Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord
A couple of weeks back I drew a contrast between Ahaz and Joseph. I had said that whereas Ahaz was playing games with God, Joseph had shown incredible capacity for fidelity and trust in God. Today, I want to contrast King Herod and the wise kings/men that came from afar. There are many points on which Herod and the wise men differ. First, the wise men are on a search. “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?” they asked. Herod, on the other hand, was king of the very land the king of the Jews was born and neither did he know about it nor did he see the star. Second, the scriptures tell us that Herod was “greatly troubled” when he heard that a star had appeared announcing the birth of Jesus. It seems to me that he was afraid. How could a child be a threat to a king? But his fear was so intense that it made him act irrationally. Many innocent children were killed in the process. In contrast, the gospel reading tells us that the wise men were “overjoyed at seeing the star” and the “child with his mother.” The wise men did the baby homage and offered him gifts. They do not see the child as a threat but rather as an opportunity to know God.
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
(This homily was originally written in 2009. Please bear with the repetition. – Fr. Satish Joseph)
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. The New Testament does not give us much information about the family of Jesus. All we know about this family is from the extraordinary circumstances of Jesus’ birth and from his presentation at the Temple as the Jewish custom prescribed. We also know that they went up each year to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover and that Jesus grew in grace and wisdom. Without speculating much, I think that that much information is good enough for us to draw some very useful conclusions.
The Nativity of the Lord Christmas
I had planned a quiet December 23rd. I wanted set some quiet time aside, prepare my homily and be ready for the Christmas masses. Things did not work out that way. Even before morning mass at 8:15, I had a call requesting the last sacrament for a long-time parishioner. I rushed to the nursing home right away after mass. The entire family had gathered to bid their father farewell. They were praying that dad would be with mom in heaven on Christmas day. Then there was a call to anoint a parishioner in ICU at Sycamore hospital. If there was one man who needed healing that day, it was this man. And then about four in the afternoon I was at the county jail for confession and a visit with an inmate who also is a parishioner. This was a non- contact visit. I had taken the Blessed Sacrament with me. As this person made his confession, I held the Blessed Sacrament up to him so he could pray. I gave him absolution and a blessing. For this prisoner, the idea that God would come to him in prison… that was his Christmas. I have to admit, for me too, because of these three situations, Christmas came early this year. Honestly speaking, there are no words that can appropriately describe my Christmas.
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Playing games! I do not mean the Wii. I mean, playing games in relationships. Sometimes this is a defense mechanism; other times it is avoidance of responsibility or even a strategy for gaining moral or mental advantage. I would be surprised if any of us said that we have never engaged in it. Children are very good at this. Especially, if they know that parents do not agree about an issue, they know how to manipulate the situation. What about playing games with God? Have you ever said to God, if you grant me…, I will …? I have not met anyone who has felt good after playing games in relationships. There is something about simple and honest relationships.
Third Sunday of Advent
I was in a brief conversation with a parishioner last week, whose very young and beautiful daughter has been struggling with substance abuse. She and her husband have been through recovery and relapse so many times that they are afraid of the happiness that every recovery brings. They are afraid that the happiness will soon be followed by the sadness of relapse. Even as I speak, this young girl is on the streets in yet another episode of relapse. In course of the conversation, this mother spoke to me about how she keeps her peace during these troubled times. Somehow, she says, I have learnt to keep my peace by keeping my eyes on God. I am not going to let this take away my peace during Christmas. She did not say this in any self-centered way. She is letting God be God even in the midst of her very traumatic experiences. I will return to this mother in a little bit. Let me first give you the theme and the context for today’s readings.
Second Sunday of Advent
I want to begin my homily today with this You Tube video clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPViKJRHyZo.
(Please play only the first verse of the song and then read the homily.
First Sunday of Advent
I want to introduce you to what I would like to call, the theology of juxtaposition. We understand juxtaposition – placing two opposite side by side in order to highlight their difference. Let me give you an example. On Tuesday, the coal miners rescued from the mine in Chile appeared on CNN. Their happiness, their sense of accomplishment, their heroism was all too palpable. On the same day, news came that the 23 miners trapped in a mine in New Zealand and hoping for a Chile-like rescue were all killed. A second explosion in the already damaged mine left only sorrow, failure and regret for the families of the dead miners. Juxtaposition – placing two opposite side by side. Here is another simple example: heaven and hell. Juxtaposition – it is an important tool to teach important lessons. Let me offer three practical implications from these readings for the upcoming advent season.
The Solemnity of Christ the King
Does the paradox of the gospel reading chosen for such a majestic feast strike you as unusual? Why would the church choose the most shameful moments of Christ’s life as the gospel reading for the Solemnity of Christ the King? When we celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, and events connected with our loved ones, don’t we normally focus on the positive? The gospel, on the other hand says about Jesus that the rulers sneered at him, the soldiers jeered at him, and one of the criminals reviled him, saying “Are you not the Christ?” But why does the church want to read this gospel for the feast of Christ the King? Why could the Church not have chosen a reading for this feast where Christ is shown in his splendor – the transfiguration of Jesus or the Ascension of Jesus, for example?
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Do you sense a revolt brewing inside you when, in the middle of September, you see a decorated Christmas tree at the malls? I feel violated. I feel someone has taken something very sacred to me and made a mockery out of it. It is as if someone was wishing me ‘happy birthday’ in November when my birthday isn’t until February. Over the past few days, I have also seen Christmas lights – it must be the warm weather; or a rather depressing political season (people actually want some good news), or the drudgery of the economy is making people impatient for celebration. Liturgically, however, we are at a different place. After all, no matter how impatient we might be, we cannot avoid the natural cycle of life can we?
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of the regrets I have in life is that my faith has never been severely tested. I have never lived underground, my life has never been in danger, or I have never had to choose between my family and my faith. I wonder if faith would mean something different had it to be challenged in a serious way. Do you wonder the same ? How can we know how precious our faith in Jesus is unless it is tested?
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Put your hands up if at one time or another you have been head over heels in love. I am not asking you if it all worked out or if you are still with the person you got crazy about; I am not even asking if the other person felt the same for you. Perhaps, you only secretly adored this person and never made your love known. I am merely asking you if your heart has ever skipped a beat? I am asking if you lost your appetite or started putting make-up because love stirred your heart like never before? I am asking you, if you have been crazy in love?
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
When I first started to take my relationship with God seriously, I found spending quite time in prayer very satisfying. I would look forward to taking more time to be with God in prayer. Ironically though, one of the effects of my prayer in its initial stages was also pride. My prayer was beginning to give me a sense of superiority over those in the seminary that did not take the time to pray or were struggling in prayer. I found myself becoming judgemental in this regard. I found some satisfaction in finding myself to be better than others. Things got even worse before they got better. I very briefly reached a stage when I would feel unhappy to see particular seminarians pray, the ones I found it difficult to get along with. It was as if I was losing my spiritual superiority over them. It took me some time to discover that all those times that I thought I was in prayer, like the Pharisee in today’s gospel reading, I was deluding myself.
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Last week, there were some distractions in my spiritual life a little bit. As I have said before, I find early mornings to be the best time for quite time in prayer. In the last few weeks, however, I have found waking up in the morning to be very difficult. I have had to drag myself to my prayer corner. The other distraction was sports. India took on Australia in cricket. When I get up at 5:30 in the morning, the game is just ending in India. Those of you who love sports, you know there is nothing like catching up the last bit of the game. If you are curious, no, I did not give up into these temptations. However, I did ask myself a few questions as I sat in prayer. Why am I doing this? Why do I spent quite time in prayer? What am I getting out of this? I will give you my answer in a few moments. Let me first provide the larger theme of today’s reading.
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Because our nation is at war, perhaps, it will be easier for us to understand today’s readings better. Here then, is a hypothetical situation. Suppose one of the Taliban commanders came to the United States to seek treatment for cancer, how would you react as ordinary citizens? Would you support the offer of health care and nursing to him? Now, let me ask you these same questions as a people of faith in Jesus Christ? Are you now at least compelled to pause and rethink your reaction? Do you now have a different answer than our initial reaction? If you are struggling for an answer, then perhaps, you will understand today’s reading really well.
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
For how long and how much pain should someone have to endure before they utter these words to God in prayer? “How long, O LORD? I cry for help but you do not listen! I cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not intervene. Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery?” (Hab 1: 2-3) Do you sense the same desperation and sheer exhaustion in the cry for help that I sense? In recent times, people without employment, people without health insurance and people whose homes have been foreclosed, perhaps have raised their voices to God. What became of these prayers, I wish I knew.
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am not sure if any of you read the daily cartoon, Pearls before Swine. The main characters in this cartoon are the rat, the pig, the goat and crocodiles. In last Monday’s clip, the goat asks the pig, “Do you have any religious beliefs? …Things you know in your heart are true?” The pig answered, “Just Nachofication.” The goat asks, “What is Nachofication?” The pig replies, “The belief that everything tastes better with melted cheese.” The goat looks disgusted as he turns around and exclaims, “I was hoping for something deeper than the church of cheese.” Perhaps, the cartoon is a commentary on contemporary society which sometimes seems all too shallow. I certainly do not want to make generic judgments about society, but I certainly want to pose some questions. If someone had to ask you the question, “What is at your core?” or, if your children or your parents or your friend had to ask you, “What are the hallmarks of your character?” or if God had to ask you, “Who are you? Or “Who are you becoming?” what would your answer be?
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In its latest report, the US Census Bureau has announced that in 2009 one in seven Americans was living in poverty. The bureau defines poverty as any family of four living on less than $21,954 a year. Officials said that the number of people in poverty increased by nearly 4 million between 2008 and 2009. Today, 43.6 million people live in poverty in the United States. Among the working-age population, ages 18 to 65, poverty rose from 11.7% to 12.9%, the highest level since the 1960s. Meanwhile, the number of Americans without health insurance increased by 4.4m between 2008 - 2009. This number rose from 15.4% to 16.7% - or 50.7 million people - mostly because of the loss of employer-provided schemes during the recession. The report also suggests that the group that suffered most from increasing poverty levels was children.
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
When I use the word ‘scandal,’ what is it that comes to your mind? Perhaps we are thinking of a serious or a systemic immoral situation. For example, the abuse of children in the church – that is surely a scandal. It is normal to consider a scandal to be a negative situation. And we are right. There is nothing right about a child who demands his inheritance even before the death of his parents and then wastes it all in a life of dissipation (Lk 15: 11-20). There is nothing right about an entire people abandoning the God who saved them from slavery only to show their loyalty to the mere image of a golden calf (Ex 32:7-11). A scandal is serious business. It hurts the people involved, it destroys relationships, and most of all, it leads people away from God.
Labour Day 2010 Homily
Even as we commemorate Labor Day, once again our spirits are dulled by the high unemployment, increasing foreclosures and soaring budget deficit. But, here we are in the Church and in the presence of God. Some of us are grateful that we have employment; some of us bring the pain of our struggles; some of us come seeking God’s intervention and others are here just to be in the presence of God. Does God have anything to say to us today? Is God among us and our struggles?
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
I remember this incident very clearly. I was in my moral theology class in the Seminary. The professor began his class by asking all of us to write our epitaph. I wanted mine to be the best and the most impressive. I remember thinking hard for a minute and finally wrote down the words: “Here lies a man who lived his life to the full.” I was so convinced that everyone in the room would want to copy my epitaph. When I shared my epitaph with the class, I did not hear the ooohs and the aaahhs I was expecting. The professor passed on to my friend sitting next to me. He had merely written, “Here lies a disciple.” Not only was I highly embarrassed at my own epitaph, but that was the single most life changing moment of my life. It is 20 years since then. Disciple – this word haunts me today as it did that day.