Homily: Twenty-seventh Week of Ordinary Time
Twenty-seventh Week of Ordinary Time (Mk. 10:2-16) “Fidelity Means Sticking with It.”
We all make vows and promises in our lives. We could make quite a list of promises we have made. We have a lot of debate in this election year, for example, about the promise that public servants make to support and uphold the constitution. Some officials have made the promise multiple times in their life.
As Catholics we can make the same promises multiple times in our lives. We need only think of our Baptismal promises. We are asked at Baptism if we reject Satan, all his works and all his empty promises. We are asked if we believe in each member of Trinity. For many of us this was the first promise that we ever made in our lives. Perhaps our parents answered the questions for us.
Many of us reaffirmed that promise at various points in our life. Every Easter we renew our baptismal promises. We promise to reject what is contrary to the Gospel. We promise to model our life after the life of Jesus. We also make this promise at our confirmation when we are anointed with Chrism and claimed for Christ.
All sacraments are a reiteration of our commitment to Christ. The readings today reflect on the sacrament of matrimony. In Christian teaching matrimony has always been a symbol of God’s relationship with his people. Why is this so? Because matrimony is living our commitment in a concrete relationship.
Jesus had an interesting stance on matrimony. To understand what he believed we must understand the Old Testament Laws about marriage that were in place when Jesus was alive. Matrimony wasn’t an equal partnership. The man involved didn’t have to be sexually faithful to his wife. A wife was considered a piece of property that was owned by the husband. Only if a man had relations with a married woman, was it considered adultery because the man was stealing the wife of a neighbor. Any time a woman was sexually unfaithful it was an adulterous act. Divorce could ensue. The married woman could be turned out on the street.
The double standard of this is what Jesus was reacting to. The unfairness was evident, but Jesus took things a step further when he insisted that both parties in a marriage adhere to their marriage vows. Christian marriage was to be an equal partnership of life and love that was to a symbol of all the covenants we make in our lives.
To understand perpetual vows, we all need to reflect on the meaning of fidelity. Too often it seems like fidelity revolves around sexual matters. Fidelity can also be considered a call to perfection. When we fail at keeping a promise in a vowed life the belief might be that the commitment is over. But this isn’t what a covenant is like. And a vow is a covenant made before God.
I recently visited the seminary where I went to school. The seminary is an apostolate of a community of Benedictine monks. I noticed that one of the monks that had taught me had died. The priest had a difficult time keeping his vows. He had various addictions. He had psychological problems. He lied to his superiors at times. At other times was involved in sexual indiscretion, to my knowledge he didn’t break any laws. At least once he left the monastery breaking his vow of stability. At other times he was asked to leave by his superiors because he was so difficult to live with. He went through multiple rehabilitations. Finally, in the last twenty years of his life he was able to live his vows faithfully. He died a member of his Benedictine community. He completed the journey. His story was an example of what fidelity really means.
In many circumstances, people are written off for just one failure as they try to live a vowed life. Many times, peoples also say, “I can’t fulfil my promises.” Fidelity can mean we begin again after failure. At other times we won’t be meant for the life we try to lead. But the effort to lead a vowed Christian life is an experience that deepens the understanding we have of ourselves. Even in failure there may be great grace because the struggle to persevere can teach us what faith is all about. Promises, vows, commitment aren’t for the faint of heart but for only for those who aren’t afraid to learn the deepest truths about themselves.
Reflection Questions:
1. What are some promises I have made? Have I always kept them?
2. How do I define fidelity? Does it mean never failing at a covenant?
Dear Parishioners,
If we were to ask a typical person in the pew if they wanted to improve their relationship with God, they probably would say yes. If I were to ask that same person if they would be willing to dedicate three days of their life in order to do that, they would be less certain in their response. There would be various excuses that would be given.
Often, the turning point in a person’s spiritual journey can be a renewal program or retreat. I have witnessed this in my priestly life. One program that has had a dramatic impact on people’s lives is the Cursillo program. We are fortunate to have Cursillo in our area and we have two Cursillo weekends that will be taking place in the coming weeks. One is for men and the other is for women. These happen at Christ the King parish in Moline.
The spiritual power of the retreat comes from the fact that it is that it is lay driven. Most of the talks are given by lay people and people are taught a spirituality that is practical and inspiring. I would recommend Cursillo (which means short course in Christianity) for anyone who wants to deepen their relationship with Jesus.
Information is in the bulletin. Applications can be found at the doors of the church.
May Our Lady of Peace pray for us,
Fr. Mark