Homily - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Monsignor Joseph K. Ntuwa • August 20, 2024

Homily - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 11, 2024

Readings: 1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:30-5:2; John 6:41-51

"Who does he think he is?" “Why did she say that to me?”

I know we usually make such comments, and sometimes less polite ones, when somebody throws us off balance. We wander around our little worlds with expectations, conscious and unconscious, for others to act out. It can be quite upsetting when they don't fit the roles, we've assigned them.

Reading today's Gospel, does it strike you as odd that Jesus' critics were upset because he said that he had come down from heaven but didn't seem at all bothered by his calling himself bread? Of course, in John's Gospel (4- 15), Jesus also called himself living water, the light of the world, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the image of God, the true vine, and the way, the truth and the life Jesus had great expectations for his vocation.

In today's passage from Chapter six, we see a problem of clashing expectations. Jesus' compatriots and kin may have been thrilled with what he did, but when he declared that he had come from heaven, that was too much. They knew exactly where he had come from. Even if they admired Joseph and Mary, they didn't consider them heavenly emissaries who had brought a heavenly son to Earth.

The underlying conflict between Jesus and his audience was that he wanted to open their minds and hearts to more than what they already had and knew, but they felt safe and secure with life as it was: "Why fix it if it's not broken?"

They were a bit like Elijah in the incident described in our first reading. Elijah, the target of an assassination plot, had decided to flee and then to give up. "This is enough, Lord, let me die here and now, before they catch up with me!" But God had greater hopes for him and sent an angel to wake him up and give him food from heaven. Elijah appreciated that and still wanted to let it all come to an end, there and then. But the persistent angel woke him up again, telling him to eat more because he had a long road ahead of him.

And this time, he couldn't refuse and went to where God would reveal Self to him. (1 Kings 19:11-15). It is significant that the angel's job was to wake up Elijah and give him food. It is another way of saying that God's messenger prodded him toward a larger vision of things and promised he could find the strength to move beyond his hopelessness – walking 40 days to get there.

Last week’s liturgy invited us to feel our deepest hungers and task how Christ wants to satisfy them. This week’s liturgy warns that our expectations may the greatest obstacle keeping us from knowing what God keeps offering us. God has given us the sustenance we need to make our journeys through this life and to he next. May we recognize the strength we receive from the Lord, much as Elijah did centuries ago.

For six weeks, we are reading from Chapter 6 of St John gospel- the Bread of Life Discourse to stress the importance of the Eucharist as the source and summit of our faith. Talk about proper dispositions and the importance of silence before our liturgies.

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17 th Sunday of the Year C Gen 18:20-32; Col 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13 Have you ever had conversations with people who have expressed a distaste for many of the beliefs and practices of organized religion ? Sometimes these criticisms come from people who have had “bad” religious experiences in their own families or have seen what they feel is an ugly side of faith. I understand that. Some others have been hurt and disappointed by the common failings and faults of some of the faithful in the pews. Many others have been particularly crushed by the serious sins of Church leadership. Yet, there are others who simply are trying to be intellectually honest --- people who have truly wrestled with some of the big questions of life and faith and have been relatively unsatisfied with the “answers” religion provides. They “want” to believe at some level but just find too many obstacles. And sometimes that “obstacle” is the image of God presented to them. One particular element of Christianity that I hear criticized so often is the way we seem to ask God for things over and over again. Many people assert that they just, don’t understand why it needs to be this way! They argue: God knows everything. God knows exactly what we need (and want). So why do we need to ask? God has infinite power . There are no limits to what he can do. We don’t have to try to get his “attention” because he is “busy” elsewhere. So why do we need to ask? God is immutable --- which means, unchanging and unchangeable . That means we kind of diminish God if we think we can somehow “ change” his mind. So why bother to pray if God has already written the script? Well, today, in both our First Reading and Gospel passage, we hear examples illustrating the power of pleading with God. In the story from Genesis, we see Abraham “bartering” with God --- seeing if he can somehow get the best “deal” possible. Apparently, Abraham is wise enough to not ask for everything all at once, as if he’s using his charm to coax God’s mercy out of him. God goes along with each of his requests. And in the Gospel passage from Luke --- Jesus tells a story about a man banging on his friend’s door at midnight trying to get some bread for an unexpected guest. The friend initially refuses, but then gets worn down from the persistence of the man and gives in. After relating that story, Jesus utters these “famous” words, “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” So, what gives? Do we have to “beg” God to get his blessings or does God actually withhold good things from us until we “wear him down”? Do we have to be expert negotiators, or charmers? Dear friends, an authentic spiritual life is about none of those things. It’s about a relationship supported, strengthened and transformed in part by a holy conversation --- what we call the divine conversation. This is a conversation that has no beginning and no ending, but rather is one that has been continual from the very dawn of time --- a sacred conversation which enables channels of grace to remain open within every single person --- a kind of listening and speaking that helps each of us remain open to an outpouring of God’s life which has the power to change absolutely everything. And so, we bring our needs to our God because we believe he loves us more than we can imagine, because we trust in his wisdom and power, because we need to put into words the deepest longings of our hearts. And maybe most importantly --- we ask, seek, and knock simply because it opens us up to every good thing God wants for us (and from us). Prayer encourages dependence on God and today’s parable shows us perseverance. We do not “keep knocking” because God isn’t aware of our needs but, rather, because we need to remain constantly aware of our daily need for him – our daily bread. Whenever we turn to God in prayer, we put our minds and hearts in contact with the very source of life and truth. And that refreshes the human soul, just as rebooting your computer refreshes the software that makes the computer run. When stress, discouragement, and frustration start to clog our circuits, we don't need to jack up the voltage by working more hours or by distracting ourselves with even more exciting entertainment; no, we need to reboot, we need to pray with perseverance. When you pray say” “Behold, I am your servant, do with and in and through me according to your will” In happy moments, seek God, in hard moments praise God, in quiet moments, trust God, in every moment, thank God. Lord Jesus, teach us to pray.

Homily - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time