From Fr. Jude Botelho:
The great prophets were directly called by God and sent to bear witness to the people. The fact that they were sent by God constituted their mission. In today's reading we hear of Jeremiah's vocation to be a prophet. The Lord tells him that he was chosen for the task even before he was born, that he was consecrated in his mother's womb. The calling of a prophet was not an easy task. A prophet was never popular and he had to speak the plain and difficult truth and say harsh things that needed to be said. Their message would be rejected and so would they, but God would be on their side and He would be their support. Jeremiah, like any true prophet, was rejected by the people but he carried on.Truth shall prevail
Brinsley Mc Namara wrote a classic story called The Valley of the Squinting Windows. It is a great read, and is available today, many decades later. He came from a very rural area of Ireland, and was well known, because his father was a teacher in the local school. History was such that everybody in the village recognized themselves among the characters of the story. This led to public outrage in his hometown, while the rest of the country was avidly reading the book! The book was burned in public, his family had to leave town, and, to this day, his name still evokes strong reactions among many of the people of that town. What he wrote was too close to the bone. If he had written a book about the people of some other town, he probably would have been hailed as the local literary hero. To this day none of his descendants would dare return to their roots in that town. They did, in a symbolic way, take him outside the town, and threw him over a cliff.
Jack McArdle in 'And that's the Gospel Truth
Today's gospel continues that of last Sunday, where we saw Jesus going to the synagogue, as was his habit and there he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. After the reading Jesus solemnly declared that the scripture that he had read was being fulfilled at that moment in their hearing. We are told that initially people were in admiration and wondered at his eloquence.
Brinsley Mc Namara wrote a classic story called The Valley of the Squinting Windows. It is a great read, and is available today, many decades later. He came from a very rural area of Ireland, and was well known, because his father was a teacher in the local school. History was such that everybody in the village recognized themselves among the characters of the story. This led to public outrage in his hometown, while the rest of the country was avidly reading the book! The book was burned in public, his family had to leave town, and, to this day, his name still evokes strong reactions among many of the people of that town. What he wrote was too close to the bone. If he had written a book about the people of some other town, he probably would have been hailed as the local literary hero. To this day none of his descendants would dare return to their roots in that town. They did, in a symbolic way, take him outside the town, and threw him over a cliff.
Jack McArdle in 'And that's the Gospel Truth
Today's gospel continues that of last Sunday, where we saw Jesus going to the synagogue, as was his habit and there he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. After the reading Jesus solemnly declared that the scripture that he had read was being fulfilled at that moment in their hearing. We are told that initially people were in admiration and wondered at his eloquence.
But they also questioned how he had got this knowledge, after all he was one of their own, a man of their own village. They said: "This is Joseph the carpenter's son surely!" They could not accept his teachings because he was one of them. How dare he preach to them! They wanted to throw him out. Jesus replied, "No prophet is accepted in his own land!" Through lack of faith they had failed to see anything in Jesus but the son of a carpenter. Through lack of faith they had lost the promises. Jesus went further and pointed out that as Elijah and Elisha had reached out beyond Israel because of the rejection by their forefathers so now he would go beyond the confines of the Israelites to those who believed in him. The Nazarenes got the message and tried to kill him but he escaped because his hour had not yet come.
Facing Rejection
The Greek philosopher Diogenes was regarded by many who knew him as a somewhat eccentric teacher, not least for his belief that virtue consisted in the avoidance of all physical pleasures, but that pain and inconvenience were conducive to goodness. Few people could accept either his teaching or his way of life. Diogenes was once noticed begging from a statue. When someone asked him the reason for this pointless conduct, he replied: "I am exercising the art of being rejected." Diogenes experienced plentiful rejection in his time; whether he ever became accustomed to being rebuffed remains an open question. In today's Gospel we see how Jesus, after preaching in the synagogue in Nazareth, is rejected by his own townspeople. Some of them are awed by his gracious words, while others are more concerned about his pedigree and address. The neighbours of Jesus are no different from any neighbours. Jesus, for his entire mission to humankind, still has to face local suspicion, gossip, behind-the-curtain omniscience; experts in character demolition, locals who believe that nothing special can emerge from the neighbourhood without their spotting it first. Prophets are accepted provided that they came from somewhere else; there is nothing as unpromising as the local backwoods.
Dennis McBride in 'Seasons of the Word'
Unpopular Prophets
The movie Black Like Me is based on a book by the same title written by John Howard Griffin. It documents his experiences when he had his skin darkened to pose as a Negro and travelled for a month through the Deep South in the late 1950s. John Howard Griffin was born in Dallas and as a youth he studied psychiatry in France. During World War II he was wounded while serving in the army and went blind as a result. In 1947 Griffin returned to Texas to study Braille and become a novelist. After ten years of blindness, he recovered his eyesight in a dramatic way and was able to see his wife and two children for the first time. Griffin then got a job with a Negro magazine. It was during this time that he undertook his Black Like Me adventure. Griffin went on to become a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, thus incurring a backlash of hatred from white racists, ranging from threatening mail and phone calls to being hung in effigy by his own townspeople. Griffin died in 1980. The opposition John Howard Griffin encountered in his prophetic work for civil rights finds a parallel in today's readings.
Jack McArdle in 'And that's the Gospel Truth!'
Teaching with Authority
In one of its issues Newsweek addressed in depth the Women's Liberation Movement. It observed that once the revolution was declared, the nation was flooded with books on the subject. Some books, like those written by Nancy Woloch and Phyllis Schlafly, were serious studies of the significance of the movement. Other books, like those authored by Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, were more strident and dogmatic. The latter illustrate what often happens in a movement - self-styled prophets emerge who presume to speak with full authority. And so we have had such figures as Hugh Hefner as the spokesman for the Playboy Philosophy, guru Timothy Leary for the LSD cult and the militant Malcolm X for the Black Power movement. History shows that many of these movements die out and that their prophets fade away. But there is one movement that endures, one prophet who lives forever. The movement is Christianity and the prophet is Jesus Christ.
Albert Cylwicki in 'His Word Resounds'
Some incredible inconsistencies
On a Sunday morning TV show not too long ago, a popular evangelical preacher was being interviewed by an ever-smiling host. At one moment he was praising a certain fellow believer as "one of the finest, most God-fearing, most authentic human beings I have ever met." A moment later he was condemning a certain woman as a "hopeless sinner, an unredeemed being, not even worth praying for." Could this be true religion? Shades of Luke 4:22 and 4:28-29! True religion, an authentic relationship with God, is not always wild and exciting. But like true love, it is faithful, supportive, and enduring.
Eugene Lauer
God doesn't make junk!
One of Martin Luther's schoolmasters used to remove his hat when he met his class of small children, pointing out that no one could know what might be included in the group. To use his own words he said there might be "a future mayor, or chancellor, or doctor or engineer!" This is the picture that we must have in mind when we look at each other. We should see every one as God's work. God doesn't make junk. Robert Hichens, the noted painter of the sea, once sought a boy whose face might reflect the wonder of the sea. After searching he discovered that he could not find such a lad in one of the sea-coast towns of England. In order to find a face that reflected wonder in connection with the sea he had to choose a boy from the slums of London, a boy who had never seen the ocean before! Familiarity breeds contempt, but let us remember that God doesn't make junk.
John Pichappilly in 'The Table of the Word'
They will comment anyway...
The following is a summary of the comments made about the parish priest in a typical parish:
If his homily is longer than usual, 'He sends us to sleep.'
If it's short 'He hasn't bothered.'
If he raises his voice, 'He is shouting.'
If he speaks normally, 'You can't hear a thing.'
If he's away, 'He's always on the road.'
If he's at home, 'He's a stick-in-the-mud.'
If he's out visiting, 'He's never at home.'
If he's in the presbytery, 'He never visits his people.'
If he talks finances, 'He's too fond of money.'
If he doesn't, 'The parish is dead.'
If he takes his time with people, 'He wears everybody out.'
If he is brief, 'He never listens.'
If he starts Mass on time, 'His watch must be fast.'
If he starts a minute late, 'He holds everybody up.'
If he is young, 'He lacks experience.'
If he is old, 'He ought to retire.'
And if he dies? Well, of course, 'No one could ever take his place.'
Jack McArdle in 'And that's the Gospel Truth
Facing Rejection
The Greek philosopher Diogenes was regarded by many who knew him as a somewhat eccentric teacher, not least for his belief that virtue consisted in the avoidance of all physical pleasures, but that pain and inconvenience were conducive to goodness. Few people could accept either his teaching or his way of life. Diogenes was once noticed begging from a statue. When someone asked him the reason for this pointless conduct, he replied: "I am exercising the art of being rejected." Diogenes experienced plentiful rejection in his time; whether he ever became accustomed to being rebuffed remains an open question. In today's Gospel we see how Jesus, after preaching in the synagogue in Nazareth, is rejected by his own townspeople. Some of them are awed by his gracious words, while others are more concerned about his pedigree and address. The neighbours of Jesus are no different from any neighbours. Jesus, for his entire mission to humankind, still has to face local suspicion, gossip, behind-the-curtain omniscience; experts in character demolition, locals who believe that nothing special can emerge from the neighbourhood without their spotting it first. Prophets are accepted provided that they came from somewhere else; there is nothing as unpromising as the local backwoods.
Dennis McBride in 'Seasons of the Word'
Unpopular Prophets
The movie Black Like Me is based on a book by the same title written by John Howard Griffin. It documents his experiences when he had his skin darkened to pose as a Negro and travelled for a month through the Deep South in the late 1950s. John Howard Griffin was born in Dallas and as a youth he studied psychiatry in France. During World War II he was wounded while serving in the army and went blind as a result. In 1947 Griffin returned to Texas to study Braille and become a novelist. After ten years of blindness, he recovered his eyesight in a dramatic way and was able to see his wife and two children for the first time. Griffin then got a job with a Negro magazine. It was during this time that he undertook his Black Like Me adventure. Griffin went on to become a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, thus incurring a backlash of hatred from white racists, ranging from threatening mail and phone calls to being hung in effigy by his own townspeople. Griffin died in 1980. The opposition John Howard Griffin encountered in his prophetic work for civil rights finds a parallel in today's readings.
Jack McArdle in 'And that's the Gospel Truth!'
Teaching with Authority
In one of its issues Newsweek addressed in depth the Women's Liberation Movement. It observed that once the revolution was declared, the nation was flooded with books on the subject. Some books, like those written by Nancy Woloch and Phyllis Schlafly, were serious studies of the significance of the movement. Other books, like those authored by Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, were more strident and dogmatic. The latter illustrate what often happens in a movement - self-styled prophets emerge who presume to speak with full authority. And so we have had such figures as Hugh Hefner as the spokesman for the Playboy Philosophy, guru Timothy Leary for the LSD cult and the militant Malcolm X for the Black Power movement. History shows that many of these movements die out and that their prophets fade away. But there is one movement that endures, one prophet who lives forever. The movement is Christianity and the prophet is Jesus Christ.
Albert Cylwicki in 'His Word Resounds'
Some incredible inconsistencies
On a Sunday morning TV show not too long ago, a popular evangelical preacher was being interviewed by an ever-smiling host. At one moment he was praising a certain fellow believer as "one of the finest, most God-fearing, most authentic human beings I have ever met." A moment later he was condemning a certain woman as a "hopeless sinner, an unredeemed being, not even worth praying for." Could this be true religion? Shades of Luke 4:22 and 4:28-29! True religion, an authentic relationship with God, is not always wild and exciting. But like true love, it is faithful, supportive, and enduring.
Eugene Lauer
God doesn't make junk!
One of Martin Luther's schoolmasters used to remove his hat when he met his class of small children, pointing out that no one could know what might be included in the group. To use his own words he said there might be "a future mayor, or chancellor, or doctor or engineer!" This is the picture that we must have in mind when we look at each other. We should see every one as God's work. God doesn't make junk. Robert Hichens, the noted painter of the sea, once sought a boy whose face might reflect the wonder of the sea. After searching he discovered that he could not find such a lad in one of the sea-coast towns of England. In order to find a face that reflected wonder in connection with the sea he had to choose a boy from the slums of London, a boy who had never seen the ocean before! Familiarity breeds contempt, but let us remember that God doesn't make junk.
John Pichappilly in 'The Table of the Word'
They will comment anyway...
The following is a summary of the comments made about the parish priest in a typical parish:
If his homily is longer than usual, 'He sends us to sleep.'
If it's short 'He hasn't bothered.'
If he raises his voice, 'He is shouting.'
If he speaks normally, 'You can't hear a thing.'
If he's away, 'He's always on the road.'
If he's at home, 'He's a stick-in-the-mud.'
If he's out visiting, 'He's never at home.'
If he's in the presbytery, 'He never visits his people.'
If he talks finances, 'He's too fond of money.'
If he doesn't, 'The parish is dead.'
If he takes his time with people, 'He wears everybody out.'
If he is brief, 'He never listens.'
If he starts Mass on time, 'His watch must be fast.'
If he starts a minute late, 'He holds everybody up.'
If he is young, 'He lacks experience.'
If he is old, 'He ought to retire.'
And if he dies? Well, of course, 'No one could ever take his place.'
Jack McArdle in 'And that's the Gospel Truth
****
From Fr. Tony Kadavil:
2: Facing rejection, Martin Luther King style: April 16, 1963, almost fifty-six years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. offended a lot of people by writing a letter from a Birmingham jail.). He wrote that letter to Church people, to the pastors. He said, “Now is the time. God wills that all his children be free. God wills that all his children be given an equal chance in this life.” He challenged the Church to believe that what the Scripture says, applies to “now.” Not to sometime later, not to when everything is ready, but now. Not some other time, but right now. Martin Luther King, Jr. said a generation ago, “We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering with our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet you physical force with soul force. Throw us in jail, and we will still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour and beat us and leave us half-dead and we will still love you. But be assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process and our victory will be a double victory. For love is the most durable power in the world.” (https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
3: Liberation for Dalits through Jesus: High castes represent a small minority in India, some 10-15% of the population, yet they dominated Indian society in much the same way whites ruled South Africa during the official period of Apartheid. For centuries, Indian society lived under a rigid caste system imposed by the high caste Hindus in which each person was born into a set social group. People who were born into the highest social group, or caste, used to receive the benefits of honor respect and privileges. Then, there are different levels, or castes, below this. A person’s caste at birth determined what job he could have, whom he could marry, and what rights he had in his society. On the very lowest rungs of society were the Dalits, whose name actually means “broken, crushed.” The Dalits were the targets of violence and discrimination in Indian society for long time. Fortunately, formal discrimination no longer exists under the new law. But now, the Dalits face persecution for another reason: their Faith. Nearly 70% of Indian Christians are Dalits. The reserved 22.5 percent of all government and semi-government jobs, including seats in Parliament and state legislatures, is available only to Dalits who follow Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, but Dalit Christians and Muslims are not protected as castes under Indian Reservation policy. The legal reason is that there is caste system in Christianity and Islam. The Christian Faith was quite attractive to the Dalits. They chose to follow Christ even when they knew the consequences they might face including the denial of free education and job reservation given to Hindu Dalits. Why would the Hindu Dalits, who were targets of discrimination and abuse, invite more such treatment by becoming Christians? Because in Christ, they meet a God of liberation Who loves and lifts up those whom others would tear down. His heart is with those who suffer. He cares about those who are hurting, who are helpless, who are brokenhearted, who are in bondage. They consider Jesus as their Divine liberator, and God of justice. [Timothy Merrill, “Giving Flesh to the Word,” Homiletics, (July-August 1999).]
4: Rejection at the Pearly Gate: A cab driver reaches the Pearly Gates and announces his presence to St. Peter, who looks him up in his Big Book. Upon reading the entry for the cabby, St. Peter invites him to grab a silk robe and a golden staff and to proceed into Heaven. A preacher is next in line behind the cabby and has been watching these proceedings with interest. He announces himself to St. Peter. Upon scanning the preacher’s entry in the Big Book, St. Peter furrows his brow and says, “Okay, we’ll let you in, but you will have only a cotton robe and wooden staff.” The preacher is astonished and replies, “But I am a man of the cloth. You gave that cab driver a gold staff and a silk robe. Surely, I rate higher than a cabby.” St. Peter responded matter-of-factly: “Here we are interested in results. When you preached, people slept. When the cabby drove his taxi, people prayed.” 5: Rejection resulting in the resignation of the pastor: There was a feud between the Pastor and the Choir Director of a Baptist church. It seems the first hint of trouble came when the Pastor preached on “Dedicating Oneself to Service” and the Choir Director chose to sing: “I Shall Not Be Moved.” Trying to believe it was a coincidence, the Pastor put the incident behind him. The next Sunday he preached on “giving”. Afterwards, the choir squirmed as the director led them in the hymn: “Jesus Paid It All.” By this time, the Pastor was losing his temper. Sunday morning attendance swelled as the tension between the two built. A large crowd showed up the next week to hear his sermon on the “sin of gossiping.” Would you believe the Choir Director selected, “I Love to Tell the Story.” There was no turning back. The following Sunday the Pastor told the congregation that unless something changed he was considering resignation. The entire church gasped when the Choir Director led them in: “Why Not Tonight?” Truthfully, no one was surprised when the Pastor resigned a week later, explaining that Jesus had led him there and Jesus was leading him away. The Choir Director could not resist singing, “What A Friend We Have In Jesus.”
1) “We hold it to be self-evident, that all people are created equal.” Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream that one day, on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners would be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. He had a dream that one day his four children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. With this Faith, he believed people could turn the mountain of despair into the mountain of hope, and transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony. Americans are better people because Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream. In his preaching for liberation he did not say anything new. His message was 2000 years old — as old as Jesus’ synagogue speech at Nazareth. He said, “We hold it to be self-evident, that all people are created equal.” Dr. King looked out and saw people who were not treated as equals. He perceived others for whom this truth was not self-evident. So he went from city to city and said, “Today is the day when we will take seriously our own Declaration of Independence.” Gunshots rang out and cut him down. Why? What radical act did he commit which took his life? In the tradition of the Bible’s prophets, he reminded people of what they already knew and said, “Today is the day.” He drew inspiration from the message of total liberation preached by Jesus in his inaugural address at Nazareth and met with the same fate as Jesus did. The theology of liberation, when courageously preached can be costly, costing one his very life itself.
2) An enclave of resistance: In September of 1997 there was a groundbreaking service for a Catholic cathedral that was going to be constructed in Los Angeles. The Diocese of Los Angeles commissioned the famous Spanish architect Jose Rafael Moneo to design the building. Their hope was that the cathedral would be completed by the beginning of the millennium. It was to be a peculiar witness to the glory of God. There were models of the cathedral at the groundbreaking service, and on the basis of the models a Los Angeles Times reporter wrote a review of the cathedral. This is a part of what the reporter said: “Moneo is creating an alternate world to the everyday world that surrounds the cathedral, a testimony to grandeur of the human spirit, an antidote to a world that is increasingly spiritually empty.” Then he wrote this sentence: “The cathedral, set in the midst of the secular city, will be an enclave of resistance.” What an image . . . the Church an enclave of resistance. The words “an enclave of resistance” should be a part of the mission statement of every Church in the city, “an enclave of resistance against all that diminishes human life” (“An Enclave of Resistance,” a sermon preached by Rev. Mark Trotter, San Diego, California, October 5, 1997). Today’s Gospel, presenting Jesus, the liberator, challenges us to become enclaves of resistance to the attacks on Christians by the atheistic and agnostic media and liberal politicians and judges.
4) The Church should be an enclave of resistance. The Church should be an enclave of resistance. Last year in Brooklyn, or Queens, New York, there was a terrible accident. A seventh-grade student died on a Friday afternoon in a pool accident. The following Monday when the class came back to school, as you can imagine, they were emotionally distraught. Some of the kids were crying. One of the children asked their teacher, Mrs. Rezario, “Do you think Johnny is in Heaven?” And Mrs. Rezario said, “Of course he is. God loves every one of you. Look, I am going over to the corner here and if anyone wants to come over with me I will say a little prayer for Johnny. And those of you who don’t want to do that, go on and turn your computers on and we’ll be with you in a moment.” Mrs. Rezario was fired the next day. No appeals. No second chances. There is a woman in the New York City school system, a counselor, who a couple of years ago took a fifteen-year-old girl to an abortion clinic without telling her parents, and the girl bled to death. She is still a counselor in the New York public schools. But Mrs. Rezario – she committed the unpardonable sin. She told her children God loved them, and prayed with them. We would point to other places in our culture to verify that the war is on and the culture seems to be winning. Doesn’t the image demand our attention? The Church should be an enclave of resistance.
6) Passing the buck: One of our favorite national pastimes is “passing the buck”. We have all played this game of letting someone else do what we should be doing, of handing on a job, a responsibility, or an assignment. We particularly like to pass the buck when it comes to listening to sermons. We think that some of the best homilies, retreats, conferences and lectures we hear are “meant for someone else.” We listen and say: “That’s good advice for my kids,” “My neighbors should have heard this homily,” or “That’s aimed at my office staff,” and so on. And that is precisely what Jesus’ hometown people did. They did not acknowledge that they were poor, blind or prisoners who needed a savior and liberator. Hence, they not only rejected Jesus and His “liberation theology,” but also tried to eliminate him from the world as their ancestors had killed the prophets sent to them by God.
7) “You are either with me or against me:” I remember the scene on Calvary as depicted by a Hungarian artist, Monsky. On the one side of the cross are Christ’s frightened, dedicated followers, a little knot of them. On the other side of the cross are his sneering, vicious, passionate enemies. These are they who, at least, made a choice. But on the hill in the background is a host of unidentifiable faces. They show neither hatred nor mercy, neither cruelty nor compassion. They are the spectators. They are the neutrals. And they are the most guilty of all! Their passionate commitment could have swung the whole thing either way. But they chose to do nothing! They just weren’t interested! Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher, was once asked why he attended the Olympic Games. He replied, “Some come to compete for prizes, some to sell merchandise, some to enjoy meeting their friends. But I just come to stand on the sidelines and look on.” Bacon, who was writing about the incident later on, said, “But men must know that in the theater of God’s world, only God and the angels are allowed to be spectators.” But, you see, Bacon was wrong also, because as Jesus said: “My Father never stops working, and I work.” “Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing.” Helen Keller said that, a lady robbed of her sight, hearing, and ability to speak.
8) Did you see the movie Amistad? It is a must. It’s based on real events of 1839. A group of Africans – men, women and children – had been kidnapped by slave traders. They staged an insurrection aboard their prison ship. When they gained control of the vessel, they thought they were headed home from Cuba, but instead they sailed to the east coast of the United States, ending up in jail in New England, on trial for their lives. During the time they were incarcerated, a small but persistent group of Christians kept a vigil of prayer for the prisoners. We see these Christians kneeling outside the jail. We see them in the courtroom. We see them on the streets, walking alongside the shackled Africans. We see them dressed in rather severe clothes with somber countenances, so much so that at first the prisoners think they’re sick. Then it seems to the inmates that their advocates are upset about something. They are upset about something. They’re upset that these men, women, and children, who are thought to be slaves, are being held in custody. The Christian group is upset that anyone could be made a slave of another. Some of these Christian abolitionists carry Bibles, some carry small crosses. In one brief scene, the camera zooms in on a cross on a chain, held by one of the women. It hit me hard. That ancient symbol has been in so many places, in so many hands, clutched to so many hearts, bringing out in so many a courage they didn’t know they had for causes they didn’t know they cared that much about. It has always been the sign of something radically different from the prevailing ways of culture and human systems. It’s the Church’s most definitive mark – the cross. For the world – foolishness. But for those who believe, the power of God unto salvation. It labels who we are as the Church – an enclave of resistance. (MaxieDunnam.com)
11) Evolution of the Church from liberating fellowship to enterprise: Some years ago, Richard Halverson, then Chaplain of the United States Senate, in an address to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, described the evolution of the Church: “In the beginning,” he said, “the Church was a fellowship of men and women who centered their lives in the living Christ. They had a personal and vital relationship with the Lord and it transformed their lives and the world around them. But then the Church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. And then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. And then it moved to Europe, where it became a culture. And now it has moved to America, where it has become an enterprise.” What an indictment – the Church as a philosophy, as an institution, as a culture, as an enterprise! Any of these violates God’s intention for the Church. The Church is to be that fellowship of people who have a vital and personal relationship with the Lord, which transforms their lives. As result of that transformation, the Church becomes an enclave of resistance, transforming the world that surrounds it.
12) Jesus the prophet: In one of his books, David Buttrick tells about a cartoon in a magazine. The cartoon showed three men sitting in a row behind a long table. A microphone has been placed in front of each of them. One man was pictured in long flowing hair and a draped white robe. Another was battered, a wreath of jagged thorns on his head. The third was swarthy, with dark curly hair and a pointed nose. The caption said, “Will the real Jesus Christ please stand?”
Everybody sees Jesus from a different angle, including the writers of the New Testament. For Matthew, Jesus is the Teacher of Righteousness. For Mark, Jesus is an exorcist, constantly battling the powers of evil. Even after Evil nails him to a cross, Jesus emerges from the tomb to continue his saving work. But for Luke, the word that best summarizes the person and work of Jesus is “prophet.” In the story we heard today, Jesus is a different kind of prophet. The prophet Jesus says, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” When the prophet Jesus said, “Today the Scripture is fulfilled,” he turned memory into a mission statement. He transformed hope into an assignment. He claimed the beautiful poetry of Isaiah as his job description.
13) Liberate dungeon lovers: Kazimerz Symanski of Poland was a prisoner of war during World War II. There is no record of what happened to Symanski in the prison camp, but his experiences there obviously changed him. In his later years, Symanski seemed bent on reliving his prison experience. He even turned his small apartment into a prison cell. He put bars over the windows and constructed a small cage in which he slept. He refused to allow electricity or running water in his apartment. He seemed determined to live in the most primitive and confining conditions. Symanski died in 1993 from the effects of his living conditions. [The Comedian Who Choked to Death on a Pie . . . And the Man Who Quit Smoking at 116, compiled by the editors of Fortean Times (New York: Cader Books, 1996), pp. 48-49.] Some of us, too, have been living for years in prison cells of our own making. We are bound by addictions, anxiety, low self-esteem, anger, fear, guilt, misconceptions about God. We get this blank expression when the preacher talks about joy, or stepping out in Faith, or living the abundant life. We’re just lucky to make it through the day without collapsing from the weight of our chains. But we weren’t made to live that way.
14) Truth Shall Prevail: Brinsley McNamara wrote a classic story called The Valley of the Squinting Windows. He came from a very rural area of Ireland and was well known, because his father was a teacher in the local school. His story was such that everybody in the village recognized themselves among the characters of the story. This led to public outrage in his hometown, while the rest of the country was avidly reading the book! The book was burned in public, his family had to leave town, and, to this day, his name still evokes strong reactions among many of the people of that town. What he wrote was too close to the bone. If he had written a book about the people of some other town, he probably would have been hailed as the local literary hero. To this day none of his descendants would dare return to their roots in that town. They did, in a symbolic way, take him outside the town, and threw him over a cliff. (Jack McArdle in And That’s the Gospel Truth; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
15) Rejection because of helping a man in need: Long ago, there lived an English priest named George Herbert, who was also a poet and amateur musician On his way to a music session with some friends, he once came across a man whose horse had collapsed under the weight of its load. Both horse and owner were in great distress. Without a moments’ hesitation, he stopped and emerged from his vehicle, took off his clerical robes and rolled up his sleeves. First he helped the owner unload the horse, getting it standing on its feet and then reload the animal systematically so that the weight would be evenly and reliably stacked. Then, to the owner’s delighted surprise, he gave him some money to refresh himself and his horse. Finally, the priest got back into his vehicle and drove on to meet his friends. Of course, when he arrived late for the music session, his hair was disheveled, his face grimy, his clothes soiled and his hands dirty. This astounded the other musicians, who had known George to be prim, proper and punctual. And when he told them the reason for his unkempt appearance and late arrival, the others frowned upon him for getting involved in such a mess with an ordinary stranger. Unabashed and unapologetic, George Herbert answered: “The thought of what I have done will be like music to me at midnight. The omission of it would have caused discord in my conscience. For if I am bound to pray for all who are in distress, I am sure that I am bound, so far as it is in my power, to practice what I pray for. So now let’s tune our instruments.” (James Valladares in Your Words O Lord, Are Spirit and They Are Life; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
16) Facing Rejection, Diogenes style: The Greek philosopher Diogenes was regarded by many who knew him as a somewhat eccentric teacher, not least for his belief that virtue consisted in the avoidance of all physical pleasures and that pain and inconvenience were conducive to goodness. When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes in Corinth, the philosopher was living in a large earthenware tub in one of the city suburbs. Few people could accept either his teaching or his way of life. Diogenes was once noticed begging from a statue. When someone asked him the reason for this pointless conduct, he replied: “I am exercising the art of being rejected.” Diogenes experienced plentiful rejection in his time; whether he ever became accustomed to being rebuffed remains an open question. In today’s Gospel we see how Jesus, after preaching in the synagogue in Nazareth, is rejected by his own townspeople. (Fr. Botelho).
18) A Prophet living for ever: In one of its issues, Newsweek addressed in depth the Women’s Liberation Movement. It observed that once the revolution was declared, the nation was flooded with books on the subject. Some books, like those written by Nancy Woloch and Phyllis Schlafly, were serious studies of the significance of the movement. Other books, like those authored by Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, were more strident and dogmatic. The latter illustrate what often happens in a movement – self-styled prophets emerge who presume to speak with full authority. And so we have had such figures as Hugh Hefner as the spokesman for the Playboy Philosophy, guru Timothy Leary for the LSD cult and the militant Malcolm X for the Black Power movement. History shows that many of these movements die out and that their prophets fade away. But there is one movement that endures, one prophet who lives forever. The movement is Christianity, and the prophet is Jesus Christ. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
From Fr. Tony Kadavil:
1: The prophetic call and the fear of rejection: Moses tried to convince God that he didn’t speak well enough, and Jeremiah complained to God that he was too young. The prophets trembled at the trials ahead of them – and with good reason. Israel had a long history of rejecting prophets (2 Chr 36:16; Jer 2:30; Amos 2:12; Matt 23:37; Luke 13:34; I Thes 2:15; Heb 11:32ff.). Jeremiah was threatened with death several times, thrown into an empty, muddy cistern, imprisoned, dragged off to exile in Egypt, and, perhaps, most painful of all, was forced to watch the destruction of Jerusalem because its inhabitants would not listen to his message. At least twice in his lifetime, the prophet Elijah spoke the truth of God to King Ahab of Israel concerning the King’s promotion of idolatry. As a result, Elijah was forced to flee into the wilderness where he suffered great privation (I Kgs 16:29–17:3 and I Kgs 18:16–19:4). John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States and the son of a former President, reportedly said that he would rather clean filth from the streets than be President. Scripture tells us that most of the prophets shared John Quincy Adams’ feeling of inadequacy to their calling. Today’s Gospel story is another example of why the prophets did not jump for joy at their career prospects. In the space of five verses, we see the people of Nazareth turn from amazement to such fury at Jesus’ words they seized Him and dragged him off to the cliff to murder him. Speaking God’s truth by word or by deed is a risky business even today. Hundreds of missionaries have been martyred since 1990. Thousands of Christians have been killed this past year in Moslem countries and Communist countries. Christians are subjected to the white martyrdom of mental torture in advanced countries, including the U.S., by the agnostic and atheistic media and liberal politicians and judges, as forms of the media constantly ridicule and insult Christians with unprecedented vengeance.
3: Liberation for Dalits through Jesus: High castes represent a small minority in India, some 10-15% of the population, yet they dominated Indian society in much the same way whites ruled South Africa during the official period of Apartheid. For centuries, Indian society lived under a rigid caste system imposed by the high caste Hindus in which each person was born into a set social group. People who were born into the highest social group, or caste, used to receive the benefits of honor respect and privileges. Then, there are different levels, or castes, below this. A person’s caste at birth determined what job he could have, whom he could marry, and what rights he had in his society. On the very lowest rungs of society were the Dalits, whose name actually means “broken, crushed.” The Dalits were the targets of violence and discrimination in Indian society for long time. Fortunately, formal discrimination no longer exists under the new law. But now, the Dalits face persecution for another reason: their Faith. Nearly 70% of Indian Christians are Dalits. The reserved 22.5 percent of all government and semi-government jobs, including seats in Parliament and state legislatures, is available only to Dalits who follow Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, but Dalit Christians and Muslims are not protected as castes under Indian Reservation policy. The legal reason is that there is caste system in Christianity and Islam. The Christian Faith was quite attractive to the Dalits. They chose to follow Christ even when they knew the consequences they might face including the denial of free education and job reservation given to Hindu Dalits. Why would the Hindu Dalits, who were targets of discrimination and abuse, invite more such treatment by becoming Christians? Because in Christ, they meet a God of liberation Who loves and lifts up those whom others would tear down. His heart is with those who suffer. He cares about those who are hurting, who are helpless, who are brokenhearted, who are in bondage. They consider Jesus as their Divine liberator, and God of justice. [Timothy Merrill, “Giving Flesh to the Word,” Homiletics, (July-August 1999).]
4: Rejection at the Pearly Gate: A cab driver reaches the Pearly Gates and announces his presence to St. Peter, who looks him up in his Big Book. Upon reading the entry for the cabby, St. Peter invites him to grab a silk robe and a golden staff and to proceed into Heaven. A preacher is next in line behind the cabby and has been watching these proceedings with interest. He announces himself to St. Peter. Upon scanning the preacher’s entry in the Big Book, St. Peter furrows his brow and says, “Okay, we’ll let you in, but you will have only a cotton robe and wooden staff.” The preacher is astonished and replies, “But I am a man of the cloth. You gave that cab driver a gold staff and a silk robe. Surely, I rate higher than a cabby.” St. Peter responded matter-of-factly: “Here we are interested in results. When you preached, people slept. When the cabby drove his taxi, people prayed.”
1) “We hold it to be self-evident, that all people are created equal.” Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream that one day, on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners would be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. He had a dream that one day his four children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. With this Faith, he believed people could turn the mountain of despair into the mountain of hope, and transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony. Americans are better people because Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream. In his preaching for liberation he did not say anything new. His message was 2000 years old — as old as Jesus’ synagogue speech at Nazareth. He said, “We hold it to be self-evident, that all people are created equal.” Dr. King looked out and saw people who were not treated as equals. He perceived others for whom this truth was not self-evident. So he went from city to city and said, “Today is the day when we will take seriously our own Declaration of Independence.” Gunshots rang out and cut him down. Why? What radical act did he commit which took his life? In the tradition of the Bible’s prophets, he reminded people of what they already knew and said, “Today is the day.” He drew inspiration from the message of total liberation preached by Jesus in his inaugural address at Nazareth and met with the same fate as Jesus did. The theology of liberation, when courageously preached can be costly, costing one his very life itself.
2) An enclave of resistance: In September of 1997 there was a groundbreaking service for a Catholic cathedral that was going to be constructed in Los Angeles. The Diocese of Los Angeles commissioned the famous Spanish architect Jose Rafael Moneo to design the building. Their hope was that the cathedral would be completed by the beginning of the millennium. It was to be a peculiar witness to the glory of God. There were models of the cathedral at the groundbreaking service, and on the basis of the models a Los Angeles Times reporter wrote a review of the cathedral. This is a part of what the reporter said: “Moneo is creating an alternate world to the everyday world that surrounds the cathedral, a testimony to grandeur of the human spirit, an antidote to a world that is increasingly spiritually empty.” Then he wrote this sentence: “The cathedral, set in the midst of the secular city, will be an enclave of resistance.” What an image . . . the Church an enclave of resistance. The words “an enclave of resistance” should be a part of the mission statement of every Church in the city, “an enclave of resistance against all that diminishes human life” (“An Enclave of Resistance,” a sermon preached by Rev. Mark Trotter, San Diego, California, October 5, 1997). Today’s Gospel, presenting Jesus, the liberator, challenges us to become enclaves of resistance to the attacks on Christians by the atheistic and agnostic media and liberal politicians and judges.
4) The Church should be an enclave of resistance. The Church should be an enclave of resistance. Last year in Brooklyn, or Queens, New York, there was a terrible accident. A seventh-grade student died on a Friday afternoon in a pool accident. The following Monday when the class came back to school, as you can imagine, they were emotionally distraught. Some of the kids were crying. One of the children asked their teacher, Mrs. Rezario, “Do you think Johnny is in Heaven?” And Mrs. Rezario said, “Of course he is. God loves every one of you. Look, I am going over to the corner here and if anyone wants to come over with me I will say a little prayer for Johnny. And those of you who don’t want to do that, go on and turn your computers on and we’ll be with you in a moment.” Mrs. Rezario was fired the next day. No appeals. No second chances. There is a woman in the New York City school system, a counselor, who a couple of years ago took a fifteen-year-old girl to an abortion clinic without telling her parents, and the girl bled to death. She is still a counselor in the New York public schools. But Mrs. Rezario – she committed the unpardonable sin. She told her children God loved them, and prayed with them. We would point to other places in our culture to verify that the war is on and the culture seems to be winning. Doesn’t the image demand our attention? The Church should be an enclave of resistance.
6) Passing the buck: One of our favorite national pastimes is “passing the buck”. We have all played this game of letting someone else do what we should be doing, of handing on a job, a responsibility, or an assignment. We particularly like to pass the buck when it comes to listening to sermons. We think that some of the best homilies, retreats, conferences and lectures we hear are “meant for someone else.” We listen and say: “That’s good advice for my kids,” “My neighbors should have heard this homily,” or “That’s aimed at my office staff,” and so on. And that is precisely what Jesus’ hometown people did. They did not acknowledge that they were poor, blind or prisoners who needed a savior and liberator. Hence, they not only rejected Jesus and His “liberation theology,” but also tried to eliminate him from the world as their ancestors had killed the prophets sent to them by God.
7) “You are either with me or against me:” I remember the scene on Calvary as depicted by a Hungarian artist, Monsky. On the one side of the cross are Christ’s frightened, dedicated followers, a little knot of them. On the other side of the cross are his sneering, vicious, passionate enemies. These are they who, at least, made a choice. But on the hill in the background is a host of unidentifiable faces. They show neither hatred nor mercy, neither cruelty nor compassion. They are the spectators. They are the neutrals. And they are the most guilty of all! Their passionate commitment could have swung the whole thing either way. But they chose to do nothing! They just weren’t interested! Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher, was once asked why he attended the Olympic Games. He replied, “Some come to compete for prizes, some to sell merchandise, some to enjoy meeting their friends. But I just come to stand on the sidelines and look on.” Bacon, who was writing about the incident later on, said, “But men must know that in the theater of God’s world, only God and the angels are allowed to be spectators.” But, you see, Bacon was wrong also, because as Jesus said: “My Father never stops working, and I work.” “Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing.” Helen Keller said that, a lady robbed of her sight, hearing, and ability to speak.
8) Did you see the movie Amistad? It is a must. It’s based on real events of 1839. A group of Africans – men, women and children – had been kidnapped by slave traders. They staged an insurrection aboard their prison ship. When they gained control of the vessel, they thought they were headed home from Cuba, but instead they sailed to the east coast of the United States, ending up in jail in New England, on trial for their lives. During the time they were incarcerated, a small but persistent group of Christians kept a vigil of prayer for the prisoners. We see these Christians kneeling outside the jail. We see them in the courtroom. We see them on the streets, walking alongside the shackled Africans. We see them dressed in rather severe clothes with somber countenances, so much so that at first the prisoners think they’re sick. Then it seems to the inmates that their advocates are upset about something. They are upset about something. They’re upset that these men, women, and children, who are thought to be slaves, are being held in custody. The Christian group is upset that anyone could be made a slave of another. Some of these Christian abolitionists carry Bibles, some carry small crosses. In one brief scene, the camera zooms in on a cross on a chain, held by one of the women. It hit me hard. That ancient symbol has been in so many places, in so many hands, clutched to so many hearts, bringing out in so many a courage they didn’t know they had for causes they didn’t know they cared that much about. It has always been the sign of something radically different from the prevailing ways of culture and human systems. It’s the Church’s most definitive mark – the cross. For the world – foolishness. But for those who believe, the power of God unto salvation. It labels who we are as the Church – an enclave of resistance. (MaxieDunnam.com)
11) Evolution of the Church from liberating fellowship to enterprise: Some years ago, Richard Halverson, then Chaplain of the United States Senate, in an address to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, described the evolution of the Church: “In the beginning,” he said, “the Church was a fellowship of men and women who centered their lives in the living Christ. They had a personal and vital relationship with the Lord and it transformed their lives and the world around them. But then the Church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. And then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. And then it moved to Europe, where it became a culture. And now it has moved to America, where it has become an enterprise.” What an indictment – the Church as a philosophy, as an institution, as a culture, as an enterprise! Any of these violates God’s intention for the Church. The Church is to be that fellowship of people who have a vital and personal relationship with the Lord, which transforms their lives. As result of that transformation, the Church becomes an enclave of resistance, transforming the world that surrounds it.
12) Jesus the prophet: In one of his books, David Buttrick tells about a cartoon in a magazine. The cartoon showed three men sitting in a row behind a long table. A microphone has been placed in front of each of them. One man was pictured in long flowing hair and a draped white robe. Another was battered, a wreath of jagged thorns on his head. The third was swarthy, with dark curly hair and a pointed nose. The caption said, “Will the real Jesus Christ please stand?”
Everybody sees Jesus from a different angle, including the writers of the New Testament. For Matthew, Jesus is the Teacher of Righteousness. For Mark, Jesus is an exorcist, constantly battling the powers of evil. Even after Evil nails him to a cross, Jesus emerges from the tomb to continue his saving work. But for Luke, the word that best summarizes the person and work of Jesus is “prophet.” In the story we heard today, Jesus is a different kind of prophet. The prophet Jesus says, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” When the prophet Jesus said, “Today the Scripture is fulfilled,” he turned memory into a mission statement. He transformed hope into an assignment. He claimed the beautiful poetry of Isaiah as his job description.
13) Liberate dungeon lovers: Kazimerz Symanski of Poland was a prisoner of war during World War II. There is no record of what happened to Symanski in the prison camp, but his experiences there obviously changed him. In his later years, Symanski seemed bent on reliving his prison experience. He even turned his small apartment into a prison cell. He put bars over the windows and constructed a small cage in which he slept. He refused to allow electricity or running water in his apartment. He seemed determined to live in the most primitive and confining conditions. Symanski died in 1993 from the effects of his living conditions. [The Comedian Who Choked to Death on a Pie . . . And the Man Who Quit Smoking at 116, compiled by the editors of Fortean Times (New York: Cader Books, 1996), pp. 48-49.] Some of us, too, have been living for years in prison cells of our own making. We are bound by addictions, anxiety, low self-esteem, anger, fear, guilt, misconceptions about God. We get this blank expression when the preacher talks about joy, or stepping out in Faith, or living the abundant life. We’re just lucky to make it through the day without collapsing from the weight of our chains. But we weren’t made to live that way.
14) Truth Shall Prevail: Brinsley McNamara wrote a classic story called The Valley of the Squinting Windows. He came from a very rural area of Ireland and was well known, because his father was a teacher in the local school. His story was such that everybody in the village recognized themselves among the characters of the story. This led to public outrage in his hometown, while the rest of the country was avidly reading the book! The book was burned in public, his family had to leave town, and, to this day, his name still evokes strong reactions among many of the people of that town. What he wrote was too close to the bone. If he had written a book about the people of some other town, he probably would have been hailed as the local literary hero. To this day none of his descendants would dare return to their roots in that town. They did, in a symbolic way, take him outside the town, and threw him over a cliff. (Jack McArdle in And That’s the Gospel Truth; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
15) Rejection because of helping a man in need: Long ago, there lived an English priest named George Herbert, who was also a poet and amateur musician On his way to a music session with some friends, he once came across a man whose horse had collapsed under the weight of its load. Both horse and owner were in great distress. Without a moments’ hesitation, he stopped and emerged from his vehicle, took off his clerical robes and rolled up his sleeves. First he helped the owner unload the horse, getting it standing on its feet and then reload the animal systematically so that the weight would be evenly and reliably stacked. Then, to the owner’s delighted surprise, he gave him some money to refresh himself and his horse. Finally, the priest got back into his vehicle and drove on to meet his friends. Of course, when he arrived late for the music session, his hair was disheveled, his face grimy, his clothes soiled and his hands dirty. This astounded the other musicians, who had known George to be prim, proper and punctual. And when he told them the reason for his unkempt appearance and late arrival, the others frowned upon him for getting involved in such a mess with an ordinary stranger. Unabashed and unapologetic, George Herbert answered: “The thought of what I have done will be like music to me at midnight. The omission of it would have caused discord in my conscience. For if I am bound to pray for all who are in distress, I am sure that I am bound, so far as it is in my power, to practice what I pray for. So now let’s tune our instruments.” (James Valladares in Your Words O Lord, Are Spirit and They Are Life; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
16) Facing Rejection, Diogenes style: The Greek philosopher Diogenes was regarded by many who knew him as a somewhat eccentric teacher, not least for his belief that virtue consisted in the avoidance of all physical pleasures and that pain and inconvenience were conducive to goodness. When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes in Corinth, the philosopher was living in a large earthenware tub in one of the city suburbs. Few people could accept either his teaching or his way of life. Diogenes was once noticed begging from a statue. When someone asked him the reason for this pointless conduct, he replied: “I am exercising the art of being rejected.” Diogenes experienced plentiful rejection in his time; whether he ever became accustomed to being rebuffed remains an open question. In today’s Gospel we see how Jesus, after preaching in the synagogue in Nazareth, is rejected by his own townspeople. (Fr. Botelho).
18) A Prophet living for ever: In one of its issues, Newsweek addressed in depth the Women’s Liberation Movement. It observed that once the revolution was declared, the nation was flooded with books on the subject. Some books, like those written by Nancy Woloch and Phyllis Schlafly, were serious studies of the significance of the movement. Other books, like those authored by Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, were more strident and dogmatic. The latter illustrate what often happens in a movement – self-styled prophets emerge who presume to speak with full authority. And so we have had such figures as Hugh Hefner as the spokesman for the Playboy Philosophy, guru Timothy Leary for the LSD cult and the militant Malcolm X for the Black Power movement. History shows that many of these movements die out and that their prophets fade away. But there is one movement that endures, one prophet who lives forever. The movement is Christianity, and the prophet is Jesus Christ. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
