Daily HOMILY for February 19, 2014: Wednesday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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In 2014, I am facilitating a 12-week interactive online course in contemplative prayer and action for priests with Saint Luke Institute.  Please visit SLIconnect.org to learn more:  https://www.sliconnect.org/product/living-god-program-contemplative-life-2/

Wednesday 6^th Week OT

St. Luke Institute

February 19, 2014

NARROW VIEW OF HEALING +++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Some folks get upset & troubled about the amount of space the healing of the sick takes in the Gospel

Ø  Jesus’ healings of others seem to dwarf ministry

Ø  One might say it doesn’t seem spiritual enough for the supernatural revelation of God to humans

Ø  This is becz we think of healing narrowly, as getting rid of people’s pain, disease, disability & distress

Ø  But think of healing as restoring someone to true normality, restoring to full humanity, making us what God meant us to be, do that and things shift

WIDER VIEW OF HEALING +++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  So here’s the shift:

Ø  Jesus’ healing of the sick is

o   His bringing back to life, life as it was meant to be

o   It’s his mending that which has broken down

o   It’s his healing our deep mental and spiritual wounds

Ø  All by the action of his deep love for us

Ø  For all these healing actions he establishes, unequivocally, his very life-giving Spirit

Ø  And makes clear that this Spirit is ever present and at work and poured out lavishly on the rich and the poor, the saint and the sinner

HEALED AND HEALING ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  One could still say, “So what! How does my healing affect others?”

Ø  This lavish healing of me is not only part of God’s character,

Ø  It is also a definite characteristic of every human person’s vocation as declared in Christ

Ø  In one form or another, our healing & through it the healing of others has to be present in our lives

Ø  It may be the gratitude we express

Ø  The hope we offer another

Ø  It may be the many ways we can heal by our presence in someone’s life 

Ø  Or it may be through the generous gift of our talents

CONCLUSION +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  His healing loving kindness has got to flow through us, if we have given ourselves to him

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Daily HOMILY for February 18, 2014: Tuesday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

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In 2014, I am facilitating a 12-week interactive online course in contemplative prayer and action for priests with Saint Luke Institute.  Please visit SLIconnect.org to learn more:  https://www.sliconnect.org/product/living-god-program-contemplative-life-2/

Tuesday of the 6^th Week OT

St. Luke’s Institute

February 18, 2014

INTROUCTION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  I taught Language Arts in the DC public schools for several years

Ø  Figures & styles of speech, such as the metaphor, simile, and the use of allegory, parody, and sarcasm were always a challenge

Ø  I’d go over the material step-by-step waiting for light to go on in their heads … and often it didn’t

Ø  In Gospel, Jesus is the frustrated teacher trying to make a point using the analogy of them & the Pharisees and the metaphor of leaven

Ø  But his students, the disciples, don’t get the connection

GOSPEL ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Let’s unwrap what he’s saying a bit

Ø  “Leaven” carries a double connotation

Ø  A very small amount can make a dense lump of dough light, airy, and flavorful,

Ø  But it can also be thought of as acting like a cancer, infecting everything it touches

Ø  Jesus point? The Pharisees are an infecting presence to them when they, like the Pharisees, “demand a sign”

APPLICATION +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  For us it may be the leaven of evil we listen to that gets us into trouble

Ø  It may be the leaven of lesser lights within and without that has us cross boundaries

Ø  It may be the leaven of hopelessness or lack of support that leaves us to our own weaknesses

Ø  Jesus’ use of leaven is equivocal and has us ask the question:

Ø  Does the leaven in our life produce growth and lightness?

Ø  Or does it produce alienation, isolation, and sadness?

CONCLUSION +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  You don’t have to be in a Language Arts class to understand the power of metaphor

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Daily HOMILY for February 12, 2014: Wednesday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

PODCAST - Press sideways triangle below to listen

or click here if there is no triangle
In 2014, I am facilitating a 12-week interactive online course in contemplative prayer and action for priests with Saint Luke Institute.  Please visit SLIconnect.org to learn more:  https://www.sliconnect.org/product/living-god-program-contemplative-life-2/

5^th Wednesday in OT

St. Luke’s Institute

February 12, 2014

RELIEF FROM THE PEW +++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  It’s a funny thing to sit in the pew on Sundays when a whole list of sins and sinners is enumerated from the Gospels or the various Epistles

Ø  Our shoulders shrink a bit in hope that we are not mentioned, or at least that the blows fall not too hard

Ø  Possibly we feel relieved that smoking and drinking are not mentioned

Ø  Some of us may feel a sigh of relief

Ø  Ah, it is those “others” that Jesus is talking about

JUSTIFICATION FROM THE PEW ++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Or maybe we dwell, savoring it a bit, on those “others” that Jesus is talking about

Ø  That guy who has loads of money

Ø  I hope he heard the word “greed”

Ø  Or the woman who has seen three marriages

Ø  She’d better be listening

Ø  Or those fakes who think they are so good they’ll get their fill of this Gospel

Ø  And I hope those people who eat and drink too much know what the word “sensuality” means

Ø  They could learn a thing or two if they would just open up their ears

Ø  As for those who envy my own virtue and success, thank God they are condemned as well

PHARISEE…WHO ME? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  The old Pharisee were experts in the Law, when it cam to matters of right and wrong

Ø  Weighty concerns of judgment, indeed

Ø  They knew where people stood

Ø  But Jesus seemed to have more difficulty with the Pharisees than with any other group

Ø  They did not mind hearing about sin, as long as it didn’t apply to them

Ø  They were righteous, but self-righteously so

Ø  A gifted and forceful woman once told me of a horrifying revelation

Ø  She had realized at prayer that she was a Pharisee, she who judged others, she who did not trust God

YES YOU! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  What a lovely moment

Ø  If you think you are a Pharisee, you most surely are not

Ø  If you think you are not, watch out!

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