August 2009

My dear brothers and sisters in today’s Gospel we find Jesus confronting the Pharisees for doing many right things but for the wrong reason. For example, they prayed, they fasted, they gave money to the poor; but they did these things for the wrong reason. And what was that wrong reason?

In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus tells his disciples not to pray as the Pharisees do? They like to pray on street corners. And why do they like to pray on street corners? Jesus replies directly, “So that everyone will see them.”

Jesus continues by telling his disciples not to fast the way the Pharisees do. They put on a sad face when they fast. And why do they put on a sad face? Again, Jesus replies directly, “So everyone will see that they are fasting.”

Finally, Jesus tells his disciples not to give to the poor the way the Pharisees do. They make a big show of it. And why do they make a big show of it? Once again, Jesus does not pull any punches. He replies directly, “So that people will praise them.” These are terribly strong words coming from the gentle Jesus.

That brings us to the practical question you may be wondering about. It is this: How does this distortion of religion by the Pharisees apply to us in our lives today? It applies in a very important way. It reminds us that we, too, need to guard against turning religion into something God never intended it to be. We can, unwittingly, do something similar to what the Pharisees did.

For example, we can do or say things so much out of habit that they lose their original meaning. Consider just one example. Taking holy water upon entering a church and signing ourselves was originally intended to remind us of our baptism and to be a renewal of it. Unfortunately, however, `we can get so used to performing this act that it loses its beauty and meaning.

The bottom line is this: God does not want us to perform acts and to say prayers mechanically and out of habit. God wants us to do our acts and say our prayers consciously and out of love.

The apostle James refers to this in today’s second reading. There he says it is not enough for us to simply listen to God’s word. We must translate it into acts of love directed to God and our neighbor.

Paul makes the same point in his First Letter to the Corinthians. He writes: I may have all the faith needed to move mountains – but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may give away everything I have … but if I have no love, this does me no good…. It is love, then, that you should strive for.

Let me conclude with a story. It is a good illustration of doing the right thing for the right reason. A mother went into the bedroom of her six-year-old son, Danny, where he was watching TV. She said, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need my shoes shined. I have got to run to the hospital for a few minutes. “I have put the shoes outside on the sidewalk in the backyard. That way if you accidentally spill any polish, it won’t hurt anything: When Danny picked up the first shoe, he noticed something inside it. It was a dollar bill. A note attached to it said, “Thanks. This is for you.” It was signed “Mom.” Later, when Danny’s mother slipped her foot into the first shined shoe, she felt something inside it. She took it out. It was Danny’s dollar bill. A note was attached to it. It read: “Thanks, Mom. But I shined your shoes not for money – but out of love. Danny.

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

This is one of the clearest and greatest professions of faith in the Gospel. It went to the heart of who Jesus was and what he was about. He was not just a teacher or healer or prophet. He was the Holy One of God. Later the first Christians came to believe that he was, in fact, the Son of God.

As for what he was about. Though he healed and fed the bodies of people, his main concern was to nourish their minds and hearts with what Peter so rightly called ‘the words of eternal life.’ His words truly brought life to people. Here are some examples of the kind of words he spoke to people.

“Go in peace, your sins are forgiven.” With these words he set sinners free.

To the people he said, “I am the bread of life. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.” Who would not want to eat of this bread?

Again he said, “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will always have the light of life.” The light of Jesus was such that no darkness, not even that of death, could overpower it.

To the Jewish leaders he said, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and they follow me. I give them eternal life.”

To the Martha and Mary he said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will never die.”

On one occasion the religious leaders sent the temple guards to arrest him. But they never laid a hand on him. Instead, they were fascinated by his teaching. Even they recognized that Jesus’ words were special, and went back to their masters and declared, “No one ever spoke like this man speaks.”

Jesus truly has the words of eternal life. And all these words of Jesus have been preserved for us in the Gospels. Each Sunday we are invited to listen to them, to be reassured by them.

“Will you also leave me?” These words are now addressed to us. It’s not the Lord who leaves us, but we who may leave him. Many still do so.

We need to make our own Peter’s profession of faith: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.‘ We have done so. Our presence here is a sign of that. But we need to reaffirm our commitment, just as the Israelites did on taking possession of the Promised Land. Every Sunday we get a chance to do this. We need the Lord to strengthen our faith. We also need to confirm one another.

Eternal life is not something that lies in the future. It has already begun in Baptism. Its full flowering is still to come. It is something we accept on the word of Jesus.

One day, a priest walked into a church in Germany. His attention was drawn to the large bronze tabernacle door. It was divided into four panels. The first panel showed six water jars, symbolizing the miracle at Cana, when Jesus changed water into wine. The second panel showed five loaves, symbolizing the miracle at Capernaum, when Jesus multiplied the bread for the hungry crowd on the hillside. The third panel showed 13 people at table, symbolizing the miracle at Jerusalem, when Jesus transformed bread and wine into his own body and blood. The fourth showed three people at table, symbolizing the miracle at Emmaus, when Jesus manifested his risen presence on Easter night to two disciples. These four miracles for the tabernacle door told the beautiful story of the Eucharist housed inside that tabernacle.

Take the first panel: the miracle at Cana. The important thing, however, is not how Jesus worked the miracle at Cana, but why he worked it. Besides saving the young married couple from social embarrassment, Jesus did it to prepare people for the day when he would change this same wine into the sacrament of his own blood.

Next, take the miracle of the loaves. Once again, the important thing is not how Jesus worked this miracle, but why. Besides feeding a hungry crowd, Jesus also used it to prepare the same hungry crowd for the day when he would feed them in an even more marvelous way- in a spiritual way.

That brings us to the third panel – the Last Supper. Mark describes the Last Supper this way: While they were eating, Jesus took … bread, gave … thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. “Take it,” he said, “this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and handed it to them; and they all drank from it. Jesus said, “This is my blood which is poured out for many, my blood which seals God’s covenant.”

At that moment Jesus gave us a gift that only God could give.

And it leads us directly to the last panel: the Emmaus supper on Easter night with two disciples. St. Luke says in his Gospel: Jesus sat down to eat with them, took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. The Emmaus supper is the first celebration of the Eucharist in the new covenant.

And so the tabernacle door summarizes the four stages in Jesus’ gift of the Eucharist. It was: prefigured at the marriage feast at Cana, promised on the hillside at Capernaum, instituted at the Last Supper in Jerusalem, and celebrated in Emmaus. This brings us to how the Eucharist touches our lives.

First, it is our spiritual nourishment. Just as the manna nourished the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land, so the Eucharist nourishes us on our journey to our promised land: heaven. Second, besides nourishing us on our journey, it also makes present, sacramentally, the real presence of Jesus in our midst.

Recall that before Jesus ascended to heaven, he made this promise: “I will be with you always, to the end of the age”

If a small child hurts his finger he runs to Mommy crying. All Mommy has to do is to kiss his finger and all is well again. Children know that their mother loves them and has made a great many sacrifices for them.

It is the same way we look on Mary our heavenly mother. She is the mother of us all. We look on her as our mother who loves us, who watches over us to protect us. She is the mother to whom we can tell every joy and every sorrow.

We remember Jesus’ words as he was dying on the cross; he said to Mary, ‘Woman behold your son’, and to John he said, ‘Son, behold your mother’. We have always regarded this tender incident as being symbolic for us: as Jesus was dying on the cross gave us his mother to be our mother as well.

The reason for our great joy today as we celebrate Mary’s Falling Asleep and Assumption into heaven is because we are celebrating a great privilege given to our heavenly mother.

Mary’s greatness lies in the fact that she was humble before God and surrendered herself to God. Her words to the angel at the Annunciation are words that we need to meditate on and practice a great deal, ‘Let it be done to me according to your word’.

Surrendering herself to God did not mean a perpetual, spiritual honeymoon. Rather it meant joy and sadness, work and pain, and all the while greater and greater giving of herself to Him. We can see evidence for this in the Gospels: at the presentation of Jesus in the temple, Simeon told her that her soul would be pierced with sorrow. When Jesus was twelve years old the family had a misunderstanding over why Jesus got lost for three days. Mary once again learned more about surrendering to God as Jesus told her that he had to be about his Father’s business. Mary surrendered herself so much to God, that God filled her with his presence just as God fills us when we surrender ourselves. Mary’s being ‘full of grace’ did not make her supernatural but the best example of what it means to be human – the finest example of what we will one day be in heaven.

A way for us to surrender ourselves to God and be filled with the presence of God like Mary is to pray the Rosary daily. It is a most beautiful prayer, a prayer that can bring us and keep us closer to God. When we pray the Rosary we are not just saying prayers. Saying the prayers calms us down so that we can tune in to God and our blessed Mother. While we say the prayers our minds are meditating on the great events in the life of Jesus. When we are in desperation and we don’t know how to pray, it is a good prayer and is a most beautiful way to keep in contact with our heavenly mother. When we do so we can unite ourselves with Mary in expressing her sentiments:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.“