Had to Get One in During October!

Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Okay, I owe you all an apology. I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to post again. School has been crazy, what with it being school and in Italian and such. So now that I've managed to get you on my side by playing the Italian card, I hope you enjoy this post. I'm going to post a recent homily that I had to write for my homily practicum yesterday. So here it is.

First, here's the readings that this homily was focused on:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/103008.shtml
but you can focus especially on Lk 13:31-35, which is the Gospel reading for yesterday.

So after reading that passage here's the homily:


Who is Jesus?

Growing up, I remember always seeing a large picture of Jesus hanging in the hallway of my home parish. It showed Jesus down on one knee, surrounded by little kids of every race and background, with the words “Let the Children come to me” featured prominently at the top. While it does show who Jesus is, this picture seemed to offer an image of Jesus the Gentle, a Jesus who is kind, gentle, and loving. You can almost hear Martha Stewart decorating in the background. Kidding of course. Now it is true that Jesus is kind, gentle, and loving, but something seemed to be missing.

So, Who is Jesus?

The Gospel today offers what appears to be a startling contrast to this image of the Lord. The Pharisees approach Jesus, telling Him to “Go Away,” because Herod wants to kill him. And what is Jesus’ response to this death-threat? “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons, and I perform healings today, and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.” Sound like someone who is willing to simply roll over and die? Hardly. If anything, it’s apparent that Jesus knows exactly Who He is, exactly what His mission is, and He’s not afraid to stand for both even in the face of death. This is Jesus the Warrior. Which fits nicely with the first reading today in which St. Paul tells us to “Put on the armor of God.” Paul is telling us to suit up and prepare for battle, to be able to “resist on the evil day and having done everything to hold your ground.” We are being called to fight, to stand our ground, to resist evil--and this is exactly what we find Jesus doing in the Gospel. He’s fighting, standing His ground, resisting evil, because He knows who He is and what He’s fighting for.

But what is He fighting for? Us. He wants us.

This becomes clear in the next part of the Gospel, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling.” Your children. Seems to connect right back to the picture from my home parish. So yes, we see that the gentler image of Jesus from my home parish does capture who He is, but it was missing something, something that the first part of this Gospel fills in.

The picture didn’t show how much Jesus loves us. Jesus loves us so much, and wants us to receive that love so much, that He’s willing to fight for us, to stand for truth, to denounce those who get in His way.

That is Jesus.

Christ’s love is not soft, it is fierce. His love is not weak, it is powerful. Jesus Christ will fight for us until we are willing to be gathered together, and right now, right in this very moment, we have that chance. In a few minutes, we will approach the altar where Christ will be present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Now, right now, let us be willing to be gathered together in Christ’s love, a love that yearns to be received.

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And I think you will all be happy to hear that my homily took 3 minutes and 20 seconds to preach. The catch? You would have to come to a weekday Mass to hear it.
*wink-wink *nudge-nudge

Please continue to pray for us as we seminarians discern God's call for our lives. Pray that we become holy. Thank you, and know of my prayers for you. God bless!