A CLOUD OF WITNESSES 

VS. THE CLING OF SIN

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “A Cloud of Witnesses VS.  The Cling of Sin.”

In today’s first reading from Hebrews we have a very interesting first sentence. It has this curious comment: “and sin that clings to us”.

I’ve preached on these readings for some 46 years now - so I want to be enriched by something that grabs or challenges me - that didn’t hit me before. That first sentence - rather long - is  just one verse: Hebrews - 12: 1. It grabbed me. Maybe it will grab you.

FIRST SENTENCE AGAIN

Let me read the first sentence again:

Brothers and sisters:
Since we are surrounded

by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us rid ourselves of every burden

and sin that clings to us
and persevere in running the race

that lies before us
while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the leader and perfecter of faith.

THE RACE

The author of Hebrews pictures life as a race - a run.

The author indicates a positive and then a negative.

A positive: keep your eyes on the great cloud of witnesses - around us - or above us - especially the Lord Jesus Christ.

The runner runs the race remembering that others - saints - good examples - have also run the race - and they made it. So keep moving

How many people have trained and run a 10 K race or a marathon - because someone else did it - and encouraged them to do it. “You can do it.” And as they run, when they run out of gas or have cramps or pains - or are tempted to quit,  hopefully they keep going because others have kept going. Keep picturing that cloud of witnesses.

So we have saints, parents, good people - good examples - who have done it - raised a family - kept the faith - and so we keep going.

For example, today we have the feast of St. Agatha - one of the 4 Early Church women saints we have for the cold months: Cecilia in November, Lucy in December, Agnes in January and Agatha here in February.

The first sentence also presents Jesus as part of the cloud of witnesses. It urges us to keep our eye on Jesus - to fix our eyes on Jesus to keep going like he did -  till we finish the race.

The Stations of the Cross in every Catholic Church are not just scenes from the end of Jesus’ life - but from our life as well - challenging us to make it our last station.

In today’s gospel we have scenes of 2 people who reached out to Jesus in their life. The woman with blood problems reached out to touch Jesus and be healed and helped. She is. And we have Jairus who comes to Jesus that he come and heal his daughter. Jesus does.

So the message is to keep our eye on Jesus and those other folks who have run this race before us. Those are the positive pushes for us to keep running the race.

Then there are the negatives:  the cling of sins that weigh us down -  that hold us back - the giving up - the negative voices - the lack of faith - the non reaching out to Jesus to keep going.

People often say, “I have the same old habits, the same old sins.” Don’t we all? The woman in today’s gospel has her problem for 12 years and in the gospel of John there’s the guy who was sick for 38 years.

CONCLUSION

So we have both those influences - the positive and the negative - the dynamic cloud of witnesses and  the cling of sin.

Message: The bottom line is this: it's in our power and with the grace of God to focus on the positive rather to let that static cling of sin - our past mistakes - or our present addictions to be our main drain.

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Picture on too:  Boston Marathon - found on line

FAITH - 

NOT CYNICISM AND FEAR 

Quote for Today - February 5, 2013


"It is cynicism and fear that freeze life; it is faith that thaws it out, releases it, sets it free."


Harry Emerson Fosdick [1878-1969]

HAVE FAITH

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 4^th Monday in Ordinary Time is, “Have Faith.”

This will be a simple, basic - a not too complicated homily - a message we need to hear on a regular basis - like, “Keep trying.” “Keep praying.” “Keep forgiving.” “Love one another.”

So a short homily on, “Have Faith.”

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading continues with the Letter to the  Hebrews. The author of Hebrews in chapter 11: 32-40 begins with a list of various people who did a lot by faith. They had to go through  a lot of struggle, pain, suffering, being tormented and hunted. Yet they kept going because they had faith.

So the obvious homily message: Have Faith.

It’s a theme all through the Letter to the Hebrews.

And I would add: if we read through the pages of our life, we’ll find that we have had faith all through our life. It has been a stream, a river, an ocean at times. Maybe there were periods of drought - but we came back to the faith - and kept going.

MY CLASSMATE LARRY

Every time I hear the word “faith” - it triggers something my classmate Larry said way back in 1966. I find it interesting on what we remember. We’ve had 100 or so good conversations through the years - but his comment on faith stands out.

We’re talking and he says, “Oh my God, I just realized that I just finished my first year of preaching and every sermon had the same message: “Have Faith!” Then he added the further comment: “I guess I was preaching to myself.”

I’m slower. I still don’t know in the year 2013 what the main theme that I preach is. Maybe I should ask others.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

We have to have faith to deal with our demons, our struggles, our chains.

We need to have faith to ask Jesus to enter into our life and not leave us. The man in the gospel knows who Jesus is. In fact, it seems to me that only when we know we need help - do we discover help is possible.

The man in the gospel who kept gashing and bashing himself with his sins - the rocks of his mistakes - moves from telling Jesus not to meddle with him - to ask Jesus to send his demons into the pigs and let them go jump in the lake.

Sickness and sin bring more people to God - than jogging, ham and cheese sandwiches, and ice cream cones.

CONCLUSION: FAITH IS A LEAP

The title of my homily is, “Have Faith.”

This mantra, this slogan, is good to bring to prayer - so that when we come to a crisis - we will ask Jesus for help - that we will have faith in that crisis.

There are many definitions of what faith is.

Faith to me - is a leap - when in a crisis - or at a crossroads.

The image I like best is to call faith a leap - a jump - over some dangerous obstacle that is before us.

We have all had the experience of coming to the end of a street. We’re standing there at the curb. When all is well, it’s easy - to look both ways and to step down and cross the street. But sometimes there is ice and slush - and then some black ice in the street at the corner curb. We want to jump, leap a bit over the snow and the ice - but we know it’s slippery. Will we make it? Will there be firm footing on the other side. And ooops, I forgot to mention it’s dark and we can’t see the other side.

But we have faith and we make the leap - trusting that God is there on the other side of our jump.

Understand that understanding of faith and you get Paul Tillich's description of God as the Ground of Our Being. Amen.

ON BEING APPRECIATED

Swedish

Quote for Today - February 4, 2013

"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated."

William James [1842-1910]

Questions:

Agree or disagree? If disagree, what would you pick as the deepest principle?

When was the last time you told another, "I really appreciate you!"?

When was the last times someone said to you, "I appreciate you!"?

If actions speak louder than words, how does one feel being appreciated in a non-verbal way?

Think of one person whom you appreciate. Now how could you express that appreciation in a non-verbal way? Cash or check? Smile.

IT’S EASIER TO SAY, 

“I LOVE YOU!” 

THAN TO LOVE YOU! 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time C is, “It’s Easier to Say, ‘I Love You!’ Than to Love You.”

As I thought about today’s readings - especially today’s famous reading from St. Paul - the one on love - love is this and this and it’s not this and not that - I said, “Do a homily on Love!”

MAYOR ED KOCH

You might have seen on the news or in the newspapers that the famous mayor of New York City just died. As I read the obituaries I noticed that the obit writers pointed out that he liked publicity. What I liked about him was his question: “How am I doing?”

I'm sure you've seen requests in restaurants - asking people to fill out a short questionnaire about the restaurant. They want feedback. “How was the food? How was the service? How clean were the bathrooms? How was the waiter and waitress?"

The Christian calling is to love and to serve one another.  How are we doing at that?

The Christian knows the great commandment: to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength - and the second commandment is similar: to love our neighbor as ourselves.[Cf. Luke 10:25-28]

How are we doing?

SECOND READING

Today’s second reading from First Corinthians - Chapter 13 - has St. Paul’s spelling out of what love is and what love is not.

How are we doing on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, with each of the following: patience, kindness, endurance, hope, and faith?  How am I avoiding on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest with what love is not: not being jealous, pompous, inflated, rude, not rejoicing when the other makes a mistake?

If you want a good night prayer or morning prayer on how to live each day, bookmark 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. In the morning it gives a plan on how to love that day - or at night before going to bed it's a good examination of consciousness about how well we loved that day. If married, what would it be like to read that text each night out loud and talk to each other about how well we did that day? Interesting!

Love: how am I doing?

"I love you!" Am I lip syncing that or am I really loving you?

The title of my homily once again: “It’s Easier to Say, ‘I Love You!’ Than to Love You.”

We hear today’s second reading at 7 out of 10 weddings. It tells me that the couple knows love is more than saying, “I love you!”

We’ve probably heard preachers at weddings say, “If people who said, ‘I do!’ did, then more marriages would work than they do.”

At the end of today’s second reading Paul talks about looking in a mirror. Those of you who use Microsoft on your computer know about Windows 6, 7, 8 or whatever they are up to by now.  I don’t know this for sure, but I suspect Paul is talking about Mirrors # 1 here - a primitive version of a mirror - whereas we have Mirrors # 11 by now.  How many times have we looked into the mirror after taking a shower and the glass is all steamed up? I would think that’s what Paul is talking about here. Foggy Mirrors are like Mirrors # 1 - whatever they made mirrors out of in the mid 50’s - when Paul wrote his letter.

Moreover, I would think First Corinthians Chapter 13 is a great mirror. 

Next, another observation: I would assume when we look into Paul’s words about what love is and love isn’t  when we’re 24 - it’s different than when we look at those same words at 44 or 64 or 74.  What are we looking at when we're looking at First Corinthians Chapter 13?  I would hope that how we see ourselves in those words has improved since the first time we read First Corinthians 13.

After a big football game the commentators sometimes say of the losing team - for example the 49ers -  that it looks like they didn’t bring their A Game to the game today.  Or so and so did or didn’t. Imagine if a group of commentators could look at our day and comment about what we brought to the game of life that day.

I was listening to some commentators talking about pro basketball the other night. Isaiah Thomas made several nuances: the difference between the playoffs and the regular season; the other team being a top team or a bottom team; and the schedule. A team might have played horrible that night, but maybe the fact that they just played the night before enters into the picture or why they lost - while the team that won had three days off since their last game.

When it comes to love - better when it comes to being patient, kind, and not being quick tempered - sometimes our schedule is jammed packed - or we just went through something big at work or where we have been - that might make our understanding of what happened to be seen in a different light. I assume love also means understanding - and forgiveness - and discovering communicating about circumstances.

So love is tricky. Love is tough stuff. Someone said, “Some folks we click with. Some folks we cross with. Love is manifested when we love those we cross with.”

JESUS

That quote brings us right into the wisdom of Jesus. When he challenged folks with the tough love - for example the patience called for putting up with PITA people, some people walked away. When Jesus said that love means going the extra mile - giving the shirt off our back for - laying down one’s life for others - his listeners found that stuff too tough. As we heard in today’s gospel, they wanted to escort him out of town and hurl his down a hill. By the end of the gospel, they are going to march him out of the city to kill him on the cross.

CONCLUSION - LOVE: 3 STEPS

As mentioned earlier, when talking about love,  the Gospels love to feature the two great commandments:to love God and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

That's 3 persons to love: God, Neighbor and Self.

In reality, I think we learn to work on these three in the opposite order.

Step One: is self - learning to love oneself. Look in the mirror as the famous poem, “The Man in the Mirror” puts it. Look oneself in the eye and ask: “How am I doing?” Do I like this person called “me”? We can look at the wrinkles or the fat - but we can also stay with the eyes. They don’t wrinkle or sag - but they can be the window into the within.

Look into one’s eyes or one’s I and ask, “How am I doing?”

How old was Jeremiah - the character in today’s first reading - how did it take him to come up with his attitude that God wants me - God knows me from those months I was in the dark in my mommy’s tummy - till today - for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer. God knows and loves me. How am I doing with that one?

Does the wanted baby know that better than the “Oh no Baby!”?

Does the unwanted little screaming baby in the night - know whether he or she is wanted and loved the way the light goes on at 2 AM and the way he or she is held and fed? Has a PITA at work or school or next door or at the relative at the family picnic ever changed because of our love for them? Do students know whether this teacher or this coach really respects and loves them?

Step Two and Step Three: At some point in life we have to move out of self and take step 2 and 3 towards others. Step 2 is loving the ones we see and Step  3 is loving God who is not seen.

Read the First Letter of John about all this. He said how can we say we love God whom we cannot see when we don’t love our neighbor whom we can see.

That’s it: How am I doing?

JEALOUSY AND ENVY

Quote for Today - February 3, 2013

"Jealousy is nothing more than poison envy."

Someone.....

It's a neat mixing of both these poisons. I like  the old distinction that envy deals with wanting others' stuff or people and jealousy deals with the fear or nervousness of others taking our stuff or people.

FEBRUARY 2^ND -

slideshowCANDLEMAS DAY

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “February 2^nd - Candlemas Day.”

February 2^nd is also the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple - the main name for this day - as we see in today’s readings.

It’s also the feast of the Purification of Mary in the Temple - 40 days after the birth of Christ.

February 2^nd is the mid point between the shortest day of the year, December 21^st and the first day of Spring - March 20^th this year - the Vernal Equinox. Remember last December 21^st, the Winter Solstice - when according to some,  the Mayan Calendar indicated that the world was going to end that day. 

We’re still here.

I like the tradition of Candlemas Day - where we bless the candles at a Mass. Notice the last three letters - "MAS" in that word. It's the same as the "MAS" at the end of the word, "Christmas." It’s a reference to the Mass. On this day in this church we bless the candles.

Hopefully we also hear the call to all of us to realize Christ is the light of the World [Gospel of John 9:5 ] - that Mary brought that light into our world - and all Christians are called to be light to our world [Matthew 5:14].

Catholics use candles. 

CANDLE BOY

When I was a kid in OLPH Church in Brooklyn, I landed the great job of Candle Boy. It meant I got paid $2.50 a week. We worked on Saturday afternoon, all Sunday morning and Wednesday afternoon  - Wednesday being  the big OLPH novena day. 

Later on I could joke, “Don’t work for the Church. They don’t pay well.”

However, for me it was a great job because I didn’t need working papers - or be 12 years old. That was the age I had to be to get my first paper route working for The Brooklyn Eagle.

As candle boy I noticed people coming into church and lighting a 10 cent candle - which I assumed used to be the penny candle. I'd see them kneel there and say a prayer. 

The idea was you couldn’t stay in church forever, so you lit a candle to take your place and let it burn out before an image of Mary or Jesus.

DARKNESS

The key message I assume is the light shines in the darkness and the darkness can’t put it out.

I noticed in some research last night that the idea of a feast of light in the winter goes way back in history and deep into our psyche and soul as well.  We saw all those lights and candles in our windows and on our lawns and in our homes at Christmas time.  How many times do we hear each winter in the afternoon, “Do you notice we’re getting more and more light in the afternoon. It’s not as dark at this time as it was a few weeks ago.”

So today - February 2^nd - is called Candlemas Day for a reason. I spotted the information that before electricity, in Scottish schools this is the day kids brought candles to school - to make sure there is more light till spring comes - especially on dark cloudy days.

I noticed a German tradition about the badger - which I assume is the roots of the 4^th feast we celebrate this day: Groundhog Day. I assume all those Germans who migrated and landed in Pennsylvania made the back home Badger Day in Germany  - Groundhog Day here in America. As you know Groundhog Day is about shadow and cold - light and darkness - winter and the hope for Spring.

I noticed the following German proverb on several web sites:

“The badger peeps out of his hole 
       on Candlemas Day,

and if he finds snow, he walks about;

but if he sees the sun is out,

he heads back into his hole.”

Notice the connection of Groundhog Day with Candlemas Day!

I loved the movie, “Groundhog Day” because the message is: Sometimes we have to do it over and over and over and over again till we get it right.

CONCLUSION

So today we hear about Jesus the Light of the World being presented in the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus is bringing light  to his Jewish roots. We also honor  Mary as the Pure One - who brought Jesus into our world - to bring warmth and light - to take away shadow and doubt - to burn away sin and impurities - so we can shine as we bring his fire to our world.