Homily - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Msgr. Joseph K. Ntuwa • September 10, 2024

Homily - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - September 1, 2024

Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-8; James 1:17-18,21-22,27; Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23

Life, wherever and however lived, is governed and conditioned by laws and traditions that people have created. These laws and traditions can be beneficial to maintaining a sense of order in society. Our introduction to rules comes early on in life. It is hard to imagine a family that didn’t have “household rules” about bedtimes, curfews, meals and snacks, and television. More recently, family rules have also come to include social networking and gaming.

As we grow older, we encounter rules in school and in the workplace. The policies and procedures that guide much of our academic and professional lives are in fact “rules”. This same reality holds true for the Church. Canon law and diocesan or parish policies set the course for the prayer and ministry of parishes and religious communities all over the world.

In this weekend’s Gospel, we are presented with a tense scene in which Jesus and his followers are being publicly criticized by certain religious leaders for disregarding rules of ritual washing. These ritual acts of washing hands and feet go back to the Book of Exodus (cf. 30:19, 40:12) and were originally only intended for priests who were entering the Tent of Meeting. Centuries later, in the time of Jesus, some Jews who were not priests had begun to ritually wash before prayer and meals, and even extended the ritual to their cooking utensils and food. They believed that these customs should be universal and be strictly followed.

In response to the criticisms hurled at him, Jesus reminded his critics of what is truly important by challenging them to change their focus: it is not external realities that make us “unclean” or the observance of specific rules that ensures that we are in a right relationship with God. Instead, it is our intentions and the purity of our hearts that matter most to God: “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile…” (Mark 7/15)

Without any doubt, rules and traditions are incredibly important and they help us solidify our identity as Catholic-Christians. At the same time, we have to be sure that we do not become so fixated on the details of certain traditions or teachings that we risk losing sight of what is most important: The Gospel of Jesus Christ. What Jesus criticizes is traditions that are cut off from the faith that gives them life. Careful observance of regulations does not replace the religion of the heart.

Holiness and sin are on the inside---the heart and soul of the person. So, all our traditions should express, renew, and deepen our faith. They express, but they do not replace faith. They remind us of who we are and what we are called to be. And we have many of them--wearing a religious medal, hanging a crucifix at home, days and acts of penance, times of prayer, signs of respect for religious things and places are all ways that we let our faith grow and express itself concretely and visibly in our life.

However, they should never become automatic, almost unthinking reflexes.

· How many of us remember that blessing ourselves with holy water is a reminder and recommitment to our baptismal promises?

· How many of us remember that making the sign of the cross is a way of placing ourselves under the might power of the Holy Trinity?

· How often do we find ourselves reciting prayers rather than praying them?

· And do we use the sacrament of reconciliation to replace reconciliations we have to initiate outside the confessional?

· Or do we receive Holy Communion as a replacement for the communion with others we need to foster outside of Mass?

Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. He gave a new tradition that begins and ends with love. Jesus asks us to let love transform our hearts and souls so that we transform the world. In his first Apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium- The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis shared this reflection: “Christian morality is not a form of stoicism, or self-denial, or merely a practical philosophy or a catalogue of sins and faults. Before all else, the Gospel invites us to respond to the God of love who saves us, to see God in others and to go forth from ourselves to seek the good of others. Under no circumstances can this invitation be obscured! All of the virtues are at the service of this response to love.” #39.

May our external actions always be a true reflection of something interior.

Let me end with a little joke: A priest was going through the mail one day after his powerful sermon about Pharisaic life on the previous Sunday. Drawing a single sheet of paper from one envelope, he found written on it just one word: "FOOL." The next Sunday at Mass, he announced, "I have known many people who have written letters and forgot to sign their names. But this week I received a letter from someone who signed his name and forgot to write a letter." Happy Labor Day weekend.

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Homily July 27, 2025

July 29, 2025

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 - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time