Friday of the 12rd Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - June 25, 2021

 Friday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time 

June 25, 2021       11am

Bon Secours Retreat and Conference Center

 

Readings:   Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22  

                  Matthew 8:1-4

 

Jesus has just finished speaking – the rather long Sermon on the Mount.

Now, according to Saint Matthew’s gospel, he immediately puts into practice what he has been saying.

 

A man who is a leper approaches Jesus.

Lepers were supposed to shout out “Unclean! Unclean!”  

They were seen as ritually unclean, and anyone who even came near them was also seen that way.

That’s why they were supposed to warn others not to get close to them.

But here, this man recognizes something unique about Jesus.

And, even though he dares to approach Jesus, he is very humble.

He bows and probably even kneels down before Jesus.

Then he addresses Jesus as Lord – a title that shows Jesus’ superior, maybe even divine status.

“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”

The man with leprosy doesn’t assume that Jesus will heal him.

Instead, he humbly begs him to do that.

And what does Jesus do?

He touches him – an action that according to the religious law, makes Jesus unclean.

But amazingly, the reverse happens.

Instead of Jesus becoming unclean, the leper is made clean.

And notice that Jesus doesn’t have to touch the man.

He could have healed him with words only, from a distance – something that we see in the very next verses of Matthew’s gospel, the next healing that Jesus does.

But here, Jesus touches the leper who asks for healing. 

He does this because he wants to make sure that this man knows that he is loved and is no longer being treated as an outcast, as excluded from the community.  

 

And that leads to the last thing I want to note.

Jesus reaches beyond the boundaries of the day.

Here, in this healing, he touches a person, maybe a Jew, but a person whom the religious law told him not to touch.

Immediately after this, he heals a non-Jew, and then he heals a woman.

So, no one is excluded, distanced, or pushed away.

Everyone is included in Jesus’ reach.

He is inclusive of all.

 

Jesus gives us a great example.

He lives out what he has spoken in the Sermon on the Mount. 

And, as he has done, so we are to do.   

 

 

 

 

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - June 20, 2021

 12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B

June 20, 2021       

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 5pm 

Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville 8am 

 

The Wind and the Waves

 

The location of today’s gospel event is the Sea of Galilee.

 

This is really a lake in Galilee, the northern part of Israel. It has 33 miles of shoreline, as compared to our own Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland which has 69 miles of shoreline.

 

A significant feature about the Lake of Galilee is that it is almost 700 feet below sea level and is fairly shallow. It is flanked by mountains. 

 

So, what happens is that in the evening, the warm air off of the lake, warmed by the sun during the day, collides with cooler air coming off of the mountains. Often, the result is a sudden storm.

 

Strong winds kick up high waves. This is the situation that the disciples and Jesus are in.

 

They are in a wood fishing boat, apparently a rather large rowboat. So, they are caught in one of these sudden storms with the waves splashing over the gunwales of the boat.

 

The disciples are terrified and think that they are going to drown. Jesus – tired, and apparently a good sleeper – is asleep in the stern of the boat. 

 

“Who then is this?”

 

The disciples awaken Jesus for help. 

 

They have been following and listening to him. For some reason, they now think he can do something to help them.

 

The passage says that Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves and suddenly, there is great calm. The disciples are amazed.

 

They ask: “Who is this? Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey?”

 

Divine Power 

 

The disciples are probably asking this with something specific in mind.

 

They know the creation story in the Book of Genesis. That story describes the earth as chaos with a mighty wind sweeping over the waters.

 

God then separates the sea from the land and brings order out of chaos. Only God, only divine power could do this.

 

So, the disciples know all of this background and now see Jesus calming the wind and the waves. They must be thinking: “Only one with divine power can do something like this. So, who is this?”

 

Our Storms

 

Now, like those disciples, we also can get caught in storms.

 

Our storms may be a threatening medical diagnosis, the loss of a loved one, financial trouble, feeling rejected by our peers, being bullied, being unfairly judged, and on it goes. All of us have storms, and this is the significance of the boat in today’s gospel. 

 

This was a real boat and a real storm, but it was also symbolic. In the culture of Jesus’ day, a boat was symbolic of community, of all of us together. 

 

So, in effect, the gospel is conveying: we are all in the same boat. We are all human and we all have storms in our lives. 

 

Christ’s Power

 

When we find ourselves in these storms, we too can call on Christ and his power, just like the disciples do.

 

For us, Christ is not asleep in the boat. Instead, he is alive and awake right within us – in our inner self, in the depths of our being.

 

And so, we call upon him first to calm us. We ask him to steady us and give us some inner peace no matter how bad the storm gets.

 

And then, like the disciples, we call upon him even to calm the storm itself. All of us would want that to happen. 

 

Then, it is important that we also call upon Jesus to awaken us. We ask him to awaken from within us patience or perseverance, courage or fortitude, wisdom or hope – these are the kind of virtues that we need in the storms of life. 

 

So, we call on Jesus and his power to empower us. We do this because he is the Divine One, and we need to place our trust in him to make our way through the storm, no matter how it turns out.   

  

 

 

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - June 13, 2021

 11^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B

June 13, 2021       

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 5pm and 11am

Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville 8am 

 

Two Lessons 

 

This morning, I want to share with you two reflections about the very beginning of the Mass, the Penitential Act. 

 

The first idea – based on the first parable in today’s gospel – is about God and God’s love. The second idea – based on the second parable – is about us and our growth. 

 

Lesson 1: God and God’s Love

 

First, at the beginning of almost every Mass, we have what is called a Penitential Act or Prayer.

 

Often, this is introduced with words like: “Let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.” Usually, I introduce this by saying something like: “As we begin Mass, let us open our hearts to the love and mercy of God.”

 

My reason for beginning this way is that our first focus needs to be on God and God’s love. The idea is that we start where we hope to end.

 

We want to end our celebration of Mass with an experience of the love of God. And we want our lives on earth someday to end with the love of God in our hearts and with ourselves formed in that love.

 

So, we begin the Penitential Prayer with an awareness of God’s presence and love. This, almost naturally, leads us to be aware of our need for God’s love and mercy.

 

This means that it leads us to be aware of our humanity, our weaknesses or faults or sinfulness. But always, always in the context of God’s love for us! 

 

This approach doesn’t deny the reality of sin. In fact, I went through the regular prayers of the Mass and counted eleven times where we use the word sin – eleven times in every Sunday Mass we celebrate.

 

So, there is plenty of awareness of our humanity and sinfulness in the Mass. We have to make sure that this is also wrapped up in the awareness of God’s love.

 

If it is not, as one of our Catholic authors says, the risk is that the Penitential Act or any penitential prayer will become self-focused. We can end up being focused on self and on our sin.

 

Whereas, we need to be focused on God and God’s love. Again, as one of our authors says, we have to remember that “We don’t have to earn God’s love; we just need to accept it.”

 

“We don’t have to earn God’s love; we just need to accept it.” This is the whole point in the first parable of today’s gospel.

 

The farmer realizes that ultimately, it is not his work that causes the seed to grow. Rather, it happens in some way, without his doing it.

 

The point is that it is God’s grace or love that makes good things happen. We need to remember this in all our prayers.

 

Lesson 2: Our Growth

 

The second lesson really flows from this.

 

The brief parable of the mustard seed is all about growth. Jesus says that the smallest of seeds can become a large shrub.

 

So, the kingdom of God – that’s the expression that Jesus uses for the presence of God. Maybe the kingdom or presence of God within us is something like the mustard seed. 

 

With God’s grace and love, the presence of God can grow within us. We can become more and more God-like, more and more Christ-like.

 

One way that I recommend for doing this is to identify the number one area where I need to grow personally and spiritually. Maybe it’s impatience – or having to be right all the time – or looking down on people who are different from me – or not being there enough for my loved ones.

 

Whatever it is, identify the number one area where we need to grow – the mustard seed area. And then, week after week, bring that to God here in the Penitential Act.

 

Allow the grace and love of God to work within you in that one area. Over time, maybe months, see if there is a difference – some growth.

 

That’s our part, what we need to do for letting the love of God not just forgive us but empower us to grow. That, I believe, will be a healthy and holy way for approaching this part of the Mass.

 

 

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Cycle B - June 6, 2021

 Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

Cycle B

June 6, 2021        

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 5pm and 8:30am

 

A Rabbi’s Embrace

 

There is a story about a six-year-old Jewish boy named Mortakai.

 

Mortakai was refusing to go to school. Each day, his mother would take him to school, but as soon as she left, he would run back home.

 

This scenario kept happening day after day. Finally, in desperation, the parents contacted their rabbi.  

 

The rabbi said, “If the boy won’t listen to words or to reason, bring him to me.” And so, the parents took young Mortakai to the rabbi.  

 

They entered the rabbi’s study and, without saying a word, he simply picked up the boy and held him to his heart for a long time. And then, again without saying a word, the rabbi set the boy down.  

 

Amazingly, what words did not accomplish, a silent embrace did accomplish. Mortakai began going to school willingly and went on to become a famous scholar and rabbi. 

 

God’s Embrace

 

One of our current Catholic theologians, Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, says that the story of Mortakai expresses something very core about the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

 

Through the Eucharist, God physically embraces us and holds us close to his divine heart. No question, words are important, but at times they do not go deep enough, and they fail us.  

 

For example, the older I get, the more I realize that it is important that I am just there with an embrace or a handshake for a person who is grieving the death of a loved one. My presence is a spiritual embrace that communicates more than my words.  

 

Now we all know that Jesus makes powerful use of words. This is why the Scripture is important here at Mass and why we listen especially to Jesus’ words in the gospel.  

 

But even Jesus’ words have limits, and so he resorts to another language – the language of ritual and action. This is what the gift of his Body and Blood in the forms of bread and wine is all about. 

 

The Eucharist is Jesus doing what that rabbi did for young Mortakai. It is Jesus’ physical embrace, holding us close to his heart.

 

A Parent’s Embrace

 

The author Ronald Rolheiser offers another example that he learned from parents.

 

He says that sometimes, often late in the afternoon, a little child can get very tired. Maybe the child has been to pre-school and did not get much of a nap.

 

At times like these, a child can get very cranky. He doesn’t know what he wants or what to do with himself.

 

She may torment the dog and begin to whine. At the same time, the parents are also tired and may begin to reprimand the child.

 

But the child just whines all the more, and now the parents know exactly what to do. The mother or father scoops up the child and without speaking, just holds the child close to their heart.

 

The Eucharist’s Embrace

 

Again, Rolheiser says that this is a good image of the Eucharist.

 

Sometimes we come to Mass, to the Eucharist, feeling tired, strung out, lonely, preoccupied, or worried. There are times when we have no words to say and cannot really hear any words.

 

And then, in that moment, God touches us and picks us up. In that moment, only physical touch and embrace will work.

 

This is why God, in Jesus, gives us the Eucharist. This is God’s divine, physical embrace.

 

So, no wonder that the Eucharist is so powerful. Here we find inner comfort for our anxiety and upset.

 

Here we find strength when we feel tired and are wondering if we can keep going on. That is what the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, is for us: the divine embrace that communicates without any words at all.