James 1:19-27
Psalm 15:2-5
Mark 8:22-26
St. James tells us to be quick to hear and slow to speak. This is very good advice. When someone else speaks, listening is an act of great humility. To listen to someone else is the best way to tell them that they are important, important enough to listen to. But we do not only listen for the sake of the other person, for their feelings or so that they will think well of us. If we did that, we would be hypocrites. We listen because we genuinely believe that we do not know everything. It is not possible to be a Christian without humility. “If anyone thinks that they are religious but does not bridle their tongue, they deceive their heart: their religion is vanity.”
St. James also tells us to be slow to anger. The relationship between the anger and Christianity is not easy to parse. On the one hand, Jesus says things like turn the other cheek. On the other hand, Jesus was angry and made a whip and cast all the money changers out of the Temple. So there must be such a thing as righteous anger. But St. James's reason why we should be slow to anger is that anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God, and that is correct. Anger does not accomplish anything. Anger is about stopping something. Sometimes it is necessary to stop evil, but what does that accomplish if we never start doing good?
There is a lot of evil in this world. No matter where we look, we are likely to find someone doing something wrong. It is too easy to just be angry. There will never be a shortage of reasons to be angry. So what if, instead of getting angry, we decide to do something positive. Anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God, so we should work to accomplish the righteousness of God.
The world needs changing. If we commit ourselves to doing good in this world, we can change the world. There are so many things we cannot control. Rather than becoming angry at our weakness, we should accomplish whatever we can. I cannot stop selfishness, but I can stop being selfish. I cannot force the government to take care of the poor, but I can take care of the poor. I cannot force people to follow the true morality, but I can, to the best of my ability, assisted by God's grace, be moral.
Daily Homilies
Showing posts with label Speech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Speech. Show all posts
January 14, 2014 - Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
1 Samuel 1:9-20
1 Samuel 2:1, 4-8
Mark 1:21-28
Presumption is the source of such great evil in our world. People presume that they understand another’s motivations. People presume that they know what is going on. They judge their neighbor. What an example we have today, when Eli, the head priest, walks up to Hannah and starts reprimanding her publicly for being drunk when actually she was praying. And Eli was a righteous man. He was a good priest. But what he did here was wrong.
We give priests great honor, which is right since they stand in the person of Christ. Jesus forgives our sins through the ministry of the priest. He turns bread and wine into his Body and Blood through the words of the priest. The priest inasmuch as he is a priest, is Jesus Christ, but inasmuch as he remains himself, he is a fallen man like any of us. The problem is, how do we give so much respect to a person’s office while still being ready to ignore and forgive or even condemn the man for what he does and says?
People have left the faith because of words that a priest spoke. Perhaps what the priest said was right, perhaps it was wrong, but they hurt. They were hurt by a priest, so they turn away from the Church. It does not make any logical sense: whether a priest has offended us has nothing to do with whether Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior, but these people are not thinking logically. They have been hurt, so they want to exercise what power they can against the one who has hurt them.
What good does this do? I am hurt, so I react with anger and hurt someone else or just hurt myself. This does not make the world a better place. What is needed is humility, and Hannah provides such an example of humility. She would have been fully justified in letting Eli have it, either to his face or by leaving and grumbling about it later. Instead she humbly insists that his accusation is untrue and explains herself. If Eli had had Hannah’s humility, he would have been more careful. What we need is humility before we hurt other and humility when others hurt us. What we need is humility.
1 Samuel 2:1, 4-8
Mark 1:21-28
Presumption is the source of such great evil in our world. People presume that they understand another’s motivations. People presume that they know what is going on. They judge their neighbor. What an example we have today, when Eli, the head priest, walks up to Hannah and starts reprimanding her publicly for being drunk when actually she was praying. And Eli was a righteous man. He was a good priest. But what he did here was wrong.
We give priests great honor, which is right since they stand in the person of Christ. Jesus forgives our sins through the ministry of the priest. He turns bread and wine into his Body and Blood through the words of the priest. The priest inasmuch as he is a priest, is Jesus Christ, but inasmuch as he remains himself, he is a fallen man like any of us. The problem is, how do we give so much respect to a person’s office while still being ready to ignore and forgive or even condemn the man for what he does and says?
People have left the faith because of words that a priest spoke. Perhaps what the priest said was right, perhaps it was wrong, but they hurt. They were hurt by a priest, so they turn away from the Church. It does not make any logical sense: whether a priest has offended us has nothing to do with whether Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior, but these people are not thinking logically. They have been hurt, so they want to exercise what power they can against the one who has hurt them.
What good does this do? I am hurt, so I react with anger and hurt someone else or just hurt myself. This does not make the world a better place. What is needed is humility, and Hannah provides such an example of humility. She would have been fully justified in letting Eli have it, either to his face or by leaving and grumbling about it later. Instead she humbly insists that his accusation is untrue and explains herself. If Eli had had Hannah’s humility, he would have been more careful. What we need is humility before we hurt other and humility when others hurt us. What we need is humility.
June 23, 2012 - Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
2 Chronicles 24:17-25
Psalm 89:4-5, 29-34
Matthew 6:24-34
Yesterday we read about how Athaliah, the evil queen, was killing her family so that she could hold on to power, but little baby Joash is hidden in the temple so that his grandmother cannot kill him. He grows up until age 7, then they crown him king and kill Athaliah. A happy ending? No, because King Joash was not a great king. Today we hear that King Joash, all grown up, repays the priest who saved him by killing his son. Killing innocent people is wicked, but killing the innocent son of someone who saved your life is beyond merely wicked.
What led King Joash to this atrocious action, killing Zechariah the priest? It was because Zechariah stood up and told the people that they were doing wrong by worshipping idols. People hate it when others people tell them that they are doing wrong. King Herod killed John the Baptist because he pointed out that sleeping with your brother’s wife is wrong. The clearest example of course is Jesus himself who was killed because his entire existence was an accusation to the sinners who saw how he lived, unless they were willing to be forgiven.
So should we be afraid to speak? We may not be killed, but we will be scorned. “How dare you judge me?” If we go around announcing what is right and wrong, we are making the world an unpleasant place. Our culture tells us that we ought to be quiet. And our culture is convincing. I do not want to be an unpleasant, offensive person.
Nevertheless, I must speak the truth. If 2 plus 2 is 4, then I cannot say that 2 plus 2 is 5. I do not need to announce this truth of math every moment of life, but if I see that the world believes that 2 plus 2 is 7, then I have an obligation to periodically announce the truth. I do not have the right to keep the truth to myself.
I believe that Zechariah was silent for a long time. Perhaps he said a little here and a little there, but the day came when he had no choice left but to stand on the balcony and tell the people that they were going the wrong way. We do not need to scream at every person we meet, but the time will come when we must stand up among the crowd and tell them the truth.
Psalm 89:4-5, 29-34
Matthew 6:24-34
Yesterday we read about how Athaliah, the evil queen, was killing her family so that she could hold on to power, but little baby Joash is hidden in the temple so that his grandmother cannot kill him. He grows up until age 7, then they crown him king and kill Athaliah. A happy ending? No, because King Joash was not a great king. Today we hear that King Joash, all grown up, repays the priest who saved him by killing his son. Killing innocent people is wicked, but killing the innocent son of someone who saved your life is beyond merely wicked.
What led King Joash to this atrocious action, killing Zechariah the priest? It was because Zechariah stood up and told the people that they were doing wrong by worshipping idols. People hate it when others people tell them that they are doing wrong. King Herod killed John the Baptist because he pointed out that sleeping with your brother’s wife is wrong. The clearest example of course is Jesus himself who was killed because his entire existence was an accusation to the sinners who saw how he lived, unless they were willing to be forgiven.
So should we be afraid to speak? We may not be killed, but we will be scorned. “How dare you judge me?” If we go around announcing what is right and wrong, we are making the world an unpleasant place. Our culture tells us that we ought to be quiet. And our culture is convincing. I do not want to be an unpleasant, offensive person.
Nevertheless, I must speak the truth. If 2 plus 2 is 4, then I cannot say that 2 plus 2 is 5. I do not need to announce this truth of math every moment of life, but if I see that the world believes that 2 plus 2 is 7, then I have an obligation to periodically announce the truth. I do not have the right to keep the truth to myself.
I believe that Zechariah was silent for a long time. Perhaps he said a little here and a little there, but the day came when he had no choice left but to stand on the balcony and tell the people that they were going the wrong way. We do not need to scream at every person we meet, but the time will come when we must stand up among the crowd and tell them the truth.
February 18, 2012 - Saturday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
Those who teach are under a heavier judgment than those who do not. It is difficult enough to live one's own life correctly, righteously. We are likely to go wrong in so many ways. What a great burden it is then to be responsible not only for one's own actions, but how another person interprets your teaching. I understand what I teach and the limits of what I mean and the exceptions, but I probably do not convey all of that in what I say.
So what are we to do then, since no one can believe unless they have been taught but no one can teach without making mistakes? Those of us who have taken on the great responsibility to teach the faith, whether by a commission of the Church or a special call from God, must dedicate our tongue to the Lord. Someone else might be sarcastic or flippant, someone else might discuss gossip or speak of useless things, someone else might express their own opinion on matters political or religious, but we teachers of the faith will not.
Would it not be better if priests and deacons identified more with the laity, dressed and acted more like everyone else? No. This comes from a good intention, for it is clearly true that priests and deacons are merely men like any other man, but it is mistaken because it does not account for the supernatural Gospel which these men carry.
If out of my mouth comes a preaching of the Gospel, the good news of salvation, then it is absolutely essential that there be no chance of confusion between my own opinions and the teaching of Jesus Christ, and how much more necessary that there be no confusion between my own sins of speech: insulting someone or imprudent topics, and the teaching of Jesus Christ.
By choosing to accept the commission of the Church to teach, we give up our right to express opinions lest the truth of the Gospel should be watered down with private opinions. We give up our right to complain about bad service in a store lest that should seem part of the Gospel. Every Christian teacher is a prophet and every prophet must go into the desert so that their message can be heard apart from the noise of the city. If a Christian teacher brings out into the desert some of the noise of the city in their own speech, where can they go and be heard?
Those who teach are under a heavier judgment than those who do not. It is difficult enough to live one's own life correctly, righteously. We are likely to go wrong in so many ways. What a great burden it is then to be responsible not only for one's own actions, but how another person interprets your teaching. I understand what I teach and the limits of what I mean and the exceptions, but I probably do not convey all of that in what I say.
So what are we to do then, since no one can believe unless they have been taught but no one can teach without making mistakes? Those of us who have taken on the great responsibility to teach the faith, whether by a commission of the Church or a special call from God, must dedicate our tongue to the Lord. Someone else might be sarcastic or flippant, someone else might discuss gossip or speak of useless things, someone else might express their own opinion on matters political or religious, but we teachers of the faith will not.
Would it not be better if priests and deacons identified more with the laity, dressed and acted more like everyone else? No. This comes from a good intention, for it is clearly true that priests and deacons are merely men like any other man, but it is mistaken because it does not account for the supernatural Gospel which these men carry.
If out of my mouth comes a preaching of the Gospel, the good news of salvation, then it is absolutely essential that there be no chance of confusion between my own opinions and the teaching of Jesus Christ, and how much more necessary that there be no confusion between my own sins of speech: insulting someone or imprudent topics, and the teaching of Jesus Christ.
By choosing to accept the commission of the Church to teach, we give up our right to express opinions lest the truth of the Gospel should be watered down with private opinions. We give up our right to complain about bad service in a store lest that should seem part of the Gospel. Every Christian teacher is a prophet and every prophet must go into the desert so that their message can be heard apart from the noise of the city. If a Christian teacher brings out into the desert some of the noise of the city in their own speech, where can they go and be heard?
February 15, 2012 - Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
St. James tells us to be quick to hear and slow to speak. This is very good advice. When someone else speaks, listening is an act of great humility. To listen to someone else is the best way to tell them that they are important, important enough to listen to. But we do not only listen for the sake of the other person, for their feelings or so that they will think well of us. If we did that, we would be hypocrites. We listen because we genuinely believe that we do not know everything. It is not possible to be a Christian without humility. “If anyone thinks that they are religious but does not bridle their tongue, they deceive their heart: their religion is vanity.”
St. James also tells us to be slow to anger. The relationship between the anger and Christianity is not easy to parse. On the one hand, Jesus says things like turn the other cheek. On the other hand, Jesus was angry and made a whip and cast all the money changers out of the Temple. So there must be such a thing as righteous anger. But St. James's reason why we should be slow to anger is that anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God, and that is correct. Anger does not accomplish anything. Anger is about stopping something. Sometimes it is necessary to stop evil, but what does that accomplish if we never start doing good?
There is a lot of evil in this world. No matter where we look, we are likely to find someone doing something wrong. It is too easy to just be angry. There will never be a shortage of reasons to be angry. So what if, instead of getting angry, we decide to do something positive. Anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God, so we should work to accomplish the righteousness of God.
The world needs changing. If we commit ourselves to doing good in this world, we can change the world. There are so many things we cannot control. Rather than becoming angry at our weakness, we should accomplish whatever we can. I cannot stop selfishness, but I can stop being selfish. I cannot force the government to take care of the poor, but I can take care of the poor. I cannot force people to follow the true morality, but I can, to the best of my ability, assisted by God's grace, be moral.
St. James tells us to be quick to hear and slow to speak. This is very good advice. When someone else speaks, listening is an act of great humility. To listen to someone else is the best way to tell them that they are important, important enough to listen to. But we do not only listen for the sake of the other person, for their feelings or so that they will think well of us. If we did that, we would be hypocrites. We listen because we genuinely believe that we do not know everything. It is not possible to be a Christian without humility. “If anyone thinks that they are religious but does not bridle their tongue, they deceive their heart: their religion is vanity.”
St. James also tells us to be slow to anger. The relationship between the anger and Christianity is not easy to parse. On the one hand, Jesus says things like turn the other cheek. On the other hand, Jesus was angry and made a whip and cast all the money changers out of the Temple. So there must be such a thing as righteous anger. But St. James's reason why we should be slow to anger is that anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God, and that is correct. Anger does not accomplish anything. Anger is about stopping something. Sometimes it is necessary to stop evil, but what does that accomplish if we never start doing good?
There is a lot of evil in this world. No matter where we look, we are likely to find someone doing something wrong. It is too easy to just be angry. There will never be a shortage of reasons to be angry. So what if, instead of getting angry, we decide to do something positive. Anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God, so we should work to accomplish the righteousness of God.
The world needs changing. If we commit ourselves to doing good in this world, we can change the world. There are so many things we cannot control. Rather than becoming angry at our weakness, we should accomplish whatever we can. I cannot stop selfishness, but I can stop being selfish. I cannot force the government to take care of the poor, but I can take care of the poor. I cannot force people to follow the true morality, but I can, to the best of my ability, assisted by God's grace, be moral.
January 10, 2012 - Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
Presumption is the source of such great evil in our world. People presume that they understand another’s motivations. People presume that they know what is going on. They judge their neighbor. What an example we have today, when Eli, the head priest, walks up to Hannah and starts reprimanding her publicly for being drunk when actually she was praying. And Eli was a righteous man. He was a good priest. But what he did here was wrong.
We give priests great honor, which is right since they stand in the person of Christ. Jesus forgives our sins through the ministry of the priest. He turns bread and wine into his Body and Blood through the words of the priest. The priest inasmuch as he is a priest, is Jesus Christ, but inasmuch as he remains himself, he is a fallen man like any of us. The problem is, how do we give so much respect to a person’s office while still being ready to ignore and forgive or even condemn the man for what he does and says?
People have left the faith because of words that a priest spoke. Perhaps what the priest said was right, perhaps it was wrong, but they hurt. They were hurt by a priest, so they turn away from the Church. It does not make any logical sense: whether a priest has offended us has nothing to do with whether Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior, but these people are not thinking logically. They have been hurt, so they want to exercise what power they can against the one who has hurt them.
What good does this do? I am hurt, so I react with anger and hurt someone else or just hurt myself. This does not make the world a better place. What is needed is humility, and Hannah provides such an example of humility. She would have been fully justified in letting Eli have it, either to his face or by leaving and grumbling about it later. Instead she humbly insists that his accusation is untrue and explains herself. If Eli had had Hannah’s humility, he would have been more careful. What we need is humility before we hurt other and humility when others hurt us. What we need is humility.
Presumption is the source of such great evil in our world. People presume that they understand another’s motivations. People presume that they know what is going on. They judge their neighbor. What an example we have today, when Eli, the head priest, walks up to Hannah and starts reprimanding her publicly for being drunk when actually she was praying. And Eli was a righteous man. He was a good priest. But what he did here was wrong.
We give priests great honor, which is right since they stand in the person of Christ. Jesus forgives our sins through the ministry of the priest. He turns bread and wine into his Body and Blood through the words of the priest. The priest inasmuch as he is a priest, is Jesus Christ, but inasmuch as he remains himself, he is a fallen man like any of us. The problem is, how do we give so much respect to a person’s office while still being ready to ignore and forgive or even condemn the man for what he does and says?
People have left the faith because of words that a priest spoke. Perhaps what the priest said was right, perhaps it was wrong, but they hurt. They were hurt by a priest, so they turn away from the Church. It does not make any logical sense: whether a priest has offended us has nothing to do with whether Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior, but these people are not thinking logically. They have been hurt, so they want to exercise what power they can against the one who has hurt them.
What good does this do? I am hurt, so I react with anger and hurt someone else or just hurt myself. This does not make the world a better place. What is needed is humility, and Hannah provides such an example of humility. She would have been fully justified in letting Eli have it, either to his face or by leaving and grumbling about it later. Instead she humbly insists that his accusation is untrue and explains herself. If Eli had had Hannah’s humility, he would have been more careful. What we need is humility before we hurt other and humility when others hurt us. What we need is humility.
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