The
title of my homily for this 15th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is,
Genesis and Exodus.
For
the 1st Reading of these weekday Masses, we just finished three
weeks of readings from Genesis and now we have two and a half weeks from Exodus.
As
I have said a few times, in the last few years, for weekday homilies, I’m more
interested in the first reading than the gospel. I’ve been doing the gospel at
Mass for the first 40 or so years as priest - and the first reading screams
out, “What am I chopped liver?”
And
for folks who come to daily Mass, I
would assume that you would want to know more about the first reading - because
you’ve been hearing the gospel for 40 or so years as well.
So
the title of my thoughts for today is, “Genesis and Exodus.”
MORE INTERESTING
It
seems to me that most of Genesis and
the first 20 chapters of Exodus -
have the grab - have the interesting stuff.
Once
we get to chapter 20 of Exodus and
the receiving of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments - then the Bible can get
tough. It’s then we get into the Law. It’s then we hear long lists of rules and
regulations, etc. etc. etc. Then when we move further into the Pentateuch - that
is, the first 5 books of the Bible - most people get lost - scratch their head
or yawn.
So
Genesis and Exodus are the important books - and Exodus really only up to
Chapter 20.
Hope
that explains my rationale for today’s homily title and what I’m doing up here
in the pulpit.
A MAJOR DECISION
I
once went to 3 day workshop by Tom Berry - entitled “A New Creation Account.”
He spent much of his life putting that new account together.
He
took 3 days - a whole weekend - for him
to give us his rendition of the creation account.
It
was much longer than the first two creation accounts - as found in Genesis.
Obviously, we know a lot more today than people knew about creation in Biblical
times.
During
that workshop, that recital, of A New Creation Account, Father Tom Berry, a Passionist
priest said Judaism and then Christianity had a decision to make. Which do we stress more: creation or
redemption, Genesis or the Exit, the Exodus?
There
are Redemption and Sin situations in Genesis, but he was talking in broad
strokes. Genesis stresses creation;
Exodus stresses Redemption.
And
since I was a Redemptorist, Tom Berry said, “We have 2 Redemptorists here - and
that choice to stress redemption has affected their whole lives as preachers.”
As
far as I know there were no religious orders that stressed creation over
redemption. The only theologian that
stressed creation first would be Matthew Fox and Teilhard de Chardin - in a
way.
EXPLAINED IN ANOTHER
WAY - IN BROAD STROKES
Let
me explain what I’m trying to say as follows.
Genesis
sets the stage - gives us the whole world and all the players on the
stage.
If
we’re at a play, we see the curtain open and we see on stage where the play is
going to take place.
Then
as the play goes on, a problem happens. Someone is stuck.
Exodus
deals with the problems.
In
Exodus, the big problem as we heard in yesterday and today’s first reading from
Exodus, is the Hebrews have fallen out of favor.
The
Egyptians are the bad guys. They enslave the Israelites. They want all the sons
thrown in the river.
We
know the plot. We’ve seen it in a thousand movies and TV programs.
We
know the solution: a hero is needed to save the people.
In
the Jewish Bible, that hero is going to
be Moses.
In
the Christian scriptures, that hero is Christ the New Moses.
We
heard the first sound out of Moses mouth in today’s first reading, “the baby
cries.”
We
saw the first action from Moses hand in today’s first reading, Moses kills the
Egyptian who is hitting the Hebrew.
There
are the two jobs of a prophet: they scream and they save.
I
suspect - but I’m biased - that’s where the action is - redemption.
Help!
Save me! Redeem me.
It’s
when we need to be saved, or to save another, that is key. Flowers are nice,
but when we see someone who needs help and we help and save another, we’re not going
to stop to smell the flowers.
Now
that dynamic happens in Genesis - in smaller ways, but it’s here in Exodus when
the need for redemption happens big time.
Jesus
saw both - but salvation happens big time with Christ.
Jesus
told us to spot the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, but we can
relate more to stories about 2 sisters -
one of whom is complaining because her sister is sticking her with all the
work. A father has 2 sons, one leaves home - hits bottom, messes up - but comes
home for redemption. He’s forgiven, saved, redeemed. Then we hear about the older brother who won’t forgive his
brother who has returned. He is mad that his father forgave his brother. Who’s
in need of redemption now?
in
the gospels, we hear about bread and fish, mountains and the Lake of Galilee,
but the real stories happen when we hear that Judas betrays Jesus. Peter denies
Jesus. Sheep and coin people get lost. People want to throw rocks at a woman
who got caught committing adultery.
There
it is the same plot as in Exodus.
In
Exodus is people are in trouble. Moses gets them to escape. Then they complain
as they make their exodus down the road to safety. Then there is a whole series
of complaints in the desert - and it takes them 40 years to get out of there to
safety.
CONCLUSION
So
it’s nice to have a nice house and a nice garden, to be creative like God - but
where we spend lots of energy with God is with family problems - and world
issues.
People
come to St. Mary’s and say, “How beautiful this Gothic Church is - but they
really come to St. Mary’s or any church when their spouse has cancer or their
daughter is having a tough pregnancy - or when a grandson is on drugs and they
need an exodus, an exit, out of their addiction.
July 18, 2017
COMPASSION
Want to pray for something?
Pray for compassion. See
all those crosses on walls
and around necks? Good!
Now, more importantly, see
all those people carrying
their cross on their way
to their Calvary. Be with
them and let them be with
you as we all move, fall,
move, fall, move, fall and
then die with each other - then rise with each other, please God, Amen!
The
title of my homily for this 15th Monday in Ordinary Time is, “A New
King … Came To Power.”
I
love the opening sentence in today’s first reading, “A new king, who knew
nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt.” [Exodus 1:8]
I
have read the Koran 2 times and it doesn’t have too many sentences like the
truth told in today’s first reading from the Book of Exodus.
I’m
not going to argue with Muslims over the Koran vs. the Bible.
Yet,
underneath everything, I see here the beauty of the Judeo-Christian tradition -
because it often connects us with real life situations - many, many times.
But
that doesn’t mean that some Bible texts are not head scratchers - with obtuse
words and ideas that mean nothing to us. I’m always looking for words and
images that connect us with everyday reality.
SIMILAR SITUATIONS
The
title of my homily is, “A New King … Came To Power.”
A
new pastor comes to the parish…. a new pope …. a new parent …. a new boss …. a
new boy friend…. a new girl friend …. a new neighbor ….
These
are experiences we all know about…..
We
know about situations like these: someone builds up a reputation …. someone
builds up their kingdom …. someone is king of the hill …. someone is queen of
the coffee break …. someone has a great reputation in a given situation - but
surprise - everything changes with a new mayor, president, boss, whoever.
People
die. People retire. People divorce. People move. People get better offers.
People are fired. As a result we get new
people in charge - like the new king of pharaoh coming to power in Egypt.
BOOK OF EXODUS
Here
in the Book of Exodus, Joseph is no longer remembered. The Israelites are no
longer the chosen people - among the Egyptians.
In
fact, they become the disposable people.
It’s
a new time - it’s a new story - it’s time for a new beginning - and sometimes
when this happens - things become difficult for incumbents or people who had it
good for a while.
THOUGHTS
Okay,
that’s clear - things changing when there is a new boss.
But
what to say next, not that clear - other than knowing one has to readjust.
A
priest -the boss in my second assignment, Father Joe McManus, taught me when you get to a new place, a new
assignment, keep your mouth shut for 365 days at least.
It
took me years in one assignment to get what I wanted. Then I got put in another
retreat house. Ugh, I was back to a similar situation I was in 7 years earlier. I didn’t want to go backwards -
but I did and followed Joe McManus’ rule -
wait a year.
I’ve
seen 3 pastors now at St. Mary's: Denis Sweeney, Jack Kingsbury and John Tizio. Each has been different from each other.
I
heard someone describing what a new bishop in another diocese is going through
right now: obstructionism…..
I
read that some folks in Rome are not too happy with the pastoral attitudes of
Pope Francis.
I
often hear about how kids have struggles after a divorce and a re-marrriage -
and kids have to deal with a step-mom or dad.
SOLUTIONS
I
don’t know what the solution is.
Maybe
the solution is the wait and see principle.
Maybe
the solution is to simply say, “We’ll we’re in a new book: My Exodus.”
Maybe
there is a promised land - out there.
However,
I love the description of the Promise of a land of Milk and Honey. I didn’t see
too many cows and bees in Israel.
