26th Sunday Homily - A relationship to be nurtutred
When relationships are new there are lots of questions. We have a curiosity about the other person.
So our questions fill up first dates; what kind of food do you like? What kind of music? Where did you come from? Dark chocolate or all other inferior kinds?
I had a lot of questions thrown at me when I became pastor. And if you hang around me, I can be quite the interrogator myself, asking lots of questions because I am curious about people and their journeys.
Also, these questions and answers, our histories, help us to find connections: maybe we have common roots, and if Reno, we probably know others people, probably someone else’s relatives.
So our questions fill up first dates; what kind of food do you like? What kind of music? Where did you come from? Dark chocolate or all other inferior kinds?
I had a lot of questions thrown at me when I became pastor. And if you hang around me, I can be quite the interrogator myself, asking lots of questions because I am curious about people and their journeys.
Also, these questions and answers, our histories, help us to find connections: maybe we have common roots, and if Reno, we probably know others people, probably someone else’s relatives.
When we connect, then the relationship really blossoms.
There was a heresy called Marcionism. This belief from the second century was a rejection of the Hebrew Scriptures or the Old Testament. It was the mistaken belief that the God of the Old Testament was not the God of Jesus Christ; therefore not necessary.
To know Jesus Christ, to know his mission, to experience more fully the salvation he has brought, the life he brings...we have to connect to him.
To connect with Jesus, we must know the Old Testament along with the New. To connect and understand Jesus Christ, we have to know Moses and the Prophets. Scripture is essential to our faith.
Jesus was a Jew. He was born as a Jew, lived as a Jew and died as a Jew. The Hebrew Scriptures, the Law of Moses and the Prophets, formed him as a person. He took his message from the Jewish Scriptures. He quotes the scripture. Clearly he knew it.
If we do not know Jesus, if we do not know the how of Jesus, we will not fully grasp the why of Jesus. And if not fully grasp the why, I think our lives will be less complete, our living of the faith will remain shallow.
There was a heresy called Marcionism. This belief from the second century was a rejection of the Hebrew Scriptures or the Old Testament. It was the mistaken belief that the God of the Old Testament was not the God of Jesus Christ; therefore not necessary.
To know Jesus Christ, to know his mission, to experience more fully the salvation he has brought, the life he brings...we have to connect to him.
To connect with Jesus, we must know the Old Testament along with the New. To connect and understand Jesus Christ, we have to know Moses and the Prophets. Scripture is essential to our faith.
Jesus was a Jew. He was born as a Jew, lived as a Jew and died as a Jew. The Hebrew Scriptures, the Law of Moses and the Prophets, formed him as a person. He took his message from the Jewish Scriptures. He quotes the scripture. Clearly he knew it.
If we do not know Jesus, if we do not know the how of Jesus, we will not fully grasp the why of Jesus. And if not fully grasp the why, I think our lives will be less complete, our living of the faith will remain shallow.
Think on those final words of his in this parable…”if they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.”
The greatest event in human history, the Resurrection, cannot be fully understood in the event itself.
If so, our gospels would only be one page: He rose from the dead..the end.
Our gospel writers understood that a story was needed, there needed to be context..so they put down on paper the story of Jesus. They too had Moses and the prophets to go to. They wrote with the Old Testament in mind.
What did St. Jerome say…”ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ”
There can be a lot of chaos in our lives. There can be a lot that does not make sense.
We can also feel our lives are incomplete, something missing...and sometimes we fill it with the “good things” in life...and yet it is never enough.
And we see a world of injustice, violence, abuse, and we can think it too overwhelming and do nothing.
Yet, how much have we allowed ourselves to grow in our faith, in Christ?
The greatest event in human history, the Resurrection, cannot be fully understood in the event itself.
If so, our gospels would only be one page: He rose from the dead..the end.
Our gospel writers understood that a story was needed, there needed to be context..so they put down on paper the story of Jesus. They too had Moses and the prophets to go to. They wrote with the Old Testament in mind.
What did St. Jerome say…”ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ”
There can be a lot of chaos in our lives. There can be a lot that does not make sense.
We can also feel our lives are incomplete, something missing...and sometimes we fill it with the “good things” in life...and yet it is never enough.
And we see a world of injustice, violence, abuse, and we can think it too overwhelming and do nothing.
Yet, how much have we allowed ourselves to grow in our faith, in Christ?
Sometimes I think we are scared to learn.
We are scared to deepen the gift of our faith because that means we may actually need to change, and really, most of us either think we do not have to change, or don’t want to.
Because if we change then we actually may need to love others, accept that God loves us; that God forgives us easily ( and then we would have to forgive others too).
Sometimes too, I think we don’t know how much we don’t know. We learned about Jesus in first communion or confirmation, and we think it good.
People can still be shocked that Jesus was Jewish, and not Catholic.
People still think God is a vengeful God..which means they have only read selected portions of the Old Testament, and not the entirety; and clearly have not understood Jesus Christ at all.
Even the meaning of our Eucharistic celebration has more meaning once we understand God’s relationship with his people, the long relationship of covenants.
Every now and then we will all get to a point in our lives in which we feel plateaued; we have gotten to point and we don’t know where to go from here: Stagnant or restless; frustrated?
Every now and then we will think why am I even doing this? Does it mean anything?
Every now and then something tragic will challenge what we think we know and believe, as in the rich man.
That then becomes an invitation to explore and go deeper.
Christ woos us to know him better, to enter into the relationship more and connect.
Ask the questions, let the curiosity take you over.
Who knows who we will find.
We are scared to deepen the gift of our faith because that means we may actually need to change, and really, most of us either think we do not have to change, or don’t want to.
Because if we change then we actually may need to love others, accept that God loves us; that God forgives us easily ( and then we would have to forgive others too).
Sometimes too, I think we don’t know how much we don’t know. We learned about Jesus in first communion or confirmation, and we think it good.
People can still be shocked that Jesus was Jewish, and not Catholic.
People still think God is a vengeful God..which means they have only read selected portions of the Old Testament, and not the entirety; and clearly have not understood Jesus Christ at all.
Even the meaning of our Eucharistic celebration has more meaning once we understand God’s relationship with his people, the long relationship of covenants.
Every now and then we will all get to a point in our lives in which we feel plateaued; we have gotten to point and we don’t know where to go from here: Stagnant or restless; frustrated?
Every now and then we will think why am I even doing this? Does it mean anything?
Every now and then something tragic will challenge what we think we know and believe, as in the rich man.
That then becomes an invitation to explore and go deeper.
Christ woos us to know him better, to enter into the relationship more and connect.
Ask the questions, let the curiosity take you over.
Who knows who we will find.
Comments
Post a Comment