Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

 The readings for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B may be found at:  

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090124.cfm

Over the past several weekends, we’ve heard St. John’s bread of life discourse where Jesus’ followers were challenged by eating our Lord’s flesh and blood.

This weekend, the evangelist, St. Mark shows us something no less challenging.

The Pharisees are watching Jesus and his followers very closely.

Looking for any slip-up to attack His credibility and discredit His teachings.

And they get their opening.

As Jesus and His followers gather for a meal, the Pharisee’s notice they fail to wash their hands before eating. 

Now to be clear - this isn’t about hygiene.

Everyone knows it’s proper to wash your hands before eating.

But for the Pharisees, washing hands before eating was a way of showing the overall purity of a person.

One of many observable signs required by Jewish purity laws.

Man-made requirements, wrongly elevated to an equal level with the Law of God.

You can imagine the Pharisees salivating over the smear campaign they would wage against Jesus for not following the law.

But instead, Jesus responds with a scathing commentary on what really makes a person unclean.

Saying that they reject the commandment of God while holding high their own tradition.  Ouch.

Jesus goes on to teach that a person is clean or unclean by what is inside, not outside.

And through this teaching, Jesus reveals a deeper truth - not about unclean hands - but about unholy hearts.

Now, outward signs are not just a Jewish concept.

In Catholicism, especially, we have many beautiful practices intended to deepen our faith.

But, Jesus tells us - we must not value these rituals over the internal state of our hearts. 

Let’s look at what this could mean through some examples.

Attending Mass regularly is a great gift.  

But do we treat it like a to do list item, our minds elsewhere during Mass; not fully engaging in the worship of God,

Do we present ourselves to receive Jesus in Holy Communion without being properly disposed to do so?   

Do we go to communion even when we know we shouldn’t, when we know we haven’t recently had a good sacramental confession?

Do we pray the rosary or wear the brown scapular or practice other devotions, so other people will see how holy we are, 

while our hearts secretly harbor resentment or unforgivness or uncharity towards others,

As I reflected on these points, I was reminded of a phrase my wife says to me about - “rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.” 

Those deckchairs sure are lined up nice, but does any of that really matter when the ship is sinking?

I think that is what Jesus is trying to tell us today.

He calls us to a deeper, more authentic faith to be lived from the inside out.

To grow in the holiness of heart, not just to look more holy on the outside - rearranging the deckchairs as it were.

Now if we want to truly grow in holiness, there are many practical things we can do.

We can participate frequently in Mass, leaving appropriate time for prayer before and after mass and offering the proper reverence rightfully due to our God.

We can have a regular sacramental Confession to be properly predisposed to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.  

Confession times are listed in the bulletin - and if those don’t work, our priests would be delighted to schedule an appointment with you at a more convenient time.

We can attend Eucharistic Adoration, which is from 3pm to 6:30 pm each Wednesday night here in the Church.  Pop in for just a few minutes and spend some time with Jesus.

And there are so many other practical things we can do to grow in holiness:

Personal Prayer.  Talk to God in your own words.  

Listen to what God is trying to say to you.

Spend time with Sacred Scripture or read about the lives of the saints, even if only for 5 minutes each day.

Pray the rosary as you go about your day.

Examine your conscience before going to bed.

Go on a retreat or day of reflection.

Build genuine relationships within our parish community.

Join a bible study.

Forgive someone who may not deserve it.

Show love to others through small acts of kindness.

Growing in holiness is not about purifying our hands; it’s about purifying our hearts.

About allowing God’s love to transform us from the inside out.

We just need to do our part.

If we do that,

God will do the rest.

Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year B

The readings for the Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year B may be found at:  

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080424.cfm

In this week’s gospel passage from the evangelist St. John, people are hungry.

And I can relate to that.  Alot actually.  Don’t judge me.

So hungry they are crossing the sea to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

Some of the five thousand that Jesus fed from five barley loaves and two fish last weekend.

They want to be fed.  And Jesus knows it.

But Jesus did not come to be our personal food delivery service, like Uber Eats or GrubHub.

Jesus knows what we need and that “bread to live on” will never satisfy true hunger.

Now most of us can’t relate to real physical hunger.

Most of us won’t go hungry tonight.

But we’ve all had times when we’ve felt empty and want to be filled.

That’s why Jesus proclaims “I am the bread of life.”

Because “bread to live on” and the “bread of life” are two different things.

Because we’re all hungry for something. 

Hungry for food, for comfort.

for belonging or forgiveness or acceptance. 

Hungry to be loved, understood or healed.

Hungry for success, safety, adventure, security, travel. 

However we feel, some of us will hunger our whole lives.

We may find something that fills us for a bit, 

Only to find we end up hungrier than before.

But, the good news is we were made this way on purpose,

in the image and likeness of God with this deep hunger, 

that He knows can only ever truly be satisfied in one way.

Because God speaks to us in our hunger. 

He uses our hunger to teach and guide us. 

And while we search far and wide for something to satisfy it,

God is waiting to feed us the one thing that truly satisfies: 

Himself. 

When Jesus speaks the words, “I am the bread of life; 

he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” 

He is saying that God wants to feed your soul. 

To feed you perfectly with Himself. 

Regardless of what we think we are hungry for, we will never be satisfied by the shallow things of the world. 

That is why  Jesus left us Himself in the Eucharist as “the bread of life”.

Not a symbol or remembrance of Him or communal meal or sign or gimmick 

to trick us into feeling closer to  Him.

Jesus left us “the bread of life” - 

the Eucharist to fill us up with the reality of Himself, 

to truly be in communion with Him, 

His real presence, 

body, blood, soul and divinity.

You know, we hear these words so many times 

that I think they can lose their meaning if we don’t take the time to recognize how truly remarkable they are.

The bread of life, the Eucharist is Jesus.  Period.

That is the beauty and power of the Eucharist.

And that hunger we feel in our soul is actually an invitation from God, 

The One who will never cease trying to draw us to Himself. 

That hunger in our soul is a good thing. 

Follow where it leads -  to the Eucharist.

Trust. Surrender. Believe. Receive.

Not feeling it?  

When was the last time you went to sacramental confession?  

I’d be willing to bet that many of us here can’t remember the exact date and time since our last sacramental confession.

We may think we don’t need to go.

But, most of us wouldn’t think about eating dinner before we washed our hands thoroughly, 

nor would we work a full day, sweaty and dirty and then hop unclean into our nice, clean bed at night.

How then can we think it is ok to consume our Lord with a soul that needs a good scrub?

Maybe that’s why we’re not feeling what we should.

So, if you take anything away from this homily today, I ask you to take this.

Only God can satisfy our endless longing. 

Allow Him to respond to your needs and feed you spiritually with the Eucharist. 

Be courageous and recognize that the Eucharist is Jesus Himself.

Prepare well to satisfy your hunger by receiving Jesus in a state of grace, 

After having made a proper examination of conscience and good sacramental confession.

It’s no secret that we are all hungry.

We were made that way on purpose.

The bread of life is waiting to fill us up.

Let us ask ourselves - are we truly ready to eat?