HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 06 04
United in Hope:
Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima
(Acts 18:1-8; Ps 98; Jn 16:16-20)
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Just in case you might have missed it, the Gospel today, for a fourth time this week, begins with the same sentence from John 13 about Jesus going back to the Father. It is as if the liturgists wanted to share with us one consistent message for our consideration and prayer – be always united with the Father, with Jesus and with the Spirit of Jesus, in intimate prayerful communion.
John is the theologian of mystery, and this passage is full of mystical language, being with and being apart, seeing and not seeing. There is, however, a prediction of the pain that they will experience of loss, of healing and growth in the early years of the Church.
Part of that pain involved the banning of all Jews from Rome. This would have impacted Paul as he sought to convince the Jews, and also the Greeks, that Jesus was the Messiah.
Corinth is where there was a definitive break with Judaism for Paul, who would now turn to the Gentiles as the Jews largely rejected his message about Jesus as the Messiah. We are told that Paul met and got to know and work with a couple, Priscilla and Aquila, who would figure in his ministry in the near future. So in the midst of rejection and opposition, somehow, the early Church continued to grow, with especially Crispus, an official of the synagogue, becoming a baptized believer.
TOTN Cave meeting
This climate of growth in spite of opposition and hostility reminds me of a Palestinian Christian family in the Holy Land, struggling to hang on to their farm on a hilltop that is surrounded by Jewish settlements, some of them blatantly illegal. These hard-core settlers are bound and determined to appropriate that land from this family, and are doing everything in their power to try to drive them away. The Jewish settlers have dumped huge boulders on their driveway to cut off access to the farm.
The Palestinian family is refused building permits, and so they live and work in seven operational caves on their property. They are not allowed running water or electricity, so they use solar panels and collect all the rainwater they can. When a demolition order was resisted right up to the Supreme Court, the settlers were so angry they cut down 200 of their olive trees. Thankfully an organization in Europe, Jews for Justice and Peace, heard of this, bought 1, 000 olive trees and came over to help plant them.
According to Daoud, the leader of the family who met with us in a cave, the only reason they are still there is because they created the “Tent of the Nations.” As such, they invite people from around the world to come as international observers who volunteer, observe, teach and learn. The most striking and compelling thing about this family is their commitment to non-violence. They are working for peace and justice in a totally non-violent manner. Their mottos, painted on rocks on the grounds, are “We refuse to hate” and “We refuse to be enemies.” They are certainly a beacon of hope in a bleak situation, and struck all of us who visited with them, as prophetic, inspired and very much like St. Paul, who carried on despite all obstacles.
Today the church invites us to celebrate Mary as our Lady of Fatima. This title was given to the Blessed Virgin Mary after she appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, between May 13 and October 13, 1917, within the context of war and anti-Catholic persecution. The three messages or ‘secrets’ of Fatima stress the importance of repentance, conversion of heart, and dedication to Our Lady, especially through daily prayer of the Rosary.
Mary is a wonderful model of contemplative prayer, abiding in God’s love, as described by Luke who mentions Mary “pondered these things in her heart” (Luke 2:19). She is also a model of one who balanced action and contemplation in her life, exemplified by her caring for her cousin Elizabeth in her pregnancy. We would do well to follow her example.
As we celebrate the Eucharist today, inspired by Mary, and nourished by the Word of God and the Body and Blood of Christ, may we be inspired to evangelize like St. Paul, and find creative ways to overcome the obstacles that we might face as we do so, as did the folks at the Tent of the Nations.
