Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

MARK 6:1-6
IN EARLY AUGUST JOAN AND I WILL BE GOING TO MONTANA, WHERE I GREW UP. I'M ESPECIALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING MY COUSINS. WHEN WE GREW UP TOGETHER, WE WERE ALL LIKE BROTHERS AND SISTERS. AND THEY WILL CALL ME “DONNY”, BECAUSE THAT WAS MY NAME 60 YEARS AGO. AND WHEN WE GET TOGETHER THE YEARS WILL SLIP AWAY FOR A SHORT TIME AND PART OF EACH OF US WILL BE CHILDREN AGAIN. BUT AMONG MY CLASSMATES, IT WAS A DIFFERENT STORY. I WENT TO A CATHOLIC SCHOOL, WHERE EVERYONE, IT SEEMED, WAS IRISH, EXCEPT ME; WHERE EVERYONE CAME FROM THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE CITY, EXCEPT A FEW OF US WHO LIVED ON THE EASTERN SIDE; WHERE MY CLASSMATES WERE FOR THE MOST PART GOOD IN ATHLETICS, HAD KNOWN EACH OTHER IN KINDERGARTEN AND EVEN BEFORE; AND I WAS BOOKISH AND LIKED TO BE ALONE AND HAD NOT GONE TO KINDERGARTEN. AS THE YEARS WENT BY, I MADE A LITTLE PROGRESS SOCIALLY, BUT IT WAS ONLY WHEN I LEFT HOME TO GO TO COLLEGE THAT I WAS ABLE TO REMAKE MYSELF, AT LEAST ENOUGH TO FEEL A LITTLE BIT MORE COMFORTABLE WITH PEOPLE; BECAUSE THOSE “FIRST IMPRESSIONS” NEVER QUITE LEAVE, AND THOSE OF US WHO TRIED TO BREAK OUT OF THE MOLD WOULD QUICKLY LEARN THAT IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE. SO I RELATE TO JESUS IN THIS GOSPEL; IN HIS HOME TOWN, HE WAS THE CARPENTER'S KID. HE DIDN'T BELONG TO THE TRIBE OF LEVI, NOR WAS HE ORDAINED AS A RABBI, NOR DID HE BELONG TO A PRIESTLY FAMILY, LIKE HIS COUSIN JOHN. WHAT BUSINESS DID HE HAVE TO GO AROUND PREACHING AND CLAIMING TO HEAL PEOPLE?
AND THE GOSPEL OF MARK SAYS AN ASTOUNDING THING: HE WAS NOT ABLE TO PERFORM ANY MIGHTY DEED THERE, APART FROM HEALING A FEW SICK PEOPLE BY LAYING HANDS ON THEM.
GOD IS LOVE. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MINUTE; IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN IN LOVE, YOU KNOW THERE IS A POWER IN LOVE. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE WORLD THROUGH ANOTHER PERSON'S EYES? IF YOU'VE BEEN IN LOVE YOU HAVE; IF YOU'VE TAKEN YOUR CHILD BACK TO WHERE YOU GREW UP, YOU HAVE. WHEN YOU LOVE, ITS AS THOUGH YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS EXPANDS A LITTLE BIT; THE BORDERS OF YOUR SELF BLUR. AND YOU KNOW THAT LOVE MAKES YOU DO THINGS YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE OTHERWISE; SOMETIMES THINGS WHICH YOU DIDN'T THINK YOU COULD DO. BUT LOVE ONLY HAS POWER WHEN THERE ARE TWO PERSONS IN THE RELATIONSHIP. AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM TODAY WITH JESUS. HE INVITES PEOPLE TO KNOW HIM, AND WHEN THEY DO, MIRACLES HAPPEN, BECAUSE HE IS GOD, THE GOD WHO IS LOVE. BUT THE PEOPLE IN HIS HOME TOWN DON'T KNOW HIM, THEY ONLY KNOW THE CARPENTER'S KID, WHO GREW UP WITH THEM.
MIRACLES DIDN'T STOP WHEN JESUS DIED; WE SEE THEM CONTINUING IN THE STORIES OF THE APOSTLES. WE READ ABOUT THEM IN THE HISTORY OF THE EARLY CHURCH; WE MAY NOT BELIEVE THEM, BUT IT IS INTERESTING THAT THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME BELIEVED THAT CHRISTIANS HAD A SPECIAL CLAIM ON MIRACLES. RECENTLY THE POPE RECOGNIZED ANOTHER MIRACLE, ONE WHICH HAD BEEN EXTENSIVELY INVESTIGATED, AND FOR WHICH THERE WAS NO RATIONAL EXPLANATION – AND SOON CARDINAL NEWMAN WILL BE BEATIFIED AS A RESULT.
THE CHURCH IN THOSE EARLY DAYS SHARED A FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE OF JESUS' RESURRECTION; MOST PEOPLE KNEW SOMEONE WHO HAD BEEN A WITNESS, OR HAD KNOWN A WITNESS; AND THOSE WITNESSES WERE BELIEVABLE, BECAUSE ANYONE COULD SEE THAT THEIR LIVES HAD BEEN TOTALLY TRANSFORMED.
THE CHURCH IN THOSE DAYS HAD NO FEAR; THE EARLY CHRISTIANS DIDN'T CARE ABOUT SELF PRESERVATION, ABOUT WHETHER THEY MIGHT OFFEND SOMEONE; THEY DIDN'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING EXCEPT DOING GOD'S WILL. THEY HAD A TOTAL TRUST IN GOD.
THE CHURCH IN THOSE DAYS WAS CONSCIOUS OF THE PRESENCE OF THE SPIRIT. THINGS HAPPENED WHEN THEY WORSHIPPED THAT COULD NOT BE EXPLAINED IN ANY OTHER WAY. AND PEOPLE KNEW HOW TO TELL WHETHER SOMETHING WAS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OR CAME FROM SOME OTHER SPIRIT. YOU RUN ACROSS THIS IN THE WRITINGS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. AND THEY KNEW THAT NOTHING WAS IMPOSSIBLE IF THE SPIRIT MOVED AMONG YOU.
THE CHURCH IN THOSE TIMES BELIEVED THAT THEIR SINS WERE FORGIVEN. AND WHEN YOU ARE CONVINCED THAT YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN, YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL SENSE OF FREEDOM, A TREMENDOUS LIGHTNESS, BECAUSE IF YOU ARE FORGIVEN, THEN EVEN DEATH DOESN'T FAZE YOU.
AND FINALLY, THE CHURCH IN THOSE DAYS CARED ABOUT ONLY THREE THINGS; WORSHIP, TEACHING, AND TAKING CARE OF THE POOR AND NEEDY. IF SOMETHING DIDN'T DIRECTLY RELATE TO THESE THINGS, IT WASN'T VERY IMPORTANT.
AND MAYBE THAT IS WHY THE CHURCH IN THOSE DAYS EXPERIENCED MIRACLES, EXPECTED MIRACLES, AND PERFORMED MIRACLES. AND MAYBE IF WE COULD RECAPTURE SOME OF THOSE QUALITIES OF THE EARLY CHURCH, OF THE FIRST PARISH IN JERUSALEM, MIRACLES WOULD HAPPEN HERE AS WELL.
I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES. I'VE SEEN THEM. BUT IN MY LONG CAREER AS A PHYSICIAN, I'VE WITNESSED ONLY A HANDFUL OF MIRACLES, HEALINGS I COULD NOT EXPLAIN. WHEN JESUS WALKED THIS EARTH, THE POWER OF GOD'S LOVE RESPONDED TO FAITH, REAL FAITH, BY MIRACLES OF HEALING. AND JESUS STILL WALKS THIS EARTH, AND HE STILL WANTS TO HEAL HIS PEOPLE, AND HE STILL ASKS ONLY FAITH FROM US, FAITH THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD, FAITH THAT HE HAS THE POWER TO HEAL US, FAITH ROOTED IN THAT LOVE RELATIONSHIP, THE LOVE THAT CALLS FORTH THE POWER OF GOD.
AND AN INDIVIDUAL WITH THAT KIND OF FAITH REQUIRES A COMMUNITY OF FAITH IN WHICH TO GROW; A COMMUNITY LIKE THAT FIRST PARISH, LIKE THOSE FIRST CHURCHES, WHOSE MEMBERS KNEW THAT CHRIST HAD RISEN, WHO KNEW THAT THEY HAD BEEN FORGIVEN, WHO KNEW THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT MOVED AMONG THEM, AND WHO KNEW THAT NOTHING WAS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD. AND THEY KNEW THIS TO THE EXTENT THAT SOME OF THEM HAPPILY ACCEPTED MARTYRDOM BECAUSE THEY KNEW THAT THE TRUEST AND MOST LASTING HEALING WAITED FOR THEM AFTER THEIR OWN DEATHS.
SO LET US NOT BE A COMMUNITY LIKE THE ONE IN JESUS' HOME TOWN; A COMMUNITY WHICH WOULD AMAZE HIM BY ITS LACK OF FAITH. LET US INSTEAD PRAY TO BE A COMMUNITY LIKE THOSE OF THE FIRST CHRISTIANS, WHERE MIRACLES HAPPEN, WHERE SAINTS ARE MADE, WHERE THE WORLD IS CHANGED FOR THE BETTER BECAUSE THE HOLY SPIRIT SETS US ON FIRE. AND MAYBE THEN WE WILL SEE MIRACLES, MIRACLES IN ABUNDANCE, AMONG OUR PEOPLE, LIKE THOSE FIRST CHRISTIANS SAW AMONG THEMSELVES.