Readings for Sunday, October 4/ 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
Genesis 2:18-24
Psalm 128
Hebrews 2:9-11
Mark 10:2-16
The year was 1571. The Church was
experiencing attacks from all sides and was reeling in response, trying to
bring some calm to the storm that had brought such devastation. Some years
before Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the local church and
started a revolution that resulted in the breaking up of the Body of Christ.
Others soon followed in his footsteps of protest and continued the divisions.
The Council of Trent went to work to bring about some healing in the Body and
to revisit Catholic teaching when so many things came to be questioned. As if
this weren’t enough, the Church experienced attacks from outside as well. The
Ottoman Empire had continued to grow in power and spread steadily toward
Christian Europe. The nearness of the armies was a cause of great concern, as
European culture and the future of the Christian faith itself both hung in the
balance with each victory by their Muslim opponents. Fortunately the Holy
Spirit had been at work and brought Pope Pius V to be elected Pope. He, seeing
the invasion draw nearer, encouraged the whole Christian community to pray the
rosary daily for a positive outcome in the battle that would soon take place,
and so it was done. October 7 of that year saw the Holy League ships stumble
upon those of the Ottoman Empire at sea and, though lacking strategy and with
fewer men and ships, the battle was begun. Miraculously the Christian army came
out victorious, the spread of the Ottoman Empire was kept at bay, and the Holy
Father proclaimed a universal feast of ‘Our Lady of Victory’ for October 7 on
account of the power of the rosary and Our Lady’s prayers. This feast continues
today under a new title, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, and will be celebrated
again this Wednesday for over the 400th time.
The feast of Our Lady of the Holy
Rosary highlights the fact that the rosary is not just a way for us to meditate
and encounter God in His mysteries. It is also a very powerful weapon. St.
Padre Pio knew this well as when he was too ill to move around he would ask the
friar assisting him ‘Brother, get me my weapon’ and it was the rosary that was
placed in his hand. Indeed the rosary, when prayed collectively and with fervor
and focus can change history. So I invite you to join with me in praying the
rosary for a new battle that is taking place. This new battle is not one
involving weaponry or military tactics – it’s a battle that is being waged
against the family in the world today. St. John Paul II often noted that ‘as
the family goes, so goes society’ and we need only take a cursory glance around
to see that society is not doing so well. Mass murders & genocides,
name-calling and hatred in all directions, a loss of respect for human life in
general. In our own community where years ago you had no need whatsoever of a
lock on your front door, today we have not only locks but bars and alarms.
Society is not doing well and the reason is because the family is not doing
well.
Today (Sunday) begins the Synod
on the Family that we’ve been waiting for since this time last year. Bishops,
cardinals, theologians, and lay men and women from across the world gather once
more for three weeks to discuss the family – the gift of the family, the
challenges faced by families today, and the vocation of the family. Pray the
rosary for the participants at the Synod, that they might be able to discern
what is it that God desires to highlight in each of these areas and how it is
that the Church can help families in their journey together toward the Lord.
But pray not only for the Synod participants, but pray also for your own
families. ‘This Hail Mary is for Aunt Suzie, this one for cousin Johnny, this
one for grandma or grandpa…” Never underestimate the value of those prayers
prayed with a pure heart and loving intention. It can change history.
At this point I want to change
course a bit and get into the scriptures we just heard, but I want to focus the
homily specifically to the men here today. I recognize that there are a number
of women here and I don’t mean to exclude you from the points being made. I’ve
been to many a talk on Holy Matrimony and though I’m not married and will never
be getting married, the talks still encouraged me in my own vocation and faith.
I pray, ladies, that the same can be said for you about what follows.
Men: this week Bishop Thomas
Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix issued a letter to the men of his diocese
entitled “Into the Breach” (found
HERE). I have copies available in the back of the church
for every man here to pick one up and take it home to read through. It’s a
simple document that looks at us and discusses the role of Catholic men in the
Church, what it means to be a Catholic man, what a Catholic man’s spiritual
life looks like, and the importance of fathers, grandfathers, godfathers and so
on. In essence it helps to break open what we heard in the scripture just a
moment ago.
The Lord Jesus is tested once
again with a question about whether a man can issue a bill of divorce to his
wife. Jesus inquires what Moses said and they happily respond that Moses permitted
it. “But for the hardness of your hearts Moses permitted it!” the Lord
responds, but from the beginning it was no so. Jesus acknowledges the teaching
of Moses, but demonstrates that such a thing was more of ‘Plan B’ when men
weren’t strong enough to live the commandments. He then moves to ‘Plan A’ when
God first created man and woman, husband and wife. Genesis is the model that we
are called to follow because we have the grace of Jesus Christ at our
fingertips and can do all things through Him who strengthens us. And so the
call is to return to the first model, that set up by the Lord God Himself. I
want to highlight for our reflection three points:
First, Adam is cooperating with
God in the building up of the world. Later on we will see an Adam who has
sinned and is hiding behind the bushes, scared to encounter His Lord. But that
is not yet. Here Adam is fully present to God, assisting in the work of the
Garden’s beautification. My brothers: what does our union with God look like?
What does my relationship with the Father look like? How do our conversations
with Him go? Am I aware that there are supposed to be conversations to begin
with? Am I in union with God, or am I sometimes hiding behind the bushes afraid
of what might happen if we step forward into the path of the Creator? What does
my relationship with God look like?
Secondly, Adam gives a name to
Eve. In this context, to name something was to exercise some dominion over it. In
naming the animals Adam was taking up a responsibility in caring for each of
them and ensuring that they would be able to attain their own perfection. In
the same manner the Lord creates Eve and Adam gives her a name, ‘woman.’ The
man Adam now has an obligation that he’s been given by God to protect, to care
for, and to build up the life of woman and all that issue forth from her, their
children, not because she couldn’t but simply because it was his calling. This
was actually the first fault of man in the scriptures. Often we think it’s that
Eve at of the forbidden fruit, but if we are attentive to the details it says
that she ate it and gave some to her husband who was with her. The problem was
that the serpent (the literal meaning would be more like ‘dragon’) came to trick
Eve into eating the fruit and Adam, though there, failed to step into the
breach and defend his wife. We see here the ancient fulfillment of the words
spoken by Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph evil is for
good men to do nothing.” The invitation is for me today to not fall into the same
trap. What the family needs today are men willing to step into the breach and
fight for the life of their loved ones, not just in the earthly sense but also
in the heavenly. To have men who are the first to call the family to pray
together. The first to lead the blessing at meals, to do a family rosary, to
sit down with the Bible and pray together as a family, to lead by example at
Mass and in celebrating our faith in the midst of the world by selfless service
to others. Are we willing to step into the breach in that way?
The last point for our reflection
is that when Adam beholds the woman he joyfully shouts ‘At last, bone of my
bones and flesh of my flesh’ and he clings to his wife. Clings to her! The
other day I wrapped up some veggies on a plate and when I tried to get the
cling wrap off the plate, I had quite a time. It was tight on the plate and
when I tried to peel part of it, other parts stuck back to the plate. It wasn’t
that cheap stuff that just easily peels off and is quickly set aside; it clung
to the plate. It’s about a willingness to be faithful first and foremost. To
cling to one’s spouse and never to permit anything to come between you. And to
show your love for her, and for your larger family, by signs of loves –
embracing them like Jesus, blessing them, give your wife a kiss when you come
home or when you leave, to exchange signs of affirm over and over the fact that
you are one flesh. It is often the case that we men are reluctant to be
vulnerable, to open our hearts to others, or to allow our love to be shown or
spoken – but these are things that our families need and deserve from us.
This is the way that God desired
it to be from the beginning; alive in God, willing to take up our mission, and
able to cling to our beloved. My brothers, the battle is begun and casualties
have already resulted. May God grant us the courage to step into the breach for
love of Him and for love of the gift that is our family.
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, pray
for us.
Readings for Sunday, May 14: Acts 6:1-7 | Psalm 33 | 1 Peter 2:4-9 | John 14:1-12
