HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

Twenty Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A)

Aug 31, 2014

2724

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First Reading

A reading from the first Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (20:7-9)

You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped; you were too strong for me, and you triumphed. All the day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me.

Whenever I speak, I must cry out, violent and outrage is my message; the word of the Lord has brought me derision and reproach all the day.

I say to myself, I will not mention Him, I will speak in His name no more. But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9)

(R) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

O God, you are my God whom I seek; for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts like the Earth, parched, lifeless and without water. (R)

Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory, for your kindness is a greater good than life; my lips shall glorify you. (R)

Thus will I bless you while I live; lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name. As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied, and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you. (R)

You are my help, and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy. My soul clings fast to you; your right hand upholds me. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans (12:1-2)

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew (16:21-27)

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priest, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit one's life? Or what can one give in exchange for one's life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct."

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

One day a mother sent her five year old son to a nearby shop to buy a loaf of bread. He was gone much longer than it should have taken him. When he finally returned his mother asked, "Why has it taken you so long? I've been worried about you. "Well, Mom" he answered, "On the street I saw a little boy with a broken bike who was crying. So I stopped to help him." "Oh! I didn't know you knew anything about fixing bikes," his mother said. "I don't Mom," he replied. "I just stayed there and cried with him."

Friends, we all go through hard times. There are times when we have insecurities and doubts about our faith. There are times when we feel sad, hurt, dejected, discouraged and disappointed with those from whom we expect the most support and love and particularly with God. In other words, we can find ourselves like the prophet Jeremiah in today's first reading. The passage is called one of the confessions of Jeremiah. It gives us a glimpse into the prophet's inner life and reveals his humanity. Let us look at the historical background or life of the prophet in order to understand the text.

Jeremiah lived about a hundred years after the prophet Isaiah and six hundred years before Christ. He was a Jew and born into a priestly family in the village of Anathoth, a few miles northeast of Jerusalem. His father served as a priest in the temple in Jerusalem. When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, not just to Israel, but to all nations, he was reluctant to accept the invitation. He gave God two reasons why he should not be a prophet - he was still very young and he didn't know how to speak. But God reassured and comforted Jeremiah by telling him that He would guide and protect him from all harm. So God touched Jeremiah's lips and put His Word in his mouth and appointed him as one of His prophets during the reign of King Josiah.

Josiah was a pious and righteous king. It is believed that no king, before or after Josiah, completely turned to the Lord and followed all the commandments of Moses with all his heart, mind and soul. As a priest and prophet Jeremiah assisted Josiah to build his nation and stay faithful to God. Unfortunately Josiah died in the battle against the king of Egypt. Soon after his death, the people returned to their evil ways. Jeremiah began to speak against the new regime and the unfaithful people. He told the people if they did not repent of their sins and turn back to the Lord and His Word, God would allow the Babylonian army to destroy both the city and the temple, and take them as captives to a faraway land. But the king, priests and the people refused to heed the warning for they believed that as the chosen people of God they would be shielded from all enemy aggressions and attacks. Infuriated by Jeremiah's message, the people had him arrested, charged, humiliated, ridiculed, mocked, beaten and tortured.

It was at this moment in utter despair that Jeremiah cried out, "You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped; you were too strong for me, and you triumphed. All the day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me." The prophet questioned God's action and accused Him of deception. The Hebrew word for "dupe" is "pathah". In other biblical passages, "pathah" means to sexually seduce or entice someone. So going back to the initial hesitation to accept God's call, Jeremiah felt that God had seduced or enticed or tricked him into surrendering his life. He felt that God had overpowered him with sweet promises and that He had given him a task that was overwhelmingly hard, and that had brought him nothing but "derision" and "reproach". Moreover, in great anguish he came close to blaspheming. He said, "I say to myself, I will not mention Him, I will speak in His name no more." But, in the end, he trusted in God again and surrendered to Him. He said, "It becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it." It refers to God's Word. He felt that God's Word had been planted in him and, it was a burning and living Word that could not be ignored. God's Word is irresistible. It is more difficult to resist God's Word than to resist any humiliation and persecution. He realized that he was God's instrument and he couldn't resist the charge God had placed in him. So despite the mockery he endured it as he carried out his assigned task. He continued his prophetic work throughout the reigns of the four kings after Josiah.

Friends, all of us are deeply captivated by God's love for humankind, powerfully influenced by His Word and irresistibly drawn to His promises. That's why we gather to worship Him and confess our faith in Him. However, when life doesn't go the way we want; when our prayer requests go unanswered; when people mock us for our faith, we are disappointed with God. We turn to God in anger. We wonder why God is so unfair or silent or distant or hide from us and let us suffer so much. In our disappointment we are even tempted to give up our faith in God.

Today's reading is a reminder that when we feel such disappointment, we're not alone! Like Jeremiah, there are many other great people of our faith who have been very disappointed with God. For instance, we know the story of Job in the Old Testament. Job was rich. He was a devout and righteous man. He obeyed God's commandments and prayed for his children every day. God had given him many blessings. But when troubles came his way he complained and questioned why God allowed bad things to happen to him. In Psalm 22, the writer, presumably King David, in hopelessness and great distress prays, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The words of my groaning do nothing to save me", (22:1). Jesus echoed these words when he hung on the cross in great agony. If we read the scriptures we discover that alongside the words of comfort and encouragement, and the stories of amazing miracles by God we hear story after story of disappointment with God, of times when God appears silent and inactive. Therefore let us not give up but persevere and put our hope in God.

Let us not assume that if we are faithful to God He will make our life easy. Faithfulness to God often brings suffering, trials, and disappointment. Jesus is honest about the cost of following him. He says in today's gospel, Matthew (16:24), "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." It means we must be willing to die in order to follow Jesus and, it is a call to total surrender. Nevertheless, God knows our weaknesses and limitations. He is patient and caring. He forgives our complaints and listens to our grievances. He may not fix any of our problems instantly but he would certainly accompany us in our sorrow and suffering, most profoundly through the person of Jesus, who suffered and died on the cross in order that we all might experience the joy and peace of the resurrection. He may not take all our troubles away but will give us strength to go through them or help us find ways and means to deal with them.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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