was someone watching and taking notes? I don’t think so. What it is reasonable to suspect is that at some point Jesus shared his own temptations with the apostles, perhaps at sometime when they were going through the same temptations. Somehow this solitary event got put into the oral tradition that started the Gospels. Or perhaps, they were being tempted, and projected their temptations back into the life of the historical Jesus thinking surely he faced the same challenges they faced, so they looked to him for a response.

The second and third levels: the community for which Luke was writing, and this community here in Norman, Oklahoma are not much different when it comes to these temptations. They seem to affect us all at every age of human life.

The first temptation is actually not about bread, but about superficiality. It’s about a shallow life living it up,eat, drink, and be merry. Never mind about tomorrow, never mind about anyone else. It’s about that attitude that justifies having and buying everything you want just because you can. This temptation is to forget that there is something deeper to life than simply maintaining our vital signs. We face that temptation all the time. The community of Luke’s Gospel did what they could to make sure that people had enough bread. We know from Paul’s letters that in the early Christian communities the poor had enough to eat because everyone was committed to to sharing their wealth with them. But they were not motivated out of humanitarian desire to rid the world of hunger. Their commitment came from the fact that they had followed Jesus command to repent, to achieve a 180 degree change in their value systems, to look at everyone they met and every situation they encountered from a different point of view; that of Jesus Christ. In the world of God’s kingdom, all are equal, all share, all are one, all see their destiny in life as service to others.

We are always tempted to just take care of the surface need without ever changing the frame of mind that created those needs in the first place. The first is easy, but it will never transform the world in the way Jesus expects it to be transformed.

The second temptation comes right from the first. The temptation at the first level is to be a powerful, glorious messiah who will destroy the Romans and liberate the Promised Land. Luke’s community tempted as they lived through the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. We struggle with the temptation that always says: “might is right.” The power and glory route brings only temporary freedom for some people on some occasions, but the means it employs always leaves death and destruction in its path. Look at the Crusades as an example. Some of them “freed” the Holy Land for a short time and a limited number of people, but they never accomplished a lasting thing exact destruction and death. They would have been a lot more successful had they loved the Saracens instead of killing them. It’s always easier to defeat an enemy by force than win them over by love.

The third temptation reminds us that this is not about us. Spectacular and tremendous events are not God’s ways. Even the Resurrection of Christ from the tomb was nothing too spectacular, because no one believed it except the followers of Christ. Jesus never did give in the to the temptation to show up at Pilate’s front door and say: “I’m back!” There was not news crew there to demonstrate the stupidity of killing him.

Followers of Jesus Christ imitate his dying and rising in the most ordinary events of the day. They pay attention with love to people who not famous or known to anyone except their family and friends doing things that will never get the attention of the media.

The message of Luke to that community hundreds of years ago and his message to us today is that our mission in this world continues the mission and message of Jesus Christ who would not leave things alone if they were unjust and who came to serve everyone, not just some who thought they were deserving. The message of Luke still insists that power and might will accomplish nothing when it comes to bringing the peace of God’s Kingdom. No violence, no force, no fear. Only love. The message of Luke still spoken to us is a reminder that little people matter and little things make a difference; that acclaim and applause mean nothing as long as one single person is still in need.

Sunday 4 in Ordinary Time

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on February 4, 2013
Posted in: Homily.

February 4, 2013 at Saint Mark Catholic Church in Norman, OK

Jeremiah 1, 4-5,17-19 + Psalm 71 + 1 Corinthians 12, 31-13,13 + Luke 4, 21-30

The fear of abandonment is, I believe, the most powerful terror hanging in the shadows of our lives no matter how old we are. We know it from the first time we are put down in a crib and the light is turned off. We know it the first time we are taken to school and our parents leave us. In fact, my observation is that parents feel it too the when they take their first child to the door of a classroom and leave them. We know it as adults when relationships collapse or a spouse passes through the doors of death. Spiritual writers often reveal darkness and emptiness, a sense of God’s absence or distance when prayer is dry and there is a sense of emptiness. Jesus himself from the cross repeats the words of a Psalm he must have learned in the Synagogue: “My God, My God, Why have you abandoned me? All of us fear abandonment more than anything else.

Right after abandonment, the next fear we all face is rejection, and it is to this deeply human experience that Luke leads today. There are all sorts of levels and issues in theses verses in Luke’s fourth chapter: theological, cultural, historical, and emotional.

The theological level speaks about Israel’s sense of privilege as God’s chosen people. This sense of being “the elect”, the favorites of God, has led them to resent any proposal from Jesus that “others” might know God’s favor as well, or might even take their place. A widow from Zarephath in Sidon  being granted a favor by Elijah; or lepers in Israel being passed over in favor of one from Syria is outrageous! The very suggestion of this challenge to Israel’s privileged status erupts into violent rage against the one who would propose such a thing. It’s a message the Lukan community repeats for itself as they find themselves struggling internally with Jews and Gentiles finding a place at the Eucharistic table.

The cultural level speaks about the challenge of integration, the blending of customs, and the respect of various traditions all coming together since Pentecost by the power of the Spirit to establish and preserve the Kingdom of God revealed by Jesus Christ.

The historical level speaks to us about the community of Luke who suffered so much in the cause of preserving unity amidst diversity. They realized that what had been given to them as God’s highly favored ones was not something to be kept, but a life-style to be lived in outreach to those who hungered and thirsted for Justice as God’s plan was being fulfilled not only in their hearing but in their living. Those people Luke is writing to had been rejected by neighbors, family members and old friends as they experienced expulsion from the synagogue because of their openness to the Spirit’s inclusive nature.

But even more than the theology, cultural and history, this Gospel speaks to our human experience even more powerfully. This Gospel speaks about rejection, a human experience nearly as sad and frightening as abandonment. It tells the story and reveals a Christ who has known the manipulative power of praise and approval as well as the cruel experience of being rejected.

There is not one of us in this church who has not felt the cruelty of being rejected by people who have praised us, loved us, or used us in some way only to reject us when we are no longer needed for their pleasure, their ambition, their greed, or their need to look good and enjoy the approval of others. Our young people are especially vulnerable to this experience, and they are too often manipulated and controlled, confused and frightened by a fear of rejection. The need to belong, to be accepted, approved, and admired is so strong in us! To this need, this fear, this power, Jesus stands before the fury of this crowd who have just ,seconds before, been so bold as to claim him as their own and puff up their own esteem by recognizing his origins among them. Suddenly their fury turns on him, and we know how it will go from here till the end.

If ever the first spoken words of Luke’s Gospel need to be heard and internalized, it is in the face of rejection. “Do Not Be Afraid!” is said over and over again in Luke’s first chapter. It is the message from an angel. It is the message of courage and hope. It is the message which the Word made flesh now puts into action. Remember it yourself when the values of your faith and the teaching of your church leads you to experience rejection. Fear Not.Speak to your children about this, and tell them this story. Help them understand that God Himself knows rejection and empowers us to rise above it without fear. Keeping good company, staying in the companionship of those who share our vision of the Kingdom of Justice and Truth, the Peace of Christ and world without hatred and violence will mean that this family of faith stays together. Learning how to seek the truth without alienating, learning how to disagree without offending, living together with a commitment to unity that forbids the breaking of the covenant we share is the way Jesus Christ moved on from that Synagogue and those who rejected. He sought the poor, the helpless, the sick, the blind and all others rejected by those in privilege in power. We must know where we stand and we must know with whom we shall remain and where to go when the hurt of rejection seizes our hearts and threatens our joy.

Epiphany

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on January 6, 2013
Posted in: Homily.

January 6, 2013 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Isaiah 60, 1-6 + Psalm 72 + Ephesians 3, 2-6 + Matthew 2, 1-12

I wonder sometimes if those people in this story really found what they were looking for. Of course remembering that Gospels are not History but rather Theology we have to sit with this story awhile, and begin to wonder what is the inspired Matthew revealing to us, and what was the context in which he was writing.

Syrian Antioch is the place and community. Second generation Christians are the first to receive this story. They began as a strongly Jewish Christian Church, but times have changed and so has the face of that church. Gentiles are a growing majority, and to the old timers, nothing is like it used to be. There is growing identity crises, and they are beginning to see themselves as a universal church embracing all these strangers in God’s all-inclusive Kingdom. When we look at ourselves, understanding what Matthew is revealing is not too difficult nor complicated. Perhaps even more than that ancient Church of Antioch, we need to hear the challenge of this inspired story that is more about us than some characters Matthew uses to excite our imaginations with his message.

The Narrative of Christ’s birth proposes to us the very mission and vision of Jesus Christ, that gathering unto God the Father all of creation. From Shepherds to Kings, from Tax Collectors and Sinners to Fishermen and Pharisees, from the dead like Lazarus and the son of widow to the daughter of a Roman Soldier. Everyone has a place. Everyone has a call. Everyone is welcome.

But look at where we are today. Think how far we have gone from what Jesus came to accomplish. It’s almost seems worse now than before he came. Everywhere we look there is separation and alienation. Instead of making peace we make war. Walls go up instead of bridges. Instead of reaching out, “stranger danger” is the way we look at others. We keep our distance. We live in neighborhoods where everyone is like us; thinks like us, votes like us, and looks like us. We only listen to news casts that reinforce our ideologies, and thanks to 24 instant news, we wouldn’t know the difference between an opinion and a fact if it hit us in the face! Instead of conversation we have arguments. We accuse. We gossip and ridicule.  We demonize people who don’t think, act, and look like us. Polarization is the life-style of this age, and the saddest thing of all is that we are growing to accept it. We need to hear this Gospel now more than ever because it is not a cute little story of three odd wise men with their camels and their strange gifts tripping along through the desert with an unexpected stop-over in Jerusalem. This Gospel is a statement of what God expects of us in the new order that has been initiated with the birth of His only in the flesh.

The spirit of Epiphany is a celebration of our diversity all seeking God. It invites us to recognize that we are all born with a call that we must answer, a vision to follow. It means we must be willing to set out on the journey with all its risks, obstacles, detours and a few dead ends. Along the way there will be others, and we all bring our gifts, and we all follow a star. The hard part of this is picking the right star to follow. Some chase after the star of popularity, pleasure, or comfort. Some chase the star of wealth and security, good jobs, big homes, and fast cars. Others may choose a star that leads to simplicity and peace, to patience and joy, service and sacrifice.

We are going to have to decide which star leads us to Christ, and what it is we are looking for. Using a little imagination with Matthew’s story, I wonder if they might have thought there had been some mistake when that star led them to Bethlehem: little, useless, poor old Bethlehem. A no-place inhabited by poor people among whom was a couple from some other no-place in Galilee. No wonder they stopped in Jerusalem. It was a place of power and riches, a place of palaces and the Temple. Why in the world would they be led to that miserable village? But, that’s the story, and that’s the message of the Gospel: a big message to a little church finding it hard to change, embrace different kinds of people with different kinds of customs and language. It’s a big message to those in power that killing children will never make you safe and keep you in power. Poor Herod, so threatened and insecure by a baby. What a paradox this is, and yet what a truth it speaks after all these ages and generations.This story from Matthew’s Gospel only makes sense when we make it our story.; and then it comes to life not as some child’s pageant, but as a way of understanding who we are. We have followed the star of faith to this place, and we shall soon bow down in worship. We bring our gifts, and offer them to the Christ who himself is God’s gift to us. In a few minutes we shall complete the last scene of the story and go home. Hopefully, by a different way, because the journey has made us different somehow and given us some love to share, some joy to bring, and some peace to build. It may not be what we expected, but it is what we find in Christ.

Mary Mother of God

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on January 1, 2013
Posted in: Homily.

January 1, 2013 at The Cathedral of Our Lady in Oklahoma City, OK

Numbers 6, 22-27 + Psalm 67 + Galatians 4, 4-7 + Luke 2, 16-21

When I was in about the 7th or 8th grade, we lived in a parish on the north side of Indianapolis with a tough old Irish pastor. I was a regular altar server not much different from these young people here. I never paid much attention to the sermons, probably much like these young people here. I think I was usually busy looking around to see where my friends were sitting and trying to get their attention or hoping they were not looking if I messed up something.

Father “Mac” as he was called thought it was cool and thought he was giving a gift to the parish by never preaching on this holy day. And the end of the Gospel, he would just look up, smile, and say: “Happy New Year”! and off we’d go to the Creed and Collection.

I’m thinking of him today and tempted to follow his example, but not quite all the way. I am working on four talks I will give later this month at a Seminary in Missouri, so there are some very specific things in my mind right now as I prepare that I thought I would simply share with you by way of a pastor’s wish for you as we begin a new year.

Mary speaks four times in the Gospels: three times in Luke’s Gospel and one time in John. Her words recorded for us and all faithful Christian people are the wonderful advise of a mother God chose for us all, and the mother God chose to form, shape, and nurture the human nature of God’s only Son.

In Luke she speaks two times to an angel. She says:How can this be? Let it be done according to your word. Then she speak during her visit to Elizabeth and says: My soul magnifies the Lord. My Spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Finally, in John’s Gospel she says to her Son. “They have no wine.”  Then turning to the wedding servants she says: “Do whatever he tells you.” Today I simply want to remind you of those words and of the wisdom they contain. Perhaps because she speaks so simply and rarely, what she says can stick with us and become for us in this new year a great source of peace.

When something goes wrong or not as planned; it is just fine to repeat her wisdom and wonder, “How can this be?”  Not suspecting that God is picking on you or punishing you; but because somehow in that change of plans God’s plan for you might be revealed. When you discover that will of God in the mess of your plans, I would suggest you remember her second and wise says: “Let it be done according to your will.” and then get on with it. When you run out of steam, get tired, or all the joy seems to be slipping out of your life, look to her, and remember that she is the first to notice when the wine runs out. Then without any hesitation, follow her sage and wise motherly counsel:  “Do whatever he tells you.”I suggest to you that if you can remember those four times and four spoken phrases, you are certainly going to have a Happy New Year everyone.

Pentecost

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on May 27, 2012
Posted in: Homily.

27 May 2012 at Saint Mark the Evangelist in Norman, OK

Act 2: 1-11 + Psalm 104 + Galations 5: 16-25 + John 15: 26,27 & 16:12-15

That reading from Acts of the Apostles says that the apostles when filled with the spirit began to speak in “foreign tongues.” Another translation says they began to speak “strange languages.” We like the drama of this scene, and we easily want to imagine that there was some great wonder taking place as though I might stand here speaking Mandarin and you would suddenly clearly understand what I was saying to you.

Ou peut-être si je parle français et ceux d’entre vous qui ne parlent pas français soudain sais ce que je veux dire ….

O tal vez si hablo español y aquellos de ustedes que no hablan español repente sé lo que estoy diciendo ….

I am not at all certain that this is what Luke intends to suggest to us.  The thought occurs to me that what Luke might be suggesting is that apostles when filled with the spirit began to talk about things no one else was talking about; using words that no one was using; speaking of things no one had considered before.

How many times have you sat and listened to someone speaking perfectly good English and wondered what in the world they were talking about.  It happens to me all the time. Imagine sitting in on an astro/physics lecture  most of us would not get one idea of what was going on even though the lecture might be in English.

I want to suggest to you that perhaps words like grace, forgiveness, and mercy were just not words anyone was using in those days. Given all that had been going on in Jerusalem, we have reason to suspect that these things, these words, were not much thought about. The langauge of the day was: “crucify him”, “away with him”. Revenge was a word they understood, but mercy? I doubt think so. Perhaps what was really going on was that the apostles were suddenly using words these people simply did not use, and expressing ideas they simply never entertained.

Once they got the idea across, it caused a lot of excitement: these words, these ideas about forgiveness, and grace, and mercy sound pretty good.

It puzzels me that today’s Pentecost atmosphere instead of being filled with excitment about something new is just another repetition of the same old thing. That old saying about familiarity breeding contempt might just as well say the familiarity breeds boredom. Our Christian vocabulay is worn out. We have heard these words before. We have heard these words so often that they hardly excite us, and we seem pretty sure we know what they mean.  But maybe we don’t.

We use these words so often that they have lost their force, and we ought to be wondering how to restore their power to excite and draw people together. Perhaps one way is to use them less often and practice them more consistently. The word, “Peace” has become nothing but a cliche while peacemakers are wildly prophetic. “Combating poverty” is a slogan these days becasue poverty, just like combat has become an abstraction; something we don’t see. The Gospel never says much about “poverty” but it sure says a lot about the poor. In the end, the Gospel only makes sense to those who are committed to living it. To others, it is simply a curious piece of literature.

When you only read the words of the Gospel, it is like looking at the score of a Mozart Concerto instead of playing it or listening to it. That’s a lot better than just looking at notes on a piece of paper. The real wonder of Pentecost, and the surest sign of the Holy Spirit among us is a people doing the Word of God not just reading it. The most convincing sign of the Holy Spirit among us is a people who practice what they preach; who turn the word mercy into an experience never to be forgotten; who forgive as quickly as they seek forgiveness, whose lives are so full of grace that everyone wants to be around them.

A long time ago there was a French worker priest preaching on a street to an indefferent crowd of workers near the docks of Marseilles. Someone in the crowd shouted that he wanted to hear less about Christianity but was very interesed in meeting a real Christian. That is the essence of evangelization. It is what happened in Jerusalem. The speach of the apostles was not nearly as important, as convincing, or as persuasive as was the apostles themselves. The work of the Spirit in us must make us into something new, change us into something exciting, give us credibility because we live the Gospel, not just quote, read it, and study it.