{"id":1172,"date":"2018-06-22T01:57:10","date_gmt":"2018-06-22T01:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/?p=1172"},"modified":"2018-06-22T01:57:10","modified_gmt":"2018-06-22T01:57:10","slug":"homily-week-11-04-yr-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/22\/homily-week-11-04-yr-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"HOMILY WEEK 11 04 – Yr II"},"content":{"rendered":"

Redemptive Suffering and the Test<\/em><\/p>\n

(Sir 48:1-14; Ps 97; Mt 6:7-15)<\/p>\n

***************************************<\/p>\n

Elijah continues to be the focus of the first reading in today\u2019s liturgy. In this passage, we hear about him as an epic hero from the point of view of another Old Testament author \u2013 Sirach, extolling his praises.<\/p>\n

His role and the Our Father in the Gospel invite us into a spiritual journey of transformation through redemptive suffering.<\/p>\n

Elijah figures in two significant passages in the New Testament \u2013 one involving John the Baptist, and the other at the Transfiguration. Both involve the theme of transformation.<\/p>\n

In the gospel, the people wondered if John the Baptist was Elijah returned to turn the hearts of parents towards their children, to bring about conversion and transformation.<\/p>\n

At the transfiguration, Jesus is transformed or transfigured in the presence of Moses and Elijah, who were talking to him about his passion, his suffering, his passing in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

The Our Father ends with a prayer not to be led into the \u201ctest\u201d or \u201ctime of trial\u201d in today\u2019s gospel. That test or trial is the experience of the \u201capparent absence of God\u201d that Jesus underwent on the Cross. For us, it will be the invitation to accept some suffering in our lives in which God seems to be absent, without bitterness or resentment, as Jesus did.<\/p>\n

After St. Mother Theresa died, it was discovered she experienced only dryness and desolation in her life of prayer after she began her ministry to the dying in Calcutta. It appeared to her that God had abandoned her, yet she carried on with her ministry seemingly full of joy flowing from an intimate relationship with God. When this news broke, some in the secular world questioned her sanctity. The reason for that questioning is they did not understand the spiritual reality of this \u201capparent absence of God\u201d given only to those of great faith, like Jesus on the cross when he cried out, \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\u201d Far from a lack of faith, that experience is a sign of great faith.<\/p>\n

Well known spiritual writer Henri Nouwen was faced with this reality when he returned to his homeland to be with his dying mother. He was looking forward to being with her during her last moments on earth, because his mother was a holy woman and an exemplary Christian. Instead of a peaceful scene, however, he found her restless and agitated in her last days, and that really bothered him. It wasn\u2019t until he was reflecting on that experience on the way home that he finally understood what had happened \u2013 his mother had always prayed she would live and die like Jesus, and her prayer was answered. Jesus did not die calmly like Socrates, but rather as one experiencing fully the human condition of dying \u2013 and so did his mother. She was experiencing the \u201capparent absence of God\u201d just like Jesus.<\/p>\n

That is actually what we pray about in the last part of the Our Father. Matthew has the most accurate expression \u2013 he has us pray not to be put to the \u201ctime of trial\u201d rather than \u201clead us not into temptation.\u201d That test or trial is precisely that experience of the apparent absence of God. Our faith isn\u2019t as strong as that of Mother Theresa or Nouwen\u2019s mother, so we pray not to be given that experience. It will come to us in small doses \u2013 less profound moments of wondering where God is when things don\u2019t go quite our way.<\/p>\n

Jesus closes today\u2019s gospel passage with the cryptic saying if we do not forgive those who hurt us, we will not be able to receive forgiveness. This teaching ties in with that experience of the apparent absence of God. Victims of sexual abuse especially are those who cry out, \u201cWhere was God when this happened to me?\u201d The answer is that in Jesus, God was there with them, not taking away the pain, but experiencing the pain with them, and if they have faith, giving them the strength to transform that pain into forgiveness. When they are able to do that, their dignity, innocence and self-worth returns to them, because they are just like Jesus on the cross, transforming seemingly meaningless suffering into pure love as forgiveness that leads to the new life of resurrection.<\/p>\n

This understanding also sheds light on the desire of Pope Francis to change the wording of the Our Father to take away any impression of God leading us into temptation. That problem would be solved if we used Matthew\u2019s version of the prayer \u2013 lead us not into the test, rather than temptation.<\/p>\n

The Eucharist is a sharing in the redemptive suffering of Jesus that included the experience of the apparent absence of God. May our celebration empower us to understand and appreciate the role of redemptive suffering in our lives, as the path to personal and communal transformation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Redemptive Suffering and the Test (Sir 48:1-14; Ps 97; Mt 6:7-15) *************************************** Elijah continues to be the focus of the first reading in today\u2019s liturgy. In this passage, we hear about him as an epic hero from the point of view of another Old Testament author \u2013 Sirach, extolling his praises. His role and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ordinary-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1172"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1173,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172\/revisions\/1173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}