Carmelite homily for Thursday, March 12, 2020 – Lectionary 233 (Luke 16:19-31)
Today we have the well-known parable of the rich man (oftentimes called Divés) and Lazarus. And when they both died the rich man goes below and Lazarus goes above, to the bosom of Abraham. Why? Because one was rich and one was poor? Or is it deeper here? Here’s what Saint Therese writes, “Only God can see what is at the bottom of our hearts; we are half-blind.” I think it’s the bottom of our hearts that tells us, directs us, guides us to where we’re going. Let’s ask the Lord to shed great light on our hearts so that we’re not blind like the rich man.
Carmelite homily for Wednesday, March 11, 2020 – Lectionary 232 (Matthew 20:17-28)
Today we have a very sad passage because Jesus tells the disciples, ‘they’re going to hand me over to the chief priests and scribes who will hand me over to the Gentiles where I’ll be scourged and mocked and crucified.’ And how do the disciples respond? By saying, ‘who’s going to be first?’ And they send James’ and John’s mother there to even ask that question. Saint Therese has a very different response. Here’s what she writes, “Jesus, help me to simplify my life by learning what you want me to be and becoming that person.” I think that’s what Jesus is asking of all of us, and asking of the disciples – not ambition – but to simplify and be who they, and who we, are called to be.
Carmelite homily for Sunday, March 8, 2020 – Lectionary 25 (Matthew 17:1-9) – Second Sunday of Lent
Today’s Gospel is Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration, where, it says, Moses and Elijah appeared and were seen conversing with Jesus. It doesn’t say what they were talking about, but here’s what, I think, they were talking about. Moses spoke and said, “Jesus, I doubted. I struck the rock twice when God said to strike it. I almost failed my mission because of doubt. Do not doubt. And then Elijah would speak and said, “Jesus, do not fear. I was afraid of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel and I ran from them. And I almost failed my mission because of fear. Do not be afraid.” That’s the invitation of today’s Gospel; yes, doubt and fear are powerful motivators in our life and there’s no way we can escape them. I think the invitation is: don’t let them control you.
Carmelite homily for Saturday, March 7, 2020 – Lectionary 229 (Matthew 5:43-48)
Because today’s Gospel passage is the same, this homily is repeated from Sunday, February 23rd.
The last line of today’s Gospel says, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” And sometimes we can hear this and say – oh, I’ve got to be perfect then; I can’t make any mistakes; I can’t make any failures; I cannot sin; I’ve got to be — ‘ahhhh’ – uptight. And that’s not what it means at all. Because if you take it in the whole context, the Father lets the sun shine on the good and the bad alike and the rain fall on the just and the unjust alike, means to treat everyone with love. Here’s what Saint Teresa of Avila has to write about this. This comes from her book, The Way of Perfection (it makes sense), “Zeal for perfection is in itself a good thing. But it could follow that every fault the sisters commit will seem to you a serious breach; and you are careful to observe when they commit them, where they commit them, and then go and inform the prioress. Often, you don’t see your own faults because of your intense zeal for the religious observance of everybody else. What the devil is hereby aiming at is no small thing; namely, the cooling of charity and love the sisters have for one another. So, let each one look to herself only. For perfection consists of love of God and love of neighbor; whereas, perfectionism comes from the devil.” So let’s not confuse ‘perfection’ and ‘perfectionism’ today.
Carmelite homily for Friday, March 6, 2020 – Lectionary 228 (Matthew 5:20-26)
Today’s Gospel mentions your brother or your neighbor a lot. Don’t get angry with your brother. Don’t call your brother names. If you remember you have something against your brother be reconciled. If you brother takes you to court just let him do that. It’s all on how we treat one another. This is what Saint John of the Cross has to say, “Your neighbor will be precious in God’s sight for reasons that you may not have in mind.” I think that’s part of the reason we treat our brother, our neighbor so well; cause, we don’t know what’s motivating, what the intentions are, what’s going on there – God does. So let God do the judgement, I think, is the bottom line of today’s Gospel.
Carmelite homily for Thursday, March 5, 2020 – Lectionary 227 (Matthew 7:7-12)
We all know that Saint Teresa of Avila received great gifts in this life. Despite opposition, the reformation of the Order, foundation of many convents, a great spiritual life which sums up, she says, in Mystical Marriage. And the nuns reported that she would levitate in the chapel. Great gifts! Here’s what she writes, “I say only that prayer is the door to favors as great as the Lord granted me. If this door is closed I don’t see how he will grant them.” In today’s Gospel we have Jesus say, ‘ask, seek, knock and it will be given to you.’ What ties it all together but prayer? This is the invitation of today’s Gospel – to pray. The ask, the seek, the knock will be given to you. And if Teresa of Avila is right, the great favors given to her will be given to you.
Carmelite homily for Wednesday, March 4, 2020 – Lectionary 226 (Luke 11:29-32)
Because today’s Gospel passage is the same, this homily is repeated from Monday, October 14th.
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.
Carmelite homily for Tuesday, March 3, 2020 – Lectionary 225 (Matthew 6:7-15)
Because today’s Gospel passage is the same, this homily is repeated from Wednesday, October 9th.
Today the Gospel passage is the “Our Father.” Saint Teresa of Avila notes that there are seven petitions – you know, like “thy kingdom come” or “give us our bread” or “help us to forgive” – seven petitions to the Our Father. And she says, it is better to pray one petition mindfully than to pray the Our Father mindlessly. This comes from The Way of Perfection. So today, pray one petition of the Our Father instead of the whole Our Father.
Carmelite homily for Monday, March 2, 2020 – Lectionary 224 (Matthew 25:31-46)
Saint Therese reports in her autobiography, Story of a Soul, that there was a nun in the convent that no one got along with, including Therese. But Therese said, ‘she is a beloved child of God.’ So she said to herself, “I am resolved to do for this sister what I would do for the person I love the most.” I think that’s the call of today’s Gospel. We have the separation of the sheep and the goats where if someone is hungry or thirsty or naked or sick or in prison, we do something. But what about other things? Like lonely or ostracized or hurting or bullied? I think this is the call, that whatever we see right in front of us, do that. And that’s the action of a beloved sheep.
Carmelite homily for Sunday, March 1, 2020 – First Sunday of Lent – Lectionary 22 (Matthew 4:1-11)
For this First Sunday of Lent we have Jesus in the desert driven by the spirit and the devil comes to tempt him. And each temptation is heavier than the previous one. It starts off pretty small with ‘You’re hungry? Change these stones to bread.’ Not much of a sin actually. Then the next one, ‘throw yourself from the temple, angels will catch you, and everyone can ooo and ahhh.’ It’s probably a sin of pride. And the last one, ‘worship me, the devil, and I will give you control of the world.’ That’s a pretty heavy-duty sin. I think these sins are given to us in this graded sense to show how we can resist temptation – start small and work yourself big. Here’s what Saint John of the Cross has to say, “Through the practice of one virtue, all the virtues grow; through the indulgence of one vice, all the vices and their effects grow.” I think that’s what we see in this Gospel and that’s what this Lent can be about. Oftentimes we think, ahh, if I give up chocolate or give up coffee what good is that? That is a tremendous thing! It can change the world!
