A Homily - The Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

First Reading – Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4 ©

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 94(95):1-2, 6-9

Second Reading - 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14 ©

Gospel Acclamation – 1 Samuel 3:9, John 6:68

Alternative Acclamation – 1 Peter 1:25

The Gospel According to Luke 17:5 - 10 ©

Listen!

We are guaranteed nothing in this life; neither justice nor injustice, though we may reasonably expected a share of each, there is no certainty. Be just toward all those you meet, and seek to do no harm.

God is not a mover of people, save by the pull of grace and love; a force like gravity, by which God calls every one of God’s children. It pull on us, though we are free to ignore, and even when we recognize it, most of us often do.

God is the creator of the universe, the cause of all that is. God made each of us free, the entire creation is free.

In our capacity as free agents we must work out our own justice.

Be mindful, we only have the power to be just to one other, we cannot seize justice for ourselves.

You will not be the cause of your salvation.

It is God who makes us well, who creates in us the possibility of wellbeing.

God is our wellbeing, and its final realization is not of this world.

Do not look for salvation in this world, it will not come from kings and princes, from popes or presidents.

God is not a king, and there are no other gods.

All of creation belongs to the creator, all that is beautiful and everything that frightens us, all things comes from God, and everything redound to the good.

God has prepared each of us for God’s blessing.

Consider the faith of Timothy

These are the words of political prisoner, exhorting us to faith and reminding us of our heritage; belonging to a tradition that places service to others over individual liberty.

Not everyone can follow the way to the end that Timothy did, or Jesus. They are the leaders of the faith, they point the way to the blessed life; a life that is just and merciful and good.

Be like Timothy if you can, follow the way of Jesus as well as you are able, but do not despair if you fail.

You will fail, and God will continue to love you.

When leaders rise among us. We must acknowledge them. When leadership is pure and we see that their work is holy, we must acknowledge that.

In acknowledging these things it is important to not embellish.

Remember:

God speaks to all people. God, the creator of the universe, God speaks in the human heart. God is present for anyone who will listen, but God does not favor some over others, and God does not appear in visions.

God leads us in silence, except in the rhythm of the heart, the tug and pull of our conscience as it resonates with the good.

Here is the Gospel; God loves you, and you are saved. You are not saved for anything that you have done, you did not earn it, you are saved because God loves you.

The promise of salvation is not that you will be spared from suffering and torment in hell, or that when you are judged God will forgive you.

Share the word!

God has already forgiven you. You are already saved.

If you feel unworthy, stop. God has a plan for you.

God has prepared you and everyone for eternal life.

Believe it!

Let the goodness of the promise flow through you now, and start living this life as if it were true.

Do not be concerned with creeds and confessions, with decrees and decretals, or the doctrine of the church, those do not save.

Right belief does not save.

We are not called to believe in the idea that Jesus is this or that, the Holy One of God, we are called to act on the principles of his faith, to live lives of charity and service to each other.

Share the Gospel, share the good news.

Be mindful!

Pay close attention to the Gospel, especially on those occasions when the message is cryptic, or the meaning of the parable is unclear.

Interpret these passages from the middle of the way; interpret them through the lens of love, with hope and justice.

Faith means trust, it is not magic. Our faith is neither the content of our beliefs, neither can it be measured for quality, quantity, or intensity.

Faith is trust, which a person either has or does not have.

If we trust in the promise of the Gospel, if we trust in the good news that Jesus preached, then we may be able to free ourselves from greed and corruption, from the class-consciousness that foments injustice around the world.

In the Gospel for today we see Jesus rebuke the disciples, who then became the Apostles of the church. He rebuked them because he knew where their hearts were, and the spiritual poverty they were beset with, he knew that they are using their position in the community of believers to place themselves in positions of authority and influence over the average believer.

He rebuked them because they had abandoned the way, and he encouraged them to return to the place of the servant.

Jesus responded to their error with love, he did not reject them, he gave them further instruction, and he comforted them.

First Reading – Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4 ©

The Upright Man Will Live by His Faithfulness

How long, O Lord, am I to cry for help while you will not listen; to cry ‘Oppression!’ in your ear

and you will not save?

Why do you set injustice before me, why do you look on where there is tyranny?

Outrage and violence, this is all I see, all is contention, and discord flourishes.

Then the Lord answered and said, ‘Write the vision down, inscribe it on tablets to be easily read,

since this vision is for its own time only: eager for its own fulfilment, it does not deceive; if it comes slowly, wait, for come it will, without fail.

See how he flags, he whose soul is not at rights, but the upright man will live by his faithfulness.’

Psalm - Psalm 94(95):1-2, 6-9

LORD, avenging God, avenging God, shine forth!

Rise up, O judge of the earth; give the proud what they deserve!

They kill the widow and alien; the orphan they murder.

They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob takes no notice.”

Understand, you stupid people! You fools, when will you be wise?

Does the one who shaped the ear not hear? The one who formed the eye not see?

Second Reading - 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14 ©

Never Be Ashamed of Witnessing to Our Lord

I am reminding you to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God.

Keep as your pattern the sound teaching you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. You have been trusted to look after something precious; guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

Gospel Acclamation – 1 Samuel 3:9, John 6:68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:

you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

Alternative Acclamation – 1 Peter 1:25

Alleluia, alleluia!

The word of the Lord remains for ever.

What is this word?

It is the Good News that has been brought to you.

Alleluia!

The Gospel According to Luke 17:5 - 10 ©

Say, 'We Are Merely Servants'

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ The Lord replied, ‘Were your faith the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you.

  ‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal immediately”? Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper laid; make yourself tidy and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink yourself afterwards”? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.”’

27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)