HOMILY WEEK 28 05 – Year II
Enjoying our Inheritance –
Optional Memorial of St. Callistus
(Eph 1:11-14; Ps 33; Lk 12:1-7)
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Are you aware of what your inheritance will be?
The readings today invite us into a deeper appreciation of our spiritual inheritance – the kingdom of God – and how we can live out that inheritance with faith and love.
St. Paul, writing to the Ephesians, is basically reminding them of their inheritance in Christ, the salvation they were destined to receive through their faith in the resurrection of Jesus and their hope in his second coming. One of the first communities to be evangelized by Paul, they were keenly aware they were confirmed in that inheritance by the Spirit of the Kyrios, the Risen Lord, who fills them with peace and joy.
Twice in his message, Paul stresses they are now to live for the praise of God’s glory, leading us right into the message of Psalm 33 – happy to be chosen as his own by the Lord, we are now to rejoice in the Lord, praise God with lyre and harp (perhaps today keyboard and guitar), seek to do right and work for justice and fairness in all our dealings.
Jesus, in the gospels, gives us more ways we can live out our inheritance of his own kingdom so freely given to us through his forgiveness and healing. We are first of all to beware of the hypocrisy of the scribes by striving to be transparent and open, much easier to do if we let our will rest in his. This speaks of humble self-awareness, being human and genuine, grateful for the gifts and talents God has given to us, using them to make the world a better place. It also speaks of befriending our shadow, admitting our imperfections, ready to apologize if we have fallen short and hurt anyone in any way, and ready to forgive anyone who has hurt us. There is no longer any need to wear masks, to pretend or feel the need to be superior to anyone else. It means we are aware of our sins, for which we have received forgiveness from Jesus, and of our negative attitudes, for which we receive his healing.
Some of the steps of AA are very pertinent here: “admitted I was powerless over something; searching and fearless moral inventory, becoming ready to have God remove all our defects of character.” We could all benefit by working that program for our own personal growth, as a way of living today’s readings. Cardinal Bernadine of Chicago, when he was falsely accused of sexual misdemeanor, replied very simply that everyone who knows him is aware the charges were false, because his “life has always been an open book.”
Jesus goes on to invite us to have complete trust in him, and live without fear, even as we “revere him”. There is so much fear and insecurity in our world today, with so many people putting up walls and building self-protective barriers, we may be forgetting this teaching of Jesus. He is in charge, and as long as we are trusting in him and doing his will, we have nothing to fear and everything to celebrate.
The passion of the Lord has become central to my own ministry and life. Some contemporary speakers and writers, struggling to make sense of our world, have arrived at one basic truth grounding us all as human beings on this planet earth – there is suffering and we all will suffer. The key to the kingdom of God is how we deal with that suffering inevitably coming to us. We can be bitter and resentful, or like Jesus, we can accept it with no bitterness or resentment, just forgiveness. Then our suffering becomes radical discipleship and redemptive, connected to that of Jesus, and actually takes on profound meaning and purpose.
Actually, we could say God, in Jesus, is “suffering love.” Our call is to follow Jesus through his Pascal Mystery – passion, death, resurrection, appearances, ascension and Pentecost, a path guaranteed to fill us with peace and joy only he can give, even in the midst of all our suffering that our society today unfortunately sees as meaningless and tries to avoid at all means – so often resulting in addiction as a way to medicate pain instead of redeeming it.
Today the church invites us to honor St. Callistus I. Most of what we know about Callistus, an early pope, was written by a hostile opponent, St. Hippolytus, and must be carefully interpreted. From his early years, Callistus was the slave of a Christian. Honest and intelligent, he was put in charge of a bank that eventually failed. For this and other incidents, he was arrested and sentenced to labour in Sardinian mines. About 199, Pope Zephyrinus made the enfranchised Callistus (freed earlier by his original master) his deacon and counsellor and put him in charge of the first official Christian cemetery in Rome, known today as San Callisto cemetery. In 217, Callistus was elected pope and, despite strong opposition, introduced humanitarian reforms. He met a violent death about 222, probably during an uprising against Christians, and was buried on the Via Aurelia.
The Eucharist is our one great act of fidelity making present the unconditional love of Jesus shared with the world on the Cross, and our family banquet within the reign of God as we wait in vigil for the fulfillment of that reign when all things are gathered back to the Jesus the eternal high priest.
May our celebration empower us to come closer to be walking saints ourselves, redeemed and healed, full of joy and peace, and ready to share the reason for our hope with anyone who asks.
