Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year B

 

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

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071424.cfm

In this week’s gospel from the evangelist St. Mark, Jesus is sending out the apostles on their first mission.

In this short passage, Jesus gives the apostles authority, 

sends them out to heal and preach repentance, 

instructs them to leave where they are not welcome 

and to take nothing for the journey.  

As I reflected on this, it got me thinking of what I take just to go to work.

Car, keys, coffee, lunch, backpack, water bottle, phone, wallet, security badge, computer, power cord, airpods, notebook, pen, I mean it’s endless and that’s just for a day at work.  

Let alone for longer.

Let alone to be called like the apostles to discipleship in the name of Jesus and be sent out.

And Jesus calls all of us to discipleship.  

To leave our comfort zones.  

To go out and tell people about Him, to share our faith with them.

Because if we don’t, who will?

And he doesn’t expect us to do it alone.  

He sent the apostles out in pairs to show we are not meant to journey alone in our faith and that we are called to support one another, to work together in spreading the good news.

Jesus sends the apostles out with authority.

With specific instructions for the journey.  

He does the same to us.

Sending us forth after each Holy Mass, nourished by His body and blood in the most Holy Eucharist, to be his hands and feet in the world.

Unlike my packing for work, Jesus calls his apostles and us to embrace simplicity.  

And this can be hard for us. 

Jesus calls us to let go of what gets in the way of our ability to grow our faith or to serve others.

By traveling light, there is less to weigh us down - making more room for God’s grace to work through us.

Jesus has already given us much of what we need to share the transformative power of God’s love and mercy with others.  

In baptism, we were given full authority to combat evil in this world.  

Now, the world doesn’t always make it easy for us to reach out and share our faith and sometimes when we try to step out, we get rejected.

It happens.  

Not everyone wants to hear it.  

Not everyone is ready to give up the things that bring them comfort now; 

for the promise of something greater for all eternity.

But Jesus took care of us there, too.

He tells the apostles and us to stay where we are welcomed and to leave where we are not.  

He doesn’t ask us to be victims.  

He only asks us to try.  

To give and receive hospitality.

While preparing us that not everyone will accept the message of forgiveness and good news that we bring to them.

Sometimes that rejection might even come from fellow disciples.

But as Blessed Mother Theresa once said, 

“God did not put us here to be successful; He put us here to be faithful.” 

If a friend or family member is indifferent or hostile to discussions of faith - there is no need to force it.

Pray for them and seek other opportunities to share God's love through your actions.  They may eventually come around.

Like the Apostles, it’s also our job to preach repentance.  

And this is why we sometimes struggle as Catholics.

It’s not our job to judge or condemn or point fingers at people or to make sure they know they are wrong.

It is our job to invite others to experience the joy and freedom that comes from turning towards God.  

To challenge ourselves to be living witnesses to the transformative power of God's love, 

especially to those who may not want to hear that message.

To be comfortable being uncomfortable.

To preach of a forgiving God just waiting for us to turn to Him for absolution and comfort.

We may not be traveling two by two or shaking dust from our feet.

But our mission is all around us—in our homes, our workplaces, our communities. 

When we leave Mass today, let us go with courage, simplicity, and faith, trusting in God and what he asks of us.

Knowing we live in a broken world where He is desperately needed.

Knowing that the only way someone may see the face of God today or this week is if we bring it to them and bring them to Him.

May God bless us and keep us as we live out our calling as His disciples. 

Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year B

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

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/063024.cfm

Today's Gospel from the evangelist, St. Mark is sometimes referred to as a “sandwich” gospel,

and I’m not just saying that because I’m hungry or because I like bread or because I like sandwiches.  

All of those things are 100% true by the way.

But it’s referred to as a “sandwich” gospel 

because St. Mark starts with one story about a little girl 

and then inserts another story about the woman with the hemmorage, 

before going back to the original story.

A sandwich, containing two powerful stories of healing and faith.  

And as much as I like bread,  I’m going to focus inside the sandwich, 

on the story of the woman with the hemmorage.

The medical definition of a hemmorage is the loss of blood usually involving a lot of bleeding in a short time.  

This woman has bled for twelve years.

Not a short amount of time.

Imagine the physical and emotional toll this condition had on her - 

the constant discomfort, the isolation, and the financial burden it caused. 

And if this wasn’t enough, under Jewish law she was considered unclean, unlawful, an outcast.  

Yet she chose to work her way through a large crowd of people to get to Jesus.

By definition, crowds are often disorganized and unruly.

Being in a crowd is not a comfortable place to be.  

In a crowd, you are nameless, faceless.  

You're almost not a person.  You can get lost in a crowd.  

Despite all of this, despite all that was working against her, 

she courageously made her way through the large crowd to get to Jesus.

Working her way through the crowd, 

she approached him from behind 

in a spirit of faith and belief to touch only his garment.

Her faith was so great - 

she believed the small act of touching his garment would heal her.

An act of courage and faith expressed in complete humility.  

She knew she was unworthy to touch our Lord.

So aren’t we all.

And with this humble touch of his garment, she is healed.

It made me wonder.

How do we approach Jesus?  

Like the crowd - around Jesus but not really connecting with him?

Coming to Mass, going through the motions once a week only to go on, unchanged to the rest of our lives?

Not making the sacrifice to adore him in the blessed sacrament 

or in choosing to gossip about the alleged missteps of our priests instead of praying for them.

Or do we approach Jesus with courage, faith and humility, 

reaching out to him, fully aware of our unworthiness.

And does our encounter with Jesus change us? 

Does it change who we are and how we do what we do? 

Do we bring the spirit of hope and joy and generosity and testimony of the healing power of Jesus to other people?

In all the crowd pressing around Him, 

only this woman actually touched Jesus, 

not with her hand, 

but with the deep faith that was in her heart.

Now, we may not have a hemmorage lasting twelve years.

But in our daily lives, we may have challenges that may seem just as insurmountable. 

Maybe it's a chronic illness, a troubled relationship, or a persistent struggle with sin. 

Maybe we’ve carried those burdens much longer than twelve years.

Like this woman, we are called to approach Jesus with courage and faith, even when all seems lost. 

We need contact with Jesus.  

And we get that -  when we receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and when we encounter him in the sacraments.

But is that contact with Jesus all it is meant to be?

Are we a member of the crowd around Jesus, walking near him to be seen with him?

Is our relationship with Jesus just an intellectual exercise, 

in our thoughts and in our minds, 

in the motions we go through, 

But not really in our hearts?  

Or do we approach him with humility, 

aware of how unworthy we are, 

and with courage and a strong faith in him?

Do we understand how unclean we are 

and how much we need his sacramental grace?

Do we attend confession regularly 

to ensure our soul is properly disposed to be in full communion with Jesus 

and so that we can receive him worthily in the Holy Eucharist?

Does our relationship with Jesus heartfelt and does it influence how we treat others?

We all need to encounter Christ in our lives.

We can encounter him like the crowd 

or like the woman with the hemmorage.

To be simply seen with him and to watch what he will do 

or to be courageous, faithful and humble as we approach him in all of our brokenness 

and to be healed by him. 

The choice is up to us.

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

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

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060924.cfm

In today’s gospel from the evangelist, Saint Mark, we see a rather confusing scene.

I mean, Jesus seems to do something we wouldn’t expect him to do - 

publicly disrespecting his mother and family.

It’s also not something many of us would dare to do, 

let alone to the blessed Virgin Mary.

So something else must be going on.

Jesus arrives home in Nazareth with his disciples and begins preaching and a crowd forms.  

You can imagine it from the perspective of Jesus’ family.  

Lots of people, strangers, at your home, around your stuff.

No room to maneuver, not even to make something to eat.

And seeing this, his family says of Jesus that “He is out of his mind.”

This is just part of a larger pattern of strange behavior.

Two years prior, Jesus had given up a good, secure, always in-demand job as a carpenter.

Leaving home to walk around, live off the land and strangers with no money and no plans that made any sense to anyone.

I’m not sure they had a midlife crisis back then, but it must have seemed like one to his family, friends and neighbors.

What would ever possess someone to give up the security of a steady income and a secure place to live and eat and sleep?

Add to that, that Jesus was accused by some teachers of the law of being possessed by the devil, because He ignored their authority and called them hypocrites.

Anyone with any sense knew you just didn’t do things like that.

If that wasn’t enough, Jesus traveled around with a bunch of misfits - tax collectors, revolutionaries and rejects of normal society. 

Certainly not what you’d expect from someone with a full grasp on reality.

In fact, the only sane one of them seemed to be Judas, who knew his way around money and how to organize things. 

Who could blame his family for thinking Jesus had lost it?

But instead of receiving them and thanking them for their concern, he responds by asking the crowd, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”

Pretty insulting.

Can you imagine having your mother show up and saying, “Who is my mother?”

I don’t think that would work out too well.

But Jesus wasn’t concerned with how that looked.

He was so focused on his desire to do the will of his Father - preaching and healing - 

He so wanted to share with everyone the good news - 

that God can make us new again - 

that through God’s Spirit we can come to know and experience the love and grace and peace of God.

Jesus wasn’t concerned with how it looked.

You see, Jesus knew some things his family did not. 

That it is only when we are willing to give up our will 

for God’s sake that we find life 

and experience life to the fullest.

By the way he lived and died, 

Jesus showed that God becomes real only when a person is willing to stop playing it safe and to take risks to do His Will.

Most of us say it multiple times a day and we will say it during this Holy Mass, “Thy Will be done.”

But do we do it?

Do we take that risk?

Risk taking is meant to be a normal part of Christian living. 

To stop being safe.

To not worry about what others will say or think.

To say grace before meals in public, 

to carry a rosary out in the open, 

to make the sign of the cross when we pass by a Catholic Church, 

to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, 

to help those who most need it,

to invite someone who has not been to church or confession in a while to join you and go, 

To not be held back by what could possibly go wrong or how those around us will react.

Even our own family.

Jesus didn’t much care what people said about him, 

the only person he wanted to please was his Father - 

and to achieve this goal, 

he went about his work wholeheartedly - 

doing the things of God.

The will of God for us -

is to tell the world the good news of his love and forgiveness. 

While we sit in our daily routines, 

our homes, secure and comfortable, 

while we play it safe - 

we will never, ever 

come near the people who need to hear God’s word 

and feel God’s love the most. 

The late English author, 

H.G.Wells once said that 

“the voice of a person’s neighbor is louder than the voice of God.” 

It’s time for us to speak up.

It’s about time to start taking a few risks - 

to step out in faith, no matter where it may lead.

Because in doing that, 

we find the true meaning and purpose of our lives as Catholics.

To do the will of the Father and in doing so, 

to truly become brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ.