25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - September 22, 2024

 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – B

September 22, 2024          11am

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

Being Number 1

 

We can imagine what Jesus’ disciples were saying at the beginning of this incident today.

 

Andrew tells Peter, “I met him before you did.” Peter retorts, “Yeah, but he gave me the keys to the kingdom.”

 

James chimes in, “Don’t forget – he took me up on that mountain to see Moses and Elijah.” And, of course, Judas brags, “Okay, but he put me in charge of the money.”   

 

The gospel simply says: “They had been discussing among themselves who was the greatest.” In other words, each of them wants to be number one.

 

I think we can understand this. In our own way, don’t we sometimes do the same thing?

 

Sometimes don’t we want to be seen as specially favored by our boss or teacher, or as having a better job or a nicer home than the next guy? In our own way, don’t we sometimes want to be the greatest or number one?

 

Our Humanity 

 

Humanly speaking, we all want to feel good about ourselves and we probably also want to be perceived well by others.

 

Maybe these are universal human needs. But Jesus cautions us.

 

He is saying that when we get preoccupied with ourselves in this way, we will probably never feel fully settled. Instead, we just keep looking for that elusive feeling of satisfaction. 

 

So, Jesus points us in a different direction that doesn’t just satisfy us and our human needs. It also makes God and God’s kingdom present in the world.

 

Be the Servant of All 

 

Jesus says: “Those who want to rank first, must remain the last of all and the servant of all.”

 

To illustrate his point, he takes a child and says, “Whoever welcomes a child such as this welcomes me.” Now, in Jesus’ day, children were much more vulnerable than they are in our society.

 

They were at the bottom of the social ladder. For example, if a family did not have enough food, the father ate first, then the mother, and only then would the children get whatever was left over. 

 

That may sound crazy and backwards to us but that’s the way it was in the culture of Jesus’ day. That’s why he takes a child to make his point.

 

Jesus is calling us to care for the last and the least. When we do this, we are serving others and, in effect, we are making ourselves last, but in the eyes of God, we are first. 

 

Influence and Concern 

 

There is a way that I have heard of that helps me to try to live Jesus’ teaching here.

 

The idea is that we have areas of influence and areas of concern. Here is what this means.

 

Our area of influence consists of persons whom we can impact or assist directly. This includes our family, friends, local community, and even those who come to Our Daily Bread in downtown Baltimore or those who live in Preston County, West Virginia where some of you provide help.

 

Areas of influence are situations or persons that we can personally and directly affect. We can have real influence.

 

Our areas of concern are situations that we care about, but we are limited in what we can do. This would include people in some parts of Africa who are suffering from lack of food and potable water and health care and persons in parts of Central and South America who are suffering from oppression and violence and poverty.

 

We care, we pray, maybe we make some contribution to Catholic Relief Services to help out. But they are more within our area of concern than our area of influence.     

 

Conclusion

 

So, I propose this – areas of influence and areas of concern – I propose this as a way to try to live Jesus’ teaching today.

 

We gain personal satisfaction and fulfillment not by seeking to be number one, but by doing what we can for the last and the least. “Those who want to rank first, must remain the last of all and the servant of all.” 

 

 

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - September 8, 2024

 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – B 

September 8, 2024            5PM 

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

Heidi’s Parents

 

Twelve years ago this summer, I flew to Denver to officiate at my nephew David’s wedding.

 

David was marrying a young woman named Heidi. I had met Heidi on a previous visit to Denver.

 

Well, at the rehearsal, I met Heidi’s mother and father. They are both deaf and their serious hearing impairment makes it very difficult for them to speak clearly.

 

As I understand it, the speech impairment follows the hearing impairment. At any rate, Heidi’s parents are very warm, friendly, and likeable persons.

 

The Deaf and Mute Man 

 

I think of Heidi’s parents when I read today’s gospel.

 

There is this man who is both deaf and mute. And notice: Jesus first enables the man to hear and then, after that, to speak.  

 

If he can hear, then his speaking will follow. And notice also: Jesus heals the man by using just two words: “Be opened!”

 

“Be opened!” In opening the man’s ears and mouth, Jesus heals the man physically.

 

But, as wonderful as this is, the healing is even more than the physical. In those days, unlike Heidi’s parents today, those who were deaf and mute were very isolated from society.  

 

They were treated as incapable of holding a job or of being with others in any way at all. On top of that, they were also perceived as alienated from God.

 

Why? Because their disability was seen as a punishment for sin, even though no one could name the sin. So, Jesus’ healing of this man is physical, and it is also social and spiritual – that’s how great it is!   

 

“Be Opened!”

 

Now, let’s take this one step farther. 

 

Jesus’ words – “Be opened!” – are also intended for us. He calls us to “Be opened!”

 

Some years ago, I came across a very simple morning prayer. It is easy to remember.

 

“Lord, open me: inward to you, outward to others.” “Lord, open me: inward to you, outward to others.”

 

Jesus wants us to “Be opened!” And for that to happen, we need to want it and pray for it.

 

“Open Us: Inward” 

 

So first, we pray: “Lord, open us: inward to you.”

 

Open us to your presence within. You are here, within us, removing our isolation and being our constant companion in the journey of life.

 

Open us to your strength within. You are our empowerment to deal with the stuff of everyday life and our refuge when times are tough.

 

Open us to your love within. You are the outreaching, unconditional love of God and the grounding of our self-worth.

 

And open us to your healing within. You, little by little, put together our loose ends, remove our alienation from God, and make us whole and holy persons.

     

“Open Us: Outward”

 

And then, we pray: “Lord, open us: outward to others.”

 

First open our ears. Help us to hear the happiness or sadness, the self-confidence or self-doubt of another person.

 

And then Lord, open our mouths. Help us to speak words of comfort to a neighbor who is grieving or words of challenge to a society that is caught up in violent words and actions.

 

Also, Lord, open our eyes. Help us to see a spouses’s need for a caring intervention about alcohol or an aging parent’s need for help around the house.

 

And finally, Lord, open our minds. Help us to examine our judgments about people who are different from us or our prejudices toward certain groups of people.  

 

Conclusion

 

So, Jesus says: “Be opened!”

 

And we pray: “Lord, open me: inward to you, outward to others.”

 

 

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - September 1, 2024

 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – B 

September 1, 2024             8:30 and 11am 

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

A Story 

 

So, today is story day.

 

My homily will be mostly a story that, I think, makes a very good point – the point that Jesus is making in today’s gospel. So, here goes!

 

Angels of the Sabbath -1

 

In a small village, three friends — a Muslim, a Jew and a Christian — were farmers, and they farmed adjoining plots of land. 

 

The Muslim observed Friday as the Sabbath, the Jew observed Saturday, and the Christian observed Sunday.

 

One Friday in the fall of the year, the Jew and the Christian finished plowing their fields just before noon. As he sat eating his lunch, the Christian noticed that the field of his Muslim friend was not yet ploughed. 

 

He thought: “If he doesn’t plough today, it may rain tomorrow, and he won’t be able to finish his fall planting.” So, the Christian ploughed a section of his Muslim friend’s field to help him out. 

 

In his adjoining field, his Jewish neighbor had the same thought. So, he also began plowing the Muslim’s field. 

 

Without consulting each other, the two completed their neighbor’s plowing. The next day, Saturday, when the Muslim discovered that his field had been ploughed, he offered a joyful prayer of thanks: “Surely, God has sent his angels to plow my field while I observed his day of rest.”

 

Angels of the Sabbath - 2

 

Well, when the harvest season arrived, the fields of the three friends were flourishing. 

 

One Sunday, the Muslim and the Jew were harvesting their crop. The Jew noticed his Christian brother’s corn was ready to harvest. 

 

He thought: “If he doesn’t harvest today, he could lose his crop.” So, the Jew picked his Christian friend’s corn until it grew dark. 

 

Unknown to him, his Muslim neighbor realized the same thing. Between them, they harvested all of their friend’s corn. 

 

On Monday, the Christian came out to his field and saw that his crop had been harvested. He thought: “It’s a miracle; while I rested, God’s angels harvested.”

 

Angels of the Sabbath -3

 

Well, when the threshing season came, the Muslim and Christian were working on a Saturday while their Jewish friend was keeping the Sabbath. 

 

As they finished threshing their own grain, the Muslin looked at the field of his Jewish friend. He thought: “If my Jewish neighbor doesn’t gather his grain today, the coming rain will wash it away.” 

 

So, that afternoon, the Muslim threshed part of his Jewish friend’s crop. And, unknown to him, his Christian neighbor decided to do the same thing. 

 

Separately, the two men threshed, bound and covered their Jewish neighbor’s entire crop. When the Sabbath was over, the Jewish farmer discovered that his grain had been threshed. 

 

He lifted his eyes to heaven and prayed. “Blessed be the Lord of the universe for sending your angels while I kept your Sabbath.”

 

The Lesson 

 

So, the lesson or take-away from the story is this. 

 

Every religion has its own practices and rituals, its own prayers and symbols. But the value of all of these is not the acts themselves but their effectiveness.

 

Are they pointing to something greater than us? Are they pointing to the holiness of God within us and the love of God in our midst?

 

In our practices and rituals, in our prayers and symbols, God calls us to be “angels” of generosity and peace. In the story, the three farmers observed the sabbath on different days.

 

But that Sabbath observance still brought them together as a community of generosity and peace. So, may we embrace the practices and rituals, the prayers and symbols of our faith for what they are meant to be. 

 

May we embrace them as powerful ways for doing what we can to create the Kingdom of God in our midst. That is Jesus’ lesson in today’s gospel when he teaches that it is not just externals that matter, but what comes out of our inner selves as a result of those externals.    

 

________________  

   

[The story is adapted from Stories for the Journey by William R. White.]