While he was praying his face changed in appearance
and his clothing became dazzling white.

Well that’s Jesus for you —“ all dazzling, all miraculous, and all powerful.

Consider all the displays of power exhibited by Jesus. He turned water into wine; healed; cursed a tree and it withered; and he raised people from the dead. Consider Jesus in the Jordan, with the Holy Spirit descending and the voice of the Father from heaven, much like at the Transfiguration, saying:

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

If there were any doubt, surely it was dispelled with His resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven.

We could spend a long time focusing on Jesus’ power —“ and people’s disbelief. We could ask how disbelief is possible. Consider Peter’s words:

We did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Eyewitnesses —“ you cannot do much better than that. Will disbelief continue even when there are witnesses?

I have trouble believing, you have trouble believing, he, she, and they have trouble believing. Those folks out there don’t believe at all —“ they deny believability.

Brothers and sisters,

Jesus’ display of His glory was not only for the benefit of believing —“ so that we would believe more strongly —“ but more importantly it was His promise to us.

This miracle is not about those who question belief, nor is it about forcing belief.

Rather, in Jesus’ changing appearance we are to recognize a foreshadowing of the way, and manner, in which we will change. His transfiguration is a promise to us.

That Jesus, transfigured on the mountain side, is a revelation of what we will be one day. His conversation with Moses and Elijah will be our conversation with our forbearers, the prophets, and the saints.

The Father speaks to us and tells us:

—This is my chosen Son; listen to him.—

When we listen to Him we become more and more like Him.

By our baptism we began a journey toward becoming more and more like Jesus. At some point we were confirmed, completing our baptismal journey. After that, we made some kind of decision to show up here each Sunday.

We come here to pray, to be forgiven, to listen to God’s word, and to receive Jesus.

As with the transfiguration, our communion changes us. We become that holy bread —“ the Body of Christ. We are changed. Over and over, we are changed.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, today is about more than a miraculous event some 2,000 years ago. It is about the on-going change we are to experience. It is about the miracle we experience when we stand here, shoulder-to-shoulder, praying as one. It is about our journey out of here and into the world, carrying with us the gift that changes us inside and out.

Today is about the promise of transfiguration.

Recognize and appreciate the transfiguration as God’s gift for each of us.

St. Peter reiterates this very point:

Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable.
You will do well to be attentive to it,
as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

That will be the day we stand shoulder-to-shoulder before the throne of God. We will stand before God in garments of dazzling white, serving Him in union with the entire communion of saints. It will be the day Daniel prophesied:

His clothing was bright as snow,
and the hair on his head as white as wool;
his throne was flames of fire,
with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire
flowed out from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.

Be changed! Stay on the path to your transfiguration , and attend to the Most High and the Lamb.

Amen.

What if there are at least ten there?—
He replied, —For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it.—

The world is ending, the world is ending!!!

We all picture the slightly off kilter person walking the streets of a large city. He cries out, the world is ending.

While much in today’s readings and gospel is focused on petitioning the Lord, there is an eschatological undercurrent.

Brothers and sisters,

Ponder Jesus statement in Mark 13:32-33,

“But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.—

Now I have no particular insight or clue, but what I would like us to focus on is God’s great graciousness.

Have you ever pondered God’s love, His gift of grace? Have you ever contemplated the way He enters our lives?

Abraham didn’t have to wonder. He knew that God was coming to look at Sodom and to bring judgment, terrible retribution for their sin. He knew that the end was near. Yet, he did a remarkable thing. He appealed to God’s grace. He appealed to God face-to-face.

What if there are fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, or even ten left? Would You still destroy them? Abraham asks.

God says, I will relent, even for ten.

Friends,

Think of God, on His throne of glory saying:

—their sin so grave,
that I must go down and see whether or not their actions
fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me.—

In simpler terms, ‘I can’t believe what I’m hearing; I have to go check it out.’ Can you imagine God saying that now?

The cry against the world is so great I can see God doing that right now, shaking His head, needing to see it to believe it.

We have created war, poverty, disease, coldness toward our fellow man, a twisting of values to suit our likes and dislikes, our pride and our prejudice. We have a complete disregard for God’s call, for God’s way. We have a world of Sodom’s and Gomorrah’s.

Yet, God spares us His wrath. God holds back His anger. God does not send destruction, rather, He sent His Son, and He sends Him over and over again upon this altar.

Brothers and sisters,

When will God pull the switch?

In the Our Father we beg for it: —Thy kingdom come.—

I asked if you have ever pondered God’s love, His gift of grace; if you have ever contemplated the way He enters our lives?

God enters our lives in exactly this way —“ in love. He loves us so much that the end isn’t neigh — that the end will wait for us to actually perceive His love.

God waits, and in His gift of grace, received in so many ways, and most particularly through the Holy Sacraments, He call us to change our lives; to fall in love with Him completely.

When you love someone, you love them completely. You would sacrifice anything for them. Love is not an exercise in compromises, as pop psychologists and marriage counselors would have us believe. Rather, love is that complete and total self sacrifice, the immolation of self, to cast light and warmth on the other.

God gives us this kind of unconditional love. What He seeks is that we do the same for Him.

The end will come when our love and desire for Him is so great, neither heaven nor earth will stand in our way.

St. Paul tells us:

Brothers and sisters:
You were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him

Baptism ties us to our beloved Lord. It makes us members of His body. It is our marriage vow to our one and only, our love. We die in Him, we are raised yet again in Him, and we live in Him.

When we pray, we must not rely on words alone. We are to talk to our love. We are to ask for our daily share of His life, the daily bread that brings eternal life. We are to ask that we not be subjected to the final test, confident that our Lord grants the time and grace needed so that we will conform ourselves to Him.

Jesus, who is one with the Father, knew us. He knows us. He knows we are wicked. Yet He says:

“If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?—

How much more will God send down His grace, drawing us ever closer, asking for our love in return?

He does so every day. Each day we receive a measure of His grace. Each moment, but especially when we are tempted or weak, His love is there, prodding us to life in Him.

These readings and Gospel certainly tie it together. God is gracious to us, we need only to call upon Him. He will relent, we need only respond.

The world is certainly ending and we have an invitation to make it joyous. Even if there were only ten of us left, we have an invitation and the power of prayer. We are invited to love God, to lay our heads on His shoulder and to whisper to Him, I love you.

Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.

Brothers and sisters,

That is the dichotomy of Church. That is the range of gifts we are given.

I think that we could walk into just about any parish, whether it be a PNCC parish, a Roman parish, an Orthodox parish, or a Protestant parish, and find the same thing going on.

There will be those who are constantly in the church, sitting, praying, and listening to God’s word. They revel in closeness to the Lord, a closeness they find first and foremost in the Lord’s presence.

There will be others. They will wander in and out of the church. They will adjust the heat, shovel the walk, and mow the grass. They will be in the kitchen cooking up a brunch or making sure that coffee is ready for coffee hour. They revel in service to the Lord, in being busy about the Lord’s work.

If we look at today’s Gospel and compare it to the first reading, we would think that Martha was in the right. Like Sarah, she busied herself in serving the Lord’s needs.

Abraham hastened into the tent and told Sarah,
—Quick, three measures of fine flour! Knead it and make rolls.—

Sarah didn’t argue or complain. She served those three men. Those three men represented something very special —“ more than what they appeared to be. They represented the Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Sarah served without complaint. Yet Martha complained.

Was she right to complain?

I’m guessing that you are thinking that Martha was in error when she complained. We would base that reaction on the Lord’s response. He told Martha that Mary had chosen the better, and would not be deprived of it.

Was the Lord upset with Martha for serving?

I’m guessing that we all think so.

My friends,

We have to judge all this in light of the core issue. Look at our experience and hold that up before the testimony of the Gospel.

How many of us sit at the Lord’s feet and listen. How many of us busy ourselves with the work of the Church? Of those on both sides, how many are upset with their fellow parishioners who are on the other side?

It’s interesting to contemplate the Gospel story of Martha and Mary. Let’s turn it around just a little.

Martha is busy working in the kitchen. She is making a meal of fish and rolls for the Lord. She has brought Him water to wash His feet. She’s busy setting everything in place. Mary is sitting at the Lord’s feet, listening intently. She looks up and says: Lord, tell my sister Martha to knock it off. She’s always so busy —“ and she misses the point completely. She doesn’t adore You as she should!

The Lord set Martha straight, not because she was busy serving, but because she was busy holding a grudge and complaining about her sister. The tables could have been turned just as well, if Mary had complained about Martha’s busyness.

We often miss the point. Not because we are lacking in gifts or talents. Not because we do not adore as we should. We miss the point because we judge what the person next to us is doing. We judge their motivations.

St. Paul puts a fine point on this:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his body, which is the church

In what we do, each in our own way, and most particularly in what we suffer for the Church, we build up the Church.

Those who serve, who bear the battle scars of cooking, cleaning, and outdoor work, bear those scars out of love for Christ and His body —“ the Church.

Those who have arthritic knees, who pray fervently and faithfully on those knees, setting aside so many other things, bear their scars out of love for Christ and His body —“ the Church.

Bear in mind the Lord’s words:

…you are anxious and worried about many things.

And we are. What we must do is set our anxious worries aside. In addition, we must set our expectations aside. Whether serving or praying, the Lord tells us:

There is need of only one thing.

That one thing is to listen to the Lord’s instruction. To listen and not busy ourselves with resentment toward our brothers and sisters for the part they have chosen.

The part we have all chosen is in the service of Jesus Christ and His body, the Church. In the end, that faithfulness in service, whether it be primarily in work or prayer, will be rewarded by the Lord Himself.

As long, as long as we are faithful. Amen.

—For this command that I enjoin on you today
is not too mysterious and remote for you.—

Do you think that God is mysterious? Do you believe that He is far off?

I imagine that in the midst of our busy schedules we don’t find a lot of time to sit quietly and ponder the mysteries of God. After all, we have to shop, work, drive, mow, clean, call bingo, serve on committees, visit friends, care for children, consider our illnesses, or ponder death.

This quote from scripture is taken from Moses’ final words to Israel, right before he anointed Joshua and turned his authority over to him. Moses would not cross into the Promised Land.

Israel had spent forty tough years in the desert. It wasn’t about to get any easier, they had to fight their way into the land, through Jericho first.

So Moses recounts the entire law of the Lord; the blessings that will come from keeping the law and the curses that will come from disobeying it.

In closing Moses says in effect, ‘It’s easy folks.’

Following God and finding God is easy.

In the first stanza from today’s psalm we hear David crying out to the Lord:

I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness:
in your great mercy turn toward me.

The psalm may very well have been David’s cry in his time of persecution, the period in which he was driven out of Jerusalem by his son Absalom. David was exhausted, alienated from family and community, and falsely accused.

Consider David’s thoughts as he fled Jerusalem and as he encountered Shimei:

When King David came to Bahu’rim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shim’e-i, the son of Gera; and as he came he cursed continually.
And he threw stones at David, and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
And Shim’e-i said as he cursed, “Begone, begone, you man of blood, you worthless fellow!

In times of trouble we cry out to the Lord. We seek His assistance, His miracles, His healing.

Do you think that He does not answer?

Brothers and sisters,

He answers! He sends what we need, often much more than we need. For His love is abundant.

The parable of the Good Samaritan is like that.

The faithful Israelite traveled between Jerusalem and Jericho and tragedy befell him.

Do you think he prayed while laying along the side of the road? Did he call out to God as people passed him by? Did he implore the Lord for help? How did God help?

God sent a Samaritan. The Israelite didn’t see God helping, he saw a Samaritan.

St. Paul tells us:

For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible

God created everything and God uses His creation to help us in our every need, for St. Paul goes on to say:

He is the head of the body, the church.

If He is the head of His body, and we are all mystically bound to, and members of His body, we can be sure that God uses His body to carry out His work, His assistance, His healing, and His friendship. We can be sure that each person we relate to bears the image of Jesus Christ to us.

When we shop, our fellow shoppers and the checkout attendant are Christ. When we work, our co-workers and customers are Christ. When we drive, others on and along the road are Christ. When we mow, the neighbor we waive to is Christ. When we clean, our family is Christ. When we call bingo, the players are Christ. When we serve on committees, our fellow committee members, and those we serve are Christ. When we visit friends or care for children, they are Christ. When we consider our illnesses or ponder our deaths, Christ is with us, because He and His body are present to us.

Moses said, ‘It is easy folks,’ and it is. We see and we find Christ in every person we meet. Whatever our opinion of them, from the store clerk to our spouse, Christ is in them, making Himself real and present to us.

Ponder the words of Jesus:

Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?—

The lawyer answered:

—The one who treated him with mercy.—

And Jesus said

—Go and do likewise.—

God is not mysterious, nor is He far off. We see Him every day.

From this moment onward, go and do likewise. See God in every person you encounter. Treat each person with the consideration and love you reserve for God, because He is right in front of your eyes.

Say to them,
‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’

Many will provide homilies on the topic of peace today.

It is very fitting to speak of peace today, based on the Gospel and the readings. The theme of peace runs throughout. There are also those who will speak on our calling, the call to proclaim the kingdom of God, our being sent like the seventy-two.

I would like to concentrate on things.

Do you have stuff? I have stuff. What is the value of all the things we own? How much more will we acquire in our lifetimes?

Our first reading speaks of Israel’s return to Jerusalem, the Jerusalem that laid in ruins, a veritable wasteland during Isaiah’s time.

Oh, that you may suck fully
of the milk of her comfort,
that you may nurse with delight
at her abundant breasts!
For thus says the LORD:
Lo, I will spread prosperity over Jerusalem like a river,
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent.

The Israelites saw the prosperity of Jerusalem as the symbol of God’s abiding presence. If Jerusalem dwelt securely, God was with them.

Because of their concentration on stuff, they often lost sight of the true covenant, the one that was to be written in their hearts. They missed the point. That’s why the old Israel missed the Messiah.

Unfortunately there are Christians who will proclaim, in this day and age, that the physical Jerusalem is somehow vitally important, that somehow and in some way, God needs the city of Jerusalem.

We all know that the city of Jerusalem is just a place, a historical place to be sure, but still, just a place. It has become, in a very unfortunate way, the occasion of sin for many, because of a concentration on things, the symbol without the Spirit.

St. Paul rightly pointed out, these physical things are of little account.

For neither does circumcision mean anything, nor does uncircumcision,
but only a new creation.
Peace and mercy be to all who follow this rule
and to the Israel of God.

Only the new creation in Christ Jesus matters. Only the Israel of God matters.

Brothers and sisters,

We are the Israel of God. The new creation is in us. We are the Israel where neither Jew nor Greek matters. The Israel where neither man nor woman, slave or free is of import. The Israel where faith in Jesus Christ, and the proclamation of God’s kingdom, is all that matters.

By our faithful membership in Christ’s body, the Church, we are participants and partakers in the kingdom of God. We are invited to work and to stand ready, with all the faithful, when the new and eternal Jerusalem descends from the heavens.

That Jerusalem is not a thing, it is eternity, with Jesus, in heaven.

If we are waiting for things, for more stuff, for the outward, we are missing the point.

The Lord God tells us through the prophet Ezekiel:

And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

We have work set before us. Our work is not defined by stuff, by things, or by cities. Our work means that we must change ourselves from the inside out. Our hearts must be alive in faith. Our work is to seek our nourishment from the abundant font of faith in Christ Jesus.

With that faith we hear the words of Jesus. The words He speaks to us:

Rejoice because your names are written in heaven.

Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said,
—Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,
and I will follow you.—
Elijah answered, —Go back!
Have I done anything to you?—

In light of Jesus’ testimony to those he met on the road to Jerusalem it would appear that Elijah was quite angry at Elisha’s request.

Recall:

And another said, —I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home.—
To him Jesus said, —No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.—

I would argue that neither Jesus nor Elijah were angry. Perhaps incredulous, but neither was denying one’s responsibilities. In fact they were confirming and blessing them.

Let’s examine this passage from Kings.

Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said,
—Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,
and I will follow you.—

We have to understand responsibilities as they were understood by Elisha.

Israel had fallen away from the Lord. Elijah was appointed as prophet in testimony against Israel. Israel had thrown off God and was worshiping Baal, a god of stone, what the Second Book of Kings would call Ba’al-ze’bub.

Familiar name?

There were few left in Israel who honored the covenant, much less their responsibilities. Elisha, son of Saphat was one of those few. Saphat’s house was a faithful house.

Elijah knew that. Elijah knew that Elisha came from a faithful house, and was a faithful son.

When Elisha asked to go back and kiss his family goodbye Elijah was taken aback. To paraphrase, Elijah said: Of course you should go back and honor your father and mother. You are supposed to be a man of faith. What have I done to you that you would think that you shouldn’t do your duty?

Elijah expected Elisha to be faithful. Jesus asks the same.

Remember that Jesus came to paint God in a very different way. God was not far off, to be feared and sacrificed to. God was nearby. God is among us. God is our Father. We are to hold a right relationship to Him, as His sons and daughters.

Brothers and sisters,

Each of these passages is about expectations and right relationships.

Elijah expected Elisha to honor his relationship with his parents, and Jesus expects us to honor our relationship with God.

Elisha was called, but that was not an excuse for throwing off his home and parents. His home and parents were not an excuse for throwing off his call.

Many were called by Jesus, but came up with excuses so they could skip out on their commitments. They wanted the glory of God without honoring their duty toward Him. They were committed, not to their parents or the bodies of the dead, but to excuses.

In this day and age we find so many excuses. I am tired, the boss is demanding, my children are disruptive, my wife is cold, I’m so angry and frustrated. I don’t have time for responsibilities and formalities. Leave me alone; let me get on with my life.

Our excuses have been our undoing. Our excuses have weakened and destroyed families, communities, and our larger society. Many have turned to gods and spirits that always seem to give the answer they desire. When they call upon those spirits they hear the answer they expect, the self-serving excuse for doing as they please.

Look at this through the lens of St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians:

For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters.
But do not use this freedom
as an opportunity for the flesh;
rather, serve one another through love.

Excuses are a misuse of our freedom.

Responsibilities, in love, toward God and our brothers and sisters are gifts that come from our freedom. The gifts we receive as a result of our right use of freedom may not always be so appealing, but they are beautiful.

On the other hand, our excuses give opportunity to our weaker selves, the part of us that desires to do as we will. Those excuses are destroying our better selves.

—No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.—

Set your hand to the plow in deciding for Jesus Christ. Leave your former life, your former excuses behind. You are made new in Christ Jesus.

Look forward to a life of commitment, commitment strengthened by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, commitment that builds up the Kingdom of God in your heart, home, family, community, and in the world.

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

Taken from the 20th Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John, Verse 29.

When we think of Jesus’ time on earth we think in very narrow terms. He spent thirty-three years on earth in His human body. Of those thirty-three years, three were spent in public ministry.

We look at Jesus among us, and we wonder, exactly how many people did Jesus touch? How many saw Him?

We know that He fed over five thousand, as we heard on Corpus Christi:

Now the men there numbered about five thousand.

Today He spoke to the twelve. We also know that He sent out the seventy as recounted in the Gospel according to St. Luke:

After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come.

Let’s look at some statistics.

At the time of Jesus the population of Israel was about 550,000 people. Jerusalem had about 70,000 residents.

Jesus went from town to town. People came to him in droves. Remember the commotion when He visited Jericho:

He entered Jericho and was passing through.
And there was a man named Zacchae’us; he was a chief tax collector, and rich.
And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature.
So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way.

Remember the difficulty found in reaching Jesus when he was in Caper’na-um.

And when he returned to Caper’na-um after some days, it was reported that he was at home.
And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the word to them.
And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay.

Jesus was seen by many, including His being seen by over five hundred following His resurrection, as St. Paul recounts:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,
and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Jesus was a prominent public figure and He was seen by more than that small band we typically associate with Him. It wasn’t just the twelve and a few women. He touched large portions of Israel. Those who didn’t see Him certainly heard of Him. They heard the message.

The prophet Zechariah tells us:

…when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born.

The inhabitants of Jerusalem saw Him. He taught in the Temple precincts daily. He was put on public trial, and was publicly humiliated and executed. They looked on Him whom they pieced.

Jesus was no secret and Zechariah’s prophecy was not unknown.

Yet, the weeping was muted, and was limited to a small band. When Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost many, but not all, came forward to be baptized.

Jesus knew it. He told the twelve:

The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes

Brothers and sisters,

It is to us. We are to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow Him. We are to do so for His promise of salvation. We are to be about making Him known. Is there anything we would not sacrifice for our salvation based on Jesus’ promise?

Whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it.

It is a joyful promise. It is a hope filled promise. It is a promise for us and for all of humanity.

That is why we must preach and teach Jesus. That is why we must talk about Him, about Him more than we would talk about the latest TV show, the great book we just read, the gossip from Hollywood, or our favorites for President. We must proclaim the good news. Jesus is alive. Follow Him!

We inherit that responsibility in our baptism into Jesus, our baptism into His body. The baptism Paul speaks of which makes us heirs of God. Heirs who will inherit heaven.

Christ’s coming will bring to fulfillment Zechariah’s prophecy:

On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

That day will be brought about by our believing without seeing, by our faithfulness to our call:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

I live by faith in the Son of God
who has loved me and given himself up for me.

Today’s readings and Gospel give us the full bore reality of sin —“ and the answer to sin.

In our first reading the prophet Nathan confronts David with God’s words.

‘I anointed you king of Israel.
I rescued you from the hand of Saul.
I gave you your lord’s house and your lord’s wives for your own.
I gave you the house of Israel and of Judah.
And if this were not enough, I could count up for you still more.
Why have you spurned the Lord and done evil in his sight?

In a deadly concoction of sin, a mixture of lust, jealousy, envy, desire, and corruption David had one of his finest soldiers, Uriah, a humble and righteous man, killed, so that he could take Uriah’s wife as his own. He had already committed adultery, she was pregnant by him, and then he killed her husband. David killed, and the Lord’s anger flared up.

What should David have done? What could David have done to make amends?

Nothing really.

David simply said:

—I have sinned against the LORD.—

To which the prophet of the Lord replied:

—The LORD on his part has forgiven your sin:
you shall not die.—

That, my friends, is trust beyond reason and a love beyond telling.

Jesus visits the house of the Pharisee and dines there.

Now there was a sinful woman in the city
who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.
Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment,
she stood behind him at his feet weeping
and began to bathe his feet with her tears.
Then she wiped them with her hair,
kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.

She didn’t say anything. She spoke through her actions and her tears.

Later Jesus would say:

—Your faith has saved you; go in peace.—

She had faith, but faith in what? Faith in a prophet? No prophet could forgive sins.

The guests pointed that one out.

The others at table said to themselves,
—Who is this who even forgives sins?—

To the Jewish people the forgiveness of sins required actions. A blood sacrifice in the Temple was necessary. Even with that sacrifice, forgiveness wasn’t a spoken commodity. Only God could forgive, only God knew.

No, the woman had faith, faith and blind trust, like David’s blind trust. She knew that Jesus, who reclined at table, whose feet she bathed and anointed, was God. He who could forgive sins.

You heard the readings and the Gospel. After a joyous Easter season, and the three great post Easter Sundays celebrating the Holy Ghost, the Holy Trinity, and the Body and Blood of our Lord, it’s all a downer. It’s all about sin.

Brothers and sisters,

David didn’t think so, the sinful woman didn’t think so, and Mary, called Magdalene, out of whom seven demons were cast didn’t think so.

David saw, the woman saw, Mary saw. They all saw the great light. Each of them trusted beyond reason, and received love beyond telling. The light of God’s all encompassing love, the richness of His forgiveness.

There is really nothing we can do, other than in our expression of faith. Faith that saves us from sin.

Paul spoke of salvation though works alone, which is impossible. He pointed out that that was the faith of the old Israel.

Each of us lives the full bore reality of sin. In the small things and in the big things we do. We are David, and the sinful woman. All we can say is: —I have sinned against the LORD.—

The answer, as Paul rightly points out, is our faith. Faith that bears fruit in our repentance, and through the works we accomplish by faith.

They all ate and were satisfied.

Taken from the ninth chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, verse seventeen.

The Holy Eucharist is a powerful reality, a reality that defies explanation.

The reality of Jesus’ Body and Blood, and our acceptance of that reality, right here, among us, is based solely on faith. You cannot intellectualize it, theologize it, or even contemplate it.

The great southern writer, Flannery O’Connor once attended a dinner. Sitting among the notables of the time the discussion turned to the intellectualization of Catholic practice. Ms. Connor reported:

Mrs. Broadwater said when she was a child and received the host, she thought of it as the Holy Ghost, He being the most portable person of the Trinity; now she thought of it as a symbol and implied that it was a pretty good one. I then said, in a very shaky voice, Well, if it’s a symbol, to hell with it.

We can do lots of symbolic things on a Sunday. We can attend a ballgame and stand for the National Anthem. We can get together with family and prepare a nice meal. We could donate a few hours to visiting relatives that are sick or shut-in. We can visit a cemetery and care for the graves.

We have tons of options.

We could even gather in this building, sing a few songs, shake hands to make amends for the hurtful things we have done, and finish it all off with a roll and butter washed down by a cup of coffee.

This is my hard roll, this is my java, get together in remembrance of me.

As Ms. O’Connor pointed out, if it’s all symbolism, to heck with it. Frankly, I’d rather be back in bed.

Now symbolism is a great thing, but symbols pass. They do not live. They do not carry on, they do not last. Nations fade from the earth, mountains and coastlines crumble, nothing you see standing before you will last, save for one reality, God’s infinite love and His real presence among us. All else can pass, but this will not fail.

The reality of God’s presence among us, in all its fullness, is that essential element that connects us one-to-another throughout all time.

Jesus certainly knew the objections, and he spoke to those:

This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.”
This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Caper’na-um.

A symbol does not give life. A symbol, whether it be a reminder of happiness or sadness, victory or tragedy, is lifeless. Only God can give life. Jesus came to give us life.

To assure that fact, and to assure our constant connection to Him, a connection that defies mental gymnastics, He left us with His presence, His body and blood.

He left us with the only thing that can give life, a thing that is not a thing, but a living being.

Indeed, we have God’s powerful reality right here, before us. We kneel to that reality, we prostrate ourselves to that reality, and we pray and sing hymns to that reality. We wear vestments and conduct public rituals to further expose that reality. If it’s not reality, why bother…

My brothers and sisters,

In a few minutes we will enter into the most sacred moments of the Holy Mass. The bread and wine will be offered up and through the power of the Holy Spirit it will cease being bread and wine. Those elements will be transformed, through the power of God, into the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is among us. He has come to bring us life everlasting.

We will feed on His body and drink His blood. We will carry Him in procession and fall down on our knees before Him.

Most importantly, we will expose Him to the world, and offer His reality to the world.

We will not shut our doors or bar our gates. We will not card check.

Come you who have faith. Eat His body, drink His blood.

They all ate and were satisfied.