Faith-Attitudes-Compassion-Our Lady of the Rosary

HOMILY WEEK 27 01 – Year I

An Attitude of Faithful Obedience and Compassionate Caring:

Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

(Jonah 1:1-2:1, 10; Jonah 2; Lk 10:25-37)

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Two priests in adjacent parishes, who were a bit competitive in their ministry, found themselves at a social gathering where they were expected to say a few words. One mentioned it was true they sometimes tried to outdo each other, but in the end, they were both dedicated pastors doing God’s work, the other in his own way, and he in God’s way!

The readings today, for this memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, invites us to check out attitude towards God’s infinite mercy and how well we live out our faith and our awareness of that mercy.

To this end, the first reading is rich in content and symbolism. Jonah has faith in God, who even speaks to him and gives him a mission to proclaim repentance to the Ninevites, but he has an attitude problem. He is caught up in the tribalism all too present in our day (my group is superior to the others, we are special, God belongs to us), so he disagrees with God and proceeds to run in the opposite direction.

The book of Jonah is full of irony and surprising reversals. Prayer, sacrifice and acceptance of God’s will come from the mariners, not Jonah. The Word Among Us points out these acts of faith in the “God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land, “come not from a God-fearing Israelite, but from pagan sailers. Time and again, unbelievers demonstrate true faith and heartfelt repentance while Jonah spends his energy running from God or fighting his plan. It is the sailers who wake Jonah and beg him to pray during the storm, and the pagan king of Assyria orders his subjects to fast and turn from sin. And when God reveals his salvation, everyone is happy – except Jonah.

Time after time, Jonah sets limits on God’s actions and the reach of God’s mercy, only to be shown how limitless it really is. Though it is included in the collection of the prophetic books, Jonah is, at its heart, a parable that corrects the widespread notion (much needed today) that God only cares about his chosen nation, Israel.

Clearly, God’s vision is far greater than Jonah’s narrow viewpoint. God wants every human being on earth to received his salvation and new life, not just God’s special people, Israel. Even when poor Jonah misses the point, God patiently works to expand his heart. God pursues Jonah even while he is fleeing; he saves his life and gives him a second chance. And God tries to teach him why God is so merciful to the Ninevites.

Jonah can show us the difference between our narrow viewpoint and God’s expansive vision. We can let our idea of who is acceptable and who isn’t overshadow our grasp of God’s desire to restore every sinner. As often as we like Jonah, try to limit God’s mercy, that’s how often God extends it – frequently to the very people we think don’t deserve it. That’s the point: we all need mercy and God offers it especially to those most in need. May we all allow God to stretch our expectations and to expand our vision!

There is significant symbolism in the story – God calms the sea, as Jesus would do, and Jonah spends three days and nights entombed in darkness, as would happen to Jesus. The underlying lesson for us is to place our faith in Jesus who would be the ultimate revelation of the infinite mercy of God.

The psalm response, taken from the same book of Jonah, demonstrates for us a critical attitude towards God – that of the awareness of our powerlessness, and turning to God in profound faith. Whatever the depths of our darkness or despair might be, we can trust that God is there and will turn it to the good for those who love God and are obedient to him.

The gospel builds on the dynamics of these two passages from the Book of Jonah. The lawyer has faith, even rather remarkable faith, for he responds to Jesus’ question about the law not just with the Grand Shema of Judaism (“Love God with our whole being”) but also with often overlooked commandment buried in Leviticus 19:18 (“Love your neighbor as yourself”) which Jesus lifted up and equated with the Shema in Matthew 22:39 (“And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”)

However, the lawyer also has an attitude problem of superiority and control – he wants to inherit, merit, earn, possess eternal life, and wants to “justify himself” in asking that question, so he asks another about who is his neighbor that opens the door for Jesus to recount the wonderful story of the Good Samaritan.

In that story, the priest and the Levite, who both knew the Grand Shema and were specialists in all the other laws, used their knowledge to play one law against the other (love versus not touching something that might defile their ritual purity) to excuse themselves from the messiness of life, genuine caring and loving. That brings back to my mind our Israeli guide in Jerusalem who told us the rabbis preferred commentaries to the Torah and the prophets (who always scolded them) and the people chose rabbis who interpreted the law according to their own preferences, along with the main question for the people which was “What do I need to do to be a good Jew” rather than the more crucial question, “How can I best fulfill the law of love?”

The story could not be more forceful. It is the despised Samaritan who had the right attitude, is moved with pity and compassion, ministers to the wounded person, gives freely of his time and money, and becomes a symbol of the church as a “field hospital for the world” Pope Francis espouses. The inn is the church; the oil and wine the sacraments, and Jesus the Good Shepherd who gave his life for us, and calls us to “go and do likewise.” In the end, we are encouraged to not judge; for the most unlikely people will be used by God to show how merciful God is.

Keith Hoang, author of Built For Greatness, a Christian version of the Tao Te Ching, took in a homeless young man shortly after he was married to his wife Tracy, put him up for six months, and taught him entrepreneurial skills. That young man is now a high-end video producer in Los Angeles and repaid Keith by composing and recording three songs for the electronic version of the book which is on line. Keith had the right attitude towards his faith, and was certainly a Good Samaritan to that young man in need.

Today we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. Mary’s attitude of faith lived out through practical love is an example of living out these readings we are invited to emulate. It is interesting that in ancient times, Marian feasts of the Eastern Church centered on events in Mary’s life. Since the 12^th century, Marian feasts added to the Western Calendar almost always commemorate a particular event of the times, even political ones. Our Lady of the Rosary was celebrated in the late 15^th century by some confraternities of the Rosary, and solemnized in 1571 by Pope Pius V in thanksgiving for a military victory over the Muslims at the Battle of Lepanto. In 1716, Clement XI extended the feast to the universal Church.

How ironic that a Marian feast should be associated with an event that involved the killing of one’s enemies, rather than loving one’s enemies, as Jesus taught. Perhaps that is all too indicative of worldly and profane attitudes that persist in the Church to this day, attitudes that are not gospel values and that actually contradict the gospel, yet we are often oblivious to them, such as militarism, greed, power, control, clericalism and an inadequate reaction to sexual abuse by clergy.

The Eucharist is an encounter with Jesus the Good Shepherd showering God’s mercy upon us even as we celebrate, and empowering us to have the right attitude towards God’s mercy, and to “go and do likewise,” living out our faith in God’s mercy by sharing that mercy with all others.