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Homily – July 14, 2024 15th Sunday (Year B) ● Amos 7:12-15 ● Psalm 85 ● ● Ephesians 1:3-14 ● + Mark 6:7-13 ●
Title: Trajectory of Repentance. Coming Home
FYI / Reference: https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2015/5/29/8683385/home-run-trajectories-and-pitchers
[__01__] We are in the season of baseball. Baseball has a baseball diamond with 4 bases, a pitcher and a batter. The goal in baseball is to score runs by coming back home. Yes, the batter is swinging a bat so as to run to 1st base and beyond, but the ultimate goal is to come back to home plate. The best possible result is a “home run”. And the best way to connect with the ball and score with a home run is to launch the ball very high in the air, so the ball will travel far, 400 feet or more, beyond the outfield fence.
And in baseball games, have you noticed there
are calculations that are made, mathematical calculations, geometric
calculations, angle of the ball off the bat into the air, because the higher
the ball travels, the easier it is to come home, to get back home.
This is the trajectory.
[__02__] I bring this up because the gospel of Mark
Jesus is sending his disciples out --- on
a trajectory -- but he's also sending them out so that they can get
home, so that they can come back home. He's sending us out so that we will also
come home, come home to Him. Jesus is calling His disciples to get off the
ground first, to make some changes. He's sending them out on a mission to
preach and to teach. The disciples are given instructions about simplicity,
about material things, preparing them to aim higher. And sometimes we have to
make changes in order to aim higher.
To … make sacrifices. Maybe we make sacrifices by
cutting calories, cutting spending, or cutting out pleasures.
Maybe
we have to cut calories or cut spending, reduce spending or cut back on some
pleasures we're enjoying. These are ways in which we can follow Jesus by making
sacrifices to love God and love our neighbor. But the trajectory, the way to
come home to God and Jesus is also talking about, is repentance, repenting of
our sins.
[__03__] ###
Raising the Bar Through Repentance
Now,
you and I might think that repentance is a way to keep the ball really low or
the bar low, but I'm suggesting repentance is a way to raise the bar.
Repentance is a positive trajectory, a way to help us be raised up. Repentance
is a salutary reminder that we're all sinners in need of God's mercy.
[__04__] ### The
Sense of Sin
In
1984, Pope John Paul II wrote: “The restoration of a proper sense of sin is the
first way of facing the grave spiritual crisis looming over man today. But the
sense of sin can only be restored through a clear reminder of the unchangeable
principles of reason and faith which the moral teaching of the Church has
always upheld.”
(Pope
John Paul II, Reconciliatio et
Paenitentia, 1984, n. 18)
[__05__] ### 3
Types of Repentance
I'd
like to touch on the fact that there are three trajectories – or “directions”
of repentance, each one can get us off the ground, get a home run, and draw us
closer to Jesus. But depending on the curveball you're facing in your
sinfulness, or the curveball I'm facing in my sinfulness, we may need a
different swing, a different type of repentance to get the ball in the air and
to come home.
[__06__] ###
Repentance Right Away
A
classic example: the thief on the cross who comes home. As soon as he is aware of the holiness of
Jesus, Christ crucified with him, he repents of his sins. He doesn't demand or
expect forgiveness. He just repents. He does it immediately, right away.
Sometimes we can do this too when we realize the
error of our ways quickly, perhaps due to the personal holiness or virtuous
example of someone around us. If
we really desire someone's friendship, or love, we often repent right away.
Such repentance is a home run and leads us home to
Jesus, getting the ball in the air.
[__07__] ###
Repentance Readily, Rapidly
Classic
example: the Prodigal Son who come home.
The
prodigal son didn't repent right away. It took a little while, but he did
repent readily when he arrived at his father’s house. He makes repentance a
priority.
Is repentance a priority for me? For you? In
the Gospel, Jesus says that if you or I were to come to pray at the altar and
there recall that a brother or sister has something against us, we should go
first to our brother or sister, then come and offer our gift and prayer. (Matthew
5:23-24)
Another example of this would be not letting the
sun set on your anger or sinfulness. (Ephesians 4:26)
We are called to repent readily, which might mean
putting off something else in order to repent. Maybe we put off finishing a
project at work, watching TV, going out to dinner, or some other pleasure,
because repentance is the priority. This kind of repentance is a home run. It
gets the ball in the air and brings us home.
[__08__] ###
Repent Repeatedly
Classic
example: King David. Though also a great king, David has multiple sins and
coverup’s of his sins This has to do with his affair with Bathsheba, the taking
of the life of Bathsheba’s husband and more!
And, David does all of this in his own
home! David repents when gets caught!
Let's face it, each of us might face sins that are
very vexing, repeatable in our lives, and troublesome. We may need to repent
more than once and ask God to help us amend our lives, even if it takes a
while. Just as we might have to forgive 77 times, we may have to repent 77 times.
Repenting 70 x 7 is a home run.
[__09__] ###
Prayer, Fasting, and Charity
Jesus
is asking us each day to pray, to fast/sacrifice, and to give charitably not
only for our own salvation but also for that of our loved ones. And, actually,
not only for those we love and know but also those we do not love and do not
know, those we do not like. Jesus said to his disciples:
“For if you
love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax
collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual
about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly
Father is perfect.” (Matthew
5:46-48).
Jesus reminds us that we are called to love our
enemies and to pray for those who might persecute us or cause us difficulty.
But, because there are so many problems in the world, we might resist doing
this.
[__10__] ###
Reflecting on Destruction and Peace (09)
Father
Ronald Knox, reflecting on life in England and the European Continent after
World War II in the 1940-1950s, wrote about physical destruction. We have also
witnessed physical destruction such as 9/11 in NYC and now much more recent
violence affecting people in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, and now an
assassination attempt on a presidential candidate and former U.S. President.
“We are sad at the disappearance of old landmarks,
uneasy at the changes in our familiar habits of life. Travel is more difficult
and more wearisome; we find it hard to make contact with old friends, even when
we are little divided from them by distance. All that sets up a restlessness in
our minds which perhaps is good for us in a way; it may save us from falling
too much into a rut and taking life too easily. But it does not make the
business of our souls a more encouraging task. For that, we need tranquility,
recollection; how are we to think about God or eternity, with daily needs and
worldly preoccupations and public cares so weighing on our minds? The thought
of God seems to get crowded out; our own sins get overlooked – they are so
petty, compared with the needs of a distracted world, the perils of an
uncertain future.”
(Ronald Knox, “Peace in Ourselves”, Pastoral and Occasional Sermons, Part
VII. The Eucharist, p. 281)
[__11__] ###
Understanding the Eucharist
What
is the Eucharist – what is Holy Communion? How are we to understand the effect
of the Blessed Sacrament in our lives and our call to fast and pray for others?
I invite you to check the websites of Relevant
Radio.com, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and other media to watch and
listen. You are also invited here to pray, especially Wednesday and Thursday
from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, and confessions will be heard.
The Holy Eucharist and Holy Communion remind us
that the world is saved by the Precious Body and Blood of our Savior who
proclaimed from the Cross, “Forgive them Father, they know not what they do.”
[__12__] ### The
Goodness of the Holy Spirit
The
goodness of the Holy Spirit is poured out for me, for you, for us to see the
good in ourselves and also to see the goodness in others.
In
a little while, we will bring forth up the center aisle the gifts of Bread and
Wine which are blessed and consecrated in the sacrament and Eucharistic prayer.
These gifts of Bread and Wine also signify you and me, in a way that we are
also called to be transformed:
“There is something to be done on our side. The
wheat must be ground into bread, the wine must be pressed out of the grape,
before we can give our Lord the opportunity to work his miracle of
transubstantiation. The offertory first, man stretching out his hands to God;
then the consecration, God accepting and transforming man's gift. We must come
to meet him early in the morning, when sleep has smoothed away the memories of
yesterday, and no cares have yet assailed us to disturb the equilibrium of our
lives. We must hand over the direction of our lives to him if we are to know
what it means to live an ordered life, “heart-whole” and “mind-whole” in a
world like ours. Then, we can go to Communion.”
(Ronald Knox, “Peace in Ourselves”, Pastoral and Occasional Sermons, Part VII. The Eucharist, p. 282)May this remind us of our upward angle, our true trajectory, our journey à HOME.
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