MASS APPEAL
INTRODUCTION
The title and theme of my homily is, “Sir, We Would Like to See Jesus?”
Would you like to see Jesus?
This is a theme that flows through the Gospels. People want to see Jesus – want to meet him – want to find out who he is – want to ask him to do something for them or for someone else in their life.
In today’s gospel it is some Greeks. They want to see Jesus.
In other stories, in other Gospels, we meet various people who want to meet Jesus. We also meet people who meet Jesus and they don’t even know who he is or that they met him.
I’ve been taught that the scriptures were written so that the reader or listener could see and meet Jesus.
Would you like to see Jesus? Would you like to meet Jesus?
A CAST OF CHARACTERS
The four gospels present a cast of characters who want to see Jesus: from Herod the Great when Jesus was born to Herod Antipas when Jesus is about to die. There are the blind and the deaf, those with leprosy and those with blood problems – those with sick children and those with sick servants.
If you wanted to see Jesus, what would be your motive or reason? What would you want of him?
If you had one question to ask Jesus, what would it be?
If you had one healing you needed, what would it be?
If you went to Jesus for someone else, who would that person be?
As you read or hear the Gospels, which character do you relate to the most? What does that tell you about yourself?
For example, you might say, “I relate to Thomas because he is known for his doubts.” Or “I can relate to Peter because sometimes I’m all talk. I make promises. I put my foot in my mouth. And then I fail when crunch time comes.” Or, “I can relate to Martha in the Martha-Mary stories. I like to serve, but sitting still in prayer is difficult.”
If you said, “I would like to see Jesus” and you heard the words, “Why?” what would you answer?
PRAYER
Spiritual teachers like to see prayer as a meeting with God.
How do you see prayer?
ONE OF MY FAVORITE STORIES
One of my favorite stories took place during the Vietnam War.
If I remember correctly, it went something like this.
Four students from Kent State University in Ohio drove all the way to Washington D.C. and went to the White House demanding to see President Nixon. I don’t know if this happened before or after the Kent State shootings on May 4th, 1970.
They got to the White House gate and were asked, “What do you want?”
They answered, “We drove all the way from Ohio – from Kent State University – and we want to see the president of the United States about this war in Vietnam.
The guard said, “You can’t get into see the president just like that.”
They said, “Well, we’re going to stand here till you let us in.”
Finally a guard called a number and told someone the situation. The message came to John Ehrlichman, a big shot in the Nixon White House. Eventually he said, “Okay send them in.” He met with them and they said, “We want to talk to the president and ask him some questions about the Vietnam War.”
Ehrlichman said, “It doesn’t work like that. Tell me your questions. Tell me your comments and I’ll tell them to the president.”
Once more they said, “We’re going to sit here till we see the president.”
John Ehrlichman at some point went in and talked to the president and told him how he was stuck with these young men.
The president said, “Try to get rid of them.”
They wouldn’t move and Ehrlichman went back and told the president, “No luck.”
Finally President Nixon said, “Okay, bring them into the Oval Office.”
Ehrlichman came out and said, “The president will see you.”
He led the four students to the Oval Office.
John Ehrlichman later said the young men came in and were given seats and President Richard Nixon asked them, “Okay. Why do you want to see me?”
They were speechless, shocked. They were so surprised that they actually got to see the president of the United States that they had couldn’t speak.
President Nixon had to come out from behind his desk and try to coach these young men on what they wanted to say.
US
In today’s gospel these Greeks asked to see Jesus? If they saw him, would they be speechless? If we saw him, would we be speechless?
We don’t know if these Greeks ever did get to see Jesus. But we do know that the Gospels start to give hints that Jesus and his message is going to start moving out from Jerusalem to the Greek speaking world. The gospels come down to us in Greek – not Aramaic – the language of Jesus.
The gospels are placed in our lap – in our hands.
The gospels are there for us to see Jesus in the scenes of our lives.
As we read them, are there any questions we start to ask Jesus?
THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
Let me make a switch here. In the early 1960’s – precisely from October 11, 1962 when the Second Vatican Council opened in Rome, till the council closed on December 8, 1965, they promulgated 16 texts – 103,014 words. [1]
That council and those words had a wide impact on the Catholic Church. Some liked it; some didn’t like it; some didn’t care; some didn’t know.
There have been studies that some people born after 1975 have no clue what the words, “Vatican II” meant. This surprised me, because I was a product of that era – the 60’s. We had read and heard about the theological wars at the Council as well as the liturgical battles in our parishes. It was a period when our Church went through a profound period of struggle and growth. It also made me smile, because there was a time there when every Sunday sermon used the words “Vatican II” at least twice.
How about you? Has the Church’s Second Vatican Council had a impact on your life? If yes, how so?
I have met Catholics who seem to care very little about that major moment in the history of our Catholic Church. Have you ever read any of the documents of Vatican Council II?
I have met Catholics who are more fascinated by books by visionaries – who give revelations that I have find strange. [2] This disappoints me. Yet, I've learned this is the way religion appears at times. I preached parish missions with another priest in many, many parishes in the mid-west for the 8 ½ years before I came to Annapolis. We never filled a church – but I noticed that if someone claimed revelations, churches were filled. Poor us. Smile. Envy the sin of preachers and people with wrinkles and have to go to the bathroom twice every night.
Let me read two statements from all those words from Vatican II.
The first is a quote from the council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation: the Scriptures, the Bible. “This sacred Synod earnestly and specifically urges all the Christian faithful, too, especially religious, to learn by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures the ‘excelling knowledge of Jesus Christ' (Philippians 3:8). ‘For ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.’" (St. Jerome) [3]
The second is a quote from the council’s Constitution on the Liturgy, “The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s Word. In this way a more representative portion of the holy Scriptures will be read to the people over a set cycle of years.” [4]
Any of you around my age have seen both these things happen: individual Catholics have been opening up the scriptures for the past 50 years and have met Christ in wonderful ways. At Mass – at Parish Missions, Retreats, Prayer Groups, Study groups, the Catholic Community has also met Christ in newer ways through the scriptures.
So if I had my way, [Who does?] I would stress reading the scriptures and the documents of Vatican II, way ahead of private revelations as a way of seeing Christ, meeting Christ. [5]
TITLE OF MY HOMILY
The title of my homily is, “Sir, We Would Like to See Jesus.”
As you know the Mass is divided into two parts: the table of the Word and the table of the Eucharist.
So we come to Mass to a Sacred Meal. And at every good meal there are good words and good food.
As the scriptures are read in Part One of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Word, we say in prayer, “Jesus I want to see you in the Word today.” We listen to the readings for something to chew on – to digest – to be nourished with. We also hope the homily challenges us to see Christ in a way we might not have seen coming. As the Prophet Jeremiah said in today's first reading, the Lord changes covenants, hearts change, and people know the Lord in new ways.
Then we come to Part Two of the Mass, the Mystery of the Eucharist. As we are seated here at the family table – that has the bread and the wine of the Passover Meal, we hear the powerful words of Jesus giving his body and blood in sacrifice for us. Before the bread can became bread, it had to be wheat seed as we heard in today’s gospel. It had to die in the ground and rise as wheat. Then like the grapes becoming wine, the wheat had to be crushed to become flour. Life – the crush and sacrifice of life. Isn't the great mystery of what life is all about – giving our time and our lives for our children and for each other? So we say at each Mass, “Jesus, I want to see you today. I want to eat you today. I want you to nourish me today – so I can bring you to our world this week.” Then when we walk up the aisle for communion, we pray even deeper, “Jesus I want to see you today in communion!" Then we walk back to our bench, filled with Jesus the One these Greeks wanted to see in today’s gospel.”
Then this becomes the model for how to pray in the Eucharist Chapel down below us here at St. Mary’s or when we pray at home – alone or with family members.
We gather and pray, “Jesus I want to see you today. We want to see you today." We digest the word of God and it nourishes us for a better family life and a better work life. Amen.
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily is, “Sir, We Would Like to See Jesus?”
Want a good prayer – a good prayer for Lent. There it is: “Sir, We Would Like to See Jesus?”
This homily or sermons is a bit long and convoluted. What was I trying to say in this homily? If you want to see Jesus, to meet him, pick up the Gospels for starters. You'll meet Jesus in the characters there who want to meet Jesus. You'll meet Jesus in his message to pray, to serve, to reach out to the poor and hurting members amongst your brothers and sisters. You'll meet Jesus in the challenges of life: to forgive, to go the extra mile, to turn the other cheek, to give the shirt off your back, to put in your two cents, to provide your 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. You'll meet Jesus in the deaths and resurrections of every day life.
Amen.
[1] The Documents of Vatican II, Walter M. Abbott, S.J., General Editor, Herder and Herder, Association Press, N.Y. p. ix, 1966
[2] For example, To The Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons, Don Stefano Gobbi, 18th English Edition, Printed in the United States. Check out #'s: 91, 112, 146, 168, 170, 332, 407, etc.
[3] Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, # 25, page 127 in The Documents of Vatican II, Walter M. Abbott, S.J. General Editor, Herder and Herder, Association Press, N.Y., 1966
[4] Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, # 51, page 155 in The Documents of Vatican II, Walter M. Abbott, S.J. General Editor, Herder and Herder, Association Press, N.Y., 1966
[5] For example, if a study / prayer group read a Gospel or the Letter of James - or The Documents of Vatican II - I would think it would have a different tone and topic of conversation than a group that read for example, Father Gobbi's interior locutions from the Blessed Mother. I don't accept that all the things I see in that book are the agenda of the Mother of Jesus. I sat with a group who read these "interior locutions". I suspect I won't be invited back, because I said I thought the tone of the conversations that followed the readings were rather negative. To be positive I would suggest readings from scripture or Vatican II. Or why not a book of sermons by someone like Walter Burghardt, e.g., Sir, We Would Like To See Jesus, Paulist Press, 1982. By not mentioning this in my spoken homily, but here in a footnote on my blog - I avoided the bully pulpit - as well as confusion on the part of anyone who has no clue concerning what I'm talking or barking about. This is a test! I rarely get blog comments. A blog gives people who disagree with my assessment of a book like To The Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons, a chance to comment. Go for it!
