Homilies

To the best of our knowledge, no water exists on any other planet with the possible exception of Mars where some speculate that ice might be found beneath its red soil. For our planet, water has been plentiful from its beginning. In the Book of Genesis we are told the earth was initially covered with water and on the second day, God separated the land from the sea.

To the ancient peoples, the sea often represented chaos. Sailors and fishermen, then and now, know quite well the sudden turmoil caused by rough waters. Even if one doesn’t go out to sea, water can cause chaos with hurricanes, tsunamis, heavy rains, and floods. Being caught in any one of them can be quite chaotic.

Being divine, Jesus did what no one else has ever done. He walked on water and calmed the sea. If we take this story literally, we may think it has no relevance to us, but if we see it as being a symbolic faith story, it becomes relevant and meaningful. The boat represents the church, our shelter, the disciples are being beaten by the winds and waves of persecution, and Jesus comes to calm their fears, bringing them peace. Today, Jesus still walks on water. He calms the chaos of our stormy seas, whatever they may be.

Accepting Jesus’ invitation to come to him, Peter climbed out of the boat but after taking a few steps, he began to flounder when he saw how strong the wind was. He cried out for help. “Lord, save me!” Jesus does that, reprimanding him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

The underlying good news of this gospel passage is this: no matter what chaos there is in our lives, Jesus walks on it just as he walked on the water that stormy night. He conquers the chaos caused by things beyond our control.

Just when everything seems to be calm, a “storm” can move in to disrupt our lives. This weekend, many unemployed people are stressed out, wondering if and when they will get any financial assistance to weather the storm of this pandemic. Each day more patients are filling hospital beds, struggling to stay alive due to the coronavirus, and many medics are floundering from the stress of their overload, endeavoring to provide compassionate care to their patients. Even if we are gainfully employed or financially secure and well, we have all personally experienced chaos at one time; perhaps the loss of a spouse, parent, child, friend, or job.

Jesus, Matthew assures us, conquers chaos, helping us to weather such storms. Some are due to our own making when we have made bad or sinful choices; spouses who had an affair or harmed their marriage through addiction to pornography or alcohol, or the couple that agreed to an abortion years ago. The emotional damage is still felt and now more than ever, the family needs the healing that only Jesus can provide by calming their stormy relationship.

It makes no difference whether we cause the chaos by a choice we made or are suffering from the chaos created by someone else. Jesus still offers of the same advice he gave Peter, “Come.” Yet in the midst of our chaos, how often do we focus on Jesus and accept his guidance and wisdom?

Jesus knows that we aren’t saints, not yet anyway. He knows our shortcomings, our prejudices, our addictions, still he loves us unconditionally. He takes us as we are and endeavors to patiently reshape us just as a potter reshapes the clay on his wheel to make us better yet. He only asks that we have the courage to place our faith in him. Faith doesn’t save us from the trials and tribulations of life; rather, faith gives us the courage to face them.

What causes the chaos in your life? Is it discomfort with how the Church is calling us to confront the chaos in our midst that prevents the serenity of God’s kingdom from being realized? Is it the chaos of racism, avarice, pride, lust, anger or gluttony? Any of these will prevent us from calming the storms in our midst.

Peter floundered when he took his focus off Jesus, alarmed by the intensity of the strong wind. Turning to prayer, he gave Jesus the opportunity to calm the anxiety and chaos that enmeshed him and the disciples.

Prayer gives us the opportunity to listen to God but as Elijah learned, God speaks to us in ways we may not anticipate. In his case, it was a tiny whisper. In Hebrew, whisper translates as ‘spirit,’ namely the third person of the Holy Trinity.

There is nothing that life throws at us that we cannot overcome with the Lord’s help. Even if we should falter, even when we make mistakes, the Lord is there to guide us, reaching out his hand, just as he did to Peter, keeping us from being swamped by utter chaos, smiling at our feeble attempts to get by without initially trusting him and his wisdom, gently chiding us, just as he chided Peter, for our lack of faith.

Often, we suffer from too little faith, focusing more and more upon ourselves and less and less upon God, just as Peter did. Some people think that if you have enough faith, life will be smooth sailing. I suspect every saint, especially Peter and Paul, would tell us, “Not so!” Life is a perilous journey. Faith doesn’t shield us from the harsh knocks and situations of life. Rather to live by faith means to trust God. As Jesus said, “Take courage, do not be afraid.” Be attentive to the insights God provides to overcome the chaos in your midst.

When Jesus heard that his cousin, John the Baptist, had been killed, he withdrew to a deserted place. Pondering John’s brutal death, he may have struggled to understand the mystery of evil that prompted Herod to do what he did.

Like John the Baptist, Jesus was put to death by evil men but meanwhile he did not allow himself to be caught up in their culture of death. To the contrary, Jesus came to bring life abundantly to the world, inviting his followers to join him in a culture of life, not death.

The culture of life promotes the sanctity of life. This underlies our Catholic conviction that all life is sacred from conception to natural death, hence the Church speaks up for the poor, the unborn, the imprisoned, the marginalized, the ill, the migrant worker, and the victims of racism and bigotry.

The culture of life chooses the way of the Lord over all other possibilities. It considers how each decision should best reflect the presence of Christ. What would Jesus do? St. John Paul II often spoke about the culture of life and so did many other saints. You may recall AB Fulton Sheen hosted a TV show entitled, “Life is worth Living.”

In his letter, Paul tells us that no matter what the world throws at us, no power in the universe can separate us from the love of God. Being committed to the culture of life led Mother Theresa to care for the poorest of the poor and the dying in the gutters of Calcutta. Being committed to the culture of life prompted Martin Luther King to share his dream that his children would be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. Being committed to the culture of life compelled St. Oscar Romero to stand up for the indigenous peoples of El Salvador.

They conveyed Paul’s message that God, who knows all our sins and sinful tendencies, never stops loving us. But that is not all. Paul goes on to present us with a litany of different kinds of suffering and tragedy, including war, starvation, fear, injustice, death, poverty, and depression. He points out that God’s love is even more powerful than these horrible realities that continue to plague our world today.

Notice Paul doesn’t blame God for the tragedies and sufferings that occur. He doesn’t lament, “God, why do you allow these horrible things to happen?” Paul knows that in this fallen world, evil affects even the most innocent and holiest of people. He also knows that the devil uses evil and suffering to drag people into despair, hopelessness, self-centeredness, and hardness of heart toward others.

In the face of tragedy, the Christian responds not with despair, revenge, anger or corruption, but with love, perseverance, and hope, following the Lord’s example. As Paul points out, “…in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.”

Our commitment to the culture of life generates a spirit of charity that foils the devil’s plans. The culture of life calls us to be people of life and hope. It is this commitment that allows us to view the events of our physical life as only a chapter in the story of our lives.

Ideally we live for God. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote ages ago, “The Christian is not his own master, his time is God’s.” Yes, we live for eternal life and we refuse to be destroyed by the culture of death.

The culture of death only sees the here and now. It doesn’t consider the impact of a person’s actions on his or her life or on the world in general. It is the culture of death that says, “Have an abortion.” Just think of all the talent and love the world has lost. The culture of death also says, “Party on!” so many do so, knowing that this pandemic could kill them.

The culture of death has sent many inmates to death row, even though some are innocent of the crime for which they were convicted. That same culture has prematurely claimed the lives of countless people through slavery, euthanasia, and martial law brutality, here and in distant lands.

It is easy to isolate ourselves from others and become insensitive to what they are enduring. But remember, we are all God’s children, unconditionally loved by our creator and redeemer. God is counting on us to be his hands and feet to convey that love to others. We also have the right to demand that others be treated with dignity just as we are.

Pope Francis once said, “Jesus does not force you to be a Christian. But if you say you are a Christian, you must believe that Jesus has the power—the only one who has the power— to renew the world, to renew your life, to renew your family, to renew the community, to renew everybody.”

Perhaps that insight is what prompted a Dominican priest to compose a prayer we use monthly in our Taize service. “Deliver us Lord from everything that is evil. From all things that separate us from you and each other. Deliver us from our pride, our selfishness, our anger, our jealousies. Deliver us, Lord, from when we feel unlovable or find it difficult to love. Deliver us, Lord, through all pain, suffering and death. Deliver us unto each other in a genuine openness, one to the other. Deliver unto us the strength of loving one another exactly as we are. And protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ.”

Since the dawn of time, people have looked for treasure. In bygone days, they searched in the fields, in the hills, or under the sea. If they could find gold or diamonds or pearls, they would be happy. Today, people are still looking for treasure. Except now, they look in casinos, the stock market, or power ball lotteries. If they could hit the jackpot, they would be in seventh heaven.

When we speak of being in seventh heaven, we are in a state of intense happiness, utter bliss. The Bible offers us no definition of heaven but in these two pithy parables, Jesus uses images to describe what the kingdom of heaven is like. The kingdom of heaven is not a treasure, a pearl or an inanimate object located in some distant physical place. Jesus uses metaphors to tell his listeners that the kingdom of heaven is like the action-response of the finder who stumbles upon the treasure. Seeing the value of their find, they do what they must to have that treasure.

Many people think of the kingdom of heaven only as some distant entity beyond the pearly gates that they hope to enter once they cross the threshold of death. The kingdom of heaven is also called the kingdom of God. So, instead of defining the kingdom of heaven as a place, think of the kingdom as God’s will, which is the well-being of all peoples.

Whenever we say the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it in heaven,” as though we are anticipating its arrival someday. Actually the kingdom is already here. It’s just that we don’t recognize it with our eyes set on something else, just as the ancient Israelites who were expecting a new earthly realm when they listened to Jesus. The reign that Jesus spoke of is not a secular political governance. He is speaking of governance, all right, but of a different scope. Namely Jesus is speaking of his disciples following the will of God.

These two parables make the same point: God’s kingdom is something of extraordinary value, which calls for a total commitment on our part if the kingdom is to be fully seen and experienced in this time and place. We cannot have that treasure unless we are willing to let go of those distracting and competing values and priorities that get in the way. Values that create within us sinful attitudes or actions of greed and selfishness hinder us from bringing about the kingdom of heaven.

Every day we often have to choose between right and wrong, generosity and selfishness, honesty and lies, people and things, sometimes even between life and death. Jesus is talking not about the trivial choices we make daily but about wise and costly decisions. Such decisions can cost us much but they will bring us a joy that no one can take from us.

What Matthew calls the kingdom of heaven, Luke and Mark call the reign of God. How then does God want to rule the world? His son provides us with numerous guidelines that are priceless treasures once we discover their true value.

For example, these two parables mirror people’s experience of discovering God’s love and forgiveness unexpectedly or after a long search. When we endeavor to practice both the art of loving and the art of forgiveness, we are mimicking the farmer who found the treasure or the merchant who found the pearl by letting go of whatever hinders us from loving and forgiving someone.

The reign of God is a way of living life here and now, not merely a state of being that will unfold once we die. It is a life of faithful commitment, a life of integrity, of trust in God and being of service to others.

So often when we endeavor to learn something, we need someone to set an example. Now imagine Jesus as the one who finds the buried treasure and the pearl of great price. To acquire them, namely you and me, he gave his life on the cross. The more we realize God’s unconditional love for us, the more we find the secret of peace and joy.

Now lets reverse the roles. By virtue of our baptism, we have stumbled on the treasure that is Jesus himself but for many their faith has been too superficial to see the true value of this treasure. Does the value of this treasure move you to follow God’s way of living here and now?

The kingdom of heaven is the outcome of putting into practice all the wisdom that Jesus taught us. Think of the corporal works of mercy. When we endeavor to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick or the imprisoned, welcome the stranger, and bury the dead, we are making heaven real for everyone involved.

In the kingdom, all lives are valued treasures in God’s eyes to be honored and cared for and accepted, regardless of their ethnicity, their gender, their race, or their income. God treasures all life and invites us to do the same.

Picture how different our world would be if everyone responded as Solomon did with an understanding heart that could see right from wrong and that the Kingdom of heaven is the most valuable thing we can possess. May God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can and wisdom to know the difference.

Jesus when sharing today’s parable did so amongst people who lived in rural settings and could relate to his description of different soils and farming methods. Today this masterful storyteller might give us a different parable.

“A terrible sickness struck a village. The people were terrified of getting sick and wanted to know what to do.

“The doctor asked the people to wear face masks to protect one another. ‘We will!’ they all said. Some did for awhile, but they found the masks uncomfortable, and made it difficult to breathe, so they stopped wearing them.

“The rabbi asked the people to share their food with the poor and sick. ‘We will!’ they also promised. But many became more and more concerned for their own need and that of their families as time went on, so they kept their barns and larders full and locked.

“The mayor asked the merchants to close their shops and innkeepers to close their taverns so people would not gather and spread the sickness. ‘We will!’ they all agreed. They did so for a few days, but their profits dropped, and they could not pay their staff, so, slowly, one by one, they quietly reopened their shops and inns. Soon, the sickness took the lives of many in the poor village.

“But then there were the good folks who understood that wearing face masks protected others from the sickness, who kept their distance from one another so the sickness would not spread, even though they missed one another’s company terribly, who readily shared what they had with those who had little. Oh, it was very hard, and there were many days when they wanted to give up. But they persevered.

“Because of them, many people did not get sick and they survived. Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears because they hear.” Jesus would have said.

The parable of the sower challenges us to check the “thinness” of the soil in our hearts that results in our faith withering in the noonday heat; the “rockiness” of self-centeredness and avarice that prevents God’s “seed” of generosity and peace from taking root in us; the “thorns” of bigotry and self-righteousness that “choke” the possibility of us providing for the poor, healing the broken-hearted, lifting up the fallen, and respecting peoples different from us.

Our own response to the coronavirus is a good measure of the “richness” of our faith and its potential for the “seed” of God’s Word to take root in our lives and realize the harvest of justice and compassion that can be found only in the kingdom of God.

These readings speak loudly and clearly of hope. Paul tells us in the opening line of his letter, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.” That glory he speaks of is our salvation, which as the parable suggests, is not to be taken for granted. Faith is what is necessary for salvation. Not the works of the law, only faith but what kind of faith? Not an intellectual faith that might protest, “Sure, I believe all that stuff, Father. I’ve been a Catholic all my life.”

Faith is much more than intellectually professing who Jesus is and what he taught. Faith is an act on our part, which establishes a personal union between Jesus and us. Faith is the way we look at the world and everything in it. Faith is a commitment of love. Such an attitude enables God’s Word to take root in our hearts and bear abundant fruit.

Everyone who is serious about his or her faith longs to give

birth to the Kingdom of God. Paul uses the image of labor pains to make that point. We want to make God’s kingdom a reality but that task is constantly challenging.

While we are truly free to follow Christ, he points out that outside sources will continually persuade us not to. Jesus speaks of different conditions that prevent God’s Word from taking root. The first is the devil, represented by birds, the second example, the rocky soil, alludes to laziness and comfort, our ingrained love for them curtails any efforts we would make toward self-sacrifice; and the third is our culture, the product of fallen human nature, represented by the thorns in his parable. The fallen world promises us perfect happiness, but that is false for only God can satisfy the human heart. When we fight immorality, we not only avoid sin, we are allowing God’s Word to influence the world we live in.

Jesus’ message is to point out that the Kingdom of Heaven is not an entitlement. The seed is planted in us at our baptism, but are we nurturing it? If not, it will die as would any plant that is neglected. When we follow God’s will and stay true to our friendship with Christ even in the face of these wayward influences, then our lives will bear an abundant harvest of wisdom, compassion and happiness.

Heaven is to be our eternal home but only if and when we let God’s seeds take root and produce such fruit in us.

In the course of a year, I probably read this gospel passage more than any other because it is one of those provided for use during the sacrament of the sick. How timely that we hear this gospel passage in the midst of what is going on now. The number of patients ill with the Covid 19 virus is staggering. The number of new cases each day is unsettling.

As I said, I often read this passage when I am about to anoint someone who is ill. The translation I use is one that you heard years ago. “Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.”

When someone asked me recently how I felt, I confess that the word weary popped into mind. Five months ago, the coronavirus was an illness elsewhere. Little did any of us imagine back then how in such a short time, this virus would disrupt our lives, compelling us to alter our routines from shopping to socializing; from the manner we work to how we worship. Instead of fading into history now that summer is here, the bug is becoming even more prevalent. Who among us isn’t weary and finding all of this burdensome?

The uplifting news is that Jesus will refresh us. The image that comes to mind is the coach giving his team a pep talk. Picture them in the locker room at half time, somewhat dejected because they appear to be losing the game, so he is prepping them with a new game plan for the second half.

Jesus, our life coach, is encouraging us to take his yoke and learn from him. Admittedly, the image of a yoke seems so discouraging rather than refreshing, so I then invite the person being anointed to picture different kinds of yokes.

There is the typical yoke used on donkeys or oxen to pull a plow or cart. That sounds rather burdensome if you ask me. Another kind of yoke is used by a farmer on his shoulders to carry buckets of water or his harvest. Better yet, there is the yoke carried by two farmers to haul the harvest. That version reminds me that Jesus is offering to help us carry our load, especially when we are weary and find life burdensome.

So what then is the yoke he offers us? His law. Those who heard Jesus initially were burdened by the many rules laid down by the Pharisees, who had come up with over 600 based on the Torah to govern the lives of their fellow Jews. They saw themselves as wise and learned, comfortable with their own wisdom, but according to Jesus, they did not know God well. For example, for them not working on the Sabbath allowed for no unnecessary work, even swatting a fly.

Jesus replaced all that with the commandment to love, showing us that when we love we experience salvation. Imagine the difference love makes in your lives when love rather than self-centeredness motivates how you feel toward others and relate to them from the members of your own family to your friends to even the strangers in your midst. The yoke we must as his disciples take is the burden of love. Love is the antidote God offers us for overcoming sin and its consequences, which we find quite burdensome at times.

Take my yoke, Jesus tells us, and we will find rest. St. John Chrysostom once said, “Not this or that person, but all that are in anxiety, in sorrows, in sins. Come, not that I may call you to account, but that I may do away with your sins; come, not because I want your honor, but because I want your salvation. ‘And I,’ says he, ‘will give you rest.’” This saint’s advice is as timely today for us as it was 1600 years ago.

“Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.” Unlike the many regulations of the Pharisees, the yoke that Jesus offers us is not complicated or difficult to understand and carry out. His yoke provides a discipline of simplicity that will yield harmony and joy in our lives and the lives of others.

Unlike the multitude of protests going on, resulting in much violence and hurt, his yoke provides the source of the widespread peace we all yearn for. If we begin to live and relate to one another with compassion and love, we shall experience the coming of the peaceable kingdom.

Deep down we all yearn for peace; not only the elusive peace that signals the end of conflict, but also peace within our personal lives as well. That peace can be found when we heed our coach’s advice. Take up his yoke of love, compassion and forgiveness. Cast aside those burdens that are robbing you of peace. “Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will give you rest!” No one else can make that claim.