Tatiana Grant, iconographer
Homily for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14
Jesus is loaded for bear in this parable addressed to
“those who are convinced of their own righteousness
and who despise everyone else.”
Now, those are Some. Nasty. Folks.
Not just a little holier-than-thou,
but convinced of their righteousness;
not just disdainful,
but despising everyone else.
Truth be told,
I doubt we have any folks here who fit this description to T,
but I’m pretty sure there are some ways that many of us
come closer to the Pharisee than to the tax collector
in the story Jesus tells.
Try these on for size and see if any fit…
“O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity:
- not like the Republicans who lie about the war;
- not like the Democrats who have no courage or patriotism;
“I thank you God that I’m not like the ones from “that” parish;
that I’m not from “that” side of town;
you know how different "we" are from “them”.
“And Lord, I thank you that I’m not like those who have no clue
about the right answer to the Willard School question.
“I thank you that I’m not like the bishops and chancery officials:
mercenary, ruthless and uncaring.
"I thank you I'm not like those in the advocacy groups
who can't let go and get on with things.
“I thank you that I’m not like the liberals
who question everything the church does and teaches.
How can they call themselves Catholic, Lord?
“I thank you that I’m not like the conservatives
who harp on keeping the law
instead of caring for peoples’ needs.
How can they call themselves Christian?"
Does this mean the Lord doesn’t want us to have an opinion?
Of course not.
But he is warning against our tendency
to demonize those whose ideas and policies oppose our own.
When I am so convinced of my opinion, my view, my take on things
that I begin to believe that my right-ness, my correctness
entitles me to be mean and prejudiced,
- entitles me to despise others -
then I am exalting myself
and no prayer of mine in a place like this or anywhere else
will send me home justified before God.
God does not measure my life against the success or failure,
the wisdom or stupidity of my neighbor.
God measures my life and yours
against his word and his law - and how you and I abide by it.
And the greatest law against which God measures us is the law of love.
As Jesus said:
Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
All from the lips of Jesus...
True prayer begins, as does our prayer every weekend,
with our acknowledging our need for God’s mercy.
“To prepare ourselves to celebrate these sacred mysteries,
let us call to mind our sins and remember God’s mercy…”
The Lord forgives the humble sinner who prays for God’s pardon.
And the Lord will forgive the proud Pharisee
who comes to see that indeed he IS just like the rest of humanity:
sinful and in need of God’s mercy.
Though we named ourselves as sinners as we begin our prayer today,
still, the Lord welcomes us to his table
where we receive his humbled self in the Eucharist.
May the sacrament we celebrate and receive here
teach us to love and respect all,
and especially those whom we are quick to condemn.
-ConcordPastor
Dear God,
ReplyDeletePlease forgive me for all of the bad thoughts and words I say and think of others- because of my fear and anger and lack of trust- Please help me to control these thoughts- help me to understand and love others- whether or not they like me or are nice to me- help me to feel connected with others- both strangers, and those I know.
Thank you.
I'm beginning to think that Jesus was really a Buddhist. The message is so darn close...
ReplyDeleteWhile reflecting on this homily, one steady drum beat persisted in me: that there seem to be so many "rules" in life that it sometimes can become overwhelming to always do the right thing, the thing that God would like us to do. How many decisions does the average person make during a 24 hour span? How many opportunities do we have to do the wrong thing, make the less-than-best choice? And I say this as an adult, never mind how children must feel, what with all of the rules being handed out to them in church, at home, in school, in his/her city. That's a lot of pressure. I realize God finds forgiveness for those of us who sometimes do the wrong thing, but it seems to me that it is more likely than not that people are going to do the wrong thing much of the time.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading what anon wrote I would say that if we try to just follow the 10 commandments as far as the rules go then that should cover it. caring, compassion, love etc can lead the way on a daily basis. Just thoughts from another anon.
ReplyDeletePS treat others as you would want to be treated and teach your children the same .
I have been pondering Sunday's homily and would like to share a few thoughts. Inviting each of us to see something of the Pharisee in ourselves was, I thought, a very sensitive and timely reading of today's gospel passage. It was particularly timely in view of the antagonism associated with the divisive issues in the Holy Family community and seen, for instance, in some of the recent comments in the Pastor's blog. What I saw seemed to be a kind of dilemma.
ReplyDeleteCould it be that the fallout of lost trust and confidence in the church from the clerical sexual abuse combined with the parish closings has, by extension, become a loss of trust and confidence in each other, with a consequent atmosphere of fear?
I think your words capture this well:
“Does this mean the Lord doesn’t want us to have an opinion?
Of course not.
But he is warning against our tendency
to demonize those whose ideas and policies oppose our own.
When I am so convinced of my opinion, my view,
my take on things
that I begin to believe that my right-ness, my
correctness …”
I’m sure you don’t mean that we are entitled to our opinion - as long as we keep it to ourselves. But I think that it has become very difficult to avoid targeting comments at others, or appearing to do so, rather than at their opinions. I think that the distrust and fear shift the focus of any communication from the message to the person. On the other hand, to doubt my own position in the face of an enemy is dangerous.
The activists concerned with healing those injured by the sexual abuse are doubtless right to insist that this not be simply put behind us. I would suggest that there is needed a further healing task of reconciliation in the community. Where to start?