Sunday Homilies by Fr. Rudolf V. D’ Souza

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Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 15, 2008 Year: A
Ex 19:1-6; Rom 5:6-11; Mt 9:36-10:8
Your are my treasured possession

First Reading...
"On the third month after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt they came to the wilderness of Sinai.

They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.'

These are the words that you shall speak to the Isrealites." [Ex. 19:1-6]

Second Reading...
""While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person. Though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.

For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." [Rom. 5:6-11]

Gospel Reading...
"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into the harvest.'

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, and cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.'" [Mt. 9:36-10:8]

Anecdote:
Long time ago, there was an Emperor  who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he likes, then the Emperor would give him the area of land he has covered. Sure enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could. He kept on riding and riding, whipping the horse  to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much area as possible.  

Came to a point when he had covered a substantial area and he was exhausted and was dying. Then he asked himself, “Why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only need a very small area to bury myself.”

The above story is similar with the journey of our Life. We push very hard everyday to make more  money, to gain power and  recognition. We neglect our health, time with our family  and to appreciate the surrounding beauty and the hobbies we love.  

One day when we look back, we will realize that we don’t really need that much, but then we cannot turn back time for what we have missed.

Life is not about making money, acquiring power or recognition. Life is definitely not about work!  Work is only necessary to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauty and pleasures of life. Life is a balance of Work and Play, Family and Personal time. You have to decide how you want to balance your Life. Define your priorities, realize what you are able to compromise but always let some of your decisions be based on your instincts. Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of Life, the whole aim of human existence.

So, take it easy, do what you want to do and appreciate nature. Life is fragile, Life is short. Do not take Life for granted. Live a balanced lifestyle and enjoy Life!  

Watch your thoughts; they become  words.  

Watch your words; they become actions.  

Watch your actions; they become habits.  

Watch your habits; they become character  .  

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny

I hope that you enjoy the above story and moral.

“Any man’s life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement if he makes up his mind to do his best each day.” Therefore, "Go…, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, and cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.'" [Mt. 9:36-10:8]

Today’s readings help us understand the importance of work in our life and its secrets. The Lord God commanded Moses to relate to His chosen people, "You shall be my treasured possession." [Ex. 19:5] These prophetic Words of God, originally intended for the Jewish Nation, progressively developed to also include all of the Gentile nations.

The readings of this Sunday promise a fulfillment [Rom. 5:6-11] of the promise [Ex. 19:1-6] that God made and how we should respond to this calling. [Mt. 9:36-10:8] God promised to make a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. [Ex. 19:6] Although differently than originally planned, such was fulfilled when we were still weak, when at the right time, Christ died for us who were ungodly. [Rom. 5:6] Having been adopted into the Body of Christ through faith in Jesus and the Sacrament of Baptism, at the moment of our Confirmation, as Jesus had sent out His twelve disciples, [Mt. 10:3] we too were sent "as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed."

Part of today's First Reading referred to the Divine Promise [Ex. 19:4-8] that came to be known as the First Covenant between God and His people. In this agreement that was made in the days of the Old Testament, on the condition that His people would abide by the Commandments, God promised that His people would become something very special. They would become His own people, God's special possession, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. 

Today more than ever there is a craze for filling ourselves with wealth, fame, name, reputation and recognition. This has become a kind of addiction and people do not think of having any other thing than that. When God himself sent his son to be our possession, we think just the opposite.

Today's Gospel Reading, [Mt. 9:36-10:8] the sending of the 12 disciples, is the big "WHAT NOW?" that concludes the first two readings. We have received the promise of God. We have faith in Christ. We have been baptized. We have been justified. We have been admitted into the Body of Christ, the spiritual Kingdom of God. We have continuously received the Sacrament of Confession to maintain our righteousness. And we have participated in the celebration of the Holy Mass on a weekly basis to receive the Bread of Life, the Real Presence of Jesus. What now? Now we must allow the Holy Spirit to flow freely through us. We must allow the Holy Spirit to manifest good works through us by the grace of God. How do we do that? It is by answering our call to go forward and spread the Good News as members of the common priesthood.

Some may feel that this is difficult to do while being alone. Is there a necessity to do it alone? If you paid attention to today's Gospel Reading, the names of the Apostles were mentioned in pairs. First there was Simon and his brother Andrew. Then there was James and his brother John. Then, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, James and Thaddaeus. Finally, there was James, the son of Alphaeus and Judas Iscariot. The pairing of the names of the disciples implies that they were sent in pairs to ministers to others. Surely, in pairs, all of us can find the courage and strength to minister in the name of the Lord Jesus. Mothers and fathers can minister to their children. Brothers and sisters can minister together to others. Workers can minister together to other workers. By applying the buddy system, Christians can set up a strategy for spreading the Good News and do it together. 

The Last Word
There is an old tale about an unusual tree that grew outside the gates of a desert city. It was an ancient tree, a landmark, as a matter of fact. It seemed to have been touched by the finger of God, for it bore fruit perpetually. Despite its old age, its limbs were constantly laden with fruit. Hundreds of passersby refreshed themselves from the tree as it never failed to give freely of its fruit. 

But then a greedy merchant purchased the property on which the tree grew. He saw hundreds of travelers picking the fruit from his tree, so he built a high fence around it. Travelers pleaded and pleaded with the new owner, "Share the fruit with us."

The miserly merchant scoffed, "It’s my tree, my fruit, and bought with my money."

And then an astonishing thing happened—suddenly, the ancient tree died! What could have happened? The law of giving, as predictable as the law of gravity, expresses the immutable principle: when giving stops, bearing fruit ceases, and death follows inevitably.

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