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All posts for the month August, 2001

Ordinary 20

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on August 30, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ordinary 18

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on August 30, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ordinary 21

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on August 26, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on August 15, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ordinary 19

Posted by Father Tom Boyer on August 12, 2001

Posted in: Homily.

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

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

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

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

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