First off, a special shut-out today to all our Dads, the physical, emotional, and in all other ways that you men out there share your lives with the People of God. I think too of all the Dads who have passed on, my own Dad, Barney and my father-in-law, Gerold. Blessings to all–with gratitude, Pastor Kathy
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My friends, once again, I find myself “conflicted” as I come to this homily. Many things have come across “my plate” so to speak this week, both good and not so good, which I guess is the reason for my state of mind. I will leave that for a bit and turn to the messages from Scripture that should give us pause and hope.
The 1st reading from Exodus is simply a recitation of how the God of the Israelites “carried [them] on eagles’ wings,” bringing them out of Egypt, that they might become “a priestly people, a consecrated nation.”
Being a “priestly people” in the Old Testament times simply meant, “to be chosen,” with some being “anointed” as representatives for the people. In the New Testament, we can say the same, with our brother Jesus, being named by Paul as the “high priest.” Through our baptisms each of us becomes part of this, “priestly people,” with the expectation of living, or at trying to live as Jesus did—this is what each of us has been “chosen” to do.
In our present day then, our brother Jesus calls women and men to be priestly representatives for the entire priesthood of the people. In other words, we are all included and called to live priestly lives. I am spending some time here to call attention to the fact that still too many clerics choose to have themselves spoken of as the “Right,” even, “Very Right Reverend, and such other titles. Makes one wonder whether there are some, “Very Wrong Reverends” out there. As far as I know, Jesus called women and men “to serve,” not to be “served and exalted.”
As I said earlier, I took a bit of literary license this week and chose the beginning of chapter 5 of Romans, verses 1-5 instead of the lectionary selection that follows those verses, 6-11. I did that because I wanted to pull us away from Paul’s incessant need and seemingly that of Church fathers, to lift up the notion that we “are sinners” and that Jesus died for our sins.”
The 1st 5 verses of Romans lead us instead, to “hope” through “grace,” as we strive to become, “all that God has intended.” This is why Jesus came to be one of us— “to show us the way,” not to “brow-beat” us with the thought that we are sinners, and “hopeless” but for Jesus.
But, we do have reason “to hope” that we can become “what God intended” for each of us, because as Paul continues in this alternate reading, we don’t do it alone, but through the holy Spirit, God’s love, “has been poured into our hearts.”
The gospel from Matthew basically says the same—God is for us, not against us. Matthew tells us that when Jesus looked upon the people, [his] “heart was moved.” Jesus recognized them as, “sheep without a shepherd.” We must do the same, my friends.
We may not be able to relate to terminology about “sheep,” but we can make our own connections in the present time to people we see who are missing something vital in their lives, and then allow “our hearts to move” for the needy in our midst. Jesus tells us that “the harvest is bountiful, but the laborers are few.”
In the beginning of this homily I said I came to its writing in conflict. As I have reflected on the readings for today, I have to question why our beloved Church in its hierarchy would spend any time “reverencing the Bread of the Altar,” the Eucharist, and not reverence that same Eucharist in the people who are pleading with them to be listened to, and accepted for who they are, created in God’s holy image.
I understand, from what I have read, that the push from the hierarchy, especially in this country, to instill within believers, an ever-greater reverence for the “Body and Blood” of Christ and bring them back to the Church, to believe again in “transubstantiation,” which says that even though the elements appear as “bread and wine,” they are, in fact, real flesh and blood.
As I said last week, we must get beyond surface meanings that allow for reverence in a “small way” but not in the greater way that Jesus sent those first disciples out to do.
There can be no action that “reverences” the “bread on the table” without likewise reverencing that same “bread” in women, LGBTQ+ folks, children and their families struggling with trans-gender issues, and so on. To reverence the Eucharist on the table without taking that same action into our world, addressing all the issues that the hierarchical church is consistently on the wrong side of, is to cancel out the 1st action!
A fine-tuning of this would be to say as the priest did recently at a family wedding, “If you are not a practicing Catholic, you can’t receive, but please come forward with your hands crossed over your heart and receive a blessing.” At this point, the “Eucharist” being offered to some, but not to all, ceases to be the Eucharist, as Jesus gave it originally with the attention that it was meant for all!
As Jesus said, “the harvest is bountiful, the laborers are few…” Never has our world needed these laborers truly committed to the path of Jesus more! Amen? Amen!
All Are One Church 