4th Sunday of Lent @ Ss. Francis & Clare

HOMILY 4TH SUNDAY OF LENT
MARCH 25/26, 2022

Today is the 4th Sunday of Lent.

We’re past the half-way point of the six weeks of Lent. The vestments are rose-colored as a sign … giving us an opportunity to re-evaluate our Lenten practices. Are we being too hard on ourselves? Or have we missed out on the past 25 days, and maybe need to step up our game.

Today is known as “Laetare” Sunday, from the first word of the Entrance Antiphon, which begins, “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. * Be joyful, all who were in mourning; * exult,” taken from chapter 66 of the Prophet Isaiah.

Also, today, we heard the Gospel reading of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

I spoke about this on Ash Wednesday, borrowing the acronym AHA to give us a formula for repentance: Awakening, Honestly, and Action as a means to change our spiritual situation for the better.

That lengthy reading, which is most likely almost too familiar to us, presumes some things that may escape us 2,000 years after its first telling.

In the Jewish inheritance laws, the older son gets double what his siblings get. So, in this case of the two sons, the younger Son made off with one-third of the Father’s estate. Oddly, this is not only legal – to request your inheritance before your Father’s death – but to cash in and spend it was also legal. 

Legal, but not necessarily the most loving thing to do, and speaks to a broken relationship.

Continuing in the Law, Deuteronomy 21:18-21 says: “If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not listen . . . bring him out . . . [and] all his fellow citizens shall stone him to death.” 

This is not the Pharisees and the Scribes adding extra burdens to the Mosaic Law. This is the Mosaic Law. 

What was due to the Prodigal Son on his return to his home town? Death.

Which raises a question: Why did the Father run out to meet his Son? To get there first? Before he was stoned to death? Is the Father’s embrace a paternal human shield to keep his Son alive?

After all, wealthy Middle-Eastern patriarchs don’t run as a rule. But here, the Father ran out not only to meet his wayward Son, but possibly to save his life.

The Son’s plan was to return as a servant – as a slave – on his Father’s estate. But slaves don’t wear sandals, robes, or rings.

The Father’s actions make the point that the Son is his Son … no matter what has happened.

This is the joy of the Son’s return.

This is the joy of the Father’s forgiveness.

But, the flip-side of this is seen in the actions of the older Son. 

Here the sin is not external, but internal.

The older Son is offended by the generous love shown by his Father, while he also refuses to forgive his errant Brother.

The older Son’s un-forgiveness also speaks of broken relationships.

The Father is free to do as he pleases with his possessions, but the older Son is not justified in his un-righteous anger, pride, or selfishness.

Forgiveness is the key here. Forgiveness heals relationships … brings joy … and restores what was lost. 

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ; let us pray to forgive. Five weeks ago, we exercised the Eastern practice of asking for and giving forgiveness – “Forgive me, a sinner.” and “God forgives, and so do I.” 

As we move through the central point of the Lenten Season, may we engage and exercise the graces of forgiveness in our own lives and our personal situations. 

Let us experience the joy, healing, and restoration of forgiveness as we move closer to Holy Week, the Paschal Triduum, and Easter.

6th Sunday of OT @ Ss. Francis and Clare

HOMILY 6TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

FEBRUARY 12/13, 2022

The 1987 movie, The Princess Bride, was produced and directed by Rob Reiner (Meathead from All in the Family), and had among its cast Andre the Giant, Peter Falk (Columbo), Fred Savage (The Wonder Years), and Billy Crystal (Saturday Night Live.)

The movie is the acting out of a book that a grandfather reads to his sick grandson – who is not at first impressed. It’s a love story, after all. And it’s dull – all that mushy stuff – until the sword fights, soldiers, and pirates.

Eventually, at what seems the end, the future princess Buttercup is about to be wed to the evil prince Humperdink. And a character known only as “The Impressive Clergyman” in the credits begins the ceremony.

MAWAGE is wot bwings us togeder tooday,

MAWAGE, that bwessed awangment,

that dweam wifin a dweam...

And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva...

So tweasure your wuv.

Thankfully, the wedding is interrupted before the vows are completed by the Dread Pirate Roberts, Buttercup is kidnapped by the pirate, who turns out to be her childhood love, Westley. After a sword fight and a seeming loss, Westley chases off the prince, and our lovers ride off on horseback … assumedly to a life lived happily ever after.

It’s available on Hulu and Disney+ if you have a subscription, or for $5 on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Vudu. YouTube wants $14,99 … but I don’t recommend spending that much money for a 34 year old movie.

Today is the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

It is also World Marriage Day.

And our first two readings sort of make that really difficult. But maybe not.

Yes, Jeremiah speaks of curses, but he goes on to speak of blessings. 

Paul speaks of futility and death, but brings us back to eternal life in the midst of faith and hope.

And the Gospel. 

The reading of the Beatitudes may seem to be so familiar that we don’t really listen. Out of the four Gospels, they are only found in Matthew and Luke.

This reading from Luke only occurs twice in the entire Lectionary. Today, once every three years, and on a Wednesday some time in September.

Matthew’s version, on the other hand, would have been two weekends ago last year, and on a Monday in June. 

It is also read on All Saints Day and All Souls Day; at Funerals, Ordinations, and Confirmations. And last, but not least, it is one of the many options for celebrations of Matrimony.

The word translated here as “blessed” has also been rendered as “happy.” Depending who’s approving what translation, it goes back and forth every 20 or 30 years. Blessedness – or

Beatitude is a possession of all things held to be good,
from which nothing is absent that a good desire may want.

At least according to the 4th century Saint, Gregory of Nyssa. And he goes on to say that Beatitude – being blessed – can only be fully understood in comparison to it’s opposite: misery, affliction, and suffering. 

And so, our readings may very well have a point. There are blessings, and there are curses. And hopefully you are married to the former, and not the latter. There is at times futility, and we all do die; but faith, and hope, and love help us to chart the stormy waters of the messiness of life … leading us to resurrection with Christ. 

And, of course, there are blessings and woes … but in the end, eternal life and in-between some happiness.

As we approach this altar to receive the Most Holy Body and Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, may the graces we receive in this Sacrament empower all the other Sacraments we have received … for a deeper outpouring of Faith, Hope, and Love … and may we receive, at the table of the Lord, many blessings … and much joy and happiness.

5th Sunday of OT @ Ss. Francis and Clare

HOMILY 5TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

FEBRUARY 5/6, 2022

Regula Sancti Benedicti – The Rule of Saint Benedict, was written in 516 AD by Saint Benedict of Nursia. It followed most community rules up to that point, but it sought to moderate monastic life between personal zeal and institutional formalism. In its original Latin, it consists of 13,317 words, 638 sentences, in 73 chapters. It’s not that big of a book. My own copy is only 111 pages, including the table of contents and the translator’s notes.250 years after it was written, Charlemagne had it copied and distributed throughout western Europe to encourage monks to follow it as a standard. Perhaps its most important influence was to set forth the idea of a written constitution and a rule of law.

The majority of the text covers the “how, what, whys, and whens” of operating a Monastery. Who gets what, how much, when and why. Everything from food, clothing, work, prayer, sleep, and punishment.

There are two chapters which perhaps we can take up on our own – Chapter 4 and Chapter 7.

Chapter 4 provides 73 Tools for the Christian Life, and Chapter 7 lists Twelve Steps of Humility.

Both of which are going to get really important in 3-1/2 weeks when Lent comes around!

The twelve steps of humility from Chapter 7 of the Rule are:

i. Fear God, ii. Follow God’s Will, iii. Follow Church Authority, iv. Even When It’s Hard, v. Confess Sins, vi. Reject Entitlement, vii. Esteem Others, viii. Stay in Community, ix. Listen Before Speaking, x. Don’t Be Silly, xi. Watch What You Say, xii. Be Your True Self.

And far from being a “self-help” chapter, the emphasis throughout is that it is God’s work in us … not our own work … that can help us grow in humility.

Today is the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

Our readings today have an undercurrent of Humility.

Isaiah has a vision of God, and in this vision he receives an insight – who he is before God Almighty:

Woe is me, I am doomed!

For I am a man of unclean lips,

living among a people of unclean lips.

Yet, God sends a seraphim – the angels that burn with a passion and love of God – to remove any wickedness and purge any sin. And at that moment, Isaiah responds to God: “Here I am, send me!”

In our second reading, St. Paul speaks of the proofs of the resurrection – Salvation, Scripture, and the many witnesses. And although Paul, himself, is an Apostle and a witness of Christ, he downplays it, calling himself:

the least of the apostles,

not fit to be called an apostle,

... [a persecutor of] the church of God.

Like Isaiah, Paul’s solution comes from above … God’s effective grace working within him.

And in the Gospel, Luke chapter 5, Jesus calls His disciples. But the story is perhaps too familiar.

If we place ourselves in the story, what do we see? 

A local carpenter walking on the beach gets into somebody else boat, talks for a while, and then starts to tell a group of fishermen, who are done for the day, what they should do to improve production. After an initial protest, they comply. And the result is “a great number of fish … that filled both boats.”

St. Peter sees this for what it is – a miracle – and falls “at the knees of Jesus and [says], ‘Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.’”

Humility. Humility. Humility.

Humility can be defined as “the virtue that … leads people to … a true appreciation of their position with respect to God and … neighbor.”

Isaiah, St. Paul, and St. Peter all found themselves in the Presence of God … whether in a vision or in the flesh. And all three were led to a humble recognition of who they were … and through God’s power were called to a greater mission.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – when we find ourselves in the Presence of Christ Jesus under the appearances of Bread and Wine – may we gain the strength to truly appreciate who we are before God … and through God’s love and grace and mercy, may we recognize who He is calling us to become … as we strive to follow Him … He Who is our Way, our Truth, and our Life.