Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Daily HOMILY for July 29, 2013: Monday of 17th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

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St. Luke’s Institute
Mon 17th Week OT

July 29, 2013

TO LEARN FROM MARTHA ++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Maybe becz I enjoy cooking & friends at home
Ø  Or maybe it’s becz my mother so hospitable & always room at table for 1 more
Ø  Whatever reason I always enjoyed biblical Martha as an individual & always thought of her as Italian!
Ø  We know her from Gospels: she, Mary & Lazarus close friends of J
Ø  He enjoyed their hospitality on journeys 2 Jerusalem just few miles away
Ø  “What to learn from Martha on her feast day?”

HOSPITALITY +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  1st = revelation that hospitality offers us
Ø  St. Benedict used to say guest at door is person of J
Ø  While literally true 4 Martha, when we welcome, make someone feel at home, enjoy a meal, rest & relax, something wonderful happens
Ø  Those dispositions create in person a Christ presence & warmth & delight in host
Ø  Hospitality is a real virtue & Martha exemplifies it

FRIENDSHIP ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  2nd she can teach us joy of friendship
Ø  J becz 1 like us in all, save sin, savored rich companionship of others
Ø  There was a deeper eating, savoring, & nourishment than simply at level of meal on table
Ø  It was nourishment & delight of friendship that meal occasioned
Ø  And at that level he reveals to her mystery of life & death: “I am resurrection & the life”

THOSE BEHIND THE SCENES +++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Finally, Martha can help us appreciate those behind scene that make hospitality complete
Ø  Those who shop, prepare meal, cook & clean up
Ø  They know what must B done 2 enjoy presence of others & do it so willingly
Ø  It’s their efforts that create environment 4 hospitality
Ø  How important 2 thank workers, the Marthas, wherever they are for their efforts!
CONCLUSION +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  On this feast of St. Martha, we give thanks 4 Hospitality, Friendship, & those Behind Scenes she represents
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Daily HOMILY for July 24, 2013: Wednesday of 16th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

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St. Luke’s Institute
Wed 16th Week OT

July 24, 2013

THE EXODUS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  We can identify w/ real-life humanity of Israelites in 1st reading
Ø  Led by Moses, escaped from slavery Egypt
Ø  Life very hard & Egyptian masters were cruel
Ø  Israelites escaped in amazing event we call Exodus
Ø  Looking ahead 2 freedom & better life in land promised by God
Ø  But 1st had to get there and had 2 go thru desert
Ø  Things not so good in desert
Ø  Journey long & hot & food minimal

SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE / LOOKING BACK +++++++++++

Ø  So, started 2 complain
Ø  & suddenly looked back 2 Egypt & wondered why they’d ever left
Ø  & heat & food & long journey led them 2 forget where they going & what lay ahead, new land

VERY HUMAN +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  So very human?
Ø  When life gets tough we look back & wish good old days here again
Ø  Sometimes, understandable, hardship & hard work cause us 2 lose perspective when it’s imp not 2
Ø  May forget things not really that good or may forget goal that we really want 2 achieve
Ø  We too might grumble in our desert

BUT WHAT TO DO +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  What’re we 2 do at these times?
Ø  Find some answer in what God does for Israelites
Ø  Gives them daily food – enough for each day
Ø  So G called & calls us 2 focus on day – on doing what we’ve to do even if it’s hard & don’t feel like it, and on keeping in mind R goal or what G seems to be calling u to do.
Ø  We need to do this prayerfully, asking for and looking for G’s help, as in manna & quail in story
Ø  And need 2 do every day, if we’re going 2 complete journey
CONCLUSION +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  Sometimes we’ll do this out of a strength we did not think we had – and that’s grace of G
Ø  But do it we must & then one day, we too reach land G’s promised us
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Daily HOMILY for July 23, 2013: Tuesday of 16th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

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St. Luke’s Institute
Tuesday of the 16th Week in OT

July 23, 2013

BROTHER & SISTERS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  Scene in today’s Gospel has certain sharpness to it
Ø  First sight, may seem like Jesus putting off or putting down blood family – his mother and those who are described as his “brothers and sisters”
Ø  We know that Greek word used here can mean that “brothers and sisters” may have been cousins or maybe even stepbrothers & stepsisters 2 J
Ø  One theory has it that Joseph widowed when he took Mary his wife & had children by 1st marriage
Ø  So, this wording remains is a bit uncertain
Ø  Be that as it may, Jesus’ intent here is not to put down his family
ELEVATION NOT PUTDOWN +++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  Rather then put anybody down, Jesus is elevating his followers, his disciples
Ø  He says, “Those who do the will of my heavenly Father are my brother and sister and mother”
Ø  The effect of Jesus’ statement is that we can be as close to him as his own blood family
Ø  So, if we as believers or disciples are like family to Jesus, then the traditional role of blood family members can help us to understand what our role or calling is to be
FAMILY MEMBERS & WORD OF GOD ++++++++++++++
Ø  For example, disciples are to be like mothers through receiving Jesus into our hearts in faith and then bringing him into the world by our words and actions
Ø  We are to be like fathers by giving life to others and not by injuring life whether of the unborn child, the person who is emotionally vulnerable, or handicapped
Ø  And we are to be like brothers and sisters when we care for the neighbor next door or the Hispanic immigrant who’s come here in need
CONCLUSION +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  So, it’s all of us who are his disciples that Jesus really elevates
Ø  He calls us family and we can learn something about our calling simply from the roles of family members
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++