My friends, this week, because I was preparing for our good friends, Mary Ann and Ed Sinclair to visit, I opted for using much of an old homily from 3 years ago which many of our newer folks haven’t yet heard, the rest have probably forgotten, and as the Spirit and I looked it over, it still seemed to be quite relevant. And of course, I will update a bit too. And for Mary Ann and Ed’s benefit, I often tell this group that each week’s homily is what the Spirit and I do together – I felt She was giving me permission to take a short cut this week. So, to begin with, I would like to share two stories to set a focus for the readings and message from the Scriptures for this weekend.
The first story came to me from Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) as I was driving to Lacrosse 3 years ago at this time. MPR’s morning show was looking at how animals, cats, and dogs, specifically, affect the lives of humans. We know that for most pet owners, the relationship with their animals is a positive one.
This 1st story is about a cat named Jasmine and her human friend; I will call Julie. It seems that Julie was in a bad “human” relationship wherein her life was often being threatened. As is usually the case in such situations, Julie routinely did nothing to protect herself, until one day, her attacker threatened Jasmine’s life. This last threat caused her to act—she got a restraining order, and as she said, “That was the end of that.”
Later, she got into a good relationship and was planning her wedding. One week before the big event, Jasmine died. Julie said, “It felt like Jasmine knew that now I was in good hands and that she could go.”
The second “story” isn’t really a story per se, but more of an explanation for a strongly held belief. The regulars here know that I often call our Winona/Rochester diocesan bishop to task as he seems lost at times in the ethereal to the detriment of the People of God in the present. Bishop Robert Barron, wrote, 3 years ago with a great deal of emotion in an issue of The Courier, our diocesan paper, his feelings about the June 15, 2023, Eucharistic Congress held in Mankato, Minnesota that year. And the thing is, 3 years later, he still feels this way.
In common parlance, we could say, “He was over-the-moon” with how the event played out—stating, [It was] “one of the greatest days of my priesthood.” His joy was truly about the great number of people who attended and of their reverence for the “real presence,” body and blood of Jesus on the altar.
Within his comments for The Courier, the Bishop shared some of his message to the people who attended the Eucharistic Congress. I was taken aback by the following quote from him:
“I do believe that in the years following the Second Vatican Council, we tended to de-emphasize doctrine and hyper-emphasize social justice. One bitter fruit of this is that many of our young people cannot articulate why it makes sense to believe in God; another is that 70% of Catholics don’t believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. As Jesus himself demonstrates clearly, the first great expression of compassion is teaching. So, it remains true today.”
My friends, I placed the 1st story of a loving cat and her human friend alongside an episcopal explanation of doctrine, in the words of each “storyteller,” as examples, of “real presence.” I will let that sit for the time being as we look at the Scripture message and challenge for today.
In the 1st reading from the prophet, Isaiah, we hear: “My word will go forth from my mouth and will not return to me empty, but will carry out my will…” Bishop Barron seems to be caught up in the fact that 70% of Catholics don’t believe in the “real presence” on the altar—in his mind, that the elements of bread and wine are actual human flesh and human blood.
I don’t recall our brother Jesus ever saying that this is what he wanted from us. Furthermore, with all due respect, I believe the Bishop’s comments about the focus of Vatican II and the movement away from doctrine to social justice is indeed what Jesus always asked of us—not that we get caught up in doctrine, for doctrine’s sake.
Again, with all due respect, does it really matter if 70% of Catholics don’t believe in transubstantiation, but do instead believe in the real presence of Jesus within us and each and every person we meet? It should be remembered that Jesus in his earthly life railed against the apparent need of his fellow Jews in fastidiously keeping over 600 rules and regulations for daily living, yet not showing compassion for the poor and suffering on the fringes of their society.
I believe the bishop has it all turned around. He is also lamenting that young people can’t articulate, “why it makes sense to have God in their lives.” I would want to know what his definition of God is in order to fully comment. I personally know many young and younger people, including my own two adult children and their spouses who are not in agreement with what they hear this bishop proclaiming about “real presence,” yet I believe they hold their own definitions of God, that in many ways guide their lives.
Let’s return for a moment to my 1st story about Julie and her cat, Jasmine. I suggested that this is one of “real presence.” My definition of God as depicted by our brother Jesus, who said, “If you have seen me, you have seen Abba God,” is one who loves us in an over-the-top way as shown in the parables of the Prodigal and that of the Good Shepherd, to name just two. In other words, our God wants good for us in this life, not bad, and through the faithful love of Jasmine, Jesus’ (God’s) real presence was there for Julie.
None of us gets to see God in this life, but we do get to see each other, our pets, and the beauty of and strength in nature—what wonderful opportunities for our God to be present to us! As an aside, I have a friend who lives alone, except for her cat, Silky, and my friend, Linda, always ends all her letters to me signing both her name and that of her cat. Let’s not make it so hard to see our God who is continually present to us in all of the above ways! And of course, this can only happen if we, as Matthew says in the gospel today, have “eyes that truly see, ears that truly hear, and hearts that can truly love.”
I am presently reading a book from a friend entitled, The Four Vision Quests of Jesus. This of course comes out of Native American culture, and the author, Steven Charleston has stated a difference that he sees between white folks and Native Americans: “White folks tend to live with the notion, “I will believe it when I see it,” whereas Native peoples live more by the idea –“You will never see it, if you don’t believe it.”
My friends, our faith calls us to go so much deeper than belief in physical elements—we must find Jesus’ real presence in each other, in those who are abused, even, if possible, in the abuser; and in those who suffer injustice in so many ways because of how and where they happened to have been born…
Paul, in his letter to the Romans today, prays the prayer, I believe, of our brother Jesus who wept over Jerusalem shortly before he died, because even his closest followers just didn’t get it. Paul says, “the entire creation has been groaning in one great act of giving birth…”
Paul continues in his encouragement, that we be “a revelation to the world.” If we check the definition of the word, “revelation,” we find that it means, “a surprising and previously unknown fact.” The switch of how belief happens in white folks versus Native Americans is an example of a “surprising fact!”
In the words that I quoted from Bishop Barron above, he stated that, “the first great expression of compassion is teaching.” If this bishop is intent in keeping us “stuck” in “doctrine” rather than “social justice,” as proclaimed by Vatican II, then his attempts to bring more young and older people into the Church will be akin to, “the seed that fell on rocky ground where it had little soil and because it had no depth, when the sun rose…it withered away.”
My friends, coming now to the present, the readings today do give us hope – Isaiah tells us in the 1st reading that “God’s word will be fulfilled” [!] Paul tells the Romans, “The world will be freed from the slavery to corruption.” Additionally, Paul’s words, “we groan inwardly, while we wait…” fit the times in which we live. Jesus’ words give us hope too because he lays out what can happen to “the Word” that falls on good ground. Let us pray today for each other that the “good seed” falling on our “good ground” will yield a “fruitful harvest in us, for us, but for others too!. Amen? Amen!
All Are One Church 