Daily word, 26 Jul 18

Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the BVM, Feast (in Canada) (26 Jul 2018)

Sir 44. 1, 8, 10-15; Ps 132; Mt 13. 10-17

Homily of Fr. Paul Panaretos, S.J. on 8-day Directed Retreat

Legacy of Faith

The character of their daughter shows us the kind of people Joachim and Anne were. Mary’s “strong character…in making decisions, her continuous practice of prayer, her devotion to the [life] of her faith, her steadiness at moments of crisis, and her devotion to her relatives—all indicate a close-knit, loving family.”¹ Similarly, Jesus grew to have a human character shaped in no small measure by Mary and Joseph.

Tradition long recognized that all creation is indebted to…Joachim and Anne: their daughter provided hu-man nature to God so God in Jesus could save it.² The disciples of Jesus were indebted to him, especially for imparting knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven. Their knowledge was key because the disciples were to continue Jesus’ mission; he told them how: Go…make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you.³

You and I continue to be taught by the Spirit⁴ of Jesus—the reason we see and hear in blessed ways that contrast with other teachers. Nothing and no time can limit the Spirit; often the gift of retreat is our felt-knowledge of Jesus’ self-gift. The fruit of being taught by the Spirit retreat makes clearer for us: we have the mind [the attitude] of Christ Jesus.⁵

All spirit-gifts are personal. To have the attitude of Christ is the gift that makes us like the disciples: Jesus’ gift of his spirit makes us apostolic. To have the gift of Jesus’ spirit betroths each of us to Jesus and empowers us to make new Christians in our turn. To have the attitude of Christ sets us on a public, royal mission: Jesus’ spirit makes us prophetic—we notice God more readily and desire to be more in sync with God. As we note the particular ways God graced us this retreat recall we freely received them to give a human face to God’s life, mercy, fidelity and justice. The same is the legacy of Joachim and Anne, Mary and Joseph, Jesus and all Christians who have helped us choose the legacy of faith and discover our ways to extend the victory of the cross.⁶

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1. Franciscan Media on Sts. Joachim and Anne.
2. On the Birth of Mary, Homily 6 by St. John Damascene; the name Jesus means God saves.
3. Matthew 28.19-20.
4. 1Corinthians 2.13.
5. 1Corinthians 2.16; [Philippians 2.5].
6. Liturgy of the Hours, Intercessions, Morning Prayer, 15^th Friday of the Year.

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Wiki-image by Shivsharan Trasi Sunlight breaking through trees CC BY-SA 4.0

Daily word, 21 Jul 18

Fifteenth Saturday of the Year (21 Jul 2018)

Mi 2. 1-5; Ps 10; Mt 12. 14-23

Homily of Fr. Paul Panaretos, S.J. on 8-day Directed Retreat

Three Windows

R

etreat invites us to get in touch with our emotions—with the deeper, rest of ourselves. Our scriptures offer us three windows to help us do that. Prophet Micah, a psalm and Pharisees. Micah was a contemporary of Prophet Isaiah. Jerusalem was central to each one’s ministry. Isaiah was a native of Jerusalem; Micah was not: and not from another city but from the foothills of Judea. Micah was resisted and mocked more sharply because he was an outsider as well as a prophet, especially when he sounded punishment. When he sounded salvation some wagged their heads suspicious of his words. Are we trusting God? God’s word to us as God embraces us on retreat?

Window2: the Church prays our responsorial psalm monthly. God will not forget the poor is one of its refrains.¹ It offers me close felt-connection with Pope Francis. At his election another cardinal said to him, “Don’t forget about the poor,” Francis recalled. “And that’s how in my heart came the name Francis of Assisi [to take as pope].”² Feeling connected to Pope Francis and his mission increases my sensitivity to the poor. Do we notice God connecting with us? How are we responding?

Window3: Others connect with Francis in various ways. The ways often stir greater affection for God. The gospel selection offers a contrast: religious professionals rejecting God’s desire with hearts full of malice. In a synagogue Jesus had just healed a man’s withered hand.³ The Pharisees could not absorb the wonder of the moment. They bolted from the synagogue; with their hated rivals, the Herodians,⁴ they conspired how to put Jesus to death. Theirs was strong hatred of Jesus!

Jesus held out hope for Pharisees: those who hate strongly can turn to love strongly. You and I may not hate, but other emotions can distance us from God. What is our emotional temperature? are we warming to God, to Jesus, to Mary? Don’t fear emotions; welcome Jesus or his mother or other sainted people to join you as you are. As we get in touch with them we get in touch with our true selves.

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1. Office of Readings, Tuesday, Week 1 of the 4-Week Psalter.
2. Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes.
3. Matthew 12.9-13.
4. Mark 3.6.

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Wiki-image Jesus healed the man with a withered hand PD-US

Sunday word, 15 Jul 2018

Fifteenth Sunday of the Year B (15 Jul 2018)

Am 7. 12-15; Ps 85; Eph 1. 3-14; Mk 6. 7-13

Homily of Fr. Paul Panaretos, S.J.

Gospel Transforming

Today’s Word seems to point in too many directions at once: Amos was one of the prophets; Jesus sent his apostles to prepare his way by preaching repentance; St. Paul praised and thanked God in an extended way in his letter to the Ephesians. Let me offer what the readings share and how they encourage our Christian outlook.

The first reading and the gospel share this: God chose and continues choosing unprepossessing people like us to advance God’s desire for our world. Take Amos. He was a shepherd and pruner of trees. The priest Amaziah was royal chaplain; he focused more on keeping the court cool than on God’s desire for God’s people. Then as now to keep close to God’s heart does “challenge us and [and may] demand a real change in the way [we] live.”¹ God called someone open to God’s desire—Amos—to announce God’s desire instead of a professional religious line that would not promote true growth. What better way to begin than for Amos to go the king with God’s message?

Jesus called ordinary people—fishermen; an activist; one despised for colluding with Roman occupiers; another swayed by money; all seekers of God’s desire. After they had been with him a while Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick. Jesus sent them to join his work to announce God’s desire in deed: they exercised authority over unclean spirits as Jesus did; they made God’s presence felt. Both the journey and unclean spirits deserve comment.

Ancients recognized nonhuman beings and ranked them according to power: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; other gods, archangels, angels, spirits. Unclean spirits disturbed human well-being in all manners of ways. Jesus kept authorizing his apostles with power over unclean spirits throughout their tour.

We miss how extraordinary was the authority Jesus gave them if we think in our North American ways. You and I think nothing of traveling; yet in the ancient Mediterranean one would not travel unless one had to leave one’s extended family and the village: both provided a social network and the necessities of daily living. To accept Jesus’ authority challenged what the apostles knew about safety and prudently staying safe. Sending them two by two was more than a strategy. Two by two let each be for the other an extension of their apostolic family: the social network Jesus established with them.  That was more vital than being six pairs carrying Jesus’ message in six different directions at once. In a word, the apostles had all they needed both to perform the mission on which they went and to weather unexpected events along their way. Jesus made his authority their authority, something they could not give themselves.

Jesus sends us on his mission: we make him known by our choices and our actions. Like the first apostolic pairs we receive what we need. St. Paul expressed it this way: The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. While we may not feel all their effects now, they are ours. Trusting our Creator and Redeemer changes our outlook. We are what we are now; what we are now need not paralyze us from becoming who God creates each moment. We have been baptized into Christ Jesus “to bring[] the gospel and holiness to [all], and [transform all] things through the spirit of the gospel.”² Our baptisms in Christ are our power and our authority to do that. 

In your daily 15 minutes with Jesus this week

• Pause in the company of our triune God.
• Ask the apostles to present us to Jesus.
• Chat with him: praise him for becoming human for us; speak any hesitation to be his apostle today.
• Entrust ourselves to Jesus and ask for the grace to infuse our world with Jesus’ Spirit by how we live.
• Close saying slowly the Lord’s Prayer: it is our going-on-mission prayer. Praying it keeps us close to the apostles, whose mission we extend as we put into practice our hope,  faith and love.

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1. Pope Francis, “On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World,” 66.
2. Second Vatican Council, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity 2. The Abbott translation was used above.

Link to this homily’s Spiritual Exercise

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Wiki-images Sending Two by Two PD-US; Fountain of Mary PD-US