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All posts for the month December, 2000

The Holy Family

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on December 29, 2000

Posted in: Homily.

December 29, 2000 Sirach 3:2-6,12-4 + Colossians 3:12-21 + Luke 2:41-52

If the Old Testament could guide us through the four Sundays of Advent, I think it might be worth-while to stick with that First Testament right on through the Christmas Season, and as I looked ahead, I think we will not be disappointed at what we find in the Old Testament readings as they provide commentary and insight into the Gospel for these next Sundays until we return to Ordinruy Time.

Sirach is our guide today Successors of Alexander the Great are pressing the Greek culture onto the Hebrew people, and the consequence is not just the loss of identity and religion, values and traditions, but the collapse of the family unit and with it, a loss of connection or the covenant with God. All of this, in Sirach’s eyes is beginning to wear away at the ultimate value, life itself: that fundamental element of creation through which God reveals the divine plan, the divine presence, and the divine call to oneness and holiness.

It’s not far from the experience of our own times. We can’t exactly call what is happening to us as Hellenization, and we don’t identify the culture that is sweeping across this world as Greek, but it is certainly pagan, foreign to our Judea/Christian roots and values, and disruptive of relationships and life itself. What we face is not different by anything other than time from what the Hebrews faced when Ben Sirach wrote his works. For them and for us, life is cheap, convenient, and expendable. If it isn’t convenient, comfortable, and immediately pleasing, it goes. If it isn’t pretty, young, slim, and sexy, it is of no worth. What ever does not produce pleasure, comfort, or profit immediately is to be replaced by what ever does. This is the Greek or Hellenistic system that such a challenge to the Hebrew people who found in their faithfulness to the Torah value in life, value in service, value in fidelity

Sirach writes in this third chapter a reflection upon the fourth command of God for those who keep the covenant. We know it as. “Honor Your Father and your Mother ” He saw as something bigger than that, and he saw it as a first defense against the destructive,  selfish influence of the Greek culture. He counseled his readers to strengthen their family ties, for he saw the breaking of one’s ties with parents as a breaking of one’s relationship with God. He speaks to a culture that glorifies youth, strength, beauty and fitness with a profound wisdom inspired by God’s own voice and God’s own plan.

Honor, reverence, obedience, kindness, and consideration are the terms he uses to describe the behavior of those who will not be overcome by the sweeping tide of selfish death choosing values and the me-first attitude that so threatens the life giving and redeeming values of their traditions in covenant with God.

In touching detail that makes many of us who have and who are caring for aging parents breath deeply and sigh with concern. With frail body and failing mind, the once powerful care givers are now the dependent ones looking for care, comfort, respect, and kindness. The experience of it all, growing so much more common in these years calls us to look again at the gift of life and to affirm that all moments of life are equally sacred. birth and death, youth and age, strength and frailty

Luke roots the beginnings of salvation’s story in a home where honor, reverence, obedience, kindness and consideration are the elements of growth, holiness, and wisdom. The treasure Sirach has left us, the precious inheritance we Christian people have received from our Hebrew ancestors says that every effort, legal, social, and medical must be used to preserve the dignity of life for those who face death.

The challenge the Hebrew people faced a century and a half before Christ is still being faced three thousand years later We face it with the same wisdom, the same grace, and the same courage, but more than that, we face it with the faith of Easter and with the gifts and the power of the Holy Spirit. The birth of Jesus Christ is the ultimate and divine affirmation of life itself which we are given to preserve, to protect, to nurture; never to take. That is God’s will. If we are to remain faithful and in relationship to God, we shall on this earth as a human family with respect, with honor, with reverence, obedience, kindness, and consideration .

Christmas Morning

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on December 25, 2000

Posted in: Homily.

December 25, 2000 Isaiah 52:7-10 + Hebrews 1:1-6 + John 1:1-18

Luke had his shepherds who left their flocks and wandered into the city of David, his angels who left their heavenly post coming down to earth with news of great joy. Matthew had his wise men who traveled long and far to see what had been foretold and revealed.Even still in this day, we are a people anxious to see what has happened to us, ard find any trace of the wonderful thing that has taken place.People flock all over the place to see signs of God’s presence.They want to imagine shadows, reflections, and sometimes clouds, to be heavenly visitors. and the mere suggestion of such a phenomenon draws the pious and the curious,all in search of the “Bethlehem” of today. Ifwe take the Bible literally. we go to a land tom by war and hatred, a land now reaping a harvest of distrust and violence from generations of armies and weapons of destruction.

I have been there. All you see there is old buildings, with their history in the age of the crusades. There is nothing standing over there from the time of Christ. Nothing.All of it, except for some geographical sites are less than a thousand years old.It is a disappointing scene where carefully guarded tourists take videos and flash pictures, sing Christmas carols, and then board buses returning to hotels and restaurants that most of the people who live there could never afford to frequent.It is all a great search for Bethlehem, a great desire for the City of David with it’s hope and its promise, it’s faithful and it’s peace.

The Gospel of Luke speaks warmly of Bethlehem but it is not the only story that attempts to reveal the mystery of God’s presence in the world and it is not the only story that urges us to seek that presence.The church offers us another story today from John’s Gospel.A story that speaks to adults about an adult Christ at Christmas. This story begins not with an angel’s announcement to a poor young girl in Nazareth, but with the beginning of creation by the Creator The words and the voice speaking are not angelic, they are divine.

What is revealed in this story is the central mystery- of Christian faith. that God comes to us as “light”, as a person “enlightened.” What those who hear this Gospel are tempted to seek, is not Bethlehem, but rather “Light.”

The holy book names him “the light of all nations”, so he does not come among us as king, ruler, or conqueror. He sits on no throne, and commands no great force.Instead, he comes as a broken body for the hungry and blood spilled for the thirsty. Instead, he sits on our altar where we might eat and drink of the deepest truth of this feast:which is his glory poured out in loving service among those considered impure, outsiders, vulnerable, frightened and alone. He comes to let us see -to draw us out of the darkness of our selfishness, and to enlighten the faces of all in creation that the face of God can be seen in the light.He comes not as a precious memory of the past, but as one who is among us todayto form us in words and deeds of grace and truth. My dear friends and visitors,as we awake this Christmas morning,we greet the dawn where our dreams come true and ancient promises are fulfilled.We see what we long to see:peace and love, forgiveness and joy that is never overcome by darkness.

By his grace in faith, we are a people who live in the and it is the day that has no end.My Christmas wish for you today  is that you will seek the light,come out of the darkness of sin and selfishness, anger and pain to stand in the light of this day that never ends,to see the light of God’s presence shining in the bright eyes  of those around you,  and  live with the joy of all our hopes and dreams fulfilled.

Our Bethlehem is this altarwhere we become one with what is broken guided by the light of this Word we proclaim with great joy Peace be with you.

Advent 4

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on December 24, 2000

Posted in: Homily.

December 24, 2000 Micah 5:1-4 + Hebrews 10:5-10 + Luke 1:39-45

Jeremiah, Baruch, Zephaniah, and Micah have served as our guides through the season of Advent. Jeremiah, a prophet of Justice, Baruch a Prophet of Mercy, Zephaniah our prophet of Joy leading us now, hours away from our celebration of Christmas, to Micah, the prophet of Peace.

He had a very unique insight, perhaps writing as he did during a time when Jerusalem was under siege by an Assyrian King. He seems to have understood that might and power do not, in themselves have the potential of bringing peace. His insight is, to this day, being confirmed all around us. The land we call “Holy” is, even as in his day, war tom and under siege by forces of great might. They have guns, and bombs. They have power and military might, but they have no peace. Micah’s insight is that it’s because they have no God.

Without a vision of the Kingdom, without the conviction that real and true peace comes from God and is only possible where God is present there will never be Peace. Micah would tell us that this is exactly what is wrong in Ireland, in Bosnia and Croatia, in the Middle East, and too often as well, in the cities of this land in it’s homes. The presence of God in the hearts of people is a power different from the kind of might and force that continues to try to force, coerce, and manipulate peoples into submission.

The presence of God in the hearts of people is a power of forgiveness and of service. It is humble and respectful and acknowledges the face of God in the lives of all others. Without God, there is no peace there is only repression and resentment. Memory of harm and wrong done is greater than the memory of God’s love.Revenge heaps wrong upon wrong, and denies the face of God in the eyes of an offender

Micah speaks of Peace, a Peace that is not possible without the Justice of Jeremiah, the Mercy of Baruch, and the Joy of Zephaniah. Our perspective as a people called to faithfulness must change the way we perceive power and weakness. Early in his Gospel, Luke begins to reveal this perspective in the prayer of Mary, the Magnificat. The piety of the canticle which so beautifully  captures the piety of Macy, the first of the disciples of Jesus, exalts the lowly and sees the powerful pulled down. It sees the barren bear fruit, and anticipates the victory of the weak because of their trust in God.

Justice, Mercy, Joy and Peace:qualities of the Kingdom born among us.qualities of the people who believe that what was spoken to us by the Lord would be fulfilled.It is the promise of Peace that brings this Advent to a close.It is the promise of Peace that give us cause to celebrate the Feast of tomorrowIt is the promise of Peace that motivates us to forgiveness, calls us to Justice, teaches us Mercy, and leads us to Joy

Advent 3

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on December 17, 2000

Posted in: Homily.

December 17,2000 Zephania 3:14-18 + Philippians 4:4-7 + Luke 3:10-18

Jeremiah, Baruch, Zephaniah, and Micah are our guides through the season of Advent. Jeremiah’s justice led us to Baruch’s mercy, and today Zephaniah leads us further into our reflective preparation for Christmas. He speaks to a faithful few who are emerging into their society after the reign of Manasseh – a king whose reign saw infant sacrifice, idols worship, and sacred prostitution introduced into the Temple. He and his worthless son are gone, and a young king, Josiah emerges with great promise and hope for a return to covenant fidelity with Yahweh.

For people living in our age and in this season, Zephaniah speaks words of support and encouragement. He speaks to people who have wondered where God is, who have a hard time being faithful to values, to a vision of the Kingdom not always too clear, and to a God who seems silent, absent, and distant. Some of our neighbors experience life heavily burdened and hopeless. This prophet, with bold words and strong talk reminds us that our pride causes wounds around us, that our greed is starving someone, that our lust is making use of someone else and deprives that person of freedom.

Obviously, some of our concerns are less global. No matter how we try to have a bigger vision of life, we’re rooted in Oklahoma, in our neighborhoods, and always our families. Sometimes we feel lost in our work, unable to find meaningful, satisfying work that allows us to serve others and just “make a difference.” Relationships go awry leaving us lonely and unsure if we can or ought to even try to love again. Mindless activity drains away precious energy, and television, the internet, shopping end up diminishing our lives rather than enhancing, and somehow, the last weeks of December always seem to make these feelings stronger for many

Yet, men and women grounded in God’s love are not looking for platitudes to sustain them in difficult times. They guard against self-pity and are sustained by the kind of faith, hope, love, and commitment that Zephania preaches. If Jeremiah is the prophet of Justice, Baruch is the Prophet of Mercy, then Zaphania will be our prophet of Joy as we follow their lead through this season.

The Advent he offers is a season of Joy – not necessarily “Happiness.” They’re not the same thing, as we know only too well. Happiness fades. The Christmas gifts get opened, enjoyed, and put away, and often with them goes the “Happiness.” Joy on the other hand is that spirit which sustains us and lifts us in the midst of unhappy times – that quality of life, that vision of creation which sees the loving hand of God in all things. It sustains us through loneliness, boredom, grief, and misery It brings a certain light to dark days and bleak times. It is a commitment to a future that is not yet here, but already can be seen in dawn of every beginning. It is that strength of character that holds us through heart break and steadies us when we realize that everything in life cannot be explained.

Justice, Mercy, and Joy   Qualities of the Kingdom born among us. Qualities of the people grounded in love, born in the spirit, led by the light. Joy is the surest sign of God’s presence. It is the reflection in human form of the divine pleasure in all creation. It is the purest motive for human kindness. The Baptist too in the Gospel today points to joy when he suggests that acts of kindness ought not be random but intentional – and when they are, there will be joy

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Advent 2

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on December 10, 2000

Posted in: Homily.

December 10, 2000 Baruch 5:1-9 + Philippians 1:4-6,8-11 + Luke 3:1-6

Jeremiah, Baruch, Zephaniah, and Micah are our guides through the season of Advent. Jeremiah, the prophet of Justice gives way this week to Baruch. Thought to be a scribe of Jeremiah, the Prophetic Book comes from a later time when an abandoned and occupied Jerusalem has been transformed by a God who is faithful to the promise. The words of the Prophet ring with the truth that it is God who saves, for left to ourselves, we can do nothing but heap one offense upon another in spiral of self-destruction.

The Prophet saw Jerusalem as a mother and the faithful as her descendants. From our perspective in the New Testament, we are that mother – that church, that holy city, the New Jerusalem looking to the east and the west wrapped in the cloak of Justice from God. In as much as we can embrace the promise of Mercy, God’s coming is reason for Joy, not fear. Our hope, and the hope we can offer to this world through this season is that the light of God’s glory will brighten this world because we have made mercy and justice our companions. When this world comes to see mercy in us, it will, as the Gospel of Luke says today, “have come to see the salvation of God.”

More than waiting for Justice, we are a people waiting for Mercy. We are a people who have in every generation made a mess of justice, so much so, that many fear the coming of our God.Baruch teaches us that Justice and Mercy belong together, and so the coming of God brings hope of-consolation, not the fear of condemnation.

One look at this world days away from a new millennium reveals so clearly how much we need again to hear the message of Baruch. Our “justice” is so harsh. Our “justice” is so unfair. Our “justice” is so punitive, vengeful, and even corrupt. But the justice with which Jerusalem shall be wrapped when it lives in the presence of God is a Justice with Mercy and that Justice is the Glory of God.

If Jeremiah is the prophet of Justice, Baruch is the Prophet of Promise: the Promise of God’s saving presence. The message of this writer – two centuries before the birth of Christ keeps us mindful of the fact that while we cannot produce our own salvation, ours is a God who has not left us to fend for ourselves. The Son of Justice comes to lead us home.

Leading us further into this Season of Advent, the text of Baruch gives voice to truth that left to itself humankind can produce nothing, and the truth that the resources of our own salvation do not lie within the possibilities of human history. What we need, what we long for, and that for which we wait lies outside our abilities. Deep in the heart of Baruch’s writer is a God who has freely and lovingly chosen to become involved in human history; and therein lies the very heart and focus of this season.

The Immaculate Conception

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on December 8, 2000

Posted in: Homily.

December 8, 2000 Genesis 3:9-15 + Ephesians 3:1-6,11-12 + Luke 1:26-38

Back to the Book of Beginnings we go to understand and to affirm what we have come to know and believe. The Immaculate Conception takes us back to our beginnings – deep into the plan of the Creating God who still makes all things new, who still chooses to redeem, who still insists on remaining with us to enjoy I suppose what is good. Today my friends, we can step out of the routine of a December Friday and celebrate what is good, remember that we are not left alone to our own destruction, and continue to bind ourselves to that saving, loving, redeeming God in the Covenant he has offered freely offered us and prepared for us from the Beginning.

Now take those Old Testament facts and put them against what we celebrate today and view them with the experience we treasure in the life and stories of Mary. We are celebrating today the Promise of Salvation. We are confirming the free choice of God who has chosen

Once the theme is understood, it is possible then to see how the author shows us the story of God’s care, God’s plan, for these special people to be the first citizens of His kingdom and the source of God’s revelation.

So, three themes emerge: 1) Promise of salvation, 2) free choice of those through whom the promises would be fulfilled, 3) and lastly, the way which these promises will be brought to realization – through covenants between God and man.

Today is a good day to follow their example, and so the church leads us to Genesis, the “Beginning Book” that unfolds for us the story of God’s intentions. It is a book that begins with the first woman and man in paradise and ends with the twelve sons of Jacob in Egypt. The ending is as significant as the beginning. It shows what the author has been leading up to: an explanation of where these twelve sons, the immediate forefathers of the Israelite people came from. The main theme of the book then is the origin of the Israelite people.

The earliest church, its leaders and its inspired writers turned to the Bible they knew when they wanted to understand what God was doing, saying, and revealing to them in the course of their experience with Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible they knew was the Prophets, the Psalms, and the Law which comes out of the first five books called the Pentateuch.

At the same time, the Book of Genesis shows how mankind after the fall and the promise of ultimate triumph gradually deteriorates when left to itself without God’s help; how god began to fulfill his promise of triumph over the forces of Satan by setting aside one family through whom salvation would come in a new covenant; and how this covenant would be made only with those God freely and independently chooses – not by inheritance or birth order those through whom the promises will be kept, not necessarily those expected because of their birth right or birth order; and we affirm by the covenant in Jesus Christ, that salvation is at hand.

Advent 1

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on December 3, 2000

Posted in: Homily.

December 3, 2000 Jeremiah 33:14-16 + 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 + Luke 21:25-28,34-36

Jeremiah, Baruch, Zephaniah, and Micah will be our guides through the season of Advent. Each of them, wise, Old Testament prophets speak to us through the din of tiny bells at store fronts, carols, and advertisements that will try again and again with increasing pressure to convince us that we are inadequate, incomplete, unready, and even unworthy of Christmas if we don’t have one thing or another under our tree. If we listen through all of that noise during these four Sundays of Advent, we’ll be ready, we’ll be joyful, and we’ll be peaceful.

In a rural mountain village, the only thoroughfare was made treacherous by the presence of an enormous boulder While the villagers were adept at avoiding it, tourists and other travelers who were unfamiliar with the road frequently crashed into the huge rock. After each accident, the villagers hurried to the aid of the injured, took them into their homes and nursed them back to health. This is charity After several such accidents, the villagers decided that they would pool their efforts in order to do whatever was necessary to remove the boulder This is justice, biblical justice and this is the reason for rediscovering and rededicating ourselves to realizing this justice among us.

It’s Jeremiah this week. Think of him with the “J” – the “J” of Justice. Think of this too, every time you hear the familiar carol in the weeks ahead. “Deck the halls with boughs of holly.  T’is the season to be JUST!” Those lyrics don’t exactly make music, they don’t rhyme, but they capture the season and the spirit much more than fah la, la, la!

We shall celebrate Christmas, suggests the Bible, to the extent that we have justice, not for ourselves, but to the extent that we have brought about Justice for those who still wait. All this talk about Advent as a time of entering in the wait for the Messiah is not some exercise of nostalgia or pious, sentimental imagining for those who experience injustice day in and day out. Their Advent is real and longer than four weeks in December Jeremiah invites us to really experience and celebrate the coming of the Messiah through the coming of Justice, and this is its season.

Jeremiah’s vision for the time in which we live is the age of Justice. His vision of what is to come is not directed just toward this “just shoot” that shall rise up, but toward Jerusalem itself which shall be called. “The Lord my justice” In his vision, the holy city, the community of the redeemed and holy ones will be called, known, and named “Justice.” What happens here in the words of the prophet is that the messianic title is extended from individual to community What the messiah is shall also be what the messianic community has become.

‘Tis the Season to be Just” in which we find ourselves. Real members of the community of the redeemed are people of Justice, and by it they shall be known, not by what they buy, own, consume, or destroy They shall be known by Justice. The members of the community of the redeemed celebrate this season with a renewed commitment to Justice, not with a short lived thrill that comes from what they get, or how sentimental they may feel singing fala la la while their brothers and sisters wait yet again for another chance to see the end of their misery, want, poverty, and isolation. We are not simply recipients of God’s Justice; we are the agents of that Justice.