Homily for October 27, 2013 (30th Sunday C)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

Last Sunday our readings focused on the importance of prayer and, in particular, we heard about the importance of being persistent in prayer.  Today our readings speak to us about our attitude in prayer.  We are shown today how we are to pray.

In our first reading from the book of Sirach, we hear that the prayer of the lowly person pierces the clouds.  We are promised that the prayer offered in humility and obedience is heard in the presence of God.  The petition of the lowly one is received in the court of the Most High God.

In our reading from the Gospel today, the Lord Jesus tells a parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness.  In the parable, two men enter the Temple to pray.  One of the men was a Pharisee.  This means that he was a devout follower of the law.  The actions of his life were good.  His life was close to the law of God, but his heart was very far from God.  We see this in the prayer that he offers.  The Pharisee addressed his prayer, not to God, but to himself.  He thanked God that he was not like other men.  He proclaimed that he was not greedy, dishonest, or adulterous.  He spoke of his discipline of fasting and of the offerings that he made.  Usually, dear brothers and sisters, people come to God to confess their sins and they need to be reminded of their goodness.  The Pharisee forgot his sins and confessed his own goodness to God.  He was a man filled with pride.  He was filled with spiritual pride, and that is the most dangerous kind.  The Pharisee actually thanked God that he was better than other men.

The second man who entered the Temple was a tax collector.  It is likely that he did not follow the law of God very closely in his life.  Tax collectors at that time were known for extorting more money from the people than the people actually owed.  The actions of the tax collector were not righteous.  He prayed however, with humility and contrition.  His only words were, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”  The tax collector addressed his prayer to God with sincerity and humility, and he was heard.  The Lord Jesus tells us that the prayer of the tax collector was granted.

The apostle Paul was a man who prayed with sincerity and humility.  Though he preached with power and wrote with passion, Paul recognized that it was the power of the Lord that allowed him to compete well, to finish the race, and to keep the faith.  All of the good things that Paul had done were the humble and obedient response to the invitation of God. Our reading today from St. Paul comes from the twilight of his apostolic ministry.  He was prepared to meet the Lord face to face and to receive the crown of righteousness that the Lord had prepared for him.  After years of his humble and obedient prayers being received, now the life of Paul would be received into the presence of the Father.  It was to God alone that Paul would give the glory.

Today we are shown the need for humility in our prayer.  Our prayer is a response to the invitation of God. We come before the Lord with reverence and awe and we are humbled by the love poured out for us. We enter into this building carefully and prayerfully because this is no ordinary place.  This is the holy ground sent apart by the consecration of Almighty God.  Here we enter into the holy presence of God, and we ask for mercy.  Several times in the celebration of the sacred liturgy, we ask the Lord to be merciful to us.  We ask for his mercy for the times when we have not been faithful.  We ask for his mercy for the times when we have not been generous.  We asked for mercy for the times when we have lived like the tax collector and prayed like the Pharisee.

And now, in the holy presence of God, and face to face with the crucified Savior who offers himself on the altar, may our hearts approach the Heart of Christ and cry out, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” 

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC

Homily for October 20, 2013 (29th Sunday C)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

A few years ago, I received a very interesting phone message.  The message was quite simple: “Good morning Father Benjamin.  I know that you are very busy, but I would appreciate it if you would call me back when you get this message.”  There was nothing unusual about this message, except for the few words that followed: “by the way Father, this is your mother.”  From a very early age we recognize the importance of a parental greeting that includes our full name.  The use of my title however added another level of importance.  There was not an emergency.  It was simply that in being busy about many things, many important things in fact, that I had forgotten to call my parents for a little while.

The people in our readings from the Scriptures today are busy about many things.  In our reading from the book of Exodus, Moses found his community under attack by a neighboring kingdom.  Calling Joshua, his closest assistant, Moses instructed that an army be gathered and that a battle be waged.  There were so many things to do.  The people had to be warned.  The community had to be protected and led.  And yet, on the day of battle, Moses positioned himself on the top of a hill, with his brother Aaron and Hur.  With the staff of God in his hand, the same staff that he held before Pharaoh and stretched over the Red Sea, Moses interceded with the Lord for his people and held his hands in prayer.  As long as the hands of Moses were raised in prayer, even when assisted by Aaron and Hur, the chosen people held the field and won the battle.  There were so many things that Moses could have been busy about, but he spent the day in prayer.

In our reading from the second letter of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, we hear a word of encouragement.  The great evangelizer to the nations, defender of the faith, travelling missionary and founder of communities, and author of nearly half of the New Testament, encouraged the young bishop Timothy to remain faithful in his study of the Word of God.  The encounter with the scriptures would equip Timothy for every good work.  Though he would be busy about many things, it was of first importance for Timothy to be in prayer with the Word of God and faithfully preaching the message of salvation, whether it was convenient or inconvenient.

In our reading from the Gospel today, the Lord Jesus tells a parable about a persistent widow and a dishonest judge.  The widow persevered in pleading her case until her case was finally heard by the dishonest judge.  Luke tells us that the Lord Jesus told this parable to the disciples so that they would know about the need to pray constantly.  The widow and the dishonest judge in the parable, the disciples of the Lord, and the Lord Jesus himself could be busy about many things.  But today, in all of our readings, the Lord invites us to prayer.  Even though we are busy about many things, we are invited to give our relationship with the Lord the first place in our lives.  That is the one important thing.  

At Lourdes and at Fatima, at Knock and at Guadalupe, the Church received a message from our Mother.  She would like to hear from us.  The month of October is dedicated in a particular way to the prayer of the Rosary.  This simple and persistent prayer, through which we follow the life of the Lord Jesus in the company of his Blessed Mother, assists us and equips us for every good work.  As we turn to the Mother of God in prayer, we receive strength for our daily battle.  The strength of your prayers, my dear brothers and sisters, keep my hands raised in prayer to the Father, just as the hands of Moses were raised on the mountain.

Let us respond this week, dear brothers and sisters, to the message and the invitation of our Mother, so that she, for whom the Almighty has done great things, will lead us to a deeper relationship with her Son.  Amen. 

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC

Homily for October 13, 2013 (28th Sunday C)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

Our readings today focus on healing, but they are not only about healing.  In our first reading today from the second book of Kings, Naaman the Syrian was healed of leprosy by bathing in the waters of the Jordan River.  He had come from his homeland and from his own kingdom where he worshiped the gods of his ancestors.  He had come because he heard of the healing power of the Prophet Elisha.  Naaman made known his illness to the prophet of God, and bathed in the waters at the command of the prophet.

In the Gospel today, ten lepers were healed of their sickness at the word of the Lord Jesus.  On his way to Jerusalem, the Lord Jesus passed through the land of Samaria and Galilee, and he entered a village.  The lepers cried out to him, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”  The ten lepers made known their illness to the divine physician.  And the Lord Jesus commanded them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”  As they walked following the command of the Lord, the lepers were healed.

In both of our readings today, the people who were sick recognized their own need to be healed.  They knew their illness and they expressed their need for healing.  In faith they believed in the power of the Lord to heal them.  Then, they followed the command of the Lord and were healed.

Every Sunday as we gather for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, we begin by asking God for mercy.  We confess to Almighty God that we have sinned.  We admit that we are in need of healing.  We remember at the beginning of every Mass the illnesses that afflict us.  We remember our physical illnesses, our spiritual illnesses, and the illnesses of our families.  And we ask the Lord for healing.  We ask the Lord to have mercy on us.  That is one of the reasons for the penitential rite at the beginning of the Mass.  We call to mind our sins and our failings and our weaknesses, and all that needs healing in our lives, and we place them before the Almighty and Merciful Father.

And having acknowledged our need for healing and revealed to the Lord, in the silence of our hearts, the illnesses that we bear, the Word of the Lord is presented to us.  Every Sunday the Lord gives us his Word to assist us in our healing.  The Word of the Lord, living and true, provides us with healing and caution, advice and encouragement, every week.  The Lord Jesus invites us to follow his life and teachings so that we can be healed.  Every week, in the celebration of the Holy Mass, the command of the Lord is given to us, just as it was given to Naaman and the ten lepers.

And yet, dear brothers and sisters, our readings today did not conclude with the cure.  They are about healing, but they are not only about healing.  Naaman, in response to having been healed, professed that he would abandon the false idols and would worship the one true God.  He had been healed to draw him to the worship of the true God.  This is another reason for the penitential rite at the beginning of Mass.  We ask for healing and forgiveness so that we might more worthily enter into the sacred mysteries and offer our lives as a pure sacrifice with the Lord Jesus.

Only one of the ten lepers, recognizing that he had been healed, returned to the Lord Jesus to give him thanks.  His healing was more than just physical healing.  Healing drew him into an act of thanksgiving. 

The healing of Naaman and the healing of the leper changed their lives.  As we admit our need for healing, and hear the word of healing, may our lives too be changed, and may we turn to the Lord with hearts lifted up in thanksgiving.  Amen.

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC

Homily for October 6, 2013 (27th Sunday C)

May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.

Saint Paul writes to Timothy, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.  On Sunday evening I will be going on retreat.  This is an annual event for the priests of the Diocese of Charlotte and it is held every year during the first full week of October.  We gather in Maggie Valley, in the mountains, and with the Bishop, and a retreat director, we spend the week on retreat.  I am often asked at this time of year, “What do priests do on retreat?”  Honestly, dear brothers and sisters, the answer is not very exciting. 

We pray.  We gather for communal prayer each day in the morning and in the evening.  We offer Mass together each day.  On Wednesday we pray in a particular way for our brother priests who are sick or suffering.  Throughout the week we pray for our brother priests who are absent from the retreat, and we pray for our brother priests who have abandoned the priestly ministry.  On Friday, we pray for our brother priests who have died in the past year.

We listen on retreat.  Priests preach; we do not often hear preaching.  During the retreat the retreat master preaches to us.  We hear again and we receive again the Word spoken to us and the promises that the Eternal Word has made to us.  We recall that we are first disciples of the Lord Jesus who join him on the mountainside, before we are apostles sent to proclaim the good news.  We listen to the counsel of a brother priest and we receive the grace of absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Yes, priests go to confession too.  We who proclaim mercy stand in need of the same mercy.

We rest on retreat.  Days in ministry are very long and weeks pass very quickly.  We need to rest so that we can be renewed.  We need to rest in the presence of the Lord so that we can reflect the presence of the Lord.  We rest so that the flame of faith can be fed by the light of the glory of Christ.

And we eat on retreat.  No retreat is complete without the sharing of food and drink and time and company.  We are nourished by the Word of God, by the Bread of Life, and by the meals that we share in each other’s presence.  We strengthen the bond of priestly fraternity, and stir into flame the gift of God that is within us by the laying on of hands.

And, my dear brothers and sisters, what the annual retreat is for priests, the Sunday Mass is for you.  It is a time apart from the busy events of every day.  The hour of the Sunday Mass is different from every other hour in your week.  In the celebration of the Mass, the daily sacrifices of your life of faith are united to the one sacrifice of Christ for the redemption of the world.  It is a time set apart, by the invitation of God, to join in prayer for the sick and the suffering.  It is an invitation to pray for those who should be here and are not.  It is an opportunity to pray for those who have abandoned the faith and rejected the promises of their baptism.  And it is a time to pray for those whom the Lord has called unto himself.

The Sunday Mass is a time to listen.  The Word of God is spoken to you and is not the record of some past event.  The living Word of God invites you to life, and to a life of faith.

The Sunday Mass is a time to rest.  The days of work and family life are long and the weeks pass very quickly.  In the celebration of the Mass the Lord invites you to rest in his presence and be refreshed and renewed.

And the Sunday Mass is a time to be fed.  We are fed by the presence of the Lord in his Word, by his presence in the Eucharist, and by his presence in each other.  We are strengthened by the Sacraments and by the bonds of Christian fellowship.

May we treasure, dear brothers and sisters, this weekly retreat, and stir into flame the gift of faith that is within us.  Amen.

Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC