Category: Homilies

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Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

cartoon of diverse community

Mass Readings

Reading 1: 1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14
Responsorial: Psalm 16:1b-2a and 5, 7-8, 11
Gospel: Luke 6:39-42

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091021.cfm
https://www.deaconrudysnotes.org/

We were living in Switzerland when the pandemic hit Europe. I got to say, I was a little concerned. Well, I was more than a little concerned. They talked about people with comorbidities being at high risk. I’m an older, overweight Latino male. I’m the poster child for high risk! The pandemic rocked my world.

We experienced a particularly hard shutdown in Switzerland. Even our church that easily could seat 500 people was limited by the government to 50 people. So, every Monday morning around 9:00 am, the parish office would send out an email link to register for mass. By lunchtime, all 50 seats were gone. So, we couldn’t gather. We couldn’t reassure or encourage each other.

We hadn’t yet set up our online group. To this day we have two rosary groups that meet via WhatsApp to pray the rosary. One meets on Mondays and the other on Wednesdays. We socialize a little or of course and collect prayer intentions, but then we pray the rosary. But it took us a little bit to get organized.

The kids had to finish the school year online and Katrina had to work from home. So, all four of us are crammed into our apartment – all of us competing for a quiet space to conduct our work. Only our dog was happy with all four of us home all the time. But frankly, I was going nuts!

And then I remembered! I am connected with family and friends back home on social media. So, I turned to my apps for a word of hope. One of the most painful things I think I ever experienced was watching the way my family and friends went at each other on social media first about the pandemic and then the presidential election. I couldn’t believe comments, posts, and the sniping.

But what really hurt me was the way my parish community turned on each other. I wonder why it was more unsettling for me to see my parish turn on each other than it was to see other family and friends. Well, the first reading provided me with some insight.

In Paul’s letter, he calls Timothy “son.” Now, of course, Timothy was not his biological son. So why is Paul, who’s probably not much older than Timothy at the time, calling him son? It’s a bit odd, isn’t it? Well, there’s an overarching theme in Paul’s letters. He acknowledges tine and again that he was a really bad, dude. In today’s reading, he calls himself a blasphemer! Now that is a powerful language for a guy who was a zealous and devout Jew to say – to describe his life as blasphemous. Radical!

But Jesus saved him. And that experience of being saved was like being born again. And for Paul and the early Christian community, that meant something very specific. It meant being born again into a new family. For Paul, that family was the church – the Christian community. That’s why Paul can look at Timothy, and say, Son, because they were part of the same family.

Now the downside of family, of course, is that we all know how to push each other’s buttons. How many family gatherings can get out of hand if we don’t set some rules? What is that all about? Well in today’s Gospel, Jesus suggests we’re all too eager to point out the splinter in someone’s eye. It doesn’t matter if you have a plank in your eye, as long as I can make a snipping comment about the splinter in your eye!

I think Paul would say that the way he lived his life before his salvation, he walked around with a huge plank in his eye. And he was literally pulling the Christian family apart. You see, that’s what happens when we snipe at each other or make passive-aggressive comments at each other about politics or the pandemic or whatever you think the Pope is doing wrong, we tear our family apart. What’s worse is that people around you – innocent bystanders – overhear the snipping and it creates deeper tears.

Of course, we all can’t agree on everything! So rather than tearing each other down, we should agree to disagree – agree that we all have our own planks in our eye that require attention – and then go share a meal or a coffee or beer with each other.

Homework! Nourished by the Word of God and the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on the following two questions.
First, ask yourself how you can make amends with people you might have offended over this past year and a half?
Second, rather than tearing the family apart, help the Church meet people where they are and commit to walking with them on their spiritual journey.

I think doing our homework will help us be the intentional disciples we are called to be! Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Image: Diverse Community. Artist Unknown. PNG.

Bibliography/Suggested Readings:
1. Gadenz, Pablo T. The Gospel of Luke. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2018. Kindle.
2. Montague, George T. SM. First and Second Timothy, Titus. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2008. Kindle.

Catechism References http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm:
1. Jesus as Savior God: 594
2. The two ways: 1696, 1970
3. Mercy: 1846-48
4. Ignorance: 1860
5. Fruits of grace: 2005

Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091021.cfm
Lectionary: 441

Reading I
1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our savior
and of Christ Jesus our hope,
to Timothy, my true child in faith:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord,
because he considered me trustworthy
in appointing me to the ministry.
I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man,
but I have been mercifully treated
because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.
Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant,
along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Responsorial
Psalm 16:1b-2a and 5, 7-8, 11
R. (see 5) You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.

Alleluia
See John 17:17b, 17a
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth;
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Luke 6:39-42
Jesus told his disciples a parable:
“Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”

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Jesus Heals the Blind Man

Jesus heals the blind man

Mass Readings

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
En Español

Reading 1 – Jeremiah 31:7-9
Psalm – Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
Reading 2 – Hebrews 5:1-6
Gospel – Mark 10:46-52

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Our readings from this past weekend have many interesting themes: blindness, calling and light. These readings are trying to cut through the sadness and human suffering of our day, from Central America to Pittsburg and beyond. It’s easy to nod our heads and say, “Right on, Deacon!” But the question is, what are you going to do about it?

Our readings open with Jeremiah who speaks of gathering in those scattered by the Exile: I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst, the mothers and those with child; they shall return as an immense throng. This theme of gathering in the scattered sheep reflects the two great hinges of the Old Testament, of Hebrew Scriptures: the Exodus and the first and second exiles which together are the Exile. This promise and this hope is not just a desire to bring them home physically, but also a desire to bring them home spiritually. It is God’s call to bring His people back out of darkness, out of blindness and into His Light.

And so it’s no surprise then that we find in the Gospel the story about a man named Bartimaeus who lived in the darkness of his blindness. He called out to Jesus and begged for help.

What was the response of those around Jesus? They rebuked him!

But Jesus stops and says, “Call him.”

How does God call us? In the Letter to the Hebrews, we read, “No one takes his honor upon himself but only when called by God…” How does God call us?

God who knows our sins, but calls us by our name!

This is in direct contrast to Satan, the great deceiver who knows our name, but calls us by our sins!

Wow!

Think about how the deceiver calls you. “You’re not good enough!” he whispers in our ears. “You’re too fat!” “You’re on drugs!” “You’re a drunk!” “You’re worthless!” I wonder what the people who rebuked Bartimaeus said to him as he called out to Jesus. Was it so different?

“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”

I think those people around Jesus who rebuked Bartimaeus suffered a spiritual blindness that was just as profound at blocking out the world as Bartimaeus’ physical blindness! It was just as profound as the scattered sheep of Israel Jeremiah preaches about. But Jesus called him anyway. How does Bartimaeus respond? He immediately jumped to his feet, threw away his cloak and ran to Jesus. Once healed, instead of leaving Jesus, he stayed with him and followed.  Doesn’t that sound like discipleship? There’s two parts here: first Jesus called Bartimaeus out of darkness back home, and then Bartimaeus followed him. That’s critical! God calls us, but God will never force Himself on us. He gives us the freedom to choose. Bartimaeus followed Jesus. How do we live our faith? Do we follow Jesus, or do we prefer to wallow in the darkness of the world? Faith is our response to God’s call.

Consider this, how do we call other people? What are the first thoughts of other people? “Oh, that’s the cheater; the drunk; the druggie; the crook; the immigrant-lover; the gun-lover; the bleeding-heart, the Jew, the terrorist.” Is that how we answer God’s call?

Now this is important: sin is not just personal.

Sin can also exist in our institutions, that is, in our government and in our businesses. We call that institutional sin. But institutional sin is not a phenomena independent of us as individuals. NO! We allow institutional sin. We encourage it. We expect it. I’m not talking politics here. This is bigger than either party and frankly both parties are a huge part of the problem. What do I mean?

It is the institutional sin of public policy and business that exploits third world countries because we demand cheap clothes, or poorly-made trinkets and junk we might use only once. It is a sin reflected from our hypocritical demand for a just wage, but that turns a blind eye to child laborers in southeast Asia. It is a sin reflected from our desire for cheap and perfect looking fruits and vegetables like Honduran bananas at 48 cents per pound, but turns a blind eye to the average Honduran worker who can’t feed his family because he only earns about $1 per day. It is a sin reflected from our shock and sadness over human tragedies like the Central American migrant caravan or the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, but turns a blind eye to leaders who applaud violence or admire repressive governments. It is institutional sin to suggest only government has the right solutions, assuming people are too ignorant to do the “right thing”.

Perhaps these contradictions are good enough for them, but we are Christians! Difficult as it is, we have to judge public and business policies not with the blind eyes of the world shrouded in darkness, but with Christian eyes bathed in light.

Bartimaeus lived in darkness. He answered when Jesus called him. He was healed and then he walked with Jesus. Like Bartimaeus, we must allow the healing power of Jesus to wash over us so that we can be healed from the darkness of this world!

The Christian, you and me, we have been called by Jesus through our baptism. We are healed. We received the light of Christ and we follow Him. In the Psalms we read, “The Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad indeed.” How do we show it? There are no armchair quarterbacks or pew warmers in church!

As healed disciples, we must share Christ’s love with others and that starts with the people we encounter everyday – the guy who cut us in traffic or pushed us as we tried to board the train/tram/bus; the waiter who can never seem to get our order right; the cashier who messed up our change; and most especially to our families and our friends. By sharing Christ’s love, we allow Jesus to kindle the light we received as disciples so that we can bring His light into a dark world that desperately needs hope. We need to share our light.

Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine. Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Homework! Contemplating on Jesus who we encountered this weekend at church in the healing power of reconciliation, in the Word we heard proclaimed, in the Eucharist we received, there are three things I ask:

  1. Be humble. Jesus wants to heal you and to heal me. Our response shouldn’t be, “I’m not worthy.” Our response should be, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
  2. Don’t let them stop you. The world will tell us to be quiet – to not reach out to Jesus. The world will say that Jesus can’t fix our problems whether its immigration or gun violence or whatever. Don’t be distracted by political rhetoric of the left or the right. Our response should be, “Son of David, have pity on me!”
  3. Let go of the past. We can be blinded by past hurts and politics. Just as Bartimaeus immediately jumped to his feet, threw away his cloak and ran to Jesus, look away from the darkness and toward Jesus the Light.

If you haven’t been to church in a while, or if you go to church every weekend, but simply go through the motions, I encourage you to listen to the invitation from the Gospel: Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.

I think that by doing our homework, we will not only grow in our faith, but bring the light of Jesus to heal our corner of the world.

Got it? Get it? Are you going to do it? Good! May each of us receive the healing grace and love of Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Image: Healing the Blind Man, by Morgan Weistling.

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What distracts us from the vineyard?

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grapes

Mass Readings

Fifth Sunday of Easter
April 29, 2018
Reading 1 – Acts 9:26-31
Psalm – Psalm 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32
Reading 2 – 1 John 3:18-24
Gospel – John 15:1-8

To listen to the homily recorded during mass, click here.1

Isn’t it funny how we easily we can become so easily distracted. We can be distracted by technology, by social media, binge-watching shows on our favorite streaming channel. I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I step away from these things, I say to myself, “Whoa! I just burned a lot of time! Where did the time go?” These things can keep us distracted from the big picture, or to us today’s imagery, they can keep us focused on the branch and lose sight of the vine.

But that distraction is not just limited to our toys. We can become distracted in our faith life too. There are people who can become obsessed with the latest novena. I actually heard this the other day. Someone said to me, “Don’t break the chain or we won’t win the lottery! I’ve even heard people say, “if you don’t pray the rosary every day, then you’re not as good a Catholic as I am.” If you don’t go to adoration, then you’ll never develop this special connection I have with Jesus.

But there’s a problem with that kind of thinking. Pope Francis has talked about this often. He wrote all of us a letter this past March, called Rejoice and be glad (Gaudete et Exsultate or GE) – it’s a great letter and I encourage all of you to read it. Pope Francis reminds us that this kind of thinking can lead us to an ancient heresy called Gnosticism, (GE, 36-46). We think we have access to some secret dimension of Jesus because we follow this particular canon law, or we insist that you go to adoration or we insist that you attend the Latin mass or we insist you receive the Eucharist on your tongue.

Those aren’t bad things, but they can be a sand trap! The problem with this sort of thinking is that we can become so obsessed with the action that we lose sight of Jesus Christ.

It’s difficult to get into the head of someone from almost two thousand years ago, but I really think that Paul before his conversion was suffering from a similar type of religious distraction. Paul was so obsessed with the Law that he became a brutal persecutor Jewish Christians. He lost sight of the purpose of the law which of course was to give glory to God. It takes the radical act of Jesus knocking him off his high horse to get him to open his eyes so that he can see the entire vine. Is it any wonder that Jewish Christians were afraid of him when he comes to Jerusalem in the first reading? They weren’t there at his conversion, so they weren’t sure.

But Paul’s conversion is complete and peace prevails. St. Paul sets an example for us that if we want to live a life of connected to Jesus the vine, then we need to do what we heard in the second reading today. John tells us that to live a life of discipleship, we should love one another as he commanded us to.

What are Jesus commandments all about? Well, spend time in the Gospel according to Matthew. In Matthew 5 at the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us the beatitudes that set the stage for what thinking like a disciple is all about. But the beatitudes are not an end unto themselves. Jesus will tell us in Matthew 25 how those beatitudes should manifest. Now this is really important for all of you “type A” personalities, or double a’s or triple a’s – you know who you are out there. Those of you who try to make data-driven decisions, you want metrics, you want the bottom line, then here it is. Read Matthew 25. Jesus tells us if you don’t feed the hungry, if you don’t give drink to the thirsty, if you don’t clothe the naked, If you don’t visit the sick and the imprisoned, he will say, “go away,” (Mt 25:40).

In Matthew 7, Jesus says you can do all of these things in my name – you can even do miracles in my name, but without love, when you get here, I will say, “I don’t know you,” (Mt 7:23).

Whoa!

That should keep us up at night. It has kept me up before on those nights when I do an examination of conscience and reflect on one of these passages from Matthew. They challenge me. I have to ask myself am I living the Gospel of Jesus or am I living the gospel of Rudy? And there’s a huge difference – huge difference, right?

James picks up this idea and will tell us faith without works is meaningless. And without works, our faith is meaningless, (James 2:14-18). So how do we find expression for our faith? We have to love like Jesus loved.

How? We have to love like Jesus loved.

How did Jesus love? Look at the crucifix.

Picture of the Crucifix at St. John Vianney, Round Rock, TX USA
The Crucifix during the Easter season at St. John Vianney, Round Rock, Texas

Reread Luke’s account of the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was hesitant. He cried so intensely that he shed tears of blood (Luke 22:44), and said, “Father, let this cup pass.” But in the end, he said, “okay,” and he willingly went to the cross to save you and to save me. Pope Francis says that’s what true love is all about.

So if we are to love like Jesus commanded us, then we should love one another just as fiercely as he loves us.

Is any of this easy? No. That’s why Jesus gives us the Church and through His Church he gives us Scripture and the sacraments. We are not alone! Being part of the community helps prune those elements of our life that are not helpful. Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel, “A branch cannot bear fruit on its own.” If we want to live a life as disciples, then we need to remain in Jesus so that we can bear the fruit of hope, and the fruit of love that this world desperately needs.

Homework! There are two things I ask you to consider:

First, what things in my life distract me from Jesus?
Second, how can I do a better job at keeping Jesus’ commands?

Don’t just think about these questions academically. List them. Make an action plan. Pray about them and try with God’s help and the help of the community to live a life of discipleship firmly connected to the vine.

Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Through the intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, may we bear much fruit through Jesus. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Notes:

  1. If for some reason the link does not work or stops working, in your browser search for St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Round Rock, Texas, and click the link. Once there, in the search bar type “homilies” which should take you to a list of all the homily recordings archived on our website.