Homily: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
Friends, on this Independence Day weekend, in which we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the formation of our nation—but not only our nation, our home—we have a lot for which we are to be thankful as well as a lot for which to pray. As you’ve often heard me say, I’m sure, each Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, making each Sunday a “mini-Easter”. For some of you, this may be the first Sunday since way back in Lent that you’ve attended Mass here in the Church. For many of you, perhaps you’ve been back for some weeks. For all of you, however (since none of you were here in the Church to celebrate Easter) I don’t think that we’ve yet taken the opportunity to really bring that idea back to the fore—that is, that what we celebrate each Sunday is Easter—and I’d like to do that today, and here’s why: 1) because the celebration of Easter kind of wraps up everything believe about human life (who we are, why we are here, and where we are going) and 2) because our readings today kind of bring all of that to mind. Perhaps, after looking at these two things, we can refresh our outlook for our nation with this perspective and come to find some ways that we, through our Christian action in the world, can help our nation’s 245th year be a more positive one. Sound good? Great! Let’s take a look at those readings.
In the first reading, we heard from the prophet Zechariah, who proclaims a prophesy hearkening both to Advent and to Lent. On the third Sunday of Advent, also known as “Gaudete Sunday”, we are reminded to REJOICE because our Savior is coming and, in this prophesy, Zechariah also calls for rejoicing because the just king, the savior, is coming and he will banish the implements of war and usher in peace. Through this prophesy, God’s chosen people, the ancient Israelites, found hope once again that God would faithfully fulfill through them his promise to build a kingdom in which all peoples could live in harmony and peace. In Advent, we anticipate the celebration that God has provided that savior in sending his Son, Jesus, to us.
In this reading, we also see the prophesy that hearkens to Lent, as Zechariah declares that this just king and savior will come not in the showy, powerful ways that worldly kings come, but rather humbly: riding on a beast of burden—a donkey—and even lower than a donkey, a young donkey. This, of course, is exactly how our Lord Jesus made his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem to the accolades of the people just five days before the great Paschal Mystery was fulfilled in his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. This reading, therefore, is a great reminder of why we are here each and every Sunday: those days from the triumphal entrance to Jerusalem to his emergence from the grave are the pivotal events in history. Events which must be remembered and celebrated whenever we gather. (P.S. if anyone wants to re-enact the Palm Sunday procession, we have plenty of palm-leaves left over from our defunct Palm Sunday giveaway and we’d be happy to share them with you!)
Then, in the second reading, we heard from Saint Paul who speaks of the Holy Spirit as the one who gives true life to believers. For those of us who have been reborn through water and the Spirit, this is a reminder and an encouragement for what must follow our celebration of the resurrection. For it is not just any spirit that lives in us after baptism, but rather the Spirit of “the one who raised Jesus from the dead”. Thus, if the Spirit who raised Jesus’ mortal body from the dead dwells in us, then our mortal bodies, too, will be raised, through this same Spirit. This amazing gift comes with a responsibility. “Because of this”, Saint Paul says, “we are not debtors to the flesh to live according to the flesh”. Our responsibility now is to live according to the Spirit. This, of course, is a great reminder of the feast of Pentecost, when the Gift of the Holy Spirit was given to the Church and they were sent forth into the world to proclaim the Good News: that is, to live not for this world, but for the world to come, when the fullness of the kingdom of God will appear.
Finally, in the Gospel reading, Jesus calls us to the sacraments when he calls us to come to him. Each of us who have already received baptism recognize that life outside of the grace of God is full of labor and heavy burdens. Jesus has called us to yoke ourselves to him and his yoke: a yoke that he claims is “easy” and which is harnessed to a burden that he calls “light”. The implication in this passage, though it isn’t even directly hinted to, is that in life we will always be yoked to a burden, and the question is not, “Will you or will you not allow yourself to be yoked to a burden”, but rather, “Which one will you be yoked to?” Jesus invites us to choose his yoke and promises that his yoke is “easy”. “No yoke”, of course, sounds much easier, but as I’ve already said, “no yoke” is not an option. So, what does Jesus mean by “easy”? If we look at the word originally used in the Greek text, it provides a clue. In the original Greek, the word that we translate as “easy” is “crestos”: a word that means more like “well-fitting” or “tailor made”. Thus, what Jesus implies is this: that the world offers you a yoke that doesn’t fit and, therefore, weighs you down, while he offers you one that’s tailor-made to you; thus, making it easy for you to perform at your best and achieve that for which you were made: eternal life in God’s kingdom. For us Christians, each Sunday is a reminder of the day that we chose to unburden ourselves from the world’s yoke of sin and thus took on the perfectly-fitted yoke that Jesus had prepared for us so as to make our work in this world (the work of building God’s kingdom) bearable.
Let us not lose, however, that beautiful first part of the reading. There, Jesus gives thanks that the Father has chosen to reveal the great mysteries of salvation to those who are not considered very important in the world. In other words, he gives thanks that this knowledge of him has been made accessible to all. I think that we see this truth when we just look around in church and see all to whom the Gospel has been given and those who have received it. The Gospel is truly for everyone! It is important to say, therefore, that Jesus has called each of you in order to give you access to the Father. Thus, you are each highly favored in his eyes! Because of this, we give thanks by offering the Eucharist—literally giving back to God what he has given to us, because we are so grateful for the gift. In doing so, we embrace him and he embraces us as we receive him in Holy Communion; and we are strengthened for the work for which we are sent forth to accomplish. This, in a real way, is the summary of why we come here each and every Sunday.
Friends, one of the great features of this great experiment in self-governance that is the United States of America, is that it allows for us to be wrong about something (and, in some cases, really wrong about something), yet it gives us the freedom and the opportunity to fix it. It’s a system that has been working—not flawlessly, but nonetheless working—for 244 years. Unless we make major changes to it, I imagine that it will continue to serve us for many years to come, which is good because it helps remind us that the likelihood that we will ever get it completely right is pretty slim.
As Christians, we know all about this: although after baptism we were completely clean of sin, we have nonetheless fallen back into sin many times throughout our lives. But our Savior has made it so that we can continue to work at it: striving and re-striving for the good, even after many setbacks. Our weekly reminder that Jesus has fulfilled all that God had planned for us and, thus, that every grace we need is available to us to accomplish his plan is a message that can bring hope and peace to our nation—our home—in the midst of our current turmoil.
No, United States of America, you aren’t perfect, because your people aren’t perfect; but with God’s grace and determination we, your people, can choose to do the hard things that we need to do to move always towards perfection—day by day, month by month, year by year—being meek and humble of heart so as to recognize our own flaws before pointing out someone else’s and then walking side by side with them as we strive to overcome our flaws together. Friends, this is the work of the Christian life and it is the work that will serve to make this nation, our home, better over the next year.
Therefore, as we celebrate these great mysteries of God that have been shared with us, let us give ourselves to this good work; so that, through us, God might truly bless America.
Given at Saint Mary’s Cathedral: Lafayette, IN – July 5th, 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment