OT III [B] Sunday(Jan 17): Eight-minute homily in one page (L/21)
OT III [B] Sunday(Jan 17): Eight-minute homily in one page (L/21)
Introduction: The three readings today underline our absolute need of repentance and our immediate need for a prompt response to God’s call.
Scripture lessons: The first reading tells us how God had to deal with the disobedient, fleeing prophet Jonah to turn him around (convert him), so that, repenting, he would go to Nineveh to preach repentance there. The wicked people of Nineveh, however, accepted Jonah as God’s prophet at once, and promptly responded to God’s call for repentance as Jonah preached it. In the second reading, Paul urges the Christian community in Corinth to lose no time in accepting the message of the Gospel and in renewing their lives with repentance because Jesus’ second coming may occur at any moment. Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus came to Galilee and began preaching, challenging people to “repent and believe in the Gospel.” Just as John did, Jesus also called for repentance, meaning a change in one's mind or in the direction of one’s life and setting new priorities. Repentance also means hating sin itself, not just being sorry for the consequences of one’s sins. Believing in the Gospel demands from the hearers a resolution to take Jesus’ words seriously, to translate them into action, and to put trust in Jesus’ authority. Jesus preached the Gospel, or Good News, that God is a loving, forgiving, caring and merciful Father Who wants to liberate us and save us from our sins through His son Jesus. By describing the call of Jesus' first disciples, Andrew, Peter, James, and John, today’s Gospel also emphasizes how we, sinners, are to respond to God’s call with total commitment by abandoning our accustomed style of sinful life. Jesus started his public ministry immediately after John the Baptist was arrested. According to Mark, Jesus selected four fishermen, Andrew and his brother Peter with James and his brother John, right from their fishing boats. Jesus wanted these ordinary, hard-working people as assistants for his ministry because they would be very responsive and generous instruments in the hands of God.
Life messages:
1) We need to appreciate our call to become Christ’s disciples: Every one of us is called by God, both individually, and collectively as a parish community, to continue Jesus’ mission of preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom and healing the sick.
2) We are called individually to a way of life or vocation: – a religious commitment (priest, deacon, missionary, religious Sister or Brother, marriage partner, or single person), plus a particular occupation rising from our talents (medicine, law, teaching, healing, writing, art, music, building and carpentry, homemaking, child-rearing ….). Our own unique vocation should enable us to become what God wants us to be. As St. Francis Sales puts it, we are expected to bloom where we are planted.
3) Our call, of course, begins with our Baptism and the other Sacraments of Initiation. It is strengthened through the years with the Eucharist and Reconciliation, healed and consoled by Anointing and, for those so called, made manifest in the sacraments of Matrimony or Holy Orders. The amazing truth is that God is relentless in calling us back to Himself even when we stray away from Him.
4) Let us be thankful to God for His Divine grace of calling us to be members of the true Church. Let us remember that it is our vocation in life as Christians to transmit Christ’s Light through our living, radiating Jesus’ unconditional love, mercy, forgiveness, and humble service to all in our society.
OT III [B] (Jan 17, 2021) Jon 3:1-5, 10; I Cor 7:29-31; Mk 1: 14-20
Homily starter anecdotes:
# 1: The management forgives you: J. Edwin Orr, a professor of Church history has described the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the Protestant Welsh Revivals of the nineteenth century, which resulted for many in real metanoia. As people sought to be filled with the Spirit, they did all they could to confess their wrongdoings and to make restitution. But this created serious problems for the shipyards along the coast of Wales. Over the years, workers had “appropriated,” or “borrowed,” all kinds of things, from wheelbarrows to hammers. However, as people sought to be right with God, they understood that they had actually stolen all these things from their shipyards, so they started to return all they had taken, with the result that soon the shipyards of Wales were overwhelmed with returned property. There were such huge piles of returned tools that several of the yards put up signs that read, "If you have been led by God to return what you have stolen, please know that the management forgives you and wishes you to keep what you have taken." -- In today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges each one of us to revive our life with a true spirit of repentance.
# 2: Bigotry and the Church’s universal mission: Bigotry creates the gaping chasm between God’s universal vision and the often myopic and selective insight of believers. Bigotry decides that certain people are better than others and worthier of attention, while it writes off others as valueless and not worth the effort. Bigotry went to the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Jesse Owens, a black American track and field athlete won four gold medals, but the leader of the host country refused to acknowledge him. Until 1954, bigotry relegated immigrants to the United States of America to places like Ellis Island. Many remained there for months; many were unsympathetically deported. Bigotry has gone to the voting polls several times since 1954 to further limit the rights and freedoms of immigrants. Bigotry organized and executed the systematic annihilation of six million Europeans whose beliefs and traditions were considered a threat to racial purity. Bigotry rounded up and forcibly detained Asian-American citizens during World War II. Bigotry denied women in the U.S. the right to vote until 1921. Bigotry walked the streets of Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965 when advocates of civil rights were clubbed and tear-gassed by police and stoned and beaten with bottles by opponents of integration. Despite these instances of its presence (and there are countless others), bigotry is such an ugly word, that, while we readily recognize it in others, few of us are willing to consider it as a possible, personal flaw. Perhaps if we were to ask ourselves a few pointed questions. . . Do I consider anyone or any group as a lost cause and therefore beyond the scope of my ministry as a Christian? Are there people of a certain race or ethnic group I’d rather not have as neighbors? In-laws? Bosses? When ethic jokes are told, do I laugh as loudly as anyone else? What if the experience of Jonah were to be contemporized... If a call went out for a modern-day Jonah to be dispatched to [any of “countries [currently] ranked in the top 10 for extreme persecution of Christians … North Korea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Iraq [Ancient Assyria], Iran, Yemen, Eritrea …” where “nearly 215 million Christians face high persecution…” (Open Doors USA), and where, “between the years 2005-2015, an estimated 900,000 Christians were martyred – an average of 90,000 Christians each year” (The Center for the Study of Global Christianity)] with the duty of preaching repentance and conversion to Islamic extremists there, would I volunteer for the job? Would I think it a worthwhile endeavor? Would I put off my trip, or would I labor with the sense of urgency which Paul describes in today’s second reading? Would I rejoice if my mission were successful? Do I truly believe the reign of God and the Good News of salvation are for all, without exception? Are there discrepancies between God’s concerns and my own? Jonah, Paul, and Mark challenge each of us gathered in this assembly to consider these questions today and to deal with any discrepancies we may discover. (Sanchez Files)
# 3: Deep-sea fishing: How many of you have ever been deep-sea fishing? I was shocked to learn that more than 2.4 million people participated in this sport last year, resulting in retail sales of almost $2.4 billion dollars and a total economic impact of almost $4.5 billion dollars. Deep-sea fishing provides jobs for nearly 55,000 people. You may be asking what deep-sea fishing has to do with the Church. You are going to see over the next four weeks that deep-sea fishing is a picture of the deep-soul fishing we are to be about as Church. "As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, 'Follow Me, and, I will make you fishers of men.'" (Mark 1:16-17). That one statement tells us what our primary business is as Church, both corporately and as followers of Jesus individually. If you are a follower of Jesus, I want you to understand that every day Jesus Christ wants fishermen-disciples to launch out into the sea of humanity and go deep-soul fishing, because the Church's primary business, and so the Christian's primary business, is the fishing business. No matter what else we do or how well we do it, if we ever get out of the fishing business, we are out of business. Your neighborhood is a lake full of fish. Your office is a lake full of fish. Your school is a lake full of fish. When Jesus said, "I will make you fishers of men,” He was saying, “I will take you, with your personality, your background, your testimony, your influence, and I will use you to catch men, women, boys, and girls and bring them into My family.”
Introduction: God’s call to discipleship, with the response of repentance, conversion, and renewal of life expected from each of us, is the main theme of today’s readings. No matter to what life, work, or ministry God calls us, He first calls us to conversion, to reform, to repentance – to the process of continually becoming new people. Those who are constantly being reformed by the Spirit will be able to follow, as true disciples, wherever God leads. All three readings today underline the absolute necessity of such repentance and ready response to God’s call.
Scripture readings summarized: The first reading tells us about the prophet Jonah, whose response when God first called him and told him to go to Nineveh was to take ship immediately for the furthest point he could get to in the opposite direction! Why? We don’t know. Perhaps he was scared. Or perhaps it was because he hated the Gentile people of Nineveh and thought that they were not worthy of God's gracious mercy. In any case, Jonah ran away. God had to halt Jonah in his flight, then give him a three-day “time-out” in the belly of that great fish, before the prophet was ready to accept the Lord God’s “second chance” to obey Him and go to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh. Far from being hostile, however, the people and the King of Nineveh, promptly responded to God’s word as preached by His prophet, repenting in sackcloth with a fast -- just on the outside chance that the Lord God ”might” spare them! In the second reading, Paul urges the community in Corinth, and us, to lose no time accepting the message of the Gospel because Jesus’ second coming may occur at any time. Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus entered Galilee and began preaching. Like John, Jesus also called for repentance. But Jesus added the Good News that the Kingdom of God was at hand. It still is, for where Jesus is, there is the Kingdom of God. Then Jesus called on his listeners to believe in the Gospel or the Good News of God’s love, mercy and salvation. When Jesus invited Simon, Andrew, James, and John to join him and help in his preaching and healing ministry, they promptly accepted his call, for discipleship is the only complete response a believer can make to that proclamation and invitation. The two greatest aspects of discipleship in Mark are being with Jesus and sharing in his mission. Disciples are invited to be with Jesus on a great spiritual journey and to share in Jesus’ mission of proclaiming God’s Kingdom in word and deed. In describing the call of Jesus' first disciples, today's Gospel also emphasizes how we, sinners, are to respond to Him with total commitment, abandoning our accustomed attitudes and styles of life to follow Him in thought, word, and deed.
First reading, Jonah 3:1-5 explained: The first reading shows us that we should respond promptly to God’s call for repentance. Our passage comes from the beginning of the second part (Jonah 3-4), where Jonah finally obeyed the Lord God by preaching of repentance to the Ninevites. The call to repentance delivered by Jonah to the people of Nineveh demanded they make a radical change in their manner of living. Jesus makes the same demand of us in today’s Gospel: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” The Book of Jonah was written in Palestine around the 5th century BC, after the Babylonian exile. Some of the Jews were strongly nationalistic, filled with a smug sense of their superiority over all other nations. Like Jonah, they wished God would destroy the nations they perceived as His enemies. For Jonah, the Ninevites were terrible people doing terrible things. The city was notorious for its lack of morals and the idolatrous, decadent life-style of its inhabitants. The story of Jonah was intended to rebuke the Palestinians’ smallness of vision, and to teach them that God had care for other peoples besides themselves. Reading (Jonah 3:1-5, 10) we have a condensed version of the “Jonah story,” which helps us keep our focus on the workings of the Lord. The Lord “calls” and “sends” Jonah to warn the Ninevites about their need to repent and reform their lives before it is too late. The Ninevites believed the Lord’s message and responded immediately in penitential fashion, thus softening their hearts to receive God’s mercy. The first two chapters describe how God responded to Jonah’s flight from His call and the mission He had assigned the prophet: He allowed him to experience a deadly storm followed by an excruciating experience in the belly of a whale. At God’s second call to preach repentance in Nineveh, Jonah obeyed – but he was disappointed to see the ready response of that evil city to God’s message of repentance and a change of life! Jonah had not even finished the first day of his preaching journey before the people had totally turned around – doing visible penance while asking and hoping for God’s love, reconciliation and forgiveness. Contrary to Jonah’s expectations, the pagan peoples of the city "believed in God" and "renounced their evil behavior". But perhaps the greater change, the more radical turnabout, happened in Jonah himself. Jonah had been an arrogant, bigoted, narrow-minded prophet. But he finally realized that God’s love is not limited – God’s forgiveness is not to be contained – God’s offer of salvation is for all – and we’d best not thwart it.
[Lessons taught by Jonah story: Not an historic account, but a didactic fiction, i.e., a story told in order to educate, the Jonah narrative had a double lesson for the inhabitants of Judah. First, in sending the main character of the story to foreign, pagan, Nineveh, the universality of God’s saving purpose was underscored. Second, in the bigoted persona of Jonah, the parochial and nationalistic Judahites were to recognize a caricature of themselves and to accept the challenge to broaden their concerns in order to bring them into line with God’s Will. Moreover, the value and quality of spirit attributed to the Ninevites was intended to awaken in the people of Judah an attitude of respect for and acceptance of others, who were often regarded as sub-human or as animals (dogs, swine). We notice that, when Jonah preached his short message, the Ninevites believed God (v. 5). Conversion in Nineveh was effected, not by prophetic eloquence (“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed!?!”) but by God’s power. http://www.ncrpub.org)] .
Second Reading, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 explained: The second reading also urges us to be converted and to accept the “Good News’ preached by Jesus. Thinking that the end was near and the second coming of Jesus would happen soon, Paul preferred that no one get married and that slaves not try to gain their freedom (1 Cor 7:8, 17-24). But the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World makes clear that it is precisely through engagement with the concerns of the world that Jesus’ followers are to exercise their discipleship. Saint Paul had to be strict and detailed in his moral teaching to the Christians in Corinth because Corinth was a bawdy seaport with a typical seaport's set of ethics and some very bizarre philosophical ideas. Hence, Paul spent all of chapter 7 on marriage and sexual morality. He told the Corinthians to live in total freedom and detachment because nothing they had, whether things or personal attachments, was permanent, and everything could disappear at a moment's notice. Whether life is very good or very bad, nothing lasts except the fundamental values of truth and love, of freedom and justice. In the end, it is who and Whose we are, not what we have that counts. Hence, let us ask to have the freedom to follow the call of God and to be ready to go at once wherever Jesus is asking us to go.
Gospel exegesis: "The time is fulfilled.” The meaning of this verse hinges on the Greek word used for ‘time’: “The time is fulfilled…” There are two different words in Greek for ‘time’, and they carry very different meanings. Mark does not use the word ‘chronos’ for ‘time’ here; ‘chronos’ indicates a moment in historical time, a date on the calendar, an hour in the day…Instead, he uses the word ‘kairos’, which still means ‘time’ but is more to do with the eternal quality inherent in any given moment. So Jesus does not announce the historical moment in time when the kingdom of God came to earth. Instead, he is alerting us to the possibility of encountering the kingdom of God at any given moment in historical time, if we repent and believe.
Invitation to repentance: Some Bible scholars believe that after his baptism, Jesus became a disciple of John, preaching his message of repentance and baptizing others (see Jn 3:22). Over the course of time, Jesus began to discover a new ministry for himself. According to Mark, Jesus embarked upon it after John was arrested (Mk 1:14).It is highly likely that Jesus and the four followers he summoned here were not strangers. Even if they had not personally met each other before this time, they were aware of each other's aspirations and objectives. Jesus used exactly the same words John the Baptist had used: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.” The Greek word used “metanoeo” means to change one's mind or direction. But Jesus must have used the Hebrew shûbh, or its Aramaic equivalent, which means to turn around 180 degrees, to reorient one’s whole attitude toward Yhwh in the face of his coming kingdom. It therefore includes within it the demand for faith. Thus, repentance means that we make a complete change of direction in our lives. This involves a radical conversion (metanoia), a change of direction and priorities in our lives. The mark of genuine repentance is not a sense of guilt, but a sense of sorrow, of regret for having taken a wrong turn. For Jesus, repentance is not merely saying, "I'm sorry," but also promising, “I will change my life." Real repentance means that a man has come, not only to be sorry for the consequences of his sin, but to hate sin itself. We often think of repentance as feeling guilty, but it is really a change of mind or direction -- seeing things from a different perspective. Once we begin to see things rightly, it might follow that we will feel bad about having seen them wrongly for so long. But repentance starts with the new vision rather than the guilt feelings. By true repentance we are giving up control of our lives and throwing our sinful lives on the mercy of God. We are inviting God to do what we can't do ourselves -- namely to raise the dead -- to change and recreate us. "Repent" is used in the present tense -- "Keep on repenting!" "Continually be repentant!" This means that repentance must be the ongoing life of the people in the Kingdom.
The Kingdom of God is the theme of Jesus’ preaching. This Kingdom is any society where God’s will is done as it is done in Heaven. Hence, a person who does the will of God perfectly is already in the Kingdom of God. Being in the Kingdom offers us a new healing and freeing access to God, already to be tasted in Jesus’ own ministry. Matthew, as a devout Jew, consistently uses the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven," while Mark, writing for Gentile converts, uses the phrase "Kingdom of God," without any scruples about using God's name. We probably shouldn't interpret the "Kingdom of God" as Heaven where God rules. In telling us that the Kingdom has come near, Jesus is telling us that we can dwell in this Kingdom now, provided we repent or turn away from the idols that crowd our lives and do the will of God as it is done in Heaven, thus allowing God to reign in our lives.
Believe in the “Gospel” or “Good News.” It was preeminently “Good News” that Jesus came to bring to men. The Good News is that God is our loving and forgiving Father and not a punishing judge, and that He wants to save us through His son Jesus. So St. Paul calls it the Good News of truth (Gal 2:5; Col 1:5), Good News of hope (Col 1:23), , Good News of God's promise of salvation (Eph 1:13, 3:6), Good News of peace with God and man (Eph 6:1), and Good News of immortality (2Tim 1:10). To believe in the Good News simply means to take Jesus at his word, to believe that God is the kind of God that Jesus has told us about, and to believe that God so loves the world that He will make any sacrifice to bring us back to Himself. To believe in the “Good News” involves a total commitment – the investing of one's whole self in God without any guarantees or preconditions.
The call of the apostles: “The evangelists were not precise chroniclers of Jesus’ words and works. Rather each inspired writer, with his own personal talents and sources, has taken the oral tradition preserved within his community and has shaped a Gospel according to his own Christological and soteriological insights, and in keeping with the pastoral situation and concerns of his readers. For this reason, the same events, e.g., Jesus’ calling of his disciples, have been presented somewhat differently by each of the evangelists.” (http://www.ncrpub.org). Just like Matthew’s, Mark’s account of this call is very brief. Jesus calls two pairs of brothers – Andrew and Peter, James and John – inviting them to become his disciples. The men respond immediately, leaving their nets, their boats, and their father “in the boat along with the hired men, (1:20),” to follow Jesus. These fishermen immediately accept Jesus’ invitation to use their skills to “fish for people.” Abandoning their nets is a way of speaking of what must be left behind when one embraces radical discipleship. Usually rabbinical students sought out their teachers and attached themselves to them. However, Jesus, as rabbi, takes the initiative and calls some probably less-than-ideal candidates to be his students. The disciples were simple fishermen with no great background. In Cicero's ranking of occupations (De Off 1.150-51), owners of cultivated land appear first and fishermen last. What Jesus needs are ordinary folk who will give Him themselves. What Christ needs is not our ability, but our availability. What Jesus teaches His disciples is not a course of study, but a way of life to follow. Hence, Jesus offers these men the opportunity to observe him at close range on a daily basis. Perhaps Peter, Andrew, James, and John fundamentally misunderstood the call and believed it to be the way out of their poverty and powerlessness. Here was a call to a new life in which they would have power and authority and would be respected by everyone as a result.
Call to make fishers of men: There is a similar passage in Jeremiah 16:16 – “I am now sending for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall catch them”. In the ancient world fishing was a metaphor for two distinct activities: judgment and teaching. “Fishing for people” meant bringing them to justice by dragging them out of their hiding places and setting them before the judge. And “fishing” was also used of teaching people, of the process of leading them from ignorance to wisdom. Both cases involve a radical change of environment, a break with a former way of life and entrance upon a new way of life. We are the fish, and what God promises us, who are dragged out of the water in the nets to die, is a Resurrection, a new life, a new family, a new future, all under God's control, all within the Kingdom of Heaven, which has come near in Jesus. We have very little control over our own lives, but as fish caught in the net of God's love, we can trust that we are under God's control. We have to believe that being captured by God's love, that responding to the command to repent and die to self, that being raised to a new life by God, is not only right for us, but is a message we need to share with the entire world. The disciples will be trained to do precisely what Jesus is doing right now: proclaiming the Kingdom, recruiting people for it, and drawing them into a community that experiences God's reign.
Life messages: 1) Let us appreciate our call to be Christ’s disciples: Every one of us is called by God, both individually and collectively. The mission of preaching, teaching, and healing which Jesus began in Galilee is now the responsibility of the Church. Our own unique vocation and our relationship with the risen Lord are the same as that of the universal Church. Be we religious, priests, married or single people, we are all called, and in this call we become what God wants us to be. The call, of course, begins with our Baptism and the other Sacraments of Initiation, is strengthened throughout the years with the Eucharist and Reconciliation, healed and consoled by Anointing, and (for those so called), made manifest in Matrimony, or Holy Orders. God is relentless in calling us back to Himself, even when we stray away from Him. Perhaps, God is asking us to see His hand in unexpected changes, reminding us that we are a pilgrim people who cannot be settled down into comfortable routine! Even when the changes are, apparently, not for the better, how we deal with them is what matters.
2) Let us be thankful to God for His Divine grace of calling us to be members of the true Church. Let us make personal efforts to see in her the Light of Christ and to grow in holiness, learning the truths that are revealed through the Church and receiving her Sacraments. Let us be shining lights in the world as Christ was and make a personal effort to bring others to the truth and the light, so that they may rejoice with us in the Mystical Body of Christ, the invisible Kingdom of God.
3) God is constantly calling each one of us to repent, to confess our sins, to do penance, and to amend our lives. I cannot receive communion if I have sinned mortally, without first confessing my sins and receiving absolution in the Sacrament of Penance (Confession) (CCC #1415). If I do receive communion while not in the state of grace, I have committed a sin of irreligion called a sacrilege which is a very serious offense against the 1st Commandment (CCC #2120). Is God calling me right now to respond to His call to repent by seeking out a priest and making a good confession?
JOKE OF THE WEEK: 1) Good News and Bad News: An old man visits his doctor and after thorough examination the doctor tells him: "I have good news and bad news; what would you like to hear first?” Patient: "Well, let me have the bad news first." Doctor: "You have cancer. I estimate that you have about two years left." Patient: "Oh no! That's just awful! In two years my life will be over! What kind of good news could you probably tell me, after this?" Doctor: "You also have Alzheimer's. In about three months you are going to forget everything I told you."
2) Jonah and the whale: There was this Christian lady that had to do a lot of traveling for her business, so she did a lot of flying. But flying made her nervous so she always took her Bible along with her to read, and it helped relax her. One time she was sitting next to a man. When he saw her pull out her Bible he gave a little chuckle and went back to what he was doing.
After a while he turned to her and asked, "You don't really believe all that stuff in there do you?"
The lady replied "Of course I do! It is the Bible."
He said, "Well what about that guy that was swallowed by that whale?"
She replied "Oh, Jonah. Yes, I believe that; it is in the Bible. The Bible says Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and I believe it. And if it had said that Jonah had swallowed the whale, I would believe that too!"
He asked "Well, how do you suppose he survived all that time inside the whale?"
The lady said "Well I don't really know. I guess when I get to Heaven I will ask him." "What if he isn't in Heaven?" the man asked sarcastically.
"Then you can ask him when you reach the Hell," replied the lady.
3) The best prayer I ever heard was: "Lord, please make me the kind of person my dog thinks I am."
4) A young boy wanted to go down to the lake to fish, and his mother asked him to take his little sister with him. He said, "Mom, don't make me take her with me. The last time she came with me, I didn't catch a single fish." The mother said, "I'll talk to her, and I promise this time she won't make any noise." The boy said, "Mom, it wasn't the noise. She ate all my bait!"
WESITES OF THE WEEK
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Patron saints of the day: http://www.catholicforum.com/saints/patron02.htm ; https://www.franciscanmedia.org/
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Online marriage preparation: http://www.catholicmarriagepreponline.com/
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http://www.andiesisle.com/ThisBlessingIsForYou.html (Irish blessing video)

25- Additional anecdotes:
1) They abandoned their father: Columban, who died in AD 615., was the greatest of the Irish medieval monk-missionaries. A well-educated youth, he had a very passionate nature that caused him great concern. “Flight from the world is the only solution,” a holy anchoress ( a woman living enclosed in a cell abutting ad Church with a window into the Church for Mass and the Sacraments, and a window to the outside world to counsel those who came to her for advice), advised him: “flight even from your own native land.” Following her counsel, he entered the monastic life and studied the spiritual way at the feet of some of the most noted – and strictest – Irish monks. He lived in the monastery of Bangor until he was about forty-five. Then he sought permission of the abbot to head a group of monks as missionaries among the Germans. In Germanic Burgundy he founded the monastery of Annegaray, and then the more famous one of Luxeil. To the men who flocked to become monks under his tutelage, he gave a very strict rule, heavy with penalties for even slight infractions. If his followers observed so stringent a way of life at all, it was doubtless because they saw St. Columban himself observing it to the last letter. On account of political opposition, Abbot Columban moved away from Burgundy into Switzerland, and eventually into northern Italy. Here the Germanic King Agilulf gave him land for a new monastery, and the Abbot, now in his seventies, erected the Abbey of Bobbio, where he died not long afterward. When young Columban had first felt the call to become a monk, his mother had objected very strongly. To prevent his departure, she had even thrown herself across the doorway of their home. This did give the saint pause, but only for a moment. He stepped over her and went his way, never to return.
What did Zebedee the fisherman say when his sons, James and John, left him for good to follow Christ? The Scriptures do not tell us. He quite likely grumbled for a while about the fate of the family business. What did St. Columban’s mother do when he stepped over her and left? History does not tell us. Being a sensible Irishwoman, she quite likely got up, dusted off her clothes, and sought consolation in a cup of tea. Both she and Zebedee, God-fearing persons that they were, probably came to realize all the more clearly thereafter that children are a gift from God, and so He has first claim on their service. “They abandoned their father Zebedee.. . and went off in His company.” (Mk 1:20. Today’s Gospel). (Father Robert F. McNamara)
2) Four reasons why people do not catch fish: I have come to the conclusion that there are basically four reasons why people do not catch fish: (1) Some people are using the wrong bait. (2) Some people are fishing in the wrong lake, that is, they don't know where the fish are. (3) Some people have got the right bait and they're in the right lake, but they don't know how to fish. (4) Then there are some people who have the right bait, and they're in the right lake, and they know how to fish but they're just not going fishing. The Lord Jesus came not only that we might put our Faith in Him, but that we might go fishing with Him. You see, our problem is not that we have the wrong lake. The water is full of fish. The problem is not that we have the wrong bait. We have the Gospel which can hook any fish. Our problem, I believe, is one of ignorance and apathy. There are many Christians who believe they do not know how to share the Lord Jesus, and then there are many who just don't want to go. (Rev. Maxie Dunnam)
3) Then we can have the greatest renewal: Years ago, Richard Cardinal Cushing (b. August 24, 1895- d. Nov. 2, 1970. Archbishop of Boston 1944-10=970l created Cardinal, 1958), wrote: “If all the sleeping folks will wake up, and all the lukewarm folks will fire up, and all the disgruntled folks will sweeten up, and all the discouraged folks will cheer up, and all the depressed folks will look up, and all the estranged folks will make up, and all the gossiping folks will shut up, and all the dry bones will shake up, and all the true soldiers will stand up, and all the Church members will pray up, and if the Savior of all will be lifted up . . . then we can have the greatest renewal this world has ever known. Amen.”
4) “Follow me.” Billy Graham was in a certain town years ago, and he wanted to mail a letter, but he had no idea where the Post Office was. So he stopped a little boy walking the street and asked him if he could direct him to the nearest Post Office. Well, the little boy said, "Yes sir, go down to the red light, turn right, go two blocks to the second red light, turn left, go one block, turn back to the right and you will be right there." Dr. Graham thanked him and said, "Son, if you will come to the Convention Center this evening, you can hear me telling everybody how to get to Heaven." The boy said, "Well, I don't think I'll be there, Mister; you don't even know your way to the Post Office." Well I want to tell you that Jesus not only knows the way to Heaven, He is the Way to Heaven. He not only knows how to live, He is Life more abundant. The very first command He ever gave to any disciple was: "Follow Me." For that is where discipleship begins and ends, in following Jesus.
5) "Follow the Leader" Has any of you ever played "Follow the Leader?" Of course you have! I played the game when I was a child -- my father played the game when he was a child -- his father played the game when he was a child. Follow the Leader is a game that is played and enjoyed by children all over the world. The rules are very simple. You choose a leader and you follow him wherever he goes -- and do whatever he does. In our daily lives, too, we play follow the leader. In school, in Church, in sports, in any activity we join, there are always leaders. Every day we are faced with making a choice of which leader we will follow. But we must be sure to choose a leader who will lead us in the right direction. Today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus selected his first disciples and instructed them to follow him as the leader. As Jesus was walking along the seashore he saw two fishermen, Peter and Andrew, and called out to them, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." The Gospel tells us that they laid down their nets and followed Jesus. Jesus went a little farther and he saw two more men, James and John sitting in their boat mending their nets. Jesus called out to them and the Bible tells us that they left their boat and their father and followed Jesus (Mt 5:19-20). Jesus is still calling people to follow him today. He has called you and me to follow him. Now it's up to us to decide if we will follow the Leader.
6) "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken." Purdue Farms had the same problem when they tried to expand their chicken business. Their popular slogan tried to appeal to women by making men prepare a chicken dinner. Do you recall the slogan? It was, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken." Desiring to reach into the Spanish market they translated their slogan and announced to the entire Latino world, "It takes a virile man to make a chicken affectionate." Now that's a personal touch but not the kind I had in mind. How can we reach others for Christ? We can do it by speaking their language – understanding their jobs, taking an interest in their hobbies, speaking to them about their families. We can do it with a personal touch.
7) "Come to the Chapel," and "Jesus Sets the Prisoners Free!" Some of you are familiar with the name Charles Colson. Chuck Colson was, at one time, a power player in Washington politics, a member of President Richard Nixon's inner circle. He was one of Nixon's most enthusiastic "hatchet men." Those who knew him best described him as a man of few principles. But his involvement in the infamous Watergate scandal led to his disgrace. It was while serving time in prison for his role in the scandal that Charles Colson came to an authentic relationship with Christ. After his release, Colson founded Prison Fellowship, a ministry to inmates in prisons around the world. Many years ago, Colson started a Prison Fellowship group with just eight young inmates at a maximum-security prison in Delaware. One young inmate was deeply affected by what he learned in the Prison Fellowship Bible study. When a judge reviewed his case and unexpectedly set him free, this young man asked to be allowed to remain in prison until he had finished the study. About a year after Colson's first visit to the Delaware prison, he returned for an Easter morning service. Dozens of prisoners stood outside the chapel and held up signs announcing, "Come to the Chapel," and "Jesus Sets the Prisoners Free!" Hundreds of inmates packed the chapel that morning to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. [Charles Colson. Loving God (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1987), pp. 21-24.] Christ reaches out to all kinds of people. They don't have to be special people. But he turns them into special people. All they have to do is say, "Yes." Here's what we need to see: it can happen to us. Christ can turn us into someone special if we will let him.
8) Integrity, intelligence, and energy: Warren Buffett, the nation's most successful financial investor and the second-richest man in America, has some very valuable advice on hiring the best people for your business. He says, "Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you." [Omaha World Herald, Feb. 1, 1994. Cited in Thoughts of Chairman Buffett, (New York: HarperBusiness, 1998).] If you were looking to hire someone to work for you, where would you begin? Wouldn't you begin with someone you could trust? Jesus saw something in these men that helped him to know that he could depend on them. This is not to say that the disciples were perfect. Certainly they were not. There is a silly story about Jesus having his Last Supper with his disciples. As they ate, he looked around at them. There, in one direction, he saw Judas Iscariot, who would betray him to the authorities before three hours had passed. On the other side was Peter, who would deny him three times before the cock crowed. And almost immediately opposite him was Thomas, who, on a crucial occasion, would express doubts. There seemed only one thing to do. Jesus called over the headwaiter, "Max," he said, "separate checks."
9) Do you remember "Top Gun"? Remember how planes took off and landed on aircraft carriers? These sleek, large, worth-more-than-their-weight-in-gold jets sit on even bigger, more expensive ships. In order for both pieces of equipment to function without disaster, a bond of complete trust and genuine teamwork must be established between those who fly and those who remain grounded. Those trained to pilot the most powerful and sophisticated aircraft in the world must rely upon and wait for a series of "go-ahead" hand signals from their always-grounded "air boss." Each step must be carried out in proper sequence before the big jets can set off on their appointed missions. The first duty of the air boss is to signal the removal of the "chocks," the small clamps that lock in place the aircraft's wheels and keep them from rolling. When Jesus utters his first proclamation of the Good News, "the Kingdom of God has come near" (Mk 1:15), he follows it with the command to "repent." Before anything else can happen, even before he urges listeners to "believe in the Good News," Jesus preaches repentance. Jesus knows that our sins and shortcomings, prejudices and preconceived notions can effectively block us from making any headway in our search for God's kingdom.
10) Word-of-mouth evangelization in a world of commercials: One of the biggest industries in the United States today is the production of advertising. Billboards, signs on benches, magazines, newspapers, placards on the sides of buses, messages on the insides of match books, "junk" mail, computer phone calls, radio and, of course, television, all seek to commercial-ize us, to sell us something. Commercials make a host of promises. We're told that if we just use what they sell, people will notice us; we'll be healthier, happier, sexier; smell better; look better; feel better; get just about everything we want. I'd hate to add up the amount of time each day that is ruined by commercials. Kids, especially, are fascinated with them and affected by them (most of the time affected badly). About forty years ago there used to be an automobile named the Packard. Packard was the last car manufacturer to get into advertising, It didn't happen until old man Packard died, because whenever he was approached to buy some advertising for his cars he always said, "Don't need any; just ask the man who owns one." Our Lord Jesus Christ is also known through word-of-mouth advertising. That's how the word about him gets out. Only the Shepherds at the first Christmas heard the Good News from angels. Only the Wise Men were led by a Star. Just a comparative few were touched by miracles. But almost everybody came to know Jesus Christ, and is still coming to know him, through word-of-mouth advertising, one person telling another. There are other names we use: preaching, witnessing, sharing, testifying, evangelizing. Basically, however, it’s all word-of-mouth advertising, one person telling another. Our Gospel lesson reminds us that John the Baptizer was one of the first to get the word out about Jesus.
11) “MVSU was the only school to come to my house and give me a personal visit." Some of you will remember the 1989 MVP of Super Bowl 23: Jerry Rice. There is an interesting story about him. He was the longtime star for the San Francisco 49ers, considered one of the greatest receivers in the history of football; he played for the 49ers for 15 years, 1985 to 2000. He is a famous athlete, and you would think he came from some legendary college team but he didn't. He played for Mississippi Valley State University, in Itta Bena, Mississippi, a virtual unknown. He was once asked, "Why did you attend a small, obscure university like Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Mississippi?" Rice responded, "Out of all the big-time schools (such as UCLA) to recruit me, MVSU was the only school to come to my house and give me a personal visit." The big-time schools recruited through cards, letters, and advertisements, but only one came to meet him and showed Rice personal attention. It makes a difference in this world to meet people eye to eye and invite them to be a part of something. As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, the Scriptures say, he saw Simon and his brother casting a net into the sea. He approached them and Personally invited them to be a part of His ministry and mission. They followed Him. He went a little further and he saw two more brothers: James and John. He went up to them extending the same Personal invitation, and they followed.
12) “Unlike a religious fanatic, a football fanatic can be perfectly harmless." A man in one Church recalled how during football season he and his son watched football on television the whole weekend. On Saturdays it was college football, on Sundays, professional football, and then to cap it off professional football on Monday evenings. This same father was uncomfortable with his son being away for a weekend religious retreat, fearing his son might turn into a religious fanatic! I asked him if he thought being a sports fan was okay for his son. Of course, he replied. But when I pointed out that "fan" is the shortened form of "fanatic," he was taken aback. His long-neglected wife, a football widow of the first rank, wondered aloud why it was perfectly acceptable to be a football fanatic and not a religious fanatic. "Because," replied her husband without thinking, "unlike a religious fanatic, a football fanatic can be perfectly harmless." "Yes," said the long-unnoticed football widow, "I can vouch for that!" Neither fanaticism nor academism by themselves will do for discipleship. The word "disciple" means "learning follower." It is the root of the word "discipline." And the discipline required of Jesus' disciples is thinking and acting, learning and following. Jesus calls all of us to renewed discipleship, to follow him toward new goals and priorities, to be faithful fishers of men, like Peter, Andrew, James, and John-- and look how they changed the world!
13) Just 6 were about the Bible, 4 about Jesus, and 3 about evangelism. In the “prosperity gospel” that has gripped so many of our Churches and most of our minds, “conversion” is less a turning toward Christ than a turning toward success or fame or fortune, especially a turning towards self. Just check out “best-seller Christianity,” which has become ladder-climbing wrapped up as spirituality. A survey of CBA's best-selling books as we began the 21st century found that family and women's topics accounted for nearly half of the titles, with the rest focused mainly on success and the self. Of the top 100 books, just 6 were about the Bible, 4 about Jesus, and 3 about evangelism. The rest of them were about how to climb higher and higher on the ladders of success. "The Christianity of the bestseller lists tends to be personal, private, and interior," writes Gene Edward Veith in World magazine (July 2008), "with little attention to objective theology or to the Church." We have even made conversion primarily about ourselves, a finding of ourselves and a fulfilling of ourselves, a journey of self-discovery rather than a journey of God-discovery. “Any version of the Gospel that substitutes the message of personal success for the cross is a manipulative counterfeit,” writes A. C. Thiselton in his commentary on The First Epistle to the Corinthians.
14) There are people who are unhappy with their lives and situations. In 1957, as John Galbraith was about to describe us as "the affluent society," our per-person income, expressed in today's dollars, was less than $10,000. Today it is more than twice that – making us The More Than Doubly Affluent Society. Compared to 1957, we have more than twice as many cars per person; we have digital TVs, satellite dishes, cell phones and $15 billion a year worth of brand name athletic shoes. So are we happier than we were sixty-four years ago? We are not. In 1957, thirty-five percent of Americans told The National Opinion Research Center they were very happy. By 1991, our per-capita income had already doubled, and yet only thirty-one percent said they were very happy. And the trends continue. "Judged by soaring rates of depression, the quintupling of the violent crime rate, the doubling of the divorce rate, the slight decline in marital happiness among the marital survivors, and the tripling of the teen suicide rate, we are richer and unhappier." [Adapted from James Merritt, Friends, Foes & Fools, Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holmes, 1997.] The first disciples of Jesus were probably dissatisfied with their lives. So when Christ showed them something better – when he offered to give them a dynamic new purpose for their lives – they did not hesitate. They dropped everything and followed him.
15) Decide between a new car and getting engaged. There are some issues too important to put off. A decision has to be made. Once, an Ann Landers column told about a dilemma faced by another young man: "Dear Ann, I have got to decide between a new car and getting engaged. I really love this wonderful young lady. But every night when I go to sleep, I dream about the car." When we hear an invitation from Christ, we often find two conflicting inner voices within our spirit. One is telling us, look before you leap; don't get involved; you can always do it later on. Then there is a voice urging us to trust and be obedient to the call. We can't have it both ways. We must respond to one voice or the other. We can't waver between two opinions. The disciples were teachable; they were decisive.
16) "And those who quit will be doctors, lawyers, and captains of industry."
Some of you football fans will remember when Bo Schembechler was the coach of the Michigan Wolverines. It's said that Schembechler used to work his players especially hard during spring practice to see what kind of young men he had, winners or quitters. He made a sign with a slogan on it and hung it above the locker room door. The sign read like this: "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions." Of course, not everyone stayed. One morning Schembechler came to the office and looked at the sign. Underneath the words "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions," someone had written, "And those who quit will be doctors, lawyers, and captains of industry." Not everyone has what it takes to answer the call to be a champion, regardless of the field or profession. Well, you get the idea. Not everyone is cut out to play football. Not everyone will be happy as a sailor. And not everyone was called to be among Jesus' original twelve disciples. Jesus calls many, but only a few heed his summons. In most Churches, only about twenty percent of the congregation is really involved in the life of the Church. Another twenty percent are relatively faithful in worship, but can't truly be counted on for anything else. Another twenty percent are sporadic attenders. And then there are about forty percent who are of the hatched, matched, and dispatched variety. That is, they are here when they need to be baptized, married and finally buried – hatched, matched, and dispatched – but they couldn't be much more nominal in their devotion. So the fact that these first disciples were willing to not only say "yes" to the Master, but also to leave their nets and follow him is no little matter. As they say, "showing up is half the battle."
17) Radical conversion of Honest Jake: Former Massachusetts congressman Tip O’Neill tells the story of a metanoia or change – the story of a man named “Honest Jake.” Honest Jake became well-known in the Boston area because of his assistance to three generations of immigrant families. He owned a little variety store and would extend credit to the poor immigrants to help them get started in their new land. As Honest Jake neared his sixtieth birthday, a group of people he had helped decided to give him a party and a generous gift of money. Jake received the money gratefully and began to use it for his own makeover. He had his teeth capped. He bought a hairpiece. He invested in a diet and exercise program and lost a lot of weight. He purchased a whole new wardrobe. Then he boarded a plane and a few hours later the new Honest Jake hit the beach at Miami. He met a beautiful young woman, asked her for a date, and she accepted. But before they could go out on the date, a thunderstorm came up, and Honest Jake was struck by a lightning bolt and died instantly. In Heaven, he said to God, “After all those years of hard work in Your service, I was just trying to enjoy myself a little. Why? Why me?” And God said to him, “Oh, is that you, Jake? I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you.” The Scripture for this Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is about change, about the radical change we make by repentance – not in the way of Honest Jake, perhaps, but making ourselves over into the image to which the love of God and the ministry of Jesus Christ call us.
18) Whom and what are your ready to renounce? Hermit’s loin-cloth (‘Baavaani Iangoti’) is a popular Gujarati folktale of a devoted hermit (sadhu) who owned nothing but a pair of loin-cloths and lived a life totally committed to God. Once, a rat nibbled a hole in one of his loin-cloths and so he got a cat to protect it. However, he had to beg for extra food and milk to feed the cat. “I’ll keep a cow to get milk for the cat and myself,” thought he. So he got a cow, but had to find fodder for the cow. “Too troublesome!” mused he, and married a woman to look after the cow. With wife, cow and cat to feed, he got some land and hired laborers to work upon it. Soon, he became the richest man in town. When asked about why he renounced discipleship, he explained, “This is the only way I could preserve my loin-cloths!” To become fishers of Man, Jesus’ first disciples renounced everything. Whom and what are you ready to renounce? (Francis Gonsalves in Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
19)“I, and this nation, should be on the Lord’s side.” A friend of Abraham Lincoln one day tried to console the President in his many problems by saying: “I hope that the Lord is on our side.” Lincoln replied kindly but firmly that this was not his hope. Everyone was amazed! Then he went on to say: “I am not at all concerned about that, for we know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I, and this nation, should be on the Lord’s side.” If we are on the Lord’s side and for His Kingdom, we will use the countless gifts He has given to each of us to advance his Kingdom. (Vima Dasan in His Word Lives; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
20) Who and what am I working for? There was once a holy rabbi who lived in a town where the houses of the rich stood in an isolated area so that they had to hire men to watch over their property at night. Late one evening as the rabbi was coming home, he met a watchman walking up and down. ‘For whom are you working?’ the rabbi asked. The man told him and then inquired in his turn, ’And for whom are you working, rabbi?’ The words struck the rabbi like a shaft. ‘I am not working for anyone just now,’ he barely managed to say. Then he walked up and down beside the man for a long time. ‘Will you be my servant?’ he finally asked. ‘I should like to,’ the man replied, ‘but what would be my duties?’ ‘To ask me that question every now and then,’ said the rabbi. It’s a question each of us might ask ourselves every now and then: Who or what am I working for? (Flor McCarthy in Sundays and Holy Day Liturgies; quoted by Fr. Botelho
21) On whose side? A Russian youth who had become a conscientious objector to war, through reading of Tolstoy and the New Testament, was brought before a magistrate. With the strength of conviction he told the judge that he believed in a life which loves its enemies, which does good to those who despitefully use it, which overcomes evil and which refuses war. “Yes,” said the judge, “I understand. But you must be realistic. These laws you are talking about are the laws of the Kingdom of God, and it has not come yet.” The young man straightened and said, “Sir, I recognize it has not come for you, nor yet for Russia or the world. But the Kingdom of God has come for me! I can’t go on hating and killing as though it had not come.” In a way, the Russian youth summed up what we believe about the Kingdom of God. --How soon will the plan of God for his Kingdom be realised? It depends much on how earnest we are to be on God’s side and cooperate with his plan. (Fr. Botelho)
22)Turning Evil to Good: A lady once showed Ruskin a costly handkerchief on which had fallen a large blot of ink. “What a shame!” she moaned. “It is absolutely good for nothing now. It is totally spoiled. Ruskin said nothing but asked to borrow the handkerchief for a day. The next day he handed it to her without a word, and the lady delightedly saw that, using the blot as a starting point, the great artist had designed an intriguing pattern on that corner of the handkerchief. Now it was actually worth more than it had ever been before the blot had disfigured it. God can draw forth good from evil! (Bruno Hagspiel, from Tonic from the Heart in 1000 Bottles; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
23) History Changed by One Man: In September of 1862, the Civil War tilted decisively in favour of the South. The morale of the Northern army dipped to its lowest point of the war. Large numbers of Union troops were in full retreat in Virginia. Northern leaders feared the worst. They saw no way to reverse the situation and turn the beaten, exhausted troops into a useful army again. There was only one general who might be able to work this miracle. That was General McClellan. He had trained men for combat, and they loved and admired him. But the War Department didn’t see this, nor did the Cabinet see it. Only President Lincoln saw it. Fortunately, Lincoln ignored the protests of advisors and put McClellan back in command. He told him to go to Virginia and give those soldiers something no other man on earth could give them: enthusiasm, strength, and hope. McClellan accepted the command. He mounted his great black horse and cantered down the dusty roads of Virginia. What happened next is hard to explain. Northern leaders couldn’t explain it. Even McClellan couldn’t quite explain it. McClellan met the retreating Union columns. He waved his cap in the air and shouted words of encouragement. When the tired men saw their beloved leader, they began to take heart. They began to get the unexplainable feeling that now things could be different. Now things could be right again. Here’s how Bruce Catton, the great Civil War historian, describes the excitement that grew and grew when word spread that McClellan was now back in command. “Down mile after mile of Virginia roads the stumbling columns came alive, and threw caps and knapsacks into the air, and yelled until they could yell no more…. because they saw this dapper little rider outlined against the purple starlight. And this, in a way, was the turning point of the war…. No one could quite explain it.” And whatever it was, it gave Lincoln and the North what was needed. And history was forever changed because of it. -- That is what Jesus did by choosing his apostles. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
24) An epitaph to God’s grace: In the small cemetery of a parish churchyard in Olney, England, stands a granite tombstone with this inscription: “John Newton, clerk [pastor], once an infidel & Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy.” You may not remember his name, but all of us know the song he wrote as a testimony of his life: Amazing Grace.” \
25) A Priest is always wrong
If he waits for people, they say he has never been punctual.
If he starts the Mass on time, they say his watch is wrong.
If he owns a car, people say he is luxurious.
If he does not have one, they say he is always late.
If he asks for donation, people say he is a money-grubber.
If he does not ask, they say he is proud and lazy.
If he is seen with women, people say he is a playboy.
If he goes with men, they say he is a sissy.
If he preaches too long, they say they get bored.
If his homily is too short, they say he is unprepared.
If he visits houses, people say he is always out.
If he stays in the rectory, they say he has no time for them.
If he is young, they say he has no experience.
If he is old, they say he should have retired.
But when a priest dies nobody takes his place. Perhaps, we should put this into our minds -- that being God’s priest does not abolish his humanity. When he is ordained as a priest, he does not become an angel. Pride, ambition, personal interest, greed for power and materials, and even sensuality are very much present in a priest, and they can blind him just as they can other people. But the Lord called and selected imperfect men -- just like St. Peter who was so sensitive and denied Him three times, and yet he became the head of His universal church. These church leaders on their part have the obligation by virtue of their Divine calling, to strive constantly to overcome their human weaknesses and, so, to become better priests and servant-leaders. Concretely, they should continue to pray, and to strive to live as good shepherds, servants and stewards of people whom God has entrusted to them, and always to seek help from Him Who can and will make them what they cannot make themselves. L/21.
“Scriptural Homilies” (B) no. 12 by Fr. Tony (akadavil@gmail.com)
Visit my website by clicking on http://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle A homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies under CBCI or Fr. Tony for my website version. (Special thanks to Vatican Radio website- http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html -which completed uploading my Cycle A, B and C homilies in May 2020) Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604

Advent III (Gaudete Sunday) Dec 13) (Eight-minute homily in one page)
Advent III (Gaudete Sunday) Dec 13) (Eight-minute homily in one page)
Introduction: The third Sunday of Advent is called “Gaudete Sunday” because the Mass for today (in its original Latin text), begins with the opening antiphon: “Gaudete in Domino semper” --“Rejoice in the Lord always.” To remind ourselves that we are preparing for the very joyful occasion of the birth of Jesus, we light the rose candle in the Advent wreath, and the priest may wear rose vestments. The common theme of the day’s Scripture readings is one of joy and encouragement. The readings urge us to make the preparations required of us as we await the rebirth of Jesus in our hearts and lives. Holy Scripture reminds us that the coming of Jesus, past, present, and future, is the reason for our rejoicing.
Scripture lessons: The Prophet Isaiah, in the first reading, encourages the Jewish exiles returning from Babylon to rejoice because their God, Yahweh, is their strong Guide, Provider and Protector.
In today’s Responsorial Psalm (Luke 1:46 ff.) Mary rejoices in the great blessing given to her, exclaiming: "My soul glorifies the Lord; my spirit finds joy in God my Savior."
St. Paul, in the second reading, advises the Thessalonian Christians to “rejoice always” by leading blameless, holy and thankful lives guided by the Holy Spirit, because Christ’s second coming is near, and he is faithful in his promise to reward them.
Today’s Gospel tells us that John the Baptist came to bear witness to Jesus as the Light of the world. The Baptizer wants all the Jews to rejoice because the long-expected Messiah, as the light of the world, will remove the darkness of sin from the world. We rejoice at the humility of John the Baptizer, who tells the Sanhedrin members challenging him that he is unworthy even to become the slave of Jesus the Messiah. We also rejoice in the sincerity and commitment of John who spent himself completely in preparing people for the long-awaited Messiah. We have an additional reason to rejoice because, like John the Baptizer, we, too, are chosen to bear witness to Christ Jesus, the Light of the world.
Life message: 1) We need to bear witness to Christ the Light. Our mission, as brothers and sisters of Christ and members of his Church, is to reflect Christ’s Light to others, just as the moon reflects the light of the sun. It is especially important during the Advent season that we reflect Christ’s sharing love and his unconditional forgiveness through our lives. There are too many people who live in darkness and poverty, and who lack real freedom because of their evil addictions and bad choices. There are others who are deafened and blinded by the cheap attractions of the world. Many others feel lonely, unwanted, rejected, and marginalized. Let us bring the true Light of Christ to illumine the lives of all these brothers and sisters during this Advent season through our sharing love, overflowing mercy, unconditional forgiveness, and humble service. We will be able to accomplish this witnessing mission of radiating Christ’s Light only by repenting of our sins, asking God’s pardon every day, and by renewing our lives through our daily prayers, by frequenting the Sacrament of Reconciliation, by attending and taking part in the Eucharistic celebration, by reading the Bible daily in meditative, prayerful fashion, and by performing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy where we see these are needed.
ADVENT III Is 61:1-2a, 10-11; I Thes 5:16-24; Jn 1:6-8, 19-28
Homily starter anecdotes: #1: “Have You Ever Heard John Preach?” As Rev. Fred Craddock once asked, “Have You Ever Heard John Preach?” John the Baptizer was easily the most famous preacher of his generation. The historian Josephus once wrote that in his estimation, this man John was a vastly more important and impressive figure than his cousin Jesus. Even years after Jesus' death and Resurrection, when the apostles visited the city of Ephesus to proclaim the Gospel, they ran across a large building that called itself "The First Church of John the Baptizer." The members of this congregation had all been baptized in the name of John. When the apostles inquired if they had been baptized in the name of Jesus, the people replied, "Who's that? Never heard of him." Years earlier it was John, not Jesus, who got King Herod's attention and was consequently arrested and eventually executed by that monarch. Once Jesus began to make a bit of a stir himself, Herod's first reaction was to say, "That must be John again! He's back from the dead!" Most scholars believe that the Gospel of John, as written by John the Apostle, places Jesus in the correct perspective, assigning to John the Baptist the role of a witness and forerunner.
# 2: St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) and Advent joy: Through her ministry in Jesus’ name, Mother Teresa brought untold blessings and joy to the poor who lay unattended and forgotten on our streets. When asked the source of her joy, Mother Teresa replied: “Joy is prayer -- joy is strength -- joy is love -- joy is a net of love. . . A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love . . . loving as He loves, helping as He helps, giving as He gives, serving as He serves, rescuing as He rescues, being with Him twenty-four hours, touching Him in His distressing disguise.” (Malcolm Muggeridge, Something Beautiful for God, Harper and Row, San Francisco: 1971). When Advent arrived every year, Mother Teresa’s life, continued to witness the joy which is true hallmark of every Christian and the rightful inheritance of all the poor. (Patricia Datchuck Sánchez).
# 3: Valesa – a Nightmare is a docu-drama written in Poland under a pseudonym and then smuggled out of the country. It tells the story of political prisoners like Lech Walesa. Near the end of the play a prisoner priest, who usually offers a solitary Mass, is joined by the rest of the prisoners at considerable risk to celebrate the Eucharist. At this moment, the play reaches a climax with the deafening scream of crows - a Polish symbol for the Communist military regime under General Jaruzelski. The cawing of the crows suddenly gives way to the soft chirping of spring birds and the comforting notes of a piano concerto - a symbol of the optimism of the Polish people that one day their quest for religious and political freedom will be realized. Valesa – a Nightmare shows how Christ can come into our lives even in the worst of circumstances. The Lord came to Lech Walesa in a Communist prison through Walesa’s Faith and prayers, through his Polish culture and pride, through his fellow political prisoners and through the Sacrament of the Eucharist. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds)
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Like a bride bedecked: When Lady Diana Spencer was preparing for her wedding to the Prince of Wales, every effort was made by designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel, and, in fact, by all the planners of the wedding, to prevent the design of the bride’s dress from being revealed before the ceremony on July 29, 1981. Of course, the other dressmakers of Britain did their best to learn the secret in advance. The sooner they could start making copies, the quicker they could sell them to other prospective brides who would want to be married in gowns “just like Lady Di’s.” Fortunately, the secret was perfectly kept. Only at 5:30 AM on the wedding day did Buckingham Palace release to the news media a sketch of the wedding dress. Probably the real purpose behind our custom of not letting a groom see his bride in her wedding dress before they reach the church, is that he may behold his chosen one in that moment at the absolute peak of her beauty. How pleased Charles must have been when he saw his bride, her natural handsomeness enhanced by this rich and dazzling garment. Perhaps he even thought of the familiar words of the psalm, “All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters; her raiment is threaded with spun gold” (45:54). But the Church has always seen the festal dress of a bride and groom as something more than a device to please the eyes of the marrying couple. It is rather a symbol of the beauty of the souls of those who take each other in marriage. Or, if these souls are perhaps not yet perfect, their garb should at least remind them, “As you have clothed your bodies in loveliness, now clothe your souls in grace.”“… He has clothed me with a robe of salvation … like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels.” (Isaiah, 61:10-11.) Today’s first reading.-(Father Robert F. McNamara).
Introduction: Today is called “Gaudete Sunday” because today’s Mass (in its Latin, pre-Vatican II form), began with the opening antiphon: “Gaudete in Domino semper” --“Rejoice in the Lord always.” In the past, when Advent was a season of penance, the celebrant of the liturgy used to wear vestments with the penitential color of purple or violet. To remind the people that they were preparing for the very joyful occasion of the birth of Jesus, the celebrant wore rose-colored vestments on the third Sunday. (By the way, we have a similar break--Laetare Sunday-- during the Lenten season). Today we light the rose candle, and the priest may wear rose vestments, to express our joy in the coming of Jesus, our Savior. The primary common theme running through today’s readings is that of encouraging joy as we meet our need for the preparation required of us who await the rebirth of Jesus in our hearts and lives. The second common theme is that of bearing witness. The prophet Isaiah, Mary and John the Baptizer all bear joyful witness to what God has done and will do for His people.
Scripture readings summarized: The readings for the third Sunday of Advent remind us that the coming of Jesus, past, present and future, is the reason for our rejoicing. The first reading tells us that we should rejoice because the promised Messiah is coming as our Savior and liberator, saving us by liberating us from our bondages. The Responsorial Psalm of the day is taken from Mary's Magnificat, in which she exclaims: "My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit finds joy in God my Savior." Paul, in the second reading, advises us to “rejoice always” by leading blameless, holy, and thankful lives guided by the Holy Spirit, because Christ is faithful and will come again to reward us. Today’s Gospel tells us that John the Baptizer came as a witness to testify to the Light, i.e., Jesus. The coming of Jesus, the Light, into the world is cause for rejoicing as Light removes darkness from the world. We should be glad and rejoice also because, like John the Baptizer, we, too, are chosen to bear witness to Christ Jesus, the Light of the world. We are to reflect Jesus’ Light in our lives so that we may radiate it and illuminate the dark lives of others around us. The joyful message of today’s liturgy is clear. The salvation we await with rejoicing will liberate both the individual and the community, and its special focus will be the poor and lowly, not the rich and powerful.
First reading (Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11) explained: This section of Isaiah comes from the turbulent period in the sixth century BC when the Jews were trying to re-establish themselves in their homeland after enduring a generation of exile in Babylon. The prophet says of himself that God has anointed him with the Spirit and sent him to bring good news to those in need of it. The good news is the healing of the broken-hearted and the liberation of prisoners. Then the prophet expresses Israel's joy at the coming of God's salvation, using the image of wearing exceptionally beautiful clothes, as a bride and groom do at their wedding. He also uses the image of the earth in its bringing forth of new vegetation in the spring. He says, "I rejoice heartily in the Lord; in my God is the joy of my soul." This hope for the coming of salvation finds its fulfillment in the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus. Inaugurating his public ministry in Nazareth, Jesus declares that he is the fulfillment of this passage from Isaiah (Luke 4:16-21), because he has been anointed by the Spirit of God to bring the Good News to the poor. We rejoice at the fulfillment of the prophecy about Jesus in this passage. The “Spirit of the Lord is upon us” when we treat everyone equally as brothers and sisters of Jesus, and so speak out against social injustice, denounce cultural immorality, obey God’s chosen representatives in the Church, and quietly engage in regular prayer, almsgiving, and fasting.
Second Reading (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24) explained: Paul was fond of the Thessalonians because they had received Jesus’ Gospel enthusiastically, and their example had helped others to embrace the Faith. But he was convinced that they needed the continued moral instruction which he offered them in this letter. The selection we read today contains Paul's practical suggestions for anyone trying to be a follower of God: "Do not stifle the spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test everything; retain what is good. Avoid any semblance of evil." He also commands us to "rejoice always and pray without ceasing.” We are to give thanks in all circumstances because that is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus. We, who believe in Jesus and have been united with him in his death and Resurrection, should be in a constant state of rejoicing, giving thanks to God for all that He has done for us in Jesus. Our joy here on earth, however, is not the fullness of joy waiting for us at Jesus’ second coming. Hence, Paul concludes his instruction with the prayer: "May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Gospel Exegesis: The context: Biblical studies made of the Dead Sea Scrolls during the past 50 years suggest that John was probably a member of the Judean Qumran wilderness community, the Essenes. This community was a group of people who had left Jerusalem a century before Jesus' birth because of a conflict with the Temple authorities. They waited there, a few miles from Jericho, for the Messiah to come and rectify the horrible injustice they had experienced. They occupied themselves with Scripture studies and purification, continually studying, copying, and commenting on God's word. They also went through frequent baptismal rituals to symbolize their total dedication to God's will in living a life of spiritual purity. John's ministry seems to fit into what we know about Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls’ community. John preached a baptism of repentance, announced the imminent coming of God, and gathered followers who, though not "official" Qumran members, followed some of its teachings.
The Biblical importance of today’s text: Bible scholars generally agree that the prologue (1:1-18) in John’s Gospel is a hymn, the overall purpose of which is to highlight the historical and theological significance of Jesus' origins as "Word," "true Light" and the "only Son." Verses 6-9 introduce John the Baptist in a manner that clearly distinguishes him from Jesus – “John himself was not the Light, but he came to testify to the Light." Some scholars maintain that the author of the Gospel may be making such a forceful differentiation in order to counter a sect of John’s disciples claiming that John the Baptist was the light and the Messiah, and not simply the one testifying to the Light. In John's Gospel, however, recurring references to the Baptist suggest that Jesus and John preached and baptized concurrently for some time (see John 3:22-30; 10:40-42). But, in all he did and said, the Baptist always bore witness to Jesus and his Messianic identity (John 1:6-8(9). “A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the Light.” John 1:19-28 is an Advent text that calls us to remember the origins and purposes of Jesus with the kind of devotion that challenges us to be witnesses for Jesus. John the Baptizer demonstrates what it means to bear witness to the true Light coming into the world.
The why of Sanhedrin intervention: Why did the religious authorities in Jerusalem show concern for a marginal figure like John, who was attracting crowds to the wilderness and baptizing repentant sinners in the Jordan? The main reason was that, although John was the son of a devout rural priest, Zechariah, he did not behave like a priest. By his dress and diet, the Baptizer had distanced himself from the Jerusalem priests. He presented himself more like one of the older prophets who declared the will of God for the Jews. Hence, the Sanhedrin might well have felt it their duty to check up on John to verify whether he was a false prophet. The Jerusalem priests also wanted to know whether John was an “action prophet,” attempting to lead a liberation movement against Roman rule. After questioning John, the delegation from the Jerusalem authorities concluded that John was only a harmless “oracular prophet,” who did not claim to be the Messiah. Another reason why the Sanhedrin kept a close eye on John was to find out why he baptized the Jews. Baptism at the hands of men was not for Israelites, but rather for proselytes from other faiths. If he had been the Messiah, or even Elijah or the prophet, John had the right to baptize. The Jerusalem delegation finally came to the conclusion that John's baptismal rite was only a symbolic action, a "baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins," a rite symbolizing purification and cleansing, a return to God before the promised Messiah arrived in their midst. Thus, they decided that there was no need to take any disciplinary action against John.
John’s humility: The evangelist John presents John the Baptizer as the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3, "a voice in the desert" calling for Israelites to prepare a way for the coming of Jesus. John in his Gospel takes special care to stress the fact that Jesus surpasses John the Baptist. The Baptizer declares: "I am baptizing only with water; but there is One among you--you don't recognize him--and I am not worthy to untie the straps of his shoes.” There was a Rabbinic saying which stated that a disciple might do for his master anything that a servant did, except only to untie his sandals. That was too menial a service for even a disciple to render. So John said: "One is coming whose slave I am not fit to be." John's mission was only to “prepare the way.” Any greatness he possessed came from the greatness of the O ne whose coming he foretold. John is thus the great example of the man prepared to obliterate himself for Jesus. He lived only to point the way to Christ.
Bearing witness to Jesus is our mission as well as John’s: The idea that the Baptizer came as a witness to testify to the Light (Jesus), is found only in the Gospel of John. According John, Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12). Just as the dawn of each new day brings joy, the coming of Jesus, the Light of the world, causes us to rejoice. We, the Church, are called to bear witness to Christ by word and deed, in good times and bad—when it suits us and when it doesn't. The witness of the Church, ironically, has often been more faithful under persecution than under prosperity. We need to be messengers who point out Christ to others, just as John did. John the Baptist’s role as a joyful witness prepared the way for Jesus. John also provides an example for us because our vocation as Christians is to bear “witness” to Christ by our transparent Christian lives.
Life messages: 1) We need to bear witness to Christ the Light: By Baptism we become members of the family of Christ, the true Light of the world. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” Hence, our mission as brothers and sisters of Christ and members of his Mystical Body, the Church, is to reflect Christ’s Light to others, just as the moon reflects the light of the sun. It is especially important during the Advent season that we reflect upon and radiate Christ’s unconditional love and forgiveness everywhere. There are too many people who live in darkness and poverty, and who lack real freedom. There are others who are deafened and blinded by the cheap attractions of the world. Also, many feel lonely, unwanted, rejected, and marginalized. All these people are waiting for us to reflect the Light of Christ into their worlds and to turn their lives into experiences of joy, wholeness, and integrity. The joy of Jesus, the joy of Christmas, can only be ours to the extent that we work with Jesus to bring joy into the lives of others. Let us remember that Christmas is not complete unless we show real generosity to those who have nothing to give us in return.
2) What should we do in preparation for Christmas? The Jews asked the same question of John. His answer was: “Repent and reform your lives, and prayerfully wait for the Messiah.” This means that we have to pray from the heart and pray more often. Our Blessed Mother, in her many apparitions, has urgently reminded us of the need for more fervent and more frequent prayer. Let us remember that the Holy Mass is the most powerful of prayers. We must become a Eucharistic people, receiving the living presence of Jesus in our hearts so that we may be transformed into His image and likeness. We encounter Jesus in all the Sacraments. Regular monthly Confession makes us strong and enables us to receive more grace in the Eucharist. Let us also listen daily to God speaking to us through the Bible. Perhaps, we may want to pray the rosary daily and fast once a week all year round, not just during Advent and Lent. After all, we sin all year round, so why not fast also all year round? Let us also find some spare time to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Let us forgive those who have offended us and pray for those whom we have offended. Finally, let us share our love with others in selfless and humble service, “doing small things but with great love" (Mother Teresa). As we prepare to celebrate Christmas and the coming of God into our lives, we need also to remind ourselves that we have been called to be the means of bringing Jesus into other people's lives.
JOKE OF THE WEEK FOR “GAUDETE SUNDAY” -- because Catholics Can Take a Joke
1) Christian home: After the Baptism of his baby brother in Church one Sunday, little Johnny sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, "That priest said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, but I want to stay with you guys!" Father got the message, and they began to go to Church regularly... Needless to say, the family had a bit of catching up to do. But one day the Sunday School Teacher asked Johnny, "Now, Johnny, tell me – do you say prayers before eating?” “No ma'am," little Johnny replies, "I don't have to. My Mom is a good cook."
2) Sign on a church bulletin board: "Merry Christmas to our Christian friends. Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish friends. And to our atheist friends, good luck.
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(Anglican humor)
What are you wearing on Gaudete Sunday, Sister
4) Heaven and hell on your face: A drama teacher was instructing his students about acting. He was trying to get them to realize the idea that they convey the message in their faces. When they are doing different scenes in a play, they have to project whatever that scene is on their face. He used the example of Heaven and Hell. Their faces should look very different if they are talking about Heaven or if they are talking about Hell. He said to the students, “When you are talking about Heaven, your faces should light up. Your smiles should radiate, and your eyes should look to the skies. People should be able to see Heaven on your faces.” He said, “When you are talking about Hell, well, your normal faces will do.” Let there be heaven on your face on “Gaudete Sunday.
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The secret of holy joy: You don’t need to “get the joke” to laugh

WEBSITES ON PRONUNCIATION OF BIBLE NAMES
1) http://howjsay.com/pronunciation-of-bible?&wid=1280
2) http://www.pronouncenames.com/Bible
3)http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/
4) Text week Sunday Scriptures: http://www.textweek.com/mkjnacts/jn1b.htm
5) Video of today’s gospel: https://youtu.be/Gv1cA8xh02U ; https://youtu.be/ll0MrBx-j4I
6) Compendium of Catechism of the Catholic Church in question & answer form : http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html (Available as book, useful for Confirmation classes))
7) John’s preaching (video) https://youtu.be/sM90zBhg0DQ
8) Video Sunday-Scripture study by Fr. Geoffrey Plant: https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant2066
9) Fr. Don’ collection of video homilies & blogs: https://lectiotube.com/
(“Scriptural Homilies” Cycle B no. 4 by Fr. Tony (akadavil@gmail.com)
16- Additional anecdotes:
1) “Are you OK?” There is an old story of a father who, on a dark, stormy night in the midst of the thunder's crash and the lightning's flash, awakened and thought of his small son alone in his bedroom upstairs who might be scared of it all. So he rushed upstairs with his flashlight to check on the boy to see if he was all right. He was flashing the light around the room when the boy awakened, and said, with a startled cry, "Who's there? Who's in my room?" The father's first thought was to flash his light in the face of the boy, but then he thought, "No. If I do that, I will frighten him all the more." So he turned the light on his own face. And the little boy said, "Oh, it's you, Dad." The father said, "Yes, it's Dad. I'm just up here checking on things. Everything's OK, so go on back to sleep." And the little boy did. That is what the Incarnation is all about: God's shining the light in His own face so that you and I might know that everything really is OK.
2) Rejoicing worshippers: There is a story told about a man from Louisville, Kentucky, who had to travel to St. Louis on business. This was years ago when Christians kept Sunday as a very special day. For this man, "keeping the Sabbath," also meant not riding the trains on Sunday. Thus, after he finished up his business late Saturday night, he had to stay over in St. Louis until Monday morning. On Sunday morning, he left the hotel looking for a place to worship. The streets were quite deserted, but finally he saw a policeman and asked him for directions to the nearest Church. The stranger thanked the policeman for the information and was about to walk off when he turned and asked the policeman: "Why have you recommended that particular Church? It looks like a Catholic Church. There must be several Churches nearby that you could have recommended." The policeman smiled and replied: "I'm not a Church man myself, but the people who come out of that Church are the happiest looking Church-people in St. Louis, and they claim that they have received Jesus and they are happily taking him to their homes. I thought that would be the kind of Church you would like to attend." The Scripture for today reminds us that every Sunday in every Christian church must be a Gaudete Sunday or “Rejoice Sunday.”
3) "Return of a Runaway Child." On January 7, 1980, Katheleen drove her daughter, Wavie, to Citrus High School in Inverness, Florida. It was the last time she would see Wavie for a long time. When her sixteen-year-old daughter did not return from school that day, Katheleen and her husband, Jesse, sought help from the police, the FBI, the governor, and even from national TV networks. Jesse and Katheleen, working people, were not about to give up. They printed thousands of fliers and delivered stacks of bulletins to truck stops across Florida and Georgia. Thousands of people responded. Some said they saw her. Exhausting many of their resources, they never gave up. On Tuesday, June 29, 1982, they received a call that located Wavie in Twin Cities, Georgia. By six o’clock the next morning, Wavie’s parents were in the tiny Georgia town, overjoyed at finding their daughter. Later, Wavie told her story. She really had not intended to run away from home. But on that January day, friendly strangers had offered her a ride to a nearby truck stop--and then on to Georgia. The farther she got away from home, the more frightened she was of being punished for leaving. Each hour away from home made it harder to return. She feared the reunion. Dozens of times she had dialed her parent’s phone number, but hung up in panic before they answered. She was afraid of returning home at the very same time her parents were exhausting all of their resources to find her. [Gary Turbak, "Return of a Runaway Child," Reader’s Digest (November 1982), pp. 97-102.] -- The great beauty of the Christmas message is that God hasn’t given up the search for us. Into the world of darkness, the Great Light came to lead us back home. “The true Light that enlightens every man was coming into the world” (John 1:9). In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist introduces this “Light of the world.”
4) “Come home for Christmas”: Dr. Fred B. Craddock tells of a young couple securing the professional services of a real estate agent to find them a "home". The real estate agent responded by saying, "I can find you a house but not a home." The agent was right. Only Christ can make a "Home." Yes, we can come home for Christmas, come home to the God Who is searching for us--and Who is the only One who can give us a home. We can come home to God Who can set us "free" again. We don’t have to come home for Christmas only in our dreams. We can come home by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior today. He is asking us, “Will you come?”
5) “Would you mind handing in the broom?”” There is an old story of a small boy who was asked on a dark night to go out on the back porch and bring in a broom. He was afraid. There was no light out there. And he frankly told his parents that he was scared of the dark. His parents reassured him, "You don't need to be scared. God is everywhere. He is with you even in the dark." So the boy went to the back door, opened a crack, and whispered, "God, if You're really out there, would You mind handing in the broom?" None of us enjoys the dark, and if we, with all of our scientific knowledge and understanding of our world are still uneasy about darkness, just imagine how infinitely worse was the plight of primitive people. To understand the force of Jesus' claim to be the Light of the world, we must remember just how much light meant to people in ancient times.
6) “When you got something like that on your back, you know you’re somebody!” Several decades ago, All in the Family poked fun at the red-neck, blue-collar, bigots of America through the lead bigot, Archie Bunker. On one show, Archie told his wife Edith that he wanted to be on the bowling team so bad that he could taste it! He described the bowling shirts that the Cannonballers wore: all yellow silk, with bright red piping on the collar and sleeves. And on the back, there’s a picture of a cannon firing a bowling ball at the set of pins. He said, “When you got something like that on your back, Edith, you know you’re somebody!” [Raymond Gibson, Minister’s Annual (Abingdon, 1987), ed. by Jim & Doris Morentz.] That show was satirizing the notion that a man could gain a sense of identity and importance from being a part of a bowling team and wearing a gaudy shirt. But that anecdote raises the questions, “Who are you? What is the source of your identity? How should your sense of who you are before God as a Christian shape how you live and what you do?” Our text shows us that John the Baptizer was a man who was clear on who he was not and who he was. He was also clear on who Jesus is. So he was able to point others clearly to Jesus as the only Savior whom they desperately needed. (Rev. Steven C. Cole)
7) Prepare the way for Him! A religious sociologist, Dr. Dean Hoge, has written a book entitled Converts, Dropouts and Returnees. Very briefly, he narrates his experiences with individuals who either left the Catholic Church or had been reconverted, and what led them to make that important decision. And he found that “the happiest Catholics were the dropout Catholics” –persons who had left the Catholic Church for a time, but returned. Even more, he found that the best recruiters of dropout Catholics are the dropouts themselves. More specifically, Dr. Dean Hoge found that two-thirds of the thousands of Catholics who return to the Faith each year do so because a neighbor, a friend or a relative invited them to return. This is where each and every one of us can play a vital role in the return of many. And we could begin just by inviting them to attend a service this Christmas. We have been anointed for this very specific outreach; so let the Holy Spirit speak through you in preparing the way for the Lord. (James Valladares in Your words, O Lord, Are Spirit, and They are Life, p. 13).
8) The cutest smile of inner joy: A number of years ago, young college student was working as an intern at his college’s Museum of Natural History. One day while working at the cash register in the gift shop, he saw an elderly couple come in with a little girl in a wheelchair. As he looked closer at this girl, he saw that she was kind of perched on her chair. The student realized that she had no arms or legs, just a head, neck and torso. She was wearing a little white dress with red polka dots. As the couple wheeled her up to the checkout counter, he turned his head toward the girl and gave her a wink. Meanwhile, he took the money from her grandparents and looked back at the girl, who was giving him the cutest and the largest smile he had ever seen. All of a sudden, her handicap was gone and all that the young man saw was this beautiful girl, whose smile just melted him and almost instantly gave him a completely new sense of what life is all about. She took him from the world of an unhappy college student and brought him into her world -- a world of smiles, love and warmth. -- With the lighting of Advent wreath’s third candle, the rose one, and the priest’s wearing the rose vestments today, we are reminded that we are called to live with joy in our world of sorrows and pain. (HO)
9) “Rejoice always” the Lord is near: [This is a little story from an Irish Lady]. I heard a knock at the door. Two children in ragged, outgrown coats got inside as I opened the door. “Any old papers, lady?” I was busy. I wanted to say no until I looked down at their feet. Thin little sandals, sopped with sleet. “Come in, and I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa.” There was no conversation. Their soggy sandals left marks upon the hearthstone. I served them cocoa and toast with jam to fortify them against the chill outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget…. The silence in the front room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, “Lady…, are you rich?” “Am I rich? Mercy, no!” I looked at my shabby slipcovers. The girl put her cup back in its saucer carefully. “Your cups match your saucers.” Her voice was old, with a hunger that was not of the stomach. They left then, holding their bundles of papers against the wind. They hadn’t said, “Thank you.” They didn’t need to. They had done more than that. They told me that my plain blue pottery cups and saucers matched. I boiled the potatoes and stirred the gravy. Potatoes and brown gravy, a roof over my head and my man with a good steady job: I was lucky. I moved the chairs back from the fire and tidied the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon the hearthstone. Were not they the footprints of the Lord who visited me to intensify my joy by His presence? I let the prints remain. I want those footprints there in case I ever forget again how very rich I am.
-- The message in the first and the second reading is clear – “rejoice always” for the Lord is near – and the Lord will surprise you because you will find him not in the comfortable and the easy – but rather in the ones who challenge us and wake us up as those children did the Irish lady (HO)
10) Unfinished play: Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American writer. When he died in 1864, he had on his desk the outline of a play he never got a chance to finish. The play centered on a person who never appeared on stage. Everyone talked about him. Everyone dreamed about him. Everyone awaited his arrival. But he never came. All kinds of minor characters described him. They told everybody what he would be like. They told everybody what he would do. But the main character never appeared. The Old Testament is something like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s play. It too ended without the main character putting in an appearance. Everyone talked about the Messiah. Everyone dreamed about him. Everyone awaited his arrival. But he never came. All kinds of prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah, told the people what he would be like. They told the people what he would do. But the Messiah never appeared until the time of the last prophet John the Baptist. [Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho.]
11) “Why are you outside?” – Not involved: Henry David Thoreau was an American writer who authored the renowned essay “Civil Disobedience.” He championed the freedom of the individual over the law of the land. He distinguished between “law” and “right.” He wrote: “What the majority passes is the ‘law,’ and what the individual conscience sees is the ‘right’, and what matters most is the ‘right’ and not the ‘law’.” Once, Thoreau was imprisoned for a night. He had refused to pay the poll-tax as a protest against the government’s support of slavery and its unjust war against Mexico, presumably in support of slave trade intentions. When he was arrested, he hoped that some of his friends would follow his example and fill the jails, and in this way persuade the government to change its stance on the issue of slavery. In this he was disappointed. Not only did his friends not join him, one friend paid the tax on his behalf and got him released the very next day. When he was in the prison, Emerson, another American writer, came to visit him. He said to Thoreau: “Thoreau, Thoreau, why are you inside (jail)?” And Thoreau replied, “Emerson, Emerson, why are you outside?” Thoreau was a great lover of truth. He suffered because he spoke and stood for truth. Emerson said in his obituary of Thoreau, “He was a great speaker and actor of truth.” Today’s Gospel presents the frankness and humility of John the Baptizer. [John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho.
12) Alice in Wonderland experience: When Alice fell through the rabbit-hole into Wonderland, she was convinced that she had fallen right through the earth and was destined to come out where people would be upside down. She referred to such reversals as Antipathies—though she did wonder whether or not that was the right word. Alice may not have chosen the correct word, but she was on target when it came to identify the way we feel when our world is turned upside down -- that is, of course, when the reversal that we experience resembles the collapse of the stock market. We would be overcome by entirely different emotions if we had won the lottery. When she finally landed, Alice discovered that the world was not upside down, but it certainly was out of proportion to her size. She had to change, to get smaller in order to enter that mysterious world. -- The Third Sunday of Advent invites us into a world of reversals, a world where the captives are freed, where the hungry are filled and where the rich are sent away empty. It is certainly a world where things are turned upside down. From the point of view of social order, such reversals could be considered Antipathies. But from God’s point of view, they are the signs of transformation. In order to appreciate the strength of today’s message from Isaiah, we must remember that he was speaking to people who were dispossessed, people in need of a message of hope, a promise of some kind of economic reversal. This same description of reversal is found in the passage from Luke. There we see that the lowly enjoy the blessings that God promised long ago (Dianne Bergant).
13) Soap and the Gospel: A soap manufacturer and a pastor were walking together down a street in a large city. The soap manufacturer casually said, "The Gospel you preach hasn't done much good, has it? Just observe. There is still a lot of wickedness in the world, and a lot of wicked people, too!" The pastor made no reply, until, they passed a little child with dirty linen, making mud pies in the gutter. Seizing the opportunity, the pastor said, "I see, that, soap hasn't done much good in the world either; for, there is much dirt still here, and many people with dirty linen are still around." The soap manufacturer said, "Oh, well, soap only works when it is applied." Then the pastor said, "Exactly! So it is with the Gospel." (Fr. Francis Chirackal C.M.I.)
14) The film, Pay It Forward, (based on the novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde) has a premise that underlies the source of joy and happiness celebrated in today’s liturgy. It tells the story of a seventh-grade teacher (Eugene Simonet) and his eleven-year-old student (Trevor). On the first day of class, the teacher puts this challenge on the blackboard: “Think of something new that will change the world and then act on what you have thought.” The idea captivates the boy, who lives with his single parent, an alcoholic mother. The boy attempts to put this idea into practice by helping people, who will, in turn, "pay it forward" by helping others. The boy draws a circle in his homework book and puts his name in the middle. From that circle, he extends three lines, at the ends of which are three more circles. In the first circle he writes his mother’s name. He will try to get her to give up her alcoholism. In the second circle he writes the name of a classmate who is being bullied by the larger boys in school. He will make it his duty to defend this fellow. In the third circle, he writes the name of his teacher, whom he will try to persuade to fall in love with his mother. These are huge challenges for a seventh-grade boy. The film then shows the steep obstacles he faces in his attempt to improve his world. In the end, Pay It Forward inspires us with the possibilities of making the world a better place by transforming one person at a time through a series of “random acts of kindness” and love. The movie teaches us that when someone does a good deed for us, we should "pay it forward” by making “an act of faith in the goodness of people.” The net result is lasting peace and joy, the common theme of today’s readings.
15) “I haven't a shirt on my back.” There was a mediaeval King who regularly used the advice of a wise man. This sage was summoned to the King's presence. The monarch asked him how the King could get rid of his anxiety and depression of spirits, how he might be really happy and full of joy, for he was sick in body and mind. The sage replied, “There is but one cure for the King. Your majesty must sleep one night in the shirt of a happy man.” Messengers were sent throughout the realm to search for a man who was truly happy. But everyone who was approached had some cause for misery, something that robbed them of true and complete happiness. At last they found a man, a poor beggar, who sat smiling by the roadside and, when they asked him if he was really happy, filled with joy and had no sorrows, he confessed that he was a truly happy, joyful person. Then they told him what they wanted. The king must sleep one night in the shirt of a happy man and had given them a large sum of money to procure such a shirt. Would he sell them his shirt that the king might wear it? The beggar burst into uncontrollable laughter, and replied, “I am sorry I cannot oblige the king. I haven't a shirt on my back.”
16) Making way for the light: In a lengthy interview a year before he died, the great sculptor Henry Moore reflected on how his early years in a Yorkshire mining village influenced his later work. “One of the first and strongest things I recall were the slag heaps, like Pyramids, like mountains. There were pit heaps all over – I remember our street and I can see the sun just managing to penetrate the fog, and the coal heap at the end.” -His father, a miner, was very fond of baked apples for pudding, and little Henry had to go to their dark cellar to fetch them. He was frightened of the dark, so he used to go down the steps sideways, always with one eye on the lightened doorway. Later when he was carving deep into his sculpture, he said he always felt he wanted to find a way out, remembering that cellar. Many of the Moore’s massive, sculptured forms have holes in them, but for him the holes have their own significance: what appears essential is left out; the light is let in. To many people his sculptures are just puzzling, but to many others they have a massive dignity. In the mining village where he grew up there was always competition between the sun and the fog, between the daylight and the pitch black of the mines, between a small child and the enormous slag heaps. In his work the light always wins, the child comes to shape the slag heaps into human form. [Denis McBride in Seasons of the Word; quoted by Fr. Botelho.] L/20
“Scriptural Homilies” Cycle B (No 4) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com
Visit my website by clicking on http://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle A homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies under CBCI or Fr. Tony for my website version. (Special thanks to Vatican Radio website- http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html -which completed uploading my Cycle A, B and C homilies in May 2020) Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604
OT XXXII [A] (Nov 8)_Sunday (Eight-minute homily in one page)
OT XXXII [A] (Nov 8)_Sunday (Eight-minute homily in one page)
Introduction: This Sunday’s readings bring the usual warnings about preparation for the end of our own world, the end of our own time and our passage to another world. They tell us that a searching, watching, and growing heart is essential for a lively, dynamic Faith in God. They challenge us to check whether we are ready for these events and how we are preparing for them. (+ a homily starter anecdote)
Scripture lessons summarized: Since Jesus' parable in today’s Gospel has five well-prepared, wise women, the first reading chosen for today is one which personifies wisdom as a woman. The author advises Jews in Alexandria not to envy the wisdom of the pagan philosophers, because they themselves have true wisdom in their Sacred Scripture, a wisdom which regulates not only this life but the next also. Hence, they must live their lives in strict conformity with the Divine wisdom given them so generously by God. In the second reading, Paul offers Christian wisdom, assuring those Christians who expected Jesus’ second coming in their lifetime that the death and Resurrection of Jesus is powerful enough to save even those who die before Jesus’ second coming. But they need to be alert, well-prepared and vigilant. In the Gospel parable of the ten virgins, the foolish virgins represent the “Chosen People of God” who were waiting for the Messiah but were shut out from the messianic banquet because they were unprepared. The parable teaches us that, like the five wise virgins, we should attend to duties of the present moment, preparing now, rather than waiting until it is too late.
Life messages: 1) We need to be wise enough to remain ever prepared: Wise Christians find Jesus in the most ordinary experiences of daily living -- in the people they meet, the events that take place, and the situations in which they find themselves, and they carefully make their daily choices for God. They are ready to put the commandment of love into practice by showing kindness, mercy and forgiveness. 2) Let us be sure that our Lamps are ready for the end of our lives: Spiritual readiness, preparation, and growth are the result of intentional habits built into one’s life. We cannot depend on a Sunday Mass or morning service to provide all our spiritual needs. We cannot depend on Christian fellowship to provide us with spiritual development. The meeting of spiritual needs and spiritual development itself come through routine, mundane attention to ordinary spiritual disciplines — making sure we have enough oil or spiritual fuel: oil of compassion and mercy, oil of patience, sympathy, and forgiveness. We open ourselves to receive these graces by taking time for prayer, and being alone with God; by reading God’s Word; by living a sacramental life; by offering acts of service to others; by moral faithfulness, by loving obedience, and by spending time with other Christians for mutual prayer, study and encouragement. When we receive the graces we need, we thank God for His generous love. As taking these ways becomes habitual, they cease to be a struggle and begin to be a source of strength and blessing. They make our lives powerful against the onslaught of the world.
OT XXXII [A] (Nov 11): Wis 6:12-16; I Thes 4:13-18; Mt 25:1-13
Homily starter anecdotes: 1) Forgetting the parachute: In April 1988 the evening news reported the sad story of a photographer who was also a skydiver. He had jumped from a plane along with several other skydivers and filmed the group as they individually dove out of the plane and opened their parachutes. As the video was being shown of each member of the crew jumping out and then pulling their rip cord so that their parachute opened to the wind, the final skydiver opened his chute and then the picture went out of control. The announcer reported that the cameraman had fallen to his death, having jumped out of the plane without a parachute. It was not until he reached for the ripcord that he realized he was in free fall, taking pictures without a parachute. Tragically he was unprepared for the jump. It did not matter how many times he had done it before or what skill he had. By forgetting the parachute, he made a foolish and deadly mistake. Nothing could save him, because his Faith was in a parachute which he had never taken the trouble to buckle on. It is a story not unlike the parable which Jesus tells about the foolish bridesmaids forgetting to bring something very important and necessary.
2) "What's your purpose in life, Bob?" Josh McDowell tells about an executive "head-hunter" (recruiter) who goes out and hires corporation executives for large firms. This recruiter once told McDowell that when he gets an executive that he's trying to hire for someone else, he likes to disarm him. "I offer him a drink," said the recruiter, "take my coat off, then my vest, undo my tie, throw up my feet and talk about baseball, football, family, whatever, until he's all relaxed. Then, when I think I've got him relaxed, I lean over, look him square in the eye and say, ‘What's your purpose in life?' It's amazing," said the recruiter, "how top executives fall apart at that question." Then he told about interviewing one fellow recently. He had him all disarmed, had his feet up on his desk, talking about football. Then the recruiter leaned over and said, "What's your purpose in life, Bob?" And the executive who was being recruited said, without blinking an eye, "To go to Heaven and take as many people with me as I can." "For the first time in my career," said the recruiter, "I was speechless." [Stories For the Heart, compiled by Alice Gray (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Books, 1996), p. 112.] No wonder -- he had encountered someone who was really prepared! In today’s Gospel parable of the ten virgins Jesus warns us to be ever prepared to meet God our Creator at the end of our lives to give an account of how we have lived.
3) “Be prepared” and “Don’t run out of gas.”: One thing that all Scouts, young and old, never forget is the Boy Scout Motto: "Be prepared." If you’ve ever set up a tent and didn’t tie your lines securely, you know what happens when the wind and rain hits! A tent-collapse in the middle of the night is a rude awakening! Or, if you get a brand-new pair of hiking boots and don’t properly break them in, then go on a ten-mile hike, it’s pretty painful! You might forget bug-spray during mosquito season. Or if you bring a flashlight on a campout, but not extra batteries; that can make it somewhat challenging finding the latrine in the middle of the night! We sometimes learn the hard way to anticipate our needs. We need to plan ahead, before it’s too late. It was not raining when Noah built the ark! Through the parable of the ten virgins, Jesus warns us to be ever prepared for the end of our lives. How many of you have ever run out of gas? In most audiences, this would be nearly everyone. I cannot verify these statistics, so I caution you that they may be flawed. It would appear that every year at least a half million people call for help because they have run out of gas. Besides flat tires, dead batteries, and misplaced keys, running out of gas ranks right up there in the reasons why people call for roadside service. One might understand this happening a generation ago, when gas gauges were not entirely accurate, and when all the warning lights of our day were non-existent. But now we have warning messages that our fuel is running low (giving us perhaps an hour more of driving), and then additional, progressively urgent warnings indicating just how many estimated miles of driving we have left. One must say that most people who run out of fuel are “without excuse.”
Introduction: Our lectionary ends the Church’s liturgical year with texts about the coming of the Son of Man, which leads into the New Year’s Season of Advent -- the Season of "Coming." Jesus’ future coming as the conquering Son of Man at the end of time and his past coming as the helpless infant in a manger are the topics of our remembrance. This Sunday’s readings bring the usual warnings about preparation for the end of our own world, the end of our own time and our passage to another world. They tell us that a searching, watching, and growing heart is essential for a lively, dynamic faith in God. They ask us whether we are ready for these events and how we are preparing for them.
The first reading (Wis 6:12-16) explained: Jesus' parable in today’s Gospel shows us five well-prepared, wise women, and the first reading chosen for today offers us Wisdom, personified as a woman. Writing in Greek to the dispersed Jews living in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria, in Egypt, around 100 BC, the author wants his fellow Jews to seek wisdom and learn from it. Wisdom is a Divine gift – but a gift that will not elude the one who seeks it sincerely. What the author suggests is that the faithful adherence of the Alexandrian Jews to their ancestral religion in their somewhat hostile environment is seeking after Divine wisdom. The Jews need not envy the wisdom of the pagan philosophers, because they themselves have true wisdom in their Sacred Scripture, a wisdom which regulates not only this life but the next also. They must live their lives in strict conformity with the Divine wisdom given them so generously by God. Those who are watchful enough to find and welcome wisdom will also find that they will be prepared for the rest of the journey – from this life to the next. Wisdom (the Holy Spirit of God) is searching for those who are waiting. The message given by the first reading is clear: God willingly reveals Himself, but mysteriously in His own way, according to His own timetable. God can be found, but only by those who never give up the search, yet patiently await His initiative. “The deepest wisdom and fullest readiness is to live chastely, honestly, nonviolently (Mt 5, and to meet our neighbors’ basic needs (Mt 25).” (Fr. Dennis Ham)
The second reading I Thes 4:13-18 explained: First Thessalonians is the earliest of Paul's letters. When he wrote it, contemporary Christians, including Paul himself, expected Jesus to come very soon --within their lifetime -- to rebuild the Kingdom and to establish his glorious reign. So they needed to be vigilant in order not to miss his return. Some quit their jobs in the belief that the Kingdom was at hand. But then the years passed and there seemed to be no signs of the Second Coming. Paul writes this earliest Christian letter to respond to the community's fears and questions about those who die before the Parousia: will the few Christians who die in this short period somehow miss out on the benefits of Jesus' return? Paul says they will not, because what God has wrought in the death and Resurrection of Jesus is powerful enough to save even those who have already "fallen asleep." Paul helps them to realize that what they need to do is believe in what the Lord has done for us. He doesn’t want them to fret. He explains, “We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope” (1 Thes, 4:13). Instead, the Thessalonians should prepare themselves for the Kingdom. The central idea is clear: only the alert and the vigilant can experience God coming in their lives. Those who are asleep to the present never seem to notice God's Presence.
Gospel exegesis: Context: Today’s Gospel passage is situated in the context of Jesus’ discourse (in Matthew’s chapters 25 and 26), on the end times and the second coming of Christ. After speaking of the destruction of the temple (Mt 24:1-3) and the end of the age (Mt 24:4-51), Jesus gives us the parable of the wise and the foolish bridesmaids to illustrate teachings about the coming of the Kingdom. This parable, along with three others in chapter 25 and 26, offers pointed application for the waiting faithful in the early Church as they come to terms with an unexpected delay in the Parousia (or the second coming of Christ), which most expected in their lifetime.
The parable tells a story which could have happened at any time in a Palestinian village and which could still happen today. Since a wedding was a great occasion, the whole village lined up at the sides of the road to wish God’s blessings on the bride being taken in procession by her groom to her new home. The invited ones would join the procession, which started from the bride’s house and moved to the groom’s house, to take part in the week-long celebration of the marriage. Since the bridegroom might come to the bride’s house unexpectedly, the bridal party had to be ready at any time, with accompanying virgins (bridesmaids in our day), carrying lighted torches and reserve oil in jars. Five of these virgins, who, having forgotten to bring an extra jar of oil, had to run to the dealers to buy some, missed the arrival of the groom’s party, and so, lost their chance to take part in the celebration. They lost not only the opportunity of witnessing the marriage ceremony, but also of participating in the week-long celebration that followed.
The meaning of the parable: This parable has both a local and a universal meaning. The local meaning is that the foolish virgins represent the “Chosen People of God” who were waiting for the Messiah but were shut out from the Messianic banquet because they were unprepared. “The division between the wise and the foolish virgins becomes the division between those in Matthew’s church who keep the commandments of Christ, the new lawgiver of the church, and those who hear his words but fail to do what he commands.” (Fr. Reginald Fuller). The universal meaning is that the five foolish virgins represent those who fail to prepare for the end of their lives. What matters is not the occasional or the last-minute burst of spiritual fervor but habitual attention to one’s responsibilities before God. At the final judgment, there will be no depending upon the resources of others, no begging or borrowing of grace. The parable implies that we should attend to duties of the present moment, preparing now rather than waiting until it is too late.
The allegorical interpretation of the parable: The virgins represent the Church or Christian community that is waiting for Christ’s Second Coming. The Bridegroom is Christ. The wedding feast is the great and joyous occasion in which Christ comes for his Church (Rv 19:9). The delay of the Bridegroom corresponds to the delay of the Second Coming or Parousia. The Bridegroom's arrival in the dark of night is the Second Coming itself. The closing of the door is the final judgment. Many Old Testament texts also presuppose the imagery of God as Israel’s husband or bridegroom (e.g. Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 31:32 Hosea 2:16). The rejection of the foolish maidens is the Last Judgement and, perhaps, the foolish maidens represent Israel and the wise ones the Gentiles
“Make sure you have enough oil,” that is, have a good relationship with God: Literally, our text answers the question, "What shall we do while we wait?" The answer is: "Make sure you have enough oil for your lamps!" Scripture scholars of the past and the present have reflected on what this oil symbolizes, and they have arrived at different, but related, views. (i) Perhaps, the best explanation is that the oil stands for our personal relationship with God who is the Source and Power behind our good deeds or "fruit-bearing" (Matthew 3:8, 10; 7:16, 17, 18, 19, 20; 12:33; 13:8, 23, 26; 21:19, 34, 41, 43). It is not something that one can attain overnight or borrow from someone else as the foolish virgins attempted to do. This “state of grace” is something we must receive from God personally and directly. (ii) In Scripture, oil is often a symbol for the Holy Spirit. It is when we submit our work, our intentions, our purpose to the Holy Spirit that He fills our deeds with power and effectiveness. (iii) Oil stands for character and Christian values which we cannot borrow – or buy, the foolish virgins’ choice. That metaphor of “oil” refers to the way we do or do not live the virtuous life that God freely empowers us to live. You cannot “borrow” these virtues at the last moment; you must “live” them. These are very sobering words in the Gospel, and a reminder that we can never use the excuse that “no one told me.” (iv) Oil stands for “spiritual capital” (our merits) – all that we build up by good works: concern for the needy and acts of justice. (v) Perhaps, oil refers to real Christian Faith. (vi) Oil is the spirit of reconciliation with the others and a willingness to share our lives and its blessings with others. (vii) Oil may also be a generic reference to faithful and obedient discipleship as defined by the whole Gospel.
Warnings given by the parable: 1) The parable warns us that there are certain things which cannot be obtained at the last minute: a) a good relationship with God, b) good character, c) merits from good deeds of sharing and forgiving love and humble service done to others. 2) The parable also warns us of certain elements in Christian life that cannot be borrowed: a) relationship with God, b) ideal character, c) Faith.
The parable when applied to Holy Mass: We have to learn three lessons from this parable: 1) an eager, expectant waiting for the Lord’s coming in all his ways; 2) a recognition that we can’t borrow what we’re going to need to meet the Lord when we comes; and 3) a loving admonition from the Lord not to procrastinate on our preparations until it’s too late. This Mass is meant to help us with each of the three. If we’re truly ready to meet the Lord each week here, with our souls clean from serious sins, with our hearts hungering for Him, with the Lord himself, the Light of the World, burning inside of us, fueled by the oil of love, we’ll never be caught off guard, whether he comes today, tomorrow, or eighty years from now. Our reaction to today’s word of the Lord, and to the tremendous Gift that is the Mass which is offered here every day, will determine whether in the final analysis we’re stupid or we’re wise. Is our soul thirsting for the living God more than a man in the desert pants for water? Are we keeping perpetual vigil seeking Wisdom Incarnate? Have we come asking the Lord to fill not just our lamps but our flasks so that we can make a total self-offering? The Lord who knows us wants to give us all these gifts. “The Bridegroom is here. Let us go out to meet Christ the Lord!”
Life messages: 1) We need to be wise enough to remain ever prepared: Wise Christians live each day in the light of Jesus' vision. Such people find Him in the most ordinary experiences of daily living -- in the people they meet, the events that take place, and the situations in which they find themselves. They carefully make their daily choices for God. They are ready to put the commandment of love into practice by kindness and forgiveness. There is absolutely no better way to prepare for the final call than to learn to spend each day in the company of Jesus, remembering his assurance, "I am with you always." (CCC 1036, 2612: vigilant waiting for the Lord’s return). The following short prayer should be always on their lips: "Lord, grant that all my thoughts, intentions, actions and responses may be directed solely to Your love and service this day." "Help me, Lord, to seek, to find, and to respond to You in every single experience this day." When we eventually hear the final call, "Get up! The Master is coming!" we will not be worried, but happy and more than ready to meet Him, as well as old friends and family, in Heaven. God has made this promise to us: “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (Dn 12:3).
2) Let us be sure that our Lamps are ready for the end of our lives: Spiritual readiness, preparation and growth do not just happen. They come as a result of intentional habits built into one’s life. We cannot depend on a Sunday morning service to provide all our spiritual needs. We cannot depend on Christian fellowship to provide us with spiritual development. These things come through routine, mundane attention to ordinary spiritual disciplines — making sure we have enough oil: spiritual fuel. They come when we habitually take time for prayer and being alone with God. They come through reading God’s Word; living a sacramental life; performing acts of service for others; being morally faithful; obeying God with love, and spending time with other Christians for mutual prayer, study, and encouragement. These are the things which, along with the normal difficulties of life, enable a person to grow in Christ and to be prepared for Christ’s coming. Without these things we will not be prepared. The preparation cannot be hit-or-miss, nor can it be postponed. We dare not procrastinate, lest death come unexpectedly and ruin us. We need to develop those things which encourage our spiritual growth into holy habits in our lives, for that growth must take precedence over other interests and claims on our time and attention. As these habits become entrenched, they cease to be a struggle for us and begin to be a source of strength and blessing. They make our lives powerful against the onslaught of the world.
3) What is the oil that we lack? Oil in Scripture is often a symbol for the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we try to spring into action without first submitting our work to the Holy Spirit. Or perhaps we lack the oil of kindness and compassion. There’s no way we can be ready to meet Jesus without the essential oils of compassion and mercy. Perhaps we lack the oil of patience and sympathy. Without such oil, we’re ill-equipped to deal with someone who comes to us in need of long-term love and guidance. Perhaps we’re short of the oil of education and instruction, or we’re not adequately trained and lack proper skills to be of service in areas where help is needed. Perhaps God is calling us to take our expertise and skills to another level in order that we may more adequately meet Jesus in the people God allows to enter our lives. I need to have the oil of being in the state of grace. If not, I am in the empty a state of mortal sin. Ignatius of Loyola’s famous prayer is the prayer of the follower of Jesus; ‘Lord, teach me to know you more, love you more and serve you more faithfully in my life.’ (Spiritual Exercises). The “more” indicates that our earthly life is always in process, never a finished product: like love and friendship it grows in our lives. It is exciting that Jesus is never gone from us.: risen from the dead he is always alive, always new. Our reading of the Gospel, our sharing at Mass and the sacraments and our personal prayer keep this relationship always alive, always new.
JOKE OF THE WEEK
1) A tour group was riding in an elevator to the top of the Empire State Building. At about the 102nd floor, a woman asked the tour guide, “If the cables on this elevator break, do we go up or down?” The tour guide answered, “Well, that depends on how you are living.”
2) A Sunday school teacher was testing the children in her class one morning to see if they understood the concept of "getting to Heaven." She said, "If I sold my house and my car, held a big garage sale and gave all my money to the Church, would that get me into Heaven?"
"NO!" the children answered.
"If I cleaned the Church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into Heaven?"
Again, the answer was, "NO!"
"Well, then, if I was kind to animals, gave candy to children and loved my husband, would that get me into Heaven?"
Again, they all answered, "NO!"
“Well," the teacher continued, “how do I get into Heaven?"
A five-year-old boy shouted out, "YOU GOTTA BE DEAD."
3) When Bishop Philip Brooks, author of “O, Little Town of Bethlehem,” was seriously ill, he requested that none of his friends come to see him. But when an acquaintance of his named Robert Ingersoll, the famous anti-Christian propagandist, came to see him, Brooks allowed him to enter his room. Ingersoll said, “I appreciate this very much, especially when you aren’t letting any of your close friends see you.” Bishop Brooks responded, “Oh, I’m confident of seeing them in the next world, but this may be my last chance to see you.”
4) Hibernation in the White House: Do you recall Laura Bush’s comments a few years ago about her husband? She said, “George always says he’s delighted to come to these press dinners. Baloney. He’s usually in bed by now. I’m not kidding. I said to him the other day, ‘George, if you really want to end tyranny in the world, you’re going to have to stay up later.’ I am married to the president of the United States, and here’s our typical evening: Nine o’clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep, and I’m watching “Desperate Housewives” on television. One day in February 2003, with America on the verge of a war with Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell was reminded that, notwithstanding the stress, President George W. Bush was in bed by 10 o’clock every night and slept like a baby. “I sleep like a baby, too,” Powell replied. “Every two hours I wake up screaming!” Ronald Reagan insisted on taking a nap every afternoon. Even so, he was so sleepy that he nearly overslept his own presidential inauguration. On one occasion, he did in fact drop off at an awkward moment ... in an audience with Pope St. John Paul II.
5) During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. One day in 1789, the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, “The Day of Judgement is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought.” (as quoted at: “Sermon Nuggets” http://home.twcny.rr.com/lyndale/Pentecost%2025A.htm)
Websites of the week
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Fr. Don’ collection of video homilies & blogs: https://lectiotube.com/
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Video Sunday-Scripture study by Fr. Geoffrey Plant: https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant2066
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YouTube video: https://youtu.be/iFGjzT_lF8s
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VCat Video Catechism Home: vcat.org/
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Faith shared via videos: http://bustedhalo.com/
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Muslims against Catholics University: https://youtu.be/BvWzBfXhIpA
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Text week: http://www.textweek.com/mtlk/matt25a.htm

25- Additional anecdotes:
1) “At last I've met a man more stupid than myself." There is an old legend about a man who had a rather stupid servant. The master often got exasperated with his servant. One day in a fit of frustration he said to the servant, "You've got to be the stupidest man I've ever met. Look, I want you to take this staff and carry it with you. And if you ever meet a man stupider than you are, give him the staff." So the servant carried the staff. Often out in the marketplace, he'd meet some pretty stupid people. But he was never sure they were worse off than he. Years passed with the servant carrying his staff. Then one day, he came back to the castle and was ushered into the bedroom of his master. His master was quite sick. In the course of their conversation, the master said, "I'm going on a long journey." The servant said, "When do you plan to be back?" The master said, "This is a journey from which I'll not return." The servant said, "Sir, have you made all the necessary preparations?" The master said, "No, I have not." The servant said, "Could you have made preparations?" The master said, "Yes, I guess I've had my life to make them, but I've been busy about other things." The servant said "Master, you're going on a journey from which you'll never return, you could've prepared for it, and you just didn't?" The master said, "Yes, I guess that's right." The servant took the staff he'd carried so long and said, "Master take this with you. At last I've met a man more stupid than myself." Telling us the parable of the 10 virgins Jesus warns us to be ever prepared to meet him as our judge on the day of our death.
2) “I'll tell you what's more important; it's the will to prepare.” In 1976, Indiana University's basketball team was undefeated throughout the regular season and captured the NCAA National Championship. Controversial and colorful coach Bobby Knight led them to that championship. Shortly afterwards, Coach Knight was interviewed on the television show 60 Minutes. The commentator asked him, "Why is it, Bobby, that your basketball teams at Indiana are always so successful? Is it the will to succeed?" "The will to succeed is important," replied Bobby Knight, "but I'll tell you what's more important; it's the will to prepare. It's the will to go out there every day, training and building those muscles and sharpening those skills!" [John R. Noe, Peak Performance Principles for High Achievers (New York: Berkley Books, 1984).] No wonder Bobby Knight has been so successful as a coach!
3) "Don't fool yourself.” Another famous coach believed the same thing. "Hurry Up" Yost was the football coach at the University of Michigan. A player once assured Coach Yost that their team was sure to win on Saturday because the players had "the will to win." "Hurry Up" Yost answered: "Don't fool yourself. The will to win is not worth a plugged nickel unless you have the will to prepare." That is true. Whether we are talking about sports, or education, or science, or business, or any worthwhile endeavor in life, success goes to the person who has the will to prepare!
4) “Keep your lamps lighted and your fork in hand.” There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. As she was getting her things in order, she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the funeral Mass, what Scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. Everything was in order and as the pastor was preparing to leave, the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her. "There’s one more thing," she said excitedly. "What’s that?" asked the pastor. "This is very important," the young woman continued. "I want my body to be buried with a fork in my right hand." The pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say. "That surprises you, doesn’t it?" the young woman asked. "Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request," said the pastor. The young woman explained. "My grandmother once told me this story, and that’s where I got the idea. I have, also, always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending Church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ’Keep your fork!’ It was my favorite part of the meal because I knew that something better was coming, like chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance! So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder, "What’s with the fork?" Then I want you to tell them: "Keep your fork--the best is yet to come."
5) Can you “sleep when the wind blows”? A young man applied for a job as a farm hand. When asked for his qualifications, he said, "I can sleep when the wind blows." This puzzled the farmer, but he liked the young man and hired him. A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things out to see if all were secure. They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace. The farm implements had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements. The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn had been properly locked. Everything was fine. Even the animals were calm. It was then that the farmer grasped the meaning of the young man’s words, "I can sleep when the wind blows." Because the farm hand had performed his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for the storm when it broke. Consequently, when the wind blew, he had no fear. He was able to sleep in peace. In the parable that is our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus is talking about exactly the same thing, being able to sleep when the winds blows, in other words, being prepared.
6) Victory goes to those who are prepared. Graham Greene once observed: "There is always one moment when the door opens and lets the future in." Will you be ready when your time comes? Robert Runcie was. During a battle in WWII, a British tank was hit. The crew, except for the co-driver, scrambled out. The turret on the tank was stuck in such a position that it could not be opened, pinning the co-driver inside. Under heavy fire, a soldier jumped out of his own tank, ran to turn the turret, and dragged the copilot out. That soldier, Robert Runcie, was ready to do what was needed in WWII. He was also ready to do what was needed when he became Archbishop of Canterbury many years later. Victory goes to those who are prepared. Preparation and character go hand in hand. One more thing needs to be said. It is amazing that many of us who are prepared for life fail to prepare for eternity. We get our degrees in school. We position ourselves for the right jobs. We set our goals ten years in advance. We know where we want to retire. Each year we sock away the limit in our IRAs. And we totally disregard the most important reality of all our relationship with God – until it's too late and we are unprepared.
7) "Eight Steps Toward a More Satisfying Life." In a recent TIME magazine sidebar, there were "Eight Steps Toward a More Satisfying Life." Here are the Eight Steps: 1. Count your blessings. 2. Practice acts of kindness. 3. Savor life's joys. 4. Thank a mentor. 5. Learn to forgive. 6. Invest time and energy in friends and family. 7. Take care of your body. 8. Develop strategies for coping with stress and hardship. (TIME, 17 (January 2005), A8-A9.] This morning when we reflect on the parable of the ten virgins, we add one more step, a 9th Step to the strategy: Be prepared. Be prepared to step off life's planned paths, and trust the Spirit. After all, the Spirit can appear in many guises, disguises, and surprises. (Rev. Leonard Sweet)
8) “You are given three minutes to get into the boat.” There's a true story that comes from the sinking of the Titanic. A frightened woman found her place in a lifeboat that was about to be lowered into the raging North Atlantic. She suddenly thought of something she needed, so she asked permission to return to her stateroom before they cast off. She was granted three minutes, or they would leave without her. She ran across the deck that was already slanted at a dangerous angle. She raced through the gambling room with all the money that had rolled to one side, ankle deep. She came to her stateroom and quickly pushed a side her diamond rings and expensive bracelets and necklaces as she reached to the shelf above her bed and grabbed three small oranges. She quickly found her way back to the lifeboat and got in. Now that seems incredible because thirty minutes earlier she would not have chosen a crate of oranges over the smallest diamond. But death had boarded the Titanic. One blast of its awful breath had transformed all values. Instantaneously, priceless things had become worthless. Worthless things had become priceless. And in that moment, she preferred three small oranges to a crate of diamonds. ---There are events in life, which have the power to transform the way we look at the world. Jesus' parable about the ten virgins offers one of these types of events, for the parable is about the Second Coming of Christ. (Sermons.com)
9) Unprepared. Forgetful. Irresponsible: These are the ten best things to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk: #10. "They told me at the blood bank this might happen." #9. "This is just a 15-minute power-nap like they raved about in that time management course you sent me to." #8. "Whew! Guess I left the top off the White-Out. You probably got here just in time!" #7. "I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm." #6. "I was testing my keyboard for drool resistance." #5. "I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress. Are you discriminating against people who practice Yoga?" #4. "Darn! Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem." #3. "The coffee machine is broken . . . " #2. "Someone must've put decaf in the wrong pot . . . " And the #1 best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk . . . " . . . in His name. Amen." Jesus tells a parable in today’s Gospel about ten young women--bridesmaids— five of whom forgot their specific responsibility in a wedding celebration.
10) Lighted candle race: The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit. Some of our schools used to have its imitation in the form of a 50-meter race for girls in the primary schools with lighted candles. Let us run all the way of our life with the flame of our torches still lit for God.
11) Spiritual Intelligence: Scientists are working feverishly on AI—Artificial Intelligence. But Jesus' parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids tells us more about what we might call "Spiritual Intelligence” than about mere high IQ. Researchers are advancing NEW ideas of what intelligence is, how it should be measured, and which values should be invoked in considerations of the human intellect. Harvard University professor Howard Gardner points out that psychologist and journalist Daniel Goleman has achieved worldwide success with his 1995 book “Emotional Intelligence." Contending that this new concept (sometimes nicknamed EQ) may matter as much as or more than IQ, Goleman draws attention to such pivotal human abilities as controlling one's emotional reactions and 'reading' the signals of others. Psychiatrist Robert Coles, author of The Moral Intelligence of Children, argues that we should prize character over intellect, and work to cultivate human beings with a strong sense of right and wrong. Others are pushing leadership intelligence (LQ), executive intelligence (EQ) and even money-management intelligence! A quick cruise through cyberspace reveals numerous types of intelligences, including Visual-spatial intelligence, Verbal-linguistic intelligence, Musical-Rhythmic intelligence, Logical-mathematical intelligence, Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, Interpersonal intelligence, Intrapersonal intelligence etc. Finally, the research these days is in AI -- Artificial Intelligence -- an area in which researchers have created conversational computer programs that imitate psychotherapists, and programs called "chatterbots" that simulate paranoid-schizophrenics, that chat on the Internet and that control Webcams. (For details, confer www.scbe.on.ca/mit/mi.htm). Today we hear the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids, a story told by Jesus to illustrate the character of the Kingdom of God, and to describe what constitutes Spiritual Intelligence. In this passage, we encounter a tale that is nothing less than a test of spiritual IQ, a cutting-edge research project that measures spiritual wisdom.
12) Unprepared Mayflower Pilgrims: One of the most cherished events in our history was the landing of the Mayflower on these shores. One hundred and two Pilgrims stepped from their storm-tossed little ship with unsteady legs and huge relief. It would be difficult to imagine a group of people more ill-suited to a life in the wilderness, according to Bill Bryson in his book, Made in America. These Pilgrims packed as if they had misunderstood the purpose of the trip. They found room for sundials and candle-snuffers, a drum, a trumpet, and a complete history of the country of Turkey. One man named William Mullins packed 126 pairs of shoes and thirteen pairs of boots. Yet the Pilgrims failed to bring a single cow or horse, plow or fishing line. Among the professions represented on the Mayflower’s manifest were two tailors, a printer, several merchants, a silk worker, a shopkeeper, and a hatter--not exactly the most appropriate occupations when one thinks of surviving in a hostile environment. With the uncertain exception of their captain, Miles Standish, probably none in the party had ever tried to bring down a wild animal. Hunting in seventeenth-century Europe was a sport reserved for the aristocracy. Even those who labeled themselves farmers generally had scant practical knowledge of husbandry, since "farmer" in the 1600s, and for some time afterward, signified an owner of land rather than one who worked it. These Pilgrims were, in short, dangerously unprepared for the rigors ahead, and they demonstrated their incompetence in the most dramatic possible way: by dying in droves. Six expired in the first two weeks, eight the next month, seventeen more in February, a further thirteen in March. By April, when the Mayflower set sail back to England, just fifty-four people, nearly half of them children, were left to begin the long work of turning this tenuous toehold into a self-sustaining colony. [(New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1994), pp. 2-3.] What are we thinking of when we spend our lives accumulating funds for old age, but ignore the spiritual side of our lives so that life after death will be worth living?
13) His name was Alexander Graham Bell. In early 1874 an inventor named Elisha Gray transmitted a few musical notes over a telegraph wire. He thought to himself, "If I can send music, perhaps I could send the human voice." The New York Times reported predictions of a "talking telegraph" and the public began to grow eager for it. Just one-year later Gray believed he had the answer. Tin-can like voice chambers connected by a wire in a liquid that could turn vibrations into signals is what came into his mind. But inexplicably, he did not put his idea on paper for two months. After finally making a sketch, he waited four more days before he went to the patent office. When he arrived, Mr. Gray was told that just two hours earlier a school-teacher had come through that same door with his own sketch and had already applied for the patent. His name was Alexander Graham Bell. When you compared the sketches, the voice chambers, the wire, and the liquid everything was identical. The reason we know the name Alexander Graham Bell and until today, never heard the name Elisha Gray is simply because one man seized the opportunity when he could. The other one waited until it was too late That’s what happened to the five foolish virgins in today’s Gospel story. . (Rev. James Merritt).
14) "If the end of the world came.” A mother wrote to Catholic Digest saying that one day when she was heading up the stairs with a basket containing the last load of folded clothes, herding her three little ones in front of her for bedtime, her eldest child, Peggy, who was then in kindergarten, picked that moment to begin one of those questions that seem to intrigue all children at some time. "Mommy," she asked, "If it were the end of the world, and everyone was getting ready to die..." The mother stopped, shifted the basket on her hip, and said an ultra-quick prayer for wisdom to answer this question. "Yes?" The mother prodded her daughter. The little girl finished her theological inquiry: "If the end of the world came, would you have to take your library books back?" That young lady did not want any unfinished business in her life.
15) End-time or Beginning-time? On September 14, 2005, an Australian Jesuit colleague and friend, Paddy Meagher, bade farewell to India after more than four decades of dedicated service here. He was suffering from melanoma (skin cancer) that had struck suddenly and spread over his face leaving lumps likely to affect his brain and throat. Bravely enduring his pain, he said, “I know I’ll die soon and I’m prepared. Nonetheless, I’ll continue reading and writing until death comes!” Paddy died on January 5, 2006. For wise virgins like these, there is always oil in their lamps. And for many of the victims of earthquakes who call God Abba or Allah, what we see as end-time is more likely to be a beginning-time for the eternal wedding feast.
(Francis Gonsalves in Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
16) Timing: General Douglas MacArthur’s autobiography, Reminiscences, is full of World War II stories. One such story is about Capt. Thomas G. Lanphier, a pilot of the 339th Fighter Squadron who “Became the unsung hero of an extraordinary exploit” on April 18, 1943. The Japanese code had been broken, and our Intelligence learned exactly where and when Admiral Yamamoto was going to fly in to one of the Solomon Islands. Yamamoto was the commander-in-chief of the Japanese combined Fleet. So eighteen P-38s were sent from Guadalcanal, 400 miles away to attack Yamamoto. At the exact hour of rendezvous, Yamamoto’s squadron appeared and were met by our waiting planes. Sixteen P-38s went after his Zero escorts, while Tom Lanphier and another pilot were assigned to attack the two bombers carrying Yamamoto and his staff. Yamamoto’s pilot used every artifice to escape, but eventually Lanphier’s gunfire hit his bomber causing it to explode and crash. Washington lauded Lanphier’s feat as one of the most significant strikes of the war but labeled it top secret and forbade its publication until 1945 when Tom was awarded the Navy Cross. Timing, alertness and readiness were key factors in this air strike, which proved to be a turning point in the war. These same themes are found in today’s readings, but for different reasons. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
17) How will Jesus find us? Nineteen hundred years ago, the volcano Mt Vesuvius erupted in Italy. When the eruption ended, the city of Pompeii lay buried under 18 feet of volcanic ash. The city remained that way until modern times, when archaeologists excavated it. What they found amazed everyone. There were carbonized loaves of bread, fruit still retaining its flavor, and olives still swimming in their oil. But there were even more amazing discoveries. The volcanic ash had frozen people in the exact position they had occupied when the disaster struck. The bodies of the people decayed. As they did, they left behind hollow cavities in the hardened ash. By pouring liquid plaster into these cavities, archaeologists were able to make casts of the victims. Some of the casts evoke an emotional response. For example, one is that of a young mother hugging her child tightly in her arms. Another is that of a Roman sentry still at his post, standing erect fully armed. He had remained calm and faithful to his duty to the end. A third that of a man standing upright with a sword in his hand. His foot is resting on a pile of gold and silver. Scattered about him are five bodies, probably would-be looters he had killed. The plaster casts illustrate in a dramatic way the two themes of today’s readings. The first theme is that of the suddenness with which the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus will take place. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
18) Eternal preparedness: From time immemorial, people have resorted to stories, especially fables, to teach some moral points for our instruction. In the West, Aesop’s Fables were famous. One such fable from this collection, which every child reads, is “The Hare and the Tortoise’. Once upon a time, a hare and a tortoise decided to run a race. The hare, which by nature was swifter, was not only snobbish, but also very presumptuous. Both started the race at the same time. The hare ran fast and in the midway, turned back to see how its competitor was progressing – the tortoise was way behind. Meanwhile, the hare thought of taking a nap before the tortoise caught up with it in the race. The tortoise was working up slowly but steadily towards its goal. When the tortoise reached the finishing line, suddenly the hare woke up and tried to finish the race, but it was too late. The tortoise had won the race. —The moral of the story is “You snooze, you lose!” In other words, “Constant preparedness is the key to successes.” This is not only true in the mundane life, but also true in the spiritual sphere. In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches that eternal preparedness is the price of salvation. Every disciple of Jesus must be ever prepared to meet the Lord—whenever He may come. (John’s Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
19) “Let us trim our lamps and fill them with charity in silence.” When Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and author died in 1968, he left behind a literary legacy which has continued to feed the spiritual hungers and prod the social and political consciences of believer to this day. Merton’s death, by accidental electrocution, while attending a conference of Buddhist and Catholic monks in Bangkok, Thailand, was unexpected and untimely. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that Merton was prepared, like the wise virgins in today’s Gospel, to meet the Lord. In one of his best-known books, No Man Is An Island, the holy monk wrote: “We must learn during our lifetime to trim our lamps and fill them with charity in silence. . . if the spirit that kept the flame of physical life burning in our bodies took care to nourish itself with the oil that is found only in the silence of God’s charity, then when the body dies, the spirit itself goes on burning with the same oil, its own flame. But if the spirit has burned all along with the base oils of passion or egoism, or pride, then when death comes, the flame of the spirit goes out with the light of the body because there is no more oil in the lamp.”(Patricia Datchuck Sánchez).
20) This guy got the job! Several years ago, a Fortune 500 company advertised in the New York Times to fill a vacancy in its sales force. They received an application unlike any other. This particular job-seeker wrote: "I am at present selling furniture at the address listed below. You may judge my ability as a salesman if you will stop in to see me at any time, pretending that you are interested in buying furniture. When you come in, you can identify me by my red hair. I will have no way of identifying you. Such salesmanship as I exhibit during your visit, therefore, will be no more than my usual workday efforts and not a special attempt to impress a prospective employer." From among more than 1500 applicants, this guy got the job! So how do you keep plenty of oil in your lamp?
21) “Don’t forget nothing!” I spent 25 years in the Army; do you know the difference between the Army and the Boy Scouts? The Scouts have adult leadership! When I was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland, I was assigned to a battalion that had 24 hours to be alerted and arrive at any location ready to fight. We were called a Rapid Deployment Force. We would conduct random EDREs—Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercises. We’d get a call, usually in the middle of the night (at 0-dark-thirty), and we’d have to scramble to get on our uniforms and equipment, our weapons, dispatch our vehicles, and be ready to roll! We were in a constant state of readiness. I kept my duffle bag and chaplain kit ready to grab-and-go at all times. When I was called on to deploy to Desert Storm, I had 5 days to get from Fort Sam Houston, Texas, to Fort Knox, Kentucky (where I was issued desert gear) to Saudi Arabia. And I did it! The US Army Rangers also have a motto, like the Scouts. Theirs is simply: “Don’t forget nothing!” (Rev. Robert Leroe).
22) Staying Awake: In his autobiography, Report to Greco, Nikos Kazantzakis recounts a conversation he once had with an old monk. Kazantzakis, a young man at the time, was visiting a monastery and was very taken by a famed ascetic, Father Makarios, who lived there. But a series of visits with the old monk left him with some ambivalent feelings as well. The monk’s austere lifestyle stirred a certain religious romanticism in Kazantzakis, but it repelled him too; he wanted the romanticism, but in a more-palatable way. Here’s their conversation as Kazantzakis records it: Yours is a hard life, Father. I too want to be saved. Is there no other way?” “More agreeable?” asked the ascetic, smiling compassionately. “More human, Father.” “One, only one.” “What is that?” “Ascent. To climb a series of steps. From the full stomach to hunger, from the slaked throat to thirst, from joy to suffering. God sits at the summit of hunger, thirst, and suffering; the devil sits at the summit of the comfortable life. Choose.” “I am still young. The world is nice. I have time to choose.” Reaching out, the old monk touched my knee and said: “Wake up, my child. Wake up before death wakes you up.” I shuddered and said: “I am still young.” “Death loves the young,” the old man replied. “The inferno loves the young. Life is like a lighted candle, easily extinguished. Take care—wake up! Wake up! Wake up before death wakes you up. “ -- In a less dramatic expression that’s a virtual leitmotif in the Gospels. (Fr. Ron Rolheiser).
23) With the Lord unceasingly: Robert Bolt, the British playwright, did justice to Sir Thomas More in a heroic drama about his life, appropriately named A Man for All Seasons. Surely Thomas’ greatest season was when he stood trial for treason against Henry VIII for allegedly denying to the King his claim to be head of the Church of England. Although he, indeed, held that view, More, as the “King’s good servant,” had been careful to make no public statement on the matter. Like a good lawyer he demanded that the court prove its case against him. Of course, the court intended to condemn him anyhow, proof or no proof. Once the judgment had been given, St. Thomas More felt free to state his belief. He denied that “a temporal lord could or ought to be head of the spirituality.” Yet he held no grudge against those who had sentenced him to death for this Catholic principle. St. Paul, he reminded the tribunal, had originally persecuted the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen; but Paul had subsequently become a Christian and joined Stephen in the ranks of the martyrs. Now he prayed that he and his judges would share the joys of eternal life: “I verily trust, and shall therefore right heartily pray, that though your lordships have now here on earth been judges of my condemnation, we may yet hereafter in Heaven merrily all meet together to everlasting salvation.” “We shall be with the Lord unceasingly. Console one another with this message.” (I Thessalonians, 4:17b-18. Today’s second reading). (Father Robert F. McNamara).
24) “Be prepared”: Memories are short! “Aw, we don’t have to worry about this hurricane. We’ve lived through a lot of them, and none of them have been as bad as this one is predicted to become. Don’t worry about it.” There are a lot of other stories: “Aw, don’t worry about gas or food. As soon as the storm passes over, we’ll go down to the grocery store and replenish our shelves… There is always a lot of gas and food…” Or, how about this one: “A flood? Here? Not a chance… A tornado hit us? Here? Not a chance…” There is something prophetic about the decades-old Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared.” A lot of people pooh-pooh that motto, believing that they are immune to disaster. They prefer to believe in the magical tooth fairy. As we approach the end of the liturgical year, the readings begin to zero in on the themes of death, judgment, and the final coming of the Lord. We have been waiting two thousand years, and some folks think that he will come within the next few years. Today’s parable reminds us that “we know neither the day nor the hour,” so we have to be prepared for the long haul. In fact, the Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared” is a good summary of the Gospel message. -- The ten bridesmaids are symbolic of the human race. Some are foolish, so used to instant coffee and microwave dinners that they expect instant salvation as well. Others, the truly wise, know that the bridegroom, The Lord’s, arrival may be delayed, and they are prepared to deal with that situation. They know that eventually time and the oil will run out, so they make sure they keep their spiritual backup ready.(Bishop Clarke).
25) “Take this staff with you.” There is an old story of a jester who sometimes made very wise utterances. One day, the jester had said something so foolish that the king, handing him a staff, said to him, “Take this, and keep it till you find a bigger fool than yourself.” Some years later, the king was very ill, and lay on his deathbed. His courtiers were called; his family and his servants also stood round his bedside. The king, addressing them, said, “I am about to leave you. I am going on a very long journey, and I shall not return again to this place: so I have called you all to say 'Goodbye'.” Then his jester stepped forward and, addressing the king, said, “Your Majesty, may I ask a question? When you journeyed abroad visiting your people, staying with your nobles, or paying diplomatic visits to other courts, your heralds and servants always went before you, making preparations for you. May I ask what preparations your Majesty has made for this long journey that he is about to take?” “Alas!” replied the king, “I have made no preparations.” “Then,” said the jester, “take this staff with you, for now I have found a bigger fool than myself.” (Fr. Lakra). L/20
“Scriptural Homilies” Cycle A (No. 58) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com
Visit my website by clicking on http://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle A homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies under CBCI or Fr. Tony for my website version. (Special thanks to Vatican Radio website- http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html -which completed uploading my Cycle A, B and C homilies in May 2020) Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604

ALL SAINTS DAY (Nov 1, 2020)
ALL SAINTS DAY (Nov 1, 2020) (Rv 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 Jn 3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12a) in 1 page
U. S. presidential election homily: https://fssp.com/staring-into-the-abyss-an-election-homily-by-fr-ed-meeks/
The feast and its objectives: All baptized Christians who have died and are now with God in glory are considered saints. All Saints Day is intended to honor the memory of countless unknown and uncanonized saints who have no feast days. Today we thank God for giving ordinary men and women a share in His holiness and Heavenly glory as a reward for their Faith. This feast is observed to teach us to honor the saints, both by imitating their lives and by seeking their intercession for us before Christ, the only mediator between God and man (I Tm 2:5). The Church reminds us today that God's call for holiness is universal, that all of us are called to live in His love and to make His love real in the lives of those around us. Holiness is related to the word wholesomeness. We grow in holiness when we live wholesome lives of integrity, truth, justice, charity, mercy, and compassion, sharing our blessings with others. (+ an anecdote)
Reasons why we honor the saints: 1- The saints put their trust in Christ and lived heroic lives of Faith. St. Paul asks us to serve and honor such noble souls. In his Epistles to the Corinthians, to Philip and to Timothy, he advises Christians to welcome, serve and honor those who have put their trust in Jesus. The saints enjoy Heavenly bliss as a reward for their Faith in Jesus. Hence, they deserve our veneration of them. 2- The saints are our role models. They teach us by their lives that Christ’s holy life of love, mercy and unconditional forgiveness can, with the grace of God, be lived by ordinary people from all walks of life and at all times.
3- The saints are our Heavenly mediators who intercede for us before Jesus, the only mediator between God and us. (Jas 5:16-18, Ex 32:13, Jer 15:1, Rv 8:3-4,). 4- The saints are the instruments that God uses to work miracles at present, just as He used the staff of Moses (Ex), the bones of the prophet Elisha (2Kgs 13:21), the towel of Paul (Acts 19:12) and the shadow of Peter (Acts 5:15) to work miracles.
Life messages: 1) We need to accept the challenge to become saints. Jesus exhorts us: “Be made perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect” (Mt 5:48). St. Augustine asked: "If he and she can become saints, why can't I?" (Si iste et ista, cur non ego?). We all can become saints by choosing well by doing good and avoiding evil, by choosing to follow Christ, all the way to heaven.
2) We need to take the shortcuts practiced by three St. Teresas: i) St. Teresa of Avila: Recharge your spiritual batteries every day by prayer, namely, listening to God and talking to Him ii) St. Therese of Lisieux: Convert every action into prayer by offering it to God for His glory and for the salvation of souls and by doing God’s will to the best of your ability. iii) St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa): Do ordinary things with great love. Do something beautiful for God.
All Saints Day (Nov 1, 2019): Rv 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 Jn 3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12a

Homily starter anecdotes: 1) Contacting extraterrestrials on All Saints Day: There is a branch of science called Astrobiology or Exobiology. Applying all modern branches of science, it studies the possibility of existence of living beings in other planets or stars and consequence of human contact with any of the terrestrial form of life. On July 16, 1969, the day Unites States sent Apollo 11 to moon with three astronauts, the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) passed a law concerning extraterrestrial contacts. Its title 14 in section 1211 stipulated that anyone who comes into contact with any form of extraterrestrial life should immediately report the matter to the federal Government and undergo a period of quarantine to prevent the spread of harmful bacteria or viruses or other dangerous pathogens on earth. The Law was withdrawn in 1991 because no such case was reported except in science fictions like Michael Crichton’s 1969 novel The Andromeda Strain. But scientists have been sending signals into the cosmos, hoping for a response from some intelligent being on some distant planet. Only the Church has always maintained a dialogue with the inhabitants of another world — the saints – that is both possible and profitable. That is what we proclaim when we say the Creed, “I believe in … the Communion of Saints” and when we celebrate All Saints Day. Even if inhabitants outside of the solar system existed, communication with them would be impossible, because between the question and the answer, millions of years would pass. But in the case of saints, the answer is immediate because there is a common center of communication and encounter, and that is the risen Christ. (Adapted from Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, Vatican). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
2) 
A pumpkin story: "What is it like to be a Christian saint?" "It is like being a Halloween pumpkin. God picks you from the field, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you by inviting you to confess your sins and seek reconciliation. Then he cuts off the top and scoops out the yucky stuff. He removes the pulp of impurity and injustice and seeds of doubt, hate, and greed from you. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light of holiness or Holy Spirit inside you to shine for the entire world to see by your serving and sharing love, mercy and forgiveness." This is the Christian idea behind the carved pumpkins during the Halloween season. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
3) Diversity of Saints One thing that strikes you first about the Saints is their diversity. It would be very difficult to find one pattern of holiness, one way of following Christ. There is Thomas Aquinas, the towering intellectual, and John Vianney (the Curé d'Ars), who barely made it through the seminary. There is Vincent de Paul, a saint in the city, and there is Antony who found sanctity in the harshness and loneliness of the desert. There is Bernard kneeling on the hard stones of Clairvaux in penance for his sins, and there is Hildegard of Bingen singing and throwing flowers, madly in love with God. There is Albertus Magnus, the quirky scientist, half-philosopher and half-wizard, and there is Gerard Manley Hopkins, the gentle poet. There is Peter, the hard-nosed and no-nonsense fisherman, and there is Edith Stein, secretary to Edmund Husserl and colleague to Martin Heidegger, the most famous philosopher of the twentieth century. There is Joan of Arc, leading armies into war, and there is Francis of Assisi, the peacenik who would never hurt an animal. There is the grave and serious Jerome, and there is Philip Neri, whose spirituality was based on laughter. How do we explain this diversity? God is an artist, and artists love to change their styles. The saints are God's masterpieces, and He never tires of painting them in different colors, different styles, and different compositions. What does this mean for us? It means we should not try to imitate any one Saint exactly. Look to them all, study their unique holiness, but then find that specific color God wants to bear through you. St. Catherine of Siena was right: "Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire." (Bishop. Robert Barren). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
The feast and its objectives: The feast gives us an occasion to thank God for having invited so many of our ancestors to join the company of the saints. May our reflection on the heroic lives of the saints and the imitation of their lifestyle enable us to hear from our Lord the words of grand welcome to eternal bliss: "Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joys of your master" (Mt 25:21). Today is also a day for us to pray to the saints, both the canonized and the uncanonized, asking them to pray on our behalf that we may live our lives in faithfulness like theirs, and so receive the same reward. All baptized Christians who have died and are now with God in glory are considered saints. All Saints Day is a day on which we thank God for giving ordinary men and women a share in His holiness and Heavenly glory as a reward for their Faith. In fact, we celebrate the feast of each canonized saint on a particular day of the year. But there are countless other saints and martyrs, men, women and children united with God in Heavenly glory, whose feasts we do not celebrate. Among these would be our own parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters who were heroic women and men of Faith. All Saints Day is intended to honor their memory. Hence, today's feast can be called the feast of the Unknown Saint, in line with the tradition of the “Unknown Soldier.” According to Pope Urban IV (ca. 1195-1264; ruled August 29, 1261-October 2, 1264), All Saints' Day is also intended to supply any deficiencies in our celebration of feast of saints during the year. In addition, the feast is observed to teach us to honor the saints, both by imitating their lives and by seeking their intercession for us before Christ, the only mediator between God and man (I Tm 2:5). Today, the Church reminds us that God's call for holiness is universal and that all of us are called to live in His love and to make His love real in the lives of those around us. Holiness is related to the word wholesomeness. We show holiness when we live lives of integrity and truth, that is, wholesome and integrated lives in which we are close to others while being close to God.
Halloween and All Saints' Day. All Saints Day is a universal Christian feast honoring all Christian saints – known and unknown. The feast is celebrated by the Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican churches. “Halloween,” celebrated in the United States, England, Ireland and France on the eve of the Day of All Saints, got its name from “All Hallows Eve” or the vigil of All Saints Day. The Celtic people, who lived in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and northern France before the Christian era, believed that their god of death (Samhain) would allow the souls of the dead to return to their homes for a festal visit on this day. People also believed that ghosts, witches, goblins and elves came to harm the people, particularly those who had inflicted harm on them in this life. The Druid priests built a huge bonfire of sacred oak branches and offered animal and even human sacrifice to protect people from marauding evil spirits on the eve of Samhain feast. This belief led to the ritual practice of wandering about in the dark dressed in costumes indicating ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, fairies and demons. But some historians believe that the pumpkin-carving and trick-or-treating are recent customs, reminiscent of Irish harvest festivals, brought to the United States by Catholic immigrants from Ireland and England.
Historical note: A common commemoration of the saints, especially the martyrs, appeared in various areas throughout the Church after the legalization of Christianity in AD 313. The primary reason for establishing a common feast day was the desire to honor the great number of Christians martyred during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian (284-305). In the East, the city of Edessa celebrated this feast on May 13, the Syrians, on the Friday after Easter, and the city of Antioch, on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Both St. Ephrem (d. 373) and St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) attest to this feast day in their preaching. The earliest observance of the holiday was recorded in the early fourth century. But the feast was only fully established in the early seventh century under Pope Boniface IV (ruled 608-615), who consecrated Rome’s Pantheon to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs on May 13 in AD 609 (www.diffen.com). Pope Gregory IV (ruled 828-844), made All Saints’ a holy day in the mid-eighth century and moved it to November 1. Some observe All Saints’ Day by leaving offering of flowers honoring dead relatives. Others light candles in remembrance and visit the graves of deceased relatives. Catholic Church teaches about three “states of the church”: pilgrimage, purification, and glory. We who live on earth are the pilgrimage Christians who are forgiven sinners trying to become saints. That is why the New Testament calls all baptized Christians “saints,” hagioi, holy ones. Those in purgatory are in the purification stage and they are saints in the making and the glorified Christians are real saints enjoying the beatific vision in heaven. All Saints Day is based on this theological concept of the Communion of Saints. Communion here means fellowship or sharing in the gifts given by God to those whom God has chosen.
Reasons why we honor the saints: 1- The saints put their trust in Christ and lived heroic lives of Faith. St. Paul asks us to serve and honor such noble souls. In his Epistles to the Corinthians, to Philip and to Timothy, he advises Christians to welcome, serve and honor those who have put their trust in Jesus. The saints enjoy Heavenly bliss as a reward for their Faith in Jesus. Hence, they deserve our veneration. ("The Saints", St. Bernard says, "have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs.... But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning" (Disc. 2, Opera Omnia Cisterc. 5, 364ff.).
2- The saints are our role models. They teach us by their lives that Christ’s holy life of unconditional love, mercy, and forgiveness can, with God’s grace be lived by ordinary people, of all walks of life and at all times.
3- The saints are our heavenly mediators who intercede for us before Jesus, the only mediator between God and us. (Jas 5:16-18, Ex 32:13, Jer 15:1, Rv 8:3-4).
4- The saints are the instruments that God uses to work miracles at present, just as He used the staff of Moses (Exodus), the bones of the prophet Elisha (II Kgs 13:21), the towel of Paul (Acts: 19:12) and the shadow of Peter (Acts 5:15) to work miracles. For Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and to some extent, the Anglicans, “All Saints Day” is a day, not only to remember the saints and to thank God for them, but also to pray for their help. It is, as well, a day to glorify Jesus Christ, who by his holy life and death has made the saints holy. This feast offers a challenge to each one of us: anybody can, with the grace of God, become a saint, regardless of his or her age, lifestyle or living conditions. St. Augustine accepted this challenge when he asked the question: "If he and she can become saints, why can't I?" (Si iste et ista, cur non ego?).
Today’s Scripture readings summarized: The first reading (Rev 7: 2-4, 9-14, taken from the Book of Revelation, speaks of John’s vision of saints in their Heavenly glory: "…a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands" (Rv 7:9). “This people includes the Saints of the Old Testament, starting with the righteous Abel and the faithful Patriarch, Abraham, those of the New Testament, the numerous early Christian Martyrs and the Blesseds and Saints of later centuries, to the witnesses of Christ in this epoch of ours.: (Pope Benedict). In the Second Reading (1Jn 3: 1-3) the Apostle John remarks: "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are" (I Jn 3: 1). The saints enjoy what unrevealed heavenly glory. The reading also suggests that saints are people who have responded generously to the love God has showered on them. St. John tells us that to be “saints” means to be “children of God”—and then he adds: “so we are”! All Saints Day reminds us that we are called to be a part of that vast multitude of holy ones whose numbers are so great they cannot be counted. Offering us the Beatitudes in today’s Gospel (Mt 5: 1-12), the Church reminds us that all the saints whose feasts we celebrate today walked the hard and narrow path of the Beatitudes to arrive at their Heavenly bliss. As Pope benedict remarks, “ the blessed par excellence is only Jesus. He is, in fact, the true poor in spirit, the one afflicted, the meek one, the one hungering and thirsting for justice, the merciful, the pure of heart, the peacemaker. He is the one persecuted for the sake of justice.” The Beatitudes are God’s commandments expressed in positive terms. They go far beyond what is required by the Ten Commandments, and they are a true and reliable recipe for sainthood. (Poverty of spirit is knowing our need for God. Mourning is embracing the inevitable sufferings of life and alleviating the sorrows of others. Meekness is docility to God’s will, gentleness, and patience with others, even in the face of sufferings, disappointments, and insults. Hunger for justice is the longing to see everyone enjoy the peace, happiness, justice, and healing promised by Christ. We obtain mercy by extending it to others. Purity of heart is that right intention or sincerity that puts God first and judges everything else in relationship to God. Real peace is reached when enemies become trustworthy friends. Suffering for doing what is right is accompanied by deep happiness even now.) Thus the saints are those who most perfectly manifested the Christ-like character described in the first part of the beatitudes, and who therefore now partake of the promises in the second part: “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” We should see the beatitudes not as a prescription of what we must do per se to become blessed, but as a description of what a human being is like whom Jesus Christ is transforming into a saint! Jesus is telling us that when the transformative power of the cross brings about in us a greater meekness, poverty of spirit, and so forth, we will experience that we are being blessed.
Life messages: 1) We need to accept the challenge to become saints. Jesus exhorts us: “Be made perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect” (Mt 5:48). St. Augustine asked: "If he and she can become saints, why can't I?" (Si iste et ista, cur non ego?). On the feast of All Saints, the Church invites and challenges us to walk the walk of the saints and not just talk the talk: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven" (Mt 7:21).
2) We can take the short cuts practiced by three Teresas: i) St. Teresa of Avila: Recharge your spiritual batteries every day by prayer, namely, listening to God and talking to Him ii) St. Therese of Lisieux: Convert every action into prayer by offering it to God for His glory and for the salvation of souls and by doing God’s will to the best of one’s ability. iii) St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa): Do ordinary things with great love.
3) We need to walk the walk: On the feast of All Saints, the Church invites and challenges us to walk the walk of the saints and not just talk the talk: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven" (Mt 7:21). 2) The feast gives us an occasion to thank God for having invited so many of our ancestors to join the company of the saints. May our reflection on the heroic lives of the saints and the imitation of their lifestyle enable us to hear from our Lord the words of grand welcome to eternal bliss: "Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joys of your master" (Mt 25:21).
4) We need to pray to the saints, both the canonized and the uncanonized, asking them to pray on our behalf that we may live our lives in faithfulness like theirs, and so receive the same reward.
Joke of the week: “Both of us are Halloween!”: Two little neighbor girls about the same age, one Christian and one Jewish, were constant companions. After one Easter holiday, the grandfather of the Christian girl asked her what her friend had received for Easter. The girl looked at her grandfather in surprise, and said, "But Grandpa, you should know that Becky is Jewish and she wouldn't get anything for Easter." Then she went on to explain patiently, "You see, I'm Easter and she's Passover. I'm Christmas and she's Hanukkah." Then with a big smile, she added, "but I'm really glad that both of us are Halloween." [Buddy Westbrook in Loyal Jones: The Preacher’s Joke Book (Little Rock, Arkansas: August House, 1989), p. 26.]
Websites of the week
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St. Oscar Romero film in YouTube: Story of a modern martyr
https://youtu.be/ZPH3R0aqcuk?list=PLG6axl3bJCzyHFvq1KstnRiMaNb6RW1eX
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Video Sunday-Scripture study by Fr. Geoffrey Plant: https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant2066
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Msgr. Clarke Pope’s homilies: https://msgrpope.com/catechetical-teachings-2/
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Fr. Don’ collection of video homilies & blogs: https://lectiotube.com/
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U. S. presidential election homily: https://fssp.com/staring-into-the-abyss-an-election-homily-by-fr-ed-meeks/
21 Additional anecdotes: 1. A call and challenge to become saints: All Saints Day is a summons, a call, a challenge to every one of us who is here. It gives us the simple but reassuring fact is that nobody is born a saint. It is something you have to become. All Saints Day beckons us to something beautiful. It reminds us of our great potential—the promise that lies within each of us. The promise of holiness. It is the promise that was fulfilled in the countless people we venerate this day—our models, our companions, our inspirations, our guides. All the saints. They give us blessed hope. Because they assure us again and again: no one is born a saint. But every one of us, by the grace of God, can become one. 1)Consider St. Margaret of Cortona. As a teenager, she was the mistress of a young nobleman. She lived with him for nine years, even had a son with him, hoping at some point her lover would marry her. He never did. When he was finally murdered, the shock caused Margaret to re-evaluate her life. She went on to take vows a Franciscan. Her son also joined the order. She was canonized in 1728. 2) St. Benedict Joseph Labre. Sometimes those who become saints are not the ones we expect. They may be the filthy, the rejected, the outcast, the homeless. People like Benedict Joseph Labre. He grew up the son of a prosperous shopkeeper but felt called to give up everything and follow Christ. He spent his life wandering from church to church in Rome. He rarely bathed, never washed his clothes. Some people were repelled by him. But the purity of his devotion and his love of God moved and inspired those who saw him day after day. When he died at the young age of 35, priests of Rome preserved his filthy clothes as relics, and they buried him in one of the churches he loved. Today, he is the patron saint of the homeless. 3) Dorothy Day: In the 1920s, if you had to pick a woman who was the least likely candidate for sainthood, it would probably have been an anarchist and communist from Brooklyn named Dorothy Day. She worked as a journalist and spent many nights drinking with famous writers like Hart Crane and Eugene O’Neill. She had an abortion, and a brief marriage, before finally being drawn to Christ, and the gospel, and converting to Catholicism. Her conversion led her to embark on a radical ministry to the poor, one that is still changing the world. She is now a candidate for sainthood. Late in her life, people called her a living saint. “Don’t call me a saint,” she once said. “I don’t want to be dismissed that easily.”( https://aleteia.org/blogs/deacon-greg-kandra/dare-to-be-something-more-homily-for-all-saints-day/) Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
2) Pekapoo puppy: William Hinson recalls the time when his children were younger, and one child's pet died. Dr. Hinson says that he practiced "replacement therapy." When one pet died it was replaced by another pet. One time his youngest daughter Cathy's cat died. Together they went to find another pet. Cathy selected a tiny peekapoo puppy. When they got home Dr. Hinson agreed to build a doghouse for the new pet to live in. "The only kind of dog I knew very much about was a really big bird dog," he recalls, "so when I built the doghouse, I built a very large house." In fact, the house was too large for the small dog. The size of the doghouse scared the little peekapoo puppy. No matter what they did the little dog would not go near the doghouse. In disgust, Dr. Hinson went inside, and sat down in the den while his daughter, Cathy, stood outside crying over her dad's impatience and the refusal of her puppy to cooperate. After a while, Cathy got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the doghouse herself. When she crawled into it something wonderful happened. That little puppy trotted right in beside her and stretched out on the doghouse floor. Before too long the dog was taking a nap. All the shadows now stood still for him, and all the fear was taken out of the darkness, because the one whom he loved and trusted had preceded him into that dark and frightening place. It no longer caused him fear. [William H. Hinson. Triumphant Living in Turbulent Times (Nashville: Dimensions for Living, 1993), pp. 119-120.] There's a lesson here for us. We can surrender our wills to God's will, knowing that God loves us. Wherever He leads us, He will be with us. We don't have to enter dark doghouses alone. Saints trust in God and God alone. Saints submit their will to God's will. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
3) “Never forget what this cross means:" When Margaret Helminski was seven, she received a gift from her grandmother. It was a tiny cross on a wisp of gold chain, so fine its weight was barely perceptible. "Never forget what this cross means," her grandmother said as she fastened it carefully around Margaret's neck. Over the years, Margaret says, that cross became a part of her, like the lone freckle on her left cheek. She could look at herself in the mirror and not even see it.
As a graduate psychology student, Margaret took a job tutoring at a school for emotionally disturbed children. Suddenly surrounded by children who expressed their displeasure by kicking, biting, and screaming, she was terrified, though determined not to let it show. On her first night there, the head counselor said that three of the boys had asked to escort her to dinner. Alone! How would she handle it if all three decided to act out at once? She swallowed hard. She desperately needed this job so she fought back the panic and walked with her charges to the dining hall. They passed through the cafeteria line as tantrums and fights erupted around them. Fortunately, none of her boys exhibited any kind of behavioral outburst. They made their way to a table in the center of the busy cafeteria and the boys took their seats. Margaret picked up her fork and was about to take the first bite when she noticed that all three boys were staring at her. "What's the matter?" she asked. Aren't you going to ask a blessing?" asked eight-year-old Peter. "I didn't think I was supposed to," she responded. "This is a state school, isn't it?" "Yes," said David, his blue eyes brimming, "but you wear a cross." Her grandmother's words surged to the surface of her memory. "Never forget what this cross means," her grandmother said. "We thought that meant something," said Roman, clearly disappointed. "It does. Thank you for reminding me," Margaret said, as she bowed her head, no longer afraid. [Catholic Digest (Feb. 92), p. 64] Margaret learned something about sainthood that day. Saints trust in God and God alone for their ultimate security. Saints submit their will to the will of God. Saints stand firm and witness to their Faith. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
4) Is your definition of a saint a nice person who abides by all the rules? Francis of Assisi bears the title of Saint but according to Mark Galli, in an article in Christianity Today, Francis wasn't always a nice guy to be around. For example, he had this thing about money: his friars were not to touch it. And he did not mean the, "You can touch money but just don't let it grip your heart," stuff. One day a worshiper at the Church of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, Francis's headquarters, left a coin as an offering at the base of the sanctuary cross. This was a common offering of gratitude to God in that day, but when one of Francis' friars saw the money, disturbed by its presence at the cross, or perhaps knowing Francis's revulsion of money he tossed it over to a window sill. When Francis learned the friar had touched money, he did not take the errant brother aside, explain his point of view, and then hug him so as to be sure there were no hard feelings. Instead, Francis rebuked and upbraided the brother. He then commanded him to lift the money from the window sill with his lips, find a pile of donkey dung outside, and with his lips place the coin in the pile. Was that nice? How could a saint be so nasty? Is he an exception to the larger guild of saints? Actually, when compared to the hundreds of stories of saints that can be culled from the Bible and Church history, Francis was merely fulfilling his job description. ["Saint Nasty," Christianity Today (June 17, 1996), pp. 25-28.] Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
5) Sainthood is not for weaklings! A traveler reported a sign on the wall of a restaurant in Wyoming, "If you find your steak tough, walk out quietly. This is no place for weaklings." Sainthood is not for weaklings! [John Bardsley. Quote is from Emphasis (Nov/Dec 1993), p. 21.] Felix Adler put it like this: "The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light.” [Quoted in Daily Guideposts (1996).] Saints are people we look up to. They are people of integrity who will stand their ground regardless of the standard the world may set. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
6) Saints are people of integrity: Though his name might not be well known today, in 1972 and 1973 Stan Smith was known throughout the world for being the best of the best in the world of tennis. But many of those who knew of his athletic prowess were unaware that Stan Smith was also a Christian, a gracious, friendly man, and a person of integrity. Stan Smith was good friends with another man of great character and integrity, Arthur Ashe. One year, Arthur and Stan were competing against one another in the World Champion of Tennis competition. The winner would gain instant fame and a great deal of money. The two men were well matched in skill, and the score was tied at match point. Arthur hit a very tricky drop shot that just barely cleared the net. To the crowd's amazement, Stan caught the shot and returned it in time, winning the game. But the umpires were not convinced that Stan had hit a legitimate shot. If the ball were "up," still in play, then Stan won the match. But if the ball had bounced twice before Stan reached it, then his hit was illegitimate, and Arthur won the match. The angle and nature of the shot made it almost impossible to see it clearly. Review of the videotape didn't provide a conclusive answer. Neither the umpire, nor Arthur Ashe had a clear view of the ball. According to the rules of tennis, the umpire asked Stan if the ball had been up when he hit it. He replied that it had been. Stan won. A minor controversy arose over this matter, and Arthur Ashe was asked many times why he had not contested the call in some way. Arthur answered, "If Stan says it was up, it was up." He believed in the integrity of his friend so much that he trusted his honesty in a close situation. [Bob Briner, Lambs Among Wolves (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), p.124-126.] As far as I know Stan Smith is not a candidate for sainthood. But he did bear one of the characteristics. His words and his actions were one. Sainthood is a lifestyle. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
7) Monumental statues of West Point Military Academy: West Point Military Academy just up the Hudson River from New York City, has a beautiful campus. The style of architecture is military Gothic, the grounds are well-groomed and immaculate, and the views of the Hudson River valley can be breathtaking, especially during autumn, when the leaves are changing color. Among the most impressive aspects of the campus decoration are the monumental bronze statues of famous West Point graduates. All the great American generals are there, in one form or another: McArthur, Eisenhower, Grant... The statues are placed in conspicuous locations, and each hero is depicted in uniform, in a posture that expresses his greatness. They serve as a constant reminder to the young cadets that they are called to greatness, to self-sacrifice, to do worthwhile deeds of valor for the sake of their homeland. For us Catholic Christians, our heroes are not military or political. Rather, they are those who have done great deeds of valor for the sake of our eternal homeland: The Kingdom of Christ, the Church. They have not necessarily received exceptional natural talent from God, developing and using that talent energetically, responsibly, and courageously, as military and political heroes have. Rather, they are the ones who have let God tend the garden of their souls, as the First Reading puts it. They welcomed God's grace through the Sacraments, prayer, and obedience to God's will, as explained by the Church and a well-formed conscience. And as a result, truly supernatural virtues took root, grew, and bore fruit in their lives. And this is why images of the saints abound in Catholic churches and homes, just as those bronze statues decorate West Point. Keeping the saints in mind, studying and contemplating their example, can give direction, hope, and energy to our lives, just as the statues of great generals do for the West Point Cadets. (E- Priest) Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
8) Julius Caesar and St Ignatius Loyola: Julius Caesar, the founder of the Roman Empire, history's most expansive and longest-lasting Empire, was a selfish, dissipated, mediocre government bureaucrat until he was 40 years-old. At that time, he was stationed in Spain. One day he was walking across the city center to his offices and he noticed a statue of Alexander the Great, the young Macedonian who had single-handedly conquered and ruled the entire Near East, from Greece to Turkey to Palestine to Egypt to Arabia to Afghanistan, all the way to India, before he was 33-years-old. For some reason, seeing the noble statue of that amazing man on that particular day made Julius Caesar think about what little he had done with his own life. And it was the beginning of his incomparable military and political career, one that helped forge the civilization we still enjoy. He needed an ideal to strive for, and he found it in Alexander that Great. As human beings, we all need an ideal to strive for; otherwise our lives stay mediocre. As Christians, we follow Christ as our Ideal, and the saints are the ones who show us how to do that most effectively. St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, began his remarkably fruitful spiritual journey while he was stuck in bed recovering from a second surgery following a cannonball wound. He had nothing to do but read, and the only books in the house were a biography of Christ and the Lives of the Saints. As he read, the thought came to him: "If St. Francis and St. Dominic did it, why can't I?" And thus was born one of the most influential saints who ever walked the earth. He discovered God's plan for him by studying the lives of the saints. We can do the same. (E- Priest). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
9) “How can I blaspheme my king who saved me?" St. Polycarp lived about 200 years after the Christian church was founded. Polycarp was Bishop of the Church at Smyrna (in present-day Turkey). Persecution broke out in Smyrna, and many Christians were fed to the wild beasts in the arena. The bloodthirsty crowd would not be satisfied until they had killed the leader of the Christian Church and sent a search party to find him. Polycarp was brought before the Roman authorities and told to curse Christ and he would be released. He replied, "Eighty-six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my king who saved me?" The Roman officer replied, "Unless you change your mind, I will have you burnt alive." But Polycarp said, "You threaten a fire that burns for an hour, and after a while is quenched; for you are ignorant of the judgement to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly. Do what you wish." It was as much a day of victory as it was a day of tragedy. Polycarp illustrated the power of knowing Jesus, intimately enough to follow Him into the flames. As Jesus said, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"
10) “A saint is somebody that the light shines through.” Here is a children’s story. The pastor was explaining the pictures of his Church’s stained glass windows to the third graders. The first stained window is really red, the next window is really blue, the next window is really green, and the next window is really yellow. The sun has come up in the south and wonderful light is coming through these four windows. The pastor says, “This first window with all the reds is dedicated to St. Matthew and it has a picture of St. Matthew on it. The second window with all the blues is dedicated to St. Mark and it has a picture of St. Mark, the second of our Gospels. The third window with all the greens is dedicated to St. Luke and has a picture of St. Luke on it. The fourth window with all the yellows is dedicated to St. John and has a picture of St. John in it. All the windows are so beautiful, especially with the sunlight shining through them.” And one of the little girls says, “Do you know what a saint is?” “Yes,” replied the pastor. “A saint is somebody that the light shines through.” Yes, the light of God shines through the lives of the saints. It is not your light that is shining; it is the light of God shining through your lives. The windows sparkle and inspire your lives. . (Rabbi Edward F. Markquart). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
11) Saints inspire us to become better Christians: Their lives inspire you and lift you up to be better people. A saint doesn’t say, “I want you to be a Christian. I am going to try to subtly force you to be a Christian. I am going to drag you to Church today.” No. By the nature of their lives, these saints inspire you to be holy. Let me explain by means of a famous example from the lives of Dr. David Livingston and Henry Stanley. Dr. David Livingston was a famous missionary in Africa and he had been there in the heart of Africa and had disappeared into the jungles. Henry Stanley went on a search for Dr. Livingston after he had long disappeared. Henry Stanley, after a lengthy search, finally found Dr. Livingston and gave us a famous line from history. “Dr. Livingston, I presume?” The two men lived together for three months and sometime after that Henry Stanley wrote his memoirs and he said: “Dr. Livingston made me a Christian, and he didn’t even know he was doing it. He inspired me and didn’t even try to.” Saints inspire you to live a life of holiness. (Rabbi Edward F. Markquart). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
12) "But that's the man you could be." A story is told of a traveling portrait painter who stopped in a small village hoping to get some business. The town drunk -- ragged, dirty and unshaved -- came along. He wanted his portrait done and the artist complied. He worked painstakingly for a long time, painting not what he saw but what he envisioned beneath that disheveled exterior. Finally, he presented the painting to his customer. "That's not me," he shouted. The artist gently laid his hand on the man's shoulder and replied, "But that's the man you could be." Today’s feast reminds us that we all can become saints. St. Augustine asked: “If he and she can, why can’t I?” (Al Carino). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
13) Little Way of the Little Flower: St. Therese was a young, sickly Carmelite contemplative. She was the apple of her father's eye, but when she obtained permission to enter the convent at the age of 15, he happily brought her there. As a contemplative, she did not do anything extraordinary. Like the rest, she followed the daily and ordinary routine of the monastery. But there was something special in her. She did the ordinary in an extraordinary way. How? By doing them out of a single motive -- love for God -- and whatever she did, she presented to her Beloved as little flower offerings. She called her way of doing little things out of love for God her "Little Way." She died of tuberculosis, September 30, 1897, at the age of 24. She was beatified April 29, 1923 and canonized a saint May 17, 1925, just 28 years after her death, by Pope Pius XI. In 1927 he named her co-patron of the missions with St. Francis Xavier. In 1998, Pope St. John Paul II added one more title, Doctor of the Church, and two years later made her patroness of the 2000 Jubilee Year celebrations, because of her writings on her "Little Way," that is, the doing of the ordinary in an extraordinary way. (Wikipedia). To be this kind of a saint, we do not have to do anything extraordinary. Rather, we just do ordinary things. But what is asked of us is to do these ordinary things in an extraordinary way -- for love of God. (Al Carino). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
14) Halloween is the ultimate holiday of "pretending." On Halloween we dress up and "pretend" to be someone or something other than ourselves. On Halloween we "pretend" to believe that the people jumping out at us and scaring us in the "haunted houses" we paid $25 to get into are monsters and zombies. On Halloween we happily "pretend" that the scariest stuff in life are those things that "go bump in the night." On Halloween we revel in "pretend" bumps instead of bumping into the terrifying realities of evil and cruelty that appear on any street, in any office, at any school, in broad daylight, on any given day - and that's just a rundown of the terrors of the last two weeks. The day after "All Hallows Eve" is known in the liturgical calendar as "All Saints Day." "All Saints" is a celebration and commemoration of those who were never about pretense, but who devoted their lives to expressing true faithfulness and genuine piety. The Church lives, not by the majesty of its beliefs but by the manifestation of its manifold witness through the magnificence of its "Communion of Saints." (Fr. Tony Kayala). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
15) In their footsteps: St Jerome says in his writings that as a boy he and his friends used to play in the catacombs. Centuries after St Jerome, Roman boys still play in the catacombs. One day a group of boys was wandering through the maze of tunnels. Suddenly their only flashlight gave out. The boys were trapped in total darkness with no idea of the way out. They were on the verge of panic when one boy felt a smooth groove in the rock floor of the tunnel. It turned out to be a path that had been worn smooth by the feet of thousands of Christians in the days of the Roman persecutions. The boys followed in the footsteps of these saints of old and found their way out of the darkness into sunlight and safety.
(Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quote by Fr. Tony Kayala). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
16) All that is necessary to be a saint is …: Thomas Merton was one of the most influential American Catholic authors of the twentieth century. Shortly after he was converted to Catholicism in the late 1930s, Thomas Merton was walking down the streets of New York with a friend, Robert Lax. Lax was Jewish, and he asked Thomas what he wanted to be, now that he was Catholic. “I don’t know.” Merton replied, adding simply that he wanted to be a good Catholic. Lax stopped him in his tracks. “What you should say,” he told him, “is that you want to be a saint!” Merton was dumbfounded. “How do you expect me to be a saint?” Merton asked him. Lax said: “All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one. Don’t you believe that God will make you what He created you to be, if you consent to let him do it? All you have is to desire it.” Thomas Merton knew his friend was right. (John Payappilly in The Table of the Word; quoted by Fr. Tony Kayala). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
17) God’s Noblest Creation –The Saints: In the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, under the commanding mosaic of Christ in glory, are six pillars. Atop each is a statue of a Saint. There, side-by-side, are the figures of a queen (St. Elizabeth), a vagrant (St. Benedict Joseph Labre), a cook (St Zita), a doorman (St. Conrad), a Mystic (St Gemma), and a parish priest (St John Vianney). For some of them, the road to holiness was easy, for others very hard. Some saints had gifts of great natural talent; others seemed devoid of it. Some saints were fiery, others gentle. Some were gregarious, others loners. There are old saints (such as St. Anthony of the Desert, who lived to be 105) and young saints (such as Aloysius Gonzaga and Maria Goretti). There were brilliant saints (such as Thomas Aquinas) and dense saints (such as Joseph Cupertino). There were tough saints (such as Teresa of Avila) and emotional saints (such as Therese of Lisieux). There were innocent saints (such as Dominic Savio) and reformed sinners who became saints (such as Augustine). There are also saints who did not always agree with each other, such as Jerome and Augustine, who had a running battle of words for years. Nevertheless, the saints belong together. They all responded to God’s invitation to sainthood commemorated in today’s liturgy.
(Harold Buetow in God Still Speaks –Listen! Quoted by Fr. Botelho). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
18) Street sweeper can become a saint, how? Six months before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a group of students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia on October 26, 1967. Part of his “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?” speech is the tale of the street sweeper. It is inspiration that regardless of what we do we should always aspire to be the best we can at what we do. It is the secret of living saintly lives as well. “If it falls to your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music ... Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the host of Heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.” (Martin Luther King) Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
19) Saint in Heaven saving his child: “Her husband had died a few years before, and she had a young son who was born just before his father’s death. One day when her son was at a neighbor’s house, she suddenly sensed her husband was speaking to her. He seemed to be telling her that their son was drowning in a swimming pool. She ran next door to the neighbor’s and found her son drowning in the pool, exactly as she sensed her husband telling her. She pulled her son out of the pool, just in time to save his life. Why does this story move us so deeply? A story about a child’s life being saved is certainly moving, but this story contains something more. A dead father is still there for his child, at the moment when he is needed most.” [Matthew & Denis Linn and Sheila Fabricant, Healing the Greatest Hurt (Paulist Press), p. 144.] Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
20) Honoring great people: Showing honor is a natural human response to the goodness, even the greatness, of another human being. We honor the founders and other leaders of our country from throughout history. We name cities after them, write books about them, make statues of them to erect in public places. We paint pictures of them to display in schools and government buildings. We speak reverently and gratefully of them on patriotic holidays. We do similar things for great scientists, great leaders of social movements, great artists and musicians. Why? Because it’s a matter of justice to recognize their gifts and contributions to us. Justice means giving to each his due. We recognize that we owe much to these great human beings, and we want to say so in different ways. In all the ways we venerate these great men and women, we are giving them honor. And so we shouldn’t be surprised that the Catholic Church venerates the great heroes of the Faith, who over the centuries have embodied in an extraordinary manner the way of life to which we’re called as Christians. Now that these men and women have been perfected by God and are saints standing face to face with Him in heaven, we have even more reason to venerate them. (https://www.osv.com/MyFaith/ModelsoftheFaith/Article/TabId/684/ArtMID/13728/ArticleID/15445/What-Is-the-Communion-of-Saints.aspx) Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
21) Fable of water bugs turned to dragon fly: There was once a colony of water bugs living below the surface of a quiet pond. The bugs spent many months scurrying around in the silt at the bottom of the pond, and from time to time they noticed that one of their friends would grab hold of a pond lily stem and gradually move out of sight and weren’t ever seen again. Those left behind would wait and wait, but their friends never came back. They wondered where their friend had gone, and made a deal, the next one to climb up a stalk would come back and tell the others where they went and why. Then one spring day one of them found himself climbing up a lily stalk, suddenly he found himself on the surface, sitting on the leaf of the lily pad that he’d only ever seen from underneath. He was tired from the climb, so he went to sleep on the lily pad, when he woke up he was startled by the change he noticed in his body, he shook himself and realized he had four beautiful wings and a long tail. The warm sun dried him off and flapped his wings, suddenly he was in the air above the water, he looked at his reflection and realized that he had become a magnificent dragonfly. He found himself swooping and flitting around loving the new atmosphere he had found himself in.
When it was time to take a rest, he landed on a lily pad again. When he did, he looked over the edge and could see all of the water bugs running around at the bottom of the pond and he remembered his promise to go back and tell them where he’d gone and why. He flew up into the air and tried to dive down through the surface of the water, but he just bounced off. He couldn’t go back into the water. He realized that if he did go back, his friends wouldn’t recognize him anyway! He decided he would just have to wait for them to come up to him instead, knowing that they would understand when they came too. So he flew off to enjoy his new found freedom. While this might just be a fable, we can use this story in much the same way as Jesus told parables to explain difficult concepts to the people who gathered to listen to him. As a parable it tells us how hard it for us while in this life to understand what happens when we die. We would love someone to come back from the dead and tell us exactly what it’s like to die and what it’s like on the other side of death. This little story does a great job explaining that those who die have passed to a place that none of the water bugs could ever dream of; far greater than the lowly existence on the bottom of the pond; a place worth going to because there is freedom that has never been experienced before. Just as the water bug was changed from a lowly creature to a magnificent dragonfly so also the change that we will experience when we arrive in heaven will be even more amazing – something that we can’t even begin to imagine at this moment.
This little fable reminds us that our life in this world is limited. We scurry here and there at a furious pace just like the water bugs, then one day our turn will come, and we too will walk along the lily stem of death to a new life, our earthly bodies will change; we will be free of all that bothers us now. At this present time we live in a world which is focused on turning life at the bottom of the pond into paradise and trying ever so hard to blot out any notion that the paradise we are creating is temporary and limited. We can’t imagine a time when we won’t wake up in our own bed or walk in our favorite part of the garden or sit in our favorite chair with our feet up in front of the tellie or play a round of golf. We can’t imagine a world where there is no football, no shopping malls, no going off to work and no more visits to the doctor. All of these are part of life on the bottom of the pond. That’s not to say we can’t be happy as I’m sure water bugs on the bottom of the pond were but life in the pond can also be very distressing and depressing. As good as all these things are in our self-made paradise, there is something far better yet to come. As Christians, we look ahead to the day when we will enter the place where God is. The Bible says this, "Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on. God has something stored up for you in heaven, where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear" (1 Peter 1:3,4 CEV). (Rev. Vince Gearhardy). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
22) Egocentric heaven versus real heaven: Indeed, many people today have rather egocentric notions of Heaven. Heaven is a place where I will be happy, where I will see my family, where I will take leisure. I will ave my mansion; I will no longer get sick; I can play all the golf I want, etc. Heaven is a “better place.” But this better place is generally understood in very personal terms; it’s a kind of “designer Heaven.” But Heaven is what it is, not what we conceive it to be.As for the real Heaven, the heart of it is being with God, looking upon His glorious face and thereby having all our inexpressible longings satisfied. In Heaven, the saints behold the glorious face of God and rejoice. It is their joy to praise Him and to rejoice in His truth, goodness, and beauty. (Msgr. Charles Pope). Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
“Scriptural Homilies” Cycle A (No. 57) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com
Visit my website by clicking on http://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle A homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Contact me only at akadavil@gmail.com. Visit https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies under CBCI or Fr. Tony for my website version. (Special thanks to Vatican Radio website- http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html -which completed uploading my Cycle A, B and C homilies in May 2020) Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604


O. T. XXVII [A] (Oct 4) Sunday (Eight-minute homily in one page) L/20
O. T. XXVII [A] (Oct 4) Sunday (Eight-minute homily in one page) L/20
Introduction: The common theme of today’s readings is the necessity of bearing fruit in the Christian life. The readings warn us of the punishment for spiritual sterility, ingratitude, and wickedness.
Scripture lessons summarized: In today’s first reading, called, Isaiah's Song of the Vineyard, the prophet describes God's care of, and expectations for, His Chosen People. God’s Chosen People failed to bear fruit, in spite of the blessings lavished upon them by a loving and forgiving God. Further, they were poor tenants in the Lord's vineyard. Hence, God laments: "I expected My vineyard to yield good grapes. Why did it yield sour ones instead?" In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 80), the Psalmist pleads with God to look down from Heaven and to "take care of this vine," knowing that if any good is to come of the vine, it will be God's doing, not the people's. In the second reading, Paul tells Philippians about the high expectations he has for them, reminding them that they need to become fruit-producing Christians by praying and giving thanks to God and by practicing justice, purity and graciousness in their lives.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells an allegorical parable in which the landowner is God, the vineyard is Israel, as God’s special people, and the tenants are the political and religious leaders of Israel. The story emphasizes the failure of the tenants, the Chosen People of God and their leaders, to produce fruits of righteousness, justice and mercy. Giving a theological explanation of Israel’s history of gross ingratitude through the parable, Jesus reminds us Christians that, since we are the "new" Israel, enriched with additional blessings and provisions in the Church, we are expected to show our gratitude to God by bearing fruits of the kingdom, fruits of the Holy Spirit, in our lives, giving Him all the Glory.
Life messages: 1) Are we good fruit-producers in the vineyard of the Church? Jesus has given the Church everything necessary to make Christians fruit-bearing. i) The Bible to know the will of God. ii) The priesthood to lead the people in God’s ways. iii) The Sacrament of Reconciliation for the remission of sins. iv) The Holy Eucharist as our spiritual food. v) The Sacrament of Confirmation for a dynamic life of Faith. vi) The Sacrament of Matrimony for the sharing of love in families, the fundamental unit of the Church. vii) Role models in thousands of saints. We are expected make use of these gifts and produce fruits for God.
2) Are we fruit-producers in the vineyard of the family? By the mutual sharing of blessings, by sacrificing time and talents for the members of the family, by humbly and lovingly serving others in the family, by recognizing and encouraging each other and by honoring and gracefully obeying our parents we, become producers of "good fruit" for the Vine, Christ, in our families, and so give Glory to God.
OT XXVII [A] SUNDAY (Oct 4) Is 5:1-7; Phil 4:6-9; Mt 21:33-43
Homily starter anecdotes: 1) Warnings ignored: Recently the New York Times Magazine showed a series of photographs of a rock formation in Yosemite National Park near Bridal Veil Falls. A prominent sign in yellow plastic was attached to the rocks which clearly said: "Danger. Climbing or scrambling on rocks and cliffs is extremely dangerous. They are slippery when dry or wet. Many injuries and even fatalities have occurred." One picture showed a woman walking on the rocks in a tight dress and high heels. Another showed a couple walking on the rocks. The man was carrying his dog apparently because he thought it was too slippery for the dog. Another showed a man carrying a month-old baby in his arms while walking on the rocks. ("Slippery Slope in Yosemite" New York Times Magazine, September 9, 1994, p. 14.) What causes us to ignore clear warnings? Why do folks rip the plastic cover off a pack of cigarettes when all of us know the surgeon general's warning by heart? Why do people remove the safety shield from power saws? Why do people ignore their doctor's warnings about being overweight and under exercised? Why do entire civilizations ignore warnings about pollution, or the revolutionary pressures that economic and political injustice creates? Today’s Gospel tells us how the Jewish religious leadership ignored the even the final warning given by Jesus after Palm Sunday. (https://youtu.be/kAvhslwxMPU)
2)
Wild vines in the Lord’s vineyard. In his book From Scandal to Hope, Fr. Benedict Groeschel (EWTN), examines the roots of the clergy sex-abuse scandal. He details how disloyalty spread through seminaries, universities, chanceries and parishes. The most notorious case was that of Fr. Paul Shanley who helped found the North American Man-Boy Love Association in 1979. He lectured in seminaries, once with a bishop in attendance, maintaining that “homosexuality is a gift of God and should be celebrated,” and that there was no sexual activity that could cause psychic damage-- “not even incest or bestiality.” No wonder Fr. Charles Curran had little trouble getting seventy-seven theologians to sign a protest against Humanae Vitae, an encyclical which reaffirmed marital chastity! A few years later the Catholic Theological Society (CTS), published Human Sexuality: New Directions in American Catholic Thought, a study which accepted cohabitation, adultery and homosexuality. Now, however, all these chickens have come home to roost. We are paying the price – in lawsuits, public humiliation and loss of credibility. The media gave us a glimpse of the enormous destruction in the Lord’s vineyard done by those wicked tenants. They did so with great relish because the scandals discredit a teaching authority they, by and large, find annoying. But this attention by the media has had consequences the media probably did not intend. It has alerted Catholics to the widespread pillaging of the vineyard, which ultimately means the damnation of souls. Fr. Groeschel asks, “Does all this scandal shake your faith in the Church?” He answers, “I hope so, because ultimately your Faith should not be in the Church. Ultimately your Faith is in Jesus Christ. It is because of him that we accept and support the Church. We believe in and belong to the Church because Christ established it on his apostles." -- We see in today’s Gospel that the owner of the vineyard is God. He will care for his Church, not by committees or documents, but by raising up saints who will properly tend the vineyard.
3) Rejected stone becoming the cornerstone: A girl named Kristi Yamaguchi was born to a young couple whose parents had emigrated to the U.S. from Japan in the early twentieth century. Unfortunately, one of her feet was twisted. Her parents tried to heal her by means of physical therapy. To strengthen her legs further they enrolled her in an ice-skating class. Kristi had to get up at four AM on school days to do her practice in the ice rink before she went to school. This helped her to develop into a world-class figure-skater. Believe it or not, in 1992 Kristi won the gold medal for the United States in women's figure-skating at the XVI Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, 1992. Kristi thus became one of the several examples of “the stone rejected by the builders becoming a cornerstone,” in this case, of the U.S. Women’s Olympic team. Kristi is very passionate about making a positive difference in the lives of children. In 1996, Kristi established the Always Dream Foundation whose mission is to encourage, support and, embrace the hopes and dreams of children. -- In today’s Gospel, after telling the parable of the wicked tenants, Jesus prophesies that, rejected by the Jewish nation, he will become the cornerstone of the Kingdom of God.
Introduction: The common theme of today’s readings is the necessity of bearing fruit in the Christian life and the consequent punishment for spiritual sterility, ingratitude and wickedness. In today’s first reading, called Isaiah's Song of the Vineyard, the prophet describes God's care of, and expectations for, His Chosen People. God’s Chosen People have failed to bear fruit in spite of the blessings lavished upon them by a loving and forgiving God. Further, they have been poor tenants in the Lord's vineyard. Hence, God laments: "I expected my vineyard to yield good grapes. Why did it yield sour ones instead?" In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 80), the Psalmist pleads with God to look down from Heaven and to "take care of this vine," knowing that if any good is to come of the vine, it will be God's doing and not the people's. In the second reading, Paul tells Philippians about the high expectations he has for them, reminding them that they need to become fruit-producing Christians by praying and giving thanks and by practicing justice, purity and graciousness in their lives. Giving a theological explanation of Israel’s history of gross ingratitude through a parable, Jesus, in today’s Gospel, reminds us Christians that, since we are the "new" Israel, enriched with additional blessings and provisions in the Church, we are expected to show our gratitude to God by bearing fruits of the kingdom, fruits of the Holy Spirit, in our lives, and to give God the Glory for these accomplishments.
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The first reading (Isaiah 5:1-7) explained: By the late eighth century BC, God's people in the Promised Land had become divided into a Northern Kingdom, Israel, with its capital in Samaria, and a Southern Kingdom, Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem. Assyria was the dominant power in the region, and it controlled the Northern Kingdom. Isaiah assured both Kingdoms that a new King would come to the throne in Judah and would see to the reunion of the North and the South and the expulsion of the Assyrians. But in the earlier chapters of his prophecy, the prophet had criticized his own unfaithful people. In today’s first reading, called Isaiah's Song of the Vineyard, the prophet describes God's care for, and interest in, His Chosen People. "What more was there to do for My vineyard that I had not done?" Yahweh asks. Following the classic Biblical imagery, Isaiah’s prophecy describes Israel as a non-productive vineyard. Though God has done everything necessary to produce a good crop, the vineyard yields only "wild grapes."
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From the call of Abraham (about 1800 B.C.), and especially after the Exodus (1300 B.C.), the history of God’s chosen people was one continuous reminder of God's benevolence towards them. But Israel — God's Vineyard – failed Him miserably, producing wild and bitter grapes. Israel disobeyed God by perpetuating injustice and shedding the blood of the innocent. We are reminded that the same God of love and benevolence has shown even more love and benevolence to His new ‘chosen people’-- the Church. He sent His prophets to reveal Himself and His message to the Jews, but He has sent His own Divine Son to live and die in our midst – for us! By Baptism, which Jesus instituted, we are made the children of God and heirs of Heaven. But by our cold indifference to God and our excessive attachment to worldly goods, many of us become, and remain, more ungrateful than the Israelites. Thus, we, too, are the unproductive Vineyard the Heavenly Father says He will destroy, laying it waste. Let us pay attention to this strong warning and become His grateful and generous children.
The second reading (Philippians 4:6-9) explained: Since the Christians at Philippi have received the Gospel enthusiastically and have continued to support Paul after he has evangelized them, Paul tells them affectionately of the high expectations he has for them and shows them how they are to become fruit-producing Christians. Using the Greek moralist phrases, "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious," Paul instructs them to accept and live in the true peace of God by “prayer and petition with thanksgiving,” and to “keep on doing what they have learned and received and heard and seen" in him. Paul’s words of instruction as to how the Philippians should be fruit-bearing vines are equally applicable to us. We, too, must grow in our relationship to God through prayers of adoration and thanksgiving. These should be followed by prayers of contrition for our failings, and of petition in which we ask for spiritual and temporal favors. Paul assures us, too, that such prayers will bring peace of mind in this life and eternal peace and happiness in the life to come.
Gospel Exegesis: The context and the objective: The parable of the wicked tenants is an allegory told by Jesus during Passover week in the Temple precincts of Jerusalem. A parable normally presents one lesson and the details are not relevant. In an allegory, on the other hand, each detail has a symbolic meaning. This story is one of the three “parables of judgment” which Jesus told in response to the question put forward by the Scribes and the Pharisees about his authority to teach in the Temple. It was intended to be a strong warning to the Jews in general -- and to the Scribes and the Pharisees in particular, as they were planning to kill Jesus, the Messiah for whom Israel had waited for centuries. Thus, this parable of the wicked tenants is a theological summary of the entire history of the ingratitude, infidelity, and hard-heartedness of the Chosen People. Its importance is shown by its appearance in all the three Synoptic Gospels.
The background of the parable: The parable reflects the frictions in tenant- landlord relations in Palestine. Most of the vineyards were owned by rich, absentee landlords living in Jerusalem, Damascus, or Rome, who leased their lands to tenants and were interested only in collecting rent. The country was seething with economic unrest. The working people were discontented and rebellious, and the tenant farmers had picked up the revolutionary slogan, “land for the farmer.” Hence, they often refused to pay the rent previously agreed upon and, in some cases, assaulted the landowner’s representatives. It is natural, then, that Jesus’ parable should reflect the popular hatred of foreign domination and the monopolizing of agricultural land by a rich minority who supported Roman rule.
The Old Testament roots of the parable. The New Jerusalem Bible says of the vineyard image: “The theme of Israel as a vine, chosen and then rejected, had been introduced by Hosea, 10:1, and was to be taken up by Jeremiah, 2:21; 5:10; 6:9; 12:10, and Ezekiel, 15:1-8; 17:3-10; 19:10-14; cf. Ps 80:8-18; and Isiah, Is 27:2-5. Jesus gave it a new twist in the parable of the wicked husbandmen in Mt 21:33-44 and parallel Gospel passages. In John 15:1-2 Jesus unfolds the mystery of the 'true' vine. Other aspects of the vine theme appear in Dt 32:32-33 and [Sirach] 24:17.” This powerful prophetic allegory was so well-known that Jesus' Jewish audience immediately understood that he was talking about them in the parable. But Jesus makes changes in Isaiah's imagery. He makes himself the vineyard owner’s son and adds the concept of "tenant-farmers." Here, instead of Yahweh destroying the wild vines, Jesus' owner, according to the judgment of the audience whom Jesus asked for a judgment, "will bring that wicked crowd to a bad end and leases the vineyard to others who see to it that he has grapes at vintage time." In this parable, the ungrateful and murderous tenants are the uncooperative vines of Isaiah. Jesus then turns the crowd's stern verdict, calling for rejection and destruction, against themselves through a telling quotation of Psalm 118, “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
The meaning of the parable: As an allegory, this parable has different meanings:
1) Like the Jews, the second- and third-generation Christians also understood God as the landlord. The servants sent by the landowner represented the prophets of the Old Testament. They were to see to it that God’s Chosen People produced fruits of justice, love, and righteousness. But the people refused to listen to the prophets and produced the bitter grapes of injustice, immorality, and idolatry. They persecuted and killed the prophets. (See 1 Kgs 19:10, 14; 2 Chr 24:18-22; 36:15-16; Acts 7:51-53; Mt 23:29-39). As a final attempt, the landowner sent his son, (Jesus), to collect the rent (fruits of righteousness), from the wicked tenants (the Jews). But they crucified him and continued to lead a lives of disloyalty and disobedience. Hence, God’s vineyard was to be taken away from His chosen people and given to a people (Gentile Christians), who were expected to produce fruits of righteousness. “The basic theological thrust of the parable of the vineyard is to place the suffering and death of Jesus in line with the mistreatment of God’s messengers throughout the centuries. (Daniel J. Harrington, SJ). The parable of the vineyard, in both Isaiah’s account and Jesus’ reformulation of it for his contemporaries, must in some way be a message given to today’s Church. Although we believe in Jesus’ promise that the armies of Hell will not prevail against us, that should not lead us to think that we ourselves cannot squander the gift of the vineyard. (John Kavanaugh, SJ).
2) The Lord’s Vineyard at present is the Church, and we Christians are the tenants from whom God expects fruits of righteousness. The parable warns us that if we refuse to reform our lives, to become productive, we, too, could be replaced as the old Israel was replaced by the "new" Israel. We cease being either God's Vineyard or the tenants of God's Vineyard when we stop relating to others as loving servants to their Master. In the parable, the rent the tenants refuse to pay stands for the relationship with God and with all the people of Israel which the religious leaders refuse to cultivate. This means that before anything else, God checks on how well we are fulfilling our responsibilities to each other as children of God. The parable teaches that instead of glorying in our privileges and Christian heritage, we are called to deeds of love, including bearing personal and corporate witness that invites others into God's kingdom.
The parable also challenges us to ask the question: How do we treat the prophets of our time? Over the centuries, how many prophets in our Christian communities have been rejected, abused and even killed? How did we treat Joan of Arc, Thomas More, Oliver Plunkett and, in our own times, Bishop Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King, the countless victims of violence in Africa, (Rwanda, among other places), Central and South America -- not to mention Northern Ireland? The sad fact is that they were killed not by pagans but by fellow-Christians, tenants in the Lord's vineyard.
The second image: An application of Psalm 118:22-23 introduces a second image at the end of the parable: The Church, the interim expression of the final-age Kingdom, as a building made of stone whose cornerstone is Jesus. This image has its Old Testament roots in Is 8:14-15 and Dn 2:34, 44-45. That Jesus is "head of the corner" affirms his essential role in the salvation of God's people. He is the cornerstone, placed at the corner of the foundation where two rows of stones come together, and also the keystone or capstone completing the arch and supporting the entire structure. Verse 44 is reminiscent of the comment, "You can't break God's laws; you can only break yourself on them," which is rather like saying, "You can't break the law of gravity; you can only break yourself by ignoring it." People in every age have the option of accepting or rejecting Jesus. If we accept Jesus and his Church as the cornerstone of our lives, He becomes a sure foundation. If we reject him, we are the losers. Hence, let us build our lives on Jesus Christ, the cornerstone.
Today’s Gospel story (Mt 21:33-43) is both sad tale and a forewarning (Bishop Clarke). First comes the sadly distressing part. Even though so many of us (who call ourselves ‘Christian’) have “found the treasure” –- the Messiah -- many more who were the originally ‘chosen’ people have rejected him because he did not meet their political expectations. These latter folks recognize that Jesus was a Jew, but despite the evidence they deny his Resurrection from the dead; deny that he is the Messiah; and deny that he is the Son of God, the only faithful and true Israelite who could represent his people and save them. The second part or “forewarning” is implicit in the story. Since so many Israelites did not bear fruit (i.e., respond appropriately to their Call to be the light to the Gentiles), the “vineyard” was turned over to others, to Gentiles who would indeed “bear fruit” and harvest the kingdom of God. However, the responsibility to bear fruit, to bring others to the Truth by acting as the light of Christ to the world, will always remain a significant challenge for Christians. If we become lax and our light goes out, then we will be in no better position that the first group who did not believe. In fact, we will be in a worse dilemma, because we believed but stopped acting on that belief. The Call of the Israelites was to be a light to All the Nations. It was not a gift to be hoarded by them, producing a sense of superiority over others. Instead, it was a call to be a Servant for others. Now that same Call falls upon you and me, to be a beacon for Christ. Are you helping to build up the Body of Christ by your thoughts, words, deeds and prayers? Can you see how inactivity on your part might lead to your own personal loss of the vineyard, and consequently the same awesome judgment from the owner?
Life messages: 1) Are we good fruit-producers in the vineyard of the Church? Jesus has given the Church everything necessary to make Christians fruit-bearing: i) The Bible to know the will of God. ii) The priesthood to lead the people in God’s ways. iii) The Sacrament of Reconciliation for the remission of sins. iv) The Holy Eucharist as our spiritual Food and Drink. v) The Sacrament of Confirmation for a dynamic life of Faith. vi) The Sacrament of Matrimony for the sharing of love in families, the fundamental unit of the Church. vii) Role models in thousands of saints We are expected make use of these gifts and produce fruits for God.
2) Are we fruit-producers in the vineyard of the family? By the mutual sharing of blessings, by sacrificing time and talents for the members of the family, by humbly and lovingly serving others in the family, by recognizing and encouraging each other and by honoring and gracefully obeying our parents, we become producers of "good fruit" or good vines in our families and give God the Glory for these accomplishments.
3) Are we ready to face these hard questions? Have we come close to fulfilling God’s dream about us? What kind of grapes do we as a parish community produce? Are they sweet or sour? What is our attitude toward everything God has given to us? Are we grateful stewards for everything God has given to us, or are we like the ungrateful tenants who acted as if they owned everything God had given them? Do we practice justice every day of our lives? Do we recognize the righteousness of God that keeps us from self-righteousness? Do we remember to show mercy? Is our parish a real sign of Jesus' presence and love? What kind of impact do we have? Do we measure the quality of our parish by what happens during Mass, or on what happens when we leave Church? Obviously, both are important but there cannot be one without the other.
JOKE OF THE WEEK:
1) The tenant and the landlord. A lady answered the door to find a man standing there. He had a sad expression on his face. “I’m sorry to disturb you” he said, “I’m collecting money for an unfortunate family in the neighborhood. The husband is out of work, the kids are hungry, and their utilities will soon be cut off. Worse yet, they’re going to be kicked out of their apartment if they don’t pay the rent by this afternoon.” “I’ll be happy to help,” said the woman. Then she asked, “But who are you?” He replied, “I’m the landlord!”
2) Professional advice: TV personality Hugh Downs tells a story about the problem lawyers and doctors often encounter with people who seek to obtain free professional advice at parties and other social events. It seems that a certain doctor and lawyer were having a conversation during a cocktail party. While they were talking, a woman approached the doctor and complained about a sore leg. The doctor listened, then told her about applying cold compresses and keeping the leg elevated and taking aspirin, etc. After she had gone, the doctor turned to the lawyer and said, "I think I ought to send her a bill, don’t you?" The lawyer said, "Yes, I do think you ought to send her a bill." So, the next day, the doctor sent the woman a bill… and the lawyer sent the doctor a bill."
3) "She knows now." A mother ran into the bedroom when she heard her seven-year-old son scream. She found his two-year-old sister pulling his hair. She gently released the little girl’s grip and said comfortingly to the boy, "There, there. She didn’t mean it. She doesn’t know that hurts." He nodded his acknowledgement, and she left the room. As she started down the hall the little girl screamed. Rushing back in, she asked, "What happened?" The little boy replied, "She knows now."
Websites of the week
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Catholic News Movie Review: http://www.catholicnews.com/movies.htm
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Jimmy Akin of Catholic Answers: http://jimmyakin.com/category/video
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No religion, no democracy_ Harvard Law Professor http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=YjntXYDPw44
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Video Sunday-Scripture study by Fr. Geoffrey Plant: https://www.youtube.com/user/GeoffreyPlant2066

24 Additional anecdotes: 1) The rejected cornerstone: There was a legend, well-known in New Testament times, that in the building of God’s Temple by Solomon, most of the stones were of the same size and shape. One stone arrived, however, that was different from the others. The builders took one look at it and said, "This will not do," and sent it rolling down into the valley of Kedron below. The years passed and the great Temple was nearing completion, and the builders sent a message to the stonecutters to send the chief cornerstone that the structure might be complete. The cutters replied that they had sent the stone years before. Then someone remembered the stone that was so different from all the rest that it somehow did not seem to belong. They realized that they had thrown away the cornerstone. They hurried into the valley to retrieve it. Finally, from under vines and debris, they recovered it and with great effort rolled it up the hill and put it in place so that the great Temple would be complete. The stone that had been rejected had become the chief cornerstone. Jesus, who had been rejected now reigns at the right hand of the Father.
2) Black ingratitude and cold indifference: Andrew Carnegie, a multimillionaire, left one million dollars to one of his relatives, who in return cursed Carnegie bitterly because he had left $365 million to public charities and had cut the relatives off with one million each. Samuel Leibowitz, criminal lawyer and judge, saved 78 men from the electric chair. Not one of them ever bothered to thank him. Many years ago, as the story is told, a devout king was disturbed by the ingratitude of his royal court. He prepared a large banquet for them. When the king and his royal guests were seated, a beggar shuffled into the hall, sat down at the king's table, and gorged himself with food. Without saying a word, the beggar then left the room. The guests were furious and asked permission to seize the tramp and tear him limb from limb for his ingratitude. The king replied, "That beggar has done only once to an earthly king what each of you does three times each day to God. You sit there at the table and eat until you are satisfied. Then you walk away without recognizing God or expressing one word of thanks to Him." The parable in today’s Gospel is about the gross ingratitude of God’s chosen people who persecuted and killed all the prophets sent to them by God to correct them and finally crucified their long-awaited Messiah.
3) The stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone: South Africa is a country blessed by God in a great many ways. But the country which should have been a haven for all the peoples of Southern Africa became instead a heaven for a privileged white minority. Many people tried in vain to change South Africa’s apartheid system. Finally, Nelson Mandela appeared on the scene. He too tried to bring about reforms. But like reformers before him, he was rejected. Worse, he was hounded by the government, and ended up spending twenty-seven years in prison. However, he not only survived prison, but came out of it with the respect of his enemies and of the entire world. Furthermore, he came out without bitterness. He immediately sought reconciliation with the leaders of the regime that kept him, in prison. But even greater things were to follow. The man once rejected was to become the President of a new multi-racial South Africa. The stone which the builders rejected became the cornerstone of a new and better building. (Flor McCarthy in New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
4) "Send me one line back." The former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, had proposed marriage to Muriel Wilson, the daughter of a wealthy shipping tycoon. Soon after Wilson rejected him, Churchill sent a handwritten letter asking to see her again. "Don't slam the door," Churchill, then 30, begged Wilson, a year younger. "I can wait; perhaps I shall improve with waiting," he wrote. "Why shouldn't you care about me someday?" Pleading in a postscript, Churchill added, "Send me one line back." Later he wrote her again. "Of course, you do not love me a scrap," he wrote. At the same time, he insisted on the existence of "a key if I could only find it, if you would only let me look for it which would unlock both our hearts." (Cox News Service)) The man who would one day provide a strong voice for the aspirations of the British people was once rejected just as many of us may have been rejected. Few things hurt as much as rejection. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us a story of his painful rejection by the Chosen People.
5) Rejection – what a terrible, terrible word! Elizabeth Barrett married the poet Robert Browning against her parents' wishes. In fact, they objected so strenuously to her marriage that they disowned her. As everyone knows, her marriage was a beautiful, happy relationship for both Elizabeth and Robert. In spite of the hurt of being rejected by her family, however, Elizabeth Barrett Browning continued to write regularly to them. In each letter, she told her father and mother how much she continued to love them. She received no response. Then, after total silence for ten years from her parents, a large package arrived. Elizabeth Barrett Browning eagerly opened it. The box contained all of the letters that she had written them since her marriage to Robert. Not one had been opened. (Dr. William P. Barker, Tarbell's Teacher's Guide (Elgin, Illinois: David C. Cook, 1994).) Parents can be vindictive at times as can children. And the pain that can result is devastating. Rejected – is there a more painful word? In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us a story of his painful rejection by the Chosen People.
6) "It's the only thing!" When Vince Lombardi was hired as head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1958, the team was in dismal shape. A single win in season play the year before had socked the club solidly into the basement of the NFL, and sportscasters everywhere used it as the butt of loser jokes. But Lombardi picked and pulled and prodded and trained and discipled the players into become a winning team. They were NFL champions in three consecutive seasons and took the game honors for the first two Super Bowls. Lombardi was a drill sergeant and a strategist, finding and developing the best in each of his players individually and then crafting a team community that could visualize the prize. "Winning isn't everything," he was often quoted as saying, "It's the only thing!" His Packers proved him true, time and again. Where's the Team? This is the problem Jesus pointedly identifies in today’s parable. God is the greatest coach, but the team is unwilling to follow Him.
7) "Do you mean suicide?" There was a story in the newspapers sometime back about an 11-year-old boy in Los Angeles who hanged himself with a bathrobe belt because his girlfriend broke up with him in an E-Mail message. The boy left no suicide note but told the 12-year-old girl in an E-Mail that she "wasn't going to hear from him anymore." She sent back a message asking, "Do you mean suicide?" but he did not respond. The boy's father found his son hanging from a shower frame. The children had met at a summer camp about a month before. (The Associated Press). Eleven years old. You and I would dismiss it as puppy love, but still there is pain. Actually, rejection is particularly hard on us when we are young. This is when we are still forming opinions about our own self-worth. Are we acceptable, lovable, worthy of our place in the sun? In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us a parable of rejection by the Chosen people of God.
8) "Yes, Honey. That's the way life goes sometimes." There was a heart-breaking story in the Girl Scouts magazine, American Girl, several years ago. Listen to these words from a young woman: "When I was ten, my parents got a divorce. Naturally, my father told me about it, because he was my favorite. 'Honey, I know it's been kind of bad for you these past few days, and I don't want to make it worse. But there's something I have to tell you. Honey, your mother and I got a divorce . . . I know you don't want this, but it has to be done. Your mother and I just don't get along like we used to. I'm already packed, and my plane is leaving in half an hour.’ ‘But, Daddy, why do you have to leave?' 'Well, honey, your mother and I can't live together anymore.' 'I know that, but I mean why do you have to leave town?' 'Oh. Well, I've got someone waiting for me in New Jersey.' 'But, Daddy, will I ever see you again?' 'Sure, you will, honey. We'll work something out.' 'But what? I mean, you'll be living in New Jersey, and I'll be living here in Washington.' 'Maybe your mother will agree to you spending two weeks in the summer and two weeks in the winter with me.' ‘Why not more often?' 'I don't think she'll agree to two weeks in the summer and two in the winter, much less more.' 'Well, it can't hurt to try.' 'I know, honey, but we'll have to work it out later. My plane leaves in twenty minutes and I've got to get to the airport. Now I'm going to get my luggage, and I want you to go to your room, so you don't have to watch me. And no long goodbyes either.' 'Okay, Daddy. Goodbye. Don't forget to write.' 'I won't. Goodbye. Now go to your room.' 'Okay. ‘Daddy, I don't want you to go!' 'I know, honey. But I have to.' 'Why?' 'You wouldn't understand, honey.' 'Yes, I would.' 'No, you wouldn't.' 'Oh well, Goodbye.' 'Goodbye. Now go to your room. Hurry up.' 'Okay. Well I guess that's the way life goes sometimes.' ‘Yes, honey. That's the way life goes sometimes.'" Would it surprise you to know that after that young woman's father walked out the door, she never heard from him again? [James C. Dobson, Straight Talk to Men and Their Wives (Waco: Word Books, 1980), pp. 44-45. Cited in Patrick M. Morley, The Rest of Your Life (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc, 1992).] It is a terrible thing to feel rejected. Jesus tells such a painful story how their long-awaited Messiah was rejected by God’s Chosen people.
9) “…that God loved me totally, unconditionally, and that he had a purpose for my life." One of the most respected and best-liked persons in Hollywood is Kathie Lee Gifford. There was an article about her in USA Today in 1999. Like everyone, Kathie Lee has had her share of heartaches--particularly in her marriage, as the tabloids have pointed out to us repeatedly over the last few years. Kathie Lee was recognized recently as Mother of the Year at a charity luncheon. The Gifford's children, Cody, 9, and Cassidy, 5, got a day off from private school to support Mom. They took to the podium, introduced by ABC's Claudia Cohen. "I get an award for this?" asked Kathie Lee, standing with the kids after her introduction by New York first lady, Libby Pataki. "I am so blessed!" Then Kathie Lee thanked her parents, who were present. And here is what Kathie Lee Gifford said about her parents. It explains why Kathie Lee's life has been such a success: They "taught me," she said, "that God loved me totally, unconditionally, and that He had a purpose for my life." (USA Today, March 2, 1999). No wonder Kathie Lee was successful, not only in her career, but as a mother. She knew she was loved. They "taught me," she said, "that God loved me totally, unconditionally, and that he had a purpose for my life." One who knows the unconditional love of God in one’s heart will allow the world to make them feel one rejected for long. When we have the love of God in our hearts, we carry a sense of security that the world cannot take away. Today’s Gospel tells us how God continues to love us in spite of our history of rejecting him.
10) “You’re sitting in my chair.” A story was making the rounds during the American presidential campaign a few years ago. An asteroid hits the speaker’s platform at a Seattle conference center, and Al Gore, George W. Bush and Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and one of the richest men on earth, all arrive in Heaven at the same time. They are greeted by the Almighty, Who is sitting on His golden throne. First, the Lord speaks to Gore, asking what he believes in. “I believe in the Internet and a clean environment,” Gore replies. “Very good,” the Almighty says. “Come sit near me. “Then he asks George W. Bush the same question. “I believe in cutting taxes and taking good care of the military,” Bush replies. “Excellent,” says the Almighty. “Come sit near me. “Then God asks Bill Gates what he believes. “I believe,” Gates replies, “you’re sitting in my chair." There are times when all of us try to put ourselves in God’s seat. There are times when all of us act as if the world is our fiefdom and we are supreme over all we survey. We forget that everything we have is on loan to us from God. We are temporary tenants. We don’t own anything, even though we sometimes act as if we own it all. Everything ultimately belongs to God.
11) Jesus Calls Us to Good Stewardship. William White once told of visiting his 98-year-old mother-in-law in a nursing home. He remembers her quietly saying, “Think of the lilies and how they grow.” Long ago this frail, blind woman made the discovery that all of life is a blessing from God. She spent much of her time repeating Scripture verses that she had learned throughout her life. The Scriptures gave her both strength and comfort during many lonely hours. She was an active woman right up until she entered the nursing home, walking a mile a day, though her eyesight was gradually worsening. She loved people and was always helping them. Even in the nursing home she used a walker to spread her joyful faith. “Facing each day is not easy for her,” White reflected, “but she keeps her spirits up.” How? She felt that even at ninety-eight she had a mission. There in the nursing home she was able to touch the lives of other residents as well as some employees. In fact, some former employees who changed jobs still returned to the nursing home to spend time with this remarkable woman. William White was inspired when his mother-in-law told him how thankful she was to have memorized so many Scriptures before she lost her eyesight. Those Scriptures filled her heart with the Lord. (3) This dear 98-year-old lady did not have much left in this world, but she had the only thing we ever really own, her Faith in God. Everything else that we have is on loan. Someday it will be passed on to someone else. Don’t you see? No matter how rich we are, if we are not rich toward God, we don’t have anything! The vineyard belongs to Him. Happiness is found in recognizing our place as His tenants His stewards. But there is one thing more to be said. Jesus Calls Us to Good Stewardship.
12) "I dare you to do it again." Once at a Church meeting a wealthy member of the church rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian Faith. "I'm a millionaire," he said, "and I attribute my wealth to the blessings of God in my life." He went on to recall the turning point in his relationship with God. As a young man, he had just earned his first dollar, and he went to a Church meeting that night. The speaker at that meeting was a missionary who told about his work in the mission field. Before the offering plate was passed around, the preacher told everyone that everything that was collected that night would be given to this missionary to help fund his work on behalf of the Church. The wealthy man wanted to give to support mission work, but he knew he couldn't make change from the offering plate. He knew he either had to give all he had or nothing at all. At that moment, he decided to give all that he had to God. Looking back, he said he knew that God had blessed that decision and had made him wealthy. When he finished, there was silence in the room. As he returned to the pew and sat down, an elderly lady seated behind him leaned forward and said, "I dare you to do it again!" -- When we start out, it's easy to remember that the gifts and opportunities that come our way are from God. But something happens along the way. We forget the Owner. We come to think of the vineyard and everything it produces as something we own.
13) “I knew I wasn’t a Christian.” Sociologist/Baptist preacher Tony Campolo says he was once like that. He uses the word Bible-thumper to describe himself as a youth -- legalistic, self-righteous, always trying to convert others to his personal brand of religion -- until one day he was shocked to discover that he didn’t know God at all. Super-religious, but he didn’t know God! Can that happen? It happens all the time. In fact, if you meet somebody who is both super-religious and smugly self-righteous, he/she is probably using religion to hide from God. Here’s how Tony Campolo discovered it was true of him. Tony was in high school. There was a kid named Roger in his school. Roger was gay, and everybody made fun of him. They ridiculed him. They made his life hell. You know how cruel kids in school can be. They mocked Roger. When he would go into the shower after gym, they would wait until he came out and then they would whip their towels at him and sting him. One day, when Tony was absent, a group of five guys pushed Roger into the corner of the shower and urinated all over him. That night Roger went to the attic in the middle of the night and hanged himself. And Tony Campolo, still suffering over this incident, writes, “I knew I wasn’t a Christian because if I had been a Christian, I would have stood up for my friend Roger. Even if they ridiculed me for doing it, I would have been his friend. I knew [then] that I didn’t know Jesus.” (http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/campolo_4104.htm.)
14) Unconditional Love: In 1978 a man travelled to Cincinnati to attend the funeral of Max Ellerbusch. Max had been like a father to this man for twenty years. Nothing unusual, except that as a 15-year-old this man had taken his mother’s car and struck and killed Max’s 5-year-old son. This was a week before Christmas in 1958. Soon after the accident, a surprised court heard Max ask that charges be dropped. Instead he wanted to give the death-car driver a job and help toward his education. Max did all that and more, virtually adopting the 15-year-old boy into his family. Max shared his home, time and understanding with the troubled youth. We might wonder, “How could Max do that? I could never befriend a wild teenager who had just killed my 5-year-old son. Max must have been a little crazy to go out of his way that much to become like a father for that boy.” But if Max Ellerbusch was a little crazy, so is God. The parable in today’s Gospel describes God as a Landowner Who prepared a beautiful vineyard and gave it to His people to tend. However, His people wanted not just their share of the harvest, but the whole thing. They even abused and killed the prophets God sent to help them. Finally, in a desperate attempt to save His vineyard and His people, God sent His own Son, hoping they would respect and honour Him. Nonetheless, they abused and killed Him too in an effort to seize His inheritance. “ -- What a silly story,” we might say. “No landowner in his right mind would risk sending his own son among rebels who had already murdered his messengers. How crazy can you get? Who can believe in a God so dumb?” But that is precisely the point of the parable. Where we would cry for vengeance on the tenants, God chose an alternative – the alternative of unconditional love. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
15) What We Owe Others: An American soldier, wounded on a battlefield in the Far East, owes his life to a Japanese scientist, Kitasato, who isolated the bacillus for tetanus. A Russian soldier saved by a blood transfusion is indebted to Landsteiner, an Austrian. A German is shielded from typhoid fever with the help of a Russian, Metchinikoff. A Dutch marine in the East Indies is protected from malaria because of the experiments of an Italian, Grassi; while a British aviator in North Africa escapes death from surgical infection because of a Frenchman, Pasteur, and a German, Koch who elaborated new techniques. In peace as in war, we are beneficiaries of knowledge contributed by every nation of the world. Our children are guarded from diphtheria by what a Japanese and a German did; they are protected from small pox by the work of an Englishman; they are saved from rabies because of a Frenchman; they are cured from pellagra through the research of an Austrian. From birth to death we are surrounded by invisible hosts–the spirit of people who never thought in terms of flags or boundary lines, and who never served a lesser loyalty than the welfare of mankind. God has done and is doing so much for us through his people. Are we grateful or take it all for granted? (Raymond R. Fosdick in ‘1000 Inspiring Stories’ quoted by Fr. Botelho).
16) Film: The Killing Fields: In 1973, Dith Pran, a well-educated interpreter, helps U.S. journalist Sidney Schanberg to get into Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge is advancing on the capital and Pran’s family is evacuated while Pran stays with Schanberg. While the people rejoice and welcome the Khmer Rouge, Schanberg and other journalists are interned. They watch as the Khmer Rouge carries out executions. Pran argues for the journalist’s release. They take refuge in the French Embassy and are then expelled from the country. Schanberg tries to get Pran out as well but the Khmer Rouge send him to a re-education labour camp. Back in New York, Schanberg wins awards, but his associates criticize him for not finding a way to get his friend out of Cambodia. Schanberg commences efforts through the agency of the U.S. government and the Red Cross. Finally, Pran escapes and endures a long trek through the killings fields and is reunited with Schanberg in Thailand. – In terms of justice, this part of Matthew’s Gospel can be applied to contemporary Killing Fields such as those in Kosovo or of East Timor in the late 1990s. Prosperous lands were invaded and their owners and heirs were tortured and killed by those who wanted the inheritance for themselves. The Pol Pot regime, portrayed in the Killing Fields, took over Cambodia and destroyed all its servants and heirs in a massive genocide. Ultimately, the rightful citizens and owners of the land obtained the opportunity of self-rule and were able to build up again. -- The savage behaviour that turned Cambodia into killing fields is like today’s Gospel parable about evil tenants who refuse to give the owner his due. Those they murder, the servants and the owner’s son, are like the innocent victims of the despotic regime of the Khmer Rouge. The unjust persecutors were ousted and condemned. L