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Homily themes

03 Jul 2011 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

If you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For Saint Paul, flesh and body are not the same, though we tend to hear it that way. "Body," in Greek soma, refers to the physical body; the body in itself is not sinful. Paul's point is this: The body can go in either two directions. Without the Spirit, the body is mere flesh (in Greeksarx), the "carnal body" (Colossians 2:11) without God. As flesh, the body is prone to all sorts of immoral behavior, which Paul lists in Galatians 5:19-21. These sins and "works of the flesh" lead to death. With the indwelling Spirit of Christ, however, the body has life, and the resulting behavior looks quite different. "The fruit of the Spirit," Paul writes in Galatians 5:23, "is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Homily points Perspective can be had for the simple price of lifting our gaze from the task-oriented to the apparently unproductive use of our time--where grace can operate. Prophets are seers who routinely look up from what's happening now to what's always happening in the reign of God. Kingdom-seeing involves the willingness to see beyond what's inevitable to what's possible.

Authors Joel Schorn

Saint Paul Blood body works of the flesh self-control

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Homily themes

10 Apr 2011 - Fifth Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit . . . . Like many people in the ancient world, Paul believed human beings were made up of three parts: the physical body, the soul, and the spirit. Flesh referred to human nature, the body and the soul, not only the body. So, Paul's talk of the flesh and the spirit does not represent a simple opposition of body and spirit, the material and immaterial, the earthly and the divine. When Paul criticizes life in the flesh, he means human life closed in on itself, exclusive of God. For those who believe in the risen Christ, however, his Spirit transforms the flesh and raises it to life in God, both now and forever. As Easter and the celebration of Christ's resurrection draw closer, the church moves with its Lord to new life. Homily points The Hail Mary contains a curious plea for help in two vital moments of the human story. These moments have more in common than we imagine. The kingdom of heaven is at hand in the final hour, but we train for that freedom in every hour. Restorations come in all sizes, from renewed life to outright resurrection. Christian faith means we believe this, profess this, and live as if we mean it. If we answer the call to "come forth" from every circumstance of sin and death, the final call will not catch us by surprise.

paul soul spirit flesh hail mary Freedom

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The inner word

19 Aug 2018 - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

We’re learning that it takes wisdom to understand God’s simple desire that we love one another. Jesus is telling the people that God is their food, their life, their only hope for everlasting joy, but they keep wanting more signs, explanations, and clarifications. The table of wisdom is laid out and waiting for you. What, if anything, keeps you from accepting the invitation to sit and eat? The psalmist extols God’s goodness. In what ways do you see that goodness acting in your own life? What are you most grateful for today? Like his disciples, do you find Jesus’ message about eating his flesh disturbing? In what ways does Jesus allay your fears?

Wisdom jesus' flesh

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Exploring the word

19 Aug 2018 - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

I once knew a very wise man. No matter what I said to him, he always heard what I was saying behind the words I chose with such care. He listened as if his ear were pressed to my heart, and my conversation was almost incidental to what he managed to hear from me. If my smile did not match the tremble in my hands, he knew it. If my tears were more for myself than for my family, he understood that. Hard as I tried, I could never fool him. My foolishness was no match for his divining wisdom. As you can imagine, visiting with this man became the most precious hour of my week. It is not often that we meet a fully honest person, much less a wise one. Though we sat side by side, I felt as if I were sitting at his feet, drinking in his words like wine, nourishing myself with his insight. Though I haven’t seen him now in many years, I remember the things he said like fragments of a new scripture. Most of what comes to us frays or is worn away in time. Genuine wisdom is diamond-hard and endures, as far as we know, forever. How far would we go to hear wisdom spoken into our world? There’s an old Hagar the Horrible cartoon in which the heavyset Viking manages to pull himself to the top of a snowy mountain. A monklike fellow sits at the top, serenely facing the icy wind in his scant robe and bare feet. Hagar asks, “What is the secret of happiness?” “Poverty, fasting, abstinence, and celibacy,” the monk replies. Hagar looks concerned. Finally he asks sheepishly, “Is there anybody else up here I can talk to?” Wisdom sets her table We may well want a second opinion when wisdom speaks its truth to us. Often it says precisely what we don’t want to hear; this may explain why wisdom is not routinely practiced. In the Bible, foolishness is regularly portrayed as having a superficial but popular appeal, as the rakish young man out for a good time or the seductive woman eyeing us from a darkened doorway. Dame Folly, as the character is named, is one who by her actions tears down her own house. Those who follow her will not accept reproof from any authority, fixing their gaze on the unobtainable “ends of the Earth.” They take delight in displaying their own unconsidered opinions. If their mouths don’t bring them to ruin, their actions most certainly will. It is no wonder that Proverbs includes the lament, “The father of a numbskull has no joy.” Meanwhile Wisdom calls aloud in the streets, issuing a sober warning and offering a welcome invitation. To come to her house is to approach the threshold of understanding. To accomplish the goal is as simple as its end: “The beginning of wisdom is, get wisdom; at the cost of all you have, get understanding.” The first step to being wise is to determine that wisdom is what you’re after. If we are honest, some of us will admit that wisdom isn’t necessarily what we’re after. We want a certain freedom from care, which we suspect money and security and popularity may provide. We want to belong, and we don’t want to rock the boat too much. If we have to finesse the truth or close an eye on justice once in a while to attain that relative comfort and calm, many of us are willing to do that. Wisdom sets her table, but we may have made other plans. Jesus sets his table Jesus is still earnestly engaged in telling the crowds that unless they eat his flesh and drink his blood, they will not have life within them. They are appalled. This is understandable. It is an outrageous idea. Those who have spent a lifetime trying not to rock the boat, those willing to blind themselves to the demands of justice do not want the kind of intimate union with Jesus that he is asking for. He offers a word to the wise: Those who share his body and blood will have eternal life given to them and will be raised on the last day. Not many are wise, and they do not glimpse the truth that is being revealed to them. But do we? John’s gospel was written at the end of the first century, for Christians who had been sitting with the good news for two generations. This discourse is more for the mature Christian than the first hearer: Will you remain in this vital communion or not? Will you stay close to this table or separate yourself from the source of life? The church takes several weeks of this liturgical year to savor this passage from John about the living bread, because it is at the center of our lives as Christians. John’s gospel does not tell the story of the Last Supper’s “institution narrative.” Eucharist is instituted right here, in the midst of the crowd, in the offer of a share in the life of Jesus. Eucharist is, in a sense, presented not to the committed circle but offered widely, the way Wisdom spreads her invitation. How many will reply? Applying the Word Remain in me and I in you The intimacy of Christ-life for the Christian is like the embrace of lovers, so close that they are more one than two. Most religious believers are not really interested in being that close to God—they would prefer a casual and agreeable acquaintance, but nothing that is going to interfere with what else they have planned for their lives. Baptism may be a life insurance policy their parents took out for them and they are pleased to pay the installments on, so long as they are inconsequential. Christians know too much about the life of Christ—and especially his death—to want to pursue intimacy with Jesus too far. If Eucharist implies personal knowledge of the cross, some of us will certainly be making other plans for dinner. Related scripture links Wisdom gives her warning: Prov. 1:20-33 The value of Wisdom: Prov. 3:13-24, 35; 4:1-9; 14:1 Wisdom’s great discourse: Prov. 8:1-36 The woe of a fool’s parent: Prov. 17:21 Catechism links Eucharist: CCC 787-796; 1088-1089; 1324-1332; 1373-1382; 1384-1390; 1404

Authors Alice Camille

Wisdom understanding jesus' flesh

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In other words

19 Aug 2018 - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

“I’m telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died. But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever. I am the Bread—living Bread!—who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live—and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self.” At this, the Jews started fighting among themselves: “How can this man serve up his flesh for a meal?” But Jesus didn’t give an inch. “Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you. The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day. My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. By eating my flesh and drinking my blood you enter into me and I into you. In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me. This is the Bread from heaven. Your ancestors ate bread and later died. Whoever eats this Bread will live always.” He said these things while teaching in the meeting place in Capernaum (from John 6). From A New Message 4 Next Week (actapublications.com) based on The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2013).

bread of life jesus' flesh bread from heaven

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The inner word

26 Aug 2018 - Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

We touch upon several great moments of truth in the readings today. Joshua commands the Israelites: “Decide today whom you will serve,” and they chose the Lord. Jesus, too, lays it on the line for his disciples: They must eat his flesh to attain eternal life. Many choose to stop following him. What moments of truth have you had? What made you choose the path you took? Psalm 34 tells us that God is close to the brokenhearted and crushed in spirit. How have you experienced that truth? Authority and obedience are key concerns in Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. What struggles do you have in these areas? The apostles believe Jesus has the words of eternal life. Do you? What do you find most challenging about Jesus’ teachings? Why do you stay with Jesus?

Truth jesus' flesh

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