Homily for
January 29, 2006 Liturgical Year
B-Cycle II 4th Sunday in
Ordinary Time by Fr. John Carney Topic: Jesus is Lord + + +
Reading
I Dt
18:15-20 Moses spoke to all the people,
saying: “A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kin; to him you shall listen. This is exactly what
you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb on the day of the
assembly, when you said, ‘Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD,
our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.’ And the LORD
said to me, ‘This was well said. I will raise up for them a prophet
like you from among their kin, and will put my words into his mouth; he
shall tell them all that I command him.’ Whoever will not listen to my
words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it.
But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name an oracle that I have not
commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall
die.”
Gospel Mark
1:21-28
Then
they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue
and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught
them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue
was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do
with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you
are – the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said,“Quiet! Come out
of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out
of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new
teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they
obey him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of
Galilee.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What
is
this? A new teaching? Jesus taught with authority, not as the Scribes
taught. In the synagogue, the Scribes taught the people. The technique
of teaching was to quote other sources.The
Scribes
would say, “There is a teaching that says…” or “The Scripture says…” or
“It is written…” or “The Prophet Isaiah says…” but they wouldn’t quote
themselves. But Jesus, in effect, was his own authority. He
said, “What I tell you is…” This was a totally new way of teaching
because this was a totally new teacher. Perhaps
Jesus’ most common title, when he was walking this earth, was
Rabbi. His disciples called him Lord, but most people called him
Rabbi, which, of course, means “teacher”. It is an appropriate
name because teaching is an act of love. A good teacher is really
not so much a professional, but is a minister because teaching is an
act of love. We want our children to know things so that they can
be successful and that they can be safe and that they can be healthy
and that they can live a long and good and holy life. That’s why
we teach them. It would be cruel, wouldn’t it, not to teach your
children? It would be cruel to say, “You don’t need to go to
school.” They’d take you up on that. "You don’t need to learn.
Just go out and figure it all out yourself." Can you imagine?
Therefore, teaching is an act of love. Of course, the one with the
greatest love was the greatest teacher, Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Sometimes,
doctors teach us too. Doctors teach us how to be healthy.
Sometimes, they need to admonish us. Many a good doctor has said,
“Now you sit down and listen to me.”
We say that Jesus is "Lord." That’s what we call him.
But what does that really mean when we say that Jesus is Lord? I
was reading several sources yesterday and one source defines that term
in these words, “Indicates that He is truly master of life and death,
that He is our God and has divine claims and absolute dominion over
us.” That’s a lot. Isaiah 26 says, “Yes, for your way and
your judgments, Oh LORD, we look to you; your name and your title are
the desire of our souls.” It is fair to ask, in light of Deuteronomy’s
reading today and of the Gospel, what authority do you give Jesus in
your life? What do you retain for yourself? Some
people, and many Christians, or at least some Christians, see Jesus as
a kind of philosopher, a guru, or a mystic, a revered teacher, someone
like the Buddha or Confucius. They like his teachings, and they
like to meditate upon them, which of course, is good. Indeed, Jesus is
admired by some who are not Christian. The Dali Lama has a great
affection for Jesus because of his teachings. Mahatma Gandhi
quoted Jesus on a regular basis. Jesus was one of Gandhi's
models. That’s
fine, but we, as Christians, see Jesus as Lord. We submit to him and
his teachings as the Way, the Truth, and the Light. Christianity
is a revelation. If you accept it, you follow it. It is not
a philosophy. Before Christ, God taught the Hebrew people, later,
the Jewish people through Scripture and through the prophets. You
heard in the first reading. They asked for help. They said,
“Lord, teach us the way. Help us to live.” He
said, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among
their kin, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all
that I command him.’ Whoever will not listen to my words which he
speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it”(Dt
18).God taught the Hebrew people, then the Jewish
people, and now his people, you and me, the Christian people.He continues to teach us through the Word and the Scriptures. There
is a beautiful document of Vatican II entitled, Dei Verbum, "The Word of God", and
the scripture is the Word of God. He also teaches us through his
body, the church. Jesus does. There is absolutely no
question that He gave authority to his apostles, especially
Peter. He said, “Whatever you bind will be bound, whatever you
loose will be loosed. Whose sins you shall forgive they are
forgiven, who’s sins you bind, they are held bound. He said to
Peter, “Here are the keys to the kingdom, the gates of hell will not
prevail against you.” In Luke 10, He said, “Whoever listens to
you, listens to me” (L10: 16). In Matthew 10, He said, “Whoever
receives you receives me” There is no question that Christ gave his
Apostles the authority to teach in His name. And not just the 12,
but also those who follow the 12, the apostles of today, the
Bishops. What a gift that is to us. Can you imagine if there was
no leadership? We’ve often criticized the leadership, oftentimes
justly, but can you imagine if there was no leadership? If each
one was left to their own design? You go figure it out. It
would be absolute chaos and a disaster. Jesus
spoke not only with his words, but also with his actions. As
Christians, we call Jesus Lord, and submit to him. We are to
Jesus, as Jesus is to the Father. We all know the story as He was
suffering in fear before death. He said, “Father, if it be thy will,
let this cup pass from me, but not my will, but your will be
done.” He submitted to the Father. I
am
convinced that many people play a game with right and wrong. I
think we know what Jesus teaches, if we claim to be disciples or
Christ’s followers. We don’t steal. We don’t cheat on
taxes. We are faithful to our spouses. We know that
sexual relations outside of marriage are sinful. That’s a
fact. That is said over and over again in the Bible. It is
clearly a teaching of God. Yet, you’d be amazed how many people
say, "Well, that doesn’t work for me. I’ll make up my own
rules." We know that life is sacred and that every human person
is made in God’s image from the moment of conception until death.
We know that. We know that babies in the womb are precious and
sacred to God. We know we must keep the Sabbath Holy. We
know that parents must care for their children and then later children
must care for their parents and grandparents. We know that we are
required to tithe a portion of our wealth to charity.
Right? That’s simple. I’m not talking about those who
refute these things. We all sin; we’ve all broken the
Commandments. But it’s a different thing to say, "Lord I know
your teachings, yes I sinned, please forgive me." He’s delighted
to do that. There are others who carry the name Christian and
Catholic who says it’s not sin. "Don’t you tell me what’s right
and wrong, God." When they do that, they have to know that the
creature is telling the Creator that he is wrong. When people
express that opinion to me, I tell them, “Well, thanks for being
honest. But stop calling Jesus, Lord. Call yourself lord,
because you are making up the rules. Don’t call Him Lord because
you have left him. You have turned your back on his
teachings.” I
saw a
woman the other day and she said, “You know Father, it’s sad.
Many people have left the church. They are not comfortable with
the church, with the teachings of the church. They have gone to
other churches or they have gone nowhere. They’ve gone to other
churches where they can be comfortable." That is a word that
drives me crazy. "Comfortable." Look at this
crucifix. Does He look comfortable? This is not a place to
be comfortable all the time. Churches that have taken the cross
out of Christianity, that have taken the hard teachings and sayings of
Christ out of their teachings, are not Gospel churches. Their
faith is to get together and feel good, not to be challenged.
They have left the Gospel behind. The Gospel is given to us to
afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted. Jesus
taught with authority, then and now. He teaches us today with the
same clarity that he taught the people in his day. He loves us as
much as he loved them. In the Gospels, it is fascinating, even
the demons recognized Christ and His teachings. Why can’t
we? If
you’d bow your heads, I’d like to pray this Scripture, the 30th
chapter of
Deuteronomy, verses 15 and following.
"Here, then, I have
today set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey
the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today,
loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments,
statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD,
your God, will bless you. If, however, you turn away your hearts and
will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, I
tell you now that you will certainly perish; you will not have a long
life. I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I
have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose
life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD,
your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will
mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land which the
LORD swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
Come,
let us bow down and worship; let us kneel before the Lord who made us.
For He is our God, and we are the people He shepherds, the flock He
guides. If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”