Homily 2024/12/29 Holy Family

 1 Sm 1:20-22, 24-28

Ps 84:2-3, 5-6, 9-10.

1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24

Lk 2:41-52

There’s one line in the second reading which I think sums up all four readings, including the psalm:  Beloved, we are God’s children now;  let that sink in… repeat.  Let me see if you understood:  who here is a child of God?

If I’m a child of God – and you’re a child of God - then that you my sister – you’re my brother.  Today we’re celebrating the Holy Family – yeah it’s about Jesus/Mary/Joseph.  But it’s MORE than that: WE are Family.  (I’ll avoid singing it like the Pointer Sisters)  Does that make you nervous to be in such a big family? 

Personally, I grew up in a large family, something only a few people today can even comprehend… .but it’s ‘normal’ to me.  

My parents had 11 kids – and since that wasn’t enough, we became a foster-home, where we would take in infants before they would be placed with an adoptive family.  Adding one more person to the mix seemed natural to us – and actually added some variety to our lives as we would fight for our turn to hold or feed the baby… but we didn’t fight to CHANGE the baby.

When I was about 15, a cute little blonde-haired, blue-eyed two-year-old girl came to live with us.  For some reason, her Mom couldn’t take care of her temporarily, so we opened our doors to this little angel.  After 4 years of living with us, her Mom made the heart-wrenching decision to put her up for adoption.  We had a family meeting to discuss what we should do.  It was unanimous – we would offer to adopt her.  Seemed only right: she was already part of the family unofficially – so it would be cruel to her (and to us) to rip her away.  So, she became my sister – the youngest of 12 siblings.

How big of a deal do you think that was to my sister?  She probably didn’t realize it at the time, but that one act of adoption changed everything in her life… forever.  It changed her very IDENTITY.  She went from ‘no family’ to ‘huge family’.  She went from ‘no inheritance’ to well… a share in the inheritance.  She went from ‘no home’ to ‘home for life’.  She was even given a new name: Seibert.

Question for you:  what choice did SHE have whether she wanted to become a Seibert?  I’m sure they asked her opinion, but is a kid her age really capable of making that kind of decision?  In the end, the decision was made by my parents and the judge.  That’s what happens in an adoption – it’s not the child’s choice… it is a legal action of the parents who say:  I choose you to be in our family… I will love you forever… I will give you a name… you will live in our house, eat at our table, we will teach you the best way to live and you will have an inheritance with the rest of the family.  Notice – it’s not the child’s choice – it’s the parent’s choice.

THAT is also what happens in Baptism.  God himself ‘adopts’ us into His family.  That’s why we baptize infants…. Baptism is not OUR choice – it is GOD’S choice.  God himself makes a covenant with us… a family-bond.  He says,  I choose you to be in MY family… I will love you forever… I will give you a name… you will live in MY house, eat at MY table, I will teach you the best way to live and you will have an inheritance of eternal life with the rest of MY family.  That one act of adoption changed everything in YOUR life… forever.  It changed our very IDENTITY.

YOU became a BELOVED SON OR DAUGHTER of God – that’s what Paul is saying in that second reading.  To be a Child of God means we are not orphans…. We have a Father – Jesus is our brother – and every one of us here is brother and sister. 

Do we REALIZE what that means?  THIS (Church) is our home.  Does it feel like home to you?

I remember when a cousin came to spend a couple nights at our house.  We awoke one morning to find him in the kitchen rooting through the cabinets to find cereal for breakfast.  To this day, it shocks me that anyone would have the nerve to dig in the cabinets when it wasn’t his home.  Maybe that’s normal to some of you – but even us kids who lived there wouldn’t go digging in the cabinets unless we were given permission to do so.  We were certainly WELCOME to ANY food in the house – because it was our home – but we respected our parents’ authority to decide what we could eat and when.

Which leads to another line in the second reading:  we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask,

As children of God – every blessing in heaven is available to us!  We’re not visitors in God’s house, THIS IS OUR HOME!  However, we respect the authority of our Father and ASK for the blessings He bestows.  We’re not orphans – we’re not visitors – we’re not thieves…

Beloved, we are God’s children now;
Notice the word ‘now’… this is not something we’re waiting for when we die or at the end of time – this is NOW.  God has already adopted us when we were baptized.  We already have access to all the cupboards in heaven.

If you pick up the phone and call your Dad right now – how would he react?  If my dad was still alive, I would have the right to call him anytime and he would joyfully talk with me – because I am his son and he knows me by name.

That’s the kind of access we have to God the Father!  He know each of us by name… personally.

We are not part of the Christian family because of anything we’ve done but because God said so.  There is nothing we can do that will make God love us less – and there is nothing we can do that will make God love us MORE. 

See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that WE may be called the children of God.   And …so …we …are.

2024/05/26 Could God exist and NOT be a Trinity?

Before Mass:

There’s a couple of things I want to call to your attention as you listen to the readings.

1^st reading – Have you ever seen anything this amazing?  That God actually chose a people to be His own?  If you have time to think about it – let it sink in – Israel didn’t choose God - God CHOSE Israel!

2^nd reading  talks about how we are children of God – yeah yeah we hear that all the time – let yourself hear it anew today – God has no grandchildren – he chooses each one of us and adopts us as his child.  Listen for what is says about adoption.

Gospel- This is one of the only places in the Bible that specifically mentions all three members of the Trinity.  BUT – it also it talks about Baptism.  That may sound like a side-comment, but it’s key to our understanding.

Here’s the all-important question for you to Consider today:  Is it possible for God exist and NOT be a Trinity?

 Dt 4:32-34, 39-40    Ps 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22     Rom 8:14-17    Mt 28:16-20

Homily

So what do you think?  IS it possible for God exist and NOT be a Trinity?

On one hand, yeah - He is God… so God can be whatever He wants… But God has revealed enough about himself that we KNOW He is a Trinity.  In fact, I’d go so far as to insist that God MUST be a Trinity.

To make my point – let’s start by thinking about who IS God?  This is where you need your thinking caps.  In order to explain what I mean, I gotta pull in two other scriptures:

We didn’t hear it today, but In the first letter of John, he actually gave us a definition of God – see if you can fill in the blank:  “God is ____”  LOVE – God is Love – it’s only three words, but it’s packed with implications.  God is Love.

The other scripture I gotta pull in is Genesis.  Remember when God first created mankind, He said, “let us make Man in our image, in the image and likeness of God he made him, male and female he created them.”

Catch that?  You and I are made in the image and likeness of God.  YOU were made in God’s image, but HOW do You personally image God?   Does God have two eyes, two ears and a nose?  No - What IS God’s image:  We just heard it – God is Love – 

So think for a second – if you are made in God’s image, and God is Love, how do YOU personally image Love? – Let’s ask it this way: is it possible for you by yourself to image Love?  How would you do it? – IDEAS?  you do it by giving someone a hug – or doing something for someone.  See – one person BY THEMSELVES cannot image love – because Love implies relationship.  You can’t have Love without Relationship:  there has to be a Lover and a Beloved – by definition, Love implies more than one person.  Do you see where this is going?  God MUST be more than one person because He is Love and Love is impossible without relationship…that’s where the Trinity comes in.

In God, we have the Father loving the Son, the Son loving the Father, and the Love between them is so real that we give it a name – the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit IS the love that binds the Trinity together.  Perfect love also gives life!  Because God IS love, His greatest desire would be to share himself… so He gave life to all of creation and humanity.

So how do we humans image God?  I propose that the way we image God best is the family.  We have the Husband loving the wife and the wife loving the Husband and the love between them is so real that nine months later you have to give it a name!  The Holy Spirit is the love that binds the family together and the result is a new life!.

God is Love – so He must be a Trinity – He must be a relationship of Love.

God is inviting you into relationship – with others yes, but mainly with Him.  He wants to be your Father.  Did you hear that in the second reading?

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a Spirit of adoption,
through whom we cry, "Abba, Father!"

we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs,

When does this relationship begin?  When do we receive the Spirit he talks about?  Baptism – Baptism is an adoption ceremony where God chooses to call you Son or Daughter.

Some people think we shouldn’t baptize infants – ever heard that?  I was doing marriage prep for a couple a couple months ago and the girl said – they weren’t sure they wanted to baptize their kids as infancts – she said – we want to wait until they reach the age of reason to decide for themselves”.  So I asked her, “What age would you say”?  She said  12 – twelve?  Really?  What 12 year old would CHOOSE to go to church?  What 12 year old is mature enough to make a decision that impacts their eternal life?  Some of us don’t reach the age of reason until 40 or 60 or heck, many of us may not be there yet.

Here’s the problem – our culture has lost the truth about baptism.  Baptism is NOT when WE choose God… It’s when God chooses US!  It’s not OUR choice – it’s GOD’S choice.  It’s an adoption ceremony.  So let’s think about what happens in an adoption:

Picture this couple here decides to adopt an infant.  What CHOICE does that infant have whether or not they want to be part of their family?  Zero – seriously.

It’s not a choice of the child – it’s a choice of the parents. 

Parents decide I want this child to be part of my family – I will love them forever, they’ll have my family name, they’ll live in my house, eat at my table, I will teach them, and they will have an inheritance with my family.  This is what happens with adoption – it’s a legal action – a choice of the parents.

Similarly with Baptism – it’s an adoption ceremony– God says, I choose to take this child as my son or daughter – I will love them forever, they’ll live in my house, eat at my table, I will teach them, and they will have an inheritance of eternal life with my family.  Baptism is not OUR choice – it’s God’s choice.

In baptism you and I are grafted into the Holy Trinity.  Just as God is a relationship of 3 people held together by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit binds us to God – even when we stray – the Father still says “you are my son – you are my daughter”. 

Because of this relationship, We call God Father, we call Jesus brother – and every one of us is tied together by the Holy Spirit.

2024/04/21 Who are You

Anybody know who Inigo Montoya is?  Ah… there are a FEW people who appreciate good, classic movies. 

Inigo Montoya is a fictional character from the movie “The Princess Bride”.  His father was brutally killed when he was a boy and Inigo vowed to avenge his father’s death – so spent his life becoming a master swordsman and then went out looking for the man who killed his father.  He practiced his speech for how he would introduce himself when he would meet the murder.  If y’all that know it – say it with me in his Spanish accent:

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

I bring him up because of what he said at the end of the movie -AFTER he had killed his Dad’s murderer.

He said, “It’s very strange. I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it's over, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life.”

Inigo’s thirst for vengeance had become so core to his Identity that he forgot who he was.  You might say, he lost himself in the process.

I think that can apply to any of us here – we tend to forget who we really are.  To make my point, let’s do a little experiment:  Take just 15 seconds and think to yourself how you would introduce yourself to someone you’ve not met…what would you say if you needed to introduce yourself… OK – I’m gonna guess that most of us would give our name – that’s a good start – then we’d probably either tell what we do for a living or tell about our family / how many kids we have.  That’s quite normal in our culture.

The trouble is, especially for men I think, our identity becomes so wrapped up in our job that if our job is taken from us – or even if we retire – suddenly we’re saying the same thing as Inigo: It’s very strange. I have been in this business so long, now that it's over, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life.

And while that may sound like a problem – it’s actually a great opportunity!  Once we take away the crutch that has held up our identity, we find ourselves falling to the next level of identity where we actually ask the question, ‘Who am I, really’?  It’s a lifelong process and we all go through it until the day we die – but I propose to you that this question “who am I’ is the very core of all our questions in life. 

Who we think we are colors every decision.  If I see myself as an environmentalist, then my actions will follow by recycling and reusing.  If I see myself as a chemist, I’d spend my time studying chemistry and running experiments.  If I see myself as an atheist, well actually I don’t know what I’d spend my time doing, because it seems that nothing in life would have any meaning… so I can’t speak for them.

I say all of this because of what Paul tells us in the second reading – “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.  Yet so we are.”

Does that apply to anybody here?  Anybody a child of God?  Yes – all of us!  When did we become a child of God?  At Baptism.  Baptism is when we receive the two most important parts of our Identity: First – we receive our name.  The very first question in the Rite is ‘what name do you give your child’.  You know, it used to be that baptism was also the naming ceremony… can you imagine – the name of the baby wouldn’t be revealed to the public until it was officially named in the baptism rite!  I think some of the Eastern Churches still do this. 

Then, right after we pour the water and do the actual baptism, there’s a great line in the rite which echoes our second reading, “….this child is now called a child of God for indeed she is!”  Catch that?  We received our name – but then we receive the name of ‘Child of God’.  I remember two years ago on Easter at sunrise I did a baptism for an infant – and when I said those words “this child is now called a Child of God for indeed she is”, she raised her arms as if in victory!!!  It was so cute.  She was probably just filling her diaper, but it makes for a great story.

Every one of us receives our core identity at baptism.  You are now called a child of God.

See – regardless of what we pursue all of our lives – what jobs we have – how many kids we have – in the end that will all just be footnotes to the real story of who we are.  We are God’s children now.

What’s that mean?  If you ‘ve been to any of my baptisms in the last couple years, you’ve heard me explain that Baptism is an adoption ceremony.  Now think about this in human terms for a minute – imagine Joe and Sally want to adopt an infant.  What choice does that child have about whether they want to join Joe and Sally’s family?  Zero.  Baptism is a legal action of the parents to decide that this baby will now be part of our family… we will love them all their life, they will live in our house, they will eat at our table, we will teach them, and they will have an inheritance from our family.

Notice – the child had no part in this decision – it is purely a legal action of the parents.

In baptism, some people seem to think we have to wait until the child is the ‘age of reason’ before we baptize them.  Exactly when IS the age of reason?  I asked a young lady that and she suggested age 12… and I wonder – what 12 year old would CHOOSE to go to church – much less make a decision that impacts their eternal life.

No baptism is not about US choosing God – it is about God choosing us!  Just like Joe and Sally made the decision to adopt, in baptism GOD HIMSELF is saying – I will love you forever, You will live in my house, you will eat at my table, I will teach you, and you will have an inheritance of eternal life!

That’s why we baptize infants….this is not OUR decision, but an act of God. 

When we are baptized, we join the flock of the Good Shepherd – notice not just Shepherd – but GOOD Shepherd.  We trust the Good Shepherd to lead us through life – that he will lead us to green pastures – even when we’re walking through the desert or the valley of death, we can fear no evil for we TRUST that the Good Shepherd is leading us to greener pastures.

Because Jesus is GOOD, then we WANT to be in His flock.  Notice when a shepherd takes his flock to the next pasture, he doesn’t DRIVE them out – he LEADS them out and they WILLINGLY follow.  God always moves first.  He doesn’t force His sheep to do anything.  The sheep know the shepherd – they’ve grown up with him since birth and KNOW him – they TRUST him to lead them to the best pastures.  You and I – most of us are cradle Catholics and we’ve grown up with Jesus – we should KNOW him – we should TRUST him.  In fact, Jesus is the only one who CAN save us.  We heard that in the first reading,

There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved."

Remember who you are – remember WHO’S you are – you are a child of God – you are in the flock of the Good Shepherd. 

Whatever you’re going through today – and I know that everybody here has a struggle they’re dealing with – whatever it is, Call out to the Good Shepherd and TRUST Him to lead you through it.  God always moves first.

 

 

2024/01/28 - Harden Not Your Hearts

 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dt 18:15-20   Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9     1 Cor 7:32-35     Mk 1:21-28                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

BEFORE MASS

Remember what happened when God gave them the 10 commandments? – if you go back to Exodus you’ll see that God didn’t just speak to Moses – he spoke directly to each person.  God had Moses get all the people to gather around the base of the mountain – and this dark cloud covered the mountain and there was lighting and a loud Shofar – like a horn – and– in that they heard the voice of God speak directly to them….and it FREAKED THEM OUT!  They said – Moses -YOU speak to us – don’t let God speak to us again lest we die!  Keep that in mind for the first reading.

Now there’s a connection between that reading and the Gospel – in a way the Gospel is a fulfillment of the prophecy in the 1st reading.

Oh – and pay particular attention to the psalm, because it kinda threads all the readings together, although it may not be obvious.

HOMILY

What’s the prophecy in the first reading?  God promised to send a prophet from among our own kin - who would speak HIS words.

Then BOOM – in the Gospel, we have – Jesus speaking with authority!  There’s two pieces to that authority– first – you probably already know this – but any good rabbi of the day would be good because he could quote other rabbis – like "Well, Gamaliel says…" or "Rabbi Nicodemus says…"   But Jesus quoted the words of no one – He directly spoke the Word of God - because He IS the Word.  Did you see that – He spoke the word of God DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE… just like in the first reading, except this time He is in human form, so they can bear it.

Y’all knew that, I’m sure.  But there’s another authority here – the first miracle in the Gospel of Mark shows Jesus’ authority over demons. 

1 John 3:8  told us - "the reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil."  The Demons KNEW that.  That’s why they asked the question – “have you come to destroy us?”  They knew who He was and what His purpose was.

Notice Jesus’ authority over them:  The demos must listen to the Word of God.  Why is that?  Demons are what?  Fallen Angels.  Fallen Angels don’t have free will.  They can’t change their minds because their identity is set – see – at the moment of creation angels had one choice – to serve God or not Serve God.  They made their one choice and it was not for God… Lucifer said, Non Servium… I will not serve.  We could get into 'why' he said that, but that’s another homily.  The important point is that these for fallen angels - their identity was set - in effect, they’re hearts were hardened…

But they cannot NOT listen to Jesus.  They must follow His command, because He is Lord of all creation… demons are created beings.  Yes, The Word of God has authority over the demons.

You and I have that same authority – with a twist.  If you and I were to cast out a Demon, we’d have to say – “In the name of Jesus, I say Quiet!  Come out of him!”.  But Jesus didn’t have to add that first part because He has the personal authority.  Our authority is only in His name.  There is power in the name of Jesus.

Notice too that he first told them to be Quiet.  We never want to allow the demons to speak, because they speak lies and plant seeds of doubt and fear and distrust.

Jesus speaks with authority to US too.  You and I are also created beings, but we were made in the image of God – and one of the main ways that we are 'like God' is that we have free will.  When Jesus speaks to US, We can choose to listen or ignore… When we ignore or reject the Word of God - in effect, then we become like the demons…. With hardened hearts.  But When we soften our hearts, we hear the Word of God and let it change us.  

If Today you Hear His voice, harden not your hearts.

 

2023/10/01 - Learning on the Way (the Lord teaches the humble His way)

 First Reading: Ez 18:25-28

Psalm: Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Second Reading: Phil 2:1-11
Gospel: Mt 21:28-32

Before Mass:
It’s great to be back from my pilgrimage – and I’ll be talking about it a little bit today – but I’ll give a presentation about it on Oct 31st if you want to hear more.  Be careful – I could talk your ear off.

Three things to pay attention to today for the homily:  

The first reading talks about God not being fair.  At some point, all of us have probably thought that way.  

Second- there’s a line that says “the Lord teaches the humble His way.”  Listen actually in all the readings for ‘the way’ and ‘the path’.  That’s probably the key to today’s homily.

Third – The Gospel talks about changing our minds.  It’s more than just changing your mind like – oh – I’ll have chocolate instead of vanilla.  The change of mind Jesus is referring to involves the core of how we believe and how we live.

How is God encouraging you to change YOUR mind?

Homily

Did you hear those three mini-themes in the readings?  God is not fair, Jesus wants us to change our mind, and “the Lord teaches the humble His way.”

In spanish, the word for ‘the way’ is ‘camino’ – as many of you know, I just got back from the Camino de Santiago – the way of St James.  It’s a 500 mile pilgrimage across Spain to the tomb of St James, and for those who are humble, the Lord can teach us as we walk the Way.  What did He teach me?

I would pray daily for God to send me a Divine Appointment – someone He needed me to talk to – either to help them – or to teach me something.  And most days I’d end up walking with someone and asking them questions – first the normal stuff like name, where are you from? where did you start walking?  How far are you going? – then I’d ask questions aimed at drilling deeper – like – ‘why are you walking the camino’?  ‘have you had any revelations in your silent time’?

That kind of deeper conversations created some instant friendships with people as they shared some deeper thoughts they might never have put into words before.  Most of them I’ll never see again, but a few have become friends for life.

I learned that Not everybody in the world thinks like this boy from southern Indiana.  In fact, it seems that many people out there have almost no spiritual upbringing.  Faith is a foreign concept.  Jesus is just someone who was misunderstood a long time ago and it would never occur to them to give their life to Jesus or God.  It was surprising and a bit depressing that very few people were walking for spiritual reasons… we were some of the few.  God knew I needed to have my mind changed and my eyes opened to the fact that the world needs God more than I ever knew.

Personally, there was one aha moment where I felt God changed my mind.  We had a 19-mile hike one day up the mountain to O Cebrero, but we decided to take the scenic route, which wasn’t marked quite as well – so we lost the trail.  At one point the path just ended and we weren’t sure whether to go back or what – fortunately, gps showed we were only a hundred yards from a road, so we went cross-country to the road and found our way back to the main camino.  In doing so, it added a couple of miles to our already long day.  The trail was rough in places and as we went it got steeper and steeper and the sun was getting hotter and hotter to the point we were having trouble putting one foot in front of the other.  It would have been easy to think – “this isn’t fair God – It’s too hard”.  But the joy I felt at the end of the day made me realize… the climb is what made the rest on the mountain top so sweet.  

You see – a few days before, we had climbed the highest peak on the camino to the ‘cruz de ferro’ – ‘iron cross’ – which is supposed to be a great spiritual moment for pilgrims as we leave our burdens at the foot of the cross.  But that day had been kind of a let-down… it was like a walk-in-the-park to that cross;  not much of a challenge, so it didn’t feel very special at all!  That LACK of challenge made it less meaningful… but THIS climb to O Cebrero meant MORE to me BECAUSE it was a struggle – and the extra miles we walked ADDED to the struggle – which made arriving at our destination so much more meaningful.  

The lesson I learned is that God USES struggles to bring more joy to our lives.  It doesn’t seem like it at the time, maybe – we may think God is not being fair – but once we realize that the challenge is necessary to make the reward sweeter, then we realize that a lost trail or a rock to trip on or a steep hill are actually blessings.

Think about those two guys in the Gospel… both were challenged to work in the vineyard.  The first one DIDN’T do what he was supposed to do… He thought that the joy in life could be found doing something OTHER than what the Father told him to do.  But the second son changed his mind and found that DOING the will of the Father is what made his life sweeter.

God wants us to change our mind… not because He’s a selfish tyrant who wants us to do whatever He says – He’s not being unfair.  He knows we humans need to work for our own sake – as cruel as it sounds…WE NEED THE STRUGGLE.

At the same time, I know some people – many of you, in fact, who seem to struggle more than others.  From my perspective, I look at that kind of suffering and think ‘God, your way isn’t fair!’  Why don’t you relieve this suffering?  I believe you CAN do it, so why DON’T you?

In the end, I have to trust that somehow – even though it doesn’t seem fair to me – or you – God is allowing the struggle for some reason.  When we’re not sure we can put one foot in front of the other, the only thing we can do it to keep following the Path – keep looking for the Way.  When we don’t know what else to do, we trust that the best path is to keep doing what the Father told us to do.

That doesn’t take away the pain ‘now’, but Just knowing that we’re doing God’s Will gives us joy in this life as we anticipate the sweetness of the mountain top ahead.

2023/07/16 - It Ain't about the Dirt

 Before Mass

You know how we talk a lot about ‘sharing the good news’?  What is the good news?  I mean, a lot of times we hear the Gospels and honestly, it doesn’t SOUND like good news.  For many people, religion is just a list of rules to make us feel guilty.  You ever feel that way?

Well – today’s Gospel is the story of the Sower and the Seed – and at first it doesn’t really feel like all that good of news.  So I want you to challenge yourself as you listen today with a few of questions:  First – what’s the obvious interpretation of the parable.  Second – what’s the REAL point of the parable?  And Third – a question we should ask everyday: How is THIS scripture GOOD NEWS?

Homily

So what do you think – was that parable ‘good news’? 

My gut reaction is ‘no’… it’s yet another scripture which is supposed to worry us – like ‘am I doing enough’?  I mean, obviously from the text you and I are the dirt – and we gotta be worried about what kind of weeds and thorns we allow to grow around us – and how many birds we allow to steel away the seed – and whether our dirt is too packed-down to allow the seed to sink in.  That’s the most obvious reading of this parable – and it’s valid… but is that really the focus?

Notice - the name often given to the parable is ‘the sower and the seed’.  The focus is not about the dirt… the focus is not on you and me… it’s on the Sower …and the Seed.  So let’s back up and see if there’s something else we’re supposed to learn.

The Gospel began with what seems like an throw-away sentence, “On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.”  See anything interesting about that?

On that day… what day?  If we go to the prior chapter of Matthew, we’ll see that Jesus had been teaching in the synagogue and close to towns and the religious leaders were watching him very closely.  In fact, they had just accused him of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub.  Pretty much, no matter what He did or said, they were trying to cancel Him.

So Jesus ‘went out of the house’ - took his teachings outside – away from the cities, more to the point – he took his teachings outside of synagogues, the very places where you would EXPECT to hear the word of God.  Instead he sat down by the sea – his ministry changed that day to do much of his teaching outside the cities, away from the watchful eyes of the religious leaders.

Another significant change that day was the way he taught.  If I asked you how Jesus typically taught, what would be your answer?  Parables, right?  Everybody KNOWS that Jesus taught in parables - But I hadn’t realized that up to THIS point in Matthew’s Gospel, he hasn’t told one parable.  But that changed TODAY.  The apostles apparently noticed the change in tactics, because they asked him – ‘why do you speak to them in parables?’  And he gave an archaic answer – “This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.

At first, I’m like – that’s Not helpful, Jesus – why don’t you just speak plainly?  Actually he’s quoting Isaiah who said that the people will close their ears on purpose to AVOID hearing because they don’t WANT the truth and they don’t WANT to be healed.

I think it’s because of all the pushback he was getting from religious leaders.  Anyone who WANTED to understand him was going to understand the parables, but anyone who was just looking for a reason to complain and cancel him was going to find SOMEthing to get ticked about.  But a PARABLE is different.  To those who WANT to hear truth, a parable reveals truth - but if you’re just looking for something to complain about, the parable just sounds like a nice story about a stupid farmer who doesn’t know how to plant properly.  Jesus says – whoever has ears ought to hear.  If we’re really listening – and wanting Jesus to speak to our hearts, his teachings WILL sink in.  We WILL hear and understand. 

This is where the parable starts to make sense to me… Jesus’ words are what is being scattered.  His words are the seeds.  He scatters them freely and they land on everyone… yes EVERYone.  But not everyone WANTS to hear him, so the seed bounces off their hard hearts like a seed bouncing on the pavement.  Some people are caught up emotionally by His teachings, but when they meet any pushback or difficulties from the world around them, it’s like thorns choking out the tender plants or the sun baking them.  But those people with ears – those who WANT to receive the word – are like the soft soil, and they gladly hear and accept the Word and it produces great fruit in them.

Notice too that God spreads the seed in abundance!  Whether the soil wants the seed or not, God dips his hand into his satchel and grabs a bunch of seed and throws it EVERYWHERE…and he goes back for another handful.  God does not spread sparingly – you might even say he doesn’t spread very wisely – I mean, what kind of farmer would purposely waste seed by allowing it to go where He knows it can’t grow.  God’s seed is infinitely abundant and he is reckless is giving it away.

Here’s the thing –God makes the dirt – God makes the seed – God spreads the seed – God sends the rain and sunshine.  Making seeds grow has nothing to do with OUR effort – it’s all God’s effort.  So what’s the lesson that you and I are supposed to leave with?

The ONLY part of this that you and I control is whether we WANT to hear and accept the Word.  If we long to hear, we will be blessed to hear.  If we long to see, we will be blessed to see. But God even helps us with THAT!  Just like He sends rain to soften the soil and break up the clods, God has built this entire world around us to SHOW us His Glory!  He’s filled our lives with experiences which are meant to soften our hearts and DRAW US TO SEEK HIM.  That’s right – God actually gives us EVERYTHING we need to produce fruit.  All we gotta do is pay attention… allow the WORD of God to sink into our hearts and grow.

Then we produce 100 fold.  That’s like cherry tomatoes or tomatillos – once you plant one plant, you’ll have hundreds every year after that.  Once you and I allow the word of God to produce fruit in our hearts, then WE become spreaders of the seeds of God’s love by spreading to those around us.  

THAT is when the Kingdom of God overtakes the entire garden.

2023/04/23 Hearts on Fire

 Before Mass:

In this Easter season, our first reading is always from Acts – this is the story of the early Church.  In fact, today’s first reading is a sermon given by Peter on the day of Pentecost… moments after the Holy Spirit was poured forth.

Then the Gospel is actually the evening of Easter Sunday…. Just hours after Mary Magdalene came back with the unbelievable news that Jesus had Risen!

There’s a tradition for many Christians during the Easter season where one person says ‘He is risen’ and the other person echoes ‘He is risen indeed!’.  I thought we’d try that right now…

Did you feel anything in your heart when you said that? 

See – that’s basically what happened on that first Easter Sunday – and we’ll hear about it in our Gospel today.  I want you to think about how YOU felt saying that… and compare that with how THEY likely felt when they said it.  Is there a difference ?  and why?  Ponder that as we listen.

Homily 

How do you start a fire?  Matches?  Lighter?  Rub two sticks together?  Jesus started a fire simply by explaining the scriptures to these two disciples.  Remember what they said: ‘Were not our hearts burning within us as he talked to us on the way?’

Have you ever experienced that?  Have you ever had your heart set on fire by Jesus?Many of us would have to say, no… so Here’s the real question:  why did THIS conversation set their hearts on fire?  Seriously – they were disciples, for Pete’s sake!… they had heard all of this before…  they were very likely two of the 72 whom Jesus sent out!  Remember when he sent them out two by two to spread the word, to heal the sick and all that?  They had likely seen God work through them!!!  They had likely seen healings…lives changed.. demons cast out.  THAT should have set them on fire.  Because of that fire, they bet their entire lives on Jesus.  It became personal to them.

So you can imagine how they felt watching all their hopes/dreams/plans get nailed to that cross.  Walking along that morning, they were likely still in disbelief.  This doesn’t make sense!  We were so SURE He was the one.

Here’s my point:  these guys had HEARD Jesus warn them that he had to be killed and rise from the dead.  They HEARD it… but they didn’t understand…or didn’t listen.  Why?  Because they already knew all the answers… they ‘knew’ the Messiah would come and kick Rome out and restore Israel as the greatest kingdom on earth.  They were so SURE of their understanding of the prophets, that anything contrary to their deeply-held beliefs just didn’t sink in.  They were like yeah-yeah-yeah Jesus – skip that part about dying and just get to the part where you kick some Roman back-side.

See what I mean?  They were so entrenched in the fact that they were the Chosen people… the sons of Abraham… they were so confident in their “knowledge” of God that they didn’t really listen to what Jesus was telling them.  That “knowledge” had to be nailed to a tree…  that “confidence” had to be crucified so that they would be open to actually listening.

And today, they finally “heard” it…. Their hearts were so raw with emotion that they were open vessels just waiting for Jesus to fill them up – and He did.  He gave the greatest bible study ever as they walked along the way.  Finally, they understood all that had happened was exactly what Jesus and the prophets had predicted.  Their hearts were set on fire as the TRUE understanding sunk in.  They RAN back to Jerusalem and their emotion bubbled over as they exclaimed “He is Risen” – and the apostles replied “He is risen indeed!”. 

Do you and I feel any of that emotion when we say that?  Honestly, probably not normally – and that’s not to make us feel guilty or anything… the problem is, we’ve heard this our whole lives.  We’ve heard the stories so many times that they sound ‘normal’ to us.  To the first disciples, resurrection was unheard of… it was something to shout about.  But for us cradle-Catholics, it’s just a fact – like the sun comes up in the east or 2+2=4.  Facts are true – but facts are boring – they’re not personal.  Jesus rose from the dead is a fact… but it NEEDS to be personal.

How do we get there?  We gotta move…or more correctly – we gotta allow God to move us.  Like the disciples, you and I can get too comfortable with what we “know” about God.  We’ve got God all figured out – we know exactly the minimum we need to do to get to heaven – and we check the boxes.  We don’t need to know any more.  We don’t WANT to know anymore.

Jesus wants to walk with each of us personally.  He wants to set YOUR heart on fire.  Let Jesus re-teach us everything we already know but never actually let it sink in.  

THEN we can recognize Him in the breaking of the bread.

He is Risen.  He is risen indeed!