HOMILY WEEK 05 02 – Yr II

Worship from the Heart

Memorial: St. Paul Miki and Companions

(1 Kg 8:22-30; Ps 84; Mk 7:1-13)

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Did you notice that the word “heart” is mentioned in all three readings today? “Your servants who walk before you with all their heart” (King Solomon); “My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God” (The psalm); “..but their hearts are far from me” (Jesus).

The readings and this memorial invite us to worship God from the heart, genuinely and sincerely.

Today’s first reading relates the dedication of the temple and King Solomon’s prayer on that occasion, in which he praises God and asks God to dwell in the temple and remain with the people “who walk before God with all their heart.”

That phrase, and Solomon’s prayer, take on an ironic tone as we know that in actuality, the people were never faithful to the covenant, always wanted land, prestige and power, and Solomon’s own behavior was anything but faithful. One could say that Solomon and the people were not sincere in keeping the law of love, and started to depend only on external sacrifice rather than inner commitment and loving action.

From the time of Solomon to Jesus’ day – the temple worship had degraded into an externalist, sacrificial-based superficial-faith religion. As the reading yesterday put it, “sacrificing so many sheep and oxen they could not be numbered.” The temple and priesthood literally became a matter of butchery, and not really worshipping from the heart.

Turning to the gospel, the Pharisees, whose goal was to keep the law perfectly, criticized Jesus and his disciples for not following the Jewish traditions slavishly. Jesus points out their hypocrisy, especially regarding how they twist the scriptures to avoid caring for their own parents. His message is clear – God dwells not in buildings but in the human heart, and we must worship God not with bloody sacrifices, many rituals and prayers, but from the heart and with genuine caring and compassion.

External religion or religion from the heart – that is our decision. It is far easier to find God in temple and tabernacle, then in the messiness of everyday life and imperfect people, yet that truly is where the primary presence of Jesus is to be recognized. If we can’t see Jesus in others, we may not be really seeing him in the tabernacle or chapel either, no matter how many pious hours we spend there.

Abe was struggling with a member of his group, who was treating him with disdain. When he attempted to find out if he had done anything to provoke that treatment, the other person replied that everything was fine – he just went to the chapel and prayed to Jesus. Abe expressed in frustration, he knew that Jesus was in the chapel and the tabernacle, but he needed that person to communicate with Jesus in him, to help resolve this painful situation.

Worshipping from the heart means that we are “single-minded” and make Jesus the center and main priority of our lives. An insight that came to me recently was anytime we say “no” to the temptations of possessions and lustful pleasure, fame and prestige, power and control, we say “yes” to experiencing joy and to a closer relationship with Jesus who dwells within us.

Today the church honors the martyrs St. Paul Miki and his companions. They serve as models for us of loving and worshipping God from the heart. According to the Living With Christ, Jesuit seminarian Paul Miki went to his martyrdom proclaiming his faith. On February 6, 1597, he and 25 companions, clergy and lay, were killed for their faith in Nagasaki, Japan. They were suspended on crosses and killed by spears thrust into the heart. Before his death, Paul affirmed his faith in Christ and offered forgiveness to those responsible for his death.

This persecution was triggered by a nationalist fear of foreigners: for almost the next 200 years, Japan would be closed to the rest of the world. Despite this isolation, the faith survived without any priests and with only the sacrament of baptism. Paul Miki and his companions were canonized in 1862. Paul Miki is the patron saint of Japan.

Here is an excerpt from their martyrdom taken from the Office of Readings for today:

Our brother, Paul Mike, saw himself standing now in the noblest pulpit he had ever filled. To his “congregation” he began by proclaiming himself a Japanese and a Jesuit. He was dying for the Gospel he preached. He gave thanks to God for this wonderful blessing and he ended his “sermon” with these words: “As I come to this supreme moment of my life … my religion teaches me to pardon my enemies and all who have offended me. I do gladly pardon the Emperor and all who have sought my death. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves.

Then he looked at his comrades and began to encourage them in their final struggle. Joy glowed in all their faces, and in Louis’ most of all. When a Christian in the crowd cried out to him that he would soon be in heaven, his hands, his whole body strained upward with such joy that every eye was fixed on him. Anthony, hanging at Louis’ side, looked toward heaven and called upon the holy names – “Jesus, Mary!” He began to sing a psalm: “Praise the Lord, you children!” that he learned in catechism class in Nagasaki. Others kept repeating “Jesus. Mary!” Their faces were serene. Some of them even took to urging the people standing by to live worthy Christian lives. In these and other ways they showed their readiness to die.

Then, according to Japanese custom, the four executioners began to unsheathe their spears. At this dreadful sight, all the Christians cried out, “Jesus. Mary!” And the storm of anguished weeping then rose to batter the very skies. The executioners killed them one by one. One thrust of the spear, then a second blow. It was over in a very short time.

The Eucharist we celebrate today is truly worship from the heart. Pray that it may empower us to live out our faith as did St. Paul Miki and his companions.