Homily: August 14, 2022, Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

-

 “I have come to set the earth on fire.”

“Do you think that I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Jesus has told us He is meek and humble of heart, and we should learn from Him. We call Him the ‘Prince of peace’ and he prayed for us, “Father, that they may be one as we are one.”

So, why would he want to set fire? Why would He cause division?

First, the fire which Jesus wants to set for the earth is not a destructive fire, but that of the Holy Spirit. It is a purifying, sanctifying fire.

Second, Jesus came to preach the truth, but many do not want to accept the truth. Those who reject will oppose those who accept. This is the division caused by hardness of the heart and blindness of the mind. Only when all have accepted the truth, then the world will be of one heart and mind, united and at peace.

In this world we see divisions everywhere. Those of us who follow Jesus’ teachings become enemies of the world. Because the worldly ways and values are not God’s ways.

In India, we priests get called in very often to settle home disputes between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. But to set the record right, they were against each other not because one party wanted to follow Jesus. It was because both parties were not following Jesus’ way. Priests are called in to mediate, but often it felt like exorcism.

Recently a friend told me that two of his sons left the church because of their wives. If the sons had insisted on following their religion, their marriages might just break. One party has to give in. And it is easier to give up on church than to fight against the world.

But are we cheating ourselves - to trade eternal peace for temporal harmony?

In the first reading, prophet Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern because he prophesied against Israel. He proclaimed as the Lord commanded. He did not compromise his mission just to please the king for fear of his own safety. He accepted persecution for the sake of truth. And he had peace, not peace with the world, nor peace with men, but he had interior peace, peace with God.

That is why the apostles were not afraid of opposition, suffering or death. The martyrs did not fear when they chose faith in the face of tortures. What gave them strength and courage are the fire of the Holy Spirit and the true peace of Christ.

It may seem difficult, but we too can have the same strength and courage. When we say ‘yes’ to Jesus and ‘no’ to the world, we too will receive the fire. We may experience division in our worldly relationships, but we will find peace with God.

The second reading encourages us that “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us”. We are not alone in running this race.

There was a pond in my family farm which was 20 feet deep. For a long time, I didn’t dare to swim because I was afraid of drowning. But my brother and all my friends were having so much fun swimming. I wanted the same. I had to do it.

Then one day, I simply jumped in, struggled a few moments and sank. My brother and friends saved me. I kept trying and every time, they saved me, until finally, I struggled across the pond successfully. After a few more successes, I could really swim. I found my freedom by facing my fears. I could do that because I knew my brother and friends were there to rescue me if I did not make it. I was not alone.

Be not afraid to turn against the world and follow Jesus. Be not afraid to get rid of the burden of sin, and race ahead in holiness. Be not afraid to bear temporal divisions for the sake of eternal peace. Because we are not alone.

We are surrounded by clouds of witnesses. There are thousands of canonised saints and millions of unknown saints who went before us, who made the same choice. They are there to intercede for us, to help us, to save us. Let us not be afraid to let the fire of Christ come down into our lives. Amen.

Fr. Nivin Scaria
Rector, 
St. Ambrose Cathedral
Des Moines 

Comments

Post a Comment

Read

Homily: April 23, 2024, Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter (Exciting news).

-
Those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose because of Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. Antioch is approximately 300 miles from Jerusalem. So it seems that the good news of Christ had spread out far and wide very fast since the death of Stephen. Look at these early converted believers, how excited they are to receive and share the good news. When was the last time you were super excited about something and had to share it with everyone you know? A few days ago, a young friend of mine got enlisted into the US military, he called eagerly to tell me, "Father, I am a soldier." And in a few hours, he came to my office and told me again the same news. He was so excited, it was the best news he had been waiting for, and he went around telling all his friends about it within that morning. Little children are not good at containing their excitement. Often when my young nephews and nieces got new toys, they would immediately FaceTime with me to show
Read more

Homily: April 6, 2024, Saturday in the octave of Easter (First five saturday devotion.)

-
Thank you all for continuing to come for Saturday morning Mass. When I was little, my family used to attend Saturday morning Mass together and will always end with the Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. To me, that is a beautiful devotion for the whole family. I have wanted to start Saturday morning Mass when I first came to SAC but didn’t know if it will catch on with the parishioners. Last year, I attended an evening talk about Our Lady of Fatima at St. Augustine Parish and came to know about the First Five Saturday devotion, and I was again motivated. Finally, today being the first Saturday of the month, we can begin. Let me share a bit more about this devotion. Sr. Lucia was one of the three shepherd children visionaries to whom our Blessed Mother appeared for six months in 1917 in Fatima. Later when Lucia grew up and joined the convent in Spain, our Blessed Mother appeared to her again on December 10, 1925, with this message, “Behold, my daughter, my Heart encircled with thorns
Read more

Homily: June 19, 2023, Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time (parish Treasure)

-
Image
"As unrecognized and yet acknowledged; as dying and behold we live; as chastised and yet not put to death; as sorrowful yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing and yet possessing all things." In today’s first reading, we see St. Paul’s wisdom as he writes to the faith community in Corinth. He is teaching them to see positivity in every hardship, every problem, every suffering. To him, every situation, seemingly good or bad, is a blessing, if we have eyes of faith to see it. A good example is our St. Ambrose parish. In the diocese, we are one of the poorest parishes, despite being the Cathedral. Seventy percent of our parishioners are refugees, living every day in survival mode, working hard to build a basic home, to educate their children, simply to live in peace. They left their war-torn country to find a new home, starting from zero. They brought nothing with them, only faith and hope. Materially, they have next to nothing, so they are not able t
Read more

Homily: March 10, 2022, Thursday of the First Week in Lent

-
 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” When I was much younger, I wanted to become very rich, to have lots of money, a nice car, a big house etc.… It was a common village boy’s dream. I don’t think I actually prayed for it, but I surely dreamt about it often. What happened thereafter? Well, I am still dreaming about it. And I even pray for it now! Not for myself but for the parish. When I first moved to this parish, I was shocked by the financial situation, so I did wish and pray for this parish to be rich.  Money is indeed helpful in life but not the most important. Money solves a lot of problems only when it is used wisely. Being poor helps me learn to depend on God’s providence. So, my dream for the parish now is to be rich in God’s word, in community life, in prayerful spirit, in loving and caring for one another. I dream of hearing our prayers and singing rise-up strong and joyful to the heavens when we gather to prais
Read more

Homily: September 25, 2022, Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

-
From the gospel, “He raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side”. The poor man who went to heaven in this parable had a name: Lazarus. The rich man who went to hell had no name. Our name is our identity. Our relationship to God is our identity. And we are all children of God, He calls each of us by name, both on earth and in heaven. In another gospel passage Jesus told his disciples, “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). The rich man may have enjoyed a life of comfort and luxury on earth, but he did not have a relationship with God. Thus in Jesus’ story, he had no name. Now, how did Lazarus get to heaven? Was it because of his poverty. No. How did the rich man end up in hell? Was it because of his wealth? Of course, not. What we have or have not, is not the deciding factor of our destiny after this life.  Our eternity depends on how we use what we have been given. We do not know if the rich man committed any mortal sins in his life, but w
Read more

Homily: March 13, 2022, Sunday of the second Week of Lent

-
 The Lord God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can. Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”  “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession.” God made these two promises to Abram. For the people in ancient times, and for many even in modern times, having children as heir and owning land as property are two most important possessions in life. Abram had been leading a nomadic life for many years and his wife Sarai, already in her old age, was still childless at that time. So, Abram doubted and questioned, “how am I to know…?” Have you been praying for something important, bearing heavy burdens while waiting, trying to keep hopeful but still you received nothing? Would you also doubt and question God? In response to Abram’s doubt, God assured him by cutting a covenant with him, known as a covenant of the pieces. In ancient times, when people entered a treaty, a contractual agreement, they wo
Read more

Homily: February 27, 2022, Eight Sunday in the Ordinary Time

-
For readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022722.cfm There were two brothers who lived debauched lives engaging in terrible deeds. They were notorious yet not at all ashamed. Then one brother died. The surviving brother asked the local pastor to preach at his brother’s funeral. The pastor, aware of the brothers’ background, was reluctant to do it. The brother then promised to donate a big sum of money to the church and begged the pastor to preach with a special request. “Father, in your homily, you just have to say that my brother was a saint.” The pastor thought about it and agreed. The funeral day came. The pastor began his homily, “The man laid in the casket was a rotter; he led a horrible and debauched life. He was truly rotten to the bone. But compared to his brother, he was a saint.” Saintly life or shoddy living – Would the priest at our own funeral have to be paid to tell a lie? It all depends on what kind of fruit we produce from the way we live. Usually, we cannot
Read more

Homily: March 24, 2022, Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

-
 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.” Jesus’ message is so clear. We cannot follow Jesus partially. If we are not following him whole heartedly, we are not his followers. Today is the 20th day of Lent, not counting Sundays. We are halfway through. Do you remember what you decided you will do specially for these 40 days of Lent? Are you keeping up to it? While we are trying hard to grow stronger spiritually, the devils are working harder to keep us down. I wonder who is in the lead at this halfway mark? In my childhood years, only rich children in my village could afford to own bikes. When I was in the 5th grade, my older brother and I decided to collect wild nutmeg flowers from the nearby forest to sell, so that we can afford to buy a bike.  We would wake up very early in the morning and run to the forest to search and collect as many as possible. Many children from other villages were doing the same so whoever got there first would get
Read more

Homily: August 20, 2022, Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

-
“The angel led me to the gate which faces the east, and there I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east”.  These words in the first reading remind of the Orthodox and Oriental Churches. When they construct their churches, they would set their church altars to face the east, so that, when the priests celebrate Mass, they will be looking towards that direction. In India, especially in Kerala where I came from, all our church altars face the east. The concept is based on the expectation that Christ would come again, arriving from the east, and the priest is leading the community to the heavenly Jerusalem.  Interestingly, the Hindu temples also face eastwards.  And do you know, the houses in my village are built with the kitchens facing the east also. Why? It has nothing related to the coming of Christ. It has to do with the sunrise. The mothers of the households start cooking when they wake up, and the kitchens are open concept, so the rising sun will provide the much need
Read more

Homily: April 7, 2022, Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

-
 “Now we are sure that you are possessed.” I laughed when I first read this remark. The Jewish leaders have run out of clever accusations against Jesus, so they blame it on the devil! Interesting! They have witnessed the miracles He performed, and the wonderous things he did but they just refuse to admit these are signs and proof of His Divinity. They are so prideful and stubbornly insist that Jesus cannot be from God because he did not follow the laws of the Jewish Authorities. Jesus’ ways and teachings made them look bad, instead of admitting their wrongs, they now conclude that Jesus is possessed. Do we also behave the same way? When our argument is challenged or our authority is threatened, do we turn around to accuse others wrongly, just to defend ourselves? The Hundred Years’ War between France and England finally ended, with the help of a brave young lady who led the French army to victory. Her outstanding courage and wisdom came from divine inspirations from God and His messeng
Read more