Fr Greg, Carmelite priest – blog, homilies, fun and holy ideas
Carmelite homily for Wednesday, November 27, 2019 – Lectionary 505
In today’s Gospel Jesus warns us that they will haul us before kings and governors and into prisons, but not to prepare a defense beforehand for he will give us a wisdom with which to speak. I think that wisdom is our actions. That’s what Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity says, “By our actions we tell him of our love.” That is our defense – our actions, our love. “By our actions we tell him of our love.”
Carmelite homily for Lectionary 494 | Thursday, November 14, 2019
In today’s Gospel Jesus warns us against chasing when people say, “Look! Here he is! or Look! There he is!” Warns against chasing after that because we know, especially as Carmelites, that Jesus is here now. Elizabeth of the Trinity says this very clearly when she says, “I have found heaven on earth for God is in heaven and God is in my soul.”
Carmelite homily for Lectionary 667 – Solemnity of All Saints, Friday, November 1, 2019
In today’s Gospel we have the Beatitudes on this Feast, this Solemnity of All Saints. Sister Constance is a nun at Baltimore Carmel and she’s written a set of Carmelite Beatitudes. They’re available online. I’m not going to read them all, but just a few and you’ll get that feel for carmelite-ness in her Beatitudes.
Her list continues. The Beatitudes are paths to sanctity; whether they are Jesus’ in Matthew’s Gospel or Sister Constance’s, available to you online. The call is to be saints ourselves and we do this by being “Blesseds” in the world today.
Carmelite homily for Lectionary 150 – Sunday, October 27, 2019
A few years ago I was on a jury, a jury trial, that lasted ten days. I learned a lot. What was really interesting is the layout of the courtroom. In the courtroom at the highest level you had the judge – sitting very high. Next to the judge was the witness box on one side; the jurors on the other side, sitting up, and then the alternate jurors a step down. And then there was the main floor which was everybody else. So it was really based on judgment. The judge being the highest judge was the highest. The jurors being the next judges were the second highest. The plaintiffs and defendants in the witness box, the third highest. Then everybody else. A very vertical structure, based on judgment. This is exactly what Jesus is getting at in this example of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, oftentimes called the Pharisee and the Publican. There’s a lot of judgment going on here. That’s why the Pharisee is being condemned because he places himself so high – above the Publican, above all other men, all other people. Jesus calls us to be brothers and sisters. Jesus calls us to live a horizontal life. To gather with him around the table. To gather with him as his companions, as his disciples, as his apostles. To gather with him horizontally. Whenever we put ourselves vertically – hmmm, I think we’re distant from how he calls us to live, how he calls us to be, how he calls, how he calls us his brothers and sisters.
Busy days = Falling behind
These have been busy days and I’ve fallen behind. Please do not even notice that I missed a few days and we’ll pick up starting today.
Carmelite homily for Lectionary 467 – Monday, October 14, 2019
Instead of giving you a Carmelite quotation today, I’m going to give you my take on today’s Gospel passage. The people come to Jesus asking for a sign and he says, “no, because you’re looking for the sign of Jonah like in the time of Nineveh, or the time of Solomon when the Queen of Sheba visited. You don’t see what’s in front of you.” I think what they’re doing is they’re living in the past. Jonah was a great preacher and the people of Nineveh turned their lives around. Solomon was a great king and the Queen of Sheba and others came from great distances to listen to him. They’re living in the past. “We were great then with Jonah; we were great then with Solomon!” But they are great today with Jesus and they don’t see it. The call of today’s Gospel is to see the goodness and the greatness right in front of us.