Reflections on the Sunday readings for June 2, 2013

Proper 4 C

First Reading: 1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven.  ²³He said, ‘O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart,

41 ‘Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name ⁴²—for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—when a foreigner comes and prays towards this house, ⁴³then hear in heaven your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.

Notes

As part of the Temple dedication ceremony, Solomon prays that God will welcome even foreigners and answer their prayers.  This is to fulfill the dream that all will come to know the Lord. 

Notes from the New American Bible

* [8:1–66] The account of the Temple’s dedication ceremony is organized concentrically: Solomon gathers the assembly (vv. 1–13), blesses it (vv. 14–21), utters a long dedicatory prayer (vv. 22–53), blesses the assembly again (vv. 54–61), and dismisses it (vv. 62–66).  To this account is appended an appearance of the Lord to Solomon (9:2–9) that balances the divine word to Solomon in the account of the Temple’s construction (6:11–13).

Second Reading: Galatians 1:1-12

1Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2and all the members of God’s family* who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5to whom be the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.  8But even if we or an angel* from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!  9As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!

10 Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval?  Or am I trying to please people?  If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant* of Christ.

11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters,* that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; 12for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Notes

Paul strives to establish his credentials as superior two that of his detractors.  That is, those who are preaching the “different gospel.”  Paul sees the Galatians as being led astray by false teachers.

 Notes from the Diocese of Montreal

Paul structures this letter like many letters of his time with an opening formula (the names of the sender, that of his addressees, and a short greeting), the message (the body of the letter), and a final greeting.  His other letters have a thanksgiving before the message, but not this one.

There is another difference, which scholars see as significant: while in other letters Paul introduces himself simply as “a servant of Christ” (in Romans, and Philippians is similar) and/or as “an apostle” (in Romans and in 1 and 2 Corinthians), here he is keen to point out, from the start, what he is not: his authority is not from humans, but from God.  We need to figure out what causes Paul to be so emphatic.

We don’t know where Paul was when he wrote this letter, nor who “all the members of God's family who are with me” (v. 2) are.  (Philippians tells us that Timothy is with him; in 1 Thessalonians, Silvanus is also named.)  “The churches of Galatia” were in north central Asia Minor (modern Turkey).  His greeting (“Grace ... and peace”, v. 3) is both Jewish and Greek.  “The present evil age” (v. 4) contrasts with the age to be inaugurated when Christ comes again.

The lack of a thanksgiving suggests that there are serious problems in the churches.  He is “astonished” (v. 6) or amazed that Christians in Galatia have turned from the good news of God, as taught by Paul (“the one who called you”), and are accepting a “different gospel”, not that there is one!  They are being led astray by false teachers who are twisting the good news.  As vv. 8-9 show, Paul is distinctly upset: “let that one be accursed!”  (The Greek implies cut off from God for ever).  V. 10 suggests that some think that he makes practicing the faith too easy, but in v. 11 he insists that what he teaches is the real thing.  In 6:12-13, Paul rebuts the deviant teachers head-on: they “try to compel” male Gentile Christians to be circumcised, in accord with Mosaic Law.  This, they say, will increase oneness with God.  Paul disagrees.

Gospel: Luke 7:1-10

7After Jesus* had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.  2A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death.  3When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave.  4When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’  6And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7therefore I did not presume to come to you.  But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.  8For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’  9When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’  10When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Notes

Jesus heals the centurion's servant.  His amazed at the faith and trust of the centurion!  He becomes an example to all of us who should have such faith.

Notes from the Diocese of Montreal

After choosing his apostles, Jesus has descended to the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee, where he has taught many.  Now he enters the town of Capernaum.

An unusual “centurion” (v. 2), an officer in the Roman army of occupation, has a slave who is gravely ill.  So loved by the Jewish community is he, that, he can send emissaries to Jesus; they ask Jesus to bend the rules, to treat him as he would a Jew (vv. 3-6).  (They think that Jesus came to bless Jews, not Gentiles.)

As Jesus walks towards his house, the officer sends others to him: don’t enter my house because, being Gentile, entering it would make you ritually unclean (v. 6).  All the centurion asks is that Jesus command the disease to leave his slave (v. 7).  He believes that Jesus can order diseases around much as he does soldiers (v. 8).  In v. 9, Jesus tells the crowd that he has more faith than Jews (“in Israel”), who were expected to believe.  The slave is found to have been healed (v. 10).

Central Idea: We are called to share the love of God with the stranger, welcoming all whom God calls into his family.

Brain Storming

Solomon recognizes that his people carry the responsibility of bringing all other peoples to know Yahweh.  Jesus exemplifies this in embracing the centurion and fulfilling his request for healing. 

I'm sure we have all experienced being the outsider.  It's that awkward feeling, when you're new to a group and don't know who to talk to or even what is going on.  Sometimes an individual steps forward, introduces themselves and helps us feel at home.  Sometimes we assert ourselves and make introductions.  But even then we can still feel awkward not knowing if or how we are being received.

Homily for May 26, 2013

Homily for Trinity Sunday and Memorial Day

The Bishop of a remote diocese was making his rounds of visits to the parishes and institutions within the diocese.  He learned in a small very remote parish that there we three monks who had built a shack on a small island just visible from the coast line.  He decided that he had to visit and meet these monks and hired a boat to take him over for the day. 

The Monks were delighted to see him and joyfully shared their simple mid day meal with him.  He asked them about the prayer life they shared.  The monks explained that none of them could read or write so they simply gathered each morning and evening to chant: “O God, you are three, we are three, please bless us.”  The Bishop felt bad for their ignorance and thought them the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven...”  After which they accompanied him back to the boat for his ride back to the mainland. 

As he sat in the boat for the ride back he was feeling pretty good about teaching them a formal prayer and thanked God for the chance to teach the monks.  Suddenly, he heard his name being called, looking up he saw the three monks walking on the water toward the boat.  He and the boat man were shocked and sat there stunned as the monks climbed into the boat. 

They said: “Bishop we loved that prayer you taught us be we each remember it differently.  Please teach it to us again; so we can pray correctly”  The Bishop said, “never mind the prayer I thought you just keep praying: ‘O God, you are three, we are three, please bless us.’”

My brothers and sisters, there are many Christian mysterious that Christians like me (people who actually are into analyzing stuff) try to logically figure out.  But, much of our Christian heritage and beliefs are far more experiential than they are deducible by logic.  The Holy Trinity is one of these beliefs.  It is not really a logical explanation of how God is to be understood, it’s a description of how our ancestors experienced God. 

They had the tradition of their Jewish predecessors in faith that the “Lord God is one and there no other.”  And they had their own traditions about Jesus’ teaching and example like the one we heard in today's’ gospel reading where Jesus talks of the Father, himself and the Spirit like three different persons.  However, He never calls himself or the Spirit other God’s.  Rather He speaks of their “Oneness.”

In today’s gospel readings John gives somewhat of a functional description of the Holy Trinity: Jesus and the Spirit have “all that is the Father’s” and pass it on to God’s people.  This scene takes place after the Last Supper when Jesus is telling the disciples about the mission they are to undertake.  They have much more to learn, but they are not yet ready to comprehend it.  The Spirit will expand on what Jesus has told them and guide them through their ministry.  Whether the word comes from the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit, it is from the same divine power and wisdom. 

In our first reading Wisdom, “understanding” is personified as a woman.  It poetically describes her as “brought forth”: the Hebrew word presents an image of being birthed or begotten; not made, created or manufactured.  She is of God in a way that is unique.  The first Christians viewed this kind of Old Testament literature as describing the Holy Spirit.  Wisdom is the first of God’s great self expressions; before creation.  She was with him in all the other works of creation!

My sisters and brothers, rather than trying to make sense out of the traditional belief in one God who is three persons, let’s focus on the experience of being filled divine Spirit.  Simply asking God to empower us to live the mystery! 

Homily for May 5, 2013

Homily for 6 Easter C

Let us prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of Christianity. 

Our reading from Acts tells the story of the Conversion of Lydia and her household.  This story is set in Paul’s second great missionary journey.  Starting from Caesarea Philippi, he has traveling north to Antioch, then generally northwest through Asia Minor.  He, Silas and Timothy have now arrived at “Troas,” a port on the Aegean Sea.  Now he has a dream, which he understands to contain instructions from God.  “Macedonia” was the Roman province in northern Greece. 

To fully understand the power of this story we must first understand the dramatic cultural differences between us and the society we read about.  In the ancient Greek culture, women were basically treated as property.  In Roman culture, they had a bit more status and someone like Lydia could inherited the business of a dead father or husband who left no male heir.  I point this out because our story today is of the first Christians accepting Lydia as a head of household church.  As the message spread and people were converted, families like Lydia’s were the starting point from which a local church grew; centered around the first family who embraced Christ.  She is being embraced as the head one of these house churches.  This story is another tiny glimpse into how strongly our predecessors held their equality in Christ; symbolized in images like the “Mystical Body of Christ.”  The first Christians were dramatically different from the world around them. 

Also, the “purple” Lydia trades in is an extremely valuable commodity.  The dye is made from a small mollusk; it takes thousands of them to produce enough dye for a moderate sized garment.  Only the wealthiest people could afford it.  It was such a mark of status that Roman law dictated who could wear purple and how much they could wear.  Lydia’s business put her in contact with the households (servants, etc.) of the most influential people of her day.  Further, the trade network she was part of positioned her to pass on the Word through extensive web of relationships. 

In our reading from Revelations, John continues describing the heavenly city established as God’s thrown in the recreated world.  He dramatizes God’s glory by describing it as all the sunlight the city needs.  In his dream John is carried by an angel into the desert to see a decaying “Babylon,” i.e. Rome.  His next vision is the glorified Church, i.e., the new “holy city of Jerusalem.”  The height of the city “wall” is minuscule compared to what would be expected.  This City fears no enemies. 

Our gospel reading is from John’s account of the Last Supper.  Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit after he arrives in heaven.  He also warns that the Holy Spirit “will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said.”  The implication is that more teachings (or revelations) are to come.  There is an old monastic saying that is draw from this admonition: “Be attentive to the Holy Spirit!” 

We are now in that part of the Easter Season where we look toward Christ’s Ascension and the birth of the Christian Church on Pentecost.  Today we remembered the promise of the Holy Spirit and Jesus admonition that we actually listen to it….  We are further reminded of the promised perfected world to come in the reunion of Heaven and Earth. 

Christianity has both a spiritual and practical side.  We have talked much lately about that practical side: loving one’s neighbor, sharing our faith with others and so on.  We must not neglect the spiritual.  It is important that we pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  This is important because the act of making such prayers opens our hearts and minds for the Spirit’s guidance.  It also helps us be ready to accept its gift of passionate spiritual love.  That fiery part of the Pentecost story.  Let us prayerfully make ourselves ready to celebrate the birth of the Church!