Homily for July 8, 2018 (14th Sunday B)

 Listen to the Homily here

Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith. It is such a sad sentence to conclude the proclamation of the Gospel. Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith. Couldn’t we hear something more hopeful? Could there be some good news for us on this weekend in early July? I want something more than “Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith.”

Maybe Ezekiel can help us. Maybe there is good news from the prophet who lived by the river in Babylon and had visions of the court of heaven. Certainly he can give us a word of hope and a word of grace, but not today. His message is about rejection. His message is about a people who refuse to hear the Word of the Lord. The message of Ezekiel today is about hardness of heart and rebellion. It seems to be a sad message too. It seems like so much bad news.

And we hear enough bad news. We hear bad news about the treatment of children along the border and bad news about the treatment of children in our community. We hear bad news about gang violence and drug violence and school violence and violence against the unborn. There is so much bad news. I almost want to stop listening. I almost want to stop listening to the noise and the conflict and the violence and the hatred. I almost want to stop listening.

But if I stop listening, I might miss something important. I might not hear the story about the great young people who sit in this Church who can see a future better than the present. I might not hear the parents and grandparents who look back with pride and forward in hope. If I stop listening I could not hear the pastor who says, “I am amazed at the abundance of their faith.” If I stop listening, I will not hear the words that Jesus gave to Paul and that Jesus gives to you and to me: My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.

We are a community of amazing faith. For more than seventy-six years, the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes has kept the faith alive from generation to generation. It has not been easy. We know those stories well. We have our wounds and our scars. We have our regrets and our resentments. We have our disagreements and our divisions. We cannot deny them. They are part of who we are . . . today.

But Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” We have the promise of Jesus that his grace surrounds us and supports us. We have the promise of Jesus that his grace will leads us on our way to the kingdom where communion conquers division, where wounds become trophies of victory, and all resentments are overcome by the resurrection. We have the promise of Jesus, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

We have the promise. We have the grace. We have the victory in Christ Jesus. We have the Good News. Amen.

Homily for July 1, 2018 (13th Sunday B)

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The vestment that I am wearing was a gift from my parents. A few weeks ago, my mother walked into a store that sold priestly vestments. There were hundreds of vestments in the store. There were also clergy shirts and black suits and collars and rosaries and chalices and basically everything else a priest might want or need. My mother said two things: “I didn’t realize that you priests have your own stores,” and then “I want to give you a new vestment, but it has to be green.” Green is my mother’s favorite color. I am forty-one years old, a priest for nine years and a pastor for almost six, and my mother is still picking out my clothes!

Clothes are interesting, they can tell us things. Sometimes our clothes say where we work. Sometimes our clothes say where we went to school or where we want to go to school. Sometimes our clothes show we are part of group or an organization. Sometimes our clothes show our favorite football or World Cup team. And sometimes our clothes show that we went to Vacation Bible School and learned that Jesus rescues. Clothes are interesting, they can tell us things.

But for the woman who had been sick for twelve years, clothes had power. There are very few people in the Scriptures that I admire more than this woman. Oh I love the praying of Peter and the preaching of Paul and the poetry of John. I love Our Lady and Mary Magdalene and Martha who is always hard at work in Bethany. But this woman whose name we do not know has a trust and a faith and a determination and a confidence in the healing power of Jesus Christ that I hope to have.

She has suffered. She has suffered from illness. She has suffered from doctors. She has suffered from isolation. She has suffered from poverty. And yet, she believes in the healing power of Jesus. She knows that if only she could touch his clothing that she would be healed. She pushes her way through the crowd. Nothing will prevent her from getting to Jesus. The crowds will not prevent her. Her illness will not prevent her. Her shame will not prevent her. She will touch the clothes of Jesus and she will be healed. She is faithful and determined. She is confident and courageous. She reveals her weakness to Jesus and her faith in his power to heal. I want to have that kind of faith and I want to have that kind of courage. I want to touch the clothes of Jesus and be healed in the depths of my soul.

And maybe you do too. Maybe you want to touch the clothes of Christ this morning. Maybe you have been suffering for twelve years or more or less. Maybe a doctor knows your pain. Maybe your family knows your pain. Maybe your pastor knows your pain. Maybe only Jesus knows your pain. And this morning you want to touch the clothes of Jesus Christ and be healed.

But we will do more than that.

With more than his clothing, Jesus comes to meet us. It is not our hand that reaches out to meet him, but his hand that reaches out the meet you and me. Christ comes near to us in the Word proclaimed and in his Body and Blood. We approach him in faith and confidence. We approach him in weakness and suffering. We approach him as he approaches us to find mercy and compassion and healing.

And then we discover that we have been clothed in Christ. The garment we wanted to touch we now wear. The power of mercy and the presence of healing grace that we wanted to receive, we now carry. More than a sign of our job or our team, we wear the cloths of the Savior and we radiate the healing power of the Jesus.