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Hearts of Prayer: Sacred Liturgy - Homilies |
christ in You!
Homily for
Sunday, July 22, 2007- 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Fr. Joseph Rogers
Gn 18:1-10a; Ps 15; Col 1:24-28; Lk
10:38-42
Today is “type B” Sunday, the Sunday where all of us dominated by
the “type A” world finally get a break: a break from all those who
make us get up on time, do our homework, cut the grass, finish that
report, go to the dentist, the doctor, the lawyer . . . My dad is
the perfect type A (his son, on the other hand, has very strong type
B tendencies). I tease my dad that I was brought into his life so
that he would always be reminded of that first attribute of love
that St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians, “Love is
patient.” In the Gospel today the Lord corrects type A Martha and
sides with type B Mary. All type B leisure-lovers rejoice! Finally,
we get a break. Or do we?
The Gospel of Luke is often referred to as the “Gospel of Women.”
Luke begins his gospel with Elizabeth and Mary, the Mother of Jesus,
and begins Acts of the Apostles, after the Ascension of the Lord, at
the cenacle with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Today Luke presents two
other female protagonists: Martha and Mary of Bethany. Martha
welcomes the Lord and serves him. As a pious Jew she receives the
Lord as a peaceful sojourner. To receive a peaceful sojourner, like
Sarah and Abraham received the three messengers, is to receive the
blessing of God. To receive God’s blessing is to receive God. Martha
is doing exactly what she’s supposed to do. She receives the Lord,
waits on him, and serves him. She is totally in the right to
complain about Mary, her sister. Mary should be helping her. Luke
tells us that Mary “sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him
speak.” My sisters and brothers, Luke is using language reminiscent
of the Talmud and the yashivah-rabbinical schools of Jesus’ day. To
“sit” at someone’s “feet” and “listen” means to be a disciple. It is
a language reserved for men. In Jesus’ day only men were disciples
of rabbis. Jesus has elevated Mary to a new status, that of being a
disciple, a status – until then – reserved for men. Jesus is
radically pro-woman! Mary is fully a disciple of Jesus, and Martha
is shocked. Jesus tells Martha, “Martha, Martha you are anxious and
worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has
chosen the good part, and it will not be taken from her.” Mary has
chosen. She has chosen to be at the Lord’s feet and listen to him.
But that’s not all. She has chosen the better part. Choice is at the
heart of discipleship and freedom.
My sisters and brothers, our culture offers a dark ideology that
rejects the essence of womanhood and manhood and calls it choice –
being “pro-choice.” It is an aberration of human freedom and deeply
deceptive. Mary – at the Lord’s feet, she to whom Jesus appeared at
his resurrection – she is the paradigm of women’s liberation. She
lived in a culture that regarded women as second-rate citizens – and
so do we. Our society presents liberation for women through the lens
of a bastardized vision of masculinity: woman’s liberation on men’s
terms. Jesus Christ offers the authentic liberation of women:
woman’s liberation on women’s terms. He receives the entire woman,
honors her, and holds her with the dignity that he also affords men
– while being sure that she compromises nothing of her womanhood –
your womanhood.
We have all been complicit in “pro-choice” ideologies – at least in
some way – but our choices, even our sinful ones, are not the last
word. Love is. Mercy is. The last word is God’s Word. The Lord
called me to the priesthood through His Mercy. The Mercy of God is
greater than any sin we can commit, anything we have done – even if
we think we cannot be forgiven. My road to the altar has been the
road of the Mercy of God, the road of the Sacrament of
Reconciliation – Confession – and I have drunk deeply from the ocean
of Mercy. By His grace I am a dispenser of the Mercy that I have so
deeply received. How I love to offer you His Mercy and healing! My
sisters and brothers, drink deeply of this life-giving water! Drink
deeply of the Mercy of God that heals all wounds, that transforms
our hearts. Come to confession – come to the Sacrament of Healing.
My sisters and brothers, we are invited with Mary to sit at the
Lord’s feet, to listen to Him, to choose Him . . . but Martha was
also right. We are called to serve Him. The Gospel and the second
reading converge upon the word “servant” – diakonos – of offering
true service to another, diakonia. The spirituality of Mary and
Martha converge in the spirituality of St. Paul. In the Letter to
the Colossians he describes himself, literally, as “a deacon
according to the economy of God.” He is a servant of Christ Jesus
and a servant of the Church. What is the purpose of his diakonia? To
announce the “mystery” of “Christ in you.” Christ in you! Christ in
us! The Holy Spirit dwells in us! By faith and baptism we are
Christ’s – and he is in us. We are capable of love, my sisters and
brothers, because the Holy Spirit dwells in us. We are free to
choose love – we are free to choose “the better part.” This is how
we serve Him.
So, now we have the itinerary of Christian freedom: sit, hear, and
serve. We are blessed here at the parish of Holy Redeemer in many
ways. One of the most special blessings we have as a community is
the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in our church, a church in a
safe neighbor that is open every day for you to visit, to sit at the
Lord’s feet, to listen to him and be inspired by him. Take advantage
of this gift. Monday through Friday from 12 noon to 8 PM we have
exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the Holy Family Chapel.
Choose to be at Our Lord’s side. Choose to make a visit on your way
home from work, after practice, or while you’re out taking a walk.
Choose to listen to Him. The divine host waits for you. He waits for
me, not serving ordinary bread but Himself, the bread come down from
heaven. If we ask for his help, if we sit at his Eucharistic feet,
if we listen to his voice, He will reveal to our hearts that He is
in us. His true presence in the Eucharist will awaken his true
presence in us. May we free enough to choose to build the culture of
life and the civilization of love. May we choose Him.
(Words given after communion:)
My sisters and brothers, all of us have been affected by abortion.
Please, do not be afraid to approach the altar of mercy, the font of
grace. Come to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Be healed and be at
peace. I would also like to say something to my sisters in Christ.
As a priest I would like to ask for your forgiveness on behalf of
those priests who have not respected you, who have hurt you in any
way. Please forgive us.
Fr. Joseph Everett
Rogers resides at the Pontifical North American College
in Rome studying for the
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. He is a Graduate of Notre Dame
University, with an MA from the John Paul Institute for Marriage and
Family. He was ordained a Priest on May 26, 2007.
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Mary