Podcast transcript:
It is hard to know if Jesus intends to shock his audience, or if it is just inevitable. His message though, firmly rooted in Judaism – would have been shockingly new for those who heard it for the first time. For us, however, perhaps because of repetition, we have heard the Parables for so long, that often their power may be lost to us. If this is true with that, it is even more true with the Lord’s Prayer. We say it so often, that its challenge has been diluted. So let us take this opportunity to read St. Luke’s unfamiliar version of the Lord’s Prayer to see what we are being told.

And let us begin by changing one word. If we were to begin the Lord’s Prayer by saying, “Lord, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,” we would perhaps not even notice the change. The Jews, who would have heard it originally, would not have been particularly concerned, either. Lord means the Almighty, and only He can hallow – make holy, make great – His name. We add nothing to God. Continue reading “17th Sunday Ordinary Time (11:15 AM – Fr. Smith homily)” →

Podcast transcript:
Good morning, everyone! It’s good to see you on this very beautiful Sunday morning, and I really hope that all of you continue to enjoy the summer months here, and make sure that we are always mindful that our time in nature is a way for us to, I think, strengthen our prayer life. So, I always try to encourage people on nice days to spend time in nature. And really, today’s readings get us to the heart of what is the purpose of prayer.

You know, we hear Jesus make it very clear in the Gospel today that whatever we ask, we will receive. You know, ask, you shall receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be open. I think for many of us, this is a very bold pronouncement that Jesus makes and one that we are somewhat confused by, because typically we fall into two camps or in 2 modes, when it comes to us in our prayer relationship with God the Father. For some of us, we may question what we want to ask God or we may not feel like our intentions are pure enough, or we may feel that we’re being selfish, or we’re fearing that work asking the wrong thing. So we don’t really go to God and ask him what we want because we just don’t think that maybe were worthy of that request, for whatever reason. Continue reading “17th Sunday Ordinary Time (Fr. Gribowich homily)” →

Podcast transcript:
The scripture this evening presents us with 2 different stories, yet stories that have a lot of similarities. The first reading, from the book of Genesis, is a story of Abraham as he greets and meets visitors that come in the desert. One of the reasons why we like that story, upon reading, in perhaps a more modern context, based upon what the experience that we have been sharing.

And we may write the story very differently: rather than going into his tent to gather Sarah to prepare food for these strangers – we would have probably gone into the tent, gathered the servants, got their weapons, and prepared themselves to protect themselves from these unknown strangers who were coming into their midst.

The desert was a dangerous place. Abraham was a very prosperous individual. And so he really had no knowledge of who these 3 individuals were. Were they coming to attack him? Were they coming to seize his possessions?

But he doesn’t do that. The story is very clear. He goes out to them. He welcomes them. He tells them, “Come, let me get you a basin to wash your feet, so you might then relax from the journey. And let me have my wife, my servants prepare a meal for you, so you may eat and be nourished as you continue on your journey.”

Why? What motivated Abraham to literally operate out of what would be the normal human ambition? And you would have to conclude there were always this difference in Abraham, in respect to God. You might have heard earlier in the book of Genesis, there is again this dialogue about Sodom, between God and Abraham – very intimate with one another. Abraham even gets to bartering with God about Sodom and Gomorrah. So Abraham had a very close relationship with God. And that gave him strength to be different and to act in a different way, out of what would be the expected behavior in that circumstance, that situation.

And when you come to the Gospel, it’s again, Jesus being welcomed to a home for the purpose of a meal. The focus of the story, we hear, seems to be on Mary – Mary who chooses to sit at the feet of Jesus.

You would say, what’s so different about that? Well again, remember the culture, remember the time. In those days, as is still true in many parts of the world today, there were great differences between the use of space and the roles of people. The women’s role was the kitchen – to prepare the meal, to serve. The dining room was where the men gathered, to converse and enjoy each other’s company, perhaps to debate, perhaps to resolve problems, perhaps to explore different opportunities.

Mary seems not willing to go into that box. Mary won’t accept it, and she won’t accept it: by invading and then sits, and not only invading and then sits, but taking the role of men at that time and in that society, by placing herself at the feet of Jesus, the position of a student in the presence of a teacher. And she does sit in a concrete way, because of the love of Jesus, to give expression, to give thoughts, and attention to the Word.

And it also fits into Luke’s work. To Each His Day – a review of the commentaries – one of the things that’s noted, said this particular episode of Mary and Martha, and the Gospel that we listened to last Sunday, of the Samaritan, are 2 unique stories that Luke includes in his Gospel, but not in the other Synotics or in John. They’re only found in Luke.

What was Luke contending? What was he trying to get at by including these 2 stories in his presentation of Jesus? Now, I think what Luke was really getting at – which was the overall theme of his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles – the overall theme that God has initiated a new day, and it takes a new order that is being brought into being, and that order is premised on courageous action. It is premised on trust, the trust that we have in loving God that tells us things don’t have to be as they are. They can be different. And they can be different, because if we listen to God, to the Word of God, it will show us a new way of living. It will show us new opportunities. It will show us the excitement of realizing our human potential.

Now yesterday, even thought it was rather subdued, it was the 50th anniversary of the first human walking on the Moon. You may have caught some of the preliminaries, the work, the presentations that came, that in a sense, echo mystery.

I know people there, I can see them in the mirror, sitting with a bunch of younger people that were very into seminary back then. And we had our youth group, and we were sitting in front of the television in one of their homes, watching this tremendous achievement – unthinkable, unthinkable! – that we could leave the atmosphere of the Earth, that we could travel in an unknown dimension, in outer space, and actually land, and put our foot on the Moon. And then we come back, which is probably even a more exciting new void, the fact that we had figured out how to do this. And this began a whole new moment. It excited the world – because to show that in the midst of all of the terrible things that were going on at that time.

Remember, it was the time of civil unrest. It was the time of Vietnam and a lot of other war. It was the time of just unspeakable, unspeakable events. Yet, with this, we see a vision, we see possibilities.

You might remember that the words of the astronauts had quite the religious significance. It was, they, in a sense, trusted in God, because they were really alone. Not only did they trusted in the Lord, but they were realizing the great potential that God had designed into the new, into the new and the unknown.

In a sense, the Scriptures today are saying the same thing to us. You don’t have to do things out of fear. But if you operate out of trust with God, if you are willing to allow yourself to be connected to the Word of God, then great things are possible.

You know I wish some day, I wish you could go through the experience of a moving, a very special and momentous moment in history. How much do we miss by not doing more like that? The space race didn’t end with landing on the Moon. It opened it up for all. And it is something that we will go and reflect on. How many years now have we had a space station travelling around the Earth? And how we have sanctioned this, because it does not represent the divisions of the Earth, of the human community, but it represents the unity of the human community. Arch enemies – the U.S. and Russia – working together in scientific endeavours to improve the quality of life of human people.

Today, I would think that positive use of our potential is satisfying. Since it represents, not with fear, which is promoted at this point in time, not with fear that is being promoted at this time. But hope, hope that we learn to respect, learn to listen, learn – in a sense – to meld together our potential. We have great opportunities, great opportunities, to great commonalities, which was like Abraham did in the desert, like Mary did in that home. There are great barriers.

Open the door to the wisdom of God – the new age, the new creation, to the glory of God, all ends to the Kingdom.

Podcast transcript:

At last week’s Gospel, a scholar of the law asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus – good teacher that he is – asked what he found written in the Law. The scholar answered to love God and neighbor. Jesus agreed with him and told him to put it into practice. Good lawyer and the scholar he asked for further clarification: “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus responded by a shocking story that forced the man – no doubt very reluctant – to include the hated and feared Samaritans as neighbors.

Today’s Gospel follows immediately on this, and asks how are we to love God. Jesus’s answer to this will be no less shocking. Jesus was an itinerant preacher, and would have expected to be greeted by the leading people of any town he visited. One family would host him in their home and would invite the leading men of the town to listen to him. The women, of at least that family, would be expected to prepare a meal for them. As Jesus was prestigious, they would be expected to outdo themselves to increase their status within the community. Before continuing, we should note that this was a noble activity, and should not be despised. Jesus is not making a general statement about sharing the housekeeping . He is saying simply to fulfill the injunction to love God, we need to listen to His word, about which is more important than any other duty or condition: male or female is incidental to discipleship.

Luke is very careful to maintain parallels. Several chapters before this, Jesus said to a potential disciple, “follow me.” The Man replied, “Lord let me go first and bury my father.” But Jesus answered, “let the dead bury their dead, but you go and Proclaim the kingdom of God.” Knowing, loving, and proclaiming the presence of God and the world is more important than anything else. That Jesus placed women as equal to men and were to be instructed and formed in the same way would have been shocking to his audience – those born Greek as well as Jew – as telling the scholar of the law that the Samaritan was his neighbor. The great commandment of God to love God and neighbor cannot be accomplished without undermining the social structures of the day.

As we look around us, we may find the same situation. What will need to be put aside, if not a way for us to be able to listen to God’s word, not to put it into practice. You can call attention to the situation on our own borders and we ask you to listen carefully to the announcement at the end of Mass, but there is still more to be said about the specific situation of men and women in the Church, particularly the early church.

As it happens, we will celebrate the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene tomorrow. Now we use the word Feast loosely, usually for any liturgical celebration of the saints. There are actual four levels of commemoration: Feast has the second-highest surpassed only by solumnities such as Christmas or the Assumption. Pope Francis has made the celebration for Saint Mary Magdalene a feast with its own prayers and readings. If you’re interested in this kind of inside ecclesiastical baseball, you can find more information on our website or in the weekly email yesterday.

The point is that we acknowledge St. Mary Magdalene as the Apostle of, or to the Apostles. She is found in all the Gospels usually leading a group of women, and is always mentioned first. Also she is the first in all the gospels to experience the empty tomb and to bring this news to the other apostles. Thus the Apostle – one sent – to the other apostles.

In all the Gospels it is women who first experience the empty tomb. Now some commentators have developed ingenious theological reasons for this. I do not find them compelling. I think they’re simply recording a fact, and indeed a rather embarrassing one: men weren’t there. Luke, always seeking balance, included the story of the male disciples on the road to Emmaus, but however beautiful a story, it seems a little bit too contrived and convenient for me. It has been noticed that the women were there to perform a religious task of caring for the body of Jesus – that this may have occurred, but it was simply a female role.

Let’s look at this for a moment. This week, I was out with some friends, and one of them introduced me to a few of his friends. They were businesspeople, so he told them that over the years I have merged a number of parishes and started a charter school. It was a language they could understand, and I am happy – dare say proud – that I was able to have the chance to do that.

But looking back over 40 plus years of ministry, they are not what I most remember, or for that matter of what I find the most valuable. What brought me the closest to Jesus and gave me whatever insights I’ve been able to pass on to you was obtained by visiting the sick, especially the dying. For most of my ministry I have cleared at least one – before I was a pastor 2 days – a week to visit people and their homes or nursing homes or hospitals and bring them communion but mostly to listen to them, and often just hold their hands. That has been my empty tomb. I know that this is a ministry which does not depend on being male or female, young or old, educated or uneducated. It is simply being present to people.

Isn’t it interesting, however, that it is usually done by women. Now, I understand that many women object to the statement of a “female genius”, or emphasizing supposed female talents. I’m certain that there are differences, but like Luke I question how important they are for a vibrant ministry. The call of Jesus is still the same, and I feel many Christian men become Marthas – busy about many things, but it is women who have chosen the better part that leads to knowing Jesus.

Jesus has left the tomb and is now found in his body – the Church – most clearly and strongly in its weakest members: the poor, the outcast, the sick. Those who minister to this body and as a literal sense as possible, will be the first to encounter Jesus. Whoever they are, they are like Mary, the sister of Martha, and have chosen the better part, no matter what others may say. They are like Mary Magdalene: they will be the apostles to the rest of us. They will have the most important message, no matter what we think is more important.