2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3
Psalm 119.33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40 Resp. 33a
Matthew 7.15-20
After many kings who did evil, King Josiah began the work of restoring the temple. When the book of the Law was found during the restoration, he wept and committed himself fully to the Law. He had it read to the people so that they too could follow the Law. King Josiah begins anew the covenant between Israel and the Lord. He rids Israel of the pagan religions and celebrates the Passover of the Lord, that great feast which had not been celebrated for hundreds of years.
So what happened to the great King Josiah, who “turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might”? He died. He was killed in battle by the Pharaoh of Egypt who took over the country until the Babylonians arrived a decade later. And the sons of Josiah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Josiah never really had a chance to make his reforms stick. Too much evil had been done in Judah by the previous generations, and it is not so easy to undo centuries of evil with one good king.
So also in our spiritual lives. One good intention is not enough to undo a lifetime of sin. One good retreat or one good prayer will not change us. Our willingness to sin has made us weak. We confess our sins, but then we return to them. It is not possible to give in to temptation a thousand times and then simply decide to stop sinning, not without grace. God can accomplish anything in us, if we allow him, but allowing him may be dangerous. To purify the Israelites, God sent them into exile for 70 years. Who knows how God will purify us! It probably will not be pleasant or easy. Perhaps we are afraid of life without sin, or of the suffering that will free us from our sins. We would so like to start over fresh, as if none of the past had ever happened, but we cannot, because it did. God forgives our sins, but in order to free us from them, there must be fire, either in this life or the next. If we truly want to be free, we will embrace the fire in this life and allow it to burn away the attachments we have formed. And we can make this fire burn hotter now by fasting and penance, if we wish.
Daily Homilies
Showing posts with label Repentance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Repentance. Show all posts
March 12, 2014 - Wednesday of the First Week of Lent
Jonah 3:1-10
Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19
Luke 11:29-32
No one is beyond the forgiveness of God: not the people of Nineveh who, 3000 years later are still remembered as being particularly cruel, nor King David who killed a trusted soldier in order to cover up the affair with his wife. God will not spurn a humble, contrite heart. There is no sin which God will not forgive. The sins we have committed are not preventing us from being saved, but our defense of sin is. God wants to forgive us, but we hide our sins. No one can hide their sins except from themself. All our sins are being done in full sight of heaven and hell. God wants to forgive us, but we have excuses for why we committed the sin. God wants to forgive us, but we say that what we did is not a sin. God wants to forgive us, but we would rather pretend that we do not need forgiveness.
God is infinitely good. The smallest sin we ever committed is, therefore, an infinite offense. If we understood the enormity of God’s love for us, we would understand why there can never be a small sin. No matter what we have done, whether or not we would be judged by the world as very bad people, we need hearts contrite and humbled.
How will our hardened hearts become contrite, humble hearts? Only God’s grace can do this, but we accept this grace when we repent. Repenting means confessing our sin and committing to never do it again. We are in constant need of repentance because we are constantly failing. We must repent today and every day until we die. The alternative is to accept sin into our life, to stop fighting against evil, to compromise our soul; the alternative is a heart impenitent and proud.
Heaven is full of prostitutes and murderers and drug dealers and thieves and adulterers; the saints, with only one exception, were all sinners with contrite, humble hearts. When we are before the judgment seat of God, we will not need to defend our sins. Indeed, we must not try to defend the indefensible. It will not matter on that day how many sins we committed or what they were. Only our accuser will be concerned with that. It will only matter whether we repented of all of them. We are guilty; our only hope is forgiveness.
Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19
Luke 11:29-32
No one is beyond the forgiveness of God: not the people of Nineveh who, 3000 years later are still remembered as being particularly cruel, nor King David who killed a trusted soldier in order to cover up the affair with his wife. God will not spurn a humble, contrite heart. There is no sin which God will not forgive. The sins we have committed are not preventing us from being saved, but our defense of sin is. God wants to forgive us, but we hide our sins. No one can hide their sins except from themself. All our sins are being done in full sight of heaven and hell. God wants to forgive us, but we have excuses for why we committed the sin. God wants to forgive us, but we say that what we did is not a sin. God wants to forgive us, but we would rather pretend that we do not need forgiveness.
God is infinitely good. The smallest sin we ever committed is, therefore, an infinite offense. If we understood the enormity of God’s love for us, we would understand why there can never be a small sin. No matter what we have done, whether or not we would be judged by the world as very bad people, we need hearts contrite and humbled.
How will our hardened hearts become contrite, humble hearts? Only God’s grace can do this, but we accept this grace when we repent. Repenting means confessing our sin and committing to never do it again. We are in constant need of repentance because we are constantly failing. We must repent today and every day until we die. The alternative is to accept sin into our life, to stop fighting against evil, to compromise our soul; the alternative is a heart impenitent and proud.
Heaven is full of prostitutes and murderers and drug dealers and thieves and adulterers; the saints, with only one exception, were all sinners with contrite, humble hearts. When we are before the judgment seat of God, we will not need to defend our sins. Indeed, we must not try to defend the indefensible. It will not matter on that day how many sins we committed or what they were. Only our accuser will be concerned with that. It will only matter whether we repented of all of them. We are guilty; our only hope is forgiveness.
January 27, 2014 - Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
2 Samuel 5:1-7, 10
Psalm 89:20-22, 25-26
Mark 3:22-30
What a frightening statement Jesus makes today! No forgiveness for eternity, if we blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Some people have taken this literally and feared that they have committed this unforgivable sin. They have come to believe that, no matter how sorry they are, God will not save them. This is not true. There is no sin which we cannot repent of. Indeed, the unforgivable sin is failing to repent.
What does it mean to blaspheme? It means to speak with contempt about holy things. Someone who has contempt for the Holy Spirit cannot be healed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is offering freedom from evil spirits, but the scribes accuse him of offering this freedom under false pretense. What if one of those scribes were possessed by an evil spirit? Would he let Jesus free him by the power of the prince of demons? Probably not. So he would be forever bound.
It is like someone who has been poisoned and needs an immediate antidote. The one mistake which they must not make is to despise the antidote. If is sick and needs to start eating a healthy diet, the one mistake which they must not make is despising the advice of their doctor. They can call their doctor a mean old man, so long as they eat their vegetables.
When Jesus is talking about forgiveness, he is referring to the path of forgiveness. Anyone who starts down the path of forgiveness can be cured of all their sins, but if their sin is to refuse to make the journey of repentance, they necessarily remain forever in their sins. How could Jesus forgive the sin of despising forgiveness?
Which, then, merely leaves the question, why did Jesus call it “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” rather than “blaspheming forgiveness”? If he had said “blaspheming forgiveness”, we would understand right away, but because he said, “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” some people believe that because they once said something bad about the Holy Spirit they cannot be saved. Perhaps it was because the scribes would in principle believe in forgiveness, but they rejected the means of forgiveness.
If a person, in principle, believes that oxygen is necessary for life, but rejects breathing, they will die. It is necessary not only to accept forgiveness, but to accept forgiveness as it actually can be had. If a person believes in forgiveness but will not go to a priest and confess their sins and be forgiven by the power of the Holy Spirit, what good does that do them?
Psalm 89:20-22, 25-26
Mark 3:22-30
What a frightening statement Jesus makes today! No forgiveness for eternity, if we blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Some people have taken this literally and feared that they have committed this unforgivable sin. They have come to believe that, no matter how sorry they are, God will not save them. This is not true. There is no sin which we cannot repent of. Indeed, the unforgivable sin is failing to repent.
What does it mean to blaspheme? It means to speak with contempt about holy things. Someone who has contempt for the Holy Spirit cannot be healed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is offering freedom from evil spirits, but the scribes accuse him of offering this freedom under false pretense. What if one of those scribes were possessed by an evil spirit? Would he let Jesus free him by the power of the prince of demons? Probably not. So he would be forever bound.
It is like someone who has been poisoned and needs an immediate antidote. The one mistake which they must not make is to despise the antidote. If is sick and needs to start eating a healthy diet, the one mistake which they must not make is despising the advice of their doctor. They can call their doctor a mean old man, so long as they eat their vegetables.
When Jesus is talking about forgiveness, he is referring to the path of forgiveness. Anyone who starts down the path of forgiveness can be cured of all their sins, but if their sin is to refuse to make the journey of repentance, they necessarily remain forever in their sins. How could Jesus forgive the sin of despising forgiveness?
Which, then, merely leaves the question, why did Jesus call it “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” rather than “blaspheming forgiveness”? If he had said “blaspheming forgiveness”, we would understand right away, but because he said, “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” some people believe that because they once said something bad about the Holy Spirit they cannot be saved. Perhaps it was because the scribes would in principle believe in forgiveness, but they rejected the means of forgiveness.
If a person, in principle, believes that oxygen is necessary for life, but rejects breathing, they will die. It is necessary not only to accept forgiveness, but to accept forgiveness as it actually can be had. If a person believes in forgiveness but will not go to a priest and confess their sins and be forgiven by the power of the Holy Spirit, what good does that do them?
January 13, 2014 - Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
1 Samuel 1:1-8
Psalm 116:12-19
Mark 1:14-20
Today Jesus says four things to the people. 1) The time is fulfilled. 2)The Kingdom of God is at hand. 3) Repent and 4) Believe in the Gospel. This is his initial proclamation. Should we walk around shouting out these four things downtown? I do not think we will make any converts. If we say that the time is fulfilled, and we mean is that Jesus has come for the first time, people will say, "I have heard that already.” If we say, "The Kingdom of God is at hand", people will respond, "Oh yeah? Well where is it?" If we say, "Repent", they will say, "Stop judging me!" or if we do a better translation and say, "Change your mind!", they will ask for proof that they should. Then when we finally say, "Believe in the Gospel!", they will laugh and say "Oh, is that all? You are just one of those. Leave me alone."
Jesus had a difficult audience too. The people whom Jesus was preaching to were weary of so-called Messiahs; they had been promised salvation by many different people who had all failed. The difference here was the preacher: he said, “The Kingdom of God is at hand” and there he was: the king. He lived the Gospel. He was the Gospel. The Christian Gospel does not fall on deaf ears when it is preached by a saint, but it seems mediocre when preached by someone who ignores it.
When we say that the world is completely different because of Christianity, but then we live like everyone else, they know that we do not really believe what we preach. When we say that “the time is fulfilled” but then waste this fulfilled time in the pleasures of the world, they know that we do not really believe that our message is urgent. When we say to them, “Repent; change your mind” but continue in our sins and selfishness and in our pride refuse to change ours, they know we do not mean it, not really.
Before we worry about whether we can get them to hear these words, can I get you to hear them? Can I get me to hear them? The world does not believe because we do not believe, because, if we did believe, we would live as if it were true. The message of the Gospel is very powerful, but only where there is any evidence that it actually makes a difference.
Psalm 116:12-19
Mark 1:14-20
Today Jesus says four things to the people. 1) The time is fulfilled. 2)The Kingdom of God is at hand. 3) Repent and 4) Believe in the Gospel. This is his initial proclamation. Should we walk around shouting out these four things downtown? I do not think we will make any converts. If we say that the time is fulfilled, and we mean is that Jesus has come for the first time, people will say, "I have heard that already.” If we say, "The Kingdom of God is at hand", people will respond, "Oh yeah? Well where is it?" If we say, "Repent", they will say, "Stop judging me!" or if we do a better translation and say, "Change your mind!", they will ask for proof that they should. Then when we finally say, "Believe in the Gospel!", they will laugh and say "Oh, is that all? You are just one of those. Leave me alone."
Jesus had a difficult audience too. The people whom Jesus was preaching to were weary of so-called Messiahs; they had been promised salvation by many different people who had all failed. The difference here was the preacher: he said, “The Kingdom of God is at hand” and there he was: the king. He lived the Gospel. He was the Gospel. The Christian Gospel does not fall on deaf ears when it is preached by a saint, but it seems mediocre when preached by someone who ignores it.
When we say that the world is completely different because of Christianity, but then we live like everyone else, they know that we do not really believe what we preach. When we say that “the time is fulfilled” but then waste this fulfilled time in the pleasures of the world, they know that we do not really believe that our message is urgent. When we say to them, “Repent; change your mind” but continue in our sins and selfishness and in our pride refuse to change ours, they know we do not mean it, not really.
Before we worry about whether we can get them to hear these words, can I get you to hear them? Can I get me to hear them? The world does not believe because we do not believe, because, if we did believe, we would live as if it were true. The message of the Gospel is very powerful, but only where there is any evidence that it actually makes a difference.
February 20, 2013 - Wednesday of the First Week of Lent
Jonah 3:1-10
Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19
Luke 11:29-32
No one is beyond the forgiveness of God: not the people of Nineveh who, 3000 years later are still remembered as being particularly cruel, nor King David who killed a trusted soldier in order to cover up the affair with his wife. God will not spurn a humble, contrite heart. There is no sin which God will not forgive. The sins we have committed are not preventing us from being saved, but our defense of sin is. God wants to forgive us, but we hide our sins. No one can hide their sins except from themself. All our sins are being done in full sight of heaven and hell. God wants to forgive us, but we have excuses for why we committed the sin. God wants to forgive us, but we say that what we did is not a sin. God wants to forgive us, but we would rather pretend that we do not need forgiveness.
God is infinitely good. The smallest sin we ever committed is, therefore, an infinite offense. If we understood the enormity of God’s love for us, we would understand why there can never be a small sin. No matter what we have done, whether or not we would be judged by the world as very bad people, we need hearts contrite and humbled.
How will our hardened hearts become contrite, humble hearts? Only God’s grace can do this, but we accept this grace when we repent. Repenting means confessing our sin and committing to never do it again. We are in constant need of repentance because we are constantly failing. We must repent today and every day until we die. The alternative is to accept sin into our life, to stop fighting against evil, to compromise our soul; the alternative is a heart impenitent and proud.
Heaven is full of prostitutes and murderers and drug dealers and thieves and adulterers; the saints, with only one exception, were all sinners with contrite, humble hearts. When we are before the judgment seat of God, we will not need to defend our sins. Indeed, we must not try to defend the indefensible. It will not matter on that day how many sins we committed or what they were. Only our accuser will be concerned with that. It will only matter whether we repented of them all. We are guilty; our only hope is forgiveness.
Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19
Luke 11:29-32
No one is beyond the forgiveness of God: not the people of Nineveh who, 3000 years later are still remembered as being particularly cruel, nor King David who killed a trusted soldier in order to cover up the affair with his wife. God will not spurn a humble, contrite heart. There is no sin which God will not forgive. The sins we have committed are not preventing us from being saved, but our defense of sin is. God wants to forgive us, but we hide our sins. No one can hide their sins except from themself. All our sins are being done in full sight of heaven and hell. God wants to forgive us, but we have excuses for why we committed the sin. God wants to forgive us, but we say that what we did is not a sin. God wants to forgive us, but we would rather pretend that we do not need forgiveness.
God is infinitely good. The smallest sin we ever committed is, therefore, an infinite offense. If we understood the enormity of God’s love for us, we would understand why there can never be a small sin. No matter what we have done, whether or not we would be judged by the world as very bad people, we need hearts contrite and humbled.
How will our hardened hearts become contrite, humble hearts? Only God’s grace can do this, but we accept this grace when we repent. Repenting means confessing our sin and committing to never do it again. We are in constant need of repentance because we are constantly failing. We must repent today and every day until we die. The alternative is to accept sin into our life, to stop fighting against evil, to compromise our soul; the alternative is a heart impenitent and proud.
Heaven is full of prostitutes and murderers and drug dealers and thieves and adulterers; the saints, with only one exception, were all sinners with contrite, humble hearts. When we are before the judgment seat of God, we will not need to defend our sins. Indeed, we must not try to defend the indefensible. It will not matter on that day how many sins we committed or what they were. Only our accuser will be concerned with that. It will only matter whether we repented of them all. We are guilty; our only hope is forgiveness.
February 29, 2012 - Wednesday of the First Week of Lent
Today's Readings
No one is beyond the forgiveness of God: not the people of Nineveh who, 3000 years later are still remembered as being particularly cruel, nor King David who killed a trusted soldier in order to cover up the affair with his wife. God will not spurn a humble, contrite heart. There is no sin which God will not forgive. The sins we have committed are not preventing us from being saved, but our defense of sin is. God wants to forgive us, but we hide our sins. No one can hide their sins except from themself. All our sins are being done in full sight of heaven and hell. God wants to forgive us, but we have excuses for why we committed the sin. God wants to forgive us, but we say that what we did is not a sin. God wants to forgive us, but we would rather pretend that we do not need forgiveness.
God is infinitely good. The smallest sin we ever committed is, therefore, an infinite offense. If we understood the enormity of God’s love for us, we would understand why there can never be a small sin. No matter what we have done, whether or not we would be judged by the world as very bad people, we need hearts contrite and humbled.
How will our hardened hearts become contrite, humble hearts? Only God’s grace can do this, but we accept this grace when we repent. Repenting means confessing our sin and committing to never do it again. We are in constant need of repentance because we are constantly failing. We must repent today and every day until we die. The alternative is to accept sin into our life, to stop fighting against evil, to compromise our soul; the alternative is a heart impenitent and proud.
Heaven is full of prostitutes and murderers and drug dealers and thieves and adulterers; the saints, with only one exception, were all sinners with contrite, humble hearts. When we are before the judgment seat of God, we will not need to defend our sins. Indeed, we must not try to defend the indefensible. It will not matter on that day how many sins we committed or what they were. Only our accuser will be concerned with that. It will only matter whether we repented of all of them. We are guilty; our only hope is forgiveness.
No one is beyond the forgiveness of God: not the people of Nineveh who, 3000 years later are still remembered as being particularly cruel, nor King David who killed a trusted soldier in order to cover up the affair with his wife. God will not spurn a humble, contrite heart. There is no sin which God will not forgive. The sins we have committed are not preventing us from being saved, but our defense of sin is. God wants to forgive us, but we hide our sins. No one can hide their sins except from themself. All our sins are being done in full sight of heaven and hell. God wants to forgive us, but we have excuses for why we committed the sin. God wants to forgive us, but we say that what we did is not a sin. God wants to forgive us, but we would rather pretend that we do not need forgiveness.
God is infinitely good. The smallest sin we ever committed is, therefore, an infinite offense. If we understood the enormity of God’s love for us, we would understand why there can never be a small sin. No matter what we have done, whether or not we would be judged by the world as very bad people, we need hearts contrite and humbled.
How will our hardened hearts become contrite, humble hearts? Only God’s grace can do this, but we accept this grace when we repent. Repenting means confessing our sin and committing to never do it again. We are in constant need of repentance because we are constantly failing. We must repent today and every day until we die. The alternative is to accept sin into our life, to stop fighting against evil, to compromise our soul; the alternative is a heart impenitent and proud.
Heaven is full of prostitutes and murderers and drug dealers and thieves and adulterers; the saints, with only one exception, were all sinners with contrite, humble hearts. When we are before the judgment seat of God, we will not need to defend our sins. Indeed, we must not try to defend the indefensible. It will not matter on that day how many sins we committed or what they were. Only our accuser will be concerned with that. It will only matter whether we repented of all of them. We are guilty; our only hope is forgiveness.
January 23, 2012 - Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
What a frightening statement Jesus makes today! No forgiveness for eternity, if we blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Some people have taken this literally and feared that they have committed this unforgivable sin. They have come to believe that, no matter how sorry they are, God will not save them. This is not true. There is no sin which we cannot repent of. Indeed, the unforgivable sin is failing to repent.
What does it mean to blaspheme? It means to speak with contempt about holy things. Someone who has contempt for the Holy Spirit cannot be healed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is offering freedom from evil spirits, but the scribes accuse him of offering this freedom under false pretence. What if one of those scribes was possessed by an evil spirit? Would he let Jesus free him by the power of the prince of demons? Probably not. So he would be forever bound.
It is like someone who has been poisoned and needs an immediate antidote. The one mistake which they must not make is to despise the antidote. If someone has diabetes and needs to start eating a healthy diet, the one mistake which they must not make is despising the advice of their doctor. They can call their doctor a mean old man, so long as they eat their vegetables.
When Jesus is talking about forgiveness, he is referring to the path of forgiveness. Anyone who starts down the path of forgiveness can be cured of all their sins, but if their sin is to refuse to make the journey of repentance, they necessarily remain forever in their sins. How could Jesus forgive the sin of despising forgiveness?
Which, then, merely leaves the question, why did Jesus call it “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” rather than “blaspheming forgiveness”? If he had said “blaspheming forgiveness”, we would understand right away, but because he said, “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” some people believe that because they once said something bad about the Holy Spirit they cannot be saved. Perhaps it was because the scribes would in principle believe in forgiveness, but they rejected the means of forgiveness.
If a person, in principle, believes that oxygen is necessary for life, but rejects breathing, they will die. It is necessary not only to accept forgiveness, but to accept forgiveness as it actually can be had. If a person believes in forgiveness but will not go to a priest and confess their sins and be forgiven by the power of the Holy Spirit, what good does that do them?
What a frightening statement Jesus makes today! No forgiveness for eternity, if we blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Some people have taken this literally and feared that they have committed this unforgivable sin. They have come to believe that, no matter how sorry they are, God will not save them. This is not true. There is no sin which we cannot repent of. Indeed, the unforgivable sin is failing to repent.
What does it mean to blaspheme? It means to speak with contempt about holy things. Someone who has contempt for the Holy Spirit cannot be healed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is offering freedom from evil spirits, but the scribes accuse him of offering this freedom under false pretence. What if one of those scribes was possessed by an evil spirit? Would he let Jesus free him by the power of the prince of demons? Probably not. So he would be forever bound.
It is like someone who has been poisoned and needs an immediate antidote. The one mistake which they must not make is to despise the antidote. If someone has diabetes and needs to start eating a healthy diet, the one mistake which they must not make is despising the advice of their doctor. They can call their doctor a mean old man, so long as they eat their vegetables.
When Jesus is talking about forgiveness, he is referring to the path of forgiveness. Anyone who starts down the path of forgiveness can be cured of all their sins, but if their sin is to refuse to make the journey of repentance, they necessarily remain forever in their sins. How could Jesus forgive the sin of despising forgiveness?
Which, then, merely leaves the question, why did Jesus call it “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” rather than “blaspheming forgiveness”? If he had said “blaspheming forgiveness”, we would understand right away, but because he said, “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” some people believe that because they once said something bad about the Holy Spirit they cannot be saved. Perhaps it was because the scribes would in principle believe in forgiveness, but they rejected the means of forgiveness.
If a person, in principle, believes that oxygen is necessary for life, but rejects breathing, they will die. It is necessary not only to accept forgiveness, but to accept forgiveness as it actually can be had. If a person believes in forgiveness but will not go to a priest and confess their sins and be forgiven by the power of the Holy Spirit, what good does that do them?
January 22, 2012 - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
It is remarkable that the people of Nineveh listened to the call of Jonah, so remarkable that it is unbelievable. Nineveh was a terrible city. It certainly is in competition for the worst city in the history of the world. Every record we have from that time tells us that Nineveh was a city of cruel and violent people. The idea that a prophet would be successful walking through Nineveh shouting out that the city is about to be destroyed because of the sinfulness of the inhabitants is difficult to imagine. What if someone walked into our city and started shouting that the city would be destroyed? Who would believe them? It is more likely that Jonah would be mocked, thought of as a crazy person, beaten, and killed. Instead the whole city, from the lowliest peasant to the great king, repented of their sins in sackcloth and ashes.
We have no other record of such a repentance ever happening in Nineveh. From being built in 700 BC to its destruction in 612 BC, Nineveh was consistently bad. So if this repentance really did occur, it must have been very short-lived. Yet let us allow it to be as short-lived as possible, or even to simply be a parable about what would have happened if they had repented, the lesson for us is the same. The worst people in the whole world, if they would repent from their sins, would be forgiven. The Ninevites heard the call of Jonah, and they repented.
Our gospel has a similar theme. Andrew, Peter, James, and John were busy. They were fishing. Jesus comes to them and calls them. “Come and follow me”, says Jesus. They hear the will of God, not in a mysterious way, but clearly, in their own language. Just like the Ninevites, they heard a call and they responded immediately, and we know that this is true history and not just a parable. Other people might have told Jesus that they were busy, but these four were ready when they heard the call to leave everything behind and follow Jesus.
It is relatively common to be looking for a sign from God, but it seems like it is rare to receive one. It would be easier if signs were more a dime a dozen, if every time we turned around God was announcing his will to us. This whole life would be more black-and-white, simpler. It would be obvious whether we were following God's will. Yet for some reason this is not how God chooses to reveal his will in the world. It is only on rare occasions that a prophet walks through town threatening destruction unless we repent. It was only once in the history of the world that Jesus walked along the shore of Galilee calling disciples.
But if we did hear his call, are we ready to respond? Since these explicit signs are so rare, we need to be ready should one ever come along. But of course we do have the call of God constantly before us. The call of God is recorded in Scripture, and we read Scripture at Mass every day. The words of Jesus, “Repent and believe in the Gospel”, are here before us today. St. Paul's instruction to the Corinthians, “Let those using the world act as not using it fully”, applies equally to us.
St. Paul's words seem as if they do not apply because it seems that he was mistaken. His entire instruction is predicated on the first line: “I tell you brothers and sisters the time is running out.” It seems that St. Paul believed that the end of the world would arrive during his lifetime or shortly thereafter. Two thousand years later, he seems to have been proven wrong. Yet he is not wrong. No matter how much time is left, the time is running out. When you attend a basketball game it is as true to say that the time is running out one minute into the game as it is with one minute left. Time is always running out because we are always approaching the end.
But why is it that this state of affairs should cause us to separate ourselves from the world? It is because there is something wrong with the world. This world is filled with violence and selfishness, pornography and gluttony. This world is broken. If the world were better, we would not need to separate ourselves from it, but since the world is broken it is a dangerous place to put our hope and time is running out.
What is wrong with the world? I am. I and you and every fallen human being on earth is the problem with the world. It would be easier to obey God, I think, if he always gave commandments; if he would simply give guidance in my everyday life, yet I do not even obey the few commandments that I have. Where does all the selfishness in the world, the violence in the world, the problems of the world come from? From the people of the world, and their failure to obey the commands of God.
How remarkable it is then that Jesus chose for fallen human beings to be his apostles, to pass on the Gospel that can save us from ourselves! He knew as he chose the apostles that one would betray him and the others would fail him from time to time. He knew that the successors of the apostles would often fail to live up to that high calling. He knew all this, and yet he chose them for this most important task.
Now then that he has chosen you. Despite your sins, despite your weaknesses, he has chosen you for some work he wants to accomplish in this world. He trusts you with some part of his plan to change this world for the better. I do not mean that he will choose you, or that he might choose you. He has chosen you. This very moment is the time to respond to the call. “"This is the time of fulfillment”, he says, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” This, right now, this moment, is the time of fulfillment. “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” Turn away from sins, away from this world, and accept the mission that God has for you.
It is remarkable that the people of Nineveh listened to the call of Jonah, so remarkable that it is unbelievable. Nineveh was a terrible city. It certainly is in competition for the worst city in the history of the world. Every record we have from that time tells us that Nineveh was a city of cruel and violent people. The idea that a prophet would be successful walking through Nineveh shouting out that the city is about to be destroyed because of the sinfulness of the inhabitants is difficult to imagine. What if someone walked into our city and started shouting that the city would be destroyed? Who would believe them? It is more likely that Jonah would be mocked, thought of as a crazy person, beaten, and killed. Instead the whole city, from the lowliest peasant to the great king, repented of their sins in sackcloth and ashes.
We have no other record of such a repentance ever happening in Nineveh. From being built in 700 BC to its destruction in 612 BC, Nineveh was consistently bad. So if this repentance really did occur, it must have been very short-lived. Yet let us allow it to be as short-lived as possible, or even to simply be a parable about what would have happened if they had repented, the lesson for us is the same. The worst people in the whole world, if they would repent from their sins, would be forgiven. The Ninevites heard the call of Jonah, and they repented.
Our gospel has a similar theme. Andrew, Peter, James, and John were busy. They were fishing. Jesus comes to them and calls them. “Come and follow me”, says Jesus. They hear the will of God, not in a mysterious way, but clearly, in their own language. Just like the Ninevites, they heard a call and they responded immediately, and we know that this is true history and not just a parable. Other people might have told Jesus that they were busy, but these four were ready when they heard the call to leave everything behind and follow Jesus.
It is relatively common to be looking for a sign from God, but it seems like it is rare to receive one. It would be easier if signs were more a dime a dozen, if every time we turned around God was announcing his will to us. This whole life would be more black-and-white, simpler. It would be obvious whether we were following God's will. Yet for some reason this is not how God chooses to reveal his will in the world. It is only on rare occasions that a prophet walks through town threatening destruction unless we repent. It was only once in the history of the world that Jesus walked along the shore of Galilee calling disciples.
But if we did hear his call, are we ready to respond? Since these explicit signs are so rare, we need to be ready should one ever come along. But of course we do have the call of God constantly before us. The call of God is recorded in Scripture, and we read Scripture at Mass every day. The words of Jesus, “Repent and believe in the Gospel”, are here before us today. St. Paul's instruction to the Corinthians, “Let those using the world act as not using it fully”, applies equally to us.
St. Paul's words seem as if they do not apply because it seems that he was mistaken. His entire instruction is predicated on the first line: “I tell you brothers and sisters the time is running out.” It seems that St. Paul believed that the end of the world would arrive during his lifetime or shortly thereafter. Two thousand years later, he seems to have been proven wrong. Yet he is not wrong. No matter how much time is left, the time is running out. When you attend a basketball game it is as true to say that the time is running out one minute into the game as it is with one minute left. Time is always running out because we are always approaching the end.
But why is it that this state of affairs should cause us to separate ourselves from the world? It is because there is something wrong with the world. This world is filled with violence and selfishness, pornography and gluttony. This world is broken. If the world were better, we would not need to separate ourselves from it, but since the world is broken it is a dangerous place to put our hope and time is running out.
What is wrong with the world? I am. I and you and every fallen human being on earth is the problem with the world. It would be easier to obey God, I think, if he always gave commandments; if he would simply give guidance in my everyday life, yet I do not even obey the few commandments that I have. Where does all the selfishness in the world, the violence in the world, the problems of the world come from? From the people of the world, and their failure to obey the commands of God.
How remarkable it is then that Jesus chose for fallen human beings to be his apostles, to pass on the Gospel that can save us from ourselves! He knew as he chose the apostles that one would betray him and the others would fail him from time to time. He knew that the successors of the apostles would often fail to live up to that high calling. He knew all this, and yet he chose them for this most important task.
Now then that he has chosen you. Despite your sins, despite your weaknesses, he has chosen you for some work he wants to accomplish in this world. He trusts you with some part of his plan to change this world for the better. I do not mean that he will choose you, or that he might choose you. He has chosen you. This very moment is the time to respond to the call. “"This is the time of fulfillment”, he says, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” This, right now, this moment, is the time of fulfillment. “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” Turn away from sins, away from this world, and accept the mission that God has for you.
October 12, 2011 - Wednesday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
“You condemn yourself by the standard with which you judge another, since you, the judge, do the very same things.” First of all, you judge someone who has offended you because they offended you, even though you actually do the very same thing to others. Who is more upset to be interrupted in conversation than an interrupter? Who hates to be stolen from more than a thief? The irony is often lost on us when we suffer the carelessness and casual selfishness that we ourselves inflict on others.
Do these sins sound minor and unimportant? Perhaps they do when you commit them yourself. Anyone can say, “Yes, I am sure I have interrupted people from time to time; yes, I have taken supplies home from the office and surfed the internet at work, but everyone does these things.” That is no excuse, and you know it, because when you are interrupted, when people are stealing from you and cheating you, you do not say, “But everyone does these things.”
And these words of St. Paul apply nonetheless to what we call “serious sins”. Perhaps you have never killed anyone or committed adultery, so in these areas you feel free to pass judgment. It is true that there are so many species of sins that no one has literally committed every sin in the book. So we call whichever sins we do not ourselves commit “the serious sins” and pass judgment on those who do.
Yet even though we have not committed those specific sins, sin is sin, no matter the species. Behind every sin is pride and often selfishness. To commit any sin a person must possess the pride required to defy God. Most sins also involve the selfishness required to hurt a fellow human being. When we judge another, we are identifying pride and selfishness. If we look in our own heart, we will find the same pride and selfishness there.
Of course, there are sins and there are crimes. As a society, we have to judge crimes and make use of prisons, but if we walked through a prison we would not find there some other kind of human being. There are not good people and bad people in this world; just repentant and unrepentant people. We are all selfish. We are all proud. We all rely on the priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience of God to lead us to repentance.
“You condemn yourself by the standard with which you judge another, since you, the judge, do the very same things.” First of all, you judge someone who has offended you because they offended you, even though you actually do the very same thing to others. Who is more upset to be interrupted in conversation than an interrupter? Who hates to be stolen from more than a thief? The irony is often lost on us when we suffer the carelessness and casual selfishness that we ourselves inflict on others.
Do these sins sound minor and unimportant? Perhaps they do when you commit them yourself. Anyone can say, “Yes, I am sure I have interrupted people from time to time; yes, I have taken supplies home from the office and surfed the internet at work, but everyone does these things.” That is no excuse, and you know it, because when you are interrupted, when people are stealing from you and cheating you, you do not say, “But everyone does these things.”
And these words of St. Paul apply nonetheless to what we call “serious sins”. Perhaps you have never killed anyone or committed adultery, so in these areas you feel free to pass judgment. It is true that there are so many species of sins that no one has literally committed every sin in the book. So we call whichever sins we do not ourselves commit “the serious sins” and pass judgment on those who do.
Yet even though we have not committed those specific sins, sin is sin, no matter the species. Behind every sin is pride and often selfishness. To commit any sin a person must possess the pride required to defy God. Most sins also involve the selfishness required to hurt a fellow human being. When we judge another, we are identifying pride and selfishness. If we look in our own heart, we will find the same pride and selfishness there.
Of course, there are sins and there are crimes. As a society, we have to judge crimes and make use of prisons, but if we walked through a prison we would not find there some other kind of human being. There are not good people and bad people in this world; just repentant and unrepentant people. We are all selfish. We are all proud. We all rely on the priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience of God to lead us to repentance.
September 11, 2011 - Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
I was watching the news coverage from ten years ago last night. I suppose a lot of you have done that in recent days, along with all the memorials on television. It was so sad to watch those planes hit knowing that I was watching hundreds of people die, knowing that almost 3000 would be dead before the day was over, remembering the passengers of United 93 who fought back and successfully prevented a fourth attack.
The attacks of September 11th, 2001 present a troubling question for Christians: should we forgive the terrorists? After considering this question over the past 10 years, I believe the answer is No. There are two teachings on forgiveness that pervade the Gospels. On the one hand, Jesus tells us that we ought to forgive freely and often, that no crime is so bad that we would not forgive. On the other hand, there is an intrinsic relationship between forgiveness and repentance. Throughout the Scriptures there is nothing that suggests that we should forgive someone who is not sorry. Our Gospel last Sunday, which comes before this Gospel on forgiveness, was all about how to seek repentance from someone who has harmed us.
If Osama bin Laden had appeared a year ago and asked for forgiveness, it would have been the duty of every Christian to forgive him, from the families of the dead to every American, but he did not. Even if we forgave him, he would have still been arrested. Forgiveness does not mean the removal of all consequences but the acceptance of repentance. We would have been eager to forgive him, if he had been sorry, but he was not so we cannot.
We do not even withhold forgiveness until we are satisfied that the person is truly sorry. Just the beginning of sorrow is enough. We do not have to wait for an elaborate heartfelt apology. As soon as a person is even the slightest bit sorry, we must forgive immediately but to forgive without repentance is meaningless; it is an insult to the meaning of forgiveness to try and forgive someone who is not sorry.
Consider this: Jesus did not forgive those who crucified him but he did forgive the repentant thief crucified next to him. About the others, he said “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” This is an example for us. We cannot forgive those who do not show repentance, so we hand over the work of forgiveness to our Heavenly Father who knows the depths of each man’s heart. If he finds repentance there, he can forgive them. If he does not, he can lead them to repent.
As for us, what should we do, having handed over the work of forgiveness to our Father? I think that the proper word for someone who we cannot forgive is an enemy, and we have clear instructions for what to do to our enemies: Jesus says, “Love you enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” There are some people who we cannot forgive, so we love them instead.
But how? How do we love our enemies? Love consists of three parts: attraction, desire, and goodwill. Attraction means seeing the good in the other person. This is particularly important with enemies. Sometimes we have to struggle to see the good. In the end, if we cannot see any other good, we can begin by remembering that they were created by God and he loves them just like us.
Concentrating of the good of the other person, be it ever so small, is important because it prevents us from hating them, from concentrating on the bad. As our first reading from Sirach says, “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” If we do not actively work at loving our enemies we will start hating them, staying up at night going over our grievances against them, letting anger burn us like acid, until we are destroyed. Hatred is poison for our souls, so we must fight it with love.
The second part of love is desire. The desire of true love is all about respect. Once we get past anger, the temptation is to despise our enemy. If we desire the love of our enemy, that means that we respect them as human beings; we wish that they were not our enemy. If we think that our enemy is less than human, we are wrong. They are just like us. As Sirach says, “Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself?” The hijackers were men just like us, even though they are horribly mistaken.
The third part of love is goodwill, wishing and doing good things for others. We should wish our enemies well. This does not mean wishing them success, but it does mean that we hope to see them in heaven someday. Goodwill is opposed to revenge, which we must always avoid. Sirach tells us that “The vengeful will suffer the LORD's vengeance”, and it is written in another place “God says, ‘Vengence is mine. I will repay.’” It is written in Scripture, not once but twice, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” There is no revenge as satisfying as helping someone who has hurt you, because you get to be the better person.
Love everyone, especially your enemies. It feels good to nurse hatred at first, but hatred will ruin us in the end. There is no reason to hate anyone at all since we can love them instead. Hatred is more our enemy than any person. The attacks ten years ago were motivated by hatred. The death and destruction is a testament to what hatred can do. We will never end hatred with wars or security checkpoints. These are only coping with the symptoms. We must attack the root of it all, we can destroy the root of it all, which is hatred, only with love. Love is powerful enough to take on hatred and win.
I was watching the news coverage from ten years ago last night. I suppose a lot of you have done that in recent days, along with all the memorials on television. It was so sad to watch those planes hit knowing that I was watching hundreds of people die, knowing that almost 3000 would be dead before the day was over, remembering the passengers of United 93 who fought back and successfully prevented a fourth attack.
The attacks of September 11th, 2001 present a troubling question for Christians: should we forgive the terrorists? After considering this question over the past 10 years, I believe the answer is No. There are two teachings on forgiveness that pervade the Gospels. On the one hand, Jesus tells us that we ought to forgive freely and often, that no crime is so bad that we would not forgive. On the other hand, there is an intrinsic relationship between forgiveness and repentance. Throughout the Scriptures there is nothing that suggests that we should forgive someone who is not sorry. Our Gospel last Sunday, which comes before this Gospel on forgiveness, was all about how to seek repentance from someone who has harmed us.
If Osama bin Laden had appeared a year ago and asked for forgiveness, it would have been the duty of every Christian to forgive him, from the families of the dead to every American, but he did not. Even if we forgave him, he would have still been arrested. Forgiveness does not mean the removal of all consequences but the acceptance of repentance. We would have been eager to forgive him, if he had been sorry, but he was not so we cannot.
We do not even withhold forgiveness until we are satisfied that the person is truly sorry. Just the beginning of sorrow is enough. We do not have to wait for an elaborate heartfelt apology. As soon as a person is even the slightest bit sorry, we must forgive immediately but to forgive without repentance is meaningless; it is an insult to the meaning of forgiveness to try and forgive someone who is not sorry.
Consider this: Jesus did not forgive those who crucified him but he did forgive the repentant thief crucified next to him. About the others, he said “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” This is an example for us. We cannot forgive those who do not show repentance, so we hand over the work of forgiveness to our Heavenly Father who knows the depths of each man’s heart. If he finds repentance there, he can forgive them. If he does not, he can lead them to repent.
As for us, what should we do, having handed over the work of forgiveness to our Father? I think that the proper word for someone who we cannot forgive is an enemy, and we have clear instructions for what to do to our enemies: Jesus says, “Love you enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” There are some people who we cannot forgive, so we love them instead.
But how? How do we love our enemies? Love consists of three parts: attraction, desire, and goodwill. Attraction means seeing the good in the other person. This is particularly important with enemies. Sometimes we have to struggle to see the good. In the end, if we cannot see any other good, we can begin by remembering that they were created by God and he loves them just like us.
Concentrating of the good of the other person, be it ever so small, is important because it prevents us from hating them, from concentrating on the bad. As our first reading from Sirach says, “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” If we do not actively work at loving our enemies we will start hating them, staying up at night going over our grievances against them, letting anger burn us like acid, until we are destroyed. Hatred is poison for our souls, so we must fight it with love.
The second part of love is desire. The desire of true love is all about respect. Once we get past anger, the temptation is to despise our enemy. If we desire the love of our enemy, that means that we respect them as human beings; we wish that they were not our enemy. If we think that our enemy is less than human, we are wrong. They are just like us. As Sirach says, “Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself?” The hijackers were men just like us, even though they are horribly mistaken.
The third part of love is goodwill, wishing and doing good things for others. We should wish our enemies well. This does not mean wishing them success, but it does mean that we hope to see them in heaven someday. Goodwill is opposed to revenge, which we must always avoid. Sirach tells us that “The vengeful will suffer the LORD's vengeance”, and it is written in another place “God says, ‘Vengence is mine. I will repay.’” It is written in Scripture, not once but twice, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” There is no revenge as satisfying as helping someone who has hurt you, because you get to be the better person.
Love everyone, especially your enemies. It feels good to nurse hatred at first, but hatred will ruin us in the end. There is no reason to hate anyone at all since we can love them instead. Hatred is more our enemy than any person. The attacks ten years ago were motivated by hatred. The death and destruction is a testament to what hatred can do. We will never end hatred with wars or security checkpoints. These are only coping with the symptoms. We must attack the root of it all, we can destroy the root of it all, which is hatred, only with love. Love is powerful enough to take on hatred and win.
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