HOMILY WEEK 28 01 – Yr II

Memorial – St Theresa of Avila

(Ga 4:22-31; Ps 113; Lk 11:29-32)

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What do you think Jesus meant when he responded to the request for a sign by referring to the sign of Jonah? And claiming there was something greater than Jonah here?

Signs are important – they direct us to our goal. The sign I would propose for us to follow would be made up of the letters PDRAAP, because they refer directly to the path Jesus blazed for us – Passion, Death, Resurrection, Appearances, Ascension and Pentecost – the Paschal Mystery.

Jesus referred to the sign of Jonah because that story prefigures his story in two significant ways. First, the three days he would be buried in the earth of this planet, and second, the first message he preached: “Repent and believe, for the kingdom of God is at hand (Matthew 4:17)

We see our shadow the clearest when the sun shines brightest, and it is the same with God. The closer we come to God, especially in the person of Jesus, we see how unlike him we are, how much we need to change and let go. That was Peter’s experience when he experienced the miraculous catch of fish – “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8).

If Peter felt the need to say that, then so should we. Amazingly, there are some persons so caught up in their own pain and woundedness they can only live in blame and denial, and are too proud to admit they have made mistakes or even sinned. One person shared with me her spouse has never apologized to her once in all the years of their marriage. As well, his repressed anger (that he denies but is leaking out in all kinds of hurtful actions) tells her he has never forgiven her for any thing she may have done either, even though she has tried to apologize. We do need that sign of Jonah.

The word “repentance” does not really express the full meaning of that call. It comes from the Greek metanoia (meta= highest and noia= mind) and has the connotation of “putting on our highest mind, changing the way we think, feel and act, being the best person we can possibly be.” That makes sense, because the Greek word for sin is harmatiawhich means “falling short, missing the mark,” not being the person we are meant to be. St. Paul, who really got this message, stresses we are to “put on the mind of Christ” (Philippians 2:5-8), be just like Christ. That is our ultimate goal.

How do we get there? That is what Jesus as the Son of Man demonstrated for us by living it out as a pattern for us – PDRAAP. He accepted suffering and humiliation freely, without bitterness or resentment (passion). He gave up his life for us on the cross (death). He overcame the power of sin, sinfulness and death on the third day (resurrection). Then he spent forty days with the disciples “talking to them about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3) and I believe, teaching them to grieve and mourn his loss (appearances – what I call the missing mystery because we skip over it in the creed, the glorious mysteries of the rosary, and in the third Eucharistic Canon). Then Jesus took our humanity with him up into heaven (ascension) from where he sent us the Holy Spirit to birth and inspire the church, the new Israel, the new dwelling place of the shekinahor glory of God. That is the complete Pascal Mystery we are called to live as Jesus lived it, the one true way to the fullness of new life.

Our passion– we have all been hurt by life. No one gets through this life unscathed. Our death– we have all suffered losses of all kinds in our lives – loved ones, dreams, culture, language, hopes, relationships, careers, etc. Our resurrection? We are still alive, but so many of us are just survivors of our hurt and loss, not “thrivers”, and God wants thrivers, not survivors who are stuck in grief bitterness over their losses, and full of anger and resentment over the hurts that came their way. We have to move on to the appearancesthat for us becomes grieving and mourning our losses in a healthy way, letting them go and giving our loved ones back to God. And we have to learn to forgive from the heart anyone who has hurt us in anyway and to any degree, no matter how grievous, and that becomes our ascension. If we can accept suffering without bitterness or resentment, just like Jesus, we are already in the kingdom “that is already here.” Then, and only then, can we experience the peace, joy and new life of Pentecost, as we receive from God the spirit of our deceased loved ones to be with us in a new way, and the power to be reconciled with anyone in our lives who is open to it.

Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Theresa of Avila. Born in Avila, Spain, on Mar 28, 1515, she was one of the greatest women leaders of the Church. Somewhat spoiled at first, she advanced in the spiritual life, had visions and experienced voices. Aghast at the laxity and externalism that had crept into religious life and the life of the church of her time, she established St Joseph’s Convent where enclosure and a strict rule prevailed. With Peter of Alcantara and John of the Cross, she became a reformer and founded the reformed (Discalced) Carmelite order of nuns and friars.

For a while, there was much resistance and pushback from even her own order. In 1575 the chapter of the Order decided to dissolve them all, and for the next five years every effort was made to destroy Teresa’s reforms and many of her followers (including John of the Cross) were imprisoned and cruelly treated. At length, in 1580 and with the support of king Philip II, the Discalced Carmelites were made independent and St. Teresa was able to found more new convents. She wrote several classical works, including The Way of Perfectionand The Interior Castle.She died, worn out by her efforts, on October 15, 1582. A great mystic and strong, intelligent and active leader, Theresa was canonized in 1622 and in 1970 became the first woman to be declared a Doctor of the Church. She is patron of Spain. She is a model and an inspiration for us to always be about genuine love, practice a religion from the heart and live both the sign of Jonah and the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ.

St. Theresa had a great love for the Eucharist. It was her contemplation of the love of her Lord and the celebration of his presence in Word and Sacrament that empowered her to become the great saint she was. May our celebration today strengthen us to follow in her footsteps.