HOMILY WEEK 33 -01 – Yr I

Being Faithful to a Covenant Relationship

(Mac 1:1-64; Ps 119; Lk 18:35-43)

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We have probably all heard the saying, “There is more to this than meets the eye.” That statement applies to today’s readings with a touch of divine irony – a blind man is able to see what the Israelites could not.

That divine irony invites us to see how we are called to be faithful to our covenant relationship with Jesus Christ, the new Law and Son of God.

The first reading from the Book of Maccabees describes with anguish the blindness of the ancient Israelites of that time. They were the chosen people of God, called to be living icons of God on earth, missioned to attract the surrounding nations back to the one true God by their fidelity to the covenant on Mt. Sinai and the law of life given to them through Moses, especially the Ten Commandments. It is this covenant relationship that was to make them unique as a sacred nation, a holy priesthood, a royal people set apart to live a new way of life in a world full of sin and idolatry.

In this reading, we are told that they were just the opposite. Seduced by the attractions of the Gentile nations around them, they made a covenant with them, turned their back on their calling, adopted the pagan religions, sacrificed to idols and profaned the Sabbath. Worse, they erected a “desolating sacrilege on the altar of burnt offering,” “tore to pieces and burned the books of the law,” and even put to death anyone possessing a book of the covenant! Their infidelity and depravity was total and complete, except for the few who chose to remain faithful and became martyrs.

Fast forward to the Gospel, where we see Jesus coming out of the Judean desert and drawing near to Jericho. On the side of the road, a blind beggar heard the commotion and was told that “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” His response was immediate, decisive, and very revealing – he called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

The shocking irony in that cry from the heart is that this blind beggar, who had no physical sight, was able to see with the eyes of faith what even his fellow Israelites struggled to see – that this man Jesus from Nazareth, was actually the promised Son of David, the Messiah, who came to redeem and sanctify the world, to forgive and heal, to be the mercy of God here on earth. And so, he placed his total trust in Jesus as Son of David and begged not for alms, but for healing, for love, for mercy.

King David blindly fell for the sins of lust, adultery (close to idolatry) and arranged a murder. However, when confronted by the prophet Nathan, he repented totally, and experienced the unconditional love of God as mercy, compassion and forgiveness. That experience transformed him into the only true King that Israel ever had.

God’s covenant with David was an unconditional covenant, unlike the Mosaic covenant that was conditional – keep the law and be blessed; break the law and be cursed. That is why Jesus was always referred to as “Son of David” and never as son of Moses, or even Elijah. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant of unconditional love, sealed by the sacrifice of his body and blood on the cross – “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

The choice of Psalm 119 for today adds a wonderful touch. Every stanza of that psalm refers to the law in some way at least once, except for one stanza (because nothing is perfect in this world).  We respond, “Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your commands” and then we hear the words, “law, precepts, commands and statutes”. This psalm is a call for the Israelites to be faithful to the law, to their covenant with God. In the light of the Gospel, it becomes a call for us to see Jesus with eyes of faith like the beggar, as the new Law, and the light of the world (the gospel acclamation).

With faith, we could rephrase the psalm this way: I will do your commands, Jesus. I will not forget you are the new law of God. I will not stray from you, I will seek your will, and I will always keep your commands.

We need not judge the Israelites too harshly, for our society is not very different. What is happening today is that a nation that is supposed to be based on Christian values seems to be revolting against them, and promoting such things as abortion, euthanasia and sexual promiscuity, etc.

On a different level, even within our churches, the false gods of money, fame and power seem to rule all too often. It is almost as if we never heard of Jesus Christ, who refused to use his divine power in a selfish way. I was told about one individual who is trying to leave a sect to which he belonged, and is being subjected to blatant abuse and determined efforts to totally control him by its leadership. That is the exact opposite of what Jesus taught and lived, and unfortunately, is being carried out in his name. How blind can we be not to see how like the ancient Israelites we sometimes become?

It just so happens that this past week, I read in both the Columbia Magazine and The Word Among Us, about Fr. Solanus Casey, a Capuchin friar and priest who lived in a friary in Detroit, Michigan. Born the sixth of sixteen children to Irish immigrant farmers in Oak Grove, Wis., he is about to become the second U.S.-born male to be beatified by the Catholic Church. Because he struggled academically, he was ordained in 1904 as a “simplex priest” who could celebrate the Eucharist but not preach doctrinal sermons or hear confessions.

The ministry he was given was to be the porter, the one who answered the door and offered hospitality to visitors. This ministry allowed everyone who came to the friary to come to know this humble, unassuming friar. Over time, visitors began sharing their prayer requests with him. Fr. Casey assured them that he would pray, and always told them, “Thank God ahead of time,” such was his faith that God would surely answer their prayers.  He would enroll them in the Seraphic Mass Association; their intention would thus be included daily in the masses of Capuchins around the world. He also took each person’s intention before the Eucharistic Lord in prayer and made sacrifices on their behalf.

Many found their prayers would be powerfully answered, sometimes even before nightfall. A deathly ill child would recover. Desperately needed rent money would arrive. A long-estranged relative would return to the faith. Word spread quickly, and soon he became known as the miracle man of Detroit. The Capuchins’ records show that requests for Mass intentions increased from 30 to 200 a day in the weeks after Fr. Solunus arrived. When people would return to tell him that he had healed them, he would always say it was not him – it was Jesus. He is certainly one who lived the teachings of Jesus, imitated him and walked in a close covenant relationship with him, far from possessions, fame or power.

The Eucharist that was so central to the prayer life of Fr. Casey, is our greatest prayer, and what Ron Rolheiser OMI calls our “one great act of fidelity.” Jesus asked us to celebrate it in his memory, and that we have done for over two thousand years.

May our celebration today help us to see life through the eyes of faith, to put our total trust in Jesus as did the blind beggar, and walk every day in a close covenant relationship with him that is already a participation in the divine life of the kingdom of heaven.