Free From the Inside Out!

 

Deacon Dave · Free From the Inside Out!

Homily for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Oct. 14, 2018. Readings: Wisdom 7:7-11; Hebrews 4:12-13; Gospel of St. Mark 10:17-27. Theme: Free From the Inside Out! 

 The rich man in today’s Gospel was not all that different from many of us today. He enjoyed what life had to offer but at the same time he recognized that there was more to life than what we experience here on planet Earth. He knew that how we live in this life has a direct correlation as to where we will continue our existence in the next. It seems that his dilemma was really a matter of priorities. He stood in need of the gift of wisdom (as we heard in our first reading) so that he could make the best choice between two forms of wealth & success. Would it be the material pleasures of the here and now or the eternal luxury of treasures in Heaven? 

 According to Jesus, we cannot have it both ways! Striving after both forms of riches cannot successfully coexist as a double-goal in our lives. Or as Christ put it in a related teaching of his Gospel, “No one can serve two masters. For you will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24) It’s not that wealth is evil in and of itself. But a fat bank account and a more-than-sufficient income can fool us into thinking that we are safe and secure, self-sufficient and masters of our own destiny. They can fool us into thinking that we are secure, and unstoppable. That is, until the stark reality of our human vulnerability and mortality slaps us in the face! 

 There aren’t enough riches or pleasures in the whole galaxy to keep disappointments or disasters, sickness or death away from us. And we all know that the old saying is true which tells us that “money cannot buy happiness” yet we so often just keep acting as if it can. We see the truth of this saying manifested in the rich man in today’s story. He had it all and lived a basically good life and yet… something was lacking, something was holding him back from real satisfaction with life and with himself. His money could not buy him the happiness he desired and in frustration he turned to Jesus for the solution. The Lord was able to look into his heart and told him precisely what was lacking, but he wasn’t open to hearing it. He wanted the best of both worlds which simply cannot be done. His wealth trapped him and he was possessed by all that he owned. And so the gospel tells us, “He went away sad, for he had many possessions.” 

 In passing on this story to us in his version of the Gospel, St. Mark wants us to honestly look inside ourselves and discern what is holding us back from more fully following Jesus? Maybe it isn’t money or possessions. Maybe it’s lust or arrogance; maybe it is envy or a hurt that we refuse to forgive. Maybe it’s a wrong relationship or a destructive behavior that we do not feel strong enough to break out of. But if we truly thirst for eternal life, then we need to honestly ask ourselves: “What is it that I lack that keeps me from giving myself completely to Christ? What is holding me back?” 

 The description of the Word of God in today’s second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews can help with this personal diagnosis and its cure. It reminds us that Scripture is like a two-edged sword that can perform spiritual surgery, so to speak, and help us to cut out whatever blocks our full following of Jesus. This is why Pope Francis constantly reminds us to read at least a small portion of the Gospels daily. God’s Word has power to penetrate into our hearts, into our consciences, and to root out whatever does not belong to Christ. Like any medicine, it works over time and must be taken in daily dosages, but if we persevere in undergoing this spiritual treatment we will indeed gradually come to be free. 

 Jesus had offered the rich young man a pathway to freedom, but he preferred the comfort of his chains. He could not let go of the gold in his hand in order to grasp the hand of his Lord. Let’s not be like that. Let’s drop the gold of whatever it is that holds us back and take Jesus’ hand and follow Him, and allow him to lead us through life - with all its ups and downs - and finally bring us to that awesomely free and utterly fulfilling life with God that never ends.

Covenant or Contract?

 

Deacon Dave · Covenant or Contract?

Homily for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Gospel of St. Mark 10:2-16. Theme: Covenant or Contract? 

 This Sunday's liturgy focuses primarily upon the awesome mystery and meaning of marriage. Sacred Scripture begins with the creation and union of man and woman in Genesis and ends with "the wedding feast of the Lamb" in the Book of Revelation. So we see that the Holy Bible refers to marriage from its first to its last page. God gave marriage its natural origin and purpose and then Jesus elevated it to the supernatural status of a Sacrament, making matrimony a channel of his uplifting grace enabling spouses to preserve their union through good times and bad. 

 The Pharisees were known for trying to trap Jesus throughout his public ministry. In our Gospel reading their question about the lawfulness of divorce was intended to put Jesus between a rock and a hard place. They knew that divorce was not in God’s original plan for marriage, but they also knew that God’s great prophet Moses had allowed husbands and wives to divorce. So, where would Jesus stand in this seemingly contrary situation? Would he turn his back on the law of Moses which they held to be untouchable? 

 But our Lord doesn’t fall into their carefully set trap. He emphasizes that it was Moses and not God who allowed for divorce and refers them back to the Book of Genesis which asserts God’s original intention for marriage. He reiterates to them that when a man and woman get married they become “one flesh” by entering into a union which is both bonded TO God and bonded BY God. Thus Jesus says, “what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” This was a hard teaching for some who heard Jesus to accept and it remains a challenge for many today. It seems to me that a big part of the problem today is that people are using the same word (“marriage”) but they are using it to describe two related but different things! Let’s look at both viewpoints. 

 The Church sees God's design of marriage as a COVENANT. This means it’s intended to be a three-way bond between the Lord, the groom and the bride. The couple agrees to live out their relationship with God and in obedience to his Word. In return God pledges to be with them always and assist them. As the late sainted Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to say, "It takes three to get married!" This covenant made BY and WITH God can only be broken by God and can end only with the death of one of the spouses. 

 On the other hand, non-Christian sources see marriage as a CONTRACT and not a covenant. For them it is a man-made legal partnership by which persons enter into a legal agreement. And as a legal document it can define marriage anyway it wishes. It can also end the legal relationship upon the decision of the signers of the marriage license. A judge then declares the contract null and void and that the person is legally free to enter into another civil marriage contract. So you see the vast difference and divergence between the two definitions! 

The widespread confusion between covenant vs. contract is really what is at the heart of a misunderstanding of marriage. Being raised in a culture where the dominant media is more prominent than faith in their moral formation, children can grow up with a warped-image of matrimony. This media disinformation gives rise to the idea even among some Christians that the best and most normal “marriage preparation”,so to speak, is had by living together in disregard for God’s Word. It further muddies the matrimonial waters by claiming that all weddings are pretty much the same, whether it be a ceremony celebrated sacramentally in a church OR a civil service held at a vineyard (or some other desired venue). And finally, it delivers the fateful message that a marriage can end when hopes for how it should have been do not become a reality. 

 But there is a short and simple response to these errors promoted by the media and society in general. And it can be found in the sacred promise that is traditionally spoken at a Catholic wedding: “...to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do us part.” This is the real heart and soul of a holy matrimony that is lived out, day by day, by both husband and wife who mean what they say and who depend upon Christ to supply what they lack.