HOMILY FOR 14TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME—C V2 (2010)
ON THIS DAY 234 YEARS AGO, SOME BRAVE MEN IN PHILADELPHIA RISKED THE HANGMAN’S NOOSE AND SIGNED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ESTABLISHING A NEW NATION AND A NEW POLITICAL ORDER THAT WOULD BE AN EXAMPLE TO THE WORLD. SOME 2000 YEARS AGO JESUS SENT THE 72 OUT TO PREACH AND ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM OF GOD, A KINGDOM THAT INAUGURATED A NEW TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL ORDER THAT WOULD SHAPE AND SHAKE THE ENTIRE WORLD FROM THEN UNTIL TIME IS NO MORE.
WHAT WE HEAR JESUS SAYING TODAY ON THE 14TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME IS SOMETHING HE HAS BEEN SAYING FOR THE LAST TWO SUNDAYS IN ORDINARY TIME. ON THE 12TH SUNDAY, WE ARE TOLD VERY BLUNTLY TO TAKE UP OUR CROSSES AND FOLLOW HIM WHILE ON THE 13TH SUNDAY HE TOLD US TO STOP LOLLYGAGGING ABOUT, TO GET MOVING, TO LET THE SPIRITUALLY DEAD BURY THE DEAD AND GET ON WITH PROCLAIMING THE SPIRITITUALLY VIBRANT KINGDOM OF GOD.
WELL, WHAT IS THIS KINGDOM HE’S TALKING ABOUT AND WHAT ABOUT THIS SENDING? AND THEN VERY IMPORTANTLY, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR US?
WELL, LET’S DEAL WITH THE KINGDOM ISSUE FIRST AND START WITH THE QUESTION OF WHERE AND WHEN IS THE KINGDOM. PERHAPS THE BEST EXPLANATION IS NATURALLY ONE JESUS HIMSELF GIVES IN THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED. REMEMBER THE LITTLE SEED THAT GROWS INTO SUCH A BIG AND OVERWHELMING PLANT. WELL, THE KINGDOM IS JUST LIKE THAT MUSTARD SEED, THE LORD TELLS US, IT’S HERE RIGHT NOW BUT IS NOT FULLY DEVELOPED. THE KINGDOM IS ‘ALREADY BUT NOT YET’. THE ‘ALREADY’ IS THE FACT THAT THE MUSTARD SEED IS HERE AND ITS GROWTH HAS BEGUN. THE ‘NOT YET’ IS HASN’T REACHED IT FULL FLOWERING AND THAT WILL NOT COME UNTIL JESUS RETURNS. BUT BETWEEN THEN AND NOW, THE KINGDOM IS UNDERWAY.
SO THE PRESENCE OF THE KINGDOM IS ‘ALREADY AND NOT YET’ BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS IT? ST. PAUL IN CH. 14 OF HIS LETTER TO THE ROMANS DESCRIBES THE KINGDOM AS WE HAVE IT NOW AS A STATE OF JUSTICE, PEACE & JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. WHAT THE JEWS MEANT BY JUSTICE BACK THEN WAS BEING IN THE CORRECT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. NOW AS THE JEWS KNEW YOU CANNOT BE IN CORRECT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD UNLESS YOUR ARE IN CORRECT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WHOLE OF GOD’S CREATION: WITHIN OUR OWN SELVES, WITH OUR NEIGHBORS AND THE REST OF GOD’S CREATION. IN SHORT, EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING SHOULD RELATE TO EVERY OTHER ONE AND EVERY OTHER THING AS GOD HAS DESIGNED THEM TO RELATE. SO GOD DID NOT DESIGN HATE, NOR OPPRESSION, NOR BEING IN WANT. THEREFORE, JUSTICE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD SHOULD NOT INCLUDE THOSE EVILS EVEN NOW AND DEFINITELY WILL NOT INCLUDE THEM WHEN JESUS RETURNS.
ANOTHER WAY TO PHRASE IT IS THAT JESUS CAME TO ESTABLISH A KINGDOM WHERE SLAVERY WOULD BECOME A THING OF THE PAST: SLAVERY TO WANT, SLAVERY TO OPPRESSION, SLAVERY TO DISCRIMINATION, ALL THOSE YES, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY SLAVERY TO THE SOURCE OF ALL THOSE EVILS, SLAVERY TO SIN. JUST LIKE THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WERE PROCLAIMING HUMAN FREEDOM FROM GEORGE III’S POLITICAL OPPRESSION, JESUS’ PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD PROCLAIMS FREEDOM FROM SATAN’S SPRIRITUAL OPPRESSION. THE JUSTICE OF GOD’S KINGDOM IS A JUSTICE THAT PROCLAIMS TRUE HUMAN FREEDOM, THE FREEDOM TO BE AS GOD DESIGNED AND DESIRES US TO BE.
FROM THAT JUSTICE WILL FLOW PEACE, ST. PAUL SAYS. PEACE IN THE FORM OF ‘SHALOM’ AS THE JEWS PUT IT THEN AND NOW. ‘SHALOM’ JUST DOESN’T MEAN THE ABSENCE OF CONFLICT OR WAR. IT’S A MUCH MORE POSITIVE THING. THE BEST WAY I CAN EXPLAIN IT IS AS A STATE OF WHOLENESS WHEN EVERYTHING IS AS IT SHOULD BE, WHEN EVERYTHING IS WORKING AS GOD DESIGNED IT TO WORK. IT’S THAT FEELING WE HAVE WHEN WE REALIZE ‘GOD’S IN HIS HEAVEN AND EVERYTHING IS ALL RIGHT WITH THE WORLD’.
FROM THAT PEACE, THE JOY THAT ST. PAUL TALKS OF WILL COME NATURALLY. WELL THAT’S ENOUGH ON THE KINGDOM. IT’S WHEN EVERYTHING WORKS AS GOD WANTS IT TO WORK AND THAT’S HERE AND GETTING MORE HERE ALL THE TIME.
NOW IT IS TIME TO DEAL WITH THE SENDING PART OF THE GOSPELS OF TODAY AND THE LAST FEW WEEKS. THE KINGDOM CAN BE SEEN BOTH AS A GIFT AND A TASK. GOD HAS MADE THE KINGDOM AVAILABLE TO US OUT OF HIS LOVE FOR US. BUT JUST LIKE THE DISCIPLES AND THE 72 IN TODAY’S GOSPEL, WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE TASK OF NURTURING THE MUSTARD SEED OF THAT KINGDOM, TILLING THE GROUND AROUND IT, ADDING WATER AND FERTILIZER AS NEEDED AND MAKING CONDITIONS JUST RIGHT FOR ITS GROWTH. JESUS PLANTEDTHE SEED. WE ARE TO NURTURE IT AS IT BEGINS ITS GROWTH.
I WANT TO MENTION FOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT TASK THAT WE ARE CALLED TO UNDERTAKE. FIRST, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS REALLY A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD AND HUMANS, ONE WHERE GOD IS THE FREE GIVER AND WE THE ONES WHO RESPOND TO THE GIFT. YOU KNOW HOW WHEN SOMEONE HAS INVITED YOU TO DINNER AND YOU WANT TO HAVE THEM OVER TO REPAY THEIR HOSPITALITY? WELL, WHEN JESUS FED THE 5000, HE DIDN’T HAVE TO DO IT BECAUSE HE FELT HE OWED ANYBODY IN THAT CROWD A DINNER. YET HE PROVIDED IT OUT OF HIS LOVE FOR THEM. AND, JUST LIKE THE CROWD THAT RESPONDED TO THE GIFT OF FOOD, WE HAVE TO RESPOND, WE HAVE TO EAT THE PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL BOUNTY THAT GOD PROVIDES. AND BY EATING GOD’S FREELY GIVEN EUCHARISTIC ‘FOOD’, WE HAVE RESPONDED TO HIS LOVE WITH LOVE OF OUR OWN. WE HAVE SAID YES TO A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, A RELATIONSHIP THAT GOD HAS INITIATED OUT OF HIS KINDNESS AND LOVE.
THE SECOND ASPECT OF OUR TASK IN ESTABLISHING THE KINGDOM IS THAT WE GET TO ENJOY THAT RELATIONSHIP RIGHT NOW, LITURGICALLY, IN THE MASS WHEN WE PARTAKE OF THE FOOD OF CHRIST, HIS OWN BODY AND BLOOD. AS WE RESPOND WITH PRAISE, ADORATION AND THANKSGIVING, WE ARE EXPERIENCING THE KINGDOM AND CELEBRATING ITS PRESENCE. WE HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP BY BEING ONE WITH THE PRECIOUS BODY AND BLOOD—A UNION BOTH SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL. WE ARE BEING GIVEN THAT TASTE OF THE KINGDOM IN THE EUCHARIST THAT CAN GIVE US THE GRACE TO WORK ALL THE MORE DILIGENTLY TO BRING IT TO ITS FULLNESS.
THIRD, JUST LIKE THE RISK THE DECLARATION’S SIGNERS TOOK ON, WE HAVE TO TAKE SOME RISK TO ESTABLISH GOD’S KINGDOM, TO FULFILL THE COMMISSION JESUS GAVE TO US TO. THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS MAKES THAT CLEAR. WE MUST USE OUR SKILLS AND TREASURE WITH VERVE AND ABANDON IN GOD’S SERVICE. WHEN GOD’S CALL COMES, WE MUST RESPOND WHOLE-HEARTEDLY.
FINALLY, THE KINGDOM MUST BE SEEN TWO WAYS. FIRST THERE IS THE VERTICAL PART, THE PART WHERE WE ARE RELATED TO THE FATHER AS HIS CHILD. BUT THERE IS ALSO ANOTHER PART, A HORIZONTAL DIMENSION IF YOU WILL. SINCE EACH OF US IS A CHILD OF GOD, WE MUST RELATE AS BROTHERS AND SISTERS. YES, WE RELATE AS AN INDIVIDUAL TO GOD BUT WE MUST ALSO RELATE AS GOD INTENDED ONE TO ANOTHER. JESUS HAD ABSOLUTELY THE BEST RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THAT ANYONE HAS EVER HAD OR WILL EVER HAVE. HE WAS AFTER ALL GOD’S SON. BUT HE DID NOT USE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER FOR HIS OWN BENEFIT. HE USED IT TO FEED AND CURE OTHERS AND WIN THEIR SALVATION FOR THEM. HE COULD HAVE JUST BEEN GOD’S SON, AND NOBODY COULD DO THAT BETTER THAN HE, BUT HE CHOOSE ALSO TO BE THE SON OF MAN. OUR SPIRITUAL TASK IS NOT A SOLITARY ONE BUT A COMMUNAL AND VERY PUBLIC ONE OUR NATURAL REACTION WHEN WE’RE GIVEN A TASK, ESPECIALLY ONE OF THE HIGHEST MAGNITUDE SUCH AS HELPING TO NURTURE THE KINGDOM OF GOD, IS TO SAY ‘GOSH THAT WOULD BE NICE BUT YOU HAVE THE WRONG PERSON, GOD. I DON’T HAVE THE SKILLS NECESSARY’. WE WOULD BE RIGHT. WE DON’T HAVE THE SKILLS NECESSARY. BUT GOD DOES. HE WILL GIVE US WHATEVER WE NEED, AS THE GOSPEL SAYS TO DEAL WITH THE SERPENTS AND SCORPIONS AND THE FULL FORCE OF THE ENEMY AND NOTHING, HE PROMISES, WILL HARM US. THE 72 CAN ATTEST TO THAT.
THE KINGDOM THAT IS HERE IS THE BEGINNING OF THE KINGDOM TO COME WHEN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD WILL REACH ITS HEIGHTS. LET’S ENJOY THAT KINGDOM RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD NOW IN THE EUCHARIST AND LET THAT EUCHARIST STRENGTHEN US TO BE THE TRUE DISCIPLES JESUS DESCRIBES IN LUKE 6, THE ONES WHO DON’T JUST SAY “LORD, LORD” BUT GO ON TO USE THEIR TALENTS TO ACHIEVE THE LORD’S KINGDOM AS HE INSTRUCTED US TO.