Homily – 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Homily – 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

In past years my homilies have focused on humility and promoting others. However, this week, I’m struck by James and John looking for a short-cut to glory: our desire to avoid struggle.

Nature is full of examples of how “difficulties” in life initiate healing or growth responses in the body. Science reveals how a woman’s response to the pains and processes of childbirth, bring life, healing and growth. The woman’s body responds in several ways: it’s another story.

So, too, in our human development from baby to child to adolescent to adult.
Emotionally and psychologically, we must go through various stages of struggle and sacrifice.
If you google “psycho-sexual development”, you will have a good idea of this.

They say, if at age 20, we did not experience normal psycho-sexual development at age 13, then we need to go back and process it somehow… otherwise our emotional development will be incomplete and may cause difficulties in our future relationships. Short-cuts are not allowed!

James and John wanted what we all want: a taste of glory and to feel important.
In psychology: the need to be loved and the need to “belong”. These are healthy desires. However, as James and John discovered, glory must be earned: by sacrifice and struggle.

The first 12 yrs after secondary school are an important time to learn practical skills, “healthy” relationship behaviours and intellectual knowledge. Sadly, some youth lapse into an extended “holiday mode” after school, and waste precious years, creating a more difficult future.

New research reveals the importance for youth not to “waste time” starting university. Our brain function is more active and open to learning at age 20 than it is at age 25 and age 30.

There are a number of temptations that we all face as youth. God gives us our body and says: don’t touch! Why does God frustrate us with temptations? They are the seeds of maturity:

They help us to be humble, understanding of other’s failings, mentally stronger and, ultimately, ready to be a leader in our world. Self-discipline is essential to a successful life.

Partly, they’re a struggle because, as youth, we face the world without parental guidance (hoping we don’t end up under “Police guidance”!)

Sexual “adventures;” sexual desires are normal and healthy: but, using people for pleasure leads to the diminishment of future sacred moments with your life-partner; in fact it creates unrealistic expectations from your partner and can make future relationships unsatisfying.
The world owes me a living; up to the end of Secondary school, for most youth, everything is provided; it’s a harsh wake-up call to provide for ourselves; but, our self-esteem goes up when we provide for ourselves; so, parents must be tough to help them grow.
There’s “plenty of time”; the time of youth vanishes quickly: a party life-style leaves us with empty pockets and nothing to impress our future employers; Good jobs come for those who show they’ve tried.
Take the easiest way out… don’t worry about tomorrow; stealing, cheating and telling lies are common temptations for youth & adults alike; however, we will be caught!
It’s just a matter of time; and when we are caught, even the good we do later will be looked upon with suspicion: why employ a cheater, when there are honest people to choose from?

To help do battle with temptations, I suggest we need some key disciplines:
1.       Make a plan for your day and week: prayer, study, work, have fun; keep to the plan.
2.       Be honest in our behaviour and what we say;
3.       Prepare in advance: for everything; study something new every week: your job will end
4.       Be humble and ask questions; ask for help; celebrate Reconciliation.
5.       Arrive early, and do more than we’re asked; and study something new every week.

Finally, for us older people: our struggles might have “softened”, but our future still depends on making sacrifices, but different: We need the courage to sacrifice our time, to “waste” time, with our children; and give time to mentor our youth.

If we do, they will always have time for us in our old age.
That will be our glory… to boast to our neighbours how our sons and daughters come to visit.

Unfortunately, our world is caught up in busy-ness doing business! Making money, making ourselves comfortable, climbing the corporate ladder for pride, power and prestige.

Let’s prepare for tomorrow: invest in our youth, invest in our children: go fishing; build a tree-house; read stories together; climb Mt Kenya. To do things on a regular basis, we need to put it in the diary (priorities). Our sacrifices today will bring many blessings tomorrow.

THE END — READINGS & GOSPEL REFLECTION NOTES ARE AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT.

THE END + Related Illustrations

The news came to Jesus, / Please come fast / Lazarus is sick / and without your help he will not last
Mary and Martha watched their brother die / They waited for Jesus, /
He did not come / And they wondered why.
The death watch was over, / Buried four days / Somebody said / He’ll soon be here,
the Lord’s on His way / Martha ran to Him / and then she cried / Lord if you had been here /
You could have healed him / He’d still be alive / But You’re four days late /
And all hope is gone / Lord we don’t understand / why you’ve waited so long
But His way is God’s way / Not yours or mine / When He’s four days late He’s still on time
Jesus said Martha / show me the grave, / But she said Lord You don’t understand /
He’s been there four days / The grave stone was rolled back, / Then Jesus cried /
Lazarus come forth / then somebody said / He’s alive, He’s alive / But You’re four days late /
And all hope is gone / Lord we don’t understand / why you’ve waited so long /
But His way is God’s way / Not yours or mine / When He’s four days late He’s still on time /
You may be fighting a battle of fear / You’ve cried to the Lord I need You now /
But he has not appeared. / Friend don’t be discouraged / Cause He’s still the same /
He’ll soon be here He’ll roll back the stone / And He’ll call out your name

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Service Keeps Us Alive: Unamuno, the Spanish philosopher, tells about the Roman aqueduct at Segovia, in his native Spain. It was built in 109 A.D. For eighteen hundred years, it carried cool water from the mountains to the hot and thirsty city. Nearly sixty generations of men drank from its flow. Then came another generation, a recent one, who said, “This aqueduct is so great a marvel that it ought to be preserved for our children, as a museum piece. We shall relieve it of its centuries-long labor.”

They did; they laid modern iron pipes. They gave the ancient bricks and mortar a reverent rest. And what happened to the aqueduct? It began to began to fall apart. The sun beating on the dry mortar caused it to crumble. The bricks and stone sagged and threatened to fall. What ages of service could not destroy idleness disintegrated.

Resource, Sept/Oct, 1992, p. 4.

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Mark 10:35-45 — How many of you like to help your teachers at school? Sometimes being the special helper to someone important can make us feel important too.

When I was in 5th grade I had a teacher that I liked a lot. And one of the things I loved to do was doing special jobs for her in the classroom. I was always asking if I could help her hand out papers, or take messages to the school office. I think I must have asked her an awful lot – but it made me feel special to be her helper.

Then one day something happened that I still remember all these years later. Our class was doing some math problems and I finished doing mine much faster than most of the other kids. So as I often did I got up from my desk to go ask her if she had any special jobs I could her with.

Unfortunately, I picked a bad time to ask – because at the time she was actually crouched down next to the desk of another student helping him out. When I interrupted to ask if I could do a job for her she told me she was in the middle of helping my friend and that I needed to go sit down. But then as I was walking back to my chair she called my name and she told me that if I really wanted to help her that I should go and help another one of my classmates who was having trouble with his work.

And I learned something that day that changed the way I saw her. She was telling me that she didn’t NEED a helper – she WAS a helper. That was her job, to make sure that we each had what we needed. After that I understood that the best way to be her helper was to do the same thing she was: look for ways that I could be helpful to others.

I tell you this story because something very similar happens in today’s Gospel story. James and John come to Jesus and they tell him they want to be his special helpers. Jesus tells them that he doesn’t need helpers for himself – and that he was here to be a helper to others. And he tells them to do the same.

That’s an important lesson. See if you can find some chances to be a helper to others this week.

Let’s pray. Dear God,

Your son Jesus set a good example for us all. Help us to find ways to help others this week. Amen

http://www.lectionary.org/ChildSermons/NT/02-Mark/Mark.10.35-45-Helper-Wuori.htm

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Introduction

Theme: the church’s mission, the role of laity

Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit we are called to continue the mission you began. Guide your church, Lord, and bring us to unity as we witness your love to the world. Teach us to recognize the unique gifts and talents of each person, and encourage all to use their treasure in your service. Amen.

Starting comments

In the 1^ST Reading,

The 1st reading from Isaiah was written 700 years before Christ, when many of the people of southern Israel were in exile in Babylon… feeling crushed and without hope.

In the 2^ND Reading,

The letter to the Hebrews addresses a Christian community about their weariness with the demands of the Christian life and a growing indifference to their Baptismal calling.

In the GOSPEL today…

PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL

Start: Conscious of Jesus Christ’s humanity, and his understanding of our struggles,
we confidently ask God for the needs of our community and ourselves…

End: We make our prayers through this same Christ Our Lord.

FINAL BLESSING

JOKES — About Work

Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance? ~ Edgar Bergen

People are still willing to do an honest day’s work. The trouble is they want a week’s pay for it. ~ Joey Adams

Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They’re about to announce the lottery numbers. ~ Homer Simpson

I think Smithers picked me because of my motivational skills. Everyone says they have to work a lot harder when I’m around. ~ Homer Simpson

Gospel Notes—29^th Sun OT—B—21-Oct-2018. The Daily Study Bible (W Barclay ’75)

THE REQUEST OF AMBITION – Mark 10:35-40

This is a very revealing story. (i) It tells us something about Mark. Matthew retells this story (Mat 20:20-23), but in his version the request for the first places is made not by James and John, but by their mother Salome. Matthew must have felt that such a request was unworthy of an apostle, and, to save the reputation of James and John, he attributed it to the natural ambition of their mother. This story shows us the honesty of Mark. It was with people like ourselves that Jesus set out to change the world–and did it.

(ii) It tells us something about James and John. (a) It tells us that they were ambitious. When the victory was won, they aimed at being Jesus’ chief ministers of state. (b) It tells us that they had completely failed to understand Jesus. The amazing thing is not the fact that this incident happened, but the time at which it happened. It is the juxtaposition of Jesus’ most definite and detailed forecast of his death and this request that is staggering. It shows how little they understood what Jesus was saying to them. (c) But when we have said all that is to be said against James and John, this story tells us one shining thing about them–they still believed in Jesus. It is amazing that they could still connect glory with a Galilean carpenter who had incurred the enmity and the bitter opposition of the orthodox religious leaders.

(iii) It tells us something of Jesus’ standard of greatness. Jesus uses two Jewish metaphors here. It was the custom at a royal banquet for the king to hand the cup to his guests. The cup therefore became a metaphor for the life and experience that God handed out to men. (Ps 23:5, Ps 75:8, Isa 51:17). The cup speaks of the experience allotted to men by God.

The other phrase which Jesus uses is actually misleading in the literal English version. He speaks of the baptism with which he was baptized. The Greek verb baptizein means “to dip.” Its past participle (bebaptismenos) means “submerged,” and it is regularly used of being submerged in any experience. For instance, a spendthrift is said to be submerged in debt. The expression, as Jesus used it here, had nothing to do with technical baptism. What he is saying is, “Can you bear to go through the terrible experience which I have to go through? Can you face being submerged in hatred and pain and death, as I have to be?” They accepted the challenge of their Master–even if they did so blindly.

(iv) Jesus told them that the ultimate issue of things belonged to God. The final assignment of destiny was his prerogative. Jesus never usurped the place of God.

THE PRICE OF MAN’S SALVATION – Mark 10:41-45

Inevitably, the action of James and John aroused deep resentment amongst the other ten. Immediately the old controversy about who was to be greatest began to rage again. This was a serious situation. In the kingdoms of the world the standard of greatness was power. The test was: How many people does a man control? In the Kingdom of Jesus the standard was that of service. Greatness consisted, not in reducing other men to one’s service, but in reducing oneself to their service. The test was: What service can I give?

We tend to think this is an ideal state of affairs, but, in point of fact, it is the soundest common sense. It is in fact the first principle of ordinary everyday business life. The basic trouble in the human situation is that men wish to do as little as possible and to get as much as possible. It is only when they are filled with the desire to put into life more than they take out, that life for themselves and for others will be happy and prosperous. To clinch his words Jesus pointed to his own example. With such powers as he had, he could have arranged life entirely to suit himself, but he had spent himself and all his powers in the service of others. He had come, he said, to give his life as a ransom for many. People have tried to erect a theory of the atonement on what is a saying of love.

It was not long until people were asking to whom this ransom of the life of Christ had been paid? Origen asked the question. “To whom did he give his life as a ransom for many? It was not to God. Was it not then to the Evil One?” It is an odd conception that the life of Jesus was paid as a ransom to the devil. Gregory of Nyssa saw the flaw in that theory, namely that it really puts the devil on an equality with God. So he conceived of the extraordinary idea of a trick played by God. The devil was tricked by the seeming weakness of the incarnation. He mistook Jesus for a mere man. He tried to exert his authority over him and, by trying to do so, lost it. Again it is an odd idea–that God should conquer the devil by a trick.

Suppose we say, “Sorrow is the price of love,” we mean that love cannot exist without the possibility of sorrow, but we never think of trying to explain to whom that price is paid. This saying of Jesus is a simple, pictorial way of saying that it cost the life of Jesus to bring men back from their sin into the love of God. The cost of our salvation was the Cross of Christ. Beyond that we cannot go, and beyond that we do not need to go. We know only that something happened on the Cross which opened for us the way to God.

Gospel Action

Take stock this week of all the activities in which you are involved. List those which aid your Christianity and those that don’t. Are your priorities in order?

Questions

Who is the church? What is the mission of the church?
Who in the church is expected to actively work to make this mission a reality?
Where do you fit? Is the mission of the church also our personal mission?
What is your sign to the world that you accept the church’s mission? How is that sign lived out in day-to-day life?
How do you share in Jesus’ baptism, ministry, death, & resurrection in daily life?
How does Jesus view pride in your ministry? What kind of ministry is best?
What does it mean to be humble? Is being humble a sign of weakness in society?
Can someone in a leadership position be humble and still be a good leader?

WHAT’S IN A NAME?– Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI (24-09-2018) www.ronrolheiser.com

We’re called to a name change. We’re all familiar with the incident in the bible where God changes the name of Abram to Abraham. The change seems so small that often times it isn’t even picked up by those reading that text. What’s the difference between Abram and Abraham?

The name Abram, meaning “Exalted Father”, is the name given the great patriarch to whom God made the promise that one day he would be the father of all the descendants of the nation of Judaism. But later when God promises this same man that he is to be the father as well of all nations everywhere, God changes his name to Abraham: “You will no longer be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.” (Genesis 17, 5).

What is implied in this change? The name, Abraham, in its very etymology, connotes a stretching to become something larger; he’s now to be the father of all nations. Abram, the father of one nation, now becomes Abraham (in Hebrew, Ab hamon goyim) the father of all the other nations, the “goyim”.

That change doesn’t just stretch a word; it stretches Abraham, a Jew, and redefines his understanding of himself and his mission. He’s no longer to understand himself as the patriarch of just one nation, his own, his ethnic and religious family, but he’s to see himself and the faith he is entrusted with as someone and something for all nations. He’s no longer to think of himself as the patriarch of one particular tribe, since God is not a tribal God. As well, he’s no longer to think of just his own tribe as his family, but to think of all others, irrespective of ethnicity or faith, as also his children.

What does that mean for us? T.S. Eliot might answer that by saying: Home is where we start from. Our particular ethnic, religious, cultural, and civic roots are precious and important, but they’re not the fully mature tree into which we’re meant to grow. Our roots are where we start from.

I grew up a very sheltered child, in a very close family, in a very enclosed rural environment. We were all of one kind, our neighbors, my classmates, everyone I knew, all of us, we shared a common history, ethnicity, religion, cultural background, set of values, and lived in a young country, Canada, that for the most part looked exactly like we did. I value those roots. They’re a great gift. Those roots have given me a stability that has freed me up for the rest of my life. But they’re only my roots, precious, but merely the place where I start from.

And it’s the same for all of us. We take root inside a particular family, an ethnicity, a neighborhood, a country, and a faith, with a particular slant on the world and, with that, some people constitute our tribe and others don’t. But that’s where we start from. We grow, change, move, meet new people, and live and work with others who don’t share our background, nationality, ethnicity, skin color, religion, or particular slant on life.

And so today we share our countries, cities, neighborhoods, and churches with the “goyim”, the people of other tribes, and that makes for the long struggle, hopefully successful, to eventually see that those others who are different from us, share the same God, are also our brothers and sisters, and have lives that are just as real, important, and precious as those of our own biological, national, and religious families. Like Abraham we need a name change so that we don’t make idolatry out of our youthful patriotism which has us believe that our own tribe is special and that our own country, skin color, background, and religion give us a unique and privileged claim to God.

Our world is globalizing at a dizzying pace and countries, neighborhoods, and churches are becoming ever-more plural and diverse ethnically, linguistically, culturally, and religiously. Our countries, neighborhoods, workplaces, and churches are literally taking on a different face. The old sheltered communities that gave us our roots are disappearing and for many of us this is scary and the temptation is retrench, to go hard to the right, to militantly defend the old boundaries, and to claim God and truth more exclusively again for ourselves. That’s understandable, but not where we’re called to be by what’s best inside our humanity and our faith. Like Abraham, we’re called to a name change.

We’re called to cherish our heritage, country, mother tongue, culture, faith, and church because only by being firmly rooted within primary community are we stable and altruistic enough to offer family to those outside of our own. But home is where we start from. From those wonderful families that give us roots, we’re called to stretch our hearts religiously, ethnically, culturally so that everyone eventually is embraced as family. We’re called to move from being Abram to becoming Abraham.

First Reading: Isaiah 53:10-11 — A reading from the prophet Isaiah

If he offers his life in atonement, he shall see his heirs and have long life.

The Lord has been pleased to crush his servant with suffering.
If he offers his life in atonement,
he shall see his heirs, he shall have a long life
and through him what the Lord wishes will be done.

His soul’s anguish over
he shall see the light and be content.
By his sufferings shall my servant justify many,
taking their faults on himself.

Psalm: Ps 32:4-5. 18-20. 22

Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

The word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his love. R.

The Lord looks on those who revere him,
on those who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine. R.

Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our help and our shield.
May your love be upon us, O Lord,
as we place all our hope in you. R.

Second Reading: Hebrews 4:14-16 — A reading from the letter to the Hebrews

Let us be confident in approaching the throne of grace.

Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed. For it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin. Let us be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of help.

Gospel Acclamation: Mark 10:45

Alleluia, alleluia! The Son of Man came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for all. Alleluia!

Gospel: Mark 10:35-45 — A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark

The Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for all.

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Jesus. ‘Master,’ they said to him ‘we want you to do us a favour.’ He said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.’ ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus said to them. ‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I must be baptised?’ They replied, ‘We can.’ Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I must drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I must be baptised you shall be baptised, but as for seats at my right hand or my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted.’

When the other ten heard this they began to feel indignant with James and John, so Jesus called them to him and said to them, ‘You know that among the pagans their so-called rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’

WhatsApp Format:
*Homily — 29th Sun O/Time*
Year B — 21-Oct-2018
_Isaiah 53:10-11;_
_Hebrews 4:14-16;_
_Mark 10:35-45_

In past years my homilies have focused on humility and promoting others. However, this week, I’m struck by James and John looking for a short-cut to glory: *our desire to avoid struggle.*

So, too, in our human development from baby to child to adolescent to adult. Emotionally and psychologically, we must go through various stages of struggle and sacrifice. If you google “psycho-sexual development”, you will have a good idea of this.

James and John wanted what we all want: a taste of glory and to feel important. In psychology: the need to be loved and the need to “belong”. These are healthy desires. However, as James and John discovered: *glory must be earned, by sacrifice and struggle.*

New research reveals the importance for youth not to “waste time” starting university. Our brain function is more active and open to learning at age 20 than it is at age 25 and age 30.

There are a number of temptations that we all face as youth. God gives us our body and says: don’t touch! Why does God frustrate us with temptations? *They are the seeds of maturity:* _they help us to be humble, understanding of other’s failings, mentally stronger and, ultimately, ready to be a leader in our world._ *Self-discipline is essential to a successful life.*

Partly, they’re a struggle because, as youth, we face the world without parental guidance (hoping we don’t end up under “Police guidance”!)

*Sexual “adventures”:* sexual desires are normal and healthy: but, using people for pleasure leads to the diminishment of future sacred moments with your life-partner; in fact it *creates unrealistic expectations* from your partner and can make future relationships unsatisfying/“boring”.
*The world owes me a living:* for most youth, up to the end of Secondary school, everything is provided; it’s a harsh wake-up call to provide for ourselves; but, our self-esteem goes up when we provide for ourselves; so, parents must be tough to help them grow.
*There’s “plenty of time”;* the time of youth vanishes quickly: a party life-style leaves us with empty pockets and nothing to impress our future employers; *Good jobs come for those who show they’ve tried.*
*Take the easiest way out… don’t worry about tomorrow;* stealing, cheating and telling lies are common temptations for youth & adults alike; however, *we will be caught!* _It’s just a matter of time;_ and when we are caught, even the good we do later will be looked upon with suspicion: _why employ a cheater, when there are honest people to choose from?_

*To help do battle with temptations, I suggest we need some key disciplines:*
1.             *Make a plan* for your day and week: _prayer, study, work, have fun;_ keep to the plan.
2.             *Be honest* in our behaviour and what we say;
3.             *Prepare in advance:* think ahead for everything; study something new every week, assume your job will end;
4.             *Be humble* and ask questions; ask for help; celebrate Reconciliation.
5.             *Arrive early,* and do more than we’re asked.

If we do, they will always have time for us in our old age. That will be our glory… to boast to our neighbours how our sons and daughters come to visit.

Unfortunately, our world is caught up in busy-ness doing business! Making money, making ourselves comfortable, climbing the corporate ladder for pride, power and prestige.

Let’s prepare for tomorrow: *invest in our youth, invest in our children:* _go fishing; build a tree-house; read stories together; climb Mt Kenya._ To do things on a regular basis, we need to put it in the diary (priorities). *Our sacrifices today will bring many blessings tomorrow.*

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