Homily for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 55:1-3

Romans 8:35, 37-39

Matthew 14:13-21

In today's Gospel we hear Matthew's account of Jesus' miraculous feeding of the 5000. One of the things that we know from the Gospel account is that Jesus actually was able to feed far more than 5,000 people that day, because Scripture tells us that there were five thousand men there, but they did not count women and children, and there were certainly women and children present, we can only guess at the actual number of people who were there that day and who were fed by this very important miraculous moment in the Life and Ministry of Our Lord.

Often, people will read the story of the feeding of the 5000 and see it as another manifestation of the Divinity of Christ, which it certainly is. While the Divinity of Christ is reiterated by yet another miracle, that is not the most important message of this event. The first message was one to the people who were present there, and one that speaks to us through time in the pages of Sacred Scripture, that this miracle of love for people who were not only physically hungry, but (far more importantly) they were spiritually hungry was a prefigurement of the Holy Eucharist, the feast of Thanksgiving where Christ provides for our spiritual needs by giving us himself.

The second message which Jesus is sending to us through time in the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 is a message that we need to hear today in a very special way, perhaps more than we have ever needed to hear it in our lifetimes, (certainly I have needed reminding of the other message of this miracle in my life). 

We are living in a time that can only be described as one of blinding uncertainty. A worldwide pandemic, brought on by a disease which the supposed "experts" cannot even agree on how best to treat or prevent. In the last six months we have seen our society grind to a halt, and even as we begin some semblance of reopening, nothing is normal. All we have to do is look around this church to see that. Many of our family members, friends, and neighbors have lost their jobs, and many more people are still unsure if they will have a way to provide for themselves in the near future. Even for those of us who have been relatively well provided for during this time in which we are living find that nothing is normal. We have to keep a distance from our neighbors, we have to wear masks to church, and we know that many people are afraid of whether or not they will catch the disease, and how it might affect their lives. 

In today's readings, however, the Lord is giving us a message of Hope. Yes, so many of us find ourselves in a situation that is so unclear, and for many it seems hopeless. Jesus was teaching and ministering to a huge throng of people, and the disciples didn't know what to do with them, they were ready to send them away because they knew they couldn't feed them. Jesus, however, had other ideas.

The solution of Jesus to the problem at hand was to do what only God can do, and Jesus is God… Our Lord provided for the obvious need of the people who were assembled there, even though doing so appeared impossible, but as Jesus himself said "with God all things are possible."

We are living in and through an extremely uncertain time, and many of us can honestly say that we do not know what tomorrow will bring. The Lord wants to remind us in all of the readings today that we can rely on him to provide what we need. Just when the situation may seem beyond our control, if we are truly willing to put our lives into the hands of God, he will provide for us, just in the way that Jesus provided for the 5000 and the women and children.

I do not recall a time in my lifetime when people were so fearful of their neighbors, or so afraid for themselves. In our country, we see great levels of civil unrest, and so much lawlessness now in many of our cities that it can rightly be called an uprising against legitimately constituted authority. Good people who are just trying to get on with their lives are afraid of what might happen to them, and many people are afraid of a virus with a 98% survival rate.

But Our Lord is showing us that he will provide for us. He will provide for us spiritually, and he will provide for our physical needs, but we have to believe in and trust in him. Just as he provided for the 5,000, he's ready to provide for us. He wants us to have faith that he can. Even now, he's reminding us, just as Saint John Paul II did, of what he told the disciples when they were in fear of their lives. "Be not afraid!"

About a year-and-a-half ago I recall that I joined Father Patrick up at Cor Jesu Monastery and assisted with Mass for the sisters. We deacons get used to doing things a certain way, and when preparing for the consecration I always pour roughly the same amount of wine in the chalice. On that particular day, Father had told me to fill the chalice up, since all of the sisters received from the one chalice, so what did I do when the time came to prepare for the consecration? I poured in my usual amount, and Father consecrated it. It was my mistake and I began to think we wouldn't have enough… yet miraculously not only did we have enough, all of the sisters partook of the chalice that day as they normally would. The Lord provided because the people had faith.

Jesus is ready and willing to provide for us and for our needs, if we are willing to submit totally to faith in Him. "All who are thirsty, come to the water," Isaiah says, "you have no money, come and receive grain and eat, without paying and without cost drink wine and milk!" The prophet asks, "why spend your money for what is not bread, or your wages for what fails to satisfy?" Jesus already gives us the very best because he gives us himself in the Eucharist. 

He wants to provide for our every need, all we have to do is to have faith that he can and understand that he knows what we need far better than we do.

Homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sirach 15:15-20
1 Corinthians 2:6-10
Matthew 5:17-37

In today's Gospel, Jesus proceeds to remind us of what can only be described in today's culture and society as the hard teachings or the hard sayings of our faith. Many of us can define what mortal sin is because we were taught it in school or in Catechism, but a great many people don't understand where the definitions actually come from. The reality is that much of the definition of what constitutes mortal sin for the Christian-for the practicing Catholic-comes from today's Gospel.

In the first reading from the book of Sirach, we are reminded that we can keep the Commandments. Even though we have all sinned, Scripture repeatedly reminds us that we have the capability to keep God's Commandments in our lives if we are open to the Graces that we need in order to do so. The Bible tells us that the commands of God are not grievous. (cf. 1 John 5:3) It is important to remember that God understands our human weaknesses, He understands that we sin, but that doesn't mean that He's okay with it.

Jesus tells those who are listening to Him, both in His own time, as well as us hearing him two thousand years later through the words of the text, that he did not come to abolish the law, he came to fulfill it. In the Gospel, he doesn't do away with the Commandments of God and tell us we no longer have to obey them, as even some preachers today falsely teach. Instead, Jesus sets an even higher standard for what it means to obey God than many of His listeners had ever heard before. He tells them whoever fails to obey these Commandments, even the least of them-and teaches others to do so-will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven, but the person will be called greatest who observes the Commandments of God and teaches others to do the same.

Our righteousness, says Jesus, has to surpass that of the Scribes and Pharisees. What does He mean by that? The Scribes and Pharisees had the outward appearance of being followers of the Lord. They not only obeyed the law of Moses, but they obeyed a strict rabbinic code that was designed to help them maintain outward legal purity. What this meant in reality was that many of the Pharisees were following the law of God in an outward way, but within their hearts they were anything but pure.

Jesus tells us that not only are we to avoid murder, but we are even to avoid anger with our brother-our neighbor. What Jesus means by this is that we cannot hang on to our anger or sore feelings, as scripture tells us, "do not let the sun go down on your wrath." if we do hang on to our anger, Jesus says that we are liable to judgment in just the same way as if we had killed that person. If we call a brother a fool, discounting their value as a human being, we are liable to the fires of Hell, Jesus says. Do we have something against another person, do we have something we need to settle? Jesus says we shouldn't offer sacrifice to God until we settle our issues with those around us. As far as practical application, that ideally means that we should settle our grudges and our issues with others before we come to the house of God for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

When Jesus reminds us of the command of God not to commit adultery, he doesn't simply restate the law, and he certainly doesn't do away with it, as some misguided people would have us believe. Instead, Jesus tells us that we are guilty of adultery if we so much as lust after another person. We are guilty if we dwell on the sinful thought, not merely if we commit the act itself. Jesus raises the bar to a level that many in our society today might say that they find difficult to live out. The temptation to the sins of the flesh are everywhere to be found in our culture today, and because of the internet they are so easily accessible, when for centuries they were hidden from the view of the wider society. Yet Jesus asks us to live a life of chastity according to our state in life.

Jesus' repeated command in the Gospels against divorce and remarriage have been virtually overlooked by the entire Protestant world, and many Catholics only come in contact with this vital teaching about sacramental Matrimony when they come to the Church seeking to be reconciled and petitioning for a declaration of nullity. (Mind you, in no way am I saying that someone shouldn't do that if they have been in an invalid marital situation-that's why we have the annulment process-but it is terribly sad that for many people, the Church's teaching on the nature of marriage is not something they have been taught or fully confronted for one reason or another until they come to the Church needing to have the sacramental validity of a previous marital situation clarified). Jesus raises the bar of Holy Matrimony, telling us that Matrimony- sacred marriage- is between one man and one woman for life. Civil divorce does not bring an end to the Sacrament of Matrimony, and the Church clearly teaches us that civil divorce should only be used as a last resort or when it is the only option (cf. CCC 2382-2386), never as a solution to the problems that most married people confront in married life.

Considering all that Jesus tells us in the Gospel that is expected of those who follow him, and understanding the way that Jesus asks us to live in the world, there are many people who don't even try, they simply don't think it's possible to live in the way that Jesus tells us in the Gospel that we must live. Many people, and indeed many ecclesial communities, will tell us that they are all about living out the compassion of Christ, but the moral standards that he asks of us are another matter. Many people have come to believe a false theology that says that they can be saved regardless of what they do or how they act because at one time they made a sincere commitment to Jesus Christ. Those good people have it wrong… it is precisely because we make a commitment to Jesus Christ that we are expected to live the way that he has told us he wants his followers to live.

It is easy for any other member of the clergy to share the message of today's Gospel. It is quite another thing to live that Gospel out. How can we be expected to live in this way that Jesus describes here, in today's society and culture? there is only one way, and that is to allow ourselves to be open to God's grace in our lives to give us the help we need to live the life that Christ expects of us. We can be open to God's Grace by going to regular confession, and confessing our sins, we can live a fully sacramental life, we can be open to God's Grace by praying for strength to overcome our weaknesses and sins.

If we truly want a relationship with Jesus Christ, that involves accepting his Lordship over all things, including our life, and that means praying daily for God to give you the Graces you need through the sacraments. God's commands are not grievous, and he gives us the means before our very eyes in the Sacraments.

If we want to be as holy as Christ wishes us to be, we need to begin living a sacramental life, a life of prayer according to our station in life. If we are open to God's mercy and to his Grace, if we are willing to receive the gifts that he has for us, he can give us the grace to live exactly how he expects all of us to live, and to obey the moral law that he set down for all of us.

If we are truly open to a relationship with Jesus Christ, he will give us the strength we need to live the Gospel each and every day, in every aspect of our lives, including the strength to keep His Commandments.