WHO IS THE LEASTEST 

IN THE KINGDOM OF EARTH

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 19^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Who Is The Leastest in the Kingdom of Earth?”

I’m contrasting that title with the question which appears in the opening sentence of today’s gospel, “The disciples approached Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?’” [Cf. Matthew 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14]  

Who is the least in the Kingdom of Earth? Who is considered to be on the bottom the ladder?

Is it a family or someone  living under the bridge on Rowe Blvd? Is the people sitting forever on that black bench on the edge of West Street and Church Circle? Is that guy in dirty jeans and beard and fading brown T-shirt who walks all over Annapolis every day?

And looking at our world, whom do we consider the least? Is it the person we devalue in our mind the most? Is it the person with different religious or political or social values than us?

WHO IS THE GREATEST?

We can also get at all this by looking at the top of the ladder? Whom do we think is the greatest?

I understand that people hid out in the confessionals when Pat Sajak of Wheel of Fortune fame was married here. If 4 Orioles or Nationals or Redskins or Ravens players were in a restaurant which we were in, would we sense that they are more important than the  Hispanic bus boy or the 66 year old waitress.  Of course to be honest, if they were Giants, I’d look up to them.

Who are the top people in our estimation? How do we calculate? By age or car or cash or job or title or looks or clothes?

TODAY’S GOSPEL

We heard in today’s gospel how Jesus called a child over and placed him or her in their midst. That’s how he answered his disciples question, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

Become humble like a little child. Welcome little children in your midst and you’ll discover the kingdom - as well as the meaning of life.

Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh in their Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels present  a picture of how people saw children in the time of Jesus. The authors say we see these cute little children standing in front of Jesus with great smiles and sweet disposition. They report that in Jesus’ time children were seen as the “weakest and most vulnerable members of society. Infant mortality rates sometimes reached 30 percent. Another 30 percent of live births were dead by age six, and 60 percent were gone by age sixteen.”  They go on, “Recent estimates are that in excess of 70 percent  would have lost one or both parents before reaching puberty.” Then they close that comment by saying, “It is no wonder that antiquity glorified youth and venerated old age.” [p. 117]  Keep that in mind on why in the first reading -  we have that folk law legend of Moses living till at least 120. [Cf. Deuteronomy 32: 3-4ab, 7, 8, 9, and 12]

So in ancient times there was a lot of sickness and coughing and widows and orphans in each neighborhood - and lots of funerals. And families often had to live together in the same house - because of the horrors of sickness and death - so people didn’t seem that great - especially the feeling of being dragged down by all kinds of sick kids or kids without parents.

So for Jesus to put a little kid like that on a pedestal - that was a bold statement - and then he adds shepherds - stinky, smelly shepherds who slept in the fields - and were rarely home - are people to be honored.  Don’t you love it that Pope Francis is telling bishops to driver simpler cars and smell like shepherds.

CONCLUSION

St. Mary’s has chosen as it’s theme for this year: “Every person matters.” There’s the gospel message in miniature. That’s evangelization. Let’s not complicate it with thousands of words. There’s the secret of life: See and treat every person. little, old, stinky or perfumed - as the greatest - that they matter to you.

Then feel what’s happening to the lines and wrinkles on your face and on the skin of your soul.

HOW MUCH

Quote for Today - August 13, 2013

"People don't care how much we know until they know how much we care."

Anonymous

HOOKS! 

THE HOOKS 
OF SCRIPTURE 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 19^th Monday in Ordinary Time  is, “Hooks! The Hooks of Scripture.”

Any  of us who have ever “Gone Fishing!” know what a fish hook looks like. You put a worm or a fly or some fish on it - and you drop it into the water below with the hope that fish will bite.

Everyone knows the metaphor: being hooked.

We’ve all said about someone or something, “I’m hooked.”

As in “Hooked on phonics!”  As in “Hooked on chocolate!”

Or as Claudio says to Leonato - so only he can hear - in Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing, “Bait the hook well: this fish will bite.” Act 2, Scene 3.

The title of my homily is, “Hooks: The Hooks of Scripture.”

WHEN IT COMES TO THE BIBLE, EVERYONE HAS A FAVORITE BOOK AND A FAVORITE TEXT

By now - especially if you come to weekday Mass, everyone has their favorite book in the Bible and their favorite text in the Bible. 

I hope you do - if you don’t - I hope that comment  - especially the word “everyone” - hooked you to sit down and come up with your favorite book and favorite text.

Have you ever read the Letter to James or Isaiah  or some other book in the library of the Bible and said, “I’m hooked.”   A text grabs you. A whole book grabs you. We’re hooked. We want more!

TODAY’S READINGS

I got this thought about being hooked when reading today’s gospel - Matthew 17: 22-27 - when Jesus tells his disciples to go fishing. Jesus says,

“… go to the sea, drop in a hook,
and take the first fish that comes up.
Open its mouth

and you will find a coin worth twice 
the temple tax.
Give that to them for me and for you.”

I always found that a fascinating text and story. It hooks me. It tells me that Jesus knows how to fish. It also tells me that he knows about temple taxes - and census taxes - and people were taxed big time in his time. So what else is new?

In my 48 years of being a priest I discovered that the Bible readings for Mass are a whole fishing box of hooks. To come up with a homily I read the readings - and see what hooks me. I also know that there’s a dilemma here. I realize that a lot of other people are reading and hearing the same words and something else hooks them - and they are being dragged down river by that hook and I’m off on something else - so they are disappointed because I’m not dealing with what hooked them and what I’m talking about didn’t hook them.  Reality.

Solution. Get a Good Bible - read at will. Get hooked. Have a Bible commentary and look up more info on what hooked you. Or simply type it into Google and see where that takes you. Fascinating. Go fishing. Compose your own homily. Preach to yourself.

Or you can take the whole Gospel  text for the Day and say, “Now what does this text tell me?” Then jot down 1 liners. Today’s gospel tells me about taxes - religious and civil. Today’s gospel tells us that Jesus told his disciples long before it happened that he was heading for Jerusalem to face his destiny - and they had became terrified when they heard him say he would be handed over and killed.  

Or today’s first reading - Deuteronomy  10: 12-22 - has a shining hook. Moses is quoted as saying, “Befriend the alien.” What a sneaky hook. Imagine someone who is screaming about illegal aliens and they read that. And they say, “Oops!” Then they hear Moses say, “for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.” Ooops. Imagine someone who is screaming about illegal aliens and they forget their parents or grand parents were from “the other shore” and they made it big in America.

Imagine if that hooked them big time and they backtracked to the sentence before that and they read,

            “For the LORD, your God, 
             is the God of gods,
             the LORD of lords, 
             the great God, 
             mighty and awesome,
             who has no favorites, 
             accepts no bribes;
             who executes justice 
             for the orphan and the widow,
             and befriends the alien, 
             feeding and clothing him.”

That hooks them and the reader starts thinking, “Oh my God, everyone complains about the aliens and those who were without - those who are looking for food and clothing. All the world - in every place - must complain about the stuck and the stranger - the poor and the alien. Why can’t they get a job? Why didn’t they stay where they come from?”*

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “Hooked! The Hooks of Scripture.”

Be careful of what you read and what you hear. It can be addictive. It can hook you. It can hurt.



* For the sake of transparency my mom and dad came from a foreign country (Ireland) and besides English spoke a foreign language. 

FRIENDS

Quote for Today - August 12, 2013

"I get by with a little help from my friends."

Beatles song, "A Little Help from My Friends" [1967]

Question: 

Name 3 friends and spell out in words - in particulars -  how they have helped you?

MODELS:

THE 3 STEPS IN 

HOW WE LEARN

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C -  is, “Models: The 3 Steps in How We Learn.”

Today’s second reading from The Letter to the Hebrews talks about Abraham being a model of faith.

Today’s gospel talks about how to be a good disciple of Jesus. How?  Be a model servant.

So this sermon is about modeling. It’s one of the key ways we learn.

People - especially parents - spend gazillions of dollars on education. Maybe it’s wise to look at the most fundamental method of learning: we learn by models. We learn by example. We absorb what we see and hear and notice happening all around us.

After finishing this sermon I said to myself, “Da! No kidding.” I also said this sermon is too simple. However, I don’t and won’t  know about you, but in writing this homily, it helped me clarify  - to put into words - the obvious for myself.

THREE  STEPS

Learning has 3 steps: Awareness, Decision, Practice:  A D P

For children that second step - Decision - is a tricky one.  The decision might be made for them. They might not be given a choice. This is how you hold a spoon to eat your cereal. This is what you do with your toys. You put them back in the toy box. You don’t hit your sister on the way into the restaurant. You hold the door for us older people. We go to church on Sunday as a family.

Many times, we are not aware that this world we're in is a classroom. Every day is a learning experience. Every day we're picking up things. So children in Vietnam learn to speak Vietnamese - just by being there.

Kids and adults around the world without thinking start singing some sort of “Happy Birthday,”  if someone else starts signing it - after announcing it’s so and so’s birthday.

Awareness - Decision - Practice - A D P - 3 steps.

1) BECOMING AWARE OF WHAT WE ARE BECOMING AWARE OF

It ‘s good to become aware of what we are becoming aware of.

The little kid becomes aware of the other little kid with an ice cream cone - and says, “Mom, dad, can we get ice cream?”

Awareness.

Advertising is all about making people aware of Levi jeans and Taco Bell and Dodge Trucks.

People are dressing for success and notice and awareness every day of their lives. “Hey! Look at me!”

People are meeting at conference tables every work day - on how to make people aware of their products.  Marketing is major!

We try to market ourselves and our interests and our will - what we want -  every day of our lives as well.

It’s good to be aware of the signals we're getting and the signals we are giving off.

It’s not good to be blind.

It’s not good to go through life sleep-walking.

2) DECISION

At some point in life - it’s good to step back - and make some key decisions.

Who’s pushing my buttons?

Do I really want what I’m about to put into practice?

Do I really want to eat all these French fries?

Do I really want to watch this TV program with all these commercials?

The remote has a mute, off-on, and channel switching buttons.

What are my options? What are my choices? How free am I?

What are my commitments? What are my responsibilities? What have I already agreed upon. Can we renegotiate.

3) PRACTICE

Am I practicing what I preach?

Am I all talk - and I’m actually contradicting myself with the practical ways I live my life?

Oh that’s what a hypocrite is? It’s a phony? It’s living a lie.

It’s easy to talk the talk. It’s difficult to walk the walk.

This third step: the practice - is worth looking at.

St. Paul is the one who brought up the question: why do I tell myself I’m going to do this and I go out and do the opposite every time? Lord, why do I do that?

People addicted to food and porn and booze and pills - have ever been thankful that even a Saint knew this about being a human being. We can be a bundle of contradictions.

Wisdom figures - those with Ph. D.s and those with burns and cuts on their hands from work in the kitchen or the factory - have always said: “The proof is in the pudding.”

Well married spouses have always related to the song line, “Don’t talk about love, show me!”

How many people have taken up the trombone or tuba or piano or step master or jogging or walking - and lasted two weeks with their resolution?

Everyone over 40 gets the old story and old  saying: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Answer: Practice! Practice!  Practice!”

So practice - the 3^rd step in the learning process is the proof we’ve somewhat figured out numbers 1 and 2, the awareness and then the decision.

TODAY’S READINGS

So today’s 3 readings follow these three steps. They  try to make folks aware of certain things - then choose from our consideration of what we’ve become aware and then to put into practice - what we have become aware of and what we have chosen.

So the Jews - as we heard in today’s first reading - are told about the Passover - how their ancestors knew about the covenant and the oaths included in it - and how things fell apart and they were punished when they failed to choose it and put it into practice -  and blessed when they did.

In the Second Reading Abraham is placed on a pedestal - and we’re told about his faith - to be aware of this man’s faith - and how we chose God each time and put into practice his faith.

In today’s gospel we are made aware of  how to be a good disciple of Jesus. Don’t be afraid. Give alms. The real treasures are in heaven.  Be ready to meet the Lord whenever he comes. And not to be a sleepy, lazy - bullying or obnoxious servant.

CONCLUSION

In this homily I’ve tried to outline the 3 steps in the learning process:

                          Awareness, 
                          Decision 
                          and then Practice. 

A D P - Life is an All Day Practice.

The obvious deeper message is this: we are called to be models - examples. Then when people see us - without knowing it - they imitate us and we imitate them.

The obvious practical message is: we impact each other by the smile on our face, the kind word, the forgiveness we give to those who blew it, the admitting when we make a mistake, the courtesy we give in the parking lot after this mass, and wait, before we get there: the by just being here for Mass together we are saying a lot to each other. Amen. 

RELIGION

Quote for Today - August 11, 2013

"I do occasionally envy the person who is religious naturally, without being brainwashed into it or suckered into by all the organized hustles. Just like having an ear for music or something. It would just never occur to such a person for a second that the world isn't about something."

Woody Allen, Rolling Stone, 1987

Question: What is that something for you?

MUSIC  THERAPY

Quote for Today - August 10, 2013

"Truly there would be reason to go mad were it not for music."

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky [1840-1893]