Homily – 2018 (2015 & 2012) Year B – 6th Sunday Ordinary Time

This morning was quite emotional as I added to the end of this homily the experiences on the Soup Run last night. It's the first time I have seen people cry at the homily.

Audio now added, the whole thing is about 10 mins long, the last 2 minutes are not typed up below but added spur of the moment. The image of a lepar being beaten of with a strick just resonated so much with the man I met on the soup run the previous night I had to add it.
God Bless, J on 12th Feb 2012

Sunday 12 Feb 2018 - Homily on 6th Sunday Ordinary Time Year B

Readings

Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46
Psalm 31: 1-2, 5, 11
1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1
Mark 1:40-45

[All these readings can be found at www.universalis.com for the next few weeks. Remember to scroll down for the readings of the day.]

Leviticus is a fascinating book, it can also be tedious and dull. Today we get to hear a little of both. If you followed today's reading in the missal or looked in detail at the bulletin you will find that there are 42 verses skipped in our old testament reading. These verses go into considerable detail on identifying skin diseases, burns, spots and even baldness. The next few verses go on to describe in similar detail how to identify mould and rot in clothing and fabric. It's a great insight for us to the way the Jewish people looked after themselves.

Contagious diseases could have a horrible effect on a people living closely together. They didn't have our level of medical care and quarantine was there only way of controlling the situation.

Closely woven into the thinking of the people of 2-6 thousand years ago was the connection between illness and sin. It wasn't directly stated that if you were ill you were being punished by God for your sins, in fact the story of Job tell us that they are not connected, but people often thought they were.

When you add the loneliness of quarantine to the spiritual loneliness of being punished by God you can imagine how bad it was for someone developing leprosy and being sent to live apart from their friends and family. Also add to that the pain and debilitating effect of leprosy and you have a situation that no person should ever have to endure.

It is a man in this situation we meet at the start of the gospel reading. He however is not keeping his distance and is not covering his mouth and shouting “Unclean! Unclean!” The normal reaction would be for the person he approached to beat him away with a stick. The leap of faith he is taking is extreme, you can only imagine the level of news and rumour that had reached him about Jesus, that inspired him to such faith.

Next we see an exchange of faith and love that almost brings tears to my eyes. The man steps forward, kneels and says “If you want to you can heal me.” Jesus touches him saying “Of course I want to!” At which point he is healed.

Can you imagine being there and seeing that exchange. If it happened today how long before the world knew about it via twitter. The Six O’Clock news would be showing mobile phone videos of the leprosy melting away. A million people would know within the hour, a billion within the day.

How did Jesus expect the message not to spread. Yet he hoped it wouldn't, he didn't come to become famous, He came to spend time with us, He came to teach us, He came ultimately to save us. The fame in many ways got in his way, towns and villages became so choked with people he couldn't even enter them. He was forced into countryside where people had to come to him.

Today's picture of Christ shows us a gentle man. A caring and loving man. Someone who has time for everyone, who loves everyone. Who loves the leper and outcast just as much as everyone else. Paul takes this picture of Christ as his model. Paul sees Christ as a man who puts others first, who spent his life putting peoples needs before his needs. Paul is convinced this is the way to live and he is teaching by example.

Paul was writing to the Church in Corinth but his letter to that church is as relevant to us today as it was to the Christians 2000 years ago in Corinth. It is easy for us to get upset with other people because of the way they think or act. When we get upset we can get sharp with them, or ignore them. Either way how can we spread the gospel if we push people away from us.

During his early ministry Christ wanted to get close to people, families and communities. He wanted to teach them not only by preaching but by example. The fame surrounding him hampered this and he asked people not to tell of the miracles he performed. That changed on the cross, his mission accomplished, he needed everyone in every time, to know Him, to understand Him and to learn of His message. That's why Christ sent Paul, and that's why Paul sent the Corinthians, and that's why you are sent today.

I have never met anyone with leprosy, but I meet lonely people and sick people all the time. Some I can give practical help to like the homeless we meet on the soup run. Some people I spend time with just listening to them. Some people just simply become friends. I seldom lead with direct Christian teaching, although sometimes when I think it's appropriate I do. Mostly I try and be helpful, I try to care, I try to give them some time. I know I don't always get it right, I can get angry and frustrated with people and I can drive them away. Sometime I am to wrapped up in myself and I don't even notice them or their needs.

I wish I was like Paul, with the faith to say follow my example. I am not, but I do try to follow Paul's example and Christ's example. And that is my challenge to you this week, try to use Paul and Christ as your model. Try not to be offensive to anyone, try to be helpful to everyone. Try put put others, not yourself, first. If they see Christ in you, they can meet him personally, and once they open up to Christ and ask if he wants to help them, you know he is going to step forward with open arms saying “Of course I want to!”

Homily 11th Sunday Ordinary Time Year C - Forgiven

Homily (Sermon) – Summoned and Sent

The Readings for Sunday 12th June 2016  or the 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C:
2 Samuel 12:7-10,13
Psalm 31:1-2,5,7,11
Galatians 2:16,19-21
Luke 7:36-8:3

[These readings can be found at www.universalis.com for the next few weeks.] 

We have recently started a dress down Friday at work.  Rather than the suits and ties people are wearing jeans and T-Shirts. It makes a nice change and makes Fridays feel a little different. The most fun for me is reading the T-shirts my friends are wearing. This week I had a good giggle at a T-Shirt claiming to compare world religions, then I thought a little more about what I was reading and it saddened me.

I won’t use the exact language that was printed on the T-Shirt because it’s not polite, but each faith was summarised in a single line, for example:
Taoism: Bad things happen
Hinduism Bad things happen again and again
Judaism: Why do bad things always happen to us?
Protestantism: Bad things won’t happen if you work hard
Catholicism: If bad things happen you deserve them

The parody of our faith and of many of the faiths listed on the T-Shirt corrupted the true meaning of the gospel, of Christ’s message for us, and yet that single line for most of my office was a good summary of our faith.

To see that corruption, an almost complete reversal of the real message we only need to look as far as todays reading. They are all about forgiveness. Forgiveness because of love, is the central theme of Christianity; it is the good news of the Gospels.

We find King David in our first reading being confronted by Nathan after David had secretly slept with a married women, fathered a child with her and murdered her husband to hush the whole thing up. David repents to God in front of Nathan and Nathan delivers Gods message “The Lord, for his part, forgives your sin.”

The rules David had broken were many, at least four of the Ten Commandments. The Law the Jewish people lived by was more than the just Ten Commandments, it was given to them by God after they left Egypt. But the Law is more than a set of rules, it’s a promise made between man and God, between the human and divine. It’s founded on the wish of a loving God, a loving parent to keep his Children safe and well in a dangerous world full of temptation and corruption. Keeping the Law wasn’t so much about following rules but about staying close to God.

The Law allowed us to know God, to grow up a little and take responsibility for our actions, to understand right and wrong. But the law ultimately also became a barrier to God. Human nature leads us all to walk away from God, to misbehave, to sin, to break the promise we make to live within God’s law. Paul in writing to the Galatians is pointing out that Jesus came because he loved us, saw what failing to keep the law was doing to us, He paid the price of our sins, He died for us, so that we could live eternally with Him. In our baptism we die with Christ and rise to new life with him, a life based on forgiveness and love.

As our Gospel reading shows us that a Christian life is not a life of fear and guilt, it is a life of joy, a life of happiness, a life of love. That does not mean that bad things won’t happen, but it does mean that when they do you will always have God by your side loving you, supporting you and understanding. Jesus after all was persecuted by his people, wrongly sentenced to death, beaten to within an inch of his life, humiliated in front of an entire town, stripped naked, nailed to a cross and left to die. He understands pain, rejection, loss and fear.

Our faith isn’t about guilt.
Our faith isn’t about retribution.
Our faith isn’t about perfection.
Our faith is about joy, love, happiness and forgiveness.
Our faith is about being accepted as imperfect and filling our lives with the joy of God.

So coming back to the T-Shirt, while it’s certainly not as funny, the line should really be “Catholicism: Rejoice, you are loved by God through all of the bad things that happen or that you cause to happen.” It’s a message many of us still find difficult to believe and it’s a message we should be taking out into the world.

My apologies for the language used in this image, but I though you may like to see the actual T-Shirt.

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About the Author - Deacon John Scanlon
Please click here for an Index of all my homilies and notes.

The Hiding Place - Corrie ten Boom

Image linked from Amazon

I have just finished reading 'The Hiding Place' by Corrie ten Boom. It's a wonderful witness to God, and while sometimes a difficult book to read, just because of the nature of the world Corrie lived in during the second world war, it was for me and uplifting read.

Corrie lived in Holland, in a small and respected watchmakers shop. She had a strong Christian upbringing and the scenes in the book where she describes the wisdom of her father are amazing. This Christian preparation is what allowed Corrie and her family to make the decision God would want them to make as the world went so horribly wrong during the second world war. And it's her families Christian faith that allows God to use them powerfully for good when everything in the world seems bad.

I want to tell you all about her story, about ants and flees, about heavy suitcases or bottles of vitamins, but if I do I'll start to spoil a true story I really hope you will take the time to read. I will be constantly remembering examples from this book as I prepare my homilies and it will go on my book shelf next to 'The Screwtape Letters' and 'He is Risen' as a source major influences in my personal Christian journey. This book has made a difference to my life, somehow it's made my world a bit more spiritually focused, a bit easier to deal with, a little bit closer to my Lord and God.

7/7 Seven Years On

I almost missed the fact that it's the 7th anniversary of the July 7th bombings in London. My plans for the weekend revolve around summer fêtes, wimbledom tennis, visiting friends, Mass and preaching, I almost forgot to remember and pray for those hurt and killed. I almost forgot to pray for those who planned and committed the act of terror.

Christ tells us to forgive, to pray for our enemies, and while I lost no one I know in the bombings, I find it difficult to forgive what I watched on the TV and heard through various internet and social media channels during the chaos of that morning.

I am currently reading The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, in the chapter I read last night she was praying with her sister during a bombing raid as Germany attacked Holland. At one point her sister start to pray for the Germany pilots, Corrie then prays to God to listen to her sisters prayers rather than her own, as she was unable to pray for the German pilots right then. This is wonderful advice, when we find it difficult to follow Christ commands maybe we should pray for those who can follow the commands or maybe we could pray for Gods help in following the difficult commands at difficult times rather than struggle by ourselves to do what is commanded.

I think today when we remember all those affected by 7/7 we should also remember the advice Christ gave Peter containing all the sevens.

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:21-22

New Awakenings - Image of the Mission so far

Last night was special and I know tonight and Saturday are going to be just as special. Looking at the photo's this morning this is the one that stand out for me. I was standing in the doorway trying to take some photos of the children as the proclaimed the Gospel of the prodigal son to us. As as they were talking about the father going out to meet his son I looked up a little and saw Christ looking down on me through a rainbow of colour. Special moment for me, I hope you enjoy the feeling behind the image and know that we can all be forgiven, all be healed, all be welcomed into Gods home as a son or daughter.

Christ looking down on us through a rainbow of colour.

Homily - 11th Sep 2011

24th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year A

Ecclesiasticus 27:30 – 28:7
Psalm  102
Romans 14:7-9
Matthew 18:21-35
These readings can be found at  Mass Readings from Universalis

Do you remember where you were 10 years ago? The day was Tuesday the 11th of September 2001. Can you remember how you felt watching the pictures from New York? Did you know people who might be in Manhattan? Were you shocked, hurt, angry, confused, frightened?

When in the last ten years did you forgive the people that carried out the attack, that planned the attack, that paid for the attack? Have you in fact forgiven them at all? And if you have how do feel about them now?

How did you feel in 2002 when the bombs went of in Bali? Did you forgive them again? What about the train bombing in Madrid in 2004? Did you forgive them again? And then the London Bombings of 7th July 2005? Did you forgive them again? How many times would you forgive them? Would you forgiven three times which was the teaching at the time of Jesus. Or would you double and add one as Peter did, and forgive them 7 times? Or would you always forgive as Christ teaches?

I wanted steer away from using 9/11 as an example today. It's a huge subject that is emotional and painful for us all to think about. But when I started to think about today's readings and the hard challenge we face as Christians called to forgive, forgive even the worst of crimes, I can't ignore the example that will be all around us this weekend. But forgiveness isn't about forgetting, so it's right this weekend that we pray for those that lost their lives, were injured or who lost friends and family. But as we pray, think on today's readings about forgiveness, re-read them, and seriously think about how you can forgive.

Jesus tells us a story today about a servant who owed 10,000 talents to his master, and of a man who owed 100 denarii to that servant. Now I always get interested at details like 10,000 talents and 100 denarii. You guess that 10,000 talents is bigger than 100 denarii, but do you know how much bigger. Well 100 denarii is probably about £100 in today's money. You can understand someone wanting it back, but how much is 10,000 talents. It's actually about £500 million pounds, that's more than the £479M annual budget of South Gloucester County Council. And considerably more than the 300 talents that Rome took in taxes from the areas around Galilee where Jesus was teaching. The sum is huge, why would Jesus name a figure this high. He wanted to make the point that God will forgives us anything, He will forgive us everything. But he also taught that as we are forgiven we have to forgive. The injustices we have to forgive may be smaller but we still have to forgive.

If we don't forgive we allow anger and resentment to grow in our hearts.

Our first reading today called these emotions foul. They can lead to vengeance and certainly to sin. Think how you act when you are angry? How kind are you to a person you resent? This is difficult teaching, on the surface it seems simple, but in practice it's hard.

When I looked honestly at my life over the last few weeks I realised I have had a very difficult time at work. Many of the people around me didn't do things that I needed done. As a result my team have had a difficult time. I resented this and have been been quite angry about it. Then I come to prepare this homily and I realise how poisonous that anger has been. If I want to help my team I need to forgive those who are letting us down and find ways to explain to them what's happening and to work with them to improve things. I will probably find I have been lettering them down as well. Anger doesn't let me do Christ's work in this world, forgiveness clears the anger away, lets Christ back into my life, and allows me again to do his work.

As Christian's we are called not just to church on a Sunday but to do Christ's work in the world. In a few moments, to strengthen us for that work,  we will celebrate the Eucharist. In preparation for that gift we offer each other the sign of peace.  That gesture is symbolic of the forgiveness you are offering your sisters and brothers for any offence they have caused. By forgiving them you have cleared away the anger and resentment and started doing Christ's work, a work that the Eucharist will strengthen you to do. A work that you will take out into the world after Mass.

As you go about your busy lives this week, can I ask you to find a little time to re-read today's first reading and  gospel reading, and to think about who you need to forgive. It doesn't matter if it is your boss at work or the terrorist behind 9/11. Today's teaching is simple. If someone does you wrong, forgive them. God promises forgiveness of our sins, the things you have done wrong, and He expects you to forgive others.