"Are you ready to be baptized with the baptism of Christ?" | Homily on the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time @ Sacred Heart Parish, Omaha | 20th October 2024

 

“Blessed the Womb that Bore You and the Breasts that Fed You!"

Fernando, R. (2024, October 12). Online Ministries: Creighton University. https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/101224

Reading 1, Galatians 3:22-29

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Gospel, Luke 11:27-28

Two weeks ago, I wrote a newspaper article, an open letter to the newly elected president of Sri Lanka, entitled "Dear Mr. President..." In this letter, I reminded him that while his responsibilities to the nation are enormous, he should also prioritize his personal life, particularly his relationship with his aged mother. I wrote, “Your mother, like the rest of the nation, deserves your time. Because she was once first is why today you stand as the first citizen of our motherland.” Two close friends commented on the piece remarking, “Loved the last part...taking care of mother and the motherland,” and “Your mother should be so proud.” It got me thinking about what the president would have said.

I recalled that experience reflecting on the moment in today’s Gospel passage where a woman in the crowd praises Jesus' mother by saying, "Blessed the womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you!" But instead of simply accepting this praise of His mother, Jesus redirects the focus. He says, “More blessed still are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Jesus does not disregard the importance of His mother; instead, He seizes the opportunity to point to something greater—our relationship with God and our duty to live out His Word—the mission God has for each one of us. For Jesus, it was an opportunity to awaken the crowd to the idea that the greatest form of blessedness lies in obedience to God’s word, rather than in mere biological or social ties. He acknowledges the role of His mother, but He emphasizes that hearing and keeping God’s word is the true path to blessedness.

Just as Jesus moves from his personal relationship with his mother to his doing the will of God, in First Reading, Paul moves from the law to the faith revealed in Jesus Christ. This faith is what justifies believers, freeing them from the Law's constraints. Paul is clear that faith supersedes the Law, reflecting how individuals fundamentally relate to God, no longer through strict adherence to rules but through faith in Christ. This way, Paul declares that all who have faith in Christ are children of God, regardless of their backgrounds or social divisions–there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, or any other distinction whatsoever. This statement is revolutionary in its assertion that faith in Jesus Christ transcends all human distinctions, calling us to embrace the all-inclusive love of God that breaks down all barriers that divide us.

Put together, the readings of today invite us to examine our own lives and ask whether we are living out our mission, the Word of God, the Logos, or the personified love of God, that our faith in Jesus Christ has revealed. In our attempt to truly listen to and keep God’s word, are we willing to transcend our differences, look beyond our personal relationships and comfort zones, breaking down the barriers that divide us? Are we ready to elevate our perspective keeping God's mission at the forefront of our lives while maintaining love and respect for those around us?

Click on the link to read the article, "Dear Mr. President" https://www.themorning.lk/articles/CyOcacaeOcdKbtzH0LOM

Rigidity separates... Love unites...

Click here to read the reflection, "Rigidity Separates... Love Unites...." - St. John's Parish, Omha Newsletter

 

Dear Mr. President...

Click on th link to read the article, "Dear Mr. President" - The Morning Newspaper

අපි කොයි පාරද තෝරාගන්නේ? හැමදාම ගිය, හැමෝම ගිය පාරාද? නැත්නම්, වෙනසක් වෙන්න ඕන මගද??

හිතාදරයෙනි,

අපි මෙච්චර කාලයක් තිස්සේ චන්දෙ දුන්නේ දන්න අයට. ඒ හැමෝම අපිව අපි හිතනවටත් වඩා රැවටටුවයි කියන එක, අපි ඉන්න තත්වේදිහා අපිම මොහොතක් හැරිලා බැලුවොත්, අපේ මේ මාතෘ භුමිය වැටිලා තියෙන තැන දිහා ඇස් ඇරලා බැලුවොත්, අපොට හොදටමතේරෙන දෙයක්...

අපිට මීට වඩා ජීවිතේ වටිනාකමක් තිබිය යුතු, ලැබි යුතු නැද්ද? ඒ වෙනුවෙන් අලුත් දෙයක් තෝරාගන්න අපි කැමතිද? අලුත් කෙනෙකුටඅපේ චන්දෙ දීල බලන්න අපිට කාලේ ඇවිල්ල නේද? එහෙම කරලා ඒ අයටත් අපි වෙනුවෙන්, අපේ රට වෙනුවෙන්, අපේ මතු පරම්පරාවවෙනුවෙන් මොනාද කරන්න පුළුවන් කියල, අපි අවස්ථාවක් දීල බැලිය යුතු නැද්ද? එහෙම කරලා, ඒ අයත් අපිව රැවට්ටුවොත්, අපිටදැනෙන්න තියෙන කනස්සල්ල, කේන්තිය අඩුයි නේද, මොකද අපිත් අලුත් දෙයක් ට්‍රයි කරලා තියෙන නිසා සහ හොද දෙයක් පතාගෙන අපේතියෙන එකම උත්තරීතර අයිතිය වගකීමකින් යුතුව ප්‍රකාශ කරපු නිසා?

අපිව හැමදාමත් රවට්ටපු, ඉස්සරහටත් ඒ දේම කරනව කියල හිතේ දෙගිඩියාවක් තියාගෙන, තාත්තා අම්මා නිසා හෝ, පරම්පරා පාටනිසා හෝ, වෙන මොන හේතුවක් නිසා හෝ, හැමදාම දාපු දේකට කතිර ගැහුවොත්, අපි කරන්නේ පුරුදු පරිදි චන්දෙ දෙමිමක් විතරක්නෙමෙයිද? ඒකේ වගකිඉමක් අපිට තියෙනවද? එතකොට අපි අයෙමත් තෝරගන්න යන්නේ රජයට බැන බැන ඉන්න එක නෙමේද?

අනිත් පැත්තෙන්, අපි චන්දෙ නොදී හිටියොත් හෝ, අවලංගු වෙන විදිහට ඒක ප්‍රකාශ කරොත්, එතකොටත් අපි කරන්නේ, දේශපාලුවෝඅපේ අයිතීන් නැතිකරනව වගේම, අපි විසින්ම අපේ අයිතීන් නැතිකරගන්න එක නෙමේද?

එසේ වූ තැන, ඔය පත්වෙන කවුරු හෝ කවදාහරි දවසක අපිට සහ රටට හොදක් කලත් නරකක් කලත් අපිට ඒ දේ අගයකරන්න හෝවිවේචනය කරන්න හෝ අයිතියක්‌ තියෙනවද? එහෙම කරන එක සාදාරන හෝ සදාචාර නොවෙන්නේ අපි අපේ පලවෙනි පරම පුරවැසිඅයිතියවත් හරිහැටි වගකීමෙන් යුතුව ඉෂ්ට කරලා නැති නිසා නේද? වෙනසක් ඕනනම් එය පටන් ගන්න ඕනේ අපි තුලින්ම නොවේද?

ඒ නිසා, හැම චන්දයක්ම, ඔයාගේ චන්දෙත් ඇතුළුව, වටිනවා සහ උතුම්. ඒක වගකීමෙන් ඉෂ්ට කරන්න ඕනැ අයිතියක්. අතීතේ අපේමමිනිස්සු අරගල මැද, විප්ලව මැද, ලේ වැගිරීම් මැද්දේ දිනාගත්තු අයිතියක්. කාන්තාවන් වෙනුවෙන් ජගත් ඉතිහාසයේ විවිද රටවලබොහොම මෑත කාලයක් වෙනතෙක්ම සටන්කර දිනාගත් අයිතියක්. 

එපමණක් නොව, අපි අපේ චන්දය වගකීමකින් ප්‍රකාශ කරන සෑම මොහොතකම අපි ඉෂ්ට සිද්ද කරන්නේ අපි වෙනුවෙන් මේ අයිතිය දිනාගන්න සටන් කරපු, ලේ වගුරපු, අපේම උදාර මුතුන් මිත්තන්ට උපහාරයක්, එයාලගේ ලෙයින් කල කැපකිරීමට අනුස්මරණය... ඒ නිසා, අපේචන්දය ප්‍රකාශ කිරීම තුල අපි කරන්නේ අපේ නය යුක්තියක් ඉෂ්ට කෙරීම සහ වදකීමෙන් යුතුව මතු පරපුරට එය රැක දීමක්... මදක් නැවතීකල්පනා කෙරුවොත්, එය අපි සැහැල්ලුවෙන් බලනවට වඩා ගැබුරින් සිතිය යුතු මහා බැරෑරුම් දෙයක්...

අපි හැමෝම හැම දේටම දක්ෂ නැහැ. අපි හමොටම හැම දේම කරන්නත් බැහැ. දේශපලනෙත් අන්න ඒ වගෙ. ඒක රටකට අවශ්‍යයි. මොකද, දේශපාලනේ නැතුව අපිට රටක් ගෙනියන්න බැහැ. හැබැයි ඒක නිතර ඒ ගැන කතා කරන, විවේචනය කරන අපි හැමෝටමකරන්න පුළුවන් දෙයකුත් නෙමෙයි. එක කරන්න පුළුවන් ඒ ගැන දන්නා, ඒ ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ කාලයක් තිස්සේ තෙම්පරාදු වුන කෙනෙකුට විතරයි. ඒ නිසා, අපි අපේ චන්දය ප්‍රකාශ කල යුතු වෙන්නෙත් ඒ ය අතරින් කෙනෙකුට පමණි... 

ඒත්, ඒ ගොඩේ, අපිව ආයේ ආයේ අන්දපු, අපිත් හොදට ඇඳපු, පුවුල් පිටින් හවුලේ කාපු, තාත්තාගෙන් පුතාට කියන වැඩවසම්මානසිකත්වය පමනක් සුදුසුකම කරගත්තු, අහිංසක මිනිස්සු මෝඩයන් කියල හිතාගෙන මවාගත් මාන්නෙකින්, නමුත් ඇතුලේ කැකෑරෙනමහා දැවැන්ත ආත්ම අවමානෙකින් වජබුනු, 76 වසරක් තිස්සේ කොල්ලකාපු පොදු වත්කමින්, සූරා කාපු අපේ දහඩියෙන්, මහන්සියෙන්, රටේ සම්පතින් තමන්ගේ ජීවිතේ සැදෑ සමය බොහොම සුඛ විහරණයෙන් යුතුව ගෙවන්නැ ඕන මහා ගොඩක් ඉන්නවා...

අනිත් පැත්තෙන්, අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකම් තියෙන, රටට, දරුවන්ට, අනාගතයට යමක් කරන්න දැක්මක්, සැලැස්මක් තියෙන, කැපවීමක් තියෙන, පවුල් දේශපාලනය නැති, එත් අපි කවදාවත් අවස්ථාවක් නොදුන්න සෙට් එකකුත ඉන්නවා...

ඉතින් අපි කොයි පාරද තෝරාගන්නේ? හැමදාම ගිය, හැමෝම ගිය පාරාද? නැත්නම්, වෙනසක් වෙන්න ඕන මගද?? 

අපිට හොදහැටි තෝරාගන්න පුළුවන් වෙන්න ඕනෑ.. ඔයාගේ තේරීම වටිනවා... ඒක වගකීමෙන් කරන එක ඊට වැඩිය වටිනවා... ඔබවෙනුවෙන් තෝරාගන්න... ඔබේ දරුවන් වෙනුවෙන් තෝරාගන්න... රට වෙනුවෙන් තෝරාගන්න... අපිට මීට වඩා ජීවිතේ වටිනාකමක් තිබියයුතු බව සිතන්න... ඔබේ චන්දය වගකීමෙන් ප්‍රකාශ කරන්න... ඒ ඔබේ අයිතියි... ඔබට හෝ වෙන කිසිම කෙනෙකුට එය උදුරා ගන්නට ඉඩනොදෙන්න... ඔබෙන් පටන් ගන්න.. එය වෙනසේ ආරම්භයයි. 

To Know Christ Intimately to Love Him Ardently and to Follow Him Closely

Fernando, R. (2024, September 15). Online Ministries: Creighton University. https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/091524.html  

Reading 1, Isaiah 50:4-9

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

Gospel, Mark 8:27-35

Reading 2, James 2:14-18

In today's readings, Isaiah praises Yahweh for granting him the tongue of a disciple, while Peter uses this same gift to declare Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ. Contemplating Peter’s profound proclamation, we are called to reflect on our own knowledge, relationship, and discipleship with Christ. Such understanding is vital because, by knowing Christ more deeply—“You are the Christ”—we come to know ourselves more fully—“You are Cephas, and upon this rock, I will build my church.” As Saint Ignatius of Loyola teaches, it is our knowledge of Christ that propels us to love Him, which in turn inspires us to follow Him. Following Peter’s example and St. Ignatius's inspiration, therefore, the grace we seek today is, “To know Christ intimately so that I may love Him ardently and follow Him closely.”

As scripture attests, Peter's understanding of Jesus evolves into a profound relationship marked by both divine grace and human frailty. Despite having perfectly answered Jesus’ question, "Who do you say I am?", we see Peter rebuked by Jesus for protesting His impending suffering and death: “Get behind me, Satan! You are thinking not as God thinks, but as human beings do.” We see Peter promising Jesus that he would not abandon Him in His suffering, yet he later denies Him three times after His arrest. Peter runs fearlessly to see the empty tomb but then waits in fear in the Upper Room until the Risen Christ appears. Upon seeing the risen Lord walking on water, Peter jumps out of the boat (forgetting his lack of proper clothing), but soon begins to sink due to self-doubt. He is frustrated when repeatedly asked by the Risen Christ, "Do you love me?" but ultimately receives the responsibility to shepherd the Church: “Take care of my sheep…."

Despite these moments of divine grace and human weakness, Peter's deepening relationship with Christ empowers him to follow closely and be faithful to His call: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Peter remains true to this call even after Christ’s ascension, boldly proclaiming Him to the Jews and ultimately following Him to the point of his own unorthodox death on a cross.

Peter, with both divine guidance and human vulnerability at work within him, stands as a model for our own relationship with Christ. In light of this, we must ask ourselves today:

1. What is my personal relationship with the person of Christ today?
2. What have I learned about myself through my relationship with Christ?
3. How do I answer Jesus’s question to me today, “Who do you say I am?”
4. What steps can I take today to deepen my knowledge of Christ, so that I may love Him more ardently and follow Him more closely in the days to come?