Reflection on 18th Sunday on Ordinary Time --- Year A

Readings:

Isaiah 55:1-3
Romans 8:35,27-39
Matthew 14:13-21

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in the Faith:

A few years before his death, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen underwent heart surgery. There was a great concern about his ability to endure the operation because of his advanced age. After the recovery, a reporter asked him if he had been afraid of dying. “If I should leave the world”, he said, "I will be in heaven with Christ and if I remain Christ will be here with me.” Bishop Sheen had faith that there was no way he would be separated from his Lord. He trusted that Jesus would always take care of him.

Brothers and sisters: There is so much good news for us in today’s readings! This is a “good news” Sunday, even if our life may be full of troubles and difficulties. A quick reading of the Scriptures for this Sunday can give us an impression of being on a high. The readings today teach us that our God is a God who cares. Our God is not a God who is very far away from us sitting in his comfortable heaven being not really interested of what is happening in our lives. Sure, sometimes it feels just like that. Sometimes we may feel like we are alone and God does not really care. But he does care about us --- sometimes in a way that we do not expect or desire --- that’s for sure.

Our God cares when we suffer and are in need. He cares when our marriage does not function as it should. He cares when we cannot find common language with our teenage children or our old parents. He cares when lose our job. He cares when we experience sadness and anxiety. God knows our biggest problems and concerns and cares about them even more that we do. He does care because he is a God of love and compassion. He cares whether we believe it or not.

Let us look in greater detail at the readings.

The first reading from Isaiah is an invitation to each and every one of us. All you who are thirsty come to the water! Come and drink! Listen that you may have life! The prophet is not speaking of physical drink but rather of spiritual thirst that only God can quench. This message of encouragement was composed during the Babylonian exile --- when the Jewish had to live in a foreign land --- a time of distress and discouragement for the people of God. Many of them said… God does not care… he has abandoned us… we are on our own. The prophet says to them --- God still loves you and cares for you even more now than before. Isaiah calls them to the perseverance in the faith that God is with them. It is easy to believe in God and trust in him when everything works as we planned, when there are no major problems and difficulties. But to trust in God when we suffer? Much more difficult.

Similarly, Saint Paul in today’s second reading states that there is nothing which will separate him from Christ; not persecution, hunger, danger or even death. He feels very secure about the eternal stability of this divine relationship. What amazes me about Paul is that even in the midst of all his suffering, persecution and hostility he knew that God was close to him.

Finally, these beautiful words about Jesus who when he saw the crowds, he had pity for them. I think Jesus feels the same way about us gathered here --- he has pity for us and wants to feed us not only with the material bread but more importantly with his love – and this is his greatest gift.

So God really takes care of his people and we are called to trust him. I mentioned that at times of suffering or tragedies – when we feel like “God is not here” it is extremely difficult to trust in God and experience his love. I do not say that it is easy. Many times we think that only good things that happen to us are the “blessings” from the Lord. But God may not think as we do. God always sees the bigger picture.

For instance, many, maybe most people consider terminal sickness as one of the most difficult and unwanted things in life. They ask questions: Why me? Why must people suffer? Why can't someone else get sick? But even in sickness God is close to us. Consider the example of late Tony Snow, a former speaker of the house. He courageously fought his disease (colon cancer) to the end, trusting that God was close to him. In one of his last speeches he said that he considers his cancer an unexpected blessing, because it taught him to love more and taught him how to be truly human.

This is what he said, “What is man that Thou art mindful of him? We don't know much, but we know this: No matter where we are, no matter what we do, no matter how bleak or frightening our prospects, each and every one of us, each and every day, lies in the same safe and impregnable place—in the hollow of God's hand.” This is exactly the same message that Saint Paul has for us but in the words of Tony Snow.

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, Saint Paul and Tony Snow are examples for us. They trusted that absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God, and that grace and love of God can be found even in the most difficult and horrifying experiences of life. The love and grace can be found everywhere but we must keep our eyes of faith open.

But – do I really believe that?
Do you really believe that?

Reflection on 15th Sunday on Ordinary Time --- Year A

Readings:

Isaiah 55:10-11
Romans 8:18-23
Matthew 13:1-23

Brothers and sisters in the faith,

Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear!
How blessed we truly are to be able to hear the Word of God proclaimed here!
How blessed we truly are to be able to profess the true faith in the blessed Trinity!
How blessed we are to belong to the flock of Jesus Christ and to share his body and blood in the Eucharist!
How blessed we truly are to offer our Father in heaven the perfect sacrifice of the Mass!
How blessed we are to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God – as we heard in the second reading.

“The knowledge of the Kingdom has been granted to us”

I could go on…

How blessed and privileged we are to be in this Cathedral and [let me use the image of Pope Benedict XVI from his homily in New York]. Look at these magnificent stain glass windows. They symbolize the beauty and richness of our Catholic faith. We are part of something spectacular, something beautiful and impressive. If we went outside and looked at these stain glass windows, we would not be able to see anything --- in fact, seen from outside, these windows look totally dark, gloomy, and dim. But we are not outside – we are inside and we can see their beauty and magnificence.

Blessed indeed are our eyes because they see.

In the Gospels Jesus frequently used the word “Blessed” in exhorting his disciples. He wanted them to realize and take to heart their special position of being his disciples. It was not something they should take for granted. Jesus wants us to feel the same way.

The Greek word for blessed is makarios and is used 14 times in the Gospel of Matthew. The word is very rich in meaning. Makarios means blessed, happy, fortunate and lucky. Now, in order for us to better understand the meaning of this word and its significance, allow me to explain its meaning in the context of Jesus’ times. Let’s put this word in historical – cultural context.

In ancient Greek times, makarios, referred to the gods. The blessed ones were the gods. They had achieved a state of happiness and contentment in life that was beyond all cares, labors and even death. The blessed ones were beings who lived in some other world away from the cares and problems and worries of ordinary people. To be blessed, you had to be God.

Secondly, makarios referred to the wealthy people, the upper crust of society, the rich people. Only they were considered to be blessed, makaroioi.

With that background we see that we have, what I called, linguistic revolution in the Gospel today --- Jesus takes the word makarios and turns it upside down, changes its meaning. According to Our Savior, blessed and happy are not those who are wealthy and rich and powerful or those who pertain to be gods. Instead, truly blessed are those who hear the Word of God and respond to it by bringing fruit. Truly blessed – makarios - are those who respond to the LIVING Word of God with open hearts and strive to live in the relationship with God.

Therefore the question that we ought to ask ourselves is: how much do I realize how blessed I truly am being able to hear the Word of God?

A Chicago novelist, John Powers, wrote a book called, The Unoriginal Sinner. It is about a man named Tim Conroy. He came from a family of practicing Catholics – going to church, receiving sacraments, praying --- but never being really fascinated with the faith, never being on fire with the faith. Even though he was inside the cathedral, he did not notice its beauty. Instead, he often looked at the stain glass windows from outside – kind of dark and shadowy. He did not have courage to come in and invest himself totally with God. He has heard the word of God so many times but it did not have any effect on his life. He was kind of bored with the faith --- it did not do much for him.

All of us feel like Tim, at times. By the time we are 25 years old (if we practice regularly) we have heard God’s word read and explained a thousand times. What kind of soil have we provided for that word? Do we even ever feel blessed and excited about the opportunity of being able to hear the word?

Unless we realize how much God has blessed us and how lucky we are to be able to hear the Word and receive it with joy. Only when we do that, we will be able to bring fruit --- hundred, sixty or thirtyfold.