Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

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

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021124.cfm

In today’s gospel from the evangelist, St. Mark we experience a profound moment of healing and compassion.

A leper, shunned and excluded from day to day life due to his impurity - approaches Jesus.

His physical condition, thought to be a reflection of his unholiness and the sin he had within.

Not only were lepers not welcomed, 

if one of them came near, people would shout out “unclean” 

as a warning to stay away, to shame them and to warn those nearby.

Now, this leper approaches Jesus and says, 

“If you wish, you can make me clean”,

Coming to Jesus filled with humility and hope.

And this leper, marginalized, unclean, viewed as unholy, not worthy of any human contact shows us the boldness of his faith. 

He doesn’t question Jesus' ability to heal him, just his willingness to do so.

And Jesus, moved with pity, 

reaches out and touches the man, saying, 

"I do will it. Be made clean." 

In this simple, yet powerful gesture, 

Jesus not only heals the man's physical ailment 

but also restores his dignity and place in the community. 

The transformative touch of Jesus breaking barriers that separate and isolate.

Now you’re probably asking what Jesus’ healing of this leper has to do with us?

I submit to you that this passage invites us to reflect on how we each approach Jesus. 

How we approach him when we present ourselves for Holy Communion at Mass.

We may not be lepers, but we are human, and we are all sinners.  

If we could see the state of each other’s souls, 

we might see more lesions than this leper had visible on his skin.

We might even shout “unclean” or keep our distance from each other.

Come to think of it, it’s a good thing we can’t see the state of each other’s souls!

Whether we like to admit it or not.  

We are unclean.  We all have sins.

But the question is this -

Do we choose to come to Jesus with the same confidence as the leper, 

believing in Christ’s power to heal and transform our lives? 

With humility and with hope for healing?

The statistics say we don’t.

All of us here come to Holy Mass.

Most of us go to Holy Communion.

But how many of us go to a regular, sacramental confession?

The numbers say, not many.

How many of us approach Jesus within the sacrament of reconciliation with the humility and hope of that leper?

Yearning for Jesus’ healing touch.

To be made well again.  

To be made clean.

To be made worthy of communing with Him.

This miracle of the healing of the leper illustrates perfectly 

the unclean mess and cleansing 

that are made real in the sacrament of reconciliation. 

Where we confess our sins to a priest 

acting in the person of Christ

and we are absolved of our sins through the infinite mercy of God. 

And if we go to Holy Communion regularly, 

knowing we have mortal sin that we have not confessed in the sacrament, 

or if we can’t remember the last time we went to confession, 

We may not realize that our sins compound on each other and grow,

making our uncleanliness even worse.

The healing of the leper by Jesus 

emphasizes Christ’s power to cleanse and heal us spiritually, 

offering new life to each of us through the forgiveness of our sins.

If we only have humility and hope, like the leper, to go to Jesus.

With Lent upon us in a few days, 

it’s the absolutely perfect time for us to acknowledge the unclean in each of us 

and to remember Jesus’ power to restore us to good health.

Maybe it's been a long time since you’ve been to confession.  

Maybe you think your sins are so awful or so embarrassing that you will shock the priest 

Or that he will look at you differently in the future. 

Maybe you’re afraid to face your sins 

and so have told yourself you don't really need to go to confession.

I can promise that no one will point at you and yell, “unclean” 

or try to marginalize you for going to confession.

You just need to go with the humility and hope of the leper St. Mark told us about today, 

And Jesus will make you clean.  

Then like the leper, 

you can tell everyone how you went to Jesus and how great you now feel.

Your testimony might just get them to go to confession 

so Jesus can make them clean too.

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

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

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011424.cfm

Today’s readings are about being called.

In the first reading, we hear Samuel’s call as a young man to be a prophet when he responded, 

"Speak, for your servant is listening."

And in the gospel from the evangelist St. John we hear the call of the first disciples to follow Jesus permanently.

When they ask Him where He is staying He responds, “Come, and you will see.”

Or in other words, “Follow me.”

Whether we feel like Samuel or those first disciples, 

everyone here has been called directly and individually 

to be a son or daughter of God 

and a permanent follower of Jesus Christ.

As a result of our Baptism, 

we have an indelible character, 

a mark on our soul that cannot be removed 

that signifies we are a follower of Jesus Christ.

And how lucky are we?

Sometimes we forget 

that more than half the world has not heard about God’s plan of salvation in Christ.

And the critical question for all of us who have been called 

is to answer how we fulfill his call.

How do we live and be faithful to this call to follow Jesus?

While good and proper and worthwhile, 

it is much more than saying novenas or rosaries or chaplets or other sacramentals.

Doing those things is easy.

But, Jesus raised the bar.

As we examine how faithful we are to his call, 

in how His call should change lives,

we must examine how we relate to other people.

Regular people in our regular lives.

Strangers we run into in stores and on the street.

People we come into contact with at work. 

And those closest to us in our family and circle of friends.

As hard as we may try, 

almost all of us are never without people around.  

 

And as a result of our call to follow Jesus, 

He wants us to understand 

that what we do to them, 

we do to him.

To answer the call to follow Jesus 

is to understand that we show our love for Him 

by how we love and serve others.

Even though we may not consciously make this connection, 

He makes it constantly, 

and He told us,

He will make it at the last judgment. 

He wants us to know 

that everyone is called to have a relationship with Him. 

He wants us to serve and love Him in others.

He wants us to try to live as He lived with others. 

To show kindness at home and respect for our neighbors.

To accept all people whatever their race, color, social standing, politics or immigration status.

To show some of the compassion of Jesus to those who are suffering or disabled.

To be more generous to the poor and needy.

To be just in our work.

To strive to be reconciled with others when they ask our forgiveness. 

To do these things 

is to respond to God’s call to follow Jesus.

And in doing these things - whether we know it or not -

We lead other people to God so that they too can be followers.

Most disciples don’t come to Jesus on their own.

They are led by others.

So, I think we all need to ask ourselves.

Do I live my life in a way that brings people closer to Jesus 

or in a way that pushes them further away?

People follow because they trust and that’s how the church grows.

That’s how people get closer to Jesus.

And it’s on us.

here in this Church.

No one ever became a Catholic without the help of other Catholics who got there before them, both living and dead.

To paraphrase, the great Catholic author, G.K. Chesterton who wrote that there is only one really strong argument against Catholicism - 

Catholics. 

He would also say that there is only one really strong argument for Catholism - 

Catholics.

Joyful Catholics.

Loving Catholics.

Honest Catholics. 

Trustable Catholics. 

It’s a tremendous responsibility that we have as a result of our call, and it’s one we cannot escape. 

This week I ask you to consider thoughtfully and maybe pray on it a bit as well,

Do you live in a way that brings people closer to Jesus?

Or do you live in a way that pushes them further away?

As a result of the call we have all received to follow Jesus,

reinforced by Baptism,  

we all have a responsibility to lead others to Jesus.

So that others will recognize His call and answer it as well.

He has spoken.  

But are we listening?

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph - Year B

 

The readings for Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph may be found at:  

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/123123.cfm

This weekend, we prepare for the coming of a new year.

We also celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph with this week’s gospel passage recounting the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

You may also recognize this scene as the Fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary.

As I prepared to preach this weekend, I wanted to focus on the holy family and how we are all part of a family and how we are all called to holiness.

But, instead I kept coming back to Simeon.  Who was this guy?

Someone so central to our Lord’s presentation in the temple and yet a bit of a mystery.

As St. Luke tells us, Simeon came into the temple in the Spirit, took Jesus in his arms and blessed God, saying,

“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation.”

Who was Simeon, that after holding this baby - 

who at that time only Joseph and Mary recognized as the son of God - 

How is it that this guy sees Jesus, holds Him up to the Father and basically says, 

I’m ok to die now.  Take me.

In and of itself this is remarkable, but tradition tells us more.

Tradition says Simeon was one of the seventy translators of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek which began around the third century before Christ and was completed a little more than 130 years before Christ was born. 

Simeon was one of those translators.

We also just heard that Simeon was at the temple for the presentation of Jesus.

I’m not the best at math, but that means Simeon was really old!

Tradition says Simeon was 270 years old when Jesus was presented in the temple and that he lived to 370.

But let’s not focus on how Simeon could possibly live to that old age.

I think the better question is, What does it mean for us that Simeon was that old? 

What is tradition trying to tell us? 

I think it says that Simeon had been made a promise that he would see the messiah.

And that promise was fulfilled. Nearly three hundred years later. 

Three hundred years!

Simeon must have lived those days, years, decades and centuries with hope, trust, expectation, and anticipation. 

Every day - left waiting and wondering. 

Is this the day? 

Is this the day I will see salvation?

Is this the day I will give up hope? 

Is this the day it happens?

Is this the day I despair that it didn’t?

After waiting 270 years to see Jesus and uttering the words “You may let your servant go in peace”, 

Simeon waited another 100 years to die.

Now, we all know what it’s like to wait – 

waiting for life to change, for the grief to go away, 

for a prayer to be answered, for joy to return, 

for forgiveness and reconciliation, for clarity about a decision, 

for healing and new life. 

We all wait and hope for things.

And we place many of these hopes and expectations on God. 

I think we all come here with some hope, some need, some expectation. 

We come here trusting and anticipating the promise that God is present and working in our lives 

even if we can’t see it or clearly understand what He is doing day over day.

That’s why they call it faith.

It’s been said that 90% of success in life is just showing up.

Like Simeon at the temple, it’s important we continue to show up for God.

Especially, when it is hard to do it.

With New Years Day almost here, I thought it might be useful to offer up a few resolutions for consideration on how we can continue to show up for God:

• Commit to Daily Prayer.  Dedicate some time each day to prayer or reciting the Rosary to deepen our relationship with God.

• Go to the Saints.  Learn about the lives of the saints and their examples of faith, and consider how their experiences can inspire and guide us.

• Consider following a one-year Bible reading plan, like the one from Father Mike Schmitz on YouTube to engage and reflect on God's word throughout the year for just a few minutes a day.

• Watch the TV show “The Chosen” to be reminded that Jesus was a real person and that those he told to follow him were regular, broken people just like us.

• Go back to Confession.  Commit to a regular examination of conscience and sacramental confession, especially if you go to communion regularly.

• Go to Jesus.  Spend a few minutes with Jesus in the Eucharist at Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament each Wednesday here at St. Gabriel’s between 3pm and 7pm.  

What Simeon experienced can be ours too - 

The fulfillment of God’s promise to us - 

if we keep at it, don’t give up and continue each day to show up for God.