Homily: Feast of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian

Feast of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian (Lk. 8:1-3) “Women Were the Backbone”

Jesus did many unorthodox things in his ministry. A lot of his unusual practices revolved around women. We are given a list of women who were disciples of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel.

When rabbis collected disciples, they usually would have them live and work with them in their ministry. Rabbis could have their school in one place. Some would travel. Jesus was one of the Rabbis who chose to take his ministry out to the people. His audience did not come to him, but he went to them.

We hear about the twelve often in the Gospel narratives. These men obviously traveled with Jesus and that would have been perfectly acceptable. But there were other disciples that came along according to what we read in the Gospels. Some of these other disciples were women.

It was unusual to have women being taught by a rabbi. It was even more unusual for them to travel from place to place with men who were not their husbands. And even to travel outside the home at all. When we consider how women act in the Mideast today, we get a sense of how woman behaved in Biblical time. Women usually stayed at home and refrained from going out in public by themselves.

The other thing we could notice about the list of women that we are given in the Gospel is that they seem to have come from a cross section of society. Some were poor. Others were wealthy and influential. We must wonder is those who were more affluent risked their statues by their behavior.

The women who followed Jesus were taking a great risk. They might be labeled as loose. Men might have tried to punish them for their behavior. Yet, they stepped out and supported Jesus with their presence and with their money. Jesus surely appreciated their help. Women were the backbone of his ministry as they are the backbone of the church today.

1.    Have I ever wondered about Jesus related to women? Is it a surprise to see the list of women we have in the Gospel?

2.    Does Jesus treat women equally? Was he restricted by his culture?

 Dear Parishioners,

           Things continue to progress with our new Gathering Space. The stone is being installed on the outside of the building and the inside walls are going up. There are many decisions to be made every day and as always unexpected surprises.

          Some priests have their own their own homes. I don’t have a desire to do that yet. I always feel like I have more than enough brick-and-mortar things to keep me busy.

          Please remember that this is Catechetical Sunday. We will bless our religion teachers and catechists. Remember to pray for all of them. They have a very important mission in our parish.

          May Our Lady protect us and bring the world peace.

          Fr. Mark