Homilies

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https://cdr.creighton.edu/handle/10504/4490

These are homilies I have prepared. Some of these may represent drafts rather than the final document. If you want to comment on these homilies, please send me an email. My address is rjjizba@gmail.com.

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Homily 27 May 2018
(2018-05-27) Jizba, Richard
Homily, 26 August 2018
(2018-08-26) Jizba, Richard
Homily, 29 July 2018
(2018-07-29) Jizba, Richard
Homily, 28 October 2018
(2018-10-28) Jizba, Richard
Jeremiah 31:7-9; Psalms 126:1-2,2-3,4-5,6; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52||When I begin to prepare a homily, I try to read the scriptures about two weeks in advance, so that I can mull them over a while. My habit is to begin by reading the Old Testament passage, then the Psalm, and then the Gospel, putting off the New Testament Letter until the end. |I do this because on Sundays, the Old Testament readings and the Gospel are always related. That's how the lectionary is designed. The New Testament Letter is always independent of them, especially during Ordinary Time.|There is an old adage that says: "the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New," and it's well illustrated by the lectionary.|* * * *|So, a week ago Thursday, I was at RCIA when the discussion turned to the question of Jesus and his relationship to the Jewish law and ritual practices.|Jesus was often accused by the Pharisee's of violating the Sabbath prohibitions against work and sometimes for violating purity laws – why do your disciples eat with unclean hands? – so it's not unreasonable to question the Jewishness of Jesus, especially if one has but a passing familiarity with scripture. |Thinking about this discussion after class, I realized that this is probably a question for many people, not just for those in RCIA.|* * * *|Part of difficulty of understanding the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees is that we aren't familiar enough with the Old Testament to know exactly what is said and what isn't. |For example, in Exodus and Deuteronomy there is an absolute prohibition about doing any kind of work on the Sabbath. But these passages don't include a detailed exploration of what does and doesn't constitute work. It certainly doesn't say that you can't heal a sick person. So, the Jewish scholars had to develop the rules that defined work.|When Jesus is arguing with Pharisees, it's often in this context that the debate takes place. It's also important to remember that within the Judaism of Jesus day, there wasn't always agreement about how to interpret things in light of the Law.|Remember the passage when a scholar of the Law asked Jesus "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus replied, "what is written in the Law, how do you read it?" |There were, in fact, so many Laws that by their own admission, the Jews were never able to observe the Law in its entirety without violating at least one of its precepts. |It's why there is an annual Day of Atonement. It's also why offerings – the ritual sacrifice of animals or the offering of gain – were so central to Jewish life.|To understand how prevalent these sacrifices were in Jewish life, consider that the first seven chapters of the book of Leviticus concern ritual offerings. At the end of chapter seven, it is summed up by the following passage:|This is the ritual for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the purification offering, the reparation offering, the ordination offering, and the communion sacrifice.|There were so many laws to violate, so many ways of becoming ritually unclean, that the list of sacrifices for purification had to be extensive as well.|* * * *|The ancient Jewish purity laws and the sacrificial system gave them a visible, tangible expression of their identity as the People of God. For a culture that was constantly overrun, conquered, and sometimes enslaved, their traditions provided them with a vital social cohesion.|But the Law was never intended as end in itself. It was intended to give the Jews their identity as the People of God, that is, a people who would be a shining light to the nations, drawing all of them to the worship of the one, true God.|How did ritual purity come to trump some of the other parts of the Law, such as the one in Leviticus chapter 19, verse 18: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself?" If you failed to serve your neighbor as you ought, was it really sufficient simply to offer a ritual sacrifice instead?|* * * *|Jesus was called Emmanuel, which means "God with us," and that made him the greatest prophet of all. Yet he was still a prophet in the line of the Old Testament prophets. How could he be otherwise? Remember: The New Testament lies hidden in the Old.|It was a recurring message of the Prophets that cultic practices were meaningless, even hypocritical, unless they were accompanied by an attentiveness to God's will.|Listen to the prophet Isaiah:|What do I care for the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD. In the blood of calves, lambs, and goats I find no pleasure. To bring offerings is useless; incense is an abomination to me. |When you spread out your hands, I will close my eyes to you; Though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood! |Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.|or listen to Psalm 51:|For you, O God, do not desire sacrifice or I would give it; a burnt offering you would not accept. My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn.|In this case, I don't think that the New Testament is hidden in the Old. It's right there … plain to see.|* * * *|If we sometimes fail to see the continuity between the Old and New Testaments, I think we also miss that the Old Testament isn't simply revealed in the New, but that it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. By offering himself as the one, true and perfect sacrifice, he brought the sacrificial system to completion … and created a New Covenant with his people.|It is no surprise then, that in the Prophet Jeremiah we read:|"See, days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people."|* * * *|I didn't preach today about the readings, because after reflecting on the discussions in RCIA, I wanted to encourage you to listen more closely to the Old Testament readings in the weeks and years to come.|My hope is that as you do, you will come to appreciate that the "the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New." |And maybe, unlike me, you won't have to work so hard to explain it.
Homily, 30 September 2018
(2018-09-30) Jizba, Richard
Numbers 11:25-29; Psalms 19:8,10,12-13,14; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43,45,47-48|* * * *|Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. ... You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure ... You have stored up treasure for the last days.|* * * *|A couple of years ago, my youngest son, who is now grown with a family of his own, said something that surprised me and that I have been thinking about ever since.|When he was young, probably in late elementary school, our family finances were pretty tight. We had a nice house, but it was small; we had good cars, but they were older and nothing fancy; and we couldn't buy the kids all the expensive stuff that their friends seem to have. After we paid all our bills, bought groceries and the like, there wasn't any money left over. Such things as cable t.v. or family dinners at restaurants just weren't in budget.|Well one Sunday he noticed the check that we put into our weekly Sunday envelope for church. I don't remember what we giving back then, but it wasn't much, at least in my opinion, but to him it seemed extravagant and it made him angry, though he never said anything … for almost twenty years.|What he said made me think back to those days. Even though things were tight financially, I had a good job with good benefits. No illness, no injury, would push us into poverty. My wife had had started working again after staying home when the kids were little. She was a teacher so we had wonderful summers which included long camping trips all over the country. We were, simply put, very blest. And being blest, I felt we needed to give what we could to the church and to other charities. In fact, I always wondered if we should've given more than we did. But there was no way I was going get that across to my son.|* * * *|Every Sunday this month we have heard a short excerpt from the Letter of James. We finished today. Next Sunday we'll move on to Paul's letter to the Phillipians and leave James behind. |The letter of James is an exhortation to moral and ethical living following the teachings of Christ. In fact, much of what James says can be found in the Sermon on the Mount. The parallels are strong and numerous.|Today's reading is blunt and challenging, especially if you are well off:|Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. ... You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure ... You have stored up treasure for the last days. Yet your wealth will rot away and be a testimony against you.|It's a truly harsh warning, but bear in mind that two-thousand years ago, in the world of the first Christians, there was no social safety net. If you lived in abject poverty, that was just too bad … unless of course, those who were better off would practice charity … and that is exactly what God expects of us.|In continuity with the Old Testament prophets, Jesus taught that we had an obligation to care for the poor, the widow, the orphan, the sick, and the outcast. Since God hears the cry of the poor, then we too must hear it and respond, because all of us are children of God.|And so, James says in the opening paragraphs of his letter: |Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.|And that's something I always have to struggle with in my spiritual life: am I deluding myself? Should I do more?|* * * *|My wife and I are no longer living on the edge financially. We are in good shape for retirement. At least, that's what my retirement advisor tells me.|And sometimes, that bothers me:|You have stored up treasure for the last days. Yet your wealth will rot away and be a testimony against you.|How do I figure out if I am doing enough for those in need?|In 1891, Pope Leo the XIII wrote that: "No one is commanded to distribute to others that which is required for his own needs and for those of his household; nor even to give away what is reasonably required to keep up his condition in life." |Then he continued: "When what necessity demands has been supplied … it becomes a duty to give to the indigent of what remains."|So he reminds us that whoever receives an abundance of blessings from God, whether they are material blessings or gifts of the mind, is obligated to use them not just for himself, but for the benefit of others. We are stewards of God's gifts, not owners.|* * * *|And so, I am back where I started. |Have I gone beyond what necessity demands in maintaining my standard of living? Am I generous enough or could I do more with my time, my talent, and my treasure?|My retirement advisor can help me figure out if I have enough money to retire, but he isn't likely to say whether or not I have too much. St James, all the Prophets, and the Church can warn me about my obligations to the poor. But the one person — the only person — who can truly help me discern if I am doing the right thing is God.|To quote from the Catechism: |"Deep within his conscience, man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment. . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . . . His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths."|My point is simply this, I can't tell you that James' warning to the rich is something that you especially need to hear. All I can do is remind you — and myself — that we need to sit with God in prayer and talk him about it, asking "am I a doer of your word, or am I just deluding myself." Then, we have to listen for the quiet voice of God, deep within our hearts, for his answer.

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