Homily: Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Mk. 9:38ff) “Never Presume”
Every historical moment has its difficulties. The moment we live in seems to be unique, but is it? The present era is often compared to the time before the Civil War. Tensions revolved around slavery. The second time period where we see similarities is at the time of the civil rights movement in the 1960’s. Today, we can ask does the Gospel have any relevance as we navigate through the storms tossing us around.
We might find a clue in the Gospel of Mark. The disciples come to Jesus greatly disturbed. The apostles were upset by a man who seemed to have tapped into the healing power of Jesus.
The man in question was a faith healer. He was a person who was driving out demons in the name of Jesus. We can imagine people coming to this man in spiritual turmoil, beset by evil spirits. The preacher invokes the name of Jesus as he prays. Healing happens. When Jesus hears what’s going on he reacts in a way we wouldn’t expect. Jesus isn’t jealous, he isn’t angry, he doesn’t denounce the faith healer. He seems to take a wait and see attitude. Jesus presumes that what is happening is good.
In Christian teaching there is a term that is used for the attitude that Jesus projects. St. Ignatius Loyola in the Principle and Foundation of his Spiritual Exercises speaks of always operating from a stance of “presupposition.” What does that mean? He gives a step-by-step instruction on how to pursue this spiritual path.
The first step and the most important step is to give people the benefit of the doubt regarding what they have done, said or written. We need to pay attention to our own thoughts. Do we immediately agree with another person because they agree with us? Do we automatically think badly of a person because they say something we don’t like.
The second step is to enter a dialogue with the person with whom we might think is in error. We ask about their understanding of the controversial situation. We never assume that we know all the subtleties of a person’s beliefs.
After having a dialogue, we might still feel that a person is in error. If we have this sense, we might have to try to correct them. But the key thing is that we must do this with kindness. A feeling of contempt is easy to fall into, but contempt usually ends all dialogue.
If correction doesn’t work, we should take the situation to prayer. Ignatius never wants us to engage in condemnation. We need to try to be open to opportunities for interaction. When we hear about this methodology, we may dismiss it as just too hard. We realize it is messy. We need only to consider the present attempts at synodality in the church. Some people dismissed this process before it ever started. Why? Probably because of cynicism, distrust, fear, but especially because we all feel more comfortable retreating into our shell then sitting down engaging people face to face.
Does presupposition work? I think back to 1957. The civil rights movement was in its infancy. President Eisenhower started a civil rights commission to consider legislation that might help heal racial injustice in our country. Fr. Ted Hesburgh from the University of Notre Dame was named the chair of this commission. The commission was made up of six people who had a variety of opinions about civil rights. Hearings were held. At some point the commission was threatened with arrest by elected officials who didn’t like their work. The commission had to cancel its final hearings in Shreveport Louisianna. The temptation was to back down. The commission wasn’t in agreement. Fr. Hesburgh decide to move the meetings to a retreat center in Land of Lakes Wisconsin. The commissioners were able to relax. As they met and enjoyed activities like fishing they bonded. Hesburgh felt that people couldn’t sit in a boat with others in nature and think badly of them. The commissioners. came up with twelve recommendations for the president. 11 of them were unanimously supported and led to greater voting rights for all.
We never know what will happen when we accept the idea of presupposition. When we start with the premise that all people were created good, we have a chance to move forward in faith.
Reflection Questions:
1. Am I able to keep an open mind when I disagree? Why is it hard?
2. Does Ignatius teaching about presupposition make sense? Could I try it?
Dear Parishioners,
The first weekend of October we always have our financial report for the year. There is good financial news to share. Sacred Heart is a charitable organization, and we depend on the generosity of our members. We have great needs as we try to celebrate liturgy, spread the Gospel and maintain our campus. The bulk of our yearly budget goes for catechetical programs including Seton Grade School and Alleman High School.
We try to be good stewards of our property and of the deposit of faith we try to share with others. We have done well but there is always more to do. We need to evangelize in our community. Half of our society eschews organized religion. There are many reasons for this. Our faith tells us that eventually the tide will turn. Living in a totally secular world will not be satisfying. We need to meet spiritual seekers when they come to us.
Thank you for your financial support. Our parish leadership tries to do our best to be good stewards. In the coming year we let’s continue to spread the Gospel and take care of all the gifts we have been given.
May Our Lady of Peace pray for us,
Fr. Mark
P.S. Just a reminder that I will not be posting daily reflections this week because I will be out of town much of the week.