Covenant-St John Bosco

HOMILY WEEKDAY 03 04

A Provocative New Way

Memorial: St. John Bosco

(Heb 10:19-25; Ps 24; Mk 4:21-25)

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Are you considered a provocative person? Today’s readings invite us to be provocative – to provoke one another to humble honesty, love and good works as part of a new and living way.

This new and living wayhinges on a great shift that happened with King David. The Mosaic covenant was based on the Law – reward and punishment, quid pro quo. It could and did easily become harsh, judgmental and corrupt.

With King David, however, God promised to be with him no matter what he did. It was a new covenant based on unconditional love. And David did mess up – adultery and even murder. However, he repented, experienced that unconditional love of God as pure forgiveness, and became the only true King that Israel ever had. That is why Jesus is never referred to as Son of Moses, but often Son of David. He would be the New Covenant, the new King David.

The reading from Hebrews tries to explain this great mystery. Through the death of Jesus on the cross (his blood), we enter the sanctuary where God dwells (the holy of holies). That is why the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died. There is now no separation between God and humanity. The unconditional love of Jesus on the cross allows us to see into the very heart of God – mercy, humility, forgiveness, compassion, total non-violence and unconditional love.

That reading also alludes to the two-fold mission of Jesus as Son of God and Messiah – to redeem and to sanctify. We come to him redeemed (washed with the water of forgiveness) and sanctified (healed by the sprinkling of the Holy Spirit). In short, we have been given a new and living way, a covenant of unconditional love.

Our response is to provoke, arouse, excite each other to love and good works as part of this new and living way.  In the Gospel we also hear that those who have much will be given more. That alludes to the truth that the best way to be happy is to make others happy. Or as Pope Francis put it in Evangelium Gaudium: “For here we discover a profound law of reality: that life is attained and matures in the measure that it is offered up in order to give life to others.”

The Gospel also provokes us to be humble, honest and transparent, as all things will come to light. Humble honesty and transparency as part of this new and living way is a wonderful virtue. Cardinal Bernadine of Chicago, when he was unjustly accused of sexual misconduct, defended himself simply by saying that his life was an open book. One young pastor received a card from a young parishioner that stated in part, “May God’s love shine in the dark parts of your life.” The program of AA speaks of “rigorous honesty.”

One way that we need to be provoked is to appreciate more deeply the sacrament of reconciliation. As Richard Rohr puts it, “a lot of healing can happen in a very short time” because of the special ingredients involved – trust, acceptance, humble honesty, the direct imparting of absolution, and above all, the power of God’s grace.

One teenager, alienated from his family and having let a friend down in business, was actually transformed by the celebration of reconciliation in which he confessed for the first time, sin as harming a relationship. The communion he received then filled him with healing and joy that was visible to his companions after the mass.

Someone who certainly lived today’s readings, and especially encouraged youth to life a new way of life, is St. John Bosco whom the church honors today. Known to many as Don Bosco, this patron saint of youth was born in Piedmont, Italy, in 1815. Raised in poverty, John was ordained in Turin in 1841. After witnessing the circumstances of boys living in a local prison, he resolved to devote himself to working among disadvantaged boys – children living on the street, juvenile delinquents and any child wo was suffering because of some disadvantage.

John formed the Salesian Society, named Francis de Sales, and began educating boys of the poor and working classes, holding evening classes in factories, in fields or wherever there was a need. John believed in equipping boys for life in the world and trade schools soon formed a large part of Salesian training. A progressive thinker, he abhorred all punishment, believing that by removing youth from temptation, treating them with dignity and kindness, and enriching them with skills, they could led to more productive lives. His rule was “Not with blows, but with charity and gentleness must you draw these friends to the path of virtue.” With the help of St. Mary Mazzarello he also established the Sal esian Sisters to do similar work among girls. John Boso died in 1888 and was canonized in 1934.

The Eucharist is at the center of this new and living way, this new covenant in the Body and Blood of Jesus. We experience forgiveness and healing, and are sent out to spread the Good News of this unconditional love of God.

May our celebration of this Eucharist provoke us to greater humble honesty, stronger faith, deeper hope, and love expressed in good deeds.