Homily:
33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Cycle B
In the early 1600’s, French Jesuit Jean de Brebeuf left
France for the un-tamed wilderness of North America in order to proclaim the
Gospel to the people of the Huron tribe in what is now the south-east part of
Ontario, Canada. He left a rather
comfortable life in which he had everything he could ask for: a secure and
clean home, food to spare, an excellent education, and the opportunity to work
among his people proclaiming the Good News to them, and he travelled to a place
where he had none of that. He slept on a
crude mat on the ground in a rough-shod shelter that was constantly filled with
smoke from the heating fire because there was no ventilation. He barely had food enough to sustain him and
his education was all but useless as he struggled to communicate with a people
whose language was completely different from his own. All of this and the constant threat that a
roving band of Iroquois—who were intent on killing any Huron or French person
that they encountered—would attack them.
Yet, John de Brebeuf was undisturbed. He had a zeal for the souls of the Huron
people and he longed for them to know Christ.
In one of his journals he wrote: “How I grieve, my God, that you are not
known, that this savage country is not yet wholly converted to faith in you,
that sin is not yet blotted out!” He
strove to learn their language. In fact,
it is because of him that we have any written record of the Huron
language! He loved them and he wouldn’t
be turned away from this mission on which, he believed, God had sent him. When he wrote to Isaac Jogues, his fellow
Jesuit back in France, to prepare him to join him in his mission, he said: “You
must love these Huron, ransomed by the blood of the Son of God, as brothers.”
In 1649 the Huron village in which Jean de Brebeuf was
living was attacked by Iroquois. The
Huron insisted that Jean and his companion Gabriel flee the village and
survive. They refused to leave their beloved Huron and instead endured horrific
tortures at the hands of the Iroquois (Jean for 4 hours, Gabriel for 16 hours)
before they died. Over the nearly 25
years that he served the Huron nation, Jean de Brebeuf made over 7000 converts to
the faith. He never lost his zeal for
their souls and his burning desire that all Native Americans would know Christ.
As we approach the end of the Liturgical Year, the readings
for Mass begin to focus on the “end times”: that is, Jesus’ second coming, the
final judgment, and what it will be like leading up to that day. They are all very graphic in describing the
great tribulation that will precede the final judgment, but they all stop short
of giving us a clear indication of when we can expect this all to happen. It wouldn’t be hard to look at things that
are happening here and now—most notably the horrible terrorist attacks in Paris
last/Friday night—and to think to ourselves “What’s the hold up, Jesus?” This is certainly a time of great trial and
tribulation and so we can, perhaps, wonder “What is he waiting for?”
Now, although I’ve never read anything to support my opinion,
I’ve never read anything that refutes it, either, so I’m going to share with
you my thoughts on when we can expect Jesus’ second coming. In the second reading, from the letter to the
Hebrews, the author says that the “eternal high priest” (he’s speaking of
Jesus) has offered “one sacrifice for sins, and [has taken] his seat forever at
the right hand of God”; and that “now he waits until his enemies are made his
footstool” (other translations word it “he waits until his enemies are placed
beneath his feet”). Whenever I read this
passage, I am struck by the fact that there seems to be a condition placed on
Jesus’ waiting: “until his enemies are made his footstool”. Now, we know that Jesus didn’t want worldly
power, but rather the salvation of souls and the conquering of all sin; and so
what else can he mean by “his enemies are made his footstool” than “everyone is
converted to Christ and is free from sin”?
(Probably a lot of things, I’m sure, but this is the one that I just
can’t escape.)
Thus, my opinion, perhaps, isn’t so much an opinion about when Jesus will come as much as it is an
opinion about how to hasten his
coming. Sin and those who cause men to
sin are Jesus’ enemies. Thus, to be
converted and to leave off sin in the name of Jesus is to put Jesus’ enemies
“beneath his feet”. The sooner,
therefore, that all of Jesus’ enemies are placed beneath his feet, the sooner
Jesus will return to make his final judgment and, thus, usher in his kingdom of
light, happiness, and peace. Thus, to state
it simply, if we want to be done with this world in which suffering, trial, and
tribulation afflicts us—if we want to be done with senseless attacks like the
ones that just happened in Paris—then we ought to be intensely focused on
defeating sin, both within ourselves and in others, and on leading to
conversion anyone not yet converted to Christ.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus exhorts his disciples not to
ignore the meaning of the tribulations that were coming. Just as they would know that summer was near
when leaves started sprouting on fig trees, so too, after these tribulations,
they should know that his second coming will be upon them. The attacks in Paris demonstrate that the
Evil One is working to destroy God’s children, perhaps before they could become his friends, and so we must see this as
the sign that now is our time to act. If
we have, in any way, neglected our mission to purify our lives from sin and to
help others to do the same, then we must act now. Our world is in desperate need of martyrs
like Saints Jean de Brebeuf, Gabriel Lalement, and the other North American
Martyrs: men and women whose love of Christ and zeal for souls was so great
that even the real possibility of horrific torture and death wouldn’t stop them
from proclaiming this Good News and, thus, bringing the day of Christ closer by
placing more of Jesus’ enemies beneath his feet.
My brothers and sisters, the enemies of Christ still
abound. If we wish to hasten his coming
and thus end this time of suffering and tribulation, then we need less hashtags
and more martyrs. Mary, Our Mother, has
spent her eternity as a missionary: appearing wherever there has been great
trial and tribulation, or when there has been a great need/opportunity for
conversions, in order to call all of God’s children to repentance. May her prayers guide and protect us as we
strive to continue that mission in our own lives and in the lives of those
around us. And may Jesus, who comes to
us in this Eucharist, strengthen us to fulfill it.
Given
at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – November 14th & 15th,
2015
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