HOW  DO  I  SEE  JESUS?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 25^th Thursday in Ordinary Time  is a question, “How Do I See Jesus?"

Today’s gospel ends with this sentence, “And he kept trying to see him - namely, “Jesus.” [Cf. Luke 9:9]

The “he” is Herod.  Herod keeps wanting to see Jesus.

THE YEAR 85

One of the ways of reading the Gospel of Luke or any Gospel or any text  is to imagine the author - for example  Luke - aiming his messages at the people of his time - in the 70’s or 80’s - not the time he is writing about - which is Jesus’ time -  in the 30’s. 

Get that distinction?  He’s looking back from the 80’s as he is writing about the 30’s,  

I saw that date for when Luke wrote this text in  Ray Brown’s commentary on Luke - as well as 3 other reference books on Luke. It’s around 85 A.D. - give or take 10 years - as the commentaries put it.

NEXT STEP

Having read and heard today’s gospel  about Herod wanting to see Jesus - - I imagined Luke wanting the people he was writing for - to think about whether they wanted to see Jesus - and then how they saw Jesus.

So a question: How do I see Jesus - here in 2019

?

If I were an artist, how would I paint or sculpt him. What does his face look like.

What is my favorite Gospel text - that sums up Jesus for me? For example, “Come to me you who are heavily burdened and I will refresh you.” Or “I believe. Help my unbelief?” Or “Take and eat this is my body…. This is my blood.”

Or there are 4 gospels, which one is my favorite?  And what does that say about me?

If someone looked around my room or my prayer book, what images of Christ would they spot?

HEROD FINALLY GOT HIS WISH

In Luke 22: 8, Herod gets his wish. Luke writes, “Herod was delighted to see Jesus. He had heard about him and had been wanting for a long time to set eyes on him; moreover, he was hoping to see some miracle worked  by him.”

Jesus remained silent - not answering Herod’s questions - so Herod ends up being like the guards - who had Jesus in custody - laughing and making fun of Jesus.

That tells us that something.

Did Luke notice Christians in his local communities having a very superficial take on Jesus?

Thursday of last week, September 19^th, was the feast of San Genaro - St. Januarius.  I’m sure the cathedral in Naples was filled with folks wanting to see his blood bubble that day?  The sensational always has a grab. Who was in church the next day?

CONCLUSION

So this homily was just some thoughts and questions to get us looking at our relationship with Jesus-  looking back when we were young - and now when we are older - at Mass - when receiving Christ in communion - seeing Christ in each other - as well as the poor, the old, the week, and the bullied….